Chapter Summaries

Lordaeron hosted a new Alliance summit after the Second War, with Karin, Khadgar, Kurdran, and Alexstrasza arriving as representatives and guests. The gathering assembled around Anduin Lothar, with young kings Arthas and Varian present as the meeting was about to begin.

• Arthas inherited Lordaeron’s throne at age ten, with Lia Menethil and Uther serving as regents, while Othmar Perenolde became king of Alterac under General Hass’s regency.
• Karin, Khadgar, Kurdran, and Alexstrasza arrived at Lordaeron’s Royal Palace for the Alliance summit.
• A Lordaeron Court Mage welcomed Karin and Khadgar but failed to recognize Kurdran, who angrily complained about the slight.
• Karin asked Alexstrasza about the journey, and she reflected that her life among the Alliance had been far better than her enslavement by the Orcs.
• Karin and Kurdran took their seats in the meeting hall as Khadgar stood behind Karin, and the assembled leaders included Anduin Lothar, Varian, and Arthas.

Karin attended the Alliance summit, where the leaders settled disputes over the captured orcs and Stormwind’s reconstruction. The meeting ended with Stormwind tasked with rebuilding its city and constructing a fortress at the Dark Portal.

• Karin recognized Alterac’s young king as Othmar Perenolde and noted how badly Stromgarde and Kul Tiras had suffered in the war.
• Brann Bronzebeard invited Karin to explore Titan ruins, while Karin quieted Brann, Kurdran, and the curious Khadgar during the meeting.
• Varian Wrynn called for the captured orcs to be killed, but Uther the Lightbringer warned that doing so would make escaped orcs hostile to the Alliance.
• The Alliance decided to send more than twenty thousand captured orcs south to help rebuild Stormwind City, with the other ten nations contributing funds.
• Karin proposed building a fortress at the Dark Portal, and the Alliance assigned Stormwind responsibility for its construction alongside the city’s reconstruction.

Karin accepted Varian’s offer of a more prosperous fief in the rebuilt Kingdom of Stormwind and pledged to help if the kingdom faced a crisis. Varian then learned that Anduin Lothar had decided to remain in the north rather than return home.

• Karin met Varian privately, and Varian thanked him for helping the Alliance and Stormwind survive the war.
• Varian offered Karin a prosperous fief, explaining that he wanted to reward him personally and win his support for the Kingdom of Stormwind.
• Karin accepted the reward and promised to answer Stormwind’s call in a future crisis.
• Karin chose a fief on the plain west of Grim Batol Mountain.
• Varian found Lothar packing and urged him to return south, but Lothar said he would stay in the north and asked Varian to honor his final request.

Anduin Lothar chose not to return to Stormwind City because his fame and authority could overshadow King Varian, and he wanted Varian to rule without his interference. After explaining his decision to his companions, Lothar asked Karin whether he could serve as a gate guard and look after the place.

• Anduin Lothar rejected Reginald Windsor's plea to return to Stormwind City and told him to put loyalty to the kingdom above loyalty to Lothar.
• Reginald Windsor decided he would protect his kingdom with his life.
• Anduin Lothar visited Khadgar and Kurdran Wildhammer, drank Lordaeron rice wine, and told them he would not return to Stormwind City.
• Karin realized Lothar was staying away so his standing would not obstruct King Varian's rule.
• Anduin Lothar asked Karin if he could guard the gate and look after the place.

Karin and Khadgar returned to Dalaran with Alexstrasza, where she asked them to let Sekrystasa’s remains rest in peace. After Karin reported the Lordaeron summit to Antonidas, Khadgar volunteered to serve at Nethergarde Keep and promised to reach the Eighth Ring.

• Lothar agreed to travel with Kurdran to Grim Batol while Karin and Khadgar went to Dalaran with Alexstrasza.
• Alexstrasza saw Sekrystasa’s head displayed at Krasus’ Landing and quietly asked Karin to stop desecrating her remains.
• Karin learned that Ruinweval had ordered Sekrystasa’s head displayed, then had it taken down and stored in the Violet Citadel.
• Karin reported to Antonidas that the Alliance had approved sending orcs to rebuild Stormwind City and building Nethergarde Keep in the Blasted Lands.
• Khadgar volunteered to go to Nethergarde Keep as Dalaran’s representative and said he might reach the Eighth Ring before they met again.

