Feralas

Unlike its barren neighbors to the north, south, and east, Feralas is a lush jungle. Both the Horde and Alliance lay claim to the area and have to contend with powerful local forces. These include the bloodthirsty Gordunni ogres who control a number of scattered ancient Elven ruins, including the vast dungeon of Dire Maul. The ogres have desecrated and defiled much of Feralas, damaging the land with their taint. The Horde in particular is concerned with the unchecked expansion of the Gordunni and has put out a call for adventurers to aid the war effort against them. Feralas is also home to a number of scattered Grimtotem tauren tribes, members of which are hunted by order of Belgrom Rockmaul in Orgrimmar. The far western islands are crawling with Naga and recently several Silithid hives have been spotted. Feralas is also the location of one of the four Great Trees leading to the Emerald Dream and guarded by the four Emerald Dragons. The three others are in Ashenvale, Duskwood, and the Hinterlands.

History
Once part of the great expansion of Night elf power, the forest of Feralas holds many ancient ruins as well as the great city now known as Dire Maul that have long since been overgrown by the native plant life. One possible explanation for its abundant flora and fauna could lie in the fact that Kalimdor was once nothing but lush forests prior to the Great Sundering. It is likely the high mountains that surround the area served as a protective barrier from such outside factors.

From Lands of Mystery


In Lands of Mystery (before the events of the Cataclysm), Feralas is one of the zones described by the adventurer and explorer Brann Bronzebeard.

Upon arriving from Desolace, he witnessed a lush valley filled with enough ancient trees to "make any elf weep with joy". He quickly spotted the Twin Colossals and decided to climb to the summit of one of them, spending most of his first day in Feralas by circling the Twin Colossals while fending off wild creatures and mountain giants. In the evening he met a night elf who'd been observing Brann for some time for fun, but was gentle enough to teleport him to the top. From there, Brann saw a road descending into the valley from the south, cutting through the forest until it turned east and disappeared. To the west, amid the thick treetops, he saw stone ruins "jutted up like bony fingers". Further westward, he spotted the Forgotten Coast, both Sardor Isle and the Isle of Dread along the horizon, as well as the Feathermoon Ferry.

People and Culture
In Brann's opinion, most residents of Feralas were rather barbaric, living in simple dwellings or holes in the ground. They wear whatever they can create using simple tools and have little knowledge of higher technologies like stonecutting and metalwork. The tauren at Camp Mojache is the most civilized, though remaining true to their tribal roots and treating their surroundings with respect. The ogres are "the worst menace in the area", being scavengers and squatters. Some live in traditional mounds, other in the Highborne ruins. They hate anything that isn't an ogre, sometimes not even caring about that. There are also pockets of satyrs and harpies "whom will kill you first, eat you second, and ask questions later." Oddly enough, Brann describes the night elves as not being true natives of Feralas, despite their strong history there.

Geography


Brann describes Feralas as a lush, L-shaped valley stretching from Desolace in the north to the ocean in the west and then stretching across half of Kalimdor until it reaches the Thousand Needles in the east. The region is nearly bisected by the ridge in the middle, which stretches from the Woodpaw Den in the south to Dire Maul in the north. The climate is subtropical with most days being warm and humid, with plentiful rainfall. All kinds of creatures inhabit Feralas, ranging from carnivores like wolves and hippogryphs to "smart animals" known as yeti and intelligent creatures like gnolls.

The Legend of Feralas


"The Legend of Feralas" is a legend Brann heard while he stayed at the Feathermoon Stronghold. It tells that in the days before the Sundering, Feralas was a part of a great valley that stretched across south-central Kalimdor to the Shimmering Flats. The Highborne, servitors of Queen Azshara, lived here in their city and capital Eldre'Thalas. Among them was a group of powerful arcanists called the Shen'dralar. When the Well of Eternity exploded in the Sundering, the elves were cut off from their magical source became lethargic, seeming doomed. Their prince, Tortheldrin, decided that they required a new source of magical. The ony way to get it was to steal it from the demons; the elves' enemies, and so they constructed a prison to trap a mighty demon in. It consisted of a network of pylons which harnessed magical forces, creating a force field. Their plan worked - they summoned and trapped the demon Immol'thar, and siphoned his energies for centuries. The demon couldn't escape, but its power had a limit. This was something he prince didn't foresee. When Immol'thar's power began to fade after thousand of years, Tortheldrin - now driven mad in his lust for power - solved the problem by slaying most of the arcanists, forcing the rest of them to continue channeling energy into Immol'thar's prison to keep him confined. Still, Tortheldrin wasn't satisfied. With no other arcanists draining energy from the demon, the prince was able to absorb the energy for himself. This increased his strength to almost unimaginable levels, but only so long as he remained in Eldre'Thalas. And so, Immol’thar remains trapped, the arcanists continue to be Tortheldrin’s slaves, and the once beautiful city became an ogre-infested ruin.

