[Campaign] Rise of the Horde - redux

MinorCharacter · Feb 23, 2017

Hello everyone, I have messed around with the editor for years, but only recently started learning how to do anything complicated, and, inspired by the fantastic custom campaigns I found here, I have started working on a campaign covering the Horde's beginnings and journey to Azeroth.

I have found plenty of wonderful resources online here and I am knee deep in working on the first scenario. I have started this thread to ask for advice on the best tutorials for making quests, cinematics, triggers, etc... and to discuss the storyline, lore, characters, tech tree, stats, etc...

Update 2017-10-04:
New 2d map of Draenor with much more detail!
Updated mission outlines with more detail and bonus mission ideas!
Added Family Trees for Durotan, Medivh, Wrynn and the other Horde Chieftains!

The Current Mission Progression Plan:
The idea of each of the early Draenor missions is to have the main quest follow the central story, with optional side quests to help the different clans and chieftains, giving the player an opportunity to get to know the different Horde characters of the warcraft universe and what makes each clan distinct. You may see some lore choices that confuse you, I will make another spoiler tag for that.

Cinematic: WoD Trailer

Prologue: The Dream:
Where Ner'Zhul speaks to what he believes to be his deceased mate Rulkan and is told of how dangerous the Draenei are.

1: Winter's Howl:
The chieftain, Garad, is dead. Durotan has now been proclaimed chieftain of the Frostwolves by the Elements and the head shaman, Drek'thar and he is accompanied by his faithful mate, Draka. On the frozen plains of Frostfire Ridge, ogres have moved into the Bladespire Fortress once again, former home of the Mok'Nathal when they were slaves and the place where Ga'nar died. Once Durotan has cleared out the ogres, a rider from Ner'zhul arrives, summoning Durotan and the Frostwolves to Oshu'gun to discuss a threat to all Orcs. On the way there you are asked to help out several other clans with their problems so that they can make the journey as well. These include the Thunderlord, Whiteclaw and Dragonmaw clans meeting the chieftains Fenris Wolfbrother, Zagrel and Zuluhed the Whacked respectively.

Interlude: Ner'Zhul's Call:
Ner'Zhul speaks to the clan chieftains about his vision from the ancesors which is confirmed by other shaman such as Drek'Thar. He asks all clans to work in harmony and to be prepared.

2: In the Shadow of Oshu'Gun:
While hunting in their summer lands in Nagrand, the Frostwolves are among the first to draw blood, fighting Draenei hunting parties. Ner'zhul instructs that all clans must work together in these hard days, so you have the option of helping Grom Hellscream of the Warsong clan and/or Dharl of the Thrice Bloodied Blade of the Burning Blade clan against the ogres. An ogre refugee, named Cho'gall has been found by Gul'dan, and you may also choose to assist him in the task Gul'dan gave him, bringing the cave dwelling albino orcs known as 'The Pale' into the Horde. When Ner'zhul discovers that the Draenei Prophet Velen is planning on making a trip to the sacred mountain, Oshu'gun, to ask for peace with the orcs, Durotan is sent to intercept him. This chapter ends with Ner'zhul journeying to Oshu'gun himself and discovering that he has been deceived in his visions when the ancestors reject him.

Bonus Mission 1: Last Days of an Empire:
As Cho'gall and Grommash Hellscream, lead the orcs of Nagrand against Highmaul, defeating Imperator Mar'gok in a final confrontation between the mighty Ogres. Make sure to rescue the slaves from the fighting ring, including the impressive Rehgar.

Interlude: Enter the Apprentice:
Ner'zhul returns to Shadowmoon valley, trying to figure out how to fix his mistake, only to have Gul'dan betray him to Kil'Jaeden.

3: Changing Times:
Since Durotan failed to deliver Velen to the Horde, he is in low standing and still being forced to fight the Draenei. The shamans, however, have become unable to call upon the elements and Gul'dan offers to teach them to be warlocks. While gathering the forces necessary to take the Draenei village of Tuurem, you may gather allies among the few remaining Bladewind orcs, largely wiped out by the Draenei in retaliation for raids, as well as among the Bleeding Hollow clan, led by Kilrogg Deadeye and a group of outcast Arakkoa in the ruins of Kra'nak, led by Shadow-Lord Iskar.

4: Mercy's Price:
A test of loyalty is required of Durotan. He once sheltered in the Draenei city of Telmor as a child and knows the secret of how to remove its protective wards. His childhood friend, Orgrim Doomhammer, has been sent to join him with a contingent of Blackrock orcs. To bolster your forces, the Warlocks have been sent to magically age young adults into full grown warriors. Already Blackhand's children, Rend and Maim, have been aged this way. A strange thing has happened, the Warlock's skin has become green. Additional allies can be gained by helping the Shattered Hand clan, led by Kargath Bladefist or the Bonechewer clan, led by Hurkan Skullsplinter.

Bonus Mission 2: Past the Apex of Glory:
Kargath Bladefist, chieftain of the Shattered Hand clan, has been tasked with dealing with the Arakkoa, whose recent rediscovery of ancient Apexis technology poses a great threat to the Horde. With the help of the Outcast Arakkoa, Kargath can infiltrate Skyreach and bring down this ancient civilization. With their battle lust up however, the alliance with the Outcasts may not last long . . .

5: Bones of Gorgrond:
Back in the mountainous region of Gorgrond, Orgrim Doomhammer reports back to his clan chief, Blackhand. Gul'dan has made a proposal to Blackhand, suggesting he recruit the Stonemaul ogres into the Horde by eliminating their Gronn masters. Gathering the champions of the Blackrock clan, Blackhand, Orgrim Doomhammer, Rend, Maim, Tharbek, Eitrigg and the Saurfang brothers, meet with the ogres Kaz and Turok to arrange the deal. Additional help can be gained by helping the Lightning's Blade clan or Torg Earkeeper of the Laughing Skull clan, where you can see the recently adopted ogre of that clan, Mogor. Leoroxx, chieftain of the Mok'nathal, will not help you, but his son Rexxar can be convinced to join the Horde with some others. Lastly, there has been a growing need for a unified force among the Horde, and the Raiders, being used as messengers between the clans, seem the obvious choice. Help Blackhand to form a pan-clan group of Raiders, the Sythegore Arm, and a new clan to act as the scouts of the Horde, the Black Tooth Grin clan.

Interlude: The Shadow Council:
The shadow council is formed for the first time as they receive tutelage from Kil'jaeden, discuss what to do with Durotan and talk about making Blackhand warchief of the Horde. When opponents to the Horde are mentioned, Gul'dan sends an assassin to kill Zagrel, chieftain of the Whiteclaw clan.

6: Shadows Over Karabor:
The clans have been gathered in Shadowmoon Valley to prepare for an assault on the Temple of Karabor. As Durotan joins the convocation of chieftains, Blackhand is proclaimed as Warchief of the Horde, in part because he brings Ogres to the battle. Gul'dan announces a new school of magic, the Necrolytes, based on the powers of the Dark Star, and the creation of two new small clans for the training and elevation of the Necrolytes and Warlocks and one to serve the Shadow Council personally in secret, the Kil'sorrow clan. As the Horde prepares, a mountain erupts into a volcano, and Cyrukh the Firelord arrives to punish the Orcs for the damage Fel magic has done to Draenor. The warlocks and Gul'dan are now, ironically, the only hope for the Horde's survival, but by destroying Cyrukh they sever the Orcs' connection to the elements and create the fiery Fel volcano now known as the Hand of Gul'dan. For the final assault upon the Temple, the defence of which is commanded by Exarch Akama, the Horde may be strengthened in several ways. The Shadowmoon clan wishes to recruit a group of ogres led by one called Dentarg, a group of naval marauders led by Thok, calling themselves the Stormreavers, can be recruited to assault Karabor from the sea, the Redwalker clan can be brought into the fold, and several Draenei traitors, Razuun, Exarch Othaar and Velhari, can be found to help weaken Karabor's defences.

Bonus Mission 3: On the Fields of Farahlon:
Now that the Ogres are allies of the Horde, Kilrogg Deadeye, chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow clan, has access to the ships Ogres can build. Using these vessels, Kilrogg sails across the Barrier Sea to the island of Farahlon. Once there, the Draenei settlements are sacked and the warlocks of the Bleeding Hollow clan drain the life from the primals. Forests and fields are set ablaze as every Genesaur, Botani and Fara is hunted down.

Interlude: The Pact of Mannoroth:
Gul'dan and Kil'jaeden speak with Mannoroth about using his blood to empower the orcs. Ner'zhul pretends to cower in the corner but then writes a warning to Durotan.

7: The Daemon's Curse:
The Orc clans have been called to the Tanaan peninsula to meet at a newly constructed fortress, the Helfire Citadel. While awaiting the arrival of all the clans, an escort is needed to for Teron'gor, Vorpil Ribcleaver and O'mogg Blackheart on their way to Auchindoun, and Karga Rageroar of the Rageroar clan requires help dealing with tribes of Saberon in his domain. At the summit of the Citadel, with all the clans gathered, Gul'dan offers them the blood of a daemon to make them all stronger. Grom Hellscream announces that he wishes to be first to drink, but because of the letter he received from Ner'zhul, Durotan refuses to partake. Invigorated by this new power, the Orcs charge en masse to attack Shattrath City, seeing for the first time their new benefactor, Kil'jaeden. As the city falls under overwhelming force of numbers, some Draenei, including the Vindicators Maraad and Nobundo, escape the city. In the aftermath of the battle, Velen goes into hiding with what remains of his people and Kil'jaeden chooses to abandon the Orcs.

Interlude: Visions in the Twisting Nether
Gul'dan wanders through the Twisting Nether, contemplating recent events. Vorpil and O'mogg have not been heard from since the explosion that tore Auchindoun apart, though Teron'gor survived, with the fall of the Ogre empire of Highmaul, the Primal bastion of Farahlon and the Arakkoa of Skyreach, the Horde has no true enemies left on Draenor and has taken to infighting between clans. To top this all off, as Draenor continues to die around them, Gul'dan's acolytes, and many other wielders of power, have been visited by a strange entity that has frightened his followers, and even, he believes, his tutor Kil'jaeden, explaining the absence of the Daemon in the Twisting Nether. Gul'dan feels insulted that he has not been visitied by this being, and so seeks him out. Finally, Gul'dan encounters the wizard, Medivh, who shows him a vision of a world called Azeroth, promising him a new opportunity for the Orcish Horde.

8: The Rift:
Gul'dan has arrived at Helfire Citadel to issue instructions to his most trusted servants. A portal must be found that could be the salvation of the Horde. With his now forcibly aged assassin Garona at his side, Gul'dan must recruit scouts from the Bleeding hollow clan and the young Black Tooth Grin clan by helping them to clear out rogue pockets of Saberon, Ogres, Broken and Zangar spawn. Once the portal is found, the first scouts sent through return practically mad from what they have seen. The rift is expanded as a proper archway is built, and the clans that will go through first are assembled. Scouts inform Gul'dan that the Burning Blade clan has lost itself to the madness of bloodlust and Ogres must be sent to keep them in check, and Blackhand has lost his position as Warchief due to the infighting among the Horde. Instead, Cho'gall and Kilrogg Deadeye have been named the commanders of the Horde for their heroics against the Highmaul Ogres and the Primals respectively. As the final sacrifice is prepared by Gul'dan, Durotan speaks out against him, but is unable to stop it. The Portal opens with full intensity, and the first wave of clans, Blackrock, Black Tooth Grin, Bleeding Hollow, Twilight's Hammer, Warlock, Necrolyte, Frostwolves and Stormreavers, pours through.

Cinematic: The Dark Portal (From the Warcraft Movie)

9: A Swamp of Sorrows:
A new world beckons, green, verdant, teeming with life. Orgrim Doomhammer leads his war party against the new enemies in this strange morass. Outposts of the soft pink things called humans are easy enough to kill, but groups of Jungle Trolls and some of the larger swamp life prove more challenging. With leadership among the Horde no longer centralized, the clans are not fighting as one. Blackhand orders Orgrim to aid in the construction of several villages, Stonard, Rockard and Kyross, and to try to recruit the Jungle Trolls into the Horde. As a group the trolls are hesitant about joining the Horde, though some mercenaries with a strong hatred for humans can be recruited. Rumours among the Trolls tell of other Troll nations far away that may be more receptive to Blackhand's offer. Cho'gall and Kilrogg are assembling forces to attack the human capital of Stormwind,but Blackhand, still smarting from his demotion, refuses to join them. When Orgrim goes to check on his friend Durotan, he finds that Durotan and the Frostwolves have been ordered to forge north ahead of the rest of the Horde.

Bonus Mission 4: The Iron Pack:
Meanwhile, on Draenor, Fenris and his sons hunt for Gronn in the Bladespire mountains. Despite their best efforts, and their joyous slaughter of many of their ancient enemies, the Gronn known as Gruul manages to evade their hunting parties and assaults upon his holdings in Gorgrond prove ineffectual.

Interlude: Assaulting the Storm:
In the castle of the city of Stormwind, Prince Llane Wrynn of Stormwind rushes to his father's side, carrying the Hourglass of Fate, the sands having run down in the night. King Barathen "Adament" Wrynn III takes the glass, a chill running through the very core of his bering. As the last sands drain into the bottom of the glass, a great crashing sound is heard at the gates of Stormwind Keep. Suddenly, the grounds are filled with hideous creatures, the Orcs of the Bleeding Hollow and Twilight's Hammer clans. They swarm over the King's guard and tear them to shreds, victory would have been assured for the Orcs, but for the arrival of great, mounted soldiers. The knights of Azeroth arrived riding beasts of muscle and sinew, crashing through the ranks of the Orcs, driving them from the castle. King Barathen sends Llane and Queen Varia away with an escort of knights to Northshire Abbey, promising to call for them when the foul beasts are destroyed.

10: Blood on Redridge:
Attempting to claim the township of Lakeshire in the Redridge mountains, Blackhand is ambushed by Lothar and King Barathen. Only the fel magic of the warlocks saves Blackhand's life. Now he leads a larger force back to the mountains, determined to drive Lothar back with sheer numbers, and gain the honour of killing the king in single combat. If he can kill Barathen himself, then the honour he gains will help to elevate him to the position of Warchief once again. Although it is less honourable, extra help can be gained from the Gnoll tribes of Redridge mountains who hate the humans and remember when they used to rule these lands. Until Blackhand has gathered the resources and support he needs to return, however, Orgrim Doomhammer and the survivors of Blackhand's expedition must hold out against the advancing waves of Human soldiers.

Interlude: Ascendancy of Blackhand:
Time passes and infighting between the clans threatens to break out into full scale civil war again with Cho'Gall and Kilrogg as the leaders of the two factions. As leader of the Sythegore raiders, the massive Blackrock clan, the successful leader of the Draenei campaign, killer of Barathen Wrynn and someone who spoke against the assault of Stormwind, it is easy for the Shadow Council to put Blackhand back on the throne of warchief. Blackhand solidifies his position by bringing over orcs loyal to him, the Dragonmaw clan, Rageroar and Burning Blade, while he leaves others, like Grom and Fenris, behind so they don't challenge his leadership.

11: Rebellious Daughter:
Blackhand's daughter, Griselda, has become fed up with her father and abandoned him to join the band of rebellious Ogres led by Turok, currently hiding in a place the humans call 'The Deadmines'. Such a dishonour is unwelcome with Blackhand having just regained his position of warchief, so you, Orgrim, are sent to 'take care of her'.

Bonus Mission 5: The Gurubashi Thorn:
Kilrogg Deadeye and the Bleeding Hollow clan, disgraced by the loss at Stormwind and losing their position as a leading clan in the Horde, have chosen to invade Stranglethorn Vale, hoping to claim a piece of land much like their old home in Tanaan. While they outnumber the Trolls greatly, the Trolls know this jungle well, and continue to use hit and run tactics and fight stubbornly to hold onto their home. As casualties mount, Blackhand arrives, furious. Not only have valuable Horde soldiers been wasted in this dense jungle, but any chance of an alliance with the Gurubashi has been shattered by this invasion. Kilrogg and his clan are ordered to halt their reckless one-clan war and rejoin the rest of the Horde in their war against the humans.

12: Seizing Destiny:
Blackhand has tasked Orgrim with taking Blackrock Spire. Its name is considered a good omen, and its strategic position and fortified halls make it ideal. Attack the Dark Iron dwarves and fire elementals and seize the spire! The lower portions of the mountain prove to be impassable, filled with fire and the wrath of the elemental, Ragnaros. A saving grace for the Horde comes in the form of Cho'gall, who is able to mediate a peace with the lord of fire.

Epilogue: Revelations:
The war against the humans has begun again and Blackhand seeks allies. Orgrim travels north to seek the help of the Amani trolls he has heard of. They refuse, but while he is there, Orgrim is contacted by Durotan who delivers a warning that Gul'dan is evil and the shadow council is real, having banished the Frostwolves, not sent them on a mission. Durotan is killed by assassins who must have been hiding in Orgrim's own party or at least following him. A short while later, Aedelas Blackmoore and his aide, Tammis Foxton, are out hunting and hear a strange sound. This shrill cry leads them to the site of battle, and the lone survivor, a baby orc. Horrified at what happened, Orgrim promises himself that he will look into this 'shadow council' and try to save the horde from this daemonic influence.

