Chapter Summaries

Alleria read Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letter and prepared to lead the Western Route Army through the Swamp of Sorrows to seize and hold the passage into the Badlands while Lothar’s forces attacked Stormwind City. Yu Lin promised to return soon, and Alleria hoped he would visit her before Vereesa interrupted to ask whether his letter was a love letter.

• After the Alliance defeated the Orcs’ breakout attempts, Marshal Lothar reorganized the campaign to retake Stormwind City into eastern and western forces.
• Alleria’s Western Route Army was ordered to cross the Swamp of Sorrows and hold the passage to the Badlands to block Orc reinforcements.
• Alleria read Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letter, which asked her again to collect Soul Shards from Orc Warlocks and said he would return to the Eastern Kingdoms soon.
• Alleria looked forward to Yu Lin visiting her in the Swamp of Sorrows and complained about the place’s name.
• Vereesa startled Alleria and asked if the letter was a love letter.

Alleria’s army advanced through the Swamp of Sorrows with little resistance before reaching a supply camp, where she reunited with Lirath. She questioned how he had reached the camp and suspected he was hiding something.

• Alleria refused to show Vereesa the letter from her husband and ordered her to prepare for the march.
• Alleria’s army swept through the Swamp of Sorrows as fleeing Orcs made the advance easy, while Wildhammer Gryphon Riders carried out repeated bombing runs.
• Vereesa regretted not asking her brother-in-law for a Gryphon as she watched the Wildhammer Dwarves fly.
• After five days of marching, Alleria reached the Hinterlands navy’s temporary coastal camp and found Lirath there.
• Alleria teased Lirath for acting grown-up, then sternly asked why he was not in the Temple District and how he had arrived.
• Lirath claimed Captain Three had brought him, and Alleria challenged his answer by saying Captain Thirteen was not with the fleet.

Alleria discovered that Lirath Windrunner had secretly stowed away aboard the fleet to follow her to the Swamp of Sorrows. Unsure whether she could keep him safe while commanding the army, she asked about his life in The Hinterlands and listened as he complained about Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Temple District clerics.

• Alleria confronted Lirath Windrunner, who explained that he had hidden aboard Fourteen’s gunboat after the troops refused to take him to war.
• Lirath Windrunner admitted he wanted to stay with Alleria, and she worried about protecting him while leading the Western Route Army.
• Alleria mentioned Yu Lin Bloodhawk, and Lirath Windrunner complained that he meddled and had sent him to the Temple District priests and clerics.
• Alleria asked Lirath Windrunner to tell her about his life in The Hinterlands.

Alleria left to oversee preparations for an important mission, leaving Vereesa to watch Lirath. After punishing him for teasing her, Vereesa caught him again when he tried to escape using Stealth.

• Alleria listened fondly as Lirath told stories about his time in the Hinterlands.
• Vereesa arrived and argued playfully with Lirath, who called her a rotten girl and a wild girl.
• Alleria told Vereesa to watch Lirath while she checked the troops' preparations for their mission.
• After Alleria left, Vereesa knocked Lirath down and spanked him until he apologized.
• Lirath tried to flee with Stealth, but Vereesa used a Flare and caught him by the collar.

Vereesa persuaded Lirath to sneak into Alleria’s quarters and steal her letters so they could check whether Turalyon had sent her a love letter. Lirath successfully picked the lock but took every letter, leaving Vereesa wondering how they could return them without Alleria noticing.

• Vereesa stopped threatening Lirath and convinced him to help steal Alleria’s letters by raising the possibility that Turalyon was pursuing her.
• Vereesa distracted Alleria while Lirath slipped into her temporary quarters and picked the lock on her letter box.
• Lirath took every letter from the box and met Vereesa at their agreed meeting place.
• Vereesa scolded Lirath for taking all the letters and told him he should become a Ranger instead of a thief.

Vereesa read Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letters to Alleria, then tried to hide her part in Lirath Windrunner getting caught with them. As Alleria led the Allied Army rapidly through the Swamp of Sorrows, Vereesa began capturing Orc Warlocks and searching for Soul Shards for her brother-in-law.

