Chapter Summaries

The orc chieftain watched Quel'Thalas stage a baffling gala for the Outland guests, including a choir singing a song that insulted the orcs. Sylvanas then introduced Yu Lin Bloodhawk as a storyteller, but their on-screen argument revealed she had simply gotten her lines wrong, leaving both camps amused for different reasons.

• Sylvanas welcomed the Outland guests and announced the first Dancing with Orcs Battlefield Gala.
• The orc chieftain chose to keep watching the elves' broadcast instead of attacking, despite his officers' anger.
• Three hundred elves from the Vanguard of the Quel'Thalas Expeditionary Army Corps sang the children's song "Little Bunny, Be Good," enraging the orcs.
• Sylvanas thanked the choir on the orcs' behalf and introduced Yu Lin Bloodhawk to tell Journey to the West.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk confronted Sylvanas on the screen after she admitted she had gotten her lines wrong, and the orcs laughed at the elves' embarrassment.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk performed an improvised episode of Journey to the West at the elves’ gala, captivating both elf and orc audiences. The orc chieftain remained wary of the elves’ motives as Aijelia began her song.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk accused Miss Sylvanas of deliberately messing with him after she insisted he tell Journey to the West again.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told how the Handsome Monkey King left his followers to seek a heavenly god and learn fighting skills, then stopped mid-story and promised to continue later.
• The orcs and elves protested the interruption, while the orc chieftain realized that both audiences had been absorbed and wondered why the elves had not attacked.
• Miss Sylvanas thanked Yu Lin Bloodhawk, asked the elves if they wanted more of the story, and introduced Aijelia’s performance.
• Aijelia sang “A Night in the Singing Forest,” and Yu Lin Bloodhawk became engrossed in her beautiful voice.

After Ajetlia’s song, Sylvanas punished Yu Lin Bloodhawk for heckling by demanding that he sing, and their comic arguing delighted both orcs and elves. As Yu Lin offered a choice between a song and a story from Journey to the West, Sylvanas claimed the orcs wanted a song, provoking their angry protests.

• Ajetlia finished singing, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk called for another song, drawing laughter from the orcs and embarrassment from the elves.
• Sylvanas ordered Yu Lin to sing in retaliation, then traded insults with him until he reluctantly went onstage.
• Yu Lin proposed telling a story from Journey to the West instead of singing, and the elves enthusiastically chose the story.
• Sylvanas claimed to speak for the orcs and demanded a song, while the orcs shouted at Yu Lin to ignore her and tell the story.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the elves and orcs the history of the Descendants of the Dragon and their army before singing its military song, “Our Troops March Toward the Sun.” The gathered elves, orcs, and Sylvanas stood to honor the army as Yu Lin Bloodhawk began the song.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered to sing a military song, and Sylvanas watched with curiosity.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk described how the Descendants of the Dragon resisted invasion, rebuilt their country, and defeated a coalition of powerful nations.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked everyone listening to stand in respect for the army, and the elves, orcs, and Sylvanas rose to their feet.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk steadied himself and began singing “Our Troops March Toward the Sun” with growing passion.

After Yu Lin Bloodhawk's song moved the elves and orcs, Sylvanas apologized and introduced his storytelling performance of Journey to the West. Yu Lin's cliffhanger-filled tale captivated both camps, leaving the orc leader furious when he found his resting and patrolling soldiers gathered around the screen.

• Sylvanas apologized sincerely to Yu Lin Bloodhawk, but his wary response broke the solemn mood and she introduced his Journey to the West performance.
• Yu Lin told how the Handsome Monkey King returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain and found it occupied by five evil gods, then ended the story on a cliffhanger.
• Sylvanas stopped tormenting Yu Lin and the elves enjoyed the following acts while the orc leader debated a surprise attack before ordering his soldiers to rest in shifts.
• The orc leader fell asleep, but Yu Lin's next story about the Handsome Monkey King's battle with the Bull Demon King drew the resting orcs and patrols to the screen.
• Yu Lin ended on another cliffhanger, and the orc leader woke to find that no orcs were sleeping and angrily demanded to know why they had gathered.

Sylvanas used Elven performances to lure the Orcs away from their posts, leaving the camp unguarded. A group of Elves entered and began slaughtering the sleeping Orcs, including their leader.

• The Orc leader smashed the Resonance Crystal Shard, but Sylvanas ordered the Elves in both camps to turn up their singing.
• Orcs arranged to wake one another when Mr. Yu Lin began telling stories, and patrol soldiers slipped away to listen.
• A patrolling Orc found dozens of soldiers listening near the Elven camp and joined them, leaving the camp without guards.
• Mr. Yu Lin Bloodhawk finished three story installments, then refused to continue until he had rested.
• While Orcs returned to camp or slept, a group of Elves silently entered and slit the Orc leader’s throat and the throats of other sleeping soldiers.

