Wednesday 16 June 2021

Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #35 - Book of Heroes, Part 2

Part two of my coverage of the Book of Heroes story mode, covering Valeera and all the other chapters released after her. I'm going to slowly update this as we receive newer 'Book of Heroes' series, so that the numbers don't get shuffled around too much since I don't want to separate the two Book of Heroes with Forged in the Barrens slipped in-between them. 

Note that I've added the corresponding non-Barrens lore-of-Hearthstone segments of Core cards here, with the rest of the 'Neo-Classic' cards. Hamuul Runetotem is covered here with the rest of the alternate heroes. 

(Article was originally published in April 24th. I have republished this in July because I rewrote and added a huge chunk of it to add the Thrall and Malfurion segments, as well as adding a little list of WoW-TCG card reuses. Expect 'Forged in the Barrens' to be similarly re-released after I update the story mode.)

Valeera
We talked a lot about Valeera and the rest of the original nine heroes of Hearthstone here, when we discussed about the Nine Heroes. Valeera's Book of Heroes story mode primarily focuses on her storyline as told in the original World of Warcraft: The Comic series, which is where Valeera Sanguinar debuted as one of the main characters assisting Lo'Gosh (really Stormwind's King Varian Wrynn) as he travels around Azeroth seeking to solve the mystery of his missing memories. We'll briefly go through the eight bosses Valeera fights. 

Valeera's first boss is Rehgar Earthfury, who we covered in the Garrosh segment of Book of Heroes. Rehgar is Valeera's owner when she was a gladiator (and her new skin is meant to represent her when she's a gladiator). After befriending Lo'Gosh and Broll Bearmantle (we covered Varian/Lo'Gosh here and Broll here -- the two of them feature pretty heavily in Valeera's story mode), Valeera was later sold to the tauren Helka Grimtotem, but Valeera escaped in order to aid her allies.

As she went on and adventured with her friends, one of the foes they faced is Daerion the Assassin, cluing them in that Lo'Gosh is someone that is pretty important politically. Yet another assassin they faced was the warlock Vendelin Soulfire, who, prior to his death, cursed Valeera with the Mark of Kathra'natir, binding a nathrezim demon to her. Valeera would slowly grow more and more corrupted as the fel energy took hold in her body, as she became more aggressive and bloodthirsty. 

After Varian reclaimed his memory and throne, Valeera would accompany her king as his new bodyguard. One such event (approximately around the events of Burning Crusade)T was a meeting between Varian and a group of Horde leaders, a meeting that was interrupted by a group of assassins led by Stasia Fellshadow and Garona Halforcen, races that belonged to the Horde. The assassination attempt led to the souring of relations between Alliance and Horde. The Alliance heroes, including Jaina, were able to bring the mind-controlled Garona back to her senses, and she would lead them to the temple of Ahn'Qiraj, where it is revealed that the Old God worshipping cult, the Twilight's Hammer, led by Cho'gall (who we covered here), was responsible. They are attempting to bring back the fallen Old God C'Thun back to life, and during this conflict, Valeera was consumed by her demonic possessor. Her ally Meryl Winterstorm would ultimately free her from the demonic curse. 

The final battle takes place years later, during the events of Legion, where Valeera was recruited by Jorach Ravenholdt into the ranks of the Uncrowned, a group of powerful Rogues of all allegiances and factions, who fight the battles in the shadows to keep the balance of the world and prevent the Burning Legion from taking over Azeroth. 

Hearthstone has always played rather hard and fast with continuity from WoW, but Valeera's Book of Heroes is notable for starring a lot of specific characters from the WoW Comic and explicitly excluding Med'an -- who we'll briefly cover below and is yet another nail in the coffin for him. Also, I didn't realize it at the time, but Valeera's Book of Heroes also serves as an introduction for the slightly-altered timeline we see in the Forged in the Barrens Book of Mercenaries story mode, where the Draenei and Blood Elves joined their respective factions around a year or so earlier during the events of vanilla WoW. 

Helka Grimtotem
A character exclusive to the comic, Helka Grimtotem is the niece of Magatha Grimtotem (Magatha is covered here) and part of the treacherous Grimtotem Tribe. As a gladiator mistress, she brought Valeera from Rehgar Earthfury after witnessing her performance in the Dire Maul tournament. Helka attempted to create an all-female gladiator team. When she set off to do an exhibition game on the Merchant Coast, however, Valeera escaped on a stolen wyvern to regroup with her allies. That's about it for her!

Daerion the Assassin
Daerion wasn't actually named in the comic, and Hearthstone basically gave a name to the nameless human assassin that was hired by Katrana Prestor (actually the black dragon Onyxia) to assassinate the amnesiac Varian Wrynn. He were informed by Magatha Grimtotem of the location of Varian Wrynn's group. Valeera witnesses this, which led to her escape, and would track down Daerion in order to prevent him from killing Varian. She would slay Daerion in Dustwallow Marsh. Valeera was successful in fending Daerion off and ultimately caused his demise by feeding him to a giant tarantula, but was unable to find out who hired him. 

Vendelin Soulfire
Vendelin was a blood elven warlock that was hired by Katrana Prestor to hunt down Varian Wrynn after Daerion's failure. He attacked Varian's group in the Wetlands, and cast the Mark of Kathra'natir upon Valeera during their fight. Vendelin unleashed a mighty Doomguard to fight against Broll Bearmantle and the group's dwarven ally Thargas Anvilmar, while he engaged Varian in combat. Vendelin, however, did not last very long, and he was beheaded by Varian. 


Kathra'natir
Kathra'natir was a mighty Dreadlord who is known to have participated in the War of the Ancients (but was defeated by Malfurion) and attempted to infiltrate Dalaran in the past and cause an uprising of its citizens (he was defeated by Alodi, the Guardian of Tirisfal at the time). He's also known to be the last Dreadlord to wield the ancient blade Apocalypse, later claimed by an Unholy-specialization Death Knight in Legion as an artifact weapon. 

Vendelin's curse upon Valeera slowly turned the blood elf rogue into a host for Kathra'natir. The Mark itself caused Valeera to slowly lose control, and during a fight with the Twilight Hammer's Cult leader Cho'gall, Kathra'natir took over Valeera's body and wreaked havoc. Seeing Med'an (the child of Medivh) nearby, Kathra'natir attempted to possess him, only to be drawn into the body of Valeera's mage ally Meryl Winterstorm instead, which freed Valeera. While he briefly aided the New Council of Tirisfal, a near-escape by Kathra'natir caused Meryl to exile himself. 

