Chapter Summaries

Ye Ting visited the High Elf court as the Alliance’s envoy and urged Quel'Thalas to join the war against the Orcs. King Anasterian agreed to send a small force under the ancient covenant, while Ye Ting planned to reveal more of his strength to secure greater elven support.

• Ye Ting described the Alliance and asked the Silvermoon Council to join the fight against the Orcs, but King Anasterian initially refused because he believed Quel'Thalas was safe behind its magic barrier.
• Ye Ting reminded Anasterian of the covenant with the Kingdom of Arathor and revealed that Anduin Lothar was Thoradin’s direct descendant and the Alliance’s supreme commander.
• Anasterian accepted that the High Elves must honor their promise and ordered a force of around a hundred Farstriders to aid the human kingdoms.
• Sylvanas Windrunner studied Ye Ting and became interested in him after recognizing why Alleria cared about him.
• Ye Ting found the small elven force inadequate and decided to reveal more of his capabilities to strengthen the Alliance and draw the High Elves closer to humanity.

Ye Ting tried to persuade Anasterian and the Silvermoon Council to join the Alliance by showing that demons had already influenced the Orcs. He presented fel-tainted Orc blood and summoned Garona as a witness, leaving the council to hear her account.

• Ye Ting asked Anasterian why Quel'Thalas had built its magical barrier, and Anasterian explained that it was meant to keep demons from detecting the kingdom's arcane magic.
• Ye Ting revealed test tubes of blood saturated with fel energy and said it came from Orcs.
• Anasterian and the Silvermoon Council reacted with alarm as Ye Ting argued that the Orcs were either demons or had been altered by them.
• Ye Ting offered Garona as a witness who had seen the Orcs become infected with fel power.
• Garona was summoned to the Silvermoon Court, where the council saw someone with Orc blood for the first time.

Ye Ting persuaded Anasterian and the Silvermoon Council that the Orcs might be connected to demons by revealing what he knew about the Tirisfal Council, Karazhan, and Sargeras's plot. Quel'Thalas agreed to investigate and promised to join the Alliance with substantial mage support if the connection was confirmed, while refusing to send more regular troops.

• Garona told the Silvermoon Council that Gul'dan had persuaded the Horde to drink Mannoroth's corrupted blood, and High Elf mages confirmed that Garona had been affected by fel energy.
• Ye Ting revealed that Quel'Thalas had helped establish the Tirisfal Council and connected his knowledge to Medivh, Aegwynn, and the fel contamination around Karazhan.
• Anasterian confirmed Ye Ting's account of Karazhan and admitted Quel'Thalas had concealed its role in the Tirisfal Council.
• Ye Ting explained Sargeras's plot and the Guardian's fall, and the Silvermoon Council accepted his account after hearing the names of Aegwynn and the Dragon Aspects.
• Anasterian promised that Quel'Thalas would join the Alliance with considerable mage support if its investigation confirmed the Orcs' connection to demons, but said it would send no more regular troops.

Ye Ting helped secure Quel'Thalas's decision to join the Alliance and went with Alleria to recruit Farstriders for the human war effort. On the way, they met Alleria's sister Sylvanas, whose teasing left Alleria embarrassed.

• Ye Ting reflected that he wanted to prevent the High Elves from suffering the fate they had faced in the original history.
• After the Silvermoon Council agreed in principle to join the Alliance, Ye Ting left the negotiations to Lordaeron's deputy envoy and accepted Alleria's invitation to Farstrider Square.
• Garona warned Ye Ting that a fast-moving figure was approaching, but Alleria recognized the newcomer and told him not to intercept her.
• Sylvanas arrived and accused Alleria of treating her like a mere acquaintance, then argued with her over the old nickname "Miss Moon."
• Sylvanas teased Alleria about Ye Ting being her future brother-in-law and questioned whether their lifespans would match.
• Ye Ting said magic could let him live at least as long as Sylvanas, but clarified that he and Alleria were not yet in that kind of relationship.

Ye Ting confronted Lor'themar after the elf accused humans of relying on deception, and challenged him to an archery contest. Lor'themar's remarks also left Nathanos considering a return to Lordaeron, while Ye Ting prepared to prove the elves wrong.

• Lor'themar accused Ye Ting of using deceit to win the Windrunner sisters' support, but Alleria and Sylvanas rebuked him.
• Ye Ting stopped the sisters from defending him and questioned Lor'themar about his judgment of humans.
• Lor'themar cited Nathanos Marris as proof that humans were unskilled and deceptive, prompting the rangers to agree with him.
• Nathanos felt ostracized and considered leaving the Farstriders to return to Lordaeron.
• Ye Ting challenged Lor'themar's confidence in his archery and offered to show him a human's skill.