Briefing/Overview:
With the death of Chieftain Garad at the hands of Bladespire Ogres, Durotan has become the leader of the Frostwolves. Now Durotan, and his mate Draka, must decide how to lead their people into the future.

Objectives:
-Rebuild Wor'gol
-Seize Bladespire Citadel
-Travel to Ner'zhul's Summit
-Aid the other clans of Frostfire Ridge

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka
Drek'thar

New Units:
Peon, Grunt, Spearthrower, Raider, Shaman, Frostwolf

Enemies:
Ogres and Breakers

Briefing/Overview:
While in their southern hunting grounds in Nagrand, the Frostwolves must confront the reality of being at war with the Draenei now.

Objectives:
-Drive off the Draenei hunting parties
-Aid the other clans of Nagrand
-Intercept the Prophet Velen

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka
Drek'thar

New Units:
Clefthoof battle mount, War Elekk, Rylak Rider

Enemies:
Ogres and Draenei

Briefing/Overview:
Having been aided by the Frostwolves in their struggle against the Ogres, the Warsong and Twilight's Hammer clans are now ready to bring the fight to the gates of Highmaul itself and settle some old scores.

Objectives:
-Destroy Highmaul
-Kill Imperator Mar'gok
-Free the Orc slaves

Heroes:
Grommash Hellscream
Cho'gall

New Units:
Pale Orcs, Darkwolf

Enemies:
Ogres of Highmaul

Briefing/Overview:
Furious at Durotan's failure to capture Velen, the Orcish leadership has sent him into the thick of the fighting to seize the Draenei village of Tuurem.

Objectives:
-Destroy Tuurem
-Aid the other clans of Terrokar Forest

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka

New Units:
Dire Orc

Enemies:
Draenei

Briefing/Overview:
Still be watched by his peers, Durotan must prove his loyalty by revealing the secret to locating and attacking Telmor. The Blackrock clan has been sent to ensure his commitment.

Objectives:
-Locate the concealing gem
-Destroy Telmor/Kill Restalan
-Aid the other clans of Talador

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka
Drek'thar (Corrupted)
Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
Warlock

Enemies:
Draenei and Arakkoa

Briefing/Overview:
Thanks to the betrayal of many outcast Arakkoa, the Shattered Hand clan has the opportunity to invade Skyreach before the Arakkoa can finish constructing their ultimate weapon.

Objectives:
-Infiltrate Skyreach
-Destroy the weapon before it can fire
-Turn on the Outcasts

Heroes:
Kargath Bladefist

New Units:
None

Enemies:
Arakkoa

Briefing/Overview:
Back home in Gorgrond, Orgrim prepares to do his Chieftain's bidding, as Blackhand has ambitions for his position within the Horde.

Objectives:
-Bring the Ogres into the Horde
-Aid the other clans of Gorgrond

Heroes:
Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
Ogres

Enemies:
Gronn/Breakers and Primals

Briefing/Overview:
The might of the Horde has been gathered in Shadowmoon valley to prepare to move on the Draenei stronghold of Karabor.

Objectives:
-Undo the defenses of Karabor
-Seize the temple
-Defeat the Firelord
-Aid the other clans of Shadowmoon

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka
Drek'thar (Corrupted)

New Units:
Catapult, Necrolyte, Destroyers, Juggernaughts

Enemies:
Draenei, Elementals

Briefing/Overview:
With the addition of the Ogres into the Horde, Kilrogg now has the ability to put his clan on ships and invade the island of Farahlon.

Objectives:
-Sack the Draenei villages
-Drain the Primals of their power

Heroes:
Kilrogg Deadeye

New Units:
None

Enemies:
Draenei and Primals

Briefing/Overview:
Durotan has been warned of a plot to enslave the minds and souls of the Horde, but he must attend this meeting, else he be declared a traitor.

Objectives:
-Reach the Hellfire Citadel
-Aid the other clans of Tanaan Jungle
-End the Draenei, invade Shattrath!

Heroes:
Durotan
Draka
Drek'thar (Corrupted)

New Units:
Red Mist Catapults, Daemons

Enemies:
Draenei and Saberon

Briefing/Overview:
As the Horde tears itself apart and Draenor slowly dies, Gul'dan seeks a means of salvation for the Orcs, and power for him.

Objectives:
-Locate the Rift
-Expand the portal
-Send scouts to the other side
-Capture sacrifices

Heroes:
Gul'dan

New Units:
None

Units Lost:
War Elekk and Rylak Riders

Enemies:
Broken, Saberon and Zangar Spawn

Briefing/Overview:
A strange new world . . . a new, fantastic thing to view.

Objectives:
-Establish Orcish outposts

Heroes:
Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
Troll Mercenaries

Units Lost:
Clefthoof Battle Mount

Enemies:
Humans and Jungle Trolls

Briefing/Overview:
Meanwhile, back on Draenor, Fenris and the Thunderlord clan hunt for the last remnants of their ancient enemies among the peaks and crevices of the mountains.

Objectives:
-Hunt down the Gronn

Heroes:
Fenris Wolfbrother

New Units:
Broken Gronn

Enemies:
Breakers

Briefing/Overview:
The human king has seen off the Bleeding Hollow and Twilight's Hammer clans, but if Blackhand can kill him in personal combat, then he will be able to regain his position as warchief.

Objectives:
-Escape Lothar's trap
-Hold out for reinforcements
-Kill Barathen Wrynn III

Heroes:
-Blackhand the Destroyer
-Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
Gnoll Mercenaries

Enemies:
Humans

Briefing/Overview:
Blackhand's daughter Griselda has abandoned and betrayed him. This cannot be allowed to go unpunished if Blackhand is to maintain his position as Warchief.

Objectives:
-Kill Griselda

Heroes:
Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
None

Enemies:
Ogres

Briefing/Overview:
The jungle of Strangelthron reminds the Bleeding Hollow of what their home, Tanaan, once looked like. Now they wish to seize this new jungle for their own.

Objectives:
-Seize Strangelthorn

Heroes:
Kilrogg Deadeye

New Units:
None

Enemies:
Jungle Trolls

Briefing/Overview:
Blackhand has ordered Orgrim Doomhammer to seize Blackrock spire as a base of operations.

Objectives:
-Seize Blackrock Spire

Heroes:
Orgrim Doomhammer
Cho'gall

New Units:
Ogre Magi

Enemies:
Dark Iron Dwarves and Fire Elementals

Briefing/Overview:
Orgrim has been sent north to try and talk the Amani trolls into joining the Horde. While there, he receives an unexpected message from his old firend . . .

Objectives:
-Find the leader of the Forest Trolls
-Talk with Durotan
-Avenge the death of a friend

Heroes:
Orgrim Doomhammer

New Units:
None

Enemies:
Orcs

Lore Issues:

Blizzard has done more retconning than just about any other franchise, but its mostly minor things here and there, chopping years, changing a characters origin story, changing the name of a mount or a city and so on. Below are some of the inconsistencies I am trying to address.

Why were the Orcs corrupted?:
While the WC1 and 2 story that Orcs always liked demons and shadow and so on is long gone, the question of the motivation behind their corruption is more complicated. In WC3 they imply that the Horde was intended to weaken the defenders of Azeroth for the legion's invasion and was corrupted solely by Mannoroth for that reason. They also stated that Grom recognized Mannoroth on sight and that he knew he was drinking demon blood back then.

In Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden, the Horde was corrupted by Kil'jaeden for the purpose of destroying the Draenei, after which he was done with them, and Mannoroth was only in it for the kicks/helping Kil'jaeden. After this, Medivh approached Gul'dan by himself and invites him to Azeroth. The orcs, other than Durotan and the shadow council, don't know that it is demon blood and Mannoroth does not appear in front of the orc masses.

In The War of the Ancients trilogy by Richard A Knaak, an orc named Broxigar travels 10,000 years back in time and, upon being slain in one on one combat with Sargeras, it is implied that Sargeras took an interest in orcs for this reason.

In the novelization of Beyond the Dark Portal and in WC3, it is stated that Sargeras needed Orcs to unlock the vault Aegwynn had hidden his body in because her enchantments applied only to creatures indigenous to Azeroth or the Burning Legion (This has its own issues since demon blood flows through the orcs who opened the tomb). This in turn implies that Sargeras brought the orcs to Azeroth to help him get his body back, which I think is actually stated somewhere.

For some reason, the demons never seem to acknowledge that Sargeras was in Medivh's body, even though all the mortals know it. Whenever referring to Medivh's actions, the demons talk about him like he is a pathetic mortal, they never mention communicating with Sargeras other than saying the Orcs were corrupted to weaken Azeroth for the Legion. Someone correct me if I am wrong there. Even in WC2 they stated that Kil'jaeden was frightened of Medivh and fled from him in the twisting nether, though this could be explained as Gul'dan's perspective.

Medivh himself only told the orcs that he wanted them to make him King of Azeroth, which could be a reference to returning to being the head of the Burning Legion as it conquers the world

Where did Durotan die?:
In the novel Lord of the Clans, by Christie Golden, and all supporting material that I have seen, Durotan's death is said to happen during the first war, but after he had already fought the humans with the Horde for some unknown amount of time. In timelines I have seen it stated as year 0, but the war in official timelines goes on 4 or 5 years and Orgrim doesn't move on Blackhand until the end. He is also found by a human named Aedelas Blackmoore who is definitavely stated to be from Lordaeron, to not be far from home when he finds Thrall, to be unconcerned about danger in the woods (his jumpy assistant never even thinks of running into Orcs) but he also instantly knows what an Orc is. In the original timeline the Dark Portal event and the end of the war are about 15 years apart.

All of this is super confusing. Was Aedelas a mercenary in Stormwind? Was Durotan in Lordaeron when he died? I have tried to settle this by looking at another bit of book lore that doesn't make much sense on its own. In the novelization of Tides of Darkness, Orgrim says that he was previously sent to make contact with the Amani trolls by Blackhand. In terms of geography that doesn't make sense, but it does allow Orgrim to be meeting with Durotan, who was hiding in the Alterac mountains, in Lordaeron about the right time so that Aedelas can still be in Lordaeron where he is supposed to be.

When did Blackhand become Warchief of the Horde?:
In both WC1 and 2, Blackhand is stated as becoming Warchief after the failed assault on Stormwind by ChoGall and Kilrogg. The Assault is an event that has not been retconned per-se, but more or less ignored in the years since. In Rise of the Horde, Blackhand is made Warchief by gul'dan during the war with the Draenei, which does make sense as the Horde would have needed to be organized and Ner'zhul didn't want to do it after a while and Gul'dan prefers to stay in the shadows. I have accepted both versions with Blackhand being warchief in the Draenei war, losing it during the interim while the clans fight each other, then getting it back after the failed assault on Stormwind.

Who are the Stormreavers?:
The Stormreaver clan was introduced in WC2 as clan that had a 'history dating back' but also having just been founded by Gul'dan. They have an affinity for naval warfare as supported by WC2 'Tides of Darkness' and info from the Warlords of Draenor alpha in which they would have appeared as a seaside clan serving Gul'Dan who hunted mighty seabeasts. In the novelization of WC1 The Last Guardian, the Stormreavers are stated to already exist. In WC1 the manual names a chieftain who came through the rift to Azeroth named Thok, who is never mentioned again, it also mention Necrolyte and Warlock clans that are mentioned in WC2. In WC3 it is implied that the clan consisted mostly of spellcaster Necrolytes and Warlocks despite the WC2 lore that they were almost all killed off before WC2 and during it.

I decided to have them exist before the first war, but not as a proper clan, more of a seagoing group of raiders who were originally from different clans but ostracized for one reason or another. I figure that even if Gul'dan could gather enough spellcasters to make a clan that, according to WC2 was a large part of the Horde, the casters would not naturally have an affinity for seafaring, which takes time to create in a group. So I used the unimportant character of Thok as their pre-war leader and plan to have the WC2 Stormreavers be a combination of surviving spellcasters from Orgrim's purge and these wayfarers that Gul'Dan takes over either by killing Thok, or taking advantage of his death.

How long have the Draenei been on Draenor?:
The current main timeline answer, originating from dialogue in Rise of the Horde, is 200 years, however, the original answer from WC2 is almost 5000 years. We know that the Draenei live ridiculously long lives, that Velen was there for their departure from Argus some 25,000 years previous, that he had a small number when he left, but almost as many as the Orcs when the war with the Horde began. We also know that the Draenor, with settlements all over Draenor, had a cemetery named Auchindoun in which they had been placing their dead for so long that its explosion created a large area known as the Bone Wastes. The Draenei also provided enough corpses/bones for a road from the Dark Portal to the Helfire citadel to be paved with those bones. And there are still hundreds of Draenei among each of the Unbroken, Broken and Lost. The Draenei also gave their name to the world, but the Orcs, who can talk with their ancestors and have developed a deep seated religion around the Draenei ship (Oshu'Gun) and live fairly long lives (60 and 70 year old Orcs are still kicking ass in WOW) have no racial memory of the Draenei arriving by ship, or that the ship is at all connected with the Draenei.

I intend to imply that the Draenei first came to Draenor some 5000 years ago and most stayed, but some, with Velen, kept sailing around until 200 years previous when they returned. It works with almost all of the dialogue and lore and also with the fact that the Draenei had 2 ships according to WOW lore.

Multiple Realities or One Really Messed up One?:
Between the Warcraft Main Universe, the Warlords of Draenor alternate reality and the Warcraft Movie Universe, as well as retcons and issues within the main universe there are a lot of discrepencies, characters who exist in one universe and may or may not in another, stories created for the WoD universe, but told by Maraad from the main universe before he goes through the red portal. I am hoping to make as much of the information from the parallel universes that doesn't contradict as possible appear in this storyline. For example, including Ga'Nar and making Fenris a brother to Durotan does not interfere with any major Main Timeline (MT) story points, but I intend to kill off Ga'Nar in the first mission so I don't have to deal with him afterwards. Some examples follow below.

Durotan's wolf. In WoD and Movie he is accompanied by Sharptooth, who was first introduced in Lord of the Clans as a Frostwolf native to the Azerothian Alterac Mountains. In the MT prequel Rise of the Horde he is instead accompanied by a darkwolf (The wolves used by most orcs) named Nightstalker. I intend to use Nightstalker, but in his tooltip it is stated to be en exception as the Frostwolves typically raise frostwolves as the name would imply.

Ogres: Are they dumb? Are they slaves or masters? This is a complicated one, while for the most part they seem to be dumb they have several brilliant characters, multiple references to running gladiatorial arenas and the Gorian empire in both MT and WoD. It is sometimes stated to be the difference between 1 and 2 headed varieties but we have seen stupid 2 headed ogres and ruling, eloquent 1-headed ogres. I don't know what to do about this one other than continue to ignore the discrepancy like Blizzard does.

Lords of War backstories: Kilrogg's isn't an issue, Kargath's isn't an issue, Grom's contradicts MT only because of timing, but if we witness his Lords of War backstory during the mission in Nagrand it would sync up better, though perhaps with some dialogue changes since it didn't seem to match Grom's personality. Durotan's is perfectly acceptable and I have given him Stormfang's Pelt as an item.

Harbingers backstory: Gul'Dan's contradicts MT, this one I am hoping to find an answer other than ignore it, but currently ignoring.

Orgrim's clan: MT he is Blackrock, but possibly once a Thunderlord, just Blackrock in WoD and a Frostwolf in Movie. I Want to stick with Blackrock obviously, but I would like to find a way to tie him to the Thunderlords if I can.

Burning Blade was composed of all crazy orcs in WC2 and 3. In WoD they were made an actual clan with their own chieftain and I have decided to use this so we can see that the bloodlust drove a whole clan crazy.

Raiders destroyed in WC2. In WC2 manual, Orgrim is convinced the Raiders (as an entity seperate from the clans) are plotting against him with Blackhand's sons because of Orgrim's betrayal of Blackhand. I have explained this by using the manual's reference to Blackhand being a raider in the 'Sythegore Arm' which is never mentioned elsewhere. I have Blackhand founding a cross-clan group of raiders during the Draenei conflict along with Fenris and his sons (Fenris was captain of the last of the raiders in WC2 Expansion). This fits in with the use of wolfriders in Rise of the Horde as the messengers between clans. It helps explain why Blackhand is able to get into power, why the Raiders are a separate group that Orgrim might not trust and why none appear in the second war.

