Dark Iron clan

Full History

The Dark Iron dwarves once shared the mountain kingdom of Ironforge with the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans. Modimus Anvilmar kept that uneasy unity together, but his death exposed rival claims to power. The Dark Irons could not take control of Ironforge and left the city under their ruler, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan.

In the southern Redridge Mountains the exiles built a new stronghold and gathered their strength. Their king and his wife Modgud had not surrendered the hope of ruling all the dwarves. Thaurissan struck against Ironforge while Modgud assaulted Grim Batol. Both campaigns failed. Modgud fell before the Wildhammer capital, leaving a curse that drove its defenders away, and Thaurissan's own forces retreated from the Bronzebeards.

The final attempt to escape defeat transformed the land itself. Thaurissan called upon elemental fire, seeking a power capable of breaking his enemies. Ragnaros rose from the depths, devastating the old Dark Iron homeland and creating Blackrock Mountain. The surviving clan found that the Firelord could not be commanded. Its people became entangled in his power and constructed a new capital beneath the mountain.

By the time the Scourge had ruined Lordaeron, the Dark Iron emperor ruled from Shadowforge City in Blackrock Depths. The clan remained an enemy to its former kin and contested control of the mountain with other powers. Its history was shaped by a bitter paradox: even at the height of its own military strength, it was still answerable to the elemental master unleashed by its ancestors.