Chapter Summaries

Yu Lin Bloodhawk inspected the human and Vilebranch Troll guards at Jintha'Alor with a formidable Ranger company to reassure his troops and deter rebellion. After learning about the Trolls’ former hunger and violent way of life, he promised them better equipment in exchange for loyalty and returned to the Fourth Level to study intelligence reports.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk led one hundred Rangers wearing Nightstalker Sets on an inspection tour to display strength and bolster confidence among Jintha'Alor’s human and Troll guards.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk inspected the human defenses on the Second Level, reassured the soldiers that suitable armor and equipment would be made for them, and observed their envy of the Rangers’ gear.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk visited the Vilebranch Trolls on the First Level, found them content with their new tents and regular meals, and asked how they had lived before.
• The Vilebranch Trolls described their dependence on hunting, gathering, and raids, their past hunger, and the spring wars fought to seize supplies and captives.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk promised the Trolls food and equipment if they proved loyal, and a Troll declared their allegiance to Baron Bloodhawk.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to the Fourth Level, sent the Elves to rehearse, and began analyzing intelligence reports from the Gryphon Riders.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk used a confrontation with Lord Mez'dra to argue that Quel'Thalas had planned its Hinterlands campaign to claim gryphons, while hinting that the Royal City Household Guard was headed for Aerie Peak. He then challenged the Guard to prove it could cross troll-held territory, and ended by dismissing an accusation that he was colluding with the dwarves.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk met Lord Mez'dra and warned that the elves would capture gryphons even if it meant war with the Wildhammer Dwarves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk demonstrated a Gryphon Rider's aerial mounting skill and claimed Quel'Thalas had spent five years preparing its campaign in the Hinterlands.
• A black-armored Royal City Household Guard elf demanded to depart, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk let slip that the company's destination might be Aerie Peak.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk brought Mez'dra to the assembled Imitation Nightstalker Company and insisted its members prove they could cross troll-held territory before he would order them onward.
• After the dwarves secretly watched from a stone house, the black-armored elf accused Yu Lin Bloodhawk of colluding with them, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk denied wrongdoing.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk stopped the Black-armored Elf Commander from detaining the Wildhammer Dwarves, then warned them that a force of High Rangers was marching toward Aerie Peak. He offered to seek an agreement over the Gryphons, and Mez'dra asked what he had in mind.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk delayed the Black-armored Elf Commander by demanding proof of his soldiers' strength, and the commander demonstrated their Stealth and Explosive Shot.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered the elves to set out, but refused to let them detain the Dwarves; when the commander ordered his soldiers to seize the Gryphons, Yu Lin Bloodhawk's own elves surrounded them.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk fired an unexpectedly powerful Explosive Shot that sent boulders crashing down the hillside, forcing the Black-armored Elves to leave without harming the Dwarves.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Mez'dra that the High Rangers would reach Aerie Peak within eight to ten days and warned the Dwarves that they would be difficult to detect and fight.
• Mez'dra asked whether Yu Lin Bloodhawk could call the High Rangers back, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked whether Mez'dra could speak for all the Wildhammer Dwarves.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra Crip signed an alliance dividing territory and Gryphon responsibilities in The Hinterlands, with both sides agreeing to help defend and develop Quel'Danil. Their plans to mine gold were complicated by Vilebranch Trolls controlling the deposits, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk unable to begin mining safely.

• Mez'dra Crip offered to represent the Wildhammer Dwarves of Aerie Peak, and he and Yu Lin Bloodhawk began negotiating an agreement in the Stone House.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra divided The Hinterlands, shared the Gryphons, assigned the Vilebranch and Witherbark Trolls to different jurisdictions, and agreed to exchange troops and training.
• Mez'dra agreed to bring reinforcements from Grim Batol, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk promised to send a hundred Rangers within a week and dispatched an owl to recall his elite force from the Royal City.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Mez'dra signed the agreement, with Yu Lin Bloodhawk signing as Lord Quel'Danil so its terms would remain binding.
• Mez'dra told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that gold deposits lay along a southern river, but Vilebranch Troll camps guarded the area and made mining too dangerous for his current forces.

Mez'dra discovered an intact gold vein and a vast iron-and-mithril mixed ore vein at Jintha'Alor, sending Yu Lin Bloodhawk into a frenzy over the wealth and equipment they could produce. After the elves opened a sealed cave and found the starving Vilebranch trolls had resorted to cannibalism, Yu Lin Bloodhawk agreed to put trolls to work mining the mixed ore.