Getting there

 * Alliance: The best way to access Feralas for Alliance players has always been by way of Desolace due to Camp Mojache being located on the path from Thousand Needles. With the flooding of Thousand Needles and destruction of Thalanaar, this is even truer today. In the past, the awkward geographical layout and presence of high-level mobs in the Twin Colossals led to some people taking extreme measures such as going west from Nijel's Point and swimming along Sar'theris Strand to Feathermoon Stronghold. The situation is much improved in Cataclysm and you can simply follow the road from Thargad's Camp (south of the Cenarion Wildlands) to Dreamer's Rest in northern Feralas. This does require passing through Gelkis-controlled territory but is far milder than anything in the old zone layout.
 * Horde: As with the Alliance, the post-Shattering leveling design is meant to take you from Desolace to Feralas and from there to Thousand Needles. Camp Ataya is the counterpart to Dreamer's Rest in the Twin Colossals and can similarly be reached by taking the road south from Shadowprey Village. While it is still possible to get to Camp Mojache by traveling west from Freewind Post, the flooding in Thousand Needles and new zone levels (40-45 in Thousand Needles compared to 35-40 in Feralas) make this illogical.

Geography
Feralas is a large rainforest of huge, ancient trees stretching from Thousand Needles to the coastline in the west and from the wasteland of Desolace in the north to the lush Un'Goro Crater to the south.

Dire Maul, ancient ruins now populated by ogres, is an instanced dungeon which can be found in this area. There are no raid dungeons or battlegrounds here, but there are multiple micro dungeons.

Maps and subregions



 * A pre-Cataclysm textured map of Feralas



Travel hubs

 * Dreamer's Rest
 * Feathermoon Stronghold
 * Shadebough
 * Tower of Estulan
 * Camp Ataya
 * Camp Mojache
 * Stonemaul Hold

Notable characters
Feralas is home to several characters of note. At Thalanaar, Falfindel Waywarder seeks aid in the battle against the Death's Head cult. In Feathermoon Stronghold, Shandris Feathermoon attempts to cleanse the taint that is the naga led by Lord Shalzaru. And at Camp Mojache, Witch Doctor Uzer'i sends bold adventurers into the deepest parts of the jungle in search of mystical muisek (the spirit of animals). Kindal Moonweaver requires help to free Sprite Darters being help captive by Grimtotem tauren.

Quests
For the pre-Cataclysm experience, see Feralas quests and Feralas questing guide. The post-Cataclysm version of the zone can (or will be) found at Feralas storyline.

Resources
Herbs
 * Blindweed
 * Fadeleaf
 * Goldthorn
 * Khadgar's Whisker
 * Kingsblood
 * Stranglekelp

Ore
 * Silver Ore (Silver Vein)
 * Iron Ore (Iron Deposit)
 * Gold Ore (Gold Vein)
 * Mithril Ore (ooze covered and normal deposits)
 * Truesilver Ore (Truesilver Deposit)

Leather

Wild creatures

 * Bears
 * Boars
 * Green dragons
 * Green dragonspawn
 * Green whelps
 * Faerie dragons
 * Gnolls
 * Gorillas
 * Harpies


 * Hippogryphs
 * Hyenas
 * Makrura
 * Owls
 * Sasquatches
 * Sea giants
 * Sharks
 * Silithid
 * Stags


 * Treants
 * Water elementals
 * Wind serpents
 * Wisps
 * Wolves
 * Wraiths
 * Yetis

Warcraft III


In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Feralas is a custom map designed for maximum 8 players. The tileset is called "Lordaeron Summer".

Map description

 * Separated only by a shallow stretch of water, two teams prepare to battle it out. The forest is dense enough that you may need to chop through the trees in order to better aid your allies.

Patch changes