Arathi Highlands

The Arathi Highlands are open grassland in the east of Lordaeron, the ancient homeland of humanity and the site of the ruined kingdom of Stromgarde. The zone covers levels 30 to 40. It has an outpost for each faction, Refuge Pointe for the Alliance and Hammerfall for the Horde, and it holds the entrance to the Arathi Basin battleground.

Geography

Arathi is a wide plateau of rolling hills, rocky outcrops and scattered ruins, bordered by Thoradin's Wall on the west, The Hinterlands to the north and the Thandol Span to the Wetlands in the south.

• Refuge Pointe, in the center, is a small Alliance camp of Stromgarde survivors.
• Hammerfall, in the east, is the Horde outpost, held mostly by orcs.
• Stromgarde Keep, in the south-west, is the ruined capital of Stromgarde, contested by the Syndicate, ogres and the last human defenders.
• Northfold Manor and Dabyrie's Farmstead are Syndicate holdings. Go'Shek Farm is the site of a Forsaken plague experiment.
• Boulderfist Hall and Boulder'gor belong to the Boulderfist ogres. Witherbark Village and its caves belong to the Witherbark trolls.
• Drywhisker Gorge, in the east, is a kobold mine that hides an ancient prison.
• The Circles of Binding, standing stones scattered across the zone, are tied to that prison.
• Faldir's Cove, on the south-east coast, is a pirate camp of the Blackwater Raiders.
• The Tower of Arathor, in the west, is a ruined mage tower.

History

Arathi is where the first human nation, the Arathi empire, was founded. Its leader, Thoradin, united the human tribes and built the city of Strom. The empire allied with the high elves against the Amani trolls, and the elves taught its warriors magic. Strom was later abandoned as the empire spread south, but the kingdom of Stromgarde kept the old capital.

Stromgarde fought in the Second War under King Thoros Trollbane, but after the war it withdrew from the Alliance. By the time of World of Warcraft, the kingdom has collapsed. Stromgarde Keep is split between its last defenders, the Syndicate and the Boulderfist ogres, and its survivors have fallen back to Refuge Pointe.

Quests and notable NPCs

Arathi has about 50 quests in our database. The Horde chains at Hammerfall and the Alliance chains at Refuge Pointe both lead into Stromgarde.

Refuge Pointe (Alliance)

• Captain Nials fights the Syndicate in Northfold Manor and posts bounties on Marez Cowl (Wanted! Marez Cowl) and on Otto and Lord Falconcrest (Wanted! Otto and Falconcrest).
• Nials also sends players into Stromgarde to take badges from the Syndicate in Stromgarde Badges.

Hammerfall (Horde)

• Drum Fel sends players against the Witherbark trolls in Call to Arms.
• Tor'gan runs the Sigil chain (Sigil of Strom onward). Players gather the four sigils of Arathi's ancient kings, ending with the death of Prince Galen Trollbane in Sigil of Trollbane and the recovery of the sword Trol'kalar in Trol'kalar.

Myzrael

A chain open to both factions begins with Crystal in the Mountains and The Princess Trapped, in which players find shards in Drywhisker Gorge. A being named Myzrael speaks to them from the crystals, claiming to be a trapped princess. The quests lead players to collect keys from the Circles of Binding (Stones of Binding) and to kill the giant Fozruk (Breaking the Keystone). Theldurin the Lost reveals the truth: Myzrael is a servant of the Old Gods, and freeing her was a mistake. Summoning the Princess ends with her defeat.

Faldir's Cove

Shakes O'Breen and the Blackwater Raiders run a treasure-hunting chain, including the escort Sunken Treasure and the defense Death From Below. Doctor Draxlegauge is one of the pirates' engineers.

Dungeons

Arathi has no regular dungeon. Arathi Basin (Arathi Basin), a 15-versus-15 battleground, opened in patch 1.7 in 2005. Players fight for control of the Arathi farmlands between the League of Arathor (Alliance) and the Defilers (Horde). Its entrance lies within the highlands. The quests Claiming Arathi Basin and Conquering Arathi Basin trade Arathi Basin marks for rewards.

Getting there

Alliance players come from the Wetlands across the Thandol Span. Horde players ride east from Tarren Mill in the Hillsbrad Foothills through Thoradin's Wall. Refuge Pointe has an Alliance gryphon master and Hammerfall a Horde wind rider. The north road continues into The Hinterlands.

Later history

In Battle for Azeroth (2018), Arathi became a warfront, with the Alliance and Horde competing to build up and capture Stromgarde and Ar'gorok.

Sources

• Arathi Highlands, Warcraft Wiki
• Stromgarde Keep, Warcraft Wiki
• Myzrael, Warcraft Wiki