How many clans are there?:
Main clans: Blackrock, Shadowmoon, Twilight's Hammer, Frostwolf, Bonechewer, Thunderlord, Laughing Skull, Dragonmaw, Warsong, Bleeding Hollow, Shattered Hand, Burning Blade

Minor Clans: Whiteclaw, Redwalker, Bladewind, Lightning's Blade, Rageroar, Mok'Nathal, Dark Scar, Necrolyte, Warlock

Founded During Timeline: Stormreaver, Black Tooth Grin

Most of the main clans are not an issue for fitting in. A couple don't have a set location in Draenor. Twilight's Hammer I have set in Nagrand because of Cho'Gall's connection with Highmaul and because the one area is called Twilight Plateau in Outland. Also, WoD introduces pale orcs driven crazy by visiting the Throne of the Elements and I want to mix those in with Cho'Gall and the Twilight's Hammer. The Dragonmaw I have put in Shadowmoon valley as they have their base there in Outland and the valley contains large numbers of fairie dragons which helps to explain the clan's name on a world bereft of dragons.

Minor clans are a little trickier, I put the Whiteclaw in Frostfire ridge since they are stated to be sympathetic to the Frostwolves and the name fits well. Redwalkers are now implied to have their origin in or near frostfire because of the Movie prequel novel 'Durotan' but with the Frostwolves, Whiteclaw, Thunderlords and the Lightning's Blade clans already there (Lightning's Blade live in the southern part of the blades edge mountains which separate Frostfire from Gorgrond) there is no room for the redwalkers. Instead I have stuck them in southern Gorgrond which still allows for them to be able to raid the frostfire ridge since the laughing skull, also from Gorgrond, was said in WoD lore to have raided the ridge.

The Dark Scar are since destroyed, but I am putting their ruins in northern Frostfire next to the Bloodmaul ogres since they are a clan destroyed by ogres and we know that some of the survivors were adopted by the Frostwolf clan. I do not know where to put the Bladewind clan yet but am leaning toward Terokkar or Spires of Arrak. The Mok'Nathal's location is well established but the complicated relationship between ogres and orcs is another issue entirely. The Rageroar was introduced in WOW, for WOW, but the novelization of the second war makes reference to unnamed clans that were part of the war, so I decided to use them and put their origin in the Tanaan jungle/Helfire peninsula since there was space and the Rageroar have a thing for skinning and wearing sentient beings and there are a lot of Saberon in Tanaan.

The Necrolyte and Warlock 'clans' mentioned in the WC1 and 2 manuals could just be ignored, but since they help explain the size and importance of the Stormreavers, I am planning to have a little blurb in one of the missions about the newly trained casters being formed into little clans of their own for efficiency of teaching and use in the war against the Draenei.

Ogres in clans before the Horde:
In Rise of the Horde and WC1 it is stated that prior to being brought into the Horde (WC2 says it happened after the first war in Azeroth, RotH says it happened during the war with the Draenei) the ogres were a feared and hated enemy of the orc clans. Yet several bits suggest they traded, the Mok'Nathal are a clan of mixed orcs and ogres that are not hated by the orcs, just looked on with derision. And the halfbreeds are common enough that most orc characters recognize one as such on sight. Three different Ogres hold important positions in the Horde, 2 as clan chieftains. I am hoping in the associated missions to explain these, how ChoGall came to be part of the Twilight's Hammer who was later made leader of because the previous chieftain apparently disobeyed the shadow council, how Mogor became chief of the Laughing skull, previously led by Torg and Kaz according to WoD, and how Dentarg became the apprentice/loyal bodyguard of Ner'Zhul.

The Shadow:
The shadow is a concept that is a little convoluted in Warcraft lore. At one point it was the antithesis of the Light, now it is described as the balance between Light and the Void and many early references to the Shadow now refer to the Void (The darkness seeking to consume the universe, creators of the Old Gods, enemies of the Naaru). The Shadow is directly connected to necromancy and the veil between life and death. While it is used by both demons and demonic orcs, it is not demonic, nor, apparently, evil but rather cold and impassive. There is some interesting speculation based on warlods of draenor that the 'Dark Star', an injured Naaru in its 'shadow/void cycle of healing/near death, may be the source of the Orcs connection to shadow energies and necromantic powers, as opposed to/in addition to their connection to the demons and fel energy. Gul'dan's discovery of the dark star and the creation of the necrolytes is something I would like to explore in this.

How big are Orc Clans?:
Orc clans differ in size based on the sources, and the same can be said for the size of the Horde. At times they are referred to as being as numerous as grains of sand, stars in the sky or blades of grass, but no one clan is referred to as being very big. The Frostwolves for example lose 20 members and are said to now be a mere handful and to have lost a third (forget the exact wording) of their number. Yet later the text says that Durotan gazes out over all of the orcs who are not warriors, artists, elderly, children etc... as if its a large number and not something like 15 orcs.

Examples: In Lord of the Clans, 5 internment camps, Forstwolf clan and Warsong clan survivors all together provide almost 2 thousand warriors plus 'hundreds more' in the remaining camps and non-combatants.

WoW-Wiki places the current orc population of Orgrimmar at over 11 thousand

The Blackrock clan was able to go through the First War, lose most of its spellcasters and split off the Black Tooth Grin clan and still be the largest of the 8 clans that crossed over for the first 2 games.

WoW WIki puts the numbers of the 'Dark Horde', the successors of the Black Tooth Grin clan, at about 5000 including orcs, ogres, trolls, goblins and black dragons, but primarily orcs.

So the survivors of the first 11 clans to cross over, plus the survivors of Ner'zul's rearguard force, primarily composed of Warsong clan members, result in about 9 thousand orcs (approximately 3 thousand warriors and twice that number of non-combatants) not including the orcs who took refuge in Blackrock Mountain under Rend and Maim. The Orc clans were said to suffer extremely heavy casualties in the wars on Azeroth. For an example of 'extremely heavy casualties' I will use the Battle of Cannae from our history as a rough reference point. At Cannae, over 80 thousand Romans suffered more than 3/4 casualties with about 10 thousand taken prisoner. So, for example, let us say that the original number of the first wave of Orcs into Azeroth was 10 times the number of survivors portrayed later, about 90,000. That seems to be close to a good number, at least for combatants. The Mongol Horde of Earth has been estimated as having 105 thousand soldiers at its height. This suggests that each clan has an average of 10,000 members before the wars with some clans obviously being bigger or smaller.

Back home on Draenor were another 12 clans so we can assume approximately 120,000 orc warriors on Draenor, at least before they fell into infighting. Some of these numbers may seem big at first glance, but even a total of 210,000 fighting orcs pales in comparison to some of our own historical military forces such as Persia and China, armies of 300,000 or more. The addition of Ogres would make this truly a large force though. Thoughts on this?

Ogre Clans: 27 Ogre clans, of which 15 fully crossed over and 2 partially crossed over. One clan's numbers in WoW times is given as 700. So even assuming a minimum of 1000 Ogres per clan average pre-wars, that is approximately 16,000 Ogres, but likely more than that.

Crossed over (Stonemaul, Deadwind, Dreadmaul, Dunemaul, Dustbelcher, Firegut, Mo'grosh, Mosh'ogg, Spirestone, Splinter Fist, Bloodeye, Glopgut, Stonegullet, Ton'ma, Torchbelcher)

Half-Crossed: (Boulderfist, Gordunni)

Stayed: (Ango'rosh, Bladespire, Bloodmaul, Ogri'la, Warmaul, Ashmaul, Gorian Empire, Gor'vosh, Grimfrost, Highmaul)

Sub note: The Warcraft movie, even if it is a seperate universe, gives the military strength of Stormwind at the time of the first war as 46 Legions. A Roman legion is anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 to 5,200 infantry men with 10% that number of cavalry and often accompanied by allies. So Stormwind's army is, at minimum, 46,000 infantry and 4,600 cavalry. At Maximum, that's 239,200 infantry and almost 24 thousand cavalry, but that seems unrealistic for Stormwind's size and the amount of trouble it had dealing with tribes of jungle trolls. The middle number, 138,000 infantry and 13,800 cavalry seems pretty good to me.

Issue with the book 'The Last Guardian:
This book is great, don't get me wrong, the characters are superbly well developed and the narrative flows very well. But there are some lore issues in the book. It has Gul'dan already leading the Stormreavers, Llane's father is not anywhere in the picture, Lothar, Llane and Medivh are childhood friends despite all being different ages, The attack on Stormwind by Cho'gall and Kilrogg occurs after the nation knows of the existence of Orcs, and Garona says she remembers going through the portal to Azeroth but still believes the lie that she is half human.

Uther the Lightbringer:
Uther has two backstories. One is that he was a priest of Azeroth/Stormwind before it fell and was then made a knight in the Paladin order. The other is that he was a particularly pious knight of Lordaeron who worked closely with King Terenas and young Prince Arthas nefore being inducted into the new order of Paladins.

Below will include all the good and bad from Chronicle which I will try to integrate as I go.

The Name of Outland:
We know from Rise of the Horde that the name 'Draenor' was come up with by the Draenei and it means 'Exile's Refuge'. In Chronicle we find out that the world is called 'Dawgar' by the Ogres, which means 'The Known Earth', and 'Rakshar' by the Arakkoa, meaning 'The Sunstone'. Yet, the Orcs are big on ancient stories and ancestor worship, and have a history dating back to 600 years before the new timeline says the Draenei arrived. I wonder what the Orcs called their world before the Draenei arrived?

Location of the Bonechewer Clan:
WC2X: In the swampy land west of Hellfire Peninsula, roughly equivalent to Zangarmarsh and/or Talador/Terokkar Forest
Burning Crusade: Bonechewer ruins are located in eastern Terokkar forest, southwest of Hellfire Peninsula
Warlords of Draenor: The village of Gul'rok (presumed) in southwestern Talador, roughly the same spot as Bleeding Hollow ruins from Outland
WoW Chronicle: Northeastern Tanaan Jungle

Location of the Dragonmaw Clan:
Burning Crusade: southeastern Shadowmoon Valley
WoD: Non-existant
WoW Chronicle: far southeastern frostfire ridge

Final explanation of Dragonmaw name:
Chronicle reveals that in Orcish, the name of the clan is Nelghor-shomash, which means "Cry of the Beasts". This is supposed to be because of the clan training Rylaks, which did not survive the Draenei war and Draenor's slow death. When the clan had the chance to ride dragons, they snatched it and referred to the dragons, like the rylaks, as 'loyal beasts', or nelghor.

Garad's Death:
Rise of the Horde: Killed by a Gronn and three ogres while out hunting
Walords of Draenor: Killed by the Thunderlords
Movie Universe: Killed in duel with a Red Walker because Gul'dan poisoned him
Chronicle: Died from Red Pox which was caused by Gul'dan

I don't think any other character in this universe has died in more ways than Garad.

Status of Bladewind Clan:
Beyond the Dark Portal Novel: The Bladewind clan makes its first appearance when it agrees to join Ner'zhul's reconstructed Horde
Chronicle: Gul'dan orchestrated the destruction of the clan and all members save Garona before the Draenei war even really took off. The clan had fought with Draenei caravans for 90 years and had a habit of taking prisoners and trying, with limited success to mate with them. Garona was a product of this in the chronicle version

Size of Stormwind/Azeroth's Army: 151,800
46 Legions (Warcraft Movie)
Size of Roman Legion: 1,000 - 3,000 - 5,000 + 10% x cavalry
At Average: 138,000 infantry + 13,800 cavalry

Size of the Horde: 1,000,000+
Survivors from internment camps plus Frostwolves and Warsong survivors: Over 3,000
Survivors who joined the Dark horde: Less than 5,000
Orc population of Orgrimmar in WoW: approximately 11,000
Total Orc Survivors on Azeroth: ca. 10,000
Casualties suffered in the 1st and 2nd wars up to the retreat to Blackrock Spire: Over half
Casualty example: 86,400 Romans at Cannae, lose 48,200 - 70,000 plus ca. 10,000 captured
Extrapolation: Orc numbers approximately 90,000 at time of Battle of Blackrock Spire
Therefore, Orcish Horde Pre-2nd war, more than twice that = 180,000+
Ogre clan size post-wars: 700
Best guess of pre-war size: approximately 2,800 (700 x 4) or more
15 Ogre Clans plus half of two other clans: 16 x 2800 = 44,800
Size so far: 134,800
Statements from 'Tides of War': Horde is larger than the Alliance army at the battle of Hillsbrad, The Alliance army is many times larger than the armies of Stormwind, The Horde loses thousands of troops before it reaches the shore, but it is barely noticeable, only 5 clans confirmed to be at battle of Hillsbrad and 3 clans were elsewhere
Many times larger: 3x ?
Alliance army: More than 300,000?
5 Clans plus Ogres and some Trolls and Goblins at Hillsbrad: More than 300,000?
3 Clans elsewhere during Hillsbrad: more than 100,000?
10 Clans on Draenor plus more Ogres: More than 600,000?
Casualties during the 1st war and Draenei war: Heavy

Long or Short Chronology:
In my version of the timeline I have taken the longest distance between events offered in any source for a couple of reasons
1: It provides a grander scale to the events
2: It is consistent with the only two sources that provide any dates, the first and second game manuals
3: It gives more time for people to be born and grow up to participate in the huge number of conflicts on Azeroth, which is important considering the severe losses constantly being suffered by every faction

Garona Halforcen:
Here is another character whose story is a little messed up.
Believes she is half-human: WC1, WC2, WoW Comic
Believes she is a runt: Movie
Remembers coming through the Dark Portal: Chronicle, Last Guardian, Movie
Father: Bladewind Orc (Or Medivh according to the Movie-verse)
Mother: Leran, Sister of Maraad
Created as an experiment by Gul'Dan: WoW comic
Created as one of many Bladewind half-breeds: Chronicle

Which Barathen Fought in the Gnoll War?:
In Chronicle Volume 1, it is stated that Llane's father, in his role as king of Stormwind, fought in the Gnoll war, 75 years before the Dark Portal opened. It is stated that his actions killing the Gnoll leader, Garfang, earned him his title of 'The Adamant'.

This cannot be the case, if other lore is to be accepted, for two main reasons.
1: In the novel, 'Cycle of Hatred', Aegwynn states that her dalliances with Nielas Aran and the conceiving of Medivh, 45 years before the Dark Portal, occurred while Landen Wrynn, Llane's grandfather and Barathen III's father, was king of Stormwind, meaning that Barathen III could not have been king during the Gnoll war.
2: In the graphic novel 'Bonds of Brotherhood' (A Movie-verse story that was basically canonized by an entry in CHronicle Volume 2), Barathen II is depicted as middle-aged with brown hair. If he had been the reigning monarch of Stormwind for about 57 years (The story occurs 18 years before the Dark Portal) then he would definitely have had some grey in his hair.

Conclusion: The 'King Barathen Wrynn' who killed Garfang is not given a number, only implied to be Llane's father by a few lines of text at the end of story, but not stated outright, thus it seems most appropriate to say this Barathen was number II, III still being Llane's father. The nickname 'The Adamant' may have carried on from father to son, a process common in Roman society on Earth.

Side note on point #1: Wowpedia and Wowwiki declare this entry from Cycle of Hatred to be a retcon in and of itself of the text from the Warcraft 1 Manual, but that is not necessarily true. In the WC1 manual it is stated that Medivh is born while Barathen III is king, in Cycle of Hatred it is stated that Nielas Aran was working for Landen Wrynn when Aegwynn sought him out to conceive Medivh. She says she left for 9 months and returned to hand off Medivh. She does not actually say that she returns to the 'Court of Landen' as the wiki articles state, which means the reign of Landen ended and Barathen III was crowned king somewhere in that 9 month period.

Why/How Medivh was Conceived:
All sources before Chronicle are consistent on these events, Aegwynn's motivation, Nielas being a pawn to her, etc... Then Chronicle came along and said that Nielas wasn't just a court conjurer who happened to be part of the Tirisfalen, nooooo, now he was assigned to hunt down Aegwynn, but instead became a bit of a rebel and the two actually fell in love and Nielas chose to be involved in conceiving Medivh, but Aegwynn left him anyway. . . . . It just, I can't, freaking Chronicle issues, I do not accept this version of events, it defies everything that came before. I may try to work in some of the details, but its just so dumb, demeaning to Aegwynn's developed character, etc...

The Gurubashi War:
According to Chronicle volume II, this occurs 19-18 years before the dark portal opens, but no matter which version of the negative years I use, this doesn't work, mostly because in Chronicle they shortened Medivh's coma. This has to occur after he awakens from his coma (577/-16), but before the Dark Portal opens, (583/-10). Somewhere in those six years. This is the problem when your version of 'answering all our lore questions' is to retcon everything and tell your authors to mix in all the details from every version of the Warcraft story without trying to actually make them work together properly.

The Invasion of Farahlon:
So Farahlon's invasion by the Horde and near-total destruction is a consistent fact in all sources, but exactly when it occurs is not. In the Nobundo short story, 'Unbroken', the first part occurs during the Siege of Shattrath and Nobundo monologues in his head about all of the fallen Draenei settlements, saying that Farahlon has fallen already. In Chronicle Volume 2, mess that it is, it states that the invasion of Farahlon occurred after the Siege of Shattrath, though it talks as if there was never a Draenei settlement on Farahlon, focusing on fighting the Primals there, and we know from The Burning Crusade Expansion that there were at least 3. The easiest way to reconcile this would be to say that the Horde took out the Draenei settlements on Farahlon before the Siege of Shattrath and then fought the Primals after. However, I would just like to point out that this is sloppy work on the part of the Chronicle writers yet again.

