Dragonblight

The Dragonblight, also called the Great Dragonblight,The Path of Redemption (Updated version) is a great dragon graveyard valley, located in southern Northrend. The entrance to the nerubian kingdom of Azjol-Nerub can be found in the mid-west part, while the mysterious Wyrmrest Temple resides in the middle. The magnataur village of Bloodmar is here also, as well as the ruined taunka capital of Icemist Village, and the nerubian conclave of Sundered Monolith. The Forsaken base of Venomspite, as well as the human stronghold of Wintergarde Keep are located to the east. The Scourge citadel of Naxxramas is floating in the skies above Wintergarde.
The bones are zealously guarded by Malygos and his blue dragonflight, but the rise of the Lich King and the Scourge allowed the undead to claim many sets of bones from the graveyard and use them to create frost wyrms for the Scourge forces. The Dragonblight was also the home of the first humans to fall victims to the Plague.
==History==
===Prehistory===
The Dragonblight is the area where Galakrond was defeated and his remains are seen to this day. It is here where the titans, through the keepers, blessed the five proto-dragons - Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Ysera, Malygos and Neltharion, turning them into the Dragon Aspects.Dawn of the Aspects It is known to be a final resting place for dragons,Annual 2015 a place where they instinctively go to when they are ready to die.The Cinematic Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, pg. 155 - "The Fall of Sindragosa" booklet
Around the year 823 BDP, Aegwynn traveled to the Dragonblight to aid the dragonflights in banishing a pack of demons that were draining the potent arcane energies of the blue dragons. Just as the last demon was banished from the world, the Avatar of Sargeras appeared to battle her.Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual
A human village was located here. Approximately two years after the end of the Second War, it was destroyed by Lich King's plague of undeath.Icecrown and the Frozen Throne
===Third War===
After making landfall at the Howling Fjord on his hunt for Mal'Ganis, Prince Arthas moved his ships and troops north and west to Dragonblight; here the Alliance emissary conveyed King Terenas' order to recall the expedition, and here Arthas had his ships destroyed, trapping his forces in Northrend. A few days later, Mal'Ganis attacked his encampment with overwhelming numbers, prompting him to seek out Frostmourne in a cavern to the north.
When death knight Arthas returned to Northrend after having destroyed the northern regions of Lordaeron, answering the Lich King's call to fight Illidan Stormrage, his first base camp was on the southern coast of Dragonblight.
===Description from site===
For millennia the Great Dragonblight has served as the enduring heart of Northrend.
Here dense forests surround a vast Arctic wasteland littered with the massive, gleaming bones of perished dragons. In the center of this frozen expanse lies Wyrmrest Temple, a structure believed to be built by the world-shaping titans shortly after Azeroth's creation. Many legends hold that the five great Dragon Aspects were blessed within this fortress and given their charge to watch over the budding world. Perhaps it is for this reason that dragons nearing the end of their lives come to the Dragonblight to enrich the land with their passing.
Surrounding Wyrmrest Temple are five majestic dragon shrines: red, bronze, green, blue, and black, each blessed with the powers of its respective flight. In recent times the undead Scourge has laid siege to these shrines in an effort to further its attempts at raising terrifying new variations of undead dragons to serve the Lich King.
In an attempt to arrest these invasions, the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, has begun recruiting heroes to aid in the fight against the Scourge, even as the taunka and tuskarr wage their own desperate battles against the undead. The one-time Scarlet Crusade, now the Scarlet Onslaught, has arrived as well in the hopes of claiming victory in their ongoing campaign against the Lich King and his minions.
Both the Alliance and the Horde have begun establishing a presence in the Dragonblight, taking a particular interest in the barred entrance to Icecrown, Angrathar the Wrathgate. There both factions have begun gearing up for the siege that will inevitably lead into the lair of the Lich King himself.
