Old Hillsbrad Foothills

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Old Hillsbrad Foothills is the setting of the instance, Escape from Durnholde Keep. It is one of the timeways ("wings") accessible in the Caverns of Time. The setting takes place seven years before WoW's present (i.e. two years before the events of Warcraft III), to when the future Warchief Thrall was a slave of Aedelas Blackmoore, master of Durnholde Keep. The questing involves helping Thrall escape. The instance area in question spans from Southshore (where familiar personalities of WoW present can be found) to Tarren Mill.

Map limits

• Access west towards Hillsbrad Fields or Silverpine Forest is blocked by fog blanking the screen
• the gate of Thoradin's Wall to the Arathi Highlands is closed tight
• the southern coast that leads to Arathi is blocked to swimmers by that same fog
• the passage to the Alterac Mountains is closed shut by a wall, but some creative jumping can get you over it, yet you'll find yourself walking into an invisible wall if you continue
• the river that runs through the foothills is blocked at the entrance to Alterac by a troll-wall, but some creative jumping can get you over it, yet you'll find yourself walking into an invisible wall if you continue
• the cavern leading to Ravenholdt has not yet been excavated; access to the area is possible with some creative jumping but there are no NPCs at Ravenholdt and the area graphics are incomplete (to access, face the wall where the cave usually is, mount up (epic mount) and go to the ledge to the left; jump onto the other side of the mountain)
• The valley to the Hinterlands is blocked by a rock slide. Even if you manage to get past the rock slide, invisible walls encompass the area, blocking further access.

NPCs for Questing

The quest NPCs include:

• Erozion - elf at the exit of the cave leading from the instance portal (gives both the quest to rescue Thrall and the incendiary bombs to do so)
• Brazen - bronze dragon next to Erozion (gives free ride from instance entrance to Durnholde's front gate)
• Thrall - primary quest NPC (in a cell in the basement of Durnholde Keep)
• Taretha - other primary quest NPC (the inn in Tarren Mill)

Vendors in the Instance

• Barkeep Kelly (Found in the Southshore Inn) - sells various types of beer, including one that restore mana and another that adds 15 stamina for 15 minutes.
• Thomas Yance (Travels the roads between Southshore and Tarren Mill) - sells the starting clothes for most classes, its also worth noting he repairs armor and sells the leatherworking pattern  [Riding Crop] for 5 gold.
• Aged Dalaran Wizard (Travels the roads between Southshore and Tarren Mill) - sells the formula for Enchant Shield - Intellect for 6 gold.

Notable NPCs of the Past

Template:Spoiler There are many NPCs with some connection to important events in WoW and the Warcraft universe as a whole seen here in the past, many of them later being involved with either the Scourge, the Scarlet Crusade or the Argent Dawn. They include (current locations in parentheses):

Southshore

• Kel'Thuzad (Frostwyrm Lair, Naxxramas) - Walks along the road to and from Southshore
• Helcular (buried in Southshore, part of the Helcular's Revenge chain) - Walks with Kel'Thuzad
• Sally Whitemane (later High Inquisitor Whitemane, the Cathedral, Scarlet Monastery) - Runs around the inn
• Renault Mograine (later Scarlet Commander Mograine, the Cathedral, Scarlet Monastery) - Runs around the inn
• Little Jimmy Vishas (later Interrogator Vishas, the Graveyard, Scarlet Monastery) - Runs around the inn
• Herod the Bully (later just Herod, the Armory, Scarlet Monastery) - Walks in front of the house across the road from the inn.
• Nat Pagle (Dustwallow Marsh) - The dock
• Hal McAllister (Southshore) - The dock
• Zixil (wanders between Tarren Mill and Southshore) - The dock
• Magistrate Henry Maleb (still in Southshore) - Town Hall
• Raleigh the True (later Raleigh the Devout, the inn, Southshore) - Town Hall
• Nathanos Marris (later Nathanos Blightcaller, the Marris Stead, Eastern Plaguelands) - Town Hall

The Inn

• Captain Edward Hanes (undead, Bloodmyst Isle) - The bar
• Captain Sanders (never encountered directly in game, though his treasure can be won and "Cookie" McWeaksauce talks about him) - The bar
• Ashbringer event NPCs
  • Commander Mograine (later Highlord Mograine, Deathknight Wing, Naxxramas) - At the table
  • Isillien (later Grand Inquisitor Isillien, Hearthglen, Western Plaguelands) - At the table
  • Abbendis (later High General Abbendis, Tyr's Hand, Eastern Plaguelands) - At the table
  • Fairbanks (later High Inquisitor Fairbanks, the Cathedral, Scarlet Monastery) - At the table
  • Tirion Fordring (Thondroril River, Eastern Plaguelands) - At the table
  • Arcanist Doan (The Library, Scarlet Monastery) - At the table
• Taelan (later Highlord Taelan Fordring, Mardenholde Keep, Western Plaguelands) - Upstairs bedroom
• Stalvan Mistmantle (Manor Mistmantle, Duskwood) - Upstairs bedroom

Tarren Mill

• Young Blanchy (now Old Blanchy, Westfall) - The stables
• Jay Lemieux (now Jason Lemieux, Tarren Mill) - Running around Tarren Mill
• Julie Honeywell (now Apprentice Honeywell, Southshore) - Running around Tarren Mill

Easter Eggs and Events

There are several events that happen throughout Old Hillsbrad, most are in Southshore and provide a little extra fun after beating the instance and restoring the timeline.

Notable Character Easter Eggs
Farmer Kent - Presumably referring to Superman's Father.

Scarlet Monastery
Sally Whitemane, Renault Mograine, and Little Jimmy Vishas sometimes performs a play, saying similar things which they said in their encounter in Scarlet Monastery.

Solo exploring

• The instance is explorable as a solo adventurer. As the elites are grouped in Durnholde Keep and Tarren Mill, most of the open areas are populated by level 20ish non-elites, much like the present-day Hillsbrad Foothills.
• There are no herbs or ore veins to harvest here, and the waters cannot be fished. Also, the mailbox next to the inn isn't there.
• Despite the thick fog kicking in before you reach it, the actual Town of Hillsbrad is present within the instance. Oddly there is a new cave just north of Hillsbrad itself that seems to serve no purpose. The Tower at the entrance to the Hillsbrad region is also present and is not in disrepair. There is a wall blocking entrance or exit from the west of the Hillsbrad region and the path starts to go into the Silverpine region but then is cut off by instance limits.
• The instance even includes Dalaran though it is not accessible due to the fog that kicks in if one ventures too far. Dalaran during this period in lore is restored but in the game it is not. The vast arcane bubble is not present but what lands it does cover is nothing but brown dirt.
• The map extends into the Arathi Highlands and even the city of Stromgarde is built to how it appears in World of Warcraft.
• Aerie Peak is also present in the map if a player manages to get past the rockslide that blocks the path from the foothills to the Hinterlands.