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For the Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Orc campaign mission at the same location, see Goldshire and Moonbrook (WC1 Orc).
AllianceMoonbrook
Moonbrook 2
Type Town
Leader(s) IconSmall Human Male Captain Alpert
  Formerly IconSmall Vanessa Vanessa VanCleef
IconSmall EdwinVanCleef Edwin VanCleef †
Race(s) HumanHuman Human
Language(s) Common
Faith(s) Holy Light
Affiliation(s) Kingdom of Stormwind
  Formerly Defias Brotherhood
Organizations Westfall Brigade
Location Southwestern Westfall
Status Crippled
Characteristics
Facilities

Undone Inn          Undone Mailbox

Undone Stables

Done Anvil & Forge

Undone Bank       Undone Auctions
Travel Done Flight Master(s)
Undone Mass-transit
Undone Portal(s)

“Ah, the smell of straw and cow dung... this place brings back a lot of memories.”

Vanessa VanCleef[1]

Moonbrook is a small town located southwest of Sentinel Hill, which once served as a mining town[2] and the focal point of the farmlands in Westfall. After being razed by the orcs during the First War, then rebuilt following the Second War, the rampant corruption in the kingdom brought the town under the control of the Defias Brotherhood. Without the Stormwind Army to protect them, the Defias drove out the citizens and used the Deadmines as their headquarters. After years of tyranny, the People's militia and the adventurers liberated Moonbrook after they killed the Brotherhood's leader, Edwin VanCleef.

However, the war against the Lich King caused a financial crisis in the kingdom, and a high population of homeless came to settle in Moonbrook. Following the Cataclysm, the Defias Brotherhood made a resurgence and its leader Vanessa VanCleef encouraged the anti-Stormwind sentiment among the people of Moonbrook. After the attack on Sentinel Hill, the Alliance heroes entered once again the Deadmines, where they wiped out all the new Defias leadership. In the following years, the town was once more supported by Stormwind, which protected it from bandits, the Riverpaw pack gnolls, and even demonic invasions. After his coronation, King Anduin Wrynn's reforms and aid to Westfall extinguished the spark of the revolution in the town.

Although the town itself is devoid of vendors, the nearby camp of the Westfall Brigade to the northwest has a flight path and vendors.

History[]

Warcraft I - Map of Azeroth

Moonbrook on the Azeroth map during the First War.

Centuries ago, throughout the Eastern Kingdoms, the disparate human nations flourished, among them the smallest and most isolated of the kingdoms was Stormwind that found prosperity through the farmsteads which dotted the surrounding fertile region. Over the years, as its population grew, small towns sprang up in the nearby regions, notably Moonbrook in Westfall, which became the breadbasket of the kingdom.[3] Prior to the coming of the orcs to Azeroth, the Deadmines' gold deposits beneath Moonbrook accounted for a third of Stormwind's treasure reserves.[4]

During the First War, Moonbrook and its sister town Goldshire were the final two towns to fall to the Old Horde prior to the razing of Stormwind Keep, these attacks were intended to sever the lifeline between King Llane Wrynn I and his people, making him a figurehead waiting to be lopped off.[5] Following the victory of the Alliance of Lordaeron in the Second War, the town was rebuilt with the help of the Supreme Commander Turalyon who oversaw the efforts to repatriate the kingdom's citizens[6]

Prior to the rise of the Defias Brotherhood, the gilnean Stalvan Mistmantle decided to live in Moonbrook after he finished his journey outside of Stormwind City. After a few days, he found myself tutoring the local children from the nearby farmlands, and the lessons went so well that the mayor at the time commissioned him to run the newly built Moonbrook Schoolhouse.[7]

Rise of the Defias[]

Because of Lady Katrana Prestor's political machinations in the kingdom, the House of Nobles ordered the guild Stonemasons Guild disbanded, and it turned into a heated dispute, which resulted in riots that led to the murder of Queen Tiffin Wrynn.[8] In response, King Varian Wrynn vowed to punish those responsible and dealt with the rioters more severely.[9] The Stonemasons, knowing Varian's anger would never fade, were forced to hide in the rural areas of Westfall to escape prosecution.[10] From the shadows, Lady Prestor used her influence to stoke their rage by cutting off supplies and support to the region. In time, they became the Defias Brotherhood, and under Edwin VanCleef's reign, they turned to banditry and murder.[11]

Due to the lack of military protection in Westfall, the Defias made Westfall their new refuge and sowed anarchy and terror, easily taking control of the poorly defended farmlands.[12] As they needed a secure location to oversee the construction of a massive Juggernaught, their weapon to destroy Stormwind City from the sea, Edwin VanCleef chose the Deadmines as his base of operations, the abandoned mining network hidden beneath Moonbrook.