In Legion, Kathra'natir has managed to break free from Meryl's containment, and arrived on the Broken Shore with the many, many demons summoned by the alternate-universe Gul'dan. He would participate in an assault on Dalaran's Violet Hold, but a powerful mage adventurer (that's you!) aided by the spirit of the former Guardian Alodi, who had faced off against Kathra'natir before, drove him off. The Tirisgarde organization, a group of powerful mages, hunted down Kathra'natir, and the mage adventurer would find out that Kathra'natir has had much history of sowing chaos by possessing members of an organization and causing their collapse from within. They would eventually find Kathra'natir's new host -- the Archmage Vargoth. Kathra'natir also took out his former host and jailor Meryl Winterstorm in the process. The mage adventurer would hunt down Kathra'natir, defeat him and seal him in a magical artifact known as the Nightborne Soulstone, which would later be used as a power source for Dalaran's magical defense system.  

Stasia Fallshadow
Stasia Fallshadow is a Forsaken mage affiliated with the Twilight's Hammer Cult, who saw a vision in the Taurens' Pools of Vision about a mysterious child (later revealed to be Medivh's child Med'an). She captured Med'an's mother Garona and brought her to her master Cho'gall in Ahn'Qiraj. Later, she and a brainwashed Garona would attack a group of Alliance and Horde leaders meeting in Theramore. She escaped with Med'an to Theramore, failing at assassinating any of the leaders. Garona would defect and arrive on Ahn'Qiraj with Valeera in tow, and Valeera would personally kill Stasia. 

Note: While most of the other events in World of Warcraft: The Comic is seemingly canon to the game -- characters like Valeera, Broll, Varian, Kathra'natir and Garona often note some of the events that happen there -- Med'an seems to have been quietly decanonized by Blizzard, with no mentions to his existence in any of the retellings of these events. In Hearthstone, there was also no mention of Med'an whatsoever in the retellings of these stories, so assume that maybe the Twilight's Hammer cult are after a different plot device or whatever. 

Garona Halforcen
Garona Halforcen is one of the more major characters in Warcraft. She is a half-orc, half-draenei that was born between a captured Draenei prisoner and a member of the Bladewind Clan of orcs. Raised by the orcs of Draenor, Garona had a hard childhood where she was constantly abused or berated for her half-breed statues. After the destruction of her orcish clan, she would be recruited by the Shadowmoon Clan's Gul'dan and his secretive cabal, the Shadow Council. Already equipped with many survivor skills, Gul'dan moulded Garona into his own personal assassin and spy, binding her mind to his will. Garona resented Gul'dan, but was unable to resist. Gul'dan used Garona in order to take out any obstacles to the creation of the First Horde, such as chieftain Zagrel of the Whiteclaw Clan who championed peace and a return to the orcs' shamanistic traditions.

During the events of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Garona was one of the main characters and major players in the First War. Her unique heritage meant that she could pass off among humankind more easily compared to the rest of the orcs. Garona was able to learn human language from the few prisoners taken by the Horde, and from them learned of the powerful magus Medivh living in the tower of Karazhan. Garona would venture to Karazhan alone, unaware of Medivh's true nature, and formed an unlikely friendship with the powerful archmage. Medivh sympathized with Garona's sufferings as an outcast, and is intrigued by how resourceful and intelligent Garona was. Through this meeting, however, Gul'dan was able to realize that Medivh was the mysterious stranger who allowed the orcs access to Azeroth, and Gul'dan ordered Garona to find out the location of the Tomb of Sargeras from Karazhan. She would go back and forth to Karazhan over the course of the First War, befriending not only Medivh, but also his young apprentice Khadgar. Garona respected Medivh a lot, seeing him as the only person who treated her as a person and not as an outcast, and she correctly guessed that Medivh knew that she was here under Gul'dan's orders but let her stay anyway.

However, Medivh grew more and more eccentric over the months, causing Garona and Khadgar to investigate the tomes in Karazhan for the source of Medivh's behaviour. The two of them find out that Medivh was, in fact, the person who created the Dark Portal and brought the orcs to Azeroth. After a brief battle with Medivh, the two of them escaped to Stormwind and met up with Lord Anduin Lothar and King Llane Wrynn. A small raiding party was gathered to confront Medivh for his treachery, and Garona donned the colours of Azeroth at Lothar's request. During the confrontation within the dark depths of Karazhan, they discover Medivh has grown insane, possessed by his 'second shadow', the dark demon lord Sargeras. Before he was slain, the mad Medivh would cast a spell that messed with Garona's mind. This interacted with some lingering mental orders from Gul'dan and caused Garona to lose control of herself. Under this confused state, Garona went to Stormwind and assassinated King Llane Wrynn of Stormwind -- regretting the act after she had done it for Llane was one of the few humans who had treated her well. 

When Garona returned to the Horde, she was captured by the new warchief, Orgrim Doomhammer, who had her tortured and interrogated for information on the Shadow Council. As Doomhammer went on his campaign to eradicate the Shadow Council, Garona's life was spared and she was placed under the care of Eitrigg. No one believed Garona's tales that the Horde were manipulated by demons, and ultimately during the Second War, Eitrigg allowed Garona to make her escape to find a place in Azeroth. Her only ally was the undead mage Meryl Winterstorm, who helped her get rid of the demon-cursed blades the Kingslayers. And, in the World of Warcraft: The Comic series, she would give birth to her child with Medivh, Med'an, and leave him with Meryl.

In WoW: The Comic, Garona would assist her son, Med'an, when he became target of the Twilight's Hammer Cult. She would be overpowered by the Twilight's Hammer cultist Stasia Fallshadow, who brought Garona to the leader of the cult, Cho'gall. Being a former member of the Shadow Council, Cho'gall reactivated the spell that Gul'dan had cast upon Garona, binding her to his control. The brainwashed Garona was sent to kill King Varian Wrynn at a summit in Theramore, but failed. The powerful mages Jaina Proudmoore and Aegwynn worked hard to attempt to remove the spell permanently. Garona would make a deal with Valeera, sending the blood elf rogue to rescue Med'an. Garona would be freed during a Scourge attack on Theramore, and would meet her uncle from her draenei side, Vindicator Maraad. She would later assist Med'an in fighting against Cho'gall in Ahn'Qiraj, and Garona would disappear to hunt down the other remaining members of the cult. (Note: The events of WoW: The Comic, where Garona and Med'an are concerned, seemed to have been ignored by all subsequent stories).