• Vereesa read Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letters to Alleria and told Lirath Windrunner to put them back before Alleria caught him.
• Alleria returned and scolded Lirath, while Vereesa hid and later slipped into the departing troops.
• Alleria sent Gryphon Riders, Nightstalkers, Dire Wolf Rangers, and Owl Rangers ahead to intercept orcs and keep the army’s advance secret.
• The Allied Army captured more orcs as it advanced, and Alleria sent the prisoners back to the fleet while pressing the troops to march quickly.
• Vereesa questioned prisoners for Soul Shards, gathered Orc Warlocks, and shipped them to Gultland so they could make more shards for her brother-in-law.

Vereesa continued interrogating orc prisoners for Soul Shards and warlocks while Alleria’s army investigated a heavily fortified orc camp ahead of its march. After receiving troubling intelligence about the camp, Alleria gathered her forces and ordered rangers and troll hunters to move behind it and kill anyone who tried to escape or carry information away.

• Vereesa visited the Temporary Prisoner Detention Camp, learned that only about fifty orc prisoners had arrived, and began interrogating them.
• Alleria received reports of a large, fortified orc camp ahead and ordered the Western Route Army onto level one combat readiness while gryphon riders patrolled the marching route.
• Nightstalkers captured and questioned orc patrolmen, who claimed the camp held three to four thousand orcs, most of them wounded, while gryphon patrols found no unusual activity.
• Alleria waited until the three legions had gathered their main forces, then ordered the Dire Wolf Ranger Corps to infiltrate behind the orc camp and intercept anyone fleeing or carrying intelligence.
• Alleria assigned six hundred Witherbark troll axe throwers and six hundred Vilebranch troll hunters to support the infiltration, with orders to take no prisoners.

An Orc centurion realized his isolated camp had been abandoned and that resistance against the Alliance would doom its nearly four thousand inhabitants. When Alleria’s army surrounded the camp, he led the Orcs in surrender.

• The centurion recalled how the camp became a place for wounded Orcs as supplies dwindled and many died.
• After groups sent to investigate disappeared and news from outside ceased, the centurion concluded the camp had been abandoned.
• The centurion abandoned plans to resist, and the Orcs fell silent as they faced surrender, death in battle, or suicide.
• Alleria led the main forces of three army corps to surround the camp, and the centurion ordered its gates opened.
• The Orcs assembled in the square, discarded their weapons, raised a White Flag, and followed the centurion out through the gates.

Alleria accepted the orcs’ surrender, secured the camp, and arranged care for the wounded prisoners. Troubled by the camp’s abundant fortification materials but scarce provisions and medical supplies, she questioned the orc centurion, who agreed to tell her everything he knew.

• Alleria led her troops into the camp, assigned guards, and moved the surrendered orcs into a temporary prisoner camp.
• Alleria agreed to the orc centurion’s request for medical help, and high elf healers and troll witch doctors treated the wounded.
• Alleria inspected the camp’s supplies and noticed that fortification materials were plentiful while provisions and medical supplies were scarce.
• Alleria invited the orc centurion to eat and drink before questioning him about the camp.
• The orc centurion said he would answer her questions and share everything he knew.

Alleria questioned an Orc Centurion and learned the history and strategic role of the fortress-like camp she had captured. She concluded that the Orcs had intended it as a final fallback position and realized Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s advice had helped her seize it before fleeing Orcs could reinforce it.

• Alleria asked the Orc Centurion about the camp’s oddities, history, and military activity, then had him escorted back after their long conversation.
• The Orc Centurion explained that the Orcs built the camp during the Second War as a fortified supply and fallback base, but its importance diminished as the front moved north.
• He told Alleria that six thousand newly arrived Orc troops had been transferred to the Searing Lands by the eastern route because it better accommodated their supplies.
• Alleria judged that the Orcs still valued the camp as their final fallback, despite the Centurion’s claim that it had become unimportant.
• Alleria credited Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s advice for her cavalry’s rapid move to seal the passage and intercept fleeing Orcs before they could reach the camp.

