World of Warcraft

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This realm is for all role play consisting in the World of Warcraft universe, anything from Vanilla all the way up to the latest expansion of legion.

Azeroth has four known continents, named the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor and Northrend, plus the recently rediscovered continent of Pandaria. All continents are separated by the Great Sea. Two major islands also reside in the Great Sea: Kezan, land of the Goblins, and Zandalar, birthplace of the Troll civilization. In the center of the Great Sea is an enormous, everlasting vortex called the "Maelstrom" beneath which lies the aquatic city of Nazjatar, home of the amphibious Naga. Near the Maelstrom are the Broken Isles.

The main history and Lore of the Warcraft Universe are listed
Span of Years Edit
Date Event(s)
-10,000 War of the Ancients Trilogy (novels by Richard A. Knaak)
The Well of Eternity
The Demon Soul
The Sundering
-9,000 The World Tree and the Emerald Dream
-7,300 Exile of the High Elves
-6,800 The Founding of Quel'Thalas
-2,800 Arathor and the Troll Wars
-2,700 The Guardians of Tirisfal
-2,500 Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves
-1,200 The Seven Kingdoms
-823 Aegwynn and the Dragon Hunt
-230 War of the Three Hammers
-45 The Last Guardian
— Kil'jaeden and the Shadow Pact
— Rise of the Horde
-1 Rise of the Horde (novel by Christie Golden)
0 Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (PC game)
— The Last Guardian (novel by Jeff Grubb)
6 Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness (PC game)
8 Warcraft 2X: Beyond the Dark Portal (PC game)
10 Day of the Dragon (novel by Richard A. Knaak)
18 Lord of the Clans (novel by Christie Golden)
19 Of Blood and Honor (novel by Chris Metzen)
20 Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (PC game)
21 Warcraft 3X: The Frozen Throne (PC game)
23 The Sunwell Trilogy (manga by Richard A. Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim)
Dragon Hunt
Shadows of Ice
Ghostlands
24 Cycle of Hatred (novel by Keith R. A. DeCandido)
25 World of Warcraft (PC game)
26 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC game)
27 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC game)

Prelude
The kingdom of Stormwind was a prosperous one. The humans who dwelled there turned the land into a paradise. The Knights of Stormwind, and the Clerics of Northshire Abbey, roamed far and wide, serving the king's people with honor and justice. The well-trained armies of the king were maintaining a lasting peace since the days of the Gnoll War. The people of Azeroth were unbeknownst to the fact that the powerful human mage Medivh was seeking a way to destroy this kingdom and wrought terror on the lands. With the help of an other-worldy being named Gul'dan, the two managed to open a portal between their two worlds, a portal which would later became known as the Dark Portal.

Through the portal came the Orcish Horde. The humans did not know from whence these foul creatures came, and none were prepared for the terror that they spawned. Their warriors wielded axe and spear with deadly proficiency, while others rode dark wolves as black as the moonless night. Unimagined were the destructive powers of their evil magic, derived from the fires of the Twisting Nether. Filled with the demonic blood of Mannoroth, these creatures lusted for war and would destroy anything that prevented them from reaching their goal; to conquer Azeroth.

With an ingenious arsenal of weaponry and powerful magic, these two forces collided in a contest of cunning, intellect, and brute strength, with the victor claiming dominance over the whole of Azeroth.

The first siege of Stormwind Keep
Following the initial attacks carried out by orcish raiding parties on human farms, the Shadow Council ordered a massive attack against Stormwind City, the capital of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The orcish forces, under the command of Chieftains Kilrogg Deadeye and Cho'gall, expected an easy victory taking into consideration the weak resistance offered by the villages the Horde had already ravaged. The footmen were unprepared as the orcish forces poured through the gates and over the walls of Stormwind Keep. Their guards did well to stop the orcs for as long as they did, but the sheer orcish numbers and strength soon tilted the battle in favour of the Horde. Victory would have been assured, but for the arrival of their great, mounted soldiers.

The knights rode atop beasts of muscle and sinew that crashed through the orcish ranks and dealt as much damage to their troops as did their riders. The orcs, whom had never before faced knights and their warhorses, broke into a full rout. These knights rallied what few soldiers remained, and began driving the orcs out of the castle. The Horde's every turn was countered as they were forced to retreat towards the gateway back to their world. Some trick of magic had the Stormwindians always at their back, sides, and in their path. They barely reached the edges of the swamplands that surrounded the portal before they managed to elude their pursuers in its murky depths. The orcish clans were thrown into chaos after the egregious outcome, and the two clan chieftains were blaming each other for the loss.

It is unknown when exactly King Barathen Wrynn died, but he was soon after succeeded by his son Llane as the new king.

The Orcish Horde marches north
After their initial assault on Stormwind Keep, the Orcish Horde now knew what to expect from the human troops. Blackhand assigned Orgrim Doomhammer to oversee the construction of an outpost in the Swamp of Sorrows. The task was simple enough, the orcs had to build at least six farms, so that they could keep their troops well fed and ready to do battle, and a barracks; to protect the farms and to create a strategic outpost, Kyross. From the Swamp of Sorrows, Orgrim led his troops onward, while crushing any opposition that they encountered. His troops' first real opposition was Grand Hamlet. With orders from Blackhand, Orgrim built a simple outpost nearby and prepared his troops for battle. Orgrim's troops razed Grand Hamlet to the ground and left no survivors standing.

