A “Short” Discussion of the Void
Parts to be Discussed:
A Brief Primer on the Void
Characteristics of the Void
“The Void and You” (races that have merged with the void and what that means)
The Void Dimension
The Shadow & the Light
A Brief Primer on the Void
According to Chronicle, at the very beginning of everything, there was only the Light. As the Light shifted and moved in great waves of cosmic motion, it inadvertently created pockets of cold nothingness. These pockets, absent of any Light whatsoever, gave birth to the Void, an entity of utter chaos and destruction [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume I].
At its core, the Void is a force that seeks to consume everything and destroy or enslave every soul in the universe [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 20]. Because the Void originated in a dimension outside of the physical realm, it is incredibly difficult for powerful Void beings to manifest on the plane of reality for extended periods of time [World of Warcraft, Chronicle Volume I, pg. 13]. Despite this, the Void has found a way to spread its influence unfettered through “maddening whispers” [Page: Whisper Gulch, NPC: C’thun Dialogue]. These whispers are quite invasive and hard to ignore, leading many a feeble mind to their doom [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 36, Quest: Arkhaan’s Peril, NPC: Magister Umbric Dialogue].
Void and Shadow are interchangeable terms [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume I].
Characteristics of the Void
As opposed to the Light, which seeks one path and shuns all others as lies, the Void seeks every possible path, seeing them all as truth [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 37, NPC: Magister Umbric Dialogue, Twitter: Steve Danuser].
It’s possible that mortals succumb to madness when exposed to the Void’s whispers because they are unable to discern what is truth and what is falsehood. Just as the Void believes every path is a true one, mortals believe (or want to believe) that everything the Void is telling them is true. This misconception leads mortals down paths of depravity and betrayal, especially when motivated by the Void’s desire to destroy everything. Alleria Windrunner, however, is able to maintain her sanity in part because she can sift out the lies and distinguish between the Void’s memories, plans, and desires [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 37, Comic: Three Sisters, pg. 10].
Similar to how the Light views the Void as a malevolent force that must be stopped, the Void likewise considers the Light a corruptive entity. A couple paragraphs from “A Thousand Years of War” describe this best:
“[Alleria] saw the Light moving through the cosmos like a ravenous predator. She saw it touch the minds of Azeroth's mortals—a touch that corrupted them forever. She saw generations live and die in invisible chains, bound to a force that granted them fleeting moments of peace in exchange for absolute obedience.
She saw war. She saw the forces of the Light striking back against the Void. She saw darkened worlds burning in holy fire. She saw millions of creatures encased in luminous crystals the size of mountains, sustained by the Light and unable to die. Warriors of the Light were monsters, corrupting and consuming everything they touched” [pg. 37].
The Void does not understand the bonds between mortals and that there are some things that cannot be corrupted [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 38].
The Void and You
Although many have succumbed to the Void, some of strong mind have achieved mastery over the shadow without falling prey to it. Most prominent are the void elves and void ethereals, although one Broken was successfully infused with void without falling to madness [Dungeon Journal: Seat of the Triumvirate: Zuraal the Ascended].
There are two groups of void ethereals: the Ethereum in Netherstorm and the Shadowguard on Argus. The former manipulated void energy in the Naaru manaforges and bonded it with their own energy, turning them into a creature called a nexus-stalker [Quest: Potential for Brain Damage = High]. It is not specified how the Shadowguard become void ethereals except that they succumbed to the void and do not have control over it in the way that Locus-Walker or Alleria do [Quest: Shadowguard Incursion, Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 19-20].
Although it may not seem like it, there is a marked difference between void users and void beings. Void elves and void ethereals have merged with the void and become void beings, whereas shadow priests only wield the void, making them void users. For more about this, there is a very good post here covering the distinction, however I will leave you with one more thing to consider: a line from the “A Thousand Years of War” story reads, “But now Turalyon was not simply a wielder of the light; he had become one with it, like most of them” [pg. 17]. Blood elf shadow priests, for example, are only wielders of shadow and not one with the void in the sense that Alleria and the void elves are.
(Sidenote: As a point of interest, some night elf shadow priests draw their shadow powers from a belief in “the dark side of the moon” and that “the light of the moon casts a shadow” [TCG: Anduros Silversong, TCG: Kintara Wintermoon].)
The Void Dimension
The PC has entered the Void, the dimension where the Void Lords and void beings exist, multiple times [Quest: Into the Void, Quest: Throwing Shade]. The Void dimension is described as a place of “nothing” with no light, sound, or ground, although it is represented very differently in-game [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 34, Twitter: Jeremy Feasel]. In fact, when one enters the Void dimension in-game, they seem to enter a muted mirror version of Azeroth full of void creatures (similar to the Emerald Dream) [Quest: Into the Void, Quest: Throwing Shade]. It is unclear if the Void is really meant to be a scape of “nothingness” or if it somehow operates similar to the Twisting Nether in that it can create strange reflections of real worlds [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 7].
The Shadow & The Light
Even though the Light once existed as the only being in the cosmos, it has been said many times that the Void and Light cannot exist without each other [Quest: What the Soul Sees]. Conversely, it has also been said that the Void and Light cannot exist together because they are antithetical in nature [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 20, 28, 29].
Very few mortals use both the Light and Shadow, preferring instead to give in to the powers of one over the other. Despite this, the Light and Shadow are incredibly powerful forces when used in concert because they are the two very base cosmic forces of the universe. As Locus-Walker pointed out in his lessons to Alleria, neither the Light nor the Shadow alone are responsible for determining destiny. One cannot use just the Void or Light to tell the future accurately, but Alleria, with her knowledge of and mastery over both, saw visions of the future that neither force alone could have foretold. It is this unique foresight which enabled her to see that the Void was lying to her [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 36-37].
Even Natalie Seline acknowledged the power one would have using both the Light and Shadow together. For a time, those under her guidance practiced both forms of magic, however the pull of the Void was too much, and they eventually forsook the Light altogether [Object: Word of the Conclave, Part Nine, Part Ten].