A’dal gave its blessing, and Velen rallied a force of draenei to storm Tempest Keep. Though they ventured to the Netherstorm in secret, they could not elude Kil’jaeden’s ever-watchful eyes. Before long, he learned of the plan to reach Azeroth.
Kil’jaeden decided not to stop the draenei, as much as he relished the prospect of killing them. He hated Velen, and he had spent thousands of years dreaming of an opportunity to make him suffer. Though it was difficult, Kil’jaeden put aside his lust for blood, not wanting it to compromise his true goal.
It was dangerous to let the draenei reach Azeroth and potentially join forces with the world’s nations. However, Kil’jaeden believed the possible benefits of such a journey outweighed the risks. If the draenei told Azeroth’s inhabitants of the Legion’s presence and Illidan’s misdeeds on Outland, it would only urge them to take action.
And once they arrived at the shattered realm, Kil’jaeden believed they would wage war against Illidan and unwittingly end his shadowy campaign against the Legion.
Unaware that Kil’jaeden was watching them, Velen and his people began their daring raid. The blood elves assumed the draenei had come to capture the whole of Tempest Keep, and the defenders arrayed their forces across the stronghold. Only too late did they realize that the draenei had no interest in conquest.
The draenei concentrated their assault on the wing of Tempest Keep containing O’ros, smashing through the blood elves’ defenses. The satellite structure broke away from Tempest Keep and vanished in an explosion of magic.
Only after the journey began did Velen realize something was wrong with the Exodar. During the battle at Tempest Keep, a handful of blood elves had fought their way into the Exodar and sabotaged it, hoping to disable the structure. They failed, but their meddling had repercussions.
Upon reaching Azeroth, Velen lost control of the Exodar. The fortress plummeted through a rift in the heavens like a falling star. The Exodar slammed into a remote area in northern Kalimdor called Azuremyst Isle. The crash nearly destroyed the Exodar and its helpless voyagers. Casualties were high, but many of the passengers survived.
Teldrassil’s night elves saw the flash of light in the heavens, and they investigated the phenomenon. Though they were wary of the draenei newcomers, the night elves soon realized that Velen and his people were no threat. They shared a common enemy in the Legion.
From Stormwind City to Ironforge, messengers relayed stories of the draenei’s arrival and the state of Outland. The Alliance voted to welcome the draenei into its ranks and give them shelter and protection. The decision was unanimous.
Though the tales of Illidan’s shadowy deeds and a Legion army amassing on Outland worried the Alliance, the faction’s leaders did not yet agree to act.
Quel’Thalas was still in turmoil. Packs of undead roamed the land. On the southern borders, the Amani trolls began launching attacks against the weakened blood elves. Regent Lord Lor’themar Theron had few resources to protect his home from these threats. The kingdom’s army was in tatters. Overindulgence of magic had transformed some elves into withered creatures called the Wretched. These unfortunate souls turned their backs on society and wandered the land in search of magic to feed on.
To make matters worse, Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider had still not returned from Outland. The latest news that Lor’themar and his people had heard from the shattered realm did not bode well. The Legion was gathering in great numbers for reasons unknown, and a large portion of Kael’thas’s blood elves had abandoned the prince.
Kael’thas was vulnerable, but Lor’themar could not leave Quel’Thalas undefended while he launched a campaign to assist the prince on Outland. The blood elves needed allies, and they would not find them among the humans, dwarves, gnomes, or night elves. Kael’thas’s decision to join Lady Vashj and Illidan had soured relations between Quel’Thalas and the Alliance.
An answer came from an unexpected source: Sylvanas Windrunner. The Banshee Queen urged the Horde’s leadership to ally with the blood elves, but her reasons remained a mystery. Rumors circulated that some lingering part of her still sympathized with Quel’Thalas and its hardships. Other stories hinted that Sylvanas had ulterior motives. Whatever the truth, she arranged for Warchief Thrall and High Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof to convene with Lor’themar and discuss such a possibility.
Despite the elves’ history of bitter warfare with the orcs, Lor’themar was receptive to the idea. He knew this Horde was different than the one that had ravaged Quel’Thalas in years past. He was also painfully aware that time was running out for his kingdom and his prince.
