World of Warcraft Gifts

Formation of The Alliance of Lordaeron and the Horde

Alliance of Lordaeron

The survivors of Stormwind led by Anduin Lothar made their way to the northern Kingdom of Lordaeron to ask for aid from King Terenas Menethil II. Terenas called for an emergency council of war to discuss the Orcish threat.

King Terenas managed to enlist the support of the human kingdoms of Gilneas, Stromgarde, Dalaran, Alterac, and Kul Tiras. They also managed to gain the allegiance of the Bronzebeard Dwarves of Ironforge, the Wildhammer Dwarves of Aerie Peak, and the Gnomes of Gnomeregan. Attempts to gain the allegiance of the High Elves of Quel’Thalas had limited success as the Elves seemed initially uninterested and sent merely a pittance of their forces. These forces resulted in the Alliance of Lordaeron.

The Horde

In the last days of the First War, Orgrim Doomhammer successfully took control of the remaining Horde forces and began to bolster the Orc armies with Trolls and Ogres from beyond the Dark Portal. With Trolls, Ogres and Orcs fighting side by side, it was not long before the enterprising Goblins saw the potential profit in aiding them. The Horde gained support from Goblin machinists and mercenaries, and through use of the Demon Soul, an ancient powerful artefact the Horde managed to enslave the Red Dragon Alexstrasza and use her brood to fight for them, giving them valuable air support.

When Gul’dan awoke from his coma and found himself without allies, he “swore” allegiance to Doomhammer and began creation of the first Death Knights by instilling the souls of the dead Shadow Council into the corpses of the fallen Knights of Stormwind and creating a legion of Unholy Warriors in the service of the Warchief. These combined forces were the beginning of the Horde.

The Horde Offensive

In the 6th year after the fall of Stormwind, the Horde began their northern offensive with two simultaneously launched primary assaults. The first was a land offensive launched out of Blackrock Mountain which moved north to the Dwarf holdings in Khaz Modan. The second was a naval assault launched from the ruins of Stormwind, which sailed north taking the islands of Zul’dare, Tol Barad, and Crestfall and establishing them as naval bases. From these launching points, the Horde landed troops along the coasts of the Wetlands, the Arathi Highlands, and most importantly the southern coast of Lordaeron. Southern outposts such as Southshore, Tarren Mill and Hillsbrad were assaulted, and the Horde squeezed a large amount of troops into Lordaeron this way, assisted by the nation of Alterac who, under the leadership of Lord Aiden Perenolde, secretly provided them with maps and secret routes in return for the promise of power.

Zul’Jin, a powerful Warlord and Chieftan of the Amani Forest Trolls, and some of his champions were discovered by Horde scouts in a makeshift prison near Tarren Mill. When he heard the news, Doomhammer immediately ordered the rescue and release of the Trolls. Now in Doomhammers debt, Zul’Jin agreed to form a pact with the Orcish Horde, they agreed that the plains and valleys of Lordaeron would belong to the Horde, while the Trolls would take back their ancestral forests from their mortal enemies, the High Elves.

The Horde’s land assault proceeded to lay waste to Loch Modan, pushing the outnumbered Dwarf and Gnome forces into the city of Ironforge, who sealed themselves from the outside threat. The Bleeding Hollow Clan attempted several raids on the mighty dwarven city, to no avail. For the most part, Dwarves and Gnomes were cut off from the rest of the Alliance, apart from air support. Following the ravaging of Loch Modan, the Horde pushed further north into the Wetlands, taking Dun Algaz, Dun Modr, and Grim Batol and converting them into fortresses for the Horde. Grim Batol became the primary base for the land offensive, and was also converted into a hatchery for the enslaved Red Dragonflight. Thandol Span was a pivotal battleground in the Second War, constantly shifting in possession between the two factions.

Finally, owing to a diversion of Lord Lothars main army at Aerie Peak, the Horde succeeded in penetrating Quel’Thalas through the cliffs undetected. Together with the whole of the Amani tribe under Zul’Jin, Doomhammers troops slashed and burned their way through the Elven forests, and made it as far as Eversong Woods before the Alliance reinforcements could arrive.

