12-12-2003, 20:47
*Note BDP = Before the Dark Portal
The First Invasion
Azeroth is but one world in a universe filled with infinite realms and realities. These realms are bound together by the chilling void that is the Twisting Nether, an inter-dimensional region inhabited by the damned spirits of the dead. The demon army known to most as the Burning Legion also dwells within this sanctum between worlds. The Legion is comprised of horrific creatures and unimaginable terrors from numerous charred worlds. Legend says that the Eredar, leaders of the Legion, destroyed their own dimension, releasing magic throughout all creation. Ever since, its demonic army has been forever cursed to pillage world after world in an insatiable lust for raw, magical power.
Nearly ten thousand years ago, in a time before any mortal race ever existed, Dragons ruled Azeroth. These majestic beasts guarded their world's magic and beauty, enjoying the life that was theirs. However, a new race awoke on the continent of Kalimdor. This race became known as the Night Elves, dark and shadowy beings, who were immortal like the Dragons. Yet the elves were clearly not as wise as the serpeant behemoths, for they aggressively and rashly delved into the study of primative magic. Due to their recklessness, they inadvertently set magic loose throughout Azeroth, attracting the dreadful demons.
Thus did the Burning Legion first descend upon the world of Azeroth with a force equal to that of a thousand Orcish Hordes. A great battle of gigantic proportions ensued to protect the magical essence of the world. The Dragons aided the Night Elves in order to drive out the infernal invaders. The Demon Soul was created, a golden disk imbued with each Dragon's life energies and powers. The ancient, winged beasts used the disk to banish the demons from their world. However, the demonic invasion was not without consequence. Many Dragons and Night Elves perished throughout the course of the titanic war. Moreover, the very surface of Azeroth was permanently scared, for the greater eastern land mass of Kalimdor sank beneath the sea. The Night Elves, horrified at the ferocity of the demons, vowed to never use magic again in order to ensure the Legion would never return. They concealed themselves from the world, preferring to live in seclusion atop their sacred mountain Hyjal.
Meanwhile, a terrible civil war erupted between the Dragons. Deathwing, the Aspect of chaos, betrayed the other flights, using the Demon Soul against all Dragons not of his own ilk. This dark Dragon had secretly evaded channeling any of his powers into the disk when it was first made. Thus, all Dragons save the dark one were especially vulnerable to the Demon Soul, as long as their life energies were bonded to the artifact. The battle was brutal, causing the extinction of several flights. Finally, all the breeds of Dragons banded together against Deathwing, cursing the dreaded dragon to never wield the Demon Soul again. Still, the Dragon War continued.
The Mortal Races Awaken
Soon, new races emerged into world. However, unlike the Dragons and Night Elves, these races had hurried, minute lifespans. Before long, each race established its own identity, naming themselves Dwarf, Troll, Tauren, Gnome, and Human. Sometime afterwards, a small band of Night Elves, who refused to give up their precious magic, were exiled from Kalimdor. They traveled to the eastern lands where they founded the kingdom of Quel'Thalas and began to refer to themselves as High Elves. In time, even these High Elves began to transform into mortals, although they retained their extended longevity.
Unfortunately, peace between these five new races did not last long. Upon arriving in Quel'Thalas, the High Elves were consistently besieged by Troll warbands. A constant state of war immediately broke out between these two races. Meanwhile, the industrious Humans, known for impatience and action, were quickly expanding their territories. The Human Empire of Arathor was founded in Lordaeron around 2,900 BDP.
By 2,700 BDP the High Elves and Trolls had been battling for nearly 3,300 years. The tide of war had shifted in the Troll's favor, and the High Elves were now on the verge of defeat. Thus, the elves sought the help of the Humans of Arathor. In exchange for their aid, the High Elves agreed to teach the Humans in the ways of magic. The Elven and Human armies together wiped out the majority of Trolls in Lordaeron. As Humans learned the magic of the High Elves, some began to use it carelessly. Due to this folly, agents of the Burning Legion were able to penetrate into Azeroth. In order to protect the races and the world, the Order of Tirisfal was founded. The Order was comprised of Guardians that wielded incredible power. They were charged with the duty of fighting a secret war, one hidden from the masses of men, against the evils of the Burning Legion.
After 1,700 years of power, Arathor divided into seven sovereign nations -Azeroth, Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Kul Tiras, Gilneas, Dalaran, and Alterac- due to over-expansion and domestic troubles.
The Birth of Medivh
Two-thousand and five hundred years after the Order of Trisfal was first founded, the Guardian Aegwyn battled the Daemonlord Sargeras, the ruler of the Burning Legion. In the end, Aegwyn managed to defeat Sargeras and entomb him under the north sea, off the coast of the Human Kingdom of Azeroth. However, upon the Daemonlord Sargeras's defeat, the great Daemon secretly bonded his malevolent spirit with that of Aegwyn's unborn child.
Eventually, it came time for Aegwyn to pass on her title as Guardian. She choose the Azerothien Conjurer Nielas Aran as the perfect mate and father for her son. And so in the fall of the Human year 559, Aegwyn gave birth to Medivh. The Guardian transferred all of her power and knowledge into the young child, burying it deep within him so that the Trisfal magic would only resurface when Medivh reached adolescence. Aegwyn then left Medivh in the care of the Azerothien court, keeping a remote yet observant eye on her son.
King Wrynn III, sovereign of the Azeroth Nation, governed his kingdom justly, bringing peace and prosperity to the lands of his people. Accordingly, the King and his subjects were overjoyed when his wife, Lady Varia, gave birth to prince Llane in the Human year 564.
Under the guidance of his father Aran, Medivh was soon expected to achieve the title of Apprentice Conjurer to the Court. However, upon his thirteenth birthday, the powerful magiks of Trisfal awakened. Untold power and energy channeled through his young body, causing Medivh to suffer an incredible psychic trauma. Reaching as far as Northsire Abbey, a great magical backlash errupted from Medivh's very being. Over a hundred clerics from the Abbey rushed to the boy's aid. Only the combined power of those clerics and the Conjurer Aran were enough to hold the energies of Medivh. After many hours, the Conjurer dropped dead to the ground, and Medivh fell into a deep sleep.
King Wrynn III and Alonsus Faol, the Abbot of Northshire, agreed to move the unconcious Medivh to the Abbey. There, the Northsire clerics kept Medivh under constant watch and care. Six years passed, marking Prince Llane's Age of Acension to adulthood. During Llane's official ceremony to commemorate his Acension, Medivh arrived atop a great bird. The sorceror, now a man, greeted the prince and offered his blessings. Medivh explained that he had woke from his long sleep and gained control of his powers. As a token of Medivh's good will, he presented a magical hourglass to the Court. Although sand ran freely through the hourglass, neither the top or bottom would empty or fill. Medivh explained that the glass represented the people of Azeroth and that the kingdom would always stand until the glass emptied.
Although stripped of her powers, Aegwyn watched her son's return with suspicion. Despite Medivh's apparent friendliness, the former Guardian knew that some malevolent power had perversely corrupted him.
The Orcish Curse
Although the Burning Legion was banished from Azeroth and its leader entombed, the Demons still sought to wreak havoc on the hated world. The Infernal creatures formed a cunning yet simple plan. The Legion would corrupt an entire race of beings and indirectly force that race to invade Azeroth. This indirect invasion would create chaos in preparation for the Legion's inevitable return. Thus, the Burning Legion cast its great curse over the Orcs. Dwelling within the mires and swamps on the red world of Draenor, the Orcs followed the ways of an honorable society. Shamans guided the Orcs, worshiping the spirits of the elements and hunting in the forests of Draenor. However, the curse turned these honorable tribal peoples into frenzied beasts with an incredible blood lust. Meanwhile, Shamans began to practice the Dark Magiks, refering to themselves now as Warlocks. Soon, the various Orcish clans rallied together in an unstoppable Horde under the shadowy Warlocks.
Additionally, the Daemon Kil'jaeden, infernal apprentice to the Daemonlord Sargeras, contacted a promising Orcish Warlock named Gul'dan across the Twisting Nether. Kil'jaeden took Gul'dan under his tutelage, and the Daemon assisted the young warlock in becoming exceptionally powerful. Soon, Gul'dan even surpassed his Orcish teacher Ner'zhul in the dark magiks. It was during this apprenticeship with Kil'jaeden that Gul'dan first began to contact the spirits of the dead and to comprehend the chilling mysteries of the Twisting Nether. Gul'dan agreed to obey the whims of the demon in exchange for power.
The Horde ravaged Draenor, eliminating and subjigating all other races and life. The conquest of the Dranei people was as brutal as it was swift, and soon only the clans of the Horde remained. With no common enemy, it did not take long for the clans to errupt in bloody disputes. Those who did attempt a rise to power were quickly slaughtered by the crestfallen Horde. It was in this desperate time that Gul'dan decided to act. The powerful warlock formed the Shadow Council, a secretive order of necromancy and magic. The Shadow Council furtively took control of the inner workings of the Horde, unbeknownst to the majority of Orcs. The council used their powers to bring order to the Horde and pacify its hunger for battle. They promised an escape from the stagnant world of Draenor.
The Rift Appears
It was at this time that a great presence reached out, touching many Warlocks within the Horde. Oddly, this presence made no attempt to contact Gul'dan, greatest in the Orc Magiks. Thus, the Warlock sought guidance with his teacher, Kil'jaeden. The Daemon could only tell Gul'dan that this awesome presence had also touched him and that it radiated power beyond anything he had ever experienced. Gul'dan began to probe the Twisting Nether, searching for this mysterious power. Finally, the Presence contacted Gul'dan. At first, the Shadow Council leader was overcome with fear; however, when his senses were gathered, Gul'dan began to communicate with the unknown being. The entity told Gul'dan that he was known as Medivh, a sorceror from a far-off world. Gul'dan sensed that although unimaginably potent, Medivh lacked control of his power.
During these contacts, Medivh probed Gul'dan's mind, learning about the Orcs and their world. Gul'dan was never able to learn as much from Medivh, and he soon broke contact. Gul'dan attempted to seek counsel with his master Kil'jaeden, but he recieved no answer to the summons. Apparently Medivh's power was so great that even this great Daemon feared him.
Medivh reached out again in the Orcish Warlocks' and Gul'dan's dreams. The powerful sorceror flashed by images... of a fertile land... and a proud people. Excited by these shared visions, the Warlocks of the Shadow Council knew that a way to leave their dying world had come at last. However, the Orcs lacked a portal to bind the worlds of Draenor and Azeroth. The Shadow Council agreed to keep the visions secret until the time was right. Many years past until, in the Human year 583, Medivh created the rift.
The Shadow Council soon expanded the rift's size in order to create a portal. Orc detachments were sent through, and scout reports confirmed that this was indeed the world of the Warlocks' visions - Azeroth. The Horde quickly erected an outpost in the strange land and began raiding Human villages. The Human farmers were caught completely in bewilderment, and their families were savagely slaughtered by the Orcish raiders.
In time, the portal corrupted the very land of Azeroth. Fertile soil turned into the foul, swamp-ridden terrain of Draenor. The climate changed as well. Human harvests failed due to unusually cold weather, and the burning sun scorched the land.
As the Orcs continued to stream through the expanding portal, the Horde began to learn of Azeroth's people. The Orcs thought them weak, and they soon planned an attack on the capital of the Azeroth nation, Stormwind Keep.
