User:Morderi/Archive/WotLK/Zones

Howling Fjord
The Howling Fjord sits high above the Great Sea on the southeastern tip of Northrend. It is said that in ancient times the vrykul, a race of half-giant warriors, inhabited the land, founding a vast and prosperous civilization.

Then one day, without warning or explanation, the vrykul vanished, leaving behind only deserted villages and abandoned temples.

Now the Alliance and Horde have come to confront the malefic Lich King and put an end to the Scourge. The Alliance has established a staging area in the settlement of Valgarde, but their presence seems to have sparked off an unforeseen event: the return of the vrykul.

These formidable warriors have begun attacking Horde and Alliance settlements, and many of the vrykul are pouring out of the fortress of Utgarde Keep, not far from Valgarde. The vrykul's motives and their whereabouts for the past several thousand years remain a mystery. Regardless, there is no doubt that the vrykul's sudden resurgence has touched off an ongoing battle for control of the region.

Dwarven prospectors, in the meantime, have uncovered mysterious relatives whose skin is etched in strange runes. These iron dwarves may provide the missing link needed for the dwarves to piece together the mystery of their creation.

On the eastern shore, the Forsaken have arrived, carrying a plague of their own to unleash upon the Lich King. Queen Sylvanas has been methodically and patiently overseeing the formulation of this contagion for several years, and the time has come at last to test its effectiveness against the Scourge.

Before bringing the battle to the Lich King, both the Horde and Alliance must overcome the immediate threat of the vrykul and answer the questions that the warriors’ reemergence has posed. Where have the vrykul been? What do they want? Most disturbing of all, what if they aligned with the Lich King?

Perhaps only time will tell. For now, the battle has just begun.

Grizzly Hills
The lush, primordial mountains of the Grizzly Hills are a stark contrast to the snowy peaks that separate it from the Howling Fjord to the south.

In the heart of this wild frontier lies the ancestral home of the furbolgs, Grizzlemaw. For generations the tribal furbolgs have worshipped a colossal prehistoric bear that roams the surrounding wilderness.

Although the gentle furbolgs have grown accustomed to living in relative peace, recent incursions have forced the ancient tribes to engage in battle. Trappers are encroaching upon furbolg hunting grounds, and the goblin Venture Company has begun large-scale deforesting operations throughout the region.

Despite the trappers and goblins, the most imminent threat comes from the north, where throngs of undead Drakkari ice trolls have begun pouring from their stronghold of Drak’Tharon Keep.

The cause of the Drakkari’s sudden invasion remains a mystery. The two races survived for centuries without conflict, but the furbolgs now find themselves in a desperate struggle to hold their land against the steadily increasing numbers of undead trolls.

The Alliance and Horde have recently begun efforts to establish a presence in the Grizzly Hills, yet this untamed frontier remains a vast and dangerous wilderness that until recently, time had forgotten.

Dragonblight
For millennia the Great Dragonblight has served as the enduring heart of Northrend.

Here dense forests surround a vast arctic wasteland littered with the massive, gleaming bones of perished dragons. In the center of this frozen expanse lies Wyrmrest Temple, a structure believed to be built by the world-shaping titans shortly after they reshaped Azeroth. Many legends hold that the five great Dragon Aspects were blessed here within the Chamber of the Aspects and given their charge to watch over the budding world. Perhaps it is for this reason that dragons nearing the end of their lives come to the Dragonblight to enrich the land with their passing.

Surrounding Wyrmrest Temple are five majestic dragon shrines: red, bronze, green, blue, and black, each blessed with the powers of its respective flight. In recent times the undead Scourge has laid siege to these shrines in an effort to further its attempts at raising terrifying new variations of undead dragons to serve the Lich King. In an attempt to arrest these invasions, the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, has begun recruiting heroes to aid in the fight against the Scourge.

Both the Alliance and the Horde have established a presence in the Dragonblight, taking a particular interest in the barred entrance to Icecrown, Angrathar the Wrath Gate. There both factions wage bloody battles to push the hosts of undead back into Icecrown in the hopes of opening the gate to the Lich King’s base of operations.

In the east the dreaded necropolis Naxxramas has reappeared, and from it the reborn lich Kel'Thuzad commands armies of undead to face off against the Alliance at the Wrath Gate.

In the west, ruinous developments have driven the taunka to call upon the aid of the Horde. A massive sinkhole recently swallowed the taunka capital, Icemist Village. A host of undead nerubians, called Anub’ar, have poured from the pit and the Horde has stepped in to address this new threat and rescue the fleeing taunka.

Amid the chaos, the one-time Scarlet Crusade, now the Scarlet Onslaught, has arrived to pursue its fanatical campaign against the Lich King and his minions.

Beyond the immediate dangers of the undead, however, are those posed by the blue dragonflight....

Determined to manipulate all existing magic to serve his own purposes, the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, has ordered his flight to maneuver colossal machines into key positions over magical ley line clusters. Many believe that these dire constructs are intended to realign the paths of magical energy that course beneath the earth. If successful, Malygos's tampering could result in an ecological and magical catastrophe that would threaten not only the stability of Northrend, but ultimately the equilibrium of the entire world.

Borean Tundra
The sprawling Borean Tundra lies at the far southwestern tip of Northrend, the icy continent also known as the roof of the world. In recent months the Horde has established a dominant presence here as the young and daringly aggressive Garrosh Hellscream has founded the rugged orc fortress of Warsong Hold.

Shortly upon arriving, the Horde met the tuskarr, a walrus-like race of nomadic fishermen. The two groups have since formed a bond, and the Horde has sworn to aid their new allies in any way possible. Garrosh and his orc forces have also discovered the enigmatic taunka, an ancient offshoot of the tauren race that up until now had been thought lost forever.

Beyond the Westrift Valley, which separates the tundra from the mountainous region of Coldarra, explorers have recently witnessed increased activity at a magical site known as the Nexus. Nestled within the valley of Coldarra, the Nexus is a column of magical energy surrounded by levitating earth-covered rings. This ancient site was created by the blue dragonflight, and many adventurers attribute the increased activity here to the reemergence of the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos. Inhabitants of the region have also noted an increased tension among members of the blue dragonflight, especially regarding the use of magic.

The Alliance has established a smaller presence here as well, and as both factions prepare to launch an offensive against the Lich King and his undead armies, they must first address the more immediate threat: the naga. The sinister serpentine race is using massive generators to melt the surrounding glaciers and ice caps, threatening to flood the entire region.

The Alliance and Horde have journeyed from far and wide to reach Northrend. Yet for these intrepid pioneers, the true challenges still lie ahead.