Shimmering Flats



The Shimmering Flats was at the southeastern end of Thousand Needles, on the border with Tanaris. The area was an open expanse devoid of any vegetation and home to various varieties of, among other things, basilisks, scorpids, tortoises and vultures. The area was a dried lakebed, as evidenced by the wrecked sailing vessel in the northern part.

Although the flats were somewhat spartan, many found the sense of loneliness and silence gave the area a unique beauty, and the Mirage Raceway in the middle of such a lonely place gave a strange sense of the surreal.

Known as the Scorched Basin by some, the Shimmering Flats were a flat, barren area just southeast of Thousand Needles (and was technically a part of that zone).

The flatness of the area makes it especially desirable for goblins and gnomes, who had set up the Mirage Raceway and constantly compete against each other to see who can build the fastest racing machine. Their inventions were frequently unstable, and the area was littered with the wreckage and parts of countless failed gizmos, as well as numerous craters.

Thanks to goblin prospecting, the large salt flat was actually a rich source of oil. The goblins had ventured to the basin in great numbers to collect and refine the "black gold." The otherwise amiable goblins were not very hospitable in this region and maintain guards to ensure no one stealed their claim.

The area was full of turtles, buzzards, scorpids, and basilisks. A group of dwarven archaeologists were driven out of the ruins in the southwest when they inadvertently dug into a subterranean silithid hive.

The Cataclysm have flooded the Shimmering Flats along with all of Thousand Needles, turning it into a lake called the Shimmering Deep. With the submerging of the Raceway, Fizzle and Pozzik will build Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge.

Trivia

 * The Shimmering Flats appeared to be based on the Bonneville Flats in Utah, or Arizona's flats, many of which are test sites for rocket cars and airplanes.
 * The area must have already been a lake before it flooded (due to the fact of the boat) and seems to have a long river through Thousand Needles and Feralas and emptied into the Veiled Sea.

Battle.net map
As vicious as they are lovely harpies once moved on the sands of the Scorched Basin vying with the centaur and Razormanes for resources. The tileset is called "Barrens".