The immediate dangers of the Dragonblight are posed not only by the Lich King, however, but also by the blue dragonflight. Determined to manipulate all existing magic to serve his own purposes, the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, has ordered his flight to maneuver colossal machines into key positions over magical ley line clusters. Many believe that these dire constructs are intended to realign the paths of magical energy that course beneath the earth. If successful, Malygos's tampering could result in an ecological and magical catastrophe that would threaten not only the stability of Northrend, but ultimately the equilibrium of the entire world.''
Although mostly a chilly snowfield, Dragonblight contain several locations with radically different terrain. The most notable are perhaps the dragonshrines having lava (Obsidian Dragonshrine), tropical forest (Emerald Dragonshrine) and desert (Bronze Dragonshrine).
===Cataclysm era===
After Cho'gall's death, the Twilight's Hammer invaded Wyrmrest Temple, resulting in a battle of the four dragonflights against the cultists.Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects
Dragonblight is where the majority of the final battle against Deathwing and his allies took place, and its future version can also be visited via Caverns of Time.
The Cataclysm-era region featured in the instances is mostly unchanged by the Cataclysm, the only notable change is a presence of three maws: Go'rath, Shu'ma and Maw of Destruction, that have surrounded Wyrmrest Temple and burrowed their tentacles inside the Chamber of the Aspects.
===Mists of Pandaria===
During the Alliance-Horde war, Okrut Dragonwaste and his enslavers arrived to the Dragonblight to capture and subjugate dragons in the name of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream.Okrut Dragonwaste (quest)
===Legion===
At the time of the third invasion of the Burning Legion, a large part of the Deaths of Chromie scenario took place in the Dragonblight, visiting the different dragonshrines.
===Exploring Azeroth===
Following the war against the Jailer, the brothers Bronzebeard reported that as the dragons have dispersed now on their own business; all the dragonshrines stand empty.Exploring Azeroth: Northrend, pg. 76
==Geography==
Dragonblight is the keystone of Northrend, the center of its southern shore. It's an expanse of glaring white glaciers, interrupted by mountain peaks and a massive graveyard of dragon bones. The ice and bones make for a suitable landscape, but there's no glacier deep enough to bury the history of Dragonblight. It is a land of endless strife and death, and betrayal after betrayal.Exploring Azeroth: Northrend, pg. 70
Dotting the wasteland are Dragonshrines to each of the dragonflights, where a number of dragons go when their lives are at an end.
===Maps and subregions===
*Agmar's Hammer
*Angrathar the Wrathgate
**The Court of Skulls
**Fordragon Hold
**Kor'kron Vanguard
*The Briny Pinnacle
*The Carrion Fields
**Naxxramas
**Thorson's Post
**Wintergarde Mausoleum
*Coldwind Heights
*Coldwind Pass
*Crusader's Landing
*The Crystal Vice
**Ice Heart Cavern
*Dawn's Reach
*The Dragon Wastes
**7th Legion Front
**Azure Dragonshrine
**Bronze Dragonshrine
**Dragon's Fall
**Emerald Dragonshrine
**Galakrond's Rest
**The Mirror of Dawn
**Nozzlerust Post
**Ruby Dragonshrine
**The Wicked Coil
**Wyrmrest Temple
*Dragonspine Tributary
*Drak'Mar Lake
*Eldritch Heights
*The Forgotten Shore
*The Frozen Sea
*Glittering Strand
*Icemist Village
*Indu'le Village
**Lake Indu'le
*Jintha'kalar
*Jintha'kalar Passage
*Kili'ua's Atoll
*Light's Trust
*Lothalor Woodlands
*Moa'ki Harbor
**The Half Shell
*Moonrest Gardens
**Surge Needle
*New Hearthglen 
**Hall of Arms
**Library Wing
**Main Hall
*Obsidian Dragonshrine
**Maw of Neltharion
*Onslaught Base Camp
*Path of the Titans
*The Pit of Narjun
*Scarlet Point
