Back when Su Ming and Khadgar rode Griffins to the Blasted Lands, the place was swarming with Orc armies. There was nothing like Nethergarde Keep here then, unlike now.
The land was crimson, as though soaked through with blood. Nethergarde Keep, built of white stone, stood in the northeast corner. There had once been a forest here, home to quite a few happy ogres.
Nethergarde Keep primarily existed to watch whether the Dark Portal lit up, while also holding the road from the Blasted Lands to the Swamp of Sorrows at critical moments.
More than a decade ago, although Deathstroke and Medivh had closed the Dark Portal in time, several hundred thousand Orcs still slipped through. These Orcs left behind on Azeroth split into two groups. One marched overland to attack the Stormwind Kingdom, while the other chopped down timber to build ships and, unnoticed by the humans, slipped away from the southeastern beaches in batches.
The Orc fleet sailed to the Arathi Highlands. After landing there, they attacked the Arathi Kingdom and Lordareon, but were ultimately defeated because their supplies could not keep up.
Aside from those of the Frostwolf Clan who hid in Alterac Valley, more Orcs were either killed or captured and locked in Prisoner of War Camps.
In the rebuilt Stormwind City, the young King Varian, only three years older than Arthas, had not yet begun to rule personally. Regent Bolvar handled affairs both internal and external, and the general had stationed considerable forces in the Blasted Lands.
Khadgar had originally asked Deathstroke whether they wanted to visit Turalyon, who was stationed at Nethergarde Keep. Lothar had died in that great battle against the Orcs in the Burning Steppes, and among the Alliance commanders, Turalyon counted as one of the rising stars.
But Su Ming said