Loch Modan

Loch Modan is a green highland valley east of Dun Morogh, built around a great lake held back by the dwarven Stonewrought Dam. It is the second zone for most dwarf and gnome characters, covering levels 10 to 20, and the crossroads that joins Ironforge to the Wetlands in the north and the Badlands in the south.

Geography

The valley is a basin of grassy hills and pine woods around the Loch, a long lake that fills most of its center and north. At the lake's northern end, the Stonewrought Dam spans the gap between two mountains. Huge dwarf faces are carved into its face.

• Thelsamar, on the western shore, is the zone's town, with an inn, a gryphon master and most of the quest givers.
• The Farstrider Lodge, on the eastern shore, is a hunting lodge where young hunters test their skills.
• Ironband's Excavation Site, in the southeast, is an Explorers' League dig site. It has been overrun by troggs.
• Stonesplinter Valley, in the south, is another trogg stronghold, near the road to the Badlands.
• Mo'grosh Stronghold, in the northeast, is held by ogres.
• Silver Stream Mine, in the north, has been taken over by kobolds known as tunnel rats.
• Algaz Station guards the tunnel in the northwest that leads to Dun Algaz and the Wetlands.

History

Loch Modan has belonged to the Bronzebeard dwarves for a long time. The Stonewrought Dam is one of their great feats of engineering. The dam is also a target: the Dark Iron Dwarves, old enemies of Ironforge, plot to blow it up, and a chain of quests tracks a sabotage plot to its source.

At the start of World of Warcraft, much of King Magni Bronzebeard's army is away fighting for the Alliance, so the valley's defense falls to the Mountaineers, a small militia. Trogg uprisings at the excavation sites, ogres in the hills and Dark Iron agents keep them busy.

Quests and notable NPCs

Loch Modan has around 40 quests in our database, with most between levels 11 and 20.

Thelsamar

• Mountaineer Kadrell posts Rat Catching against the tunnel rats.
• The Thelsamar inn's cook wants ingredients for Thelsamar Blood Sausages, a popular low-level cooking quest.
• Mountaineer Stormpike at the Algaz Station sends players into the Silver Stream Mine with Filthy Paws.
• Magistrate Bluntnose, the town's magistrate, hires players against the ogres of Mo'grosh in Mercenaries and puts a bounty on the ogre Chok'sul in WANTED: Chok'sul.

The guard towers and dam

• Captain Rugelfuss and Mountaineer Cobbleflint man the southern guard tower and send players against the Stonesplinter troggs in The Trogg Threat and In Defense of the King's Lands.
• At the dam, Chief Engineer Hinderweir finds a strange powder and starts A Dark Threat Looms, a chain about a Dark Iron plot that leads to an explosives expert in the Wetlands.

The excavation and lodge

• Prospector Ironband runs the trogg-infested dig. Excavation Progress Report and Protecting the Shipment connect him to the town and to the Explorers' League in Ironforge.
• Bingles Blastenheimer, a gnome camped by the loch, asks for his lost tools in Bingles' Missing Supplies.
• At the Farstrider Lodge, Daryl the Youngling offers timed hunting challenges, A Hunter's Boast and A Hunter's Challenge. Vyrin Swiftwind wants revenge on a bear named Ol' Sooty in Vyrin's Revenge.

Dungeons

Loch Modan has no dungeon of its own. The nearest are Gnomeregan in Dun Morogh and Uldaman in the Badlands, reached by the road south through the mountains.

Getting there

From Ironforge, follow the road east out of Dun Morogh through the mountain tunnels. Thelsamar has a gryphon master, Thorgrum Borrelson, and new players are sent to meet him with Honor Students, which teaches them to fly. To the north, the tunnel at Algaz Station leads through Dun Algaz to the Wetlands and Menethil Harbor. The south road leads into the Badlands.

Later history

In the Cataclysm expansion (2010), the Stonewrought Dam was broken and the loch drained, leaving a muddy valley. Players who started in the Classic version of the game remember the zone with its full lake.

Sources

• Loch Modan, Warcraft Wiki
• Stonewrought Dam, Warcraft Wiki