The Riverglades

A rugged frontier of rivers, grasslands and trade routes in land that was always on the map but never reachable. Settlers, goblins, outcast cavalry, gnolls and ogres all want a piece of it.

Where: Eastern Kingdoms, beside the Burning Steppes, Redridge, the Swamp of Sorrows and the Badlands
Levels: Mid-30s to mid-40s
Factions: Powderfuse, Brotherhood of the Horse, Bolder'ok Clan
Map: Riverglades

On the map

Areas the client names in Riverglades: Ashwood's Fall, Bolder'ok, Bristle Hills, Eastwind Shore, Elbrim's Farm, Farholde Keep, Forlorn Pit, Krol'dok Stronghold, Meadowsbrook, Powderfuse Port, Rog'mar, Southern Watch, Sunnyglade, Terral's Watch, The Forbidding Sea, Turner's Logging Camp, Twilight Hollow, Twilight's Shroud, Wheeler's Grange, Windstead.

What it is

Blizzard calls the Riverglades "new, but familiar": a zone about the size of Stranglethorn Vale, built from land next to well-known regions that players could see but never reach. It's frontier country, and its stories are about building something in a place nobody has tamed.

In the Riverglades, you’ll discover a rugged frontier of rivers, grasslands, trade routes, struggling communities, and old grudges, with more than 150 new quests across much of the mid-30s to mid-40s experience.
Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next Panel Recap (Blizzard)

Getting there

The way in is by sea. A new Steamwheedle Cartel route from Tanaris sails beyond known shores to Powderfuse Port, the goblins' harbour on the Riverglades coast. The client's flight paths show Powderfuse Port for both factions, Rog'mar for the Horde and Farholde Keep for the Alliance.

Who's there

Powderfuse: a tough arm of the Steamwheedle Cartel running the port, with sailors and back-alley dealers. Blizzard calls them the new Powderfuse goblins.
The Brotherhood of the Horse: knights of Stormwind's most elite cavalry who fought at the battle for Blackrock Mountain. When Turalyon led the Alliance through the Dark Portal, they disobeyed their orders and stayed behind to hunt down the Horde's remnants, and broke with Stormwind and the Alliance for good. Twenty years later they hold Farholde Keep. Alliance players meet them here.
The Bolder'ok Clan: ogres who broke away from the Twilight's Hammer after watching their kin fall to madness after the Second War. They live in the shadow of their old masters' fortress at Krol'dok Stronghold and compete with Farholde's humans for the open plains. Horde players meet them here; the client names Bolder'ok as a place in the zone.
The Twilight's Hammer: the cult holds Twilight's Shroud, once the old Horde's westernmost stronghold, and the fortress of Krol'dok Stronghold. Both sides fight it.
Gnolls and ogres: gnoll camps carry on the fights of neighbouring lands, and new ogre threats (Krol'dok Stronghold is a new dungeon here).

Gnoll camps continue the conflicts of neighboring lands, fresh ogre threats create points of tension and opportunities, and groups like the new Powderfuse goblins, the Twilight’s Hammer, and the Brotherhood of the Horse help connect the area to Warcraft’s history in different ways.
Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photos Panel Recap (Blizzard)

The Brotherhood's choice

Blizzard's video tells the Brotherhood's story as a question of honour, not desertion. They saw the scattered Horde as a threat to Alliance lands left undefended while the army marched on Draenor, so they stayed.

Some would view this as oath breaking others would view this as choosing the path of greater honor by staying to defend those that could not defend themselves.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

They still fight the old Horde's remnants, the Twilight's Hammer and the Bolder'ok ogres.

For them, the second war never truly ended.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

In WoW Forever: The Brotherhood of the Horse goes back to Warcraft II, but as a faction you can earn standing with it is new in Forever. The client has a Brotherhood of the Horse reputation (Alliance), a Farholde Keep Tabard and Farholde quest items.

The Twilight's Hammer and the Bloodmaster's Ring

Having seized the westernmost stronghold of the old Horde now called Twilight's Shroud as well as the fortress of Krol'dok Stronghold,
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

Blizzard says the cult's foothold threatens the whole of the Eastern Kingdoms, and that its true motives are unknown. Deep in ogre territory is a fighting ring where players prove themselves against the ogres' best brawlers. The client calls it the Bloodmaster's Ring, with a spell, "Champion of the Bloodmaster's Ring", that says you "Earned the respect of the Bolder'ok".

Deeper in ogre territory is the Bloodmasters' Ring, a fighting ring where players will prove their strength against the ogres' best brawlers.
Blizzard: Blizzard's leveling zones video, 19 October 2026 (quoted in our article)

Places

The client names farms and settlements (Wheeler's Grange, Elbrim's Farm, Meadowsbrook, Sunnyglade, Windstead, Turner's Logging Camp), keeps and watches (Farholde Keep, Terral's Watch, the Southern Watch), the Horde's Rog'mar, Powderfuse Port and the Eastwind Shore, the Bristle Hills, Ashwood's Fall and the Forlorn Pit. The farm names say it clearly: people have come here to live, not just to fight.

For roleplayers

A settler family with a Riverglades farm and a shared second name, trying to hold on through gnoll raids.
A Brotherhood rider with a past in Stormwind's cavalry that they'd rather not discuss.
A Powderfuse smuggler who'll sell to anyone and remembers every debt.
An ogre of the Bolder'ok who broke with the Twilight's Hammer and now needs friends, even Horde ones.
A cultist of the Twilight's Hammer hiding among the settlers.
A grandchild of one of the knights who stayed, raised on the story, who can't decide whether their family broke an oath or kept a better one.
A Stormwind officer sent to Farholde with old orders and older grudges.
A Bolder'ok brawler who fights in the Bloodmaster's Ring to win the clan's respect, and a Horde ally who bet on them.