Exploring Burning Steppes

Time for another collection of exploration snaps. This time I've decided to showcase the Level 50 - 58 zone of Burning Steppes.

Warning:  This is an image-heavy post.  Sorry phone users!

My first memory of Burning Steppes was flying over it from Stormwind to Ironforge and seeing all the dragons and such down there with ?? next to their names. It looked like a scary place, and it wasn't until much later that I did any of the quests there, much less explore it at all.

A Brief History
Burning Steppes lies between the continents of Azeroth and Khaz Modan, in the Eastern Kingdoms. It was once part of Redridge Mountains and part of the main highway between Stormwind and Khaz Modan, and on to Lordaeron.

The Dark Iron clan of dwarves, led by their Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, were exiled from Ironforge after unsuccessfully trying to seize control of the city. They founded the city of Thaurissan in the north of the Redridge Mountains, and from there launched assaults on Ironforge and Grim Batol.

During one of these assaults, Thaurissan attempted to summon elemental forces deep underneath Redridge Mountains to aid them.  instead, he got more than he bargained for when the Lord of all Fire Elementals, Ragnaros the Firelord, was released from his banishment and in his return, devastated the city of Thaurissan and the region, creating the enormous volcano of Blackrock Mountain.

Thaurissan was killed and his clan enslaved by the elemental lord. The Dark Irons rebuilt a city within the mountain - Blackrock Spire.

The mountain now splits the region into Searing Gorge to the north, and Burning Steppes to the south. The highway is still used by travelers, but most prefer to take the Deeprun Tram to travel between Stormwind and Ironforge.

The Present
The city of Thaurissan now lies in ruins, populated only by huge Golems and some Dark Iron agents.

Nearby, the Horde outpost of Flame Crest houses a flight master and a vendor, as well as several treasure-seeking Goblins.

The Alliance camp within the destroyed village of Morgan's Vigil is slightly larger, containing more quest givers and vendors.

Little is known about the etymology of the name "Pillar of Ash" but the area in the central area of the map contains a number of Blackrock Orc structures including a tall tower. Interestingly, the tower bears a Horde standard, but the orcs within are hostile to all.

In the area there is also a large statue of a human hero brandishing a sword and shield. There is no inscription on the statue but it is believed to have been erected to mark the spot where Anduin Lothar was killed in battle. Why the Blackrock Orcs allowed a statue of a great war leader of the Humans to remain here in such good condition is anyone's guess.

The eastern side of the zone is dominated by Dreadmaul Rock, an Ogre stronghold which contains an extensive cave system. The Firegut Ogres are allies of the Blackrock Orcs.

Wyrmkin and other Black Dragonflight Drakes roam the zone but mainly around the area of Draco'dar, in the west, and in the east around the Slither Rock area. These dragons are affiliated with Nefarian and his experiments within Blackwing Lair. The Rare-Elite Elemental Volchan sometimes patrols the area around Slither Rock.

The Altar of Storms is in the northwestern corner of the zone. Surrounded by a lake of lava, Blackrock Warlocks perform some sort of ritual here. There's another Altar of Storms in the Blasted Lands.

Overlooking the Altar, Mor'zul Bloodbringer and the goblin Gorzeeki Wildeyes are performing some sort of experiment. They're a creepy pair - Aefa got out of there pretty quickly.

Blackrock Stronghold is in the northern part of the zone, close to the mountain. The Blackrock Orcs have long been separate to the rest of the Horde in Kalimdor. Most of them were killed during the Third War, but some remain here, battling with the Dark Irons for territory.

Now to the Mountain itself. Blackrock Mountain is actually a zone in itself, containing no less than three level 60+ raids and two 5-man dungeons. Ragnaros and his Dark Irons and Fire Elementals control Blackrock Depths (5-man) and the Molten Core (40-man raid).  Nefarian and the Blackrock clan control the Blackrock Spire - Lower Spire (5-man) and Upper Spire (10-man raid), and also Blackwing Lair (40-man raid).

I haven't included snaps of these dungeons as that would be an entire other post!


