Dark Iron and Blackrock forces contest Blackrock Mountain

Full History

Dark Iron dwarves based in Shadowforge City competed with Blackrock orcs for control within Blackrock Mountain. The volcanic complex had become home to powers whose ambitions overlapped but whose loyalties were far from identical. Their rivalry left the mountain divided and dangerous at the original World of Warcraft starting state.

The Dark Irons' presence followed the War of the Three Hammers and the summoning of Ragnaros, which bound their history to the Firelord's domain. The Blackrock orcs carried a different inheritance from the old Horde and its campaigns across Azeroth. Both sought defensible halls and influence over routes within the mountain. Neither conflict could be understood simply as a continuation of the old dwarf civil war or the Second War; it was a new struggle over a strategically important place.

Blackrock Depths and the upper reaches of the mountain therefore presented different enemies and political interests to travelers. The clash helped explain why the mountain's threats could not be reduced to a single faction ruling every chamber. The setting remains contested, and no later dungeon outcome is presumed to have permanently settled the struggle.