The Horde Enters Azeroth
One morning, the hourglass that Medivh had presented to Prince Llane emptied. As the last grain of sand fell, a large boom thudded the gates of Stormwind. Soon, Orcs flooded the keep walls. King Wrynn hastily sent Prince Llane and Queen Varia to the safety of Northshire Abbey.
The assault upon the fortress of Stormwind proved a disasterous day for the Horde. Though the Orcish force was able to scale the walls, the Human warriors soon beat them back to the gates. As they fled, knights on horseback plowed through their disorderly ranks. Meanwhile footmen utilized tactical manuvers, flanking and decimating the bewildered Orcish troops. The battered army was eventually forced to retreat, being pushed all the way back to their outpost at the Dark Portal.
The decimating defeat at Stormwind propelled the Horde into chaos. The respected leaders of the attack, Cho'gall of the Twilight's Hammer and Kilrogg Deadeye of the Bleeding Hollow, blamed each other for the catastrophy. Soon the Horde was split into two factions in support of either cheiftain. Gul'dan recognized the danger of the Horde consuming itself whole in bloody conflict. He decided to unify the clans together under a strong leader- yet one Gul'dan could easily manipulate.
Blackhand the Destroyer of the Blackrock Clan came to the attention of Gul'dan as the perfect canidate. Utilizing his own influence and that of the Shadow Council, Gul'dan was soon able to seat Blackhand on the throne of Warchief. Order was restored to the Horde, and all the clans rallied under this mercilous new ruler. However, Gul'dan was still the one with the true power, controlling the lustful Orc through bribery and blackmail.
At the age of twenty, Llane was seated upon the throne of Azeroth. As a result of attempting to learn more about the Orcish menace, the young king soon discovered that the creatures were driven by cruelty and sadism. Reasoning did not appeal to their insatiable bloodlust. Yet, although particularly savage in combat, the Orcs lacked organization and strategy. By using this weakness of the Horde to their advantage, the Humans were able to fend off Orcish assaults for a period of several years. However, the origin of these creatures still remained a disturbing mystery to all Azerothiens.
During the tenth year of Llane's reign, Aegwyn visited the king. She pleaded with Llane to destroy Medivh before he became too powerful. Aegwyn stated that it was Medivh who brought the Orcs to Azeroth. As she suspected, the sorcerer was corrupted by demonic powers. These unnatural energies warped his mind and propelled the sorcerer into insanty. Recognizing the severe danger to the people of Azeroth, Aegwyn had regretably confronted her son. At first, she attempted to reason with the wizard. Finally, she was forced to do battle. After transfering all of her powers to Medivh so long ago, Aegwyn was easily defeated and nearly perished. After being drained of all energy left within her, Medivh banished her from his sight.
The Banishment of the Frostwolves
A few Orcs stood against Gul'dan and his new order of the Horde. Durotan, leader of the Frostwolf clan, openly opposed the Warlocks. Durotan suspected Gul'dan's purposes were corrupt and under demonic influence. He tried to convince others of this truth. However, the Warlocks' hold proved much too strong, and the Frostwolves were banished from their people's sight. Durotan's clan settled in the Alterac Mountains, befriending the native white wolves. The clan soon adapted to the harsh enviroment and took to the old, shamanistic ways of a time before the Warlocks.
Even though it meant certain death, Durotan was determined to convince other Orc leaders of Gul'dan's guilt. Durotan and his family traveled to the camp of Ogrim Doomhammer, chieftain of the Thunderlord clan. Durotan related to Doomhammer how Gul'dan had betrayed their own people for power and the purposes of the Burning Legion. Doomhammer believed his old friend and vowed to stand against Gul'dan and his dark ways. Sadly, Durotan and his mate were brutally assasinated by the dishonorable Rend and Maim, sons of Blackhand. Durotan's orcling son was left in the snow to die; however, a human man named Blackmoore found the young orc and took him to the fortress of Durnholde.
The First Great War
Shortly after Blackhand became Warchief, Medivh contacted Gul'dan again. Now that the Orcs had arrived in his realm, Medivh commanded Gul'dan to destroy Azeroth with the Horde and to place the him as its ruler. Gul'dan disregarded Medivh's orders, answering that no power or being controlled his will. Yet the dark wizard revealed to Gul'dan that the great Sagareas, leader of the Burning Legion, was entombed on this world. This was the same Daemonlord that the Guardian Aegwyn had defeated ages before. Sargareas's tomb promised unimaginable power and magic. Thus, Medivh eventually tempted Gul'dan into finally obeying his whim. Medivh would disclose the location of the tomb once the Horde had crushed Azeroth. And so, the First Great War errupted between the Humans of Azeroth and the Orcish Horde.
After the humiliating defeat at Stormwind, the Orcish forces regrouped within the Swamps of Sorrow. Over the following years, the Horde worked to fortify their position in Azeroth. Located in the Red Ridge Mountains, Blackrock Spire became the center of Horde activity. The huge black mountain contained numerous caverns and tunnels that were quite suitable for staging the Orcs' massive army. Many skirmishs began to occur across the border of Orcish and Human territory. Gradually, the Horde won larger and more significant battles. The Horde razed Grand Hamlet, while defending its Red Ridge Mountain Outposts. An even greater blow to the Humans happened when Garona, the Half-Orc, assasinated the Azerothien King Llane. She returned his severed heart to Gul'dan.
In the midst of this Orcish onslaught, a band of warriors stormed Medivh's Tower. The party hacked and slashed Medivh's body, causing the sorceror to emanate telepathic waves of trauma. Sensing Medivh was close to death, Gul'dan entered the dark wizard's mind and directly attempted to extract the location of Sargareas's tomb. However, before Gul'dan was able to ascertain the location, Medivh died at the hands of the Azerothien war band. Consequently, Gul'dan suffered a massive backlash of energy because he was linked to Medivh's mind at the time of the sorceror's mortal death. Gul'dan fell into a deep sleep, and his fellow Warlock followers guarded his comatose body.
Fulfilling his oath to Durotan, Orgrim Doomhammer seized this opportunity to take control. Doomhammer slew the WarChief Blackhand and presented his severed head to the Horde. Doomhammer accused Blackhand of being an incompetent and false leader. Doomhammer naturally assumed total command of the Horde as he rose to the position of Warchief. Ogrim's power only mutiplied as he thrust the Horde into victory. The Horde decimated Northshire Abbey, Goldshire, and Moonbrook. Finally, like a ravenous juggernaut, the Horde brought the great Keep of Stormwind down. The Humans of Azeroth had been utterly defeated.
Aftermath of the First War
When Gul'dan finally awoke, the great warlock was deeply troubled. His puppet Warchief had been slain, and Ogrim Doomhammer had achieved total control. Worse yet, Ogrim sought to discover the inner workings of the Horde. He suceeded in capturing Garona, servant to Gul'dan, toturing her until she revealed the location of the Shadow Council. Soon, Ogrim marched on Gul'dan's citadel near the ruins of Stormwind Keep. After a brief battle, Doomhammer's raiders rounded up the Warlocks of the Shadow Council. The Warchief condemned the Warlocks as traitors and accused them of consorting with demons. Thus, public executions were held for every single one.
Gul'dan was spared and taken before the Warchief. Due to his exhaustive sleep, Gul'dan was weak and drained of his powers. Thus, the warlock could not defend himself while Doomhammer questioned him extensively about the secrets of the Shadow Council. Gul'dan was forced to feign allegiance to Ogrim. The warlock accused Rend and Maim of leading a wolf rider rebellion against Doomhammer. Although the accusation had no merit, the suspicious Doomhammer disbanded the wolf raider legions. Additionally, Gul'dan created Death Knights in order to service the Horde. These abominations were souls of the twisting nether, invited back to the realm of Azeroth in order to inhabit the bodies of Azeroth's fallen knights. Doomhammer was finally pleased with Gul'dan's accomplishments and allowed him to go about his ways. However, Gul'dan solemnly pledged that he would one day make Doomhammer pay for his insolence.
The remaining Azerothiens were forced to flee their nation. Led by the valiant Lord Lothar, a great hero of the first war, the humans made their way across the Great Sea to Lordaeron. There, the refugees of Azeroth pleaded their case to King Terenas, sovereign of Lordaeron. Terenas agreed that the Orcs proved to be a great threat to all humanity. Thus, a great pact was eventually forged between the seven Human nations. The armies of these nations combined themselves into one Alliance, under the general command of Lothar himself. Admiral Daelin Proudmoore of the island nation of Kul Tiras offered his land's mighty navy. Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde was also quick to put his massive army at the Alliance's disposal. The Alliance was additionally strengthened by the stout Dwarves of Khaz Modan. The Alliance stood ready, awaiting the Orc's inevitable invasion.
However, the treacherous Lord Perenolde, ruler of Alterac, decided that the Alliance was doomed. Turning his back on his own kind, he made a secret covenant with the Horde and pledged his nation to aid in its wrath.
The Beginning of the Second War
Six years after the passing of the Azerothien exodus, the Orcs made war once again upon the Humans. The Horde constructed a mighty armada, crossing the Great Sea to the Human Kingdoms of the north. As the Orcish forces began to invade the town of Hillsbrad, King Terenas fervently sought to enlist the High Elves of Quel'Thalas into the ranks of the Alliance. In the grasslands of Alterac, the Horde ambushed a contingent of Elvish archers who were coming to survey the Orcish threat for themselves. When the Alliance freed them at Tarren Mill, the Humans finally won the trust and aid of the Silvermoon council, the ruling body of the elves. As a result, the Alliance and elvish forces were completely combined. In the sea, swift Elven destroyers became an integral part of the Alliance navy. On land, sharpshooting Elven rangers and archers provided essential support. While the Elves joined, the hearty Dwarves of Khaz Modan were already offering their services. Dwarven demolition teams proved a powerful weapon, while their smaller Feral Cousins wielded legendary Stormhammers as they rode atop fearsome Gryphons.
The Orcs gained their fair share of allies as well. Warchief Doomhammer successfully recruited the notorious Trolls of Lordaeron, age-old combatants of the Elves. The inventive Goblins also joined the Horde, providing Zeppelins and other useful inventions. And the Ogres, the hulking giants of Draenor, were enlisted into the Horde's ranks as massive warriors. The sons of Blackhand, Rend and Meim, also masterminded the capture of the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. The Warlock Nekros Skullcrusher used the Demon Soul, Deathwing's treacherous artifact, to bring the queen to his mercy. Bound by adamantinium steel, she was tortured and kept hostage. As her eggs hatched, the Orcs used the deadly Dragon whelps in the Horde's service.
Following a series of successive naval victories at Southshore and Zul'dare, the Alliance was able to push the Horde out of Lordaeron. However, danger lurked in the Elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas...
The Final Quest of Gul'dan
Gul'dan, the powerful Orchish warlock, was lured to Quel'Thalas by a fabled elven artifact, the Runestone at Caer Darrow. Ages ago, ancient elven druids had constructed the monolith and inscribed the rock with magical runes of protection. The Runestone was heavily guarded on a fortified island in Darrowmere Lake. Even so, Gul'dan invaded the island and took possession of the Elven relic. The warlock then ordered the Runestone cut into slabs and constructed into unholy altars. These warped and desecrated slabs of the Runestone gave life to the fearsome Ogre Magi.
