Chapter Summaries

Orgrim's Horde army attacked a high elf Mage Tower, but concealed anti-aircraft cannons devastated the red dragon force and stalled the advance. With the Horde boxed in by the high elves' defenses and scouts, Orgrim turned to Gul'dan to find a way forward.

• The Horde army breached Quel'Thalas's magical barrier, and the Mage Tower called in reinforcements as forest trolls and orcs charged its defenses.
• Orgrim sent the magic-immune red dragons against the Mage Tower, but a concealed anti-aircraft cannon shot down their leader and another dragon.
• Orgrim ordered the red dragons to overwhelm the cannon, but hidden guns and gryphon riders brought down many more, leaving only twenty-eight of the fifty dragons.
• Orgrim found that Mage Towers, cannons, and military forces blocked the routes forward, while high elf rogues attacked the Horde's perimeter and disrupted its reconnaissance.
• Orgrim urged Gul'dan to accelerate his research, seeing the Grand Warlock as the Horde's only hope.

Gul'dan brought down the High Elves' magical barrier and mass-produced two-headed Ogre Mages to support the Orc assault on the Mage Tower. An anti-aircraft Arcane War Machine emerged from underground and killed the unarmored mages when they advanced under fire.

• Gul'dan disrupted a Rune Stone and triggered an energy backlash that collapsed the High Elves' magical barrier.
• Gul'dan transformed Ogres into two-headed Ogre Mages, and Orgrim allowed them to fight because they could strengthen the Orcs.
• Gul'dan sent the two-headed Ogre Mages to support the assault on the Mage Tower with Bloodlust and Spell Shield.
• An anti-aircraft Arcane War Machine emerged from underground and aimed its gun at the advancing mages.
• The anti-aircraft gun fatally wounded one two-headed Ogre Mage, then killed the others as they tried to flee.

The Horde assault on the High Elf Mage Tower faltered as Gul'dan deserted and a Demigod Arcane Golem entered the battlefield. Orgrim tried to withdraw, but the golem's arrival turned the fight into a devastating attack on the Horde forces.

• The Horde warriors battered the Mage Tower while High Elf reinforcements fought them, and Gul'dan slipped away with his followers.
• Gul'dan used Fel magic to make the pursuing Red Dragon riders fight among themselves, and Orgrim sent trackers after the deserters.
• A ten-meter-tall Prismatic Metal Giant charged the Horde and crushed warriors who tried to stop it, prompting Orgrim to decide to retreat.
• Zul'jin refused to withdraw and vowed to fight to the last Forest Troll, while the Demigod Arcane Golem advanced toward the Horde camp on Herad's orders.
• Orgrim tried to relocate as Horde warriors charged the golem, but it swept the battlefield with Dragonfire and burned thousands, stunning Zul'jin.

Herad ordered the Demigod Arcane Golem and Arcane Scavenger to kill Orgrim, who was overwhelmed despite wielding Doomhammer. Herad claimed the artifact, which transformed to suit him, though its hammer shape amused the Windrunner family.

• Orgrim charged the Demigod Arcane Golem with Doomhammer, but its flames pinned him down while orc warriors and red dragons failed to stop it.
• The Anti-Air Arcane Golems shot down six red dragons, and the remaining dragons fled the battlefield.
• Zul'jin and the forest trolls charged the Demigod Arcane Golem, drawing its flames away from Orgrim at the cost of their lives.
• Orgrim tried to strike the Demigod Arcane Golem, but the Arcane Scavenger shattered his arms and killed him.
• The Arcane Scavenger retrieved Doomhammer and delivered it to Herad, and the artifact changed its appearance while remaining a hammer.
• The Windrunner Sisters and Lireesa Windrunner smiled at Herad holding the hammer.

Herad and the High Elves finished routing the Horde, while Lireesa Windrunner asked Herad to obtain a grizzly bear cub for her. When Sir Lothar and the Allied Forces arrived, Uther sought mercy for wounded Orcs, but Gavinrad reminded him of the slaughter at Northshire Abbey.

• Lireesa Windrunner questioned Vereesa about her trial, and Herad sent Number One to protect her as she fought the Forest Trolls.
• Herad argued that rangers should adapt to changing times by using grizzly bear pets, prompting Lireesa Windrunner to ask him to buy her a cub.
• Herad promised to obtain a cub within two months and planned to drive the Orcs from Dun Morogh and retake Stormwind City.
• Sir Lothar arrived with the Allied Forces after the Demigod Arcane Golem and High Elves had devastated the Horde army.
• Uther asked Herad to spare the wounded Orcs, but Gavinrad recalled the deaths at Northshire Abbey, and Uther abandoned his plea.

