In Desolace, the skulls of ancient kodo beasts stare soullessly from their graves, halfway buried in dust. The husks of long-dead trees jutting in gruesome angles from the gray ash are the only twisted remains of a verdant past.

This dour setting is violently jarred by the thunder of thousands of hooves and the clamor of armor and weaponry as the four tribes of vicious centaur wage war on all who enter their domains, but most notably on one another. Desolace is the home of the centaur. It was among the twisting cliffs of the western canyons that their race was born from the foul womb of Maraudon.

Proud, but sorrowful ruins of stone attest to the one-time glory of the Highborne night elves. Blasted in the depths of time by the shock waves of the Great Sundering, the ruins are inhabited now by all manner of foul creatures.

Desolace today is a battleground for many of the opposing factions represented here. Apart from the tension between the Horde and the Alliance, at Shadowprey Village and Nijel's Point respectively, the Kolkar, the Gelkis, the Magram, and the Maraudine centaurs fight as much against each other as they do against the orcs and the humans.

Demons, satyrs and Undead successfully summoned by the Burning Blade present a major challenge for both the Horde and the Alliance, and portals to demonic plains are constantly being opened. The naga presence to the northwest coast is also steadily becoming a source of pressing concern. Unless steps are taken, Desolace risks becoming a demonic stronghold, regardless of the introduction of fresh water and the recent creation of the Cenarion Wildlands.

Legends claim that the centaur are descendants of a dark union between one of the demigod Cenarius's sons and a princess of the chaotic earth elementals. When the first khans were born of their union, it is said that they murdered their father, for shame of their misshapen appearance. They were born filled with rage and savagery and have not calmed in the centuries that followed. The first of their kind, the first khans, gave rise to the five tribes of the centaur. The race swept across Desolace and soon became legendary for its brutality. The diligent night elves held them in check for ages until the Burning Legion rained its destruction upon the world. The night elves left the centaur out of necessity for their own survival during the wars, allowing the twisted race to assume control of Desolace. Though fortunate enough not to be scorched into oblivion in the demon wars, Desolace was savaged nonetheless due to the centaur's ceaseless aggression. No longer threatened by night elves, the tribes plagued other plains races - chiefly, the peaceful tauren. This struggle endured for generations until recently, when the tauren were at last driven from Desolace. The centaur were never content with controlling just Desolace and have followed their tribal khans in a series of clashes with other races throughout southern and central Kalimdor.

The mountainous barriers of the Stonetalons lie to the north and Thousand Needles to the southeast, isolating Desolace from much of the rest of Kalimdor. The grasslands and mesas of Mulgore stand directly east, and the land runs rugged and open to the storm-tossed coast to the west. The winds create waterspouts against the lowland hills along the shore. The western coastline of Desolace is lush in sad contrast to the wasteland of its interior. Desolace is a gray, rocky wasteland littered with bones. It seems almost under a supernatural curse, its skies always black and stormy, with lightning and high winds a constant throughout the realm. The surrounding mountains form a significant barrier to travel, a key reason why the centaur have never established more than a sporadic presence elsewhere on Kalimdor. Five barbarous centaur tribes dominate the entire region with the strength of overwhelming numbers and unequaled ferocity. Each tribe is led by one of the dreaded khans and is known by a distinctive tribal color - Black, Brown, Green, Red, and Yellow. Members use the color to mark their weapons and their faces. The khans who lead each tribe rarely have contact with each other except in times of war. There are no other cultures of any note in all of Desolace, for the centaur have run them all down in their unceasing lust for conquest. The only animals that can sustain themselves in the arid and violent land were beasts such as lions, raptors, sand serpents, and harpies.

In recent times Horde, Alliance, the Burning Blade, the Cenarion Circle, Satyr and Naga have set up outposts in the desolate land, and only four of the five tribes control Desolace. With the centaur kept in check, more species of animals occupy the land than before.