The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Last week we talked about the Old Gods, both ones we know as of right now and ones we can speculate upon come the Cataclysm. This week, we turn an unblinking gaze upon the master of unblinking gazes, the Old God that has arguably the most direct impact upon all of Azeroth. Not only did it indirectly create the nerubians and directly altered the qiraji into their modern form, not only did it battle a Titan to a standstill, but its connection to the Twilight's Hammer and their demented leader Cho'gall means that even during the upcoming Cataclysm, the consequences of its actions are unfolding.

Most interestingly, this Old God did not even have a name until its own creations gave it one.

The Prophecy of C'Thun The Old God would create avatars from the Silithid in its own image. These avatars were to be known as Qiraji. Sentient and with purpose, the Qiraji would name their creator: C'Thun was born... For many thousands of years the Qiraji worked feverishly to build a force capable of laying waste to the world that would betray their god. The great fortress city of Ahn'Qiraj was created to house their growing armies and prepare for the coming of C'Thun.

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The history of C'Thun on Azeroth dates back to before it had a name or an army of arthropod followers. One of several of its kind to either discover or create Azeroth (sources argue, although it's telling that most sources that claim the creation of Azeroth for the Old Gods tend to be, well, insane cultists for the Old Gods), it existed for countless millennia before the war with the titans, bending Azeroth's elementals to its will alongside its fellows and waging ceasless chaotic elemental war between proxy elemental lords for its own amusement.

It's difficult to tell how long this state of affairs continued or if it started before or after the titans' first efforts to shape Azeroth. Since the ancient troll empires had records of the titans, it is entirely possible that the titans came and left many times, perhaps in response to the Old Gods' machinations, as implied in the Curse of Flesh dialog.

What is known is that the titans and Old Gods eventually went to war over Azeroth and that the Old Gods lost. They had managed to infiltrate the world so thoroughly that it would have destroyed Azeroth to destroy them. While not entirely unwilling to unmake their creation (as the Algalon protocol would show), they were loath to do so unless it was a complete last resort. So instead, they imprisoned their enemies in the core of the very world they'd sought to dominate, fashioning prisons like Ulduar to hold them forever.

Well, all but one.

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