Following the rise of the Brotherhood, Stalvan Mistmantle was forced to abandon his post as headmaster of the town's schoolhouse and took up temporary residence in the Lion's Pride Inn of Goldshire.[13]

Journey of Brann[]

WoW Town Hall Westfall 5

Moonbrook as seen in the Journal of Brann.

After the Third War, the dwarf Brann Bronzebeard traveled south from Khaz Modan to survey the lands of Azeroth. When he came to Westfall, he was surprised at finding only abandoned farms and countless acres of abandoned cropland. Later, he arrived at Moonbrook and felt he was being watched by figures in the shadows. He was then attacked by three agents of the Defias Brotherhood and a harvest golem. Once he defeated them, he decided to leave the town, hoping to one day return to find how and why these thieves scared away the farmers of the region.[2]

Bloodsail Buccaneer[]

Comics title This section concerns content related to the Warcraft manga or comics.

At some point, the town was invaded by Jerias Bloodvein of the Bloodsail Buccaneers and his pirate crew. The undead captain hoped to enact vengeance on Edwin VanCleef, as the latter had once taken from him the wife he desired, his gold, and his life by a good measure. However, while many Defias were massacred in the town and the Deadmines, Jerias was killed by James Blackridge before he could confront VanCleef, and the pirates left Moonbrook after the loss of their leader.[14]

World of Warcraft[]

WoW Icon update This section concerns content related to the original World of Warcraft.
Moonbrook

Moonbrook in World of Warcraft.

At some point, the Miners' League was partly in charge of the Deadmines under the direction of Foreman Thistlenettle and Wilder Thistlenettle. However, one day the Defias Brotherhood attacked them during their work and the mine tunnel collapsed. Only Wilder managed to escape, while the rest of the company died and began to roam as restless undead.[15]

Faced with the oppression of the Defias Brotherhood, only the People's Militia rose up to stand in their way. In their efforts to defend the people of Westfall, their leader Gryan Stoutmantle recruited the young heroes of the Alliance and sent them to eliminate large numbers of Defias spotted by his scouts across the region, notably in Moonbrook.[16][17] Once they found that the leaders of the Brotherhood were hiding in the Deadmines beneath Moonbrook,[18] Stoutmantle called upon the heroes of the Alliance to destroy the Brotherhood and Edwin VanCleef at their head.[19] With support from Stoutmantle's soldiers, the heroes succeeded and Westfall was safe once again.[20]

Wrath of the Lich King[]

Wrath-Logo-Small This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

During the Argent Tournament in Icecrown, the Black Knight claimed to be descended from the Cooper family of Westfall, a prominent family from Moonbrook who manufactured barrels and lived in a residence in the western part of the town. Doubting the veracity of this story, Crusader Rhydalla sent an adventurer to investigate the residence, where they discovered that it was only a false cover for the infiltered agent of the Cult of the Damned.[21]

Cataclysm[]

Cataclysm This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.
The Dawning of a New Day

Vanessa's meeting with the citizens of Moonbrook.

After the war against the Lich King, many people living in Westfall became homeless and bankrupt. Moonbrook was then inhabited by passing passengers, homeless citizens, and vagrants, most of whom became hostile to the armies of the kingdom, holding the King Varian Wrynn and the Alliance responsible for their misfortune. While many wandered aimlessly in the town, the rest of the homeless took shelter in the Deadmines. Consequently, a small outpost of the Westfall Brigade has been established at the edge of the town, where Captain Alpert and a company of Sentinel Hill troopers were sent by Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle to monitor and protect Moonbrook.[22]

