Chapter Summaries

Sylvanas’s forces cleared the Orc Main Camp while she trapped Yu Lin Bloodhawk in a block of ice and turned him into a battlefield spectacle. A wounded Orc messenger then reached the Southern Valley and reported the camp’s fall to the Warlord.

• Sylvanas ordered the High Elf Rangers to advance behind the Heavy Infantry and eliminate the Orc resistance in the Main Camp.
• Sylvanas shot a Magic Arrow at Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s feet, then froze him in a Freezing Trap when he tried to jump away.
• Sylvanas ordered the army to finish clearing the camp and attached a “Battlefield Specimen, do not damage” note to Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s ice block.
• Daelin and the soldiers stopped to admire or mock the frozen Yu Lin Bloodhawk as the army burned the camp’s buildings and tents.
• A wounded Orc Warrior reached the Warlord in the Southern Valley and reported that the Allied Army Main Force had captured the Main Camp.

The Allied Army destroyed the Orcs' Main Camp while Shidewa and Xingluoge lured the Orcs Warlord away, then withdrew to prepare for the fight at the Portal. Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that he had only guessed the Orcs' death knights and warlocks would not help because their Portal stood outside the camp.

• The Orcs Signalman reported that the Main Camp had fallen and died, prompting the Orcs Warlord to order his troops back to defend it.
• Shidewa and Xingluoge decided to head for the Portal, and Xingluoge called for the Owl Rangers to regroup.
• Xingluoge's Goblin Explosive Bombs detonated as the Orcs retraced their steps, throwing their formation into chaos.
• Sylvanas and Daelin wiped out the Orcs in the Main Camp, burned it, and withdrew with their forces to wait outside.
• Daelin asked Yu Lin Bloodhawk why he had expected the Orcs' death knights and warlocks to stay away, and Yu Lin said he had guessed based on their Portal being outside the camp.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s forces ambushed an orc ritual sacrificing hundreds of laborers to open two Portals. Shidewa’s Rangers struck as the Portals began to activate, killing Warlocks and disrupting the sacrifice while Xingluoge’s unit targeted the Death Knights.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk had arranged for the Portals’ location to be watched because he needed them for his plans.
• Shidewa and Xingluoge agreed to attack when the sacrifice neared completion, splitting their forces between the Death Knights and the Warlocks.
• The Orc Warlocks began sacrificing more than three hundred mind-controlled orc laborers, whose souls were drawn into the two Portals.
• As black vortices formed inside the Portals, Shidewa ordered the ambush and struck a Warlock with a Sniper Arrow.
• The Rangers and owls unleashed a volley that devastated the lightly armored Warlocks while most arrows bounced off the Death Knights’ armor.

The Rangers disrupted the Orc Warlocks’ spellcasting and fought the Death Knights while Shidewa’s Snow Leopards silenced the surviving Warlocks. The Portals began to shrink as the battle continued, and Xingluoge laughed after killing a Death Knight.

• The Rangers used Multi-Shot to kill Orc Warlocks, destabilizing the Portals and breaking their Stealth.
• Shidewa’s Snow Leopard Battle Pets crept toward the surviving Orc Warlocks while the Death Knights attacked with Death Grip.
• Xingluoge intercepted a Death Grip aimed at a Snow Leopard Ranger and fought the Death Knight leader in close combat.
• The Dire Wolf Rangers surrounded the Death Knights, while the Snow Leopard Battle Pets pounced on the Orc Warlocks and tore open their throats.
• The Snow Leopard Rangers entered the battlefield to finish off the fallen and sever corpses’ heads as the Portals began to shrink.
• Xingluoge swept a Death Knight’s head from his body, caught it, and laughed as the sky brightened.

With their camp and supplies burning and the Alliance army blocking their way, the trapped orcs faced a hopeless battle. The Orcs Warlord chose to send an envoy to negotiate rather than order a charge.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk read Sylvanas's note confirming that the Portal was fully under control as the returning orcs found their camp ablaze and the Alliance army waiting.
• The Orcs Warlord recognized that his troops were isolated, without provisions or a clear escape route, and likely surrounded by High Elf Rangers behind them.
• The Orcs Warlord ordered his troops to form ranks, despite his adjutant's suggestion that they charge.
• After considering the Alliance's overwhelming formation and the futility of fighting on, the Orcs Warlord ordered his adjutant to negotiate.
• The adjutant protested that negotiation would bring disgrace, but the Orcs Warlord commanded him to carry out the order.