Ye Ting rejected Nathanos’s offer to compete for him and accepted Lor'themar’s archery challenge. After Lor'themar set a new personal record, Ye Ting began stacking a remarkable number of spells on himself, leaving the watching High Elf rangers stunned.

• Nathanos mistook Ye Ting’s words as encouragement to confront prejudice and volunteered to take his place, but Ye Ting refused.
• Lor'themar ran the range while firing arrows and scored nineteen kills, including one grievously wounded target, in fifteen and a half seconds.
• Ye Ting declined Lor'themar’s offer to let Nathanos compete and said he would show them how a mage shot arrows.
• Ye Ting cast a large array of spells to enhance his archery, bewildering the High Elf rangers.

Ye Ting decisively defeated Lor'themar in an archery contest with an array of enhancement spells, hitting all twenty targets in under five seconds. Lor'themar accepted his loss, apologized to Nathanos, and agreed to join the volunteer force supporting Ye Ting.

• Ye Ting used numerous enhancement spells to boost his archery and control the conditions at the range, leaving the High Elf rangers convinced he would win.
• After Halduron Brightwing started the contest, Ye Ting stood still, closed his eyes, and used detection magic to locate the targets.
• Ye Ting hit the center of every one of the twenty targets' foreheads in less than five seconds, and Halduron announced the result.
• Lor'themar admitted defeat, acknowledged Ye Ting's strength, and bowed to him.
• Lor'themar apologized to Nathanos for judging him unfairly, and Nathanos eagerly promised to prove himself.
• Lor'themar agreed to join Ye Ting's volunteer force, and the rangers at Farstrider Lodge began treating Ye Ting with respect.

After Ye Ting's archery contest improved the Farstriders' opinion of humans, many volunteered to accompany Alleria beyond Quel'Thalas. Sylvanas also wanted to join, but Alleria reminded her that someone had to remain and lead the Farstriders, leaving Sylvanas to inherit the Windrunner responsibility.

• Ye Ting's success made recruiting Farstrider volunteers easier, and more than half of them—including Halduron Brightwing and Renthar Hawkspear—offered to join Alleria.
• Sylvanas volunteered to accompany Alleria, prompting Alleria to question her motives and Sylvanas to tease her about Ye Ting.
• Alleria felt jealous and possessive when Sylvanas showed interest in Ye Ting, but she decided not to reveal their relationship.
• Alleria told Sylvanas that she must stay in Quel'Thalas to inherit their mother's position and lead the Farstriders while Alleria fought for the continent.
• Sylvanas accepted that her duty to the Windrunner family and the Farstriders meant she was destined to remain in Quel'Thalas unless the Sunstrider Court ordered otherwise.

Ye Ting and Alleria recruited High Elf rangers and priests in Quel'Thalas to support the Alliance against the Orcs. High Priest Vondelor agreed to join but declined after Archmage Belova objected, though he stopped Ye Ting as he was leaving.

• A thousand High Elf rangers volunteered to join Alleria's command, and she chose not to take more from Quel'Thalas.
• Ye Ting and Alleria visited High Elf villages and churches to invite priests to support the Alliance.
• Many priests joined Ye Ting's force, while others stayed behind to serve their communities.
• Vondelor readily agreed to lead the High Elf priests, but Belova scolded him for risking his life at his age.
• Vondelor apologized and refused to go, then called out to Ye Ting as he was about to leave.

Ye Ting sought a priest to join the Alliance volunteers, and Vondelor recommended his student Liadrin in his place. Recognizing her future as the first Blood Knight, Ye Ting considered how to help her become a paladin and promised Vondelor he would protect her.

• Vondelor apologized for being too old to join Ye Ting's army and offered to recommend his promising student instead.
• Vondelor introduced Liadrin, who agreed to join the volunteers and aid the Alliance with the Holy Light.
• Ye Ting recognized Liadrin's name and recalled how she would later abandon the priesthood and become the first Blood Knight.
• Vondelor prepared Liadrin for the journey and asked Ye Ting to look after her, and Ye Ting agreed.

Ye Ting secured Liadrin a place among the first paladins and obtained a powerful Tome of Chastity for her, while she quickly showed talent in training. The story left Ye Ting summoned to Lordaeron after the Orcs invaded Khaz Modan with a previously unseen kind of troop.

