Wetlands (original)

The Wetlands is a large, wet zone below Stonewrought Dam and north of Loch Modan, covered with small rivers, lakes, and ponds. Bordered on three sides by mountains, the Wetlands are open to the ocean to the west. Adventurers seeking a route to the Wetlands must either come through sieged Dun Algaz from Loch Modan or cross the damaged Thandol Span from Arathi Highlands. The northern slopes of Wetlands are generally classed within the Khaz Mountains.

The Wetlands is a vast, cold swamp. Mists cloak the ground, and the overcast sky makes the land a uniform gray. Many Ironforge strongholds once stood in this region, but war has reduced them to rubble. Wild creatures, murlocs and renegade orcs now control the land. Menethil Harbor, a city on the west coast, is the Alliance’s only presence in this dreary region.

History
The Wetlands have been the site of many a battle through the times. Nestled among the Khaz Mountains and open to the ocean as it is, it is a prime location for invading forces. It was historically part of the original dwarven kingdom while the three tribes were united, but after the War of the Three Hammers, it fell under control of the Wildhammer Clan. The Dark Irons invaded Grim Batol and almost succeeded in taking full control of it, but were driven back at the last minute. During the Second War, the bastion finally fell prey to the invading orcs, most notably by those of the Dragonmaw Clan.

Although the orcs took possession of Grim Batol for a time, they were subject to the wrath of the red dragonflight who, when freed of their enslavement from the orcs, destroyed their bases and burned their catapults, killing orcs en masse. The orcs who survived the onslaught fled south to the mountains, where they live to this day. Horde and Scourge forces devastated the Wetlands in the Second and Third Wars, forcing the Ironforge dwarves to retreat to Loch Modan and Dun Morogh.

Grim Batol is now under the control of the red dragonflight, who fiercely defend their lair from outsiders. Alliance forces have since established Menethil Harbor, but the area is still wild and untamed. The dwarves and allied humans built the port city on an island in Baradin Bay, which they named after King Terenas Menethil II — Menethil Harbor. The Wetlands is a buffer zone between inhabited Khaz Modan and Scourge-infested Lordaeron.

Getting there

 * Horde: From Hammerfall in the Arathi Highlands, run south/southwest to the bottom of the zone. Cross the ruined bridge.
 * Alliance: From Ironforge run east towards Loch Modan take the road in the Loch north through Dun Algaz pass and into the Wetlands. Or, take the boat from Theramore (for night elves and draenei). Also, a lot of skill and well timed usage of a gnome's increased jump height can get you across to the Wetlands(starting at the mountains near Ironforge).

Geography
There are currently no instanced dungeons in the area, but the two micro dungeons Dragonmaw Gates and Dun Modr can be found in this zone. No battlegrounds exist in this area.

Maps and subregions


A topographic map of the Wetlands.

Dungeons and elite areas


Dragonmaw Gates: Level 60+ elite red dragonflight roam the entrance to Grim Batol. For Cataclysm, it appears this zone will be one of the access points to the Twilight Highlands.

Travel hubs



 * Flight paths from Menethil Harbor
 * Ironforge, Dun Morogh
 * Thelsamar, Loch Modan
 * Southshore, Hillsbrad Foothills
 * Refuge Pointe, Arathi Highlands


 * Boat destinations from Menethil Harbor
 * Theramore Isle, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Valgarde, Howling Fjord
 * Auberdine, Darkshore - This can now be accessed through Stormwind Harbor

Notable characters


The Wetlands are home to several characters of note. In Menethil Harbor, Captain Stoutfist sends promising young adventurers to end the threat of the Dragonmaw Clan. At Dun Modr, Rhag Garmason seeks to recover the besieged town from the dark iron dwarves. And in the Green Belt, the wise Rethiel the Greenwarden wishes to put an end to the gnoll incursion and the corruption of his lesser bog beast brethren.

Cataclysm


The Wetlands will become a 25-30 zone. Between the tidal effects of the Cataclysm and the destruction of the Stonewrought Dam, large portions of this zone have become flooded, including Menethil Harbor.

Areas affected :


 * Angerfang Encampment – it appears the mobs here have received a skin overhaul
 * Direforge Hill – the mobs here have fled and the area is now overrun with Smouldering Ooze and Rampant Fire Elementals; west of here are more new mobs: Mouldering Mirebeast and Marsh Lasher
 * Dragonmaw Gates – past here is now the Twilight Highlands
 * Dun Modr – now has a flight path; fought over area now seems to be inhabited by dwarves loyal to the Twilight Cult (who were, evidently, loyal to the Cult all along and not really Dark Iron Clan dwarves); in the hills above here is what appears to be a crashed zeppelin
 * The Green Belt – Rethiel the Greenwarden is still here, but now a night elf-themed camp has sprung up around him called the Greenwarden's Grove, complete with a flight path; the area to the east of here is now overrun by Ebon Whelps, Ebon Slavehunters, and Dragonmaw Whelpstealers – it is unknown as of this time whether the Tiny Crimson Whelpling will still drop from these new whelps
 * Ironbeard's Tomb – a very small Dark Iron Clan camp has been set up to the NW
 * Menethil Harbor – flooded but reinforced with sandbags
 * Menethil Keep – has been taken over by Dark Iron Dwarves
 * Mosshide Fen – largely flooded due to the destruction of the Stonewrought Dam in Loch Modan; the Gnoll camp closest to Dun Algaz has been taken over by Silty Oozelings, with a Dwarven camp established nearby called Slabchisel's Survey; new mobs in this area include the Flood Elemental and Displaced Threshadon; all the Gnoll camps appear to have been destroyed
 * Saltspray Glen – the Gnoll camps are being fought over by the Gnoll and Dark Iron Dwarves; further to the west the Gnolls seem to have control over their camps; where Fradd Swiftgear is there is now a more fleshed out camp, complete with an inn
 * Thelgen Rock – in the hills above the cave is a medium sized lake
 * Whelgar's Excavation Site – taken over by Paleolithic Elementals and Living Fossils, as well as having Sarltooth as one of the undead fossils and now a rare spawn; Prospector Whelgar himself has abandoned the site for a camp just off the main road, complete with a flight path
 * Other – the 'Wetlands farm' is accessible by flying mount

Videos
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Resources





 * Cloth
 * Linen Cloth
 * Wool Cloth
 * Silk Cloth
 * Herbs
 * Mageroyal
 * Swiftthistle
 * Briarthorn
 * Stranglekelp
 * Bruiseweed
 * Wild Steelbloom
 * Grave Moss
 * Kingsblood
 * Liferoot
 * Leather
 * Light Leather
 * Medium Leather
 * Heavy Leather
 * Black Whelp Scale (Skinning level 17-25 whelps)
 * Red Whelp Scale (Skinning level 24-27 whelps)
 * Red Dragonscale (Skinning level 50-60 elite whelps and wyrmkin)
 * Ore
 * Copper Vein
 * Tin Vein
 * Incendicite Mineral Vein (Thelgen Rock in Wetlands is the only region you can gather it.)
 * Silver Vein
 * Iron Deposit
 * Gold Vein

Wild creatures



 * Bog beasts
 * Crocolisks
 * Dark Iron dwarves
 * Dragonspawn
 * Ghosts
 * Gnolls
 * Murlocs
 * Oozes
 * Orcs
 * Raptors
 * Sharks
 * Spiders
 * Whelps

Warcraft III
A Warcraft III map exists called Wetlands. A once thriving metropolis has all but been covered by the jungle.