With the fall of Caer Darrow, the war again took root in the North. The Horde gained a firm grip on much of Quel'Thalas, and Human supply lines to the Elven kingdom were cut. Stratholme, the Alliance's chief source of oil in the region, was eradicated by the Orchish navy. Destroyers and Juggernaughts blasted its oil platforms and refineries. Only a handful of Elven and Human defenders remained in Quel'Thalas after Stratholme. In short time, they too died out and Quel'Thalas fell to the Horde.
While Doomhammer focused his attention on the conquest of Quel'Thalas, Gul'dan and his Stormweaver Clan utilized the distraction to secretly set off on the warlock's quest for the Tomb of the Daemonlord Sagaeras. Cho'gall, the respected Ogre Mage, and the Twilight's Hammer Clan accompanied Gul'dan in his treachery. Gul'dan managed to raise the volcanic island on which Sagareas's Tomb rests from the sea. The warlock then opened the Tomb, setting the great Lord of the Burning Legion free. Shortly afterward, a furious Doomhammer learned of Gul'dan's betrayal. The Warchief ordered the immediate obliteration of the Stormweaver and Twilight's Hammer. Doomhammer's warriors returned successfully with the head of Gul'dan.
The Bell Tolls for the Alliance
In time, the tide of the war turned. The Alliance, aided by the holy Paladin warriors, began liberating much of occupied Quel'Thalas. The Knights of the Silver Hand rode through the country and drove out the Orcish menace. Soon Quel'Thalas was once again in the hands of the Alliance, however at great cost. Much of the Elven kingdom was destroyed and lost forever.
The devious Lord Perenolde of Alterac betrayed the Alliance, making good on his secret compact with the Horde. The ambush on the Elvenarchers near Tarren Mill was the result of Alterac spies. Similarly, Alterac agents incited rebellions in Alliance lands such as the one at Tyr's Hand. Alterac ships also attempted to kill Uther Lightbringer, leader of the Paladins and chief assistant of Archbishop Alonsus Faol, when traveling to Caer Darrow. Once these facts were revealed to King Terenas, an immediate assault on Alterac's capital was launched. After a brief battle, the Alliance promptly occupied the capital city and nation. With the loss of its Human ally, the Horde launched a massive retreat back to Azeroth. As the Horde fled, the Alliance devastated much of the Orcs' fleet at Crestfall. Gnomish Submarines aided in destroying many ships before they could escape to the Azeroth's northern shores. The Horde had been dealt a terrific blow, and it seemed only a matter of time before they were wiped from the lands.
The Alliance mobilized in preparation for an assault on Azeroth to end the Orcish threat once and for all. Lord Lothar attempted a meeting with the WarChief Doomhammer. However, the parley proved to be an ambush. Orcs and Ogres tore Lothar and his party asunder. Among the few survivors was the great Paladin Turalyon. Furious at the death of their commander, the Alliance under Admiral Proudmoore assaulted the Orcs' chief center of operations, Blackrock Spire. After an intense battle, the mountain fortress finally fell to the sword of the Alliance. Azeroth was finally free but for the Orcs' last stronghold, The Dark Portal. However, that too quickly fell to the advancing Alliance. The Archmage Khadgar used his magiks to destroy the portal, and quiet settled over the Black Morass. The Alliance rounded up the surviving Orcs, and placed them into camps. However, Kilrog Deadeye's Bleeding Hollow Clan evaded the Human scouts. His clan disappeared into the wild as it fled Northeast.
One Unaccounted For
With the defeat of the Warsong clan at Grim Batol, there remained just one orcish clan at large. The wizened orc chieftain, Kilrogg Deadeye had lead his clan deep into the recesses of the Black Morass. There they remained, dodging the best efforts of the vengeful elven rangers. Warchief Doomhammer had been taken prisoner at the battle of the Dark Portal and was brought to the court of King Terenas as an honored prisoner.
The problem of the Orc Horde had looked to be solved. No longer pressed with their survival at stake, the human alliance began to show some weaknesses. The rulers of Stromgarde and Gilneas disagreed with the Lordaeron's plan to place the Orcs in internment camps. It was only the newly reclaimed nation of Azeroth and the young king Varien Wrynn who would stand with Lordaeron after Stromgarde and Gilneas withdrew their support.
Although the Dark Portal had been destroyed by the Archmage Khadgar, the scar of the rift remained. It hung like an eye over the Black Morass. The Kirin Tor, the mages that comprised ruling body of Dalaran, set to work constructing a fortress to stand guard over this rift in reality. So it was that the Citadel of Nethergarde was built to act as Azeroth's new Guardian.
Then on a summer's eve, an inky darkness engulfed the Black Morass. The mages of Nethergarde sought in vain to pierce the freak darkness and discover its source. The only piece of information that they could gather was that the rift was growing once more. The sounds of an army, hundreds strong could be heard nearby, the crashing of the column's armor and the shrieks of the dragon whelps were clearly audible through the darkness. When the column had passed through the rift, the only thing that remained was a insidious whisper on the wind. "We will return…"
The Second Great War was not quite over.
Deathwing's Ruse
With the destruction of Alterac and the liberation of Azeroth, peace at last returned to the Northern lands. However, bitter resentment within the Alliance errupted. The Horde was no longer a threat, and so the leaders of the human nations questioned the Alliance's usefulness and worth. In addition, every nation wanted a stake in the conquered lands of Alterac, which betrayed the Alliance during the first stages of the Second War.
As the Alliance bickered within itself, Deathwing, the treacherous black dragon, claimed allegiance to neither side of the war. Instead, he sought to bring only destruction and chaos to the land. His dream was to eradicate all existance, leaving only himself and his select few to rule Azeroth. He killed Human, Orc, and Elf with equal hatred. However, he took special pleasure in disposing of other dragons not of his own ilk.
The cunning and powerful dragon hatched a scheme to accomplish his vision of a lifeless world. He assumed human form as a valiant noble, Lord Prestor. Through bewitchment and sorcery, Prestor was able to convince the Alliance leaders of the solution to the Alterac situation - place him as king. If the Aspect of Chaos was to gain this position, he could create havoc amongst the races and propel them into total war. Only the wizards of Dalaran with the help of Krasus, the human form of the red dragon Korialstrasz, saw through his magic. As such, Deathwing worked to turn the Alliance against the Kirin Tor. His dark influence infiltrated as high as King Terenas of Lordaeron, placing the helpless man under a mind spell.
The dark dragon also engineered the enslavement of Alexstrasza by the Orcs, making sure that the Demon Soul found its way into the Horde's hands. Even though the curse that banished Deathwing from ever using the golden disc still held, it possesed no protection against allowing the dark one to manipulate others in wielding it. Since Deathwing had no more of his own flight left, he wished the Horde to breed Alexstrasza's dragons. Eventually, he planned to steal the Horde's dragon eggs away and create his own following of evil kin.
The End of the Second War
Meanwhile, the Second War was coming to a close. The main battle shifted to Khaz Modan where the Horde was attempting to invade the North on foot. Fortunately, the valiant heroes of Kul Tiras and Stromgarde met the Orcish beasts head on at the ancient Dwarven city of Dun Modr. Although the rapaging Horde decimated the surrounding populace, the Alliance forces were once again sucessful in routing the onslaught. The Orcs were forced to retreat south across the Thandol Valley to Dun Algaz, a secondary outpost. Wasting no time for the Orcs to rest and regroup, the knights of the Alliance rode without delay to Dun Algaz. There, the Human warriors fought hard and cut down the fleeing Orcs. With the destruction of Dun Algaz only one Orcish stronghold remained in Khaz Modan, Grim Batol.
In an effort to end the Horde's breeding capibilites, the Kirin Tor decided to free Alexstrasza at Grim Batol. Through the suggestion of Krasus, they sent Rhonin the rogue mage to accomplish the task. Falstad, a Dwarvern warrior, and Vereesa, an Elven ranger, accompanied Rhonin on this imperative journey.
Meanwhile, Alexstrasza was held captive under the watch of the warlock Nekros Skullcrusher.
Grim Batol was the primary base of the Horde's operations in the Dwarven lands. As such Lord Lothar ordered the infiltration of the base. After an intense battle, the Humans stood victorious and the Orcs were forced to abandon Khaz Modan.
The orc warlock, Nekros Skullcrusher, used the disk to imprison Alexstrasza- just as Deathwing had foreseen. The warlock kept her in a state of constant pain and created a fiery golem to guard her chamber.
Finally, all the great dragon Aspects confronted Deathwing. However, all four combined were still no match for the black leviathian. Most of the Aspects strength and power remained trapped in the demon soul, and thus, they were only mere shadows of their former selves. The Aspect's life energies were finally restored when the disk was destroyed by the human mage Rhonin with a talon of Deathwing. Only then, were the Aspects able to defeat the treacherous Deathwing.
A New Attack
The orc clans were now led by the elder shaman Ner'zhul. He commissioned the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow clans to make lightning raids into the world of Azeroth once more and retrieve the magical artifacts that he would require to open new rifts and new portals.
However, while the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow worked on finding and returning the magical artifacts to Ner'Zhul, the Alliance mobilized. After recruiting the mercenary Danath, the Elven ranger Alleria, the proud paladin Turalyon, and the Dwarven legend Kurdran, the master mage Khadgar led an expeditionary force into the rift and onto the red skied world of Draenor in an attempt to end the Horde's threat once and for all.
While heroic, the expeditionary force proved to be unable to stop Ner'Zhul from creating numerous new rifts to the twisting nether. As the Alliance closed in on Ner'Zhul, he abandoned his loyal bodyguards to suffer the dead throes of Draenor and he and his followers escaped into the new rifts. Khadgar had no choice but to work feverishly to seal off the rift to Azeroth or else see Azeroth suffer Draenor's fate. As Khadgar worked to close the rift, the remaining heroes held out against an entire planet's wrath. When he had finished and stranded himself and all those you had followed him to Draenor, they lept into one of the remaining rifts and have not been heard from since.
No Escape for Ner'Zhul
Ner'Zhul is not adept at escaping as he might have liked. He is captured within the twisting nether and made to pay for his failures. His body slowly ripped apart, his spirit was kept captured by the demon lord Kil'Jaedan. Denied death as an escape, Kil'Jaedan set Ner'Zhul's spirit captured within the frozen throne back to the world of Azeroth.
On Azeroth, the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow clans were stranded by the destruction of the rift. The Warsong clan headed to the hills to escape capture. The Bleeding Hollow clan was not so lucky. They were rounded up and joined their brethren in the internment camps around Durnholde.
The Lord of the Clans
In the closing days of the First Great War, a Lt. Blackmoore had discovered an Orc infant alone in the woods surrounded by his murdered parents. He rescued the Orc infant, named him Thrall, and brought him back to the fortress stronghold where he gave over his well being to a trusted servant's family. The older child in this family befriended Thrall and while Thrall was eventually trained in the gladiatorial rings, Taretha smuggled Thrall literature. She would eventually help him escape his confinement at Durnholde.
Once Thrall escaped Durnholde he began a search for his people and to recapture his cultural identity. Captured and sent to an internment camp, Thrall had his first experience with the lethargy that had sucked the Horde's will to fight. It was also here that Thrall gets his first taste of what his culture is and what it had become. His visit is cut short however as Blackmoore comes to the camp seeking Thrall.