One night a runner sent by Warchief Blackhand reported that Griselda, the Warchief's own daughter, had run off with the outlaw Turok and his band of ogres. Wolfriders were assigned to track them down; they were discovered to be hiding out in the dungeons below the Deadmines. By order of his Warchief, Orgrim led a small group of warriors into the dungeons and eliminated Turok, his forces and even Griselda. On their return from the dungeon, Orgrim received word from advanced scouts that the recently established outpost near the Redridge Mountains was under siege. A group of raiders were dispatched to assist Orgrim's troops in taking back the outpost and crushing the human opposition. After saving the outpost from destruction, Orgrim's troops were ordered to search the area and seek out from whence the human troops came from. Once the location was found Orgrim ordered the remainder of his troops to dispose of it. The encampment was completely destroyed and the threat was put to an end for good.

Wanting for his troops to learn how the humans' magic was created, Blackhand ordered Orgrim to lead an army into the town known as Sunnyglade and ravage it, leaving intact the mage tower to study its knowledge. The humans of the town were fat and lazy with their prosperity and their weak human armies were easily smashed into pieces.

The Kingdom retaliates
The kingdom of Stormwind sent emissaries to the orcs hoping to negotiate with them but if any returned, they did so in pieces. The mages of Stormwind also asked Dalaran's Kirin Tor for help but they thought the orcs little more than a local nuisance.

As a test for his abilities, King Llane appointed the Defender of the Crown as Regent over a small parcel of land; the Defender of the Crown changed the town into a farming centre with six farms in order to feed Stormwind's troops. A barracks was also constructed in the farming centre, as spies reported that there were orc patrols in the area. The few orc patrols in the vicinity were wiped out. Some time later, spies reported that the orcs around Grand Hamlet were amassing a large army to march against the town. The King sent the Defender of the Crown along with a small detachment of troops to rally the townspeople of Grand Hamlet and defend the town from any attack. The Defender of the Crown was successful in rallying the townspeople and managed to save Grand Hamlet from being overrun.

With Grand Hamlet saved and Blackhand's raiding parties routed, the time to secure a lasting peace in the area around Grand Hamlet arose. The Defender of the Crown sought out the outpost known as Kyross, from whence the army against Grand Hamlet amassed. After building a small encampment in the vicinity of the outpost to gather his troops, the Defender of the Crown led them into battle against the outpost, managing to destroy it.

By that time it had been some twenty months since Sir Anduin Lothar had led an expedition into the Deadmines to search for the lost Tome of Divinity. They were never heard from again. However, the King's Champion had recently appeared to the Abbot of Northshire Abbey in a vision - battered and pleading for assistance. The King, having heard of the news, sent the Defender of the Crown along with a detachment of warriors and healers into the mines in an attempt to find Sir Lothar and his expedition crew, heal them and bring them back alive. Even though the mines were littered with ogres, the Defender of the Crown along with his soldiers still managed to cut through the ogre's ranks and finally managed to find the gravely wounded Sir Anduin Lothar along with some other injured members of his expedition. The healers at the scene immediately healed Sir Lothar and soon after he resumed his job as the King's Champion.

After a period of time, the King assigned some of his knights to aid the Defender of the Crown so that the latter's task of ridding Elwynn Forest from Blackhand's dark minions could be more readily completed. They set up in an outpost near the south-east edge of the forest. It wasn't long before an orc encampment filled with orc warriors was found and destroyed, thus earning the Kingdom of Stormwind a strategic key to securing the Borderlands. Later on, the King ordered the Defender of the Crown to go defend Northshire Abbey; the monks living in the town were under siege by a band of human warriors that had been convinced by enemy agents to fight against the crown. A platoon of knights was once again put under the Defender of the Crown's army, whom with them managed to successfully defend Northshire Abbey in time. With the Abbey secured, the Defender of the Crown marched his army to the source of the attackers and laid waste to them.

With Sunnyglade completely overrun by the Orcish Horde, a group of scouts were sent into the remnants of the city to scout out the place; they reported back that the survivors had been taken to a hidden orcish compound to serve as slaves. Intelligence had also confirmed that all the slaves were grouped together in a offsite location and that an enclosure had to be destroyed in order to make a path for the prisoners from which they could escape from. The Defender of the Crown took a detachment of warriors to the town and managed to crush all opposition, destroying the orcish encampment in the process. With the peasants of Sunnyglade set free, the rebuilding of Sunnyglade was commenced.

The final march towards Stormwind Keep
After the destruction of Sunnyglade, the orcs mastered the new found magic. With this power in their hands, the time was ripe to burn the human occupation from the nearby lands. The Kingdom of Stormwind held two outposts to the south of Orgrim's encampment. After a reconnaissance of the area, orc scouts reported that the key to a victory for them in this confrontation would be to hold back the human forces at their bridges while strengthening the orc's attack force to prepare for a massive all-out attack. After all the troops were prepared, the attack commenced; the outposts were laid to waste and all the human troops were slain.

After tasting victory at the battle in northern Elwynn Forest, it was clear to Orgrim that one decisive blow to the Kingdom of Stormwind would make the total and complete domination of the humans a simple matter. His spies had gathered intelligence that pointed to an encampment near the centre of the Kingdom, a place where their knights and soldiers were sent to be trained. Since the humans were not expecting an attack, it was a simple task. Orgrim's troops destroyed the entire place and left no survivors, in the process greatly weakening the Kingdom's forces.

