The Story of the War of the Three Hammers – WoW

Enough with the hackneyed stories about bearded dwarf women! Here comes a really good story about the war of the three hammers – including Ragnaros!

Emperor Thaurissan, Thane of the Dark Iron Dwarves and wizard by passion, had imagined it a bit differently. Instead of giving the armies of the Bronzebeards and Wildhammers a thorough fight, a demon he summoned set fire to his hut, killing him and enslaving his people. How could this happen? You’ll find out exactly that and much more in this article about the War of the Three Hammers in WoW.

The story begins with Modimus Anvilmar, the first and last High King of the united clans of the dwarves. Thanks to him, the dwarves also enjoyed a period of peace between the three families of Bronzebeards, Wildhammers and Dark Iron Dwarves. The Dark Iron Dwarves lived in Khaz Modan in the city of Ironforge under the rule of Bronzebeard. Khaz Modan describes the entire mountain range that stretches from Lordaeron to Dun Morogh. Unfortunately, he failed to appoint a successor and so, after his death, each of the three families laid claim to the crown and throne of the dwarven ancestral home. Tensions between the clans grew and eventually culminated in civil war. Each of the factions tried to claim the throne by force.

In the process, battles raged across Dun Morogh until the Bronzebeards ultimately gained the upper hand and the Wildhammers banished the Dark Iron Dwarves from the sacred mountain.

The banishment of the Dark Iron Dwarves

The reactions of the two outcast clans were different. The Wildhammers submitted to the Bronzebeards and came to an arrangement with the defeat. From then on, they focused their efforts on building their own city in the mountain near Dun Algaz and named it Grim Batol. The Dark Iron Dwarves under their leader Thaurissan, however, took the banishment personally and set out for revenge. In doing so, they gathered in the Redridge Mountains and built a city there far to the north, which they named after their leader.

A Dark Iron Dwarf can not be thrown out

Since all dwarves love to dig for treasure, the power and wealth of the Dark Iron Dwarves grew steadily over the years. And then one day they felt strong enough to stand up to Ironforge and the Bronzebeard clan once again. To prevent the Wildhammer forces from coming to the help during an attack on Ironforge and stabbing the attackers in the back, they made a double strike against both Khaz Modan and Grim Bartol. Thaurissan himself led the army through the snows of Dun Moroghs to attack the sacred mountain. Meanwhile, his wife, Modgud, had the mission of attacking Grim Batol at the same time, thus covering his back.

The Battle of Ironforge

After a long and bitterly fought battle, the dwarves of Ironforge, under their leader Madoran Bronzebeard, managed to hold back the army of Dark Iron Dwarves. The shattered remnants of the once proud Dark Iron army fled back to the supposed safety of their city in the Redridge mountains, unaware of the fate of the army before Grim Batol and pursued by the army of Ironforge. Modgud, on the other hand, after a hard fight, had succeeded in breaking through the gates of Thaurissan and besieging the fortress within. The Thane of the Wild Hammers, however, Khardros, slew the Dark Queen in single combat.  Now, in death, Modgud had cursed Grim Batol and cast dark magic on him.

All over the city darkness rose and the Wildhammers were once again forced to leave their hometown. The army of Dark Iron Dwarves sought their salvation in flight. In doing so, they lay directly in the arms of Madoran Bronzebeard. She pursued her enemies mercilessly and spared no one. No Dark Iron Dwarf should ever rise against Ironforge again. The few survivors had no choice but to seek shelter from the Wildhammers’ relentless wrath in the cursed ruins of Grim Batol.

 

Mini-Cataclysm in the Redridge Mountains

After crushing Modgud’s fleeing army, Madoran Bronzebeard resumed his pursuit of Thaurissan. He moved into the southern part of the Redridge Mountains to end the threat of the Dark Iron Dwarf clan once and for all. Meanwhile, Thaurissan had received word of events surrounding Grim Batol and the fall of the Dark Kings. In desperation, he used a ritual during the War of the Three Hammers in WoW. He summoned a demon that was supposed to stop the Bronzebeard army.

With the help of the powerful wizards of the Dark Iron clan, called “The Seven”, the summoning of Ragnaros began. Ragnaros is the immortal lord of the fire elementals. He was banished from Azeroth by the Titans when the world was young because of his destructive nature and great power. The ritual broke Ragnaro’s chains and opened the way for him to return to Azeroth. From then on, a great volcano erupted on the spot where the ritual took place. The surrounding land burned, and since then the area has been called Searing Gorge. South of it lies the northern part of the Redridge Mountains with the city of Thaurissan, now known as the Burning Steppes.

Ragnaros approaching

It suddenly became clear to Thaurissan and the Seven that the Titans had been right to banish Ragnaros. The Fire Lord thought nothing of obeying the Emperor’s command. He killed both the Seven and the Emperor and enslaved the Dark Iron Dwarves. Meanwhile, the Dwarves of Ironforge saw his summoning cause the devastation of entire lands. They turned back and fled before they too would become a victim of the Fire Lord.

The second exodus of the Wildhammer

Madoran Bronzebeard led his clan back to Khaz Modan. There he began rebuilding Ironforge. The Wildhammers returned to Grim Batol. There they found that the wizard Modguds had left it uninhabitable. However, Bronzebeard’s offer that the Wildhammers could return to Ironforge was rejected. Part of the clan settled before Grim Batol in the part of Dun Algaz known since that event as the Twilight Highlands. Another part sought refuge at the Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands. There they formed a close friendship with the griffins living there. However, they had an enmity with the trolls of the Witherbark and Revantusk, who live in the area around the Altar of Zul. Part of the clan even moved to Outland. There, under the leadership of Kurdrans, they founded the Wildhammer Stronghold in the Shadowmoon Valley.

The history of the War of the Three Hammers of WoW, can be read in the book of the same name. If you want to read this book, you can do so in the game WoW. This book can usually be found in the inn of Lakeshire in the Redridge Mountains, in the Blackrock as well as in the capitals.