Garona would finally make her debut in WoW during Cataclysm, where she hangs out in Bloodgulch, in the Twilight Highlands, where she seeks to end the life of her foe, Cho'gall. She and a Horde adventurer would venture into the Twilight Citadel to slay Cho'gall. After gathering several allies like the red dragon Lirastrasza and the Earthen Ring shamans, Garona would find out that she had been playing into Cho'gall's trap all along, very nearly causing her death at the hands of a mighty Gronn Skullcrusher if not for the aid of the warrior. 

In Legion, Garona has been recruited into the Rogue organization called the Uncrowned, and a member of the organization's leadership, the Council of Shadows. She would recollect her long-hidden Kingslayer daggers, and alongside a Rogue adventurer (that's you!) infiltrate Stormwind under lockdown to take out the leadership of a Burning Legion cult. The two kill Althea Ebonlocke and Melris Malagan, and stop a plan to summon demons into the center of the city. Garona would later give the Kingslayers to the Rogue adventurer, not wishing to remember the terrible memories associated with it. Garona would assist the Uncrowned throughout the rest of the events of Legion. 

In Battle for Azeroth, Garona is revealed to have rejoined the Horde, and aids in organizing missions for the Horde abroad the Banshee's Wail in Zuldazar. She would come to conflict with Nathanos Blightcaller over her true loyalties, and Blightcaller confronts her about how her killing of Llane Wrynn wasn't completely voluntary. Meanwhile, Garona mocks the zeal that Blightcaller displayed in killing and conquering. Garona wasn't involved in the internal civil war within the Horde, however. 


The Kingslayers
The Kingslayers are a pair of blades, Anguish and Sorrow, commissioned by Gul'dan for his personal assassin Garona. Blackhand, who crafted the blades, did so from an odd ore, which had been cursed by Gul'dan to contain the hatred of the demon lord Kil'jaeden. Under Garona's hand, the Kingslayers would leave wounds that did not correspond to daggers. The corpses left by the Kingslayers had wounds that became irregular, causing those who see the corpse to be confused on what weapon had caused the deathblow -- whether it be sword, axe or dagger.

As mentioned above, Garona would use the Kingslayers to slay King Llane Wrynn, and in anguish, Garona entrusted the blades to Meryl Winterstorm for safekeeping. She would recover the Kingslayers in the events of Legion, but would entrust it to an Assassination-specialization Rogue adventurer, where the Kingslayers served as their artifact weapon. 

Meryl Winterstorm/Felstorm
Meryl Winterstorm was a human mage who fought in the Troll Wars some 2800 years prior to the First War, and was killed in action. However, through his study of magic, he was able to resurrect himeslf back as an undead being -- a unique sentient undead that was affiliated with neither the Scourge or the Forsaken, having done so thousands of years before the Scourge was created in Azeroth. He was one of the founding members of the Council of Tirisfal. He would first appear in World of Warcraft: The Comic as an ally to Garona, having taken care of her son Med'an (who, I might remind you, is kinda non-canon now) and raised him. Meryl would join the group of heroes investigating the Twilight's Hammer cult that had kidnapped Med'an. During the subsequent conflict, the fight with Cho'gall caused Valeera to willingly get possesed by the demon within her body, Kathra'natir. Meryl had fought the demon centuries ago, and ended up challenging the dreadlord to possess his body instead. While he was originally able to suppress and contain Kathra'natir, the demon's influence grew too strong and Meryl would leave the Council of Tirisfal in exile, renaming himself Meryl Felstorm. 

Meryl would appear in the game in Legion, where it is revealed that Kathra'natir had escaped from his jail prior. With the aid of a Mage adventurer (that's you) and the ghost of his old friend, the Guardian Alodi, they managed to drive Kathra'natir back to the Twisting Nether. Meryl would assist the Mage adventurer in gathering the artifact weapon Ebonchill. Meryl would later be waylaid by a magical sickness, which is later revealed to be a magical attack from Kathra'natir, who is draining Meryl's power. The Mage adventurer would slay Kathra'natir, sealing him within the Nightborne Soulstone, and free Meryl of his nemesis's corruption. He would continue to aid the Tirisgarde organization throughout the events of Legion. 

Lord Jorach Ravenholdt
Lord Jorach Ravenholdt is a legendary rogue who trained many of the greatest rogues of Azeroth in subtlety and diversion. At some point between the Third War and the events of the original World of Warcraft, Jorach and the SI:7 organization from Stormwind worked together to root out the evil Syndicate organization in the Alterac Mountains. Jorach is based in Ravenholdt Manor, where he continues to fight against the Syndicate. He would give a promising Rogue adventurer quests to help recover some stolen artifacts. In Cataclysm, Ravenholdt's league stole one of the last black dragon eggs from the red dragonflight, where it would eventually hatch into the black dragon Wrathion.

In Legion, Jorach Ravenholdt would invite a powerful rogue adventurer (your character) and invite to meet him alone in the Hall of Shadows. He would reveal himself to be part of a secretive rogue organization called the Uncrowned, formed of notorious rogues from all factions, and offered the rogue adventurer a seat in the Council of Shadows. Jorach would send out the Rogue adventurer to recover legendary artifact weapons -- the Kingslayers, the Dreadblades and the Fangs of the Devourer. Jorach would act as one of the leading figures of the Uncrowned, sending the Rogue adventurer to investigate the increasing paranoia of the SI:7 organization in Stormwind City. After multiple investigations, they discovered that SI:7 Mathias Shaw is being impersonated by the dreadlord Detheroc, which the Rogue adventurer dealt with. After dealing with Detheroc and rescuing Shaw, Jorach would grant the title of 'Shadowblade' to the Rogue adventurer. Throughout Legion and afterwards, Jorach would continue serving in a leading capacity among the Uncrowned. 

Alongside Garona Halforcen (above), Fleet Admiral Tethys and Taoshi (both below), Jorach's deck also includes other members of the Uncrowned that has shown up in Hearthstone before -- Lilian Voss, Wrathion and Tess Greymane. Among the Uncrowned members, Jorach, Valeera, Taoshi, Tethys, Garona and Tess form the Council of Shadows alongside the 'Shadowblade' (your Rogue character). Other Uncrowned members that have shown up as cards in Hearthstone include Marin Noggenfogger and Vanessa VanCleef.


