Mount Hyjal

The mountain where Archimonde fell. Players have looked at Hyjal's peak from Felwood and Winterspring for twenty years; in Forever they can go up, and help a wounded land recover.

Where: Northern Kalimdor, above Felwood and Winterspring
Factions: Guardians of Hyjal, Barkskin Burrow
Raids: Hyjal Summit (20 players, 13 bosses) and the Barrow Deeps (10 players, 8 bosses)
Map: Mount Hyjal

On the map

Areas the client names in Mount Hyjal: Cradle of Tranquility, Dae'gun, Elderwild, Felblood Scar, Malorne's Retreat, Mourning's Rest, Shrine of Aviana, Summit of Eternity, Tainted Foothills.

What it is

Blizzard puts Hyjal in its "anticipated" category: a place players have always wanted to reach. The zone is about the aftermath of the great battle, the factions that have grown up since and what the mountain will become.

Mount Hyjal invites you to explore the aftermath of Archimonde’s defeat, journey through Darkwhisper Gorge, and help shape the future of a recovering land.
Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next Panel Recap (Blizzard)

Warcraft background: At the end of the Third War the Burning Legion's lord Archimonde marched on Nordrassil, the World Tree on Hyjal's summit. Humans, orcs and night elves held him back until Malfurion Stormrage unleashed the spirits of the forest and destroyed him. The victory cost the night elves the immortality the World Tree had given them. Winterspring's Darkwhisper Gorge is a place of demonic taint beneath the mountain.

Opened at last

For five years, Malfurion Stormrage and the druids have kept Hyjal sealed.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

In Forever the road into Hyjal opens for the first time since the Third War. The client agrees: its spells to enter and leave the zone "pass through the druidic wards". Players work with the Druids of the Talon and the rest of the Cenarion Circle to heal the land and rebuild after the battle.

The mountain also brings back an old problem. Horde and Alliance have lived side by side here under an uneasy agreement, and Blizzard says that now the gates are open, those tensions are heating up again.

Who's there

The Guardians of Hyjal: a splinter of the Cenarion Circle that guards the mountain and welcomes anyone who will fight the forces of evil there. Open to both factions.
Barkskin Burrow: a furbolg tribe untouched by corruption, working to bring harmony back to Hyjal.
The Cenarion Circle: druids of both factions; the Guardians grew out of it.
The Druids of the Talon: Blizzard names them among the druids you work with on Hyjal. They aren't a separate faction in the client.
Emerging factions: Blizzard says players will meet new factions and form alliances here.

Charged with the protection and preservation of Mount Hyjal, this splinter faction of the Cenarion Circle welcomes any who are willing to push back the forces of evil.
From the game client: Guardians of Hyjal, the faction description in the WoW Forever client

Places

The client names the Summit of Eternity and the Tainted Foothills (both with flight paths), Elderwild, Dae'gun, the Shrine of Aviana, Mourning's Rest, the Felblood Scar, Malorne's Retreat and the Cradle of Tranquility. Aviana and Malorne are demigods of the wild in Warcraft lore: the bird goddess and the White Stag.

Speculation: The client has hidden factions named "Hyjal Attunement" with the names Leyara and Gol'gere, and a "Cenarion Circle (Legendary Event)". They suggest an attunement or legendary story on Hyjal, which fits Blizzard's mention of a legendary reward with the raids, but nothing has been announced.

The Wild King and Hyjal Summit

Not everyone on the mountain is there to heal it. Blizzard's video introduces a Curious Crow who has found warlocks at work, and something called the Wild King.

She may look like just a crow but she's uncovered sinister warlocks and activity involving the Wild King.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

The client has a Bloody Parchment that mentions "The Pact" and a "Wild King". The Wild King himself is the last of the 13 bosses of Hyjal Summit, the 20-player raid. His spells draw on "the power of Nordrassil" and say he is "overwhelmed by his own powers".

The Barrow Deeps

Here, a prison that once held Azeroth's most infamous betrayer beckons heroes to explore its depths.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

The Barrow Deeps is a 10-player raid deep within the mountain. The client lists its 8 bosses, ending with Sonya Darkhallow. It also has the Brooch of the Wardens, which "grants access to the Vord'anaar Prison within Barrow Deeps".

Warcraft background: After the War of the Ancients, ten thousand years ago, Malfurion Stormrage imprisoned his brother Illidan in the barrow dens beneath Mount Hyjal for making a new Well of Eternity. Maiev Shadowsong and her Wardens guarded him there until Tyrande freed him during the Third War.

Speculation: Blizzard doesn't name the betrayer. The description fits Illidan's prison, and so does the Brooch of the Wardens, the order that kept him. This is our reading: neither the video nor the client names him.

For roleplayers

A veteran of the Battle of Mount Hyjal (orc, tauren, human or night elf) walking the battlefield again.
A druid of the Guardians of Hyjal who distrusts the Cenarion Circle's caution.
A Barkskin furbolg's friend, or a Timbermaw envoy, trying to save the mountain's furbolgs from corruption.
Someone who picked up something in the Felblood Scar that whispers at night.
Night elves who lost their immortality here, grieving a price most young races don't understand.
A Warden's descendant drawn to the Barrow Deeps, sure the prison was never truly empty.
A Horde and an Alliance settler who kept the peace on the mountain for five years, and don't know if they can keep it now.
A druid who doesn't trust the Curious Crow, or a warlock who signed "The Pact" and now regrets it.