Editing World of Warcraft (section)

==Geography==
===Azeroth===
Azeroth is the kingdom/subcontinent/continent/planet that the series mostly takes place on. The planet's most apparent feature is the perpetual war where generic humans and their friends fight alien orcs and their friends. The planet's most notable feature is that this perpetual war makes both sides very prepared to temporarily ally and fight threats much worse than each other... before going right back to fighting over land.

Formerly a world with a single ocean and a pangaeic continent, the "perfect" continent exploded during the last phase of the War of the Ancients between the night elves and a demonic army known as the Burning Legion. This caused the middle section to sink leaving only a few islands and a giant magical hurricane-whirlpool while the outer sections became separate continents.

Apparently the determination and plot armor of the planet's residents comes from the dead titan soul of the world manifesting inside of the player characters.

====Eastern Kingdoms====
A generic Medieval fantasy continent in about as much [[Medieval Stasis]] as Warhammer Fantasy was. There is not much that is not a kingdom on this continent. As far as "unclaimed" areas go, there are the orc territories around Blackrock Mountain. They stole Blackrock Spire from the Dark Irons, banishing them to their own basements. The titular kingdoms are:

'''The Human Kingdoms'''
* Stormwind: The first kingdom to be attacked by the orcs and the only human kingdom to remain as a major power after it was rebuilt. It serves as the seat of the Alliance' power and the capital (also called Stormwind) is among the most cosmopolitan and rich cities on the planet. Stormwind city proper serves as the de facto captial of the Alliance and Stormwind in general serving as the main staging ground and backbone of the the Alliance war machine (as of BFA also home to the bulk of the Gilneas and Dark Elf refugees).  The Kingdom also houses the infamous Goldshire, the greatest [[Star Wars|den of scum and villany in the Eastern Kingdoms]]
* Lordaeron: The biggest and most religious kingdom. It took center stage in the plot after Stormwind fell, but was eventually corrupted and driven to ruin by Arthas after being turned into a Death Knight in the third game. Now called "The Plaguelands", it's now a barren hellscape dotted with undead strongholds and a miasma-filled atmosphere, with only a few crusader factions still staying inside. Its capital city, also named Lordaeron was taken over by the Forsaken Undead for a long time, but was recently bombed by the Plague by the [[Wat|Forsaken's leader herself in a gambit.]] and is now an actually dead ruin. Given everything thats happened to it the plague bombing was almost a mercy kill.
* Gilneas: The second largest kingdom themed after an industrialized Regency-era England. They walled themselves off from being taxed by a rival sovereign power and the subsequent undead. Then they became werewolves, lost all of their land to different undead and climate change on bathsalts, and became a part of night elves culturally. Lore-wise, they're slowly rebuilding their capital of... Gilneas. See a pattern here?
* Dalaran: A single citystate full of mages. After being invaded by Arthas for a magical tome and subsequently nuked by an Eredar lord named Archimonde in the third game, the remaining citizens walled themselves off from the outside world... Until WoTLK, where they not only restored Dalaran to its shining self, but made it [[Awesome|airborne]]. Currently hovering around the Broken Isles and acting as a hub city for all factions. Neutral to the two factions, though they do take more of a shine to the Alliance.
* Kul Tiras: A naval kingdom loosely based on pre-industrial Britain or Denmark. They had an enormous navy. <s>Its navy was last seen in the WC3,</s> being led by its "Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore", where he attempted to wage war again against the newly formed Horde and lost. A sovereign state, but technically not a kingdom due to the Lord Admiral being a noble but not royalty somehow (there are four houses, none of which rule). Featured prominently in BFA; extremely [[Pirate|Cornish]] and very maritime in all things they do.
* Stromgarde: A kingdom made from those who stayed behind to defend the aging capital of the first human kingdom. Things didn't go so well as Stromgarde became ruined and infested with criminal scum, ogres, and trolls. BY WOWBFA it had become a major warzone between the Alliance and Horde both wanting to use it as a staging ground to attack the other. Lore-wise the Alliance was victorious and Stromgarde and its capital was reclaimed and is finally in the process of rebuilding.
* Alterac: The weakest kingdom. A kingdom of rogues that allied with the Horde, only to be crushed by the other human kingdoms. Now a criminal syndicate in Stromgarde's lands with their capital as a frozen, ogre-infested wasteland.