Following the Cataclysm, the Defias Brotherhood made a resurgence, primarily due to growing resentment of Stormwind's leadership among the people of Westfall. In the shadow, Vanessa VanCleef took the leadership of the Brotherhood and had been encouraging the anti-Stormwind sentiment among the people of Moonbrook, recruiting new allies to help them get revenge. From their outpost, the Westfall Brigade noticed a rise in violent acts amongst the homeless of the area, and that a group of thugs came handing out propaganda pamphlets.[23] The citizens later gathered for a meeting in the town, where Vanessa denounced the kingdom's leadership for the toll the war in Northrend had taken on the people of Westfall, and then incited the masses to rebel against Stormwind.[24]

After Sentinel Hill was burned to the ground by the Brotherhood,[25] a force of Alliance heroes entered once again Moonbrook and the Deadmines, where they wiped out all the new Defias leadership. Eventually, they confronted Vanessa, and faced with defeat, she detonated a series of explosions that essentially blew up her and the ship, ending her plans and the activities of the Brotherhood in Westfall.[26]

Legion[]

Legion This section concerns content related to Legion.

During the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Legion targeted Westfall as one of their invasion points, and the area fell under the demons' control, while some nathrezim enslaved its inhabitants. The town was successfully defended by the Stormwind Army with the help of the adventurers of the Alliance and Horde, and the Illidari.

For his street magic shows in Dalaran, The Great Akazamzarak usually ordered crates of rabbits from Moonbrook. However, his last order led a wolf to enter his pocket dimension, thus he announced that he no longer wanted to order from the town.[27]

Dragonflight[]

Dragonflight This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.
Defias rebels returning Moonbrook

The remaining Defias loyal to Vanessa VanCleef returning to their families in Moonbrook.

In the years that followed the Burning Legion's defeat, the death of Varian Wrynn made it hard to carry on old grudges,[1] while King Anduin Wrynn's reforms allowed more aid and resources to arrive at Westfall, which caused the spark of revolution to fade.[28]

Some time after the discovery of the Dragon Isles, a disgraced noble named Count Clessington arranged for the Defias Brotherhood to steal the Drakefire Amulet from Stormwind Keep.[29] With the help of Cecilia Clessington, Vanessa VanCleef and a champion of Stormwind discovered that her father took the amulet to Moonbrook, where he had been off "doing business".[30] When they arrived, the town was deserted, except for a few attendants sent by Count Clessington to get rid of those who would get in his way.[31] At Cecilia's request, the adventurer eliminated them in order to liberate the town.[32]

Worried about not finding her people, Vanessa and the hero went to investigate the Deadmines. There, they found Count Clessington using the artifact's powers of manipulation, and the help of a cruel bandit named Duncon Ratsbon, to convince the Defias to march on Northshire Abbey, with the aim of using it as a staging ground to pillage Stormwind City itself.[1] Seeing how easily a noble turned the Brotherhood against her made Vanessa realize that she was no longer one of them.[33]

Outside the mines, the remaining Defias loyal to Vanessa came to see her, refusing to follow Ratsbon down the path of banditry for banditry's sake, as they didn't join the Brotherhood to steal from innocents. However, Vanessa asked them to return home to their families, as this fight was no longer theirs, and that they should help the people of Westfall in other ways. Accepting her last request, they returned to Moonbrook after thanking her for all she had done.[34]

Travel connections[]

Flight[]

Alliance Sentinel Hill, Westfall (0:26)

NPCs[]

Westfall Brigade outpost Moonbrook

The Westfall Brigade outpost in the town.

Moonbrook Schoolhouse

The abandoned Moonbrook Schoolhouse.

Defias Hideout

The Defias Hideout leading to the Deadmines.

At the outpost
In the town
WoW Icon update The subject of this section was removed from World of Warcraft in patch 4.0.3 but is present in Classic Era.
During the Lion's Heritage questline

Phasing[]

During the quest A [5-30] The Dawning of a New Day and the Lion's Heritage questline, the area of Moonbrook is phased.

Items[]

Notes[]

  • Vanessa VanCleef considers Moonbrook to be her home.[31]
  • The town has its own newspaper: the "Moonbrook Times".[35]
  • Before the Defias took control of the region, the town was led by a mayor.[7]
  • In the Journey of Brann, a chapel could be seen in Moonbrook, but it didn't make its way to World of Warcraft.
  • In this concept map for Warcraft II, a "New Moonbrook" could be seen in the Tirisfaen Fields region.

Gallery[]

Patch changes[]

  • Cataclysm Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Flightpoint added, and phased area during a quest.

References[]

External links[]

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