The final march towards King Llane's home, Stormwind Keep, was at hand. Only two settlements stood in the Orcish Horde's way. The hour of doom had arrived for the humans; Orgrim had ordered the complete and utter destruction of the twin cities, Goldshire and Moonbrook, in order to sever the lifeline between the King and his people. The orc troops, under the command of Orgrim, marched onto the twin cities, and after a lengthy battle, razed them both to the ground. With this decisive battle, the only stronghold that the Kingdom of Stormwind had left was the capital itself, Stormwind City.

The death of Medivh
Khadgar and Garona were the first to discover that Medivh aided in the bringing of the Orcish Horde into Azeroth. To attempt to try and find out how the orcs entered Azeroth and from where the Dark Portal came from, Garona requested that Khadgar summon a vision of the past concerning Gul'dan and the Dark Portal; in the vision the two observed Gul'dan being given instructions by someone who referred to himself as the Guardian, whom Khadgar and Garona knew to be Medivh.

After the horrifying discovery, Khadgar and Garona escaped from Karazhan to bring the disturbing news to the King of Stormwind, King Llane, and to his Knight Champion, Anduin Lothar. While Lothar was quick to accept the news, the King had to take the matter into consideration. In the wee hours of the morning, without alerting the King, Lothar awoke Garona and Khadgar and led them to the top of one of Stormwind Keep's towers. There, waiting for the trio were a pack of gryphons (sent by the dwarves) and a couple of other footmen under Lothar's commmand. As soon as the group readied themselves, they took off to the tower of Karazhan. After arriving in the tower, the group couldn't fine any trace of the Magus and declared that he had escaped. However, before leaving the tower, Garona managed to locate a hidden secret door leading into what seemed like an inverse version of Karazhan. As the company started their descent into the inverse of Karazhan, a magic trap, set by Medivh, was triggered and unleashed a group of demonic beasts onto the company. While Lothar and his men held the beasts off, Khadgar and Garona continued their descent to find Medivh. Finally reaching the inverse observatory, the duo found Medivh.

While the brace were confronting the Magus, Medivh confirmed to them that he truly was Sargeras and that he had been planning this war for hundreds of years; to free his physical form from his tomb so that he could destroy Azeroth and all of its inhabitants. While Medivh was still talking, Garona attempted to stab him in the back but Medivh noticed her and cast a spell on her, causing her to stagger backwards. With this move, the brace started their attempts in disposing the Magus, but he proved to them that he was far too powerful for them to handle. Not long after their brawl, the duo were on their knees, dazed and wounded, and the Magus was preparing to kill Khadgar, but by a stroke of luck, the King's Champion, Lothar, appeared at the scene at this exact moment and forced his old friend to do battle with him in order to buy the others some time. While Lothar was keeping the Magus preoccupied, Khadgar managed to sneak around the room without being noticed. Lothar, in the end, too proved to be no match for the Master Mage and before long he too was wounded and dazed. With that being done the Magus returned to where Khadgar had been kneeling to finish him off, but to Medivh's surprise he was not there; Khadgar was standing behind Medivh with his sword pressed against Medivh's breast. At the first flinch from Medivh, Khadgar lunged forward and drove his rune sword into Medivh's heart, mortally wounding him in the process; with Medivh about to die, the Demon Lord Sargeras attempted to emerge from within the Magus to avoid being 'destroyed' along with Medivh, but before he could release himself, Sir Lothar decapitated Medivh's head, causing the titan to dissipate away and Medivh to die.

With Medivh's death, Gul'dan was comatosed due to entering Medivh's mind to search for information at his time of death. Orgrim saw this as an opportunity to take down Blackhand, and so he marched to him and challenged him for supremacy of the Horde, a challenge which he won.

The second siege of Stormwind Keep and the fall of the kingdom
The Orcish Horde was gathered like buzzards to carrion, as the moment of destiny was close at hand. A low growl filled the air as the wolfriders whipped their savage mounts into a frenzy. The earth shook as catapults were loaded and moved into position. Under the mantle of Orgrim Doomhammer, the various orcish clans began their siege on Stormwind Keep. The catapults let loose their fiery rocks as the bulk of the main Horde marched towards the main gate, with the Blackrock clan charging from the Eastern Wall. Within moments, Stormwind Keep was ablaze with shadows dancing on the walls. While the militia were busy trying to put out the fires, Garona, under the command of the Shadow Council, assassinated King Llane while delivering her report, which stated that as long as a strong heart was on the throne, the mens' moral would not falter. With the assassination of the king, the men lost their moral and Stormwind Keep fell under the might of the Orcish Horde.

The aftermath of the war for the Orcish Horde
Orgrim, wanting to turn the Horde into an honorable force, tortured Garona, into revealing whatever secrets lied beneath the Horde. Her non-orc blood made her too weak to withstand much pain, and she quickly revealed the Shadow Council and its location. Orgrim burst into their meeting and slaughtered them on the spot, leaving only a couple of the warlocks, Cho'gall and Gul'dan alive. Soon after, Orgrim formed an alliance with Gul'dan and preparations for the Second War began.

The aftermath of the war for the Kingdom of Stormwind
Anduin Lothar had no other choice than to declare the war lost and save what remained by gathering the tattered remnants of the army and as many civilians as he could to lead them in a desperate retreat across the Great Sea, toward the northern kingdom of Lordaeron to beseech aid from King Terenas Menethil II. Not all survivors could flee on time and the orcish hunter called Zigris became infamous for tracking down Stormwind refugees and slaughtering them for sport.

