Uldum

Uldum (pronounced: ) is an ancient desert located on the southern coast of Kalimdor, surrounded by the Un'Goro Crater in the north, Tanaris in the east and Silithus in the northwest. It is the homeland of stone-cat people known as tol'vir and is rich with titan lore.

A superweapon is rumored to exist in Uldum which the Alliance, Horde and Deathwing's minions seek. There is no super weapon, however; Uldum is the weapon, intended to wipe out all life on Azeroth in case Algalon the Observer's Reply-Code Omega went through to the titans.

History
The region of Uldum was once a vast jungle, dotted with pristine lakes and waterfalls. During the ordering of Azeroth, Highkeeper Ra and his followers — the anubisaths, the tol'vir and the mogu — installed the Forge of Origination in Uldum. The Forge would regulate the rhythms of the earth and fortify the world-soul's form, but would also be able to completely reoriginate the planet in case of systemic corruption. After installing the Forge, Ra assigned some of the tol'vir and anubisaths to watch over the region, while he and the rest of his followers continued west to establish the prison of Ahn'Qiraj to house the defeated Old God C'Thun.

Centuries later, Ra was imprisoned by Lei Shen, the Thunder King, who used the Highkeeper's powers to become the first emperor of the mogu empire. Learning from Ra of the demise of the Pantheon, Lei Shen declared that he would carry on the work of the titans and led an army of his mogu warriors and Zandalari allies into Uldum, seeking to claim the Forge of Origination — believing it to hold the secrets of eternal life. The tol'vir knew they could not defeat the Thunder King and his armies in battle, and so instead turned to another tactic. While some of the tol'vir remained outside the fortress to hold off the invading armies, the ones inside activated the Forge. They knew that using the weapon to its full potential would wipe out all life on the planet, and so instead had configured it to only scour the nearby land. Waves of energy erupted from the Forge, bathing the surrounding lands in the powers of uncreation and instantly killing Lei Shen and his entire army; however, it also devastated the surrounding lands, turning Uldum into a barren desert. The surviving tol'vir then worked to ensure that no one would ever attempt to claim Uldum again, and shrouded the mountain passes leading into the region with magic, sealing the land off from the eyes of mortals. The illusion remained for many thousands of years until the Cataclysm damaged the ancient titan device that separated Uldum from neighboring Tanaris.

Long ago, the tol'vir weaponsmith Irmaat was known all throughout Uldum for his excellent work in creating magical weapons that represent the air spirits that live there. The city of Ahmtul was destroyed by raw elemental fury when Irmaat tried to bind the power of Al'Akir the Windlord within a set of fist weapons.

After the death of Al'Akir in the Cataclysm, the djinn Typhinius recovered the fist weapons and took control of the air elementals. When the Burning Legion invaded, Typhinus commanded his air minions to raid Uldum, the Fists of the Heavens sweeping away all early resistance. However, as it turned out, the air elementals still did not recover from their prior civil war and were weakened, and Typhinus had not properly mastered them. Soon, the attack on Uldum ended.

Battle for Azeroth
Sargeras striking Azeroth with his sword unearthed new tombs, and from one the Amathet emerged. They speak little to other tol'vir, believing them to be betrayers of their sacred duties. They believe that they, stewards of the titans, should alone control the Azerite. When they realized that Rajh and his kin were slain, they constructed their own new keepers, which means they must have an active forge like the Forge of Wills and Forge of Origination. The Amathet tol'vir later began to assault the Halls of Origination and surrounding areas of Uldum, bringing them in conflict with the Ramkahen. The Ramkahen formed the Uldum Accord by allying with the Explorers' League and Wastewander bandits. They defended Uldum and the Halls of Origination from both N'Zoth's forces and the Amathet.

Geography
Uldum is a research facility for the titans in their continuing efforts to enhance the biosphere of Azeroth. Specific information regarding their work as it relates to Uldum is unknown and can only be accessed with the Plates of Uldum.

