Ashenvale

Ashenvale is an ancient, twilight forest in northern Kalimdor, covering levels 18 to 30, and the main front line between the night elves and the orcs of the Horde. The night elves see it as sacred land, while the Horde has been logging it since the Third War, so both factions have quest hubs here and run into each other constantly. It also holds the entrances to Blackfathom Deeps and Warsong Gulch.

Geography

Ashenvale is a broad forest of tall, blue-green trees between Darkshore to the northwest, Felwood to the north, Azshara to the east, the Stonetalon Mountains to the southwest and The Barrens to the south. It is darker than the open plains to the south but less sinister than Felwood.

• Astranaar, the main night elf town, sits beside Lake Iris in the middle of the forest.
• Maestra's Post in the northwest and Forest Song in the far east are smaller Alliance outposts.
• The Zoram Strand on the western coast holds the naga-infested ruins over Blackfathom Deeps and the Horde's Zoram'gar Outpost.
• Splintertree Post, the main Horde base, stands in the southeast near the Warsong Lumber Camp, where orc peons clear the forest.
• The Shrine of Aessina, Raynewood Retreat and Fallen Sky Lake are night elf holy places.
• Thistlefur Village and the Foulweald are corrupted furbolg camps, and Satyrnaar and Night Run are satyr lairs.
• Demon Fall Canyon in the east is where Grom Hellscream killed the pit lord Mannoroth.
• Silverwing Grove in the north and the Warsong Lumber Mill to the south of it lead into Warsong Gulch.
• The Talondeep Path, a tunnel in the southwest, leads to Stonetalon.

History

Ashenvale has been night elf territory since before the Sundering. During the Third War, Grom Hellscream's Warsong clan landed in Kalimdor and started cutting down the forest for timber. When the demigod Cenarius came to defend it, Grom and his orcs drank the demonic blood of the pit lord Mannoroth again to gain the strength to kill him. Grom later turned on Mannoroth and killed him in Demon Fall Canyon, freeing the orcs from the blood curse, though he died in the fight.

The Horde never gave up on Ashenvale's timber. Splintertree Post and the Warsong Lumber Camp keep the logging going, and the night elf Sentinels fight them for every tree. This long fight is also the background of the Warsong Gulch battleground.

Quests and notable NPCs

Ashenvale has about 75 quests in our database, from level 18 to 34, including the care-package quests for the battleground.

Alliance

• Raene Wolfrunner in Astranaar runs Raene's Cleansing, a long quest chain starting with Raene's Cleansing that tours the whole zone's corruption.
• Shindrell Swiftfire wants naga heads from the Zoram Strand in The Zoram Strand.
• Pelturas Whitemoon sends players to collect Elune's Tear, handfuls of stardust and a fallen moonstone.
• Talen, camped near the Zoram Strand, wants the [Ring of Zoram] from the naga Ruuzel in Ruuzel.
• At the Shrine of Aessina, Illiyana sends players to kill the corrupted druid Geltharis and recover the [Branch of Cenarius] in The Branch of Cenarius, and Sentinel Melyria Frostshadow starts The Howling Vale.
• Kayneth Stillwind at Forest Song wants three mad druids put down in Insane Druids.
• At Maestra's Post, players finish the escorts that start in Darkshore, such as The Sleeper Has Awakened for Liladris Moonriver.

Horde

• Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff and the Crossroads all advertise The Ashenvale Hunt, which sends players to Senani Thunderheart at Splintertree Post. Senani posts three hunts for named beasts: Ursangous's Paw for the bear Ursangous, Shadumbra's Head for the nightsaber Shadumbra, and Sharptalon's Claw for the hippogryph Sharptalon.
• Kuray'bin wants Sentinel outrunners killed in Ashenvale Outrunners, and Locke Okarr needs saw blades and oil for Warsong Supplies.
• Players escort the captive tauren Ruul Snowhoof out of Thistlefur Village in Freedom to Ruul.
• At Zoram'gar Outpost, Karang Amakkar wants the Foulweald furbolgs humbled in Between a Rock and a Thistlefur and King of the Foulweald, and Muglash needs protecting from the naga Vorsha the Lasher in Vorsha the Lasher.
• Je'neu Sancrea of the Earthen Ring and Mastok Wrilehiss at Splintertree both want the befouled water globe from the naga.

Dungeons and battlegrounds

• Blackfathom Deeps (Blackfathom Deeps) lies under the ruined temple on the Zoram Strand, for roughly levels 20 to 30. A strange globe from the dungeon starts Baron Aquanis, which sends players after Baron Aquanis.
• Warsong Gulch (Warsong Gulch), a capture-the-flag battleground for levels 10 and up (with level brackets), opens from Silverwing Grove for the Alliance and the Warsong Lumber Mill for the Horde.

Getting there

• Alliance: the road south from Darkshore leads to Astranaar, which has a flight master.
• Horde: the road north from the Crossroads passes Mor'shan Rampart into southern Ashenvale toward Splintertree Post. The Talondeep Path connects the zone with the Stonetalon Mountains.
• Ashenvale is contested, so PvP-flagged characters should expect trouble on the main road.

Later history

In Cataclysm (2010), the Horde pushed deeper into Ashenvale and the Alliance built new outposts. In Battle for Azeroth (2018), the War of the Thorns swept through the forest on its way to Teldrassil.

Sources

• Ashenvale, Warcraft Wiki
• Splintertree Post, Warcraft Wiki
• Raene's Cleansing, Warcraft Wiki