The ruins of Taurajo.
The Ruins of Taurajo (also spelled Taurajo Ruins)[1] are all that remain of Camp Taurajo after its destruction by the Alliance. Following the burning of the camp, the tauren have constructed a high gated wall between the Southern Barrens and their homeland of Mulgore. The survivors, along with some of the survivors of Honor's Stand, have fled to Camp Una'fe ("Una'fe", fittingly, means "refuge" in taur-ahe) in the Overgrowth. Some other survivors left for Vendetta Point.
While the village may be destroyed, the mailbox here still works for Horde characters. Taurajo Looters are Alliance soldiers who broke rank from the main army and are found stealing whatever valuables they can find from the wreckage.
History
During the Cataclysm, in order to secure their offensive against the Horde, the Alliance launched an assault on Camp Taurajo from Northwatch Hold, under false information that the tauren were themselves planning an attack,[2] and razed the camp in what the tauren called a massacre.[3] However, the Alliance only attacked when all the tauren hunters had left[4] (as Taurajo was "little more than a hunters' camp"),[5] and after ensuring that the civilians evacuated, by order of General Hawthorne, though a few still died.[6]
Baine Bloodhoof called Camp Taurajo a legitimate military target and recognized that Hawthorne refused to slaughter civilians and give an order to massacre everyone.[7][8] Some in Alliance High Command disagreed with Hawthorne's decision and argued that he let an opportunity slip away and that he should've taken hostages.[9]
The Alliance soldiers were conscripted from the Stormwind Stockade, and the camp was firebombed by Wildhammer gryphon-rider mercenaries.[10] The Alliance confiscated Taurajo's arms, and destroyed its smithing facilities. The assault gave the Alliance forces considerable breathing room and knocked their enemy off balance.[9]
The tauren army only moved in after civilians' escape.[11] The survivors of Taurajo, along with some of the survivors of Honor's Stand, fled to Camp Una'fe in the Overgrowth. When the refugees fled north from Taurajo, some were separated. Many were taken prisoner by the Bristleback quilboar.[12]
After the attack, the road to Mulgore from the Barrens, which had once been open, was closed by the tauren with the Great Gate, shutting out any possibility of a massive Alliance incursion. The Great Gate was later threatened by Northwatch Siege Engine, Northwatch Siege Engineers and other Alliance soldiers, but was defended by the orcs and tauren of Vendetta Point. [13]
After taking care of the Alliance forces stationed on the other side of the Great Gate, the Horde army, led by Vol'jin and a reluctant Baine Bloodhoof, marched east, passing through the Ruins of Taurajo and the Fields of Blood towards Northwatch Hold.[14]
Most tauren were content with the gate decision and did not burn for revenge, but the Grimtotem who disagreed, and other tauren who chose to strike back at the Alliance military from Vendetta Point, were expelled from Thunder Bluff. Baine could not truly condemn his people, however, so they suffered no other repercussions.[15] The tauren also started rebuilding their capital and fighting back the quilboar who had started encroaching on their territory.[16]
During the Fourth War, the area was a battlefield between the Alliance and Horde once again. Commander Sharp and Kary Thunderhorn were among the known participants.[17]
Inhabitants
Please add any available information to this section.
Discrepancies
In the Cataclysm Alliance questline, it is said that the civilians were allowed to leave by General Hawthorne before the battle in order to avoid casualties.[9]
In the Horde questline, civilians are found dead (such as Krulmoo Fullmoon, Yonada, Dranh, and Omusa Thunderhorn) during the Alliance's attack,[3] [18] This was contradicted in the following novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War in which Baine says that Hawthorne refused to slaughter civilians ensured that the civilians of the camp would be allowed to leave unharmed.[8] The narrator then confirms this a second time.[7] Tides of War had many other disrepencies with the storyline of the barrens shown in Cataclysm such as Baine breaking the Horde oath established in 
[15-30] Blood Oath of the Horde by exiling the tauren of Vendetta Point even though retribution was a Horde right, his friend Jorn Skyseer was in the camp and that the game depicts the people at Vendetta point as honorable members of the Horde defending the tauren from their attackers.
Another account is introduced in World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, in which Zekhan says that he "heard" that there were no survivors of Taurajo, which would contradict the survival of people like Kirge Sternhorn in-game as well as the novel.
Trivia
- In the Mists of Pandaria beta, Thunder Cleft was originally named New Taurajo.
Patch changes
Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Replaced Camp Taurajo.
References
- ^
[10-30] A Line in the Dirt
- ^ Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, pg. 15
- ^ a b [10-30] Honoring the Dead
- ^ [10-30] Intelligence Warfare
- ^ [10-30] Taking Back Taurajo - "They sacked Taurajo, which was little more than a hunters' camp"
- ^ [10-30] Honoring the Dead
- ^ a b Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, pg. 91 (ebook) - “Yes,” said Baine. “They took down a military target. And their general refused to slaughter civilians. He could have given the order to massacre everyone. But he didn’t.”
- ^ a b Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, pg. 88 (ebook) - The tauren army pressed forward in an attack before, not after the late general Hawthorne had ensured that the civilians of Camp Taurajo would be allowed to leave unharmed. It wasn’t like them.
- ^ a b c General Hawthorne#Quotes
- ^ [10-30] Flightmare
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedjaina88 - ^ [10-30] Bad to Worse
- ^ [10-30] Siegebreaker
- ^ Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, chapter 6
- ^ Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, pg. 29 (ebook)
- ^ Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, pg. 24 (ebook)
- ^ Great Gate of Mulgore
- ^ [10-30] A Family Divided
External links
| Southern Barrens | Southern Barrens warfront |
|---|---|
