User:GoldenYak/New Zul'Drak

Zul'Drak
Location	Northeastern Northrend

UNDER CONSTRUCTION related to Spider Kingdom Expansion Concept

Zul'Drak is an area located in eastern Northrend. For generations, the Drakkari ice trolls ruled a sprawling empire that filled the region with temples and cities. The wrath of the Lich King brought about the end of the troll's reign in a few short years. The Scourge invasion decimated the Drakkari, driving the survivors into a desperate gambit. Drakkari mystics began sacrificing their Loa animal gods, hoping to take the spirit's power for themselves and use it against the Scourge. Their dark plot failed, as the Drakkari were betrayed from within and overwhelming from without, and all of their great champions who were imbued with the essence of the Loa's were slain.

With the death of the Lich King, the Scourge forces in this region have been reduced to mindless undead. The great floating necropoli and plague-spreaders that the Scourge brought to wage war have fallen into ruin, releasing an unholy blight across the lower tiers of Zul'Drak. Undead are running wild, fueled by the plague, attacking anything that lives.

The Ashen Verdict maintains a presence in Zul'Drak, but their forces have begun to fracture under the weight of the danger in the region.

History

The Drakkari empire has devoted itself to chaos.

The Drakkari ice trolls are an old race, one of the first in Northrend. They were building homes in Zul’Drak before the Great Sundering and never left their home, though some of them may have migrated south to became the Frostmane tribe and the Winterax tribe. The furbolgs of Grizzlemaw have fought the Drakkari for many years.

Drakkari are tribal, and early in their history each tribe established its own territory and fought off any trespassers. Then one tribe conquered another and enslaved its warriors. These slaves were forced to build the victors a new and larger home, and their children became part of the dominant tribe. This tribe continued to conquer its neighbors, each time absorbing them, until finally it was powerful enough to claim all of Zul’Drak as its kingdom. Any tribe that resisted was destroyed. Those tribes that accepted the powerful tribe’s dominance were allowed to keep their own territories, provided they accepted any orders from the ruling tribe. Thus, the Drakkari nation truly began. The central tribe’s home became Gundrak, the capital city. The tribes still war among themselves, and the Frost King allows this because it keeps his people strong and aggressive. He coordinates border patrols and establishes protocols for calling all the tribes together should an army attack them in force. Many tribe chieftains thought these efforts foolish until they encountered the walking dead. Then the Frost King organized the other Drakkari and drove the dead from their lands. Thus far, the Scourge has not penetrated into Zul’Drak to any degree, though it claims Drak'Tharon Keep, an old Drakkari stronghold in the Grizzly Hills just beyond Zul’Drak’s southwest edge.

People and culture

Zul'Drak is the Drakkari homeland. Their culture is believed to have existed long before the Great Sundering, and live here by the thousands. It’s amazing this one land can support so many trolls, especially since fresh meat is their principal food. Fortunately for them, wild beasts roam the area as well and provide plenty of prey. Drakkari are unpleasant. They epitomize the nastiness and barbarism of trolls everywhere. They’re large, bigger than any other troll (except trolls of the Zandalar tribe, the first tribe to exist and who are the same size) and crude, and they prefer violence to discussion or negotiation. They are a barbaric people who practice voodoo and worship strange spirit-gods and devour their enemies — and sometimes their friends — raw. The only thing a Drakkari respects is strength and the only thing they want from others is fear and flesh. Fortunately, Drakkari are tribal. They live in small tribes throughout Zul’Drak and wage war among themselves. Some bands of Drakkari slaughter each other simply because they met along the border between their two tribes. Such conflict helps keep the troll population down. No one else is foolish enough to share the region with them.

Geography

Zul’Drak is a single large valley between the arms of the Grizzly Hills, Crystalsong Forest, and the Storm Peaks. The trees here are smaller than the southern forests but numerous and upright, and provide excellent cover when sniping trolls. Some grass and other plants poke up through the snow, and frozen ponds and streams dot the land. Obelisks and ziggurats are everywhere, often at the centre of active troll camps. Ruins show where troll tribes must have lived long ago — most of these look like they were destroyed during battle rather than simply abandoned. The valley teems with life. In addition to the Drakkari, giant wolves, wendigo and other animals live among the trees and grass. Furbolgs wander up from the Grizzly Hills to hunt and clash with the Drakkari. The trolls maintain patrols along their border, both to drive out intruders and to kill anyone they find.

Troll villages are everywhere in Zul’Drak. Most of these are small, crude places, a handful of wood or stone buildings around a single larger hall. Some are built on the ruins of older structures or surround an ancient obelisk or ziggurat, carved from stone and more impressive than the more recent structures. The only large settlement is Gundrak, the capital city. Another very impressive piece of architecture to note is the massive aqueduct irrigation system the trolls seem to have constructed, despite being renowned for their minimal interest in technology of any kind.

Wrath of the Lich King

Zul'Drak is in the middle of a massive upheaval. Scourge forces under the newly-empowered Drakuru are preparing an undead army of troll chieftains empowered by blight crystals. To counter the Scourge threat, the Drakkari trolls have begun sacrificing their own Loa animal gods in desperation. Meanwhile, the Argent Crusade is caught between two armies as they clash with both the Scourge and the native Drakkari trolls at Argent Stand, as the Zandalari tribe has arrived to both intervene on behalf of the gods and chronicle the end of the Drakkari empire.

An achievement exists called  [The Empire of Zul'Drak] so it may be another name for the Drakkari empire.

Map and subregions

Zul'Drak map

Instances

Instance Name	Level Range	Approximate Run Time
Drak'Tharon Keep	74-76	25 min - 40 min
Gundrak	76-78	20 min - 40 min

Gallery

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  Zul'Drak is crumbling into ruin in the wake of the Cataclysm.

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  Twilight Lord Urizen has come to Zul'Drak to spread the gospel of the Old Gods.

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  The Drakkari sacrificed their own gods, and new, darker powers seek to replace them.

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  The Scourge blight engineered by Overlord Drakuru has spread throughout the lower tier.

• Zul'Drak10.jpg

  The Amphitheater of Anguish boasts new challenges.

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  All of the Scourge Necropoli have fallen, but their danger is still grave.

• Zul'Drak12.jpg

  The Argent Stand remains a stronghold of light against the darkness.

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  At Gundrak, the great ziggurat has been remade into a massive twilight portal.