**Frostmourne Cavern
**Scarlet Tower
*Snowfall Glade
*Stars' Rest
*Vengeance Pass
*Venomspite
*Westwind Refugee Camp
*Wintergarde Keep
**Wintergarde Crypt
**Wintergarde Mine
----
;Undisplayed locations
*Chamber of Aspects
*Sinner's Folly
*Wyrmrest Summit — Instanced: Obsidian Sanctum
*Ruby Sanctum
----
;Removed locations
*Icemist Falls
----
; Warcraft III
*Frozen Coast
----
; Warcraft RPG
*Bloodmar encampment
*Lake Wintergrasp
*Shiverwind Coast
*Sundered Monolith
===Instances===
Instance Name	Level Range	Group Size	Approximate Run Time
 	72-74 	5 	25 - 30 min
 	73-75 	5 	45 min - 1 hour
 	80+ 	10/25 	30 min - 1 hour
 	80+ 	10/25 	Unknown
 	80+ 	10/25 	2 – 4 hours
===Travel hubs===
 Flight paths from Fordragon Hold
* Stars' Rest, Dragonblight
* Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight
* Dalaran
* Ebon Watch, Zul'Drak
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Stars' Rest
* Fizzcrank Airstrip, Borean Tundra
* Fordragon Hold, Dragonblight
* Valiance Keep, Borean Tundra
* Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight
* Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight
* Unu'pe, Borean Tundra
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Wintergarde Keep
* Amberpine Lodge, Grizzly Hills
* Fordragon Hold, Dragonblight
* Stars' Rest, Drabonblight
* Westguard Keep, Howling Fjord
* Ebon Watch, Zul'Drak
* Light's Breach, Zul'Drak
* Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Agmar's Hammer
* Kor'kron Vanguard, Dragonblight
* Taunka'le Village, Borean Tundra
*{{Horde} }Venomspite, Dragonblight
* Warsong Hold, Borean Tundra
* Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Kor'kron Vanguard
* Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight
* Venomspite, Dragonblight
* Dalaran
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Venomspite 
* Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight
* Conquest Hold, Grizzly Hills
* Kor'kron Vanguard, Dragonblight
* New Agamand, Howling Fjord
* Light's Breach, Zul'Drak
* Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight
 Flight paths and boats from Moa'ki Harbor
* Stars' Rest, Dragonblight
* Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight
* Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight
* Venomspite, Dragonblight
* Dalaran
* Kamagua, Howling Fjord(turtle boat)
* Unu'pe, Borean Tundra(turtle boat)
* Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight
 Flight paths from Wyrmrest Temple
* Fordragon Hold, Dragonblight
* Stars' Rest, Dragonblight
* Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight
* Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight
* Kor'kron Vanguard, Dragonblight
* Venomspite, Dragonblight
* Dalaran
* Ebon Watch, Zul'Drak
* Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight
===Adjacent regions===
Zone Name 	Faction	Level Range	Direction	Access
Dalaran 	 	N/A 	Northwest	By foot via Crystalsong or flight path
Borean Tundra 	 	58 - 80 	West 	By foot, flight path or turtle boat from Moa'ki Harbor
Howling Fjord 	 	58 - 80 	Southeast	By flight path or turtle boat from Moa'ki Harbor
Zul'Drak 	 	64 - 80 	Northeast	By foot or flight path
Grizzly Hills 	 	63 - 80 	East 	By foot or flight path
Crystalsong Forest	 	67 - 80 	North 	By foot
Wintergrasp 	 	67 - 80 PvP	Northwest	By flight only
Icecrown 	 	67 - 80 	North 	By foot via Angrathar the Wrathgate or flight path
==Notable characters==
* Aethas Sunreaver - or at least his image - can be found in Agmar's Hammer.
* Archmage Modera - or at least her image - can be found at Star's Rest.
* Koltira can also be found at Agmar's Hammer.
* Rokhan can be found at Dragon's Fall where he ends To Dragon's Fall and starts the follow-up Sarathstra, Scourge of the North.
* Wind Trader Mu'fah will be located in the Moonrest Gardens where he's demanding to see Goramosh in order to discuss an alliance between the blue dragonflight and the Ethereum.
