Gorgrond



Gorgrond is a region of northern. It was created when the massive giant Grond, a mountain given life via the elemental powers of the titan Aggramar, fell against the Sporemounds. His corpse became the region of Gorgrond, while his head in Nagrand became known as the Throne of the Elements.

Gorgrond is home to the and the industrial heart of the Iron Horde and their ancestral home, the Blackrock Foundry, lies near the northern coast. However, the industrial efforts of the Blackrock are dwarfed by the perpetual war that rages across the region. Two groups of creatures, both descended from ancients, fight a furious, unending war to determine what form the region's landscape should take. Along the northern and western side of Gorgrond the mighty Breakers have created a barren desert with rocky mesas and hot-springs bubbling up from the ground. Along the southern and eastern side of the region the savage Primals have created a lush jungle with thick foliage and dangerous animate plant-life that waits to devour those foolish enough to stray into its depths. If either side triumphed over the other, then Gorgrond and all of Draenor would soon be transformed into the victor's favored environment. For the Blackrock, however, this war acts as perfect barricade preventing invasion from the south, allowing them to churn out weapons for the Iron Horde unopposed.

When Draenor became Outland, Gorgrond was pressed together with Frostfire Ridge and transformed into the Blade's Edge Mountains. While Frostfire was the source of the rock spires that would become synonymous with the region, Gorgrond's presence is still felt through the arid climate and patches of forests.

History
An orcish legend indicates that Gorgrond was once a great colossus, the largest of its kind that has ever walked Draenor. When it fell, its body became the land, its spine the mountains, its blood the ore, and its will the savagery that rules this dangerous land.

It is said that before Tarlna the Ageless arrived in Gorgrond, the entire region was a barren wasteland.

Kormrok once ruled Gorgrond, the creatures of the land slinking away from the giant magnaron's destructive fury, before he was captured by the Iron Horde and brought to.

A small orc clan had a settlement at the edge of Gorgrond. Gul'dan was a part of it, but due to his deformity, he was exiled. When he returned he used his newfound power, the fel, to annihilate the settlement along with the entire clan.

Warlords of Draenor
After withstanding the Iron Horde's initial assault, you'll make your way into Gorgrond with a handful of allies to try to discover the Blackrock orcs' intentions and find a way to thwart any plans the Iron Horde may have. It's a perilous recon mission. If you're an Alliance player, you'll enter the zone from the eastern coast, where you'll get your first taste of things to come. You'll immediately encounter an elite group of draenei known as the Rangari holed up in a hidden encampment, fighting for their lives against vicious plant-like creatures. When the dust settles, your group will join the Rangari survivors and make a retreat to a clearing deeper in the zone.

Horde players will enter the zone from the west, where you'll encounter the Laughing Skull Orcs. These maniacal orcs are volatile and bloodthirsty, capable of extreme brutality—and as you experience Gorgrond for yourself, you'll begin to understand why. The Laughing Skull orcs are struggling to maintain their ancestral territory, but the brutality of being constantly assaulted by the warring factions of the zone has forged them into bloodthirsty savages.

In either case the adventurers will soon find themselves caught up in the ancient war between the Breakers and Primals. Which faction the player faces depends on which outpost building they select. Their efforts will ultimately secure them an ancient, possibly Titan, artifact that will give them control of the forces they defeated. This artifact is then used in an assault on the Iron Docks.

Battle for Azeroth
For years after the Burning Legion was driven off of Draenor, the orcs and draenei lived together in peace. However, eventually, the naaru arrived and drove the draenei to fanatically spread the Light. Some orcs joined willingly, while others had the Light forced upon them. The ogres of the Kor'gall clan also joined, and together this army became known as the Lightbound. From Beastwatch, the led by  fought against the Lightbound led by Yrel.

Draenor has been dying, and Gorgrond is considerably less forested than it was only a few decades before. The sky is clouded over, and there is a green tint in the air. The Mag'har and Lightbound both blame the other side for causing this. The Mag'har have reinforced much of Gorgrond with new walls and fortresses, possibly due to the loss of the natural barrier the jungle provided.