Where did Durotan die?:
This old question has been made more confusing by the information from Chronicle and the novel 'Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects'.

Where?:
Lord of the Clans: Never stated, implied somewhere in Lordaeron, killed not far from Orgrim
Tides of Darkness: We learn that Orgrim was up north trying to contact the Amani for Blackhand at some point
Chronicle V2: Met Orgrim in Loch Modan, then murdered on their way back home to Alterac
Twilight of the Aspects: All occurs in Hillsbrad Foothills, killed not far from Orgrim

Why?:
Chronicle v2: The guards/assassins acted of their own accord
Twilight: The assassins were under orders from the Shadow Council

Obscure Lore References:
Grok - In the WC1 manual the phrase, 'Lead Grok to the slaughter' is used, and since Draenor has no sheep and instead uses Pigs/boars, I am assuming that Draenor's swine are known as Grok

Blackroot - A special type of lumber required for Necrolyte altars in WC1

Bloodmead - a drink referenced in the WC2 manual

And I am sure many more things to deal with.

An Attempt at a timeline that does as little retconning as possible:

Warcraft Combined Timeline:

-25,000 - Sargeras corrupts most of the Eredar and Velen flees with the remainder.

-5000 – Draenei arrive on Draenor early date

-3000 - The children of Rukhmar, the Arakkoa, found the Apexis civilization in Arak

-2000 - Apexis priests create a weapon called the 'Breath of Rukhmar' to defeat the last of the Sporemounds

-1200 - An Apexis civil war destroys their civilization, forming the spires of Arak, Ogron tribes rise to power

-1000 - Tutored by Arakkoans, Gog the Gronnslayer leads a rebellion to free the ogres from Ogron rule. Goria is founded.

-800 - Orcs migrate out of the caves of Gorgrond, discover the Throne of the Elements and found the first shaman

-600 - After defeating an attack by Saberon Pridelord Karash, Talon King Terokk of the High Arakkoa is cast out by jealous priests and leads the other outcasts to a new home

-403 - Gorian Imperator Molok orders the seizing of the Throne of Elements after witnessing Shamanic power

-402 - Orc clans unite under the shaman Nelgarm to retake the Throne

-400 - Orcs besiege Goria and Molok responds by creating the Red Pox. The shaman beseech the elements for aid and Goria is completely destroyed. The clans go their seperate ways.

-210 – Draenei arrive on Draenor, late date, the wounded Naaru K'ara enters the sky above Shadowmoon valley

-195 - Shattrath city founded on the ruins of Goria

-180 - Shadowmoon shaman try to tap into the power of K'ara but the disastrous side effects cause the Orcs to ban such attaempts. Orc ancestor spirits are now being drawn to the crashed Draenei ship and it becomes a sacred mountain, Oshu'gun.

-100 - Ogres from Bladespire and Highmaul attempt to take Shattrath to refound Goria, but fail

-99 - The Bladewind clan, having witnessed the Draenei's power when they defeated the Ogres, begins aggressively raiding Draenei caravans whenever they are poorly guarded.

508 (-85) King Barathen “Adamant” Wrynn II of Stormwind defeats the gnoll Garfang and his armies in the Gnoll War

542 (-51) Anduin Lothar born (according to wowpedia)

551 (-42) Grommash Hellscream born

555 (-38) Lothar born according to film universe

558-559 Landen Wrynn passes away and Barathen Wrynn III is crowned king of Stormwind.

559 (-33) Medivh born

564 (-28) Prince Llane of Azeroth, son of King Adamant Wrynn III and Queen Varia, is born

566 (-25) Kargath escapes Highmaul, Kilrogg murders and succeeds his father. A Mok'nathal uprising results in the fall of Bladespire citadel and the death of Durotan's brother Ga'nar.

567 (-24) Gul'dan wanders out of the wilderness, having destroyed his birth clan, and is adopted into the Shadowmoon clan as Ner'zhul's apprentice.

569 (-23) Kil'jaeden deceives Ner'zhul into summoning the clans and declaring the Draenei to be their enemy.

570 (-22) War against Draenei breaks out. Shadow Council created, Necrolytes founded.

571 (-21) Medivh comes of age (eve of thirteenth birthday) and his emerging powers put him in a coma and kill his father, Nielas Aran. There may have been an encounter where a group of Jungle trolls tried to kill a 12 year old Medivh, 7 year old Llane and 29(or 16) year old Lothar right before the coma happened.

573 (-20) Twilight's Hammer and Blacktooth Grin Clans founded. Hellfire Citadel constructed. Blackhand declared Warchief.

574 (-19) Siege of Karabor.

575 (-18) Drinking of Mannoroth's blood. Siege of Shattrath. Destruction of Auchindoun.

576 (-17) Draenei begin becoming broken. Bleeding Hollow invade farahlon. Warsong and Twilight's Hammer destroy Highmaul. Shattered Hand destroy Arakkoa. Hellfire Peninsula begins dying.

577 (-16) Prince Llane comes of age. Medivh awakens and gives hourglass of fate as a gift to the prince. Medivh contacts Gul'dan, rift appears on Draenor, Azeroth slowly grows sick. Construction begins on the gateway.

580ish Medivh helps save the kingdom from an attack by the jungle trolls, Movie universe originally, then made canon in Chronicle II. Stated to be 18 years before the dark portal, but that does not match up with the existing timeline. It has to occur before the Dark Portal opens, but after Medivh awakens from his coma.

583 (-10) Medivh opens Dark Portal, Orcish horde invades Azeroth, attack on Stormwind Keep, Adamant Wrynn III killed. Frostwolves exiled into the north.

584 (-9) Llane is pronounced King of Azeroth. Orcs beaten back to the black Morass.

593 (1) Aegwynn battles Medivh but is defeated, she warns King Llane. Gul'dan unites the Horde under Blackhand. Plus or minus one year is the death of Durotan and Thrall is found by Aedelas Blackmoore.

594 (2) Anduin Lothar rescued from the Dead Mines after Twenty months captivity

598 (6) Medivh killed by Lothar and company. King Llane is assassinated by Garona. Azeroth falls, Lothar and citizens flee, Gul'dan falls into trance, Orgrim kills Blackhand, destroys shadow council, Gul'dan awakes, Orgrim disbands raiders. Gul'Dan kills off Necrolytes, founds Death Knights, Orgrim invades Khaz Modan.

604 (12) Second war starts as Horde attacks south coast and invades Quel'Thalas. Stopped at Lordaeron after Alterac's betrayal because Gul'dan abandons the plan. Battle of Blackrock Spire, Lothar dies, orgrim captured, dark portal destroyed

605 (13) Orcs placed in internment camps, Nethergarde built, Varian Wrynn crowned king of Azeroth

606 (14) Ner'zhul reunites clans on Draenor and seizes artifacts from Azeroth. Alliance invades Draenor to seal the portal and stop Ner'zhul. Draenor ripped apart.

608 (16) Day of the Dragon. The hold of the Dragonmaw Clan over Alexstraza is finally broken.

614 (22) Thrall escapes Durnholde

615 (23) Thrall rescues Eitrigg from certain death.

618 (26) Wacraft III: Reign of Chaos

619 (27) The Battle of Mount Hyjal

620 (28) The Frozen Throne

623 (31) World of Warcraft Begins

624 (32) The Burning Crusade

625 (33) Wrath of the Lich King

626 (34) Cataclysm

627 (35) Deathwing destroyed

628 (36) Mists of Pandaria

629 (37) Warlords of Draenor

630 (38) Legion

There are many differences between this developing timeline and the unofficial one on the wiki based on WoW dates. The most interesting though is that the distance from the portal opening to the latest WoW expansion is 48 years in this timeline, and 32 in the Wiki's, a difference of 16 years. After Warcraft 3 Blizzard started making smaller and smaller gaps in their timeline between conflicts to the point of WoW where something is trying to destroy the world every year.

The chronicle rarely directly associates dates with events. Instead, it has a section title, followed by a date given as years before or after the opening of the Dark Portal, and then it describes things that happened from that date, adding new sections as it goes in a roughly chroniligical order until it decides to put another date under a section title. I have done my best to summarize the dtaes given into a rough timeline.

-3,000: Rukhmar, an avian demi-god on Draenor, creates the Arakkoa and leads them south to the spire of Arak before she dies. They found the civilization of Apexis.

-2,000: Gnarlgar the treant leads the Evergrowth, trying to recreate the past and command the Primals. He forces them to create a new Sporemound from the dessicated remains of one of these ancient beings. He then launches an invasion against Apexis, whom he sees as his biggest threat. Shadow mages of Apexis sneak behind the lines and destroy Gnarlgar, buying time for the Arakkoa to unleash the 'Breath of Rukhmar' a fiery death weapon, which destroys the newly made Taala Sporemound and the Evergrowth army, ending their threat forever.

-1,200: Apexis civil war results in the explosion of the superweapon and the shattering of the single mountain into the modern spires of Arak. This is the time of the rise of the Ogron tribes.

-1,000: Arakkoa who fear the Ogron convince the Ogres to rebel by teaching one of them, who becomes Gog the Gronnslayer, and leads the rebellion. Goria is founded.

-800: Orcs migrate out of the caves in Gorgrond. They discover the Throne of the Elements and the first shaman appear.

-600: Arakkoa under Terokk the Talon King defeat an army of Saberon. Political intrigue causes Terokk to be cast out, after which he helps solidify the founding of the outcast Arakkoa society

-403: Gorians seize the Throne of the Elements after witnessing the power of Orcish shaman

-402: Orc clans unite under the shaman Nelgarm to retake the Throne of the Elements

-400: Siege of Goria - Ogres create Red Pox - shaman beseech the elements who utterly destroy Goria

-200: Draenei crash on Draenor, K'ara enters sky above shadowmoon valley

-195: Shattrath city founded on the ruins of Goria

-180: Shadowmoons try to access K'ara, it doesn't go well and the practice is banned. Orc ancestor spirits atrt getting drawn to Oshu'gun

-100: Ogres try to take Shattrath city to reclaim Goria, but they fail

-99: Bladewind clan starts raiding Draenei caravans because the Draenei's demonstration of power against the Ogres has made them appear threatening to some Orcs

-21: Medivh awakens from his coma

-19: Medivh, Llane and Lothar kill the Jungle troll leader Jok'non to try to stop Gurubashi aggression

-18: Gurubashi war starts in retaliation, siege of Stormwind, Barathen Wrynn dies trying to kill the troll leader just like he had with the Gnolls years before. Medivh uses his magic to destroy the troll army. His power frightens him and he retreats to Karazhan where Aegwynn gives him some training and leaves her friend Moroes to help Medivh

-13: Orgrim and Durotan become friends and are rescued from an Ogre attack by the Draenei, they meet the prophet Velen.

-12: Talgath finds the Draenei and informs Kil'jaeden

-11: Warsongs fight the Highmaul ogres, Kargath escapes Highmaul with his fellow slaves, Kilrogg kills his father, The Bladespire ogres use half-breed slaves as soldiers against the orcs. Garad of the Frostwolves captures one, Leorrax, and convinces him to lead a rebellion with Frostwolf and Whiteclaw support. Bladespire falls, but Durotan's borther Ga'nar dies in the fight.

-10: Gul'dan is exiled from his village, travels to the Throne of the Elements and discovers the Fel/Kil'jaeden. He drains the elements of their powers, creates a new red pox to inflict the orcs (reason not explained) and Garad is one of the infected who dies. Medivh begins watching the Orcs

-8: Gul'dan goes to the Shadowmoons and becomes Ner'zhul's apprentice. He arranges the destruction of the Bladewind clan by pitting them further against the Draenei. Before they are destroyed they capture many Draenei prisoners, including Maraad's sister, Leran, who gives birth to Garona. Gul'dan kills any survivors of the Bladewind clan but Garona escapes. Kil'jaeden appears to Ner'zhul as Rulkan to convince him the Draenei are a threat and Gul'dan uses the Bladewind's destruction as further proof. Ner'zhul calls a meeting of the clans to discuss this.

-7: War against the Draenei breaks out. Elements won't answer the Orcs these past three years because of what Gul'dan did to them. Kil'jaeden reveals himself to Ner'zhul as a benevolent being. First warlocks created by Gul'dan from Shadowmoon shaman. Ner'zhul discovers that he has been played and is broken by the experience. Orc children are forced to age to increase numbers of warriors. Gul'dan meets with Blackhand to discuss putting him in power. Shadow council created. First Necrolytes created. Garona ensorcelled by Shadow Council. She is sent to kill chieftain Zagrel of the Whiteclaw clan for speeking against them.

-5: Blackhand declared warchief, shaman of other clans begin being trained as warlocks, Blackhand founds the Black Tooth Grin clan to act as the Blackrock's personal scouts, construction begins on the Hellfire Citadel, Cho'Gall is sent to bring the Pale orcs into the Horde, they become the Twilight's Hammer clan.

-4: Cyrukh the Elemental appears to stop the Horde/Gul'dan. He is destroyed by Gul'dan, creating the Hand of Guldan. Gul'dan uses K'ara to help destroy Karabor

-3: Kil'jaeden gives Mannoroth's blood to Gul'dan. Ner'zhul warns Durotan, Orcs drink the blood of Mannoroth. Siege of Shattrath. Teron'gor leads the Shadow Council forces into Auchindoun and they blow it up by summoning Murmur.

-2: Many Draenei become Broken. Bleeding Hollow invade Farahlon, Grom and Cho'gall topple Highmaul. Kargath destroys arakkoa. Hellfire Peninsula becomes dead

-1: Medivh contacts Gul'dan. Construction begins on Dark Portal

0: Medivh assassinates Tirisfal council members to distract them. Portal opened. Bleeding Hollow and Black Tooth scouts sent through first. Aegwynn and Arcanagos fail to stop Medivh. Garona learns common from Human prisoners, seeks out Karazhan and meets Medivh. Orcs and Lothar clash in the swamps. Khadgar arrives at Karazhan. Garona arrives at Karazhan as an emissary. Gul'dan meets Durotan in private and banishes him. Lothar named 'King's Champion'. Other nations don't believe in orc stories, Bleeding Hollow fails to invade Stranglethorn.

+1: Clerics of Northshire suffer from being on the front lines, but don't give up. Twilight's Hammer hears the voice of the Old Gods thanks to their void connection (See Pale Orcs). Cho'Gall becomes corrupted and writes the Twilight Canticle. Durotan meets Orgrim in Loch Modan and sends him back north with an escort that then turns on Durotan and kills him.

+3: Orcs conquer Redridge mountains (Lakeshire) despite losses to the humans. Orcs try to take Blackrock mountain but have trouble with the powers of Ragnaros. Cho'Gall makes peace with Ragnaros thanks to his Old God corruption and the orcs move into Blackrock Spire. First siege of Stormwind ends with the orcs in full retreat. Khadgar and Garona discover the truth about Medivh and flee Karazhan.

The Mighty and Weighty list of Characters:

Main Characters:

	Durotan - Mourning the recent death of his father, Durotan, despite his youth, must figure out how to lead his clan safely into the uncertain and dangerous future, all while trying to uphold the honour and traditions of his people.
	Orgrim Doomhammer - Despite being of different clans, he is the best friend of Durotan, chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, and serves as the second in command of his own Blackrock clan. Last son of a long line of Orcs bearing a heavy destiny, Orgrim fears that the days of his family's prophecy, foretelling doom for his people, may be coming soon.
	Ner'zhul - The aging chieftain of the Shadowmoon clan, and most respected of all Orc shamans, Ner'zhul longs only to see his dearly departed mate, Rulkan, again and to keep his people safe.
	Gul'dan - The most gifted apprentice to grace the clans in many years, Gul'dan caught the attention of Ner'zhul and became his personal apprentice. Despite his great potential for good, Gul'dan's soul is marred by an insatiable lust for power. He would do anything, give anything, to achieve that power.
	Blackhand the Destroyer - Chieftain and saviour of the Blackrock clan, Blackhand is a hero for his actions against the Ogre tribes. He is constantly conflcted between a love for his people and traditions, and a thirst for power, but these flaws do not negate his cunning intellect and keen tactical mind.
	Prophet Velen - Leader of the Eredar exiles, the Draenei, and servant of the light, Velen is well regarded for his ability to see the possibilities of the future and his love for his people. Since the crash of the Genedar 200 years ago, his visions are not what they once were, but he will do whatever he can to protect his people.
	Kil'jaeden - Once a close friend of Velen, the bond between the two was shattered when Kil'jaeden chose to join Sargeras' Burning Crusade and Velen did not. Kil'jaeden views Velen's choice as a betrayal, and has harboured a need for revenge these past 25 thousand years. Now he has found the Draenei, and a young, naieve, race nearby that can be manipulated to his ends . . .

