~ HISTORY ~
583 - The Orcs invade Azeroth (Warcraft: Orcs and Humans)
The nation of Azeroth was in decline. Mysterious plagues consumed the countryside, killing the inhabitants and destroying the crops. The weather had altered, becoming severe. The peasants began to grow restless, despite the many great minds that searched for answers, none had yet been presented. But even darker still were the rumors. Rumors of isolated farmsteads razed. Whispers of outlying villages ransacked and slaughtered. Shadows of hulking manlike beings were seen in dark forests and on secluded trails.
And then with a terrifying suddenness, Stormwind Keep was attacked. What was once rumor was now fact as an army of grotesque green skinned humanoids launched a savage assault on the very heart of Azeroth. The creatures, who called themselves Orcs, were beaten back from Stormwind Keep. However, battle was joined, and a new war raged as the Humans and Orcs began a long and brutal campaign of butchery...
584 - Prince Llane ascends the throne of Azeroth
A year after the Orcs invaded, the King Wrynn of Azeroth was dead. His son, Crown Prince Llane, ascended to the throne. The war with the Orcs continued. At the time, it was uncertain where these beasts had come from. The wisest scholars of the time remained firm on the stance that the Orcs were definitely not creatures of Azeroth. Despite their origins, they remained the single greatest threat to the nation of Azeroth. King Llane vowed to drive these beings from Azeroth and back to whatever hell they had spawned from...
593 - Aegwynn learns that Medivh opened the Dark Portal and allows the Orcs to invade
For ten harsh years the combatants of this deadly struggle continued to march and maneuver on each other, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides. The High Marshals of Azeroth became gravely concerned, however. The Orcs, whose army was relatively undisciplined and unorganized, had been forced into the swamps and were unable to gain ground in quite some years. Despite this, the Orc numbers only seemed to grow. It was becoming a desperate matter of attrition, and the scales would eventually lean heavily in the favor of the Orcs.
The warring with the Orcs had not gone unnoticed. Aegwynn, from her mystical journeys, sensed the disturbance and returned to find Azeroth ravaged by the ongoing conflict. She quickly sought out her son, Medivh, for answers. To her surprise and horror, she learned of Medivh's treachery. In his quest for power, he had contacted the Orcs on their alien world of Draenor, and struck a bargain with them: in return for the spoils of war, the Orcs would overthrow Azeroth and allow him to ascend the throne. With his vast magical powers, Medivh opened the Dark Portal which had allowed and continued to allow the Orcs to pour into Azeroth.
Disgusted with her son's treachery, Aegwynn attacked him. His powers were too strong, and after an exhausting magical battle, only a stalemate could be achieved. However, he succeeded in banishing her from his tower. She quickly sought out King Llane to warn him of Medivh's betrayal. Then once again, she disappeared from the world of Azeroth...
598 - Stormwind Keep falls and Medivh is killed
The Horde, as the Orcs called their massive army, began to battle its way out of the swamps. Many brave men died trying to stave off the increasing tide of Orcs. Yet with each passing battle, the Orcs gained ground and began to threaten the very capital itself, Stormwind Keep. In a desperate bid to stop the Horde, and armed with the knowledge of Medivh's treachery, a band of adventurers sought him out in his desolate tower. Medivh, taken by surprise, was slain in the courageous assault. Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect.
The Dark Portal continued to operate, even without Medivh's guidance. And every day more Orcs passed through the Portal. It was not long before the glorious walls of Stormwind Keep became the scene of a bloody last stand as the forces of Azeroth defended their last stronghold. Realizing that Stormwind Keep was doomed to fall before the massive Horde, King Llane ordered Lord Anduin Lothar to lead as many people as he could away, to escape across the sea to the lands of Lordaeron. Meanwhile, King Llane and a handful of defenders fought heroically to buy the refugees time to escape. Stormwind Keep did fall, but the selfless sacrifice of King Llane and his men allowed Lord Lothar and the refugees to safely escape its destruction.
Shortly after the fall of Stormwind Keep, the Horde's advance ground to a sudden halt. It is widely believed that certain factions within the Horde turned on one another in vie for leadership of the Orc army.
599 - The Horde invades Lordaeron (Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness)
With all of Azeroth and Khaz Modan firmly under their control, and under the leadership of a new Orc warlord, the Horde began to build a massive navy. With an impressive force of large Juggernaughts, Destroyers, and other vessels, the Horde looked north to the lands of Lordaeron. Ever greedy for the spoils of war, they launched a massive invasion of Lordaeron.
The survivors of Azeroth knew full well that the day would come when the Horde chased them across the sea, and they were prepared. Unfortunately, the other nations of Lordaeron were skeptical of their claims. Rumors they were called. But once again rumors were proven true as the Horde landed on the shores of Lordaeron. With a brutal efficiency the orcs burned wide swathes of Lordaeron to the ground before its peoples united to defeat them. Battles of unseen proportions raged as both sides unleashed hellish magic and deadly war machines on the other.