Thrall and Cairne saw great promise in the blood elves. The people of Quel’Thalas had proved their courage and resolve while fighting to protect their kingdom from outside threats like the Scourge. Thrall and Cairne believed that the Horde and the blood elves needed each other to survive the days ahead. They extended the hand of peace to Lor’themar, and he accepted.
This alliance benefited both sides. While the blood elves now had allies to call on, the Horde gained another strategic foothold in the Eastern Kingdoms. Thrall and Cairne also saw helping the blood elves as an act of honor. Much like the other races of the Horde, they were a people on the verge of extinction. Enemies lurked on all sides. Constant war and addiction to magic had chipped away at their pride and once-glorious culture. Thrall and Cairne believed they could help the blood elves find peace.
After the blood elves were inducted into the Horde, Lor’themar Theron told Thrall and Cairne Bloodhoof of the Legion’s presence on Outland and his desire to find Kael’thas Sunstrider. The news about demons was deeply troubling. Yet, like the Alliance’s leaders, Thrall and Cairne were wary of venturing to Outland.
Soon Kil’jaeden would give them a reason to do so.
Kil’jaeden hadn’t anticipated the blood elves joining the Horde, but he welcomed it. Word of the Legion’s presence on Outland and Illidan Stormrage’s conquest of that realm had spread throughout the most powerful nations on Azeroth. Leaders convened to discuss what to do, but they remained hesitant to act. The Dark Portal was closed. Outland was a distant threat.
That was about to change.
On Outland, Kil’jaeden ordered Highlord Kruul and his forces to gather at the Dark Portal. He gave the same command to his forces on Azeroth. Many demons had been trapped on the world following the Third War. The most powerful among them was the doomlord Kazzak. As the Legion’s de facto ruler on Azeroth, he rounded up what demons he could find and brought them to the site of the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands.
Kil’jaeden then guided his followers in a great ritual to reopen the rift. Though the Dark Portal had been closed, reality was permanently warped by its former presence. The Legion’s spellwork tore through this weakness, and the bridge between worlds flared to life again.
Kazzak stormed into Outland and took control of the Legion army. He was a more seasoned commander than Highlord Kruul, and he inspired greater fear and respect in his followers.
Kil’jaeden had another purpose for Kruul. The highlord would be the spark that set Azeroth and Outland alight with war. Kruul gathered a small invasion force and marched through the Dark Portal. He struck at Stormwind City, Orgrimmar, and other locations throughout the world. His purpose was not to conquer but to stir the Horde and the Alliance into a frenzy. In that, he succeeded.
The Horde’s and the Alliance’s response was immediate. Their armies mobilized and made war on the demons. Kruul and his followers feigned retreat, gathering in the Eastern Kingdoms and luring their enemies to the Dark Portal. The highlord always intended for the Horde and the Alliance to reach Outland, but he made them work for it. His demons bled their foes every step of the way. The fiercest fighting erupted outside the Dark Portal, and the Horde and the Alliance paid dearly to push the demons through the gateway.
The defenders of Azeroth could no longer ignore the threat posed by Outland. The Dark P
ortal had been restored. If they closed it, the Legion might simply open it again. There was but one choice to make.
The Horde and the Alliance launched their armies into Outland. For most of these soldiers, it was the first time they had seen the broken world. Many orcs had been there before, but even they were shocked by what they witnessed.
Kruul, Kazzak, and a massive Legion army greeted them on the other side of the Dark Portal. And this time, the demons would not retreat.
The Legion and Azeroth’s defenders waged a brutal war for supremacy in the Dark Portal’s shadow. The Horde and the Alliance slowly pushed into Hellfire Peninsula. Casualties mounted on both sides. Not even Kruul or Kazzak was spared the fury of battle. They had expected Kil’jaeden to send reinforcements to help the demons hold back the heroes of Azeroth.
Yet that had never been Kil’jaeden’s intention. The demon lord sacrificed Kruul and Kazzak to embolden the Horde and the Alliance. He needed them to carve out footholds on Outland and turn their wrath on Illidan as soon as possible. Bogging them down in a prolonged war with the Legion did not serve Kil’jaeden’s purpose. It might have caused them to retreat to Azeroth.