Fleet Admiral Tethys
Fleet Admiral Tethys is a high-ranking member of the pirate group the Bloodsail Buccaneers, being feared as one of the most ruthless pirates in the seas. During the events of Legion, Tethys joined the Uncrowned as a member of the Council of Shadows. When the Rogue adventurer is going out to hunt down the legendary artifact weapons, Tethys directed him/her towards his former lieutenant, Eliza Goreblade, who had been driven mad and absconded with the powerful weapons called the Dreadblades. Tethys and the Bloodsail pirates still loyal to him would participate in fighting against Eliza's Dread Fleet, and reclaim the ships Eliza stole from him. Tethys would later contact the Rogue adventurer and task them to integrate more pirates into the ranks of the Uncrowned, recruiting Yancey Grillsen in Stranglethorn. Tethys would accompany the Rogue adventurer in investigating the strange behaviour of the SI:7 organization, helping him/her out in the investigation in Citrine Bay. Tethys would participate in dealing with the Blacksail Crew. Tethys would also participate in the rescue of the real Mathias Shaw, using his expertise in explosives to take out many demons. 

Tethys is accompanied by an axebeak (a type of bird) called Crackers. During the Blacksail Crew confrontation, Crackers 'betrayed' Tethys and prefers to perch on the Shadowblade's shoulder, and he would replace the treacherous avian with a Hozen called Nanners. 

Taoshi
Taoshi first appeared in Mists of Pandaria as an elite member of the Shado-Pan organization, participating in the defense of Townlong Steppes against the Mantid hordes. She aids an adventurer in fighting the massive subterranean worm called Norvakess. She would later accompany Shado-Pan leader Taran Zhu and sevearl other elite Shado-Pan warriors in attacking and defeating the Sha of Hatred. After the Sha of Hatred's defeat, Taoshi is stationed in Shado-Pan Garrison, fighting agaisnt the mantid at Sra'vess. When the Thunder King Lei Shen arrives, Taoshi and the rest of the Shado-Pan forces are deployed to the Isle of Thunder, and she assist adventurers of either the Alliance and Horde in taking over the territories of the Isle of Thunder, being instrumental in formulating a particularly reckless plan to take over the palace shipyard. Taoshi, Taran Zhu and Yalia Sagewhisper would witness the resurrection of Lei Shen's personal storm dragon Nalak.

Taoshi is one of the many NPC's that might appear in Warlords of Draenor in your garrison, giving you a quest to obtain a sample of Skyreach winds. In Legion, Taoshi has been recruited into the ranks of the rogue organization Uncrowned. She participates in aiding the Rogue adventurer to infiltrate Felsoul Hold to track down the location of the real Mathias Shaw, and would save him and bring him to the Hall of Shadows. Taoshi would aid the Rogue adventurer in confronting Detheroc in SI:7 headquarters and defeat him. She also shows up in the Terrace of Endless Spring, aiding monk adventurers in fighting the forces of the Burning Legion. 

In Battle of Azeroth, Taoshi defended the Vale of Eternal Blossoms from the forces of the Black Empire, and would give quests to adventurers in taking out the mantid swarms loyal to N'Zoth. Throughout the conflict, Taoshi realized that the mantid swarm's amber has been corrupted, and she sets off to investigate the source of this corruption, and ultimately realized that the Mantid's sacred kypari trees had all been further corrupted by the Old Gods. Alongside an adventurer, Taoshi aided in slaying Watcher Vl'thax and destroy the corrupted amber within the settlement of Klaxxi'vess. She would leave to inform the Shado-Pan of the threat that the Mantid swarm has transformed into thanks to N'Zoth's influence. 

Elusiveness: Elusiveness is a level 60 Rogue talent in World of Warcraft, which buffs the ability 'Feint' and reduces the damage that a Rogue character would take. 

Sleight of Hand: Sleight of Hand is a talent in the Subtlety Rogue tree, which reduces the chance of receiving critical hits. It was introduced in the original vanilla WoW, and was removed in Cataclysm. 

Arcane Wraith: Arcane Wraiths are level 3-4 arcane elementals found in the Falthrien Academy in the Eversong Woods, the starting zone for blood elf characters. They are the minions of the treacherous Wretched blood elf Felendren the Banished. 

Ebon Gryphon: The Ebon Gryphon is a relatively cheap flying mount that can be purchased from multiple vendors, added in Burning Legion, available in Stormwind City, Hellfire Peninsula, Shadowmoon Valley, Borean Tundra and Dalaran. The Ebon Gryphon is placed in Daerion's deck because in the comics, he rides around atop one, named Blackklaw.

The following cards used by Valeera are all original to Hearthstone: Fel Portal, Hasty Blade, Shifting Mana Wyrm, Wink Fox, Battle Hawkstrider, Bristling Wyvern, Thistle Dagger, Fel Furor, Toxic Vial, Sanguine Fury, No Mercy. Note that the Hawkstriders are the racial mounts for blood elves, which is the race Valeera hails from.

The following cards used by the bosses are all original to Hearthstone: Training Totem, Assassin's Training, Upheaval, Shady Business. Subtlety is one of the three Rogue specializations that a Rogue player can take. 
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Thrall:
As with the other heroes, we talked about Thrall here, when we discussed about the Nine Heroes. For the most part, Thrall's story is a combination of the backstory given to Thrall that takes place prior to Warcraft III (chronicled in the Lord of the Clans novel), then goes through several of his most major battles in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. 

Thrall's first boss fight pits him against Aedalas Blackmoore, the human noble and slaver who enslaved him. Thrall's life under Blackmoore and his eventual befriending of the maid Taretha Foxton would give Thrall a unique viewpoint that caused him to realize that not all humans are the same. The next to fights, against Drek'thar and the Mysterious Stranger (actually former Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, we covered him here) depict Thrall's slow rise to power as he sees the state of the orcs after the defeat of the First Horde at the Second War. All of this would lead to Thrall forming the New Horde, kick-starting the plot of Warcraft III. 

The next battle against Mannoroth (we covered Mannoroth here) takes place at the end of the orc chapter of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, where after a long and gruelling campaign, Thrall and his mentor and friend Grom Hellscream finally faces off against the pit lord and free the orcs from the blood curse. Then Thrall and his Horde fights against Archimonde (lore here) alongside the Alliance and the night elf Sentinels, during the final battle of Warcraft III. 

