Chapter Summaries

Mez'dra asked Yu Lin Bloodhawk for help evacuating 40,000 to 50,000 Wildhammer Dwarves from Grim Batol and the Twilight Highlands as Orcs pursued them. Yu Lin Bloodhawk redirected the expeditionary force and arranged ships and defenses to help the refugees reach Proudmoore's Menethil Harbor.

• Mez'dra told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that the Wildhammer Dwarves had delayed their evacuation until Orcs threatened Grim Batol and the Twilight Highlands, and that his corps was covering their retreat.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned the refugees were only a fifth of the way to Proudmoore and warned Mez'dra to abandon the main road if Orc pursuers increased, travel light, and move through the northern marshes.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Alleria to send the Expeditionary Army Corps to Proudmoore's Menethil Harbor and then march west to cover the Wildhammer retreat through the marshes.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Mez'dra to summon the Gryphon Riders from Aerie Peak and arrange for them to lay Gnome Land Mines along the main road.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk called the naval chief of staff and captains from The Hinterlands to plan ships for the Wildhammer evacuation.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arrived at Menethil Harbor with the Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion, then learned that Mez'dra's dwarves and tens of thousands of civilians were retreating through the Wetlands under pursuit by an orc corps. The chapter ended with Yu Lin asking why the allies had not sent cavalry or heavy infantry to stop the wolf riders trying to cut off the refugees.

• Alleria arranged the fleet and ordered the Expeditionary Army Corps to sail for Proudmoore while a gunboat headed to Quel'Thalas to escort returning ships if needed.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra reached Menethil Harbor with the elven fleet, and Yu Lin slipped away to question Mez'dra about the dwarf retreat.
• Mez'dra reported that an orc corps was pursuing them, fewer than half of her soldiers could still fight, and over thirty thousand civilians remained.
• Mez'dra explained that the orcs had adapted to the Gnome Land Mines, though mines placed on firm ground in the swamps had slowed their pursuit.
• Mez'dra warned that a regiment of orc wolf riders might outflank the refugees and trap them between the riders and the pursuing troops.
• Yu Lin asked why the allies were not sending cavalry or heavy infantry to stop the wolf riders.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra planned to evacuate thousands of Wildhammer children by gryphon as three orc legions threatened the Wetlands. Yu Lin Bloodhawk assigned forces to protect the evacuation and set out to delay the Orc Wolf Riders.

• Mez'dra told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that the Allied Army would stay behind Menethil Harbor’s fortifications because it could not defeat the orcs in the field.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra scouted the Wetlands by gryphon, then assessed the danger from two more orc legions approaching the region.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed using gryphons and wagons to evacuate roughly nine thousand Wildhammer children to Menethil Harbor.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Mez'dra to command the gryphon evacuation and sent Alleria with rangers and mages to protect the Wildhammer retreat.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk declared he would lead the Bloodhawk Burning Legion against the Orc Wolf Riders to slow their advance.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared defenses to slow the approaching orcs, ordering fishing nets, mines, poisoned spikes, and other traps while Alleria organized supplies and troops. By nightfall, the elves had begun assembling nail-based traps, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk waited to see whether their resin-and-clay construction would hold.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Alleria to gather fishing nets so they could cover visible Gnome Land Mines and impede the orcs’ advance.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk assigned himself the elven Gryphon Riders, Alleria the Wildhammer Dwarf Gryphon Riders, and Mez'dra the task of gathering the children.
• Alleria gave Yu Lin Bloodhawk poison and antidote, explaining how the toxin worked and how to apply it to arrows.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Alleria to make caltrops and poisoned ground spikes from iron nails, then called for wire or rope to add to the minefield defenses.
• Soldiers brought crates of nails, and the elves assembled clay molds with short and long nails packed in a resin-and-clay mixture.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared to intercept the Orc Wolf Riders while Alleria led her forces toward the marshes to protect the retreating Dwarves. After two days of marching, Yu Lin Bloodhawk reached the spot where Alleria’s troops had entered the marshes.

• Alleria distributed iron caltrops, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk tested an iron needle so forcefully that he bent it and broke its hardened adhesive tip.
• Rhea gave Yu Lin Bloodhawk a hundred iron needles, while Alleria seemed upset and walked away after learning he already had some.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s Gryphon-mounted Bodyguards scouted the Orc forces as the Bloodhawk Burning Legion set out to support the Dwarves’ retreat.
• The Gryphon Riders reported that the Orc Wolf Riders had overtaken the Dwarf column, so Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent them to place fishing nets and Gnome Land Mines along the Orcs’ route.
• After two days of forced marching, Yu Lin Bloodhawk reached the marsh entrance where Alleria’s troops had turned off the main road, leaving Rangers to guard their Hawkstriders.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk assessed the Gryphon Riders’ efforts to delay the Orc Wolf Riders and considered why the orcs kept pursuing through the Wetlands. The enemy was only ten kilometers away, and he suspected their warlocks were desperate to collect Soul Shards for summoning demons.

