Toranaar
 Toranaar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title | The Indomitable |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Aldrachi |
| Class | Warrior |
| Occupation | King and greatest champion of the aldrachi, original wielder of the Aldrachi Warblades |
| Status | Deceased |
| Relative(s) | Elder brother |
Toranaar the Indomitable[1] was the king[2] and greatest champion of the ancient aldrachi people. When Sargeras offered the aldrachi a place in his Burning Legion, Toranaar refused and initiated a duel with Sargeras. Though he succeeded in inflicting a small injury on the lord of the Burning Legion, the aldrachi were then immediately wiped out by the infuriated Dark Titan. Toranaar's Aldrachi Warblades were given to Sargeras' lieutenant, Kil'jaeden, who in turn eventually gave them to Caria Felsoul.
Biography
Early life
Toranaar came from a long line of respected warriors, and his elder brother was the greatest among them. Expectations of him were high, and after Toranaar took his first step he was cast into the merciless aldrachi war machine. Through the years of brutal training, one thought propelled Toranaar through the pain and suffering: winning the right to carry warblades, the most prestigious of all aldrachi weapons. As the young aldrachi lay in bed every night, his body bruised and broken, he pictured himself carrying warblades of his own. He willed that vision to become a reality.[1]
Toward the end of his training, Toranaar had his final and greatest test as the aldrachi military high command chose an elder warrior at random to battle him in a fight to the death. When Toranaar stepped into the ritual fighting pit on the day of the duel, he saw that the opponent was his older brother. He spared his sibling only a passing glance, and instead fixed his eyes upon his brother's warblades. Toranaar's dream was within reach, and not even family would keep him from it. The two brothers grappled through the night and into the next day, and near the end both of them was on the verge of death. Toranaar finally managed to disarm his brother and took the warblades for himself before plunging the weapons deep in his sibling's chest, all without uttering a word.[1]
Defiance against the Legion
Some time later, Sargeras set his sights on recruiting the aldrachi into his Burning Legion and resolved to send an invasion force to the aldrachi homeworld and wear the warrior race thin in order to make them ripe for conversion. Despite the overwhelming force of the countless invading demons, the aldrachi held fast against the enemy and fought like ravenous beasts, and none with more ferocity than Toranaar the Indomitable. According to a nathrezim record known as The Codex of the Dead, Toranaar's warblades howled over the clamor of battle, rending anything that came near. Each demon he vanquished seemed to fill him with renewed vigor, and he was like "an army unto himself". However, the Legion's numbers never diminished, and slowly and methodically, the demons whittled away at the aldrachi resistance and pushed them back to the towering stronghold in the center of their capital. There, Toranaar and the few champions that remained, all armed with warblades teeming with the souls of thousands of victims, readied themselves in preparation for another Legion attack. However, that attack never came, and the Legion instead halted its advance. A monstrous figure then emerged from the Legion's ranks: the Dark Titan, Sargeras himself.[1]
Sargeras offered Toranaar and his people power beyond anything they had ever dreamt of. They would serve as his personal guards and command tens of thousands of demons in war, an offer the Dark Titan believed would prove irresistible to the battle-loving race. Toranaar, however, emphatically rejected the offer, vowing to destroy the Legion for all of the aldrachi the demons had killed, or die trying. Either way, he would never bow to Sargeras.[1]
What followed was a duel between the champion of the aldrachi and the lord of the Burning Legion. The gathered Legion host watched with rapt attention as Sargeras dueled with Toranaar. The Dark Titan could have simply annihilated his foe at any moment, but he did not seek to destroy Toranaar, but to corrupt him. For days, Sargeras battered the aldrachi with just enough force to wear him down. Toranaar recognized Sargeras' ploy and knew that he could not best the Legion's ruler in combat. Thus, he decided on one final act of defiance by feigning submission. When Sargeras let his guard down, Toranaar struck, his warblades ripping through the titan's hide and drawing his molten blood. Though it was only a minor injury, the other aldrachi howled in triumph.[1]
Infuriated by Toranaar's defiance, Sargeras instantly ripped him and his fellow aldrachi champions to pieces, leaving nothing of their bodies but dust. The Legion's ruler then commanded his armies to bathe the aldrachi world in an inferno that would smolder for eternity.[1]
Legacy
Though the attempt to corrupt the aldrachi had failed, the warblades of Toranaar and his kin remained intact. Sargeras gave the warblades to his lieutenant, Kil'jaeden, and ordered him to distribute them to the Legion's greatest warriors. In time, Kil'jaeden had distributed all of the warblades, save Toranaar's, the most powerful arms taken from the aldrachi. The demon lord kept the last set of warblades under close watch for years, until he found someone worthy of wielding them: Caria Felsoul, a demon hunter who had willingly turned against her Illidari allies. In her hands, the instruments of dignity and defiance would become tools of betrayal and murder.[1]
Notes
- Toranaar is one of only two known mortals to have ever physically wounded Sargeras, the other being Broxigar the Red.