The next boss fight pits Thrall against Deathwing (here), which is the final boss fight of Cataclysm where Thrall is very intimately involved. The fight against Deathwing, like the WoW boss fight, has multiple stages. The next encounter is Thrall's old friend Jaina Proudmoore, who lashes out against the Horde after Garrosh's bombing of Theramore prior to Mists of Pandaria. And the final boss fight is Thrall's fight against Garrosh during the Siege of Orgrimmar raid, where Thrall has to take down his former student who had gone astray. We covered both Jaina and Garrosh among the Nine heroes; and we saw the fight from Jaina and Garrosh's side on their respective Book of Heroes journey.

Aedalas Blackmoore
Only two bosses to talk about this time, everyone else is a repeat! Lord Aedalas Blackmoore is a nobleman who had proven himself in combat during the Second War, well-known for his ferocity in the fight against the orcs. What isn't publicly known is that Blackmoore's seeming courage is mostly boosted by alcohol. Aedalas Blackmoore's father was a known traitor who sold the secrets of the state, which caused Aedalas to work particularly hard in order to clean this stain upon his name. After the Second War ended with an Alliance victory, Aedalas was given control of an orc internment camp outside of his fortress, Durnholde Keep, located in the Hillsbrad Foothills of southern Lordaeron. Aedalas eventually rose to the position of the overseer of all orcish internment camps in Azeroth. 

Blackmoore is mostly told in the novel Lord of the Clans, where he came across a strange orc child who he took in and named 'Thrall'. As an experiment, Blackmoore raised Thrall under human tutelage, giving him training in both martial arts, reading and writing. Blackmoore then tossed Thrall into the gladiatorial rings for sport. Blackmoore's ultimate plan is to mould Thrall into a leader to lead the orcs in the internment camp into his own army. Blackmoore's conditioning initially made Thrall subservient, but his true nature would bleed through in a particularly savage gladiatorial match where a drunken Blackmoore forced Thrall to fight against a gauntlet of savage mountain cats and a gigantic ogre (represented in the Hearthstone boss fight), and when Thrall lost the fight (despite having done an unprecedented eight strings of victory prior), Blackmoore refused to give him treatment as punishment.

Ultimately, Thrall escaped and began to discover his people. Under orders of King Terenas, Blackmoore and his men continue to hound Thrall but was unsuccessful in catching him. Thrall ultimately became the head of a new Horde, and began freeing and liberating entire orcish internment camps. Their paths clashed in Durnholde Keep once more. Blackmoore killed Thrall's good friend Taretha during the confrontation. However, instead of breaking Thrall's spirit, it instead awakened Thrall's primal abilities and he summoned a mighty elemental fury that shattered Durnholde Keep. Thrall ultimately slew Blackmoore in one-on-one combat, before summoning a mighty earthquake to bury Blackmoore beneath the rubble of his own fortress. 

In the novel Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, a version of Aedalas Blackmoore who grew into a mighty assassin was summoned from within the timeways that were broken by the Infinite Dragonflight. Blackmoore was utilized as a very willing assassin to aid Deathwing and his Twilight's Hammer cult minions. However, ultimately, this alternate-universe Blackmoore was also slain by Thrall. 

Drek'Thar
The shaman Drek'Thar is born to the Frostwolf clan, to the far seer Mother Kashur. After his mother's death, the blind Drek'Thar quickly rose into the position of one of the most senior shamans of the Frostwolf tribe. Drek'Thar was one of the many shamans who were beguiled and fooled by Ner'Zhul, having seen his mother's spirit -- in reality Kil'jaeden in disguise -- telling him that the draenei are plotting against them. Drek'Thar participated in many of the conflicts of the Horde's early history, convinced that Ner'Zhul and Gul'dan were right. However, due to the Frostwolf chieftain Durotan's refusal in partaking in demon blood, Drek'Thar ultimately saw the error of his ways and returned back to being a shaman. After the deaths of Durotan and his family, Drek'Thar assumed leadership of the Frostwolves. 18 years later, the blind far-seer discovered that Durotan's son Thrall had grown up, and after testing the young orc and realizing that he had both humility and the potential of becoming a shaman, Drek'Thar taught Thrall in the ways of the shaman. Drek'Thar would later arrange a meeting between Thrall former warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, which would later lead to the formation of the New Horde. 

In Warcraft III, Drek'Thar is seen in the Founding of Durotar campaign, where he was one of the many orcs in the new orcish capital of Orgrimmar. Drek'Thar is one of the quest-givers that would give Rexxar a task. In Drek'Thar's case, he asks Rexxar to look for the rare herb Shimmerweed. Drek'Thar later investigated Rexxar's reports of the stampeding Thunder Lizards, and found out that humans have harvested lumber and upset the ecology of Thunder Ridge. Despite Rexxar's anger, Drek'Thar managed to stop Rexxar from attacking the nearby lumber mill and breaching the treaty of non-aggression. 

In World of Warcraft, Drek'Thar returned to Alterac Valley, where he is a major part of the PvP events in Alterac Valley, serving as the Horde commander. In Burning Crusade, Drek'Thar went into the shattered homeworld of the orcs, now known as Outland, to meet the Mag'har, a group of orcs untainted by demon blood. Prior to Cataclysm, like many shamans Drek'Thar began getting many visions of Azeroth shattering, but due to the muddled nature of his visions, some of the younger shamans assumed that it was merely senility. During Cataclysm, Drek'Thar was wheelchair-bound, and notably refused to aid the forsaken in dealing with the remaning Alliance members within Lordaeron. In Legion, Drek'Thar would alongside other leaders of the Horde, as well as among the shamans' order hall, as one of the older members of the Earthern Ring Circle. 

Taretha Foxton
Among the people in Durnholde Keep, the only one to truly care for the young orc known as Thrall was Taretha Foxton. Five years older than Thrall, she was the only one who realized that the baby orc couldn't subside on meat and needed milk. Taretha's mother would later be assigned as Thrall's nurse, and Taretha began to care for Thrall as her own little brother. As the two youths grew together, Taretha became close to Thrall and kept up a quiet correspondence with Thrall via notes hidden in books. When she grew older Taretha was forced to become Blackmoore's mistress. Taretha would be instrumental in letting Thrall escape, setting fire to a nearby encampment to provide a distraction for Thrall to escape. Thrall wanted to bring Taretha with him, knowing that Blackmoore constantly hurts her, but she remained behind for the sake of her family. 

