Dragon Isles

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The **Dragon Isles** are the ancestral homeland of Azeroth's dragonflights, and the primary setting for the *World of Warcraft: Dragonflight* expansion.

## Overview

 File:Dragonflight cinematic - Sundering.jpg
The Dragon Isles are a lush and primal place bursting with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth, and once served as the dragonflights' broodlands and the center of their kingdom when Azeroth was young. During the Great Sundering, much of the land's magic was drained away and the dragons were forced to leave their homeland in the care of the titanic watchers, the drakonid, the dragonspawn, and the dryads, that were left behind to take care of it all watchers used the Beacon of Tyrhold to hide the Isles away from all outsiders, as well as the dragons themselves. When a time came when elemental energy resurged and the dragons could be drawn home to reestablish their kingdom, the watchers would light the Beacon and reveal the Isles to the world once more.

Having been hidden away for more than 10,000 years, the Dragon Isles are a place that few have heard of and even fewer have been to. The Black Prince Wrathion long searched for the Isles, but was unable to find them as other dragons were not forthcoming in information. An "ancient home for all dragonflights" is mentioned in legends concerning the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran.

### Dragonflight

Dragonflight **This section concerns content related to *Dragonflight*.**
As Azeroth continued to awaken, her "primal forces" manifested upon the Dragon Isles. The Beacon of Tyrhold was re-lit, and the dragons returned to the islands. Working together, the Alliance and Horde dispatched the Explorers' League and Reliquary to conduct a scientific expedition to the newly re-emerged islands. This was explicitly not a military venture, with both factions joining forces to form the Dragonscale Expedition.

## Geography

### Zones

Four of them are leveling zones, while the fifth, the Forbidden Reach, is the starting zone for dracthyr evokers. Players have to go through the zones in order, starting in the Reach/Shores, and ending in Thaldraszus. The progression is vertical, with the Shores being located at the base of the Isles, while Thaldraszus is located at its apex. The expansion's storyline runs through each of the zones sequentially. Exploration within the zones themselves, however, is comparatively non-linear.

* Dragonflight Forbidden Reach (58)
* Dragonflight The Waking Shores (?)
* Dragonflight Ohn'ahran Plains (?)
* Dragonflight The Azure Span (?)
* Dragonflight Thaldraszus (?)

## Dungeons

Main article: Instances by continent
* Instance portal Neltharus
* Instance portal The Life Pools

## Getting to the Dragon Isles

Players will get to the Dragon Isles via boats from Stormwind City and Orgrimmar, accompanying an expedition of the Explorers' League and the Reliquary to the rediscovered land.

## Wild creatures

In the Dragon Isles there are creatures with draconic elements to them because of the magic of the space–the draconic energy causing evolutions to the creatures over the years to give some of them scales, frills, or additional spikes. The curranty known such creatures are:

* Frog with draconic elements
* Sheep with draconic elements

## Notes

* In *Warcraft II*, the Mysterious Dragon Isle was a multiplayer map shaped like a dragon's head.
* Tina Wang a Associate Art Director for *Dragonflight* in an interview described the Dragon Isles as being larger than Northrend.
* The Dragon Isles were conceived as a "vertical space" from the outset. This was felt to "suit the fantasy of the location." The zones were designed to be more compact than other regions.

## Gallery

* Dragonflight key art.jpg

Key art
* Dragonflight site - Azure Span.jpg

Azure Span
* Dragonflight reveal - Azure Span 1.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Azure Span 2.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Inbue's Shield.jpg
* Ruins Dragonflight site.jpg
* Tuskarr lake Dragonflight site.jpg
* Dragonflight site - Forbidden Reach.jpg

Forbidden Reach
* Dragonflight reveal - Caldera of Menders.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Froststone Vault.jpg
* Ohn'ahran Plains
* Dragonflight reveal - Mudfin Village.jpg
* Elemental Dragonflight site.jpg
* Wildlife Dragonflight site.jpg
* Dragonflight site - Thaldraszus.jpg

Thaldraszus
* Dragonflight reveal - Thaldraszus Temple.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Ruby Lifeshrine.jpg
* Bridge Dragonflight site.jpg
* Titan Dragonflight site.jpg
* Dragonflight site - Waking Shores.jpg

Waking Shores
* Dragonflight reveal - Waking Shores.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Dragonscale Basecamp.jpg
* Dragonflight reveal - Obsidian Citadel.jpg
* Magma Dragonflight site.jpg
* Garden Dragonflight site.jpg

## Original concept

Removed from game The subject of this section did not make it out of the alpha stages.
 File:Dragon Isles.jpg
The Dragon Isles were originally conceptualized during the development of *World of Warcraft* but were cut early on. They were intended to be located north of Lordaeron and west of Quel'Thalas, as a level 65-70 zone with a raid. They were also planned to host temples to the Old Gods. Some early maps also labeled the isles with the name "Alexstrasza", implying she would be present.

