World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 2 (World of Warcraft: Chronicle)

by Blizzard

  Yet she could no longer disobey Gul’dan’s order.

  With tears streaming down her face, she plunged a dagger into Llane’s heart. The young prince, Varian, witnessed the murder. His father’s assassination deeply impacted the boy, and it would forever taint his perception of the orcs; he would view them as a deceitful and murderous people.

  In the confusion that followed, Garona escaped the keep, vanishing into the chaos of battle. Word of the king’s death spread quickly, and morale faltered. Fighting engulfed nearly every corner of Stormwind. The Horde’s continuing barrage set fire to the city.

  That was when Lothar and Khadgar returned from Karazhan. They saw the chaos, and when they learned the king was dead, Lothar took command of the remaining forces. There was nothing left to be done for his city. He could only save as many of its people as he could.

  Lothar ordered a mass evacuation of the city. He, Khadgar, Gavinrad, and the remaining soldiers gathered Prince Varian and his mother, Queen Taria, along with any other citizens they could find. They fought street by street to Stormwind’s harbor, losing many on the way. Among the casualties was Taria. When Lothar and the other survivors finally reached the docks, before they set sail, they destroyed nearly all of the city’s remaining boats so that the Horde could not follow.

  Stormwind City burned to the ground behind the refugees. The First War was over.

  The Horde stood victorious. But its warchief was anything but happy.

  LOTHAR AND OTHER REFUGEES FLEE STORMWIND

  Warchief Doomhammer had no means—nor the inclination—to pursue Stormwind’s refugees. The Horde had taken heavy losses to achieve victory, and he knew he needed to secure his conquered land before facing any new enemies.

  He sent messengers back to Draenor to call up the remaining clans. The Warsongs, the Shattered Hand, the Laughing Skull, the Thunderlords, and the Bonechewers would need time to reach the Horde’s new territory.

  Orgrim used that time to consolidate his control of the Horde. His first priority was eradicating the Shadow Council. Though it was a powerful force, it was the root of the Horde’s corruption. Orgrim believed that the Shadow Council was in league with dark forces that were manipulating the orcs, and that the warlocks’ obsession with fel magic was what had killed Draenor. On a more personal level, Orgrim also wanted revenge. Members of the Shadow Council had murdered Durotan, Draka, and their infant child (as far as Orgrim was aware).

  The Shadow Council’s whereabouts were unknown. Luckily, there was someone to interrogate. Gul’dan was still unconscious, but the Horde had captured his puppet, Garona, as she tried to escape from Stormwind City. Orgrim had her tortured until she revealed where the Shadow Council had built its secret refuge: Blackrock Spire.

  A large force of Horde soldiers stormed the smoldering volcano. No fire elementals or Dark Iron dwarves barred their way. Ragnaros and the Old Gods kept their presence hidden, eager to see how the violent situation would play out.

  The Shadow Council warlocks could do little to save themselves. Their fel power could only delay Orgrim’s wrath for so long, and they fell before the warchief’s loyal followers.

  One of the few council members to survive was Cho’gall. The ogre made a very convincing case for why he should be spared. Without Cho’gall, the Twilight’s Hammer would succumb to madness again. Could Orgrim really afford to lose such a capable fighting force? Cho’gall swore his allegiance to the warchief, claiming that he had been manipulated into Gul’dan’s service.

  Orgrim accepted his surrender reluctantly. He wasn’t sure whether the two-headed ogre was telling the truth, and he didn’t particularly care. He needed fighting power to protect the Horde’s new lands. Cho’gall also proved his usefulness when he introduced Orgrim to the Dark Iron dwarves who lived deep within the mountain. The rapport between the ogre and these creatures was an unexpected advantage. The dwarves agreed—at Ragnaros’s secret command—to allow the Horde to claim Blackrock Spire as its new headquarters. The Old Gods were delighted to see what chaos the orcs would sow on Azeroth in the coming years.

  The warchief also spared Garona’s life. It was no secret that Gul’dan had been remarkably cruel to her, and her assassination of Llane had been very helpful. She, too, swore fealty to the Horde. Orgrim charged one of his most trusted lieutenants, Eitrigg, to act as her handler.

