Chapter Summaries

Zuga managed the Blood Skull Pirate Crew’s dealings in Booty Bay while enjoying his life as a feared pirate. A human Rogue told him that Fourteen and a new fleet were coming to replace him, and that he had to return to The Hinterlands with the next shipment.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to recall Zuga from Zul'Aman and send Fourteen to replace him.
• Zuga built the Blood Skull Pirate Crew’s influence in Booty Bay, relying on Fourteen’s intelligence network and trading with local Troll factions and pirate crews.
• Zuga’s raids against rival crews angered the Blackwater Raiders, though Fourteen’s agents repeatedly resolved the resulting trouble.
• A human Rogue informed Zuga that Fourteen was returning with Evil Spikes, Evil Fang, Broken Tooth, four gunboats, and an aircraft carrier.
• The Rogue told Zuga to prepare the cargo and take his men back to The Hinterlands, leaving Zuga wondering whether he would miss a major operation in Booty Bay.

Fourteen arrived in Booty Bay with a large Blood Skull Pirate Crew fleet and reassured Baron Vigaz that the fleet posed no threat to the Blackwater Raiders. He revealed that Bloodskull planned to target the Venture Company, and Vigaz welcomed the idea.

• The Blood Skull Pirate Crew assembled eight large ships around Booty Bay, alarming the town’s factions and prompting suspicions that Bloodskull meant to attack the Blackwater Raiders.
• Fourteen landed with eight companions and met Baron Vigaz, who asked why the fleet had gathered outside the harbor.
• Fourteen told Vigaz that Bloodskull bore the Blackwater Raiders no ill will and requested a private place to explain the fleet’s purpose.
• At Vigaz’s residence, Fourteen asked what he thought of the Venture Company and proposed posting missions against it in Booty Bay.
• Vigaz enthusiastically approved the plan, calling the Venture Company villains whose presence had cost him income.

Fourteen negotiated with Vigaz over Bloodskull’s plans to capture Venture Company engineers and establish a base on Hakkari Island, using the Bloodsail Buccaneers as leverage. Vigaz ultimately accepted the base, though the two crews had not settled how to divide their interests, and Zuga noticed Vigaz watching Fourteen at the docks.

• Fourteen gave Vigaz a list of Venture Company engineers and asked him to post separate bounties for capturing them alive.
• Fourteen revealed that Bloodskull wanted Hakkari Island for a base, and Vigaz opposed the plan because it threatened the Blackwater Raiders’ profits.
• Fourteen used the possible return of the Bloodsail Buccaneers to pressure Vigaz into choosing cooperation with Bloodskull over a future fight for Stranglethorn Vale.
• Vigaz agreed to Bloodskull establishing a base on Hakkari Island, but the two sides left the division of their interests unsettled.
• Fourteen completed the handover with Zuga at the docks, where Zuga pointed out that Vigaz was watching them from his balcony.

Fourteen’s fleet reached Hakkari Island to establish a Blood Skull Pirate Crew base and prepare camps for thousands of Zul’Aman Troll prisoners, while giving Evil Spikes, Evil Fang, and Broken Tooth a chance to form their own factions. The landing began the next morning, but the fleet’s limited boats slowed the transfer of prisoners and supplies.

• Zuga noticed Vigaz’s displeasure in Booty Bay, while Fourteen declined to enter the port and led his fleet toward Hakkari Island.
• Fourteen’s commanders learned that the fleet carried thousands of Zul’Aman Troll prisoners captured during the war in Quel’Thalas and that more prisoners would follow.
• Fourteen told Evil Spikes, Evil Fang, and Broken Tooth to step down as captains and build their own factions by recruiting among the prisoners.
• Fourteen assigned troops to build a pirate base, a harbor, and prisoner shelters, then ordered the fleet to begin landing operations at dawn.
• After the slow ferrying of prisoners ashore, Fourteen ordered the boats to prioritize the aircraft carrier and summoned captured gunships and gunboats from Booty Bay to speed the landing.

