Blasted Lands

The Blasted Lands bear that name for a reason: they were twisted by the magic that brought the Dark Portal into being, spewing the rampaging orcish Horde into Azeroth. Though the original portal was destroyed by Khadgar in the Second War, it was later rebuilt for Ner'zhul's Horde to cross.
Leading into the remains of Draenor, the shattered world of Outland, the portal was reconfigured to lead towards an alternate past incarnation of that world, thirty-five years in the past from where the Iron Horde came.
==History==
This foul desert was once the southern part of a dark fen of marshlands called the Black Morass; the northern part being the Swamp of Sorrows. This is the area where the orcish Horde first entered Azeroth through the Dark Portal, followed soon by their attack on the human lands to the northwest. The lands around the former Dark Portal are burnt and dead, forever warped by the powers that followed its destruction. Lightning strikes are constant, and the inhospitable land is home to groups of especially vicious and powerful creatures. Consequently, Nethergarde Keep was built after the Second War — following the destruction of the first Dark Portal — at the behest of Archmage Khadgar and the Kirin Tor to ensure that there would be no further invasions from Draenor.
An uneasy peace followed for two years, until the Horde of Draenor reopened the Dark Portal and invaded Azeroth again. They besieged Nethergarde Keep. The Alliance eventually managed to send an expedition through the Dark Portal, but even after that, battles still raged for the control of the Azerothian side of the Portal for months, with the two sides repeatedly winning and losing control of it.Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 16
Following the Third War, and the defeat of the Burning Legion at Mount Hyjal, the colossal Ered'ruin Lord Kazzak led many of the remaining Legion forces on Azeroth in the Tainted Scar,Game Guide: Raid Areas and ordered his most fearsome lieutenant Razelikh the Defiler to secure the land.Loramus (quest)
===World of Warcraft===
As if the orcish Horde weren't enough, Dreadmaul ogres also came through the Dark Portal but unlike the orcs, they remained in the Blasted Lands. Nethergarde’s mages tell that the ogres serve Lord Kazzak. Whoever their master is, he orders them to attack the Alliance's keep on an uncomfortably regular basis.
===The Burning Crusade===
Prior to the start of the invasion of Outland, the Blasted Lands were the site of a battle between the Argent Dawn, the Alliance and the Horde against the demons of the Burning Legion who reopened the Dark Portal.Dark Portal Opens
===Wrath of the Lich King===
The area was also invaded twice by the Scourge in the years leading to the war against the Lich King.Argent Emissary#Quotes
===Cataclysm===
During the Cataclysm, the Horde's Okril'lon forces took control over Dreadmaul Hold. In the south of the region, the Gilnean druid Marl Wormthorn tried to return the Blasted Lands to its old splendor turning much of the Tainted Scar into the Tainted Forest, but because of the demonic powers around the area, the forest and Marl were corrupted. His followers built a small fishing village, Surwich near the edge of the forest. The blood elves of the Reliquary built a small camp not far from the Tainted Forest in search of demonic artifacts hidden in the region.
The conflict between the Alliance and Horde raged in the northern part of the region for a time, focused mainly on the Nethergarde's supply base located between Dreadmaul Hold and Nethergarde Keep. The Burning Legion forces were thrown into disarray after the defeat of Razelikh the Defiler at the hands of Loramus Thalipedes and a brave soul who accompanied him.
===Warlords of Draenor===
The next years have brought yet another danger towards Azeroth's very doorstep when the history itself came full circle. Kairozdormu brought Garrosh to the past in of an where the deposed Warchief instigated the transformation of the Orcish Horde into the Iron Horde. Now he's used their own to bridge the parallel Draenor with Azeroth-prime, allowing the Ironmarch vanguard force of the Iron Horde to come through the Dark Portal and occupy the land along with the vengeful Dreadmaul ogres. By bridging between the two realities, the Dark portal turned into red. The Iron horde captured Okril'lon Hold and destroyed Nethergarde Keep during the initial stages of their invasion.
==Getting there==
*Walk, ride, or fly south from the Swamp of Sorrows, which is east of Deadwind Pass and Duskwood.
*Level 90 players can teleport from their faction capitals to a phased version of the zone, which is part of the Warlords of Draenor intro experience.
==Geography==
This desolate and barren land has very little in the way of flora and fauna (the only exception is the Tainted Forest) barring the demons which now wander the plains. The region is particularly notable as of the Dark Portal that leads to , (formerly leading to Outland).
The wretched land hosts few inhabitants and some important small settlements such as Nethergarde Keep, Dreadmaul Hold or Surwich. Magic that leaked through the Dark Portal warped the Blasted Lands, leaving an infertile desert landscape. Hardy desert species like basilisks, scorpions and hyenas have since colonized the area. The red rocks of the region do not come by their color naturally. The original tan color was transmuted into the unearthly crimson by searing heat and chaotic energies when the Dark Portal was destroyed. 
