Aedelas Blackmoore was the master of the internment camps used to hold captive orcs, and an officer of the Alliance army, rising to the rank of General after the Second War. The son of a general who apparently betrayed the Alliance, Blackmoore was a veteran of the Second War known for his courage, though he himself admitted that the majority of his valor in battle was induced by alcohol. Shortly after the First War, then-Lieutenant Blackmoore discovered a baby orc abandoned in the wilds – Thrall, son of Durotan. Raising Thrall as a gladiator, Blackmoore intended to use the young orc to lead the Horde against the human kingdoms, so Blackmoore could become the ruler of the Alliance. After Thrall escaped, Blackmoore sent his knights in a desperate search to find him…just as the internment camps began falling to the forces of a new Horde.

Blackmoore would discover in his final moments that he had made a very powerful enemy of “his” orc, who had become Warchief of the Horde – as Blackmoore had intended, but not in the way he expected. He was killed by Thrall during the siege of Durnholde. He died in his office cowering in fear of what he had made Thrall into. His final words “You are…what I made you…I am so proud.”

Appears in Warcraft: Lord of the Clans

A’dal is a member of the Naaru and leader of the faction known as the Sha’tar. After the Draenei were forced to abandon Shattrath City which had been reduced to ruin, (Shattrath City has previously been considered the Draenei capital – that role is now filled by The Exodar) the Sha’tar were drawn to Shattrath and A’dal chose to use it as their base of operations against the Burning Legion. A’dal is also responsible for deciding on a regular basis which faction, the Aldor or the Scryers, is sent to assist the Naaru known as Xi’ri in Shadowmoon Valley.

A line from Khadgar seems to state that A’dal’s sheer force of will is enough to keep their enemies at bay, giving hints to the power the Naaru and The Sha’tar hold.

Burning Crusade introduced flying mounts for both Horde and Alliance players. Once a player reaches level 70, s/he can purchase a flying mount in Shadowmoon Valley. Players must have previously purchased the riding skills for both the level 40 and the level 60 mounts. (It is not necessary to purchase the mount itself to upgrade the skill.)

The first flying mount available to players increases speed only by 60% (less than the level 60 ground mount). In addition to the mount, players must purchase the next rank of the Riding skill. There is a second-tier flying mount, which requires the corresponding (fourth) rank of the skill.

Druids can obtain a flight form when they reach level 68. It will have the shape of a storm crow. This form is just as fast as buyable mounts, thus giving the druids a cheap yet comfortable ride through Outland. The Flight Form is purchased like a skill from a Druid trainer and the 225 Riding Skill is obtained for free. The Epic Flight Form, introduced in Patch 2.1, increases flight speed by 280% but will require the player to purchase the 300 Riding skill in order to use it.

Alliance Flying Mounts (Purchased at Wildhammer Stronghold in Shadowmoon Valley)

225 Riding skill mounts

Golden Gryphon
Ebon Gryphon
Snowy Gryphon
300 Riding skill mounts

Swift Red Gryphon
Swift Blue Gryphon
Swift Purple Gryphon
Swift Green Gryphon
Horde Flying Mounts

225 Riding skill mounts

Green Windrider
Blue Windrider
Tawny Windrider
300 Riding skill mounts

Swift Green Windrider
Swift Purple Windrider
Swift Red Windrider
Swift Yellow Windrider
Reputation based mounts

The 2.1 patch to World of Warcraft introduced several new 300 riding skill flying mounts usable by members of either factions. These mounts enable players to travel with a 280% speed increase in the air or a 100% speed increase on land. They can be acquired by completing long quest lines involving repeatable quests to increase repuation. These mounts can only be used in the Outlands.

Netherwing Faction Mounts

Azure Netherwing Drake
Cobalt Netherwing Drake
Onyx Netherwing Drake
Purple Netherwing Drake
Veridian Netherwing Drake
Violet Netherwing Drake
Sha’tari Skyguard Faction Mounts

Blue Riding Nether Ray
Green Riding Nether Ray
Purple Riding Nether Ray
Red Riding Nether Ray
Silver Riding Nether Ray
Unique Mounts

Phoenix Mount

The world’s first Phoenix mount belongs to Ezra Chatterton, the young man who recently went to Blizzard’s offices with the Make-A-Wish foundation.
On May 31, 2007, the guild Method on Sylvanas-EU saw the world first drop of this item when they successfully brought down Kael’thas, making it the second Phoenix mount in-game, next to Ezra’s.
On August 8, 2007, The Phoenix mount dropped for the guild Legions, on Lightbringer-US.
Swift Nether Drake

Also known as the Armored Netherdrake, this mount is a 310% speed seasonal arena reward awarded to all teams who finish in the top 0.5 percentile of their arena bracket. Depending on the battlegroup, this is widely considered to be the most prestigious and hardest mount to acquire.
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounts_%28World_of_Warcraft%29″

Players wishing to save money on the cost of their level 60 mounts can obtain mounts from PvP factions. PvP mounts require 90 “honor tokens” (30 each from the three original battlegrounds). These mounts are interesting in that they do not need to match their respective player races (Rams for Dwarves, etc.), and can thus be used by any players able to purchase it. Players must still buy the equivalent Riding skill in order to ride the mount.

There is also an additional PvP mount for each faction, only obtainable at the PvP vendor at each factions entrance to the Alterac Valley Battlegrounds. The Alliance mount is an epic ram called the Stormpike Battle Charger, while the Horde version is a wolf called the Frostwolf Howler.

Participants in the Arena PVP system can compete in a quarterly event to win a Swift Nether Drake that is the fastest mount available in the game. This mount is only usable in Outland and enables the player to travel at 310% increased speed in the air or 100% speed increase while on land.

Players can also obtain an epic Talbuk mount by participating in PVP within the highly contested PvP area called Halaa, located around the center of Nagrand. The significance of the two mounts obtainable in Halaa are that you buy them with a combonation of “Halaa Battle Tokens” which are earned from killing opposing faction players within the vicinity of Halaa and “Halaa Research Tokens” which you obtain from an NPC in Halaa after giving him 20 “Osh’gun Powder Samples”. The Riding Talbuk is an 100% speed mount and cost 70 Halaa Battle Tokens and 15 Halaa Research tokens. The Dark War Talbuk is also an 100% mount but looks slighty different that the Riding Talbuk and costs 100 Halaa Battle Tokens and 20 Halaa Research Token.

After obtaining Exalted statues with Kurenai (Alliance) or Mag’har (Horde), the factions in Nagrand, a player can obtain a Riding Talbuk or a War Talbuk (there are 3-4 different color choices for each) from the quartermaster for that faction.