First Ones

The coiled serpent of Oribos, a symbol of the First Ones.

“A fragment of a word here, a bit of geometry there—for all the vast knowledge we brokers possess, compared to the First Ones we are like gormlings at the feet of the Winter Queen.”

— Ta'lora

The First Ones (also known as the Progenitors) are enigmatic godlike beings who shaped the cosmos and the fabric of all realities. They conceived and put in place the six governing forces of reality—Light, Void, Order, Disorder, Life, and Death—as well as the pantheons that embody them—such as the Pantheon of Order and Pantheon of Death—and the realms that they inhabit. According to one interpretation, the First Ones and the cosmic forces themselves are to some extent synonymous.

The First Ones are shrouded in mystery, and very little is known for certain about them: it is unknown when they first walked the cosmos, whether they still do, or if their existence ended ages ago. They have long been absent even from Zereth Mortis, their workshop realm in the Shadowlands; the broker Firim believes that perhaps they are interred in the Sepulcher of the First Ones, or perhaps they simply went "elsewhere".

The First Ones' magic and architecture are so advanced that they resemble mathematics, and are characterized by geometric fractals and patterns. They and their servants—the automa—speak a complex runic language that is incomprehensible to most mortals. One of their recurring symbols is that of a coiled serpent, which is believed by broker scholars to be a representation of "their infinite cycle".

History

Creation

The Eternal Ones, the rulers of the Shadowlands, believe that the universe originated from six First Ones: Light, Shadow, Order, Disorder, Life, and Death. Some also believe in a seventh one of unclear nature. The First Ones existed in constant conflict until their battle with each other gave way to balance. A pattern was created, and each First One gave something of itself to the design, which birthed "children of their kind" who existed in both harmony and discord.

The broker Firim reached a similar conclusion based on his interpretations of the First Ones' writings: that the cosmos began with six forces (or possibly a different number) existing in opposition to each other until they came together (or were brought together) and gave form to a design. Each "architect" gave a portion of themselves, and thus "the pattern was drawn". With a framework in place, all things in the universe came to be, like a fungus growing upon the frame. The six forces were now in balance, and others arose from their intersections—a simple structure growing infinitely more complex. Firim believes that the reason the forces are locked in constant and jealous conflict is that the First Ones gave each of their "children" only a portion of their gifts, making the forces' very nature one of limitation and denial.

Death and the Shadowlands

A broker cosmology chart. Note the serpents entwining the spheres of Life and Death.

The brokers believe that the First Ones made the endless cycle of Life and Death the central part of their creation. The First Ones created the realm of Zereth Mortis within the Shadowlands to be a workshop where they and their servants—the automa—made everything in the Shadowlands and the realms beyond. Zereth Mortis is also home to the Sepulcher of the First Ones, a structure containing knowledge that could unmake the cosmos and within which the First Ones created beings like the Eternal Ones. Lihuvim serves as the principal architect of the Progenitors within the Sepulcher, weaving ephemera into being in accordance with their will. The Eternal Ones long ago locked the Sepulcher away using their sigils to protect its knowledge from being misused. The most sacred laws of the Progenitors forbid the Eternal Ones from returning to Zereth Mortis.

The First Ones notably crafted Oribos, the entry point for mortal souls in the Shadowlands, along with several other centers of knowledge, including Korthia, Baraneth, and Nirem-Ahn. They placed teleportation devices known as waystones at crucial locations where they would be needed by the Maw Walkers, living mortals destined to one day save the Shadowlands. One such waystone allowing passage to Oribos is located in the Maw and was reactivated from dormancy by Maw Walkers, to the great surprise of Zovaal the Jailer who had thought it impossible for a relic of the First Ones to respond to a mortal. The broker Ta'lora notes that the waystone's existence is curious, since the Maw was seemingly intended to be an inescapable prison. One possibility is that the infallible First Ones placed the stone in the Maw as a failsafe, while the other possibility—that they foresaw the coming of the Maw Walkers and ensured the waystone was put in place for their benefit—must mean that the Progenitors possess a gift of foresight far beyond even the Eternal Ones. Another kind of First One relics, spirit obelisks, can also be found throughout the realms of Death. The Forge of Bonds, devices that allow for the ritual of soulbinding, also bear a clear resemblance to artifacts attributed to the First Ones.

First One architecture in Oribos.

