Chapter Summaries

Alleria diverted from the march to confront Grommash Hellscream after learning he was devastating Koldiras’s forces and inspiring the Orc Wolf Riders. She arrived at the battlefield and learned that her troops were holding the line, though they had suffered heavy losses.

• Koldiras’s troops killed the enemy soldiers watching them, then marched toward the main force as the Orc Wolf Riders advanced.
• Alleria learned that Koldiras had engaged the Orc Wolf Riders and that a powerful orc was forcing him to sacrifice battle pets to hold the line.
• Alleria ordered Vereesa to command the troops and destroy the orcs’ Vanguard Camp while she went to face Grommash Hellscream.
• Alleria flew to Koldiras’s position by gryphon, intending to stop Grommash from crushing the army’s morale.
• Koldiras told Alleria that the battle was at a stalemate, but Grommash had killed around twenty battle pets and his presence drove the orcs to fight recklessly.

Alleria visited Koldiras’s battlefront, ordered him to keep commanding, and asked for an ordinary soldier’s uniform so she could leave unnoticed. Koldiras focused on wearing down the Orcs overnight, while Alleria went to sleep without changing, still intending only to meet Hellscream.

• Alleria told Koldiras to continue commanding the battle and requested an ordinary soldier’s uniform before leaving.
• Koldiras and his Bodyguard speculated that Alleria might be secretly assessing him, then decided to focus on the Orc Wolf Riders.
• Koldiras ordered his troops to hold their position behind Iron Thorn Caltrops and Horse-Trip Wires while Gryphon Riders bombed the Orc camp through the night.
• Koldiras ordered the night watch and Owl Rangers to monitor the Orcs while the rest of his troops removed their armor and rested.
• Alleria received the Ranger armor but went to sleep without changing, since she had come only to meet Hellscream.

Alleria recognized that Koldiras’s overnight bombardment had exhausted the orcs, then joined the advancing army disguised as an ordinary ranger soldier. Grommash Hellscream ordered his forces to meet the approaching elves, seeing their advance as a chance to turn defeat into victory.

• Alleria heard the goblin bombs striking the orc camp and realized Koldiras had kept the enemy awake through the night.
• At dawn, Alleria disguised herself as a ranger soldier and joined the Steel Torrent Force as the elf army assembled to advance.
• The elves marched toward the orc encampment after clearing away the traps in their path.
• Grommash Hellscream, furious and sleepless, learned that the elves were advancing in formation and ordered his troops to meet them.
• Grommash Hellscream decided that fighting the elves head-on offered a better chance than retreating under continued harassment.

Grommash Hellscream led his exhausted Wolf Riders into a head-on charge against Koldiras's Steel Torrent, hoping to break through to the High Elf Mage Corps and turn the battle around. After the Orcs punched through the armored boars at heavy cost, Grommash continued toward the High Elf Rangers as arrows began falling on his riders.

• Koldiras ordered his troops to advance and prepare for a decisive battle after learning the Orcs had formed ranks without moving.
• Grommash Hellscream and Koldiras faced each other with their armies, and Koldiras ordered the Steel Torrent to charge.
• Grommash Hellscream led the Wolf Riders through the armored Bloodfang Boars, killing several but losing a third of his men as the High Elves lost more than sixty boars.
• Grommash Hellscream continued toward the High Elf Mage Corps, aiming to destroy it before the High Elves could recover.
• The Steel Torrent's Rangers charged toward the Orcs while firing arrows, bringing down more Orc riders.

Grommash Hellscream led the Orc Wolf Riders into a High Elf ambush of cavalry maneuvers, magical traps, and slowing spells. As the riders struggled across the frozen battlefield, the High Elf Mage Corps prepared to unleash a devastating storm of lightning.

• The High Elf Steel Torrent split around Grommash Hellscream’s charge, fired arrows into the Orc Wolf Riders, and regrouped behind the Bloodfang Boar battle pets to pursue them.
• Grommash Hellscream pressed on toward the Bear Iron Fist, confident that he could overcome whatever waited ahead with his battleaxe.
• Magical traps spread ice across the charge route, slowed the orcs, and froze some riders and mounts in place.
• High Elf rangers concentrated Arcane Shot fire on the Orc Wolf Riders caught in Freezing Traps, killing them before they could escape.
• The High Elf Mage Corps gathered dark storm clouds overhead while rangers used Concussive Shot to slow the remaining riders as they struggled through the Frost Traps.

