Shadowguard

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For the priest ability, see [Shadowguard].
NeutralShadowguard
Shadowguard Ulduar.jpg
The Shadowguard at Ulduar
Main leader  Xal'atath
 Nexus-King Salhadaar
Secondary leaders  Viceroy Nezhar †
 Saprish †
 General Zah'd †
 Soulbinder Naazindhri †
Race(s) IconSmall VoidEthereal2.gif Void ethereal
IconSmall KareshVoidMech.gif K'areshi automaton
Character classes Conjurer, Mage
Base of operations Manaforge Omega
Theater of operations Argus, Telogrus Rift, Azeroth, K'aresh
Language(s) Common
Affiliation Xal'atath, Ethereum, Devouring Host, Dimensius
Status Active

The Shadowguard are a faction of ethereals who have heeded the call of the Void and become void ethereals.[1]

History

The Shadowguard was secretly founded by Nexus-King Salhadaar, who publicly led the Ethereum to hunt Dimensius the All-Devouring for revenge against the destruction of K'aresh, while he was actually looking for the fragments of the void lord to revive it. In time, Salhadaar radicalized his followers into falling to the Void and becoming servants of Dimensius, and those radicalized members became the Shadowguard.[2][3]

Legion

Legion This section concerns content related to Legion.

Viceroy Nezhar and the Shadowguard forces invade the Seat of the Triumvirate on Argus.

During the Argus Campaign in 32 ADP, the Shadowguard were drawn to Eredath on Argus by the Void energies of the naaru L'ura.[4] They stormed the Seat of the Triumvirate and established a base named Shadowguard Incursion. There, they used Void harvesters to call the Void to Eredath, but they were stopped before they could plunge the entire city into shadow[5] and cause all of Argus to fall to darkness.[6] The darkness they cultivated manifested into crystals of pure void, a resource the Shadowguard coveted.[7] The Shadowguard also succeeded at creating Void-infused Broken whose mind did not fall into madness.[8] Shadowguard Abyss Callers attempted to summon another void lord through the Umbral Locus, but their ritual was interrupted.[9]

Another Void ethereal named Locus-Walker stood in opposition to them. He had hoped to find more ethereals among the Shadowguard who possessed the necessary strength of mind to resist the Void and was disappointed to find such an utter lack of resistance.[1]

Dark Heart

Dragonflight This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

Following the war against the Primalists in 40 ADP, the Shadowguard returned under the leadership of Xal'atath, the Harbinger of the Void. They attacked both the gates of Ulduar[10] and Telogrus Rift,[11] but were fought off by Alleria Windrunner with the help of the void elves and the adventurers.

The War Within

The War Within This section concerns content related to The War Within.

Main article: War on K'aresh
Manaforge Omega, the facility used by the Shadowguard to resurrect Dimensius the All-Devouring.

During the Undermine revolution in 42 ADP, Phase-Thief Azir and the Shadowguard stole the Dark Heart from Jastor Gallywix,[12] and Xal'atath later revealed that he wasn't working for her.[13] They also attacked Locus-Walker and, judging by her statement that they were after him "as well", Ve'nari. Both eventually got in contact about the attack and began to discuss plans for the future.[14]

Back on K'aresh, Azir took the Dark Heart to Manaforge Omega, a colossal Shadowguard facility designed for the resurrection of Dimensius the All-Devouring. With the artifact in place, the process of resurrection began in earnest, and once more the void lord's voice could be heard across the broken world.[15]

In Tazavesh, the adventurers helped Om'en to solve seemingly mundane problems around the city, which had in fact all been Shadowguard sabotage efforts.[16] As an ally of circumstance, Xal'atath informed Locus-Walker of this treachery, and thus he, Alleria Windrunner, and their allies tracked the Shadowguard's infiltrators to the P.O.S.T. building and took out the infiltration team led by Nyz'raal the Umbral Blade. However, it turned out this strike had been a distraction while the bulk of the Shadowguard led a forward assault directly into the streets of Tazavesh through a combination of hijacked broker skiffs, void meteors, and portals to bypass the city's sabotaged barriers as the voice of Dimensius himself rang out over the terrified civilian populace.[17] While they managed to reactivate the city's Market Guardian golems, however, Shadowlord Al'zar and his forces had already broken in and attacked several brokers within. They eventually killed Al'zar, and while the attacks on the city would continue, the city would now be able to weather them with its restored defenses.[18]