The Dragonmaw Clan offered to surrender, and Daelin Proudmoore reluctantly accepted after Sylvanas warned against needless slaughter. Yu Lin Bloodhawk negotiated terms with Kagash Graycloud, leaving the clan disarmed but alive and in Alliance custody.

• The orc warlord argued that surrender was the only way to save the Dragonmaw Clan, and Kagash Graycloud volunteered to negotiate with the Alliance.
• Daelin Proudmoore admitted that he wanted to kill the orcs, but accepted their surrender after Sylvanas urged him to avoid needless sacrifices.
• Sylvanas appointed Yu Lin Bloodhawk to negotiate, and he rode out to meet Kagash Graycloud.
• Kagash asked that the orcs retain their dignity, receive treatment for the wounded, and enter prisoner-of-war camps; Yu Lin required them to surrender their weapons while promising humane treatment.
• Kagash ordered the Dragonmaw warriors to lay down their weapons, then accompanied Yu Lin toward the Alliance lines.
• Sylvanas told Daelin that the battle could end without more sacrifices, and Daelin slowly loosened his grip on his sword.

Daelin accepted the orcs' surrender after agreeing that the elves would hold them as prisoners, though he insisted they face trial after the war. Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sylvanas escorted the prisoners and dismantled the portals, then left Proudmoore City with Daelin's promise honored and an extra thousand Minor Life Restoration Potions for him.

• The Old Orc Shaman insisted that the orcs surrender into elven custody, and Daelin reluctantly agreed while warning that they would face Alliance trials.
• Daelin ordered his forces to accept the orcs' surrender, and Sylvanas observed that he trusted the elves more than himself to restrain his hatred.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent the Old Charlatan and the mages to dismantle the portals, then arranged for Shidewa and Guluoge to guard the Shadow Council prisoners on the journey back.
• Sylvanas and the others accepted the orcs' surrender, and the victorious troops escorted the prisoners to Proudmoore City and aboard the elves' ships.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk left the battle spoils and an extra thousand Minor Life Restoration Potions for Daelin, who later wondered whether the gift meant that life mattered most.

After arriving in the Hinterlands, Yu Lin Bloodhawk secretly met with Sylvanas and Old Charlatan to discuss using summoned demons to strengthen his people. The meeting ended with Old Charlatan warning of the danger while agreeing to study the idea and asking for the drained demon corpses.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk separated the Shadow Council's orc warlocks and death knights from ordinary prisoners and called Sylvanas and Old Charlatan to a secret meeting.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Old Charlatan about Dire Maul's Arcane Absorption and described how a demon's soul had supposedly possessed a demon hunter.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk revealed that he wanted to summon demons and have his people absorb their power, prompting Old Charlatan to warn that a demon could devastate the Hinterlands.
• Sylvanas said her troops had drained living satyrs without encountering possession, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed killing summoned demons and turning their souls into Soul Shards first.
• Old Charlatan warned that the Burning Legion would destroy them if it discovered their plan, but he asked them to save the drained demon corpses for his research.

Sylvanas, Yu Lin Bloodhawk, and Old Charlatan discussed using a temporary restraining array to control summoned demons. They decided to begin with voidwalkers or infernals, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk was tasked with finding crystals and gathering supplies.

• Old Charlatan explained that restraining demons required crystal towers powered by a ley line node, though a temporary array could be simpler.
• Sylvanas suggested temporary suppression, and Old Charlatan warned that pit lords and dreadlords were too dangerous to summon.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said doomguards were powerful, but he could not judge whether the array would restrain one.
• Sylvanas decided to test the array on voidwalkers or infernals and asked Old Charlatan to list the materials needed.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked where the ley line node was, and Sylvanas gave him a crystal scrap and told him to find more crystals.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sylvanas searched for crystals to build the Crystal Towers needed for the Binding Magic Array, and Sorens confirmed that Stranglethorn Vale’s singing crystals would work. Yu Lin Bloodhawk planned to secure the Crystal Mine Cave, while Sylvanas examined a singing crystal and asked how it held so much energy.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said Un'Goro Crater had crystals, but warned that transporting them would be difficult, and Old Charlatan explained that the Crystal Towers needed crystals that could store energy.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk recalled a crystal cave in Stranglethorn Vale and said it contained singing crystals and Ironjaw Lizards.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk obtained a ring set with a singing crystal, and Sorens examined it and confirmed the crystal would work for the towers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said he would write to Thirteen and send a map so his forces could take control of the Crystal Mine Cave.
• Sylvanas picked up the ring and asked Old High Priest how a singing crystal could contain so much energy.