• Mez'dra deduced that Jintha'Alor had once been a huge open-pit mine and led Yu Lin Bloodhawk around the mountain to search for remaining ore.
• Mez'dra found a shallow cave containing an almost untouched gold vein, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk eagerly celebrated the discovery.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk opened a cave where hundreds of Vilebranch trolls had been sealed for months, and High Rangers killed the few starving survivors they encountered.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk vomited after seeing troll bones covered in gnaw marks while Mez'dra collected more than a hundred ore samples from the cave walls.
• Mez'dra identified a deep mixed vein of iron and mithril that could yield alloy for good-quality equipment, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered thousands of trolls to mine it.

After Sylvanas warned Yu Lin Bloodhawk that his speech had made him a target in Quel'Thalas, he resigned his titles and military posts and declared Jintha'Alor independent as Quel'Danil City. He told the elves they could choose whether to remain with him or return home, and 150 agreed to follow him.

• Mez'dra agreed to send craftsmen to help Yu Lin Bloodhawk recruit trolls and produce liquor in the Hinterlands.
• Sylvanas warned Yu Lin Bloodhawk to stay away from Quel'Thalas, explained the political factions and possible charges against him, and advised him to resign before the King and Council acted.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk sent Sylvanas his resignation letter, then organized 106 pirates who chose to stay into a squad and let Lorraine take responsibility for those who wanted to leave.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the elves about his speech, his resignation, and his dangerous situation, renamed Jintha'Alor Quel'Danil City, and offered the elves passage home or the choice to stay.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked the 150 elves who chose to follow him why they had stayed, but their joking answers gave him no clear explanation.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk organized the Quel'Danil Household Guard, arranged gryphon training with the Wildhammer Dwarves, and established a black-and-silver uniform while developing his own skills. The chapter ended with Thirteen returning from a successful supply voyage and preparing to escort another shipment for Fifteen.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk formed the Quel'Danil First Army Household Guard and promised its elves gryphons through an agreement with the Wildhammer Dwarves.
• More than five hundred elves left Quel'Danil, and the First Squad later traveled to Aerie Peak to train with gryphons while the rest guarded the settlement.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk discovered he could not form a soul link with a gryphon because of his existing link with his owl, then focused on training and learned Beast's Eye.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk received advice and skills from Sylvanas, trained Arcane Shot and Aimed Shot, and recruited human leatherworkers to refurbish armor.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the officers chose black armor with silver trim as the Quel'Danil Standard Uniform.
• Thirteen returned with two other ships carrying weapons and armor, but declined to train an owl because Fifteen had asked him to escort a shipment.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk prepared for the coming war while building up Quel'Danil's forces and supplies, though he believed the conflict had little to do with him. In the spring of the second year, political upheaval in Quel'Thalas left him stripped of his rank and title and exiled to Quel'Danil, where he welcomed the other expelled high elves.

• Thirteen completed his owl link with Yu Lin Bloodhawk and left to return to Fifteen.
• Fourteen reported preparations for war in Stormwind, attacks by orcs near the Black Morass, and rumors that Medivh had destroyed the Council of Tirisfal.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk instructed Fourteen to pursue trade in Booty Bay and warned Sylvanas that war was coming and Alleria should not lead troops into battle.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk trained with high rangers, expanded his harbor defenses and livestock operations, and continued preparing supplies as gryphon riders returned to Quel'Danil.
• In the spring of the second year, the Royalist Faction defeated the People's Rights Faction, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk was stripped of his title and rank and exiled from Quel'Thalas.
• Sylvanas arranged for many expelled high elves to join Yu Lin Bloodhawk in Quel'Danil, and he accepted them.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Gryphon Riders decided how to settle the growing number of High Elf refugees and discussed issuing equipment to human and troll troops. The refugees would be kept out of Quel'Danil's upper levels, while the defenders began preparing uniforms and weapons for their forces.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk called a meeting after the High Elf newcomers approached two thousand, and the Gryphon Riders opposed letting them settle in Quel'Danil.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Gryphon Riders considered two coastal settlement sites and agreed that newcomers admitted to the city would surrender their weapons and live on the third level under the defenders' rules.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk discussed troop equipment with the Gryphon Riders, and 16 recommended resizing Recruit Uniforms for human troops and waterproofing them for shipboard use.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk held a vote, and most attendees supported issuing armor to human and troll troops.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the officers agreed on weapons for trolls, humans, sailors, rogues, and elven rangers, then went to the warehouse to arrange resized uniforms and matching pieces.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk selected new weapons and equipment plans for the trolls, humans, and elves, then sent the gryphon riders to warn the newly arrived elves at the docks to follow his orders. With the Air Force away on its mission, he visited the Vilebranch trolls and met their three battalion commanders, Evil Spikes, Evil Fang, and Broken Tooth.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk chose Bone-Cleaver Swords for the trolls, Ebony Scimitars for the human soldiers, and Runeswords for the elf rangers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the gryphon riders decided to re-equip the elves and make a show of force at the harbor before allowing the new arrivals into Quel'Danil.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered 1617 to strengthen the Second Level's defenses and watch the trolls on the First Level.
• More than a hundred and fifty gryphons flew over Quel'Danil and headed for the docks to warn the elves from Quel'Thalas not to travel to the city without permission.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk brought 1617 and a dozen elite subordinates to visit the trolls and met battalion commanders Evil Spikes, Evil Fang, and Broken Tooth.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk investigated tong millet as a possible food source, then realized that Quel'Danil's real unresolved problem was transporting supplies. He considered the valley's strategic potential but concluded that he lacked the manpower to secure it.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Broken Tooth about tong millet and went with the troll commanders to gather two baskets of seeds.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk tasted a raw tong millet kernel and considered whether its seeds could provide oil, while weighing other food crops for the Seaside Plain.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned to Quel'Danil, studied a map, and remembered that logistics had been the concern Sylvanas had raised.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk assessed the difficult supply route between the harbor and Quel'Danil and the risks posed by scattered troll villages.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk saw that controlling Quel'Danil could eventually secure the vast valley, but recognized he did not have enough troops to conquer it.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk faced growing unrest among the displaced elves gathering at the harbor and sent Broken Tooth’s newly equipped trolls to reinforce its defenses. He then told the Gryphon Riders he was considering handing Quel'Danil over because his forces could not adequately defend both the city and the harbor, a proposal they angrily opposed.

