Desolace

Desolace is a gray, dead wasteland in western Kalimdor, covering levels 30 to 40. It is a land of bones, warring centaur clans and demon-haunted ruins, and its quests are famous for letting players take sides in the centaur clans' wars. Its southwestern valleys hide the entrance to Maraudon, the centaur's sacred burial grounds.

Geography

Desolace sits between the Stonetalon Mountains to the north and Feralas to the south, with the sea along its western coast. The ground is cracked and colorless, the trees are dead, and the sky is a dull green-gray. Its wildlife is tough and strange: scorpashi, basilisks, burning and nightmare beasts, and huge kodos.

• Nijel's Point, the Alliance town, sits on a mountainside in the northeast.
• Ghost Walker Post, the Horde camp, is in the middle of the northern half.
• Shadowprey Village, a Horde troll port, sits on the southwestern coast.
• The Kodo Graveyard in the center of the zone is a valley of giant bones where old kodos go to die.
• The centaur villages: Kolkar Village in the north, Magram Village in the east and Gelkis Village in the south.
• Thunder Axe Fortress in the northeast is held by the Burning Blade cult, and the satyr ruins of Sargeron lie nearby.
• Mannoroc Coven in the south is a demon-infested plain of fel ruins.
• The Valley of Spears in the west leads to the entrances of Maraudon.
• Ethel Rethor on the western coast and Ranazjar Isle offshore are naga-haunted ruins.
• Scrabblescrew's Camp and Kormek's Hut are small neutral goblin camps.

History

Desolace was once a fertile land, but the centaur, the night elves and later the demons of the Burning Legion left it barren. Mannoroc Coven is named after the pit lord Mannoroth, and the demons there still guard portals to the Legion.

The centaur claim Desolace as their birthplace. According to their own story, they are the offspring of Zaetar, the son of the demigod Cenarius, and Theradras, an elemental princess of earth. Their ancestors are buried in Maraudon. The centaur split into tribes that fight one another as fiercely as they fight outsiders. The Kolkar, Gelkis and Magram all hold territory in Desolace.

Quests and notable NPCs

Desolace has about 57 quests in our database, from level 25 to 42.

The centaur wars

The best-known questline in Desolace lets players work for one centaur clan against another. Each clan is a reputation faction:

• Magram: Warug at Magram Village offers work once you are on good terms with the clan, including killing the Gelkis leader Khan Shaka in Khan Shaka.
• Gelkis: Uthek the Wise at Gelkis Village does the same for the Gelkis, including Khan Jehn against the Magram leader Khan Jehn, and Ongeku.
• Kolkar: the Gelkis want the Kolkar raided in Raid on the Kolkar. Separately, the Horde's Felgur Twocuts at Ghost Walker Post sends players after the Kolkar leader Khan Dez'hepah in Khan Dez'hepah.

Raising one clan's reputation lowers the other's, so a player must choose. Both clans end their chains by sending players to the Valley of Spears to blow a war horn and kill the Maraudine leader, Khan Hratha, for a [Maraudine Key Fragment]: Khan Hratha for the Magram and Khan Hratha for the Gelkis.

Other quests

• Smeed Scrabblescrew at Scrabblescrew's Camp hands out the [Kodo Kombobulator] for Kodo Roundup, in which you tame wild kodos at the Kodo Graveyard and lead them back. He also pays for escorting the Gizelton caravan in Bodyguard for Hire and Gizelton Caravan, with Cork Gizelton at its head.
• Bibbly F'utzbuckle at Kormek's Hut wants kodo bones in Bone Collector.
• Vahlarriel Demonslayer at Nijel's Point searches for two missing children of a Darnassian merchant family in Vahlarriel's Search and the chain that follows.
• Maurin Bonesplitter and Takata Steelblade send players against the demons of Mannoroc Coven in The Corrupter chain, which ends with killing Lord Azrethoc.
• Taiga Wisemane at Shadowprey Village wants the Legion's portals banished in Portals of the Legion, and Mai'Lahii runs a short fishing chain starting with Clam Bait.
• The Scarlet Crusade's Brother Anton tries to recruit players at Nijel's Point with Down the Scarlet Path.
• Azore Aldamort of the Argent Dawn wants the Book of the Ancients recovered from Ethel Rethor.

Rexxar

Rexxar, the half-orc beastmaster and Champion of the Horde, walks the road between Stonetalon and Feralas with his bear Misha. Level 60 Horde players seeking the key to Onyxia's Lair find him after Thrall sends them in The Champion of the Horde, and he sends them on with The Testament of Rexxar, carrying the [Rexxar's Testament] to Myranda the Hag in the Western Plaguelands.

Dungeons

Maraudon (Maraudon), entered from the Valley of Spears, is a sprawling cave system for roughly levels 40 to 52. Its outer sections are held by the Maraudine centaur, and its depths lead to the grave of Zaetar and the lair of Princess Theradras. The [Scepter of Celebras], built from the scepter's two halves, opens a shortcut into the inner dungeon.

Getting there

• Horde: walk south from the Stonetalon Mountains to Ghost Walker Post. Shadowprey Village has a wind rider master.
• Alliance: walk south from Stonetalon Peak, or fly to Nijel's Point, which has a hippogryph master.
• To Feralas: the road continues south past Shadowprey Village into Feralas.

Later history

In Cataclysm (2010), Desolace began to heal. Grass and water returned to much of the zone and the centaur wars were rewritten.

Sources

• Desolace, Warcraft Wiki
• Gelkis clan centaur, Warcraft Wiki
• Magram clan centaur, Warcraft Wiki
• Rexxar, Warcraft Wiki