Chapter Summaries

Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed creating a Battle Pet Ranger Unit, and Sylvanas agreed to ask Falthrien Academy to develop a safer, cheaper way to control the beasts. The officers decided to begin capturing lynxes near Tranquillien, though finding enough across Eversong Woods would be difficult.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk distributed materials on capturing, feeding, training, and controlling beasts, then presented his plan for a Battle Pet Ranger Unit.
• Sylvanas pointed out that beasts could attack friend and foe alike if their collars broke or their masters died, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed teleporting them to cages in camp.
• Sylvanas agreed to consult Falthrien Academy about developing an affordable magical accessory to contain beasts whose masters died.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk convened a meeting, and the officers agreed to capture beasts in advance using arrows coated with a potent paralytic agent.
• The officers chose lynxes over scarce grizzly bears and divided the squadron into five-person Hunting Groups to search different areas and bring captured lynxes to Tranquillien.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged with Alleria to gather lynxes for his combat-pet Ranger unit and learned that Sylvanas had supported his plans. He then questioned whether Dwarves already had Hunter-like skills, but Alleria could only suggest that Dwarven hunters might know techniques for tracking beasts.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk visited Alleria, refused her offer to join the Windrunner Burning Legion, and asked for help catching more than a hundred lynxes.
• Alleria offered Dragonhawk Riders, experienced hunters, an empty military camp, and supplies to support Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s preparations, explaining that Sylvanas had given explicit instructions.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to camp and wondered whether Hunter skills existed before the Dark Portal opened, considering which races might have hunters and recalling an eagle statue in Stormwind.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk went back to Alleria and asked whether she had kept an eagle or knew anyone who fought alongside pets.
• Alleria said she had never kept pets but mentioned that mountain hunters had techniques for tracking beasts; she suggested Dwarves might know some, prompting Yu Lin Bloodhawk to wonder if they were the origin of Hunters.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Alleria about hunter skills, prompting her to pursue their development for Quel'Thalas. After he was promoted to lead the independent Bloodhawk Battle Pet Ranger Unit, he traveled to Westfall and arranged to buy Giant Bloodfang Boars to supply his recruits with battle pets.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk described Beast's Eye, Eagle Eye, and other hunter skills to Alleria, who recorded them and planned to send them to Sylvanas at Falthrien Academy.
• After a military reform meeting, Yu Lin Bloodhawk received a promotion to Unit Commander of the independent Bloodhawk Battle Pet Ranger Unit and worried about finding pets for his new recruits.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk realized he could obtain battle pets by buying pigs, then took a squad to Sunsail Archorage and sailed to Westfall.
• In Moonbrook, Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered residents five silver coins for adult Giant Bloodfang Boars and one silver coin for piglets, prompting locals to hunt them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered an extra silver coin for transporting boars from the Redridge Mountains, and boats began heading there to catch them.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned about Westfall’s Giant Bloodfang Boars and struck deals with the innkeeper for grizzly bears and Lupos, the wolf king. He also explored the differences between Azeroth’s wolves and began to suspect the world and its inhabitants were real rather than part of a game.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk listened as the innkeeper explained how Giant Bloodfang Boars damaged Moonbrook’s crops and why villagers hired people to cull them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the innkeeper he wanted Lupos captured and agreed to pay three gold coins for the wolf king.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged to buy one hundred adult grizzly bears for nine silver coins each and asked about wolves that could fight murlocs.
• The innkeeper described worgs and dire wolves, including the regional varieties found in Duskwood and Elwynn Forest.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk concluded that regional wolf varieties differed mainly in appearance and wondered whether Azeroth was a real world rather than a game.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk collected hundreds of Giant Bloodfang Boars in Moonbrook and brought them back to the military camp, where Sylvanas objected to his plan to use them as soldiers. After learning that the camp had also acquired nearly two hundred lynxes, he found a document describing a beast-training method based on the Troll Rune Beast Collar.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered five hundred Forest Dire Wolves and arranged to buy Giant Bloodfang Boars from Moonbrook's villagers.
• The villagers captured over four hundred and seventy boars, including more than a hundred piglets, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk sailed back with them.