When Locus-Walker sent scouts over Overlook Zo'Shuul to look for entrances into Manaforge Omega,[19] most had been killed by the traitorous Raz'ida, in truth an agent of the Shadowguard.[20] Transmuted into energy, the adventurers traveled into the untethered Space at Shadow Point, the Shadowguard garrison located immediately outside the Manaforge, and discovered that their colossal pipes funneling energy into its facilities were also moving untethered K'areshi souls inside.[21]

The Shadowguard garrison at the Serrated Peaks, poised to take down Eco-Dome: Primus.

At some point, the Shadowguard launched an assault on Eco-Dome: Primus, and the only thing keeping its systems from collapsing was Ve'nari's Reshii Ribbon.[22] Locus-Walker's allies moved to stabilize the eco-dome with Cartel Om engineers, set up its defenses, and eventually launched a counterattack against the Shadowguard,[23] killing Shadow-Captain Lakheesh.[24]

In time, the K'aresh Trust and Wastelanders pushed closer to Manaforge Omega, but the Shadowguard didn't remained idle, and the garrison at the Serrated Peaks moved their gaze to the Azure Archives on Azeroth, breaking into them through a dimensional portal and bypassing the defenses of the blue dragonflight to plunder their ample magical artifacts. The heroes and Brann Bronzebeard assisted the dragons in repelling these attacks.[25]

The resurrected Nexus-King Salhadaar, founder and leader of the Shadowguard.

The void elves led by Magister Umbric later established the outpost of Shan'dorah in the heart of Shadowguard territory, where Soul-Scribe led her Wastelanders forces to assist them.[26] While the Shadowguard chose to attack first, the allied forces were able to repel this attack, while scouts found another Reshii Ribbon in possession of Nexus-Prince Azir.[27][28] The rend'orei and Wastelanders then led a counterattack on Shadow Point, where the Shadowguard forces outside Manaforge Omega were stationed, feeding energy from K'aresh itself into Dimensius within the Manaforge and forcibly transforming captured Wastelanders into void beings to serve their master.[29][30] After thoroughly disrupting the Shadowguard's operations, the combined forces marched on Umbral Garrison: Apotheosis to take down Azir. After they claimed his final Reshii Ribbon, however, Nexus-King Salhadaar himself appeared atop his Royal Voidwing, revealing that Dimensius had recreated him in the void after his death in Netherstorm. He invoked the oath the Wastelanders had made to him, commanding them to obey or die as oath-breakers. With this, Soul-Scribe followed his order and commanded the Wastelanders to turn on their allies.[31]

Within Manaforge Omega, the heroes first destroyed the Plexus Sentinel, then took out the great beast Loom'ithar that created the Shadowguard's wraps and Soulbinder Naazindhri, the ethereal responsible for binding untethered souls to them. Xal'atath then led the infiltration team to take out Forgeweaver Araz, the machinist who controlled the flow of the facility's energy towards Dimensius. However, Araz's death did not delay the Void Lord's resurrection, instead hastening it as he gave his own essence as a final surge of power to the Manaforge, completing the resurrection ritual. At the Shadow Docks, the void elves battled the Shadowguard under the command of Salhadaar, who was ultimately defeated. The Nexus King's untethered soul was then absorbed by Xal'atath, who saw him as a loyal and tractable servant.[32]

After the defeat of Dimensius and the restoration of K'aresh's world soul, Ve'nari explained that many still followed the Shadowguard into the Void of their own accord, but K'aresh itself would endure and live once more.[33]

With Salhadaar absorbed by Xal'atath, the Shadowguard now served the Harbinger once more.[34] Her new lieutenant, Shadowlord Vesheeen, readied the Shadowguard to ambush the void elves above Shan'dorah, but Alleria Windrunner and Arator the Redeemer caught wind of his plans.[35] Arator launched a counterattack and planted a teleportation tag on him, sending him into Alleria's cage.[36] Alleria interrogated Vesheen, learning of Xal'atath new army, the Devouring Host, and executed the Shadowlord after he threatened her son.[37] Alleria remained on K'aresh hunting the Shadowguard and followed one of them as he crossed a portal into the Voidstorm. There, Xal'atath ripped the energy from his body to feed the Dark Heart, allowing to her perform a ritual to transform the energy within into the Voidspire.[38]

Midnight

Midnight This section concerns content related to Midnight.