• The Gryphon Riders reported that displaced elves accused Yu Lin Bloodhawk of abandoning them and plotting to seize power, while hundreds more arrived at the harbor.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Broken Tooth to take two hundred trolls to guard the harbor’s watchtowers, and the trolls bathed before putting on their new uniforms.
• Broken Tooth led his unit through the Magic Teleportation Circle to the harbor with Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s letter and orders to stand guard for at least a month.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the Gryphon Riders he was considering handing Quel'Danil over because he lacked enough troops to protect both it and the more important harbor.
• The Gryphon Riders protested the idea and suggested recruiting more human soldiers to help defend the harbor.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and the Gryphon Riders debated how to manage the growing elven population and defend Quel'Danil, then concluded that the king and Council had sent many of the newcomers to monitor them. Yu Lin decided to hand over Quel'Danil and began addressing the elves gathered at the docks.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk weighed the risks of recruiting elves and relocating troll soldiers, but the Gryphon Riders failed to agree on whether to abandon or defend Quel'Danil.
• After ten days of deadlock, a Gryphon Rider reported that more than four thousand elves had gathered at the docks, despite no new nobles arriving.
• Yu Lin and the Gryphon Riders suspected the king and Council had sent the newcomers to keep watch on their forces.
• Yu Lin decided to hand over Quel'Danil and convened a meeting to plan how to benefit from the transfer.
• Yu Lin arrived at the docks and addressed the gathered elves from a platform, welcoming them to the Hinterlands and asking about their living conditions.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk confronted the elves who had cursed him by offering to repay any debts they could prove, then explained why he had restricted access to Quel'Danil City. He left the crowd with a map of the city's planned districts and a warning that its stability would not be compromised.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk displayed chests of gold and invited the elves to present IOUs, but no one came forward to collect.
• A Bloodhawk Regiment squad leader asked Yu Lin Bloodhawk for twelve hundred worgs and discussed training mounts and gryphon riders for the legion.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk declared that he owed the silent crowd nothing and rebuked them for accepting his aid while cursing him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said Quel'Danil would welcome loyal residents, nonpolitical workers, and paying visitors, but exclude agitators, enemies of Quel'Thalas, and anyone who wanted to kill him.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered soldiers to display a plan dividing Quel'Danil into three military levels and five districts on the fourth level.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk laid out the terms for governing Quel'Danil and instructed the Gryphon Riders to secure the city and shape its soldiers' loyalties. He left the Riders to prepare the defenses and floated a future journey to Kalimdor once they had a fleet.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered the people a choice between settling in Quel'Danil, joining his Household Guard at the harbor, or leaving, and set conditions for the city's council, defenses, and mineral revenue.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk ordered Evil Fang's troops transferred to the docks, assigned Gryphon Riders to train the City Guard and Household Guard, and restricted access to the military district.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the Gryphon Riders to use political education to teach soldiers the difference between loyalty to Quel'Thalas, its people, and the King.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that Quel'Danil should remain a refuge and preserve freedom of speech while its leaders stayed out of factional struggles.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed traveling to Kalimdor in the future to prepare options for Quel'Thalas, but said they would wait until they had a fleet.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk planned to expand his forces and travel to Kalimdor, while negotiating training, mounts, and supplies with the Farstriders. At the Windrunner Burning Legion, Alleria revealed that the humans had invited Quel'Thalas to send troops to help Stormwind City and discuss an alliance.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told the Gryphon Riders he intended to build up the Household Guard, acquire ships, and eventually travel to Kalimdor, then flew with six guards to the dwarf camp to train a gryphon mount.
• The Farstriders Commander learned that Yu Lin Bloodhawk wanted two units sent to train and form soul links, and bargained over supplies, worgs, and helm bears.
• The Squad Leader explained that Yu Lin Bloodhawk commanded 150 gryphons and planned to build a flying Household Guard of at least 200, prompting the Farstriders Commander to ask about the remaining training slots.
• Sylvanas complained to Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk had not given her any gryphons, and Alleria advised her to claim the remaining slots.
• Alleria showed Sylvanas the humans' invitation for Quel'Thalas to send troops to aid Stormwind City and form a delegation to discuss an alliance.