When Thrall grew to become leader of the Horde, he met up with Taretha in secret outside of Durnholde Keep, intending on a peaceful resolution as long as the orcs in the internment camp were freed. However, when Taretha left this meeting, she was accosted by Blackmoore, who had been following her. Ultimately Taretha was executed by the drunk Blackmoore. Taretha's head was hurled towards Thrall from the battlements the following day, but instead of driving Thrall into despair it drove him into a rage, which eventually caused Thrall to kill Blackmoore and bring down Durnholde Keep (though not before letting the other humans evacuate). In World of Warcraft, Taretha's necklace was a subject of a minor side-quest, and she also appears in the Caverns of Time instance 'Escape from Durnholde Keep'. 

Spirit of Earth, Spirit of Air, Spirit of Water, Spirit of Fire: The four representations of the four primary elements of Azeroth and Outland tends to appear in visions to shamans. There are one of these four spirits on each world, and they represent everything relating to their element. Shamans may call them for aid. They have mostly been seen in Thrall-related novels. 


Ultraxion
The gigantic twilight dragon Ultraxion is the fifth boss in the Dragon Soul raid, and his size is so massive that he cannot even land on top of Wyrmrest temple. Noted by others to be 'more of an abomination of dark energy' than a dragon, Ultraxion had grown to this massive size by absorbing the essence of captured nether dragons. The mightiest of the life-absorbing twilight dragons, Ultraxion is the only twilight dragon to earn the praise of his master Deathwing, a fact that he takes much pride in. Ultimately, however, the adventurers and the Dragon Aspects are able to slay the proud dragon. Both of Ultraxion's summoning and attacking quotes are taken from his boss fight in WoW. 

Warmaster Blackhorn & Goriona
The sixth boss fight in Dragon Soul and the final boss before facing off against Deathwing himself, Warmaster Blackhorn is the leader of the last remnants of Deathwing's horde of twilight dragons, being members of Deathwing's personal escort. Riding atop the mighty twilight dragon Goriona, Warmaster Blackhorn assaults the sky-ship Skyfire alongside a small army of twilight dragons and Twilight's Hammer cultists. The adventurers aboard the Skyfire have to fend off this army that threatens to bring down their ship. After his army is taken down, Blackhorn and Goriona would both land on the ship and face off against the adventurers. Upon his death, he praises the adventureres for a job well done, though he wonders if it'll be enough to face his master. 

The Deathwing Fight: Various cards and powers represent the multi-part fight against Deathwing in the Dragon Soul raid, taking place as 'Spine of Deathwing' and 'Madness of Deathwing'. The appearance of the four current Dragon Aspects (Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Ysera and Kalecgos) is part of the final battle, where they aided the adventurers by giving them buffs. Fiery Grip is an ability done by the Corruption tentacles during the Spine phase. Cataclysm, in addition to being the title of the expansion, is also a mighty attack Deathwing is able to do during the 'Madness' phase. The Burning Tendon is the name of an exposed part of Deathwing's flesh during the 'Spine' segment, but the artwork is basically the 'Limb Tentacle' mobs formed by Deathwing's magma-like flesh as it breaks down.

Corrupted Blood: Fought during the 'Spine of Deathwing' phase, the Corrupted Blood pour out of Deathwing's wounds and continually explode and damage heroes, before creeping back into Deathwing's wounds to regenerate.

Regenerative Blood: The Regenerative Blood are blob-like oozes formed during the Madness of Deathwing phase, where it's created by the hemorrhaged blood of Deathwing, attacking the adventurers. As its name implies, if left alone the Regenerative Blood will recover their health.

Hideous Amalgamation: As the adventurers break down Deathwing's Elementium armour, the fragments of the armour, molten blood and elemental energy form and coalesce into bound fire elementals. These are level 88 enemies fought during the Spine of Deathwing boss fight, and they will absorb nearby Corrupted Blood growing more unstable and deal more damage as it does so.

The following cards used by Thrall are all original to Hearthstone: Fire Spirit Wolf, Wild Spirit Wolf, Call of the Warchief and Elemental Gathering.

The following cards used by the bosses are all original to Hearthstone: Even the Odds, Pep Talk, Rouse the Rabble, Fever Pitch, as well as most of the hero powers. Some cards like Horde Armorsmith and Ravenous Drake make a return from previous Book of Heroes campaigns, Kirin Tor Elemental from Dalaran Heist, and both Tail Swipe and Living Lava first showed up in Blackrock Mountain. 
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Malfurion:
As with the other heroes, we talked about Malfurion here, when we discussed about the Nine Heroes. Rather interestingly, every single one of Malfurion's boss fights are characters we've encountered before and talked about before, either in regular Hearthstone or in Book of Heroes itself.

The first three fights in Malfurion's 'Book of Heroes' story mode takes place ten thousand years before present-day Azeroth, during the War of the Ancients, chronicled in a trilogy of novels. The first fight depicts a training session against Malfurion's mentor Cenarius, and showing Malfurion finally becoming a druid. The next battle shows the combined forces of the Night Elves and Wild Gods fighting against the Burning Legion's first invasion, with Malfurion facing off against Mannoroth, and the events that caused the purging of the Burning Legion's first invasion. During that fight and the subsequent one, we see Illidan Stormrage's team-up and subsequent treachery with his brother, leading to Illidan's ten-thousand-year imprisonment. 

The fourth fight is the fight against Archimonde at the end of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, which has been repeated three or four times in Book of Heroes. The next fight against Illidan, as well as the conflict involving Maiev Shadowsong, taking place in "The Ruins of Dalaran", the penultimate mission in the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Night Elf campaign, where Maiev drove Malfurion into a frenzy and nearly caused him to kill Illidan under false pretenses. 

The next fight against the Nightmare Lord Xavius takes place before Cataclysm, as chronicled in the 'Stormrage' novel, where Malfurion finally wakes up after his year-long coma in the original World of Warcraft; though the Hearthstone fight also takes some inspiration from Xavius's boss fight in the chronologically-later Legion. The net fight against Ragnaros and the defense of Mt. Hyjal takes place in Cataclysm. Finally, the battle against Sylvanas Windrunner takes place at the beginning of Battle for Azeroth, where Malfurion was nearly killed in combat against Sylvanas Windrunner and Varok Saurfang. 

