Northeron

Northeron Pass as depicted in Warcraft Adventures

This article contains lore taken from Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, the manuals, and official bonus maps.

Northeron is the name of a region within, next to (probably north), or replaced by the Hinterlands, where some of the Wildhammer dwarves lived.

History

It is said that a gryphon aviary was hewn from solid rock by the dwarves of Northeron.

Some of the dwarves in the Second War came from this region. The feral dwarves of the Northeron wildlands offered the service of their Gryphon Riders to assist in the decimation of the foul orcs who had desecrated their homeland and slain the leader of the Alliance forces, Lothar, in the assault of Blackrock Spire. This "desecration" seems to refer to the battles between the Horde and Wildhammer dwarves within the Hinterlands and at Aerie Peak, while the Horde was marching from Hillsbrad to Quel'Thalas. The event of the gryphon riders joining the Alliance is related by the Warcraft Chronicle as follows "The assault on Aerie Peak changed Kurdran and his people. They now knew of the threat posed by the Horde, and they were determined to help defeat the orcs." Chief Thane Kurdran Wildhammer of Northeron was the most famous of these Gryphon Riders.

Geography

Northeron Pass on a map from Warcraft Adventures, located at the position of the Aviary.

Northeron was known for its mysterious ironwood tree forests, the torrential storms from its frozen mountains,

Northeron on an early World of Warcraft map

ominous and foreboding peaks, and jagged ice cliffs.

Location

In Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans  the player is sent on a quest to a gryphon aviary in Northeron Pass, shown on map southeast of Darrowmere Lake, which puts it in eastern Hinterlands. (What regions Northeron Pass is supposed to connect remains unknown.)

It appears Northeron has nothing to do with Northrend as the two locations are mentioned separately in Day of the Dragon.

In Cataclysm

This section concerns content exclusive to Cataclysm.

At the time of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Blizzard mistakenly placed Northeron, or retconned its location, to be part of the Twilight Highlands (take into account that the names Highlands and Hinterlands sound similar) as seen in the second round of the CDev questions. According to the developers' answer, Northeron ceased to exist due to the Cataclysm and the Twilight's Hammer cult's activities.

Ask CDev 2 - Answers | 2011-06-23 00:00 | Slorkuz

Q: Does the Wildhammer area that was called Northeron appear in WoW?

A: Prior to the Cataclysm, the northernmost part of the Twilight Highlands was called Northeron. The rapid melting of its famed icy cliffs due to the catastrophic climate shift from the Cataclysm, the incursion of Twilight's Hammer forces, and the appearance of the creature known as Iso'rath all served to put an end to Northeron and many of the independent dwarves who lived there. Some of the wreckage is still visible along the northern coast. Fortunately, the nearby spiritual center of Kirthaven remains intact.

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Speculation

 This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials.*

In early sketches of Azeroth, Northeron appeared to be within Quel'Thalas, north of eastern Lordaeron (Eastern Plaguelands) and north of where the Hinterlands are located. It is still possible that Northeron may be a subzone within the Aerie Peaks or the Hinterlands, but it may be the unfinished zone north of the plaguelands. Northeron may be short for northern Lordaeron, but the term Northeron predates World of Warcraft.

This could be the land of the "northern vassals", whom Terenas's grandfather helped in their negotiations over their borders with the elves of Quel'Thalas.

Northeron may be also the zone where a large group of high elves who refused to become blood elves took refuge, as they fled to some lands in the north of Lordaeron and adjacent to Quel'Thalas. The location of these lands is proably marked by Quel'Lithien Lodge, one of the last remaining settlements of the high elves.

It is possibly simply an older or different name for the Hinterlands (Tides of Darkness, published after the creation of the Hinterlands in WoW retroactively confirms that the Hinterlands existed during the Second War). Northeron has not appeared in recent releases and both share somewhat similar descriptions (forested and mountainous) as well as being described as the homeland to the Wildhammer dwarves.

See also

• Northern Lordaeron
• Southern Zul'Aman