Stonetalon Mountains

The Stonetalon Mountains are a range of peaks that lie west of the Northern Barrens, south of Ashenvale, and north of Desolace. The mountains are traditionally the ancestral home of the harpies, but their numbers have dwindled with the turmoil in the region. Stonetalon Peak, the largest mountain in the range, has long been a sacred place for both the night elves and tauren. The night elves once maintained a barrow and a glade at the top, but the area has since come under attack by a sinister force. The mountains further south are less forested, although some sparse evergreens grow in certain spots, particularly the Greatwood Vale. Windshear Crag has been decimated by years of logging by various factions, leaving the air is filled with soot and spoiling the area's water with oil and waste. The night elves have several holds, while the tauren have a settlement in the centrally located Sun Rock Retreat and the Darkspear trolls have a village further south at Malaka'jin. The Horde and Alliance also have posts at various battlefronts throughout the mountains. The mountains are home to creatures such as kobolds, spiders, and eagles, while Charred Vale stretches out to the sea and holds several especially dangerous black dragons and elementals.

History
In ancient times, Elune blessed a Fountain of Health in Stonetalon Mountains.

The Third War
Stonetalon Mountains have traditionally been the area of Kalimdor where night elves and tauren coexist and forms a border between the two peoples. Stonetalon Peak has long been a sacred place for the two races and was historically the home of the immortal Oracle, the being who saw the strands of fate as they were woven by the Earth Mother. During the Third War, the mountains hosted human and orcish camps, and it was at Stonetalon Peak that the Alliance and the Horde temporarily united in order to fight the Burning Legion.

The area south Stonetalon Peak housed Razormane quilboar, a group of centaur, and a group of harpies who captured local wyverns and corrupted the fountain blessed by Elune.

World of Warcraft


According to Mor'rogal there is something evil under the mountains. The trolls of Malaka'jin sent Horde adventurers to strike at the keepers and dryads within the at the Stonetalon Peaks, the tauren of Sun Rock Retreat and the night elves of Stonetalon Peak sent adventurers to deal with the various threats within the region. Meanwhile Ziz Fizziks at Windshear Crag, aims to strike directly at the heart of Venture Company's local team — the leprous gnome Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle. And in a small camp nearby, Kaela Shadowspear and Gaxim Rustfizzle organize the Alliance's opposition in the rugged crags, with particular aims at the nearby goblin invaders and the monsters of the Charred Vale.

Cataclysm
After the coming of Deathwing wracked the whole of Azeroth, the Stonetalon Mountains were altered in several locations. The Charred Vale, while mostly restored by druidic efforts, received a large spire of lava jutting out its southern end. Stonetalon Peak came under attack by the Old Gods' forces, destroying the land, killing the wildlife and corrupting the Sons and Daughters of Cenarius. Meanwhile, Stonetalon also became a major theater of war in the Alliance-Horde war. Overlord Krom'gar showed the sheer brutality of Garrosh Hellscream's Horde, destroying a glade of innocent druids and students unaffiliated with the Alliance for suspicion of being allied with the Alliance. These events would foreshadow Garrosh's barbarous attack on Theramore Isle.

According to Elder Sareth'na there is an ancient evil in Stonetalon.

Traveler


The Charred Vale in the Stonetalon Mountains became a place for a MEGA event.

The Hidden lured and ambushed Aramar Thorne and his friends in the Northwatch Expedition Base Camp, leading to Aram's capture and the death of the dryad Taryndrella. Makasa Flintwill and the others buried her in the valley beneath the base camp. It grew into a big tree named Forever Tree. Almost a year later after the base camp ambush, Aram and his friends reunited at the tree, promising they would meet again annually. Makasa brought her friends to the Charred Vale's shore where her ship, the Dryad was docked and waiting for them to take on their next adventure.

Getting there
The normal questing experience for both factions guides them into Stonetalon through Talondeep Pass in the mountains in southwestern Ashenvale.

Geography
The Stonetalon Mountains lie between the forests of Ashenvale to the north and the bleak Desolace to the southwest. The highest peaks of the mountains are thickly forested with evergreens, though the forest thins with lower altitude. The logging of the Venture Company, the Horde, and the Alliance, has further thinned the forest, with clear cutting in and around Windshear Crag. The mountains boast Mirkfallon Lake, which historically was a nesting site for wyverns, but is now being dredged by goblins of the Horde. Battlescar Valley is a major battlefront between the Horde and Alliance. Charred Vale, once a lush and beautiful area, is now a desolate ruin full of fire elementals and black dragons.