There is but one usable road in the Blasted Lands, guarded at the north by Nethergarde Keep’s grim mages. They have the unenviable task of watching the Dark Portal, guarding the rest of the continent against the demons in the south and protecting themselves from the ogre tribes that roam the desert.
The weather here is dry and hot during the day and bitterly cold at night. Mountains block any moisture that may come from the Swamp of Sorrows to the north, and the only signs of life can be found within the Tainted Forest on the southwest, but it was corrupted by demonic powers that have taken hold over the mastermind behind the revitalization of the scorched scar, the Gilnean druid Marl Wormthorn.
There are no instanced dungeons or battlegrounds in this zone.
===Maps and subregions===
*Altar of Storms
*The Dark Portal
*Dreadmaul Furnace
*Dreadmaul Hold/Okril'lon Hold
*Dreadmaul Post
*The Forbidding Sea
*
**Nethergarde Mines
**Nethergarde Supply Camps/The Forge Grounds
*Nethergarde Keep
*The Red Reaches
**Bloodwash Cavern
**Bloodwash Fighting Pits
**Bloodwash Shrine
**Rockpool Village
*Rise of the Defiler
*Serpent's Coil
*Shattershore
**Shattered Beachhead
**The Shattered Front
**Shattered Landing
*Sunveil Excursion
*The Tainted Forest
**Maldraz
**Surwich
*The Tainted Scar
Note: Some of the subzones in the Blasted Lands were changed during the pre-patch for Warlords of Draenor. For players wishing to see the Blasted Lands as it was after Cataclysm but before the WoD pre-patch, you can visit an NPC called Zidormi next to the road at the border between the Blasted Lands and the Swamp of Sorrows.
WorldMap-BlastedLands-old.jpg|Map of the Blasted Lands prior to patch 4.0.3.
===Travel hubs===
===== Flight paths from Nethergarde Keep=====
*Stormwind, Elwynn Forest
*Darkshire, Duskwood
*Morgan's Vigil, Burning Steppes
*Marshtide Watch, Swamp of Sorrows
*Surwich, Blasted Lands
===== Flight paths from Dreadmaul Hold=====
*Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows
*Sunveil Excursion, Blasted Lands
===== Flight paths from Sunveil Excursion=====
*Booty Bay, Cape of Stranglethorn
*Dreadmaul Hold, Blasted Lands
===== Flight paths from Surwich=====
*Booty Bay, Cape of Stranglethorn
*Nethergarde Keep, Blasted Lands
===Adjacent regions===
Zone Name 	Faction	Level Range	Direction	Access
Swamp of Sorrows 	 	40 - 60 	North 	By foot or flight path.
Hellfire Peninsula	 	58 - 80 	Center 	Through the Dark Portal.
===Quest and travel hubs===
Place Name 	Faction	# of Quests	Flight Path	Notable Character
Dreadmaul Hold 	 	?? 	Yes 	??
Nethergarde Keep 	 	?? 	Yes 	??
Sunveil Excursion	 	?? 	Yes 	??
Surwich 	 	?? 	Yes 	??
==Notable characters==
==Quests==
==Resources==
*Herbs
**Black Lotus
**Dreamfoil
**Golden Sansam
**Gromsblood (One of the few regions where you can gather it)
**Mountain Silversage
*Leather
**Warbear Leather
**Thick Leather
**Rugged Leather
*Ore
**Truesilver Deposit
**Small Thorium Vein
**Rich Thorium Vein
==Dig sites==
Blasted Lands has two dig sites:
#Dreadmaul Post; contains Fossil Archaeology Fragments.
#The Red Reaches; contains Fossil Archaeology Fragments.
==Wild creatures==
*Basilisks
*Bats
*Bears
*Boars
**Felboars
*Crabs
*Fel beast (one, Gomegaz)
*Doomguards
*Dreadlords
*Eredar (one, Narixxus the Doombringer) rare
*Felhounds
*Felguards
*Observer (one, Illycor)
*Fungal giants
*Ghosts
*Hyenas
*Infernals
*Scorpid (one, Clack the Reaver) rare
*Shivarra (one, Shahandana)
*Bone spiders
*Treants
*Vultures
==In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos==
According to the name, description, and tileset of a PvP map, there is a part of the Barrens that is also called "Blasted Lands", maybe by relation with thunder lizards, similarly to Thunder Ridge area.'Official Blizzard Warcraft 3 multiplayer maps from the game and its expansion.''