'''The Dwarf Clans'''
* The Bronzebeards: Generic dwarves based in the city of Ironforge. Famous for their smithing and their Mountaineers; [[Ranger|rangers with huge guns]] that patrol the peaks of the Khaz Modan, the Empire of the Dwarves.
** Gnomeregan: Tinker gnomes that do not do much beside trying to regain their lost city. BFFs with the Bronzebeards and technically a protectorate.
* The Wildhammers: Dwarves that ride gryphons. They don't really have a city (having lost Grim Batol). They have the aviary of Aerie Peak and various other peaks and villages, but tend to avoid civilization in favor of the freedom of nature. Has actual Shamans.
* The Dark Irons: Shadowy dwarf sorcerers that live in Shadowforge City under Blackrock Mountain. Played with powers they shouldn't have and summoned Ragnaros, the lord of the Fire Elementals, who created Blackrock Mountain and enslaved them until his defeat. Originally kind of like discount Chaos Dwarfs but somewhat less evil, until Cataclysm, where their then-new Queen made attempts to improve relations with the two other clans. They are now considered to be a part of the Alliance, though they still work hard to show they actually aren't evil anymore. Well, not ''that'' evil... 

'''The Troll Empires'''
* Amani Empire: Giant forest trolls with Cuban accents. Originally part of the Horde in the olden days, they've fallen on hard times after the High Elves and human kingdoms drove them off, leaving their cities in ruins. Their leader, Zul'jin, was revealed to be alive and is highly pissed off at the Horde for allying with the Blood Elves before subsequently getting murderized by the Horde in their capital of Zul'aman. Later allied with the Zandalari to take over the world but were once again defeated, this time by the Darkspear Tribe(Jungle Trolls that joined the Horde.)
* Gurubashi Empire: Jungle trolls with Jamaican accents. Had a massive flood followed by a civil war over excessive blood sacrifices to an evil god. Also in ruins. Also joined the Zandalari to take over the world, then some guy tried to eat the aforementioned god but got eaten instead due to the intervention of adventurers.

And the ones that aren't part of the Eastern Kingdoms...

*  Drakkari Empire: Trolls native to Northrend. Pretty much everyone was killed and raised by the Scourge, only to regain free will after the Lich King's defeat. Probably the second least relevant troll empire after the Farraki (sand trolls) these days. When it became apparent that they were going to lose the war against Arthas and the Argent Crusade, they [[RIP AND TEAR|killed their gods to take their powers]], which is pretty fucking metal if you think about it. 
* Zandalari Empire: The only troll empire to remain remotely intact (and relevant for that matter) in the present day. First introduced when they sought aid in helping the Gurubashi overthrow their evil blood-drinking god. Later, the Cataclysm caused their home-island to start sinking into the sea, so some guy named Zul tried to unite the trolls of the world to take new lands to live on, only to fail. They tried to do the same later when they went to Pandaria and allied with the Mogu, but once again failed. Will ultimately throw their lot in with the Horde in the BFA expansion. Also they have dinosaurs and can functionally be Paladins through worship of the Loa Rezan.

'''Elven Kingdoms''' 
* Quel'thalas: The main stronghold of the High Elves. It housed the primary capital city of the elves named "Silvermoon" and also the Sunwell; the High Elves primary source of magic. In the third game, Arthas curbstomped Silvermoon and corrupted the Sunwell to resurrect a Lich named "Kel'Thuzad", leaving the majority of the High Elves dead and the rest went into hiding. By the first expansion, Silvermoon was partially rebuilt by the survivors, who renamed themselves Blood Elves, and are currently using it as their main capital city again. Its still, however, a shadow of its former glory. The majority of Quel'thalas is still infested by blight, undead remnants of the previous invasion, and grumpy Amani trolls. Allied with the Horde for pragmatic reasons in Burning Crusade, but has since come to consider the Horde as true allies.

