Greymane Wall

The Greymane Wall as it appears in the trailer of Cataclysm.

The (intact) wall seen from Gilneas.

The Greymane Wall was erected before the Third War by order of King Genn Greymane, as the kingdom of Gilneas isolated itself from the Alliance of Lordaeron and the rest of the world due to a disagreement surrounding the maintenance taxes about the internment camps for the orcs, and other political disputes. It is a colossal wall with a substantially sized gate, located at the southern edge of the Silverpine Forest in Lordaeron (its entrance near Pyrewood Village) and the northern edge of the Gilnean peninsula.

The controversial edifice led to the rise of tensions among the people of Gilneas, but protected them from the Plague of Undeath and the Scourging of Lordaeron. During the war across the continent, many refugees that escaped the undead made camp outside of the wall, but its gates remained closed for years, and the refugees perished at some point.

Following the end of the Third War, the wall sowed civil discord in the isolated kingdom, rising until eventually led to the Northgate Rebellion, a devastating civil war that nearly destroyed the nation. Though King Greymane was able to put down the dissenters with the apprehension of the rebellion's leader, Lord Darius Crowley, the kingdom began to experience other troubles, in the form of the worgen curse.

It was not until the Cataclysm that the gates were destroyed, giving the chance to the Forsaken to invade the peninsula from the north.

History

Following the defeat of the Old Horde at the end of the Second War, the orcs that remained behind after the Dark Portal closed found themselves prisoners. While many wanted to execute them outright, such as King Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde and King Greymane himself, King Terenas Menethil of Lordaeron believed the orcs would one day lose their lust for conquest and showed them mercy by building internment camps.^[1]

In his kingdom, Greymane chafed at having Gilnean taxes pay for orc internment camps and the construction of Nethergarde Keep. In discussion with Lord Vincent Godfrey, Greymane questioned the wisdom of listening to his and Lord Darius Crowley's advice in joining the Alliance of Lordaeron, stating that it had gotten them nothing but dead Gilneans. Greymane then stated his plans to withdraw from the Alliance and wall off Gilneas from the rest of the world. Upon looking at the map of Gilneas Greymane had in front of them, Godfrey suggested the wall be built through Crowley's lands, cutting off Pyrewood Village and Ambermill from the rest of the kingdom, as Crowley's lands had the mountains as a natural barrier the wall could be built into. Greymane agreed and was confident that Crowley would understand his reasoning.^[2]

Years after, the departure of Quel'Thalas who stated that the humans' poor leadership had led to the burning of their forests during the War,^[3] coupled with the expenses that led to rebuilding Stormwind, and alongside the liberation of the orcs from internment camps by Thrall, led to disagreements between the kings. The Alliance of Lordaeron itself crumble, and led to the departure of Gilneas who cut off all military pacts with the Alliance. In order to stop the Horde or any other enemies from threatening his kingdom ever again,^[4] Genn decided to start the construction of his Wall which split his kingdom off from the world, cutting off Crowley's lands located at Silverpine Forest.^[5]

Third War

The wall in Curse of the Worgen.

Despite having managed to isolate his kingdom, Genn had other worries on his mind. At the time of the Scourging of Lordaeron, the gates were closed as the Undead Scourge had devastated Gilneas' neighbors and not long after were outside the Wall. The number of the undead was small at first, but it increased over time and they did not flag. Fearing it would break, King Genn Greymane opened the gate and Gilnean soldiers poured from Gilneas into Silverpine Forest. The Scourge, however, defeated the soldiers and raised them into undeath.^[6]

While Gilnean soldiers slowly dwindled, King Greymane ordered Archmage Arugal to summon the worgen. At first, everything went according to plan until the Scourge were driven off. With no more enemies left to fight, the beasts turned on the Gilnean soldiers stationed beyond the Greymane Wall. Consequently, King Greymane ordered the return of his troops as well as the permanent closure of the Greymane Wall's doors, however, some retreating soldiers were infected and began secretly to spread the worgen curse. Over the years, reports of strange attacks and disappearances rose, fear took root in the hearts of Greymane's people, while the curse continued to spread in the kingdom through the Wolf Cult, gradually eating away at Gilneas' humanity.^[7]

