Touring Orgrimmar

Hey there.  Sarra here again to tell you a bit more about my wandering around in Durotar.  While I was out there seeing the sights of the area, I used Orgrimmar as my sleeping place.  Orgrimmar is the main city for the orcs and trolls of the Horde.  It got its name from the young Warchief Thrall:  he named it after his buddy, the former Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer.  Orgrimmar is located in the most northern part of Durotar, in the foothills of the mountain range that separates Durotar from Azshara.  Orgrimmar is laid out in a number of valleys inside the mountain that divide the city into logical sections.

After riding through the massive front gates, the first valley you are in the Valley of Strength.  The Valley of Strength is like the common area of Orgrimmar.  This is where the Bank, the Horde Auction House and the Flight Tower are all located.  The inn, located across the thoroughfare from the bank, has good food and rough company:  just the place to unwind after a long day of adventuring.  Conveniently enough for adventurers just passing through on the way to their next adventure; Boomstick Imports, located behind the bank and beside the Horde Auction House, is very adept at repairing equipment and the staff there are more than willing to pay fair price for any of the bits in your bags that are not worth taking to auction.

The next area I want to tell you all about is The Drag.  While it’s not a valley by itself, it does link almost all of the valleys together.  The Drag is like a main road for Orgrimmar.  It runs from the Valley of Strength through the mountain and to the Valley of Wisdom where Thrall has his seat in Grommash Hold.  The Cleft of Shadow and the Valley of Honor both have their entrances off The Drag.  The Drag is also home to a number of shops and training facilities.  Herbalists, alchemists, leatherworkers, skinners, medics and cooks are all available in The Drag if one knows where to look.  And if an adventurer gets lost, any one of the Orgrimmar Grunts will be more than happy to offer directions.

Now I’m going to tell you about the Cleft of Shadows.  I wouldn’t advise going there unless you have business with someone in there though.  It’s a scary place down there.  The Cleft of Shadow is where the Warlocks and Rogues hang out and get the tools of their trades.  They are not the most friendly of orcs and trolls down in the Cleft of Shadow.  I think it might have something to do with the demonic rituals going on there at all hours.  All that chanting in the middle of the night would surely make me all cranky too!  The entrance into Ragefire Chasm is in the Cleft of Shadow as well.  There seems to be some confusion going on between Thrall and Neeru Fireblade over the goings on in Ragefire Chasm and possible involvement with the Burning Blade.  An adventurer could find themselves occupied for a while helping Thrall to figure out what’s going on down there and in some nearby caves.

The Valley of Honor is off the Drag to the north east.  The Valley of Honor is home to the warriors and hunters of the Horde.  The weapons masters, the warrior and hunter trainers and the Horde Battlemasters are all located in the Valley of Honor.  This is also where the Orgrimmar Orphanage can be found.  The Orphan matron is looking for adventurers to make the lives of the orphans a bit more bright during both Chindren’s Week and at Hallow’s End.  The Valley of Honor is also where the engineers and blacksmiths ply their trades, and the miners work at smelting raw ore into bars and train new miners to their trade.  Of special note is the lake in the middle of the valley.  Although shallow, it holds a healthy population of various species, making it a good spot for beginning fishermen to practice their casts.

At the opposite end of The Drag from the Valley of Strength is the Valley of Wisdom.  The Valley of Wisdom is dominated by Grommash Hold, Thrall’s seat of power.  In the first chamber of Grommash Hold is the shamans’ area.  Here any aspiring shaman can find a more senior member of their …profession?…to help them along in their studies.  The inner chamber is Thrall’s throne room.  Along the walls inside this inner sanctum are the varuious high-ranking leaders of the Horde.  I took the time while I was there to introduce myself to Vol’jin, the leader of the Darkspear tribe, and to let him know what I’ve been doing out in the world.

If you turn right as you leave Grommash Hold, the path there takes you back out to the Valley of Strength, but on the upper level and on the opposite side of the valley from the entrance to The Drag.  There is a hanging bridge to the Flight Tower from this path on the upper level.  I figure this makes it easier for the adventurers working directly for Thrall to move in and out of Orgrimmar without having to run back and forth through The Drag everytime.