With Xal'atath having captured Salhadaar, the Shadowguard were once again under her control. They joined the Devouring Host in its assault on the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Members

Named

Saprish, the Ethereum-Lord of the Shadowguard.
Name Occupation Location Status
IconSmall Salhadaar.gif Mob Nexus-King Salhadaar Leader Manaforge Omega Alive
IconSmall VoidEthereal2.gif Mob Soulbinder Naazindhri Mage Manaforge Omega Deceased
IconSmall Araz.gif Mob Forgeweaver Araz Forgeweaver Manaforge Omega Deceased
IconSmall Nezhar.gif Mob Viceroy Nezhar Member Seat of the Triumvirate Killable
IconSmall VoidEthereal.gif Mob Saprish Commander and strategist Shadowguard Incursion, Seat of the Triumvirate Killable
IconSmall VoidEthereal.gif Mob General Zah'd General Shadowguard Incursion, Eredath Killable
IconSmall VoidEthereal.gif Mob Void-Blade Zedaat Member Shadowguard Incursion, Seat of the Triumvirate Killable
IconSmall VoidEthereal.gif Mob Captain Faruq Captain Shadowguard Incursion, Eredath Killable
IconSmall VoidEthereal2.gif Mob Nexus-Prince Azir Nexus-Prince Shadow Point: Apotheosis, K'aresh Deceased

Unnamed

Removed from game The subject of this section did not make it out of the PTR stages.

Notes and trivia

  • Adjectives used to describe the Shadowguard's various Void creatures include "bound" and "enthralled".
  • Some Shadowguard NPCs have female voices, though without a female model to match.
  • In early 7.3 PTR, Void-Blade Zedaat was a world boss and not a rare mob. His dungeon journal entry read "Viceroy Nezhar's most trusted lieutenant, Void-Blade Zedaat has been charged with keeping the Legion and all others away from the Seat of the Triumvirate until his work can be completed".

See also

References

 
  1. ^ a b N [45] The Shadowguard Incursion
  2. ^  [From Vengeance to Void]
  3. ^ N [80] The Darkness Among Us
  4. ^ Viceroy Nezhar#Adventure Guide
  5. ^ N [45] Sources of Darkness
  6. ^ N [45] Throwing Shade
  7. ^ N [45WQ] Void Clot
  8. ^ Zuraal the Ascended#Background
  9. ^ Generic Calming the Nether
  10. ^ N [70] Dark Descension
  11. ^ N [70] Defend Telogrus Rift
  12. ^ N [80] Phase Shift
  13. ^ N [80] My Top Gal
  14. ^ N [10-80] Veni Vidi Ve'nari
  15. ^ N [80] A Shadowy Invitation
  16. ^ N [80] Restoring Operational Efficiency
  17. ^ N [80] The Darkness Among Us
  18. ^ N [80] The Shadowguard Shattered
  19. ^ N [80] Moving the Pawns
  20. ^ N [80] Dead Silence
  21. ^ N [80] Where the Void Gathers
  22. ^ N [80] System Restart
  23. ^ N [80] Divide and Conquer
  24. ^ N [80] To Purchase Safety
  25. ^ Vaultwarden Falnora#Quotes
  26. ^ N [80] The Next Dimension
  27. ^ N [80] The Sands of K'aresh
  28. ^ N [80] Shadowguard Diffusion
  29. ^ N [80] Adverse Instantiation
  30. ^ N [80] And We Will Answer
  31. ^ N [80] Nexus Regicide
  32. ^ Manaforge Omega#Narrative
  33. ^ Eco-Dome Al'dani#Narrative
  34. ^ N [80] Where in K'aresh is Alleria Windrunner?
  35. ^ N [80] In Her Shadow
  36. ^ N [80] Tag, You're It
  37. ^ N [80] A Void Test of Wills
  38. ^ N [80] The Eleventh Hour
Ethereal
Void ethereal
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