Mardum, the Shattered Abyss

Mardum, the Shattered Abyss
Level: 8-45
Type	World
Capital(s)	The Fel Hammer
Races	Demon Night elf Blood elf  Broken  Naga
Ruler(s)	The Slayer
Former ruler(s)	Brood Queen Tyranna †  Ulthalesh †
Major settlements	The Doom Fortress Forge of Corruption Soul Engine
Affiliation	Illidari
Former affiliation(s)	Burning Legion, Pantheon of Order
Location	Twisting Nether
PvP status	Sanctuary

Mardum, the Shattered Abyss (/mɑɹˈduːm/ mahr-DOOM), colloquially known simply as Mardum and originally called the Plane of Banishment, is a prison world that was created by Sargeras to hold all the demons he killed in the Great Dark Beyond. After his decision to destroy all worldsouls in the universe, the Dark Titan shattered Mardum to free the demons that would become his Burning Legion.

Sargeras tasked Brood Queen Tyranna to safeguard the Sargerite Keystone, a device that can open portals to all Legion worlds, even Argus, on this world. During the invasion of Outland, Illidan Stormrage sent his Illidari to Mardum in order to retrieve the Keystone for his plans to invade Argus. During the third invasion of Azeroth, Mardum was conquered by the Illidari and the Fel Hammer became their order hall.

History

Main article: Rise of demons

The shattered world of Mardum.

During the war against the demons of the Twisting Nether, the titan champion Sargeras discovered that the demons he killed kept reappearing. The Pantheon of Order eventually sent the titan Aggramar to aid him in his battles, which allowed Sargeras to more closely study the Nether, where he realized that the demons could only truly be killed inside the Nether itself or in areas saturated with that realm's volatile energies. Though he hadn't yet grasped the realm's full scale, Sargeras had learned how to manipulate and shape some of its energies, forging a prison within the Nether called Mardum, the Plane of Banishment, acting as an impregnable pocket dimension from which nothing could escape. Demons would no longer be reborn after defeat, instead they would be contained within this prison for all eternity. After countless demons were imprisoned, the planet soon became overflowed with the captured demons' destructive fel energies, eventually tearing at the boundaries between the Nether and the Great Dark Beyond. Mardum soon started appearing in the distant reaches of the universe as a burning green star. Over the millennia, however, these demons were not idle as the dreadlord Ulthalesh ruled the pocket dimension with an iron fist, plotting for the day when he would exact vengeance.

In order to prevent the void lords and their Old God creations from corrupting worldsouls, Sargeras abandoned the Pantheon and concluded that he had to destroy them all. Since he could not watch over the entire universe all by himself, Sargeras needed an army and returned to Mardum. Over the eons, the prison had become bloated, the presence of countless demons warping the world into a nightmarish realm constantly bombarded by torrents of fel energy and bathing the captive demons in a sea of volatile magic. The mad titan tore the planet asunder, unleashing the demons and causing a cataclysmic explosion of violent energies that warped his very body. Horns and wings grew out of his body, while cracks of fel energy appeared on his chest and fel volcanoes erupted across his skin, fel fire enclosing his visage. He then imbued the howling masses with his power and gave them a simple choice: join his cause or be destroyed. Thus, the Burning Legion was born.

While most of the demons accepted Sargeras' offer, a few refused, rallying around Ulthalesh. In answer to the challenge, Sargeras forged a great felsteel scythe from the fires of Mardum's destruction, and used it to harvest the souls of the recalcitrant demons, confining them for all eternity in a new prison. He then used the scythe on Ulthalesh last in order to mock him.

Invasion of Mardum

This section concerns content related to Legion.

By the time of the invasion of Outland in 26 ADP, Mardum had become a bastion of the Burning Legion ruled by Brood Queen Tyranna, who Sargeras had entrusted with the Sargerite Keystone, a skeleton key capable of opening portals to all Legion worlds. After he ran out of time to enact his original plan of opening a portal to Argus with the Seal of Argus, Illidan Stormrage sent his Illidari forces to Mardum to retrieve the Sargerite Keystone in his plan to assault the Legion's homeworld, killing Tyranna in the process and taking control of the Fel Hammer command ship.

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

The Fel Hammer, headquarters of the Illidari.

During the third invasion of the Burning Legion in 32 ADP, Jace Darkweaver made contact with the Illidari forces still present on Mardum, who had kept control of the Fel Hammer for years. The demon hunter's artifact weapons were soon used to open a portal to the demonic world, while Kil'jaeden's mark on them was used activate the Legion ship. From their new headquarters, the Illidari began their operations across the Broken Isles, sacrificing the souls of hundreds demons slain on Mardum to empower the Nether Crucible, which they used to spy on the Tomb of Sargeras.

Upon learning of increased demonic activities on Mardum, caused by demons lingering since their first invasion, the Illidari champions were sent to kill Aranasi Princess Satine and her forces. During their task, the demon hunters discovered that Ariana Fireheart was still alive. They eventually took her to their ship after she spent all these years surviving alone on the demonic world.

Geography

Mardum's remains float between the Twisting Nether and the Great Dark Beyond, much like Outland. Littered in fel energies, the main island where the Fel Hammer is situated is dominated by a large area fel volcanoes.

Maps and subregions

Map of Mardum, the Shattered Abyss.

Despair Ridge Inferno Peak Cryptic Hollow The Doom Fortress The Fel Hammer Forge of Corruption Foul Creche Illidari Foothold Soul Engine Molten Shore Seat of Command Twisting Nether

Scenario Felwing Ledge

Notable characters

Main article: Mardum NPCs

Quests

Main article: Demon hunter starting experience

The main quests in Mardum are part of the first third of the demon hunter starting experience.

Wild creatures

• Abyssal Basilisk
• Soul Leech

Notes and trivia

• Under the guidance of uncooperative mo'arg engineers, demon hunters were able to create several portals to Mardum.
• An unknown entity time-traveled to the Black Temple right before the original Illidari attack on Mardum and modified the battleplans for the incoming assault to make them even better. Vormu of the bronze dragonflight came too late to stop this modification of the timeline.
• During the Gamescom 2015 expansion reveal, the world was introduced as Mar'duun. At BlizzCon 2015, however, the name had been changed.
  • The image of Sargeras slicing a planet was used to depict Sargeras shattering Mardum and freeing its demons, but the artwork was then re-used in World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 to describe him destroying the corrupted worldsoul.
• Although located in the Twisting Nether, demons killed in Mardum, like Gloth, Dro'zek, Gelgothar, Idra'zuul, and Thel'draz, later returned to Azeroth for the Legion Assaults of the Broken Isles.

Gallery

• 

  An easter egg found at ^{[46.2, 36.4]} east of the Seat of Command. The two skeletons resemble a zerg and a terran from Starcraft.
• 

  Minimap of demon hunter class order hall. Felwing Ledge was added in 7.2. This version of Mardum has its western part cut off, as it's not intended for exploration.

Patch changes

• Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Added.
  

See also

•  [Sargeras and the Betrayal]

External links

Wowhead WoWDB Wago

Wowhead WoWDB Wago

Wowhead WoWDB Wago

Wowhead WoWDB Wago