Sometimes paths lead to unexpected destinies, and what seemed like a walk and a small trip ends in another planet, to be precise, in Outland, what was once known as Draenor, home of the orcs and later a refuge to the draenei. But in this article, I will focus on the current state of Nagrand, and less known history parts.
For those that might not know, Outland is currently broken, crumbling, and near to the Twisting Nether, to the point some of its energies can be seen in the sky at night. Some sources told me it is actually heading towards the Nether and will end being destroyed. It is a doomed world, a dying one, and yet it is alive, at least Nagrand is.
I only had the chance to properly visit Nagrand, the other parts of the planets are too dangerous, but I have also been told the view is devastating, it is dark, broken, and dead. I was informed there are some Illidari outposts in Shadowmoon Valley, staying until the very end killing any demon that comes by, and any fauna that gets corrupted and presents a danger. There are also people in Shattrath and other cities, as it seems some prefer to die home than keep flying. But out of respect of that people and anyone else trying to care for what is left of the world, as in my trip, I will try to focus on the beauty it still holds, the hope that one place was saved, for a while.
The view on Nagrand is not fully distant from one from home, green grass, wheat fields, and even most fauna seems familiar, even if not fully. However, some other things do not fully match. The trees bend in strange ways, for what I have found they did not seem like that before, yet the memory of those telling me about the past is not infallible. Some animals are not the same either. The first animal I encountered looked pretty much like an owl, yet bigger, wilder, I was then told they are called ‘windroc’.
After that I met the clefthooves, creatures similar to kodos, yet thicker and with more hair, some of them can even be scary due to their size.
Finally, the talbuks, creatures described by some as “a mixture between a goat and a zebra”, they are native from Argus and some fled along the draenei as, for what I have researched, they are some of their favourite foods.
It is indeed fascinating how different species, even from other planets, have managed to survive and be integrated in the ecosystem and the food chain. But the most different view is the rocks flying, and water falling from them.
Continuing the exploration, I came to see an arena, a simple building with clear orc and ogre architecture. According to some sources it was used to solve conflicts between clans, but others point to its use as proving ground.
There are two main cities with habitants in Nagrand. I could barely visit Garadar, as it is Horde controlled, and we (my guide and I) were not very welcome, but from the outside I saw the architecture seemed mostly orcish, but as in many cases here, mixed with ogre elements.
During my visit I mainly stayed in Telaar, what used to be an Alliance city, now mostly inhabited by broken draenei, and a prime example of draenei architecture.
There was, however, a third city, one that is now abandoned, Halaa.
Clearly a draenei city, and the first thing that came to my attention was the number of books around. There were also rooms that seemed good for sermons, leading to think about some sort of religious place. But it turned out to be a place of study, given the number of books and their contents, and hence the rooms were probably meant to held lectures. Further study of the books, even if I do not speak draenic but thanks to the drawings, indicated they were about studying some crystals. On a first thought it seemed it was about arkonite crystals, for those that do not know, those crystals are a source of arcane energy and used by draenei to power items. Further inspection led to a more interesting discovery, but for that, I must talk about other part of the trip…
There is another view that surprises in Nagrand, a giant white rock, or what looks like that. I asked my funny guide what that was, to which he answered it was a rock salt and some crazy story about how people lick it once a week. I was even asked to go and taste it myself, but feeling it was clearly a joke and weird if it was not, I totally refused.
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After further study of those books, I learnt that was way more than a rock, but a dimensional ship, like those the draenei use, like the Exodar, but upside down due to what must have been a hard landing escaping from Argus.
Exploring some more a small distant building got my attention, it seemed an abandoned armoury, but sadly it did not have any interesting item, anyone interested in dreanei smithing will have more luck checking a book or asking a smith directly.
Before leaving Nagrand there is one spot, I think everyone must visit, the Circle of Elements. For those that do not know, it is said Outland, or Draenor, had a lot of spirit, or chi, the energy used by shamans to communicate with the elements and other spirits. It is a very peaceful place, and even those not as connected with the elements will probably feel the energy there.
The rest
Even if this was meant as a visit just to Nagrand, I had the chance to quickly see other places: Zangarmarsh, Hellfire Peninsula and Shadowmoon Valley. And I could almost say each place had a completely different colour palette: from blue and purple, to red and finally green and black. Captivating views, but dangerous ones.
Zangarmarsh was the first place to visit, this area was known in the Draenor time as the Zangar Sea, indicating that it was covered in water, even if some of its typical mushrooms could already be seen. How it changed is something I sadly can not answer. Currently the place is covered in giant mushrooms of blue and purple, and some details in orange, such appearance made me think they were probably poisonous, but I was not going to test it. But there are other dangers in this area, multiple predatory invertebrate creates and even the flora itself. A creature that looked like a stingray caught my attention, I was told they are called sporebats, because they were once bats. But not everything was deadly, I will admit there was some small flowers on the water that was a lovely view.
The Hellfire Peninsula is a dry, dead place, even if it is hard to classify which part of Outland is in a worse state. All you can see around are rocks, mostly red, occasionally some old construction, some clearly in orcish style, and others in human style. There are a few known animals around, some snakes and vultures, but not many. Of course, if visiting this place one must see the Dark Portal, the view is even more impressive from that side, as the portal stands alone, there is nothing behind or around it, making it look bigger, and as if crossing was taking a step into the void, the nether, nothing, trusting there will be something on the other side. A terrible construction that doomed a world and many lives, and that size only makes it look more threatening.
Finally, before leaving, the Shadowmoon Valley, the most fel corrupted area without a doubt, as all is green and black, and fauna and flora are heavily affected by it. All this corruption was caused by the activity of the Illidari in the area trying to stop the Burning Legion, a noble cause, but at a high price for the region, even if now they stay to keep the area controlled, assuming the responsibility of their actions. I did not get close to the Black Temple, the headquarter of the Illidari that originally was the place of the Temple of Karabor, a sacred place for the draenei. But even if I did not visit it, I did hear some stories about the place, not about the battles that happened there, but rather some rumours about how Illidan did not only use it to train new demon hunters, but for other pleasures, as some people assure to have seen an area that could very well be described as a brothel. Not the type of story I expected of the place, but at least a more pleasant one.
And with this my journey ended, coming back to Azeroth felt surreal and for a while I looked at buildings, trees and anything trying to process I visited another planet, even writing that feels strange. This was an impressive and magnificent opportunity that I know not many people have so I hope this article might serve to illustrate the planet for those that have not visited it and wish to know more.