Blackrock Mountain looks like a place that must always have stood on the map of Azeroth.
It is an enormous volcano, with the Burning Steppes on one side and Searing Gorge on the other, an entire dwarven city within, and Molten Core still deeper below.
But during the War of the Three Hammers, the mountain did not exist.
It arose on the day the Dark Iron dwarves tried to save a losing war with magic.
Key Events
The War of the Three Hammers
After the death of High King Modimus Anvilmar, three dwarven clans fought for control of Ironforge: the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron clans.
The Dark Irons lost the struggle for the capital and withdrew south. There, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan founded a city of his own and later attempted to take revenge.
The offensive advanced on two fronts. Thaurissan attacked Ironforge, while his wife Modgud led an army against Grim Batol.
Both forces were defeated. Modgud was killed.
The combined armies of the two rival clans closed in on Thaurissan.
Thaurissan's Spell
At that point, Thaurissan reached for a power hidden deep beneath the earth.
The plan appears to have been simple: summon a fire entity powerful enough to destroy the advancing dwarves.
The spell tore open a path into the Firelands.
Ragnaros came to the surface.
His arrival was so destructive that it reshaped the land. Explosions and firestorms devastated part of the Redridge Mountains, created the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge, and raised Blackrock Mountain above the center of the catastrophe.
Thaurissan himself died almost immediately.
The Bronzebeard and Wildhammer armies saw the devastation and retreated. The war was effectively over.
What Became of the Dark Irons
The surviving dwarves did not gain a new ally.
Ragnaros enslaved them.
Beneath Blackrock Mountain, the clan built Shadowforge City, the vast underground capital players later explore in Blackrock Depths. Deeper still lies Molten Core, where the Firelord maintained his hold on Azeroth.
The geography of old Classic is strikingly literal.
First, the player travels through the kingdom built by the descendants of those who summoned Ragnaros. Then they descend farther and find the being whose arrival put that kingdom there in the first place.
Why Players Remember It
A huge part of the original endgame runs through Blackrock Mountain: Blackrock Depths, Lower and Upper Blackrock Spire, Blackwing Lair, and Molten Core.
It is easy to see them as separate dungeons and raids conveniently stacked inside one volcano.
The lore ties all of them to one ancient event.
The volcano was born from the War of the Three Hammers. The Dark Iron clan fell under Ragnaros's rule because of its own spell. Their city grew beneath the mountain, and the Firelord himself settled deeper below.
So the journey to Ragnaros begins long before the entrance to Molten Core.
By then, the player has already spent hours walking through the consequences of his first arrival in Azeroth.