Skywall

Skywall, also known as Stormwall, is one of the four interlinked domains within the Elemental Plane. It was created eons ago by the titan-forged for the purpose of imprisoning most of Azeroth's air elementals.

History
When the titans defeated the Old Gods, their servants, the elementals, were banished to the Elemental Plane, a prison where they were contained to protect the new world from their chaotic nature. Imprisoned for all the eternity, the different Elemental Lords fought each other, until each of them claimed a portion of the plane for themselves. The domain of the air elementals is Skywall, a realm of lightning and wind, ruled by Al'Akir the Windlord, elemental lord of air.

But, no matter each lord got to rule over his own realm, the different elementals kept fighting for supremacy and expansion, one of the worst of those battles becoming known as the Elemental Sundering, where Thunderaan the Wind Seeker, an elemental prince of air, was betrayed by Garr and Geddon, the lieutenants of Ragnaros the Firelord, elemental lord of fire, who consumed most of Thunderaan's essence, and stored what little remained of it within a talisman of elemental binding, which was shattered in two flawless pieces, assigned to his lieutenants.

Long ago, the tol'vir weaponsmith Irmaat secretly observed the Skywall and its creatures. At one point, he summoned and bound four powerful djinn lords within a set of scimitars. Later, he wanted to empower the Fists of the Heavens with the ultimate power within the Skywall: that of Al'Akir himself. The weaponsmith cast his spell, intending to open a portal to the Skywall and bind Al'Akir's essence. Unbeknownst to him, however, Al'Akir set a trap for the weaponsmith: when Irmaat tried to heft his new weapons, they unleashed a great hurricane which destroyed the smith and the city of Ahmtul and hurled the weapons miles away.

Cataclysm
However, it wasn't until recently, when Deathwing blasted from the Elemental Plane into the world, causing the Cataclysm, that the elementals were able to roam freely across Azeroth once again. Allied with Deathwing, their air elementals assault the recently discovered desert of Uldum, threatening to overrun the world once again.

Skywall became - to some degree - accessible to players in Cataclysm. While it does not exist as a separate zone, the two dungeons The Vortex Pinnacle, a level 82-84 5-man dungeon (including a HC version for level 85) and Throne of the Four Winds, a 10/25 raid (also including HC versions) with Al'Akir as the final boss, are set in it. Both can be entered from towers floating high above Uldum around and  respectively.

Legion
Following the death of Al'Akir, his former lieutenants plunged Skywall into turmoil. Lingering rifts in the Skywall allowed the djinn Typhinius to leave quietly and find the Fists of the Heavens. When Typhinius returned to the Skywall with the weapons, he immediately set out to end the air elementals' civil war. He overpowered his enemies and flung the spirits of those who had opposed him into the other elemental realms. The war in the Skywall had caused more damage than Typhinius realized. It would take time for the air elementals to regain their strength.

During the Burning Legion's third invasion, Li Li Stormstout and the Grandmaster of the Order of the Broken Temple used the Essence of the Whirlwind from Nader to break into the Skywall in their quest to obtain the Fists of the Heavens. In response to their presence, the elemental Typhinius ordered his minions to kill them, which resulted in the deaths of Kaeled, Na'ser, and Melezan. Outraged Typhinius sent the storm dragon Zaurac to slay the two which backfired when the mortals used the defeated dragon to reach Typhinius, who was subsequently slain. With the Fists of the Heavens in their possession, Li Li and the Grandmaster left the Skywall.

As part of their campaign, the Earthen Ring sought to gather the four Elemental Lords to stand against the Burning Legion and so decided to resurrect Thunderaan to replace the fallen Al'Akir. Thus the Farseer obtained Thunderfury from the corpse of Wray in Azsuna, and brought the blade to the Vortex Pinnacle, and empowered the blade with the Heart of Skywall taken from Vortos, Duke of the East Winds. With the heart, Thunderaan was reborn and became the new Windlord. Thunderaan promised that the armies of Skywall would stand shoulder to shoulder with the mortal races against the Legion.

However despite this pledge, Alacris sided with the demons and attempted to spark a rebellion while Mistius, Zeph, Tulmos, and a few other lieutenants directly opposed the new Windlord and began attacking the Earthen Ring and undermining the war effort.

In time, the Conclave of Wind would reject Thunderaan's rule declaring that Prince Sarsarun was the true heir of Al'Akir. Seeking to regain their allegiance, Thunderaan tasked the Farseer with defeating the Conclave, who impressed with Thunderaan's champion swore their allegiance to Thunderaan.

Quests

 * The Vortex Pinnacle (quest)
 * A Long Way from Home
 * Vengeance for Orsis
 * Whispers of the Djinn
 * Whispers of the Djinn
 * Whispers of the Djinn

Denizens

 * Air elemental
 * Air noble
 * Djinn
 * Lightning revenant
 * Spark
 * Steam elemental
 * Storm dragon
 * Tol'vir
 * Unbound air elemental
 * Unbound water elemental

In the RPG
The air above the middle tier of the Elemental Plane looks much like Azeroth's sky at first glance. A yellow sun, immobile and persistent, hovers in the air, surrounded by drifting clouds and other, more violent storms. Birds and much stranger creatures flit about. Above the sun, invisible from the ground lies the fortress of the air elementals. Thick stone walls, fashioned of rock stolen from the earth below, hang suspended by permanent cyclones in the shape of pillars. Lightning and strong winds constantly swirl about the Skywall, making a natural flight in the vicinity all but impossible. Inside the fortress, Al’Akir the Windlord holds court, ruling over his elemental kin. He enjoys watching over the rest of the plane, traveling in the guise of a thundercloud.


 * Air mephit
 * Belker
 * Frost revenant
 * Lighting sprite
 * Spark sprite