Karin left Dalaran with Alexstrasza and flew with her toward Grim Batol, while learning how the Red Dragon Queen understood duty, humiliation, and hatred. The chapter left Karin taking notes about her outlook as they traveled.

• Karin embraced Khadgar and wished him luck before leaving Dalaran alone, while Khadgar prepared to go to Nethergarde Keep.
• Karin found an apprentice talking to Alexstrasza and hurried over, only for her to ask whether the mage had been courting her.
• Karin and Alexstrasza set off for Grim Batol, with Karin flying as a raven before Alexstrasza revealed her dragon form and carried him.
• Karin questioned Alexstrasza about whether serving as his mount or obeying the orcs had humiliated her, and she said protecting her eggs had been her duty.
• Alexstrasza said she hated Neltharion because he sought to dominate the world, and Karin began taking notes about her sense of duty.

Karin returned to Naxxramas, heard Kel'Thuzad's news, and learned that Kurdran wanted to bring the Wildhammer dwarves back to Grim Batol. Kurdran explained that a curse laid by Modgud had driven his people from their homeland, leaving their return dependent on Karin's help.

• Alexstrasza brought Karin to Grim Batol, and he flew to Naxxramas to meet Kel'Thuzad.
• Kel'Thuzad told Karin that Khadgar had gone to Nethergarde Keep and that Daisy was pregnant.
• Kel'Thuzad said Kurdran had been looking for Karin, so Karin went to the Wildhammer camp beside Grim Batol.
• Kurdran asked Karin for help moving the Wildhammer dwarves from Aerie Peak back to Grim Batol.
• Kurdran recounted how the Wildhammers left Ironforge, fought the Dark Irons, and abandoned Grim Batol after Modgud cursed the city.

Karin, Kurdran, and Anduin Lothar investigated Grim Batol and discovered that the curse still existed but was being suppressed by the red dragons living there. Kurdran learned that the Wildhammer dwarves could return to their homeland as long as the dragons remained.

• Karin warned Kurdran that he might not be able to lift Grim Batol’s curse, which he suspected came from Ragnaros.
• Karin, Kurdran, and Anduin Lothar flew to Grim Batol and entered the city.
• Kurdran and Lothar were surprised that they could not feel the curse, while Karin examined traces left by the Dragonmaw orcs.
• The All-Knowing Eye told Karin that another powerful force was suppressing the curse, and Karin realized the red dragons’ life magic was responsible.
• Karin told Kurdran that the red dragons’ presence would keep the curse at bay, allowing the Wildhammer dwarves to return home.
• Kurdran wept with joy at the prospect of bringing his people back to Grim Batol.

Karin surveyed the Wetlands and returned to Naxxramas, where Kel'Thuzad showed him the orc warlocks’ magical scrolls. Karin considered whether the spells should be banned and argued that the morality depended on who used them.

• Kurdran led tens of thousands of Wildhammer Dwarves from the Hinterlands to Grim Batol, while Falstad stayed behind to lead those who remained and raise gryphons.
• Karin toured the Wetlands, met Muradin Bronzebeard, and learned the dwarves could hand over the surrendered orc peons to help establish his domain.
• Karin returned to Naxxramas and offered to take over guarding the Dragon Soul so Kel'Thuzad could leave the floating city.
• Kel'Thuzad showed Karin orc warlock scrolls describing necromancy and accelerated maturation, and lamented that he had found no information on how the orcs made the Dark Portal.
• Kel'Thuzad asked Karin whether he should ban the magic after Ruin raised concerns about its harmful effects, and Karin said its morality depended on its user.

Karin experimented with accelerated maturation magic and discovered he could use it to raise large, plump boars for food. Alexstrasza objected to the magic as a desecration of life, but after tasting the meat, she struggled to reject the method.

• Karin adjusted the spell's intensity on white mice, finding that one could survive after growing to five times its normal weight, though it was barely able to move.
• Arugal brought Karin a larger animal, and Karin revealed that he intended to use accelerated maturation for peaceful purposes rather than to create weapons.
• Alexstrasza confronted Karin after sensing the magic used on her offspring, but Karin showed her an enormous, plump boar he had raised.
• Karin took Alexstrasza to a Wildhammer Dwarf slaughterhouse, where the boar was prepared for a meal.
• Alexstrasza questioned whether the method was cruel, then tasted the boar meat and ate more.