Grommash Hellscream realized the High Elves had maneuvered the Orc Wolf Riders into a Frost Trap, where the Mage Corps’ Blizzard devastated them. The High Elf Rangers waited for the storm to subside before deciding whether the battle was over.

• The Rangers’ Concussive Shots slowed the front of the Orc Wolf Riders, causing the riders behind them to crash into a pileup that blocked the charge.
• Grommash Hellscream recognized that the Wolf Riders could no longer reach the High Elf Mage Corps before its spell was ready.
• The High Elf Steel Torrent split around the Frost Trap and attacked the orcs’ flanks, while Ranger commanders ordered their troops to keep the trapped riders inside.
• Grommash Hellscream understood that the Steel Torrent’s pursuit had forced the orcs to charge into the Frost Trap without room to stop or turn.
• The High Elf Mage Corps unleashed Blizzard, raining Ice Shards onto the trapped Orc Wolf Riders and killing them in great numbers.
• The High Elf Rangers stopped firing as the Blizzard continued, but remained alert until they could confirm whether any orcs had survived.

Alleria and the elf forces tried to stop Grommash Hellscream as he fought through their attacks, but his rage erupted into a powerful shock wave. Alleria held her ground and rallied the shaken defenders as the battle remained unresolved.

• Alleria watched Grommash Hellscream endure the elves’ magical bombardment and slowly force his way within twenty yards.
• Alleria ordered the right flank to concentrate its fire on Grommash Hellscream’s head and joints.
• Grommash Hellscream used his axe to launch himself toward a high elf mage, and Alleria fired a specially made arrow at the gap beneath his arm.
• Alleria sensed the orc blood curse igniting and warned the units to retreat and the casters to stop chanting.
• Grommash Hellscream unleashed a red shock wave that shattered arrows and staggered nearby rangers, while the battle pets roared in response.
• Alleria shielded herself with an Azure Wind Shield and cried, “For Quel'Thalas!” to steady the defenders.

Alleria fought to stop Grommash Hellscream from reaching the High Elf Mages, but as she prepared a final arrow, a black vortex opened above the battlefield and struck him with dark-red light. Alleria wondered whether the terrifying force came from a demon.

• Grommash Hellscream charged into the Dire Bear Battle Pets and slaughtered them despite the Rangers' attacks.
• Dirtilas ordered Bear Iron Fist to stop Grommash Hellscream and sent the Steel Torrent Force to block Orc reinforcements.
• Alleria shot Grommash Hellscream with a powerful Frost Arrow, slowing him and leaving his back badly wounded.
• Grommash Hellscream hurled his battle-axe at Alleria, then pursued her with a dagger as his wounds rapidly healed.
• A Bloodfang Boar struck Grommash Hellscream and gave Alleria space to prepare an Explosive Shot with her final special arrow.
• A black vortex appeared above the battlefield and hit Grommash Hellscream with dark-red light, leaving Alleria to wonder if it was a demon.

After Grommash Hellscream vanished into the sky, the surviving orcs lost their will to fight, and Dirtilas offered them surrender or death. When the orcs chose to resist, the High Elf army prepared to end them with a final Blizzard.

• Grommash Hellscream left the battlefield in a streak of blood-red light, leaving Alleria and the surviving soldiers behind.
• The orc survivors lost heart after their Chieftain departed, and Dirtilas ordered the High Elf forces to advance.
• Dirtilas offered the orcs the choice of surrendering as prisoners or dying on the battlefield.
• A one-eyed orc rejected surrender, and the surviving orcs took up their weapons again.
• Dirtilas readied the Mage Corps to cast another Blizzard as Alleria watched the final confrontation unfold.

The surviving orcs answered Dirtilas’s ultimatum with a final charge through the High Elf Mage Corps’ Blizzard, and every one of them died before reaching the elf formation. After the battle, Dirtilas ordered the battlefield cleared while Alleria departed, leaving the High Elves to gather equipment and burn the bodies.

