History of WoW

( The numbers in brackets represent the number of years after or before the First War, the date of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. I have placed IRL years next to this to help in relation to the age of your characters)

2010 (29) -

2009 (28) -

2008 (27) - Wrath of the Lich King begins

2007 (26) -The Burning Crusade begins

2006 (25) -

2005 (24) - World of Warcraft begins

2004 (23) - The Sunwell Trilogy

2003 (22) -

2002 (21) - Warcraft 3 - The Frozen Throne

2001 (20)
- Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos
- The Scourge of Lordaeron
- After preparing for many long months, Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned finally struck the first blow by releasing the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron. Uther and his fellow paladins investigated the infected regions in the hope of finding a way to stop the plague. Despite their efforts, the plague continued to spread and threatened to tear the Alliance apart.

As the ranks of the undead swept across Lordaeron, Terenas' only son, Prince Arthas, took up the fight against the Scourge. Arthas succeeded in killing Kel'Thuzad, but even so, the undead ranks swelled with every soldier that fell defending the land. Frustrated and stymied by the seemingly unstoppable enemy, Arthas took increasingly extreme steps to conquer them. Finally Arthas' comrades warned him that he was losing his hold on his humanity.

Arthas' fear and resolve proved to be his ultimate undoing. He tracked the plague's source to Northrend, intending to end its threat forever. Instead, Prince Arthas eventually fell prey to the Lich King's tremendous power. Believing that it would save his people, Arthas took up the cursed runeblade, Frostmourne. Though the sword did grant him unfathomable power, it also stole his soul and transformed him into the greatest of the Lich King's death knights. With his soul cast aside and his sanity shattered, Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom. Ultimately, Arthas murdered his own father, King Terenas, and crushed Lordaeron under the Lich King's iron heel.


2000 (19)


1999 (18)
- The New Horde, Lord of the Clans
- The chief warden of the internment camps, Aedelas Blackmoore, watched over the captive Orcs from his prison-stronghold, Durnholde. One Orc in particular had always held his interest: the orphaned infant he had found nearly eighteen years before during the early days of the First War. Blackmoore had raised the young male as a favoured slave and named him Thrall. Blackmoore taught the Orc about tactics, philosophy, and combat. Thrall was even trained as a gladiator. All the while, the corrupt warden sought to mould the Orc into a weapon.

Despite his harsh upbringing, young Thrall grew into a strong, quick-witted Orc, and he knew in his heart that a slave's life was not for him. As he grew to maturity, he learned about his people, the Orcs, whom he had never met: after their defeat, most of them had been placed in internment camps. Rumour had it that Doomhammer, the Orc leader, had escaped from Lordaeron and gone into hiding. Only one rogue clan still operated in secret, trying to evade the watchful eyes of the Alliance.

The resourceful yet inexperienced Thrall decided to escape from Blackmoore's fortress and set off to find others of his kind. During his journeys Thrall visited the internment camps and found his once-mighty race to be strangely cowed and lethargic. Having not found the proud warriors he hoped to discover, Thrall set out to find the last undefeated Orc chieftain, Grom Hellscream.

Constantly hunted by the humans, Hellscream nevertheless held onto the Horde's unquenchable will to fight. Aided only by his own devoted Warsong clan, Hellscream continued to wage an underground war against the oppression of his beleaguered people. Unfortunately, Hellscream could never find a way to rouse the captured Orcs from their stupor. The impressionable Thrall, inspired by Hellscream's idealism, developed a strong empathy for the Horde and its warrior traditions.

Seeking the truth of his own origins, Thrall travelled north to find the legendary Frostwolfclan. Thrall learned that Gul'dan had exiled the Frostwolves during the early days of the First War. He also discovered that he was the son and heir of the Orc hero Durotan, the true chieftain of the Frostwolves who had been murdered in the wilds nearly twenty years before, on the orders of Gul'dan himself.
Under the tutelage of the venerable shaman Drek'Thar, Thrall studied his people's ancient shamanistic culture, which had been forgotten under Gul'dan's evil rule. Over time, Thrall became a powerful shaman and took his rightful place as chieftain of the exiled Frostwolves. Empowered by the elements themselves and driven to find his destiny, Thrall set off to free the captive clans and heal his race of demonic corruption.

