Prior to recorded human history, the steppes were teeming with life - the home of many mountain species including goats, ettins, and mountain lions. It is a central location housing the Blackrock clan, the black dragonflight and various creatures. It is dominated by Blackrock Mountain in the northwestern area. The Burning Steppes are located north of the Redridge Mountains and south of the Searing Gorge. The Molten Span, a massive stone edifice in the north, bridges a river of fire and leads to Khaz Modan. The surrounding countryside is home to Blackrock orcs and Fire-Gut ogres, all brutal castoffs from the Second War. Black dragons and Twilight's Hammer cultists under Nefarian hold the spire's upper levels, while hostile Dark Iron dwarves dwell in the depths. Blackrock Spire, an orc stronghold in the Second War, stands proud and defiant among the mountains. The sky is a red hue here, due to sporadic eruptions from Blackrock Mountain. Rivers of lava dot the landscape, as well as charred earth and burning ruins.
This rugged region is full of craggy foothills, scattered boulders and warring factions. The Blackrock Spire is awe-inspiring in its sheer mass and obvious devastation, while the rest of the land visibly attempts to recover from the damage done by the summoning of the Firelord, Ragnaros. The very rock melted when the volcano was formed, and lava changed the surrounding areas forever. Lacking the grace and beauty of Khaz Modan's peaks, the Burning Steppes' mountains show the force of the energy that twisted them. In the southeast, the Alliance clings to the scarred ruins of the town now known as Morgan's Vigil. In the north, the Horde maintains a small outpost at Flame Crest. In the midst of the barren Steppes are the Thorium Brotherhood's town of Chiselgrip and the Ruins of Thaurissan, the ancient Dark Iron capital that was destroyed in the summoning of Ragnaros. The Burning Steppes are mostly under the control of the Black Dragons and their Blackrock Orc allies. It is a volcano that is still active over two hundred years after its birth at the summoning of Ragnaros. In the northwest of the Burning Steppes sits the impossibly high Blackrock Mountain. Abandoned by the humans for centuries, control over the steppes has passed through the hands of many, although in recent years, the liberated Dark Iron Clan has begun to venture outside of their mountain and settle the land in the name of the Alliance. However, the destruction wrought through Ragnaros' arrival reduced the land to a hellish wasteland of fire and brimstone known as the Burning Steppes.
Prior to the War of the Three Hammers, the Red Steppes was once an idyllic, verdant flatland at the foot of the Redridge Mountains, which served as home to the human kingdoms of Stormwind and Halis.