Moonglade

The Moonglade (also spelled Moonglades and Moon Glade) is a vale in Northern Kalimdor that serves as a haven for druids, and is also the home of the Cenarion Circle. Here, tauren and night elves coexist peacefully, united by their reverence for the spirit of nature. Conflict between the races in Moonglade is not tolerated by the Moonglade Wardens stationed throughout the main town of Nighthaven, who will respond to any violence initiated against individuals with a favorable reputation with the Circle.

Moonglade's reflection within the Emerald Dream is the most sacred place in the entire realm. The Rift of Aln is located here in Lake Elune'ara's place.

The demigod Omen sleeps at the depths of the central lake, awakening every year around the time of the Lunar Festival, after which he is routinely put to rest. The Lunar Festival itself is also based in Nighthaven. The Moonkin Festival also occurs in the area.

History


Around the time of the War of the Ancients, Cenarius dwelled within the sacred Moonglade. As the war on Kalimdor progressed and the Legion's numbers swelled, Malfurion Stormrage realized that the night elves could not prevail alone. He convinced Tyrande Whisperwind and his brother Illidan to accompany him to the tranquil Moonglade. They beseeched Cenarius for aid. Following the Great Sundering, the keepers of the grove and dryads emerged from the secluded Moonglade and ventured into the world. Moonglade was considered sacred for night elf druids, with kaldorei society devoting itself more to nature worship and protection. Cenarius himself has remained here.

During the War of the Satyr, Malfurion Stormrage called several druids to here to establish a new druid organization called the Cenarion Circle in order to fight the Druids of the Scythe.

During the Third War, a Scourge force led by Tichondrius laid waste to the woods near the Stormrage Barrow Dens trying to get to Malfurion's body. Arriving near the Moonglade Isle, Tyrande Whisperwind, her Sentinels and several dryads fought against a Horde base and the isle guardians and retrieved the Horn of Cenarius which she used to wake Malfurion from his slumber. Despite the Scourge presence, the land of the Moonglade was not shown to have been befouled.

Years after the Third War, Moonglade was opened to all druid races. Keeper Remulos became Moonglade's new guardian.

More recently, the peace in Moonglade itself has become threatened as bizarre creatures from the Emerald Nightmare have found a way into a wing of the Stormrage Barrow Dens.

During the War Against the Nightmare, the Moonglade was wholly shrouded in dark mist, giving it more the appearance of a graveyard. For a brief time, Hamuul Runetotem taught Lucan Foxblood how to control his unique abilities here.

Shortly before the Cataclysm, after Magatha Grimtotem usurped the tauren leadership, the tauren of the druidic stronghold Moonglade began their rebellion, and false rumors reached her that Baine had taken refuge there. Elerethe Renferal and Hamuul Runetotem, two high-ranking Cenarion Circle leaders, were unable to convene their druidic meeting in Moonglade, regarding re-opening trade links between the Alliance and the Horde, due to a wary Remulos, who apparently insisted that they meet initially in Ashenvale due to the potentially explosive nature of their political affairs, but he was willing to allow a second meeting in the Moonglade should their Ashenvale meeting prove successful.

It was in Moonglade where Malfurion Stormrage was first made aware of the return of the Emerald Nightmare into Azeroth, shortly after the defeat of Archimonde during the war in Draenor. This news would prompt the Archdruid to return to Val'sharah on the Broken Isles.

Legion
During the Burning Legion's third invasion of Azeroth, the doom guard Metreon rallied the Jadefire satyr of Felwood to lead an assault on Moonglade itself. The attack was successfully defeated by the forces sent from the Dreamgrove. On another occasion, the satyr managed to take the Stormrage Barrow Dens and cause problems during the Moonkin Festival.

Geography
Moonglade is a hilly forest region dotted with countless mounds, beneath which lay the sanctums of other druids. The lush forest is untouched by corruption, ancient and strong, and it is surrounded by tall mountains, sheltering it from the outside world. The sacred Lake Elune'ara, named for Elune herself, can be found in the glade's center. The only land route to the Moonglade runs through the southwestern mountains via Timbermaw Hold. The entire valley is a haven for druids of both factions, a neutral zone where those in training can learn from the masters and the animals of the forest.