Herad explained how the Allied Forces could retake Stormwind City within six months, persuading Sir Lothar to exploit the Horde’s disarray and move quickly through Dun Morogh. The Allied Forces headed for Stratholme to rest and board Kul Tiras ships bound for Southshore.

• Herad recommended that Khadgar and Kel'Thuzad urge Dalaran to build a Demigod Arcane Golem, but its cost and lack of a power source made the plan impractical.
• Herad proposed retaking Stormwind City within six months, and Sir Lothar agreed that Orgrim’s death had left the Horde vulnerable.
• Herad urged Sir Lothar to avoid a prolonged fight in the Wetlands and secure Dun Morogh to rescue the Bronzebeard Dwarves and the gnomes.
• Sir Lothar planned to retake the Hillsbrad Foothills and repair Southshore’s harbor, but Herad redirected the Allied Forces to Stratholme to await ships.
• Herad arranged for the Kul Tiras fleet to transport the Allied Forces from Stratholme to Southshore, lifting the soldiers’ spirits with the prospect of rest and a sea voyage.

Herad and Lireesa Windrunner discussed obtaining Wildhammer gryphons, then learned that an enormous undead army was threatening Aerie Peak. Herad warned the dwarves to hold out until their returning Gryphon Riders arrived and set off to find another way to support them.

• Herad and Lireesa Windrunner discussed the gryphons’ strength and considered asking the Wildhammer Dwarves to sell them some.
• Vereesa interrupted them to ask for a gryphon, and Lireesa Windrunner punished her for eavesdropping on their confidential conversation.
• Herad sent Jindi a magic messenger to discuss buying gryphons, while Alleria and Sylvanas learned how important gryphons could be to the high elves’ aerial forces.
• Jindi sent Herad an image of the undead army surrounding Aerie Peak, and Herad urged the dwarves to hold out for two hours until the Gryphon Riders returned.
• Herad decided to fly to Aerie Peak with an air elemental, subdued it with the Doomhammer, and began working out how to travel through the air.

Herad built and piloted a reusable Arcane Rocket from Quel'Thalas to the undead army near Aerie Peak, where it crushed a First Death Knight on impact. As Herad drifted down, his oversized fireball destroyed another First Death Knight’s Anti-Magic Shell and erupted into a battlefield-sweeping firestorm.

• Herad tested a granite rocket powered by air elementals, then added wings and climbed aboard the Arcane Rocket.
• The air elementals launched Herad at an estimated five times the speed of sound, carrying him across two thousand kilometers toward Lake Darrowmere.
• Herad directed the weakening air elementals to crash the rocket into the undead outside Aerie Peak, crushing a First Death Knight and scattering undead with the impact.
• Herad floated above the wreckage with Slow Fall as skeleton archers futilely shot at him from the ground.
• A First Death Knight rode its undead warhorse to intercept Herad’s landing, and Herad prepared a fireball to attack it.
• Fire elemental power swelled Herad’s fireball beyond control; it obliterated the First Death Knight’s Anti-Magic Shell and exploded into a sweeping firestorm.

Herad used the Doomhammer and elemental magic to defeat a first death knight and burn through the undead assault on Aerie Peak. Teron Gorefiend sent in the full undead army, but Herad’s fire elementals held back much of it and eased the pressure on the Wildhammer dwarves.

• Herad trapped a first death knight in a giant lava hand and smashed his head with the Doomhammer, killing him.
• Herad used an earthquake to bury undead creatures, then summoned elite fire elementals to burn those emerging from the ground.
• First death knights in the forest recognized the Doomhammer and feared they could not defeat its new wielder.
• Teron Gorefiend ordered the entire undead army to attack Aerie Peak, including undead forest trolls dug from their ancestral graves.
• Herad’s fire elementals burned through the undead assault and tied down nearly half the attackers, easing the pressure on the Wildhammer dwarves.

Herad and the Wildhammer Dwarves defeated the Undead army besieging Aerie Peak, with Gryphon Riders and Elite Fire Elementals sweeping the battlefield. As the immediate threat ended, Falstad worried that the Undead army’s numbers could constrain the Wildhammer Dwarves’ elite forces in a future war of attrition.