Thrall next seeks out Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan. He stumbles on an Orc hunting party and is taken for an audience with the legendary chieftain. Thrall passes the first of two trials, besting three orc warriors. In the second trial he refuses to kill an unarmed human child, risking the wrath of the clan. It is at this moment that Grom makes his appearance and is struck my Thrall's knowledge of mercy. Grom accepts Thrall and teachs him more about his culture.
When the noose again begins to close in around Thrall, he bids the Warsong goodbye and heads to the Alterac Mountains where Grom has told him his own clan might still survive. With that, Thrall heads off to find the Frostwolf clan. The Frostwolves had been exiled from the Horde for speaking out against the direction that Shadow council and Gul'dan had sought. Thrall's journey to the mountains nearly ends with him frozen to death on the mountainside.
Brought to one of the last remaining shamans of the Horde, Thrall learns of his parents and about the way of the shaman from Drek'Thar. He is the first shaman accepted by the five spirits in decades, the shamanistic spirits angered by the Orc's nation turn to the warlock arts. As spring approached, Thrall encounters a disguised Orgimm Doomhammer and challenges him as a matter of honor. Doomhammer is impressed with the young chieftain and takes him as his second in command.
Doomhammer, Hellscream, and Thrall work to free and revitalize the Orcs caught within the internment camps. When Doomhammer is felled in battle with a squad of knights, he bestows on Thrall the mantle of leadership. The new Warchief takes the armor and warhammer that signified Doomhammer's station as his own. Revitalized and reenergized, the Horde marched on the source of their pain, the fortress of Durnholde.
Taretha was overjoyed that Thrall had returned and snuck out covertly to speak with him. On her return she was discovered by Blackmoore. The drunken lord of Durnholde had his mistress beheaded and tossed her head at Thrall's feet when Thrall came to parley. Enraged, Thrall had his forces raze the fortress. After letting the human refugees escape the ruined fotress, Thrall called on the earth itself to swallow Durnholde.
The Return of the Shaman
Ner'Zhul had landed back on Azeroth in the wastelands of Northrend. Within the frozen reaches of Northrend, Ner'Zhul began to recruit a new army, a scourge to unleash on the rest of Azeroth. His undead minions conquered the ancient kingdom of Ajol-Nerub. The combined might of his undead minions swelled with the addition of the spiderous people of Northrend.
Meanwhile Ner'Zhul had crafted the mighty runeblade Frostmourne and set it as a trap to again find corporal form. He recruited a mighty mage of the Kirin Tor, Kel'Thuzad by luring him to Northrend with promises of power and control over the necromantic arts. The archmage Kel'Thuzad, strengthened by his training under the Lich King returned to Lordaeron as the head of the Cult of the Damned, a foul organization dedicated to furthering the Scrouge's agenda.
For the Scrouge were to be the pre-cursor to another demonic invasion of Azeroth and the man sent to hunt them would become ensnared in a brutal trap.
The Corruption of a Prince
Although Sir Uther the Lightbringer had been widely considered one of humanity's greatest generals, he had been unsuccessful at pinning down a suddenly resurgent and wily horde in the wilds of Lordaeron. His attention thus divided, it fell upon King Teneras's son Prince Arthas to undertake a mission of discovering what the plague in the northern reaches of Lordearon might pretense.
After being joined by Jaina Proudmoore, a promising mage of noble birth, Arthas struck off to discover what the danger was. It was shortly afterwards that Arthas and Jaina began to track the Cult of Damned through blighted grain shipments and the work of the archmage turned necromancer Kel'Thuzad.
After cornering Kel'Thuzad in the town of Andorhal, Arthas struck him down. It was shortly thereafter that Arthas came face to face with the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis. Arthas was consumed by vengeance and began an ill-fated hunt for the scheming Dreadlord. His rage finally pushed him over the edge when he attempted to disband the Paladin Order of the Silver Hand and slaughter many villagers that he believed where doomed after consuming the blighted grain. His hands steeped in blood, both Jaina and Uther turned their backs on him. Arthas, still blinded by his desire for vengeance on the Dreadlord, built a fleet and sailed north to Northrend to seek him out.
Once on Northrend, Arthas was surprised to come upon his childhood mentor, the Dwarven Mountain Thane Muradin Bronzebeard. Ordered home by his father, Arthas destroyed his own fleet in order to strand his men. In a further sign of his new depravity, he blamed the foul act on his own hired henchmen and killed them in cold blood.
Stranded and surrounded, Muradin suggested the perhaps the only way to escape was with the power of a rumored runeblade, the Frostmourne. Once again, Arthas has only the goal of killing his Dreadlord opponent on his mind, all other concerns are mere obstacles to be overcome to him. His quest for the Frostmourne results in the death of his childhood instructor, but Arthas is undeterred and takes up the Frostmourne, the power of the Lich King is channeled through the blade and Arthas is remade.
Prodigal Son Returns
Arthas makes his return to Lordaeron. Upon his return, his father is overjoyed to see what he thought had been his lost son. Unfortunately, that joy is short-lived as Arthas slays his father at his audience as his father came to embrace him. Arthas then set about the work of the Lich King in Lordaeron. He recovered the ashes of his earlier nemesis, Kel'Thuzad.
Confronted a final time by the last of his childhood mentors, Uther Lightbringer, Arthas releases whatever shred of humanity he had left. Arthas kills Uther and takes the urn of his father's ashes for the remains of Kel'Thuzad. Thus the great King Teneras, founder of the Lordaeron Alliance that protected Azeroth from the Orc Horde, had his remains scattered to the winds by his son.
Orcs Across the Ocean
Meanwhile Medivh had appeared to Thrall and implored him to move his people across the great sea to the continent of Kalimdor. The journey was hazardous and some of the Horde's ships where lost on the seas and in the Maelstorm. Upon reaching the shores of this new continent, Thrall encountered a shamanistic society of large half bull/half men. There was an instant liking of the Orcs and the Taurens. The Taurens represented to the Orcs the life that they were seeking to recover and the Orcs were a source of strength the the plain dwelling Tauren.
After accompanying the Tauren tribe to some safer lands and helping to protect them from the rampaging centaur tribes of the Barrens, Thrall finally met up again with his fellow chieftain Grom Hellscream. The meeting was not as welcoming as it might have been however. Grom and the Warsong had tasted the demonic influence in the air and were beginning to revert back to the days of bloodlust and endless war that had characterized the days of Gul'Dan, Blackhand and Ner'Zhul.
Upset by his friends action against the human refugees they found on Kalimdor, Thrall gave Grom duties towards the rear of the action collecting lumber for the Horde's reconstruction. Grom unwittingly disturbed a race of warrior women elves. Their anger at the Orc's deforestation was answered by the mighty demigod Cenarious, who came from his secluded glade to wage war on Grom Hellscream's clan. The Warsong clan was hard pressed by this new Night Elf threat and in an effort to protect his people, Grom sacrificed himself once again to the demonic energies offered by the Burning Legion.
An Ageless Champion Slain
Empowered once again by the blood of the demon lord Mannoroth, Grom and his clan struck out at the Night Elf defenders, surprised and defeated the demigod Cenarious. Unfortunately the cost was high. Grom and the rest of the Warsong were once again the minions of the Burning Legion.
The Battle for Quel'Thalas
In Lordaeron, Arthas was guided by the spirit of Kel'Thurzad to journey deep into the high elven homelands of Quel'Thalas. The undead scourage, driven to a frenzy by the leadership of the new Death Knight, Prince Arthas broke down the Elvengates that protected Quel'Thalas and would eventually pour unchecked into the city of Silvermoon itself. Arthas, after having been rebuffed by a High Elven Ranger Slyanous, extracts revenge. He channels the power of the Lich King through the runeblade Frostmourne to bind her spirit to the Lich King in servitude forever.
Once the sunwell of Silvermoon was secured, Arthas uses this ancient magic to reconstruct Kel'Thurzad as a Lich. One one fell swoop, Arthas not only deprives the High Elves of their source for magic, he reincarnates the Archmage Kel'Thurzad to serve the Lich King once more.
The ruined high elf homeland behind them, Arthas and Kel'Thurzad head for the magical city of Dalaran. It is here that the mages of Azeroth have joined to make a stand against the undead scourge. Although they had constructed powerful magical shields, Arthas is determined to see this city fall. After breaking through the magical protections of Dalaran, Kel'Thurzad begins the summoning of the great demon lord Archimondes.
Falling meteors and demonic energy herald Archimondes coming. Once his form is completely summoned, he constructs a spell that shatters the great city of the Kirin Dor and their high tower, the violet citadel.
Reclaiming Grom Hellscream
In Kalimdor, Thrall is distraught at the lost of his friend Grom. He undertakes a search for the Oracle with Caine, the Tauren chieftain. His journey to the Oracle is unexpectedly also the destination of Jaina Proudmoore, who has led what humans will follow her to Kalimdor as well. It is deep with the the Stonetalon mountains that an unusual alliance is struck to free Grom from Mannoroth's grasp. Following a desperate assault, Grom is captured within a soulstone and the humans and orcs work some magic to free him from the corrupting influence of Mannoroth.
Once freed, Grom confesses to Thrall that the demonic curse long suffered by the Orc clans was self inflicted. The orc chieftains for old had sacrificed their people for the power promised by Mannoroth. They had drank willingly and with open eyes from his demon blood. Thrall is outraged and together the two of them go off to stalk the demon lord. A titanic battle ensues and in the resulting melee, Grom strikes a death blow on the demon lord. The resulting release of energy critically wounds the old chieftain and he dies in the arms of his little brother, released at last from the bloodlust curse.
Invasion of Kalimdor
Control of the undead scourge is given over to the burning legion and the invasion of Kalimdor begins in earnest. As the demons and undead approach the glens of Ashenwood, the Night Elf sentinels, set long ago to watch for this threat, mobilize to meet it. By awakening the great druids from the emerald dream, the Night Elf nation moves against the undead menace. The threat is great, and the Night Elf leader, Tyrande Whisperwind makes the decision that even those who had been imprisoned would be needed for this fight. So it is that Illidan is freed from his underground prison, 10,000 years after creating a second well of eternity from a vial of the first. In a crucial battle, Illidan seeks the skull of Gul'Dan and consumes it to increase his power to fight the Burning Legion.
Discovering their numbers to be too few to deal with this threat, the sage Archdruid Malfurion works a plan to lure Archimonde into his trap. Layering the world tree with mystical energy, he calls upon the spirits of the forest to renew the Burning Legion's general and with a cataclysmic explosion, both the spirits, the world tree, and the demon lord are consumed. Only the roots of the great tree survive.
Orgimmar, the new nation.
Settling on the outskirts of the Barrens, a region in Kalimdor, Warchief Thrall has found the nation of Orgrimmar on the eastern beaches, across the Echo Isles. The Capital City, Durotar, named after his great father Durotan, former Cheif of the Frost Wolf Clan, is still being built. Several raids by Quillboars and Thunder Lizards have made it hard to expand, but the native trolls of the DarkSpear Tribe, lead by Vol'jin, a powerful witch doctor, have aided in the survival of the new Orcish nation, free of the Blood Curse and of the demons.