After the Orcs discovered their camp had been massacred, they charged the Elf camp and were caught in a deadly ambush. Sylvanas ordered the attack, leaving the Orcs trapped between ice, fire, and arrows as the battle raged.

• The returning Orcs found their wounded comrades and leaders dead and their Worgs poisoned, then set out for the Elf camp seeking revenge.
• The Orcs charged toward the camp, where hidden steel wires tripped their Ravagers and slowed the advancing force.
• Elf Rangers fired armor-piercing arrows from the darkness, killing and wounding many Orcs while the plated Ravagers pushed forward.
• Elf Mages unleashed Blizzards that impaled Orcs with ice and froze them in place, while other Mages prepared Fireballs.
• Sylvanas demanded the Orcs surrender, then ordered the Mages to attack when they refused.
• Elf Mages and Rangers bombarded the trapped Orcs with Fireballs, Blizzards, and Arcane Shots as the battle continued.

After the elves and mages overwhelmed the Orcs, Sylvanas kept Yu Lin Bloodhawk awake to retell Journey to the West while troops prepared to leave. Yu Lin Bloodhawk later inspected the armor of fifty Orc prisoners and learned why the Shattered Hand Clan bore its name.

• The elves and mages continued attacking the fallen Orcs with spells and arrows until Sylvanas called an end to the all-night battlefield gala.
• The Gryphon Riders left disappointed when their transported eggs were refused, and the 1st Frostwolf Clan Squadron arrived with support troops and Raptors to clean up the battlefield.
• Sylvanas accused Yu Lin Bloodhawk of cutting corners in his stories and made him retell Journey to the West, interrupting him with questions and teasing him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk collected armor from fifty Orc prisoners and saw that each had a left hand severed at the wrist and replaced by a gauntlet-like weapon.

Sylvanas’s force returned with prisoners and spoils after defeating the orcs through an unorthodox battle, leaving Alleria and the human commanders unconvinced by the account. The Jinling Expeditionary Army Corps later withdrew behind the allied main force as a new orc vanguard approached.

• Nineteen hundred elves returned to camp with captured worgs, loot, and more than fifty orc prisoners, and Sylvanas went to check the spoils’ accounts with Yu Lin Bloodhawk.
• Alleria questioned the officers about the battle and learned that Sylvanas had defeated the orcs by turning the fight into a party, while Lor'themar’s troops cleaned up afterward.
• Alleria concluded that the battle had taught the officers a sixteen-character maxim for Ranger warfare, while the camp spent the night checking accounts, singing, and taming worgs.
• The allied main force joined the Jinling Expeditionary Army Corps, but human commanders dismissed the elves’ account of their victory despite seeing the orc prisoners.
• The allied commanders ordered the elves behind the main force, and the elves withdrew after warning Allied Command that an orc vanguard was approaching.
• The human contingents moved to intercept the roughly thousand- to fifteen-hundred-strong orc vanguard, while the Human Burning Legion took the front positions.

After the Warsong Clan blundered into the minefield in Area 7, Alleria warned Sylvanas and Yu Lin Bloodhawk that Grommash Hellscream and the main orc army were coming. The two remained unconcerned, leaving Alleria to ask what they planned to do.

• Gryphon Riders reported that bombs in Area 7 had caused heavy casualties among Grom Hellscream's orc vanguard, while the human commanders wrongly assumed the elves had planned an ambush.
• Alleria returned to the Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion headquarters, doubting the humans could defeat Grom Hellscream's Warsong Clan and preparing to retreat if necessary.
• Sylvanas made Yu Lin Bloodhawk explain how Tathagata Buddha trapped Monkey Sun, and Yu Lin warned her not to trust Allied Command.
• An Intelligence Officer reported that Grommash Hellscream's men had entered the minefield, and Sylvanas and Yu Lin joked that the humans had planted the bombs.
• Alleria arrived and warned Sylvanas and Yu Lin that Grommash Hellscream was there and the main orc army could arrive soon, but they only replied, "Oh."

Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Sylvanas, and Alleria discussed transporting the spoils and preparing the injured worgs for battle. Meanwhile, Grommash Hellscream’s orc vanguard devastated the allied cavalry with infernals, wolf riders, and warlocks, leaving the human army barely able to avert defeat.