• The returning Gryphon Riders found Aerie Peak’s defenders holding the gates while twelve Elite Fire Elementals cleared the Undead Creatures in a moving line of fire.
• The Gryphon Riders joined the battle, hurling lightning-infused Magic Hammers at the Undead, while the Elite Fire Elementals burned through the enemy ranks and sometimes self-detonated as their energy waned.
• Herad stopped studying Spatial Magic, assessed that the Undead army was nearly defeated, and used Blink to reach the Gryphon Platform.
• Highlord Falstad and Herad discussed the siege, and Herad reassured Falstad that the Undead army had no way to stage a comeback.
• Falstad reflected that the Undead army had breached Aerie Peak’s gate and feared that an endless horde could wear down the Wildhammer Dwarves’ elite forces.

Herad negotiated with Falstad to provide the Wildhammer Dwarves an aerial-bomb production line and the method for making Piercing Explosive Lances in exchange for Gryphons. On his return from Aerie Peak, Herad considered the threats facing Azeroth and decided to search Karazhan for useful artifacts.

• Herad offered Falstad an aerial-bomb production line, and Falstad agreed to the deal while requesting the method for making Piercing Explosive Lances.
• Herad accepted the request and Falstad promised two pairs of the best Gryphons.
• Herad declined Falstad's offer of a Gryphon ride and launched away from Aerie Peak on his second-generation Arcane Rocket.
• During the flight, Herad worried about the Old Gods, the Burning Legion, and the failure of the Titan Keepers to protect Azeroth.
• Herad drew comfort from the Doomhammer and decided to search Medivh's abandoned Karazhan for useful artifacts.

Herad returned to Silvermoon City and told the Windrunner family about his battle at Aerie Peak, including the Doomhammer’s power and his deal for four Gryphons. The Windrunner Sisters and Lireesa claimed the Gryphons before they had even been handed over.

• Herad landed safely outside Silvermoon City and saw that residents had crowded into the city after Gul'dan breached the magical Barrier.
• Herad found Little White asleep and discovered Sylvanas, Alleria, Vereesa, Lireesa Windrunner, and the others waiting at his house.
• Herad recounted how his enormous Fireball defeated the First Death Knight, and Lireesa warned everyone to keep the Doomhammer’s amplification secret.
• Herad told them he had negotiated for two pairs of Gryphons, and the Windrunner family divided the four Gryphons among themselves.

Herad oversaw a small Arcane Golem's completion and worked with Goblin and Gnome engineers to improve his Arcane Rocket for his upcoming trip to Karazhan. The rocket reached more than fifteen times the speed of sound and flew past Stormwind City in just over twenty minutes.

• Herad rode the White Hawkstrider to Dawnedge Armory, where it caught a giant fish before running off toward the World Tree.
• Herad checked Admiral Daelin's refitted Sea Sovereignty, which had received steel armor and four 200 mm main guns.
• Herad tested a small, armored Arcane Golem designed to carry and wield artifacts.
• Herad and the engineers modified the Arcane Rocket to hover without a launch rack and accelerate using its rear nozzle.
• Herad's third-generation Arcane Rocket reached its speed limit of roughly fifteen times the speed of sound and passed Stormwind City.

Herad arrived at the Mage Tower of Karazhan and sent elite air elementals through it to clear out demons and undead. As he explored the tower, his Arcane Scavenger subdued two traditional Arcane Golems and headed deeper to find more.

• Herad surveyed orc settlements in Stormwind City and Elwynn Forest before flying the Arcane Rocket to Karazhan.
• Herad ordered elite air elementals to clear the terrace and sweep the Mage Tower floor by floor, destroying imps and ghosts.
• Herad explored the tower on the Arcane Scavenger and studied Spatial Magic as they descended through its vast interior.
• Herad found elite air elementals fighting traditional Arcane Golems and ordered the Arcane Scavenger to subdue them.
• The Arcane Scavenger severed two traditional Arcane Golems and continued deeper into the corridor to find more.

Herad modified Karazhan’s arcane golems, trapped and dismantled the Curator, then emptied the library by ferrying its books away. After hearing that the Dragonmaw Clan’s red dragons had destroyed nearly half of Dalaran, he offered the city ten anti-aircraft guns.

• Herad modified twelve arcane golems and led them deeper into Karazhan.
• Herad helped the Arcane Scavenger defeat the Curator by breaking up its ball lightning and trapping it in the floor, then sealed away its encrypted parts.
• Herad cleared Karazhan’s largest library, flying its books out in repeated trips over the course of a day.
• Alleria told Herad that the Dragonmaw Clan’s red dragons had destroyed nearly half of Dalaran before gryphon riders from Aerie Peak drove them off.
• Herad offered Dalaran ten anti-aircraft guns, and the city accepted his support.