The First Invasion
Azeroth is but one world in a universe filled with infinite realms and realities. These realms are bound together by the chilling void that is the Twisting Nether, an inter-dimensional region inhabited by the damned spirits of the dead. The demon army known to most as the Burning Legion also dwells within this sanctum between worlds. The Legion is comprised of horrific creatures and unimaginable terrors from numerous charred worlds. Legend says that the Eredar, leaders of the Legion, destroyed their own dimension, releasing magic throughout all creation. Ever since, its demonic army has been forever cursed to pillage world after world in an insatiable lust for raw, magical power.
Nearly ten thousand years ago, in a time before any mortal race ever existed, Dragons ruled Azeroth. These majestic beasts guarded their world's magic and beauty, enjoying the life that was theirs. However, a new race awoke on the continent of Kalimdor. This race became known as the Night Elves, dark and shadowy beings, who were immortal like the Dragons. Yet the elves were clearly not as wise as the serpeant behemoths, for they aggressively and rashly delved into the study of primative magic. Due to their recklessness, they inadvertently set magic loose throughout Azeroth, attracting the dreadful demons.
Thus did the Burning Legion first descend upon the world of Azeroth with a force equal to that of a thousand Orcish Hordes. A great battle of gigantic proportions ensued to protect the magical essence of the world. The Dragons aided the Night Elves in order to drive out the infernal invaders. The Demon Soul was created, a golden disk imbued with each Dragon's life energies and powers. The ancient, winged beasts used the disk to banish the demons from their world. However, the demonic invasion was not without consequence. Many Dragons and Night Elves perished throughout the course of the titanic war. Moreover, the very surface of Azeroth was permanently scared, for the greater eastern land mass of Kalimdor sank beneath the sea. The Night Elves, horrified at the ferocity of the demons, vowed to never use magic again in order to ensure the Legion would never return. They concealed themselves from the world, preferring to live in seclusion atop their sacred mountain Hyjal.
Meanwhile, a terrible civil war erupted between the Dragons. Deathwing, the Aspect of chaos, betrayed the other flights, using the Demon Soul against all Dragons not of his own ilk. This dark Dragon had secretly evaded channeling any of his powers into the disk when it was first made. Thus, all Dragons save the dark one were especially vulnerable to the Demon Soul, as long as their life energies were bonded to the artifact. The battle was brutal, causing the extinction of several flights. Finally, all the breeds of Dragons banded together against Deathwing, cursing the dreaded dragon to never wield the Demon Soul again. Still, the Dragon War continued.
The Mortal Races Awaken
Soon, new races emerged into world. However, unlike the Dragons and Night Elves, these races had hurried, minute lifespans. Before long, each race established its own identity, naming themselves Dwarf, Troll, Tauren, Gnome, and Human. Sometime afterwards, a small band of Night Elves, who refused to give up their precious magic, were exiled from Kalimdor. They traveled to the eastern lands where they founded the kingdom of Quel'Thalas and began to refer to themselves as High Elves. In time, even these High Elves began to transform into mortals, although they retained their extended longevity.
Unfortunately, peace between these five new races did not last long. Upon arriving in Quel'Thalas, the High Elves were consistently besieged by Troll warbands. A constant state of war immediately broke out between these two races. Meanwhile, the industrious Humans, known for impatience and action, were quickly expanding their territories. The Human Empire of Arathor was founded in Lordaeron around 2,900 BDP.
By 2,700 BDP the High Elves and Trolls had been battling for nearly 3,300 years. The tide of war had shifted in the Troll's favor, and the High Elves were now on the verge of defeat. Thus, the elves sought the help of the Humans of Arathor. In exchange for their aid, the High Elves agreed to teach the Humans in the ways of magic. The Elven and Human armies together wiped out the majority of Trolls in Lordaeron. As Humans learned the magic of the High Elves, some began to use it carelessly. Due to this folly, agents of the Burning Legion were able to penetrate into Azeroth. In order to protect the races and the world, the Order of Tirisfal was founded. The Order was comprised of Guardians that wielded incredible power. They were charged with the duty of fighting a secret war, one hidden from the masses of men, against the evils of the Burning Legion.
After 1,700 years of power, Arathor divided into seven sovereign nations -Azeroth, Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Kul Tiras, Gilneas, Dalaran, and Alterac- due to over-expansion and domestic troubles.
The Birth of Medivh
Two-thousand and five hundred years after the Order of Trisfal was first founded, the Guardian Aegwyn battled the Daemonlord Sargeras, the ruler of the Burning Legion. In the end, Aegwyn managed to defeat Sargeras and entomb him under the north sea, off the coast of the Human Kingdom of Azeroth. However, upon the Daemonlord Sargeras's defeat, the great Daemon secretly bonded his malevolent spirit with that of Aegwyn's unborn child.
Eventually, it came time for Aegwyn to pass on her title as Guardian. She choose the Azerothien Conjurer Nielas Aran as the perfect mate and father for her son. And so in the fall of the Human year 559, Aegwyn gave birth to Medivh. The Guardian transferred all of her power and knowledge into the young child, burying it deep within him so that the Trisfal magic would only resurface when Medivh reached adolescence. Aegwyn then left Medivh in the care of the Azerothien court, keeping a remote yet observant eye on her son.
King Wrynn III, sovereign of the Azeroth Nation, governed his kingdom justly, bringing peace and prosperity to the lands of his people. Accordingly, the King and his subjects were overjoyed when his wife, Lady Varia, gave birth to prince Llane in the Human year 564.
Under the guidance of his father Aran, Medivh was soon expected to achieve the title of Apprentice Conjurer to the Court. However, upon his thirteenth birthday, the powerful magiks of Trisfal awakened. Untold power and energy channeled through his young body, causing Medivh to suffer an incredible psychic trauma. Reaching as far as Northsire Abbey, a great magical backlash errupted from Medivh's very being. Over a hundred clerics from the Abbey rushed to the boy's aid. Only the combined power of those clerics and the Conjurer Aran were enough to hold the energies of Medivh. After many hours, the Conjurer dropped dead to the ground, and Medivh fell into a deep sleep.
King Wrynn III and Alonsus Faol, the Abbot of Northshire, agreed to move the unconcious Medivh to the Abbey. There, the Northsire clerics kept Medivh under constant watch and care. Six years passed, marking Prince Llane's Age of Acension to adulthood. During Llane's official ceremony to commemorate his Acension, Medivh arrived atop a great bird. The sorceror, now a man, greeted the prince and offered his blessings. Medivh explained that he had woke from his long sleep and gained control of his powers. As a token of Medivh's good will, he presented a magical hourglass to the Court. Although sand ran freely through the hourglass, neither the top or bottom would empty or fill. Medivh explained that the glass represented the people of Azeroth and that the kingdom would always stand until the glass emptied.
Although stripped of her powers, Aegwyn watched her son's return with suspicion. Despite Medivh's apparent friendliness, the former Guardian knew that some malevolent power had perversely corrupted him.
The Orcish Curse
Although the Burning Legion was banished from Azeroth and its leader entombed, the Demons still sought to wreak havoc on the hated world. The Infernal creatures formed a cunning yet simple plan. The Legion would corrupt an entire race of beings and indirectly force that race to invade Azeroth. This indirect invasion would create chaos in preparation for the Legion's inevitable return. Thus, the Burning Legion cast its great curse over the Orcs. Dwelling within the mires and swamps on the red world of Draenor, the Orcs followed the ways of an honorable society. Shamans guided the Orcs, worshiping the spirits of the elements and hunting in the forests of Draenor. However, the curse turned these honorable tribal peoples into frenzied beasts with an incredible blood lust. Meanwhile, Shamans began to practice the Dark Magiks, refering to themselves now as Warlocks. Soon, the various Orcish clans rallied together in an unstoppable Horde under the shadowy Warlocks.
Additionally, the Daemon Kil'jaeden, infernal apprentice to the Daemonlord Sargeras, contacted a promising Orcish Warlock named Gul'dan across the Twisting Nether. Kil'jaeden took Gul'dan under his tutelage, and the Daemon assisted the young warlock in becoming exceptionally powerful. Soon, Gul'dan even surpassed his Orcish teacher Ner'zhul in the dark magiks. It was during this apprenticeship with Kil'jaeden that Gul'dan first began to contact the spirits of the dead and to comprehend the chilling mysteries of the Twisting Nether. Gul'dan agreed to obey the whims of the demon in exchange for power.
The Horde ravaged Draenor, eliminating and subjigating all other races and life. The conquest of the Dranei people was as brutal as it was swift, and soon only the clans of the Horde remained. With no common enemy, it did not take long for the clans to errupt in bloody disputes. Those who did attempt a rise to power were quickly slaughtered by the crestfallen Horde. It was in this desperate time that Gul'dan decided to act. The powerful warlock formed the Shadow Council, a secretive order of necromancy and magic. The Shadow Council furtively took control of the inner workings of the Horde, unbeknownst to the majority of Orcs. The council used their powers to bring order to the Horde and pacify its hunger for battle. They promised an escape from the stagnant world of Draenor.
The Rift Appears
It was at this time that a great presence reached out, touching many Warlocks within the Horde. Oddly, this presence made no attempt to contact Gul'dan, greatest in the Orc Magiks. Thus, the Warlock sought guidance with his teacher, Kil'jaeden. The Daemon could only tell Gul'dan that this awesome presence had also touched him and that it radiated power beyond anything he had ever experienced. Gul'dan began to probe the Twisting Nether, searching for this mysterious power. Finally, the Presence contacted Gul'dan. At first, the Shadow Council leader was overcome with fear; however, when his senses were gathered, Gul'dan began to communicate with the unknown being. The entity told Gul'dan that he was known as Medivh, a sorceror from a far-off world. Gul'dan sensed that although unimaginably potent, Medivh lacked control of his power.
During these contacts, Medivh probed Gul'dan's mind, learning about the Orcs and their world. Gul'dan was never able to learn as much from Medivh, and he soon broke contact. Gul'dan attempted to seek counsel with his master Kil'jaeden, but he recieved no answer to the summons. Apparently Medivh's power was so great that even this great Daemon feared him.
Medivh reached out again in the Orcish Warlocks' and Gul'dan's dreams. The powerful sorceror flashed by images... of a fertile land... and a proud people. Excited by these shared visions, the Warlocks of the Shadow Council knew that a way to leave their dying world had come at last. However, the Orcs lacked a portal to bind the worlds of Draenor and Azeroth. The Shadow Council agreed to keep the visions secret until the time was right. Many years past until, in the Human year 583, Medivh created the rift.
The Shadow Council soon expanded the rift's size in order to create a portal. Orc detachments were sent through, and scout reports confirmed that this was indeed the world of the Warlocks' visions - Azeroth. The Horde quickly erected an outpost in the strange land and began raiding Human villages. The Human farmers were caught completely in bewilderment, and their families were savagely slaughtered by the Orcish raiders.
In time, the portal corrupted the very land of Azeroth. Fertile soil turned into the foul, swamp-ridden terrain of Draenor. The climate changed as well. Human harvests failed due to unusually cold weather, and the burning sun scorched the land.
As the Orcs continued to stream through the expanding portal, the Horde began to learn of Azeroth's people. The Orcs thought them weak, and they soon planned an attack on the capital of the Azeroth nation, Stormwind Keep.