During his travels, Thrall found the aged warchief, Orgrim Doomhammer, who had been living as a hermit for many years. Doomhammer, who had been a close friend of Thrall's father, decided to follow the young, visionary Orc and help him free the captive clans. Supported by many of the veteran chieftains, Thrall ultimately succeeded in revitalizing the Horde and giving his people a new spiritual identity.
To symbolize his people's rebirth, Thrall returned to Blackmoore's fortress of Durnholde and put a decisive end to his former master's plans by laying siege to the internment camps. This victory was not without its price: during the liberation of one camp, Doomhammer fell in battle.

Thrall took up Doomhammer's legendary warhammer and donned his black plate-armor to become the new warchief of the Horde. During the following months, Thrall's small but volatile Horde laid waste to the internment camps and stymied the Alliance's best efforts to counter his clever strategies. Encouraged by his best friend and mentor, Grom Hellscream, Thrall worked to ensure that his people would never be slaves again.

1998 (17)

1997 (16)
- The Alliance Splinters
- Unaware of the death cults forming in their lands, the leaders of the Alliance nations began to bicker and argue over territorial holdings and decreasing political influence. King Terenas of Lordaeron began to suspect that the fragile pact they had forged during their darkest hour would not last for much longer. Terenas had convinced the Alliance leaders to lend money and labourers to help rebuild the southern kingdom of Stormwind, which had been destroyed during the Orcish occupation of Azeroth. The higher taxes that resulted, along with the high expense of maintaining and operating the numerous Orc internment camps, led many leaders - Genn Greymane of Gilneas in particular - to believe that their kingdoms would be better off seceding from the Alliance.

To make matters worse, the high elves of Silvermoon brusquely rescinded their allegiance to the Alliance, stating that the humans' poor leadership had led to the burning of their forests during the Second War. Terenas fought back his impatience and quietly reminded the elves that nothing of Quel'Thalas would have remained if not for the hundreds of valiant humans who'd given their lives to defend it. Nonetheless, the elves stubbornly decided to go their own way. In the wake of the elves' departure, Gilneas and Stromgarde seceded as well.

Though the Alliance was falling apart, King Terenas still had allies that he could count on. Both Admiral Proudmoore of Kul Tiras and the young king, Varian Wrynn of Stormwind, remained committed to the Alliance. Furthermore, the wizards of the Kirin Tor, led by the Archmage Antonidas, pledged Dalaran's steadfast support to Terenas' rule. Perhaps most reassuring of all was the pledge of the mighty dwarven king, Magni Bronzebeard, who vowed that the dwarves of Ironforge would forever owe a debt of honour to the Alliance for liberating Khaz Modan from the Horde's control.


1996 (15)
- Kel’Thuzad and the Forming of the Scourge
- There were a handful of powerful individuals scattered throughout the world who heard the Lich King's mental summons from Northrend. Most notable of them was the archmage of Dalaran, Kel'Thuzad, who was one of senior members of the Kirin Tor, Dalaran's ruling council. He had been considered a maverick for years due to his insistence on studying the forbidden arts of necromancy. Driven to learn all he could of the magical world and its shadowy wonders, he was frustrated by what he saw as his peers' outmoded and unimaginative precepts. Upon hearing the powerful summons from Northrend, the archmage bent all of his considerable will to communing with the mysterious voice. Convinced that the Kirin Tor was too squeamish to seize the power and knowledge inherent in the dark arts, he resigned himself to learn what he could from the immensely powerful Lich King.

Leaving behind his fortune and prestigious political standing, Kel'Thuzad abandoned the ways of the Kirin Tor and left Dalaran forever. Prodded by the Lich King's persistent voice in his mind, he sold his vast holdings and stored away his fortunes. Travelling alone over many leagues of both land and sea, he finally reached the frozen shores of Northrend. Intent on reaching Icecrown and offering his services to the Lich King, the archmage passed through the ravaged, war-torn ruins of Azjol-Nerub. Kel'Thuzad saw firsthand the scope and ferocity of Ner'zhul's power. He began to realize that allying himself with the mysterious Lich King might be both wise and potentially fruitful.

