Chapter Summaries

Yu Lin Bloodhawk pressured Sorens to finish the portal quickly, warning that the approaching centaurs and the quilboar threat could cost lives. Their argument turned to Yu Lin’s influence on Lirath, and Sorens revealed that the two had become notorious among Quel'Danil City children for stealing chickens.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk left the cave after ordering the Household Guard officer to report progress and went to ask the Old Charlatan for two frost mages.
• The Old Charlatan sent the frost mages to the blocked entrance, then grew irritated when Yu Lin kept following him.
• Yu Lin demanded to know when the portal would be completed, citing the approaching Kolkar centaurs and the quilboar still in the cave.
• Yu Lin threatened to blame the Old Charlatan for any deaths if the portal delay kept the Highborne search from moving forward.
• Sorens scolded Yu Lin for influencing Lirath, then complained that Lirath bragged about their chicken thefts and inspired children to become thieves.

Old Charlatan told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that his father had been one of his most troublesome students and described him as an upright man who helped commoners. Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned the accepted story of his father’s death protecting the king, but Old Charlatan urged him to leave the past alone, leaving Yu Lin unsettled.

• Old Charlatan scolded Yu Lin Bloodhawk for Lirath Windrunner’s bad habits and revealed that Yu Lin’s father had also been his student.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk initially thought Old Charlatan meant his father on Earth, then realized he meant the father of his Azeroth body and asked what sort of man he had been.
• Old Charlatan described Yu Lin’s father as a just, hardworking commoner who earned a junior royal guard post and offended petty aristocrats by helping ordinary people.
• Old Charlatan said Yu Lin’s father received the title of baron posthumously after the king’s inspection of the front lines at Zul'Aman.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned whether his father had really died protecting the king, but Old Charlatan dismissed the matter as something best left in the past.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondered whether he truly cared about uncovering his father’s fate and was left agitated by the question.

Old Charlatan recounted how he met Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s father as a child, trained him in magic and ranger skills, and watched him become a high ranger and join the king’s royal guard. He compared the father favorably to Yu Lin Bloodhawk, who wondered whether Old Charlatan had also helped his father become a baron, but Old Charlatan told him to stop guessing.

• Old Charlatan described meeting Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s father as a child and promising to visit his village every year.
• Old Charlatan took Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s father as his student, arranged ranger training for him, and taught him magical theory despite his poor magical talent.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk teased Old Charlatan about his teaching, and Old Charlatan scolded him for being lazy and avoiding training.
• Old Charlatan said Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s father became a high ranger before joining the king’s royal guard because of his understanding of magic.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked whether Old Charlatan had used his connections to get his father into the royal guard and made him a baron, but Old Charlatan rebuked him for guessing.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that the portal to Quel'Danil was vital to his plans for the Valley of Trials and the High Elves, and urged the Old Charlatan to finish it quickly. The Old Charlatan promised to complete it within two days, and a spellcaster set out to deliver Yu Lin's military orders.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said he wanted to develop the Valley of Trials into a second Quel'Danil and described the portal as a gate of life.
• The Old Charlatan recognized Yu Lin's seriousness and promised to finish the portal within two days.
• Yu Lin ordered the Quel'Danil Standing Army to prepare two or three regiments, supplies, and equipment for deployment through the portal.
• The Old Charlatan summoned an Elf spellcaster, relayed Yu Lin's orders, and sent him to Quel'Danil's Temple District by teleportation.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched the Old Charlatan’s High Elf spellcaster teleport away, then inspected the defenses before flying out to locate the invading Kolkar centaurs. He and a Gryphon Rider Bodyguard found the army in the Valley of Trials after half a day of flight.