Sylvanas discovered that the human invitation was a demand for repayment and tried to join the negotiations so Quel'Thalas could demand concessions in return. Alleria agreed to circulate Sylvanas’s survey findings and proposals before the Council decided whether to send troops.

• Sylvanas feared Alleria would lead the Windrunner forces into war and asked to join the Negotiation Team instead.
• Sylvanas had Lor'themar bring Alleria survey reports showing that most humans believed Quel'Thalas still owed them for help during the Troll Wars.
• After reading the summary, Alleria angrily agreed that Quel'Thalas owed the humans nothing, and Sylvanas proposed demanding ships in exchange for military aid.
• Alleria agreed to get Sylvanas onto the Negotiation Team and ordered copies of the summary and Sylvanas’s ideas sent to the Ranger Burning Legions, Silvermoon City media organizations, and Falthrien Academy.

Sylvanas told Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk had predicted the coming wars and was preparing to flee rather than fight, revealing that Alleria would fall in love with Turalyon. Alleria questioned why Yu Lin refused to defend the world, and the chapter left her unable to name a reason he should fight.

• Sylvanas teased Alleria about finding a husband and discussed how she planned to allocate the gryphons.
• Alleria pressed Sylvanas about the secrets she and Yu Lin were keeping, and Sylvanas revealed that Yu Lin had predicted Alleria would elope with Turalyon.
• Sylvanas showed Alleria Yu Lin's letters, whose predictions about major events had all come true.
• Sylvanas explained Yu Lin's predictions about Stormwind's fall, the Second War, and the Windrunner family's danger, along with his preparations to escape from The Hinterlands.
• Alleria condemned Yu Lin for planning to flee, but she could not answer his question about whom he should fight for.

Sylvanas told Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk was preparing a refuge in the Hinterlands while secretly planning to flee to Kalimdor, and explained why he feared death. Alleria decided to visit the Hinterlands with Sylvanas, leaving Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s plans and past suicide attempt at risk of discovery.

• Sylvanas explained that Quel'Thalas could avoid joining the war by citing the Trolls of Zul'Aman's attack, and told Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk was preparing a refuge in the Hinterlands before he planned to go to Kalimdor.
• Sylvanas described how Yu Lin Bloodhawk had recruited the Farstriders and others with a Giant Boar breeding scheme, and said she sent troublesome people to help him grow stronger.
• Sylvanas told Alleria that Yu Lin Bloodhawk owed the Farstriders and the E-clipse Legion twelve hundred worgs and refused to bring black worgs into Quel'Thalas because of a future plague.
• Alleria said she would travel with Sylvanas to the Hinterlands the next day to learn what Yu Lin Bloodhawk knew, and Sylvanas warned that revealing his knowledge could get him killed.
• Sylvanas revealed that Yu Lin Bloodhawk once tried to die so Lin Yu could survive, but she rescued him after he fell onto a Giant Spinner Spider and was badly injured.

Sylvanas told Alleria about Yu Lin Bloodhawk's odd habits as they planned a trip to the Hinterlands. At Aerie Peak, Yu Lin Bloodhawk welcomed Mez'dra and his Wildhammer pioneers, then explained that he had entrusted Quel'Danil's administration to troublesome elves from Silvermoon City.

• Sylvanas described Yu Lin Bloodhawk's military terminology and strange behavior to Alleria, who decided to leave for the Hinterlands the next day and summon the family's mages.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Shalak Eagleaxe patrolled Aerie Peak's gryphon territory, saw trolls nearby, and returned without finding any inside the territory.
• Shalak told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that Mez'dra had arrived with at least four thousand people, while two thousand warriors had stayed west of Dun-Kelke Prison to join a force responding to Stormwind City's attack.
• Mez'dra explained that his first group of pioneers would begin building a city at Aerie Peak before more Wildhammer Dwarves moved there.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Mez'dra that he had left Quel'Danil to hide from troublesome Silvermoon City elves, and Mez'dra offered to help him take it back.