Fourteen organized the transport of supplies and Zul'Aman Troll prisoners to Hakkari Island while Bloodskull's show of force discouraged pirate gangs from attacking its convoy. The convoy reached the island safely under aircraft-carrier escort, leaving construction of the base able to proceed without a major clash in Booty Bay.

• Fourteen ordered Booty Bay personnel to load the small gunships and gunboats with supplies for Hakkari Island and directed the carrier to escort them after unloading the Zul'Aman Troll prisoners.
• Blood Skull Pirate Crew posted lucrative jobs to kidnap Venture Company engineers alive, prompting Booty Bay's pirate gangs to pursue the contracts instead of raiding the supply convoy.
• When Fourteen learned that pirate boats were following the convoy, he sent ten Gryphon Riders to drive them off and warned that Bloodskull would destroy any gang that followed its ships again.
• The Gryphon Riders delivered a rendezvous map to the convoy and pursued its pursuers, who fled after receiving Bloodskull's warning.
• The aircraft carrier escorted the supply convoy to Hakkari Island, where Fourteen was relieved that the ships arrived safely and the base's construction would not be disrupted.

Fourteen oversaw the Zul'Aman prisoners' arrival on Hakkari Island and requested more than a thousand trusted troops to crew the fleet. After learning that the Blackwater Raiders Crew had followed the Bloodskull supply fleet, he ordered an investigation to determine whether the move came from Vigaz or the whole crew and prepared a warning for Vigaz if necessary.

• The Zul'Aman prisoners ate well on Hakkari Island, while Fourteen considered the difficulty of recruiting enough sailors for the expanded fleet.
• At dawn, Fourteen sent Yu Lin Bloodhawk a request for more than a thousand trusted troops and then supervised the Vilebranch prisoners' work on the island.
• Fourteen received intelligence that the Blackwater Raiders Crew had followed the Bloodskull Supply Fleet and weighed whether the act signaled an alliance crisis or Vigaz's personal greed.
• Fourteen sent a gryphon rider to Booty Bay to determine who was responsible and to deliver Vigaz a warning and dagger if the whole crew had acted.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged to send eighteen hundred Vilebranch Troll Armed Police officers to Fourteen in Stranglethorn Vale and ordered two more Warships to escort them. He then learned Steven had developed Ballista-Specific Arrows and discovered that the Goblin could use his reward money to build a Flying Machine.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to send all eighteen hundred Vilebranch Troll Armed Police officers to Fourteen and have Quel'Danil's High Elf Second-Class Standing Burning Legion take over their duties.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered two Warships transferred from Quel'Thalas to escort the troops and instructed Harbor officials to prepare transport vessels.
• Steven told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that he had successfully developed Ballista-Specific Arrows and demanded the promised five hundred Gold Coins.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Steven flew to Goblin Village, where Steven said he would use the reward to build a Flying Machine from his brother's Blueprint.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned whether Steven and the other Goblins feared the danger of explosives more than the risks of building an aircraft.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk tested Steven’s explosive ballista bolts and was impressed by their power. He promised Steven the full five hundred gold coins despite the limited supply, then asked how Steven had improved the gunpowder.