After long months of trekking through the harsh arctic wastelands, Kel'Thuzad finally reached the dark glacier of Icecrown. He boldly approached Ner'zhul's dark citadel and was shocked when the undead guardsmen silently let him pass as though he was expected. Kel'Thuzad descended deep into the cold earth and found his way down to the bottom of the glacier. There, in the endless cavern of ice and shadows, he prostrated himself before the Frozen Throne and offered his soul to the dark lord of the dead.
The Lich King was pleased with his latest conscript. He promised Kel'Thuzad immortality and great power in exchange for his loyalty and obedience. Eager for dark knowledge and power, Kel'Thuzad accepted his first great mission: to go into the world of men and found a new religion that would worship the Lich King as a god.

To help the archmage accomplish his mission, Ner'zhul left Kel'Thuzad's humanity intact. The aged yet still charismatic wizard was charged with using his powers of illusion and persuasion to lull the downtrodden, disenfranchised masses of Lordaeron into a state of trust and belief. Then, once he had their attention, he would offer them a new vision of what society could be - and a new figurehead to call their king.

Kel'Thuzad returned to Lordaeron in disguise, and over the span of three years, he used his fortune and intellect to gather a clandestine brotherhood of like-minded men and women. The brotherhood, which he called the Cult of the Damned, promised its acolytes social equality and eternal life on Azeroth in exchange for their service and obedience to Ner'zhul. As the months passed, Kel'Thuzad found many eager volunteers for his new cult amongst the tired, overburdened laborers of Lordaeron. It was surprisingly easy for Kel'Thuzad to achieve his goal: namely, to transfer the citizens' faith in the Holy Light into belief in Ner'zhul's dark shadow. As the Cult of the Damned grew in size and influence, Kel'Thuzad made sure to hide its workings from the authorities of Lordaeron.

With Kel'Thuzad's success in Lordaeron, the Lich King made the final preparations for his assault against human civilization. Placing his plague-energies into a number of portable artefacts called plague-cauldrons, Ner'zhul ordered Kel'Thuzad to transport the cauldrons to Lordaeron, where they would be hidden within various cult-controlled villages. The cauldrons, protected by the loyal cultists, would then act as plague-generators, sending the plague seeping out across the unsuspecting farmlands and cities of northern Lordaeron.

The Lich King's plan worked perfectly. Many of Lordaeron's northern villages were contaminated almost immediately. Just as in Northrend, the citizens who contracted the plague died and arose as the Lich King's willing slaves. The cultists under Kel'Thuzad were eager to die and be raised again in their dark lord's service. They exulted in the prospect of immortality through undeath. As the plague spread, more and more feral zombies arose in the northlands. Kel'Thuzad looked upon the Lich King's growing army and named it the Scourge, for soon it would march upon the gates of Lordaeron and scour humanity from the face of the world.


1995 (14)
- War of the Spider
- Ner'zhul continued to build up his power base in Northrend. A great citadel was erected above the Icecrown Glacier and manned by the growing legions of the dead. Yet as the Lich King extended his influence over the land, one shadowy empire stood against his power. The ancient subterranean kingdom of Azjol-Nerub, which had been founded by a race of sinister humanoid spiders, sent their elite warrior-guard to attack Icecrown and end the Lich King's mad bid for dominance. Much to his frustration, Ner'zhul found that the evil nerubians were immune not only to the plague, but to his telepathic domination as well.

The nerubian spider-lords commanded vast forces and had an underground network that stretched nearly half the breadth of Northrend. Their hit-and-run tactics on the Lich King's strongholds stymied his efforts to root them out time after time. Ultimately Ner'zhul's war against the nerubians was won by attrition. With the aid of the sinister dreadlords and innumerable undead warriors, the Lich King invaded Azjol-Nerub and brought its subterranean temples crashing down upon the spider lords' heads.

Though the nerubians were immune to his plague, Ner'zhul's growing necromantic powers allowed him to raise the spider-warriors' corpses and bend them to his will. As a testament to their tenacity and fearlessness, Ner'zhul adopted the nerubians' distinctive architectural style for his own fortresses and structures. Left to rule his kingdom unopposed, the Lich King began preparing for his true mission in the world. Reaching out into the human lands with his vast consciousness, the Lich King called out to any dark soul that would listen....

1994 (13)
- Lethargy of the Orcs
- Months passed, and more Orc prisoners were rounded up and placed within the internment camps. As the camps began to overflow, the Alliance was forced to construct new camps in the plains south of the Alterac Mountains. To properly maintain and supply the growing number of camps, King Terenas levied a new tax on the Alliance nations. This tax, along with increased political tensions over border disputes, created widespread unrest. It seemed that the fragile pact that had forged the human nations together in their darkest hour would break at any given moment.

