After the orcs destroyed the Kingdom of Stormwind, they swept north with unstoppable momentum. Although the Alliance had now barely managed to halt their advance, the orcs still held a clear advantage on the battlefield.
As long as the orcs secured their rear and then concentrated their forces for a northward offensive, their chances of ultimately defeating the Alliance remained very high. Otherwise, the leaders of the Kingdom of Alterac would not have been so indecisive.
At this point, the Kingdom of Stormwind was little more than an empty name, with only a handful of surviving troops, a Grand Marshal who had lost his kingdom and had no army or officers, and a Little Prince.
They had no real strength with which to restore their kingdom, much less anything they could supply. (Well, in modern terms, the Kingdom of Stormwind was really just a shell company.) Who knew how long restoring it would take? Besides, not a single leader in the entire Alliance could currently see any hope of defeating the orcs.
But... but... that was precisely the problem! Why had their usually shrewd friend Yu Lin Bloodhawk chosen to sign an agreement only with the hollow shell that was the Kingdom of Stormwind? Granted, he had demanded that, should the high elves need it in the future, the Kingdom of Stormwind must devote all its national resources to helping them once.
But this... this... however one looked at it, Yu Lin Bloodhawk was getting the short end of the deal. It was as unreliable as a rich man giving money to a compulsive gambler on the condition that the gambler repay the principal if he won.
No one could guarantee that the gambler would win anything, but if he lost, the person putting up the money would suffer a