From wow.incgamers.com

Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Starting Out 2 Zones 3 Howling Fjord 3.1 Utgarde Keep 4 Borean Tundra 4.1 The Nexus 5 Grizzly Hills 6 Dragonblight 7 Dalaran

Introduction

New Continent, made accessible with the expansion: Wrath of the Lich King, expected to be available sometime in 2008.

Northrend is the home of Arthas the Lich King, who featured in Warcraft III. Due to it's geographical position it is a cold land, parts covered with ice and snow.

Starting Out

Players will have a choice of starting area, regardless of faction. This is different to Outland which only has one entry point, and there were several draw-backs to that approach - the area was extremely busy when The Burning Crusade was released, and quests were sometimes hard to complete because everyone needed to collect the same items or kill the same monsters. Also, if a player has more than one character to level past 70, they can have a completely new experience leveling their second character in a different area than their first.

You can choose to start over on the East side of Northrend in the zone called Howling Fjord, which is the zone Blizzard featured at BlizzCon in August 2007 at the unveiling of Wrath of the Lich King, or you can enter Northrend on the west side in the zone called Borean Tundra. Both of these zones are exactly the same level range, they both have dungeons which players can go straight into from Outland if you wish, and they are both equally accessible for players of either faction. For example, if you play a Horde character, and you wanted to go to Howling Fjord, you would get there via the Undercity, and if you wanted to go to Borean Tundra, you would leave from Orgrimmar. It is also very easy to switch between zones if you change your mind once you get there.

We know a bit about some of the zones in Northrend, here's all the info released so far:

Zones

Howling Fjord

The Howling Fjord is one of the two starting areas. As you may gather from the name, this area mainly consists of huge cliff faces with a wide river running through the middle. The landscape features snowy mountain areas, rivers and forests. You can see from the short clip displayed at BlizzCon of the area, villages can be found on the cliffs.

The Howling Fjord is home to the 13 foot tall Viking-like Vrykul. The evil Vrykul, who are allied with the Lich King, originally come from Ulgaar. It was thought that the Vrykul had long since vanished from the Howling Fjord, but the Alliance activity at the settlement of Valguarde seems to have brought them back. It is unknown where they had vanished to for the past several thousand years, but it is clear they do not plan on sharing their territory with either the Horde or the Alliance.

There is also another race here, distant relatives to the Dwarves, who may provide never before known information about the Dwarven heritage. These Iron dwarves have strange runes etched into their skin, adding yet more mystery to their existence.

The Eastern shore is the site of a Forsaken base, where Queen Sylvanas plans to unleash a plague on the Lich King, in the hope of fighting the scourge.

Utgarde Keep

The Vrykul seem to come from the fortress of Utgarde Keep. Utgarde Keep is close by to the Alliance settlement of Valguarde, and is the site of three instances in Howling Fjord, Utgarde Keep, Utgarde Pinnacle and an un-named Raid.

Borean Tundra

Borean Tundra is the other entry point into Northrend. The Horde has established a large Orc base called Warsong Hold here, whereas the Alliance has a small settlement, believed to be Gnomish based on the short cinematic at BlizzCon.

There are three races that already inhabit the Borean Tundra besides the Horde and Alliance factions. The walrus-like Tuskarr, a community of fishermen creatures who have allied themselves with the Horde, and the Taunka - a branch of the Tauren race that was believed to be lost. The third race present here is the Naga. The hostile serpents are attempting to melt the ice of the region, for reasons so far unknown to the Horde and Alliance. They must be dealt with before moving further into Northrend.

The Nexus

Within the valley of Coldarra is a place of magical site, which explorers of the region have come to call The Nexus. The Nexus is made up of levitating earth-covered rings surrounding a column of magical energy. Adventurers have attributed the increased activity here to the re-emergence of the blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, especially as this ancient site was created by the blue Dragonflight. There has also been increasing tension between members of the blue Dragonflight about the use of magic.

Grizzly Hills

The Grizzly Hills is primarily a forested area, with a warm inviting feeling to it. Located just north of Howling Fjord, it is on the East coast of the island Northrend. The area is home to the Furlbogs, their main settlement being Grizzlemaw.

There are remains of an ancient Dwarven city called Thor Modan, which are being excavated in the hopes of discovering more about the Titans.

Dragonblight

Dragonblight is a large, stark, bleak region, littered with the huge skeletons of dragons that came here to die. Apart from being a graveyard, the area is steeped in history, and the quests available from here will reflect that.

Dragonblight also contains Wyrmrest Temple, which again is very heavily involved in the Lore of Northrend. There will be several quests based around this area.

Dalaran

The Capital City in Northrend, much like Shattrath City on Outland, is Dalaran. The glowing orb that contains Dalaran will float in the skies north of Dragonblight, and will be accessible from the ground as well as by flying mount. The image on the left shows Dalaran's original position, in Hillsbrad Foothills, where the dome indicates a hole in the fabric of existence.

The position of Dalaran is in the centre of Northrend, so it is accessible for everyone while adventuring in the new continent. Like Shattrath, it will house the various end game trainers and vendors.

The need to move Dalaran in it's position just north of Dragonblight from Hillsbrad Foothills was due to the Blue Dragonflight's recent objection to magic users. Dalaran is a protected city, where the races can practice their magic without any external interference.