Karin arranged to employ former Horde peons in raising boars accelerated by magic, arguing to Kel'Thuzad that mass production could make meat highly profitable. The peons began life in their new camp with food and shelter, while Karin said a friend could supply the young boars they would need.

• The Bronzebeard Dwarves handed over their captured orc peons to Karin in exchange for a token payment.
• Boya recalled his years of hunger and forced labor, then watched the Horde lose and was taken from the dwarves’ dungeon by new masters.
• Boya and the other peons received a tent, quilts, bread, and meat, and Boya was moved to tears by his first taste of happiness.
• Kel'Thuzad questioned Karin’s plan to employ the peons raising boars with modified Growth Acceleration Magic.
• Karin explained that wizards could accelerate hundreds or a thousand boars each day, creating a profitable supply of meat.
• Karin told Kel'Thuzad that a friend would help provide the young boars.

Karin persuaded Alexstrasza to have the Red Dragons bless female livestock in exchange for food, then recruited Dalaran mages to teach Growth Acceleration Magic at Grim Batol. The chapter ended with Boya witnessing the spell turn young boars into enormous animals in just three days.

• Karin asked Alexstrasza to bless female boars, and she agreed after he offered the Red Dragons a steady supply of food.
• Ansirem Runeweaver brought over a hundred Dalaran mages, and Karin selected fifty to work for him under a one-year contract.
• Karin named the spell Gul'dan's Growth Spell and dismissed Ruin's concerns about keeping it secret.
• Boya fed young animals grain in Grim Batol's pens while a human Warlock cast spells on them.
• Three days later, Boya and the other Peons hauled enormous boars to the slaughterhouse, and the Dwarves brought in another group of young animals.

Varian praised Edwin VanCleef’s work rebuilding Stormwind City and welcomed Karin’s shipments of affordable preserved meat, which began supplying markets across the region. Karin inspected the growing Wetlands settlement and named its planned harbor Antonidas Harbor.

• Varian toured Stormwind City’s reconstruction with his knights and praised Edwin VanCleef and the Stonemasons’ Guild.
• Gavinrad Doom presented Varian with boar meat and a letter from Karin, who offered large quantities of inexpensive smoked and cured meat.
• Windsor explained that Stormwind’s soldiers were short of fresh supplies, and Varian announced that Wildhammer convoys had delivered forty tons of preserved meat.
• Wildhammer transport convoys brought popular preserved meat to markets in Stormwind City, Ironforge, and Booty Bay.
• Karin surveyed the Wetlands fishing village and its natural harbor, where workers were beginning plans for a harbor, shipyard, and salt-drying field.
• Karin named the harbor Antonidas Harbor.

Antonidas Harbor became a busy trade hub as Ranch meat shipments expanded, while Boya and the Dwarves fought off Murlocs attacking a boat. The Murlocs retreated after their leader was killed, and large birds swooped in after them.

• Karin praised the Orc Peons’ hard work building Antonidas Harbor and proposed rewarding them with an extra meal.
• Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver researched accelerated growth for other livestock as meat exports from Grim Batol expanded.
• Boya rode a boat carrying cured boar meat and reflected that the Orc Peons’ lives were better than they had been under the Horde.
• Murlocs attacked the boat, and Boya joined the Dwarves and Orc Peons in defending it.
• Boya struck the leading Murloc with a hammer, a Dwarf shot it dead, and the remaining Murlocs fled.
• Someone shouted from the sky to catch the fleeing Murlocs as several large birds swept past Boya.

Karin and Kurdran hunted down murloc lairs in the Wetlands, while Karin infiltrated the Mossflayer gnolls’ camp and killed their chieftain, Bustak. The chapter left Kurdran leading another bombing raid against a gnoll settlement.

• Kurdran bombed a murloc group, but Karin stopped him from killing the survivors and ordered the gryphon riders to follow them to their lair.
• Kurdran’s riders doused the murloc lair with oil, and Karin used Forbidden Flame to destroy it.
• Bustak fell in love with Karin while Karin was disguised as a female gnoll named Sylvanas, then died when Karin revealed his true form and enchanted him.
• Karin set Arcane Nodes in the gnoll lair and left under Invisibility.
• Kurdran followed a glowing map to another gnoll settlement and ordered the gryphon riders to raze it with explosives.

