Dark Portal

For the Caverns of Time instance, see Opening the Dark Portal.

File:Dark Portal portrait WC2.jpg

The Dark Portal (aka the Great Portal) is the gateway between Azeroth and Draenor. The Azeroth side of the Portal is located in the southeastern reaches of the Blasted Lands of southern Azeroth, while the Draenor side, the Stair of Destiny, is located in the eastern portion of the Hellfire Peninsula.

Creation

The Dark Portal was created by a joint effort between Medivh, possessed by the Dark Titan Sargeras, and the warlocks of the Shadow Council, which allowed the Horde to invade the world of Azeroth. The Portal bridged the distance between the worlds of Azeroth and Draenor, and it was large enough that individuals might pass through it. Gul'dan immediately dispatched orc scouts through the Portal in preparation for the coming invasion. After the Portal was widened, the armies of the orcs poured through it into the unsuspecting Kingdom of Azeroth, beginning the First War.

Beyond the Portal

Following the defeat of the Horde in the Second War, the Dark Portal was captured by the forces of the Alliance of Lordaeron. Hoping to end the threat of the orcs, the Archmage Khadgar attempted to close the gateway to Draenor. While the structure was damaged/destroyed, the link between the worlds remained as a tear in the fabric of reality. To keep watch over the remnants of the Portal, Nethergarde Keep was constructed.

Using a magical cloak of darkness to escape the detection of the mages at Nethergarde, the Bleeding Hollow clan used the rift to return to Draenor. Hearing the Bleeding Hollow's tales of Azeroth, the Elder Shaman Ner'zhul, Chieftain of the Shadowmoon Clan and Warchief of Draenor, planned to open a number of portals on Draenor that would lead the Horde to new worlds to conquer. To do so, Ner'zhul required mystical artifacts - the Book of Medivh, the Skull of Gul'dan, the Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras, and the Eye of Dalaran. In order to procure these artifacts, the elder shaman reopened the Dark Portal and sent his forces through. King Terenas of Lordaeron, convinced that the orcs were preparing a new invasion of Azeroth, assembled his most trusted lieutenants, including Khadgar and the paladin Turalyon, to form an expedition through the Portal to put an end to the orcish threat once and for all.

Ner'zhul finally opened his portals to other worlds, but he did not foresee the terrible price he would pay. The portals' tremendous energies tore Draenor apart. Grom Hellscream and Kilrogg Deadeye - who saw that Ner'zhul's portals would destroy their world, and his insanity would destroy their people - led their clans through the Dark Portal back to Azeroth. The Alliance forces remained on Draenor, agreeing to make the ultimate sacrifice by destroying the Dark Portal from their side in order to prevent that world's destruction from destroying Azeroth as well. There were indications they may have taken one of Ner'zhul's portals to another world, but they managed to survive Draenor's destruction, and remain in the shattered realm now called Outland to this day.

The Dark Portal remained dormant for twenty years, until an artifact of incredible power was found by the demon Lord Kazzak, a lieutenant of Kil'jaeden. Kazzak used the powerful artifact to reopen the Dark Portal to Draenor and cross into Outland.

In World of Warcraft

When World of Warcraft launched, the Dark Portal was a noticeable (but unusable) feature in the Blasted Lands, located southeast of Stormwind in the Eastern Kingdoms. The Portal is located in the southeastern corner of the Blasted Lands and (until Patch 2.0.1) was surrounded by elite demons and servants of the named demons, and the glow around the Portal's gateway was blue, indicating its inactivity. It was considered to be decorative only, a piece of Warcraft lore to look at. The Portal on the Azeroth side appears to be rather simple - the only decoration on it being the two "guardians" on either side of the gateway and the coiled snake-head above it.

With the announcement of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, it was revealed that the Dark Portal would be reopened and be the primary means of travelling to Outland. In preparation for the expansion, Blizzard released Patch 2.0.1, "Before the Storm", which prepared the original areas of the world for the impending expansion. In addition to the changes to the map, the addition of new NPCs and the new means of transportation to the new races' capitals, the demons and demon-slaves were removed from around the Dark Portal and the crater it rests in, and replaced with what appears to be a base camp of both the Horde and the Alliance, either helping those going in, or keeping something from coming out. The glow around the gateway is green now, indicating that the Portal is open. Going through the Portal, like accessing the new racial areas, requires the expansion pack to be installed. You used to need to have a character of level 58 or higher, but this is no longer a requirement.

If you do not have the Burning Crusade Expansion Pack installed and try to enter the Dark Portal, you simply pass through to the rear side and get the notification "Burning Crusade Expansion Pack Required". If you do have the Expansion Pack Installed, but are under level 58, you used to get "Must be Level 58", but now you are able to access the region with a lower level.

See the Stair of Destiny for information about the other side of the portal.

