Darkshore

Darkshore is a long strip of coast on the northwestern part of Kalimdor. It is known for its characteristically shadowed woods and rocky beaches, littered with ancient ruins and mountainside caves. The night elves of Teldrassil claim the shore as part of their new kingdom, and sentinels patrol the road from the port of Lor'danel towards Ashenvale to the south.

Rains, winds, rocky beaches, and sheer cliffs that have split the ground make the place inhospitable. Besides natural dangers typical of the area, aggressive wildlife roams the grassy hills and stalks among the dark trees. Old night elf ruins stand crumbling on the cliffs, infested with naga, satyrs, grell and haunting ghosts. Cultists of the Dark Strand and Twilight's Hammer ambush unwary travelers from their hideouts beyond the road. Even the seas are unsafe, as bloodthirsty frenzies, gigantic threshadons, and hostile murlocs lurk beneath the waves. The night elf village of Lor'danel serves as a friendly trading post.

Description
Darkshore covers northwestern Kalimdor, and the tainted land of Felwood rises to Hyjal to the southeast. The rocky cliffs, sandy soil, and ever-present sea mist ensure that little worth noting grows in Darkshore. Kelp, seaweed, and rocks litter the beaches, and a few sparse trees dot the landscape away from the beach. Once a thriving night elf settlement, it is little more than a desolate beach dotted with ruined buildings.

The weather is cold and stormy much of the time, with a wicked wind stirring up the waves. Rain and fog are prevalent for a good part of the year, allowing only the most talented sailors to navigate the dangerous waters. Shipwrecks of the less talented litter the shallower waters and beach. Many ruins remain through the coast, and harsh winds and salt water continue to corrode the once sturdy buildings. These worn pillars and crumbling structures are not totally abandoned, but usually infested by different and dangerous creatures.

The night elves have a limited presence in Darkshore. They subsist mainly on what they can catch in the ocean and what they can get through trade. When not fighting one another, naga and murlocs that lurk elsewhere in the ruins of Darkshore attack any travelers who look like easy pickings. Furbolgs inhabit a series of caves beneath the port. Uncultured but friendly to night elves in the past, their time in the ruins has turned many of them feral. Several wildkin and moonkin have also lived for centuries in the area.

History


Darkshore was once one of the most prosperous regions of the Kaldorei empire, and great cities such as Ameth'Aran and Bashal'Aran were the pinnacle of civilization at that time. Much of the coastline was destroyed in the Sundering, and it was many years before the night elves began to rebuild in the area.

After the Sundering, some night elves settled in the continent's northern reaches, on and near Mount Hyjal, including the port at the mountain's northern foot. However, the few night elves in Darkshore left the area in the course of the Third War, moving to the safety of Mount Hyjal and the Moonglade. A small number of night elves returned after the war to the cold and desolate beach to revive the port. They dwelt in the village of Auberdine, which was used as a ferry outpost.

The Shattering
Darkshore took a heavy toll from the Shattering &mdash; its landscape was wrecked, perhaps more thoroughly than any other part of Azeroth. Auberdine was completely destroyed, the ground was cracked and flooded with streams and whirlpools, and there are fires, storms and other hazards of nature ravaging the zone. The night elves are in survival mode, helping refugees and, wherever they can, fending off the advances of the Twilight's Hammer cult, the naga, and the Shatterspear trolls. Meanwhile, Malfurion Stormrage, recently returned from the Emerald Dream, has traveled to the epicenter of the destruction and called upon the ancient powers of Cenarius to contain it.

The Grove of the Ancients was shielded from most of the devastation caused by the Cataclysm, due in large part to the power of the ancient guardians residing therein. Protecting the grove required an enormous amount of energy, though, and as a result, most of the guardians have gone into a sort of slumber. Adventurers will have to figure out a way to wake them and bring them into the fight to ensure the survival of Darkshore.