• The High Elf arcane spellcaster used teleportation magic to vanish, and the Old Charlatan corrected Yu Lin Bloodhawk when he called it a wild spell.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk left the cave to inspect the defenses and told the Old Charlatan to hurry his students along with the Portal.
• After finding the defenses in order, Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to scout the Kolkar centaur army himself.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and a Gryphon Rider Bodyguard removed their heavier equipment, mounted one gryphon, and flew into the Valley of Trials.
• After half a day of flight over the barren terrain, Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his companion found the Kolkar centaurs.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his Gryphon Rider Bodyguard watched several thousand Kolkar centaurs advance through the Valley of Trials and discussed how to hinder them. After learning the centaurs were short of drinking water, they flew to a muddy pool to investigate.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his Gryphon Rider Bodyguard observed the centaurs marching toward the quilboar cave and mocked their poor equipment and discipline.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided they should brainstorm ways to trouble the centaurs before fighting them directly.
• The Gryphon Rider Bodyguard suggested poisoning water sources after noticing the centaurs gathered at pools to drink.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk followed the Gryphon Rider Bodyguard to a murky rainwater pool and concluded the centaurs were likely short of water.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched the Kolkar centaurs crowd around a pool, then returned to camp and prepared to poison the water along their route. He left his commanders and six Gryphon Rider Bodyguards to find a slow-acting poison before the centaurs reached him.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and a Gryphon Rider Bodyguard moved to a distant slope to watch the centaurs approach the water source.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Gryphon Rider Bodyguard observed the centaurs drinking in a disorderly crowd and learned that their water stops slowed their march.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to the camp outside the cave and summoned the City Lord's Household Guard commanders and all six Gryphon Rider Bodyguards.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered his people to prepare a slow-acting poison for pools along the centaurs' likely route, hoping it would incapacitate them after a day or two.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared a delayed poison plot against the approaching centaurs while waiting for reinforcements and the quilboar negotiations. Once the centaurs neared, the arrival of an elite force from Quel'Danil sparked a dispute over who would fight, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk to settle the quarrel.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk had his officers and Old Charlatan's mages prepare slow-acting poison, then sent six Gryphon Rider Bodyguards to contaminate pools of standing water along the centaurs' route.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk waited two days as the quilboar negotiations dragged on and Old Charlatan worked to finish the Portal.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk received reports that the centaurs were near, the quilboar had agreed to terms after failed breakouts, and a two-hundred-strong elite advance force from Quel'Danil had arrived.
• The City Lord's Household Guard and the Quel'Danil advance force argued over who would fight the centaurs and who would accept the quilboar prisoners.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk heard the dispute and struggled to understand why his High Elf troops had become so eager to fight.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk struggled to resolve a dispute between the Quel'Danil Standing Army and the City Lord's Household Guard over who should lead the coming battle. He considered finding a compromise, but left the issue unresolved while deciding how to direct his forces against the centaurs.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk heard the High Elf officers question whether elegance and bravery had to conflict, but he could not answer them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk weighed the Quel'Danil Standing Army's frustration at being kept from battle against the Household Guard's claim to a fight it had planned.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk considered ordering one force to lead and the other to serve as reserves, but hesitated to impose that solution.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reflected on the Heavenly Dao and his hope of finding a gray area to settle the dispute, while reserving that principle for the centaurs.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk assigned the Quel'Danil Standing Army to build an auxiliary force from the quilboar and outlined plans to expand from Trial Valley. He left the officers facing a broader campaign to ally with the tauren and drive the centaurs out of The Barrens.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk made the City Lord's Household Guard the lead assault force and assigned the Quel'Danil Standing Army to reserves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the Quel'Danil officers to recruit the quilboar in the cave and form a heavy auxiliary army.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that the quilboar descended from a demigod and urged the officers to restore their ancestors' traditions and glory.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk showed the officers a map and declared that he intended to expand from Trial Valley toward Cross Intersection.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the future united army to find the tauren, ally with them, and drive the centaurs out of The Barrens.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk outlined plans for the Quel'Danil Standing Army to secure Trial Valley and eventually help restore the Barrens, then learned its officers had come hoping he would provide missing Battle Pets. He also addressed the army's lack of Mounts, leaving the officers with a plan to capture and train wild Clefthoof Zebras.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk justified restoring the Barrens and described a future alliance to drive the Centaurs out and manage the land together.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the officers to secure Trial Valley and establish their Auxiliary Burning Legion, then asked about their Battle Pets.
• An officer admitted that legion headquarters had sent the advance force to ask Yu Lin Bloodhawk for Battle Pets because several units lacked them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk realized the officers had deliberately provoked an earlier dispute to raise the issue, and he decided they could catch Bears and Lions themselves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk warned that the infantry would be at a mobility disadvantage against the Centaurs and proposed capturing wild Clefthoof Zebras to train as Mounts.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged for human horse trainers from The Hinterlands to tame hoofed zebras in the Badlands and ordered his officers to learn the craft themselves. He remained committed to driving out the centaurs so the region could become a mount pasture and breeding ground for the High Elves.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told an elf that human horse trainers among the refugees in The Hinterlands might be able to train hoofed zebras as mounts.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that the Badlands had abundant hoofed zebras, but centaurs stood in the way of his plans to make the region a mount pasture and lion battle-pet breeding ground.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reaffirmed his strategy to eliminate or drive the centaurs from the Badlands, confident that his well-equipped forces could defeat them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered officers to bring all the human horse trainers from The Hinterlands and said Gryphon Riders would help them obtain hoofed zebras to train.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk instructed his officers to learn how to train wild horses themselves while the human trainers taught them.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk arranged a secret hunt for rare battle pets while preparing the rangers to fight the approaching Kolkar centaurs. When the centaurs arrived looking healthy, he doubted the poison had worked and ordered his troops to follow the battle plan anyway.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent a Gryphon Rider Bodyguard to arrange a hunt for rare pets and marked the ranges of Shuma, Echeyakee, and the Swift Zebra on a map.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the ranger commanders secretly divided the three pets among their forces and agreed to hide the plan from Sylvanas.
• The Quel'Danil Standing Army took over from the City Lord's Household Guard as a ranger reported that the Kolkar centaurs were approaching.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered his troops to stay behind their fortifications, let the centaurs enter the traps, and attack with poisoned arrows and crossbow weapons.
• When the centaurs arrived apparently unharmed, Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned the poison and ordered the troops to begin fighting according to plan.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared the City Lord's Household Guard to face the invading Kolkar Centaurs with layered cavalry traps and ballistas. Although he considered launching a surprise attack, he decided to let the Centaurs assemble while claiming the High Elves were acting out of chivalry.

