Does the corruption of different Old Gods manifest in different ways? If so, how? How might Yogg-Saron drive you mad in comparison to say C'Thun? Do shadow priests feel any sort of 'affinity' for different Old Gods' forms of corruption? Are they stronger or weaker against certain Void creatures (not just due to the creature's power level), or is it a flat-plane sort of deal?
The Old Gods have different ways of corrupting mortals, the difference between these two is that while both of them seed doubt and fear into your mind, C’Thun drives one towards self-destruction, but Yogg-Saron drives you to destroy others.
C’Thun preaches that the reality around you is essentially false, that those you love do not really care, and that your strengths are futile. You’re already dead, they will abandon you, hope is an illusion, the end is inevitable. This manifests as a crippling anxiety to those who are prolonged to it far too long, and the hopelessness and nihilism builds up, and the only way to rid yourself of such torment is to tear yourself apart until there is no more to feel of it.
Yogg-Saron says essentially the same things, but the way he words them are different. They’re more vindictive. Things are hopeless – and you need to do something about it. “Let hatred and rage guide your blows!” He transforms your doubts and weaknesses and madness into fury, and in the peak of insanity by his word, everything, everyone, even those closest and most loved and cherished by you, are your enemy. He refers to himself as the God of Death, and clearly, his solution is to kill and destroy, and he drives you to become a tool in such a force. You lose yourself to the madness of bloodlust and rage with this one, and cause a chain of chaotic reactions among those around you.
Yogg-Saron is similar to Y’Shaarj in this sense, in which your outburst is that of destruction, but Yogg-Saron is far more unhinged and chaotic, while Y’Shaarj is more controlled and tempered, which is probably why he was the most powerful of the four. N’Zoth is the weakest, and he’s very straight forward: “y’all are weak” basically. More taunting, not as corrupting IMHO.
That said, it’s different for every priest on how they handle the whispers. With a weak will, it’s easy to cave into the feelings of hopelessness, and spiral down on a path of destruction, but some, more excelled priests, can instead gain strength from them.
To weaponize C’Thun’s words, you take this “everything is meaningless” mentality, warp it within your power and will, and essentially bounce back with “but only meaningless for my enemies”. Those Shadows are more suffocating in power, and the pain inflicted by it is harder to recover from, as it leaks the words of hell into the victim’s minds.
Yogg-Saron’s words, though, are the easiest, and most “fun” to twist and harness. Priests will allow themselves, just a little bit, to taste the madness, to feel the hunger for blood and chaos in an effort to further their own power and annihilate their enemies. The Shadows manifest as searing, burning energy, pain and discord wrought upon the victims, with nightmares enhanced, and a maddening laughter in the corners of your mind, echoing faintly.
Of course, weaker willed priests have no right to wield such power, and will fall ill to these whispers. I personally would argue in this case that shadowpriests may be stronger than the void elves, on the account that they are strengthened by ignoring the whispers and not caving in, whereas the void elves simply do not hear the whispers at all. In exchange, they’re a window to the source of dark energy itself, whereas shadowpriests tap only at the front gates of its power, cautious in its use.
To non-shadow users, fighting creatures of the Void is difficult, as you’re not used to hearing such whispers, not used to being near such horrible energies, and they often leave victims shaken up, regardless if they destroyed the fiends. Shadowpriests have the advantage in that they’re familiar with the power and feel, and can easily overcome it without too much consequence. Like fighting fire with fire, except, like, a firebender fighting a building on fire. You can snuff it out because you know the fire well and can bend it, while others are more prone to being burned.
So long as a priest remains strong-willed, and only either sticks to using purely Shadow magic, or only dabbles in the Void in small doses, they will remain in power.
origamiaround
blakekathryn
vaporwave
pixelskylines
areudirty
dailybridgerton