Following Lothar's impassioned speech in Lordaeron, Terenas called for an emergency council of war to discuss the Orcish threat. Terenas, through skilled political maneuvering, petitioned the support of the human kingdoms of Stromgarde, Kul Tiras, Alterac, and Gilneas and also the city of Dalaran. While most of the human nations banded together and pledged their support for this new alliance, King Perenolde of Alterac and King Genn Greymane of Gilneas withheld their allegiance; Perenolde because he feared the humans would be defeated by the orcs, and Greymane because he felt that Gilneas was strong enough to stand on its own. With this, preparations for the Second War began.

The Stone of Remembrance is a monument now located at Heroes' Vigil, in the center of Stone Cairn Lake in Elwynn Forest. It commemorates the human sacrifices during the First War.

Prelude to war
Following the events of the First War, the survivors of Stormwind led by Anduin Lothar made their way through the Great Sea to the northern kingdom of Lordaeron to beseech aid from King Terenas Menethil II. Following Lothar's impassioned speech, Terenas called for an emergency council of war to discuss the orcish threat. Meanwhile, the Orcish Horde pillaged Stormwind city and the surrounding areas, effectively destroying all human holdings south of the Burning Steppes.

In the years between the defeat of the Kingdom of Stormwind and the outbreak of the Second War, it can only be assumed that both the Horde and Alliance went through massive reformations and began huge military build-ups in preparation for war.

King Terenas, through skilled political maneuvering, petitioned the support of the human kingdoms of Stromgarde, Dalaran, Kul Tiras, Alterac, and Gilneas. While most of the human nations banded together and pledged their support for this new alliance, Lord Perenolde of Alterac and Genn Greymane of Gilneas withheld their allegiance; Perenolde because he feared the humans would be defeated by the orcs, and Greymane because he felt that Gilneas was strong enough to stand on its own. However, the human kingdoms also managed to gain the allegiance of the Bronzebeard dwarves of Ironforge, the Wildhammer dwarves of Aerie Peak, and the gnomes of Gnomeregan. Envoys led by King Terenas attempted to gain the allegiance of the High Elves of Quel'Thalas, though initially they were uninterested in the coming conflict and sent merely a pittance of their forces. This resulted in the creation of the Alliance of Lordaeron.

In this time of turmoil, Alonsus Faol was worried about the situation a priest was in. Being unable to fight back, the class was meek in battle. To counter this, Alonsus opened a branch in the Church of the Holy Light, where a priest gets trained in the way of the sword and of the Light. This was the birth of the Paladins, a class that would prove important in winning the war. Alonsus introduced the first four to Lothar, to which he accepted them as his lieutenants with Turalyon as his second in command.

In the last days of the First War, the leader of the Shadow Council, the warlock Gul'dan fell into a deep coma attempting to probe the mind of Medivh. Without the machinations of the Shadow Council, the Horde fell prey to infighting. In a coup d'état led by Orgrim Doomhammer to end what he saw as a corrupting influence over the Horde, the Shadow Council was destroyed as well as its puppet Warchief, Blackhand the Destroyer. Doomhammer successfully took control of the remaining Horde forces and began to bolster their devastated armies with orcs and ogres from beyond the Dark Portal. With trolls, ogres and orcs fighting side by side, it was not long before the enterprising goblins saw the potential profit in aiding them. The Horde gained support from goblin machinists and mercenaries, and through use of the Demon Soul managed to enslave the Red Dragon Alexstrasza and the majority of her brood. It is unknown what relationship the Horde had with the troll tribes of Stranglethorn Vale, however they did not join forces with the Horde and stayed apart from the Second War. Upon awakening from his coma and finding himself without allies, Gul'dan "swore" allegiance to Doomhammer and began creation of the first death knights in the service of the Warchief. This was the beginning of the so-called Horde.

The Horde offensive
In the 6th year after the fall of Stormwind, the Horde began their northern offensive against the Alliance forces. The Horde simultaneously launched two primary assaults. The first was a land offensive launched out of Blackrock Mountain which moved north to the dwarf holdings in Khaz Modan. The second was a naval assault launched from the ruins of Stormwind, which sailed north taking the islands of Zul'Dare, Tol Barad, and Crestfall and establishing them as primary naval bases. From these launching points, the Horde landed troops along the coasts of the Wetlands, the Arathi Highlands, and most importantly the southern coast of Lordaeron. Southern outposts such as Southshore, Tarren Mill and Hillsbrad were assaulted, and the Horde squeezed a large amount of troops into Lordaeron this way, assisted by the nation of Alterac who provided them with maps and secret routes.

Soon after, Zul'jin and some of his champions were discovered by Horde scouts in a makeshift prison near Tarren Mill. Upon hearing the news, Doomhammer immediately ordered his release from the 40-man raid party that captured him. Now in Doomhammer's debt, Zul'jin agreed to form a pact with the orcish Horde: the plains and valleys of Lordaeron would belong to the Horde, while the trolls would take back their ancestral forests from their mortal enemies, the high elves.

