The World of Draenor
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.
Draenor (referred to as Outland after its partial destruction) is a harsh world that glares in a reddish hue. The waters seem foul but this is misleading; the planet is capable of supporting life. It is the homeland of the
Orcs and other related races (
Ogres, Draenor Giants, and so) that invaded Azeroth through the rift called the Dark Portal. It is also the place where some of the greatest heroes in the history of Azeroth journeyed to and disappeared, now presumed dead. The energies of this and subsequent portals opened by the Shaman Ner'Zhul were so intense that the world was ripped apart and consists now of only floating islands suspended within the Twisting Nether. The world was originally a dense green swampland but the demonic corruption of the Orcs by the
Burning Legion scarred the land so thoroughly that it was left as little more than a dusty wasteland. The dominant life forms of the world were once the
Draenei, that imigrated from Argus.
Gul'dan the
Warlock describes these beings as "a weak people -- hardly worth the effort of our raiding sweep." After the destruction of Draenor, a few Draenei, known as the Broken Ones, remained alive on Outland but their numbers were further crippled by the
Fel Orcs led by the
Pit Lord Magtheridon who had completely conquered the remains of the planet. It wasn't until
Illidan Stormrage and his band of
Blood Elves and
Naga arrived that the world was freed from Magtheridon's iron grip.
People of Draenor
Races native to the world of Draenor:
Immigrated races of Draenor:
Note: The Draenor giants are rarely mentioned or referenced. The only reference to them was concerning the temples of the damned which were used by the Orcs in the Second War. The temples are made from the bones of the petrified corpses of a race of giants that were native to Draenor. Nothing else is known about them. The only mention of Draenor Humans (or a human-like race) are in the novel
The Last Guardian as the basis for the parentage of
Garona the Half-Orc, who was born before the Dark Portal was first opened. Blizzard later said she was not a half-human/half-Orc, but half-Orc and half-Draenei instead (see
Inconsistencies in Warcraft lore).
The World of Argus
Nearly twenty-five thousand years ago, the Eredar race arose on the world of Argus. They were extremely intelligent and had a natural affinity for magic in all its myriad forms. Using their gifts, they developed a vast and wondrous society.
Unfortunately the eredar's accomplishments caught the attention of Sargeras, the Destroyer of Worlds. He enticed Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, two of the Eredar's leaders and transformed many of the eredar into demons.
Only
Velen and a few other eredar who had thus far refused to join Sargeras fled the planet with the help of the
Naaru. Naming themselves the draenei, or "exiled ones" in the Eredun language, the renegades barely escaped from Argus, with the Burning Legion only moments behind. No draenei has seen their original homeworld since.
People of Argus
Races native to the world of Argus:
- Eredar (native race of Argus, they have been corrupted into demons by Sargeras)
- Draenei (referred to as "Draenor Humans" in 'The Last Guardian'; Draenei were originally thought to have evolved on the Orc's homeworld of Draenor (Now Outland), later it was realized that the eredar and the draenei were once one race. As the Eredar have been corrupted into demons, the Ancient Eredar must look more like the draenei)
The Twisting Nether and the Beyond
A chaotic swirling mass, the Twisting Nether is the fabric of the universe. One can think of the
Twisting Nether as the universe itself, although this is rather simplistic. It can be more accurately described as a higher plane of existence, where powerful beings exist that shape the events we see. It is not to be confused with space as we think of it for it is clear that space is a well understood concept by the races of Azeroth. The Dwarves, for instance, were originally created and bestowed with knowledge by a species of gods known as the Titans, who have large mechanical
astrolabes which demonstrate the movements of planets, stars, and extra-solar bodies through space. The Elves, furthermore, have been shown to possess telescopes for observing objects in the night sky. This space between the stars and planets is frequently called "The Great Dark Beyond," or simply "The Beyond," and it is described by Gul'dan as a place where the spirits of the newly dead go. On the other hand, the Nether, known varyingly as the Void, is shown to be a hell-like place above (or below) space and time as mortals observe them, and is the realm of Demons, what
Gul'dan describes as "the long dead." It is arguable as to whether all dead beings invariably go to the "Great Dark" and the Nether, as humans, who worship what they call "the Holy Light," have been known to perform resurrections in which a winged being of light can be seen bringing back the dead with rays of sunlight. Furthermore, Orcs routinely commune with the natural spirits of their dead ancestors through the wind and the earth. It is perhaps possible, that in Gul'dan's lifetime, before the Orcs broke free of the demonic possession, that Orcs simply were not "good enough" to go anywhere but the "Beyond."