Icecrown Citadel
From WoWWiki
| Icecrown Citadel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Icecrown Citadel by Peter Lee | |
| Location | Icecrown, Northrend |
| Population | Unknown, perhaps 250,000 (100% Undead)[1] |
| Government | Autocracy |
| Race(s) |   Scourge |
| End boss | Lich King |
| Instance info | |
| Type | Raid |
| Advised level | 80 |
| Player limit | 10/25 |
| Other raids | |
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Icecrown Citadel in Northrend sits atop the largest glacier in Azeroth, Icecrown Glacier in Icecrown. It is here that Ner'zhul — transformed into the Lich King — was cast into the world of Azeroth. Recently, the Scourge has created this massive fortress, surrounding the Frozen Throne that lies hidden underneath. In a later patch, this will be the pinnacle of Wrath of the Lich King raid instances. [citation needed]
Contents |
History
The name of Icecrown became infamous when Kil'jaeden hurled the Lich King back into the mortal world. Ner'zhul's prison slammed into the glacier, creating the Frozen Throne. Here the Lich King remained until Arthas Menethil freed him and the two merged in Arthas' body. The merging created such a large explosion that a large portion of the glacier was blown away, leaving a gigantic throne in its place, upon which sits the Lich King. From here, he rules the Scourge with an iron fist.LoM 108
From the name one would assume Icecrown Citadel was an enormous fortress planted on the glacier, with thick walls, sturdy guard towers, and massive front gates. Not quite. Most of the Citadel lurks below the surface. The glacier is split, creating a deep fissure. Scourge forces lurk down there, and they have carved levels into either side of that massive split and created bridges, walkways and even solid floors across the gap. Not surprisingly, Icecrown Citadel is a cold, unforgiving place. It has no decorations, no furs or rugs, no fires, nothing to provide comfort or warmth. The Scourge creatures move silently from one problem to another, focused on their tasks. All manner of undead dwell here, including zombies, wraiths and beings composed of cold energy. At the bottom of the rift is the Frozen Throne, the heart of the Scourge and the Lich King’s personal seat. This throne is the remains of the block of ice that first brought Ner’zhul to Azeroth, the same block that held him prisoner until Arthas freed the ancient orc shaman and merged with him. Arthas sits on the Frozen Throne.LoM 108
Note: The above description may seem confusing, as images of the Throne Chamber obviously depict a spire with the Frozen Throne at the top. This is more understandable when the size of the rift created by the impact with the Glacier is realized. The rift is so large the entire spire is below average ground level. The entire spire counts as the Frozen Throne, the area just around the spire is also known as the Throne Chamber, and Icecrown Citadel is the fortified rift as a whole. Both Arthas[2] and Kel'Thuzad[3] travelled downward before acending the spire. For context, "The Lich King sits on the Frozen Throne at the bottom of the rift, inside of the Icecrown Citadel".LoM 108 The Throne Chamber may not be much of a chamber anymore, as evidenced by the cinematic at the end of the TFT Undead campaign where the tower was exposed, but it seems to have been covered again by the Lich king.
Wrath of the Lich King
The fortified entrance to Icecrown Citadel is found in the mountains of southern Icecrown. It is surrounded by gigantic ramparts and massive, blade-like spires, the towers are an imposing landmark of the Icecrown skyline, emitting a beacon of light from its pinacle.
As noted earlier the Citadel itself stretches far under Icecrown and Icecrown Glacier, and the rift. The Frozen Throne itself was located on an island in the rift of the glacier towering above most of the underground Citadel.
Icecrown Citadel will be home to the final encounter in Wrath of the Lich King, featuring the Lich King as the final boss, though it is still unknown if he is going to be killable or not. Although players will interact with Arthas numerous times during the expansion, including during an event at Angrathar the Wrath Gate in the Dragonblight, the instance where the final battle against him will take place is not expected to open until some time after the expansion's release. The developers have stated that they feel it was a mistake to release Black Temple, wherein the Illidan encounter takes place, as soon as they did; while this was somewhat remedied with the release of Sunwell Plateau, making Kil'jaeden the final boss encounter of The Burning Crusade, their goal is to ensure that Arthas does not become just another farm boss too soon before newer, more challenging content is released.[4]
Trivia
The in-game architecture of Icecrown's Scourge-controlled fortresses (especially Icecrown Citadel) bear striking resemblances to artwork of Orthanc, Barad-dûr and countless other citadels from The Lord of the Rings.
Gallery
Artwork
 The Frozen Throne of the Lich King at Icecrown Citadel. |
 Image of the Frozen Throne at Icecrown Citadel from Lands of Mystery. |
 The gates of Icecrown Citadel as seen in the Wrath of the Lich King login screen. |
Screenshots
 The original TFT login screen featured a much darker version of the The Frozen Throne at Icecrown Citadel. |
 The outside of the Throne Chamber before Arthas merged with the Lich King. |
 The Lich King, imprisoned at the top of the Frozen Throne. |
 The Lich King, sitting atop the shattered Frozen Throne. |
 The final version of the login screen in TFT |
 Icecrown Citadel as seen in Beta. |
 Icecrown Citadel as seen in Beta (closeup). |
 Left flank of Icecrown Citadel. |
 The top of Icecrown Citadel as seen from the balcony of the Violet Citadel in Dalaran. |
References
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