* Anub'arak will be present as the final boss in Azjol-Nerub (instance).
* Kel'thuzad will be present as the final boss in Naxxramas.
* Ysera, the Aspect of the green dragonflight, can be found sleeping and somewhat translucent (phasing between Azeroth and the Emerald Dream) in the Emerald Dragonshrine.
* Nozdormu, the Aspect of the bronze dragonflight, will briefly appear in the Bronze Dragonshrine during the quests Mystery of the Infinite and Mystery of the Infinite, Redux.
* Alexstrasza, the Aspect of the red dragonflight, can be found at the Wyrmrest Temple.
* Arthas Menethil (before he became a death knight) and Muradin Bronzebeard can be seen in a flashback during the questFrostmourne Cavern (quest), showing how they found Frostmourne.
*Several notable characters will make an appearance during the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate. This includes:
:* Bolvar Fordragon - he will also appear in the Wintergarde Mausoleum to kill Thel'zan the Duskbringer
:* Dranosh Saurfang
:* Lich King
:* Grand Apothecary Putress
==Quests==
The prevailing questline from the Alliance perspective is the attack of the Lich King's forces upon Wintergarde and the siege at Angrathar the Wrathgate. A short side story relives some important events from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne at the Frozen Coast and Frostmourne Cavern.
The Horde questline at Venomspite revolves around Arthas's machinations with the Onslaught-nee-Scarlet Crusade at New Hearthglen, and the initiation of the taunka into the Horde at Agmar's Hammer.
Both mortal factions and the dragonflights represented at Wyrmrest Temple are concerned with Malygos's disastrous redirection of ley line energies at Moonrest Gardens and the Azure Dragonshrine and the Scourge attacks at their respective dragonshrines.
Hour of Twilight - Tentacles 1.jpg|Infested Path of the Titans.
Hour of Twilight - Tentacles 2.jpg|Infested Mirror of Dawn.
Hour of Twilight - Chamber of Aspects 2.jpg|Chamber of the Aspects.
Hour of Twilight - Chamber of Aspects 3.jpg|Chamber of the Aspects.
==Resources==
*Herbalism
**Deadnettle
**Goldclover
**Talandra's Rose
**Frozen Herb
*Skinning
**Borean Leather
**Nerubian Chitin
**Arctic Fur
*Mining
** Cobalt Deposit
** Rich Cobalt Deposit
** Saronite Deposit
** Rich Saronite Deposit
** Titanium Vein
==Wild creatures==
* Undead (Scourge)
** Abominations
** Crypt fiends
** Crypt lords
** Emberwyrms
** Gargoyles
** Geists
** Ghosts
** Ghouls
** Flesh giants
** Frost wyrms
* Dragonkin
** Blue dragons
** Blue drakes
** Blue drakonid
** Blue dragonspawn	
:* Magmawyrms
:* Nerubian fliers
:* Nerubian spiders
:* Nerubian viziers
:* Plague eruptors
:* Shades
:* Skeletal gryphons
:* Skeletal mages
:* Skeletons
:* Undead gnomes
* Giants
** Ice giants
** Titanic watcher (one)	
* Animals
** Darkhounds
** Condors
** Crabs
** Elks
** Jormungar
** Mammoths
** Mastiffs
** Polar bears
** Rams
** Skytalons
* Elementals
** Air elementals
** Ancients
** Arcane elemental (one)
** Death revenants
** Ice elementals
** Lashers (Orchids)
** Water elementals	
* Humanoids
** Blood elves (Blue dragonflight forces)
** Ethereal (one)
** Harpies (Coldwind)
** Humans (Blue dragonflight and Scarlet Onslaught forces)
** Ice trolls (refugees from Zul'Drak)
** Magnataurs
** Snobolds
** Tuskarr
** Wolvar
Rare Elite NPCs associated with the achievement:
* Crazed Indu'le Survivor
* Scarlet Highlord Daion
* Tukemuth
==In Warcraft III==
Those who have braved the chill wind speak of a graveyard called Dragonblight. Treasure is rumored to lie beneath draconian bones, but vigilant dragons watch this sacred ground for foolhardy graverobbers.http://www.battle.net/war3/maps/war3xbonusmaps5.shtml
==In the RPG==
The Dragonblight is a depressing sight. Once this valley was a thriving land, the most fertile in Northrend after the Sholazar Basin, though that was a long time ago. Now it is a vast wasteland where even the snow and ice seem drained. Most of the Dragonblight is a single enormous valley filled with bodies. Although not just any bodies, but dragon bodies. Ailing and old dragons, from every dragonflight, from all over the world, come here to die.