The last section of Orgrimmar is the Valley of Spirits, which can be found at the end of the path leading out of the Valley of Wisdom on the upper level of the Valley of Strength.  Just keep traveling along the path and around to the west and you’ll end up in this small valley.  The Valley of Spirits is the home away from home for all of the trolls in Orgrimmar.  Here, the trolls will be willing to teach the young and aspiring mages, priests and first aiders of the Horde.  The huts around and over the lake offer comfortable and breezy accomodations to any adventurers that may find the other areas of Orgrimmar a bit too enclosed for their liking.  Wandering around the Valley of Spirits, you can also find Xan’tish, the snake vendor, who has all sorts of slithery companions for sale for a modest fee.

If you continue on the path that brought you into the Valley of Spirits, you will come to the back gate of Orgrimmar.  This gate leads out and over a bridge into the Barrens near the border with Ashenvale and Azshara.

And there ends our brief tour of Orgrimmar.  I hope it helped to give you a feel for this important Horde city.

Until next time, have fun and don’t let the rapors eat you

~Sarra

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Tags: Cleft of Shadow, Durotar, Orgrim Doomhammer, Orgrimmar, Ragefire Chasm, Thrall, Xan'tish

A Brief Tour of Durotar

 Hey there All.  Sarracenia here to share the sights I saw when I went to check out Durotar.  That’s where all the new troll and orc recruits for the Horde come from.  I started my tour by landing in Orgrimmar and leaving the city through the front gate.  When I turned and looked back, the gate was a truely imposing sight!  But there was so much more to see that I didn’t hang around there for long. 

I rode down to the south along the road and through Razorwind Canyon.  There are harpies in there with stashes of goods that adventurers get asked to retrieve for a goblin beside the road. 

At the other end of the canyon is the town of Razor Hill.  Razor Hill is run by the orcs and they keep a nice clean place.  There are trainers there in and around the Razor Hill Barracks for all classes of adventurers.  And they have a cozy inn with all the important stuff.  The cook is even nice enough to set up outside the inn so that no one has to worry about getting singed in their sleep.  The leader of Razor Hill, Orgnil Soulscar, has a few things for any intrepid adventurer to do.  If you are into intrigue, he’s the guy to go to.  Orgnil is very concerned with the Burning Blade activity in the area.  They are some really nasty orcs, members of the Burning Blade, that are into the demonic stuff.  Razor Hill is also home to some orcs that would dearly love some of your business.  There is some orc there to sell just about anything that your little Horde heart may desire.  And there are a number of orcs skilled in armor and inventory repairs. 

Continuing south out of Razor Hill, the first place of note I saw was Tiragarde Keep on the east side of the road.  The orcs don’t like that Tiragarde Keep stands so close to Razor Hill and they keep a close watch on the Kul Tiras Marines and Sailors parading around the grounds.  Lieutenant Benedict and Watch Commander Zalaphil are there at the Keep trying to make sure that Gar’Thok, a formidable orc at Razor Hill, is not successful in his determination to drive out the human infestation at Tiragarde Keep. 

The next stop on my tour of Durotar is Sen’jin Village.  Sen’jin Village is the troll outpost here in Durotar.  This is where the Darkspear tribe settled in after they left the Echo Isles.  Sen’jin Village is a nice seaside resort kind of place.  The palm trees offer good shade for the Riding Raptors that are for sale out to the south side of the village too.  You can learn Herbalism and Alchemy in Sen’jin Village.  After all troll Witch Doctors are pretty good at brewing up potions for just about anything.  You just need to be careful of Bom’bay, he’s always trying to get adventurers to try some new concoction he’s brewed up.  And while the results can be amusing to the casual observer, not everything he does is nice. 

Outside Sen’jin proper and to the south along the coast, on the Darkspear Strand, is a hut where a troll named Lau’Tiki lives.  If you want to know about fishing, he is the troll to go to.  Not a troll of many words, he spends his days waiting calmly in his hut for adventurers to come along and admire that stinky shark of his while he waits for just the right signs to show him that the fishing will be good.  I think he likes his shark a bit too much. 