Getting there
The Horde can get here from Frostfire Ridge by traveling east through the Bones of Agurak and into Gorgrond Pass which enters into the southern area of Gorgrond.
 * Horde

Geography
Gorgrond consists of two distinct regions, each reflecting the nature of its inhabitants. The eastern portion of the zone is filled with lush plant life and shimmering pools. It seems idyllic until you realize looks aren't everything. The creatures here are merciless in seeking out anyone who enters their territory. They will capture them, kill them, and then infest their corpses with plant life or mulch them into fertilizer. The northwest region couldn't be more different. It's a dry, barren wasteland, but with a beauty of its own. Rock formations mixed with geysers and sulphur pools create an unconventionally vibrant environment.

Caution is advised while leveling through this zone as Everbloom Wilds is a level 100 area and the Pit is a level 100 elite area.

Notable characters




Chapter 1: We Need an Outpost
After the Alliance and draenei's total victory at the Defense of Karabor, Yrel and Maraad proposed that the Alliance take the fight to the Iron Horde in Gorgrond. The champion, Yrel and Maraad led a small expeditionary force to the hostile region to strike at the stronghold and discover any ancient primal secrets or artifacts they might use in the war effort.

At the Rangari outpost Naielle's Watch, they found a destroyed village overrun by podlings and botani. Two of the survivors-- Rangari D'kaan and Rangari Kaalya—asked them to kill the leader of the Botani Harvester Ommru and his minions. The Alliance champion unexpectedly found and freed Thaelin Darkanvil trapped in a thrashing vine while slaying the encroaching flora. While they rounded up the other survivors of the massacre, Thaelin repaired his tank to drive the group to safety while the champion recovered a few other surviving Rangari and Thaelin's mole machine.

Further into the jungle, the party found Highpass and Thaelin pointed out that this would make an excellent spot to build an outpost. The Alliance champion built a sparring arena and a lumber yard.

Chapter 2a: Supporting Your Garrison (Lumber Yard)
With the lumber yard built, the Highpass settlement now needed lumber to feed the mill. Glirin, a recruit for the lumber yard, advised the champion that he learned from the Laughing Skull of a nearby botani settlement of Tangleheart where they were quickly growing ancients with a special sap which could be harvested for the necessary timber. The champion set out to collect the sap and clear the botani presence. The champion was dismayed, however, when one of their lumberjacks Frenna was found dead after harvesting began. Prior to her death, Frenna did discover that Ontogen the Harvester was responsible for making the ancients hostile to non-primals and the champion took the initiative to slay the botani warlord, securing the area for Highpass to farm lumber for its mill. After returning to Highpass, Glirin joined the champion as a follower.

Chapter 3a: In the Land of Giants (Lumber Yard)
With the lumber yard now operational, Thaelin reported that he was not the only Dark Iron dwarf that had come to Gorgrond. There were others, but they had gotten separated; Thaelin pleaded with the champion for help finding them. The champion, Thaelin, Yrel and Kaalya set out southward still deeper into the jungle to search for the others. As they were setting up camp, Kaalya made it clear she believed Yrel was naive and did not belong in the wilds of Gorgrond and it was the champion and Thaelin could to keep the two of them from fighting.

Kaalya found the trail of the Dark Irons near the botani settlement of Razorbloom. While searching for signs of the dwarves, the champion found a journal entry indicating that the botani were feeding the dwarves plants that would, in time, enslave their bodies. The champion was able to rescue one dwarf that wasn't infested yet-- Burrian Coalpart —but found it was too late for the others and burned their corpses. While collecting vengeance for the dwarves in Evermorn Springs, the champion discovered that the botani had even managed to infest an ogron. Recognizing the danger this posed, the champion went out of their way to put the ogron down.

