Frostwolf Clan

The Frostwolf Clan is the Horde side of Alterac Valley, the orc clan of Durotan and Thrall defending its ancestral home against the dwarves of the Stormpike Guard. Led by the old shaman Drek'Thar, the Frostwolves hold the south of the valley from Frostwolf Keep. Their reputation is earned in the battleground, and it decides which of Alterac Valley's rewards a Horde player can buy, from cheap bandages to the [Horn of the Frostwolf Howler].

Who they are

Before the First War, the warlock Gul'dan exiled the Frostwolf clan for refusing to drink the blood of the demon Mannoroth. Its chieftain Durotan led his people to a hidden valley in the Alterac Mountains, where they lived in isolation and learned to ride the great white wolves of the snows. Durotan and his mate were later murdered by Gul'dan's assassins, and their infant son was found by humans and raised as a slave: he grew up to be Thrall, who returned to the valley, learned shamanism from the Frostwolves, and went on to free the orcs and lead the new Horde.

When Thrall founded Orgrimmar, the Frostwolves chose to stay in the valley under Drek'Thar. Now the Stormpike dwarves have dug into its north, searching for minerals and relics of their ancestors, and claim the land for Ironforge. The Frostwolves see them as invaders of their home, and the Horde calls on its warriors to defend "the favored clan of the Warchief".

Where to find them

Alterac Valley is a 40-player battleground reached through the Alterac Mountains, with the Horde's entrance on the southern side. Inside, the Frostwolves hold Frostwolf Keep and Frostwolf Village, their towers and graveyards, and the Wildpaw cave. Drek'Thar commands from the keep's great hall; Captain Galvangar guards the towers to the north. The quartermaster Grunnda Wolfheart sells rewards inside the valley, and Jekyll Flandring does the same outside it in the Alterac Mountains, so players can shop without queueing.

Earning reputation

All Horde players start at Neutral. Reputation in Alterac Valley is mostly shared by everyone on the team:

• Battle objectives. Killing the enemy general Vanndar Stormpike gives the most, and killing his captain, Captain Balinda Stonehearth, also gives a large amount. Each enemy tower burned, each graveyard taken and each enemy guard killed adds more, and when the battle ends there is a bonus for every tower, mine and graveyard the Frostwolves hold.
• Turn-ins. In patch 1.12, 20 [Armor Scraps] looted from fallen players give 100 reputation in Enemy Booty.
• Quests. Proving Grounds sends players to fetch a banner from a cave in the valley and rewards the first of a series of insignia trinkets, upgraded at each standing through Rise and Be Recognized to The Eye of Command. The Legend of Korrak, which sends players after the ogre Korrak the Bloodrager, gives 200.
• Summonings. Stormpike Soldier's Blood taken from the enemy, turned in through A Gallon of Blood and Lokholar the Ice Lord, lets the Frostwolves call down Lokholar the Ice Lord, an elemental that rampages through the Stormpike lines.

Early on, Alterac Valley battles could last for hours, or even days, as both sides turtled. Later patches cut the number of guards and sped up battles, and most groups simply raced past each other to kill the enemy general as fast as possible.

Rewards

The Exalted rewards were among the best items any player could buy in Classic. The mount, a huge white Frostwolf Howler, was a badge of long service in the valley. The two-handed mace [The Unstoppable Force] and the off-hand books carried many players into raids.

History and trivia

• Alterac Valley opened in patch 1.5, in the first group of battlegrounds, and was changed many times afterward to shorten its battles.
• Players exalted with the Frostwolves, the Warsong Outriders and The Defilers later earned the title "Conqueror".
• In the novel Lord of the Clans, Drek'Thar is the shaman who first teaches the young Thrall the ways of the elements.

Sources

• Frostwolf clan (Warcraft Wiki)
• Alterac Valley (Warcraft Wiki)
• Grunnda Wolfheart (Warcraft Wiki)