Deadwind Pass

Deadwind Pass is a grey, lifeless valley in the mountains between Duskwood and the Swamp of Sorrows, where the trees are bare, the grass is dead and the wind never stops. Nothing here is natural. Long ago, the necrolyte Sataiel, a servant of the Burning Legion, drained the life out of the land with her scythe, and the magic she unleashed carved out the crater where the tower of Karazhan would later stand.

Karazhan was built in secret by Aegwynn, Guardian of Tirisfal, about six centuries before the First War, a retreat set on the ley lines where she could work away from the eyes of the Council of Tirisfal. Her son, Medivh, inherited both her power and the tower, and with them something far worse: the spirit of the demon lord Sargeras, hidden inside him since before his birth. Possessed and half-mad, Medivh helped open the Dark Portal that brought the orcs to Azeroth. In the end, his old friends Anduin Lothar and Khadgar stormed Karazhan, and Lothar killed him. The fel energy released by his death cursed the land for good.

The village that once grew up around the tower, and its church at Morgan's Plot, are long abandoned. Karazhan still stands, haunted by the memories of its master, and the Dark Riders, merchants Medivh cursed for selling him false relics, are said to ride out from it still, hunting for true ones.

Written for this site from the game's lore. Further reading: Deadwind Pass on Warcraft Wiki.