• The Rangers of the City Lord's Household Guard formed up behind armored Dire Wolf Battle Pets, with Horsefall Pits, trip wires, caltrops, and five ballistas arranged behind them.
• The Kolkar Centaurs gathered about two li from the High Elf formations, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk complained that they had assembled provocatively close.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned how the Centaurs knew the High Elves lacked cavalry, but he and his Gryphon Rider Bodyguards could not determine whether the Centaurs had a hidden plan.
• A Gryphon Rider Bodyguard suggested a surprise attack, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk hesitated because he feared walking into an ambush.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk rejected the surprise attack and declared that the High Elves would let the Centaurs assemble in peace because they were the very soul of chivalry.
• The Gryphon Rider Bodyguards and ballista gunners silently doubted Yu Lin Bloodhawk's claim of chivalry.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk struggled to understand why the Elves were watching him, then watched the Centaurs assemble and prepare a direct cavalry charge against the High Elf Rangers. The Centaurs accelerated toward the Elven formation, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondering whether they truly intended to attack head-on.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk pressed Cairns about the Elves' strange looks until Cairns explained they had been checking whether Yu Lin Bloodhawk was blushing.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked why he should blush, leaving the Elves stunned by his lack of understanding.
• The Centaurs took more than twenty minutes to assemble, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk judged their military discipline to be poor.
• After their leaders shouted to the troops, at least half of the Centaur army charged toward the High Elf Rangers, gradually accelerating.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched the charge and wondered whether the Centaurs intended to fight the Elves head-on.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the five ballistas to target centaur officers as the charging army approached. The centaurs’ sudden split maneuver saved the officers from the first volley, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the crews to keep firing at will as the attack continued.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the ballista crews to target centaur commanders and troop leaders once the centaurs entered range.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk waited until the roughly fifteen hundred centaurs reached seventy percent of their charging speed, then ordered the ballistas to fire.
• The centaurs split into two groups and wheeled left and right, causing the explosive bolts to miss their intended officers and strike the ranks behind them.
• The five bolts brought down around fifty or sixty centaurs through blasts and collisions.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the ballista crews to keep their targets locked and fire at will, and they resumed attacking the centaur ranks.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched the Centaurs attack the Ballista positions and prepared to help defend the left flank. As the disorganized charge entered his bow’s range, he nocked an arrow while the Household Guard’s Rangers and Gryphon Riders moved to reinforce the position.