Some working assets labeled "Dragon Isles" are still present in the game files. They were added during the *World of Warcraft* beta and are used only in a test zone named Designer Island. The set consists of a large nautilus-shaped temple as well as three caves with structures built over the entrances. A hermit crab-shaped temple had also been designed but did not make it to the game files. The nautilus-shaped Old God temple is also present on a piece of concept artwork simply labeled "Dragon Isles" included in both *The Art of World of Warcraft* and the original in-game credits.

Despite being cut even before the *World of Warcraft* beta, the small islands still appeared, unlabeled, on the in-game World Map just north of Lordaeron until they were removed in *Wrath of the Lich King*. It was only in *Battle for Azeroth* that the first canonical mention of the Dragon Isles was made, before they were finally introduced in *Dragonflight*.

The concept of red dragons living on islands north of Lordaeron is consistent with the *Warcraft II* manual stating that dragons are native to "the untamed northlands of Azeroth". The idea of Alexstrasza inhabiting an island near the Eastern Kingdoms was also seen in the canceled *Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans*, in which she lived in a cave on Crestfall.

Soggoth the Slitherer's remains at the Master's Glaive and the giant kraken temple in the Shrine of the Storm both closely resemble the Dragon Isles temple concept.

### Original concept gallery

* ABE - Lordaeron and Khaz Modan map.jpg

A group of small islands can be seen above Quel'Thalas in an early concept map.
* World of Warcraft Diary - World map 3.jpg

Alexstrasza's name over the Dragon Isles.
* Eastern Kingdoms pre-WoW 1.jpg

Three small isles west of Quel'Thalas, possibly the Dragon Isles.
* Azeroth map concept 2001.jpg

Concept from 2001 with the isles west of Quel'Thalas.
* Dragon Isles map.jpg

The Dragon Isles as a raid on an early *World of Warcraft* gameplay map.
* TaxiMap0 Alpha.png

On the alpha Eastern Kingdoms flight map.
* Azeroth-alphamap-cities.jpg

On the *World of Warcraft* alpha map.
* WorldMap-World-wotlk-pre-release.jpg

On the *Wrath of the Lich King* pre-release map.
* Dragon Isles render 2.jpg

Dragon Isles on Designer Island.
* Dragon Isles render.jpg
* Dragon Isles render 3.jpg

## References

 1. ↑ Interview Exclusive Dragonflight : Ion Hazzikostas nous parle de l'avenir de WoW
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 World of Warcraft 2022-04-19. Dragonflight: Weaving a Story. YouTube. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
3. ↑ World of Warcraft: Dragonflight official site. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.well-played.com.au/dragon-racing-dragon-snoots-and-dragon-sheep-talking-draconic-with-the-wow-expansion-devs/
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *Dragonflight* cinematic
6. ↑ Unscarred Black Scale (quest)
7. ↑ *Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor*, pg. 65: *"The distant legends about the dragons and their riders also spoke of an ancient home for all dragonflights, but Rexxar said such a place has never been found."*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. *YouTube*, retrieved on 2022-04-20
9. ↑ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. *YouTube*, retrieved on 2022-04-20
10. ↑ 2022-04-20, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: DRAGONFLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH JACKIE WILEY AND TINA WANG. *Blizzplanet*, retrieved on 2022-04-22
11. ↑ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. *IGN*, retrieved on 2022-04-24
12. ↑ https://gamerant.com/world-of-warcraft-dragonflight-interview-worldbuilding-setting-future/
13. ↑ File:Dragonflight\_reveal\_-\_Azure\_Span\_2.jpg
14. ↑ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. *IGN*, retrieved on 2022-04-24
15. ↑ *World of Warcraft: Looking for Group*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 John Staats interview with Countdown to Classic
17. ↑ File:World of Warcraft Diary - World map 3.jpg
18. ↑ *The Art of World of Warcraft*, pg. 140

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