====Kalimdor====
A less civilized continent (how are Night Elves less civilized? They shit in the woods that's why!), preserving elements from the old super-continent. It has the forests of the night elves to the north, the orc-conquered Barrens in the center, and largely unclaimed deserts to the south. The orcs, living in a sucky climate and loving conquest, are constantly trying to take lumber and land from the night elves. Major groups:

* Orgrimmar - Capital of the Nation of Durotar, as well as the Horde. A clanless group of united orcs made of mostly Blackrock, Warsong, and Frostwolf. Has a running talent of being besieged multiple times but always seems to avoid destruction thanks to truces and plot-armour.
* Thunder Bluff - Capital of Mulgore. All the tauren tribes live here except the evil Grimtotem clan.
* Darkspear Tribe - Banished by the other jungle troll tribes to an island, they are trolls who are also Jamaican and allied with the Horde, currently residing in Kalimdor after Thrall led his clan's mass exodus to the west. <s>They're led by a Shadow Hunter named Vol'Jin.</s> More or less lack a leader following the death of Vol'jin because Blizzard doesn't think they're important enough to have a representative.
* Ashenvale - A large forest on the north of the continent and homeland of the Night Elves.  They had a vicious foreign policy, which was relaxed during the Third War, except when hostilities reignited with the Horde.  This culminated in the War of Thorns where the Night Elves were ousted by the Horde, but then regrouped to take back their ancestral lands.
* Teldrassil - The main home of the Night Elves. Its capital is named "Darnassus" and is where the seat of Night Elf power is located in. Burnt down by Sylvanas using Azerite-infused siege weapons in the latest expansion. Teldrassil and its surrounding areas remained a burned out ruin until the Night Elves retook it for the most part in BFA war of thorns. As of the ending of the fourth war the Night Elves are anxious to begin rebuilding Teldrassil.
* Exodar - A crashed spaceship where the draenei live.
* Theramore - A newer city-state made up of survivors of Lordaeron led by Jaina Proudmoore. Was the (rather small in the game) capital of the Alliance, but eventually ceded more and more authority to Stormwind until Garrosh nuked it.

====Northrend====
Basically the South Pole of Azeroth, except in the North (there is actual land in Northrend like Antarctica unlike the Artic). Way before Lich King's domination, it was the battlefield of Aegwynn, the guardian of Azeroth and Sargeras, the leader of the burning legion. The battle ended with Sargeras defeated but somehow cursed her by possessing her infant son Medivh before he was even conceived.

It used to be populated by the Nerubians, a race of intelligent arachnids who evolved from Aqir that had survived the continent cracking event known as Sundering, that had split Kalimdor from Northrend. [[Q'Orl| Nerubians like their Aqir ancestors are a cruel, xenophobic and hyper-isolationist species with a hard on for culture and engineering, as well as architecture and magic so juicy the Lich King killed them for it]]. Basically Arachnid Nazi Eskimo Egyptian, though there are like 12 still alive and they are willing to pay people to help them get revenge.

Nerubians used to have an extensive amount of [[fluff]] covered in the Warcraft RPG series before Blizzard [[Exterminatus|nuked]] the project and subsequently any development from it (like finding 'worship' to be confusing and suicidal, a plot point that later made sense when players met their god). They made a comeback in Legion, as refugees this time on an island only to be killed by the player, and there is no explanation for this provided, not even when we [[That guy|bring the corpse]] of their leader to the few living Nerubians.

Northrend was also a good place for dragons to die which many dragons will fly to the Dragonblight at Northrend when they are near their life's end. 

The Lich King (Ner'zhul) landed here when he was thrown to Azeroth by Kil'jaeden as a [[exterminatus|WMD]] to further the demon's plan. He fought the Nerubians and were won through attrition warfare with a little help from dreadlords. Many Nerubians were mostly killed by the Lich King and made into spider mummies with their king Anub'arak turned into his slave. The Lich King, who was working for the Burning Legion at the time, spread his undead plague southward into human lands. By doing so, he infected and mind controlled some humans into his ranks creating his very own undead army: the Scourge. The Scourge's purpose is to follow the Lich King's will, kill all humans, and find a way to bring the Burning Legion in full force to Azeroth. During the conflict with humans, Prince Arthas came to Northrend to hunt down Mal'Ganis (the Lich King's demon overseer) and decided to take this totally-evil-sword Frostmourne because it gives him the strength to kill Mal'Ganis. Obviously, it turned Arthas so evil that he killed his own father, finished off his kingdom, and brought doom to the high elves.