• Alleria questioned Sylvanas and Yu Lin Bloodhawk about the arriving orcs, and Yu Lin asked to ship his spoils to Proudmoore's Menethil Harbor.
• Sylvanas accused Yu Lin of pocketing the frontline soldiers’ money, but Alleria heard his explanation and cleared him of blame.
• Alleria proposed sending the healed worgs back with the spoils so the rangers could tame them during the journey, and ordered Sylvanas to choose ten frostwolf rangers as guides.
• The allied army surrounded Grommash Hellscream’s thirteen-hundred-strong vanguard with human cavalry, expecting an easy victory.
• Orc warlocks summoned nearly forty infernals while Grommash Hellscream led wolf riders through the disrupted human ranks, and the orcs’ attacks threw the cavalry into chaos.
• The humans sent in their thousand elite heavy cavalry to stave off defeat, while the battle’s disorder prevented their mages from using wide-area spells effectively.

The Allied Army and Grommash Hellscream’s Warsong Clan clashed, after which Alleria arranged to bring captured Worgs and prisoners back to Proudmoore. Months later, the Orc main army arrived and began a major offensive, leaving Alleria’s outnumbered forces stretched across the front while Yu Lin Bloodhawk stayed at the main camp.

• Grommash Hellscream’s Orc Wolf Riders broke through the human encirclement, and both sides suffered heavy cavalry losses.
• Alleria bought the injured Worgs, arranged for eight hundred rangers and a human publicity team to escort the spoils, and returned the captured Orc armor to the Allied Command.
• The elven convoy traveled slowly to Menethil Harbor, taking two months to reach Proudmoore while publicizing the Allied Army’s supposed victory.
• The Orc main army appeared ten days later, and the Allied Army and Orcs exchanged probing attacks while Alleria’s elves were sent wherever the fighting grew critical.
• The Orcs launched a large-scale offensive in April, forcing Alleria’s four thousand soldiers to rush between threatened sections of the front.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk refused to leave the main camp and hid behind Alleria whenever Sylvanas was nearby.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared an escape route while the Allied Army struggled to hold the Orc offensive, and the unexpected news of Prince Kael'thas agreeing to reinforcements baffled the Expeditionary Army’s leaders. By June, Alleria’s Rangers had returned with reinforcements and Worgs, but the Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion had suffered heavy casualties and remained under pressure to keep fighting.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered 13 to bring the Galleon and two Aircraft Carriers to Loch Danmor, then studied a map to memorize two possible coastal landing sites.
• The Orcs broke through the junction between the Allied Army and the combined Gnome and Dwarf forces, forcing the Wildhammer Dwarves and their allies to retreat into Dun Morogh.
• Prince Kael'thas agreed to send reinforcements without conditions, leaving Alleria, Sylvanas, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk astonished and questioning his decision.
• Alleria’s Ranger troops returned to Proudmoore's Menethil Harbor, and she claimed more than four hundred Worgs captured during the fighting.
• Alleria defended her force against Allied Command’s criticism, citing nearly two thousand wounded and six hundred dead among the Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion.

As the Allied Army and orcs prepared for a decisive battle, Alleria’s Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion received the severely understrength Bloodhawk Burning Legion from Quel'Thalas. Alleria and Sylvanas learned that Rhea and Lainas had accepted the assignment to prevent the Bloodhawk Forces from being disbanded, leaving the recruits facing a brutal battlefield.

• The Allied Army and orcs exchanged reinforcements and fought intermittent engagements while both sides gathered strength for a larger battle.
• Alleria expanded her force to 2,400 worg-mounted rangers, though she worried that the number was insufficient and that feeding the mounts strained supplies.
• After the Allied Army received reinforcements and launched an offensive, orc cavalry from the Burning Steppes arrived, and the war intensified.
• Alleria discovered that the Auxiliary Burning Legion was the Bloodhawk Burning Legion, composed of only 2,400 soldiers, most of them new recruits.
• Rhea told Alleria that she and Lainas had accepted their appointments because the Military Department had offered only disbandment or deployment, and that the king and Silvermoon Council had approved the decision.

Alleria explained that Quel'Thalas’s rulers had turned Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s reputation into an invincibility legend and planned to use the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s fate to weaken political rivals. Yu Lin refused to sacrifice his young recruits to preserve that legend, insisting that only an undefeated will could endure, as Alleria prepared to reveal a secret.

• Sylvanas and Alleria explained that the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s destruction would let the King and Silvermoon Council blame Alleria, implicate the Windrunner family, and shatter Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s reputation.
• Alleria told Yu Lin how political supporters had promoted his achievements and Quel'Danil City until the public saw him as an invincible legend who could rival the Sunstriders.
• Yu Lin learned that the Bloodhawk Burning Legion remained under his command, but he proposed returning to the Hinterlands and was stopped by Alleria, Sylvanas, Rhea, and Lainas.
• Yu Lin angrily rejected sending twenty-four hundred young recruits to their deaths for a legend, declaring that only the will could remain undefeated.
• Alleria insisted that Quel'Thalas needed the legend and asked Rhea and Lainas to leave so she could discuss matters they were not ready to know.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk argued that the High Elves needed a faith of their own, separate from the Bloodhawk Burning Legion, and proposed inventing a history for the War God Yang Jian. Alleria and Sylvanas agreed to help him create the legend, while the Legion’s recruits continued supporting the camp and front lines.

