Southshore


 * The main supply center to the Battle of Alterac, Southshore is often under siege by the Horde.



Southshore (aka South Shore, often abbreviated as SS) was an Alliance coastal port town located in the region of Hillsbrad Foothills.

Description
Southshore was a port that served as the chief Alliance base on the northern coast of Baradin Bay. It was known for its sea turtles, which were a delicacy. Though only a small town, Southshore was the largest settlement in the whole Hillsbrad Foothills. A small Alliance garrison was berthed within and did its best to drive the Syndicate and Forsaken forces from their land while protecting Lordaeron’s southern regions from the Scourge in the north. They did a good job with their few forces, and the nearby farms thrived. Southshore’s town council took an active role in all things, and Magistrate Henry Maleb was a particularly driven and wise man. Maleb and Marshal Redpath, the Alliance commander, were consumed with fights against ogres in Alterac and murlocs.

In addition to its role as a base for Alliance military forces, Southshore was Hillsbrad’s mercantile center. Southshore’s small privateer fleet kept the waterways around the shore clear, allowing ships to dock at the town’s harbor and keep the economy strong.

Southshore was also one of the few existing relics of the once-great human nation of Lordaeron. With the remains of the city-states of Dalaran and Stromgarde, Southshore was one of the few Alliance controlled towns in Lordaeron. People celebrated Hordefall, signifying the defeat of the Horde in the Second War.

History
Southshore used to be part of the kindgom of Lordaeron. The survivors of Stormwind arrived at Southshore after fleeing the Horde, which had destroyed their kingdom during the First War. Southshore was transformed into a busy seaport during the Second War. It was attacked and burned to the ground by the rampaging Horde, though it was later rebuilt.

Southshore was not yet touched by Plage of Undeath and survied the Third War and the destruction of Lordaeron by the Scourge. After the war, its main enemies included the Syndicate from Durnholde Keep and the Forsaken which inhabited the former human settlement of Tarren Mill to the northeast.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Southshore remained a part of the Alliance, until it was destroyed by the Forsaken, who used their Forsaken Blight on the town. The town leaders led those who could escape to the town of Hillsbrad Fields, but some other inhabitants weren't so lucky as the residents were no match for the Forsaken's chemical weapons. The sanctuary found in Hillsbrad Fields proved short lived as that town was eventually assaulted by the Forsaken as well, forcing the survivors to flee once again. Southshore was rendered uninhabitable after this, as highly toxic blight remnants were left spread throughout the ruins. It is now known as the Ruins of Southshore, and is partially controlled by the Forsaken.

The surviving residents of Southshore and Hillsbrad Fields have taken refuge at Fenris Keep.

Significance


For the lower-level Alliance players (those not seasoned enough to dare entering the Western and Eastern Plaguelands), Southshore was one of two of the northernmost Alliance havens — the other being Aerie Peak. For utilitarian purposes, Southshore far outstrips Aerie Peak considering the array of its services and its location as well as being the drop-off point for players beginning the long trek on foot to the Scarlet Monastery. But it is far less safe, sometimes being the location of raids going between the town and its Horde counterpart, Tarren Mill, to the North.

An NPC quest giver named Marshal Redpath stood outside the Southshore Town Hall. It is unknown if he was related to the Redpaths whose history is so interlaced with the Eastern Plaguelands. Inside the inn, Lieutenant Farren Orinelle mocks Redpath for telling him to take care of the local murlocs.

Facilities

 * Trade Supplies vendor
 * Armorsmith (towards the Horse Stables)
 * Horse Breeder
 * Stable Master
 * Inn
 * Mailbox
 * Flight Master

Buildings:


 * 1 Two story house
 * 1 Town Hall (without Clock)
 * 1 Stable
 * 2 One story houses
 * 1 Inn/Tavern

Flight

 * Ironforge
 * Menethil Harbor
 * Refuge Pointe
 * Aerie Peak
 * Chillwind Camp

Quests
A number of quests involving the Syndicate and ogres in Alterac Mountains started in Southshore. Also, a few quests that could be found at the inn, involve killing the nearby murlocs and naga. After the 2.0.1 patch, a new quest is now available in the inn from a Draenei named Huraan.