Instances
There are no dungeons of any sort and no battlegrounds in Moonglade.

Resources
Though the area is extremely fertile and full of life, there are oddly no useful herbs here, nor any ore to speak of. As the creatures inhabiting the zone are all critters (with the exception of the wolves assisting Omen, see Wild creatures below) there is not much for skinners to gather either. In contrast, the waters of Lake Elune'ara are plentiful in fish, particularly Greater Sagefish.

Maps and subregions


Topographic map of Moonglade

Flight paths from Alliance Flight Point

 * Lor'danel, Darkshore
 * Talonbranch Glade, Felwood
 * Everlook, Winterspring
 * Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal

Flight paths from Horde Flight Point

 * Irontree Clearing, Felwood
 * Everlook, Winterspring
 * Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal

Flight paths from Nighthaven

 * Rut'theran Village, Teldrassil
 * Thunder Bluff, Mulgore

Portal at the Stormrage Barrow Dens

 * Emerald Dreamway, a portal hub within the Emerald Dream.

Notable characters
Moonglade is home to several characters of note. At Nighthaven, Dendrite Starblaze aids young druids in obtaining the power to attain the bear form, the aquatic form, and to cure poisons. Rabine Saturna enlists experienced heroes in the battle against the silithid, and at the Shrine of Remulos, Keeper Remulos attempts to cleanse the taint that has affected the four emerald dragons of the Dream. Loganaar is the sole Druid Trainer here. Even Malfurion Stormrage himself has been known to make an appearance in spirit here.

Quests
After patch 4.0.3a, Moonglade has no quests of its own that would be classified directly as Moonglade quests. However, some quests send players to Moonglade as a stopgap in larger quest chains (e.g. The Keeper's Favor and Hero's Call: Mount Hyjal!/Warchief's Command: Mount Hyjal!). It is also involved in the Lunar Festival world event.

Inhabitants
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Sentient creatures
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 * Green dragons (One, Aronus)
 * s (one, Umber)
 * s (one, Zen'Balai)
 * s
 * s (one, Zen'Balai)
 * s

Wild creatures
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 * Deer
 * Frogs
 * Rabbits

Monsters

 * Ancients (One, Omen)
 * Nightmare aberrations
 * Spirit beasts
 * (Three Primal Guardians)

Getting there
Although Moonglade is a mostly peaceful and safe zone, it is hard to reach for lower-level characters. To enter it by foot, you first need to go through the entire stretch of Felwood, a level 45-50 zone, starting in Ashenvale.

Druids can learn to teleport themselves to Moonglade at level 14, which makes it very easy for night elf druids to access Darnassus and Darkshore when they need to. Horde druids can teleport there as well, but they are considerably farther away from friendly territory than their Alliance compatriots; even flying straight back to Thunder Bluff takes seven minutes.

After To The Dreamgrove is completed, Dreamwalk sends druids to the Emerald Dreamway, where a Moonglade portal is located.

During the Lunar Festival, anyone can teleport to Moonglade after completing a quest and can get the flight path for later.

You can also use a trick to travel there from Darkshore. If you keep swimming far north from the northern end of its coast, the atmosphere will change to green hills and your zone will be 'Moonglade'. You can enter the land, but not climb the mountains. Enter the water again, but take care that you do not reach 'The Veiled Sea', you must pass through 'The Veiled Sea' however on your way north. Drown yourself, and you will be in Moonglade.

There are also flight points for those who have managed to get to Moonglade previously, granting easy access in the future. There are also neutral flight masters inside Nighthaven who can transport night elf druids to Rut'theran Village and tauren druids to Thunder Bluff for free. Non-druids cannot use the services of these flight masters.
 * Flight Point: Near the road that runs along the south shore of Lake Elune'Ara.
 * Flight Point: To the northwest of the Timbermaw Hold entrance.