Alleria weighed whether to seize the route between the Badlands and the Swamp of Sorrows before her forces assembled, then chose to fight an approaching Orc force. She learned that a reinforced Shattered Hand Clan legion was advancing on her camp and concluded the Orcs had learned of Blackrock Fortress’s fall.

• Alleria considered whether to capture the vital passes immediately or wait for more troops to arrive.
• Alleria ordered scouts to monitor two thousand Orc Wolf Riders and check for troops following them.
• Alleria decided to fight the approaching Orcs and ordered close reconnaissance to identify their clan.
• Alleria learned that six thousand infantry followed the Wolf Riders and that the force belonged to the Shattered Hand Clan.
• Alleria concluded the Orcs must have learned of Blackrock Fortress’s fall and were protecting their last route of retreat.

Alleria prepared an ambush for Grommash Hellscream’s 2,000 Wolf Riders as they advanced toward the military camp in the Swamp of Sorrows. Grommash noticed High Elf Gryphon Riders in the fog and began to suspect the Alliance had discovered his plan and captured his destination.

• Alleria recognized that the Wolf Riders were racing ahead to seize the camp and decided to destroy or cripple them before they could reunite with their infantry.
• Alleria studied a military map, concealed her mounted troops in a valley southwest of the camp, and ordered the infantry to defend its fortifications.
• Alleria moved the orc prisoner camp ten kilometers back and ordered its tracks erased.
• At dawn, Grommash led his weary Wolf Riders through the fog and felt an unexplained chill despite the march proceeding without incident.
• Grommash spotted two High Elf Gryphon Riders and wondered whether the Alliance had detected his plan and taken the military camp.

Grommash Hellscream ordered his exhausted cavalry to press on and sent three hundred wolf riders ahead after sensing danger. At the military camp, Vereesa suspected the riders were probing their position, and Alleria asked her to explain her intuition.

• Grommash Hellscream ordered his two thousand cavalrymen to advance at full speed despite his adjutant warning that they were exhausted.
• Grommash Hellscream then ordered three hundred of his strongest warriors to ride ahead of the vanguard toward their destination.
• Alleria told Vereesa that three hundred orc wolf riders were approaching their position and asked how she would respond.
• Vereesa suggested the riders might be investigating their situation or acting as a suicide squad, and Alleria asked her to support the suspicion with evidence.
• Vereesa reasoned that the main force already had a vanguard and wondered why the orcs would send an isolated group past it.

Alleria explained her plan to Vereesa for dealing with three hundred Orc Wolf Riders who had advanced ahead of the Vanguard. She prepared to trap and kill them near the Military Camp, using the distance from the Vanguard to gain enough time.

• Alleria challenged Vereesa to consider why the three hundred Orc Wolf Riders had moved ahead and what their presence meant for the Orcs' plans.
• Alleria quietly ordered a Signalman to bring Vereesa's former unit, Bear Iron Fist, out from concealment.
• Alleria explained that Bear Iron Fist would cut the Wolf Riders off from the Vanguard before Alleria's forces killed them near the Military Camp.
• Vereesa questioned whether the soldiers could kill all three hundred riders before the Vanguard learned what had happened.
• Alleria pointed out that the riders' distance from the Vanguard would give her forces time, and asked Vereesa how many infantry soldiers remained in the Military Camp.

Alleria explained to Vereesa how warfare required strategic thinking beyond immediate battlefield tactics. Vereesa began to recognize that Stonard’s history and purpose might reveal something important about the camp.

• Alleria told Vereesa to wait for their prepared guests, while Vereesa complained that her sister’s explanations were too mysterious.
• Vereesa asked about the camp’s former name, and Alleria identified it as Stonard and described its location.
• Vereesa said the camp’s stockpiles, purpose, and troops felt strange, prompting Alleria to praise her growing strategic perspective.
• Alleria distinguished military commanders from politicians and described Lothar as both, though more a military strategist.
• Vereesa reflected that applying strategic principles was harder than understanding them, and Alleria said experience and hardship could bring true understanding.

Alleria left Vereesa to consider their earlier discussion and returned to military business. Yu Lin Bloodhawk reflected on the High Elves’ bright military colors and the way his ideas had influenced Alleria, leaving her questioning how much she had changed.

