Draenor (lore)

This article is about the history, geography of the world of Draenor before the alteration of the timeline by Warlords of Draenor expansion and up to its destruction. For the version in the expansion, see Draenor.

For the history after its destruction, see Outland.

A map of the world of Draenor around the Dark Portal.

Another map of Draenor.

Draenor as seen in the PlayStation version of Warcraft II.

Draenor was the homeworld of the orcish race and the last refuge of the draenei before their arrival on Azeroth. When the orc shaman Ner'zhul recklessly opened dimensional portals to find new worlds to conquer, Draenor was torn apart and believed completely lost. However, a large fragment of the world remained intact. That fragment is known today as Outland.

Background

Several thousand years ago, the draenei, a faction of the eredar who opposed the Burning Legion, split from their brethren. The draenei evaded genocide by the legion's hand for millennia by migrating to new worlds. At a pivotal point in their journey, about two hundred fifty years before the present, the draenei discovered a hidden, tranquil planet in the void. Having at last outrun the legion's bloodthirsty forces, the draenei settled the planet and named it "Exile's Refuge" in the Eredun language: "Draenor". The orcs did not have a name for the place other than "world" in their native tongue, but eventually adopted the Eredun term.

Draenor was a peaceful world dominated by vast plains and lush swamps. Originally there were many intelligent races, the most powerful of which were the orcs. These orcs lived in a quiet, shamanistic society, until power-hungry leaders, led and manipulated by Gul'dan, made a blood pact with Mannoroth, a general of the Burning Legion, turning the orcs into bloodthirsty barbarian conquerors. The warlock magics they wielded transformed Draenor into a dusty wasteland. The subsumed orcs, under orders from the eredar Kil'jaeden, devastated the draenei, enslaved the ogres, and gained dark dominion over Draenor. Before the Horde could destroy themselves in their bloodlust, Medivh and Gul'dan opened the Dark Portal, allowing the Horde access to the world of Azeroth to start a new war and pave the way for the Burning Legion's second invasion of Kalimdor.

What few draenei survived the orcish onslaught fled Draenor, boarding their dimensional ships and launching again into the deep void in search of a new haven.^{[citation needed]}

The Horde incursion was eventually beaten back by the numerous Alliance races (which by a twist of fate now included the draenei), and the Alliance Expedition would counter attack into Draenor via the Dark Portal. Ultimately the Alliance destroyed the portal, severing the connection between Draenor and Azeroth. Back on Draenor, in the midst of the orcish infighting that followed, the elder shaman Ner'zhul sook new outlets for their people's bloodlust by attempting to open more portals. The presence of so much portal energy tore the planet apart, leaving massive cracked fragments of the former world floating in the Nether. Thus Draenor ceased to be a material world, and the barely hospitable remains were renamed Outland.

Geography

• Hellfire Peninsula
• Zangarmarsh
• Terokkar Forest
• Brokenrock Mountains
• Bone Wastes
• Nagrand
• Blade's Edge Mountains
• Fields of Farahlon
• Deathwing's Lair
• Shadowmoon Valley
• Devouring Sea
• Shadowed Seas
• Skeletal Coast
• Coast of Bones

Outposts and cities

The draenei

• Shattrath City (draenei capital)
• Auchindoun (necropolis)
• Temple of Karabor (sanctum of the Prophet)
• Farahlon
• Sha'naar
• Telmor
• Telredor

The Horde

• Hellfire Citadel (Horde capital)
• Black Temple (formerly Temple of Karabor)
• Fortress Shadowmoon
• Fortress Auchindoun
• Zeth'kur
• Zeth'Gor

Media

Video

WoW Pro Lore Episode 21 The Invasion of Draenor-2

Ner'Zhul's portals tear Draenor apart

Known information and speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

In the Human Campaign of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal, the humans close the Dark Portal and save Azeroth, but must escape a crumbling Draenor by entering one of the various rifts that have been opened by Ner'zhul, who with his followers have escaped into one of these rifts. In the Orc Campaign, the orcs are victorious and Ner'zhul with his followers travel to Draenor, where they enter a rift into the Twisting Nether to gain new glory. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos does not follow either outcome directly but instead continues the story in Azeroth. It takes a bit more from the human conclusion though as the Horde were not totally victorious on Azeroth, and instead were mostly scattered or taken to internment camps.

References

Others

• Beyond the Dark Portal (game and novel)
• Rise of the Horde
• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (manual)
• Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal Official Secrets & Solutions
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
• World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

External links

WoW Insider Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries by Matthew Rossi May 9th 2012 at 12:00PM

WoW Insider Know Your Lore: The Warcraft cosmos, part one: The Material Plane by Anne Stickney May 22nd 2011 at 6:00PM