Sneak Peek: Twilight Highlands

Azeroth's inhabitants endure a lifetime of struggle and conflict. They're subject to violence from neighboring enemies and rampaging beasts at an early age, and must learn to take up arms to defend themselves against predators. Regularly forced to cope with the deaths of friends, family, and members of their tribes, clans, cities, and guilds, these scarred survivors become stronger by reinforcing their walls, banding together with new allies, and raising sharp, careful, resilient children. They adapt. They change.

Few places on Azeroth exemplify this ever-changing dynamic more than the Twilight Highlands of the Eastern Kingdoms.

New Dungeon: The Ruby Sanctum

The sacred Chamber of the Aspects beneath Wyrmrest Temple has seen kingdoms and armies rise and fall throughout history. For over ten millennia, the dragonflights' five sanctums have remained hallowed ground for dragonkind, undamaged by the chaos of the Demon Soul's creation and protected from the ravages of the Scourge thanks to a rare instance of cooperation between members of all five dragonflights. The red dragonflight, dedicated to the preservation of all life on Azeroth, has been at the heart of a tentative partnership between dragonflights, known as the Wyrmrest Accord, which the red dragons have guided from their sacred Ruby Sanctum. Draconic unity, at least in the face of grave danger, seems a real possibility.

And yet, suspicion has gnawed at all of the dragons of the Wyrmrest Accord from the moment of its creation. Immediately following the events that sparked the Nexus War, the leader of the red dragons, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, instructed her children to scour the accord for any further evidence of danger from within. The red dragonflight swiftly uncovered the location of a clutch of twilight dragon eggs, the twisted creations of Deathwing the Destroyer, hidden away in the black dragonflight's Obsidian Sanctum.

Sneak Peek: Grim Batol

During a bloody civil war among the three dwarven factions of Ironforge, the Bronzebeards ousted the Wildhammer and the Dark Iron clans from the ancient corridors of the mountain city. In the wake of the defeat, the Wildhammers ventured north and forged a new home, Grim Batol, in the mountains of what is now the Twilight Highlands. However, although they worked tirelessly to create a better future for themselves, the Dark Irons, who established the city of Thaurissan in the Redridge Mountains, could not move beyond the memory of their defeat. Consumed by the desire for revenge and desperate to control the entire dwarven region of Khaz Modan, the Dark Irons led a two-pronged assault on the Bronzebeards in Ironforge and the Wildhammers in Grim Batol. Despite their past differences, these two embattled rivals joined forces and drove the Dark Irons out of Khaz Modan, decimating the armies of the treacherous clan's sorcerer-thane, Thaurissan. Yet victory carried grave consequences. Although Thaurissan's wife and queen, Modgud, was slain during the attack on Grim Batol, her death tainted the mountain fortress. While the Bronzebeards rebuilt their glorious city of Ironforge, the Wildhammers felt forever changed by the horrors they witnessed at Grim Batol. They fled their cursed home and never returned.

Rotface Down!

Minions Marauders Take Down Rotface

Wednesday night, the Minions Marauders entered Icecrown Citadel for the second week in a row, intent on furthering our raid progression.  We cleared the Lower Spire in about an hour, which was a dramatic improvement over our previous raid.  Additionally, we were able to 1-shot every boss until we got to the Valithria Dreamwalker event.  After two attempts, we agreed to call it a night and try again later in the raid cycle.  More to follow...

Festergut Down!

Minions Clear the Lower Spire and Defeat Festergut!

Tonight the Minions Marauders entered ICC 10 with a couple of friends from HIRED TO KILL.  We had hopes of getting to Saurfang, but were pleasantly surprised with a 2 attempt kill against Festergut.  Unfortunately, we were bested by his cohort, Rotface, but  the Marauders did get him down to 25%.  We fully expect to get him next week, and progress even further into the Icecrown Citadel.

Anub'arak Down

Trial of the Crusader Cleared

Last night the Minions Marauders entered the Trial of the Crusader and defeated all bosses, including Anub'arak.  While we've already had some success with guild runs into Icecrown Citadel, this particular group of raiders consisted of players who had not completed ToC before.  We were happy for the opportunity to get so many of our players together on a Friday night, especially since most of our students are on Summer break, and are out enjoying social activities with RL friends.  We also made some new friends in a guest help Paladin tank, Rikalli, and a Warlock, Redblueblur, both of whom joined us for this run.  We'd like to extend our thanks to them as well for their contributions to this successful raid.