• Sylvanas confronted Yu Lin Bloodhawk at Sunsail Archorage about sending boars into battle, but he told her to arrange their transport and went to rest.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to camp and learned that the Military Department had helped capture nearly two hundred lynxes in Quel'Thalas.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk read through camp documents and found a beast-training method developed from research into the Troll Rune Beast Collar.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk led four soldiers to capture a Ghostclaw Lynx, but an ambush by a Shadowpine Troll turned the hunt into a fight for his life. He killed the Troll Rogue with a desperate saber strike after his Freezing Trap stopped the attempted assassination.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gathered four soldiers and rode to Suncrown Village to capture a Ghostclaw Lynx spotted near Morning Mist Mountain.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the soldiers crept within bow range, and he laid a Freezing Trap before shooting the lynx with an anesthetic arrow.
• The wounded Ghostclaw Lynx fled into the forest as Yu Lin Bloodhawk stepped forward, triggering the trap beneath a Shadowpine Troll poised to stab him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk attacked the frozen Troll Rogue with a full-force saber strike, cutting through his neck before the Rogue could block it.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk pulled his saber free and killed the Troll Rogue, then cursed him for trying to defend himself.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk killed a Troll Rogue, then fled through the forest with four recruits as more Trolls pursued them. He sent the recruits to Suncrown Village for reinforcements and prepared traps to delay the Trolls, whose force included ten soldiers and a Beast Tamer with a Ghostclaw Lynx.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk killed the Troll Rogue after the Troll tried to block his saber strike.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the four recruits to retreat toward Suncrown Village while he watched for pursuers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk heard a lynx growl and realized Trolls were tracking them with a Beast Tamer's pet.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent the recruits ahead to find guards and call for reinforcements, then set an Immolation Trap and a Freezing Trap.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk hid near the traps and counted the pursuing force: five Great Axe Warriors, three Javelin Throwers, one Rogue, and one Beast Tamer.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk tried to escape the trolls by ambushing their Beast Tamer’s Ghostclaw Lynx, but a Rogue used Sprint to pursue him. He tricked the Rogue with a magical arrow at a fallen tree and disappeared into the jungle, though the chase’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk shot a paralyzing arrow at the Ghostclaw Lynx after it triggered his Immolation Trap, then fled when the trolls spotted him.
• The troll Rogue activated Sprint and rapidly closed the distance as Yu Lin Bloodhawk ran through the jungle.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reached a fallen tree that he had prepared with a branch to help him climb over it.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk vaulted over the trunk and fired a magical arrow at the Rogue, who blocked it and discovered it had no power.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk vanished behind the tree, and the Rogue realized the elf had tricked him.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk used a trap to stab the pursuing Troll, but the wounded Troll survived and approached him as he lay exhausted. When Yu Lin Bloodhawk said he could finally go home, the Troll stopped moving, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk cautiously got up and escaped.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk slowed the Troll with a Concussive Shot, but the Troll caught up as both grew tired.
• The Troll threw a dagger, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk dodged it by falling into bushes, where the Troll triggered a trap and was frozen.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk stabbed the frozen Troll, then collapsed from exhaustion as the Troll survived and approached him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said he could finally go home, and the Troll stopped and stared without moving.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk regained some strength, cautiously backed away, and left when the Troll still did not react.

After escaping the Trolls and reporting at Suncrown Village, Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to camp and studied the High Elves’ newly developed beast-training magic. He learned that Alleria’s materials had prompted Falthrien Academy’s research, and he resolved to protect the academy and secure Sunwell water if the Undead invasion came.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk rested after the Troll Rogue died, then continued north and met a fifty-strong cavalry unit sent from Suncrown Village.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reported the Troll threat, returned to Tranquillien with his four subordinates, and ordered the hunting parties back to camp.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk read Falthrien Academy’s new beast-training document and marveled at the High Elves’ magical research.
• Sylvanas had brought Falthrien Academy Alleria’s descriptions of beast-training abilities, prompting the Arcanists to develop the requested magic.
• The military established an experimental unit for Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s Battle Pet Ranger Unit as factions supported military reform.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to prioritize evacuating Falthrien Academy during the Undead invasion and to seek Sylvanas’s help obtaining Sunwell water.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk reviewed the reusable Arcane Soul Beast Collars and planned how to assign them among Quel'Thalas's war pets. He organized a new independent unit drawn from ten legions and proposed lynx, bear, and Giant Bloodfang Boar forces, but most soldiers preferred lynxes.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to reserve ten of the thirty Arcane Soul Beast Collars each for lynxes, Giant Bloodfang Boars, and bears, and to test which beasts formed soul contracts fastest.