The Horde Enters Azeroth
One morning, the hourglass that Medivh had presented to Prince Llane emptied. As the last grain of sand fell, a large boom thudded the gates of Stormwind. Soon, Orcs flooded the keep walls. King Wrynn hastily sent Prince Llane and Queen Varia to the safety of Northshire Abbey.
The assault upon the fortress of Stormwind proved a disasterous day for the Horde. Though the Orcish force was able to scale the walls, the Human warriors soon beat them back to the gates. As they fled, knights on horseback plowed through their disorderly ranks. Meanwhile footmen utilized tactical manuvers, flanking and decimating the bewildered Orcish troops. The battered army was eventually forced to retreat, being pushed all the way back to their outpost at the Dark Portal.
The decimating defeat at Stormwind propelled the Horde into chaos. The respected leaders of the attack, Cho'gall of the Twilight's Hammer and Kilrogg Deadeye of the Bleeding Hollow, blamed each other for the catastrophy. Soon the Horde was split into two factions in support of either cheiftain. Gul'dan recognized the danger of the Horde consuming itself whole in bloody conflict. He decided to unify the clans together under a strong leader- yet one Gul'dan could easily manipulate.
Blackhand the Destroyer of the Blackrock Clan came to the attention of Gul'dan as the perfect canidate. Utilizing his own influence and that of the Shadow Council, Gul'dan was soon able to seat Blackhand on the throne of Warchief. Order was restored to the Horde, and all the clans rallied under this mercilous new ruler. However, Gul'dan was still the one with the true power, controlling the lustful Orc through bribery and blackmail.
At the age of twenty, Llane was seated upon the throne of Azeroth. As a result of attempting to learn more about the Orcish menace, the young king soon discovered that the creatures were driven by cruelty and sadism. Reasoning did not appeal to their insatiable bloodlust. Yet, although particularly savage in combat, the Orcs lacked organization and strategy. By using this weakness of the Horde to their advantage, the Humans were able to fend off Orcish assaults for a period of several years. However, the origin of these creatures still remained a disturbing mystery to all Azerothiens.
During the tenth year of Llane's reign, Aegwyn visited the king. She pleaded with Llane to destroy Medivh before he became too powerful. Aegwyn stated that it was Medivh who brought the Orcs to Azeroth. As she suspected, the sorcerer was corrupted by demonic powers. These unnatural energies warped his mind and propelled the sorcerer into insanty. Recognizing the severe danger to the people of Azeroth, Aegwyn had regretably confronted her son. At first, she attempted to reason with the wizard. Finally, she was forced to do battle. After transfering all of her powers to Medivh so long ago, Aegwyn was easily defeated and nearly perished. After being drained of all energy left within her, Medivh banished her from his sight.
The Banishment of the Frostwolves
A few Orcs stood against Gul'dan and his new order of the Horde. Durotan, leader of the Frostwolf clan, openly opposed the Warlocks. Durotan suspected Gul'dan's purposes were corrupt and under demonic influence. He tried to convince others of this truth. However, the Warlocks' hold proved much too strong, and the Frostwolves were banished from their people's sight. Durotan's clan settled in the Alterac Mountains, befriending the native white wolves. The clan soon adapted to the harsh enviroment and took to the old, shamanistic ways of a time before the Warlocks.
Even though it meant certain death, Durotan was determined to convince other Orc leaders of Gul'dan's guilt. Durotan and his family traveled to the camp of Ogrim Doomhammer, chieftain of the Thunderlord clan. Durotan related to Doomhammer how Gul'dan had betrayed their own people for power and the purposes of the Burning Legion. Doomhammer believed his old friend and vowed to stand against Gul'dan and his dark ways. Sadly, Durotan and his mate were brutally assasinated by the dishonorable Rend and Maim, sons of Blackhand. Durotan's orcling son was left in the snow to die; however, a human man named Blackmoore found the young orc and took him to the fortress of Durnholde.
The First Great War
Shortly after Blackhand became Warchief, Medivh contacted Gul'dan again. Now that the Orcs had arrived in his realm, Medivh commanded Gul'dan to destroy Azeroth with the Horde and to place the him as its ruler. Gul'dan disregarded Medivh's orders, answering that no power or being controlled his will. Yet the dark wizard revealed to Gul'dan that the great Sagareas, leader of the Burning Legion, was entombed on this world. This was the same Daemonlord that the Guardian Aegwyn had defeated ages before. Sargareas's tomb promised unimaginable power and magic. Thus, Medivh eventually tempted Gul'dan into finally obeying his whim. Medivh would disclose the location of the tomb once the Horde had crushed Azeroth. And so, the First Great War errupted between the Humans of Azeroth and the Orcish Horde.
After the humiliating defeat at Stormwind, the Orcish forces regrouped within the Swamps of Sorrow. Over the following years, the Horde worked to fortify their position in Azeroth. Located in the Red Ridge Mountains, Blackrock Spire became the center of Horde activity. The huge black mountain contained numerous caverns and tunnels that were quite suitable for staging the Orcs' massive army. Many skirmishs began to occur across the border of Orcish and Human territory. Gradually, the Horde won larger and more significant battles. The Horde razed Grand Hamlet, while defending its Red Ridge Mountain Outposts. An even greater blow to the Humans happened when Garona, the Half-Orc, assasinated the Azerothien King Llane. She returned his severed heart to Gul'dan.
In the midst of this Orcish onslaught, a band of warriors stormed Medivh's Tower. The party hacked and slashed Medivh's body, causing the sorceror to emanate telepathic waves of trauma. Sensing Medivh was close to death, Gul'dan entered the dark wizard's mind and directly attempted to extract the location of Sargareas's tomb. However, before Gul'dan was able to ascertain the location, Medivh died at the hands of the Azerothien war band. Consequently, Gul'dan suffered a massive backlash of energy because he was linked to Medivh's mind at the time of the sorceror's mortal death. Gul'dan fell into a deep sleep, and his fellow Warlock followers guarded his comatose body.
Fulfilling his oath to Durotan, Orgrim Doomhammer seized this opportunity to take control. Doomhammer slew the WarChief Blackhand and presented his severed head to the Horde. Doomhammer accused Blackhand of being an incompetent and false leader. Doomhammer naturally assumed total command of the Horde as he rose to the position of Warchief. Ogrim's power only mutiplied as he thrust the Horde into victory. The Horde decimated Northshire Abbey, Goldshire, and Moonbrook. Finally, like a ravenous juggernaut, the Horde brought the great Keep of Stormwind down. The Humans of Azeroth had been utterly defeated.
Aftermath of the First War
When Gul'dan finally awoke, the great warlock was deeply troubled. His puppet Warchief had been slain, and Ogrim Doomhammer had achieved total control. Worse yet, Ogrim sought to discover the inner workings of the Horde. He suceeded in capturing Garona, servant to Gul'dan, toturing her until she revealed the location of the Shadow Council. Soon, Ogrim marched on Gul'dan's citadel near the ruins of Stormwind Keep. After a brief battle, Doomhammer's raiders rounded up the Warlocks of the Shadow Council. The Warchief condemned the Warlocks as traitors and accused them of consorting with demons. Thus, public executions were held for every single one.
Gul'dan was spared and taken before the Warchief. Due to his exhaustive sleep, Gul'dan was weak and drained of his powers. Thus, the warlock could not defend himself while Doomhammer questioned him extensively about the secrets of the Shadow Council. Gul'dan was forced to feign allegiance to Ogrim. The warlock accused Rend and Maim of leading a wolf rider rebellion against Doomhammer. Although the accusation had no merit, the suspicious Doomhammer disbanded the wolf raider legions. Additionally, Gul'dan created Death Knights in order to service the Horde. These abominations were souls of the twisting nether, invited back to the realm of Azeroth in order to inhabit the bodies of Azeroth's fallen knights. Doomhammer was finally pleased with Gul'dan's accomplishments and allowed him to go about his ways. However, Gul'dan solemnly pledged that he would one day make Doomhammer pay for his insolence.
The remaining Azerothiens were forced to flee their nation. Led by the valiant Lord Lothar, a great hero of the first war, the humans made their way across the Great Sea to Lordaeron. There, the refugees of Azeroth pleaded their case to King Terenas, sovereign of Lordaeron. Terenas agreed that the Orcs proved to be a great threat to all humanity. Thus, a great pact was eventually forged between the seven Human nations. The armies of these nations combined themselves into one Alliance, under the general command of Lothar himself. Admiral Daelin Proudmoore of the island nation of Kul Tiras offered his land's mighty navy. Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde was also quick to put his massive army at the Alliance's disposal. The Alliance was additionally strengthened by the stout Dwarves of Khaz Modan. The Alliance stood ready, awaiting the Orc's inevitable invasion.
However, the treacherous Lord Perenolde, ruler of Alterac, decided that the Alliance was doomed. Turning his back on his own kind, he made a secret covenant with the Horde and pledged his nation to aid in its wrath.
The Beginning of the Second War
Six years after the passing of the Azerothien exodus, the Orcs made war once again upon the Humans. The Horde constructed a mighty armada, crossing the Great Sea to the Human Kingdoms of the north. As the Orcish forces began to invade the town of Hillsbrad, King Terenas fervently sought to enlist the High Elves of Quel'Thalas into the ranks of the Alliance. In the grasslands of Alterac, the Horde ambushed a contingent of Elvish archers who were coming to survey the Orcish threat for themselves. When the Alliance freed them at Tarren Mill, the Humans finally won the trust and aid of the Silvermoon council, the ruling body of the elves. As a result, the Alliance and elvish forces were completely combined. In the sea, swift Elven destroyers became an integral part of the Alliance navy. On land, sharpshooting Elven rangers and archers provided essential support. While the Elves joined, the hearty Dwarves of Khaz Modan were already offering their services. Dwarven demolition teams proved a powerful weapon, while their smaller Feral Cousins wielded legendary Stormhammers as they rode atop fearsome Gryphons.
The Orcs gained their fair share of allies as well. Warchief Doomhammer successfully recruited the notorious Trolls of Lordaeron, age-old combatants of the Elves. The inventive Goblins also joined the Horde, providing Zeppelins and other useful inventions. And the Ogres, the hulking giants of Draenor, were enlisted into the Horde's ranks as massive warriors. The sons of Blackhand, Rend and Meim, also masterminded the capture of the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. The Warlock Nekros Skullcrusher used the Demon Soul, Deathwing's treacherous artifact, to bring the queen to his mercy. Bound by adamantinium steel, she was tortured and kept hostage. As her eggs hatched, the Orcs used the deadly Dragon whelps in the Horde's service.
Following a series of successive naval victories at Southshore and Zul'dare, the Alliance was able to push the Horde out of Lordaeron. However, danger lurked in the Elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas...
The Final Quest of Gul'dan
Gul'dan, the powerful Orchish warlock, was lured to Quel'Thalas by a fabled elven artifact, the Runestone at Caer Darrow. Ages ago, ancient elven druids had constructed the monolith and inscribed the rock with magical runes of protection. The Runestone was heavily guarded on a fortified island in Darrowmere Lake. Even so, Gul'dan invaded the island and took possession of the Elven relic. The warlock then ordered the Runestone cut into slabs and constructed into unholy altars. These warped and desecrated slabs of the Runestone gave life to the fearsome Ogre Magi.