There are no instanced dungeons nor PvP battlegrounds in the Stonetalon Mountains.

Maps and subregions


Topographic map of pre-Shattering Stonetalon Mountains

Flight paths from Windshear Hold

 * Stardust Spire, Ashenvale
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Mirkfallon Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Farwatcher's Glen, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Northwatch Expedition Base Camp, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Nijel's Point, Desolace

Flight paths from Northwatch Expedition Base Camp

 * Stardust Spire, Ashenvale
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Mirkfallon Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Farwatcher's Glen, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Windshear Hold, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Nijel's Point, Desolace

Flight paths from Mirkfallon Post

 * Windshear Hold, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Farwatcher's Glen, Stonetalon Mountains

Flight paths from Thal'darah Overlook

 * Lor'danel, Darkshore
 * Grove of the Ancients, Darkshore
 * Blackfathom Camp, Ashenvale
 * Astranaar, Ashenvale
 * Stardust Spire, Ashenvale
 * Windshear Hold, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Mirkfallon Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Farwatcher's Glen, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Northwatch Expedition Base Camp, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Nijel's Point, Desolace
 * Karnum's Glade, Desolace
 * Thargad's Camp, Desolace

Flight paths from Farwatcher's Glen

 * Windshear Hold, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Mirkfallon Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Farwatcher's Glen, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Northwatch Expedition Base Camp, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Nijel's Point, Desolace
 * Feathermoon, Feralas

Flight paths from Krom'gar Fortress

 * The Mor'Shan Ramparts, Ashenvale
 * Silverwind Refuge, Ashenvale
 * The Sludgewerks, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Cliffwalker Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Malaka'jin, Stonetalon Mountains

Flight paths from Sun Rock Retreat

 * Thunder Bluff
 * The Crossroads, Northern Barrens
 * Hellscream's Watch, Ashenvale
 * Zoram'gar Outpost, Ashenvale
 * Krom'gar Fortress, Stonetalon Mountains
 * The Sludgewerks, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Cliffwalker Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Malaka'jin, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Karnum's Glade, Desolace
 * Furien's Post, Desolace
 * Shadowprey Village, Desolace

Flight paths from Malaka'jin

 * Thunder Bluff
 * The Crossroads, Northern Barrens
 * Krom'gar Fortress, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Cliffwalker Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Shadowprey Village, Desolace

Flight paths from The Sludgewerks

 * Krom'gar Fortress, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Cliffwalker Post, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains

Flight paths from Cliffwalker Post

 * Hellscream's Watch, Ashenvale
 * Zoram'gar Outpost, Ashenvale
 * Krom'gar Fortress, Stonetalon Mountains
 * The Sludgewerks, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Malaka'jin, Stonetalon Mountains

Notable characters


Stonetalon Mountains are home to several characters of note. From Krom'gar Fortress, Overlord Krom'gar seeks to drive the Alliance out of Windshear Crag; At Windshear Hold, Lord Fallowmere directs the Alliance effort, while Force Commander Valen defends against the Horde from the Northwatch Expedition Base Camp. At Thal'darah Overlook, Master Thal'darah attempts to protect his druid students, while at Cliffwalker Post, High Chieftain Cliffwalker and General Grebo argue over how to handle the Alliance druids settled nearby.

Chapter 1: The Fold
Fresh from their victory at Silverwind Refuge, the Horde began to advance into the Stonetalon Mountains under the leadership of Overlord Krom'gar. The Horde adventurer delivered fresh supplies to The Fold and then began assassinating Night Elf scouts in the area while looking for a missing engineer. While doing this, the adventurer uncovered an Alliance plan to attack Krom'gar Fortress directly and was ordered to take these plans to Krom'gar himself. Krom'gar thanked the adventurer and gave them a field promotion to sergeant.

