Blackwald

For the Hearthstone expansion, see Hearthstone: The Witchwood.

The Blackwald is a forest in southern Gilneas, located south of Gilneas City and north of Stormglen Village. These woods were the home of the Druids of the Scythe, who eventually became the first worgen.^[1] Tal'doren - a tree identical to the one where the original worgen were imprisoned in the Emerald Dream - is in the forest's eastern section. The Woods' End Cabin can be found in the western part of the forest, while Bradshaw Mill and Rygna's Lair are in the south, near Stormglen Village.

During the invasion of Gilneas the Blackwald was full of Howling Banshees, Sylvanas Windrunner' scouts looking for an artifact capable of uncontrollably spreading the worgen curse to all humanity. This artifact had been moved to many locations by the Gilneans and the night elves, but was eventually found by Forsaken dark rangers. An adventurer, with the help of Tobias Mistmantle and his worgen, was able to retrieve the artifact from Woods' End Cabin.^[2]^[3]

It was at Tal'doren where Genn Greymane showed he had been transformed by the worgen curse, gaining the sympathy of Darius Crowley and finally uniting Gilneas after many years of conflict.^[4]

Mobs[]

Hearthstone[]

This section contains information exclusive to Hearthstone and is considered non-canon.

The Blackwald, recently being referred to as The Witchwood by the Gilneans, has recently become infected by a powerful witch, Hagatha.^[5]

Notes and trivia[]

[Moonleaf] only grows near Tal'doren, in the Blackwald.^[6]
Ana Ramsey's house is located somewhere in the Blackwald. Her two sons are buried there.^[7]
In the early alpha, the Blackwald was home of the Wolfheart clan of worgen.^[8]
"Blackwald" is a combination of the word "black" and the German word "wald", meaning forest - hence, "black forest". Thus, it is likely a reference to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald in German) in southern Germany.

Discrepancies[]

Belysra Starbreeze appears to claim the Druids of the Pack called Tal'doren home in ancient Gilneas. This is incompatible with the rest of current lore:

The Pack Form was not used until after the Sundering, which divided the continents. Tal'doren is on the Eastern Kingdoms, while the Druids of the Pack were on Kalimdor.^[9]^[10]
The Pack Form was banned 9,300 years ago during the War of the Satyr,^[9] and there have been no known Druids of the Pack since.
The Druids of the Pack were banished against their will to Daral'nir in the Emerald Dream, not Tal'doren.^[10]^[9] The banishment itself took place in Ashenvale, on the other side of the world.^[11]
By the time Ralaar's and his followers were imprisoned, they were no longer using pack form and had become Worgen instead.^[11]

Speculation[]

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Belysra may have been knowingly lying. She was present in Ashenvale when the Druids of the Pack became the Druids of the Scythe, and when they were banished to Daral'nir, so could not have been misinformed. She may be an unreliable narrator, as already shown when comparing the true story in Curse of the Worgen to what she tells the player. By claiming knowledge of Gilneas surpassing even the Gilneans, she asserts dominance and trustworthiness. She also omits the true risks of the Ritual of Balance to those taking it.
Belysra may have misspoken. She may be referring to Daral'nir as Tal'doren as it is the physical counterpart on Azeroth to Daral'nir, and using 'home' instead of 'prison'. This would actually mean "Tal'doren's spiritual counterpart, Daral'nir, was once a prison to an order of druids who once took the form of wolves." which would be true.

Much of the forest is covered in a reddish grass, and massive red thorns twist around the forest's trees, including Tal'doren. The southern and western sections though, (including Stormglen Village) show less of these signs but are still present. These traits seem to indicate the forest has been corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare to some extent. Since Tal'doren is connected to the Emerald Dream, this seems to be the case. Even though, the red color wasn't specifically used as Nightmare corruption until some years later. Albeit, it might be possible the Blackwald was used as inspiration to the corruption.