• Alonsus Faol agreed to train Liadrin as a paladin and include High Elf priests in future recruitment.
• Ye Ting asked Aegwynn and Medivh for help, and the Maiden of Virtue made Liadrin a powerful Tome of Chastity.
• Faol baptized Liadrin, who became the sixth original paladin and impressed him with her warrior skills and resolve.
• Lothar summoned Ye Ting back to Lordaeron after the Orcs invaded the Bronzebeard Dwarves’ realm of Khaz Modan.
• Lothar sought Ye Ting’s help because the Orcs had fielded a terrifying new type of troop.

Orgrim Doomhammer led the Horde into Khaz Modan to seize the Dwarves’ food and military resources, while Gul'dan created Death Knights to support the Orcish forces. After learning of the undead soldiers, Ye Ting and Anduin Lothar recognized the danger and resolved to hurry an army to Khaz Modan.

• Orgrim Doomhammer decided to invade Khaz Modan because the Horde lacked food, weapons, and supplies for a campaign against the human kingdoms.
• The Horde overcame the Dwarves’ and Gnomes’ defenses, forcing the Gnomes to retreat to Gnomeregan and the Dwarves to Ironforge.
• Gul'dan created Death Knights from the corpses of human knights, led by Teron Gorefiend, and they helped the Horde advance through Khaz Modan.
• Anduin Lothar received reports about the Death Knights, and Ye Ting explained that they were undead created through necromancy.
• Ye Ting urged Lothar to trust Archbishop Faol and the Paladins, while Lothar called for an army to relieve Khaz Modan before the Orcs captured its mines and foundries.

The Orcs failed to capture Ironforge and Gnomeregan, giving both the Alliance and Horde time to prepare for the Second War. Ye Ting planned to use that interval to prevent the Amani Trolls from becoming Horde allies, while judging that Quel'Thalas's policy of keeping Zul'jin alive could backfire now that the Orcs had arrived.

• Doomhammer withdrew from Ironforge after the Dwarves inflicted heavy losses, then left the Bleeding Hollow Clan to contain Gnomeregan after its defenses also repelled the Orcs.
• Lothar stopped planning an immediate rescue, while the Alliance's rulers gathered troops and Archbishop Faol accelerated training for the first six Paladins and future Silver Hand recruits.
• Ye Ting estimated that both sides needed about half a year to prepare and resolved to eliminate potential Orc allies on Lordaeron.
• Ye Ting identified the Amani Trolls as the main threat, recalling that Orgrim would ally with them and that Zul'jin's guidance had enabled attacks on the Alliance and Quel'Thalas.
• Ye Ting decided not to kill Zul'jin, whom the High Elves kept imprisoned to divide and weaken the Amani Trolls, but recognized that the Orcs' arrival could turn that strategy against Quel'Thalas.

Ye Ting proposed joining forces with the High Elves and Wildhammer Dwarves to eradicate the Amani Trolls, strengthening the Alliance before the Horde could gain them as allies. Lothar and King Terenas accepted the plan, leaving Lordaeron prepared to lead the campaign.

• Ye Ting explained that humans and dwarves could help the High Elves overcome the limits that had kept them from clearing Zul'Aman of Trolls.
• Ye Ting told Lothar that a joint campaign against the Amani Trolls could win greater support from the High Elves and Wildhammer Dwarves.
• Lothar recognized the strategic value of the plan and agreed to support it, then helped Ye Ting persuade King Terenas.
• King Terenas initially resisted spending Lordaeron's troops on the campaign, but Ye Ting argued that Lordaeron would earn the gratitude of the High Elves and Wildhammer Dwarves.
• Terenas was persuaded by the prospect of increasing Lordaeron's influence within the Alliance.

Ye Ting and Alleria brought a plan to destroy the Amani Trolls to Silvermoon City, where King Anasterian welcomed the proposal but the Silvermoon Council debated whether to approve it. Ye Ting argued that Alliance manpower could overcome Quel'Thalas’s difficulties with jungle warfare, but conservative opposition remained.

• Alleria embraced Ye Ting and offered to lead volunteers in support of his plan to destroy the Amani Trolls.
• Ye Ting and Alleria visited Silvermoon City, where Ye Ting presented the plan to Anasterian.
• Anasterian summoned the Silvermoon Council to consider the proposal, and some councilors objected that it was naïve to assume the Trolls could simply be wiped out.
• Ye Ting praised Quel'Thalas’s strength, then argued that human manpower could search Zul'Aman’s forests and reduce the High Elves’ troop and casualty concerns.
• Some nobles and councilors approved of Ye Ting’s reasoning, but the conservative faction remained opposed.

