While Galen provided context for their surroundings, the assembled warriors curiously examined the alien landscape of Crystalsong Forest.
As Galen had described, the forest was indeed composed of crystals, though these crystalline structures bore a striking resemblance to trees.
These crystals, some as tall as the mightiest redwoods, appeared to have sprouted and grown directly from the ground, their forms twisting and branching in a bizarre imitation of nature.
But it wasn't just the trees that were crystalline. Even the ground beneath their feet, the rocks scattered across the landscape, and the very air itself seemed to be infused with this strange, crystalline energy!
The predominant color of these crystals was a pale, grayish-white, giving the entire forest an eerie, winter-like appearance.
A perpetual "ice and snow" shimmered across the ground, the rocks, and the crystalline "trees," though this "ice and snow" was not frozen water, but rather the soft, ethereal luminescence of the crystals themselves, casting a cold, otherworldly glow upon the scene.
"The magic here is... chaotic, to say the least," Jaina sighed, her brow furrowed in concentration as she surveyed the towering rune-etched crystals. "If not for Galen's... assistance, I wouldn't have even been able to open a stable portal to this place."
Her words underscored the strange and unpredictable nature of the arcane energies that permeated Crystalsong Forest, a place where the very fabric of magic seemed to be warped and twisted.
"Highlord," the Night Elf druid girl, her voice filled with a mixture of awe and trepidation, addressed Galen. This was the same druid who had skillfully transformed into a boar during their unexpected descent, displaying a unique mastery of her druidic abilities. "Do you know what happened here? What cataclysmic event could have caused the city named Shandaral to disappear so completely, and transform this entire forest into crystal?"
The young Night Elf, her eyes wide with curiosity, held a deep fascination for these remnants of her ancient brethren, the Highborne, who had once thrived in this now-alien landscape.
"It was war," Galen replied, his voice somber, his gaze fixed on the crystalline spires that pierced the sky.
"War?" the druid girl echoed, her expression mirroring the confusion and disbelief of the others.
"That's right," Galen confirmed. "A conflict born of desperation and fueled by the insatiable hunger for magic."
He proceeded to recount the tragic tale of Shandaral, a city of Highborne mages who had once called this place home. "The Highborne of Shandaral, in their arrogance and desperation, angered the blue dragonflight, the guardians of magic itself. A great battle erupted between the two sides, a clash of arcane titans. The city was not only completely destroyed, reduced to rubble and dust, but the very environment of this place was also irrevocably scarred, twisted and warped by the immense energies unleashed in the conflict!"
Galen gestured to the crystalline forest that surrounded them, a testament to the destructive power of magic. "The raw, untamed energy released during the cataclysmic explosion crystallized the surrounding landscape, transforming it into the bizarre and beautiful, yet ultimately tragic, place we see now: the Crystalsong Forest, now located in the heart of Northrend."
The root cause of this tragedy, Galen explained, lay in the Sundering, the cataclysmic event that had shattered the ancient continent of Kalimdor and reshaped the world. "The cause of this tragedy can be traced back to the disappearance of the Well of Eternity, the source of all arcane power on Azeroth."
Due to the pervasive radiation of the Well of Eternity's magic, the citizens of the ancient night elven empire, the Highborne, had developed a profound dependence on arcane energy, a magical addiction that permeated their very being.
After the War of the Ancients and the subsequent Sundering, the disappearance of the Well of Eternity exposed this hidden danger, leaving the Highborne scattered and desperate for a new source of magic.
"However," Galen continued, "most of the surviving citizens of the shattered empire eventually found ways to sate their magical addiction, to wean themselves off the Well's potent energies."
He described the different paths taken by the various factions of the Highborne: "The night elves who settled on Mount Hyjal relied on the magic power of the second Well of Eternity, created by Illidan Stormrage. The High Elves, led by Dath'Remar Sunstrider, crossed the Great Sea to the east and established the Sunwell, a font of arcane energy that would sustain their people for millennia. And the Highborne of Suramar, under the guidance of Grand Magistrix Elisande, used the Eye of Aman'Thul, a powerful Titan artifact, as the foundation for their Nightwell, a beacon of arcane power that would shield their city from the Sundering's devastation."
Galen paused, his expression turning grim. 'Eldre'Thalas, in the original timeline, succumbed to darker means. They summoned and imprisoned demons, relying on the foul magic of these infernal creatures to satiate their addiction. But in this timeline, they have the Magic Spring, a source of pure and untainted arcane energy, thanks to my intervention.'
He then turned his attention back to the tragic fate of Shandaral. "Shandaral was just a frontier city in the north, far from the empire's ruling centers, largely unloved and uncared for by the powerful Highborne aristocracy.
Although they were spared the demonic slaughter that ravaged other Highborne cities, they were also left without a viable solution to their growing magical addiction."
In the beginning, Galen explained, the Highborne of Shandaral relied on the magical stones and enchanted tools stored within their city to get them through the initial, difficult days. But as their supplies dwindled, and their need for arcane energy grew more desperate, they were forced to look beyond their city walls for a more permanent solution.
"Later," Galen recounted, "when this group of desperate Highborne ventured out to explore the frozen wastes of Northrend, they stumbled upon a disturbing discovery. They found that the blue dragon whelps inhabiting the Borean Tundra possessed a unique ability: they could use arcane spells to crystallize wild animals, and then absorb the energy from these crystalline husks."
This macabre method of energy absorption, a desperate act of survival, gave the Highborne of Shandaral a glimmer of hope, a potential solution to their agonizing addiction.
"The high-ranking officials of Shandaral, driven by desperation, tried to negotiate with the blue dragonflight, hoping to exchange for this life-saving technology through diplomatic channels."
Galen's voice took on a note of bitterness. "Unfortunately, at that time, the blue dragonflight was teetering on the brink of extinction. Their numbers had been decimated by the Dragonmaw clan, and the surviving dragons were consumed by grief, fear, and paranoia. They were too busy trying to close themselves off from the world, to ensure the survival of their dwindling clan, to have any interest in the plight of Shandaral, or the Highborne's desperate pleas for aid."
As the crisis of magical addiction deepened within Shandaral, and the official channels for negotiation proved fruitless, the Highborne of Shandaral were left with no other choice but to resort to more drastic measures.
"With their backs against the wall, and their very survival at stake, the Highborne of Shandaral made a fateful decision. They chose to infiltrate the Nexus, the blue dragonflight's heavily guarded lair, and steal this forbidden crystallization technology."
Galen's expression darkened. "This theft, this desperate act of survival, would have dire consequences, setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the city's destruction and the creation of this twisted, crystalline forest."