The Future
*SPOILER ALERT* Cataclysm will see two new instances added to the menagerie at Blackrock Mountain - Blackrock Caverns (level 80-81 5-man) and Blackwing Descent (level 85 10/25-man raid). Burning Steppes will be changing during the Cataclysm, but I'll leave that to my colleagues who like to discuss such things.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at one of the more lore-rich zones.

The lore discussed in this post came from wowwiki.com.

Exploring Arathi Highlands

You may recall not too long ago I wrote about exploring Azshara. This weekend Aefa continued her exploration in Eastern Kingdoms, including Arathi Highlands, a level 30-40 zone in the north part of the continent.


A History Lesson

The Arathi Highlands were once part of the Human Empire of Arathor, ruled from the city of Strom. After the "Troll Wars" in the region, the Empire formed into several city-states, and most of the citizens of Strom moved away to other cities or north to the newly established Lordaeron. Strom was turned into the fortress of Stromgarde by those that remained.

Later, during the Second War, the highlands were overrun by the Horde and Stromgarde destroyed. The village to the northeast became the Horde's outpost of Hammerfall, named for the fallen warchief Orgrim Doomhammer.

The humans of Stromgarde rebuilt the city, only to be forced to flee when attacked by Ogres and Syndicate. The Alliance now take shelter in a chasm to the northeast of the city, known as Refuge Pointe (and not, as some people call it, Refugee Point).

A new advertisement for Basic Campfire?

Exploration

Aefa started on the north-eastern side of the Highlands, entering from Hillsbrad Foothills through the damaged gate in Thoradin's Wall. Historians are unclear as to when the wall was built, possibly during the Troll Wars, but these days it is a crumbling ruin.

Thoradin's Wall

On the south side of the road leading across the Highlands is the ruined city of Stromgarde Keep. The city is now occupied with Ogres and Syndicate Humans.

Stromgarde Keep

All areas of the Keep are hostile to members of the Horde, but one section of the Keep is still held by the Stromgarde military and the vendors there be accessed by Alliance. If I remember correctly, it used to be where the Alliance purchased their Mageweave and Heavy Mageweave Bandage manuals, although they are no longer required. Where did the Horde used to buy them?

The Alliance-held section of Stromgarde

Refuge Pointe is the Alliance camp in the area and is where the Alliance entrance to the Arathi Basin battleground can be found.

Can't see much of Refuge Pointe from this angle... 

Hammerfall is the Horde stronghold in the Highlands. The small town is surrounded by a wooden palisade.

Road to Hammerfall

The Horde's entrance to the battleground of Arathi Basin is in the mountains behind Hammerfall.

Arathi Basin entrance, Horde

In locations throughout the zone, there are stone circles guarded by elementals. These must be visited as part of a quest to free Princess Myzrael from her prison, and leads into a long chain around the zone (starts with [The Princess Trapped]).

Start point for the Princess Myzrael quest chain

Along the southern edge of the zone lies the canal that separates Arathi Highlands from Wetlands, or Lordaeron from Khaz Modan. Near where the mouth empties into the sea, the Drowned Reef has claimed a few ships, the wrecks of which lie underwater. One ship made it to land though - the Harbinger is anchored in Faldir's Cove and members of the crew there give quests for Booty Bay reputation. The cove can be reached through a tunnel on the southeast side of Stromgarde Keep.

The Harbinger

There are a number of farms around the Highlands. Some are controlled by Syndicate, but Go'Shek Farm not far from Hammerfall is controlled by the Horde.

Go'Shek Farm

Witherbark Village is the stronghold of the Trolls in the Highlands and is located in the slightly more forested area in the southeast of the zone.

Witherbark Village

The Witherbark trolls are in alliance with the Boulderfist Ogres who also live in caves around the zone. Boulderfist Hall is not far from Witherbark Village.

Boulderfist Hall

To leave the Highlands to the south, you must pass over the Thandol Span - a huge Dwarven bridge linking the Highlands with the Wetlands. There were originally two bridges here, but one was damaged badly during an attack by the Dark Iron Dwarves.

Thandol Span

There are Dark Iron Dwarves still nearby with carts of explosives - an attempt to blow up the second bridge?

