This was a cursed land.
And so people called it the "Blasted Lands."
The blood-red earth had even stained the sky the same shade of red; the barren expanse offered no sense of life.
Scattered ruins stood at the center of this land.
These were the ruins of the Dark Portal. This portal, now closed, had been the source of everything. People could still see the towering, robed statues standing at its sides, and the purple vortex of magical energy leading to an unknown land.
The magic leaking from the Dark Portal had warped the Blasted Lands, leaving a barren desert landscape where no life could survive.
The Tainted Scar to the west of the Dark Portal was shrouded in a thick, foul mist, enough to suffocate any foolish mortal who dared approach.
This foul desert had once been a low-lying marsh called the Black Morass, much like the Swamp of Sorrows to the north.
When Medivh built the Dark Portal to connect Azeroth with Draenor, the orcs' homeland, the orcs crossed through the portal and began the First War. The orcs' mysterious magic was so powerful that it destroyed the marsh, leaving only dry, red earth.
After Karin brought the Red Dragon Queen and destroyed the Dark Portal, the corruption stopped spreading, but the Blasted Lands could no longer recover.
Yet a fortress symbolizing hope stood upon this cursed land.
"Nethergarde Keep" was its name.
After winning the Second War, the nations of the Alliance spent a vast sum to build this fortress to prevent the Horde from returning. It was also the only "hospitable" place in all the Blasted Lands.
Nethergarde Keep faced not only the harsh weather of the Blasted Lands, but also an ogre clan that remained here: the Hammerfall Clan.
Apparently, the Horde had