fter the Explorer’s League’s first foray into the mouth of the ancient Titan stronghold of Ulduar, many brave souls have marched into the cavernous corridors of the unfathomable structure. All pouring bravely towards the ruptured prison that detains the old god Yogg-Saron and the hope of containing this horror before it is truly free to grasp at the minds of every soul in Azeroth. Despite this vital military action, several looming questions remain about the Titans themselves; where did they come from, where did they go, how did they construct all that they did, and perhaps most intriguing of all, what was their purpose upon our world. Scholars have and will continue to hotly debate these puzzles, but the Explorer’s League is trying to find as many solid solutions to these matters; doing it while a pitched battle rages about them and with only minimal support. These questions though are worth the risks involved.

Several days ago I was once again part of an exploratory force in the regions surrounding the Ulduar complex. Led by esteemed explorer and theorist Taminak Silverthorn, a handful of armed pioneers set out into the area to bring down to size the iron dwarf servants of Loken and relieve the vastly outnumbered Earthen forces defending the breeched structures of The Maker’s Terrace as best they could. Silverthorn also had reliable information that several relics from the days of the Titans could be recovered for later examination.

Assembling on a wind-swept gantry which craned out over a sheer drop of hundreds of feet down the Storm Peaks, we assembled and separated into two forces, one led by Silverthorn, the other by Rynar, who then swept onto the field towards two objectives. Silverthorn’s force (in which I was placed) was to cut a path through the iron dwarves while Rynar’s detachment was to slay a renegade frost giant and recover from him an artefact. While Rynar’s forces assailed the giant, the rest of us faced a near-insurmountable wall of iron dwarves and their titanic constructs.

As each group of iron dwarves fell to sword and fire, more arrived from beneath the ground via fleets of metal mole-machines. Progress was slow, and much tougher than expected. At one point it seemed the sheer numbers pitched against us, even supported by the Earthen, would be too much. A relief force of Earthen troopers arrived in the nick of time to boost the charge and we hammered through.

Once the path was cleared, we left the bulk of the dwarves’ Earthen kin behind to hold back yet another wave of iron dwarf reinforcements. Our rear defended, we descended a great staircase that could only have suited those of the proportions of the Titans themselves. Movement here slowed to a crawl as we contended with the mighty steps like mountainclimbers at a rock face. Halfway down we were met by a towering elemental guardian of icy, roaring winds. The battle was met, and the beast was felled, only to spring back to life as we examined the remains. The creature had to be beaten back a second time before we could move on.

The next artefact lay in an area expected to be only thinly patrolled by the enemy.  A handful of explorers led by Silverthorn’s assistant Fibelrod were cut off by more of the mole machines, and several of us charged to the rescue. While the skirmish was by no means one-sided, it became so when Rynar’s soldiers caught up with us and caught the iron dwarves on their rear flank. The second relic recovered, we once more began down the giant staircase towards the final relic.

Our path seemed blocked by a single construct, which was dispatched in short order. Reaching the bottom of the staircase the way ahead seemed clear. Then with a thunderous booming of feet the size of horsecarts another gigantic creature – this time an iron golem – stormed towards us, its attack bolstered by two wings of iron dwarves that swept in at our sides. Our forces separated, a handful of the strongest warriors stood their ground to battle the massive monster, while the rest of us broke left and right to meet the iron dwarves head on. The Irons faltered as soon as they saw their mighty champion tumble to the ground in pieces and we cut through them in swathes until we stood on a promontory overlooking the Maker’s Library.

Reaching the depository of Mimiron’s knowledge, we were attacked by its guardians, the ancient mechagnomes; eerie mechanical beings almost identical to gnomes save in their entirely engineered construction. Their numbers however were few in comparison to the iron dwarves, so they were dispatched in short order. Their enigmatic remains were examined by both myself and fellow tinker Noriam, and we recovered numerous parts for later examination.

On entering the library proper, a malfunctioning mechagnome greeted us. Thinking us to be its returned master Mimiron it allowed us access to an array of consoles that comprised the knowledge of the construction-master of the Titan’s reign. Silverthorn had however prepared for such an eventuality and had constructed a device he hoped would mimic the knowledge-disks often encountered in Titan technology. The disk was placed in the console and there was an apparent transference of knowledge. The disk safely recovered, it was stowed away for later examination and hopeful translation by the Explorer’s League.

Our task completed, we prepared to leave. It seemed however that there was no way forward. As we pondered the solution, it arrived on swift wings in the guise of Gedric Havencrest, brother of Theramore Marine commander Coragon Havencrest. Having surveyed the area from the air on his approach, he had spotted a way down that involved us leaping into some huge snowdrifts and sliding down to a safe path below. Scooting down to the path, we marched through a great valley and slipped safely past an iron dwarf camp that held within it a construct that dwarfed everything we had seen so far; a monster taller than the walls of Stormwind itself! The thing was however inert; the Irons still at work at its construction. Its position was noted and would later be communicated to the Earthen so they could prepare for its awakening or even destroy it before it was completed. That would, however, be a battle for another day. We continued onward towards the sanctuary of the goblin outpost of K3, cold, bloody and exhausted, but our mission a success.

The recovered objects – a hammer, a tablet and a Titan disk – and the copied library data are now in the hands of the Explorer’s League. The knowledge retrieved from these artefacts will only act to bolster our understanding of the enigmatic Titans and the methods they employed in their hypothesized construction of Azeroth as we understand it. While the military campaign within the Ulduar complex rages, a smaller battle for comprehension continues largely unseen but no less important. These missions are often undermanned and only armed lightly, yet they strive on. For with an understanding of the Titans, there is surely nothing that we cannot achieve in our world.