News of Warchief Thrall's capture quickly spread from the Lost Isles to Orgrimmar.
The Alliance's major prize was, astonishingly, the kidnapping of the Horde's former Warchief, Thrall.
When Kezan erupted, the Bilgewater Cartel refugees had stumbled into saving Warchief Thrall. Relying on his powerful elemental strength, they had also made the Alliance First Fleet pay a price. Afterward, Thrall and the Bilgewater Cartel had relied on the Horde outpost in the Lost Isles to resist the Alliance First Fleet's attacks.
A Horde Warchief, even a former one, represented enormous value.
If the Alliance successfully carried Thrall off to Stormwind, then Stormwind would gain an immense bargaining chip. This was especially true because Stormwind's Archbishop Benedictus insisted that they had to capture Horde Warchief Thrall.
Therefore, the Horde absolutely could not allow Stormwind to capture their former Warchief, Thrall.
Almost without prior discussion, both sides chose to dispatch their strongest fleets from the ports of Orgrimmar and Stormwind.
Under Commander Kara Cape's command, the Iron Fleet sailed forth in full force. Giant warships built of steel belched black smoke as they cruised across the Great Sea.
As Azeroth's maritime hegemon, the Kingdom of Kul Tiras had possessed a navy of a thousand sails at the height of its power.
During the Orc Wars, it had been battered by the Dragonmaw Clan riding red dragons, yet it had still retained seven hundred warships afterward.
Of those seven hundred warships, four hundred had followed Admiral Daelin Proudmoore to the northern lands of the Eastern Kingdoms, where they supported the Kingdom of Lordaeron against the Scourge.
Later, Jaina Proudmoore had taken half of them away.
After the Battle of Durotar, Admiral Daelin Proudmoore's main fleet had been sunk by the Horde. Its flagship, the Sea Sovereignty, remained submerged in the waters around Theramore to