Dark Iron Dwarven Sappers

In Cataclysm

Arathi Highlands is not earmarked to be changed significantly when the Cataclysm comes, but that doesn't mean the inhabitants, animal and humanoid, won't be affected.  Perhaps the Elementals at the rings of binding will disappear? Will the Horde pull out of the area or the Alliance manage to take back part of the old Keep? None of these things are expected to happen but for a zone so rich in Lore, it would be a shame for it to be ignored completely.

Do you have fond memories of traveling in Arathi Highlands? I enjoyed the quests here as Horde, although the travel three or four times between Hammerfall and Stromgarde gets old after a while, especially if you aren't level 40 yet to get your fast mount.  It would have been twice as painful when the first mount was at level 40!

BA Shared Topic: Exploring Azshara

The Blog Azeroth Shared Topic for this week, suggested by Jaedia, invites us to get out there in the world and explore a zone or two.  There are quite a few other calls out there from bloggers to document the world before it changes, and I've chosen Azshara to start with.

Azshara was once a part of the great Night Elven city of Zin-Azshari, but it was destroyed during the Sundering. All that remains is half-submerged ruins guarded by Naga, and a beautiful autumnal land edged by dramatic cliffs.

The vegetation consists of a tall open forest and grasslands in reds and golds, with wildflowers and grasses on the ground.

Along the border with Ashenvale Forest runs the Southfury River. At the northern end of this stretch is a mighty waterfall that cascades down two levels before the river calms as it flows south.

In the centre of the map is the ruins of Eldarath - an extensive area extending down to the ocean and containing ruined buildings patrolled by Naga.

The building in the middle is the Temple of Zin-Malor, guarded by Naga and Warlord Krellian, a level 55 non-elite.

The Bay of Storms contains a large, partially sunken temple called Hetaera's Clutch. The entrance is underwater but beward of the clutch of hydras making their home here.

On the northern side of the Bay is a large temple called the Temple of Arkkoran - home to the god Arkkoran. The waters around the temple are patrolled by giants called Son of Arkkoran. Aefa didn't want to go inside (she dislikes murlocs), but I hear the god himself is friendly. His sons and the murlocs and makura who guard the temple will attack on sight!

In the northwest of the zone, in the side of a mountain, stands Timbermaw Hold, guarded by Keeper Rageroar and two Den Watchers. If the gates were ever opened, they would meet up with other Timbermaw Hold entrances in Winterspring, Felwood and Moonglade.

The Tower of Eldara stands at the northeastern tip of the zone.  It looks as though it was once a lighthouse or warning beacon - all is now dark and silent in the Tower now.

The Horde Encampment is called Valormok and is located near the mountains in the western side of the zone, but east of the river. The camp is small and unprotected by guards, but one can get a repair or food and drink here, as well as a windrider in or out.

The Alliance camp, Talrendis Point, is also unguarded but contains the necessities as well as a flight master.

The southeastern corner of the zone is an area of high cliffs, broken apart by chasms. The Naga who live in this area have built bridges to get from cliff to cliff. At the end of the easternmost cliff is the ruined Ravencrest Monument. It was once a tall statue in the ancient city, but now all that remains standing is the legs.  The head and other ruined parts lie on the ground nearby.

Here's something you might not know about Azshara - it almost contained a battleground. Azshara Crater was planned back before the release of BC, and was designed to be similar in style to Alterac Valley. The entrances would have been either side of the Forlorn Ridge.  It was never implemented in any PTR though, and Eye of the Storm was released instead.

Azshara is truly a very beautiful zone and it will be interesting to see what the Cataclysm will bring for it.  At present, Azshara is aimed at players of level 48-55 and people rarely go there, preferring the more condensed quest chains in the Hinterlands, Un'Goro Crater or the Plaguelands. Blizzard have said they plan to make the zone a low-level area and an integral part of Goblin leveling including a new city. I just hope they keep the feel of the place.

Lore is from wowwiki.com - if anyone can suggest any other lore sites to me I'd appreciate it, but wowwiki is fairly comprehensive.