With the fall of Caer Darrow, the war again took root in the North. The Horde gained a firm grip on much of Quel'Thalas, and Human supply lines to the Elven kingdom were cut. Stratholme, the Alliance's chief source of oil in the region, was eradicated by the Orchish navy. Destroyers and Juggernaughts blasted its oil platforms and refineries. Only a handful of Elven and Human defenders remained in Quel'Thalas after Stratholme. In short time, they too died out and Quel'Thalas fell to the Horde.
While Doomhammer focused his attention on the conquest of Quel'Thalas, Gul'dan and his Stormweaver Clan utilized the distraction to secretly set off on the warlock's quest for the Tomb of the Daemonlord Sagaeras. Cho'gall, the respected Ogre Mage, and the Twilight's Hammer Clan accompanied Gul'dan in his treachery. Gul'dan managed to raise the volcanic island on which Sagareas's Tomb rests from the sea. The warlock then opened the Tomb, setting the great Lord of the Burning Legion free. Shortly afterward, a furious Doomhammer learned of Gul'dan's betrayal. The Warchief ordered the immediate obliteration of the Stormweaver and Twilight's Hammer. Doomhammer's warriors returned successfully with the head of Gul'dan.
The Bell Tolls for the Alliance
In time, the tide of the war turned. The Alliance, aided by the holy Paladin warriors, began liberating much of occupied Quel'Thalas. The Knights of the Silver Hand rode through the country and drove out the Orcish menace. Soon Quel'Thalas was once again in the hands of the Alliance, however at great cost. Much of the Elven kingdom was destroyed and lost forever.
The devious Lord Perenolde of Alterac betrayed the Alliance, making good on his secret compact with the Horde. The ambush on the Elvenarchers near Tarren Mill was the result of Alterac spies. Similarly, Alterac agents incited rebellions in Alliance lands such as the one at Tyr's Hand. Alterac ships also attempted to kill Uther Lightbringer, leader of the Paladins and chief assistant of Archbishop Alonsus Faol, when traveling to Caer Darrow. Once these facts were revealed to King Terenas, an immediate assault on Alterac's capital was launched. After a brief battle, the Alliance promptly occupied the capital city and nation. With the loss of its Human ally, the Horde launched a massive retreat back to Azeroth. As the Horde fled, the Alliance devastated much of the Orcs' fleet at Crestfall. Gnomish Submarines aided in destroying many ships before they could escape to the Azeroth's northern shores. The Horde had been dealt a terrific blow, and it seemed only a matter of time before they were wiped from the lands.
The Alliance mobilized in preparation for an assault on Azeroth to end the Orcish threat once and for all. Lord Lothar attempted a meeting with the WarChief Doomhammer. However, the parley proved to be an ambush. Orcs and Ogres tore Lothar and his party asunder. Among the few survivors was the great Paladin Turalyon. Furious at the death of their commander, the Alliance under Admiral Proudmoore assaulted the Orcs' chief center of operations, Blackrock Spire. After an intense battle, the mountain fortress finally fell to the sword of the Alliance. Azeroth was finally free but for the Orcs' last stronghold, The Dark Portal. However, that too quickly fell to the advancing Alliance. The Archmage Khadgar used his magiks to destroy the portal, and quiet settled over the Black Morass. The Alliance rounded up the surviving Orcs, and placed them into camps. However, Kilrog Deadeye's Bleeding Hollow Clan evaded the Human scouts. His clan disappeared into the wild as it fled Northeast.
One Unaccounted For
With the defeat of the Warsong clan at Grim Batol, there remained just one orcish clan at large. The wizened orc chieftain, Kilrogg Deadeye had lead his clan deep into the recesses of the Black Morass. There they remained, dodging the best efforts of the vengeful elven rangers. Warchief Doomhammer had been taken prisoner at the battle of the Dark Portal and was brought to the court of King Terenas as an honored prisoner.
The problem of the Orc Horde had looked to be solved. No longer pressed with their survival at stake, the human alliance began to show some weaknesses. The rulers of Stromgarde and Gilneas disagreed with the Lordaeron's plan to place the Orcs in internment camps. It was only the newly reclaimed nation of Azeroth and the young king Varien Wrynn who would stand with Lordaeron after Stromgarde and Gilneas withdrew their support.
Although the Dark Portal had been destroyed by the Archmage Khadgar, the scar of the rift remained. It hung like an eye over the Black Morass. The Kirin Tor, the mages that comprised ruling body of Dalaran, set to work constructing a fortress to stand guard over this rift in reality. So it was that the Citadel of Nethergarde was built to act as Azeroth's new Guardian.
Then on a summer's eve, an inky darkness engulfed the Black Morass. The mages of Nethergarde sought in vain to pierce the freak darkness and discover its source. The only piece of information that they could gather was that the rift was growing once more. The sounds of an army, hundreds strong could be heard nearby, the crashing of the column's armor and the shrieks of the dragon whelps were clearly audible through the darkness. When the column had passed through the rift, the only thing that remained was a insidious whisper on the wind. "We will return…"
The Second Great War was not quite over.
Deathwing's Ruse
With the destruction of Alterac and the liberation of Azeroth, peace at last returned to the Northern lands. However, bitter resentment within the Alliance errupted. The Horde was no longer a threat, and so the leaders of the human nations questioned the Alliance's usefulness and worth. In addition, every nation wanted a stake in the conquered lands of Alterac, which betrayed the Alliance during the first stages of the Second War.
As the Alliance bickered within itself, Deathwing, the treacherous black dragon, claimed allegiance to neither side of the war. Instead, he sought to bring only destruction and chaos to the land. His dream was to eradicate all existance, leaving only himself and his select few to rule Azeroth. He killed Human, Orc, and Elf with equal hatred. However, he took special pleasure in disposing of other dragons not of his own ilk.
The cunning and powerful dragon hatched a scheme to accomplish his vision of a lifeless world. He assumed human form as a valiant noble, Lord Prestor. Through bewitchment and sorcery, Prestor was able to convince the Alliance leaders of the solution to the Alterac situation - place him as king. If the Aspect of Chaos was to gain this position, he could create havoc amongst the races and propel them into total war. Only the wizards of Dalaran with the help of Krasus, the human form of the red dragon Korialstrasz, saw through his magic. As such, Deathwing worked to turn the Alliance against the Kirin Tor. His dark influence infiltrated as high as King Terenas of Lordaeron, placing the helpless man under a mind spell.
The dark dragon also engineered the enslavement of Alexstrasza by the Orcs, making sure that the Demon Soul found its way into the Horde's hands. Even though the curse that banished Deathwing from ever using the golden disc still held, it possesed no protection against allowing the dark one to manipulate others in wielding it. Since Deathwing had no more of his own flight left, he wished the Horde to breed Alexstrasza's dragons. Eventually, he planned to steal the Horde's dragon eggs away and create his own following of evil kin.
The End of the Second War
Meanwhile, the Second War was coming to a close. The main battle shifted to Khaz Modan where the Horde was attempting to invade the North on foot. Fortunately, the valiant heroes of Kul Tiras and Stromgarde met the Orcish beasts head on at the ancient Dwarven city of Dun Modr. Although the rapaging Horde decimated the surrounding populace, the Alliance forces were once again sucessful in routing the onslaught. The Orcs were forced to retreat south across the Thandol Valley to Dun Algaz, a secondary outpost. Wasting no time for the Orcs to rest and regroup, the knights of the Alliance rode without delay to Dun Algaz. There, the Human warriors fought hard and cut down the fleeing Orcs. With the destruction of Dun Algaz only one Orcish stronghold remained in Khaz Modan, Grim Batol.
In an effort to end the Horde's breeding capibilites, the Kirin Tor decided to free Alexstrasza at Grim Batol. Through the suggestion of Krasus, they sent Rhonin the rogue mage to accomplish the task. Falstad, a Dwarvern warrior, and Vereesa, an Elven ranger, accompanied Rhonin on this imperative journey.
Meanwhile, Alexstrasza was held captive under the watch of the warlock Nekros Skullcrusher.
Grim Batol was the primary base of the Horde's operations in the Dwarven lands. As such Lord Lothar ordered the infiltration of the base. After an intense battle, the Humans stood victorious and the Orcs were forced to abandon Khaz Modan.
The orc warlock, Nekros Skullcrusher, used the disk to imprison Alexstrasza- just as Deathwing had foreseen. The warlock kept her in a state of constant pain and created a fiery golem to guard her chamber.
Finally, all the great dragon Aspects confronted Deathwing. However, all four combined were still no match for the black leviathian. Most of the Aspects strength and power remained trapped in the demon soul, and thus, they were only mere shadows of their former selves. The Aspect's life energies were finally restored when the disk was destroyed by the human mage Rhonin with a talon of Deathwing. Only then, were the Aspects able to defeat the treacherous Deathwing.
A New Attack
The orc clans were now led by the elder shaman Ner'zhul. He commissioned the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow clans to make lightning raids into the world of Azeroth once more and retrieve the magical artifacts that he would require to open new rifts and new portals.
However, while the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow worked on finding and returning the magical artifacts to Ner'Zhul, the Alliance mobilized. After recruiting the mercenary Danath, the Elven ranger Alleria, the proud paladin Turalyon, and the Dwarven legend Kurdran, the master mage Khadgar led an expeditionary force into the rift and onto the red skied world of Draenor in an attempt to end the Horde's threat once and for all.
While heroic, the expeditionary force proved to be unable to stop Ner'Zhul from creating numerous new rifts to the twisting nether. As the Alliance closed in on Ner'Zhul, he abandoned his loyal bodyguards to suffer the dead throes of Draenor and he and his followers escaped into the new rifts. Khadgar had no choice but to work feverishly to seal off the rift to Azeroth or else see Azeroth suffer Draenor's fate. As Khadgar worked to close the rift, the remaining heroes held out against an entire planet's wrath. When he had finished and stranded himself and all those you had followed him to Draenor, they lept into one of the remaining rifts and have not been heard from since.
No Escape for Ner'Zhul
Ner'Zhul is not adept at escaping as he might have liked. He is captured within the twisting nether and made to pay for his failures. His body slowly ripped apart, his spirit was kept captured by the demon lord Kil'Jaedan. Denied death as an escape, Kil'Jaedan set Ner'Zhul's spirit captured within the frozen throne back to the world of Azeroth.
On Azeroth, the Warsong and Bleeding Hollow clans were stranded by the destruction of the rift. The Warsong clan headed to the hills to escape capture. The Bleeding Hollow clan was not so lucky. They were rounded up and joined their brethren in the internment camps around Durnholde.
The Lord of the Clans
In the closing days of the First Great War, a Lt. Blackmoore had discovered an Orc infant alone in the woods surrounded by his murdered parents. He rescued the Orc infant, named him Thrall, and brought him back to the fortress stronghold where he gave over his well being to a trusted servant's family. The older child in this family befriended Thrall and while Thrall was eventually trained in the gladiatorial rings, Taretha smuggled Thrall literature. She would eventually help him escape his confinement at Durnholde.
Once Thrall escaped Durnholde he began a search for his people and to recapture his cultural identity. Captured and sent to an internment camp, Thrall had his first experience with the lethargy that had sucked the Horde's will to fight. It was also here that Thrall gets his first taste of what his culture is and what it had become. His visit is cut short however as Blackmoore comes to the camp seeking Thrall.