The Horde's land assault proceeded to lay waste to Loch Modan, pushing the outnumbered dwarf and gnome forces into the city of Ironforge, who sealed themselves from the outside threat. The Bleeding Hollow Clan attempted several raids on the mighty dwarven city, to no avail. For the most part, dwarves and gnomes were cut off from the rest of the Alliance, save through air support. Following the ravaging of Loch Modan, the Horde pushed farther north into the Wetlands, taking Dun Algaz, Dun Modr, and Grim Batol and converting them into fortresses for the Horde. Grim Batol became the primary base for the land offensive, and was also converted into a hatchery for the enslaved red dragonflight. Thandol Span was a pivotal battleground in the Second War, constantly shifting in possession between the two factions.

Finally, owing to a diversion of Lothar's main army at Aerie Peak, the Horde succeeded in penetrating Quel'Thalas through the cliffs undetected. Together with the entirety of the Amani tribe under Zul'jin, Doomhammer's troops slashed and burned their way through the elven forests, and made it as far as Eversong Woods before the Alliance reinforcements could arrive.

Brief counterattacks from the Alliance
Outraged at the attack on their borders, the Elves finally put forth their full strength in the war effort. This included the deployment of Elven Destroyers south to the Hinterlands and to the shores of Lordaeron. High Commander Anduin Lothar decided to split his army in order to out manuever the Horde. He left half of his army, under command of his second-in-command, to destroy the Horde threat in the Elven Forests, while Lothar's half would stay in the Hinterlands to destroy the large number of Horde still remaining there. Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas managed to push back the majority of Horde forces to the shores of Hillsbrad, but not before Gul'dan was able to acquire High Elven runestones to use in his effort to create ogre-magi for the war effort. With support from the Elves, the Alliance was able to launch an attack on Zul'Dare and end the invasion of Lordaeron. Though Hillsbrad and Southshore were nearly obliterated, the Horde navies were driven back, presumably to the shores of the Wetlands, Crestfall, and the ruins of Stormwind.

Following the victory in the north, the Alliance concentrated on pushing back the ground offensive on the edge of the Arathi Highlands on the great bridges of the Thandol Span. The first step was a bloody retaking of the Horde fortress on Tol Barad for use as a staging point for an invasion upon Dun Modr, the primary base of support for the attacks upon the Thandol Span. With naval support from Tol Barad, the Alliance ground forces were finally able to push across the Thandol Span and reclaim Dun Modr. The Alliance continued to push south, taking the base at Dun Algaz. Though they were unable to completely take the cursed fortress of Grim Batol, they effectively shattered the armies of the Horde and causing them to retreat from Khaz Modan.

After the defeat of the Horde forces in Khaz Modan, a brief pause in open combat ensued. The Horde attempted to gather more troops from the south, including the newly created Death Knights. The Alliance began to turn their sights northward to the remnants of the Horde forces in northern Lordaeron, and to that end they sent Uther Lightbringer and his newly formed Knights of the Silver Hand to lend aid to the victims of the war. However, a minor peasant riot in Tyr's Hand led to a discovery of a plot from Lord Perenolde of Alterac, who was attempting to destroy the Alliance from within. Learning of Alterac's plots, the Alliance forces obliterated the small, treacherous kingdom.

The siege of Lordaeron
Alterac's betrayal had let the entire Horde army through to the walls of Lordaeron, and they began sieging the capital. Troops from Stromgarde cut off all remaining Horde reinforcements in Alterac and imprisoned Perenolde for his treason. The whole of the Alliance army converged on the Horde, but were unable to defeat them at first. In the midst of this battle Gul'dan withdrew the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer Clans, dividing the orcish forces and leaving the remaining clans under Orgrim Doomhammer at the mercy of the armies of the Alliance. Gul'dan had discovered the location of the Tomb of Sargeras, and raised the sunken ruin from the Great Sea in an attempt to claim the Eye of Sargeras for his own. Upon opening the tomb, however, Gul'dan was annihilated by the demons inside.

Meanwhile, Doomhammer withdrew his forces to pursue Gul'dan in order to punish them for abandoning the Horde. The Alliance took this opportunity to defeat the Horde's remaining standing troops in Lordaeron, who were in shambles without their leaders or air support. The Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer Clan were destroyed by Doomhammer's forces, which included his secret weapon: the red dragons.

The Alliance takeover
Lord Lothar, seeing that the Horde was fracturing from within, gathered the last of his forces and pushed Doomhammer south, back into the shattered heartland of Stormwind. There, the Alliance forces trapped the retreating Horde within the volcanic fortress of Blackrock Spire. With the Horde forces thus weakened, the Alliance laid siege to the fortress of Blackrock. In order to break the siege, Doomhammer and what followers he had left charged out of the Spire and attacked Lord Lothar and his Paladins. After a titanic duel, Doomhammer narrowly managed to kill Lord Lothar. Upon his death, Lothar's second-in-command, the paladin Turalyon took command, made Doomhammer his prisoner, and chased the retreating orcs to their last bastion of power, the Dark Portal.

Ragged and broken, the remaining Horde forces attempted a defense of the Dark Portal. In what has been described as the bloodiest battle of the Second War, the orcs were eventually defeated, their leaders rounded up, and Doomhammer himself had been taken in chains. Shortly thereafter, the wizard Khadgar, flanked by the brave warriors of the Alliance, destroyed the Dark Portal. With the destruction of the Dark Portal, the Second War was ended.

