Chapter Summaries

Farad revealed himself as a black dragon and attacked Jiang Jie, while the Assassins' League mobilized to confront him. Jiang Jie prepared to fight Farad with Nightbane and Strom'kar as Duke Jorach led hundreds of allies toward the dragon.

• Farad burst through the net in his black dragon form and flew at Jiang Jie, confident that his defenses would defeat Jiang's weapons and skeletal dragon.
• Kuhn ordered the Assassins' League to surround Farad, while a High Elf rode to Ravenholdt Manor to alert Duke Jorach.
• Duke Jorach learned that Farad was a black dragon, summoned the League, and rushed out in rogue gear as hundreds of members assembled.
• Lilian followed Jorach and was astonished by the League's master rogues, hunters, mages, and other powerful members.
• Jiang Jie watched Farad reveal his true form, changed into his Trollstalker set, and raised Strom'kar as Nightbane climbed into the air.

Jiang Jie fought the ancient black dragon Farad, whose scales resisted Strom'kar and who badly overwhelmed Nightbane. After Jiang Jie severely wounded Farad with an explosive charge, Farad fled into the sky and threatened the Fenris Isles, so Jiang Jie mounted Pyralis to pursue him.

• Jiang Jie leaped onto Farad's back and thrust Strom'kar at him, but Farad's scales stopped the divine sword.
• Farad overpowered Nightbane in midair, tearing out more than a dozen of the bone dragon's bones.
• Jiang Jie banished the Void Abyssal, attached an explosive charge to Farad's scales with glue, and detonated it, badly injuring Farad.
• Farad recognized Jiang Jie as Nicholas, threatened to destroy the Fenris Isles, and fled skyward.
• Jiang Jie summoned Pyralis from Strom'kar, mounted the Shadow Phoenix, and set off after Farad.

Jiang Jie pursued the wounded black dragon Farad into the Hinterlands, where Duke Jorach and Ravenholdt's elite forces caught up and surrounded him. Farad was trapped with no clear way to escape.

• Jiang Jie flew ahead of Duke Jorach's gryphon force and caught Farad in the air, then stabbed his exposed back with the divine sword and Pyralis's flames.
• Farad failed to shake Jiang Jie off, then flew into the Hinterlands, tore through the forest, and transformed into a human to escape in Stealth.
• Jiang Jie tracked Farad with the gaming pod's scanner and followed him from the sky until Duke Jorach's forces arrived.
• Duke Jorach spotted Farad's tracks, and a gnome mage froze the grass to reveal him.
• Ravenholdt's hunters and rogues cut off Farad's escape routes and surrounded him as Duke Jorach confronted him.

Duke Jorach and his allies attacked Farad, an ancient black dragon, while Jiang Jie waited for his chance to strike. Jorach and Jiang Jie blinded Farad, leaving the dragon enraged and the battle ongoing.

• Duke Jorach decided to keep Jiang Jie as an ally and accepted his promise to help attack Farad.
• Duke Jorach ordered the rogues and other fighters to attack Farad, who transformed into his dragon form and devastated the gryphons and Troll warlord.
• The Archmage, High Elf ranger, Night Elf beastmaster, and Troll warlord struck Farad with spells, arrows, poison, and a battle-axe.
• Duke Jorach climbed onto Farad and stabbed his left eye with a dagger.
• Jiang Jie shot Farad's other eye from the back of a phoenix, blinding the ancient black dragon.

Jiang Jie killed the ancient black dragon Farad and negotiated with Duke Jorach over the dragon’s remains and cooperation against the Syndicate. He left the Hinterlands as the Assassins' League’s second-in-command, bound to the organization by an agreement with no actual authority.

• Farad tried to flee while blinded, but Jiang Jie leaped from a tree and drove Strom'kar into his neck, killing him with a chi-fueled strike.
• Wildhammer Gryphon Riders witnessed Farad’s death, and the Wildhammer Dwarves demanded compensation and a share of the dragon’s corpse.
• Duke Jorach stayed behind to negotiate with the Wildhammer lord, while Jiang Jie returned to Ravenholdt Manor to bring Lilian and the wounded Nightbane to the Hinterlands.
• Duke Jorach sought a commission for cooperation against the Syndicate, but Jiang Jie paid no money and instead gave up his share of Farad’s corpse and accepted Duke Jorach’s request.
• Jiang Jie became the Assassins' League’s second-in-command, taking Farad’s place in a position with no actual authority.

Jiang Jie learned that the Dreadlords Varimathras and Detheroc had taken control of the Syndicate and Stromgarde, threatening to plunge Lordaeron into famine and chaos. Duke Jorach agreed that the Assassins' League could target them but demanded sufficient payment, suggesting a fief as an alternative to money.

