Zul'drak

From WoWWiki:

Zul'Drak is an area located in eastern Northrend. It is home to the Drakkari Ice Trolls and their Frost King Malakk. Their capital is the city of Gundrak. Zul'Drak belongs to the Drakkari, who roam in hunting parties searching for prey. Old troll ruins are strewn across the countryside and the Scourge hovers just beyond the western border, waiting for a chance to strike.

Climate-wise, Zul'Drak is the least pleasant of the eastern regions. It's colder than the Grizzly Hills or the Howling Fjord, less majestic than the Storm Peaks, and more crowded than any of them. And most of the crowd is Drakkari.

This region is the trolls' homeland, and they swarm the place looking for intruders and prey. It has Drakkari ruins, which are interesting. Most other races avoid this region, and for good reason. Travelers do not need to go there for passage north or south, they can stick to the Grizzly Hills, which surround Zul'Drak on both sides and reach all the way up to Crystalsong Forest and the Storm Peaks. The only reason anyone would want to visit Zul'Drak is if they were explorers hoping to meet the Drakkari, and they better have a large group of armed warriors with them when they do.

The Drakkari have recently gone mad after they sacrificed their animal gods in an attempt to fight off the Scourge. The Argent Dawn faction will return to play a role in Zul'Drak and the zone itself will be a giant ziggurat of the now broken civilization.

From WoWWiki:

The Drakkari ice trolls are an old race, one of the first in Northrend and perhaps one of the first in all Azeroth. They were building homes in Zul'Drak before the Great Sundering and never departed, though some of them may have migrated south and become the jungle trolls and the other troll races. The furbolgs of Grizzlemaw have fought the Drakkari for many years.

Drakkari are tribal, and early in their history each tribe established its own territory and fought off any trespassers. Then one tribe conquered another and enslaved its warriors. These slaves were forced to build the victors a new and larger home, and their children became part of the dominant tribe. This tribe continued to conquer its neighbors, each time absorbing them, until finally it was powerful enough to claim all of Zul'Drak as its kingdom. Any tribe that resisted was destroyed. Those tribes that accepted the powerful tribe's dominance were allowed to keep their own territories, provided they accepted any orders from the ruling tribe. Thus the Drakkari nation truly began. The central tribe's home became Gundrak, the capital city. The tribes still war among themselves, and the Frost King allows this because it keeps his people strong and aggressive. He coordinates border patrols and establishes protocols for calling all the tribes together should an army attack them in force. Many tribe chieftains thought these efforts foolish until they encountered the walking dead. Then the Frost King organized the other Drakkari and drove the dead from their lands. Thus far the Scourge has not penetrated into Zul'Drak to any degree, though it claims Drak'Tharon Keep, an old Drakkari stronghold in the Grizzly Hills just beyond Zul'Drak's southwest edge.

Below are some in-game screenshots of the major landmarks of Zul'Drak.

Coming soon!

Below is a collection of hi-res images from "sandbox" versions of the game (no NPCs, just landscape).

Voltarus Necropolis & Reliquary of Pain

Drak'Tharon Keep

Drak'Sotra Fields

The Argent Stand

Amphitheatre of Anguish

Kolramas

Altar of Har'koa

Altar of Quetz'lun

Mam'toth Crater

Drak'Mabwa & the Altar of Rhunok

Gundrak Stairs

Western Forest

Ebon Watch

Official In-Game Map (Build 8634)

Compiled Mini-Map Texture with Labeled Sub-Zones (Build 8471)

Zone Exploration Videos

Below is a list of the Dungeons and Dungeon Hubs found in the Zul'Drak zone.

Drak'Tharon Keep

Drak'Tharon Keep is a Dungeon located at the northwestern border of Grizzly Hills, leading into southwestern Zul'Drak. It contains a single 5-man Dungeon. See the links below for more details on this Instance. Drak'Tharon Keep: A mid-level 5-man Dungeon meant for level 74-76 players. The stronghold of the Drakkari Ice Trolls, players must infiltrate this Instance in order to find out why the Trolls are leaving their ancient home of Zul'Drak.

Gun'Drak

Gun'Drak is a Dungeon located in the northeast of Zul'Drak. It contains a single 5-man Dungeon. See the links below for more details on this Instance. Gun'Drak: A mid-level 5-man Dungeon meant for level 74-76 players. This Instance is the capital of the Drakkari Ice Trolls, where players will encounter their leader, Gal'darah, and learn more about the animal gods to whom they sacrifice unwary adventurers in exchange for the strength to fight the Scourge invasion.