Ye Ting argued that Quel'Thalas should abandon its plan to slowly weaken the Amani Trolls and launch a joint war before the Orcs could ally with them. He persuaded many High Elves that the changing war made their old strategy unsafe, but some mages still insisted Silvermoon's magical barrier could protect them.

• A High Elf noble opposed Ye Ting's war plan, arguing that it would cost Quel'Thalas too much and that patience would let the Trolls weaken over time.
• Ye Ting acknowledged the original strategy but warned that the Orcish Horde might ally with the Trolls if the Alliance struggled in its war.
• The High Elves considered how Orcs reaching the Hinterlands could use the Trolls as allies and threaten Quel'Thalas, and many who had devised the old plan accepted that circumstances had changed.
• A High Elf argued that the magical barrier would let Silvermoon withstand the Orcs and Trolls until they ran out of supplies, and Ye Ting recognized that many mages supported this position.

Ye Ting denounced Dar'Khan Drathir for opposing a war against the Trolls, and Dar'Khan collapsed after the tirade. Ye Ting gained a fearsome reputation, but the Council still did not pass the war plan, so he considered indirect methods of persuasion.

• Ye Ting recognized Dar'Khan Drathir as a future traitor and interrupted his argument against the war.
• Ye Ting accused Dar'Khan of abandoning Quel'Thalas and its people by advocating that the High Elves stay behind Silvermoon's defenses.
• Dar'Khan collapsed after Ye Ting's insults, and the Council adjourned while he was taken for care.
• The diplomats and politicians grew wary of Ye Ting, whose reputation for fierce eloquence spread.
• Ye Ting saw that Dar'Khan's supporters still obstructed the war resolution and decided to pursue indirect methods.

Ye Ting returned from the Silvermoon Council and told the Windrunner sisters how he had confronted Dalkhan, earning their approval. Sylvanas kissed him and openly pursued him, provoking Alleria, and the sisters' rivalry over him intensified in the days that followed.

• Sylvanas and Alleria asked Ye Ting about the report that he had scolded a mage until he fainted, and he recounted his confrontation with Dalkhan.
• The Windrunner sisters agreed with Ye Ting's anger at Dalkhan for dismissing the rangers' efforts and the suffering of border residents.
• Sylvanas praised Ye Ting and suddenly kissed him on the lips.
• Alleria angrily challenged Sylvanas, who admitted she was interested in developing her relationship with Ye Ting.
• Ye Ting stayed quiet as the sisters argued, while Nathanos was revealed to have gone to Lordaeron and become an archery instructor.
• In the following days, Alleria and Sylvanas competed through kisses, embraces, and teasing, leaving Ye Ting caught between them.

Ye Ting used the Windrunner sisters and their Farstrider influence to spread news of the Silvermoon Council’s debate, stirring public pressure for war against the Amani Trolls. After Sylvanas returned and praised the plan, Alleria appeared and shot an arrow at her.

• Ye Ting recognized that the Silvermoon Council remained divided over his proposal to attack the Amani Trolls.
• Alleria and Sylvanas secretly spread news of the council meeting through the Farstrider rangers.
• High Elves across Quel'Thalas learned that some leaders opposed the war, and many voiced anger and demanded action.
• Border residents petitioned the Sunstrider Court while rangers confronted nobles, building public pressure on the king and council.
• Sylvanas told Ye Ting that his rumor campaign had succeeded, and he said he stood with her.
• Sylvanas dodged an arrow that struck the spot where she had been, and Alleria appeared in the doorway.

Alleria and Sylvanas argued over Ye Ting and agreed to compete on their own terms. At the Silvermoon Council, public pressure swayed the nobles, and King Anasterian committed Quel'Thalas to a war against the Amani Trolls.

• Alleria apologized to Ye Ting for doubting his political plan, then confronted Sylvanas for pursuing him while she was away.
• Sylvanas challenged Alleria to compete without relying on their sisterly status, and Alleria accepted, warning that she and Ye Ting might leave Quel'Thalas after the crisis.
• The Silvermoon Council debated whether to accept humanity's goodwill and wage war against the Trolls as public pressure shifted many conservatives toward supporting the motion.
• King Anasterian announced that Quel'Thalas would repay the Trolls' blood debts and uproot them completely.
• The council and nobles cheered for war, and Quel'Thalas rallied against the Amani Trolls.