The brokers long ago set out from their home realm to search for the First Ones' secrets, believing that whoever first managed to harness their power would become the most influential of all brokers. However, according to Ta'lora, every answer they uncovered only led to new questions "exploding like fractals before our very eyes", and they found that whatever extremely rare traces that the Progenitors left behind are only fragments of a larger puzzle. One expedition from Cartel Al managed to reach Zereth Mortis, where they became the Enlightened and now instead seek to protect the First Ones' secrets. The Enlightened worship the Progenitors as deities, believing that they still watch over Zereth Mortis and can actively influence the realm to express pleasure or displeasure at the Enlightened's actions. The Enlightened Firim, who was exiled for wanting to continue studying the works of the Progenitors instead of simply revering them, marveled at how everything in the Shadowlands was part of the First Ones' grand pattern, as well as at how complex the minds of Zereth Mortis' automa caretakers are and of how much more complex the minds of their First One creators must be. His research led him to the conclusion that the First Ones' "song" must not be allowed to end, but wondered who would continue to sing it if the Progenitors themselves did not.

The Sepulcher of the First Ones in Zereth Mortis.

The Eternal One Zovaal long ago came to believe that all of creation would be threatened by an unseen power which the fractured forces of Death would not be prepared to stand against. The other Eternal Ones dismissed his concerns, as they believed that if there was such a threat, the First Ones would have formed Death and the rest of creation to be able to counter it. Zovaal tried to claim his siblings' sigils by force so he could access the Sepulcher and use its knowledge of the First Ones' techniques to destroy and remake the Shadowlands. As punishment, the Eternal Ones imprisoned him in the Maw, where he subsequently became determined to remake not only the Shadowlands but the entire cosmos: to destroy the First Ones' "flawed design" and instead create a reality dominated under his will that would be united and able to stand against the threat he'd foreseen. Zovaal has stated that he created the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne in order to claim "the final prize", a secret that the First Ones sought to hide. He recruited Sylvanas Windrunner to his cause by claiming that he wanted to destroy the First Ones' flawed design—one in which free will was an illusion and all souls suffered under the makers' inescapable oppression—and replace it with one that was fair. Zovaal ultimately managed to claim the sigils and reach the Sepulcher, but was defeated by the Maw Walkers before he could use the Machine of Origination to remake reality. In a subsequent examination of the Sepulcher, Firim feared that Zovaal's efforts might've damaged the pattern keeping the six forces in balance, leaving it vulnerable to being shattered by another force in the future. Firim hoped that the First Ones had anticipated this eventuality and left countermeasures in place, but he remained fearful of the possibility that they had in fact never intended for their design to endure.

Order and the titans

The First Ones granted "wonders" to the titans of the Pantheon of Order in Zereth Ordus. The titans' servants on Azeroth, the keepers, are aware of the First Ones' existence, but Keeper Odyn long ago forbade his kin from sharing any knowledge of the First Ones with the mortal races, as he believed that this knowledge would only overwhelm and confuse them. The brokers have accused the Pantheon of Order of claiming credit for creating the cosmos when they in fact only inherited it. The titan language uses the same word for "created" as it does for "Ordered"; Keeper Odyn believes that something can not be truly said to exist until it has been ordered, and that it is therefore not inaccurate to claim that the titans are responsible for all of creation. The Chronicle books, a series of tomes written by servants of the titans (and which the broker Ta'lora have accused of being titan-forged propaganda written to present the Pantheon of Order in a favorable light) claim that the First Ones are a myth invented by the inhabitants of the Shadowlands.

Notes

• The  [Paths of the First Ones] is a book filled with speculation and half-truths, and talks about the pathways connecting the realms of Death.
• During the events of the Tazavesh, the Veiled Market dungeon, it is discovered that pieces of a First One artifact have been found on Azeroth.
• The  [Relic of the First Ones] is a Shadowlands world drop.
• The armor sets from the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid are visually themed after the First Ones' "math magic".
• During the Shadowlands alpha, the First Ones were exclusively referred to as "Progenitors". All mentions of this name were replaced with "First Ones" before the expansion went live, but game assets relating to them continued to use the "Progenitor" name internally. Starting in patch 9.1 and the Grimoire of the Shadowlands and Beyond, "Progenitors" was brought back into canon as a synonym for "First Ones".

Gallery

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  Oribos, the Eternal City.

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  Korthia, the City of Secrets.

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  The Waystone to Oribos.

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  The Ancient Waystone.

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  A Spirit Obelisk.

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  The Shadowlands Map.

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  The Great Vault.

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  An alternate serpent symbol in Oribos.

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  Concept art of Progenitor magic.

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  Concept art of Progenitor buildings.

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  Concept art of Progenitor columns.

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  Concept art of Progenitor relics and structures.

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  Concept art of Progenitor props.

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  Concept art of Progenitor-themed weapons.

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  Progenitor-themed Sepulcher of the First Ones tier sets.

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  Progenitor-themed Sepulcher of the First Ones tier sets.