Amidst the political turmoil, many of the camp wardens began to notice an unsettling change come over their Orc captives. The Orcs' efforts to escape from the camps or even fight amongst themselves had greatly decreased in frequency over time. The Orcs were becoming increasingly aloof and lethargic. Though it was difficult to believe, the Orcs - once held as the most aggressive race ever seen on Azeroth - had completely lost their will to fight. The strange lethargy confounded the Alliance leaders and continued to take its toll on the rapidly weakening Orcs.

Some speculated that some strange disease, contractible only by Orcs, brought about the baffling lethargy. But Archmage Antonidas of Dalaran posed a different hypothesis. Researching what little he could find of Orcish history, Antonidas learned that the Orcs had been under the crippling influence of demonic power for generations. He speculated that the Orcs had been corrupted by these powers even before their first invasion of Azeroth. Clearly, demons had spiked the Orcs' blood, and in turn the brutes had been granted unnaturally heightened strength, endurance, and aggression.

Antonidas theorized that the Orcs' communal lethargy was not actually a disease, but a consequence of racial withdrawal from the volatile warlock magics that had made them fearsome, bloodlusted warriors. Though the symptoms were clear, Antonidas was unable to find a cure for the Orcs' present condition. Then too, many of his fellow mages, as well as a few notable Alliance leaders, argued that finding a cure for the Orcs would be an imprudent venture. Left to ponder the Orcs' mysterious condition, Antonidas' conclusion was that the Orcs' cure would have to be a spiritual one.

1993 (12)

1992 (11)
- The Day of the Dragon, The Battle of Grim Batol
- In the war-torn lands of the south, the scattered remnants of the Horde fought for their very survival. Though Grom Hellscream and his Warsong clan managed to evade capture, Deadeye and his Bleeding Hollow clan were rounded up and placed in the internment camps in Lordaeron. Notwithstanding these costly uprisings, the camps' wardens soon re-established control over their brutish charges.

However, unknown to the Alliance, a large force of Orcs still roamed free in the northern wastes of Khaz Modan. The Dragonmaw Clan, led by the infamous warlock Nekros, was using an ancient artefact known as the Demon Soul to control the Dragonqueen, Alexstrasza, and her dragonflight. With the Dragonqueen as his hostage, Nekros built up a secret army within the abandoned - some say cursed - Wildhammer stronghold of Grim Batol. Planning to unleash his forces and the mighty red dragons on the Alliance, Nekros hoped to reunite the Horde and continue its conquest of Azeroth. His vision did not come to pass: a small group of resistance fighters, led by the human mage Rhonin managed to destroy the Demon Soul and free the Dragonqueen from Nekros' command.

In their fury, Alexstrasza's dragons tore Grim Batol apart and incinerated the greater bulk of the Dragonmaw clan. Nekros' grand schemes of reunification came crashing down as the Alliance troops rounded up the remaining Orc survivors and threw them into the waiting internment camps. The Dragonmaw clan's defeat signalled the end of the Horde, and the end of the Orcs' furious bloodlust.

1991 (10)
- Icecrown and the Frozen Throne
- Kil'jaeden cast Ner'zhul's icy cask back into the world of Azeroth. The hardened crystal streaked across the night sky and smashed into the desolate arctic continent of Northrend, burying itself deep within the Icecrown glacier. The frozen crystal, warped and scarred by its violent descent, came to resemble a throne, and Ner'zhul's vengeful spirit soon stirred within it.

From the confines of the Frozen Throne, Ner'zhul began to reach out his vast consciousness and touch the minds of Northrend's native inhabitants. With little effort, he enslaved the minds of many indigenous creatures, including ice trolls and fierce wendigo, and he drew their evil brethren into his growing shadow. His psychic powers proved to be almost limitless, and he used them to create a small army that he housed within Icecrown's twisting labyrinths. As the Lich King mastered his growing abilities under the dreadlords' persistent vigil, he discovered a remote human settlement on the fringe of the vast Dragonblight. On a whim, Ner'zhul decided to test his powers on the unsuspecting humans.