Prospector Gunstan maintained a lonely vigil near the outside gates on behalf of the Explorers' League. Since then, he has been joined by a number of his fellow explorers, with the rival blood elven Reliquary setting up camp nearby.

The landscape of Uldum is predominately desert, with a large river surrounded by an oasis flowing through the center of the region, mostly populated by the tol'vir, with the largest settlement - the Lost City located on the river delta. The western part of Uldum consists of a large expanse of the wind-swept dunes with half-buried Tol'vir settlements and pyramids, caused by the recent transgressions of Al'Akir's air elemental minions. In the east lies a massive pyramid that houses the titan complex known as the Halls of Origination. The northwestern part is the location of the Obelisk of the Stars and The Gate of Unending Cycles connecting the region with Tanaris desert. The southern part of the region besides the river delta is mostly cliffs, with settlements held by the Neferset. The southwestern part is being held by an expedition led by Commander Schnottz. The Cataclysm also brought the Skywall towers into Uldum that serve as an entrance to the Al'Akir's domain - the elemental plane of air. Al'Akir sends his elemental minions to convince the Tol'vir to join his new liege Deathwing, even rewarding them with removal of the Curse of Flesh. Those who dared to oppose suffered dire consequences as exampled in the Orsis settlement.

The animals that live there are scorpids, hyenas, camels and more. Notable animals include the large scorpion himself, Madexx.

Map and subregions




Instances

 * '' 1 Only when the zone is being assaulted by N'zoth.

Flight paths


 Flight paths from Oasis of Vir'sar  Flight paths from Ramkahen  Flight paths from Schnottz's Landing
 * Cenarion Hold, Silithus
 * Ramkahen, Uldum
 * Schnottz's Landing, Uldum
 * Dawnrise Expedition, Tanaris
 * Gunstan's Dig, Tanaris
 * Oasis of Vir'sar, Uldum
 * Schnottz's Landing, Uldum
 * (There is no flightpath directly from Ramkahen to Gadgetzan in Tanaris, so if your character has not picked up the Dawnrise Expedition or  Gunstan's Dig flightpoint in Tanaris yet you may want to do it before starting the Uldum introduction questline.)
 * Oasis of Vir'sar, Uldum
 * Ramkahen, Uldum

Portals
There are portals to Uldum from the earthshrines in Stormwind and Orgrimmar. They unlock after players wind up in Ramkahen after completing the first few mandatory quests starting with Easy Money from Adarrah in Tanaris.

There are no portals from Uldum back to Stormwind/Orgrimmar, however.

Notable characters




Resources
Herbalism Mining
 * Cinderbloom
 * Whiptail
 * Elementium Ore
 * Pyrite Ore

Wild creatures
The fauna of Uldum is not widely known to the outsiders because of the long-timed isolation of the region from the outside world.


 * Armadillos
 * Camels
 * Carrion birds
 * Vultures
 * Coyotes
 * Foxes
 * Gazelles
 * Hyenas
 * Lions
 * Crocolisks
 * Scarabs
 * Scorpids
 * Sea serpents
 * Snakes
 * Tigers
 * Wasps

In the RPG
It is said that Tanaris once housed a Titan city, a place known as Uldum. The city seems to be lost as no one has been able to find it. Perhaps the sands cover it, or maybe Uldum is just another name for the Caverns of Time.

Gadgetzan, a goblin trading post in Tanaris, is where many Ironforge prospectors stock up on supplies before heading out in search of the lost Titan city of Uldum. Fragments of notes unearthed from Bael Modan suggest that a great titan city lies deep within the rocky expanse of the southern desert. So far, dwarven expeditions have yet to track down the location of Uldum, but they are confident that it is only a matter of time.

Notes and trivia

 * The earthen and the stone troggs somehow found their way to Deepholm through Uldum more than fifteen thousand years ago.
 * When Cataclysm was released, there was a minor bug in this zone that caused players to pop in and out of combat randomly. It only really was an inconvenience when you wanted to mount, and was eventually fixed.
 * In the early concept map, the Twilight's Hammer cult had three camps in the zone. In the live version of the zone, the cultists have no presence there.