Prelude
After their defeat in the Second War, the Old Horde's Warchief, Ner'zhul was captured by Kil'jaeden for his failure. As punishment, the Deceiver destroyed Ner'zhuls body, and tortured his spirit until he agreed to serve the Legion once again. His soul encased in a suit of armor which was then bound to the Frozen Throne, Kil'jaeden hurled his creation towards Azeroth where it smashed into Icecrown Glacier. Thus the first major player of the Third War, the Lich King was born. Once on Azeroth, the Lich King took control of Northrend and he had the necromancer Kel'Thuzad take the Plague of Undeath to Lordaeron.

Before the start of the war, the prophet Medivh came to the young orcish Warchief Thrall in a dream. Medivh told him that he must rally the newly-reformed shamanistic Horde and move them across the sea to Kalimdor in order to escape the shadow that was coming to consume the land. Trusting the prophets words, and wishing to find a new home for his people, Thrall listened to his call, fought his way through Lordaeron's troops and sailed west.

Scourge of Lordaeron
Disturbance in the north
A rumor had started to travel around Lordaeron telling how a mysterious plague had gripped the northern lands, as the majority of Lordaeron's attention was focused on the Horde's flight and rebelling orc clans. When Medivh appeared before King Terenas telling him just as he told Thrall: to save his people, he must travel west, Terenas told him that he would defend his kingdom. To do so, he sent his own son Arthas Menethil, who was dealing with the rebelling orcs with Sir Uther the Lightbringer north to investigate. Jaina Proudmoore from the Kirin Tor was sent from Dalaran to aid in the investigation.

Cult of the Damned
After joining Jaina Proudmoore, prince Arthas discovered that Andorhal's granaries were wrought with a plague that killed all who are infected (within a period of time) after they had encountered Kel'Thuzad in the town of Brill. Since Andorhal was the main distribution point for grain in the area, this meant that many other towns were in danger. As they fought their way through the infected city of Andorhal they bore witness to a unique devastation like Azeroth had never seen. They hunted down and attacked Kel'Thuzad for his crimes against the people. The necromancer told Arthas that he served a greater power, a dreadlord named Mal'Ganis, and that he was responsible for the Scourge. Enraged, Arthas vowed he would kill Mal'Ganis and they traveled to Stratholme to confront him after slaying the corrupted wizard.

Rise of the Scourge
While in Hearthglen, Arthas and Jaina's forces were attacked by legions of undead. Arthas had Jaina search for Uther while he and his forces remained to protect the town from the Scourge. It was then he learned the truth behind the plague. The plague didn't just kill those infected, it turned them into the undead, and thus, the Scourge. Before his army was defeated, Uther and his knights arrived and saved the town. Not long after this battle, Arthas was met by Medivh, who warned the prince to travel west to Kalimdor. Like his father, Arthas refused, saying his place was with his people. Jaina believed the prophet's words but Arthas would not be swayed to leave his kingdom. They continued to Stratholme to deal with the threat of the Scourge.

Culling of Stratholme
Upon arriving at Stratholme, they discovered that the grain had already been distributed amongst the townsfolk. Arthas, not wanting to deal with an entire army of undead, ordered Uther and his paladins to destroy the town. Uther was appalled by this, saying he wouldn't follow the order even if Arthas was the king. For his defiance, Arthas disbanded the Knights of the Silver Hand and called all those still loyal to Lordaeron to come with him. Uther took his followers and left, and Jaina quickly followed. Abandoned by his teacher and friend, Arthas continued to Stratholme to slaughter the town.

Upon arrival, Arthas met Mal'Ganis himself. The two had a race of sorts for the lives of the town. Arthas wished to destroy them, Mal'Ganis wished to corrupt them. When the town was in ruin, Arthas demanded a final showdown with Mal'Ganis. Mal'Ganis, however, slipped away, vowing to meet him in Northrend.

After the Culling, Jaina and Uther returned to Stratholme to bury the dead. Jaina was met by Medivh, who told her Arthas would only die if he went to Northrend. The prophet then told Jaina, as he had told everyone else, that she must travel west to Kalimdor, a request she answered to.

Rise of the death knight
After arriving in Northrend, Arthas discovered the brother of the dwarven king Magni Bronzebeard, Muradin. Upon arriving at Northrend, Muradin's expedition was attacked by the undead and was cut off from the rest of the world. He had come to Northrend to obtain the runeblade Frostmourne. When word from Lordaeron called Arthas's men back home, the prince used mercenaries to burn their ships before turning his forces on the mercenaries. With no way to get home, he told his men that their only way home was to get the Frostmourne. When he finally found the blade, he and Muradin learned that the blade was cursed. Arthas accepted this curse and took the blade, though Muradin was believed to be killed in the process (he was knocked out with terrible amnesia). With the Frostmourne, Arthas lead an assault on the Scourge base where Mal'Ganis was stationed and killed the dreadlord. With the cause of his madness dead, Arthas fled to the wilderness of Northrend leaving his men to fend for themselves.

Months later, Arthas returned to Lordaeron to get his just rewards. When he greeted Terenas, he took up the cursed sword and, without a moment of consideration, slew his father. Arthas then named himself King of Lordaeron and gave the land to the Scourge. Weeks later, Arthas, now a death knight under the orders of the Lich King, was given the task to bring the dead necromancer Kel'Thuzad back from the dead. To do so, Arthas had to take his remains to a place of magical power. Arthas killed his former mentor Uther for the urn he was carrying. The urn carried the ashes of his father, to which Arthas simply disposed of and placed Kel'Thuzad's remains inside. The only magical nexus with the necessary power was the Sunwell deep inside Silvermoon, capital of the high elves. To revive Kel'Thuzad, the Scourge would have to burn Quel'Thalas.