Ner'zhul cast a plague of undeath - which had originated from deep within the Frozen Throne, out into the arctic wasteland. Controlling the plague with his will alone, he drove it straight into the human village. Within three days, everyone in the settlement was dead, but shortly thereafter, the dead villagers began to rise as zombified corpses. Ner'zhul could feel their individual spirits and thoughts as if they were his own. The raging cacophony in his mind caused Ner'zhul to grow even more powerful, as if their spirits provided him with much-needed nourishment. He found it was child's play to control the zombies' actions and steer them to whatever end he wished.

Over the following months, Ner'zhul continued to experiment with his plague of undeath by subjugating every human inhabitant of Northrend. With his army of undead growing daily, he knew that the time for his true test was nearing.

1990 (9)
- The Birth of the Lich King
- Ner'zhul and his followers entered the Twisting Nether, the ethereal plane that connects all of the worlds scattered throughout the Great Dark Beyond. Unfortunately, Kil'jaeden and his demonic minions were waiting for them. Kil'jaeden, who had sworn to take vengeance on Ner'zhul for his prideful defiance, slowly tore the old shaman's body apart, piece by piece. Kil'jaeden kept the shaman's spirit alive and intact, thus leaving Ner'zhul painfully aware of his body's gross dismemberment. Though Ner'zhul pleaded with the demon to release his spirit and grant him death, the demon grimly replied that the Blood Pact they had made long ago was still binding, and that Ner'zhul still had a purpose to serve.

The Orcs' failure to conquer the world for the Burning Legion forced Kil'jaeden to create a new army to sew chaos throughout the kingdoms of the Azeroth. This new army could not be allowed to fall prey to the same petty rivalries and infighting that had plagued the Horde. It would have to be merciless and single-minded in its mission. This time, Kil'jaeden could not afford to fail.

Holding Ner'zhul's spirit helpless in stasis, Kil'jaeden gave him one last chance to serve the Legion or suffer eternal torment. Once again, Ner'zhul recklessly agreed to the demon's pact. Ner'zhul's spirit was placed within a specially crafted block of diamond-hard ice gathered from the far reaches of the Twisting Nether. Encased within the frozen cask, Ner'zhul felt his consciousness expand ten thousand-fold. Warped by the demon's chaotic powers, Ner'zhul became a spectral being of unfathomable power. At that moment, the Orc known as Ner'zhul was shattered forever, and the Lich King was born.

Ner'zhul's loyal death knights and Shadowmoon followers were also transformed by the demon's chaotic energies. The wicked spellcasters were ripped apart and remade as skeletalliches. The demons had ensured that even in death, Ner'zhul's followers would serve him unquestioningly.

When the time was right, Kil'jaeden explained the mission for which he had created the Lich King. Ner'zhul was to spread a plague of death and terror across Azeroth that would snuff out human civilization forever. All those who died from the dreaded plague would arise as the undead, and their spirits would be bound to Ner'zhul's iron will forever. Kil'jaeden promised that if Ner'zhul accomplished his dark mission of scouring humanity from the world, he would be freed from his curse and granted a new, healthy body to inhabit.

Though Ner'zhul was agreeable and seemingly anxious to play his part, Kil'jaeden remained sceptical of his pawn's loyalties. Keeping the Lich King bodiless and trapped within the crystal cask assured his good conduct for the short term, but the demon knew that he would need to keep a watchful eye on him. To this end, Kil'jaeden called upon his elite demon guard, the vampiric dreadlords, to police Ner'zhul and ensure that he accomplished his dread task. Tichondrius, the most powerful and cunning of the dreadlords, warmed to the challenge; he was fascinated by the plague's severity and the Lich King's unbridled potential for genocide.

1989 (
- Warcraft 2 - Beyond the Dark Portal
- As the fires of the Second War died down, the Alliance took aggressive steps to contain the Orcish threat. A number of large internment camps, meant to house the captive Orcs, were constructed in southern Lordaeron. Guarded by both the paladins and the veteran soldiers of the Alliance, the camps proved to be a great success. Though the captive Orcs were tense and anxious to do battle once more, the various camp wardens, based at the old prison-fortress of Durnholde, kept the peace and maintained a strong semblance of order.

However, on the hellish world of Draenor, a new Orcish army prepared to strike at the unsuspecting Alliance. Ner'zhul, the former mentor of Gul'dan, rallied the remaining Orc clans under his dark banner. Aided by the Shadowmoon clan, the old shaman planned to open a number of portals on Draenor that would lead the Horde to new, unspoiled worlds. To power his new portals, he needed a number of enchanted artefacts from Azeroth. To procure them, Ner'zhul reopened the Dark Portal and sent his ravenous servants charging through it.

