Wouldn't this be cool? The Lost Islands of Draenor
by Matthew Rossi 
Feb 12th 2012 at 4:00PM
One of the things we like to do at the virtual WoW Insider office is talk about what we'd like to see in the game. Sometimes it's something as simple as a winged Zhevra mount. Sometimes it gets more elaborate, like when Mat McCurley and I were talking about the lost ocean that once surrounded Hellfire Peninsula before Draenor got ripped inside out and dumped unceremoniously into the Twisting Nether, becoming what is now Outland.
"Hey," I said, "Have you ever noticed that Deathwing's Lair isn't part of the part of Draenor that became Outland?"
"Yeah, and the Warsong Clan's island is gone too." He pointed out. This got us to thinking about future content. We know we're going to Pandaria soon, but neither of us have given up on what Mike Sacco calls an outer space vacation expansion. We want it to happen, to seek out new life, to go where no tauren has gone before. And this got me to think that maybe, we can start the exploration off in 5-man content.
"Hey," I said, "Have you ever noticed that Deathwing's Lair isn't part of the part of Draenor that became Outland?"
"Yeah, and the Warsong Clan's island is gone too." He pointed out. This got us to thinking about future content. We know we're going to Pandaria soon, but neither of us have given up on what Mike Sacco calls an outer space vacation expansion. We want it to happen, to seek out new life, to go where no tauren has gone before. And this got me to think that maybe, we can start the exploration off in 5-man content.
Now, in the book Beyond the Dark Portal, DW's lair is moved to the Blade's Edge Mountains. So maybe it's just plain not there anymore. But that's not fun at all, and it's easy enough to justify that Deathwing was the kind of guy who'd have more than one lair. Personally, I'd love to see a couple of 5-mans out of the lost islands.
Where did the Warsong Clan go?
The first idea I had was actually about the Warsong Clan holding. It's been gone for 20+ years; what happened to the Warsong who were left behind? Not all the Warsong children ended up in Garadar with Garrosh Hellscream, after all. What happened to the Warsong? Did they all go to Azeroth, even women and children? Where did they go?
My idea is that they didn't all go to Azeroth, because what fun would that be? (It would probably be more fun for them.) Instead, when Draenor became Outland, the ocean surrounding Hellfire became its own stranded place floating in the void, trapping the Warsong on a large island under constant invasion and attack by demons of the Burning Legion. In order to survive, those few warriors who didn't accompany the Horde were forced to battle waves of demons, and in the aftermath of the creation of Outland, these demonic invaders became something more than mere enemies to the Warsong. They became prey.
The Warsong would still have been under the Blood Curse caused when their clean leader Grom Hellscream drank the Blood of Mannoroth, after all. With the natural ecosystem of their island destroyed, and in constant battle, what if the Warsong took to eating the demons? If food is scarce enough, it might have been the only option, and what's more, it could have led the Warsong into becoming Chaos Orcs. Now, 20 years later, these chaos orcs rule the remainder of the Warsong Clan on the island in a caste system, with only the strongest children allowed to feed from the demonic flesh and blood and gain the power of chaos.
An Alliance/Horde struggle
The Alliance would of course want to wipe these guys out as soon as they heard about them. Powerful chaos orcs who can actually hunt and kill demons for food pose a great threat to any continued operations on Outland, especially if the Warsong ever find a way to bridge the Twisting Nether.
For that matter, what if they came to Azeroth? Chaos orcs once proved powerful enough to murder a demigod. For the Horde, however, things get more complicated. Garrosh Hellscream has no desire to make the mistakes of his father, but the Warsong are his people. Can any of them be saved? Are there untainted Warsong trapped on that island? What about relatives, perhaps even his mother or some clue as to what happened to her? Horde players could be sent to the island to find out the answers to these questions and perhaps even to stop the Alliance before they wipe out everything there.