As the Wetlands became safer and more productive, Karin supported farming, crop research, and food preservation while accepting human refugees. The North Khaz Modan Company was established in Grim Batol, and its profits and military backing made the Wetlands a rising power in the Eastern Kingdoms.

• Mages, dwarves, and bounty hunters drove the murlocs and Mossflayer Gnolls toward extinction in the Wetlands.
• Karin accepted human refugees from Stromgarde, Alterac, and Stormwind, and new human settlements appeared across the Wetlands.
• Ansirem Runeweaver researched faster-growing crops, Wadela developed fertilizers, and Arugal created a preservation spell that enabled long-distance transport of fresh meat.
• Kurdran Wildhammer became general manager of the North Khaz Modan Company, while Karin and other contributors received company stakes.
• Revilgaz sent goblins to study the company after its profits and dominance of the Eastern Kingdoms meat market drew widespread attention.

Brann Bronzebeard arrived to see Karin, bringing a letter from King Magni offering to transfer Ironforge’s Wetlands outposts to Karin. The letter also revealed that the Bronzebeards wanted Karin’s help exploring Titan ruins in the Badlands, where the Dark Iron dwarves were also interested.

• Brann traveled from Antonidas Harbor to Stonewrought Dam, where Kurdran Wildhammer confronted him and followed him to the Floating City.
• Karin met Kurdran and Brann, who delivered a letter from his elder brother, King Magni.
• Karin read that Magni was offering Ironforge’s more than twenty Wetlands outposts to him.
• Brann explained that the Bronzebeards had found possible Titan ruins in the Badlands, with earthen inside who might be connected to dwarf origins.
• Brann revealed that the Dark Iron dwarves had their eyes on the ruins, and Kurdran warned Karin to decide carefully.

Karin agreed to help Bryan explore the Titan ruins in the Badlands, which he believed were Uldaman, and assembled an elite expedition to secure the Discs of Norgannon. As the party gathered at Grim Batol, a red Dragon arrived and terrified Bryan.

• Karin recognized the Badlands ruins as likely Uldaman and accepted Bryan’s request to explore them.
• Karin asked Kurdran to gather twenty or thirty elite Gryphon Riders and summoned trusted High Mages for the expedition.
• Kurdran told Anduin Lothar about the expedition, and Lothar asked to join it.
• Bryan toured Naxxramas before Kurdran and the expedition gathered at Grim Batol with about forty Gryphons and several Wizards.
• Bryan recognized Lothar among the assembled riders, then panicked and ran when a red Dragon flew toward Grim Batol.

Karin’s group searched the Badlands for a hidden entrance to Titan ruins while avoiding the Dark Iron Dwarves. Alexstrasza sensed the entrance in a rock wall, and the group blasted it open behind a magical shield.

• Karin led the group into the Badlands at night and landed in a valley Bryan identified as the likely site of the ruins.
• Bryan explained that the Explorer’s League had found Titan traces nearby, while Kurdran complained that the entrance was nowhere to be seen.
• Karin asked Alexstrasza to sense the ruins, and she pointed out an inconspicuous section of rock wall.
• Karin had Arugal and Ruin shield the area with magic while Kurdran set off explosives against the wall.
• Kurdran cleared the shattered rocks, revealing an underground opening, and Bryan confirmed they had found it.

Karin led the group through a cavern toward the buried Titan Ruins and used Arcane positioning to locate a massive gate. He opened it with an Unlock spell, but Lothar sensed something behind it.

• Brann Bronzebeard sent Grybe into the cavern, then led the group inside after the gorilla’s cry confirmed the passage was safe.
• Karin ordered the group to leave the gryphons with guards, while Alexstrasza stayed outside and the others entered the narrow cavern.
• Karin sent several mages into separate tunnels to perform Arcane positioning and used Atiesh to create a map of the cavern.
• Arugal found a metal gate marked with strange symbols, and Bryan identified it as the entrance to the Titan Ruins.
• Bryan suggested using Kurdran’s explosives to open the gate, but Kurdran refused because they were inside a cave.
• Karin cast Unlock and raised the gate, while Lothar warned that something was behind it.