For a full list of quests see Hillsbrad Foothills quests.

Southshore in the Past
In the Burning Crusade expansion, adventurers are asked to help preserve the timeline by aiding a young Thrall escape from his cruel masters at Durnholde Keep. They are transported to Hillsbrad — seven years in the past. Instead of heading straight to Durnholde, however, players may explore a portion of Hillsbrad, including both Tarren Mill and Southshore.

There are many familiar faces in this past Southshore. Bartolo Ginsetti talks about the "world-famous" cloaks he will be making and Nat Pagle idly fishes off the dock. A trio of familiar characters run around as children: Sally Whitemane, Renault Mograine, and Little Jimmy Vishas. There's also Herod the Bully wandering around somewhere.

Inside the inn, there's a hushed conversation between Highlord Alexandros Mograine, Isillien, Fairbanks, Brigitte Abbendis, Arcanist Doan and Tirion Fordring about the rumors of undead far to the north, and the forging of the Ashbringer. Upstairs, Stalvan Mistmantle snores away, while a young Taelan Fordring carries his father's hammer proudly. Phin Odelic studies with a cabal of Kirin Tor mages, and every so often a pair of mages will walk through the town: Kel'Thuzad as well as Helcular. There's also a familiar goblin merchant working on completing his Overwatch Protector "Mark 0."

In the town hall, you can also find Nathanos Marris and Raleigh the True.

Warcraft II demo
In the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness demo, the second Alliance level called Southshore is an early version of the retail's Southshore mission. The retail version reused some of text from the earlier version of the mission briefing but was modified. For example the reason for the construction of the Southshore naval facilities is a bit different in the two versions of the mission. The retail versions of the missions also have redesigned maps. Note that the Tides of Darkness demo represents missions from an early version of the game (perhaps the beta version) left out of the released game and later released lore. Some of the ideas evolved into the different maps seen in the released version of the game.

In the demo map, you start on one small island and take over a much smaller island. In the Alliance level called Southshore, you attack from Southshore to that much smaller island. The islands described in the demo version of the mission appear south of the Southshore region. While the islands in the demo are not given names, these may have developed into the idea of the Channel Islands or the region near Tol Barad, which is southeast of Southshore (Tol Barad is shown to have at least two islands according to manual map). The demo mission maps for Southshore show the islands as being to the southwest and very near Southshore's shore. However, the Warcraft II battle maps, like most maps in World of Warcraft games, are not necessarily to actual scale. The Second War map only shows a single island east of the Southshore dot (the dot may represent the general area of the region or the township). It may be possible that this island may correspond to these "islands".

While not directly related, the Tides of Darkness mission map of the third Horde level, called "Southshore", shows at least two islands are located in a similar configuration. The Orcs were gathering oil from a hidden location on these islands, in order to fuel for ships participating in the final attack on Hillsbrad. See Tides of Darkness_missions for more information.

Trivia

 * The stable master Wesley located next to the entrance of the inn was believed to be a nod from Blizzard to the movie The Princess Bride. The main character of the movie is named Wesley, has fair blond hair, and wields a rapier just like the one the stable master is holding. Also in the movie Wesley is a stable boy, thus he is a Stable Master in WoW.
 * A level 44 elite undead, Helcular's Remains, sometimes spawned in the Southshore Graveyard to seek revenge. This is caused by a Horde quest chain.
 * Southshore was famous for being raided by horde players. Usually the attacks are carried out by merely one or more high-level players, but entire raids consisting of 20-30 players have been observed. This unfortunate attribute of Southshore is further fueled with the seasonal event Hallow's End, which involves a Horde-quest asking players to bomb Southshore with stinkbombs. The Alliance has a responsive quest which asks Alliance-players to clean the mess up. Although Southshore has a history of being raided by the Horde in the lore-part of the game, there is little profit in raiding Southshore for players. Thus, it is not certain why Horde players go through the hassle with assembling people for raiding it, or why Southshore of all villages has been chosen for this...This could of been to avenge attacks on Tarren Mill.