• A Gryphon Rider reported that the Orc Wolf Riders were ten kilometers away, while the Gryphon Riders had run out of fishing nets and horse-tripping ropes.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s forces had used minefields and aerial bombs to divert and harass the more than twelve hundred armored orcs, but shaman healing limited the damage.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk examined the firm-ground stretch where his companions stood and noted how bogs narrowed the road and made the surrounding marshes dangerous.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reasoned that the orcs’ warlocks might be driving the pursuit because they needed fresh corpses to make Soul Shards for demon summons.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk recalled Mez'dra’s differing opinions of imps, succubi, and Infernals, then concluded that demon summoning consumed many Soul Shards.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared a deceptive Five-Element Formation to stop the Orc Wolf Riders and used his Rangers and Gryphon Riders to ambush their vanguard. The main Orc force arrived, wary after repeated traps and delays, and faced the Elf army’s formations.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk divided his troops into four areas and had them mark defensive lines with colored cloth and hidden poisoned needles.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk positioned the Gryphon Riders behind the army, ready to attack Orc Warlocks and Shamans from the air.
• The Rangers and Gryphon Riders ambushed the Orc vanguard, killing the poisoned Worgs and the stranded Orcs before retreating into their formations.
• The main Orc Wolf Rider force stopped two hundred meters from the Elf army and hesitated to charge.
• The Orcs recalled how mines, nets, and low ropes had forced them through marshes, where Gryphon Riders bombed them and Shamans struggled to treat the wounded.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s elven archers used poison and rotating volleys to trap an orc probing force, while he picked off Orc Wolf Riders with deadly precision. As the orc commander led six hundred more riders into a charge, over a hundred Gryphon Riders appeared overhead.

• The orcs sent two hundred Wolf Riders in a probing charge against the elven archer formation.
• The elves slowed the riders with Concussive Shot and killed their worgs, then focused their arrows on the Orc Wolf Riders who advanced on foot.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the archers attacked the trapped orcs, whose poisoned arrows left them weak and dying inside the formation.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk used Mind Shot to kill orcs with precise arrows, raising the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s morale.
• The Orc Wolf Riders’ leader led six hundred riders in a charge while four hundred remained to guard the Orc Warlocks as they summoned demons.
• More than a hundred Gryphon Riders appeared in the sky above the battlefield.

The Elf Gryphon Riders disrupted the Orc Warlocks’ summons by scattering poisoned caltrops and dropping Incendiary Bombs, leaving the Warlocks exposed. Meanwhile, the Elven archers slowed the Orc charge with coordinated Concussive Shots, and the battle remained underway.

• The Gryphon Riders dropped poisoned caltrops onto the Orc Wolf Riders and Warlocks, wounding many despite the Orcs’ armor.
• The Gryphon Riders dropped Incendiary Bombs, setting Worgs alight and forcing the Orc Wolf Riders to scatter and the Warlocks to interrupt their summons.
• The fleeing Worgs stepped on caltrops and threw their riders, leaving Orcs injured as the Gryphon Riders picked off the exposed Warlocks.
• Six hundred Orc Wolf Riders charged the Elven archer formation, whose soldiers parted and retreated in layers while firing Concussive Shot.
• The Elven archers focused their attacks on the foremost Orcs and mounts to slow the charge through coordinated, uninterrupted fire.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk led the Bloodhawk Burning Legion’s retreat through a five-element formation while Orcs struggled to cross ground rigged with iron nails and caltrops. The Orc Wolf Riders’ attempted charge collapsed, leaving their fallen riders injured and unable to pursue the Elves.

• Orc Wolf Riders fell from their poisoned Worgs and injured their feet on iron nails as they charged into the Elven ranks.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered his soldiers to use Concussive Shot to protect one another while the mixed battle threw the rookies into disarray.
• The Orc Wolf Rider commander led a hundred elite riders forward, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the Elves to retreat to the small bulb and spread caltrops across the final formation.
• Orcs realized the Elves could cross the colored linen paths safely but could not work out which routes avoided the nails.
• The pursuing Orc Wolf Riders ignored a warning and charged into the Five-Element Formation, where caltrops brought down their Worgs and threw their riders to the ground.
• The fallen Orcs suffered further injuries when they ran or braced themselves on the nail-covered ground.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk led a veteran-supported counterattack after the inexperienced elves faltered against the orcs. Alleria arrived with reinforcements to aid the dwarves, turning the swamp’s terrain against the orc assault.