	Draka - Once exiled to the outskirts of the Frostwolf clan so the clan would not be seen rearing a weak and sickly infant, Draka has since grown into one of the strongest and most skilled hunters of the clan. Her stubbornness and resourcefulness won her the heart of Chieftain Durotan and the two are now inseparable, whatever happens.
	Drek'thar - Taking over as the chief shaman of the Frostwolf clan after the death of Mother Kashur, Drek'thar provides valuable advice and spiritual guidance to Durotan.
	Kal'thar - Drek'thar's son. He trusts in his father's judgement..
	Nightstalker - A rare sight on the snow covered plains of Frostfire Ridge, Nightstalker is Durotan's loyal wolf companion. While most of the clan raise their eponymous frostwolves, Durotan's companion is a darkwolf. Whether Nightstalker was found and raised by Durotan, or a gift from his best friend, Orgrim Doomhammer, none but Durotan know.
	Ice - Ice was once the frostwolf mount and companion of Durotan's father, Garad, chieftain of the Frostwolf clan. After Garad's death, Ice mourned for many moons, but then, one night, he crossed the fire and sat beside Draka, choosing her as his new companion.
	Wise-Ear - The faithful mount and companion of Drek'thar.
	Greatmother Geyah - Mother of both Durotan, chieftain of the Frostwolves, and Fenris, chieftain of the Thunderlords, Geyah was the lorekeeper for her clan before the death of husband, Garad. After his death, she dedicated her life to helping victims of the Red Pox, a disease that has plagued the Orcs for generations. She founded a colony for the sick, Garadar, named after her late husband, near the Throne of the Elements in Nagrand.
	Singer - The aging but loyal wolf companion to Greatmother Geyah.
	Nazgrel - Last descendant of the mighty hero Kash'drakor, Nazgrel is but a young infant taken in by the Frostwolf clan, unaware of his role to come in future events.
	Go'el - Go'el is the name Durotan and Draka have chosen for their unborn child. They hope to leave him a legacy he can be proud of.

	Dal'Rend Blackhand - Eldest son of Blackhand, the chieftain of the Blackrock clan, Rend has big shoes to fill. A chip off the old block, Rend is ruthless, cunning and addicted to power, but he is more cruel than his father and does not share his father's love of traditions.
	Maim Blackhand - The second son of Blackhand, Maim is devoted both to his father and his elder brother. He lacks the cunning intellect and lust for power that his father and brother share, but he does share his brother's cruel spirit and enjoys the suffering of others.
	Griselda - The only daughter of Blackhand, Griselda is a sweet child, beloved of those who know her, such as Orgrim Doomhammer and Durotan of the Frostwolves. She shares her father's love of tradition and if he were to break with that tradition, or ignore his adoring daughter, it could serve to drive her away.
	Urukal - Urukal is the mate of Blackhand, the chieftain of the Blackrock Clan, and the mother of Dal'Rend, Maim and Griselda.
	Eitrigg - One of the champions of the Blackrock clan.
	Varok Saurfang - Varok and his brother Broxigar are champions of the Blackrock clan.
	Broxigar Saurfang - Broxigar and his brother Varok are champions of the Blackrock clan.
	Tharbek - Tharbek is a champion of the Blackrock clan and a trusted confidant of Orgrim Doomhammer.
	Utok Scratcher - One of tha shamans of the Blackrock Clan, Utok gained the moniker 'Scratcher' for his strange habit of actually writing down the events that happen around him. He believes that writing is the future of passing stories and wisdom to the young, and will one day replace the oral tradition.
	Biter - Biter is the wolf companion and mount of Orgrim Doomhammer.

	Fenris Wolfbrother - Eldest son of Garad, the former chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, Fenris became an exile when he challenged his father to a mak'gora duel. Unable to kill his own son, Garad banished the defeated Fenris to the wilds. Eventually, Fenris was taken in by the neighboring Thunderlord clan and rose through the clan by virtue of his skill and personal drive. His clan has given him the nick name of 'The Iron Wolf'.
	Ger'hel - Ger'hel and Fenris' courtship goes back to before his exile from the Frostwolf clan, and she vouched for him when he came wandering out of the wilderness to be found by the Thunderlords. Now the two rule the clan together and have three strong, powerful sons.
	Hatock the Gronnmaster - The eldest son of Fenris, Hatock is the greatest hunter the Thunderlords have ever seen, surpassing even his father. He is feared by the Ogres and Gronn of the mountains.
	Grotan the Herald - Far reaching scout and messenger of the Thunderlords, Grotan likes to be in the vanguard of any hunt, much like his father, Fenris.
	Skal the Trapper - The youngest, and most cunning, of Fenris' sons, Skal prefers to set ambushes and traps for his quarry, rather than ride head on to fight them.

	Zuluhed the Whacked - Zuluhed is both the chieftain of the Dragonmaw Clan, and a mighty shaman. He is extremely devoted to the elements and distrustful of those who practice other forms of magic.
	Nekros Skullcrusher - A pupil and trusted second in command to Zuluhed, Nekros is a key part of all of Zuluhed's plans.

	Grommash Hellscream - Grommash, son of Golmash, was one of the youngest orcs ever to become chieftain. Now he leads the Warsong clan against their hated, ancient, enemies, the Ogres of Highmaul. He prides himself on his iron will, unbreakable resolve, terrifying warcry, and powerful axe, Gorehowl.
	Golka - The beloved mate of Grom Hellscream. Golka is fierce, but may not possess the same iron will and code that has shaped her beloved.
	Garrosh Hellscream - The infant son of Grom Hellscream, Garrosh has been infected by the hated Red Pox and has been sent away to to the colony of Garadar in hopes he will recover from this horrible disease.

	Teron'gor - A shaman of the Shadowmoon clan and a lackey of Gul'dan. Teron'gor is malicious and extremely cunning as well as self-serving, caring little for the impact his actions might have on others.
	Garona - The offspring of a Bladewind orc and a Draenei female named Leran, Garona knows nothing of her origin. Whether Gul'dan orchestrated her conception or found her wandering in the wild is a secret known only to Gul'dan. She has developed an impressive set of skills in stealth, combat and languages and now serves as Gul'dan's shadowy right hand.
	Rulkan - Ner'zhul's beloved mate, Rulkan has passed from this life and gone to live with the spirits at the sacred mountain, Oshu'ghun.
	Skychaser - The wolf companion and mount of Ner'zhul.
	Drak'thul - Little is known of Drak'thul's life before he became a member of Gul'dan's Stormreaver clan.
	Vorpil Ribcleaver - One of the highest members of the Shadow Council after its formation.
	Rakmar Sharpfang - After the formation of the Necrolytes, Rakmar is made the leader of this new class of magic users. He serves Gul'dan faithfully in secret.
	Giselda the Beautiful - After becoming a member of the secretive Shadow Council, Griselda becomes the leader of the Kil'sorrow clan, named in honour of their benefactor, Kil'jaeden, and leads this clan as a secret tool of the Shadow Council.

	Kilrogg Deadeye - After killing his father to succeed him, Kilrogg led his clan to greatness, claiming more land in Tanaan than any chieftain before him. Kilrogg has seen his death in a vision, far in the future, and so does not fear battle.
	Krahl Deadeye - Eldest son of Kilrogg Deadeye, Krahl fights for his clan on the front line.
	Jorin Deadeye - The infant son of Kilrogg Deadeye, Jorin has been infected by the hated Red Pox and has been sent away to to the colony of Garadar in hopes he will recover from this horrible disease.

	Torg Earkeeper - Torg Earkeeper is the chieftain of the Laughing Skull clan.
	Kaz the Shrieker - Mate of the Laughing Skull chieftain, Torg Earkeeper, Kaz is also the chief shaman of her clan and a close friend of Draka.
	Cutter - The young son of Torg Earkeeper and Kaz the Shrieker.

	Dharl of the Thrice-Bloodied Blade - Aging chieftain of the Burning Blade clan, Dharl is a skilled blademaster, though he still bears the shame of having once led his men into a terrible ambush.
	Luhk the Keen-Eyed - The son of Dharl, chieftain of the Burning Blade, Luhk instructs the warriors of his clan in the way of the blade.
	Gorn - Son of Luhk and grandson of Dharl of the Burning Blade clan, Gorn is a skilled blademaster.
	Sesk - Son of Luhk and grandson of Dharl of the Burning Blade clan, Sesk is a skilled blademaster.
	Azuka Bladefury - The daughter of Dharl, chieftain of the Burning Blade clan, Azuka is a skilled warrior who believes in ancient legends and harbours a desire to seek out lost artifacts of power.

	Kargath Bladefist - A razor-sharp scythe setting in place of his severed left hand, Kargath is always willing to engage in frenzied combat. His ruthless tactics and single-mindedness have earned him the chieftainship of the feared Shattered Hand clan since he escaped the fighting pits of Highmaul.
	Hurkan Skullsplinter - The chieftain of the Bonechewer Clan, Hurkan is a massive warrior, wily and cunning, though prone to bloodlust and full of pride.
	Tagar Spinebreaker - Tagar garbs himself in the innards of his enemies; that which he does not devour himself. His belt is fashioned from orc spines and bracers carved from the spine segments of an ogre. Tagar is ruthless and bloodthirsty, craving only the heat of battle above all else.
	Zagrel - The chieftain of the Whiteclaw clan, Zagrel is a friend of the Frostwolf clan and a traditionalist, not afraid to speak his mind and challenge those he disagrees with.
	Leoroxx - The conservative and peaceful chieftain of the Mok'nathal clan, Leoroxx has sought to keep his people out of battle since their uprising against the Bladespire ogres, and to live in harmony with nature, as the shamans of the Frostwolf clan taught them.
	Rexxar - Son of Leoroxx, heir to the Mok'nathal clan, Rexxar is full of adventurous spirit, and willing to face any peril to protect his people.
	Haratha - Rexxar's beloved wolf companion. He would gladly give his life for his master.
	Thok - Thok is the leader of a group of seaborne orc raiders known as 'The Stormreavers'. Although not a clan, per-se, and although Thok is not the brightest orc to have ever lived, he views himself as a chieftain and demands to be treated accordingly.
	Karga Rageroar - The chieftain of the Rageroar clan, Karga, like many of his clan, wears the skin of a Saberon he slew as a hooded cloak.
	Rehgar Earthfury - A young slave in the fighting pits of Highmaul, Rehgar is one of the Ogres' most prized fighters.

	Cho'gall - Forced to flee from Highmaul, Cho'gall is one of the most talented Ogre sorceror's seen in generations. He seeks to increase his power and regain a high social standing, but revenge against Highmaul would also be nice.
	Mugg'roth - An Ogre-mage working for the Warsong clan.
	Mogor the Ogre - Taken in by the Laughing Skull Clan after having survived a Primal attack, Mogor has ambitions that might be attainable within the ever-growing Horde.
	Dentarg - The Ogre Mage Dentarg is a valued servant of Ner'zhul and the Shadow Moon Clan. Dentarg is often called upon to rally support from wayward clans and put them back in line should they oppose Ner'zhul's absolute rule.
	O'mogg Blackheart the Inciter - A powerful Ogre Mage who catches Gul'dan's eye as someone to incorporate in his plans for power.
	Turok the Ogre - Leader of a group of ogres from Gorgrond, Turok is unusual in that he would rather sleep with an orc female than eat her.
	Krol - Krol is a member of the Stonemaul clan of ogres, but certainly not the brightest.
	Kor'gall - One of the most powerful and cunning members of the Stonemaul clan, Kor'gall is a mean spirited and vicious ogre who wishes to rule the clan in his own right, if only the Gronn were not in charge . . .
	Imperator Mar'gok - The ruler of Highmaul, Mar'gok dreams of reuniting the disparate Ogre clans and tribes to reforge the Gorian Empire of old.
	Gorr'thog - Lord of the Bladespire Clan of ogres, Gorr'thog has reclaimed the citadel from the Frostwolves and intends to rebuild the glory of his ancestors.
	Guttra Wolfchew - Lord of the Grimfrost Ogre clan.
	Borrok the Devourer - A giant lava worm worshiped by the Grimfrost ogres, who offer him living sacrifices.
	Borgal Doomfist - Leader of the Bloodmaul Ogre clan, Borgal runs the largest slave powered mining operation in Draenor.
	Witch Lord Morkuk - Leader of the Gordunni Ogres.

	Exarch Akama - The leader of the Vindicators, the warrior-priests of the Draenei, Akama studied at the Temple of Karabor. As a member of the council of Exarch's governing the Draenei, Akama is responsible for the continued well being of his people.
	Exarch Othaar - Othaar is the leader of the Sha'tari, the guardians of the Draenei capital, Shattrath, and a member of the Draenei ruling council, the council of Exarchs. He has been greatly bothered by the unreliability of Velen's visions these last 200 years since the crash of the Genedar, and is beginning to question whether any of what Velen said was ever true.
	Exarch Hataaru - The leader of the Draenei Artificers, the engineers, and a member of the ruling Exarch council, Hataaru is reckless in his pursuit of technological advancement to improve the lives of his people.
	Exarch Maladaar - Leader of the Auchenai, the priests of the dead, and a member of the ruling council of Exarchs, Maladaar looks after the holy site of Auchindoun and all who dwell there, both living and dead.
	Exarch Naielle - Leader of the Rangari, the scouts and explorers of the Draenei, and a member of the ruling council of Exarchs, Naielle believes in exploring Draenor, understanding it, and taking an active role in events.
	Sha'tari General Larohir - Second in command to Exarch Othaar, and his likely successor on the council, Larohir is quick speaking, intelligent and fearless. He remembers what his people fled on Argus so long ago, and would do anything to keep as many of his people safe and uncorrupted as possible.
	Vindicator Maraad - A Vindicator stationed in Shattrath City, Maraad recently lost his sister Leran to a raid by Bladewind Orcs. Despite his experiences fighting the Burning Legion during the Draenei's flight through the stars, and his devotion to the light, vengeance haunts Maraad's mind.
	Vindicator Nobundo - A Vindicator stationed in Shattrath City, Nobundo is brave and loyal and has a strong connection to the Light.
	Vindicator Velhari - An ambitious warrior, Velhari has risen through the ranks of the Vindicators with an almost ferocious streak, becoming known to those she passes on the ladder of command as 'Tyrant Velhari'.
	Acolyte Yrel - A naieve young priestess of Karabor, born and raised on Draenor by her older sister, Samaara, Yrel is the niece of the Prophet Velen.
	Razuun - A powerful Draenei sorcerer living in Shadowmoon Valley.
	General Tiras'alan - The General of the garrison at the hidden Draenei city of Telredor.
	Captain Restalaan - One of Velen's oldest friends, from their days together on Argus, Restalaan has settled down in the quiet village of Telmor. Despite his low rank of Captain, he is actually Velen's lieutenant, second in command of the Draenei, with authority over even the Exarch council.
	Samaara - The local leader of the small village of Embaari in Shadowmoon Valley, Samaara is the older sister of the acolyte, Yrel, and the niece of the Prophet Velen.

