Although the Scourge was a dire threat, there was still one other force in Northrend that was causing almost as much devastation - the blue dragonflight, led by Malygos. Although headquartered at the Nexus in the region of the Borean Tundra known as Coldarra, the blue dragons and their mortal servants had spread out across western Northrend, redirecting the ley lines of arcane power directly back toward their citadel. If not stopped now, they would do the same all across Azeroth.

Malygos was one of the great Aspects, charged by the Titans to watch over magic in the world. However, most of his dragonflight had been wiped out by Deathwing during the War of the Ancients. It took many centuries of seclusion and hard work, but eventually, the blue dragons rebuilt their society. Unfortunantly, Malygos used the time to develop the belief that magic and its uses were totally out of control, and placed the blame squarely on the mortal races. In his madness, he decided genocide was the only solution. The other dragonflights, particularly Alexstrasza and the red dragons, opposed him and conflict was inevitable.

A key to the Nexus's innermost chamber called the Eye of Eternity had been found on the remains of Sapphiron. After taking it to Alexstrasza, she tasked us with facing down Malygos and eliminating him for the good of the world. When we entered his chamber, we found him harvesting arcane energy that the redirected ley lines provided. Our intrusion didn't startle Malygos; he found it amusing, keeping in line with his low opinion of mortals. When we activated the focusing iris that disrupted his work, however, he flew down to destroy us. The start of the fight consisted of him trying to swipe at us with his claws and tail, while summoning arcane sparks to blow us up. Periodically, he tossed us into a magical vortex, hoping to break our coordination.

Eventually he grew tired of this method and took to the air. Some of his mortal servants arrived on flying discs, trying to attack and distract us while Malygos sent huge blasts of arcane energy around the chamber. Only by crowding under small bubbles of magical protection were we able to survive. As the mortal spellcasters died, the flying discs they rode became available for our own use, and we rode them into the sky after their commanders that refused to come to the ground.

Seeing that his latest tactic wasn't working, Malygos shattered the platform we were standing on and we were saved from certain death by a small army of red drakes that were waiting to catch us. Using our new allies, we slowly but surely wore Malygos down, until finally he could take no more punishment. Alexstrasza arrived just in time to give her misguided brother a sad farewell, and then he died.

You can see the victory pic in our Boss Kills section of the Gallery, and also new in the Important Figures section, a pic of the reunited Bronzebeard brothers (quest spoiler).

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The portal took us to the top of Naxxramas, right into the icy den of Sapphiron. This frost wyrm had once been a member of the blue dragonflight, but during Arthas's return to Northrend to protect the Lich King years past, he slayed the dragon and reformed the remains into the creature that now stood before us. As the bones coalesced, we positioned ourselves around the room. When the creature was fully formed it began its attacks, swiping at us with its claws and tail. It also summoned a blizzard spell that wandered around the chamber, trying to break our coordination.

Having had enough time on the ground, Sapphiron took to the air, sending jets of frost out that encased a handful of people in a block of ice. We then used the ice to protect us from the next spell, which caused a ball of magic to crash to the ground and send a shockwave across the room that would otherwise have caused instant death. The fight went on like this for a little while, but we finally broke enough of the creature's bones and it collapsed.

After regaining our health, we entered the now-opened hallway that led to Kel'Thuzad's chamber. The lich lord was shocked to see us, being interrupted during a conversation with his king. The Lich King ordered Kel'Thuzad to eliminate us and keep Naxxramas from falling, thereby ruining his plans. Kel'Thuzad grew arrogant, telling his master that we would prove no challenge and that his will would be done. With that said, Kel'Thuzad called out to his remaining forces, which appeared from magical portals around the chamber. Abominations, banshees and an endless stream of skeletons came at us from all sides. We took them all on until only a few remained, and this is the moment the archlich chose to strike.

Kel'Thuzad commanded incredible powers of frost and shadow. He threw out constant barrages of frostbolts, and created whirlwinds of dark energy that appeared around the chamber. He also enslaved the minds and bodies of some of our members, granting them increased size and power and turning them against us. Like Sapphiron, he also caused a few people to be randomly encased in blocks of ice and randomly sapped mana from our casters.

The battle went on for some time, and when his situation turned desperate, Kel'Thuzad summoned crypt lords to destroy us. We kept them contained and continued to assault the archlich, who could not withstand any longer and was finally defeated. There would be no phylactery this time, no coming back for the greatest of the Lich King's lieutenants. It was bittersweet vengeance for Lordaeron and the Kirin Tor, but unfortunantly, the war with the Scourge was far from over.