Sylvanas and Old Charlatan discussed whether a crystal mine might contain a ley line node, then chose Quel'Danil for secret experiments. Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to claim the mine for its singing crystals, while Sylvanas revealed she had connected portals between Quel'Danil, the Valley of Trials, and Eldre'Thalas.

• Sylvanas suggested the singing crystals might have formed because the cave sat on a ley line node, and Old Charlatan agreed it was possible.
• Old Charlatan rejected using the cave for experiments because its many factions could cause chaos and leak information.
• Old Charlatan chose Quel'Danil's valley as the safer testing site and said its other locations still needed checking.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to claim the crystal cave in Skullsplitter Troll territory and bring back singing crystals.
• Sylvanas told Yu Lin Bloodhawk she had connected the portals at Quel'Danil and the Valley of Trials to Eldre'Thalas.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered his forces in Stranglethorn Vale to seek the Crystal Mine Cave peacefully, while he considered how to grow stronger. After finding a forgotten Death Knight Training Manual, he discovered that the first-generation orc death knights knew abilities beyond those of later death knights.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk instructed his forces in Stranglethorn Vale to negotiate with the Skullsplitter Trolls for the Crystal Mine Cave and avoid fighting unless they had no choice.
• Sorens left to investigate ley line nodes, while Sylvanas returned to Eldre'Thalas to handle unresolved matters in the former satyr territories.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk completed his administrative work and considered how to improve his strength while waiting for singing crystal to be gathered.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk found the dusty black book, recognized it as a Death Knight Training Manual, and read its skill sections.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk noted that the manual's death knight branches resembled later ones, but its first-generation orc death knights had additional abilities, including summoning Infernals.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk studied a book on Death Knight runes and learned the instructions for Death Grip, but his attempts to use the spell failed. After two rangers caught him practicing and laughed at him, he wondered whether he himself was somehow a freak.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk read that Death Knights’ runes drew power through soul-bound Runeswords and considered their weaknesses.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk found the Death Grip instructions and tried to pull objects toward himself, but nothing moved.
• Two rangers entered and caught Yu Lin Bloodhawk striking dramatic poses; he claimed he was practicing a spell and ordered them out.
• The rangers returned to laugh at Yu Lin Bloodhawk, who threw things at the door and cursed the book.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk tried Death Grip again and felt cold, lifeless energy flowing through his hand, prompting him to wonder if he was a freak.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk received news that the Skullsplitter Trolls had agreed to Hakkari Island’s terms for an auction house and crystal shipments, and he approved the deal and sent troops to clear the cavern. After trying Death Grip as a petty prank, he unexpectedly used the spell successfully and wondered how he had mastered it.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk read a report that Vilebranch Trolls had negotiated with the Skullsplitter Trolls over land, harbor access, and trade terms.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk approved the agreement, prioritized obtaining singing crystal, and agreed to send troops to clear the ironjaw basilisks from the cavern.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk attempted to pull a departing guard toward him with Death Grip as revenge for the guards laughing at him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the guard were stunned when a black chain dragged the guard across the room.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk recognized that he had successfully used Death Grip despite barely practicing dark magic.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk decided to explore Death Knight skills while guarding against the possibility that death rune power would turn him into a living corpse. After building and charging a Runeforge with the help of captive Orc Death Knights, he emerged with a newly forged Mutated Quel'dorei Blade.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk realized that his Death Knight alt might explain why he learned Death Grip so easily, but he feared that practicing Death Knight powers would alter his appearance.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered a smithy and furnace built beside his Treehouse so he could create a Runeforge and forge a Runesword.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent the City Lord's Household Guard to help Hakkari Island's forces clear Ironjaw Lizards from the Crystal Mine Cave in Stranglethorn Vale.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk finished memorizing the Death Knight book and had captive Orc Death Knights infuse the Runeforge with energy until its death runes ignited green flames.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk placed his Sin'dorei Warblade in the Runeforge and emerged the next day carrying a deep-blue Mutated Quel'dorei Blade marked with dark-purple runes.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned the basic Death Knight skills and the Blood specialization, developing a visible aura of death only while wielding his Runesword. When Sylvanas revealed that her Binding Magic Array was ready, she led Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his forces through a Portal to a sealed site in Eldre'Thalas for the experiment.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk practiced the shared Death Knight skills and learned that his corpse-pale appearance and aura of death faded when he put down his Runesword.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk chose the Blood specialization and mastered its skills, intending to learn skills from all three Death Knight specializations.
• Sylvanas and the Old Charlatan told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that the Binding Magic Array was ready, surprising him because his singing crystal had only just arrived.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gathered the captive Orc Warlocks, Shidewa, Xingluo, and their squads to join the experiment.
• Sylvanas led the group through a Portal to Eldre'Thalas and toward the Binding Field, whose surrounding area her Frostwolf Clan Regiment had sealed off.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his companions prepared to test whether the Binding Magic Array could restrain a summoned demon so its fel energy could be drained. Yu Lin chose a common Infernal as the first subject and assigned his six Bodyguards to observe, while the Mages prepared to activate the array.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Sylvanas, and Sorens reached the Binding Magic Array, which eight hundred elite Rangers guarded.
• Yu Lin admitted he did not know the exact procedure, so Sorens directed the Mages to activate the array as a Warlock summoned a demon at its center.
• Sylvanas asked what demon to summon and who would drain its fel energy, and Yu Lin chose a common Infernal and his six Bodyguards as the first observation group.
• Yu Lin reasoned that common Infernals were powerful, easy to summon, plentiful, and too unintelligent to pose much risk of possessing High Elves.
• Yu Lin ruled out advanced Giant Infernals because summoning them could attract the Burning Legion's attention and endanger Quel'Thalas.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sylvanas oversaw an experiment to summon an Infernal inside a Binding Magic Array, which successfully trapped the demon. Yu Lin asked how to keep the Infernal’s soul from returning to the Twisting Nether so it could be studied, and Sylvanas directed him to the Old High Priest.