The new Horde, led by veteran chieftains such as Grom Hellscream and Kilrogg Deadeye (of the Bleeding Hollow clan), surprised the Alliance defence forces and rampaged through the countryside. Under Ner'zhul's surgical command, the Orcs quickly rounded up the artefacts that they needed and fled back to the safety of Draenor.

King Terenas of Lordaeron, convinced that the Orcs were preparing a new invasion of Azeroth, assembled his most trusted lieutenants. He ordered General Turalyon and the archmage, Khadgar, to lead an expedition through the Dark Portal to put an end to the Orcish threat once and for all. Turalyon and Khadgar's forces marched into Draenor and repeatedly clashed with Ner'zhul's clans upon the ravaged Hellfire Peninsula. Even with the aid of the high elf Alleria Windrunner, the dwarf Kurdran Wildhammer, and the veteran soldier Danath Trollbane, Khadgar was unable to prevent Ner'zhul from opening his portals to other worlds.

Ner'zhul finally opened his portals to other worlds, but he did not foresee the terrible price he would pay. The portals' tremendous energies began to tear the very fabric of Draenor apart. As Turalyon's forces fought desperately to return home to Azeroth, the world of Draenor began to buckle in upon itself. Grom Hellscream and Kilrogg Deadeye, realizing that Ner'zhul's mad plans would doom their entire race, rallied the remaining Orcs and escaped back to the relative safety of Azeroth.

On Draenor, Turalyon and Khadgar agreed to make the ultimate sacrifice by destroying the Dark Portal from their side. Though it would cost their lives, and the lives of their companions, they knew that it was the only way to ensure Azeroth's survival. Even as Hellscream and Deadeye hacked their way through the human ranks in a desperate bid for freedom, the Dark Portal exploded behind them. For them, and the remaining Orcs on Azeroth, there would be no going back.

Ner'zhul and his loyal Shadowmoon clan passed through the largest of the newly created portals, as massive volcanic eruptions began to break Draenor's continents apart. The burning seas rose up and roiled the shattered landscape as the tortured world was finally consumed in a massive, apocalyptic explosion.

1988 (7)
– Second War continues, Knights of the Silver Hand formed, Second War ends
- Following the victory in the north, the Alliance concentrated on pushing back the ground offensive on the edge of the Arathi Highlands on the great bridges of the Thandol Span. The first step was a bloody retaking of the Horde fortress on Tol Barad for use as a staging point for an invasion upon Dun Modr, the primary base of support for the attacks upon the Thandol Span. With naval support from Tol Barad, the Alliance ground forces were finally able to push across the Thandol Span and reclaim Dun Modr. The Alliance continued to push south, taking the base at Dun Algaz. Though they were unable to completely take the cursed fortress of Grim Batol, they effectively shattered the armies of the Horde and causing them to retreat from Khaz Modan.

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

The Siege of Lordaeron
Alterac's betrayal had let the entire Horde army through to the walls of Lordaeron, and they began besieging the capital. Troops from Stromgarde cut off all remaining Horde reinforcements in Alterac and imprisoned Perenolde for his treason. The whole of the Alliance army converged on the Horde, but were unable to defeat them at first. Meanwhile, Gul'dan took the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer Clans to the location of the Tomb of Sargeras in an attempt to raise the Tomb from the sea and claim the demonic powers for his own. It was foolish of him to try however because both clans, including Gul'dan, were annihilated by the demons inside. Meanwhile, Doomhammer withdrew his forces to pursue Gul'dan in order to keep them from dishonouring the Horde. The Alliance jumped on this opportunity and proceeded to mop up the horde's remaining standing troops in Lordaeron, who were in shambles and without air support. The Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer Clan were destroyed by Doomhammer's forces, which included his secret weapon: the red dragons.