As the Horde and the Alliance pushed inland, they established strongholds in Hellfire Peninsula. The Alliance soldiers were shocked to discover Honor Hold and its inhabitants. The Sons of Lothar had not perished as had once been thought. The commander of Honor Hold, the revered human warrior Danath Trollbane, welcomed the Alliance with open arms.
The Horde had no pre-existing fortress to call their own. They built a new settlement, Thrallmar, in the north of Hellfire Peninsula. Soon, the Horde found allies to join their cause: the Mag’har orcs.
The Mag’har were few, but they proved to be fierce fighters. They had never succumbed to the demonic blood-curse that had twisted most other orcs, turning their skin from brown to green and transforming them into war-crazed soldiers. Ever since the destruction of Draenor, small communities of Mag’har had clung to survival on Outland, honing their shamanic traditions and carrying on the old ways of their people. They saw the new Horde for what it was: a return to the pride and honor of the orcs’ former society.
THE ASSAULT ON THE DARK PORTAL
The Horde and the Alliance were not the only ones who fought the Legion at the Dark Portal. Secretly, Illidan Stormrage and his demon hunters had also joined the fray. They had spotted Highlord Kruul leading a small force to outflank Azeroth’s defenders. Illidan and his followers struck before that came to pass. They carved through the demons’ ranks until they had defeated Kruul himself.
The demon hunters did not linger in the area. Illidan was wary of making his presence known to the Alliance and the Horde. He believed they would see him and his fel-wielding followers as nothing more than agents of the Legion. After the battle, Illidan left the Dark Portal and continued preparing for strikes against the Legion on other worlds.
From Honor Hold and Thrallmar, the Alliance and the Horde continued their offensives against the Legion. They broke the demons’ strength and pushed them to the outskirts of Hellfire Peninsula.
The champions of Azeroth then turned their attention to Outland’s self-proclaimed lord: Illidan Stormrage. By now, both factions had heard disturbing rumors about the Betrayer. Stories of the naga warping the land in Zangarmarsh, of the blood elves seizing Tempest Keep and leeching magic from the Netherstorm.
And there were other tales, ones that spoke of Illidan training an army of elves infused with demonic power.
The Alliance and the Horde were unaware of Illidan’s true goal to destroy the Legion, and he made no attempt to tell them. He was almost ready to launch his attack on Argus. He knew that if he tried to explain his methods to the peoples of Azeroth, they would not understand. Thus, he focused all his attention on his demon hunters and their mission.
After crushing the Legion’s hold on Hellfire Peninsula, the Horde launched an offensive against Illidan Stormrage’s fel orcs at Hellfire Citadel.
For many members of the Horde, the assault was personal. The ferocious, red-skinned orcs were a reminder of the demonic corruption that had plagued the old Horde. Using the pit lord Magtheridon’s blood, Illidan had forged an army of brutal soldiers. The infamous chieftain of the Shattered Hand orc clan, Kargath Bladefist, lorded over Hellfire Citadel. He and his fel orcs were beyond saving. They showed no mercy to the Horde, and they were offered none in return.
Horde forces defeated Kargath and marched into the heart of Hellfire Citadel. They did not rest until they cut down Magtheridon in the belly of the fortress. Though Magtheridon would never again taint the orc race, there was little celebration. The Horde’s triumph had been grim work, and few soldiers rejoiced in spilling the blood of fel orcs.
Yet the Horde’s time on Outland also brought hope and redemption, especially for Thrall. Born on Azeroth, he had never been to his race’s ancestral home. Little was left of old Draenor, but there was a place largely untouched by the calamity that had befallen the world.
Thrall and many other members of the Horde eventually ventured into Nagrand, a region steeped in ancient orcish culture. The largest community of Mag’har called it home. They dwelled in Garadar, a village named after Thrall’s late grandfather and watched over by his grandmother, Geyah. Meeting her changed the warchief’s life. His parents had died when he was only an infant, and Geyah was the closest connection he had to them. She taught him much about his parents, his people, and himself.