	Guardian Medivh - Guardian of Tirisfal, only son of Magna Aegwynn, the previous Guardian and her lover, Nielas Aran, a court mage of Stormwind, Medivh has always been a staunch defender of his realm in the past. Having saved Azeroth from a troll invasion in his younger days, much is expected of the Guardian with the coming darkness, but Medivh holds a terrible secret, one that could spell doom for Azeroth . . .
	King Barathen 'Adamant' Wrynn III - Hero of the Gurubashi war, Barathen has protected his realm from harm for years through his own personal valour and determination. Although he is now growing old, and not the fighter he used to be, King Wrynn hopes he has instilled on his son Llane the necessary values to make a good successor.
	Prince Llane Wrynn - Llane is the heir apparent of Stormwind, and a close friend of both the Guardian Medivh and Azeroth's greatest champion, Anduin Lothar. He was reckless in his youth, resulting in the outbreak of hostilities with the Gurubashi that almost ended Stormwind, but he has become more cautious and strategic since. He has the utmost confidence in his people, and his friends in particular, to safeguard the realms of men.
	Queen Varia Wrynn - Queen of Stormwind and mother of Prince Llane Wrynn, Varia is a kindhearted monarch who has instilled her values and compassion on her son.
	Princess Taria Wrynn - The sister of the greatest warrior in the realm, Anduin Lothar, Taria won over the heart of Prince Llane with her bravery and wit. Despite not being of a royal family, Llane insisted on marrying her anyway. She is loved by the people and the army and all believe she will be a great Queen one day.
	Sir Anduin Lothar - The descendant of the noble bloodline of Arathor dating back to the Troll wars, Sir Lothar, Armsman to the Brotherhood of the Horse, is the greatest champion and strategic mind Stormwind has ever seen. He is a childhood friend of Prince Llane and the Guardian Medivh and head of the Royal Guard. There is no better man to lead Stormwind's armies.
	Sergeant Callan Lothar - The son of the legendary Anduin Lothar, Callan has been trying for years to prove himself to his father, his relationship with whom has always been strained by the fact that Callan's mother died in childbirth. Callan is a skilled and loyal soldier, and he has the support of his aunt, Princess Taria, guiding him through his career.
	Reliant - The loyal steed of Sir Anduin Lothar.
	Magna Aegwynn - At over 800 years old, Aegwynn is likely the oldest living human in the world. She hoarded the position of Guardian of Tirisfal for centuries before gifting the power to her own son, Medivh, out of spite for the Council of Tirisfal. Although she has done little but watch over her son's life, his activities of late have given her cause for alarm, and she seeks to set him straight on his duties as a Guardian.
	Varian Wrynn - The son of Prince Llane Wrynn and grandson of King Barathen Wrynn, Varian is a bright young lad who looks up to his awe-inspiring family, and hopes to one day be like them. He is already being schooled in politics by his parents, and in the use of sword by his uncle, Anduin Lothar.
	Adariall Wrynn - The daughter of Prince Llane Wrynn and Princess Taria Wrynn.
	Father Abbot of Northshire Abbey - Second to only the Archbishop Alonsus Faol of Lordaeron within the Church of the Light, the Abbot of Northshire Abbey is a kindly man. He has often been known to offer counsel to the leaders of Stormwind and its armies and he knows Llane and Lothar quite well from the time they spent watching over Medivh while he was in a coma, being treated at Northshire Abbey.
	Aloman - One of Lothar's most talented and trusted soldiers.
	Sir Gavinrad the Dire - A skilled member of Stormwind's armies and a member of the Brotherhood of the Horse alongside Lothar, Gavinrad is often trusted with difficult assignments by Lothar.
	Sir Evran - A knight in the army of Stormwind.
	Sir Kyvan - A knight in the army of Stormwind.
	Sir Karos - Lothar's second in command of Stormwind's armies.
	Sir Varis - One of Lothar's most talented and trusted soldiers.
	Hugar - One of the most talented Conjurers in Stormwind and a member of the King's court. He is also secretly a member of the Council of Tirisfal.
	Hugarin - One of the most talented Conjurers in Stormwind and a member of the King's court. He is also secretly a member of the Council of Tirisfal.
	Moroes - An man with a mysterious past, the ageing Moroes is an old friend of Aegwynn who agreed to serve as Medivh's steward to watch over him and help direct his great energy and knowledge for the good of Azeroth.
	Cook - Medivh's cook at Karazhan is an eccentric lady who wears rose tinted blinders to help prevent her from viewing the unsual visions that pop up in the wizard's tower from time to time.
	Aedelas Blackmoore - Aedelas is the son of a traitorous noble of Lordaeron and has never been allowed to forget it. He is often torn between trying to prove himself worthy of respect, revenge at those who mock his family background, and just getting drunk to forget it all.
	Tammis Foxton - Blackmoore's loyal servant.
	Kaz the Dwarf - A weaponsmith employed in the Royal Armoury of Stormwind, Kaz lives in the city with his family, despite the racism he sometimes encounters from Stormwind's ordinary folk.

Pathonia Shaw/Erwill Youngton: Leaders of SI:7/Stormwind Assassins

	Mannoroth - Commander in the Burning Legion, corrupter of the Orcs
	Zul'jin - Leader of the Amani trolls
	Dagran Thaurissan - King of the Dark Iron dwarves at Blackrock Spire
	K'ara - The 'Dark Star'
	Ragnaros - Lord of flame, dwells in the lower part of Blackrock spire

Mentioned:
Ga'Nar - Durotan and Fenris' brother

Snowfury - Ga'Nar's wolf companion

Garad - Durotan's father

Durkosh - Garad's father

Rokuk - Durkosh's father

Mother Kashur - previous chief chaman of the Frostwolf clan

Stormfang - Geyah's old wolf companion, now Durotan's headpiece

Telkar - Orgrim Doomhammer's father

Ruvash - Telkar's father

Gelnar - The ancestor who forged the Doomhammer

Kash'drakor - legendary champion of the Dark Scar clan

Hakkar the Soulflayer - Worshipped by the Jungle Trolls in the swamp of sorrows

Sargeras - Founder of the Burning Legion, Dark Titan

Archimonde - Commander of the Burning Legion, once a close friend of Velen and Kil'Jaeden

Gruul - Lord of the Gronn in Blades Edge Mountains

Brakor - Deceased legendary hero of the Thunderlords

K'ure, M'uuru, A'dal - Naaru helping the Draenei

Imperator Molok - Ogre leader of Goria who created the Red Pox 400 years ago

Shaman Nelgarm - The Orcish Shaman who convinced the elemental spirits to destroy Goria and Molok

Easter-Eggs:
Grumpus - Draenor's mischievious toy maker

Ur'Aman - Player character from the custom campaign 'Coming of the Horde'

Zion - Azerothian court sorceror, from the custom campaign 'Coming of the Horde'

Throk'Feroth - Blackrock spellcaster from WC3 undead campaign

Mazrigos - Blackrock spellcaster from WC3 undead campaign

Uglaz - Will be the Blacktooth grin scout who goes through the portal first, nod to Warcraft Adventures

The Stranger - Time traveling Orc from the future trying to convince us that the Horde is a bad idea, silly orc

Flowerpicker Clan Orcs

Knaak the Rich - Gnoll warlord, reference to author Richard A. Knaak

Jeff the Grub - A massive sandworm on Draenor, reference to author Jeff Grubb

Kiris'Tie the Golden - Draenei paladin, reference to author Christie Golden

Aaron of Rosedale - Human peasant, reference to author Aaron Rosenberg

Family Trees:

Durotan's Family Tree:

Other Horde Families:

Medivh's Family Tree:

Wrynn Family Tree:

Alliance Family Trees:

Factions:

Chieftain: Blackhand the Destroyer
Capital: Blackrock Foundry (Gorgrond)
Colour: Red
Other Characters: Dal'Rend, Maim, Griselda, Urukal, Orgrim Doomhammer, Varok Saurfang, Broxigar Saurfang, Tharbek, Eitrigg, Utok Scratcher
Wolves: Biter

The Blackrock Clan boasts both the largest population of any clan, as well as the best equipped and organized warriors. Having worked between their smiths and shamans to master the black ore tey take their name from, the Blackrock Clan equips its warriors with mystically enhanced armour and weapons. The Clan faced hard times fighting the Ogre clans that assailed them, but under the leadership of Blackhand they were able to drive their oppressors away into the mountains. Blackhand himself is so named for his penchant for tattooing his arms and hands with black ink.

Chieftains: Dal'Rend and Maim
Capital:
Colour: Black
Other Characters: Uglaz

The Blacktooth Grin Clan was founded from members of the Blackrock Clan in order to be the scouts and vanguard of the Horde in its war against the Draenei. It also left Blackhand's sons free to rule without having to worry about waiting for their father's death or having to challenge him. The CLan chose to distinguish itself by requiring every member to knock out a tooth.

Chieftain:
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters: Garona?

The Bladewind Clan has dwelt in Talador for hundreds of years. Upon witnessing the power of Draenei sorcery, instead of being cowed, they instead became aggressive and started to raid Draenei caravans at every opportunity. They rarely succeed, and in the end their aggression, and the kidnapping and raping of Draenei females is building into a boiling point of potential vengeance and retaliation.

Chieftain: Kilrogg Deadeye
Capital: Zeth'gol (Tanaan Jungle)
Colour: Green
Other Characters: Krahl and Jorin Deadeye

Having dwelt in the thick jungles of Tanaan for a long time, this tribe has until recently been very isolated, and only the actions of Kilrogg, murdering his decrepit father and leading his people out into the world, has saved the clan from obscurity. The Bleeding Hollow is by now the second largest clan, and one of the most respected for the unrelenting savagery of its warriors.

Chieftain: Hurkan Skullsplinter
Capital: Gul'rok
Colour: Green
Other Characters: Tagar Spinebreaker

Like the Bleeding Hollow, the Bonechewer Clan had its origin in Tanaan, where the harshness of the jungle drove them to near madness, or so the other clans see it. Having since migrated down into Talador, the clan is viewed as being odd, and possibly untrustworthy by other clans for their willingness to resort to cannibalism in hard times and their fashion of wearing bones and organs taken from their victims.

Chieftain: Dharl of the Thrice-Bloodied Blade
Capital: Hallvalor (Nagrand)
Colour: Orange
Other Characters: Azuka Bladefury, Luhk, Gorn, Sesk, Samuro

These Orcs value martial discipline and skill, while also having a deep regard for ancient stories and legends.

Chieftain:
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

This clan of northern Frostfire Ridge was virtually wiped out in a conflict with the Bloodmaul Ogres.

Chieftain: Zuluhed the Whacked
Capital: Agurak's Fall
Colour: White
Other Characters: Nekros Skullcrusher

The Dragonmaw are considered a small but elite clan living in the mountains between Frostfire Ridge and Gorgrond. They are well known for taming and riding Rylaks.

Chieftain: Durotan
Capital: Wor'gol (Frostfire Ridge)
Colour: Blue
Other Characters: Draka, Drek'Thar, Ga'nar, Geyah, Nazgrel, Kal'thar
Wolves: Nightstalker, Snowfury, Wise-ear, Singer, Ice

The Frostwolf Clan may have a summer hunting ground in Nagrand, but they have made their home in Frostfire since the elements gifted an ancient chieftain with a perfectly formed seat. Since then, nothing, not even war with Ogres from Bladespire Citadel, has been able to drive them away.

Chieftain: Giselda the Beautiful
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

The Kil'sorrow clan was formed by Gul'dan to secretly serve the Shadow Council.

Chieftain: Torg Earkeeper
Capital: Deadgrin (Gorgrond)
Colour: Yellow
Other Characters: Kaz the Shrieker, Mogor the Ogre

Having gained a reputation as thieves and assassins, the Laughing Skull clan are used to having to fight in a more subversive manner after its long history of conflict with the Primals. They are even known to have sent raiding parties across the Blade's Edge Mountains into Frostfire Ridge to raid and steal from others.

Chieftain:
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

Members of the Lightning's Blade Clan must past an initiation test in which they stand atop a mountain with a metal weapon and seek to be struck by lightning and survive.

Chieftain: Leoroxx
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters: Rexxar
Wolves: Haratha

The Mok'nathal were once the slaves of Ogres in Bladespire, forcibly created from the unwelcomed coupling of Ogre and Orc captives. After a successful revolt against their masters, aided by the Frostwolves and Whiteclaws, the new clan settled down in a little corner of Gorgrond in search of peace.

Chieftain: Rakmar Sharpfang
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

Formed by Gul'dan to seperate the Necrolytes from the clans of their birth and direct their loyalty to him under the guise of keeping them together to teach them better.

Chieftain: Karga Rageroar
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

The Rageroar clan has been affected by the savagery of Tanaan Jungle, like many other clans. Their own outlet for dealing with constant savagery and harsh conditions is to take to skinning the sentient Saberon and wearing their pelts after battles with the cat-like race.

Chieftain:
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

The Redwalker Clan inspires fear in their enemies from their habit of wearing the blood of their kills on their skin. They look and smell fierce.

Chieftain: Ner'Zhul
Capital: Shaz'gul (Shadowmoon Valley)
Colour: Black
Other Characters: Gul'Dan, Teron'Gor, Dentarg
Wolves: Skychaser

Chieftain: Kargath Bladefist
Capital: Bladefist Hold (Spires of Arak)
Colour: White
Other Characters: Clawhand, Ba'rak

Chieftain: Thok
Capital:
Colour: Blue
Other Characters: Drak'Thul?

Chieftain: Fenris Wolfbrother
Capital: Grom'gar (Frostfire Ridge)
Colour: Violet
Other Characters: Ger'hel, Hatock, Grotan, Skal

Chieftain: Cho'Gall (Later)
Capital:
Colour: Violet
Other Characters:

Chieftain: Teron'gor?
Capital:
Colour:
Other Characters:

Chieftain: Grommash Hellscream
Capital: Grommashar (Nagrand)
Colour: Red
Other Characters: Golka, Garrosh

Chieftain: Zagrel
Capital: Grombolash (Frostfire Ridge)
Colour:
Other Characters:

Draenei:
Capital: Shattrath City
Leader: Prophet Velen
Other Characters: Restalaan, Yrel, Akama, Maraad

Kingdom of Stormwind/Azeroth:
Capital: Stormwind City
Leader: King Barathen "Adamant" Wrynn III
Other Characters: Anduin Lothar, Magus Medivh, Khadgar, Moroes, Uther, Llane, Taria, Varia, Varian, Adariall, Callan, Aloman, Karos, Varis, Hugar, Hugarin, Aegwynn, Zion, Alonsus Faol (Retcon changes the character to be an unnamed Abbot of Northshire), Gavinrad, Reliant (Lothar's horse)

Items:

Stormfang's Pelt: As a young orc, Durotan slew the faithful Stormfang in the midst of bloodlust. Now the pelt of his mother's wolf reminds him constantly of the need for moderation and control.

Sever: The mighty axe, Sever, has been carried by many Frostwolf chieftains. This great, two bladed, axe was last carried by Garad, son of Durkosh, son of Rokuk and is now to be carried by his son, Durotan. Perhaps one day it will be passed to Durotan's heir as well

Thunderstrike: This mighty spear was carried by Garad, son of Durkosh, son of Rokuk during many hunts and battles. A leather wrap is attached to the spear for every enemy slain in worthy combat, and the spear is adorned with many wraps.

The Doomhammer: A sturdy warhammer forged in elemental lava by Gelnar. Now passed from Telkar to his son Orgrim. The hammer carries an ancient prophecy. "Through blood the weapon shall pass, as surely as night begets day, Until the elements cry unheard, and pride turns to unbridled rage. The last of the line shall deliver salvation and doom upon his kind. Honor will be undone and all will be lost, before it is found again. A stranger will raise the hammer high, and with it justice shall reign."

Blackrock Plate Armour: Made from the hard ore that the Blackrocks take their name from, this battered armour is almost as precious an heirloom as the famous Doomhammer.

Gul'Dan's Shadow Orb: This artifact was imbued with special powers by the Orc Shadow Council.

Serathil: This weapon was crafted on Draenor for Kash'drakor and used in the Blood River war that ended with the annihilation of the Dark Scar clan. Nazgrel is the last living relative of Kash'drakor.

Draka's Crystal Pendant: This gem was given to Draka by the Draenei during her exile for thanks in her aid during a hunt.

Mysterious Dark Crystal: This dark crystal orb appears to be the living embodiment of Shadow.

Iskar's Tome of Shadows:

Heart of Fury: An At'amal crystal of the Draenei captured by the Horde. This red crystal allows the bearer to fight with increased energy and skill and all who follow him benefit as well.

Brilliant Star: An Ata'mal crystal of the Draenei captured by the Horde. This yellow crystal gives the bearer profound focus and clarity aiding in spellcasting.

Leafshadow: An Ata'mal crystal of the Draenei captured by the Horde. This green crystal can hide an entire city from view.

Demon Forged Dagger: Given to Gul'Dan by Kil'Jaeden, this small knife is specially made to slice with ease through the flesh of demons.

Anguish and Sorrow: The twin blades of Garona Halforcen. Forged by Blackhand and filled with the fury of Kil'Jaeden, these blades leave irregular wounds, sowing confusion amongst the enemy but leave the bearer open to suggestion and control by the strong willed.

The Dragonsword: Anduin Lothar's sword from movie-verse. See also, "Great Royal Sword' in MT

Quel'Zaram: The high blade, found by Lothar during his travels and given its name by Medivh. (Warcraft RPG)

Lion's Fang: Llane Wrynn's sword, movie first, now canonical, even though every other source for Llane has him wielding an axe.

Gorehowl:

Wise-Ear:

Barbed Fishing Hook: This arm-length fishing hook has less in common with a traditional fishing hook and more with a halberd. The Stormreaver clan are the master navigators and fishermen of Draenor, and judging by the size of this hook their prey is no less savage than those of the landlocked clans.

Progress of Resource Integration:

Arakkoa
Arakkoa Warrior
Arakkoa Sage
Dread Raven
Apexis Golem

Saberon
Lobstrok

Fungal Giant
Zangar Crawler (crab)

Genesaur
Fara

Gronn
Magnaron
Ogron
Gronnlings

Talbuk
Rylak
Elekk (Northern and Southern)
Frost wolf
Dark wolf
Garn (Massive dark wolf)
Void wolf
Clefthoof
Hydra
Boar
Talbuk
Salamander
Toad
Raptor
Spider
Winter Bear

Grumpus
Furies (Air, Fire, Water, Earth, Ice)
Nether Ray

Broken (Vanilla)
Unbroken (from Draenei V.2.3 by Wa666r)
Prophet Velen
Vindicator Maraad

Pale Orcs
Grunts (All clans)

Current Tech Trees: (Image in place for Orc Tech Tree, work in progress)

Great Hall ->Stronghold -> Fortress
-Peon
-Upgrades: Pillage, Arm the Weak, Backpack, Sythegore Arm

Grok Farm

Lumber Mill
-Ranged Upgrades
-Upgrades: Spiked Barricades, Reinforced Defenses

Forge
-Melee Upgrades
-Armour Upgrades

Barracks
-Grunt
-Spearthrower
-Raider
-Catapult
-Upgrades: Berserker Rage, Burning Oil

Kennels -> Beast Pit
-Frostwolf/Darkwolf
-Clefthoof Battle Mount
-War Elekk
-Upgrades: Pulverize, War Drums, Ensnare

Spirit Lodge (Later Temple)
-Shaman
-(Necrolyte)
-(Warlock)
-(Dire Orc) - [Primarily a Bleeding Hollow unit]
-(Red Mist upgrade for catapults)

Watch Tower

Ogre Mound
-Ogre

Shipyard -> Foundry
-Transport
-Ram Ship
-Frigate
-Dreadnought

Rylak Roost
-Rylak Rider
-Upgrades: Envenomed Spears

Town Hall -> Keep -> Castle
-Peasant

Farm

Barracks
-Footman
-Archer
-Pikeman
-Halberdier
-Knight
-Catapult

Lumber Mill

Blacksmith

Stables

Church
-Cleric

Mystic Tower
-Conjurer

Scout Tower -> Guard Tower

Gryphon Aviary
-Gryphon Knight (Close combat unit that can choose between flying and fighting on the ground)

Shipyard

Left to right: Grunts
Back Row: Shattered Hand, Stormreaver, Bonechewer, Pale Orc, Rageroar, Dragonmaw, Laughing Skull
Middle Row: Burning Blade, Bladewind, Frostwolf, Whiteclaw, Female, Generic Mag'har Grunt, Bleeding Hollow, Blackrock
Front Row: Redwalker, Flowerpicker, Mok'Nathal, Lightning's Blade, Twilight's Hammer, Warsong, Shadowmoon, Thunderlord

Left to Right: Raiders
Back: Redwalker, Blackrock, Frostwolf, Thunderlord
Front: Shadowmoon, Shattered Hand, Warsong

The dead continue to fight the Blood River war years later.