The Alliance Takeover – The Assault on Blackrock Spire
With the Horde forces thus weakened, the Alliance laid siege to the fortress of Blackrock. In order to break the siege, Doomhammer and what followers he had left charged out of the Spire and attacked Lord Lothar and his Paladins. After a titanic duel, Doomhammer narrowly managed to kill Lord Lothar. Upon his death, Lothar's second-in-command, the Paladin Turalyon took command, made Doomhammer his prisoner, and chased the retreating Orcs to their last bastion of power, the Dark Portal.
Ragged and broken, the remaining Horde forces attempted a defence of the Dark Portal. In what has been described as the bloodiest battle of the Second War, the Orcs were eventually defeated, their leaders rounded up, and Doomhammer himself taken in chains. Shortly thereafter, the wizard Khadgar, flanked by the brave warriors of the Alliance, destroyed the Dark Portal. With the destruction of the Dark Portal, the Second War was ended.

1987 (6)
- THE SECOND WAR (Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness)
- In the 6th year after the fall of Stormwind, the Horde began their northern offensive against the Alliance forces. The Horde simultaneously launched two primary assaults. The first was a land offensive launched out of Blackrock Mountain which moved north to the Dwarf holdings in Khaz Modan. The second was a naval assault launched from the ruins of Stormwind, which sailed north taking the islands of Zul'dare, Tol Barad, and Crestfall and establishing them as primary naval bases. From these launching points, the Horde landed troops along the coasts of the Wetlands, the Arathi Highlands, and most importantly the southern coast of Lordaeron. Southern outposts such as Southshore, Tarren Mill and Hillsbrad were assaulted, and the Horde squeezed a large amount of troops into Lordaeron this way, assisted by the nation of Alterac who provided them with maps and secret routes.

Soon after, Zul'Jin and some of his champions were discovered by Horde scouts in a makeshift prison near Tarren Mill. Upon hearing the news, Doomhammer immediately ordered his release from the 40-man raid party that captured him. Now in Doomhammer's debt, Zul'Jin agreed to form a pact with the Orcish Horde: the plains and valleys of Lordaeron would belong to the Horde, while the trolls would take back their ancestral forests from their mortal enemies, the high elves.

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

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

Outraged at the attack on their borders, the Elves finally put forth their full strength in the war effort. This included the deployment of Elven Destroyers south to the Hinterlands and to the shores of Lordaeron. High Commander Anduin Lothar decided to split his army in order to out manoeuvre the Horde. He left half of his army, under command of his second in command, to destroy the Horde threat in the Elven Forests, while Lothar's half would stay in the Hinterlands to destroy the large number of Horde still remaining there. Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas managed to push back the majority of Horde forces to the shores of Hillsbrad, but not before Gul'dan was able to acquire High Elven runestones to use in his effort to create Ogre-magi for the war effort. With support from the Elves, the Alliance was able to launch an attack on Zul'dare and end the invasion of Lordaeron. Though Hillsbrad and Southshore were nearly obliterated, the Horde navies were driven back, presumably to the shores of the Wetlands, Crestfall, and the ruins of Stormwind.

1986 (5) -

1985 (4)
- In the years between the defeat of the Kingdom of Azeroth (0) and the outbreak of the Second War (6), it can only be assumed that both the Horde and Alliance went through massive reformations and began huge military build-ups in preparation for war.

1984 (3) -

1983 (2)
- Following the events of the First War, the survivors of Stormwind led by Anduin Lothar made their way through the Great Sea to the northern kingdom of Lordaeron to beseech aid from King Terenas Menethil II.

Following Lothar's impassioned speech, Terenas called for an emergency council of war to discuss the Orcish threat. Meanwhile, the Orcish Horde pillaged Stormwind city and the surrounding areas, effectively destroying all human holdings south of the Burning Steppes.

1982 (1) - The Last Guardian (novel)

1981 (0) - THE FIRST WAR (Warcraft - Orcs & Humans)

1980 (-1) - Rise of the Horde (novel)

1976 (-5)

1966 (-15)

1956 (-25)

1946 (-35)
1936 (-45) - The Last Guardian
- Kil'jaeden & the Shadow Pact
- Rise of the Horde

1926 (-55)

1916 (-65)

1906 (-75)

1881 (-100)

(-230) - War of the Three Hammers

(-823) -Aegwynn & the Dragon Hunt

(-1,200) - The Seven Kingdoms

(-2,500) - Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves

(-2,700) - The Guardians of Tirisfal

(-2,800) - Arathor & the Troll Wars

(-6,800) - The Founding of Quel'Thalas

(-7,300) - The Exile of the High Elves

(-9,000) - The World Tree & the Emerald Dream

(-10,000) - War of the Ancients Trilogy