Thousand Needles

Thousand Needles is a huge flooded canyon in Southern Kalimdor, filled with towering mesas. In the east, the canyon opens up to what was once the Shimmering Flats, where Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge is located. Prior to the Cataclysm, the area was fairly peaceful for a contested territory and was considered to have its own harsh beauty. However, the entire zone was flooded in the Shattering and is now in turmoil.
Many residents, such as the centaur clans, have been wiped out entirely. The iconic Great Lift has been destroyed, while the Alliance outpost of Thalanaar on the Feralas border has been flooded and its residents moved to higher ground. Meanwhile the Southsea Pirates have gained a foothold in Southsea Holdfast, and the Twilight's Hammer cult controls several areas formerly of little interest or inaccessible altogether. The Horde forces of Freewind Post and the new Westreach Summit are now in a struggle for survival.
Even after the Shattering, most of the towering spires have camps, sometimes even entire towns built on them.Traveler, pg. 348 The twisting rock tower needles were cut and sharpened over centuries by water.World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, pg. 125
==History==
The druid Quentin has speculated that the drastic difference in climate between the arid Thousand Needles and the neighboring Feralas jungle is the result of strange magic.An Orphan Looking For a Home
===World of Warcraft===
The high mesas of the Thousand Needles are home to a large number of tauren. With the help of the Horde, the tauren of Freewind Post fought back against local centaur and the Grimtotem tribe. The Shimmering Flats in the southeast part of the region were the home of the world-famous Mirage Racetrack, where gnomes and goblins raced their respective rocket cars in order to settle the question of which race had better engineering—at least until the next race.
During the Ahn'Qiraj War, the area was invaded by the armies of C'Thun.
===Cataclysm===
Upon Deathwing's return, the Cataclysm flooded this zone, turning the Shimmering Flats into a lake called the Shimmering Deep. Wreckage of the speedway can be found scattered throughout the area. Fizzle Brassbolts and Pozzik, a gnome and a Bilgewater Cartel goblin respectively, built Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge in the middle of the Shimmering Deep. Although they did work together to create this mishmash island, the passive hostility between the Horde and the Alliance at the Speedbarge causes frequent bar fights.
===Legion===
During the Burning Legion's third invasion, the demons attacked the Needles, especially the home of the Grimtotem tribe, forcing Magatha Grimtotem ask the Earthen Ring for help.
===Exploring Azeroth===
After the Fourth War, Southsea Pirates and the Grimtotem tauren continue to attack, and it is a struggle for the Horde to keep its footing in the area. When Rexxar and Zekhan were visiting the area, they had to be careful not to be spotted by Grimtotem scouts. While there, Zekhan gathered :liferoot and :stranglekelp, and encountered wild wyverns.World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor, pg. 126 - 127
==Getting there==
Thousand Needles is accessible on foot from Feralas in the west, Tanaris in the south, and Southern Barrens in the north. Most players wishing to quest in this area will be sent here through bread crumb quests and be given a free flight from Feralas or Dustwallow Marsh to Darkcloud Pinnacle.
The path between Thousand Needles and the Barrens is currently overrun with quilboar, having been pushed to the brink of annihilation between the Alliance and Horde persecution and Mankrik's retribution. These mobs are relatively low level for the surrounding zones (in the 20s), so the path is not difficult to clear. Although the Great Lift has been ruined, there is plenty of water to cushion the fall for those interested in traveling by foot. Bear in mind, of course, the reduced mount speed in water will make travel annoyingly slow. It is best to follow the prescribed quests unless one has a flying mount.
===Bread Crumb Quests===
;Alliance:
*Hero's Call Board
**Darnassus
**Exodar
*To New Thalanaar
** in Feralas
** in Dustwallow Marsh
;Horde:
*Warchief's Command Board
**Orgrimmar
**Thunder Bluff
*To the Summit
** in Feralas
** in Dustwallow Marsh
==Geography==
Thousand Needles contains one dungeon, Razorfen Downs.
===Maps and subregions===
*
*Darkcloud Pinnacle
**Arikara's Needle
*Freewind Post
*The Great Lift
*Highperch
*
*Razorfen Downs
*
**
*The Shimmering Deep/
**Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge
***Speedbarge Bar
**Mirage Abyss/
**Raceway Ruins/
**Sunken Dig Site/
**
*South Seas
*Southsea Holdfast
**The Admiral's Den
*Splithoof Crag
**Splithoof Hold
*Splithoof Heights
*Tirth's Haunt
*Twilight Aerie 
*Twilight Bulwark
*The Twilight Withering
*
*Westreach Summit
*
*Whitereach Post
----
;Removed locations
*Galak Hold
*Gornia
*Zane's Eye Crater
----
;Lore locations
*Skypeak
===Travel hubs===
There are only two flight paths in Thousand Needles, one is the Horde-aligned Westreach Summit and the other is the flight path on Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge. However, Alliance travelers can use the nearby New Thalanaar flight path to the west to help them navigate the zone.
==== Flight paths from Westreach Summit====
*Thunder Bluff
*The Crossroads, Northern Barrens
*Desolation Hold, Southern Barrens
*Hunter's Hill, Southern Barrens