The final patch before the release of The Burning Crusade (2.0.3) included a world event surrounding the reopening of the Dark Portal. Invading Felguards and Invading Voidwalkers began to pour through the dark portal, and the camps in front of the portal were manned by Argent Dawn defenders. The leader of these forces offered the quest Into the Breach. This quest simply involved killing six of the Invading Felguards (Due to number of people fighting for these kills.) Completing the quest earned you the  [Tabard of the Protector]: A special version of the Tabard of the Argent Dawn. When used, the Tabard produced a visual effect similar to Holy Nova, and the wearer would flex.

Lord Kazzak also vanished from his former place in the Blasted Lands to take up his new residence in Outland. His vacated office was taken up by Highlord Kruul. Not content to sit in a hole in the Tainted Scar, Highlord Kruul would periodically lay siege to major cities and other areas, summoning demon minions and killing everybody in sight until he's driven off.

Travel hubs

To reach the Dark Portal, Alliance players can fly/ride to Nethergarde Keep, the only flight path in this region. The Horde must travel to Stonard in the Swamp of Sorrows to the north, and ride the main road down to the Portal crater.

Now, with Patch 3.2.0, there are portals to the Dark Portal from the same general porting areas in major cities. (i.e: Mage Tower in Stormwind, mage trainer area in Silvermoon, Pools of Vision in Thunderbluff) These portals deposit you into a crack in the crater in front of the portal.

Closest flight path in Azeroth

• Nethergarde Keep, Blasted Lands
• Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows

Appearance of the Dark Portal

The Dark Portal constructed by the orc warlocks, the Shadow CouncilTemplate:Cite and MedivhTemplate:Cite was simply a stone arch, encircled by a ring of towering obsidian stones, and a height of fifty feet.Template:Cite

In Warcraft: Orcs & Humans the Dark Portal wasn't described nor appeared in-game. In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness appeared for first time, a description was given in the manual and appeared as a building and in a cinematic. The looking of the portal is confirmed in a Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos flashback, one of the RPGs, and the Caverns of Time wing Opening the Dark Portal, where it is shown as it looked in previous sources.

• DarkPortalW2.jpg

  The Dark Portal as it appeared in Warcraft II in-game.

• 

  The Dark Portal as it appeared in Warcraft II in a cinematic.

• Medivhdarkportal.JPG

  Opening as seen in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos The Last Guardian interlude.

• Hordedarkportal.JPG

  The Horde entering Azeroth through the Dark Portal during the First War.

• 

  The Dark Portal in the Black Morass (The Burning Crusade).

• 

  The Dark Portal was destroyed by Khadgar.

In The Invasion of Draenor it was reconstructed by Ner'zhul's forces with a different look, it is referred as the second dark portal.Template:Cite Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal shows it with the same look than in Tides of Darkness (both in-game and cinematic), but that can be explained by graphic reuse. The new look was shown in the Warcraft III official page in an artwork, ironically the artwork was used in The Last Guardian novel which takes place during the First War, probably a mistake of Blizzard. This new look was confirmed in World of Warcraft.

• Lastguardian.jpg

  As seen in a Warcraft III artwork.

• 

  The inactive Dark Portal on the Azeroth side, as seen in World of Warcraft before patch 2.0.1

• 

  The active Dark Portal on the Azeroth side, as seen in World of Warcraft after patch 2.0.1

The Dark Portal in the side of Draenor is refered as Dark PortalTemplate:Cite but also as Stair of Destiny.Template:Cite It looks the same as the portal in Azeroth during the orc campaign cinematic shown after the third mission, but it looks different during the final cinematic of the human campaign. The portal was reconstructed during Dark Portal Opens event and was given a different appareance. However the Warcraft II appareances have been retconned out with Rise of the Horde, as it says that the Stair of Destiny was constructed as it is seen in The Burning Crusade since the very start.Template:Cite

• 

  As seen in the Horde cinematic.

• 

  As seen in the Alliance cinematic.

• 

  Khadgar managed to destroy the Dark Portal of Draenor with the Skull of Gul'dan.

• StairOfDestiny.JPG

  Early concept art for creating the Dark Portal in Outland for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, an area that had not been seen since Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.

• Thedarkportal.jpg

  The Dark Portal was reconstructed in The Burning Crusade.

Other portals

A few whisper that the Dark Portal that first brought the demons to Azeroth (during the War of the Ancients) yet remains and rests under the sea waiting for someone to reopen it.Template:Cite

One of the Dimensional Gateways that Ner'zhul opened is called The Dark Portal in the official site.

Kael'thas and Lady Vashj escaped with many blood elves from Dalaran through the Portal to Outland when Garithos betrayed them.

See also

• Dimensional Gateway
• Dark Portal Opens
• Travel guides for Both Horde and Alliance to Outland.