Chapter 2: Krom'gar Fortress
Overlord Krom'gar ordered the adventurer to attack the nearby Northwatch camp and assassinate their leader Marshal Paltrow to weaken the Alliance forces. The adventurer scavenged parts from the camp and was able to use them to reactivate a shredder which decimated the Alliance ground forces. However, as thin as the Alliance infantry was becoming, the Alliance forces had an air force of gnomish flying machines ready to decimate the fortress from the air. Krom'gar ordered the adventurer to assist the goblins with preparing anti-air defenses for the impending bombardment. The mine below the fortress had inadvertently awoken some earth elementals, which the adventurer subdued before returning with the necessary parts. The attack had already begun, but the adventurer was able to use a now-functional anti-air battery to shoot down the gnomish air forces, causing the Alliance to fall back. For their service, Krom'gar promoted the adventurer to legionnaire. With Krom'gar Fortress secure for now, Krom'gar ordered the adventurer to assist Malaka'jin to the South, besieged due to the Alliance's recent sacking of Honor's Stand in the Southern Barrens.

Chapter 3: Malaka'jin
Upon arriving at Malaka'jin, the Horde adventurer learned that the Alliance had entered into an alliance of convenience with the Grimtotem and that their combined forces were overwhelming the Horde's line. Witch Doctor Jin'Zil proposed a radical solution--voodoo--to turn the tide of battle. The adventurer collected the necessary reagents  for the ritual while enslaving a nearby kobold tribe to use as cannon fodder. With the materials gathered, the adventurer set about using the voodoo to empower the Horde's troops while ordering the kobolds to attack the Alliance flank. These maneuvers broke the siege and the adventurer returned to Overlord Krom'gar with the good news. Krom'gar promoted the adventurer to champion for their dedicated service.

Chapter 4: Cliffwalker Post
With the siege at Malaka'jin broken and the attacks on Krom'gar Fortress thwarted, Overlord Krom'gar ordered the Horde adventurer to bring the balloon carrying The Bomb to the nearby goblin facility The Sludgewerks to be refueled on its way to its final destination at Cliffwalker Post. While waiting on the refueling efforts, the adventurer wiped out the night elf spies in the area and eliminated a wyvern colony that was posing a threat to the operation. When the refueling was finished, the adventurer brought The Bomb to its final destination.

Upon arriving at Cliffwalker Post, the adventurer found Krom'gar's subordinate General Grebo in a heated argument with the tauren chieftain of the village, High Chieftain Cliffwalker. Grebo claimed that the Horde had intelligence that the night elves were hiding a weapon of mass destruction at Thal'darah Grove and that, because of this, the Horde needed to use The Bomb to take out the grove before the Alliance could use the weapon against them. Cliffwalker, however, claimed that there was no such weapon and that the grove was simply a training facility for druids, further insisting that the grove wasn't even affiliated with the Alliance and that, if the General would delay the planned attack for just a short while, he could prove it. Grebo hesitated in deploying The Bomb, but nonetheless ordered the adventurer to assist in the siege of the nearby Thal'darah Overlook already underway. Cliffwalker asked the adventurer to visit his son at the grove to find out the truth. The adventurer found the druids of the grove in a state of panic and upon venturing to the top of the ancient tree in the center found Cliffwalker's son dead with the insignia of General Grebo clutched tightly in his dead hand.

When the champion returned to Cliffwalker with evidence of Grebo's duplicity, he and his wife cried out in anguish for their murdered son and confronted Grebo with the adventurer. Though Grebo was outnumbered and fell to the three of them, Masha Cliffwalker worried that now they would be executed for treason and pleaded with the adventurer to bring the truth of the matter to Krom'gar. Krom'gar reacted angrily to the news and ordered the adventurer to meet him at Cliffwalker Post, where he proceeded to burn the village to the ground. The adventurer was promoted to general for their actions.

Krom'gar forced Cliffwalker and the adventurer to watch as he sent The Bomb off and obliterated Thal'darah Grove before their eyes. Just as the bomb fell, a portal from Orgrimmar appeared and the Warchief Garrosh Hellscream himself stepped through the portal and confronted Krom'gar about what he had done. Krom'gar told Garrosh that he was simply following orders. Garrosh asked him if he had ordered Krom'gar to murder innocents and destroy the very lands he was ordered to conquer for the Horde's benefit. Krom'gar, fearing the wrath of the Warchief, cowered in fear while Garrosh lectured him on the meaning of honor he had learned in Northrend from Varok Saurfang. Garrosh told Krom'gar that his actions had brought great shame to the Horde and to the orcs as a people. Garrosh then proceeded to relieve Krom'gar of command and throw him off the mountain, killing him in the fall.

