Dragon Isles
 Dragon Isles | |
|---|---|
| Level: 60-70 | |
 | |
| Capital(s) |
 Valdrakken Maruukai Iskaara Loamm Bel'ameth |
| Races |
     Dragon     Drakonid     Dragonspawn Dracthyr Tarasek  Djaradin    Centaur  Tuskarr  Furbolg Gnoll Gorloc Dryad  Titanic watcher Refti Niffen Drogbar  Night elf |
| Ruler(s) |
      Dragon Aspects  Ohn'ahra  Sarest  Brena  Aurantia  Shandris Feathermoon |
| Affiliation | Dragonflights, Valdrakken Accord, Primalists, Titans, Maruuk Centaur, Iskaara Tuskarr, Dragonscale Expedition, Loamm Niffen, Kirin Tor, Furbolg tribes, Gnoll tribes, Darnassus |
| Location |
Great Sea (see notes), northeastern Azeroth |
The Dragon Isles, historically known as the Broodlands,[1][2][3] are the ancestral homeland of Azeroth's dragonflights, and the primary setting for the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion.
Overview
The Dragon Isles were separate from the mainland even before the Great Sundering.[4][5][6] During the shaping of the Dragon Isles by the titan-forged, the bronze dragon Ironormu met the earthen.[7] They occasionally received visitors to the Wingrest Embassy located on the shores of the isle.[8][9] The Broodlands were surrounded by the greater Dragonwilds, where most of the primal dragons had retreated after the Aspects began ordering new dragons.[10]
A lush and primal place bursting with elemental magic[11] and the life energies of Azeroth,[12][13] they were settled by the dragonflights after their empowerment by the titan Pantheon and served as the center of their kingdom. The djaradin and tarasek are two races known to have lived here even before the dragons arrived.[14]
Because of the Great Sundering, much of the isles' magic was drained away and the dragons were forced to leave their homeland in the care of the titanic watchers,[11][15] the drakonid, the dragonspawn, and the dryads[16] that were left behind. Alexstrasza tasked the watchers to use the Beacon of Tyrhold to hide the Isles away from all outsiders, as well as the dragons themselves,[17] until a time came when elemental energy resurfaced and the dragons could be drawn home to reestablish their kingdom,[11] at which point the watchers would light the Beacon and reveal the Isles to the world once more.[17]
Battle for Azeroth
The Dragon Isles are a place that few have heard of and even fewer have been to. The Black Prince Wrathion has been searching for the Isles, but was unable to find them. Other dragons were not forthcoming in information.[18] An "ancient home for all dragonflights" is mentioned in legends concerning the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran.[19]
Dragonflight
Having been hidden away for more than 10,000 years, the primal elements have resurged on the Dragon Isles as Azeroth heals and awakens,[20] causing new life to arise.[21] The titan watcher Koranos has lit the Beacon of Tyrhold, lifting the veil that was hiding them from the world, and calling the dragons back home.[17] Working together, the Alliance and Horde dispatched the Explorers' League and Reliquary to conduct a scientific expedition to the re-emerging islands. This was explicitly not a military venture,[22] with both factions joining forces to form the Dragonscale Expedition.
After Fyrakk's defeat, Amirdrassil and the surrounding island crossed over from the Emerald Dream to Azeroth, appearing in the sea west of the Ohn'aran Plains.[23]
Geography
Zones
Four of them are leveling zones, while the fifth, the Forbidden Reach, is the starting zone for dracthyr evokers.[20] 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.[24] The expansion's storyline runs through each of the zones sequentially. Exploration within the zones themselves, however, is comparatively non-linear.[25]
- The Forbidden Reach (58-60)
- The Waking Shores (60-62)
- Ohn'ahran Plains (62-65)
- The Azure Span (65-68)
- Thaldraszus (68-70)
- Zaralek Cavern (added in 10.1)
- Emerald Dream (added in 10.2)
- Amirdrassil (added in 10.2)
Dungeons
- Main article: Instances by continent
Algeth'ar Academy (instance)- The Azure Vault
- Brackenhide Hollow
- Halls of Infusion
- Neltharus
- The Nokhud Offensive
- Ruby Life Pools
- Dawn of the Infinite
Vault of the Incarnates- Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible
Getting to the Dragon Isles
Players get to the Dragon Isles via a boat from Stormwind City and a gunship from 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.[26] Some of the known such creatures are argali, hornswog, a specific type of mammoth on the Dragon Isles and ottuk.