For a long, bitter year the two mighty armies clashed in titanic displays of barbarism and destruction. However, the Alliance of Lordaeron was gaining the upper hand, and slowly drove the Horde into the sea. Unfortunately, Quel'Thalas was destroyed in the process.
600 - The Horde is defeated and the Dark Portal is destroyed
The war raged on. Blood stained the lands of Lordaeron and Azeroth, as the Alliance continued to push the Horde further and further back. It was in the shadow of Blackrock Spire, the self appointed base of operations for the Horde, that the Alliance and the Orcs squared off in what was to be the largest, and most decisive battle of the war. Laying siege to the Horde, who had holed up in the Spire, it wasn't long before the leaders of the Alliance realized that the siege could last indefinitely. In an act of brazen audacity, the Alliance launched a massive assault on the Horde's positions.
The battle was fierce and deadly. Thousands of men, elves, and orcs littered the battlefield. The ground itself was torn assunder from the devastating blasts of magic and machines. Mighty heroes on both sides fell. But it was the death of Lord Lothar that would turn the tide of the battle. The Alliance, spurred on by the death of their beloved hero, fought on determinedly, destroying the Horde and leveled Blackrock Spire. Routed and in full flight before the victorious Alliance, the Horde retreated even further to the Dark Portal.
The Alliance pursued the orcs and engaged them in one final battle around the Dark Portal. The Horde, in shambles, was no match for the Alliance, and was crushed and the Dark Portal destroyed. Many of the surviving orcs were captured and placed in prison camps. Some escaped into the wilderness, evading capture, and continued to harass the Alliance, but the whole of the Orcish threat was at an end...
601 - The Dark Portal is re-opened. (Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal)
Like so many things, it is unclear how the Orcs managed to reopen the Dark Portal. Yet, in the year 601, the Dark Portal was reopened, and the Horde once again threatened all of Azeroth. Raiding parties quickly beset the lands. However, unlike past experiences with the often mindless destruction of the Horde, these raiding parties sought out specific artifacts and whisked them back through the Dark Portal.
Fearing the dark schemes of the Horde, the Alliance hurriedly assembled an army under the leadership of General Turalyon, and sent them through the Dark Portal. Their mission was twofold: Stop whatever plot involved these stolen artifacts, and destroy the Orcs once and for all...
602 - Both Draenor and the Dark Portal are destroyed
Correspondence with General Turalyon's army was intermittent. From what little the scribes can gather, his army engaged the Horde in several running battles across the face of Draenor. General Turalyon and his army were never seen or heard from again. However, it is widely believed that some dire catastrophe was occuring in Draenor that caused the world to die. Whatever the case, the Dark Portal was once and for all destroyed, perhaps through the sacrifice of General Turalyon and his brave men.
603 - The Demon Soul is destroyed
Even though the link to Draenor, and possibly Draenor itself, had been destroyed, the threat of the renegade orcs that had continued to evade capture remained. Although at first the renegades proved to be no real concern, a clever Orc warlord changed that. In his possession was the powerful artifact known as the Demon Soul. Created by the Great Dragons as a weapon to be used against the Burning Legion, it also had the ability to control dragons. With the Demon Soul, the Orc warlord enslaved Alexstrasza and her red dragons. With the mighty dragons at his beck and call, he launched many devastating raids against the Alliance, while secretly building a vast army at Grim Batol.
Knowing that this threat must be extinguished, the mage Rhonin rallied a small force of warriors and invaded Grim Batol. In an epic clash, Rhonin defeated the orc warlord, and destroyed the Demon Soul. Free of her enslavement, Alexstrasza and the red dragons destroyed the last of the orcs hidden at Grim Batol.
616 - The Lands are at Unrest (present time)
It is the spring of the year 616. Though it has been several years since the destruction of the Demon Soul and the lands have had time to rebuild, there is still unrest.
The leaders of the Alliance nations have begun to bicker and argue over territorial holdings and decreasing political influence. King Terenas of Lordaeron has began to suspect that the fragile pact they had forged during their darkest hour will not last for much longer. Terenas has convinced the Alliance leaders to lend money and laborers to help rebuild the southern kingdom of Stormwind, which had been destroyed during the orcish occupation of Azeroth. The higher taxes that have resulted, along with the high expense of maintaining and operating the numerous orc internment camps, led many leaders - Genn Greymane of Gilneas in particular - to believe that their kingdoms will be better off seceding from the Alliance.
In addition, several creatures of the land continue to harass and threaten the people who are trying to rebuild. There is even rumor of Orc raids in the south, and new Troll attacks to the north.
Worse yet, there are rumors spreading in the dark places of Lordaeron of a great power that promises immortality to those willing to follow the call…..
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