Wowpedia

We have moved to Warcraft Wiki. Click here for information and the new URL.

READ MORE

Wowpedia
Advertisement
NeutralDragon Isles
Level: 60-70
Dragon Isles loading screen
Capital(s) Neutral Valdrakken
Races IconSmall DragonBlack2IconSmall DragonBlue2IconSmall DragonBronze2IconSmall DragonGreen2IconSmall DragonRed2 Dragon
IconSmall DrakonidBlack2IconSmall DrakonidBlue2IconSmall DrakonidBronze2IconSmall DrakonidGreen2IconSmall DrakonidRed2 Drakonid
IconSmall SpawnBlack2 MaleIconSmall SpawnBlue2 MaleIconSmall SpawnBronze2 MaleIconSmall SpawnGreen2 MaleIconSmall SpawnRed2 Male Dragonspawn
IconSmall Dracthyr Dracthyr
IconSmall TarasekRed Tarasek
IconSmall Djaradin MaleIconSmall Djaradin Female Djaradin
IconSmall Centaur2 MaleIconSmall Centaur2 FemaleIconSmall CentaurBulky MaleIconSmall CentaurBulky Female Centaur
IconSmall Tuskarr MaleIconSmall Tuskarr Female Tuskarr
IconSmall Furbolg2IconSmall FurbolgPrimal Furbolg
Gnoll Gnoll
Gorloc Gorloc
IconSmall Cenarian Female2 Dryad
IconSmall Vanir MaleIconSmall Vanir Female Titanic watcher
IconSmall Refti Refti
Niffen
Drogbar
Affiliation Dragonflights, Valdrakken Accord, Primalists, Titans, Maruuk Centaur, Iskaara Tuskarr, Dragonscale Expedition, Kirin Tor, Furbolg tribes, Gnoll tribes
Location Great Sea (see notes),
northeastern Azeroth

The Dragon Isles, historically known as the Broodlands,[1][2] are the ancestral homeland of Azeroth's dragonflights, and the primary setting for the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion.

Overview[]

The Dragon Isles were separate from the mainland even before the Great Sundering.[3] [4]. During the shaping of the Dragon Isles by the titan-forged, the bronze dragon Ironormu met the earthen.[5] They occasionally received visitors to the Wingrest Embassy located on the shores of the isle.[6][7]

A lush and primal place bursting with elemental magic[8] and the life energies of Azeroth,[9][10] they were settled by the dragonflights after their empowerment by the titan Pantheon and served as the center of their kingdom. The djaradin and tarasek are two races known to have lived here even before the dragons arrived.[11]

Dragonflight cinematic - Sundering

Dragon Isles after the Great Sundering.

Because of the Great Sundering, much of the isles' magic was drained away and the dragons were forced to leave their homeland in the care of the titanic watchers,[8][12] the drakonid, the dragonspawn, and the dryads[13] that were left behind. Alexstrasza tasked the watchers to use the Beacon of Tyrhold to hide the Isles away from all outsiders, as well as the dragons themselves,[14] until a time came when elemental energy resurfaced and the dragons could be drawn home to reestablish their kingdom,[8] at which point the watchers would light the Beacon and reveal the Isles to the world once more.[14]

Battle for Azeroth[]

Battle for Azeroth This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

The Dragon Isles are a place that few have heard of and even fewer have been to. The Black Prince Wrathion has been searching for the Isles, but was unable to find them. Other dragons were not forthcoming in information.[15] An "ancient home for all dragonflights" is mentioned in legends concerning the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran.[16]

Dragonflight[]

Dragonflight This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

Having been hidden away for more than 10,000 years, the primal elements have resurged on the Dragon Isles as Azeroth heals and awakens,[17] causing new life to arise.[18] The titan watcher Koranos has lit the Beacon of Tyrhold, lifting the veil that was hiding them from the world, and calling the dragons back home.[14] Working together, the Alliance and Horde dispatched the Explorers' League and Reliquary to conduct a scientific expedition to the re-emerging islands. This was explicitly not a military venture,[19] with both factions joining forces to form the Dragonscale Expedition.

Geography[]

WorldMap-DragonIsles

Map of the Dragon Isles.

Zones[]

Four of them are leveling zones, while the fifth, the Forbidden Reach, is the starting zone for dracthyr evokers.[17] Players have to go through the zones in order, starting in the Reach/Shores, and ending in Thaldraszus. The progression is vertical, with the Shores being located at the base of the Isles, while Thaldraszus is located at its apex.[20] The expansion's storyline runs through each of the zones sequentially. Exploration within the zones themselves, however, is comparatively non-linear.[21]

Dungeons[]

Main article: Instances by continent

Getting to the Dragon Isles[]

Players get to the Dragon Isles via a boat from Stormwind City and a gunship from Orgrimmar, accompanying an expedition of the Explorers' League and the Reliquary to the rediscovered land.

Wild creatures[]

In the Dragon Isles there are creatures with draconic elements to them because of the magic of the space–the draconic energy causing evolutions to the creatures over the years to give some of them scales, frills, or additional spikes.[22] Some of the known such creatures are argali, hornswog, a specific type of mammoth on the Dragon Isles and ottuk.

