World of Warcraft Gifts

First war –The Orc Invasion of Azeroth

The First War was fought between the Orcs and Humans following the arrival on Azeroth, through the First Dark Portal, of the Orcish Clans:-

Kil’jaeden, a lieutenant of Sargeras in the ranks of the Burning Legion, deceived Ner’zhul, a prominent Orc Leader, into believing the Draenei were plotting against them. He promised in return for serving the Burning Legion to give the Orcs the power to defeat their enemies. To receive this power the Orcs would have to drink the blood of the Demonic Pit Lord Mannoroth.

This act however put the Orcs under the Blood Curse, and with their aggression heightened and their spirits twisted by this, the once peaceful and honourable Orc tribes of the planet Draenor, turned on their neighbours the Draenei. The slaughter that followed united the Orcs under a single banner for the first time, and drove the surviving Draenei from their home planet.

Ner’zhul found out about Kil’jaeden’s betrayal and sought to free the Orcs from his grasp but his apprentice Gul’dan informed Kil’jaeden, who stripped Ner’zhul of any power and placed Gul’dan at the head of the Orc tribes.

The problem now for Gul’dan however, was that with no enemies left to fight the Orcs started to turn on each other. Gul’dan realized that unless he found a new enemy for the Horde, it would be in danger of destroying itself.

It was soon after this that Gul’dan was contacted by the powerful but corrupted and possessed human mage known as Medivh, he offered the Orcs a way to invade a world called Azeroth, which according to Medivh was ripe for the picking. The force that possessed Medivh was Sargeras a corrupted and disillusioned Vanir Titan and leader and creator of the Burning Legion, who wanted revenge on the humans of Azeroth for thwarting his previous attempts to conquer the planet.

Medivh with the power of Sargeras and the help of the Orc Shadow Council, created a Dark Portal connecting the two worlds of Azeroth and Draenor, the portal on Azeroth is located in Blasted Lands with the Draenor side in Hellfire Peninsula.

Once the portal was large enough, Gul’dan used it to usher his massive Horde army of Orcs through, along with the only loosely termed allies that the Orcs had at that time, the Ogres. This event heralded the start of the Hordes Invasion of Azeroth and the start of the First Great War.

Despite warnings from the Shadow Council of caution, the Orcs having encountered little resistance initially and under the influence of the Bloodlust expected an easy victory against a weak opponent. Led by Cho’gall and Kilrogg Deadeye they rushed to attack the fortress of the strongly garrisoned Stormwind Keep, but their vast numbers were no match for the Azerothian soldiers shield wall and then when the Knights of the Brotherhood of the Horse charged their flanks the Orcs, having never encountered cavalry before, broke and were routed and chased relentlessly by the Knights. The Orcs suffered a massive defeat with few surviving the initial battle, and the remainder were forced to flee back to Draenor.

After this defeat the Horde rallied under their Warchief Blackhand the Destroyer who was a great tactician and a respected warrior. Blackhand was egotistical and had a thirst for power this made him an easy target for Gul’dan and the Shadow Council to manipulate. Under Blackhands leadership the Orc Horde pushed forward again into Azeroth with renewed success until finally they were once again at the gates of Stormwind.

Just before the final assault took place, while Gul’dan was in a coma, having tried to penetrate Medivhs mind to find out the location of the Tomb of Sargeras as Medivh was killed by Lord Anduin Lothar. Orgrim Doomhammer one of Blackhands generals, took advantage of the situation to slay Blackhand the Destroyer and take control of the Orcs, he also broke the power of the controlling Shadow Council, killing most of them and declaring all Warlocks traitors.

Doomhammer led the Orc tribes in the attack on Stormwind Keep, this time the city struggled to hold off the full might of the Horde. During this second assault King Llane Wrynn I was assassinated by the half Orc Garona Halforcen, an act that signalled the fall of Stormwind. The Human Kingdom of Azeroth was almost completely destroyed, and the few survivors including the new heir to the throne Varian Wrynn, led by Anduin Lothar, were forced to flee north to Lordaeron where they sought shelter and aid from King Terenas Menethil II who was a long time ally of Stormwind.