The story of Mount Hyjal.
Mount Hyjal is the sacred mountain of northern Kalimdor, and in WoW: Forever it is open at last. For all of Classic's history it sat closed off beyond Winterspring, with the skeleton of a demon lord lying in the snow below its summit. Forever lets players in, in the aftermath of that demon's defeat, by way of Darkwhisper Gorge.
The mountain's story is one of the oldest in Azeroth. It was a refuge for the Wild Gods long before the night elves, and the titan keeper Freya made her grove here. After the Great Sundering, Illidan Stormrage secretly made a second Well of Eternity on the summit, and to contain its power the night elves planted Nordrassil, the World Tree, over it. Three of the Dragon Aspects blessed the tree, and its blessing gave the night elves their immortality.
At the end of the Third War, the Burning Legion came for the Well. The demon lord Archimonde led his army up the mountain while orcs, humans and night elves fought a long retreat to hold him back. At the summit, the night elves unleashed the power bound into Nordrassil; Archimonde was destroyed, and with the tree's enchantments broken, the night elves lost their immortality.
Forever's Hyjal is a land recovering from that battle. Its places, from the Tainted Foothills and the Felblood Scar to Malorne's Retreat, the Shrine of Aviana and the Summit of Eternity, carry both the wounds of the Legion and the memory of the Wild Gods. It is a level 60 zone, contested between the factions, with new dungeons of its own: the Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit.
Written for this site from the game's lore and Forever's beta data, which can change before launch. Further reading: Mount Hyjal (Forever) on Warcraft Wiki.