Development[]

Dragon Isles concept

Concept art

The Dragon Isles were conceived as a "vertical space" from the outset. This was felt to "suit the fantasy of the location." The zones were designed to be more compact than other regions.[23]

Associate Art Director for Dragonflight Tina Wang described the Isles as being larger than Northrend in-game.[13]

Notes[]

  • The War of the Ancients Trilogy novels often refer to some unnamed dragon lands,[24] which includes areas such as the lair of the red dragonflight (a series of large caverns deep inside towering mountains, with hundreds of great gaps in every cliff leading to their realm, and Alexstrasza's chambers being filled with plants and flowers that should have not been able to grow there),[25] the lair of the black dragonflight (later moved to the Broken Isles) and the lair of the blue dragonflight (later moved to Northrend). Long ago, during his mating ritual with Alexstrasza, Korialstrasz had circled his beloved over and over, displaying his strength and agility while she flew in a vast circle around the realm of dragons.[26] During the War of the Ancients, these dragon lands were surrounded by a giant, impenetrable magical barrier during the time of the Dragon Soul's empowerment, as Neltharion didn't want anything or anyone to stop the ritual.[27] This barrier was guarded from the inside by dragons from all flights such as Horakastrasz, but were also patrolled from the outside by black dragons who had the orders to kill on sight anyone trying to enter or even leave the area.[28] This description could refer either to Northrend or the Dragon Isles, and as such it is unsure where it happened.
  • The Dragon Isles surrounding seas display the Great Sea. However, since the Isles are located east of Northrend, northwest of Quel'Thalas, and northeast of Exile's Reach, it should display the North Sea instead.
  • In Warcraft II, the Mysterious Dragon Isle was a multiplayer map shaped like a dragon's head.

Gallery[]

Original concept[]

Removed from game The subject of this section did not make it out of the alpha stages.
Dragon Isles

Dragon Isles concept artwork from classic World of Warcraft.

The Dragon Isles were originally conceptualized during the development of World of Warcraft but were cut early on. They were intended to be located north of Lordaeron and west of Quel'Thalas, as a level 65-70 zone with a raid.[29] They were also planned to host temples to the Old Gods.[30] Some early maps also labeled the isles with the name "Alexstrasza", implying she would be present.[31]

Some working assets labeled "Dragon Isles" are still present in the game files. They were added during the World of Warcraft beta and are used only in a test zone named Designer Island. The set consists of a large nautilus-shaped temple as well as three caves with structures built over the entrances. A hermit crab-shaped temple had also been designed but did not make it to the game files.[30] The nautilus-shaped Old God temple is also present on a piece of concept artwork simply labeled "Dragon Isles" included in both The Art of World of Warcraft[32] and the original in-game credits.

Despite being cut even before the World of Warcraft beta, the small islands still appeared, unlabeled, on the in-game World Map just north of Lordaeron until they were removed in Wrath of the Lich King. It was only in Battle for Azeroth that the first canonical mention of the Dragon Isles was made, before they were finally introduced in Dragonflight.

The concept of red dragons living on islands north of Lordaeron is consistent with the Warcraft II manual stating that dragons are native to "the untamed northlands of Azeroth". The idea of Alexstrasza inhabiting an island near the Eastern Kingdoms was also seen in the canceled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, in which she lived in a cave on Crestfall.

Soggoth the Slitherer's remains at the Master's Glaive and the giant kraken temple in the Shrine of the Storm both closely resemble the Dragon Isles temple concept.

Original concept gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

 
  1. ^ Veritistrasz's quotes - Veritistrasz says: I grew up here, when it was called the Broodlands.
  2. ^ Dragonflight Zone Preview: The Waking Shores: "While millennia ago [the Waking Shores] was populated with dragon architecture like the rest of the Broodlands, most of those structures have long since fallen into decay and become overgrown."
  3. ^ World of Warcraft: War of the Scaleborn
  4. ^ Alexstrasza's Welcome
  5. ^ Ironormu#Gossip
  6. ^ Alexstrasza's Welcome
  7. ^ Storykeeper Jaru
  8. ^ a b c World of Warcraft 2022-04-19. Dragonflight: Weaving a Story. YouTube. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
  9. ^ World of Warcraft: Dragonflight official site. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
  10. ^ Dracthyr (Alliance) on the Official Website - "Surging with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth, the Dragon Isles are awakening once more [...]"
  11. ^ The Art of Dragonflight
  12. ^ Dragonflight Survival Guide - "the Sundering changed everything, and the primal elements that once shaped the landscape went dormant, and the dragons themselves departed"
  13. ^ a b https://www.well-played.com.au/dragon-racing-dragon-snoots-and-dragon-sheep-talking-draconic-with-the-wow-expansion-devs/
  14. ^ a b c Dragonflight cinematic
  15. ^ N [10-50] Unscarred Black Scale
  16. ^ Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, pg. 65: "The distant legends about the dragons and their riders also spoke of an ancient home for all dragonflights, but Rexxar said such a place has never been found."
  17. ^ a b 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-04-20
  18. ^ 2022-11-24, Dragonflight Survival Guide | Live on November 28 | World of Warcraft. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-11-26
  19. ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-04-20
  20. ^ 2022-04-20, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: DRAGONFLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH JACKIE WILEY AND TINA WANG. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2022-04-22
  21. ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. IGN, retrieved on 2022-04-24
  22. ^ https://gamerant.com/world-of-warcraft-dragonflight-interview-worldbuilding-setting-future/
  23. ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. IGN, retrieved on 2022-04-24
  24. ^ The Sundering, chapter 4
  25. ^ The Well of Eternity, chapter 13
  26. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 11
  27. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 12
  28. ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 16
  29. ^ World of Warcraft: Looking for Group
  30. ^ a b John Staats interview with Countdown to Classic
  31. ^ File:World of Warcraft Diary - World map 3.jpg
  32. ^ The Art of World of Warcraft, pg. 140
Advertisement