The ground is littered with dragons of all colors. Black, red, green, blue and bronze, they all lie here together, all their differences set aside in death. The mightiest creatures in the world, laid low by age and illness and attack. The land has never recovered, and never will. It weeps for its lost children and remains barren in their memory.Lands of Mystery, pg. 99
The Dragonblight seems peaceful at first, it is not, however. Nerubians stalk the valley, Scourge creatures patrol it, dragons protect it, and other creatures scavenge through it.Lands of Mystery, pg. 100
===History===
Thousands of years ago, before the Sundering, this region was settled by blue dragons. At some point the black dragon Deathwing attacked them, slaughtering the blue dragons by the dozens. The survivors fought back but were no match for Deathwing's ferocity. In the process, their homes were destroyed and the land so damaged it could never recover. That area became known as the Dragonblight. The leader of the blue dragonflight, Malygos, in his rage and grief, split his home located to the west from the rest of the land, creating the gap later named the Westrift in the Borean Tundra.
The remainder of the blue dragon race settled on Malygos's island, which they named Coldarra, and carved out homes of their own. They gave up the war against Deathwing and the black dragonflight and chose to withdraw from the world. Soon they lost themselves in study, though they always look toward the Dragonblight and the spirits of their kin still lingering there.Lands of Mystery, pg. 96
Nothing particularly noteworthy has happened ever since.
===People and culture===
Of the living, the most common creatures here are nerubians. The entrance to Azjol-Nerub sits near the northern edge of the Dragonblight, just below Crystalsong Forest; and before the Scourge came the spider-men wandered freely through this region, moving among the dragon corpses without a care. Now those who survived the War of the Spider find refuge up here, using dragon bones for cover from Scourge patrols. They hatch plans to reclaim their kingdom but lack the numbers or the strength to succeed.
Tauren live here as well, though only in Icemist Village, where a pack of Icemist tauren settled on the western edge of the Dragonblight, on the shore of Lake Wintergrasp. They don't venture into the blight proper very often, preferring the clean cold of the lake to this bitter air of doom and death.
Scourge creatures wander through here all the time, probably looking for ways to use the dragon remains, or searching for any artifacts the dragons left behind. Since they can't pass through Crystalsong Forest, the Dragonblight also provides the only route to the east of Northrend, unless they want to scale the Storm Peaks. Most of the Scourge creatures lurk near the northwestern corner, close to Icecrown Glacier.
Some blue dragons live here as well. They tend their fallen kin and pay their respects. The dragons live in Wyrmrest Temple, down toward the southern shore. They communicate regularly with their kin in Coldarra. They seem to rotate through since even a dragon can stand only so much of this gloom.
===Geography===
thumb|Map of the Dragonblight in Lands of Mystery.
Most of the Dragonblight is a single valley, sloping southward to the Shiverwind Coast. Low hills rise along the sides, taller to the east where they butt up against the Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak. To the north, a thin line of tall, sharp-edged cliffs breaks the land where Icecrown Glacier begins. The western edge borders the Borean Tundra and Lake Wintergrasp, the ground there is low and even and frozen solid.
