Stonetalon Mountains

The Stonetalon Mountains are a range of peaks that lie west of the Northern Barrens, south of Ashenvale, and north of Desolace. The mountains are traditionally the ancestral home of the harpies, but their numbers have dwindled with the turmoil in the region. Stonetalon Peak, the largest mountain in the range, has long been a sacred place for both the night elves and tauren. The night elves once maintained a barrow and a glade at the top, but the area has since come under attack by a sinister force. The mountains further south are less forested, although some sparse evergreens grow in certain spots, particularly the Greatwood Vale. Windshear Crag has been decimated by years of logging by various factions, leaving the air is filled with soot and spoiling the area's water with oil and waste. The night elves have several holds, while the tauren have a settlement in the centrally located Sun Rock Retreat and the Darkspear trolls have a village further south at Malaka'jin. The Horde and Alliance also have posts at various battlefronts throughout the mountains. The mountains are home to creatures such as kobolds, spiders, and eagles, while Charred Vale stretches out to the sea and holds several especially dangerous black dragons and elementals.

## History

In ancient times, Elune blessed a Fountain of Health in the Stonetalon Mountains.

Stonetalon Mountains have traditionally been the area of Kalimdor where night elves and tauren coexist and forms a border between the two peoples. Stonetalon Peak has long been a sacred place for the two races and was historically the home of the immortal Oracle, the being who saw the strands of fate as they were woven by the Earth Mother. During the Third War, the mountains hosted human and orcish camps, and it was at Stonetalon Peak that the Alliance and the Horde temporarily united in order to fight the Burning Legion.

The area south Stonetalon Peak housed Razormane quilboar, a group of centaur, and a group of harpies who captured local wyverns and corrupted the fountain blessed by Elune.

According to Mor'rogal there is something evil under the mountains. The trolls of Malaka'jin sent Horde adventurers to strike at the keepers and dryads within the at the Stonetalon Peaks, the tauren of Sun Rock Retreat and the night elves of Stonetalon Peak sent adventurers to deal with the various threats within the region. Meanwhile Ziz Fizziks at Windshear Crag, aims to strike directly at the heart of Venture Company's local team — the leprous gnome Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle. And in a small camp nearby, Kaela Shadowspear and Gaxim Rustfizzle organize the Alliance's opposition in the rugged crags, with particular aims at the nearby goblin invaders and the monsters of the Charred Vale.

## Geography

The Stonetalon Mountains lie between the forests of Ashenvale to the north and the bleak Desolace to the southwest. The highest peaks of the mountains are thickly forested with evergreens, though the forest thins with lower altitude. The logging of the Venture Company, the Horde, and the Alliance, has further thinned the forest, with clear cutting in and around Windshear Crag. The mountains boast Mirkfallon Lake, which historically was a nesting site for wyverns, but is now being dredged by goblins of the Horde. Battlescar Valley is a major battlefront between the Horde and Alliance. Charred Vale, once a lush and beautiful area, is now a desolate ruin full of fire elementals and black dragons.

According to Rexxar, it used to take days to travel the thick forests that once crowned the mountains' craggy peaks. The mining and lumber operations of the Venture Company left every cliff barren. After the goblins, lava flows and rampant wildfires came, which consumed anything that remained.