  In time, Orgrim’s messengers returned from Draenor with bad news. The clans still on that world had descended deeper into bloodlust and had begun fighting with one another. Only a few skilled, disciplined orcs and a handful of ogres would be able to bolster the Horde.

  It wasn’t what Orgrim had been hoping to hear, but it was what he had to deal with.

  And soon, he would control a source of power that he could have never imagined, a weapon born from Azeroth’s ancient past…

  Throughout the First War, Azeroth’s mighty dragons were largely absent from the conflict.

  For many ages, these majestic creatures had protected the world under the guidance of the five Dragon Aspects: Alexstrasza, Neltharion, Nozdormu, Ysera, and Malygos. Yet they were no longer capable of safeguarding the world. They were still reeling from a betrayal millennia old.

  Ten thousand years ago, during the War of the Ancients, the Aspects had joined the fight against the Burning Legion. Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Ysera, and Malygos had willingly sacrificed a portion of their essence into a singular artifact that would channel their fury together. This weapon was known as the Dragon Soul, and it would be capable of annihilating Azeroth’s demonic enemies.

  Only Neltharion did not infuse the artifact with his power. He had crafted the weapon and presented it to his allies. On the surface, his intentions seemed pure. Yet, in truth, they were anything but noble. Unbeknownst to the other Aspects, Neltharion had fallen under the influence of the Old Gods.

  After the other Aspects empowered the Dragon Soul, Neltharion wielded the artifact in battle. He destroyed scores of demons with the weapon, but he was not content to focus his wrath solely on the Legion. Neltharion also turned the Dragon Soul against his friends and allies.

  This shocking betrayal broke the unity of dragonkind, and it earned Neltharion a new name: Deathwing.

  The other Dragon Aspects eventually recovered the artifact from their brother. They were troubled to find that they could not destroy or reclaim the power they had infused into the weapon. The Aspects had little choice but to hide the Dragon Soul in a place where no one would think to look: a remote corner of the world that would become known as the Redridge Mountains. Enchantments were also placed upon the artifact, preventing Deathwing or any other dragon from ever touching it.

  In the millennia that followed, the weakened Dragon Aspects largely retreated from the world. Deathwing’s betrayal had changed them forever. The bronze Dragon Aspect, Nozdormu, occupied himself with the ancient task of safeguarding the past, present, and future. He rarely emerged from the swirling timeways. The green Aspect, Ysera, spent much of her time monitoring the health of Azeroth’s wilds from the Emerald Dream. The blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, had lost himself to madness due to Deathwing’s actions, and he secluded himself inside his lair, the Nexus.

  The red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, did intervene in the activities of the world’s mortal races, but only rarely. She also kept watch for any sign of Deathwing.

  After the War of the Ancients, Deathwing had disappeared and settled into a deep slumber. The Dragon Soul had been too much for even the corrupted Dragon Aspect to wield in battle, and the artifact’s power had nearly destroyed him. He had been forced to attach metal plates to his spine to keep his fiery body from tearing apart. Deathwing needed time to recover from his wounds and regain his strength. During his long slumber, the other dragonflights hunted his corrupted children to the brink of extinction.

  The incredible amount of magic that was used to open the Dark Portal finally roused Deathwing. He watched with fascination as Stormwind and the Horde fought, and he became convinced that the
orcs might be the means by which he could restore his wounded black dragonflight to its full glory. Deathwing knew that more than just the other Dragon Aspects would oppose him if he ever came out of hiding; many of the mortal races would as well. If the Horde could break Azeroth’s kingdoms—eliminating some of the strongest cultures in the world—it would allow Deathwing to devote his full attention to fending off his fellow Aspects.

  During the First War, Deathwing’s Old God masters had urged him to take small steps to aid the orcs. Nothing too drastic, of course, for he did not want to attract the attention of the other dragonflights. Yet the Old Gods saw Deathwing’s intervention as a way to engulf the world in chaos.