• The orc chieftain stepped onto iron spikes and used another orc to check the ground before escaping the trapped area.
• The elves retreated into the smaller chamber as panic among the Bloodhawk Regiment disrupted their formations and left recruits vulnerable to the orcs.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk led fifty veterans and 480 soldiers in a counterattack, assigning veterans to guide and rescue the recruits.
• Alleria arrived with four ranger units and a mage regiment while the dwarves were near defeat, then ordered her forces into battle.
• The elves attacked the orcs across the swamp, where mud pools hindered orc melee fighters and prevented them from using Charge effectively.

After the Orcs withdrew, Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s Rangers captured and treated the poisoned Orc Wolf Riders, seizing their Soul Shards and restraining their spellcasters. He questioned the Orc leader about their defeat and learned the riders belonged to the Blackrock Clan, then revealed that the Elves knew the clan was attacking Blackrock Mountain.

• The Orc leader abandoned the pursuit of the Wildhammer Dwarves and ordered his forces to rest before moving to the main road.
• Alleria warned Yu Lin Bloodhawk that the Orcs might head for the main road while his Rangers captured the poisoned Orc Wolf Riders in Big Gourd Belly.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gave the surviving Orcs antidote, confiscated their weapons and Soul Shards, and placed the Warlocks in Anti-Magic Shackles.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the Orc leader that the Elves had prepared extensive defenses, including Poison Needles, caltrops, poison, and over twelve hundred Mages.
• The Orc leader identified his clan as Blackrock, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk indicated that a gryphon had revealed the clan’s attack on Blackrock Mountain.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk organized the evacuation of the Wildhammer Dwarf children while tracking the Orc advance. As the Orcs approached, he prepared a defensive stand at the Gourd Grounds and reorganized his forces for battle.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Gryphon Riders to help carry the Dwarf children and sent Orc prisoners toward Menethil Harbor under escort.
• After three days of surveillance, the Orc force abandoned its pursuit through the swamp and turned toward the main road, prompting Alleria to send Mages and Rangers to reinforce Yu Lin Bloodhawk.
• The evacuation column transported more than eight thousand Wildhammer Dwarf children toward Menethil Harbor while Yu Lin Bloodhawk stayed behind with his troops at the Gourd Grounds.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk planned four Five-Element Formations and assigned veteran Rangers to train and lead rookie soldiers in mixed squads.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gave the veteran Ranger officers full command and ordered the troops to drill attacks, defenses, and retreats before the Orcs arrived.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Elves prepared their formations at Big Gourd Belly as the Orc force approached, deploying poisoned traps and arranging emergency Mage squads. The Orcs arrived with six Voidwalkers and were shocked to find no trace of the Wolf Rider Regiment they expected to meet.

• The Rangers and Mages competed for places in the forward formations, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk approved emergency Mage squads and requested Wildhammer Dwarf Gryphon Riders from Mez'dra.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk drilled with the formations for two days, learning how the veterans coordinated troops and planned retreats.
• An Owl Ranger reported that the Orc vanguard was about an hour away, and the soldiers poisoned and placed two-thirds of their Iron Needles while keeping caltrops in reserve.
• The Orc advance force spotted the Elves and withdrew, while its Wolf Riders hurried back to report to the main force.
• The Orc main force used six Voidwalkers to clear Land Mine-Fishing Net Formations and arrived at Big Gourd Belly, where its commander found the Elves waiting but no Orcs or Worgs from the Wolf Rider Regiment.
• The Elves had sunk the dead Orcs and Worgs in muddy pools, then fed the Worg meat to their pets after cooking away the poison.

The Orcs sent demons and infantry into the Elves’ encirclement, only to find that the Elves had drawn them toward three Five-Element Formations. High Elven Arcane Mages then unleashed a barrage of single-target spells on the demon vanguard, demonstrating the force’s destructive power.

• The Orcs sent six Voidwalkers and six Infernals ahead of their infantry, with six Felguards following behind.
• The twelve demons led the Orcs into the Elven encirclement, and the Elves withdrew into three Five-Element Formations.
• The High Elven Mages struck the demon vanguard with Frostbolts, Fireballs, and Arcane Missiles.
• The Mages chose powerful, mana-efficient single-target spells instead of their usual area attacks.

