Lore Musings: Old Gods

Ah, the old gods. one of the most mysterious groups in the lore of Warcraft, even more so than the titans in my opinion. The old gods are one of the tings every lore nerd tries to wrap their head around. Currently the "Star Theory" is some what prevalent. The theory itself is intriguing, for me, in a sense the prisons of old gods rest at 5 points on azeroth and if you connect all of the point it creates a star with the maelstrom at the center. Now like all hypothesi and speculation there are flaws. Of note two of the points, Ahn'Qiraj and Ulduar are the only one with confirmed old gods. Of the two only one is actually a prison (Ulduar). However the theory has some interesting threads to be untangled.

1. Two points possess know old god's, Ulduar in Northrend and Ahn'Qiraj in Southern Kalimdor.
2. A third possess a probable old god, the Master's Glaive in Northern Kalimdor.
3. The other two points are places of noted points in lore. Lorderon, Tirisfal is noted for to have cause similar effect as seen in Northrend saronite mines in the Founding of Quel'Thalas. Southern Azeroth, locations of Kharazhan and Duskwood are points with magical and maddening effects associated with them.

Now here's where my own speculation comes into play.

• Near each of these points is a great tree (Ashenvale, Feralas, Hinterlands, Duskwood, and Crystalsong Forest), four of which contain portals to the emerald dream, the fifth is located in Northrend and was added to the game at a point where blizzard has moved away from world bosses. Each of these could be strategic access point for green flight to quickly reach the points from while monitoring them from the Emerald Dream.
• Tirisfal and Kharazhan are both locations associated with the Guardians thus marking them of significance magically.
• Two conflicting statements say that either three of four old gods were imprisoned by the titans, however if one follows the four prisoner model, it could be that like Frostmourne kept the Lich King locked away, until Arthas claimed it, the same could be done by the Master's Glaive, it even could have been enchanted to become a magical prison all it's own.
• Near the locations of the two confirmed old gods are homes of dragon flights, Caverns of Time (Bronze) in Tanaris and Nexus (Blue) in Borean Tundra. Red, Green, and Black flight homes are unknown at the moment, and could be located near the other three points.
• Moonglade is located near a Great Tree and Master's Glaive, it remained untouched by the Legion's first invasion even though nearby felwood was completely corrupted, and was chosen as the place for druids to enter the emerald dream. Considering the connection it could correspond to the home of the greenflight within the emerald dream. Close proximity to the dream would remove the need for portals and make it easier for druid to enter. Assuming this only red and black locations are missing with two possible old god locations.
• We know that the Titans knew they could not kill the old gods, that being said we are told C'thun was assumed to be dead. Knowing this we cannot assume the titans didn't know where he was. The Bronze Flight could have been placed nearby to keep watch on the supposed dead old god, the same can be said at the master's glaive.
• Like Ragnaros, Hakkar the Soulflayer is said to be and old god. Since Trolls are presumably a non-titanic race (i.e. not Human/Vrykul, Dwarf, or Gnome) and have worshiped Loa for most of their history Loa spirits are probably nearly as old as Elemental Lords, and could easily be as powerful, while not being old gods.
• The old god in the maelstrom depicted in War of the Ancients does not have to have been there physically. We know that even in their prisons the power's of the old gods are still powerful. An old god of magic could have the power, amplified by the well, to manifest some sort of form near the well, so it is not necessary for an old god to be imprisoned near the well.
• If there was a sixth major old god the reason for placing him near the well would have to be to power his prison, otherwise it's a dangerous place for him to be located.
• The Dragonflights have been assaulted one by one, starting with the Blackflight, through them the blues. It is suspected that Nozdormu is in fact responsible for the Infinite Dragonflight, and the greens are under attack from the Nightmare. The first two are directly related to the Old Gods, the second two are likely to be the result of Old God influence. This could be systematic weakening of their prisons making it easier to free themselves.

Although there is still a lot of unknown info, we have yet to see much of the South Sea Isles and the Master's Glaive-esc Hiji island which could very well be a sixth old god, (six point star?). With the event's in Cataclysm damaging Darkshore so much we may very well see our next old god content patch located there, much the way Zul'Aman was placed in the Ghostlands. Of course similar points could be made in eastern kingdoms. Either way the only people who really have any real idea are Metzen and his team, but even that is subject to change.