The Aftermath of the Second War
(author unknown)
For long months the forces of the Alliance worked to seek out the renegade
Orcs that had gone into hiding after the fall of the Dark Portal. The
Blackrock, Dragonmaw, and Black Tooth Grin clans were captured by the
Alliance and herded into guarded reserves and prison camps. While the
leaders of the Alliance argued over what was to be done with them, Orgrim
Doomhammer, the Warchief of the Horde, was placed under arrest and kept
as an honored prisoner under the care of King Terenas of Lordaeron.
Some members of the Alliance pleaded that the Orcs should be exterminated
like animals, while others opted for a sentence of life imprisonment.
Having discussed the obvious benefits of a treaty with Doomhammer,
King Terenas fervently hoped that the Orcs could be kept pacified long
enough to eventually lose their lust for conquest. Thoras Trollbane
of Stromgarde and Genn Greymane of Gilneas both disagreed vehemently
with Terenas, resolving that the Orcs were too great a threat to leave
alive. After months of debate and frustration, both leaders withdrew
the support of their nations from the Alliance. Azeroth alone stood
fast in its commitment to the Alliance. Even with the dynamic young
Varien Wrynn seated upon Azeroth's throne, the distance between the
kingdoms of Azeroth and Lordaeron made their union a hollow one.
Amid the strife that was slowly dissolving the great Alliance, the
fact remained that the once vast numbers of the Horde were no more.
The Twilight's Hammer and Stormreaver clans were decimated by their
own brethren in civil wars that erupted during the War. The Burning
Blade clan was routed and ultimately destroyed by troops under the command
of Uther Lightbringer during the Final Battle at the Portal. Only the
Bleeding Hollow clan was left unaccounted for as the cunning Kilrogg
Deadeye managed to evade the best efforts of the Alliance to capture
his clan. Elven scouts were placed on continual patrol within the Black
Morass searching for any sign of the renegade Bleeding Hollow.
---
Suspended ominously above the Black Morass, a tear in the fabric of
reality hung like a disembodied eye, keeping watch over the ruins of
the Dark Portal. This rift was the remnants of the twisted wizard Medivh's
original Portal into Draenor - the dark, red world from which the Orcs
passed into Azeroth. The Kirin Tor of Dalaran traveled to the lands
overlooking the ruins on this site and constructed the Citadel of Nethergarde
to serve as guardian should the rift ever open again...
On the Eve of Summer in the year 606, a freak darkness swept across
of the Black Morass. All attempts by the mages at Nethergarde to probe
into the darkness were futile, but they could sense that the rift was
growing once more. Then, as if from a dream, the mages heard the sounds
of a marching army. Hundreds strong, the sounds of armour and sword
charged through the ruined portal and then as quickly fell silent. The
thunderous shrieks of Dragons crying to the skies passed overhead, and
then as suddenly disappeared into the gloom. Venemous undead whispers,
barely audible under the clash of metal plates seemed to echo and repeat
one phrase - "We will return..."
When the darkness lifted, the portal was visible once again. It illuminated
the ruins as it always had, but the eerie light seemed to play tricks
with the shadows. It was only upon closer inspection that the trampled
mud that marked the passing of the Bleeding Hollow clan from Azeroth
was found to be more than mere illusion.
---
The Bleeding Hollow crossed over into Draenor and rejoined the 'old
clans' that had never seen the fields of Azeroth. To many, the warriors
of the Bleeding Hollow were considered mighty heroes as these Orcs had
been living in the Human lands for over thirty years. Kilrogg met with
the Elder Shaman Ner'zhul who now controlled the remaining clans in
Draenor. The Shaman ordered that the newly arrived Death Knights, Trolls
and Dragons were to be used by all of the clans in conjuncture. Ner'zhul
also informed Kilrogg of his plan to retrieve certain artifacts from
Azeroth as to open rifts into other worlds and take the Orcish Hordes
to great victories beyond the Dark Portal...