After getting back to camp, Burrian informed the champion that the dwarves had discovered an artifact south of there, but they needed a botani power source to use it. The champion went back into the Botani settlement to obtain the Waters of Utrophis to power the artifact. After obtaining the Waters, Burrian directed the party to Moira's Bastion, the Dark Iron base that had become overrun by goren prior to completion. The champion, Yrel and Kaalya purged the goren from the base and stockpiled ammunition for the expected counter-attack from the primals. Hansel Heavyhands told the champion where the Will of the Genesaur was located within the base. After retrieving it, the champion emerged to find a battle with the genesaur Iyu already underway. With the help of Yrel, Kaalya and the Dark Irons, the champion killed Iyu and gained the means to use the artifact against the Iron Horde. The champion returned to Highpass victorious and Kaalya agreed to join the champion as a follower.

The time for the assault on the Iron Docks had come. With the Will of the Genesaur, the Alliance forces had the power to control primals on their side. The siege of the Iron Docks began quickly, and the genesaurs dominated by the Will slaughtered the Iron Horde grunts that moved to defend their base. Despite heavy losses, the Iron Horde was able to push back just enough to destroy the Will of the Genesaur before their lines broke completely and the Iron Approach was taken. The Alliance had won the battle and the invasion of the Iron Docks proper was ready to begin, but the victory was at the cost of the artifact that could have won them the entire war.

Chapter 2b: Supporting Your Garrison (Sparring Arena)
With the sparring ring built, Rangari Jonaa informed the champion that a well-known draenei warrior--Gladiator Akaani lived in this region and was presumed dead but reports of a person matching her description were received recently. If she is alive, and could be recruited, she would be a powerful ally and an effective trainer for the arena. The champion set out to investigate and quickly found Akaani and a few close allies holed up near the settlement. Akaani explained that she and the others had escaped the Stonemaul gladiator arenas and agreed to serve the champion if they rescued the other gladiators still enslaved there. The champion rescued Pitfighter Vaandaam, Y'kish, Bruto and the four of them rescued Nazgrel and assassinated the chieftain of the Stonemaul, Kor'gall. With the Stonemaul crippled and the other captives freed, the group retreated to Highpass where the rescued fighters joined the champion's service. Pitfighter Vaandaam agreed to join the champion as a follower.

Chapter 3b: In the Land of Giants (Sparring Arena)
With the sparring ring open for business, Vindicator Maraad asked the champion to rendezvous with Rangari Erdanii, who was dispatched previously to observe the ongoing struggle between the Primals and the Breakers. When the champion arrived, they found the Breakers gaining the upper hand and the champion surgically killed a few gronn to rebalance the battle. Erdanii also noticed the arrival of the Iron Horde in central Gorgrond and asked the champion to investigate. The champion found the Iron Horde group and unexpectedly met the of Rexxar. After saving Nisha from an attack by goren, Rexxar invited the champion back to his camp, where Rexxar and the champion nursed her back to health. Rexxar asked the champion to thin the number of Iron Horde grunts nearby, as they were encroaching upon his hunting grounds. While doing so, the champion found an Iron Horde missive—orders to capture additional gronn for the ominous purpose of "weaponization".

Rexxar caught Rangari Erdanii lurking about his camp, but the champion vouched for her and he released her. Erdanii reported that she and the champion needed to investigate what the Iron Horde was up to, and the best way to do this would be to use the goren digging tunnels. Erdanii explained that she had learned from the Laughing Skull that the acid the goren leave behind in their wake could be avoided—by making an armor out of their corpses. The champion completed the grisly task, and enduring the stench of the disguise plowed through the goren tunnels to find a dead Iron Horde messenger, whose body gave a clue as to the Iron Horde's operation. With this information in hand, the champion, Rexxar and Erdanii sought out Thukmar, believed to be in the Ogron leader Borogahn's lair. The champion killed Borogahn but found Thukmar already dead. His journal indicated they had found an artifact capable of controlling the Breakers. Unfortunately, the artifact was already gone.

The good news is that it wasn't hard to find. Nisha located the Iron Horde base where the artifact was being stored and tested against the captured gronn and magnaron. The champion, Erdanii and Rexxar attacked the base, killed its leader Captain Brak and stole the Heart of the Magnaron from the Iron Horde and immediately moved to use it against the Iron Horde.