The Frostwolf village with Durotan, Draka, Drek'thar and the stone chair of the Frostwolf chiefs.

While I am waiting for the Chronicles books to finish fleshing out the story, here is a rough outline of what a sequel human Campaign would look like, if I ever get there.

Human Campaign: Age of Chaos

Prologue: Changes
At the funeral of King Barathen 'Adamant' Wrynn III, Prince Llane Wrynn is crowned king of Stormwind. Queen Taria asks her husband where her brother, Anduin Lothar, has been sent to, Llane responds that he is securing a shipment of Dwarfen weapons from Ironforge. Dissolve to Ironforge, where Lothar is meeting with his old friend, King Magni Bronzebeard and tells him that he is planning to search for the lost Tome of Divinity to help inspire the kingdom in this dark time. Magni responds that Lothar, Llane and Medivh have always been an unstoppable trio, Lothar admits that Medivh has become reclusive of late, but he hopes that he will show up when he is needed. Meanwhile at the Guardian Medivh's tower of Karazhan we see Khadgar, a young mage from Dalaran arriving, apprehensive about what the great mage will be like, he is met at the gates by the elderly custodian, Moroes.

1: Regent
The King has selected his nephew-in-law, Sergeant Callan Lothar, to organize the defences of Grand Hamlet, and declared him 'Defender of the Crown' in Anduin's absence. The skirmishes with the orcs are increasing in number and frequency and strength. Organize the militia and defend Grand Hamlet from the latest and largest Orcish incursion. The KIng is organizing troops to come to your aid, but it will take time for the muster to be completed. The severity of this conflict proves two things, one that the Guardian Medivh must be summoned and consulted, and that the armies of Azeroth need Anduin Lothar back

2: Ghosts of the Future
Meanwhile at Karazhan, Khadgar receives a disturbing vision of a future in which the Orcs and Humans battle under a blood red sky.

Interlude: The Wizard and the Tower:
The Guardian Medivh explains the nature of Karazhan and the visions that occur in the tower to Khadgar. Khadgar is tasked with organizing Medivh's library.

3: The Dead Mines
The Abbot of Northshire Abbey has received a vision of Anduin Lothar wounded and in distress in the Dead Mines. Sergeant Callan Lothar is dispatched to rescue Anduin Lothar from his quest to recover the lost Tome of Divinity.

Interlude: The Guardian is Summoned:
After being healed by the Clerics of Northshire, Anduin Lothar travels to Karazhan to summon the Guardian Medivh. After reuniting with Medivh and seeing his latest project, a Golem, the two old friends teleport back to Stormwind and reunite with Llane. They discuss the Orcish invasion and determine that a prisoner is needed to tell them more about this Horde.

4: Finding Answers
Lothar, Medivh, Callan and company, including Sir Evran and Sir Kyvan, journey into Elwynn Forest to capture an Orc for questioning. They are ambushed by Orcs led by Blackhand and Orgrim. The Orc prisoners tell you very little, but Llane's spies return with some information.

5: Supply Lines
Lothar and his men try to deal with attacks on Caravans in the swamp as they hunt down the Orcish encampment of Kyross. Khadgar and Medivh show up and Khadgar meets Lothar.

Interlude/Cinematic: Spying on the Portal:
Either use the scene from the movie or do an in-game interlude showing Lothar and Sir Varis spying on the Dark Portal.

6: Northshire Abbey
Calls for aid bring Anduin Lothar back to Northshire Abbey to repel an Orcish raid, which Lothar's Brother-in-arms, Sir Gavinrad, has been holding at bay, alongside the court wizards, Hugar and Hugarin. Spot Garona fleeing the scene and find the right places to see memories of Medivh's coma and his friendship with Lothar and Llane.

Interlude: The Song of Aegwynn
This old scroll may hold the key to understanding where Medivh's power and motivations come from

7: Investigation in Stormwind
A demonic incident in Stormwind summons the Guardian Medivh and young Khadgar to deal with the threat. After returning from the swamps, Anduin tells Llane that the orcs are receiving reinforcements from some far away place, possibly another world. Anduin asks Khadgar to keep an eye on Medivh and take care of him. Llane names Lothar "King's Champion', the highest military rank in Stormwind, Lothar appoints Sir Gavrinrad to find a way to counter the Orcish raids.

Interlude: Making Ready for War
Llane and Taria meet with representatives from different Alliance nations, requesting supplies and aid. News that Callan's Legion lost a battle brings Lothar to his son's side.

8: Sunnyglade
After recovering for a few days in Stormwind, Callan is sent to the ravaged county of Sunnyglade. The recent attack on Sunnyglade saw the capture of many human prisoners by the Orcs. Catch up to the marauders and free them before they escape. You will be aided by Anduin's trusted brother-in-arms, Gavinrad the Dire. Also, the Mage Tower was left surprisingly intact, discover what the Orcs were doing there.

Interlude: The Emissary
Khadgar is surprised by the arrival of a new guest at Karazhan.

9: Temple of the Damned
Gavinrad was put in charge of halting Orcish raiders, but the Orcish magicians have made catching retreating raiders extremely difficult. Launch a raid on their base of operations to shake them up and eliminate as many as you can. Be quick, in and out before more Orcs arrive.

Interlude: Refugees at the Gate:
Sir Karos tries to organize the refugee situation at the gates of Stormwind, with people streaming in from Brightwood. He has to admonish people for treating the dwarf, Kaz, unkindly.

10: Like a Demon in a Library . . .
After summoning a vision of Medivh's parents, Khadgar and Garona are finally getting along when a Demon shows up and tries to kill them.

Interlude: It Runs in the Family:
After disagreeing with Anduin about strategy, Llane asks his mother for advice and Varia tells him of the efforts of his Great Grandfather, Barathen II, against the Gnoll king, and tells him that his father would be very proud of him.

11: Into the Black Morass
Sunnyglade was only the tip of the iceberg. The orcs have been capturing many human prisoners. Having acquired a shipment of 'Boomsticks' from King Magni, Anduin Lothar and King Llane lead a raid deep into Orcish controlled territory to free as many of these prisoners as they can. Sir Varis and Sir Karos must hold the line as the prisoners are evacuated to Stormwind.

Bonus Mission: It's All in the Past:
Relive the efforts of Llane, Lothar and Medivh to defeat the Gurubashi trolls.

12: At the Base of the Spire
Meanwhile, the forces of Azeroth, resting on the promise of help from the Guardian, and led by both Anduin and Llane, attempt to besiege Blackrock Spire. The battle goes south fast and cutting a path to freedom remains the only course. Callan Lothar makes a desperate last stand to buy time for his father and King Llane to retreat. Blackhand seeks out Callan to fight personally, recognizing him as both a human leader, and as being important to Lothar, his rival in this war. In the aftermath of the battle, all are wondering, where was the Guardian? Has Medivh betrayed them?

Interlude: Mourn the Dead:
Lothar drinks away the loss of his son while his sister, the Queen, tries to comfort him.

13: Escape from Karazhan
Khadgar and Garona decide to summon a vision to discover who opened the Dark Portal. When they find out the truth they must escape Karazhan quickly if they want to live to tell the tale. Perhaps a vision of Aegwynn will help them out . . .

14: Fields Lain Fallow
Still grieving for the loss of his son, Anduin Lothar knows that the war will not wait for him to recover. Grand Hamlet has already fallen before the advancing Horde. Evacuate Goldshire and Moonbrook before the Orcs arrive. Find and rescue Khadgar and Garona.

Interlude: Aegwynn's Warning
Llane listens to warnings from the mysterious traveler Aegwynn, Khadgar and Garona, but he is still unwilling to take action against Medivh yet. Lothar understands the necessity of moving now, and a part of him blames Medivh for the death of his son.

15: The Depths of Karazhan
Travel down into Karazhan's depths and end the threat of Medivh once and for all.

16: Break Upon the Walls
Gavrinrad and Llane defend Stormwind from the Horde's onslaught, under the command of Orgrim Doomhammer. King Llane is assassinated by an ensorceled Garona.

Cinematic/Interlude: Lions of Azeroth:
Either an Interlude or the scene from the end of the movie, showing King Llane's funeral. Depends on whether the Movie version fits the desperate feel of the human campaign here.

17: Exodus of the Arathi
Lord Lothar and Gavinrad gather as many survivors and supplies as they can as they flee from the ports of Azeroth. The surviving royal family must escape at all costs.

18: The Blood of Balor
A small number of soldiers, led by Aloman and the court wizard, Zion, decide to stay behind on Balor to delay the Orcish Horde. The longer you hold on, the safer the rest of the surviving populace will be.

Epilogue: The Alliance of Lordaeron
The battered survivors of Azeroth land on Southshore and from there they travel to Lordaeron's Capital City to make their case before a council of leaders from all over the continent.

Its not the best map ever, but it gives an idea of where I am at putting all of the sources together. I have put a legend underneath. This map is constructed from 6 different map sources.

1: Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal Map
2: WoW: Warlords of Draenor map
3: WoW: Burning Crusade map of Outland
4: Warcraft Chronicle maps
5: Pre-Alpha development map for Warlords of Draenor
6: Descriptions in 'Rise of the Horde' and 'Durotan'

Red = Ogre Clans
Black = Major Seas
White = Orc Clans
Burgundy = Geographical designations

Important Settlements: Blackrock Shipyard, Blackrock Foundry, Bladespire Fortress, Wor'gol, Grombolash, Grom'gar, Agurak's Fall, Deadgrin, Zeth'gol, Hellfire Citadel, Dark Portal, Telredor, Highmaul, Throne of the Elements, Shattrath, Oshu'gun, Grommashar, Hallvalor, Auchindoun, Telmor, Bladefist Hold, Skyreach, Skettis, Anguish Fortress, Gul'rok, Shaz'gul, Eledor, Karabor

Warcraft: Orcs and Humans Manual
Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal Manual
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos Manual
Warcraft 3 in game dialogue
Bonds of Brotherhood by Paul Cornell and Chris Metzen
Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
Unbroken by Micky Neilson
Durotan by Christie Golden
Warcraft: The Beginning by Christie Golden
The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenberg
Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden
Beyond the Dark Portal by Christie Golden and Aaron Rosenberg
Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
War of the Ancients Trilogy by Richard A Knaak
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry
Wacraft Comic
Warcraft Timeline from the old official site (Found a copy on my computer)
WoWWiki
WoWpedia
World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volumes 1 & 2

stein123 · Feb 23, 2017

Subscribing *0*

PrinceOfThaWest · Feb 23, 2017

This is interesting. Going to watch this closely. Keep up the good work!

PROXY · Feb 23, 2017

Really interesting. Read through all those story details, love how much detail you put in there. Keep it up!

MinorCharacter · Feb 27, 2017

Thanks for the positive replies guys! I have put some more stuff into the main most, ideas, progress, items, etc... Feel free to ask questions, offer opinions and so on.

stein123 · Feb 27, 2017

A small request to any skinners out there, or if you know one, can someone please do a Mag'har skin of Thrall and the Campaign Warlock? Just to change the green skin to brown. A number of custom units use those skins and at the beginning of the campaign I want all of the units looking uncorrupted.[/QUOTE]
I made a test map based on the iron horse with a lot of recolors and retextures, I'm sure you will find useful stuff on that, I'll pm you!

MinorCharacter · Feb 27, 2017

Thanks!

TheKaldorei · Feb 28, 2017

Harbringers is only canon for AU Gul'dan.
Lords of War is canon for MU. (It could be for both not sure)

MinorCharacter · Feb 28, 2017

Yeah, Harbringers is only canon for this 'new' Gul'Dan, which is why I can't find a way to use it to beef up Gul'Dan's backstory as of yet, it just doesn't fit at all with the original Gul'Dan.

TheKaldorei · Feb 28, 2017

MinorCharacter said:
Yeah, Harbringers is only canon for this 'new' Gul'Dan, which is why I can't find a way to use it to beef up Gul'Dan's backstory as of yet, it just doesn't fit at all with the original Gul'Dan.

Say he tested his fel-magic on this clan and killed the shaman who was a close friend of Gul'dan and took his staff empowering it with fel-magic.

If you need someone to assist you with the story just give me a shout.

MinorCharacter · Mar 1, 2017

@TheKaldorei I welcome all feedback on the story, if you want to help with the actual script then I will PM it to you once I start writing it out. If you have any comments on my mission outline or characters in the meantime, let me know!

MogulKahn · Mar 7, 2017

We are getting next chronicles book in 10 days, majority of it is about history of Draenor and hopefully all your lore related question are going to be answered!

MinorCharacter · Mar 7, 2017

Wow, that is super exciting, I look forward to getting that when it comes out.

MogulKahn · Mar 7, 2017

World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2 - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft

MinorCharacter · Mar 8, 2017

Thanks for pointing it out, I just ordered it and the first one earlier today, they should get to me by the 20th according to amazon and will help with fleshing out the story. Also opinions from those following, would you prefer in situations where compromises can't be made that original details are kept or newer retcons are followed? Or do you feel it is more on a case by case basis? For example, it says on the page about the chronicles that while they are meant to answer questions, they are not meant to contradict existing canonical sources, which is itself a contradiction since most of Blizzard's existing canonical sources contradict each other in some manner or another.

TheKaldorei · Mar 9, 2017

Allow Chronicle to take you

Hotwer · Mar 9, 2017

Are you wondering to work with someone? Recently I've been replaying some old Warcraft maps and I'm really looking forward to work on World Editor again.

If you have any requirements of knowledge I'm sure I will meet it all. Looking forward to your campaign (and possible to help with it)!

MogulKahn · Mar 9, 2017

As far as I know, everything said in Chronicles is pretty much "law" for Warcraft universe. Well, first reason why they decided to make these books is because of so many retcons that happened through all these years. I have read somewhere that everything that is in the book, is official lore, but everything that was official lore before, and not touched in the book, still stands!

MinorCharacter · Mar 10, 2017

Yeah, I am really hoping it helps.

@Hotwer I have toyed with the idea of getting help, to be sure. I am getting much better at integrating resources, making new abilities, and I am working on unit balance and the story, but I still haven't learned much about making quests, in-game cinematics or coding AI.

MinorCharacter · Mar 16, 2017

Chronicle has arrived. And (Grrrraaaagghh!!!!! Incoherent scream of rage!) Just at a quick glance I can see several lore issues/contradictions already. On a map of Draenor that shows the location of clans, it puts the Bonechewers in the wrong spot based on info from both WoD and WC2X, it puts the Dragonmaw clan in the north, despite them being in Shadowmoon in Outland and fan speculation based on the presence of Faerie dragons in shadowmoon and wind serpents in Arak, and it puts the Lightning's Blade clan right smack dab in the middle of the huge Primal base in Gorgrond instead of in the Blade's Edge Mountains as established in the RPG and assumed based on their association with both the Blackrock and Thunderlord clans in the WC2X manual.

Later, a map of the eastern kingdoms is shown, but it is the map from Cataclysm, with Tol Barad and Kul Tiras moved west of Gilneas and a blotch that I assume is Vash'jir stuck in the spot where they used to be located on older maps. I looked at this and thought, really Blizzard? You just slapped the Cataclysm map in here and stuck the names of contemporary factions on it? That's lame.

They have also decided to go officially with Jeff Grubb's version of WC1 events for the first attack on Stormwind being after the Orcs and Humans had already been at war for some time, but not with his account for who led the final attack on Stormwind (He said Blackhand, but the original game said Orgrim, which is what they went with)

I had thought that the Pale Orcs from WoD should be connected to the Twilight's Hammer clan from what I read of the lore, but it is now official lore that the Pale Orcs became the Twilight's Hammer clan, which partially contradicts previous accounts of the clan.