  The first thing he had done was to take on the guise of a human noble from Stormwind. He had visited Lordaeron and charmed the aristocracy with gossip. When stories of the Horde’s invasion finally reached their kingdom, Deathwing openly scoffed at them. He told Lordaeron’s upper society that the tales were fabrications meant to hide growing problems with human rebels. His lies were far more believable than the desperate pleas for help from Stormwind.

  To win over those who stubbornly believed the reports from Stormwind, Deathwing turned to his sorcerous abilities. He subtly influenced the minds of Lordaeron’s nobles, preventing them from taking any action against the Horde.

  Once he was certain that Lordaeron would send no aid against the Horde, Deathwing had moved south. Taking on the form of a Blackrock orc, he had examined the orcs’ society from the inside, living as one of them for months. It had been easy for him to sense the hidden power driving the Horde’s actions, and before long, he had maneuvered himself into the good graces of various individuals. Gul’dan believed he was a loyal follower; Blackhand believed he was a proud Blackrock orc; even Orgrim Doomhammer believed he was a stalwart ally.

  In the end, Warchief Blackhand had fallen to Orgrim, but that was not an issue. The Shadow Council served the Legion, and Deathwing served the Old Gods. Shattering the Legion’s hold on the orcs only made them more vulnerable to his masters.

  There remained only one problem. The Horde had been weakened by the First War. If the rest of the human kingdoms were to unite, the orcs would not have the means to destroy them. Even if they could, they would surely awaken too many enemies. If the other Dragon Aspects became aware of the threat the Horde posed, the orcs would not stand a chance.

  Yet the Dragon Soul was still out there. Because it contained power from all of the Aspects except for Deathwing, it could be used against them, for the purpose of either destruction or control. No dragon could wield the artifact…but the orcs could. They would make very convenient allies.

  Deathwing granted visions to one of the clan chieftains. He had learned much about the Horde and its ways, and he believed that Zuluhed, leader of the Dragonmaw, would be most receptive.

  Zuluhed was bombarded with vivid dreams of his clan taming and riding strange, powerful winged creatures. In the human tongue, these beasts were called dragons. It was an intoxicating sight—the heritage of the Dragonmaw had been to tame rylaks on Draenor, to make them nelghor, “loyal beasts.” To once again soar in the sky was an idea that could not be resisted. If properly tamed and broken, these dragons would make excellent nelghor.

  THE BLUE DRAGONFLIGHT

  During the War of the Ancients, Deathwing’s betrayal had killed nearly every blue dragon in existence. The entire flight would have gone extinct if not for the actions of Alexstrasza and her dragons. They gathered the remaining blue dragon eggs and did what they could to hatch and raise new whelps. For a time, some of Alexstrasza’s followers also safeguarded magical artifacts and places of power on Azeroth. The task was normally reserved for blue dragons, but with the flight in disarray, there was no one else left to fulfill their ancient duties.

  Once the hook was set, Deathwing coaxed Zuluhed to the Redridge Mountains. Hidden deep beneath the mountains, protected by wards, and guarded by a red dragon named Orastrasz was a featureless gold disc. This was the Dragon Soul, untouched since it was buried millennia ago.

  Zuluhed and his clan immediately fell upon Orastrasz. They had never faced a red dragon in battle before. Over a dozen orcs perished in the fight, but they succeeded in killing the guardian.

  Zuluhed then ordered his clan’s greatest warlock, Nekros Skullcrusher, to recover the artifact. The orc shattered the relic’s defenses. He sensed faint fel energies on it—a remnant of its use in the War of the Ancients—and he renamed it the Demon Soul.

  Far from the Redridge Mountains, Alexstrasza sensed the breaking of the artifact’s wards. When she heard no word from the relic’s guardian, she grew concerned. Alexstrasza took several of her red dragons and hurried south. They believed that some foolish mortal had somehow stolen the artifact, and that Orastrasz was in the midst of trying to hunt it. They thought it would be easy to help him retrieve it.

  In truth, they were flying into Deathwing’s trap.

  As Lothar and Stormwind’s refugees fled north, word of the city’s destruction spread to other nations. Lordaeron’s ruler, King Terenas Menethil II, was deeply shaken by the news. It had been difficult to sift fact from rumor. At first, the king had not even believed that the orcs were real. Now he knew they were a grave threat.