Garrosh then turned to the adventurer, believing the adventurer complicit in Krom'gar's actions. However, right before Garrosh was to execute the adventurer as well, Chieftain Cliffwalker spoke up in the adventurer's favor, explaining that they tried to stop Krom'gar and pleading that Garrosh show mercy. Garrosh was taken aback by the Chieftain's actions and released the adventurer. Visibly moved, Garrosh suggested that the adventurer's strength would be most needed now in Desolace or the Southern Barrens and departed back to Orgrimmar.

Resources

 * Cloth
 * Linen Cloth
 * Wool Cloth
 * Silk Cloth
 * Herbs
 * Mageroyal
 * Swiftthistle
 * Briarthorn
 * Bruiseweed
 * Wild Steelbloom
 * Leather
 * Light Leather
 * Medium Leather
 * Heavy Leather
 * Ore
 * Copper Vein
 * Tin Vein
 * Silver Vein

Wild creatures

 * Basilisks
 * Chimaeras
 * Deer
 * Eagles
 * Earth elementals
 * Faerie dragons
 * Fire elementals
 * Golems (only within Stonetalon Peak)
 * Moonstalkers
 * Oozes
 * Pigs
 * Rabbits
 * Rams
 * Rats
 * Salamanders (only within Stonetalon Peak)
 * Skunks
 * Spiders
 * Stags
 * Squirrels
 * Thunder lizards
 * Treants
 * Turtles
 * (only within Stonetalon Peak)
 * Wyvern
 * (only within Stonetalon Peak)
 * Wyvern

The races of the fallen priests encountered within Stonetalon Peak during the Third War are unknown.

In Lands of Mystery
Stonetalon's peak remains verdant and lush, but much of the remainder of the region has been deforested or otherwise destroyed. Certain parts of the land are now the homes of elementals, harpies and other deadly creatures. The greatest danger to the peak, however, is from goblins — the Venture Company gradually destroys the remaining trees and takes the remaining resources from the earth. If this process continues, Stonetalon could soon become as much a wasteland as Desolace in the south or the Barrens in the east. Druids and shamans take a firm stand here, doing what they can to stop the destruction of nature, but the difficulties between the Alliance and the Horde prevent the night elves and the tauren from working together effectively to halt the goblin operations. Many of the tauren still hold the unrealistic hope that the Venture Company can be reasoned with, and this belief prevents progress.

The primary source of activity here revolves around the goblins destroying the forest, but other opportunities for adventure exist in the mountains as well.

History
The Stonetalon Mountains survived the Sundering, although the cataclysmic events forever altered the landscape, creating great canyons and valleys within the mountain ranges. The indigenous tauren created a camp south of Mirkfallon Lake, built upon ancient ley lines. It is perhaps due to these ley lines that the elementals are drawn to the area around Charred Vale. The arrival of the other races is a recent development. The goblins found the region an excellent place to harvest lumber and ore, and the majority of the modern night elf presence in the mountains exists simply to stop the continuing deforestation. While the night elves had settlements in the mountains in ancient times, only the druids remained there continuously over the years, resting safely in their barrow dens.

The goblins of Stonetalon are among the finest engineers of their race, and their inventions have allowed them to remove massive chunks of the forest in a few short months. This endeavor draws ire from the night elves and tauren alike, who find the deforestation barbaric and dangerous. The night elves take shelter on Stonetalon Peak, maintaining that refuge with the help of dryads and keepers of the grove. While the majority of the tauren take a similar, defensive role, the Grimtotem tribe strikes back against the goblins. Rumors persist that the Grimtotems prepare to take extreme measures to rid the goblins from their land, including the use of Forsaken-made toxins. Clearly, if these toxins are misused, they could cause as much damage as the goblins.

For all the intelligence the goblins possess, they have yet to understand politics, and this is true on an internal level as well as with the outside world. The trade princes have recently caused problems for the Venture Company, and it is looking increasingly likely that the goblins will turn on each other soon.

Recently, rumors have arisen about a massive series of tunnels beneath the peak, which served as the home for some kind of oracle or sage. The name Medivh has been mentioned, but the chances of him staying in the caverns here seem to be minimal — but still a possibility.