The time for the assault on the Iron Docks had come. With the Heart of the Magnaron, the Alliance forces had the power to control Breakers on their side. The siege of the Iron Docks began quickly, and the magnaron dominated by the Heart slaughtered the Iron Horde grunts that moved to defend their base. Despite heavy losses, the Iron Horde was able to push back just enough to destroy the Heart of the Magnaron before their lines broke completely and the Iron Approach was taken. The Alliance had won the battle and the invasion of the Iron Docks proper was ready to begin, but the victory was at the cost of the artifact that could have won them the entire war. Rangari Erdanii agreed to join the champion as a follower.

Sidestory: Crimson Fen
After arriving at Highpass and establishing their outpost, Rangari D'kaan asked the Alliance champion to visit the nearby Crimson Fen marsh to check in on a Rangari squad he dispatched to survey the area.

The champion arrived to find the entire squad either dead or missing in action, save their leader Khaano. Khaano asked the champion for help recovering personal effects from the corpses of the rangari to return to their families and to slay fungal monsters that had abducted them in the first place. While doing so, the Alliance champion found an intact spore pod similar to those growing on the corpses. The champion brought it back to Khaano, who inadvertently opened it, inhaling the spores within.

Khaano then revealed that the dead were the lucky ones—the spores infested and enslaved the living. Khaano begged the champion to put the survivors out of their misery. Khaano also sends the champion to collect more of the mushrooms. While worried that he is succumbing to the fungus, the champion assists him anyway. Khaano voraciously consumed the mushrooms and went with the champion to the heart of the marsh. There, Khaano attacked and the champion was forced to kill him in self-defense.

The champion reported what happened in the Crimson Fen to Rangari D'kaan when they returned to Highpass. While dismayed about the loss of the brave Rangari, D'kaan thanked the champion for looking into it and warned the other Rangari not to venture into the marsh again.

Chapter 1: Your Base, Your Choice
After the Horde and Frostwolf Orcs' victory at the Battle of Thunder Pass, proposed that the Horde take the fight to the Iron Horde in Gorgrond. The champion and Durotan led a small expeditionary force to the hostile region to strike at the strongholds there.

Vignettes
Continuing the tradition started on the Timeless Isle, Gorgrond has a huge number of vignettes, which are one-time events like killing rare mobs, looting treasure chests, or completing scripted events. Nearly all of the vignettes reward Garrison Resources in addition to an uncommon or rare-quality item.

Gorgrond is unique in that there are treasures (just caches of Garrison Resources, really) that are only available to players who choose one of the two buildings, either the Lumbar Mill or the Sparring Arena. The map below also displays the eight rare elite monsters tracked in the Gorgrond Monster Hunter achievement. For clarity's sake, the Hardened Thornvine and Odd Boulder nodes are not displayed on this map. See those articles for a map containing just those resources.

Resources

 * Fishing
 * Crescent Saberfish
 * Small Crescent Saberfish
 * Enormous Crescent Saberfish
 * Jawless Skulker
 * Small Jawless Skulker
 * Enormous Jawless Skulker
 * Sea Scorpion
 * Small Sea Scorpion
 * Enormous Sea Scorpion


 * Herbalism
 * Gorgrond Flytrap


 * Leatherworking
 * Raw Beast Hide Scraps
 * Raw Beast Hide


 * Mining
 * Blackrock Ore
 * True Iron Ore

Battle pets

 * Junglebeak
 * Cockroach
 * Brown Marmot
 * Silkbead Snail
 * Leopard Tree Frog
 * Wishbright Lantern
 * Idol of Decay
 * Gold Beetle
 * Twilight Wasp
 * Wood Wasp
 * Amberbarb Wasp
 * Axebeak Hatchling
 * Mudback Calf
 * Parched Lizard