In an act of defiance against Greymane, Crowley sent the group of soldiers known as the Gilneas Brigade outside the isolated kingdom to assist Lady Jaina Proudmoore during the Third War.^[2]^[2]

Following the end of the Third War, Genn's staunch isolationism led Lord Darius Crowley to eventually take up arms against his king. Leading his armed supporters into Gilneas City in an attempt to depose King Genn, a bloody civil war named the Northgate rebellion erupted between the two factions, and officially ended when Crowley and his leading allies were captured by Greymane's forces.^[2]

World of Warcraft

This section concerns content related to the original World of Warcraft.

A few years later, Haggard and sickly refugees from the rest of Lordaeron were stopped from going into Gilneas due to the wall. Dalin Forgewright had dedicated himself to the care of the refugees,^[8] and Valdred Moray was trying to flee into Gilneas after murdering Deliah Andrean. Wallace the Blind was also there, as well as Stewvul who was hiding in a crate. They were presumably killed by the Forsaken and the worgen of Shadowfang Keep before the invasion of Gilneas.

Cataclysm

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

The shattered Greymane Wall.

Years later, to compound the worgen threat, the Forsaken started battering at the nation's gates in a bid to conquer Gilneas, but the Gilnean troops defending it coupled with the wall's mighty defenses were easily driving the Forsaken back despite all their efforts and daring attacks. Although the Gilneans' defenses held, the Greymane Wall began to deteriorate.^[9]

The gates of the Greymane Wall were eventually shattered by the Cataclysm, finally revealing what had happened to the kingdom and its citizens, and allowing the Forsaken war machine to invade the once-mighty nation. With the worgen curse having taken hold, the Gilneans found a partial cure, allowing them to retain their human minds even when transformed, and allowing them to transform at will.^[10] As the Forsaken invaded the land, the worgen Alpha Prime, also infiltrated the land by using tunnels hidden underneath the Greymane Wall. Allying with the undead, he wanted to get the Scythe of Elune.^[11]

Some time after the Gilneans evacuated from Gilneas and joined the Alliance, Lord Darius Crowley led his worgen in a counterattack against the Forsaken and managed to push the undead from Gilneas back to the Silverpine Forest. The Gilneas Liberation Front and 7th Legion made camps just beneath the shadow of the Wall: Gilneas Liberation Front Base Camp and 7th Legion Base Camp. The Forsaken, however, managed to capture Lorna Crowley and Sylvanas Windrunner used her to bargain a surrender with Darius Crowley in front of the wall's gate. After father and daughter retreated back to Gilneas, Sylvanas was killed by Vincent Godfrey but soon resurrected by her loyal Val'kyr. After this assassination attempt by Godfrey, battles in the area ceased.^[12]

Dragonflight

This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

Over a decade later, all the abandoned Forsaken structures and plague machines around the wall were removed by the Gilnean people after the Reclamation of Gilneas, leaving only a few barricades.

NPCs

The subject of this section was removed from World of Warcraft in patch 4.0.3a but is present in Classic Era.

In the RPG

This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Greymane Wall is the only evident site in Gilneas. Genn Greymane and his people constructed the wall after the Second War to isolate themselves. This enormous gray wall marks the boundary between Gilneas and the rest of Lordaeron. No guards stand at its battlements or man its gates — the wall seems dead. Nevertheless, refugees from the north camp in the wall's shadow, hope for succor. These unfortunates never see any Gilnean and are easy prey for the worgen that occasionally stray this far south from Shadowfang Keep. Some refugees were sent to Hillsbrad by Brann Bronzebeard when he passed near the wall.^[13]^[14]

Notes

A portion of the Wall can be seen in the Battle for Gilneas with the Waterworks nearby. It has a double rainbow over it.
Prior to Cataclysm, a view of the inner side of the old model used for the Greymane Wall would reveal that the inner gate was broken down from the inside.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

The massive gate at the wall is probably named "the Northgate", as the areas south of the wall are named Northgate Woods and Northgate River, including the rebellion that was against the construction of the wall.