Ysera, the green Dragon Aspect, was charged
with the protection of the Emerald Dream, but also watched over Azeroth. To the
druids, she was known as the "mother" of Cenarius, but since she is a
dragon, this is not literal.
Eonar the titan blessed Alexstrasza's
younger sister, the lithe green dragon Ysera, with a portion of nature's
influence. Ysera fell into an eternal trance, bound to the waking Dream of
Creation. Known as the Dreamer, she would watch over the growing wilds of the
world from her verdant realm, the Emerald Dream.
Ysera was one of the Dragon Aspects that
gave some of her power to the Demon Soul, not knowing Neltharion would betray
the Aspects.
After the War of the Ancients, Alexstrasza
planted a magical acorn from the Mother Tree G'Hanir within the second Well of
Eternity, created by Illidan. The Tree grew large till it reached the heavens
and was crowned Nordrassil. Ysera enchanted the tree so that it would be bound
to the Emerald Dream.
Biography
You are bound to the waking Dream of
Creation. Nature is your realm, and all things have caught glimpses of the
Emerald Dream when they sleep. You see them all, Ysera. And they see you,
though they may not know it. Like the Life-Binder, you touch all living beings,
and sing to them the songs of creation and interconnectedness. - Blessing of
the Green Aspect, given by Eonar
Ysera is green, and her skin glitters with
countless emeralds for scales. Her physical form is ghostly, ethereal, like
watching a living dream or vision. The Emerald Dream is a place where all
living beings dream when sleeping. It is a place of where sentient beings have
dreams of hope, and faith for a better tomorrow. From the Emerald Dream, Ysera
can observe all lesser races. Her eyes are always closed, although you can see
her pupils move constantly below her eyelids as if watching many dreams at
once.
There are only a few recorded moments in
history where Ysera has opened her eyes. When she does, a person can see eyes
of many colors, like a rainbow. The eyes of every sentient creature can be seen
at once through her eyes. Ysera opened her eyes during the War of the Ancients
after seeing Malorne dead, and again when addressing Malfurion Stormrage on his
druidic prowess. She opened them another time during the Second War, before
Krasus, when he tried to convince her to help free Alexstrasza. Ysera also
opened her eyes after she regained her powers during the fight against
Deathwing. Ysera fought alongside the other Dragon Aspects against the evil of
Deathwing while Rhonin destroyed the Demon Soul. She regained her full powers
once the Demon Soul was destroyed. (This story is told in the novel Day of the
Dragon.)
She has been silent since the appearance of
the Emerald Nightmare, and may be in danger, and might be corrupted, which
would explain why she wrongly commanded the emerald Owls at the Emerald
Dragonshrine.
Appearance
and abilities
Ysera can assume the form of a female from
any race, which she chooses depending on whom she is talking to. Often she
wears a dress of emerald green, emerald jewellery, and has emerald-green hair.
Ysera avoids and dislikes combat,
especially in her realm. When angered, she is terrible, paranoid and impulsive.
She keeps herself isolated in the Eye of Ysera within the Emerald Dream, and is
rarely seen in the real world. When she does visit the living plane, she
shapeshifts into a humanoid form, covered by a green hood, and her eyes are
always closed.
When in combat, she attacks with her
greenish breath to put her opponents to sleep, and rarely strikes to kill. She
prefers to neutralize her enemies and banish them away from her realm.
Ysera can travel from mind to mind to
travel anywhere she wishes by entering the dreams of any living being sleeping.
She may enter the dreams of a target to communicate with or warn the sleeping
creature. Ysera has the ability to planeshift between the real world and the
Emerald Dream.
Against
the Nightmare Lord
Following the defeat of the Lich King, the
situation in the Emerald Dream became even direr, as the insidious Nightmare
Lord unfolded his master plan to enslave Azeroth. Ysera led the green dragons,
ancients and druids against the Nightmare. Ysera was captured by the Nightmare
Lord while assisting Tyrande Whisperwind and Thura in freeing Malfurion
Stormrage. The Aspect remained imprisoned within the Eye of Ysera for most of
the remainder of the crisis, working with Lucan Foxblood to assist Malfurion in
stopping the Nightmare. Ysera was freed again by her consort Eranikus, who sacrificed
himself to free her. Ysera was forced to leave the remainder of the battle to
Malfurion, who was ultimately successful in stopping Xavius and largely halting
the Nightmare. Ysera, with Alextrasza, later presided over the long-awaited
wedding of Malfurion and Tyrande, and gave her blessing to Teldrassil, which
she had withheld when the tree was first made.
