Welcome, visitor,

this brochure, published by the Ironforge Explorers' League association of the Weary Boots, is designed to help first-time visitors find their way around the various exhibitions on display in the League museum.

Within, you will find helpful reprints of the plaques that are located besides each of the pedestals and plinths hosting the exhibits alongside further explanations to broaden the understanding of the digging process and the dangers inherent to it.

We hope you do enjoy your stay and, should you consider your time with us a day well spent, would ask you to forward a donation to the "Hogun's Heros" widows-and-orphan trust.

Thank you for your kind interest,

Regar Wulfhardt, Historian

Exhibit A: The Dragon's Skull

One of the main reasons why the League eventually gave up the old warehouse that was used to store our finds and various odds and ends during the early days and moved to larger accomodations, this humungous skull was uncovered by an expedition sent to the ancient ruins of Grim Batol following Alextrasza's liberation.

The daring explorers managed to extract the head of what is suspected to be all that remains of the red dragon Tyrannistrasz from the grasp of the Wetlands' swamp, constantly harassed by Dragonmaw orcs still scattered around the area. Many a life was lost before the caravan reached the safety of the pass.

Exhibit B: The Tanaris Egg

During the League's efforts to uncover the secrets of Uldum, explorers ventured deep into the forbidding desert of Tanaris. It was during one of these forays that these oddly insectoid and possibly quite ancient peculiarities were uncovered. The League has thus far been unable to categorize the species, although veteran explorer Brann Bronzebeard has published various articles postulating a connection to an ancient, most unusual building complex in Silithus that has come under recent scrutiny in connection to the Alliance's war efforts.

Exhibit C: Sun Roc's Talon

One of the first of many spectacular finds made possible through the adaptation of gnomish deep sea diving technology into League recovery procedures, this ancient artifact was obtained only by paying a tithe of blood. It was veteran explorer Jake Crusto, famous tinkerer and diving pioneer, who dared brave the depths of the South Sea and safely anchored the petrified talon to a winch before fate struck in a most fatal way.

Apparently, Crusto's newly developed diving helmet "Titanic Plunger" malfunctioned during the resurfacing process, causing a sudden drop in internal pressure which in turn created a vaccum and enlarged poor Jake's head to twice its normal size - albeit briefly. The subsequent implosion created a disturbing pattern on the inside of the helmet's glass front and startled jellyfish for leagues around. Jake Crusto's grave sadly is no longer accessible since the fall of Gnomeregan but the helmet can be inspected by arrangement with Curator Thorius if certain morbid curiosities require satisfaction.

Exhibit D: Devilsaur Eggs

The recovery mission to retrieve the remains of explorer "Sick" Yurah Goldenbloom stumbled upon these egg remains near the location of a scattered sprinkling of about a third of Goldenbloom's body. Apparently, old and woefully short-sighted Yurah had ambled into the region known as Terror Run while trying to find his way back out of the crater and found the Devilsaur's nest quite comfortable for a late afternoon doze.

Exhibit E: The Geru

This rare breed of sandstrider is found exclusively in Southern Kalimdor and leads a secretive existence far away from prying eyes. Only rarely has a living Geru been spotted by hopeful ecologists, although there have been rumors of striders turning up in unexpected places.

Exhibit F: Toothgnasher's Skeleton

The origins of this mysterious ram are utterly in the dark, although the Grimwolf clan tells a tall tale of its founding father, Erk Grimwolf, hitting ogre king Mograk the Indecent on the head with such force that the vile monarch became quite confused and thought himself a dwarf for the rest of his existence. He then renamed himself, so the tale goes, Mograk the Beardless, forced his subjects to crawl around on their knees and drink unhealthy amounts of beer. It is speculated that Toothgnasher was bred as a mount for the befuddled triple-dwarf, who died - it is said - in a freak shaving accident.

Exhibit G: The Skeletal Pteradon

This exhibit was uncovered during a dig in Un'Goro which tried to find a connection between the crater and certain rumors of titanic vaults nearby. A second expedition was necessary to uncover the ancient skeleton after the first fell to attacks by a mysterious troll tribe.

Exhibit H: The Suramar Astrolabe

Recovered by one of several ill-fated expeditions into the ancient home of Tyrande Whisperwind, Malfurion Stormrage and his dread brother Illidan, this astrolabe should teach us to respect the cultural achievements of the Night Elven race as a whole and look more kindly on the befuddled, cheap beer ridden assembly of frisky flop-ears wont to dance on the Stormwind fountain by night. Displaced and far from home, these poor souls are in no way representative for a race that has managed the creation of such arcano-technological wonders.

Exhibit I: Uldaman Earthenware

While these finds shed little light on the creation myth surrounding the Mysteries of the Makers, they do help with our understanding of the day-to-day affairs of the presumed dwarven progenitor race: the Earthen. A heated argument has erupted in the League after Narath Stonebrow's controversial "A Taste of Earthen Brew" essay, which claimed that the organic particle residue found in the pottery containers were, in fact, remnant of hops and malt.

Exhibit J: The Horde Catapult

A reminder of our most recent history, this catapult made it across mountain passes and marshlands to reach our very doorstep, taking countless of lives on the way. Its taste of destruction serves as a constant memento to visiting dwarves old and young that war is not the answer to a peaceful existence. Winning war is!

Exhibit K: Uldaman Reliefs

While there is still doubt about our common ancestry with the Earthen race, every find and discovery make the margin of error diminish by a fraction. However, before the first Uldaman expedition reached the first chambers of the ancient vault, our race led an existence of ignorance about our origins, and these reliefs should remind us that the most vital part of our culture is, in fact, the keeping of records and the research into our past.

Exhibit L: De Vance World Map

Many an explorer has remarked on the irony that the king should, of all things, commission a map to honor his often-lost but not quite permanently marooned brother Brann. It is the League's belief that the king reasoned that maybe - just maybe - the youngest Bronzebeard could use one.