• Steven told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that he had made only a dozen bolts for testing and had three left, so mass production was not ready.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his companions went to Steven’s laboratory, where they loaded a bolt into an ordinary ballista.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk fired at the nearby red-earth hill, and the bolt exploded with enough force to leave a crater more than a meter deep and three meters across.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk praised Steven’s improved explosives and considered their potential against Infernal Stone Men, troops, and ships.
• Steven worried that Yu Lin Bloodhawk would deduct from his reward because the bolts were not mass-produced, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk promised him all five hundred gold coins.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk examined a remaining bolt and asked Steven how he had improved the gunpowder.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk funded Steven’s research and promised rewards for producing ballistas and a Goblin Flying Machine, then visited the factory where Christine, David, Sorens, High Elf mages, and Wildhammer dwarves were developing Wingblade siege engines. The group mounted a newly assembled wheelblade onto a completed Wingblade vehicle, preparing to test it.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Steven that Willyx would buy the equipment and materials for his research, promised him five hundred gold coins, and offered rewards for ballista production and a Goblin Flying Machine.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk flew to the ballista factory and discovered that Christine and David had expanded their work to develop Wingblade siege engines with Sorens, High Elf mages, and Wildhammer dwarves.
• Christine and David’s team had built two Wingblade vehicle bodies but struggled to produce the specialized wheelblades because of their complex design and materials.
• Wildhammer dwarves finished assembling a wheelblade after nearly an hour, and the group carried it to a testing range where a completed red-and-yellow Wingblade vehicle stood beneath a tarpaulin.
• The group lifted the wheelblade onto the Wingblade vehicle while Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched in silence.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk test-fired the Wingblade Cart’s Wheelblade, which sliced through rows of wooden posts and returned automatically to its catch. Sorens, Andriev, and the Arcane Mages then investigated why the Wheelblade took too long to return, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk left for the Ballista Manufacturing Factory.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk volunteered to test the Wheelblade, and Sorens warned him that its rare Dragon Soul metal made it too valuable to lose.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk fired at the wooden posts, and the Wheelblade cut through more than a dozen before losing momentum and landing.
• The Wheelblade returned to the Wingblade Cart’s catch through a Magic Circle-covered Dragon Soul metal disc, prompting everyone to celebrate.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk fired again and watched the Wheelblade return once more, while Sorens and Andriev judged its return speed too slow.
• Sorens, Andriev, Christine, the Wildhammer Dwarves, and the High Elf Arcane Mages studied the Blueprint and Magic Circles as Yu Lin Bloodhawk left for the Ballista Manufacturing Factory with his Gryphon Rider Bodyguards.

After returning to the Hinterlands, Zuga learned that Zul'Aman and Quel'Thalas were fighting a large-scale war and was ordered to escort Zul'Aman prisoners back with Fifteen. He accepted despite his anguish at facing former compatriots, and the fleet sailed toward Quel'Thalas.

• Zuga returned to the Hinterlands with the fleet, reported to Yu Lin Bloodhawk, and learned that Fifteen had also arrived.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Fifteen to accompany Zuga on a mission to transport Troll prisoners of war from Zul'Aman.
• After seven days of leave, Zuga was summoned and learned that Zul'Aman and the Orcs had invaded Quel'Thalas before the Orcs withdrew to attack Lordaeron City.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Zuga and Fifteen to bring prisoners to the Hinterlands, and Zuga reluctantly agreed.
• Zuga sailed with Fifteen toward Quel'Thalas and confessed that he dreaded escorting former compatriots as prisoners.
• Fifteen explained that Zul'Aman had been pushed back and questioned why the Trolls had started a war they seemed unable to win.

Zuga and Fifteen transported more than two thousand Zul'Aman troll prisoners from Shalandis Isle toward the Hinterlands. Before the fleet could reach home, Zuga’s trusted subordinates seized Fifteen and demanded that Zuga help rescue the prisoners, leaving Zuga to choose between his people and his alliance with Fifteen.

• Zuga and Fifteen reached Shalandis Isle, where they selected more than two thousand Zul'Aman troll prisoners to take back to the Hinterlands.
• Fifteen and Zuga loaded the prisoners and supplies onto five transport ships, then sailed from Quel'Thalas during the night.
• Zuga stayed aboard Fifteen's gunboat with nearly twenty trusted subordinates and worried about the familiar prisoners he had seen.
• After a commotion broke out, Zuga opened his cabin door and found two of his subordinates holding blades to Fifteen's neck while their men faced off against Fifteen's crew.
• Zuga's subordinate said they wanted to rescue their people, and Zuga eventually apologized to Fifteen and chose to leave with them.
• Fifteen accepted Zuga's decision but asked whether he had really decided to leave.

Zuga read Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letter explaining that the Shadowpine trolls could leave for Stranglethorn Vale and rebuild their future there, then chose to take his people to that destination. Fifteen ordered the remaining followers who had defied Zuga killed and reflected that the prisoner transport mission had been Yu Lin’s test of Zuga.