Elf Mages and Wildhammer Dwarf Gryphon Riders battered the Orcs' demons while the Orc Infantry charged the Elf formation. The Mages' Blizzards halted the central assault, forcing the Orcs behind to press toward the flanks.

• Elf Mages used Frostbolts against Infernals, Arcane Missiles against Voidwalkers, and fire spells against Felguards as Rangers slowed the demons with Concussive Shots.
• Wildhammer Dwarf and Elf Gryphon Riders arrived, and the Wildhammer riders repeatedly hurled their Hammers of Moradin at the Infernals and Voidwalkers.
• After the Wildhammer riders joined the battle, most Elf Mages shifted their attacks to the Felguards.
• Orc Warriors charged the center of the inverted triangular Elf formation, expecting their demons to draw the Mages' attention and their reinforcements to follow.
• The emergency Mage squad cast two Blizzards that stalled hundreds of Orc Infantry before the central formation.
• With the central advance blocked, Orcs behind pressed toward both flanks as veteran-led Elves fired while slowly retreating.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk fought through the Five-Element Formation until a Swiftshadow Assassin Rogue nearly killed him with a surprise attack. After Yu Lin Bloodhawk failed to reveal the Rogue, three Arcane Battle Mages joined his area attacks, leaving the Rogue with few places to hide.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk shot poisoned arrows into felguards' exposed flesh and killed three orc officers with precise shots.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk tried to shoot a charging, fully armored orc, but the warrior blocked the arrow and continued toward the elves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sensed an attack from behind, escaped with Disengage, and caught the Swiftshadow Assassin Rogue with Lacerate.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk used Flare and Multi-Shot but failed to reveal the Rogue after it vanished into Stealth.
• Three Arcane Battle Mages cast Blizzard around the Rogue's possible paths, while the Five-Element Formation's poison needles restricted its escape.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk was poisoned by an Orc Swiftshadow Rogue who escaped after being trapped and heavily wounded. As the poison wore off, Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned the Rogue would likely die from the accumulated toxins, but remained shaken that the assassin had nearly killed him.

• The Mage's Blizzard exposed the Orc Swiftshadow Rogue and froze his feet, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk discovered that numbing poison had left him unable to draw his bow.
• The Orc Swiftshadow Rogue used a magical item to break free, then fled through the Poison Needles while Elf Rangers riddled his back with arrows.
• Orc soldiers shielded the Rogue and dragged him to safety after he collapsed, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk drank an ineffective antidote and remained numb.
• A Healing Mage treated Yu Lin Bloodhawk and explained that the Rogue had used a costly magical crippling poison.
• The Arcane Healing Mage warned that the Rogue's many poisoned wounds would likely kill him, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondered why the assassin had targeted him.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk helped the Elves crush the Orc assault inside Big Gourd Belly, while poison needles and the Five-Element Formation caused the Orcs’ attack to collapse. The Orc chief ordered a retreat after the dying Swift Shadow Rogue revealed that colored linen strips marked the poisoned ground, but he died before identifying which colors were safe.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk killed Orc soldiers with precise Normal Shots, and the Rangers replenished his arrows as the Elves advanced.
• The Wildhammer Dwarves destroyed the Voidwalkers and Infernals, while the Elves finished off the remaining Felguards.
• The Orc Infantry’s attack stalled in the Five-Element Formation, and poisoned iron nails caused many Orcs to collapse.
• The Orc chief sent reinforcements to cover a retreat from Big Gourd Belly after the Swift Shadow Rogue warned him about the poison needles.
• The Swift Shadow Rogue explained that five colors of linen strips marked the dangerous ground, but died before the Orc chief learned which colors were safe.

The Orc Chieftain halted the attack after the Elves’ poison traps and arrows inflicted heavy losses, and the Orcs rested while their Shamans treated the wounded. Yu Lin Bloodhawk realized the Orcs might be waiting for the poison to fade, but his Rangers had only enough poison for three more applications, leaving him to decide how to respond.

• Swiftshadow Rogue explained the hidden Poison Needles before collapsing from poison, and the Orc Chieftain ordered Shamans to save him.
• The Orcs withdrew with roughly half the attacking force, while the Elves killed many who were left behind or weakened by poison.
• An Orc Shaman reported that treating the wounded required multiple dispels and that the Poison Needle poison would dissipate within two hours.
• The Orc Chieftain postponed another attack until dark, ordered the wounded treated and defenses prepared, and called for two border legions to join the campaign.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the Orcs were resting and that the Rangers had enough poison for only three more applications before dark.