Pillars of Creation

This article is about the lore of the Pillars on Azeroth. For the related achievement, see  [Pillars of Creation]. For the eponymous quest, see  [45R] Pillars of Creation. For the Gorgrond object, see Pillar of Creation (Gorgrond).

The keepers wielding the Pillars of Creation in ancient times. Clockwise from top: Ra with the Eye of Aman'thul, Freya with the Tears of Elune, Thorim with the Tidestone of Golganneth, Archaedas with the Hammer of Khaz'goroth, and Tyr with the Aegis of Aggramar.

The Pillars of Creation are relics created by and named after the members of the titan Pantheon that were gifted to the titan-forged Keepers so they could shape the world of Azeroth when it was young.

History

Ancient times

During Azeroth's ordering, the Pantheon bestowed the Pillars of Creation to the titanic keepers to aid them with that colossal task. Ages after the keepers had completed their work, the Pillars would become lost and scattered across the lands of Azeroth.

War of the Ancients

Stained glass window within the Tomb of Sargeras depicting the Highborne with the Pillars of Creation.

After the Highborne found the Pillars while hunting artifacts throughout ancient Kalimdor, they guarded them in the Vault of Antiquities in Suramar. During the War of the Ancients, the Burning Legion attempted to attack the kaldorei on two fronts. As such, they opened a secondary portal, besides the one at the Well of Eternity, inside the Temple of Elune of Suramar. The Highborne led by Grand Magistrix Elisande and opposing Queen Azshara used the Pillars of Creation to close the portal and put several seals on the Temple. After their success, the Pillars were subsequently scattered across the land that would become the Broken Isles.

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

Ten millennia later during the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the orders and Dalaran managed to retrieve and stored them within the Portrait Room in the city of Dalaran. At the same time, Ulduar in Northrend was attacked by the Burning Legion, as the demons searched for information about the Pillars of Creation.

Later during the conflict, the Armies of Legionfall kept progressing towards the Tomb of Sargeras on the Broken Shore, eventually breaching into the Tomb. Within the massive temple, each of the Pillars was placed in a particular slot and were used to seal off the Legion's portal once again and the entire Tomb with it.

Magni the Speaker said the Pillars couldn't be used to draw out the corrupting energies from the sword of Sargeras in the Wound of Silithus because the Pillars were needed to keep the Tomb sealed. Instead, the champions of Azeroth used their artifact weapons.

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

At some point before or during the Fourth War, Queen Azshara managed to steal the unguarded Tidestone of Golganneth, which was later reclaimed by Azeroth's champions during the fighting in Nazjatar.

Exploring Azeroth

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

At an unknown point in time, the Pillars of Creation were removed from the Tomb of Sargeras and brought to Aegwynn's Gallery within Dalaran. In the Year 42 ADP, Thalyssra noted that the pillars were under guard and locked heavily down with wards.

The War Within

This section concerns content related to The War Within.

Following Dalaran's destruction, countless irreplaceable artifacts of immense power were shattered. It is unknown if the Pillars of Creation were among their number.

Locations

Pillar	Zone	Former location	Slot in Tomb of Sargeras
Aegis of Aggramar	Stormheim	In the possession of Odyn in the Halls of Valor	Placed atop the Cathedral of Eternal Night
Tidestone of Golganneth	Azsuna	Destroyed by Queen Azshara, fragments remained within Nar'thalas Academy	Placed at the Abyssal Throne
Eye of Aman'thul	Suramar	Remained in Suramar City at the Font of Night, Nighthold	Placed at Felstorm's Breach
Hammer of Khaz'goroth	Highmountain	Guarded by the united tribes of Highmountain in Thunder Totem	Placed in the Conclave of Torment
Tears of Elune	Val'sharah	Kept in the Temple of Elune	Placed in the Befouled Sanctum

Notes

• It is unknown how several of the Pillars left the elves' possession. The Highborne of Suramar used them to seal the Legion's portal in the Temple of Elune during the War of the Ancients. Then, they used the Eye of Aman'thul to put up a shield around their city, entering an isolation of 10, 000 years. However, several of the Pillars were gone between these two moments.
  • The Tidestone of Golganneth ended up in Nar'thalas Academy, in Azsuna, where Queen Azshara shattered it, cursing the entire region.
  • The Hammer of Khaz'goroth ended up in Neltharion's possession. It was then stolen from Neltharion's Vault by Huln Highmountain after the final battle of the War of the Ancients, who used it to banish the Aspect, now Deathwing, to Deepholm. This means that Neltharion retrieved the Hammer right after the Highborne used it to seal the Temple and stored it within his Vault before Huln stole it from him.
  • The Aegis of Aggramar ended up in Keeper Odyn's possession, in the Halls of Valor.
  • The Tears of Elune were stored in the Temple of Elune of Val'sharah.
• During Legion's reveal at gamescom, 2015, it was stated that the Pillars of Creation were used twelve thousand years ago by the Highborne to seal a wound in the earth, who then built the Temple of Elune over it. This has not been mentioned anywhere since then and was seemingly replaced by the War of the Ancients story first featured in Chronicle which was brought up again in The Tomb of Sargeras.
• Even though the Discs of Norgannon share the titan-based naming scheme with the Pillars of Creation, they are not part of the group because they were crafted by Loken and Mimiron, not the Pantheon.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

• Oddly, there are only five Pillars (of which four are named after titans, Elune's only assumed to be Eonar's), despite there being nine keepers and six titans in the Pantheon at the time of the Pillars' creation.
• The Pillars were possibly mentioned by Il'gynoth, a sliver of N'Zoth in the Emerald Nightmare: "Five keys to open our way. Five torches to light our path."
• The fate of the Pillars of Creation following Dalaran's destruction is unknown, they may have been stolen during the nerubian attack on the city, absorbed into the Dark Heart, or shattered alongside other artifacts within the city.