• Alleria told Vereesa to take her time thinking and went back to her office.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk surveyed the High Elf army’s red-and-gold tents and considered how military colors reflected different eras and kinds of warfare.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reasoned that bright colors could boost morale in close combat but made the High Elf Rangers easier to spot and undermined their ranged advantage.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained why he tolerated some uses of bright colors while favoring indigo for his own elven forces in the Hinterlands.
• Alleria privately wondered whether her changed convictions came from Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s influence.

Koldiras organized the High Elf cavalry to split the Orc Wolf Riders into three isolated groups before they could reach Stonard. As the Orc vanguard marched on, Grommash Hellscream’s exhausted advance riders reached the fortified town and found Alliance forces waiting.

• Koldiras assigned High Elf units to intercept the Orc Wolf Riders and divide their forces into three groups of three hundred, six hundred, and one thousand.
• The High Elf officers chose an ambush site and sent their Hawkstrider-mounted troops into the morning mist.
• Grommash Hellscream grew increasingly uneasy during the forced march but saw no sign of danger by sunset.
• Grommash Hellscream’s adjutant led the three hundred advance Wolf Riders to Stonard, where they spotted Alliance banners and defenders.
• The adjutant judged that his exhausted Orcs and Worgs could not attack the fortified stronghold, despite the riders’ brief surge of alertness.

Alleria used a warning shot and psychological pressure to force Grommash Hellscream's exhausted Orc Wolf Riders to retreat from Stonard. She sent Gryphon Riders after them, then led Vereesa and the assembled forces onward while leaving a thousand troops to defend the camp.

• Alleria shot an arrow at Grommash Hellscream's adjutant from beyond ordinary range, frightening him and leaving his arm numb when he deflected it.
• Alleria explained to Vereesa that she planned to keep the exhausted orcs under pressure until their morale broke, and the sisters joked over a thousand-gold-coin bet.
• Grommash Hellscream's adjutant ordered the Orc Wolf Riders to retreat before fifteen minutes had passed.
• Alleria ordered twenty Gryphon Riders to pursue the orcs and exhaust or disable their mounts, while the rest waited to support Koldiras.
• Alleria and Vereesa gathered their forces, left a thousand men to receive the supply escort and defend Stonard, and set out.

Alleria herded Grommash Hellscream’s retreating Orcs toward a trap while her forces collected exhausted stragglers. Grommash Hellscream’s adjutant discovered the Alliance had blocked every route and faced a choice between surrender and death.

• Alleria pursued the retreating Orcs at a measured pace while Gryphon Riders and Owl Rangers tracked and captured stragglers.
• Grommash Hellscream’s adjutant led about fifty exhausted Orcs toward what he believed was the safety of their vanguard.
• Alleria received an Owl Ranger’s report and ordered her army to pick up its pace as she prepared to keep Grommash Hellscream trapped in the Swamp of Sorrows.
• A High Elf officer revealed six hundred boars and six hundred Rangers blocking the road, and Grommash Hellscream’s adjutant collapsed after realizing the Alliance had planned the encirclement.
• The High Elf officer offered the Orcs the choice of surrendering and walking in or being killed and carried in, while warning that Alleria’s arrival might bring worse consequences.

Alleria ordered her forces to advance after learning that the Elf Vanguard was delaying the Orcs in a needless show of chivalry. The Elves killed Grommash Hellscream's adjutant and his exhausted Orc Wolf Riders, then burned and buried their remains with military honors as Alleria's army approached.

• Alleria learned that the Elf Vanguard was playing cat and mouse with the Orcs and ordered her troops to advance at full speed.
• Grommash Hellscream's adjutant refused to order his exhausted Orc Wolf Riders to fight and charged the Elves alone.
• The Elf commander shot the adjutant, then sent two waves of Steel Torrent beasts through the Orcs, killing them all.
• The Elf commander ordered his Rangers to collect and burn the Orcs' remains, then bury the ashes without a marker.
• The Rangers saluted the burial pit facing Koldiras as Alleria's army approached.