• Duke Jorach gave Jiang Jie a report revealing that Varimathras and Detheroc had appeared in Alterac and Stromgarde.
• Jiang Jie explained how Varimathras had replaced Aliden Perenolde and Detheroc had taken the place of Thoras Trollbane after manipulating Galen Trollbane into killing his father.
• Jiang Jie warned that the Syndicate's grain stockpiling could fuel its growth and bring Lordaeron to famine and chaos.
• Duke Jorach said Ravenholdt Manor could assassinate the Dreadlords but would face their eventual revenge when they returned from the Twisting Nether.
• Duke Jorach rejected money as the only possible payment and suggested Jiang Jie provide a fief.

Jiang Jie weighed Duke Jorach’s demand for a large fief in exchange for the Assassins' League’s help expanding Lordaeron’s territory. He agreed to report the demand to Calia, while Duke Jorach vowed to earn the merit he needed and predicted the Syndicate’s destruction within a month.

• Duke Jorach argued that the Assassins' League deserved a ducal fief for helping Lordaeron defeat the Syndicate and take Stromgarde, the Alterac Mountains, and the Arathi Highlands.
• Duke Jorach marked a vast territory around Ravenholdt Manor, including Durnholde Keep and Tarren Mill, as the fief he wanted, and Jiang Jie objected to its size and strategic value.
• Jiang Jie considered Lordaeron’s need for the Assassins' League’s help and agreed to present Duke Jorach’s demands to Calia, expecting Marquis Lawrence to negotiate within three days.
• Jiang Jie departed on Nightbane as the Wildhammer Gryphon Riders approached, and Duke Jorach said he needed to earn enough merit to secure his reward.
• Duke Jorach warned that a fourth faction was present in Stromgarde and predicted that the Syndicate would cease to exist within a month.

Jiang Jie assessed Stromgarde’s weakness and learned that Prince Galin had secretly visited the royal crypts, where King Thoradin might still be buried. He asked Carlos to take him there to investigate.

• Jiang Jie surveyed Stromgarde’s troubled lands and concluded that he needed to expose Detheroc and unite the city before confronting its enemies.
• Jiang Jie found Carlos, who revealed that Galin had entered the royal crypts three nights earlier and emerged looking terrified.
• Jiang Jie recalled that the crypts were protected by magic and that Galin likely possessed the four sigils needed to enter.
• Jiang Jie suspected Thoradin’s body might still be in the crypts and told Carlos to take him there.

Jiang Jie infiltrated Stromgarde’s burial chambers and discovered Kel'Thuzad preparing to resurrect King Thoradin as a Death Knight. He realized the Cult of the Damned’s vast conversion array could raise generations of the royal dead and seize Stromgarde, so he ordered Xiao Feng to find its weakness.

• Jiang Jie and Carlos entered the cemetery, where Jiang Jie discovered that the protective barrier was gone but magical sentries remained.
• Jiang Jie spotted Kel'Thuzad and other Cult of the Damned members inside the burial chambers, then slipped past their sentries in Stealth.
• Jiang Jie learned that Kel'Thuzad planned to turn King Thoradin into a Death Knight, potentially as part of his Four Horsemen plan.
• Kel'Thuzad began the resurrection ritual, and Jiang Jie discovered that the conversion array covered every burial chamber and targeted the remains of the Trollbane and Thoradin families.
• Jiang Jie realized the Cult’s plan could give the Scourge control of Stromgarde and ordered Xiao Feng to find the conversion array’s weakness.

Jiang Jie destroyed the cursed grimoire at the heart of Kel'Thuzad's conversion array, weakening the archlich and disrupting the resurrection ritual. As Pyralis kept Kel'Thuzad occupied, Jiang Jie turned to King Thoradin's corpse and prepared to give him a sword.

• Jiang Jie identified the cursed grimoire as the conversion array's greatest weakness and attacked it with Strom'kar.
• Strom'kar split the grimoire, collapsing the array and causing a devastating backlash that injured Kel'Thuzad and the necromancers.
• Jiang Jie pressed his attack, but Kel'Thuzad escaped, restored his hand, and began casting from the Book of Medivh.
• Jiang Jie summoned Pyralis, which burned the Cult of the Damned members and forced Kel'Thuzad to interrupt his casting.
• Jiang Jie found King Thoradin's corpse back in its coffin, noticed Trol'kalar was missing, and decided to give Thoradin another sword instead.

Jiang Jie resurrected King Thoradin with Apocalypse, and Thoradin defeated the demonic sword’s will and claimed control of it. As the mausoleum began collapsing after Kel'Thuzad escaped, Thoradin led Jiang Jie deeper inside.

