Draenor

Draenor was a world located beyond Azeroth and is the original home of the orcs, draenei, ogres, and arakkoa. It was connected to Azeroth by the Dark Portal, through which the Horde invaded prior to and during the First War.

Draenor contained a variety of environments and was capable of supporting extensive plant and animal life. By the time of the Horde's wars, however, much of the planet had been devastated by demonic and arcane magic. It was described as a dark or red world and was dying by the time of the Alliance Expedition.

Following the Second War, Ner'zhul attempted to open numerous dimensional portals from Draenor to other worlds. The energies released by the portals destabilized the planet and eventually tore it apart. The surviving remnants of Draenor became known as Outland.

Geography

The planet possessed a variety of environments. Nagrand, for example, contained grasslands and other fertile regions, while forests, rivers, mountains, snow-covered areas, and extensive wildlife existed elsewhere on the planet. The surviving green regions of Outland were later regarded as reminders of Draenor when it had been a thriving world.

Draenor was illuminated by a dim sun and possessed a moon known to the orcs as the Pale Lady. The Pale Lady passed through recognizable lunar phases and cast a powerful white light upon the landscape.

As demonic corruption spread across Draenor, large portions of the world deteriorated. By the period following the Second War, Draenor was variously described as a dark red world, a hellish world, and a dying world.

Inhabitants

Draenor was inhabited by numerous native peoples and creatures. Among its major peoples were the orcs, draenei, ogres, and arakkoa.

The orcs lived throughout Draenor in numerous independent clans. Before their unification into the Horde, the clans possessed their own territories, leaders, traditions, and shamanistic practices. Their society maintained a close relationship with the natural world and the elemental spirits before the rise of Gul'dan and the spread of demonic influence.

The draenei inhabited Draenor alongside the orcs for countless generations. Their presence on the world extended back at least several thousand years; when the Horde devastated the draenei, Gul'dan described their fields as having been worked for nearly five thousand years. Although the draenei and orcs were not closely interacting, they had formerly existed alongside one another without the hatred that later characterised their relationship.

Ogres became members of the Horde. Ogres fought alongside the orcs during the Horde's invasion of Azeroth, with powerful ogres serving as warriors and other members of the race being transformed into ogre-mages.

The arakkoa are a birdlike people. Grizzik described his people as an ancient race, possibly among the oldest peoples of the world. The arakkoa had observed both the draenei and the formerly divided orc clans before the rise of the Horde.

Rise of the Horde

The orcs were originally divided among numerous clans, but eventually came under the influence of demonic powers. Kil'jaeden manipulated the orcs through Ner'zhul and later Gul'dan, while Gul'dan and the Shadow Council encouraged the abandonment of the traditional shamanistic practices of the clans.

The increasing use of demonic magic transformed both the orcs and their world. The orcs became increasingly violent and their skin changed from brown to green. The newly unified Horde subsequently waged war against the draenei, devastating their civilization and leaving only scattered survivors.

The effects of the Horde's magic extended beyond its inhabitants. The land itself became increasingly barren and lifeless. When the Alliance later entered Draenor, Khadgar concluded that the world appeared to have been drained of life and suspected that the prolonged use of dark magic was responsible for its condition.

Dark Portal

Draenor was connected to Azeroth through the Dark Portal. The portal allowed the Horde to leave its deteriorating world and invade Azeroth, beginning the First War.

Following the Horde's defeat during the Second War, the connection between the worlds was severed, although a rift remained at the site of the destroyed Dark Portal. The portal eventually reopened, allowing the Bleeding Hollow clan to return to Draenor and reunite with the orc clans that had remained there.

Ner'zhul subsequently sought to abandon Draenor altogether. Rather than conquer Azeroth, he intended to open portals to other worlds through which the remaining Horde could escape the dying planet. To accomplish this, his forces entered Azeroth and recovered several powerful magical artifacts.

The threat prompted the Alliance to send an expedition through the Dark Portal under Turalyon and Khadgar. The expedition pursued the Horde across Draenor while attempting to prevent Ner'zhul from completing his plan.

Destruction of Draenor

Ner'zhul ultimately succeeded in opening numerous dimensional portals across Draenor. The converging magical energies of the portals proved catastrophic. Magical storms spread across the world and the fabric of Draenor itself began to tear apart.

The destruction was physical as well as magical. The ground shook violently, fissures opened across the land, and entire portions of the surface broke loose and rose into the air. During the final stages of the catastrophe, Draenor was literally tearing itself into pieces.

Realizing that Draenor could no longer be saved, Ner'zhul abandoned the orcs who could not reach the portals and escaped with a small number of followers. Khadgar and the surviving members of the Alliance Expedition destroyed the Dark Portal from the Draenor side in an attempt to prevent the catastrophe from spreading to Azeroth.

The resulting destruction shattered Draenor and profoundly altered the surrounding fabric of reality. Gravity and space ceased to function normally in places, pieces of land floated independently of the remaining surface, and the appearance of the heavens changed. The moon appeared substantially larger than before, while two additional celestial spheres became visible.

Outland

The shattered remains of Draenor became known as Outland. Rather than an intact planet, Outland consisted of surviving masses of barren red rock suspended within the Twisting Nether. One large central landmass remained, surrounded by smaller fragments and debris, some of which were connected by enormous black chains.

Demonic energies had drained large portions of Draenor before its destruction and the catastrophe left the surviving land fragmented and exposed to the energies of the Twisting Nether. Ruined fortresses, abandoned war machines, draenei settlements, and other remnants of Draenor survived upon the fragments.

Some life nevertheless survived the destruction. Draenei communities remained scattered across Outland, while other creatures adapted to the shattered world. A small number of green areas also remained or were restored, preserving glimpses of the healthier landscapes that had existed on Draenor before its decline.

Following Draenor's destruction, the Burning Legion established a presence in Outland and the pit lord Magtheridon eventually ruled much of the shattered world. After the Third War, Illidan Stormrage fled to Outland with his followers, defeated Magtheridon's forces, and established himself as its new ruler.

Despite its destruction, Outland retains portals leading beyond the remains of Draenor. Some are believed to be remnants of the gateways opened by Ner'zhul immediately before the catastrophe, making the shattered world a crossroads between other worlds and the Twisting Nether.