And I mentioned the contradictions in Durotan's death, where it takes place, with how it had to be Lordaeron because of Aedelas being from there, but Orgrim could only be there during his mission to meet Zul'jin during the first war or when he attacked in the second war. Well now the story is that Durotan had Drek'thar give Orgrim a dream to meet him at the edge of Loch Modan and instead of Orgrim asking Durotan to wait nearby as in the novel, giving him a guide to the spot he feels is safest, he now sends Durotan home with a bodyguard of warriors who turn on him and kill him once he has travelled into Lordaeron, why they waited so long, I do not know. Also, this now occurs before Orgrim and Blackhand conquer the Redridge mountains and Blackrock mountain, yet Orgrim was able to travel north unmolested.

Why can Blizzard not keep its own lore straight? Why do they feel the need to continuously retcon stuff? Lore cannot be perfected by undoing your past efforts when working with a living story that is enjoyed by millions. You can perfect it by adding details but not by removing or changing them. Can you imagine if Lord of the Rings contained as many contradictions as Warcraft does? Oh dear, well, I am going to make some detailed comparison notes and try to sort out this mess.

MogulKahn · Mar 16, 2017

Well, one of the reasons why they made these Chronicles is to have all that lore mess sorted out. I have heard that they combined movie, WC1 and old books into one. And you need to take into consideration that what you have seen in the WoD doesn't mean it was there in our Draenor, it is alternate universe after all!

MinorCharacter · Mar 19, 2017

Oh yeah, I get that, and most everything Blizzard retcons is minor, who did an action, when it happened, where a character was, when they were born. But I do not understand the need to constantly make these changes, many of them unnecessary. And the chronicle includes almost everything that happened in WoD as well as making the Harbingers story canon for the MT Gul'Dan. Either way, I am almost done reviewing Chronicle and making my notes, I am going to be updating the main post with all of that info in the next couple of days. On the positive side, I have a whole list of good things chronicle did as well. There is lots of new info and a couple of questions answered.

Tuwnew · Aug 29, 2017

(Big up)

Any news ?

MinorCharacter · Sep 4, 2017

Been caught up with personal life stuff, but I was actually just thinking about trying to pick this up again. I will have a look this week and see if I can start working on it again.

MinorCharacter · Oct 4, 2017

Updated main post, all lore information and more to come, but I am still puttering away at the missions. Admittedly my best skill is at research and writing, which is why I am posting all of this for everyone while I pick away at building missions in my spare time.

What's new?

A new 2d map of Draenor that takes information from WoD, WC2, WoD pre-Alpha, Chronicle and Outland's map.

New settlements: Orebor Harborage, Zeth'kur, Arklon, Enkaat, Stormspire, Gor'Rune, etc...
Proposed locations for 7 Ogre tribes never previously given a home on Draenor
Names for all the seas of Draenor
Landmarks such as Whisper Peak, the Hand of Gul'dan, the Singing Steppes and Greatfather Mountain (Also known as Blade Spire Mountain)
Islands off the north and south coast of Tanaan peninsula not seen since WC2
Two locations given for the Bonechewer clan to try and rectify inconsistencies presented by Chronicle

A more detailed and expanded Mission outline with new bonus mission ideas!

Family trees for all the Horde families as well as Medivh and Wrynn!

Dire Orcs and a Red Mist upgrade for Catapults added to the Orc tech tree.

Plans in the next few days:
-Clean up the timeline a little
-Clean up the character list a lot
-Add some more items to the item list
-Clean up the lore inconsistencies section
-Make proper tech trees with images
-Add details to the 'Factions' section
-Take some updated screenshots

Lurker99 · Dec 9, 2017

Any update coming in 2017?

MinorCharacter · Dec 10, 2017

This holiday season is pretty busy for me, so likely nothing new until the New Year.

Blazethesage · Dec 25, 2017

I would just like to say that reading through this tonight has been a joy.

Just don't get over-ambitious and burn yourself out. One day, I want to play this glorious idea. I love the way you've tried to fit everything together, picking and choosing how best to satisfy as many differing sources of information as you can. I've never touched Warcraft 3's editor (or any editor more complex than Warcraft 2, in any meaningful way), so all I can say is that I wish you the best of luck! If you want suggestions or input on lore issues, feel free to bring it up here, I'm sure several of us would be happy to throw in our two cents.

MinorCharacter · Jan 9, 2018

Thanks! The lore part is the most fun for me. I am more of a story guy than a scenario or campaign maker, I have spent a lot of time just sifting through resources to find the hundreds of assets I need, there has been fiddling around with stats that I am sure will never be finished and continuously adding details to the first map, plus working on a script. I love this project too much to ever drop it completely, but it will be slow work most likely, jobs and bills and family come first, of course.

OblivionDeadra · May 28, 2018

Hello MinorCharacter

any updates to your campaign?

I been reading the details (LIKE A LOT)

MinorCharacter · May 29, 2018

Hey Oblivion Daedra, really glad you like the concept and the lore info, thats my favourite part. I have not gotten as much done as I would like, but I have done some mapping. Below are some in game images of the first map showing off some Frostfire ridge locations and units. If people want me to keep updating and get this done, just keep bugging me and giving me your thoughts, I really enjoy feedback and find that it is a great motivator.

Locations include Bloodmaul Stronghold, Grombolash, Grom'gar, Orebor Harbourage and Agurak's Fall.

Mavcik · Jun 1, 2018

Is it possible to download or not yet? It looks cool

MinorCharacter · Jun 2, 2018

Sadly no, but when mission 1 is done I will put it up. I will take some more pictures tomorrow and put them up.

Also, people here have kindly offered advice in the past. I am looking for ideas for the side quest to help each clan on Draenor, just a little something that is characterful for that clan but preferably not so involved as to sidetrack too much from the main quests. An example might be having the Thunderlords ask you to hunt a Gronn or Magnaron to prove yourself to them.

tulee · Jun 2, 2018

I was just looking through the screenshots you posted minor character. While it looks great that you included so many of the clans and characters in it, you are setting yourself up for extreme hardship by not keeping things simple. Your screenshots showed different grunts ( and I am guessing units ) for each and every orc clan on draenor, which implied a mind boggling amount of time and effort to achieve. Most of us on hive are (I am guessing) of an age where time is pretty precious and hard to come by, which means projects need to aim for simplicity if the goal is to for the project to see the light of day (there is nothing wrong with a project staying in development phase permanently, as it is a ton of fun building your own world with the world editor). But, if you want this project to achieve a certain level of completion/playability, would you consider sacrificing the uniqueness of the various orc clans and just make them all into a single race, with their uniqueness demonstrated by lore gained from side quests or something like that? A campaign based on rise of the horde could easily be an outstanding work of art just with two races, draenei and orcs.

Edit: I say this out of kindness, since 8 months ago, someone told me when i said i was going to make 6+ playable races, multiple campaigns etc. to just start with 1 or 2 playable races and start from there. And it really was the best advice someone could give a fledgling campaign maker

MinorCharacter · Jun 2, 2018

@tulee Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I am not making a different tech tree for every clan, that would indeed be exhausting, but when I was going through the resources at my disposal I found that there were enough grunt and raider models for every clan, or near enough. So these will just appear at times to help distinguish the other clans as parts of their own village, etc... In terms of core tech trees, there will only be 3 or 4. Orc, Draenei, Human and maybe the Dark Iron when I get there. One of the things I am planning on, is when you get to Azeroth, the Dark Portal will be able to recruit Grunts from the clans that have joined you so far. Something of a little easter egg.

MinorCharacter · Jun 4, 2018

Durotan's abilities, including being able to summon his faithful companion, Nightstalker.

Nightstalker himself!

Draka and her abilities.

Nazgrel, last orphan of the Dark Scar Clan.

Frostwolf unit skins. Peon, Corrupted Grunt, Uncorrupted Grunt, Raider, Frostwolf.

Orgrim Doomhammer with his famous armour, hammer, and his very hammer themed abilities.

Kilrogg Deadeye with both of his unique abilities.

Gul'dan with his abilities.

Blackhand with his unique ultimate.

Who can guess who all of these handsome young champions of the Horde are?

Durotan prepares himself to enter the hated Bladespire citadel.

The Ogres of Bladespire seek to relive the glories of ancient Goria.

Durotan reclaims his father's spear from the Ogres.

Durotan stands before the Citadel itself.

Gorr'thok, Ogre lord of Bladespire.

Borgal Doomfist, lord of the Bloodmaul Ogres.

A glimpse at the depths of Bloodmaul Stronghold.

Guttra Wolfchew, leader of the Grimfrost Ogres and one of many mini-bosses on the map.

Borrok the Devourer, the creature worshiped by the Grimfrost Ogres.

Grondo the mad Gronn out wandering about the Crackling Plains.

Kron the Flame Breaker, leader of the Breakers in Frostfire Ridge.

One of the mighty Ogron protecting the bastion of the Breakers.

Pity the young Gronnling, its death came too soon.

A Northern Elekk, one of the unique fauna of Draenor.

One of the giant winter bears native to Frostfire Ridge.

The food source of the Orc, the delicious Grok.

An Ice Fury, an elemental unique to Frostfire Ridge.

Heat from underground in this valley has allowed trees to thrive.

The slopes of Greatfather Mountain.

A mysterious infection is beginning to take root on the southern shore. . .

The Blood River War is fought on by the dead.

An image of Orebor's lighthouse and some of its harbour.

An easter egg in Orebor Harbourage.

An easter egg in the north of the map.

Also, if anyone can help with a little problem I am having, I successfully imported unique sounds for Gul'dan into the game, using the tried and true method of right clicking on the existing sound files and replacing them. However, when I tried to do the same thing with sound files for Cho'gall, it won't work, I just get silence. Is this a problem anyone has encountered before? The few times I have seen this come up on the forums it was either not answered, or was due to mistakes made in the importing process, which was the first thing I checked.

OutsiderXE · Jun 4, 2018

I remember I had similar issues. There was something wrong about the file when I exported it.

MinorCharacter · Jun 4, 2018

Oh hey, Outsider! Love your campaigns! So its most likely that one or more of the files wasn't converted properly, or has some inherent bug?

OutsiderXE · Jun 5, 2018

Yes. Unfortunately I dont remember the details. Try to compare working and not working files in audacity

MinorCharacter · Jun 8, 2018

Here are some more screenshots guys. I did a bunch more mapping, unit placement, created some item drops, some custom hero abilities, edited a bunch of text entries and started working on the coding aspect. There is a lot to learn there when it comes to cinematics, triggers, AI scripts, etc...

Durotan, Draka and Drek'thar lead a Frostwolf raiding party including Raiders, Spearthrowers, Grunts, a Shaman and the named wolf Nightstalker.

Draka's renamed ultimate ability and renamed class, She is now a Huntress

New Unit: War Elekk

New Unit: Clefthoof Battle Mount

The entrance to Agurak's Fall, the home of the Dragonmaw Clan

The Dragonmaw Clan live in the mountains with their beloved Rylaks

Nekros Skullcrusher, a mighty shaman among the Dragonmaw

A Wild Rylak flying over Thunder Peak

An Earth Fury in the Blade's Edge Mountains

Wandering through the Blade's Edge Mountains

Looking down from the summit of Greatfather Mountain

This location is an easter egg for anyone who has read the novel 'Durotan'

More of Orebor Harbourage

johnwar · Jun 9, 2018

Where can i download this or it cannot be downloaded

johnwar · Jun 9, 2018

MinorCharacter said:
Here are some more screenshots guys. I did a bunch more mapping, unit placement, created some item drops, some custom hero abilities, edited a bunch of text entries and started working on the coding aspect. There is a lot to learn there when it comes to cinematics, triggers, AI scripts, etc...

Durotan, Draka and Drek'thar lead a Frostwolf raiding party including Raiders, Spearthrowers, Grunts, a Shaman and the named wolf Nightstalker.

Draka's renamed ultimate ability and renamed class, She is now a Huntress

New Unit: War Elekk

New Unit: Clefthoof Battle Mount

The entrance to Agurak's Fall, the home of the Dragonmaw Clan

The Dragonmaw Clan live in the mountains with their beloved Rylaks

Nekros Skullcrusher, a mighty shaman among the Dragonmaw

A Wild Rylak flying over Thunder Peak

An Earth Fury in the Blade's Edge Mountains

Wandering through the Blade's Edge Mountains

Looking down from the summit of Greatfather Mountain

This location is an easter egg for anyone who has read the novel 'Durotan'

More of Orebor Harbourage

By the looks of it i think this will be a good campaign waiting for it

MinorCharacter · Jun 9, 2018

Thanks johnwar! Yeah, it will still be a while before download, but working on it!

johnwar · Jun 11, 2018

MinorCharacter said:
Thanks johnwar! Yeah, it will still be a while before download, but working on it!

MinorCharacter · Jun 13, 2018

Looking for suggestions on the human tech tree, just cleaning it up right now. I am trying to maintain the feel of the old WC1 tech tree, while also modernizing for a WC3 style campaign and adding a few things to make this a clearly Stormwind faction.

Currently the units are: Peasant, Footman, Pikeman, Halberdier, Archer, Knight, Catapult, Cleric, Conjurer and some naval units (Transport, Frigate, Battleship and Marine)

One thing I need an idea for is what a 'Brotherhood of the Horse' upgrade for the knights would offer. Also currently constructing what an SI:7 unit would do.

Anaxie · Jun 15, 2018

I feel like you're trying to do too much and it will become a mess. Less is more. This campaign is a good example of it.

Don't overbloat the racial trees either. again quality over quantity. you're talking about Si:7 something that as far as I can tell. Had absolutely no place in the first and second wars of relevance.

MinorCharacter · Jun 15, 2018

I thought so as well, but I was looking at different Stormwind organizations to see what was around in the first war, and according to their lore, the SI:7 was founded just before the first war. Honestly it only took me about 10 minutes to make the SI:7 unit, my biggest hold up is how intimidating the triggers look when I look at even a simple vanilla map.

Anaxie · Jun 16, 2018

And whats even the purpose of the unit? Whats the Horde equivalent. there is none its just there.

Look at your front post I don't know any game in any medium that features that many named characters. Not even the official campaigns themselves and this is one.

You need to trim stuff WAY WAY back or else quality is going to suffer. I guarantee

You have some points where a hero only appears a single time? Whats the point?

Trim it down to a playable cast of 4 to 5 and keep continunity. Theres no reason you need to play Durotan , Draka, AND Drek'Thar when the story can be told just fine by one or 2.

Wheres the relevance of the single mission with Kil'rogg and Kargath? Makes anything you gather item wise feel like a waste you just want to end the map because nothing matters.

It's your project but I've seen ideas like this countless times over the 15 years. Your goals and ambitions aren't realistic.

Pr0nogo · Jun 16, 2018

I agree that an overabundance of units will lead to diminishing returns. I also think that having heroes show up for a small amount of time is a waste of a mechanic. Don't worry too much about making sense of the story. Games are interactive mediums; tell your story second, make a solid interactive experience first. That means including consistent mechanics across all missions that evolve in complexity and scale as the campaign continues, and that you offer challenge with AI that share toolsets with the player. Avoid gimmicks; mechanics that don't teach the player useful skills that last across the running time of the campaign. Audit everything you add and mandate that it contributes positively to the game space.

All this is really nebulous and unspecific so if you want me to elaborate let me know. I hope to see a release of this project when it's done!

MinorCharacter · Jun 16, 2018

@Anaxie Why should another techtree have equivalent units? Shouldn't part of the fun of playing different factions be that they play differently? The Horde is based around raw power and smashing through the enemy. Meanwhile the human techtree is about having a variety of tactical options and using each where and when appropriate. All of the human units are relatively weak when compared to Orc units, but the humans have a greater versatility and tactical flexibility.

As for the story and characters, sure the game is a medium in which things are usually done a certain way, but the whole point of what I am going for is trying to get the player to be immersed with the Horde, its story and characters. The single missions are bonus missions, I will not even be touching them until the core missions are done, and the core missions primarily center around Durotan and Draka for the the first two-thirds, then transitioning to Orgrim, but the transition is also gradual as you get Orgrim as an ally in mission 4 and you get to play as Orgrim in 5, before he becomes your main character by 8. So my main cast is 4 characters, Durotan, Draka, Drek'thar and Orgrim. The bonus missions are asides, side stories that I would like to make if I ever got around to it, but they are not the core story.

As for making the missions themselves as a proper interactive experience, I am learning as I go, and I may indeed need to cut things to make it flow better, but I am first and foremost a story guy who loves the lore. I welcome advice about how to craft a mission, how to make it challenging, or interesting or function properly, but I do not welcome aggressive, even demanding statements about my story notes and what I need to do or not do with the story.

Other people have made campaigns set in this era with minimal characters and minimal story, I wanted to provide something different, a new experience. And maybe that is an unrealistic goal, but it is up to me to find that out and handle that if or when it becomes the case. This is a fun hobby for me, and I would like it to continue to be fun.

[Campaign] Rise of the Horde - redux

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