A mysterious prophet emerged from the caverns beneath Stonetalon, claiming that the world must prepare itself for a new threat. The sage called for the extermination of the Forsaken, on the grounds that they will be the ones to usher in the next coming of the Burning Legion — and perhaps Sargeras himself. He sent heroes on a number of anti-Forsaken missions, but the heroes investigated the issue thoroughly, discovering that this "sage" was actually an agent of Balzannar, the brother of the Dreadlord Varimathras. Balzannar survived his "death" at his brother's hands, and has plotted his revenge against Sylvanas ever since — this sage was apparently just one small part of his plan.

Geography
The Stonetalon Mountains lie along the western coast of Kalimdor, south of Ashenvale and north of Desolace and Mulgore. The most frequently used entrance to the mountains, however, is a path from the Barrens in the east. The mountains were at one time filled with lush forests, but the Venture Company's expeditions and mining operations changed much of the landscape to dusty, barren canyons and desolate cliffs. The only region of the mountains that retains its former splendor is the peak itself, which is protected by the night elves. There is a large river, the Bloodfury, as well as two large lakes, Mirkfallon and Cragpool.

The goblin-dominated mountains have few major settlements, but the night elves, tauren, trolls and harpies each claim a small share of the land.

In Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game
The Stonetalon Mountains were once a low set of hills giving a gentle view to the ocean waves in the west. The Sundering that tore apart the world drove great sandstone cliffs and mountain peaks high in the air. Water from the eastern coast poured into the newly created chasms and gorges. With the aid of erosion from the Blackwolf River, the Stonetalon Mountains have expanded into a vast network of canyons and cliff openings that invites adventurers and beasts alike to explore the virgin lands. The Stonetalons rise in central Kalimdor, south of Ashenvale Forest and north of Desolace. The mountain range feeds into the bleak expanse of the Barrens to the east. The atmosphere of the Stonetalon Mountains can best be described as extreme. At the lower elevations it is windy, hot, and dry. It is a harsh place where food cannot grow and flash floods are commonplace in the early summer months. Moisture from the ocean builds up into huge rain clouds, but the towering peaks are too high for the clouds to pass inland. They crash against the mountains’ western side and pour massive sheets of water upon the slopes to run through narrow canyons and back into the ocean or into a valley to dry up in a marshy sink. When the weather turns to rain, the ground grows slick and gray. Walking on a slope or a cliff in the rain is treacherous — water seeps through the sandstone and threatens to send even careful travelers plummeting to their deaths. Oftentimes, when the clouds expel all their moisture, hot winds push them farther up the slope, surrounding the Stonetalon Peak in a shroud of thundering mist. An immediate feature any visitor notices — aside from the sheer cliffs and deep crevasses - is the constantly blowing wind. Sometimes a gentle breeze carries fresh air in from the ocean and other times a violent gale stirs up vicious dust devils or brings a storm in from the western mountains. The rugged mountains are home to many wild beasts and only a few civilized habitations. Hippogryphs roost near Mirkfallon Lake in cave complexes high on the slopes. Their nests are defended by large bramble hedgerows, making access nearly impossible without flying. Other creatures found throughout the mountains are striders, hyenas, kobolds, swoops, crag panthers, and even rock elementals and the rare sabertooth cat.

Further up the Stonetalon Peak, on its eastern side, are the chaotic lands of the wyverns and drakes. These ancient “flying lizards” have long been rivals for supremacy of the skies. Every once in a while, when other races threaten to interfere, the two will set aside their differences long enough to deal with the interlopers. Agents of the goblin-run Venture Company have also been sighted in the area, searching for potential tracts to deforest and streams of precious ore to plunder with their mining machines. The mountains are known for their Ill Winds. The winds whip through the Stonetalon Mountains with great force, slowing travelers' progress and throwing up clouds of grit and dust that can confuse the best sense of direction. Small and lightly built individuals have even been flung off a mountainside by a particularly forceful gust. The wind in Stonetalons seldom drops below moderate even on a calm day and can change from a steady breeze to a brutal windstorm without warning.

Trivia

 * During the Battle for Azeroth beta, Long Away said that Stonetalon was a battlefield between the Horde and the Alliance.