Thrall next seeks out Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan. He stumbles on an Orc hunting party and is taken for an audience with the legendary chieftain. Thrall passes the first of two trials, besting three orc warriors. In the second trial he refuses to kill an unarmed human child, risking the wrath of the clan. It is at this moment that Grom makes his appearance and is struck my Thrall's knowledge of mercy. Grom accepts Thrall and teachs him more about his culture.
When the noose again begins to close in around Thrall, he bids the Warsong goodbye and heads to the Alterac Mountains where Grom has told him his own clan might still survive. With that, Thrall heads off to find the Frostwolf clan. The Frostwolves had been exiled from the Horde for speaking out against the direction that Shadow council and Gul'dan had sought. Thrall's journey to the mountains nearly ends with him frozen to death on the mountainside.
Brought to one of the last remaining shamans of the Horde, Thrall learns of his parents and about the way of the shaman from Drek'Thar. He is the first shaman accepted by the five spirits in decades, the shamanistic spirits angered by the Orc's nation turn to the warlock arts. As spring approached, Thrall encounters a disguised Orgimm Doomhammer and challenges him as a matter of honor. Doomhammer is impressed with the young chieftain and takes him as his second in command.
Doomhammer, Hellscream, and Thrall work to free and revitalize the Orcs caught within the internment camps. When Doomhammer is felled in battle with a squad of knights, he bestows on Thrall the mantle of leadership. The new Warchief takes the armor and warhammer that signified Doomhammer's station as his own. Revitalized and reenergized, the Horde marched on the source of their pain, the fortress of Durnholde.
Taretha was overjoyed that Thrall had returned and snuck out covertly to speak with him. On her return she was discovered by Blackmoore. The drunken lord of Durnholde had his mistress beheaded and tossed her head at Thrall's feet when Thrall came to parley. Enraged, Thrall had his forces raze the fortress. After letting the human refugees escape the ruined fotress, Thrall called on the earth itself to swallow Durnholde.
The Return of the Shaman
Ner'Zhul had landed back on Azeroth in the wastelands of Northrend. Within the frozen reaches of Northrend, Ner'Zhul began to recruit a new army, a scourge to unleash on the rest of Azeroth. His undead minions conquered the ancient kingdom of Ajol-Nerub. The combined might of his undead minions swelled with the addition of the spiderous people of Northrend.
Meanwhile Ner'Zhul had crafted the mighty runeblade Frostmourne and set it as a trap to again find corporal form. He recruited a mighty mage of the Kirin Tor, Kel'Thuzad by luring him to Northrend with promises of power and control over the necromantic arts. The archmage Kel'Thuzad, strengthened by his training under the Lich King returned to Lordaeron as the head of the Cult of the Damned, a foul organization dedicated to furthering the Scrouge's agenda.
For the Scrouge were to be the pre-cursor to another demonic invasion of Azeroth and the man sent to hunt them would become ensnared in a brutal trap.
The Corruption of a Prince
Although Sir Uther the Lightbringer had been widely considered one of humanity's greatest generals, he had been unsuccessful at pinning down a suddenly resurgent and wily horde in the wilds of Lordaeron. His attention thus divided, it fell upon King Teneras's son Prince Arthas to undertake a mission of discovering what the plague in the northern reaches of Lordearon might pretense.
After being joined by Jaina Proudmoore, a promising mage of noble birth, Arthas struck off to discover what the danger was. It was shortly afterwards that Arthas and Jaina began to track the Cult of Damned through blighted grain shipments and the work of the archmage turned necromancer Kel'Thuzad.
After cornering Kel'Thuzad in the town of Andorhal, Arthas struck him down. It was shortly thereafter that Arthas came face to face with the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis. Arthas was consumed by vengeance and began an ill-fated hunt for the scheming Dreadlord. His rage finally pushed him over the edge when he attempted to disband the Paladin Order of the Silver Hand and slaughter many villagers that he believed where doomed after consuming the blighted grain. His hands steeped in blood, both Jaina and Uther turned their backs on him. Arthas, still blinded by his desire for vengeance on the Dreadlord, built a fleet and sailed north to Northrend to seek him out.
Once on Northrend, Arthas was surprised to come upon his childhood mentor, the Dwarven Mountain Thane Muradin Bronzebeard. Ordered home by his father, Arthas destroyed his own fleet in order to strand his men. In a further sign of his new depravity, he blamed the foul act on his own hired henchmen and killed them in cold blood.
Stranded and surrounded, Muradin suggested the perhaps the only way to escape was with the power of a rumored runeblade, the Frostmourne. Once again, Arthas has only the goal of killing his Dreadlord opponent on his mind, all other concerns are mere obstacles to be overcome to him. His quest for the Frostmourne results in the death of his childhood instructor, but Arthas is undeterred and takes up the Frostmourne, the power of the Lich King is channeled through the blade and Arthas is remade.
Prodigal Son Returns
Arthas makes his return to Lordaeron. Upon his return, his father is overjoyed to see what he thought had been his lost son. Unfortunately, that joy is short-lived as Arthas slays his father at his audience as his father came to embrace him. Arthas then set about the work of the Lich King in Lordaeron. He recovered the ashes of his earlier nemesis, Kel'Thuzad.
Confronted a final time by the last of his childhood mentors, Uther Lightbringer, Arthas releases whatever shred of humanity he had left. Arthas kills Uther and takes the urn of his father's ashes for the remains of Kel'Thuzad. Thus the great King Teneras, founder of the Lordaeron Alliance that protected Azeroth from the Orc Horde, had his remains scattered to the winds by his son.
Orcs Across the Ocean
Meanwhile Medivh had appeared to Thrall and implored him to move his people across the great sea to the continent of Kalimdor. The journey was hazardous and some of the Horde's ships where lost on the seas and in the Maelstorm. Upon reaching the shores of this new continent, Thrall encountered a shamanistic society of large half bull/half men. There was an instant liking of the Orcs and the Taurens. The Taurens represented to the Orcs the life that they were seeking to recover and the Orcs were a source of strength the the plain dwelling Tauren.
After accompanying the Tauren tribe to some safer lands and helping to protect them from the rampaging centaur tribes of the Barrens, Thrall finally met up again with his fellow chieftain Grom Hellscream. The meeting was not as welcoming as it might have been however. Grom and the Warsong had tasted the demonic influence in the air and were beginning to revert back to the days of bloodlust and endless war that had characterized the days of Gul'Dan, Blackhand and Ner'Zhul.
Upset by his friends action against the human refugees they found on Kalimdor, Thrall gave Grom duties towards the rear of the action collecting lumber for the Horde's reconstruction. Grom unwittingly disturbed a race of warrior women elves. Their anger at the Orc's deforestation was answered by the mighty demigod Cenarious, who came from his secluded glade to wage war on Grom Hellscream's clan. The Warsong clan was hard pressed by this new Night Elf threat and in an effort to protect his people, Grom sacrificed himself once again to the demonic energies offered by the Burning Legion.
An Ageless Champion Slain
Empowered once again by the blood of the demon lord Mannoroth, Grom and his clan struck out at the Night Elf defenders, surprised and defeated the demigod Cenarious. Unfortunately the cost was high. Grom and the rest of the Warsong were once again the minions of the Burning Legion.
The Battle for Quel'Thalas
In Lordaeron, Arthas was guided by the spirit of Kel'Thurzad to journey deep into the high elven homelands of Quel'Thalas. The undead scourage, driven to a frenzy by the leadership of the new Death Knight, Prince Arthas broke down the Elvengates that protected Quel'Thalas and would eventually pour unchecked into the city of Silvermoon itself. Arthas, after having been rebuffed by a High Elven Ranger Slyanous, extracts revenge. He channels the power of the Lich King through the runeblade Frostmourne to bind her spirit to the Lich King in servitude forever.
Once the sunwell of Silvermoon was secured, Arthas uses this ancient magic to reconstruct Kel'Thurzad as a Lich. One one fell swoop, Arthas not only deprives the High Elves of their source for magic, he reincarnates the Archmage Kel'Thurzad to serve the Lich King once more.
The ruined high elf homeland behind them, Arthas and Kel'Thurzad head for the magical city of Dalaran. It is here that the mages of Azeroth have joined to make a stand against the undead scourge. Although they had constructed powerful magical shields, Arthas is determined to see this city fall. After breaking through the magical protections of Dalaran, Kel'Thurzad begins the summoning of the great demon lord Archimondes.
Falling meteors and demonic energy herald Archimondes coming. Once his form is completely summoned, he constructs a spell that shatters the great city of the Kirin Dor and their high tower, the violet citadel.
Reclaiming Grom Hellscream
In Kalimdor, Thrall is distraught at the lost of his friend Grom. He undertakes a search for the Oracle with Caine, the Tauren chieftain. His journey to the Oracle is unexpectedly also the destination of Jaina Proudmoore, who has led what humans will follow her to Kalimdor as well. It is deep with the the Stonetalon mountains that an unusual alliance is struck to free Grom from Mannoroth's grasp. Following a desperate assault, Grom is captured within a soulstone and the humans and orcs work some magic to free him from the corrupting influence of Mannoroth.
Once freed, Grom confesses to Thrall that the demonic curse long suffered by the Orc clans was self inflicted. The orc chieftains for old had sacrificed their people for the power promised by Mannoroth. They had drank willingly and with open eyes from his demon blood. Thrall is outraged and together the two of them go off to stalk the demon lord. A titanic battle ensues and in the resulting melee, Grom strikes a death blow on the demon lord. The resulting release of energy critically wounds the old chieftain and he dies in the arms of his little brother, released at last from the bloodlust curse.
Invasion of Kalimdor
Control of the undead scourge is given over to the burning legion and the invasion of Kalimdor begins in earnest. As the demons and undead approach the glens of Ashenwood, the Night Elf sentinels, set long ago to watch for this threat, mobilize to meet it. By awakening the great druids from the emerald dream, the Night Elf nation moves against the undead menace. The threat is great, and the Night Elf leader, Tyrande Whisperwind makes the decision that even those who had been imprisoned would be needed for this fight. So it is that Illidan is freed from his underground prison, 10,000 years after creating a second well of eternity from a vial of the first. In a crucial battle, Illidan seeks the skull of Gul'Dan and consumes it to increase his power to fight the Burning Legion.
Discovering their numbers to be too few to deal with this threat, the sage Archdruid Malfurion works a plan to lure Archimonde into his trap. Layering the world tree with mystical energy, he calls upon the spirits of the forest to renew the Burning Legion's general and with a cataclysmic explosion, both the spirits, the world tree, and the demon lord are consumed. Only the roots of the great tree survive.
Orgimmar, the new nation.
Settling on the outskirts of the Barrens, a region in Kalimdor, Warchief Thrall has found the nation of Orgrimmar on the eastern beaches, across the Echo Isles. The Capital City, Durotar, named after his great father Durotan, former Cheif of the Frost Wolf Clan, is still being built. Several raids by Quillboars and Thunder Lizards have made it hard to expand, but the native trolls of the DarkSpear Tribe, lead by Vol'jin, a powerful witch doctor, have aided in the survival of the new Orcish nation, free of the Blood Curse and of the demons.