Sign inSecond War
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The Second War was the orcish Horde's campaign to conquer the northern human kingdoms after it destroyed Stormwind in the First War. Seven human nations, with the dwarves of Ironforge and the high elves of Quel'Thalas, banded together as the Alliance of Lordaeron and drove the Horde back. Nearly every zone in Classic's northern Eastern Kingdoms, from the Wetlands to Arathi to the Hinterlands, was a battlefield in this war, and many quests deal with what it left behind.
Background
After the fall of Stormwind, Anduin Lothar led its refugees to Lordaeron and convinced King Terenas Menethil to unite the human kingdoms. The new Alliance of Lordaeron brought together Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Kul Tiras, Gilneas, Alterac, Dalaran and the refugees of Stormwind, plus the dwarves of Khaz Modan, the Wildhammer dwarves, the gnomes and, reluctantly, the high elves.
On the other side, Orgrim Doomhammer reorganized the Horde and added new allies. The Amani forest trolls under Zul'jin joined after the orcs freed them from captivity. The Dragonmaw clan captured the red Dragon Aspect, Alexstrasza, at Grim Batol and forced her children to serve as war mounts. Gul'dan created the first death knights from the bodies of fallen human knights, and ogre-magi at the Altar of Storms.
The war
The Horde marched north through Khaz Modan, occupied most of the dwarven lands and besieged Ironforge without taking it. It then pushed into Lordaeron, burning the edges of Quel'Thalas with the help of the Amani.
The tide turned for several reasons:
- Betrayal in Alterac. Lord Aiden Perenolde of Alterac secretly sided with the Horde. When this was discovered, the Alliance occupied his kingdom.
- Gul'dan's betrayal. At a critical point, Gul'dan abandoned Doomhammer and took his followers to sea to raise the Tomb of Sargeras. Doomhammer had to divert troops to hunt him down, and Gul'dan was killed by demons at the tomb.
- The Knights of the Silver Hand. Archbishop Alonsus Faol founded the first order of paladins, led by Uther the Lightbringer, to fight the Horde. See Knights of the Silver Hand.
The Alliance drove the Horde back to Blackrock Spire. In the final battle there, Doomhammer killed Anduin Lothar in single combat. Lothar's lieutenant Turalyon rallied the army, broke the Horde in the Burning Steppes and captured Doomhammer. The Dark Portal was destroyed, and the surviving orcs were rounded up into internment camps.
Where players see it in Classic
Wetlands and Grim Batol
In Wetlands, the Dragonmaw clan holds the hills east of Menethil Harbor. War Banners explains that the Dragonmaw "lost control of their red dragon pets" at the end of the war, fled Grim Batol (Grim Batol) and are now rebuilding. Players fight Dragonmaw Raiders and other clan members around the Dragonmaw Gates. Grim Batol itself is closed in Classic.
Arathi Highlands
Arathi Highlands holds the ruined kingdom of Stromgarde. Thoras Trollbane, its king during the war, is now dead, and his son Galen leads what is left. Horde players working out of Hammerfall (Hammerfall) try to open Thoras's tomb in The Broken Sigil and take his sword in Trollbane. Thoradin's Wall, an ancient wall raised by the first human kingdom, cuts across the zone's western edge.
Hammerfall takes its name from Doomhammer, who escaped captivity after the war and later fell in battle while freeing the orc internment camps. In Hammerfall, an old orc remembers Doomhammer riding in "in his midnight plate" to free him, and the lance that killed the Warchief.
Hillsbrad and Alterac
Hillsbrad Foothills holds Durnholde Keep, where Thrall was raised as a slave and gladiator after the war, and the Lordamere Internment Camp on an island in Lordamere Lake. To the north, the Alterac Mountains hold the ruins of Perenolde's kingdom. The Syndicate, a gang of Alterac nobles and thieves, still answers to Lord Aliden Perenolde, whom players hunt in Lord Aliden Perenolde.
The Hinterlands
The Hinterlands are the home of the Wildhammer dwarves, whose gryphon riders fought for the Alliance. Falstad Wildhammer leads them from Aerie Peak. Forest trolls descended from the Amani, who sided with the Horde, still hold the zone's troll ruins, such as Jintha'Alor.
Badlands and Deathwing
In the Badlands, the Horde camp at Kargath sends players into Lethlor Ravine (Lethlor Ravine). In Broken Alliances, Gorn explains that two of Deathwing's lieutenants were imprisoned there after the Horde's alliance with the black dragon during the Second War, and the Horde wants them dead "to restore honor to the Horde."
Burning Steppes and Blackrock Spire
The Burning Steppes were the last battlefield of the war. Blackrock Spire is still held by orcs: Warchief Rend Blackhand broke from Thrall's Horde and leads the Dark Horde there, and Horde players are sent to kill him in For The Horde!.
Later history and retcons
- Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995) first told the war. Its sequel, Beyond the Dark Portal (1996), continued the story on Draenor.
- Day of the Dragon (2001) revealed that a noble who tried to claim the throne of Alterac, Lord Daval Prestor, was Deathwing in disguise. Onyxia uses the same trick in Classic as Lady Katrana Prestor of Stormwind.
- The Chronicle books (2016 onward) and the novel Tides of Darkness (2007) retold the war in more detail and adjusted parts of the timeline.
Sources
Categories: Lore