Fall of Quel'Thalas
Upon reaching the borders of Quel'Thalas, the Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner became a quick thorn in the death knight's plan. Despite the mighty elf gates, the destruction of an important bridge, and many well trained rangers, the Scourge plowed their way through Quel'Thalas' defenses on their way to Silvermoon, and from there the Isle of Quel'Danas and the Sunwell. Before Sylvanas could warn Silvermoon of the Scourge invasion, her camp was raided and she was taken prisoner. Arthas tortured her and, rather than give her the peace of death, he used his power to turn her into the first banshee, making her a slave to the Scourge. With its defenses destroyed, the Scourge entered Silvermoon and slaughtered all the high elves in the city. When Arthas reached the Sunwell, he placed Kel'Thuzad's remains in the enchanted waters, thus turning him into a lich and corrupting the Sunwell. With his business in the area done, Arthas had the Scourge kill the remaining high elves of Quel'Thalas.

The Defiler
With Kel'Thuzad revived, they had to do their job for the dreadlords. The Scourge traveled south to Dalaran to obtain the Book of Medivh and use it to summon Archimonde himself to Azeroth. The Kirin Tor used their most powerful magics, but failed to prevent the Scourge from stealing the spellbook. With the book, Kel'Thuzad summoned Archimonde and the Burning Legion to Azeroth. Archimonde's first order of business when entering the world was to destroy Dalaran with his great power. From this point and for the rest of the war, Archimonde, the Field Commander of the Legion, led the invasion of Azeroth himself, and planned to destroy Nordrassil, the World Tree at Mount Hyjal.

Flight to Kalimdor
Shortly after the culling, before Arthas had killed Terenas, Jaina Proudmoore brought thousands with her to Kalimdor following Medivh's request.

Having fled the Eastern Kingdoms, the Horde was scattered while sailing past the Maelstrom. Some of the ships landed in a chain of islands near the Maelstrom where they met the Darkspear tribe. Here the orcs aided the trolls, then led them on an escape to Kalimdor.

In Kalimdor, Grom Hellscream, chieftain of the prominent Warsong Clan, had landed with his clan. Before they could regroup with Thrall, they ran into Jaina's soldiers and battles soon began.

When the rest of the Horde reached and regrouped on Kalimdor, Grom directly defied Thrall's orders by attacking Jaina Proudmoore's encampment after giving in to his instinctual bloodlust. As a punishment he was sent north to the massive Ashenvale Forest where he would collect lumber to build a capital for the orcs.

Meanwhile, Thrall began his search for the rest of the Horde, and eventually came across the tauren, and their leader Cairne Bloodhoof. After helping Cairne repel invading centaurs, Cairne told Thrall of an oracle up in the Stonetalon Mountains who could aid the Horde in their journey.

Upon reaching the Stonetalon Mountains, Thrall and Jaina met the prophet who called doom long before the Scourge of Lordaeron, Medivh. Medivh asked that the Horde and the Alliance work together, forgetting their old hatreds to battle a new, more powerful enemy.

Mannoroth
Grom Hellscream and his clan started collecting lumber as they had been ordered to. However, by doing so, they enraged the night elves. After battling the night elves, their demigod Cenarius stepped in personally to deal with the Warsong Clan.

After fighting a lost battle, the orcs realized that they couldn't kill Cenarius by conventional means. Cenarius saw the orcs as demon spawn and therefore only their total eradication would satisfy him. To defeat them, Grom and the followers drank from a mysterious fountain that empowered them, not knowing that it had been defiled by the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth. Energized and turned into fel orcs, the Warsong successfully attacked and killed Cenarius. With the orcs once again doing the bidding of the Burning Legion, Mannoroth stormed up to Grom and revealed it was his blood that empowered the orcs. Despite their victory, they were once again under demon control, and thus the control of the Burning Legion.

To help their new allies, Jaina created a magical Soul Gem. Thrall would need to capture the mighty Grom within it, and take the gem to a prepared magical circle to free his spirit of corruption. Standing between the humans and free orcs, however, was the entire Warsong clan, fortified with scores of demons that waited in ambush and mighty infernals that rained from the sky. Despite his woes of killing many of the Warsong clan, Thrall captured Grom and brought him back for a ritual of cleansing. Along with Thrall's shamans, Jaina, and Jaina's best priests and sorcerers, they managed to pull the demonic taint out of Grom. Thrall and Grom then challenged Mannoroth, and though Thrall was defeated, Grom managed to deliver a killing blow, destroying Mannoroth and freeing the orcs at the cost of his own life. Thus Grom redeemed himself for bringing them into the legion.

Return of the night elves
When it became evident that the Burning Legion had returned, Tyrande led her Sentinels into the trees, fleeing a wave of undead which had destroyed a human and orc camp. As they fled, they were cornered by dreadlords and Archimonde. Tyrande believed that with the Defilers' return the only way to defeat the Burning Legion was to use the forces of old, the sleeping druids and their leader, Malfurion Stormrage, her old love. After waking Malfurion, the next order of business was to awaken the rest of the Druids of the Talon and the Druids of the Claw.