• Jiang Jie drove Apocalypse into King Thoradin’s corpse, and the sword poured death energy into him to resurrect and empower him.
• King Thoradin fought Apocalypse for dominance while Jiang Jie stood ready to kill him if he fell under the sword’s control.
• King Thoradin overcame Apocalypse and pulled it from his chest, becoming its master.
• Jiang Jie sensed Kel'Thuzad’s escape and learned that he had crushed a sigil to trigger the mausoleum’s collapse.
• With the entrance buried and the tomb falling apart, King Thoradin told Jiang Jie to follow him deeper into the mausoleum.

Carlos watched Detheroc investigate the collapsed tomb, then saw the marquis return to Stromgarde with a resurrected King Thoradin and the Arathor Cavalry. The Death Knight and cavalry entered the city, ready to confront whoever held it.

• Carlos saw a Lich destroy a sigil before teleporting away from the collapsed tomb, then watched Detheroc and Prince Galin inspect the cemetery through the night.
• Carlos signed up to clear the cemetery and searched for three days, hoping to learn whether his lord had survived.
• The Arathor Cavalry rode toward Stromgarde as a bone dragon carrying the marquis and a Death Knight resembling King Thoradin arrived overhead.
• Carlos recognized the marquis, who met his gaze and smiled, confirming that he was alive.
• The Death Knight entered the city, followed by the Arathor Cavalry, whose riders prepared to draw their swords.

King Thoradin and Marquis Jiang Jie led their forces toward Stromgarde’s palace, where Detheroc’s deception had divided the guards and citizens. After assassins fought the Dreadlord’s controlled forces in the streets, Jiang Jie exposed Detheroc as a Dreadlord, and the true king launched the battle.

• King Thoradin entered Stromgarde with the Arathor cavalry, while Marquis Jiang Jie arrived on a bone dragon and Shadow Phoenix.
• A guard captain led men against King Thoradin, but hidden assassins swiftly killed them.
• Detheroc’s controlled people attacked others throughout the city, and a hundred assassins intervened to stop the violence.
• King Thoradin and Detheroc faced each other with their forces as Stromgarde’s guards hesitated over which king to believe.
• Jiang Jie stabbed Detheroc, revealing his Dreadlord form and triggering demons to attack the guards.
• King Thoradin charged Detheroc with Apocalypse as the Arathor cavalry surged into battle.

Kel'Thuzad sent an army of Undead Orcs toward Go'Shek Farm while Stromgarde's defenders fought to reclaim the city from Detheroc. Jiang Jie and King Thoradin cornered the Dreadlord, and a gnome Archmage's mithril net and explosives destroyed his bat swarm, sending him back to the Twisting Nether.

• Kel'Thuzad led more than a thousand Undead Orcs toward Go'Shek Farm to raise more forces for the Scourge.
• Duke Falconcrest ordered the Syndicate to stay hidden as Stromgarde's townspeople took shelter and fighting spread through the streets.
• The Arathor cavalry routed the Stromgarde guards, and the remaining guards turned against Detheroc after seeing him reveal his Dreadlord form.
• Jiang Jie and King Thoradin attacked Detheroc with help from Nightbane and the Shadow Phoenix, forcing him to try to escape as bats.
• A gnome Archmage trapped Detheroc's bats in a mithril net with explosives, and the Shadow Phoenix consumed the remains after the blast sent Detheroc back to the Twisting Nether.

Jiang Jie and the Arathor forces defeated the demons in Stromgarde after the Assassins' League killed Detheroc, but the battle left thousands dead and the kingdom without a clear ruler. With King Thoradin now a Death Knight and Prince Galin dead, Jiang Jie and Thoradin faced the question of Stromgarde's future.

• The gnome Archmage explained that the Assassins' League had killed Detheroc with a bomb-filled iron net and then left to plan an attack on Varimathras.
• The gnome Archmage gave Jiang Jie a booklet and teleported away after Jiang Jie asked him to help train Lilian.
• King Thoradin killed many of the remaining demons, and the fighting ended after more than an hour with over three thousand casualties, including Prince Galin.
• Jiang Jie promoted Carlos into the Assassins' Order's leadership and accepted that some assassins would remain in Stromgarde to help maintain stability.
• The Arathor cavalry sealed Stromgarde's gates, while Jiang Jie and King Thoradin discussed how the kingdom would be governed now that Thoradin was an undead king and Galin was dead.

Jiang Jie discussed Stromgarde’s rebuilding and political future with King Thoradin, then offered him a new purpose among the Forsaken. Thoradin agreed to go, but Jiang Jie said they first had to finish several tasks in Stromgarde.