Alliance counterattacks

Enraged at the attack on their borders, the Elves finally put forth their full strength in the war effort. This included the deployment of Elven Destroyers south to the Hinterlands and to the shores of Lordaeron. In Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas the Alliance managed to push back the majority of Horde forces to the shores of Hillsbrad, but not before Gul’dan was able to acquire High Elven Runestones to use in his effort to create Ogre-magi for the war effort. With support from the Elves, the Alliance was able to launch an attack on Zul’dare and end the invasion of Lordaeron. Though Hillsbrad and Southshore were nearly obliterated, the Horde navies were driven back to the shores of the Wetlands, Crestfall, and the ruins of Stormwind.

Following the victory in the north, the Alliance concentrated on pushing back the ground offensive on the edge of the Arathi Highlands on the great bridges of the Thandol Span. The first step was a bloody retaking of the Horde fortress on Tol Barad for use as a staging point for an invasion upon Dun Modr, the primary base of support for the attacks upon the Thandol Span. With naval support from Tol Barad, the Alliance ground forces were finally able to push across the Thandol Span and reclaim Dun Modr. The Alliance continued to push south, taking the base at Dun Algaz. Though they were unable to completely take the cursed fortress of Grim Batol, they effectively shattered the armies of the Horde forcing them to retreat from Khaz Modan.

After the defeat of the Horde forces in Khaz Modan, a brief pause in open combat ensued. The Horde attempted to gather more troops from the south, including the newly completed Death Knights. The Alliance began to turn their sights northward to the remnants of the Horde forces in northern Lordaeron, and to that end they sent Uther Lightbringer and his newly formed Knights of the Silver Hand to lend aid to the victims of the war. However, a minor peasant riot in Tyr’s Hand led to a discovery of a plot from Lord Perenolde of Alterac, who was attempting to destroy the Alliance from within. Learning of Perenoldes plot, the Alliance forces obliterated the small, treacherous kingdom.

Final Victory

The Siege of Lordaeron

Despite the disruptions on the home front, the Alliance continued to move south toward Blackrock Spire. While the Alliance forces found themselves outnumbered, exhausted, and in the harsh territory, the Horde forces continued to gain fresh reinforcements through the magic’s of Gul’dan and from beyond the Dark Portal. Doomhammer used the lull in combat caused by Lord Perenoldes betrayal to prepare a massive assault that would tear through the assailing forces of the Alliance and push through all the way to Lordaeron. It was a daring plan, and by sheer force of numbers it surely would have succeeded.
However, on the eve of Doomhammers planned offensive, Gul’dan, finally learning the location of the Tomb of Sargeras, took nearly half of the Horde’s forces in an attempt to raise the Tomb from the sea and claim the demonic powers for his own. Doomhammer with half his standing forces suddenly gone had no choice but to retreat. He withdrew his forces to pursue Gul’dan, in an effort to terminate his treacherous Stormreaver Clan and Twilight Clan allies. The Alliance jumped on this opportunity and proceeded to mop up the Horde’s remaining standing troops in Lordaeron, who were in shambles and without air support. Many of his troops were also cut off from the siege by Stromgardian troops under Thoras Trollbane, preventing any reinforcements from aiding the trapped warriors. The Stormreaver and Twilight’s Hammer Clan were destroyed by Doomhammers forces, and Gul’dan himself was destroyed by demons released from the tomb when it was opened.

The End of the Second War

With his forces thus weakened, Doomhammer fell back to the fortress of Blackrock, where the Alliance laid siege. In order to break the siege, Doomhammer and what followers he had left charged out of the Spire and attacked Lord Lothar and his Paladins. Doomhammer clashed with Lothar on the battlefield and after a titanic conflict that left both warriors drained, the Warchief was able to slay the Regent of Azeroth. Lothars death however did not have the effect that Doomhammer intended, rather than being demoralized; the Alliance led by Lothars lieutenant Turalyon, rallied and fought with a frenzy that shocked the Warchief himself and crushed Doomhammer’s forces, chasing them back to the Dark Portal.
Ragged and broken, the remaining Horde forces attempted a defence of the Dark Portal. In what has been described as the bloodiest battle of the Second War, the Orcs were eventually defeated, their leaders rounded up, and Doomhammer himself taken in chains. Shortly thereafter, the wizard Khadgar, flanked by the brave warriors of the Alliance, destroyed the Dark Portal. With the destruction of the Dark Portal, the Second World of Warcraft War was ended.