*Camp Mojache, Feralas
*Gadgetzan, Tanaris
===Adjacent regions===
Zone Name 	Faction	Level Range	Direction	Access
Southern Barrens	 	25 - 60 	North 	By foot or Horde flightpaths from Freewind Post to Desolation Hold or Hunter's Hill.
Feralas 	 	35 - 60 	West 	By foot or Horde flightpath from Freewind Post to Camp Mojache.
Dustwallow Marsh	 	35 - 60 	Northeast	By foot or flightpath.
Tanaris 	 	40 - 60 	Southeast	By foot or Horde flightpath from Freewind Post to Gadgetzan.
==Notable characters==
The Thousand Needles are home to several characters of note. At Freewind Post, Cliffwatcher Longhorn seeks aid in the battle against the evil Grimtotem Clan. At the Weathered Nook, Dorn Plainstalker attempts to teach members of the Horde about Faith, Endurance, and Strength. Where Kravel Koalbeard once sent bold adventurers around the world in search items that will give him personal gain in his bets at the gnome and goblin races at Mirage Raceway, Fizzle Brassbolts and Pozzik now have their boat.
==Quests==
All quests in the zone are level 40-45. There is a neutral quest hub on Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge, but overall the Horde is favored much as it was pre-Cataclysm.
==Resources==
*Herbs
**Stranglekelp
**Sungrass
**Liferoot
*Ore
**Silver Vein
**Ooze Covered Silver Vein
**Iron Deposit
**Gold Vein
**Ooze Covered Gold Vein
**Mithril Deposit
**Ooze Covered Mithril Deposit
**Truesilver Deposit
==Wild creatures==
:
==In the RPG==
Before the Great Sundering, the region of the Thousand Needles was a river canyon, the spires of sandstone shaped from years of rushing water. Water flowed to the sea from a large lake to the east, fed by an underground tributary. Then came the demons and the destruction that threw the entire world into upheaval. The canyon was thrust above the water table; the eastern lake dried up and became a vast salt flat and Thousand Needles became a sandy gorge. Thousand Needles rises south of Dustwallow Marsh and serves as a channel to Desolace to the west or the Tanaris Desert to the South.Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 211
The long canyon stands as a natural divide between central and southern Kalimdor. The realm gets its name from the dozens of giant, cylindrical columns of sandstone that rise from the bottom of the canyon like a forest. Bridges have been constructed atop many of the spires, connecting pathways across the canyon from one side of the surrounding mountains to the other. To the east of Thousand Needles, the canyon opened into a large, dry lakebed known as the Shimmering Flats prior to the massive flooding. This dried-out salt flat was actually below sea level. At its center stood an alkaline lake with ten times the salt of any ocean. This sere region was so hot, dry and salty that few creatures ventured here. Lizards, scorpions, vultures, and birds of prey were not uncommon, nor were centaur war bands. A contingent of goblins mined for oil in the Scorched Basin. The spire bridges allowed travelers to traverse the canyon without running into the barbaric centaur who patrolled the canyon floor. Even then the bridges were not entirely safe, however, as birds of prey would attack the unwary. Larger birds were even known to sabotage the bridges from time to time. There was very little of interest in this land, unless someone had a passion for salt or sandstone... or oil.
==Notes and trivia==
*Dead Whale Sharks can be seen on the floor of the Shimmering Deep in the game. A living whale shark appeared in Traveler: The Spiral Path.
*According to Nyse, the South Seas poured into the Thousand Needles, flooding it. Traveler: The Spiral Path says it was the Great Sea.
*According to Makasa, traveling from the Feralas border to Gadgetzan along the coast of the Cataclysm-flooded Thousand Needles by foot would take approximately two weeks.Traveler: The Spiral Path, chapter 4
*Standing on what is now Thousand Needles lakefloor just before the flood would get the player moved to the nearest graveyard.
*Thousand Needles once played an important if small part in all characters' progression, as the Shimmering Flats was the only place to obtain the Carrot on a Stick, which gave a slight mounted speed increase. This later evolved into the craftable Riding Crop before the mechanic was phased out of the game in Wrath of the Lich King.
*This area was planned to be available in the Southern Barrens warfront.
==Gallery==
For a gallery of pre-Shattering Thousand Needles, see Thousand Needles (Classic).
ThousandNeedles 070910 013952 - Kirkburn 12319.jpg|A Twilight Cult camp.
ThousandNeedles 070910 014138 - Speedbarge -Kirkburn 12319.jpg|Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge.
ThousandNeedles 070910 014203 - Speedbarge - Kirkburn 12319.jpg|Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge.
Tanaris 071010 014143 - Kirkburn 12319.jpg|New sea entrance to Thousand Needles.
Shimmering Deep.jpg|The Shimmering Deep.
Traveler-Thousand Needles.jpg|Thousand Needles in Traveler.
Traveler Sailing through Thousand Needles.jpg
Traveler The Spiral Path unused cover.jpg|Unused cover art for Traveler: The Spiral Path depicting the Thousand Needles.
;Fan art
Thousand Needles fanart.jpg|Fan art of the Thousand Needles' flooding.
==Videos==
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==Patch changes==
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==References==
==External links==
Thousand Needles	Warfront
 	
Category:Kalimdor
 
Category:Valleys
Category:Deserts
fr:Mille Pointes