Warcraft III
There is a non-campaign map named "Moonglade". The tileset is called "Ashenvale";

"These marshlands have been untouched by the Legion so far. A tribe of furbolg live here, but they do not welcome interlopers."

In the RPG
When the Burning Legion ran rampant over the land in ancient times, the Moonglade remained untouched. After the war, the druids went into deep meditation in the secure caves of the Barrow Dens, sending their minds into the plane of the Emerald Dream. The remaining night elves built the town of Nighthaven in the north.

Before Teldrassil was created, the Moonglade housed the majority of the night elven population, surrounded by the old forest trees and the ancients, preferring solitude over communion with other races. The Moonglade ranges east of Felwood, just north of Winterspring Grove along the lower slope of Mount Hyjal. The Moonglade is a magical, sylvan forest draped in perpetual night. The moon stays high within the ebon sky, illuminating the woodland below with a silvery glow. The land never suffers the extremes of weather, thriving in a warm, endless summer eve. Considered holy to the night elves, the Moonglade is home to the night elf race and its powerful druids of the wild. Indeed, the druids had long rested in meditation under the glade, until the return of the Burning Legion awakened them. They remain awake, vowing to protect nature and heal the fractured continent from its war wounds.

The sacred forest of the night elves is home to many beasts both dangerous and friendly. The Kaldorei themselves live in cautious harmony with the wildlife, such as the black tigers and the bears that prowl and hunt in the woods. The elves often capture and tame the proud saber cats to use as mounts, but encountering one in the wild is dangerous. Less harmony is enjoyed with the forest's more dangerous denizens. Satyrs - cursed, deranged night elves - also lurk here and plague the night elves' solitude frequently. Some furbolgs--driven feral by drinking the foul waters of Felwood--will attack travelers as well. Fierce dire wolves and hippogryphs have also been reported in the area. In addition to these animals are the ancients: sentient trees that act as protectors of the forest. Treants--the smaller tree-men cousins to the ancients--roam the Moonglade. These beings act as fierce protectors of the forest. They do not hesitate to unleash their might upon any who would damage trees or otherwise harm nature. Many ancients live in the forest near Nighthaven. These sentient trees once had the vital task of channeling forces of the land to sustain the night elves' immortality. They now aid in the elves' warrior training and help protect their village. The Keepers of the Grove are powerful druids said to be the direct offspring of the demigod Cenarius; they roam the Moonglade as ever-vigilant protectors.

The night elves send these patrols out, though they focus primarily on defending Nighthaven and the Barrow Dens. The vast forests and vales of the Moonglade are sparsely populated. The sole settlement of any size is the night elves' capital, Nighthaven.

The Gold Road once ran all the way to Moonglade and Nighthaven from the Barrens far to the south, but with the corruption of Felwood it became very isolated as strangers are no longer tolerated by the Timbermaw furbolgs.

Notes and trivia

 * Moonglade is somewhat more conducive to druidic magic than a large city like Darnassus.
 * The Warcraft Encyclopedia pages refer to the area as the Moonglade of Mount Hyjal.
 * Malfurion said that he wanted to move the mad Fandral Staghelm to the Moonglade as it had places that could hold the sick or corrupted of mind. Yet, Fandral was next seen in Mount Hyjal, from which he was said to be transported to Moonglade.
 * Shortly before the Cataclysm, Remulos planned to host a second meeting between Hamuul Runetotem and Elerethe Renferal here.
 * Moonglade has four flight masters (Silva Fil'naveth and Bunthen Plainswind in Nighthaven, and Sindrayl and Faustron to the south), though the ones in Nighthaven only service druid characters.
 * Although it has a strong lore associated to it, Moonglade is a rather unpopulated zone in World of Warcraft. The reason is a combination of the lack of resources along with the low number of quests (almost none, especially after the Shattering). As a result, the majority of players in the zone are druids using the zone as a second hearthstone to take a flight path elsewhere.
 * On Warcraft III maps, Moonglade was located to the south of Winterspring, east of the Mount Hyjal and northeast of Ashenvale. This seems to have been retconned.