• Zuga declared that he would take his people away, while Fifteen’s rogues killed the trolls threatening Fifteen and Zuga’s followers reacted in alarm.
• Fifteen gave Zuga a letter from Yu Lin Bloodhawk describing the war’s outcome and urging the Shadowpine trolls to relocate to Stranglethorn Vale.
• After reading the letter, Zuga accepted Yu Lin’s plan and told Fifteen he would take his people to Stranglethorn Vale.
• Fifteen offered to escort Zuga’s people, and Zuga ordered the followers who had acted against him to be killed.
• Fifteen ordered the remaining trolls shot and reflected that Yu Lin had designed the prisoner transport mission as a test for Zuga.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk adjusted his plans after Zuga chose to lead Zul'Aman Troll prisoners toward the Venture Company's territory in Stranglethorn Vale, and he arranged supplies and support in exchange for valuable resources. As he prepared for a future journey to Kalimdor, he approved small warships for coastal defense and asked Quel'Danil's officers how to staff a new coast guard without weakening the legion.

• Fifteen ordered his galleon to escort the transports onward while the aircraft carrier and another galleon returned to Shalandis Isle, and Thirteen's galleon turned toward Stranglethorn Vale.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk received Fifteen's message, accepted Zuga's choice, and considered how Lake Nefariti could support the Zul'Aman Trolls despite the dangers posed by hostile native factions.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to provide Zuga with supplies, weapons, armor, and possibly troops in exchange for resources such as Venture Company engineers, singing crystals, and miners, and he sent Fourteen a letter outlining the revised plan.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk approved the Naval Staff's proposal to build about ten small warships and summoned Quel'Danil's officers to discuss coastal defense staffing.
• The legion commander and deputy commander argued that the legion could not spare more soldiers and proposed that the Sea Cucumber Department recruit a separate coastal guard force.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared The Hinterlands for his long voyage by settling plans with the army and navy, including recruitment, Orc prisoner management, and new naval weapons. A month later, he received news of the Zul'Aman Troll defeat and the arrival of Goblin mech pilots, whose combat unit he eagerly planned to build.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the Quel'Danil High Elf legion to secure The Hinterlands while he was away and prepare for Orc prisoners to replace returning human refugees on the farms.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk approved equipping the legion with hybrid Bloodfang Boar battle pets and learned from naval officials that they could recruit locally in Quel'Danil Mountain Valley.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gave the naval officers explosive ballista bolts to test, and they proposed developing incendiary bolts and establishing a shared Military Technology Research Foundation with the army.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the naval officials he would lead at least two Aircraft Carrier Fleets on a long voyage and discussed how they would manage The Hinterlands in his absence.
• A month later, Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that Quel'Thalas had destroyed the encircled Zul'Aman Troll army and that Fourteen had brought more than thirty Goblin mech pilots to David for combat mech research.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk looked forward to forming a Goblin combat mech unit, chiefly because he wanted to show it off and believed his powerful allies would protect him from ridicule.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk inspected ballista and shell production, arranged for the new ammunition to support Quel'Thalas's coming siege of Zul'Aman City, and supplied Sorens with Dragon Soul fragments for wingblade wheelblade cores. After Alleria reported Quel'Thalas's plan to expel the Shadowpine trolls, Yu Lin organized transport for the captured Zul'Aman trolls, sending the latest prisoners onward to Hakkari Island.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk found that Christine's factory had produced nearly fifty ordinary ballistas, but the Naval Staff had already ordered them all.
• Yu Lin learned that Steven's shell factory had produced fewer than a hundred trial shells, approved plans to expand production, and ordered its initial output shipped to Quel'Thalas.
• Sorens asked Yu Lin for fifty Dragon Soul metal fragments to make wingblade wheelblade cores, and Yu Lin agreed to deliver them the next day.
• Alleria told Yu Lin that Quel'Thalas had decided to expel the Zul'Aman trolls from Eversong Woods, and Yu Lin arranged ships to move prisoners to Hakkari Island.
• A fleet carrying around three thousand Zul'Aman prisoners arrived in The Hinterlands, and Yu Lin ordered Thirteen to send it onward to Hakkari Island after resupply.