But Thrall also had something to teach. Garadar’s leader was Garrosh Hellscream, son of the legendary warrior Grommash Hellscream. Garrosh did not know of his father’s deeds on Azeroth. He believed that Grommash was a monster, one of the orcs who had led his people into the clutches of demons. Thrall was quick to tell him that his father was a hero. He recounted how Grommash had sacrificed himself to defeat Mannoroth, how he had lifted the blood-curse that had afflicted the orcs. The truth filled Garrosh with confidence.
REXXAR AND THE MOK’NATHAL
Rexxar accompanied the Horde to Outland, seeking to reconnect with his fellow mok’nathal. It had been many years since he’d seen his people. Rexxar found them north of Hellfire Peninsula, among the jagged peaks of the Blade’s Edge Mountains. An aging warrior led the mok’nathal. His name was Leoroxx, and he was Rexxar’s father.
Years ago, a rift had formed between father and son. Leoroxx was opposed to the Horde of old, and he had been against Rexxar’s decision to join it. A fierce argument had engulfed the two mok’nathal, and they had parted ways with anger in their hearts.
Time had not yet healed these wounds. Rexxar could not face his father, but he did everything in his power to help the mok’nathal fend off their enemies in the Blade’s Edge Mountains.
Thrall saw much potential in Garrosh. He was brash and quick to anger, but Thrall believed Garrosh’s fierce pride and knowledge of orcish culture would serve the Horde well. The warchief convinced the Mag’har orc to act as his advisor back on Azeroth.
Before long, the Alliance and the Horde had forged into the murky swamp of Zangarmarsh.
The draenei who had joined the Alliance were eager to reconnect with those whom they’d left behind on Outland, and many of them dwelled in Zangarmarsh. The Alliance forces soon gathered at the sanctuary of Telredor, the largest draenei stronghold in the region.
From Telredor’s draenei, the Alliance learned many unsettling things. Conditions in Zangarmarsh were rapidly deteriorating. Disease had spread among plants and animals alike. Food sources were vanishing, driving the local creatures into a frenzy. Nearby tribes of Broken were disappearing, never to be seen again.
Lady Vashj and her naga were the cause of Zangarmarsh’s troubles. Their efforts to drain its water had upset the region’s delicate ecosystem. Nature was in upheaval, and it would only continue to unravel unless something was done.
The Alliance did not hesitate. Its champions st
ormed into the naga’s watery fortress, Coilfang Reservoir.
WARCHIEF THRALL TELLS GARROSH HELLSCREAM OF THE HEROIC ACTS OF GROMMASH HELLSCREAM
Much like the Horde’s attack on Magtheridon in Hellfire Citadel, the Alliance’s assault on Coilfang Reservoir exacted a heavy toll from the invaders. The stronghold was filled with diseased wildlife and Lady Vashj’s most fearsome naga warriors. Enslaved Broken also roamed Coilfang Reservoir, and nearly all of them welcomed the promise of freedom. The Alliance’s forces shattered their bonds as they charged through the naga’s fortress.
Lady Vashj was the last to fall to the Alliance’s blades. With her death, Coilfang Reservoir was no longer a threat. Though it would take time, balance would return to Zangarmarsh. Telredor’s inhabitants were now safe to expand across the region.
In time, the Horde and the Alliance reached Shattrath City. A’dal rejoiced at their arrival. Velen’s daring escape to Azeroth had paid off. The naaru now had allies to protect Outland from the Legion.
Shattrath became a pivotal staging ground for the Horde and the Alliance. Trade flourished between the peoples of Azeroth and many of Outland’s creatures. Though weapons and armor were exchanged, the most valuable thing that the Horde and the Alliance discovered in Shattrath was information.
Much of it came from Archmage Khadgar. He had become an influential figure in the city. Though he was a member of the Alliance, he knew the Horde also had a crucial role to play in determining Outland’s fate. He sought to bridge the divide between the factions and arm them with knowledge about Illidan Stormrage’s domain.
Some of Azeroth’s defenders gradually converged on Shadowmoon Valley, site of the Black Temple. There, the Alliance rallied with other heroes from the Sons of Lothar. Kurdran Wildhammer and his fellow dwarves had forged a stronghold in Shadowmoon Valley. From it, they watched the Black Temple and reported what they saw to Khadgar.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 Page 18