The Hillsbrad region was famous for its complex terrain, its endless rolling hills enough to give any traveler a headache.
The Alliance army had already crossed those hills and established one defensive line after another here.
Southshore, the largest seaport in all of Hillsbrad, had now become the Alliance's military command center... Uther the Lightbringer was stationed here as its commander.
This devout and just paladin had earned the recognition of almost all his colleagues. His Holy Light, his courage, and his wisdom as a commander had been displayed to the fullest in the past year's war.
With King Terenas's commendation, Uther had received an exceptional promotion to deputy supreme commander of the Alliance, gaining a lofty position within its ranks.
But all that had happened in Year 4 of the Dark Portal. What was beginning now was the war of Year 5 of the Dark Portal...
Uther raised his head and gazed into the distance, watching the Horde ships waiting out on the Great Sea. Those enormous vessels made of black metal moved entirely by the oars of their peons...
"What a shame the Kul Tiras fleet is gone!" The paladin frowned and muttered to himself.
If that fleet were still here, these Horde ships certainly would not have been so brazen...
"They're almost ashore!" Alleria Windrunner said quietly. Her keen eyes could see farther than those of ordinary humans.
"Yes, we need to..." Turalyon, standing beside her, had just begun to speak when another voice interrupted him.
The speaker was the other female ranger beside Alleria.
"There seem to be a lot of them..." Sylvanas Windrunner's voice sounded somewhat strained. "I think there are at least a hundred ships at the very front!"
"Yes... the Horde outnumbers us at least several times over, perhaps more than ten