Sneak Peek: Twin Peaks Battleground

Twin Peaks

Located within the Twilight Highlands, the Twin Peaks remains a crucial point of high ground for staging effective and debilitating attacks against the black dragonflight and the Twilight's Hammer, who dominate this foreboding environment. And now, two previous occupants of the nearby city of Grim Batol vie once again for control of the peaks' defenses. The Wildhammer clan, architects and original owners of the once-great fortress city, maintains some operations in forested outposts of the highlands. The Wildhammers now call upon heroes of the Alliance to help claim the peaks and fend off the Dragonmaw orcs. The Dragonmaw clan, having spent years working to enslave red dragons, once again provides strategic importance to the Horde. As the Dragonmaw and Wildhammers fight for territory they once called home, the Alliance and Horde carry out the struggle to control the Twin Peaks.

Cataclysm: Halls of Origination

As with Uldaman and Ulduar, Uldum houses one of only a few of the known titan constructions, the existence of which predates that of mortal life on Azeroth. For years historians have explored southern Kalimdor for a means of entry into this ancient titan land, searching for more evidence of Azeroth's origins. But the Cataclysm will change everything, for the façade behind which Uldum has been tucked for millennia will be ruptured, leaving powerful mysteries vulnerable to discovery by the bravest, smartest, or perhaps even most brutal explorers.

The Halls of Origination in Uldum is a level-85 five-player dungeon available in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, featuring an unparalleled journey through the timeless titan construction and seven unique boss fights. Hidden deep within its halls lies an ancient treasure that, if placed in the wrong hands, could endanger all life on Azeroth. Should players survive the perils of Uldum, they will be called to help Brann Bronzebeard unlock the mysteries within these treacherous titan halls and protect the titans' ancient secrets.

Cataclysm: Echo Isles

After years in exile, the Darkspear trolls are preparing to invade the Echo Isles and reclaim the land once bestowed to them by Thrall. Led by Vol'jin, a wise and highly regarded Darkspear, the tribe's bravest warriors will set out from Orgrimmar and Sen'jin Village, seeking to bring about Zalazane's fall and begin the process of rebuilding their homes and villages on the Echo Isles. In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, new troll adventurers will begin their journey on these tiny islands off the coast of Durotar, where they'll be able to experience this time of trial and transition firsthand.

Mt Hyjal: In Defense of Nordrassil
 

For years, Mount Hyjal and the wounded World Tree, Nordrassil, have remained cut off from the rest of Azeroth. Sealed away within a protective field of dense foliage by Malfurion Stormrage, Nordrassil has been slowly recovering from the devastation of the Third War, when Malfurion called upon the tree's power to destroy the archdemon Archimonde and repel the forces of the Burning Legion and Scourge. Now, with the impending cataclysm, the World Tree's well-being is threatened once more. From the Firelands within the Elemental Plane, Ragnaros and his minions prepare to burst into Hyjal and set Nordrassil ablaze -- and the conflagration would endanger all life on Azeroth.

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, players will have the opportunity to explore the newly reopened Mount Hyjal as Azeroth's heroes, with the help of Ysera, Malfurion Stormrage and Hamuul Runetotem, are called upon to push back the armies of the Firelord, banish Ragnaros to the Elemental Plane and lay waste to the twilight dragon stronghold in nearby Darkwhisper Gorge. This all-new level 78-82 zone will feature multiple quest hubs, phased terrain and quest lines, portals to micro-zones within the Firelands, an all-new raid dungeon, and much more.

The World Tree

Players will be able to enter Hyjal by way of Moonglade, to take on a series of high-stakes quests in a historic location alongside some of Azeroth's most renowned heroes. With a longstanding rivalry among the night elf leadership threatening to undermine the campaign against Deathwing, players will quickly discover the task of defending Nordrassil is more daunting than they had anticipated. In order to succeed, they must seek out the help of extremely powerful allies: the Ancients.