Herad explained why he was giving Dalaran anti-aircraft guns, then took Alleria and Sylvanas to Karazhan to clear its haunted Mage Tower. Elite fire elementals swept through the lower levels, and the group continued deeper into the tower.

• Sylvanas and Alleria questioned Herad's plan to give Dalaran ten anti-aircraft guns, but he argued that the city and its residents needed protection from red dragon attacks.
• Herad showed the sisters magic books from Karazhan, and they decided to join him on his next trip there.
• Herad, Alleria, and Sylvanas entered the lower section of Karazhan's Mage Tower, where the sisters hesitated at the sight and sounds of undead creatures.
• Herad blasted ghosts with Fireballs, showing the sisters that the creatures were weak and trapped by dark magic.
• Alleria and Sylvanas attacked the ghosts with Arcane Shots but quickly ran low on arrows, so Herad summoned elite fire elementals to burn through the corridor and illuminate the way.

Herad and the two Windrunner sisters explored Karazhan’s lower levels, where he unsuccessfully tried to communicate with the Maiden of Virtue. As elite fire elementals swept through Deadwind Pass, they found the canyon entrance to the Black Knights’ lair.

• Sylvanas suggested fighting the Maiden of Virtue, but Herad approached her cautiously and failed to communicate because she did not understand their language.
• Herad led Sylvanas and Alleria downstairs through Karazhan’s halls, where elite fire elementals burned through ghosts, banquet rooms, and stables.
• Orc patrols fled from the flames, fearing the ghosts and Black Knights that had repeatedly attacked them in Deadwind Pass.
• Herad searched for the Black Knights as the elite fire elementals burned through nearby village ruins and dead trees.
• The elite fire elementals entered a canyon, and Herad recognized it as the location of the Black Knights’ lair.

Herad sent a small Arcane Golem into Karazhan’s underground slaughterhouse, where it found Black Knights and the sinister artifact Ulthalesh. The golem took the scythe and headed with the surviving Elite Fire Elementals toward the orc camp in Deadwind Pass to test its power.

• Herad used a small Arcane Golem to explore the burned underground slaughterhouse and discovered the Black Knights fighting the Elite Fire Elementals.
• The Black Knight Leader fought on with Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester, while Herad explained the scythe’s soul-devouring power to Sylvanas and Alleria.
• The Black Knight Leader discarded Ulthalesh and allowed the Elite Fire Elementals to kill him rather than risk being consumed by the artifact.
• Herad’s small Arcane Golem picked up Ulthalesh, exploiting its lack of spirituality to wield the scythe safely.
• The golem and the surviving Elite Fire Elementals set out for the orc camp in Deadwind Pass, where more than two thousand orc troops awaited as a test for the artifact-wielding construct.

Herad sent a small arcane golem wielding Ulthalesh and elite fire elementals to attack the orc camp at the entrance to the Black Morass. As the golem cut down the defenders and Ulthalesh grew more powerful from their souls, Herad considered using more orcs to strengthen the artifact.

• Herad directed elite fire elementals to burn the surroundings as they and the small arcane golem approached the orc camp.
• The orc veterans recognized the fire elementals and urged the camp to prepare water, while the golem's sinister appearance terrified the defenders.
• The small arcane golem smashed through the log gate and used Ulthalesh to cut through orc grunts and their steel armor.
• Ulthalesh's skull glowed a deeper crimson after it reaped dozens of orc souls, and Herad realized the orcs could help the artifact grow stronger.
• Herad watched the golem slaughter the orcs and the fire elementals set fires, convinced the attackers deserved their fate for siding with the Burning Legion.

Herad sent the Small Arcane Golem to attack the Orcs Main Base in Brightwood, where thick fog and the golem’s soul-reaping scythe threw the defenders into chaos. The golem killed the Warlord, while Herad and the Windrunner Sisters watched its battle footage and argued over its weapon.

• The Small Arcane Golem pursued the Orcs deserters toward Brightwood, and several escaped to warn the Main Base.
• The Warlord ordered the deserters whipped as the Small Arcane Golem observed the heavily defended camp from a hillside.
• Herad sent thick fog toward the Main Base, and the Small Arcane Golem cut through the stockade wall and attacked the defenders.
• The Small Arcane Golem killed Orcs and Ogres in the fog, triggering panic and a frenzy that led Orcs to attack one another.
• The Small Arcane Golem entered the Warlord’s room and split him in half, breaking his thorium greatsword.
• Herad, Sylvanas, and Alleria watched the battle footage as Sylvanas called out Herad for pretending not to be surprised.