Bael Modan

The largest settlement in the central Barrens is marked by the sturdy stone walls and guard towers blocking the mouth of a cavern into the mountain that the Ironforge dwarves have named Bael Modan - "the red mountain." An encampment just inside the wall offers shelter to Alliance caravans and travelers crossing the Barrens. The stores of food and supplies at Bael Modan are a tempting target to centaur warbands and quilboar raiders, but thus far the dwarves' trusty rifles and mortars have proven more than able to withstand such attacks.

Behind a second wall is the largest dwarven archeological dig in all of Kalimdor. Nearly a thousand dwarves dig around the clock to uncover the most significant set of titan ruins discovered since Uldaman on the continent of the Eastern Kingdoms. Travelers are welcome in Bael Modan, but not within the titan ruins. Few non-dwarves ever receive such an honor. The Ironforge dwarves are otherwise forthcoming with hospitality, offering a meal and a place to sleep and asking only a good tale in return. Still, dwarven riflemen patrol the streets and keep a close eye on all visitors, fearful of thieves so close to Titan artifacts.

Those who visit discover that the dwarves have not forgotten their traditional weapons since the invention of gunpowder. The dwarves of Bael Modan have established a midwinter tournament, with the highest prizes - elaborate bronze helms - given to those most skilled with the axe and the hammer.

Titan Ruins
Over 100,000 years ago, beings known as titans built great laboratories throughout Azeroth. Bael Modan was one such site. The titans encrypted their research on banded platinum disks in a runic language now forgotten to mortal races. The site at Bael Modan served the titans as a storage facility for these discs before they packed up most of their gear and left. A few guardians remained to protect the site for eternity and the titans sealled off the main entrance.

Geological forces worked over the millennia to sink the titan ruins deeper and deeper under the mountain. Earthquakes and shifting ground broke the ruins into several large areas and separated them, sometimes hundreds of feet apart. Natural tunnels and caves developed around the ruins as erosion and time took their toll. The area is now a great wilderness inhabited by fierce creatures, including the mighty Kolkar centaur tribe.

Flying machines
Bael Modan possess several flying machines. One of the most skilled pilots in all Azeroth, Lord Cyrik Blackforge, is in charge of one of them. Gann Stonespire later requests brave Horde adventurers to destroy it with explosives.

The gnome ace Gaevel Thunderblast also spends his time in Bael Modan working on his ship, the Greased Lightning, while teaching new aces the art of aerial combat.

Conflicts with the Tauren
Bael Modan was once next to a tauren village, but in conflicts between the dwarves and tauren, most of the tauren were killed or driven off of their ancestral lands. Their old village is now torn apart by dwarven digging machines. Gann Stonespire, a tauren who frequently wanders the roads nearby, tried to reach a diplomatic resolution, but failed; he now seeks revenge by sending Horde adventurers to fight the dwarves.