Ruins of Alterac

Alterac was once an independent human realm carved out of the old Arathor empire, perched high on the trade routes through the mountains. During the Second War, fearing destruction at the hands of the invading Old Horde, King Aiden Perenolde secretly struck a pact with the orcs. When the betrayal was uncovered following the fighting at Caer Darrow, the Alliance of Lordaeron retaliated swiftly. King Terenas Menethil II put the city under martial law and deposed Perenolde. The grand fortifications, church, and palace fell into disrepair as the populace fled or turned to outlawry.

While surviving Alteraci nobles and rogue soldiers formed the Syndicate to wage guerrilla campaigns from towns like Strahnbrad, they lost their ancestral capital entirely. Today, the Crushridge ogres under Mug'thol dwell among the broken ramparts, palace halls, and wrecked ballistae. Neither the Syndicate nor the human defenders of Southshore have managed to reclaim the fallen city, leaving its crumbling towers and abandoned vaults as dangerous territory for treasure hunters and scavengers.