• The Household Guard commander sent about a hundred and twenty Rangers and their Battle Pets to reinforce the Ballista positions.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the Quilboars had surrendered and that half of the Quel'Danil Standing Army had arrived, then ordered the Quilboar prisoners brought over.
• A Ballista crew killed the leader of the Centaurs charging on the left, and the remaining Centaurs rushed forward in disarray.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk moved to the left flank, allowed his Gryphon Rider Bodyguards to attack with Explosive Bombs, and waited as the Centaurs advanced through the Horsefall Pits.
• When the Centaurs reached his maximum bow range, Yu Lin Bloodhawk nocked an arrow while the other High Elves still held their fire.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s opening arrow missed when its target fell into a Horsefall Pit, but the charging centaurs soon blundered into the traps under cover of ballista smoke. Yu Lin ordered the Elf Rangers to fire Smoke Bombs ahead of the attackers, leaving both sides obscured by smoke.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s arrow missed the leading centaur, who fell into a Horsefall Pit and crashed to the ground.
• Yu Lin held back from firing another arrow to conserve his strength for Mind Shot while the Household Guard Rangers were still on their way.
• The ballista crews fired rapidly at the approaching centaurs, and their explosions created smoke that concealed the Horsefall Pits.
• The centaurs charged blindly through the smoke and fell into the traps as ballista blasts drowned out their warnings.
• Yu Lin ordered the Elf Rangers to fire two rapid arcing volleys of Smoke Bombs ahead of the centaurs, obscuring the battlefield further.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the High Elves used smoke screens and concealed traps to break the centaurs’ charge, while the City Lord’s Household Guard appeared to retreat in disorder. The Rangers safely withdrew to the ballista emplacement, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk puzzled by why the centaurs had not followed them.

• The High Elf commanders redirected their ballistas toward the charging centaurs and ordered the Household Guard’s Rangers to retreat while luring the enemy toward the traps.
• Dozens of centaurs emerged from the smoke, broke their legs in horsefall pits, and were killed by Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s Rangers.
• Concentrated ballista fire shattered the centaurs’ triangular formation as they charged toward the Household Guard.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk saw the Household Guard’s Rangers retreating in apparent disarray and returned to the ballista emplacement, where the Quel'Danil Standing Army's Vanguard arrived with the savage prisoners.
• The High Elf Rangers on both flanks stopped the centaurs with traps and arrows, while the Household Guard’s Rangers withdrew safely through smoke without being pursued.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondered why the centaurs had not followed the retreating Rangers out.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that poison had felled most of the centaurs behind the smoke while Gryphon Riders bombed the survivors. He reprimanded the riders for delaying their report, then had them coordinate aerial surveillance so the high elves could track the battlefield.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk noticed that few centaurs were emerging from the smoke and summoned a Gryphon Rider to report.
• The Gryphon Rider explained that poison had collapsed seventy or eighty percent of the centaurs and that the riders had bombed the survivors.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk scolded the Gryphon Rider for ignoring his signals and warned that commanders depended on timely battlefield intelligence.
• The Gryphon Rider coordinated with the riders overhead using signal flags, and they spread out to monitor the battlefield for the high elves.