The night elves built the town of Lor'danel further north from Aubderdine, in order to mantain some foothold on Darkshore. The village is made up of new buildings, as the night elves cleared away the ruins they could not restore. Most of the night elves currently living in Darkshore have focused their attention on reclaiming Auberdine and helping out any survivors that can be found.

After the Shattering, the Shatterspear trolls started establishing footholds on northern Darkshore, and the night elves have responded by scouting and preparing to defend the area from the seemingly hostile trolls.

Getting there



 * Alliance:Take the flight path from Rut'theran Village.
 * Horde:From Zoram'gar Outpost in Ashenvale, head north-east to the main road. Follow the road north into Darkshore.

Geography
Darkshore consists of a long strip of coastline in northwestern Kalimdor. It is sheltered to the east by mountains, which protect the wildlife in Darkshore from most the taint of the Felwood. Unfortunately the taint has spread into Darkshore via the various rivers flowing through the zone from their sources in Felwood; bringing the taint with them which is turning the land grey and dead, and poisoning the wildlife and furbolgs with an insatiable rage. Between the mountains and the beach lies a forest consisting mainly of evergreens. To the south, the forest thickens and the mountains recede, leading into the deep wilderness of Ashenvale. The most prominent feature of the land after the Shattering is a massive, swirling vortex of energies, roughly in Darkshore's center.

Darkshore contains no dungeons of any type, and no battlegrounds. It contains two Alliance travel hubs: the night elf village Lor'danel at the north and the Grove of the Ancients at the south.

Maps and subregions

 * Topographic map of Darkshore

Travel hubs
In addition to the below flight paths, there are Nightsaber Riders southeast of Lor'danel who can transport players to Bashal'Aran or the Ruins of Mathystra, and from the Ruins of Mathystra all the way to Shatterspear Village.

Flight paths from Lor'danel

 * Rut'theran Village, Teldrassil
 * Grove of the Ancients, Darkshore
 * Astranaar, Ashenvale
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Nijel's Point, Desolace
 * Theramore Isle, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Feathermoon Stronghold, Feralas
 * Talonbranch Glade, Felwood
 * Moonglade

Flight paths from the Grove of the Ancients

 * Lor'danel, Darkshore
 * Blackfathom Camp, Ashenvale
 * Astranaar, Ashenvale
 * Thal'darah Overlook, Stonetalon Mountains
 * Emerald Sanctuary, Felwood
 * Wildheart Point, Felwood
 * Talonbranch Glade, Felwood

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Quests
Quests in Darkshore range from level 10-20. Players arrive in Lor'danel from Rut'theran Village and push southwards into the zone, until the Ashenvale border. Quest chains of note include fighting the wildlife corruption, rescuing the survivors of Auberdine, fighting against the invading Shatterspear trolls, striking back against the Twilight's Hammer, containing the natural disasters that have wrecked the zone, and fighting the newly unearthed servant of the Old Gods.

Resources



 * Cloth
 * Linen Cloth
 * Wool Cloth
 * Silk Cloth
 * Herbs
 * Peacebloom
 * Silverleaf
 * Earthroot
 * Mageroyal
 * Swiftthistle
 * Briarthorn
 * Stranglekelp
 * Bruiseweed
 * Leather, which can be attained through skinning beasts of course.
 * Ruined Leather Scraps
 * Light Leather
 * Medium Leather
 * Ore
 * Copper Vein
 * Tin Vein
 * Silver Vein

Dig sites
Darkshore has only one dig site:
 * 1) Nazj'vel; contains Night Elf Archaeology Fragments.

Wild creatures

 * Air Elementals
 * Bears
 * Crabs
 * Deers
 * Earth Elementals
 * Fire Elementals
 * Frenzies
 * Furbolgs
 * Ghosts
 * Grell
 * Moonstalkers
 * Murlocs
 * Naga
 * Satyr
 * Sharks
 * Snails
 * Tallstriders
 * Threshadons
 * Water Elementals
 * Wildkin