Many animals live here, feeding off the dragons' remains. Birds, bears, spiders, wolves and bats all tear at the remains or at each other. There are also wendigo, sasquatch, and worg packs as well. Strange that a communal graveyard should support so much life, but maybe the dragons would find it appropriate. Thanks to the Scourge, undead animals wander here as well, killing and converting the living where they can. Large numbers of magnataur led by Grom'thar the Thunderbringer of the Bloodmar, and the nomad Dammia Frostcut dwell the region too.Lands of Mystery, pg. 125, 127
The Dragonblight is an eerie place and it is hard to imagine anyone that would want to live here. Everywhere you look you see dead dragons and their remains. Most of the creatures here shelter beneath or behind or even within dragon carcasses. A few dig shallow pits into the valley wall or settle beneath the rotted trees that dot the landscape. The region has only two settlements of any real size, Icemist Village and Wyrmrest Temple. Everything else is a single family or a small band, a pack at best.
==Notes==
*The War of the Ancients Trilogy novels often refer to some unnamed dragon lands,The Sundering, chapter 4 which includes areas such as the lair of the red dragonflight (a series of large caverns deep inside towering mountains, with hundreds of great gaps in every cliff leading to their realm, and Alexstrasza's chambers being filled with plants and flowers that should have not been able to grow there),The Well of Eternity, chapter 13 the lair of the black dragonflight (later moved to the Broken Isles) and the lair of the blue dragonflight (later moved to Northrend). Long ago, during his mating ritual with Alexstrasza, Korialstrasz had circled his beloved over and over, displaying his strength and agility while she flew in a vast circle around the realm of dragons.The Demon Soul, chapter 11 During the War of the Ancients, these dragon lands were surrounded by a giant, impenetrable magical barrier during the time of the Dragon Soul's empowerment, as Neltharion didn't want anything or anyone to stop the ritual.The Demon Soul, chapter 12 This barrier was guarded from the inside by dragons from all flights such as Horakastrasz, but were also patrolled from the outside by black dragons who had the orders to kill on sight anyone trying to enter or even leave the area.The Demon Soul, chapter 16 This description could refer either to Northrend or the Dragon Isles and as such it is unsure where it happened.
*The remains of a giant creature lie underwater in the far south of the zone, off the coast where the Path of the Titans crumbles into the sea. Only a skull accompanied by a partial skeleton are emerged but they are much bigger than even Galakrond's Rest, and are even visible on the in-game map of the region. It may be the remains of the Manta or another giant dragon or proto-dragon.
==Gallery==
Warcraft III Map - Northrend.jpg|The Dragonblight seen to the left as "The Great Dragonblight" on a Warcraft III map.
Dragonblight concept map.jpg|Dragonblight layout seen on an early map.
BronzeDragonshrine.jpg|The Bronze Dragonshrine.
GreenDragonshrine.jpg|The Emerald Dragonshrine.
NaxxramasDragonblight.jpg|Naxxramas over the Carrion Fields in the Dragonblight.
Tuskarrbridge.jpg|A tuskarr bridge in the Dragonblight.
DbBlizzcon.jpg|Dragonblight artwork.
Dragonblight Art Peter Lee 4.jpg|Concept art.
Dragonblight Art Peter Lee 3.jpg|Concept art.
Boneyard concept art.jpg|Concept art, presumably of The Bone Wastes.
Wyrmrest Temple Art.jpg|The Wyrmrest Temple in art.
Northrend Concept Art Peter Lee 4.jpg|Concept art - possibly the Briny Pinnacle.
Dragonblight Art Peter Lee 2.jpg|Concept art - seemingly the entrance to some nerubian structure.
Dragon Soul prior loading screen artwork.jpg|Wyrmrest Temple prior to Deathwing's arrival.
Dragon Soul loading screen artwork.jpg|Deathwing attacking the Wyrmrest Temple, Dragon Soul.
End Time loading screen artwork.jpg|Future Wyrmrest Temple, End Time.
Journey Trailer - Dragonblight.jpg|In Journey Trailer.
==Videos==
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==Patch changes==
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==References==
==External links==
Dragonblight	Deaths of Chromie	
 	 	
 
Category:Flats
Category:Deserts
Category:Dragon territories
Category:Warcraft III maps
pl:Dragonblight