Dragon Isles

The Dragon Isles, historically known as the Broodlands, are the ancestral homeland of Azeroth's dragonflights, and the primary setting for the World of Warcraft: Dragonflight expansion.

The Dragon Isles were separate from the mainland even before the Great Sundering. During the shaping of the Dragon Isles by the titan-forged, the bronze dragon Ironormu met the earthen. They occasionally received visitors to the Wingrest Embassy located on the shores of the isle. The Broodlands were surrounded by the greater Dragonwilds, where most of the primal dragons had retreated after the Aspects began ordering new dragons.

A lush and primal place bursting with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth, they were settled by the dragonflights after their empowerment by the titan Pantheon and served as the center of their kingdom. The djaradin and tarasek are two races known to have lived here even before the dragons arrived.

Because of the Great Sundering, much of the isles' magic was drained away and the dragons were forced to leave their homeland in the care of the titanic watchers, the drakonid, the dragonspawn, and the dryads that were left behind. Alexstrasza tasked the watchers to use the Beacon of Tyrhold to hide the Isles away from all outsiders, as well as the dragons themselves, until a time came when elemental energy resurfaced and the dragons could be drawn home to reestablish their kingdom, at which point the watchers would light the Beacon and reveal the Isles to the world once more.

The Dragon Isles are a place that few have heard of and even fewer have been to. The Black Prince Wrathion has been searching for the Isles, but was unable to find them. Other dragons were not forthcoming in information. An "ancient home for all dragonflights" is mentioned in legends concerning the Dragon Riders of Loreth'Aran.

Having been hidden away for more than 10,000 years, the primal elements have resurged on the Dragon Isles as Azeroth heals and awakens, causing new life to arise. The titan watcher Koranos has lit the Beacon of Tyrhold, lifting the veil that was hiding them from the world, and calling the dragons back home. Working together, the Alliance and Horde dispatched the Explorers' League and Reliquary to conduct a scientific expedition to the re-emerging islands. This was explicitly not a military venture, with both factions joining forces to form the Dragonscale Expedition.

Four of them are leveling zones, while the fifth, the Forbidden Reach, is the starting zone for dracthyr evokers. Players have to go through the zones in order, starting in the Reach/Shores, and ending in Thaldraszus. The progression is vertical, with the Shores being located at the base of the Isles, while Thaldraszus is located at its apex. The expansion's storyline runs through each of the zones sequentially. Exploration within the zones themselves, however, is comparatively non-linear.

• The Forbidden Reach
• The Waking Shores
• Ohn'ahran Plains
• The Azure Span
• Thaldraszus
• Zaralek Cavern (added in 10.1)
• Emerald Dream (zone) (added in 10.2)

Players get to the Dragon Isles via a boat from Stormwind City and a gunship from Orgrimmar, accompanying an expedition of the Explorers' League and the Reliquary to the rediscovered land.

In the Dragon Isles there are creatures with draconic elements to them because of the magic of the space–the draconic energy causing evolutions to the creatures over the years to give some of them scales, frills, or additional spikes. Some of the known such creatures are argali, hornswog, a specific type of mammoth on the Dragon Isles and ottuk.

The Dragon Isles were conceived as a "vertical space" from the outset. This was felt to "suit the fantasy of the location." The zones were designed to be more compact than other regions.

Associate Art Director for Dragonflight Tina Wang described the Isles as being larger than Northrend in-game.

• The War of the Ancients Trilogy novels often refer to some unnamed dragon lands, which includes areas such as the lair of the red dragonflight (a series of large caverns deep inside towering mountains, with hundreds of great gaps in every cliff leading to their realm, and Alexstrasza's chambers being filled with plants and flowers that should have not been able to grow there), the lair of the black dragonflight (later moved to the Broken Isles) and the lair of the blue dragonflight (later moved to Northrend). Long ago, during his mating ritual with Alexstrasza, Korialstrasz had circled his beloved over and over, displaying his strength and agility while she flew in a vast circle around the realm of dragons. During the War of the Ancients, these dragon lands were surrounded by a giant, impenetrable magical barrier during the time of the Dragon Soul's empowerment, as Neltharion didn't want anything or anyone to stop the ritual. This barrier was guarded from the inside by dragons from all flights such as Horakastrasz, but were also patrolled from the outside by black dragons who had the orders to kill on sight anyone trying to enter or even leave the area. This description could refer either to Northrend or the Dragon Isles, and as such it is unsure where it happened.
• The Dragon Isles surrounding seas display the Great Sea. However, since the Isles are located east of Northrend, northwest of Quel'Thalas, and northeast of Exile's Reach, it should display the North Sea instead.
• In Warcraft II, the Mysterious Dragon Isle was a multiplayer map shaped like a dragon's head.

The Dragon Isles were originally conceptualized during the development of World of Warcraft but were cut early on. They were intended to be located north of Lordaeron and west of Quel'Thalas, as a level 65-70 zone with a raid. They were also planned to host temples to the Old Gods. Some early maps also labeled the isles with the name "Alexstrasza", implying she would be present. The dragons here would have been antagonistic, with their characterization having been written before Metzen's vision of them as portrayed in Day of the Dragon.

Some working assets labeled "Dragon Isles" are still present in the game files. They were added during the World of Warcraft beta and are used only in a test zone named Designer Island. The set consists of a large nautilus-shaped temple as well as three caves with structures built over the entrances. A hermit crab-shaped temple had also been designed but did not make it to the game files. The nautilus-shaped Old God temple is also present on a piece of concept artwork simply labeled "Dragon Isles" included in both The Art of World of Warcraft and the original in-game credits.

Despite being cut even before the World of Warcraft beta, the small islands still appeared, unlabeled, on the in-game World Map just north of Lordaeron until they were removed in Wrath of the Lich King. It was only in Battle for Azeroth that the first canonical mention of the Dragon Isles was made, before they were finally introduced in Dragonflight.

The concept of red dragons living on islands north of Lordaeron is consistent with the Warcraft II manual stating that dragons are native to "the untamed northlands of Azeroth". The idea of Alexstrasza inhabiting an island near the Eastern Kingdoms was also seen in the canceled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, in which she lived in a cave on Crestfall.

Soggoth the Slitherer's remains at the Master's Glaive and the giant kraken temple in the Shrine of the Storm both closely resemble the Dragon Isles temple concept.

• Northern Lordaeron

Dragon Isles