I'd really like to see this place make a return, giving us some insight as to the fate of the Warsong and a chance to see a Garrosh Hellscream who takes action to preserve and save something, as well as more backstory for the character. What do you think? What would make a cool new 5-man instance?
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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Fuzzl Feb 12th 2012 4:10PM
It's not necessarily a 5-man idea, but I always thought if Blizzard did another space expansion, a zone that was perpetually night-like would be cool. They could have cool glowing plants/animals (a la "Avatar") and dark, stealthy animals whose colored eyes are the only real thing you can see in the dark.
Helston Feb 12th 2012 6:29PM
After Tyrande's trash in End Time, I'll have to disagree with that idea.
Prelimar Feb 12th 2012 7:46PM
like Zangarmarsh?
Snuzzle Feb 12th 2012 8:39PM
Yeah. Also, keep in mind, not all of us have great computers. While you might be able to easily see these light sources with your particles turned up all the way, I have to keep mine down to minimum (and I suspect others are in my boat too)
Keeping it vivid and bright enough to be visually distinct for low end computers would be a real challenge.
Noyou Feb 12th 2012 4:15PM
Or we can have an "Inland". Since we already have Outland. Just like MoP is balancing out Northrend with the new, "Southrend". It would kind of be like Deepholm I guess. Or it could be like Outland but on a different plane of existence.
mhm Feb 12th 2012 7:02PM
I really don't see why this was down rated.
Blayze Feb 12th 2012 4:12PM
So an island of Sith orcs, effectively? ...Interesting. Very interesting.
Matheus314 Feb 13th 2012 1:26PM
And a lot more of lore and story developing towards the Horde.
Alliance? Probably gonna lose another town, maybe Sentinel Hill, I think the Horde is not really well settled on Eastern Kingdoms...
Blayze Feb 13th 2012 7:18PM
They can't take Sentinel Hill.
It's still on fire.
Chris Gonzalez Feb 12th 2012 4:13PM
A 5-man (or a raid) to find out what the hell is underneath Undercity, and what happened to Koltira Deathweaver, would be great.
Ametrine Feb 12th 2012 6:00PM
He's tied to Sylvanas' bed.
Ballmung Feb 12th 2012 11:27PM
lucky bastard
Matheus314 Feb 13th 2012 1:26PM
Well, she is a dominatrix kind of woman, I don't see why not...
/wink
Peebers Feb 12th 2012 4:29PM
i really like the sauce youre dippin your fries in my man!!!
jealouspirate Feb 12th 2012 4:29PM
"The Lost Isles of Draenor" also has great potential for some desperately needed new Draenei content.
Hob Feb 12th 2012 4:57PM
I know, right? Because nothing says "draenei content" like the orc home world.
jealouspirate Feb 12th 2012 5:02PM
@Hob
Can't tell if you're trying to be sarcastic or not.
Because of course, the Draenei lived there for thousands and thousands of years. The planet is even named after them. Shy of going to Argus itself, the "orc home world" is the absolute best place to go for Draenei content.
lilywillylover Feb 12th 2012 5:50PM
The Dranei didn't live on Draenor for thousands of years. They've only been on the planet, at most 200 years (200 summers according to Rise of the Horde book).
And the planet wasn't named after them. They named the planet because the Orcs didn't have a name for it.
jealouspirate Feb 12th 2012 5:57PM
@lilywillylover
I haven't read Rise of the Horde, but according to this website (http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/03/31/know-your-lore-the-draenei/) they lived on Draenor for thousands of years. That's what I'm basing my information on.
And sure, the planet was named after them. They made up the name themselves, but it still means "Exile's Refuge" in reference to the Draenei, and now it's a name used by many races.
lilywillylover Feb 12th 2012 6:11PM
Well, then that Know Your Lore is mistaken. According to Rise of the Horde, they arrived on Draenor 200 summers ago. That is a lot less than thousands of years.
Yes, they named the planet but it was a lot less, "Let's name this planet after us." but more like, "We are exiles and this planet will be known as our refuge."