In
World of Warcraft
Until recently, Ysera was the only Aspect
whose current activities were known; she was in the Emerald Dream coordinating
the battle against the mysterious Emerald Nightmare, along with Malfurion and
Cenarius.
In
Wrath of the Lich King
Ysera appeared at the Emerald Dragonshrine
in Dragonblight. She used a generic green dragon model, though this was simply
a placeholder.
Recently, Nishera the Garden Keeper asked
Ysera for help against the Scourge — who were raising frost wyrms at the other
dragonshrines. Instead, Ysera, affected by the Nightmare, commanded the
defenders of the Emerald Dragonshrine to attack anyone not of the green dragonflight.
Ulduar
During the battle against Yogg-Saron in
Ulduar, Ysera appears in night-elf form, along with the other Aspects, during a
flashback of the creation of the Dragon Soul, ten thousand years earlier. Oddly
enough, Ysera's eyes are open in the vision, the reverse of her usual habit;
they are also blue, a change from both Ysera's rainbow/green and the night elf
norm of silver or gold.
In
Cataclysm
Ysera helped Malfurion Stormrage and Hamuul
Runetotem to protect Mount Hyjal and Nordrassil, including doing battle with
Ragnaros. It is also interesting to note that her eyes are open. While the
reason behind this is not known, Alex Afrasiabi confirmed that this is
intentional. She was also given a new humanoid model based on the ones used by
Sylvanas and Alexstrasza. Like them, her head is unique, while their bodies are
similar. Her animations as a result are also based on High/Blood Elves, despite
taking a night elven guise.
Depending on how far along one is with the
Mount Hyjal quests, Ysera can not only be found at Nordrassil[62, 24], but also
at the Gates of Sothann[72, 74].
In
Legion
Cenarius slowly fell to the Emerald
Nightmare, Ysera tried to find a cure for him, but she herself was corrupted by
Xavius into a dragon of Nightmare. Together, Ysera and Xavius captured
Malfurion Stormrage. When hearing this, Tyrande rushed to save her husband, but
Xavius told her that she must choose between spending Furion's last moments
with him, or to return to Temple of Elune in order to defend it from Ysera and her
forces. Tyrande choose to defend the temple, during the attack, Ysera was
killed. Ysera can later be found in ghost form in the Emerald Dream after
Xavius is defeated.
Quotes
"You slip quicker and quicker toward
the final rest, brave one. Is there something you would ask of me before that
happens?"
"Perhaps The Creators should have made
you Father of Life instead of Guardian of Magic, Malygos!"
"Brothers they may not in blood, but
they are truly brothers in nature." (refering Malygos and Neltharion)
"Mention not that one! He is one whose
dreams I will never enter - again. He is one who is quite possibly more
terrible in his sleep than even waking."
"Deathwing it was who created the
Demon Soul, and for a good cause at the time, so we believed. Believed so much
that we did as he asked, imparted to it some measure of our power."
"That terrible glow! Should that
be?" - After Deathwing created the Dragon Soul.
"To the night elves, who have lost
their hopes, I give forth the ability to Dream again. To Dream, to Imagine, for
in that is the best hope of rebuilding, of recovering, of growing... And to
those who follow the path of one held special by me - and mine - I grant him
and the other druids to come the path into the Emerald Dream, where, even in
their deepest sleep, they may cross the world, learn from it, and draw upon its
own strength... the better to guide Kalimdor's health and safety throughout the
future." - Ysera's blessing upon Nordrassil at the end of the War of the
Ancients and the Great Sundering of Azeroth.
Embrace the dreaming, champions! It can
save you! -Ysera, aiding the raiding party by letting them use the dream to
their advantage during the fight against Xavius in the Rift of Aln.
Note
According to War of the Ancients, Ysera was
said to be the mother of Cenarius, and close friends of Malorne. It was later
revealed that Ysera was only the adoptive mother. Ysera taught Cenarius the
secrets of the Emerald Dream, forming a close bond with him. Many fans theorize
that Elune and Ysera are the same being, since they are shown as entities that
care for the lesser races with compassion. However, writer Richard A. Knaak has
confirmed in his book War of the Ancients Trilogy that they are NOT the same.
In recent times, Ysera's most trusted
lieutenants, Lethon, Emeriss, Taerar and Ysondre have been warped by a dark new
power within the Emerald Dream. Now these wayward sentinels have passed through
the Great Trees into Azeroth, intending to spread madness and terror throughout
the mortal kingdoms. Even the mightiest of adventurers would be well advised to
give the dragons a wide berth, or suffer the consequences of their misguided
wrath.
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