The Well of Eternity: We've mentioned the Well of Eternity multiple times in the past, but never really delved too deep into it. The Well of Eternity is a massive powerful well of arcane energy and limitless power formed from Azeroth's very world-soul, created by the massive scar left when the Highfather Aman'thul ripped the Old God Y'Shaarj from the world's crust. Later, the Well of Eternity would become the focus of the great night elven civlization. The night elf capital of Zin-Azshari was built around it. The Well's immense power was the central focus of the War of the Ancients ten thousand years before present day.

A group of powerful night elves loyal to Queen Azshara, known as the Highborne, became obsessed with unlocking the Well's secrets, and in studying the arcane energies, Queen Azshara made contact with the fallen titan Sargeras, lord of the Burning Legion. Caring not for her people, Azshara and the Highbornhe made a deal with the Burning Legion, creating a portal in the Well of Eternity to allow the forces of the Burning Legion to enter Azeroth. Their main goal was to summon Sargeras himself. However, the combined forces of the night elves, dragon aspects, wild gods and various other smaller tribes ended up defeating the Burning Legion, imploding the Well of Eternity. The Well's implosion sucked all the demons back into the Twisting Nether, at the cost of sinking most of Kalimdor. The remnants of what was once the Well of Eternity is now known as the Maelstrom, the gigantic stormy whirlpool in the center of Azeroth's modern-day map. 

The legacy of the Well of Eternity was preserved by Illidan, who, despite warnings from everyone else, smuggled seven vials of magical water from the Well of Eternity, creating a brand-new Well of Eternity on top of Mt. Hyjal -- which would've brought the attention of the Burning Legion back to Azeroth. For his crimes in his search for power, Illidan is imprisoned for ten thousand years, while the Dragon Aspects created the new World Tree Nordrassil to cover the new Well of Eternity. One of these vials would find itself in the hands of the elves that would found Quel'Thalas, and that vial was used to create the Sunwell, another powerful font of magic.

Darnassian Nightsaber: The Darnassian Nightsaber is a mount that can be purchased from the Alliance vendor Rook Hawkfist in the Argent Tournament. Non-Night-Elf players need to have completed the 'Champion of Darnassus' title to purchase this mount, however. 

Sentinel Huntress: The specific mob called Sentinel Huntress are NPC's that aid the player in the 'Relics of Wakening' quest in Teldrassil. The title itself refers to the 'Huntress' unit that serve as the bulk of the Night Elven forces in Wacraft III and World of Warcraft, whereas 'Sentinel' itself is often used to refer to the Night Elven people as a whole. 

Forest Owl: Specific mobs called Forest Owls are level 30-35 non-hostile owls found to the west of the Grove of Aessina in Mt. Hyjal. They are involved in the quest 'Call the Flock', where the Tauren Druid Matoclaw would ask adventurers to summon and gather several birds in order to gain Aviana's favour. 

Ancient of Wind: One of the final Ancients to finally make an appearance in Hearthstone is the Ancient of Wind (sometimes Ancient of the Wind). Having wooden beaks for its faces and massive wing-like protrusions, the Ancients of Wind in Warcraft III allows Night Elven armies to train units that require to tap into the feral winds, such as Hippogriffs and Druids of the Talon. The Ancients of Wind would pass on their knowledge to allow night elves to ride Hippogriffs. Just like other Ancients, when needed, the Ancients of Wind can uproot themselves and walk and fight alongside their smaller brethren. After Wacraft III, the Ancients of Wind had their numbers culled so badly by the war that they have retreated into the deep forests to slumber and replenish their numbers -- an explanation as to why no Ancients of Wind are seen in World of Warcraft. (In real life, it's more likely that they don't have the resources to have so many different Ancient game assets.) In Battle for Azeroth, an Ancient of Wind called Cloudsong finally makes its first appearance in modern-day Azeroth. 

Naisha: The Warden Naisha was the first lieutenant to Maiev Shadowsong during the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Represented as a more powerful version of the 'Huntress' unit, Naisha served her mistress loyally in her hunt after the traitorous Illidan Stormrage, chasing Illidan and fighting the enigmatic Naga creatures throughout the port town of Nendis, and later on in the Broken Isles. They would follow Illidan deep into the Tomb of Sargeras, the ancient ruins that Illidan rose from the depths of the ocean. However, when they encountered Illidan at the innermost core of the tomb, the Demon Hunter has already claimed the powerful artifact known as the Eye of Sargeras. Illidan attempted to collapse the tomb, trapping Naisha and the other Wardens within. Maiev alone is able to escape the rockfall, using her Blink ability to teleport away. An apologetic Maiev would have one last conversation with Naisha and the others, who are trapped behind the falling rocks, but Naisha held no ill-will, urging her mistress to complete her mission. After her death, Naisha's spirit haunts the Tommb of Sargeras as a banshee that adventurers in Legion would help put to rest at Maiev's behest. 

Ensnaring Roots: Ensnaring Roots is based on 'Entangling Roots', one of the four skills that are able to be learned by the Keeper of the Grove hero units in Warcraft III, of which Malfurion is also considered one. Entangling Roots would cause large roots to burst out of the ground, dealing damage to a target enemy and immobilizing them in place. In World of Warcraft, it is a level 4 druid ability with similar effects. 

Nightsaber Cub: Nightsaber Cub is a 'loot' pet from a tie-in with the WoW TCG, where obtaining the collectible card would allow players to also gain the Nightsaber Cub pet in WoW. 

Powershifting: While not exactly a term used in the game itself, 'Powershifting' is a slang among gamers referring to the act of switching in and out instantly into cat or bear form in order to gain an instant boost of rage or energy. 

Feral Frenzy: Feral Frenzy is a level 50 feral Druid talent added in Battle for Azeroth that deals damage and applies bleed damage-over-time to a single target. 

Tranquility: Tranquility is the ultimate skill of the Warcraft III Keeper of the Grove unit, causing a rain filled with healing energy that pours down a massive area. The Keeper of the Grove must stand still in place to channel this skill. In World of Warcraft, Tranquility is a level 37 Restoration Druid spell that heals all party and raid members. 

The following cards used by Malfurion are all original to Hearthstone: Wild Stag, Storm Rage, Greater Innervate, Windward Hippogryph, Feral Strength, Will of the Wisps and Way of the Archdruid. In addition, Tyrande Whisperwind also makes appearances as adventure-specific cards. Shandris Feathermoon and Broll Bearmantle have shown up previously in other Book of Heroes missions, Priestess Maiev in Ashes of Outland, and Hamuul Runetotem in Forged in the Barrens. 