In their quest to free the druids, they discovered the prison that held the old demon hunter, Illidan Stormrage. Tyrande believed that the Betrayer, as the night elves grew to call him, could be a powerful ally against the Burning Legion and left Malfurion to awaken the druids while she freed Illidan. Malfurion continued on to awaken the druids, who had grown feral after almost ten millennia in the caves. However, the Horn of Cenarius freed them of their madness.

The Betrayer
Tyrande continued her quest to free Illidan, fighting her way through the warden's guards. Tyrande placed her trust in Illidan, believing his power would help them against the Burning Legion. Malfurion, however, still distrusted his reckless brother. Eager to prove himself, Illidan vowed he would show his brother the demons had no hold over him and he led a portion of the night elf army to Felwood. Shortly after, the death knight Arthas found and battled with Illidan. As the two were evenly matched, there was no reason for Arthas to engage Illidan. Illidan demanded that Arthas reveal the reason for his presence in Felwood. Arthas told him of a powerful artifact: the Skull of Gul'dan. The skull was responsible for the corruption of the night elves' beloved forest. Arthas played to Illidan's thirst for power, mentioning that the skull held immense power, and Illidan took the bait willingly.

After fighting his way through the demons, Illidan reached and consumed the power of the Skull. With its power added to his own, he slew the leader of the dreadlords, Tichondrius, and helped seal the Legion's defeat. When Malfurion and Tyrande found the new demon-night elf that was now Illidan, Malfurion banished Illidan for his demonic corruption, claiming that he was "no brother of his". A very resentful Illidan tore his way through the dead trees and was not heard of until the coming of the naga.

Battle of Mount Hyjal
After Illidan's banishment, Medivh called Malfurion and Tyrande to a secret grove where he had Thrall and Jaina meet them. Medivh revealed that he was the one who helped Burning Legion create the Dark Portal and allowed the Horde to invade Azeroth. After he was slain for his crimes, he had to return to right his wrongs and protect Azeroth from the Legion's return. Medivh asked that the mortal races unite to defeat the Legion, as their combined power was their only hope.

To prepare for the demons' attack, three camps were built around Mount Hyjal. Malfurion devised a plan to use the power of the World Tree itself to destroy Archimonde. As he went back up the summit to make the necessary preparations for Archimonde, Jaina and Thrall used whatever night elves Tyrande could spare to fortify their bases. Archimonde tore his way through ranks of human knights, elven sentinels, and orcish warriors and smashed his way through the human castle and orc fortress. Jaina was able to teleport most of the surviving troops. Before Thrall escaped death, he managed to hurt Archimonde with a bolt of his shamanistic lightning, an incredible feat in itself. With the two bases destroyed, Archimonde stormed through the night elf gate protecting the summit.

With Archimonde at the World Tree, Malfurion used the Horn to call on the ancient spirits in the area to attack the demon. In an instant, they detonated into a massive explosion that destroyed the Defiler, much of his demon army with him, and the World Tree. The price for this defeat was the night elves' immortality, but the Third War was over.

Aftermath
The Third War left Lordaeron destroyed, the night elves mortal, and the high elves near extincted. No large group of humans would ever regain control of Lordaeron, though the Argent Dawn and Scarlet Crusade have been fighting the Scourge. The Alliance eventually under Grand Marshal Garithos command, had rallied the surviving humans of Hillsbrad. Along with reinforcements from Stormwind and Ironforge the Alliance had managed to retake Dalaran and the Alterac Mountains pushing the Scourge back to the Plaguelands. The Kirin Tor then began rebuilding the city. Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider of the high elves returned to his ruined city and renamed his people the blood elves in memory of their fallen comrades. The blood elves would eventually retake much of Quel'Thalas, and in time would even reactivate the power of the Sunwell. After the war, Sylvanas would break free of the Lich King's control, and form the Forsaken. The Forsaken would then take over the city of Lordaeron, making their home in its sewers, calling it the Undercity.

The political scene of the current Azeroth was greatly influenced by the Third War. Under Warchief Thrall, the orcs, tauren, and Darkspear trolls were brought together on Kalimdor to become the new Horde, to which the Forsaken and the blood elves would later join. A peace agreement was made between the Horde and Alliance after the war, and Thrall has made it his job to ensure that nothing happens to break this already stressed pact. However, after the Wrathgate incident, Varian Wrynn declared war upon the Horde, to Thrall's lament.

Without Lordaeron, the rebuilt city of Stormwind would become the new base of the Alliance, with the Ironforge dwarves becoming their staunchest and closest geographical allies. The gnomes of Gnomeregan had been unable to help in the Third war as they were dealing with their own issues closer to home — namely a trogg invasion of their city. Because an invasion of troggs paled in comparison to the might of the Scourge, the gnomes decided they would fight their war alone. In the end they were forced to flee Gnomeregan and with their king, Gelbin Mekkatorque, settled in Ironforge with the dwarves as refugees. The night elves, dealing with the loss of their immortality and having been exposed to the world outside their forests once more, decided they would have to make alliances with the wider world. Because of the animosity with the orcs for their continuing lumbering of Warsong Gulch, the night elves in the end joined the Alliance.

The losses were not in vain, however, as the Burning Legion was heavily damaged. Many senior commanders were killed in the war, including a large number of dreadlords and countless others. As Aegwynn put it in the Cycle of Hatred to Theramore Guard colonel Lorena, they "did more damage to the entirety of demonkind than has been done in thousands of years."