Thirteen sailed for Stranglethorn Vale while Zuga arrived with the Zul'Aman prisoners and learned that Yu Lin Bloodhawk wanted him to build a unified, civilized troll power. Fourteen gave Zuga supplies, instructions, and authority for the region while Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared to leave on a long journey.

• Thirteen departed The Hinterlands for Stranglethorn Vale, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared Quel'Danil City for his absence and arranged military supplies.
• Fifteen told Zuga that Master wanted the Shadowpine trolls to befriend the high elves and work toward uniting Stranglethorn Vale's trolls; he also asked Zuga to find Vol'jin.
• Fourteen gave Zuga an inventory of supplies and warned him not to use Bloodskull's name or provoke the Blackwater Raiders Crew while Yu Lin Bloodhawk was away.
• Fourteen told Zuga he would oversee the Stranglethorn Vale Region during Yu Lin Bloodhawk's six-month-to-year-long journey and promised support against pirates who caused trouble.
• Fourteen gave Zuga a map and ordered him to drive the Venture Company out of the marked area, setting up a temporary camp there with three gunboats until then.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk finished organizing the transport of Zul'Aman Troll prisoners and prepared to sail to Kalimdor with Sylvanas. Alleria stayed behind to lead the lavishly equipped High Elf Expeditionary Army toward the coming battle in Arathi.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk oversaw months of transporting Zul'Aman Troll prisoners from Quel'Thalas to Hakkari Island, then recalled The Hinterlands' warships once the fleets began to dwindle.
• Alleria, Sylvanas, Shidewa, and Xingluoge arrived in The Hinterlands with their troops, and Alleria explained that she had orders to join the fight in Arathi.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Alleria not to take the High Elf Expeditionary Army through the Dark Portal before he and Sylvanas returned from Kalimdor, and she agreed.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sylvanas departed for Kalimdor with a two-carrier fleet, while Alleria remained behind and later led the High Elf Expeditionary Army toward Arathi.
• Alleria saw that Yu Lin Bloodhawk had equipped the High Elf Expeditionary Army with rare armor, weapons, ballistae, and Wingblade Carts, and recognized that he had spent his own money to protect its soldiers.

Alleria led the Elven Expeditionary Burning Legion through The Hinterlands, where she witnessed cooperation among its peoples and learned how Issthara had been established. After reaching Aerie Peak, the legion entered the devastated Durnholde Region, where the destruction and scattered bones slowed their march.

• Alleria's army marched past New Tor'Watha, where Vilebranch trolls and their children watched the High Elves without fear, and Alleria reflected on the endless war between High Elves and Shadowpine trolls.
• The army reached Issthara, rested there for two days, and Alleria learned that the green dragons of Seradane had named the neutral city after Ysera.
• Alleria led the legion to Aerie Peak, where they saw battle-scarred fortifications while Mez'dra commanded forces near the border with Durnholde and the Kingdom of Arathi.
• Doomhammer's weakened orc army failed in attacks against Lothar's Alliance forces, while Gul'dan's followers and the ogres continued to desert, prompting Doomhammer to prepare for retreat through the Dark Portal.
• The legion left The Hinterlands and entered the ruined Durnholde Region, where the sight of abandoned land and bones weighed on the soldiers and slowed their march.

Alleria visited the besieged forces in Refuge Valley and told them that the Allied Army would launch an offensive within two or three months. She explained that the orc army had been weakened by the defection of its death knights and warlocks, leaving the exhausted defenders stunned and hopeful.

• Alleria let the High Elf Expeditionary Army Corps rest after its journey and waited for the soldiers to recover before raising their morale.
• Alleria traveled to Refuge Valley and saw how badly the High Elf and human troops had been depleted while holding out against the orcs.
• Alleria told Lor'themar and the human commanders that the Allied Army would attack within two or three months, once the Dalaran Spellcaster Corps arrived.
• Alleria revealed that many orc death knights and warlocks had deserted after rumors drove a wedge between Doomhammer and Gul'dan.
• Lor'themar and the Refuge Valley commanders struggled to believe that rumors and orc infighting had helped turn the war in the Alliance's favor.