• Yu Lin proposed using the captive Orc Warlocks to summon Infernals for three test groups, while the Old Charlatan and Sylvanas declined to risk their own mages.
• A captive Orc Warlock used a Soul Shard to summon an Infernal inside the Binding Magic Array.
• The array caught the Infernal in pale-blue arcane chains, and Sylvanas ordered the Orc prisoners removed before the next stage of the experiment.
• Yu Lin asked Sylvanas whether the array could hold an Infernal’s soul and how its connection to the Twisting Nether could be severed.
• Sylvanas told Yu Lin to ask the Old High Priest how to keep the demon for research.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Sylvanas, and the mages began testing whether high elves could absorb an Infernal’s fel energy and convert it into arcane power. After one Bodyguard had to stop to refine the energy he absorbed, they sent five Bodyguards to drain the Infernal together, leaving him howling and struggling as the mages recorded the test.

• Old Charlatan explained that the test subjects and recorders could safely enter the Binding Magic Array, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk entered with Shidewa and Xingluoge.
• A Bodyguard used Arcane Absorption on the Infernal, whose fel energy changed into arcane energy as it traveled along the magical cord.
• The Bodyguard stopped absorbing when he reached his limit and left the array to refine the energy he had taken in.
• Sylvanas urged Yu Lin Bloodhawk to send in the other five Bodyguards so they could speed up the test.
• The five Bodyguards absorbed the Infernal’s fel energy together, making him struggle and howl more violently as the recording mages took notes.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Sorens examined a defeated Infernal Soul and considered converting its fel energy into arcane energy to create an arcane fire soul. Sorens recognized the possibility, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk excited but wondering whether a converted Infernal would retain its devastating meteor-like arrival.

• The five Ranger Bodyguards drained the Infernal and left the formation to refine the energy while Mages recorded their progress.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk examined the Infernal Soul and saw the energy structures and crystalline core concealed within its green flames.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Sorens whether the Infernal Soul's fel energy and corrupted fire element could be replaced with arcane energy and ordered fire.
• Sorens said he had been studying how to create an artificial soul and realized that converting a fel Infernal Soul into an arcane fire soul might work.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk considered the energy cost of restoring an Infernal and worried that a converted Infernal might lose the destructive impact of its arrival from the Twisting Nether.