Wild creatures

 * Basilisks
 * Boars
 * Clefthooves
 * Crabs
 * Dragonflies
 * Elekks
 * Fungal giants
 * Fungal monsters
 * Groupers
 * Hydras
 * Lashers
 * Mandragora
 * Oozes
 * Raptors
 * Riverbeasts
 * Ravagers
 * Rylaks
 * Scorpids
 * Snakes
 * Spiders
 * Toucans
 * Vultures
 * Worms

Alpha Gorgrond
During the earliest alpha builds, the design of Gorgrond was quite different. As indicated by this quote from the official site, "The industrial development of the Blackrock clan has left the once-glistening oasis of Gorgrond a desolate, rocky badland, its only remaining natural produce the steam that boils up from massive vents beneath the earth. Gorgrond has become the source of the Iron Horde's arsenal—its foundries churn out weapons, armor, and torrents of smoke great enough to be seen from neighboring lands." The zone was to be much more Iron Horde intensive with its wasteland state caused by their activity, not the Breakers. Additionally, the Iron Docks were in a different location (roughly where the Everbloom is in live), as was the Grimrail Depot. The train tracks covered a large portion of the zone, linking the sub-areas together. Finally, the plot seemed to involve entering the zone from the south and going northwards to the docks, and was known to be centered on a massive cannon superweapon, Maraad's growing pathological hatred for orcs, and far more explanation for Doomhammer's actions.

Although the final build removes the majority of these aspects, some vestiges of the old design still remain. Certain paths the railroads took are now ogre-made roadways (such as one spot near Highpass), a location called Blackrock Station likewise became an ogre-made location instead. The terrain used in the Grimrail Depot's train section reflects the older, mixed jungle and desert terrain rather than the current divided version. And the entrance to the Iron Docks still contains hints of the cut Tankworks location, which originally led into the docks and would be the reason for the large rail cart in the former's entrance.

The alpha version of Gorgrond was later partially reused for the Mag'har allied race storyline in Battle for Azeroth, which takes place several decades after the war in Draenor ended, with the southern area of the region now a desert covered with Mag'har fortifications.

Notes and trivia

 * Gorgrond has the most instances of any zone in, with three five-man dungeons and one raid.
 * The zone is quite infamous amongst the players who played the expansion in its first few weeks, as its outpost was host to a particularly persistent bug that caused its building associated quest giver to not appear; thus rendering the zone's story impossible to complete.
 * The tale of the great colossus Gorgrond, mentioned by, is likely inspired by . In Norse mythology, Ymir was a giant who was slain by , at the beginning of time, and his bodyparts were used to shape the world; his flesh became the earth, his bones the hills, his skull the heavens, his hair the trees and plants, his brain the clouds and his blood the sea.
 * In an early concept art of Draenor, Gorgrond was named Ashrand. Also, the name "Gor'Grond" was used for an ogre palace located in northeastern instead.
 * The "future" Gorgrond seen in the playable Mag'har introduction scenario is a modified version of the alpha map, bases and all. This can be easily seen by players who head north upon arriving to Draenor rather than following Eitrigg.
 * Remnants that can be seen include: The unfinished version of the Alliance's Gorgrond Garrison, an unfinished version of the mines infront of Blackrock Foundry, which include placeholder models, and several areas to the east, which are inconsistent with the minimap. Other elements include the Grimrail Depot's original train track system running through the zone, though this appears to be partially explained as Hellsreach Citadel has new train tracks that run along this trail. Incorrect assets are still loaded along the trail in the distance, however, which use the metal-Horde building style, rather than the Iron Horde building style that the Mag'har use in the more readily accessible areas.
 * Usage of vision enhancing abilities, such as Far Sight or Eagle Eye shows further inconsistencies, such as an unused Mag'har village beyond Blackrock Foundry that includes a removed asset building, displayed as a large red square with an F on it, unused versions of areas such as the Iron Dock and Grimrail Depot, whose locations are switched around, and many other minor changes. The Grimrail Depot change can very barely be seen off the side of the Blackrock Foundry without usage of these abilities.
 * There is an isolated island with a blue campfire surrounded by four chairs. If you sit in the chairs and right click on the campfire, it teleports you to a cave under the Timeless Isle on Azeroth.