==In the RPG==
The Blasted Lands bear that name for a reason: they were twisted by the magic that brought the Dark Portal into being, spewing the rampaging Horde into Azeroth. Now, the wretched land hosts few inhabitants and no significant settlements. There is but one usable road in the Blasted Lands, guarded at the north by the Alliance stronghold of Nethergarde Keep and its grim mages. They have the unenviable task of watching the Dark Portal, guarding the rest of the continent from the demons in the south and protecting themselves from the ogre tribes that roam the desert.Lands of Conflict, pg. 40
===History===
This foul desert was once a fen of marshlands called the Black Morass, similar to the Swamp of Sorrows. When Medivh built the Dark Portal to connect Azeroth to the orcish homeworld of Draenor, the orcs poured through and began the first of the great wars. The orcs' arcane magic was so strong it consumed the swampland and left dry red clay. When the Alliance destroyed the Dark Portal, the spread of the taint stopped, but the Blasted Lands still cannot heal themselves.
As if the Horde was not enough at that time, Dreadmaul ogres also came through the Dark Portal. Unlike the orcs, they remained in the Blasted Lands. The mages of Nethergarde believe the ogres serve the demon Lord Kazzak. Whoever their master is, he orders them to attack the Alliance's keep on an uncomfortably regular basis.
At some point the Dark Portal was rebuilt, and it yet resonates with an evil thrum. Now it connects to the remains of Draenor, the shattered world of Outland.
One day the whole of Nethergarde Keep was struck by a mysterious illness, and the Dreadmaul ogres took the opportunity to attack. With sickness inside and a siege outside, the mages and warriors send messengers to retrieve anyone capable of wielding a sword or healing sickness.Lands of Conflict, pg. 41
===Geography===
Magic that leaked through the Dark Portal warped the Blasted Lands, leaving an infertile desert landscape. This region does not welcome life of any form. The weather here is dry and hot during the day and bitterly cold at night. Mountains block any moisture that may come from the Swamp of Sorrows to the north, and no rivers grace this land. The eastern coast will occasionally get storms from the sea, but these downpours come so quickly the water merely runs off the packed earth and back into the sea.
The Blasted Lands have the Alliance powers guarding the north, the demon infestation in the south, and ogre tribes in the middle.
==Notes and trivia==
*During the Second War, starting from Blackrock Mountain, it took Turalyon's Alliance armies a week to reach the borders of the Swamp of Sorrows, then another week to reach the Black Morass, and then another few days to finally reach the Dark Portal.Tides of Darkness, chapter 22
*During the Iron Horde invasion, places like Altar of Storms, The Tainted Scar, The Tainted Forest, Surwich, and Sunveil Excursion were completely empty. It is most likely developers' oversight or perhaps done on purpose, because the entire zone is phased, and none of the quests take place in these regions.
*Level 90+ players can talk to Zidormi in order to switch between the normal and phased version of the zone.
*Those with the Burning Crusade and at least level 57 are able to use the now reopened Dark Portal to reach Hellfire Peninsula in Outland, although it is recommended to wait until level 58 as quests are very limited at 57. The Dark Portal, like Shattrath City, is a sanctuary and therefore combat there is prohibited, even between PvP flagged players.
*The occasional lightning that strikes the ground near the Dark Portal cannot hurt you in any way.
*There are no mailboxes for Horde players in this zone, while the Alliance has two.
*Interestingly, the Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual originally implied that the Dark Portal was making the land more sickWarcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, Chronicles of the War in Azeroth, 583 and swamp-likeWarcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, The Destiny of the Orcish Hordes instead of making it burnt and dead.
*The Blasted Lands were inspired from , Ontario, a mining town whose soil was made nickel-rich by a meteor strike long ago, notably its desolate surroundings and its blackened rocks that had been discolored by acid rain.World of Warcraft Diary
==Gallery==
WarCraftII-BeyondTheDarkPortal-Humans-Mission03-OnceMoreUntoTheBreach.png|The Blasted Lands and the Dark Portal as seen by the humans during the Invasion of Draenor.
WarCraftII-BeyondTheDarkPortal-Orcs-Mission12-DarkPortal.png|The Blasted Lands and the Dark Portal as seen by the orcs during the Invasion of Draenor.
Blasted Lands concept art Bill Petras.jpg|Concept art
Rise of the Defiler.jpg|Rise of the Defiler.
GarrisonArmory.jpg|Nethergarde Mines.
Blasted Lands concept art.jpg|Concept art
==Patch changes==
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==References==
==External links==
	
 
Category:Flats
Category:Deserts
Category:Warcraft III maps
Category:Lands of Conflict
Category:World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game
es:Tierras Devastadas
fr:Terres Foudroyées
pl:Blasted Lands