Plotting Escape from Blackrock Spire

"But, Chieftain, weren't you the one who persuaded us to follow you to Blackrock Mountain? Wasn't Nefarian our ally? Wasn't he the one who rescued us? Wasn't he our benefactor? Or was he the murderer who killed Chieftain Maim?" Rend had previously portrayed Nefarian to the Blackrock Clan as a savior. He had rescued the two chieftains and many Blackrock brothers from the internment camps, given them shelter, and secured Blackrock Spire as a safe stronghold, sparing them from Alliance retaliation.

"I was too foolish before. I failed you all. It was because of my foolishness that Nefarian deceived me. He is Deathwing's offspring. He rescued us only to control the Blackrock Clan, turning us into his servants to destroy the world and using our occupation of Blackrock Spire as a sacrifice. I actually let him use me so easily. I even drove Zuluhed, chieftain of the Dragonmaw Clan, who had always supported us brothers, to break with us, and caused my elder brother Maim Blackhand to sacrifice himself. I have shamed Blackhand's bloodline. I led the Blackrock Clan into the abyss. Now I want to make amends. Will you support me?" Having told the truth, Rend dropped to one knee, expressing remorse for "his" past mistakes and begging for forgiveness.

"Get up, Chieftain. We do not blame you. Our entire Blackrock Clan follows only you. Even if the Blackrock Clan marches toward ruin, we remain loyal to Blackhand's bloodline. We swear to serve you unto death. Even if Nefarian truly was the savior who rescued us, then we would merely be your blades." After a brief moment of stunned silence, Malkorok hurriedly helped Rend up. Even if Rend led them into the abyss, they would follow without hesitation. Ever since the Blackfang Clan had been formed and broken free from Orgrim's control, they had recognized only Rend Blackhand as their chieftain. Even if it were a bottomless abyss, they would enter it alongside their chieftain. Such was an orc's loyalty to his clan.

"Can you truly forgive me? Beginning with my father, Blackhand the Destroyer, how much pain has our Blackhand family caused the Blackrock Clan? Now our strength is less than a tenth of what it once was. Are you still willing to submit to the leadership of the Blackhands?" Starting with Blackhand, two generations had reduced the Blackrock Clan from a population of several million to the tens of thousands who later joined the Horde. That sacrifice was undoubtedly the result of their misguided leadership.

"We swear to serve Blackhand unto death." Malkorok took the lead, and several bodyguards joined him, pounding their fists against their chests and lowering their heads in an ancient oath of fealty.

"Good. You have not failed the Blackhands, and I will certainly lead the Blackrock Clan to reclaim its former prosperity. Now, I, Rend Blackhand, command you in the name of the Blackhand family: contact every loyal clansman, make preparations in secret, bring sufficient rations and equipment, abandon all unnecessary supplies, and await my order to escape Blackrock Spire." This was his foundation, his capital: an orc clan utterly loyal to him.

Under Rend's arrangements, the Blackrock Clan began secretly preparing supplies. The dragonkin of the Black Dragonflight assumed the orcs were dividing up the goods they had just seized from the Dark Iron Dwarves and thought nothing of it. The wealthy dragonkin had no interest in such supplies. Though the Dark Iron Dwarves were highly skilled craftsmen, to the Black Dragonflight, with its accumulation of tens of thousands of years, they were merely ordinary goods. Only foolish orcs would plunder and hoard them. Although Nefarian was crafty and cunning, he held no suspicion toward the Rend Blackhand he controlled. Rend's incomplete soul gave him extremely weak resistance to magic, and Nefarian believed he had completely controlled the orc. That had indeed been true before—Rend Blackhand had been wholly under Nefarian's control—but he did not know that the current Rend had already broken free. Nefarian was now wholly occupied with controlling his newly acquired territory and experimenting on chromatic dragons.

As one of the three great dwarf clans, the Dark Iron Dwarves' forging skill and stockpiles of supplies were no less impressive than those of their kin, the Bronzebeard Clan of Ironforge. The Blackrock orcs' sudden attack had allowed them to enjoy the Dark Iron Dwarves' warehouses without effort, claiming all the supplies in the upper levels of Blackrock Spire that had once belonged to the Dark Iron Dwarves.

Equipment was the most plentiful among them. Dwarven armor and weapons were not suited to orcs, but the Blackrock Clan was the most skilled at forging among all orcs. Their homeland, Blackrock Foundry, was no worse than Ironforge or Blackrock Spire, and their craftsmanship did not fall short of the dwarves'. Thus, they made simple modifications to the dwarven armor, turning full plate into simpler plated armor. They used dwarven polearms as ordinary weapons or modified weapons to extend their reach.

It could be said that the Blackrock Clan was now the most advanced and wealthy of all orcs. Having seized all the supplies in the upper levels of Blackrock Spire, while other orcs had yet to solve their food shortages and were still fighting guerrilla battles, they already possessed full granaries and surplus weapons. Rend also considered this an excellent gift for the Horde. After all, the Horde that had only just liberated the orcs had not even solved its food problem, much less acquired armor.

While mining, the dwarves also collected many gems. But dragonkin loved treasure, and the jewels stored by the Dark Iron Dwarves had all been claimed by the Black Dragonflight. Nefarian had placed his personal treasury together with the dwarves' treasury and assigned the dragonkin legion under General Drakkisath to guard it. This treasury was also something Rend had to secure. The Horde was poor, the orcs were poor, the Darkspear Trolls were poor, and the Tauren were poor. Only the Forsaken and Blood Elves, who would join in the future, were wealthy. Establishing a new homeland in Kalimdor would undoubtedly require vast quantities of gold. Although Thrall could build from nothing, one only had to compare Orgrimmar under Thrall with the Orgrimmar expanded by Garrosh to understand that Thrall had built Orgrimmar so simply because he lacked money. With money, they could build an iron Orgrimmar from the very beginning and avoid the heavy casualties caused by insufficient equipment in wars against the Burning Legion, centaurs, quilboars, and others.

There was no need to worry about population, provisions, or equipment. Now, they only needed to secure funds and a few more important things.

Nefarian possessed a great many dragon eggs and hatchlings from every dragonflight for the sake of creating chromatic dragons. Rend had no intention of giving up such treasures. Ordinarily, anyone who wanted to obtain a dragon would have to challenge a nest guarded by adult dragons. But Blackrock Spire held vast numbers of hatchlings and dragon eggs that he and Deathwing had seized. Though Rend did not know how the chromatic dragon research was progressing, he still had to steal some dragon eggs. Once he integrated the Dragonmaw Clan in the future, new dragon riders would be born for the Horde.

Though this might anger the dragonflights, he could always return them voluntarily later as recompense for the guilt of what had been done to dragons in the past. Even if the Red Dragon Queen refused to forgive them, she would not dare take her anger out on the entire Horde.