• King Thoradin reflected on his failures as a ruler and father while Jiang Jie proposed burying Prince Galin and Stromgarde’s war dead in a rebuilt royal cemetery.
• Jiang Jie said Earthen craftsmen and the Fenris People’s Army were coming to rebuild and defend Stromgarde, while the Arathor Cavalry would return to Refuge Pointe.
• Jiang Jie gave King Thoradin a booklet listing more than a thousand Syndicate members and proposed killing the leaders while recruiting ordinary members into the Lordaeron Assassin Corps.
• Jiang Jie explained that Faol and Alex Barov led the Forsaken and suggested King Thoradin take charge of their future undead nation.
• King Thoradin eagerly agreed to leave for the Forsaken, but Jiang Jie said they would go to Karazhan only after completing several tasks in Stromgarde.

King Thoradin entrusted Stromgarde and the Arathi Highlands to Jiang Jie, who became Grand Duke of Stromgarde and secured the city with his army. After the Boulderfist Ogres were defeated and the city began to recover, news arrived that Kel'Thuzad and Orgrim Doomhammer had captured Refuge Pointe.

• King Thoradin announced that Jiang Jie would inherit Stromgarde, and Arathi cavalrymen and guards swore allegiance to him.
• Queen Calia, backed by Uther and Lawrence, invested Jiang Jie as Grand Duke of Stromgarde and granted him the entire Arathi Highlands.
• Duke Jorach Ravenholdt and his allies drove Varimathras into the Twisting Nether, after which the Assassins' League and the Order of the Silver Hand attacked the Syndicate in the Alterac Mountains.
• The Fenris People's Army arrived in Stromgarde and, with Nightbane and the Shadow Phoenix, routed the Boulderfist Ogres and captured their stronghold.
• Brannock Blackheart led three hundred Earthen to Stromgarde to rebuild the walls and construct a tomb as order returned to the city.
• A dying Arathor cavalryman reported that Kel'Thuzad and Orgrim Doomhammer had invaded with the Undead Orcs of Hammerfall and taken Refuge Pointe.

Jiang Jie learned that Kel'Thuzad had raised Orgrim Doomhammer and an undead army in the Arathi Highlands, leaving Stromgarde dangerously exposed. With few defenders and the undead approaching, he planned to seek help from the Wildhammer Gryphon Riders and the Scarlet Crusade.

• Jiang Jie realized Kel'Thuzad had resurrected Orgrim Doomhammer and likely raised thousands of dead across the Arathi Highlands, including the fallen Arathor Cavalry.
• Jiang Jie told King Thoradin that the undead could reach Stromgarde within two days and asked what forces could help defend it.
• King Thoradin said Stromgarde had fewer than three hundred guards left and no other forces in the Arathi Highlands to call upon.
• Jiang Jie concluded Stromgarde could not be defended without reinforcements and ruled out nearby Lordaeron forces as unavailable.
• Jiang Jie planned to send Darion to request aid from the Scarlet Crusade in Southshore, while seeking faster help from Lord Falstad's Wildhammer Gryphon Riders at Aerie Peak.
• King Thoradin confidently assured Jiang Jie that Falstad would help.

Jiang Jie organized Stromgarde’s defenses against Kel'Thuzad’s advancing undead while hunting the Syndicate, Cult of the Damned, and hidden demons inside the city. Meryl joined King Thoradin’s harassment force, and Falstad Wildhammer arrived with three hundred Gryphon Riders.

• King Thoradin agreed to harass the undead with Nightbane and Pyralis while Jiang Jie kept the Earthen and Fenris People's Army in Stromgarde.
• Jiang Jie contacted Meryl and asked him to summon Aegwynn, then sent Darion and Ivan to seek reinforcements and ordered the Fenris People's Army to target Syndicate leaders.
• Jiang Jie killed Duke Falconcrest and hunted the Syndicate, Cult of the Damned, and demons hiding in Stromgarde, preventing plague outbreaks from becoming a disaster.
• Meryl arrived but could not contact Aegwynn, then joined King Thoradin and helped slow the undead advance by more than half.
• Falstad Wildhammer arrived at Stromgarde with three hundred Wildhammer Gryphon Riders.

Falstad and three hundred Wildhammer Gryphon Riders arrived in Stromgarde as reinforcements against the approaching Undead. After discussing the coming battle and the Wildhammer losses suffered in past wars, Jiang Jie promised Falstad an entire Netherspite dragon after the fight.

• Falstad landed before Jiang Jie and brought three hundred Wildhammer Gryphon Riders to support Stromgarde.
• Jiang Jie told Falstad that the Undead were less than fifty kilometers away and that they needed to attack by day before defending the city at night.
• Falstad explained how many Gryphon Riders the Wildhammer Dwarves had lost in the Second War and against the Undead, but said they would continue bearing their responsibility.
• Jiang Jie recited the inscription on Kurdran's statue, and Falstad said he had never believed his brother was dead.
• Jiang Jie promised Falstad an entire Netherspite dragon after the battle, and Falstad eagerly accepted the offer.