• Three days later, Yu Lin Bloodhawk summoned the officers of the newly assembled six-hundred-man unit and learned that ten legions had each supplied a squad of fifty soldiers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk declared that the Bloodhawk Independent War Pet Unit would act as one collective, allowing competition but forbidding infighting.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed forming a Lynx Special Forces unit, a company for a hundred bears, and a three-hundred-man Steel Torrent equipped with Giant Bloodfang Boars.
• The soldiers loudly discussed the assignments, with most preferring lynxes over Bloodfang Boars.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the elves to choose battle-pet units and prepare to learn the Spirit Link Spell, then considered how to train and equip forces against the undead. He settled on armored boars as the backbone of a Steel Torrent, with bears and other beasts assigned to specialized roles.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk urged the elves to divide themselves among the Lynx Special Forces, Steel Torrent, and Bear Iron Fist, and asked them to submit their choices the next day.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk instructed the elves to learn the Spirit Link Spell from the Spellcasters sent by Falthrien Academy before studying other skills.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reflected on his limited combat and animal-training experience and considered the risks and practical limits of using different beasts against the undead.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ruled out wolves, gorillas, and ravagers as main battle pets, while reserving bears and lions for elite units.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk chose Bloodfang Boars as the main battle pets and planned to equip them with heavy plate armor for charges against the undead.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk resolved to use the Steel Torrent against the undead's numbers and the Bear Iron Fist against spider warriors and abominations.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained his plan to organize battle-pet troops and described the Undead army’s likely forces to Sylvanas. The discussion ended when Sylvanas asked whether the Undead had an air force, prompting Yu Lin Bloodhawk to remember Gargoyles and frost wyrms.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk planned to study beasts fighting Troll prisoners and train three battle-pet units for reconnaissance, charges, and assaults.
• Sylvanas confronted Yu Lin Bloodhawk over the danger of sending soldiers into battle with boars, then listened as he explained his plans.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk outlined the Nightstalkers, Explosive Bear Iron Fist, and Steel Torrent, and declared that he wanted every Ranger in Quel'Thalas to have a battle pet.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk described the Death Knights, death spider warriors, Ghouls, Abominations, and Liches that might compose the Undead army.
• Sylvanas asked whether the Undead had an air force, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk remembered that they might field Gargoyles and frost wyrms.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk persuaded Sylvanas to help preserve the Sunwell’s energy and evacuate the Falthrien Academy if the Undead invasion came, then discussed building a battle-pet force. Sylvanas agreed to the pact, while Yu Lin asked when she could secure his fief on Shalandis Isle.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk described the Undead forces and warned Sylvanas that the High Elves would suffer catastrophic losses and become Blood Elves.
• Yu Lin asked Sylvanas to help remove at least two-thirds of the Sunwell’s energy and evacuate the Falthrien Academy’s people and records if war came.
• Sylvanas agreed on the condition that the Sunwell’s energy and academy would be returned to Quel’Thalas, and they sealed their oath with a clap of their hands.
• Yu Lin told Sylvanas to prepare to evacuate the academy and retrieve the Sunwell’s well water, stressing that she must not remain in battle.
• Yu Lin and Sylvanas debated using boars, bears, lynxes, and dire wolves as battle pets, and Sylvanas urged him to focus on proving the force against the trolls.
• Yu Lin explained that he had bought dire wolves to help guard his hoped-for fief on Shalandis Isle, then asked Sylvanas when she could obtain it for him.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sylvanas discussed acquiring dire wolves and organizing battle pets, while Yu Lin weighed whether to replace the unpopular boars with wild bears. The chapter ended with him preparing a report for the Military Department and his subordinates celebrating the possibility of canceling the boar assignments.

• Sylvanas agreed to leave the six hundred forest dire wolves on Shalandis Isle for now and help Yu Lin Bloodhawk secure the island.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed capturing ten Vilebranch giant wolves and breeding them with forest dire wolves, and Sylvanas agreed to help obtain the wolves.
• Sylvanas agreed to help find an arena, handle troll prisoners, and request Memory Crystals; she advised Yu Lin Bloodhawk to seek equipment support through the Military Department.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to report the proposed change from boars to wild bears to the Military Department and temporarily cancel the boar assignments.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told his subordinates to choose trainers for lynxes and wild bears and care for their beasts personally, prompting cheers over the possible replacement of the boars.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk organized combat-pet assignments, secured funding for more beasts, and prepared to expand his purchases through Sylvanas and merchants. After traveling to the Kingdom of Lordaeron, he was approached by Marquis Diritis, who questioned his plans for the Wild Bears.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reprimanded the First Company commander and limited the company’s lynx reconnaissance slots while assigning most of its soldiers other combat pets.