Victory pics of the final bosses can be found in our Gallery. (And for anyone who keeps track of such things, we beat the rest of Naxx on Dec. 11, the update was just delayed.)

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Having destroyed half of Naxxramas's forces, we went back to remove the remaining elements of Kel'Thuzad's powerbase. Unfortunantly, those were the sections that housed the physical might of his army - the abominations and the death knights.

We started by entering the Construct Quarter, fighting off abomination guards and dealing with the constant ooze creatures sent at us by the plague scientist/freakshow named Grobb. Our first challenge was to overcome Patchwerk, the strongest of the abominations already once defeated by the Knights of the Ebon Hand during the Scourge evacuation of Acherus. The creature hit extremely hard, but was quickly destroyed. We moved along, fighting some flesh giants, then we encountered and defeated Grobb himself.

After moving up a level and following a drainage pipe, we entered the room of Gluth, the "guard dog" of Thaddius, the ultimate construct. Gluth had the ability to feed off zombies that manifested inside his lair, but by carefully controlling and eliminating them, the monster was unable to regain health. After that we headed past a couple more flesh giants and entered Thaddius's lair. Two wights controlled the power that fueled the mechanism which kept Thaddius contained. When they were killed, he woke up and began his rampage, charging us with negative and positive energy, which wreaked havoc on us. Many died, but we succeeded in winning the fight.

After we were back on our feet, we went to the final quarter, which was home to the death knights and their minions. Although many had defected to join the Order of the Ebon Blade, these death knights were fanatically loyal to the Lich King and served in Naxxramas with great enthusiasm. The first roadblock was none other than the infamous trainer of death knight recruits, Instructor Razuvious. We interrupted one of his sessions and he used it as an opportunity to teach his students the finer points of slaughter. By controlling the minds of two of them, we were able to shift his focus while we pummeled him. Eventually, he was killed and we moved through the next hallway. The next encounter was with Gothik the Harvester, a necromancer that taught new death knights how to summon undead minions. He seperated our forces by an unbreakable gate, then proceeded to send death knights, ghosts and skeletons at us in a test of our endurance. When his plan failed, he joined the fight and tried to eliminate us with magic, but was no match for us.

The last stop was the room where the four greatest death knights resided. They were a dwarf named Thane Korth'azz and the human Lady Blaumeux; a former paladin named Sir Zeliek that was able to keep some control over his mind if not his body; and Baron Rivendare, who had been resurrected from the depths of Stratholme to replace the freed spirit of Highlord Mograine, the quartet's former leader. By keeping the death knights seperated, their auras were not difficult to manage and we proceeded to kill them one by one. After all four had fallen, we looted their cache of weapons and armor, then took a portal back at the entrance to our final challenge.

Check out the pics in the Gallery. (And for anyone who keeps track of such things, we beat the rest of Naxx on Dec. 11, the update was just delayed.)

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It had been some time since the Alliance and Horde forces arrived in Northrend and a new journey for Slane Baanrit began. Ancient strongholds had been breached, lost cultures rediscovered, and at every turn conflict was found, from the forces of Malygos or the relentless Scourge. Although skirmishes had been fought across the region, recently Slane Baanrit decided to take the fight to the next level.

We began by entering the Obsidian Sanctum, the chamber of the black dragonflight within Wyrmrest Temple. The chamber's guardian, Sartharion, was charged with guarding a small army of Twilight dragon eggs, a hybrid of black dragons and eggs of the Netherwing flight that had been procured from the Dragonmaw orcs in Outland. We succeeded in taking out Sartharion's lieutenants and then killed the onyx guardian himself, ending the threat of the Twilight for the time being.

Then we turned our attention to the greatest threat in the Dragonblight; Naxxramas, the flagship necropolis of the Lich King's army and home to his second-in-command, Kel'Thuzad. For years the archlich, who was once a mage of the Kirin Tor, held the Plaguelands within his iron grip. However, with the defection of Acherus and the death knights of the Ebon Blade, the Lich King recalled Naxxramas to Northrend to combat the Alliance forces amassing at Angrathar the Wrath Gate, the main entrance to Icecrown.

Then came the betrayal and devastation at the battle of the Wrath Gate, and the Alliance fortress of Wintergarde Keep was left alone to deal with the continuing onslaught of Kel'Thuzad's forces. If he wasn't stopped, the keep would fall and Naxxramas would reunite with Icecrown. We entered the necropolis and started by fighting our way across the Arachnid Quarter, fighting the Scourge leaders we found there. Among them was Anub'Rekhan, general of the undead nerubian army who served their king, Anub'Arak; Grand Widow Faerlina, who commanded a legion of acolytes that were caretakers for the spiders and their young; and Maexxna, the den mother of the spiders.

