Having basked in the glorious glory of the V-07-TR-0N we passed through the Gate of the Keepers and entered the Descent into Madness. Glittering stars and a sense of otherworldliness greeted us, soon to be replaced by the draught coming from bottom of the path we were following. Having climbed down we found ourselves overlooking a large room and at the very back towering above all else, the Faceless General Vezax. Flanked by Faceless Minions, he wasn't however our most immediate concern. We slowly but securely made our way through his worshippers, whilst also battling the General's bodyguards that he ordered to exterminate us. Our resilience saw us through it, and soon the room was littered with the bodies of these pawns.
The challenge however was just about to begin. Our first attempt made us realize that the General was anything but ordinary. By a large margin he was the hardest hitting encounter we'd experienced so far, but his Aura of Despair further complicated the fight. As such this would be one big race between our DPS output and the mana-pools of our healers. It took several tries before we saw some progress but as hoped, we soon got the hang of it. The ranged classes adapted to Shadow Crashes as well as managing the Saronite Vapors. This was harmonised with team melee also reliably interrupting his casts, and we eventually downed the foul creature in a triumphant battle.
With the General's body lying dead on the floor the large stone double doors opened and a short path led further down the Descent into Madness. Rumours had been heard of the Old God of Death being imprisoned here, but when we got to the bottom all we saw was Sara. We had heard her screams as we made our way through Ulduar, but something seemed out of place - circling Sara were four green clouds. We were poised to strike, but before we did we asked for the assistance of the Keepers we had freed. Their aid would be invaluable for our success, and graciously they lended their support through enhancing our skills, and providing various beneficial abilities. Confident we approached Sara, but immediately the clouds turned bright and soon Faceless Minions were pouring out and overwhelming the raid.
Recovering, we spent some initial time getting to terms with the situation, gaining the awareness required to overcome the phase. Unfortunately this was only the beginning. As we killed the last of the Faceless Ones, from below our feets emerged the Old God of Death himself covered in a protective membrane, who immediately began attacking us with his tentacles whilst mocking our self-confidence for even thinking we stood a chance against him. Constantly warding our mind from his mental attacks, and clearing our mind with the help of Freya's Sanity Wells when need be, Once again we were forced to divide our raid.
Although Yogg-Saron himself might have been immune, portals leading to his brain opened allowing a small number of people to enter the mind of the god himself, shatter his illusions, and destroy his brain. Whilst this took place the team that remained on the surface fought off the tentacles attempting to overwhelm us. Combined raid-effort was essential for this phase - Team Portal needed to stun the brain by shattering the illusion as fast as possible, and the top team needed to make sure the majority of tentacles were kept under control and killed while the brain was being attacked. However with perseverance we brought him down to a mere third of his strength, but the old god was far from finished. Immediately upon Team Portal being ejected from the brain, powerful Faceless Ones again began phasing in and attacking the group. Only Thorim could land the finishing blow on these near-immortal beasts. On the second attempt of reaching this phase we finally killed the very core of the nightmares Brann first spoke of months ago.
The horrors of Ulduar are gone. Yet our attention has not diminished. New rumours have begun surfacing about an extra-terrestial entity who can only be fought after we've proven our worth by fighting the Keepers before they destroy their sigils, focus points of their powers. No doubt this will be another challenge... and one we welcome.