• Alleria warned Yu Lin Bloodhawk that he needed a legend of his own to build support and weaken the Sunstrider family's influence.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk concluded that the Bloodhawk Burning Legion could not serve as a faith and proposed creating an invincible faith for the High Elves around War God Yang Jian.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk planned a statue at the Hinterlands harbor and a temple in Quel'Danil City, where the Legion and city guards would swear to defend the faith.
• Sylvanas volunteered to help document the War God's history, and Alleria agreed to join them despite calling the plan madness.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk began telling Alleria and Sylvanas the story of Investiture of the Gods while they took turns assigning tasks to their subordinates.
• The Bloodhawk Burning Legion's recruits reinforced the camp and carried supplies to troops on the front lines instead of fighting.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Windrunner sisters worked to turn his stories of the God of War into a faith, but he struggled to take the project seriously. After he brought them images of the deity, Alleria and Sylvanas continued planning the temple while Yu Lin Bloodhawk suggested adding attendant gods.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Alleria, and Sylvanas spent four days compiling the God of War's deeds, and Alleria insisted they needed priests to organize the faith.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk called priests charlatans who put on a show, angering Alleria and Sylvanas, who warned him not to blaspheme.
• Alleria sent Yu Lin Bloodhawk to look after the Bloodhawk Burning Legion and told him to have Rhea draw pictures of the God of War.
• Sylvanas told Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk came from the Dragon Descendants and that the God of War was their god, surprising Alleria.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk brought the sisters three images of Erlang Shen and explained the symbols and appearance he had invented for them.
• When Alleria asked for a temple layout, Yu Lin Bloodhawk admitted he did not know one and suggested finding attendant gods to keep the God of War company.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the sisters planned the War God’s temple, but worsening conditions in the war forced Alleria and Sylvanas to pause the project. As the Allied Army stalled and the orcs reinforced their lines, Yu Lin prepared the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s recruits to escape and angrily cursed Quel'Thalas’s leaders for sending them into battle unprepared.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed placing statues of the War God’s followers in the temple, and Sylvanas and Alleria approved his design.
• Alleria became furious when Yu Lin worried about the cost of an Ancient Elf Kingdom-style temple, and he left while muttering about money.
• Alleria summoned Rhea to draw portraits, but in November the worsening war forced Alleria and Sylvanas to put the temple project aside.
• The Allied Army’s advance stalled as orc reinforcements strengthened their defenses, so Alleria ordered Yu Lin to prepare to retreat.
• Yu Lin worried that the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s 2,400 recruits lacked mounts and riding skills, so he split them into groups to learn how to ride hawkstriders.
• Yu Lin regularly cursed Quel'Thalas’s king, council, and nobles for sending the recruits into battle unprepared, leaving his soldiers astonished by his insults.

The Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion rushed to reinforce the beleaguered left flank, where it helped a battered Lordaeron force repel several orc attacks. Allied Command repeatedly refused Alleria’s requests for relief, leaving the defenders facing incoming orc reinforcements.

• Alleria and Sylvanas let Yu Lin Bloodhawk curse freely, keeping quiet about how his speech had helped spark the political struggle.
• Allied Command ordered the mounted Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion to reinforce the left flank, where orcs had surrounded a depleted Lordaeron main burning legion.
• The elves broke the encirclement and joined the human defenders, combining cavalry, magic, and archery to repel several attacks.
• Alleria asked Allied Command to relieve the exhausted Lordaeron troops, but it ordered the defenders to hold without sending reinforcements.
• After several failed assaults, the orcs began bringing in reinforcements, and Alleria sent another request for aid that Allied Command again rejected.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk discovered that Quel'Thalas had recalled its fleet, leaving the elves without enough ships to evacuate as the orcs concentrated nearly two legions against the left flank. Alleria and Sylvanas rejected an immediate retreat and planned to make the elves appear short of Life Potions and allow a breach, while Allied Command again refused to send reinforcements.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned from Alleria that Quel'Thalas had recalled its fleet and angrily demanded to know why she had not told him sooner.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk called for an immediate retreat, but Alleria refused because withdrawing before the center or Lordaeron legion pulled back could make the elves bear the blame for defeat.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked to take the Bloodhawk Burning Legion to Landing Point Four, but Alleria questioned where they could go and on what grounds.
• Sylvanas proposed restricting Life Potion use to make the elves seem short of potions, and Alleria suggested giving the orcs a chance to break through the line.
• Alleria and the Lordaeron legion's commander jointly requested reinforcements from Allied Command, which ordered them to hold their positions without sending aid.