Primal Incarnates

The Primal Incarnates are ancient proto-dragons who refused the gift of the titans and stand opposed dragonkind, wishing to cleanse the world of the stain of the Pantheon. Analogous to the Aspects of the dragonflights, Raszageth the Storm-Eater, Iridikron the Stonescaled, Vyranoth the Frozenheart, and Fyrakk the Blazing lead a group of followers called the Primalists, who turned to the elements and became infused with their primal power.

Tensions arose between Primalists and dragonflights, eventually leading to a cataclysmic war that took place about 20,000 years ago. The dragons ultimately won and imprisoned Raszageth within the Froststone Vault in the Forbidden Reach, and the three others within the Vault of the Incarnates in Thaldraszus. This ancient, titanic prison is a raid in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

While the titans uplifted the Dragon Aspects and their dragonflights, a group of ancient proto-dragons refused their gift, believing that dragonkind should remain unchanged by Order magic and should instead choose to return to their roots and embrace their inherent elemental energies. Spurning the titans' interference, these rebels drank deep from the elemental powers of the planet and were reborn as the Primal Incarnates. Despite all the work that the Aspects and their dragonflights had accomplished since their creation, these "Primalist" proto-dragons demanded that Keeper Tyr be exiled from the dragons' new home. When the Aspects refused, it sowed the seeds of rebellion for the Primalists.

Iridikron was the one who discovered the method by which the proto-dragons could imbue themselves with elemental energies to become the Primal Incarnates, but he was not the first to do so. Fyrakk was the first to survive the process, and Iridikron then recruited Raszageth as the second without Fyrakk's consent. Iridikron was the third to become an Incarnate, after which he usurped control of the Primalists from Fyrakk. The final Incarnate to join was Vyranoth, who although she distrusted the titans, her friendship with Alexstrasza had convinced her to initially try and give the ordered dragons a chance despite her misgivings.

Neltharion was concerned about the festering schism between Primalists and dragonflights, but Alexstrasza dismissed his concerns, hoping to resolve the tensions through communication. Fearing conflict was coming, Neltharion created the dracthyr and prepared for war.

Neltharion didn't have enough time to perfect his creation. About 20,000 years ago Raszageth, the Storm-Eater, struck first at dragonkind by attacking the Forbidden Reach. With the Oathbinder broken, Neltharion lost control of the dracthyr, and resorted to submitting to the whispers of the Old Gods for the first time, using his newfound powers to banish Raszageth to the Froststone Vault. He then discarded the dracthyr and stashed them away in their creches where they were put in stasis indefinitely.

Vyranoth did not become an Incarnate until after Raszageth was imprisoned. Raszageth was her friend, and the news of her imprisonment combined with the revelation that the Aspects had been kidnapping proto-dragon eggs to infuse with Order magic, despite Alexstrasza promising Vyranoth that being ordered would never be forced on someone, were what finally convinced Vyranoth to join Iridikron.

A cataclysmic conflict ensued between Primalists and dragonflights known as the War of the Scaleborn. Vyranoth and Fyrakk were ever loyal to the Incarnate's ideals, but Iridikron truly embraced the war. At the end, he struck terrible bargains to keep their cause alive. Alexstrasza believes the other incarnates never knew the true depths of his depravity. Despite the Primalists' alliance with the djaradin to end the dragons' reign, the remaining Primal Incarnates were ultimately defeated, but Alexstrasza, having failed to restore peace between the two groups, still couldn't bear to kill them given they had once been as close as clutch-mates, and decided to imprison them instead, within the titanic Vault of the Incarnates.

20,000 years later, a group of Primalists, now visibly also consisting of mortal races having joined their cause, resurfaced and were led by Kurog Grimtotem to the Forbidden Reach where they freed Raszageth the Storm-Eater. She unleashed storms across the world's oceans, preventing travel to the Dragon Isles and indefinitely making the Reach inaccessible, and sent the Primalists to invade various points across the globe. She then set out to free her kin from the Vault of the Incarnates. The Aspects, realizing they would not be able to stop them after having given up their titan-gifted powers to defeat Deathwing, began searching for a way to get their powers back. Kalecgos also asked Khadgar to rally the mortal races against the oncoming threat.

After attacking the Ruby Life Pools and Vakthros, she succeeded in releasing her brethren from the Vault, but died in the process. Seeing how Raszageth's haste led to her downfall, Alexstrasza speculated that the Incarnates would retreat and gather their strengths first, and that Iridikron's mastery of the earth would harbor them in the meantime.

Fyrakk was eager to take revenge for their sister, but Iridikron did not want to rush in and believed they needed to even the scales with the Aspects first. The Incarnates adventured to the Forbidden Reach as the last echoes of Raszageth's storm faded, where they breached an ancient vault belonging to Neltharion and found a device that would give them the location of Zaralek Cavern, the Earth-Warder's secret underground. They had no interest in the laboratory of Aberrus itself, but in the molten fire that could be found below. Scalecommander Sarkareth and the Sundered Flame followed behind them secretly to claim Neltharion's legacy.

They found one of the hidden entry points to Zaralek right below Valdrakken, where they broke through the ground and sent Fyrakk down, blazing through the earth, to claim the elemental power below and wake the djaradin's Elders at the Zaqali Caldera.

• In an early pre-release interview, the Primal Incarnates were described as "followers of Galakrond" and "children of Galakrond [who believe that] dragons are the apex of creation [and] should be served by mortals, rather than the other way around." This has not been mentioned or alluded to since.
• The Incarnates started using visage forms after they saw ordered dragons start to use them to meet with mortals. But rather than do so to avoid scaring mortals as the ordered dragons did, the Incarnates made their elemental visages to move about enemy territory in smaller forms that would be harder to spot.