Behind Lau’Tiki’s hut, across the water, are the Echo Isles.  When you are in Sen’jin Village, you will notice that there are a few trolls who have a special interest in talking with adventurers to send them out to the Echo Isles.  If you decide to give these trolls a hand, be very careful out under those impressive trees covering the Echo Isles.  Zalazane and his spooky Voodoo Trolls have taken over the Echo Isles.  They’re the reason why the Darkspear Tribe took up residence in Durotar and settled Sen’jin Village in the first place.  The Echo Isles is a dangerous place now, full of Raptors, Tigers and Voodoo (Oh My - Zyrena).  The tasks handed out by the trolls in Sen’jin Village that take the adventurer to the Echo Isles are not to be taken on lightly.  Zalazane is very proficient with the necromancy and shrinking magic and it would be very sad indeed to find yourself used as a decoration for his voodoo staff…no matter how much Zy may laugh at you if it happens. 

Be careful swimming across the channel to the Echo Isles.  The water may be nice and warm, but it is best to remember that Makrura like the water too….and they are not too particular on whether their lunch is hot or cold.

The next stop in the tour is a brief look into Kolkar Crag in the hills along the southern-most tip of Durotar.  The Kolkar Centaurs have taken up residence in there and they are suspected of plotting an invasion.  There is a troll watcher in Sen’jin Village, named Lar Prowltusk, who is very concerned with this possibility and he is seeking the aid of adventurers to thwart their plans. 

After peeking into Kolkar Crag, I made my way back to Sen’jin Village and took the west road out of the village and straight on into the Valley of Trials.  The Valley of Trials is where every young troll and orc starts their career in service to the Horde.  The Den is a cave cut into the face of the cliff in the center of the valley.  In there, the young trolls and orcs will find most of the things they need to complete the tasks set them by Kaltunk, Gornek and the other experienced members of the Horde in the Valley of Trials.  As the young adventurers perform the tasks set them by their various trainers and task masters in the valley, they get their first introduction to the Burning Blade.  These demon dabbling orcs have set iup a coven in the Valley of Trials and it must be infiltrated.  There are also some more mundane tasks to be performed as every task is important to the smooth operation of the Horde…even the collection of lumber by Lazy Peons. 

Leaving the Valley of Trials and the new Horde Recruits to their tasks, I travelled back north up the main road towards Razor Hill.  Just before the Razor Hill gates, there is a road off to the west.  As I followed this road, I was quick to notice a strange plant formation off to the north side of the road.  It was a tangle of the biggest thorn vines I had ever seen!  The most remarkable part of this was the fact that there were creatures living in amongst the vines in huts they had constructed there.  I later found out this area is called the Razormane Grounds and the creatures are the Razormane Quillboar.  They really weren’t very friendly; downright hostile to be honest.  The orcs of Razor Hill are concerned with these hostile neighbors and Gor’Thok is looking for adventurers to assist in the removal of this threat.

Farther west along the road and to the north of the road itself is another canyon of interest.  Thunder Ridge houses a canyon that hides another Burning Blade enclave with a leader named Fizzle Darkstorm.  Orgrnil Soulscar is looking for hearty adventurers to eradicate this goblin.  If you choose to offer your assistance in this matter, please take my advice and bring friends.  Fizzle will certainly not go quietly and he has a number of warlocks and their pet demons in the canyon to assist him.  Just to make things more interesting, Thunder Ridge is not just a creative name.  The canyon in the ridge is home to a number of Thunder Lizards that do not take kindly to wayward adventurers traipsing through their territory. 

At the western edge of Durotar, along this road, lies the bridge that will take you across into the Barrens.  I stopped long enough to admire the orcish construction, but then continued north along the river and back to Orgrimmar. 

Outside the Orgrimmar gates are two Zepplin Towers.  One to the west of the main gate and one to the east.  The eastern tower is the docking platforms for the zepplins to both Undercity and Grom’Gol in the Eastern Kingdoms.  The tower to the west houses the docking platform for the zepplin to Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra in Northrend. 

And here ends my “brief” tour of Durotar.  I guess it really wasn’t so brief.  Ah well, lots of people to see and things to do and places to go  

Have Fun! 

~ Sarracenia

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Tags: Durotar, Fizzle, Orgrimmar, Razorhill, Razormane Grounds, Sen'jin, Tiragarde Keep, Valley of Trials, Zalazane