  When Stormwind’s survivors finally arrived in Lordaeron, Lothar told Terenas of the Horde’s true might. He urged the king to gather the other human nations immediately. Without unity, he argued, the Horde would have no difficulty picking off each kingdom one by one.

  In time, the leaders of all the human nations gathered in Lordaeron’s Capital City. There had not been such a gathering in recent memory. Joining Terenas and Lothar were King Genn Greymane of Gilneas, Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore of Kul Tiras, Archmage Antonidas of Dalaran, King Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde, and King Aiden Perenolde of Alterac.

  This occasion was deemed the Council of Seven Nations. At the outset, unity seemed to be a distant dream. Terenas called upon his fellow rulers to join together and form an unstoppable Alliance of human nations, one that would eradicate the threat of the Horde and reclaim Stormwind for its survivors.

  There was some interest. Archmage Antonidas, representing Dalaran’s Kirin Tor, had heard firsthand accounts of the Horde from Khadgar. Proudmoore was friends with Anduin Lothar, and he believed that vengeance on behalf of a destroyed human nation was the correct course of action. Trollbane had a close relationship with Lordaeron, and he, too, was willing to fight.

  Yet Gilneas and Alterac were not so easily convinced. They openly expressed suspicion about whether creatures from another world had invaded at all; Deathwing’s rumors had spread far beyond Lordaeron. They believed there must be some other explanation.

  While the Council of Seven Nations continued its meetings, the Horde prepared for war.

  As the dust of the First War settled, Orgrim Doomhammer mulled over the future of his people. He dreamed of a time when the orcs could return to their old traditions and ways, free from fel magic and the other corruptive influences that Gul’dan and Blackhand had introduced to the clans.

  Yet that dream would be long in coming. First, Orgrim would have to secure a home for the orcs on Azeroth. Conquering Stormwind was not enough. The other human nations would never make peace with the Horde. Not after Stormwind’s destruction. Even now, Doomhammer’s scouts reported that there was a gathering of human nations in a northern land called Lordaeron.

  Orgrim knew that the Horde could not sit idle. If he and his people simply tried to defend their conquered territory, the human nations would muster the full might of their armies, march south, and eventually overrun the orcs. The only way for Orgrim to secure his race’s survival was to strike first, before his enemies could fully prepare for war. After interrogating human prisoners taken from Stormwind, the orcs had learned that many powerful human nations existed in the north, but none compared to Lordaeron. It was the heart of human culture. If the Horde conquered its seat of power, Capital City, Doomhammer be
lieved the other kingdoms would fall in turn.

  But that was if the Horde conquered Lordaeron’s capital. The war with Stormwind had depleted Doomhammer’s army and sapped its resources. With only meager reinforcements coming from Draenor, the warchief sought other ways to strengthen the Horde. His followers scrambled to find new weapons. Blackrock orcs commandeered Stormwind’s forges, but many of them were in ruins due to the fire that had raged through the city.

  The Dragonmaw orcs had discovered a strange and mighty artifact known as the Demon Soul. Yet thus far, they had not unlocked its potential. The clan’s leader, Zuluhed, had given the Demon Soul to his second-in-command, Nekros, and tasked him with unraveling its secrets.

  The Horde had also befriended Azeroth’s fearsome Amani trolls. They had a long and bitter history of conflict with humans, and they had rejoiced upon learning of Stormwind’s destruction. The Amani saw the orcs as potential allies. Some of them indicated that they would join the Horde in exchange for Doomhammer’s aid. The Amani ruler, Warlord Zul’jin, had been captured by humans

  and shackled in a prison near the town of Hillsbrad. If the orcs helped them liberate Zul’jin, these trolls would agree to fight for the Horde.

  Then there was Gul’dan. Not long after Stormwind’s fall, the disgraced warlock had stirred from his coma. The warchief had kept Gul’dan under watch, intending to execute him when he woke. Yet when the time came to shed his blood, Orgrim stayed his hand. Gul’dan had an offer for his new master, a means to ensure the Horde’s victory over the humans.