Development
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.[27]
Associate Art Director for Dragonflight Tina Wang described the Isles as being larger than Northrend in-game.[16]
Notes
- The War of the Ancients Trilogy novels often refer to some unnamed dragon lands,[28] 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),[29] 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.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] This description could refer either to Northrend or the Dragon Isles, and as such it is unsure where it happened.
- The Dragon Isles surrounding seas display the Great Sea. However, since the Isles are located east of Northrend, northwest of Quel'Thalas, and northeast of Exile's Reach, it should display the North Sea instead.
- In Warcraft II, the Mysterious Dragon Isle was a multiplayer map shaped like a dragon's head.
Gallery
Key art
Concept art of a landscape shaped by primal elemental forces.
Early concept art of peaks and valleys in the shape of a spiral dragon.
Concept art of a volcano based around a giant dragon egg radiating heat.
In-game map
Dragon Isles on the Azeroth in-game world map
- Zone screenshots
Azure Span
Forbidden Reach
Ohn'ahran Plains
Thaldraszus
Waking Shores
Original concept
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.[33] They were also planned to host temples to the Old Gods.[34] Some early maps also labeled the isles with the name "Alexstrasza", implying she would be present.[35] The dragons here would have been antagonistic, with their characterization having been written before Metzen's vision of them as portrayed in Day of the Dragon.[citation needed]
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.[34] 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[36] 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
A group of small islands can be seen above Quel'Thalas in an early concept map.
Alexstrasza's name over the Dragon Isles.
Three small isles west of Quel'Thalas, possibly the Dragon Isles.
Concept from 2001 with the isles west of Quel'Thalas.
The Dragon Isles as a raid on an early World of Warcraft gameplay map.
On the alpha Eastern Kingdoms flight map.
On the World of Warcraft alpha map.
On the Wrath of the Lich King pre-release map.
Dragon Isles on Designer Island.
See also
References
- ^ Veritistrasz's quotes - Veritistrasz says: I grew up here, when it was called the Broodlands.
- ^ Dragonflight Zone Preview: The Waking Shores: "While millennia ago [the Waking Shores] was populated with dragon architecture like the rest of the Broodlands, most of those structures have long since fallen into decay and become overgrown."
- ^ World of Warcraft: War of the Scaleborn
- ^ World of Warcraft: War of the Scaleborn
- ^ Alexstrasza's Welcome
- ^ Legacies
- ^ Ironormu#Gossip
- ^ Alexstrasza's Welcome
- ^ Storykeeper Jaru
- ^ World of Warcraft: War of the Scaleborn, chapter 1, pg. 14
- ^ a b c World of Warcraft 2022-04-19. Dragonflight: Weaving a Story. YouTube. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
- ^ World of Warcraft: Dragonflight official site. Retrieved on 2022-04-19.
- ^ Dracthyr (Alliance) on the Official Website - "Surging with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth, the Dragon Isles are awakening once more [...]"
- ^ The Art of Dragonflight
- ^ Dragonflight Survival Guide - "the Sundering changed everything, and the primal elements that once shaped the landscape went dormant, and the dragons themselves departed"
- ^ a b https://www.well-played.com.au/dragon-racing-dragon-snoots-and-dragon-sheep-talking-draconic-with-the-wow-expansion-devs/
- ^ a b c Dragonflight cinematic
- ^ [10-50] Unscarred Black Scale
- ^ 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."
- ^ a b 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-04-20
- ^ 2022-11-24, Dragonflight Survival Guide | Live on November 28 | World of Warcraft. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-11-26
- ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Expansion Reveal. YouTube, retrieved on 2022-04-20
- ^ [70R] Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope: Fyrakk
- ^ 2022-04-20, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: DRAGONFLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH JACKIE WILEY AND TINA WANG. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2022-04-22
- ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. IGN, retrieved on 2022-04-24
- ^ https://gamerant.com/world-of-warcraft-dragonflight-interview-worldbuilding-setting-future/
- ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. IGN, retrieved on 2022-04-24
- ^ The Sundering, chapter 4
- ^ The Well of Eternity, chapter 13
- ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 11
- ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 12
- ^ The Demon Soul, chapter 16
- ^ World of Warcraft: Looking for Group
- ^ a b John Staats interview with Countdown to Classic
- ^ File:World of Warcraft Diary - World map 3.jpg
- ^ The Art of World of Warcraft, pg. 140
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