Illidan had tried to destroy Northrend with The Eye of Sargeras with his fish people (Naga), but he was interrupted by his brother and his bitch of a warden. It did however weaken the Lich King due to the earthquakes Illidan had caused, forcing Arthas to come to Northrend and abandon Lordaeron to the Forsaken. When Arthas came to Northrend to save the Lich King, Illidan and his friends were there to stop him and they had an epic fight. Illidan lost like a bitch and Arthas became one with the Lich King. Also, an Old God called Yogg-Saron lives below Northrend in a massive titan facility built around main body.

====Pandaria====
Land of pandas and Chinese things. Once a region dominated by a titan-created race of lion statue-men called the mogu, the pandaren broke free with booze, martial arts, and friendship. The "death" of the Old God Y'Shaarj left the land cursed by emotion-creatures called the sha. After giving form to and kicking the asses of (with harmony, not ass-kicking) the sha, the last emperor of Pandaria used the magic mists of pride to isolate the region from the exploding super-continent, forming the island-continent as it is.

====Islands====
* Zandalar - True homeland of the trolls. Home of the last intact troll empire and cities of gold... until Deathwing sank it. Now it has sent out a golden fleet to screw over other troll tribes for resources (under the guise of helping them) and begging the remaining mogu for a home.  Retconned into a continent.
* Broken Isles - The ancient night elf city of Suramar was used to house the remains of the Avatar of Sargeras when he was killed as part of a convoluted gambit to infiltrate the planet (his soul possessed the unborn child of the one who was supposed to be keeping demons away and who defeated said Avatar, then used that child to summon the orcs). The island was later raised by orc warlocks seeking power from the body.  Retconned into a continent.
* Kezan - The industrialized home of the goblins. It was where Pandaria is, but that was changed. Had the trade-capital of Undermine. Destroyed when Deathwing set off its volcano.
* Plunder Isle - Has pirates.
* Tel'Abim - Has bananas. Some letters in bottles findable by fishing will explain that the Tel'Abim Bananas are actually alive and malevolent, although the shipwrecked author could have just been going insane.
* Tol Barad - A tiny, fallen kingdom turned into maximum-security prison that keeps changing hands. The ledger must look like used bogroll a this point

===Draenor===
The other planet visited in the setting. Savage homeworld of the orcs, the ogres, and (adopted by) the draenei. The orcs were recruited here by the Burning Legion to kill the draenei (rebel aliens and their descendants who rejected demonhood), and then were redirected for round two of trying to kill Azeroth. Too many escape portals opened after the orcs' defeat by the humans caused the planet to explode, leaving habitable chunks in the Twisting Nether called Outland. Much of its ecosystem was killed by Orc warlocks playing with dark magic.

