Zul'Gurub

Zul'Gurub (pronounced [ZOOL-goo-roob]) is a temple city inhabited by jungle trolls located in northeastern Stranglethorn Vale. Thousands of years ago it was the capital of the Gurubashi Empire and all jungle troll tribes affiliated with them. However, now it only serves as the capital of the Gurubashi tribe.

It is an extremely dangerous place where the influence of Hakkar still persists, the trolls there are brutal, violent and fast. Many people venture there in search of treasures and artifacts. But few come out of it, if not at all.

1,500 years before the opening of the Dark Portal, the powerful Gurubashi Empire was torn apart by a massive civil war. An influential group of troll priests, known as the Atal'ai, called forth the avatar of an ancient and terrible blood-god named Hakkar the Soulflayer. Though the priests were defeated and ultimately exiled, the great troll empire collapsed upon itself. The exiled priests fled far to the north, into the Swamp of Sorrows, where they erected a great temple to Hakkar in order to prepare for his arrival into the physical world.

In time, the Atal'ai priests discovered that Hakkar's physical form could only be summoned within the ancient capital of the Gurubashi Empire. It was in Zul'Gurub that Jin'do the Hexxer enslaved several high priests of the Gurubashi to aid him in summoning their dread god, Hakkar the Soulflayer, into Azeroth.

In order to quell the blood god, the trolls of the land banded together and sent a contingent of High Priests into the ancient city. Each priest was a powerful champion of the Primal Gods - Bat, Panther, Tiger, Spider, and Snake - but despite their best efforts, they fell under the sway of Hakkar. The champions and their Primal God aspects started feeding the awesome power of the Soulflayer.

The Zandalari knowing that they could not free their champions and stop Hakkar from entering our world on their own, sent word to the Darkspear tribe that the Horde needed to come and help stop Hakkar before it was too late. The Horde stormed Zul'Gurub and slew Jin'do, but not before Hakkar entered the physical world. The battle was costly but in the end, the Horde was victorious.

Jin'do's restless spirit burned with shame at his failure, and it drifted in the spirit world, seeking a way to return and a plan.

Most of the sections of the city have been caved in such as Shadra'zaar and Altar of Hir'eek.

Jin'do eventually forced his way back to Azeroth to call on allies old and new: the worshippers of Hakkar, the exile Zanzil the Outcast, and even Hakkar's former enemies among the Zandalar tribe. Together, they promised to rebuild Zul'Gurub - not for the glory of their defeated god, but to take his brutal power for their own, and see the troll race stand triumphant over a broken world. After repelling the Gurubashi trolls from settlements across Stranglethorn, Vol'jin ordered his Atal-Mhuto to Zul'Gurub, aided by adventurers. The effort was overseen by a Booty Bay representative, Overseer Blingbang.

After the Fourth War, Mathias Shaw reported that Zul'Gurub remains a dangerous place, proclivities to Hakkar remain strong in his followers, and 7 agents are to avoid it unless specifically directed to investigate it.

The beginning of the great Gurubashi civilization lay in Stranglethorn's far eastern reaches. Few trolls live here now — only those Gurubashi who research and wish to preserve the ruins from the encroaching jungle.

• Like Zul'Farrak, Zul'Gurub is also fully constructed behind the instance gate in Stranglethorn, which may suggest that it may have been intended as an outdoor elite raiding area. The land is entirely unoccupied by NPCs to preserve memory and bandwidth, despite all scenery and terrain being present.
• While Zul'Gurub is located in Stranglethorn Vale, its terrain and vegetation are more similar to that of Feralas.
• Zul'Gurub Protector Stones are hanging on several buildings in Booty Bay.
• There is also a specific eerie theme for this dungeon.