Twisting Nether

Twisting Nether is an ethereal and chaotic realm of magic associated with demons, planar travel, and the spaces between worlds. It connects or lies between material worlds, such as Azeroth and Draenor, and may be traversed by sufficiently powerful magic. The Nether is also strongly associated with arcane and chaotic energies and has at times been understood by inhabitants of the worlds as a realm of spirits or a destination of the dead.

Nature

The Twisting Nether is described as an extra-dimensional, ethereal realm of chaotic magic connecting the worlds of the universe. Early accounts already associated it with supernatural powers and dangerous magical forces. Aegwynn described the Order of Tirisfal as defending mortals from the dark forces of the Nether, while Gul'dan learned to channel its energies and later projected himself into its depths.

The Nether is not governed by the ordinary physical laws of material worlds. One description calls it a formless place of magic and illusion, without fixed size or shape, in which fragments of worlds drift among prismatic clouds and twisting ribbons of energy. It is coterminous with other worlds and may serve as a gateway between them.

Scholars have attempted to place the Nether within broader models of the cosmos. Khadgar described material worlds like Azeroth and Draenor as distinct from the Twisting Nether, which he regarded as an interstitial plane surrounding the other planes. In this model the material worlds are isolated from one another by the Nether, rather than forming a single continuous material plane.

Travel between worlds

The Twisting Nether can be used as a medium for travel between worlds. In one description of planar magic, travel from one isolated material world to another requires passage through the Nether. Spiritual projection likewise sends the traveller into the Nether, from which another plane may subsequently be reached.

The destruction of Draenor demonstrated how closely material worlds could become entangled with the Nether. The magical catastrophe that tore the world apart left the remains floating within the Nether. Outland nevertheless remains distinguishable from the Nether itself.

The draenei art of riftwalking also uses the Twisting Nether for travel between worlds. Akh Z'ador travelled between Azeroth and Draenor by riftwalking; an interrupted crossing cast him through the Nether before he emerged on Azeroth. Prolonged exposure to the Nether's currents can exhaust the body, while an interrupted riftwalk can also damage the mind.

Other journeys distinguish the Nether from the worlds reached through it. One traveller received a fleeting glimpse of both the Twisting Nether and Outland, treating them as separate places encountered during the same journey.

Although the Nether may connect worlds, not every portal is known to traverse it. Portals and other magical breaches may connect distant places or worlds without their workings being described in sufficient detail to establish passage through the Nether.

Magic and energy

The Twisting Nether contains immense magical energies. Gul'dan learned to channel its power before he was able to project himself into its depths. Later descriptions call the Nether both pure chaos and pure energy, filled with invisible eddies of power that may be tapped by beings capable of doing so.

Material within the Nether may also absorb or conduct its energies. Fel stone is found within its physical spaces and acts as a conduit for its entropic power. On Azeroth, nexus crystals have been described as concentrated arcane essence of the Twisting Nether that seeped into weapons and other objects.

The Nether is therefore closely associated with arcane and chaotic power, though arcane energy is not exclusive to it. Arcane magic also exists within material worlds and their ley lines. Objects from beyond Azeroth may possess considerable arcane power without being explicitly described as products of the Nether.

Demons

The Twisting Nether is closely associated with demons and the Burning Legion. Ancient accounts describe innumerable demonic beings dwelling within it and entering material worlds from the Nether. Sargeras spent ages hunting such beings there before eventually freeing many of the demons whom he had previously imprisoned and gathering them into the Burning Legion.

The Burning Legion itself has been described as having its genesis in the Nether, although the Nether also contains beings unrelated to the Legion. Some demons and constructs draw directly upon Nether energies, while magical gates can be opened into the Nether to summon demonic servants.

Death and spirits

The Twisting Nether has long been associated with death and the spirits of the dead. Orcish ancestral belief held that dead elders watched over their descendants from a lost realm of chaos. Gul'dan initially doubted these traditions, but after entering the Twisting Nether he claimed to have discovered that the spirits of the dead lingered there, floating upon astral winds between the worlds. He subsequently taught other warlocks to commune with what he called the spirits of the Twisting Nether.

This association has persisted among later inhabitants of Azeroth. Some speak of the dead or dying as being claimed by the Nether. The spirit of Karl Glaymore, for example, felt the Nether claiming the lingering essence of his spirit as he prepared to depart the world.

The Twisting Nether is not, however, universally established as the sole destination of the dead. The ultimate fate of deceased spirits has remained a matter of uncertainty among the priests and philosophers of Azeroth. One widespread belief held that the dead remained upon the material world in an immaterial state, while other traditions and individual experiences associated them directly with the Nether. The relationship between the Nether and the afterlife therefore remains imperfectly understood.

Relationship with the Great Dark Beyond

The Great Dark Beyond and the Twisting Nether are closely connected, but are not consistently described as the same place. One early cosmological account describes innumerable worlds scattered throughout the Great Dark Beyond, while the Nether is an extra-dimensional realm connecting those worlds.

The distinction is also apparent in accounts of the War of the Ancients. The reckless use of magic around the Well of Eternity sent waves of energy outward into the Great Dark Beyond; those energies then streamed into the Twisting Nether, where they attracted the attention of Sargeras.

Older terminology was not always used with strict precision. Inhabitants of the worlds have at times used the Nether more broadly for the supernatural or cosmic beyond. Nevertheless, descriptions that distinguish material worlds, the Great Dark Beyond, and the Twisting Nether indicate that the terms need not be synonymous.