Opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj

The opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj was a one-time, server-wide event introduced in patch 1.9 in January 2006. Before the two Ahn'Qiraj raids could open on a realm, its Alliance and Horde players had to stockpile huge amounts of war supplies, and one player had to assemble the Scepter of the Shifting Sands through a long quest chain and ring the Scarab Gong. The gong started a ten-hour war in Silithus, and everyone who rang it in that window became a Scarab Lord. No other event in the original game asked a whole realm to work toward one goal.

Background

In the game's lore, the Scarab Wall in southern Silithus was raised at the end of the War of the Shifting Sands to seal the insectoid qiraji and their master, the Old God C'Thun, inside Ahn'Qiraj. The bronze dragon Anachronos sealed the wall with the Scepter of the Shifting Sands, which was later shattered. Opening the gates meant rebuilding the scepter and preparing the armies of Azeroth for what came out.

The war effort

Patch 1.9 put war effort collectors in the Military Ward of Ironforge and the Valley of Spirits in Orgrimmar. Players turned in raw materials, food and bandages through quests such as [[forever:quest:8492]] and [[forever:quest:8549]], earning Commendation Signets in return. The faction commanders, [[forever:npc:15701]] for the Alliance and [[forever:npc:15700]] for the Horde, oversaw the effort, and ambassadors in each city ([[forever:npc:15458]] in Orgrimmar, [[forever:npc:15539]] in Ironforge) reported on the other side's progress.

The totals were large, and each faction had its own list on top of a shared one. Both factions had to supply, among other things:

Faction-specific lists added items like 96,000 [Peacebloom] for the Horde and 800,000 Linen Bandages for the Alliance. On many realms the collection took months. Once both factions finished, the supplies were shipped to Silithus over five days.

The Scepter of the Shifting Sands

While the realm gathered supplies, a top raiding guild worked on the scepter. The chain led through [[forever:quest:8519]] and [[forever:quest:8555]], in which Anachronos explains how the dragons Vaelastrasz, Azuregos and Eranikus were charged with guarding the scepter and each met a tragic end.

The scepter's three pieces each had their own long questline:

• Red shard: in [[forever:quest:8730]], the dying Vaelastrasz reveals that Nefarius holds the shard, and the raid has to kill Nefarian in Blackwing Lair against the clock.
• Blue shard: in [[forever:quest:8729]], players summon the giant sea creature Maws off the coast of Azshara and defeat it.
• Green shard: in [[forever:quest:8736]], players defend Nighthaven in Moonglade from the corrupted dragon Eranikus without killing him, so that he can be redeemed.

Parts of the chain required high reputation and many raid clears, so each faction on a realm usually produced only one scepter holder.

The gong and the ten-hour war

When the war effort was complete, the scepter holder could ring the Scarab Gong in front of the gates by completing [[forever:quest:8743]]. The gong opened the Scarab Wall and started a ten-hour war across Silithus. [[forever:npc:15341]] and armies of qiraji and anubisath poured out, and NPC forces from both factions joined the players. After about nine hours the defenders gathered at Cenarion Hold and marched to the Scarab Wall, led by High Overlord Saurfang, for a final battle of roughly an hour.

Anyone who completed Bang a Gong! during those ten hours received the title Scarab Lord and the Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal, a black qiraji battle tank mount that works everywhere, unlike the other qiraji crystals that only work inside the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. After the ten hours ended, neither the title nor the mount could be earned on that realm again. After the war, scepter holders could also turn in [[forever:quest:8745]] to [[forever:npc:15693]] for a reward.

The first realm to open its gates was Medivh (US) in January 2006. Sources give both January 22 and January 23.

What opened

Behind the gates were two raids: the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, a 20-player raid ending with [[forever:npc:15339]], and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, a 40-player raid ending with [[forever:npc:15727]].

Later history

• In February 2009, Blizzard announced that the gates would open automatically on all new realms; Nesingwary (US) was the first realm opened that way, on February 11, 2009.
• The Cataclysm expansion in 2010 removed the event entirely, and the gates now stand open on every realm.
• In World of Warcraft Classic, the war effort began with content phase 5 on July 7, 2020, and each realm opened its gates when its war effort was done, recreating the event.

Sources

• Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, Warcraft Wiki
• Scarab Gong, Warcraft Wiki
• World of Warcraft: Classic, Warcraft Wiki (content phases)
• Bang a Gong!, Warcraft Wiki