Expanding South-Desolace

Azeroth had once again fallen into a brief peace. Although the Alliance had just declared war on the Horde, both sides temporarily ceased their attacks after the naval battle.

The war in Northrend had inflicted heavy losses on both sides, and Stormwind in particular had begun to suffer from shortages of supplies.

The Warsong Offensive and the Blackrock Expeditionary Force had both paid a tremendous price, but the worst hit was the Kor'kron Legion directly under Warchief Thrall. The Kor'kron Vanguard had suffered devastating losses, and replenishing its ranks had become a problem.

It could even be said that the hard-won strength preserved by the Frostwolf Clan had been nearly exhausted in this northern campaign. An entire generation of Frostwolf Clan members had died.

Though the Frostwolf Clan no longer faced attacks from the Stormpike Dwarves and Alterac Valley's safety was assured, Warchief Thrall could no longer bring himself to keep recruiting from the dwindling Frostwolf Clan. After all, the Frostwolf Clan had originally only been a medium-sized clan from Draenor, with a population of merely several hundred thousand.

Victory in the northern campaign had also sent the reputations of Rend, Garrosh, Dranosh, and Jorin soaring. Rend and Garrosh in particular, backed by the Blackrock Clan and Warsong Clan—the Horde's two largest clans—carried themselves with an imposing presence that nearly surpassed even Warchief Thrall.

The Blackrock Clan, with nearly a million people, and the Warsong Clan, with several hundred thousand, together possessed more than half the Horde's Orcish strength. That did not even include Rend's vassal Dragonmaw Clan or Garrosh's Mag'har Clan.

The return of several hundred thousand Blackrock Clan members from K'aresh, the Ethereals' homeworld, began to strain Noxus's capacity to support them. After all, Noxus was mountainous for the most part, with only a small number of plains