• The one-armed orc led the survivors in shouting that orcs would never be slaves, then called them to charge as Dirtilas signaled the Mage Corps to unleash the Blizzard.
• The orcs charged through the falling ice without defending themselves, and the Blizzard killed them one after another, including their leader just twenty paces short of its edge.
• Dirtilas raised his fist to stop the spell after seeing the orcs were gone, while Alleria watched the devastated battlefield in silence.
• Dirtilas ordered the High Elves to clear the battlefield, and Alleria told a ranger that fortunately the fallen had been only elite troops before leaving by hawkstrider.
• The High Elf expeditionary force sorted weapons and armor, stripped useful items from bodies, and burned the orc corpses, though the Blizzards had left few intact remains.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to the former Gadgetzan pirate shipyard and outlined plans to establish it as one of the high elves’ three footholds in Kalimdor. He left the commander with orders to secure the valley, scout wyvern nests in Thousand Needles, and eventually supply a mountain air base from Dire Maul.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s fleet returned to the shipyard, where he unloaded several hundred ogres to help with the understaffed renovations.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the commander to prioritize essential construction and make the base operational, promising to seek more human refugees for labor.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk marked wyvern nests in Thousand Needles on a map and instructed the commander to scout them when workers were available.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that the high elves planned to secure the shipyard valley and build a small-to-medium wyvern base in Thousand Needles under the Air Force’s control.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said the Air Force could eventually obtain supplies from Dire Maul’s underground city after Quel’Thalas occupied the city and arranged contact with Sylvanas.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned from the shipyard to Trial Valley after arranging plans for a wyvern base and an independent air force. He found the valley undergoing a sweeping renovation and set out to inspect its Entrance Defense Fortress.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk instructed the shipyard officers to prioritize securing the shipyard and building a wyvern base in Thousand Needles, while later capturing ogres and the rare dire wolf Roarer if circumstances allowed.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk finalized development plans with the shipyard officers and left the next morning with the City Lord's Household Guard aboard two gunboats.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his men sailed safely to Trial Valley, where the high elves' victory over the Bloodsail Buccaneers had left the sea largely clear of threats.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk toured Trial Valley's renovation, seeing a widened road and dock, an expanded quilboar cave, plans for a deepwater harbor, new ponds and lakes, and green dragon-grown treehouse villages.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk found a gryphon and set out to inspect the Valley of Trials' Entrance Defense Fortress.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that human refugees in Trial Valley were being paid for construction work and that many others were being repatriated with resettlement aid. With labor scarce and the Tanaris shipyard in need of workers, he decided to seek orc prisoners of war for the job.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk saw the extensive construction across Trial Valley and asked where its human laborers had come from.
• An officer explained that the workers were volunteers from the Seaside Plain in The Hinterlands, while many other refugees were being repatriated as their homelands recovered.
• The Quel'Danil Council granted each returning refugee ten silver coins and fifty jin of grain, and refugees and local human officers resisted noble officials who tried to take the aid.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the countries requesting repatriation would pay for ships provided by Quel'Danil.
• Unable to spare workers for the Tanaris shipyard, Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to request orc prisoners of war and put them to work there.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk considered trading food and weapons for Alliance-held orc prisoners to address The Hinterlands’ shortage of manpower. He learned that the Standing Army had defeated the Kolkar centaurs and was recruiting quilboar for an auxiliary force, then was surprised to hear that the recruitment plan followed his own example.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided The Hinterlands could offer the Alliance food and weapons in exchange for orc prisoners of war.
• An officer told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that the Standing Army, quilboar auxiliaries, and borrowed Gryphon Riders had wiped out the Kolkar centaurs on Kolkar Mountain.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned the commanders had brought quilboar to the battle to overcome their fear of centaurs and demonstrate high elf strength.
• The officer explained that quilboar prisoners had been sent to recruit more quilboar, since the force still lacked enough soldiers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned whether the prisoners would return, and the officer said the commanders were following his example.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the Quel'Danil Standing Army had recruited Quilboar by promising promotions and rewards, inspiring him to rethink his plans for uniting them against the centaurs. He called an emergency meeting and studied a detailed map of Kalimdor, noticing that the Tauren were still marked as an unknown faction.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk questioned an officer about the standing army's recruitment methods and compared them with the way he had dealt with Trolls at Quel'Danil.
• The officer said Quilboar had recruited dozens of others after hearing about promotion requirements and rewards, including some who had gone to Razorfen Downs.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk took inspiration from the army's promises and imagined using similar tactics to become a powerful ruler.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk canceled the search for Gryphons and ordered an emergency meeting with senior standing army and Navy Department officers.
• At headquarters, Yu Lin Bloodhawk examined a detailed sand table of Kalimdor and noticed that the Tauren at Ala'thuzad Camp were still marked as an unknown faction.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk convened his commanders to address Quel'Danil's labor shortage and considered how to secure workers in Kalimdor. He left them free to pursue peaceful or forced cooperation with the quilboar while intending to establish high elf dominance and eventually build an auxiliary army.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his commanders concluded that labor shortages threatened Kalimdor's construction projects and the Seaside Plain's farmland.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk noted that human refugees would eventually return home and that orc prisoners of war might help, but Quel'Danil could not rely on them alone.
• The commanders explained that attacking the centaurs was too risky, night elf territory lay to the north, and the quilboar near Trial Valley were already designated strategic partners.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk suggested hiring the quilboar, assisting them against enemies, or forcing them to cooperate, as long as the high elves' overall strategy remained unchanged.
• The officers began discussing which quilboar clans to approach, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk resolved to make them recognize high elf power and considered building a Kalimdor auxiliary army and protectorate.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk set plans for integrating nearby quilboar tribes and redirected the navy from ineffective pirate hunts toward coordinated operations using Thirteen’s pirate fleet. He left the pirates largely free to act, but ordered them to avoid provoking the night elves and naga.