• The Military Department rejected Giant Bloodfang Boars as combat pets but funded Wild Bears and additional lynxes, while keeping the boars as reserves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent Tom a letter ordering more beasts and offering prices for tigers, Black Panthers, King Bangalash, and an Elite Shadow Prowler.
• Sylvanas gave Yu Lin Bloodhawk one thousand Quel'Thalas gold coins to buy three hundred Mountain Lions and two hundred Wild Bears, and he arranged for her to handle shipments and payments.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk delegated training and troop management to his deputy unit commander and the First Company commander before sailing to the Kingdom of Lordaeron.
• Marquis Diritis approached Yu Lin Bloodhawk at an inn and asked what he intended to do with the Wild Bears, so Yu Lin Bloodhawk invited him upstairs to talk.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk negotiated a wild-beast supply deal with Dirithis, presenting the Sacred Covenant as a settled transaction while concealing his reasons for buying bears. They signed a contract for shipments to Quel'Thalas, and Yu Lin left Dirithis with a deposit in Quel'Thalas gold coins.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk introduced himself as a Quel'Thalas baron, and Dirithis questioned why he traveled alone and wanted to buy so many wild bears.
• Yu Lin and Dirithis argued over whether the Sacred Covenant was an alliance or a business deal, with Yu claiming the original obligations had already been fulfilled.
• Yu Lin said the bears would be used in arenas where captured trolls fought wild beasts, and he negotiated prices, delivery terms, deposits, and larger shipments with Dirithis.
• Yu Lin marked locations and offered extra payment for several rare or formidable beasts, including The Ripper, Frostwolf, Iceclaw Bear, King Bangalash, and Goldenmane.
• Yu Lin and Dirithis signed the contract, and Yu Lin paid the deposit in Quel'Thalas gold coins.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk contracted Dirithis to procure mountain lions and frostwolves, then traveled with him toward Lordaeron and discussed the dangers near his future fief. Dirithis offered to help train advanced rogues, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the trainers might need to join him as followers and asked what followers were.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk agreed to give Dirithis the beast-procurement contract, and they signed an agreement for a first delivery of one hundred mountain lions and two hundred frostwolves within a month.
• Dirithis invited Yu Lin Bloodhawk to stay at his home in Lordaeron, and they discussed the vengeful spirits said to lie beneath Tirisfal Glades.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Dirithis compared Quel'Thalas and Lordaeron and talked about nobles employing rogues for covert work.
• Dirithis claimed he could help train a hundred advanced rogues, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondered whether Dirithis was an intelligence officer.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk lied that his future fief might border the Shadowpine Trolls and explained that he wanted rogues to defend it.
• Dirithis suggested bringing high-tier rogue trainers to Yu Lin Bloodhawk's territory as followers, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked what followers were.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged to take in five of Dirithis’s former high-level subordinates as followers, then went to sleep and dreamed of being hunted by plague-ridden creatures in Tirisfal Glades. He woke in terror and stayed up with an oil lamp, leaving the reason for the nightmare unexplained.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk agreed to pay Dirithis for five former subordinates to become his followers and receive protection in Quel'Thalas.
• Dirithis arranged accommodations for Yu Lin Bloodhawk at his home and left to attend to business.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk dreamed that plague-ridden hyenas, zombies, and skeletons chased him through Tirisfal Glades and Deathknell until they overwhelmed him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk woke screaming, lit an oil lamp, and told a servant that he had suffered a nightmare.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk explored Lordaeron with Dirithis, met Baron Rivendare at a noble gathering, and learned how nobles covertly turned civilian ships into pirate warships. He then told Dirithis about his nightmare beneath Tirisfal Glades, leaving Dirithis visibly unsettled.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk dismissed his nightmare about resentful spirits beneath Tirisfal Glades and slept peacefully until dawn.
• Dirithis told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that he had arranged their business contracts, and they spent the day exploring Lordaeron.
• At a gathering, Yu Lin Bloodhawk met Baron Rivendare, learned about his fief near Quel'Thalas, and considered keeping his distance from powerful figures who might become enemies.
• On the ride home, Dirithis explained how nobles had civilian ships refitted with cannons to make pirate warships and insisted that he was an upright noble.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk described his nightmare to Dirithis, who said he had never experienced anything similar and seemed unnerved.