====Orc Clans====
Rivaling the human kingdoms were the orc clans. Currently, most are defunct. They were savage and semi-peaceful hunter-gatherers on their home world before Warlocks gave them new magic, some technology and the unity of genocidal goals.
* Blackrock clan - Basic militant orcs, led by Blackhand the Destroyer. Later led by his ambiguously noble second-in-command Ogrim Doomhammer. Most were folded into the new Horde, but those who retained the name eventually merged with the Black Tooth Grin and maintained the Blackrock name.
* Stormreaver clan - Main Warlock clan, led by Gul'dan.
* Twilight's Hammer clan - Doomsday cult seeking any means they can destroy the world. After the war they broke off from the warlocks and became Old God worshipers. Led by the ogre Cho'Gall, formerly Gul'dan's right hand man.
* The Shadow Council - Gul'Dans hand picked secret society of Warlocks and dark magicians. Pulled the strings behind the scenes that eventually lead up to the invasion of Azeroth by the Orcs. Their Azeroth branch was murderfucked out of existence when Doomhammer learned of the Council's machinations and their sway over the Horde, and their Draenor branch was also almost driven to extinction due to the Alliance forces that crossed the Dark Portal fighting them, Illidan and his followers occupying most of their original strongholds (like the Black Temple) and they themselves accidentally summoning a gargantuan exdimensional being that they couldn't control. Small of pockets of them still remain on both Azeroth and Outland, but they are far from being a unified or even significant force anymore. 
* Black Tooth Grin clan - Blackhand's kids got their own clan due to Doomhammer killing him and seizing control of the Blackrock clan. Punching out a tooth is the rite of passage to give yourself their signature grin. Absorbed back into the Blackrocks at some point after Doomhammer's defeat, which would in turn become the "Dark Horde" under Nefarian.
* Bleeding Hollow clan - Rips out an eye to view their deaths. Lead by Kilrogg Deadeye.
* Dragonmaw clan - [[Dragoon|Dragon Riders]]. Maintained one of the last Orc hold-out strongholds after the original Horde's defeat until some scheming by Deathwing, and things going [[Not As Planned]] released the dragons. Some hold-outs later joined the modern Horde.
* Burning Blade clan - [[Eversor|Psychotic Berserkers]] with a Samurai theme ([[Awesome|even using Sashimono!]]). Eventually nearly wiped out, but the survivors became badass mercenaries. Later refounded by Demon-worshipers from the Shadow Council who tried to subvert the modern Horde from within before they too were wiped out.
* Shadowmoon clan - Shamans who were corrupted into becoming Warlocks, [[Retcon|but later said to be Shadow Priests]]. Led by Ner'zhul.
* Frostwolf clan - "Good" wolfrider orcs. Makes up the majority of the modern Horde along with the Warsong and Blackrock clans. Thrall is from this clan.
* Warsong clan - Crazy wolfriders and warmongers with the most overt Mongolian theme. Led by Grom Hellscream.
* Shattered Hand clan - Former gladiator-slaves. Replaces a hand with a blade. Formerly led by Kargath Bladefist. Later became a multi-racial spymaster clan of Rogues and the like in the new Horde.
* Thunderlord clan - Hunts giants. Tames giant things.
* Laughing Skull clan - Pyromaniacs. Previously led by an ogre and sided with humans.
* Bonechewer clan - Savage Cannibals.
* Flowerpicker clan - A gag name for the unused blue team color for the Horde in the campaign of Warcraft II. Made possibly canon as Orc ninjas in Warlords Of Draenor.

====Alternate Draenor====
In the past of an alternate universe, orcs were given a simple coal engine, hydraulics and a warning about the price of deals with the Burning Legion, so they never made any deals with any demons. These orcs try to invade modern Azeroth anyway while simultaneously trying to conquer their own planet. After the orcs' defeat, they go back to the demons. When the demons are defeated, the planet is freed and the remaining orcs are friendly to all parties and the Draenei don't ask for reparations regarding the Iron Horde <s>[[Derp|(for reasons)]]</s> because Blizzard messed up the expansion and decided to end it prematurely to move on to Legion, leaving behind things such as an entire continent supposed to house the Ogre empire, and the island of Farahlon which was originally supposed to be where the Primals hang out.

It's visited again but somehow 30 years in the future (Except it's just catching up to the present for reasons) despite nobody ever wanting to touch it again (except avid Orc roleplayers because holy shit is Draenor gorgeous).  The resident Draenei, led by Yrel and some naaru, form a Light army and waged war on the Orcs who refused to join, getting dubbed "Lightbound" by the Orcs (protip, you're expected to pretend the Iron Horde never happened and the Draenei are just Light fanatic villains now).  AU Draenor is dying for unknown reasons, with both Mag'har and Lightbound blaming the other "he said, she said" style, and the surviving Ogres either joined the Lightbound or are stuck in Mag'har-led prison camps.

Durotan died offscreen but produced a rule 63 Thrall called Geya'rah.  AU Grom is both still alive and unpunished for his Iron Horde war crimes, but managed to have a son that joins the Lightbound for unspecified reasons (popular theories range from shame over the Iron Horde to wanting a piece of sweet Draenei booty).   All of this for the two reasons of adding the Mag'har allied race - since the Mag'har from Outland already joined the Horde - and [[Edgy|trying to give the Light a bad side]].  

Following the recruitment of the AU Mag'har, Draenor seems to be shut off until Blizz brings back Yrel and her group as future villains, much to the chagrin of Orc roleplayers (who love the place and just want to hang out there) and Draenei or pro-Light roleplayers (who hate the villain-batting of their groups).

The "savage" geography of this Draenor is shaped by three warring factions of giants: the desert-loving Breakers (made of rocks and lava), the jungle-loving Primals (made of plants), and a third faction that showed up called the Zangar (aquatic fungus that used to be Primals). The Primals seem to be wiped out by the Orcs come Battle for Azeroth.