• The Standing Army decided to recruit or subdue the three quilboar tribes near the Valley of Trials while avoiding a mutiny among its quilboar troops.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that the navy’s 1,200 marines were split between Gutland’s Seaside Plain and the Expeditionary Army, then ordered the headquarters marines to help hunt Bloodsail Buccaneers near the former Gadgetzan shipyard.
• A naval officer reported that Thirteen’s fleet had grown to eight warships and dominated the waters around Stranglethorn Vale.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Thirteen to send three fully crewed warships to Gutland, where their crews would take over captured ships and hunt Bloodsail Buccaneers under pirate flags.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the navy to follow Thirteen’s fleet and leave captured spoils to the pirates in exchange for prisoners, while forbidding them to provoke the night elves or naga.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk inspected the Valley of Trials and found its western construction projects thriving while work on the eastern entrance fortress faced harsh conditions and supply problems. After deciding that Kalimdor was in order, he returned through the portal to Quel'Danil and amused himself with thoughts of placing it beside the Old Charlatan's bed.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told his people to direct requests for pets to Thirteen and his pirates, and suggested they eventually capture swamp panthers in the Swamp of Sorrows when it was safe.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk flew to the Valley of Trials and observed that magic concealed its busy development from high above.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk inspected the entrance fortress, where three hundred Wildhammer dwarf craftsmen and two thousand humans struggled with heat, limited water, and transporting building materials.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk noted that goblins were building a railway to improve supplies and speed construction in the Valley of Trials.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his guards returned through the portal to Quel'Danil, where he suspected the Old Charlatan had placed the portal and magical anchor for his own convenience.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk imagined moving the portal beside the Old Charlatan's bed and laughed mischievously.

After returning to Hinterlands, Yu Lin Bloodhawk reviewed reports and ordered the Quel'Danil Council to negotiate with the Alliance for Orc prisoners of war to address labor shortages on the Seaside Plain. The chapter also described Issthara's growth into a major trading hub jointly built and protected by the peoples of The Hinterlands.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent the City Lord's Household Guard and Gryphon Bodyguards home, then spent three days reviewing documents about events during his campaign in Kalimdor.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the Quel'Danil Council to seek as many Orc prisoners of war from the Alliance as possible and consider building prisons on the Seaside Plain.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk wrote to Marshal Lothar and asked the Quel'Danil Council to secure Quel'Thalas's approval for negotiations over the prisoners.
• The Goblins, Wildhammer Dwarves, High Elves, trolls, and Green Dragons had linked their territories by railways that converged at Issthara.
• Issthara had grown into a busy trading center, defended mainly by Green Dragons and supplied with goods from the peoples of The Hinterlands.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk reviewed the labor shortage and rising food prices caused by the repatriation of human refugees, while breadfruit harvests helped keep grain costs from soaring. The Hinterlands held more than seventeen thousand Orc prisoners whose labor was useful but whose risk of revolt demanded strict controls.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk saw that Quel'Danil's grain exports were falling and Issthara's grain prices were rising, while breadfruit harvests partly offset the Seaside Plain's reduced production.
• Reports showed that the repatriation of human refugees had left the Seaside Plain short of workers, while irregular shipments brought the Orc prisoner population there to more than seventeen thousand.
• The Hinterlands assigned Orc prisoners to strenuous field, dock, road, and irrigation work, escorting them between converted prisons and job sites while keeping them away from armories.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk approved the tiered control system, which separated officers from soldiers and confined prisoners from the most warlike clans under especially tight restrictions.