After success in one section, we moved on to the Plague Quarter, where the plague of undeath was constantly being researched and perfected, and which housed creatures that mutated and thrived under its effects. The quarter's leaders were Noth the Plaguebringer, a necromancer specializing in the creation of skeletal soldiers and casters; Heigan the Unclean, who researched diseases and caused his entire chamber to erupt with dangerous toxins; and Loatheb, a plague monstrosity that had the ability to nullify healing and mending of all kinds. However, we succeeded in defeating them all.

Check out the pictures in our Gallery.

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As we battled our way further into the Sunwell Plateau, cutting down Kil'jaeden's most loyal followers, word reached us that an advance brigade of the Shattered Sun volunteers had succeeded in vanquishing the dark naaru M'uru and, with the help of Kalecgos and Anveena, had turned the power of the Sunwell back onto Kil'jaeden as he tried to break the barrier into our world. Anveena's sacrifice had sent the demon lord back into the void and had saved our world from the brink of destruction. Afterwards, the draenei prophet Velen arrived; he took the essence of M'uru and infused it into the Sunwell, re-energizing it with the powers of the Light. Through it, the blood elves would find redemption and a brighter future.

Yet the peace that had been achieved would only be temporary. While the armies of Azeroth had been focusing on the trials of Outland, the dormant Lich King had finally risen. Perhaps sensing Kil'jaeden's defeat, the dark lord of the Scourge was ready to renew his own bid for domination of Azeroth. The first attack came with the utmost subtetly; crates of grain had appeared at various locations throughout the capital cities and even Shattrath. As had happened before at Andorhal, the grain was plagued and soon it began to spread. People became infected and turned into ravenous zombies; each time one was slain, the plague spread further until entire cities were terrorized by legions of the walking dead.

The Argent Dawn sent emissaries to every infected region. The clerics were able to remove the disease and generally contain the threat. Unfortunantly, the plague spread beyond even their ability to control, and more drastic steps needed to be taken. Through vigorous research led by Grand Apothecary Putress of the Forsaken and the clerics of the Argent Dawn, a cure was found and sent immediately to the various leaders of the Alliance and Horde. The cure worked, and the zombie threat was eliminated almost overnight.

Then phase two of the Lich King's invasion went into effect. In the eastern Plaguelands, Naxxramas had taken flight, heading back to Northrend. In its place, however, a new necropolis called Acherus appeared over Light's Hope Chapel and the Scarlet Crusade town of New Avalon. Meanwhile, other necropolises appeared throughout Azeroth, including outside the gates of every major city. Necromancers channeled energy from them into crystals on the ground, summoning forth countless undead minions. Members of the Alliance and Horde set to work on destroying the encampments. Slowly but surely, the necropolises lost power and retreated. The undead had been defeated, but then the final and greatest phase of the Lich King's plan started.

In Orgrimmar, Thrall was meeting with his advisors, being urged by Garrosh Hellscream to take the Horde armies to Northrend. Sylvanas Windrunner, leader of the Forsaken, agreed and offered the help of Putress and his apothecaries towards the effort. Thrall's closest advisor, Saurfang, advised caution and Thrall agreed, seeking to speak with Jaina Proudmoore and coordinate with the Alliance. Garrosh grew infuriated at the delays, and in his anger he challenged the Warchief to a duel. The two entered the Ring of Valor and fought, when suddenly an alarm was sounded; the Scourge was attacking Orgrimmar. Many frost wyrms and abominations were rampaging across the city, and the Horde leaders went to join the battle.

The battle raged on, but the Horde succeeded in defending their capital. The herald of the Lich King proclaimed their victory an empty one, and challenged them to come to Northrend. Thrall then agreed to let Garrosh lead the Horde to Northrend. Soon after the events in Orgrimmar, King Varian Wrynn assembled his own advisors at the Stormwind harbor. The druid Broll and blood elf Valeera, friends he had met during his long journey to reclaim his throne, strategized with Highlord Bolvar Fordragon over the plans to assault Northrend. Just as they began, the Scourge attacked the harbor in force, attempting to burn the ships and halt the Alliance's counterattack before it could even begin. Through great effort the undead were destroyed, and the herald of the Lich King also dared the Alliance to follow the Scourge to Northrend. Varian was all too ready to answer the call.

With renewed strength and determination, the Alliance and Horde began their journies to Northrend, uncertain about what horrors they would find there as they entered the kingdom of the Lich King.

Check out pictures of the Scourge's final invasion in our Gallery.

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