The following cards used by the bosses are all original to Hearthstone: Learn and Grow, Weeding, Planting, Fertilize, Corrupting Rage, Keeper of the Dream, Nightmare Demon and Hopelessness. Many of Ragnaros's cards are reused from Blackrock Mountain adventure cards; Val'kyr Shadowguard is reused from Knights of the Frozen Throne; Blackrock Raider from earlier Book of Heroes quests.
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Gul'dan
Gul'dan's Book of Heroes goes through the life of the original timeline's Gul'dan, although some of the events that takes place in this are adapted on the backstory that happened to alternate-universe Gul'dan from Warlords of Draenor... although since said events happened prior to the timeline's diverging, we can assume that it's canon to the first Gul'dan as well. Time travel! Alternate universes! It is confusing!

Gul'dan's first two fights, against the Forgotten Warrior of his clan, and the subsequent rejection by the Throne of the Elements, are adapted from the six-minute mini-movie that Blizzard made for Gul'dan, Harbingers: Gul'dan, prior to the release of Warlords of Draenor. After rejecting the power of the shamans, killing his clans and accepting Kil'jaeden as his master, Gul'dan posed as a young Shaman to meet with Ner'zhul, chieftain of the Shadowmoon Clan, to fool him into gain his influence and manipulate the founding of the Horde. We covered Ner'zhul here, when we talked about the Lich King. 

The next encountner, Chieftains of the Horde, shows Gul'dan giving the Blood of Mannoroth to all the original Chieftains of the Horde, an event described in various novels chronicling Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (the first Warcraft game) and later revisited in Warlords of Draenor. Multiple specific events, like Grom Hellscream being the first to drink the blood, Durotan's refusal, and the exact chieftains that drank the blood, are replicated here. The next is Gul'dan's mental meeting with Medivh (we covered Medivh here and here), causing the two pawns of the Burning Legion to create the Dark Portals that connected Draenor and Azeroth and leading to the First War. 

The next fight is after Gul'dan's coma between Warcraft and Warcraft II, where Orgrim Doomhammer (covered here) wakes him up after killing Blackhand and most of Gul'dan's warlocks. Gul'dan managed to worm himself into Doomhammer's favour by turning the Fallen Soldier into the first Death Knight, infusing the soul of the slain Teron Gorefiend (we covered Teron'gor here) into the body of a fallen human paladin. The final fight, against the Tomb Guardian, shows Gul'dan's final fate as shown in both Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and in flashbacks in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and Legion, where Gul'dan abandons the Horde to enter the Tomb of Sargeras, only to be betrayed and consumed by the demons within. 


The Forgotten Warrior and Forgotten Clan Shaman are leading figures in the now-forgotten tribe in Gorgrond where Gul'dan was born in. Born deformed and weak, the warriors of his clan shunned Gul'dan and regularly abused and beat him. The Shaman was the only one who showed Gul'dan pity, advising him to seek the Throne of the Elements -- the seat of elemental power in Draenor. However, the spirits of the Throne of the Elements rejected Gul'dan after seeing the hate and bitterness in his heart. This made Gul'dan susceptible to the whispers of the demon lord Kil'jaeden, and Gul'dan eagerly accepted the unholy fel powers given by Kil'jaeden. Gul'dan returned to his clan, repeated his former chieftain's line that he 'had no people', then slaughtered every member of his clan, leaving them in the dusts of Draenor's history as 'the forgotten clan'. 


The 'Chieftains of the Horde' segment features most of the major orcs involved in the formation of the Horde. In addition to Gul'dan, the ones involved in this include Grommash Hellscream; Warchief Blackhand; his children Rend and Maim; Orgrim Doomhammer; Ner'zhul; Kargath Bladefist; and Cho'gall. Practically of these Chieftains and First-War orc leaders have alternate-timeline counterparts in Warlords of Draenor, but talking about both their regular and alternate-timeline counterpartts would take forever, so I'm just going to talk about their 'prime' universe counterparts.

Durotan & Draka: Durotan and his mate Draka are members of the Frostwolf clan, most well-known (as you might be able to tell from any orc-related lore segment) for being the parents of the eventual warchief of the Horde, Thrall. Durotan was born was born to Garad and Geyah of the Frostwolf tribe, and from a young age, was acquainted with Draka. Among his brothers, Durotan was the one that embraced family and tradition the most, and despite his order of birth, was chosen as the successor of the clan's chieftain. During a Kosh'harg festival in Nagrand, Durotan developed a friendship with an orc from the Blackrock clan, Orgrim, and the two became fast friends. 

One of Durotan and Orgrim's formative encounters was when they were nearly killed by an ogre in Terokkar Forest. They were saved by a draenei hunting party, and was later brought to stay with the leader of the draenei, Prophet Velen, and they discussed history together -- the longest that any orc or draenei has ever done so before. At a young age, Durotan fell into bloodlust while attacking a pack of wolves, but in his rage he accidentally killed his mother's companion wolf Stormfang. To the end of his life, Durotan would wear Stormfang's pelt as a reminder of the threat of savagery. 

As the First War dawned, Durotan became chieftain of the Frostwolves after Garad's death, and he represnted his clan during the Oshu'gun summoned by Ner'zhul -- the meeting of the clans. Ner'zhul claimed to have spoken to his ancestors (unbeknownst to anyone but Gul'dan, these were whispers of the demons of the Burning Legion) who demanded they wipe out the draenei, who would become a threat to the orcs. Durotan was one of the few orcs who made moments of resistance to this, at one point having the chance to take Velen prisoner but choosing to let him go. However, fearing for the safety of his clan, the Frostwolves participated in the Horde's campaigns, and allowed his Frostwolf shamans to learn the warlock arts as commanded by Ner'zhul. Durotan and Draka would realize that they were cut off from their ancestral spirits. Durotan reluctantly allowed his old memories of arriving in the draenei city to be used by the Horde in their campaign, which led to the sacking of the city of Telmor. Durotan was forced to kill Restalaan, the very draenei hunter that saved him ages past. 

However, during the fateful day where the orcs drank the blood of Mannoroth, Durotan and his friend Orgrim were the only ones to refuse to drink the blood of Mannoroth. While Orgrim had the excuse of not taking the glory away from his clan chieftain Blackhand, Durotan's act of defiance earned the enmity of Gul'dan. As Gul'dan constructed the Dark Portal, Durotan continued to voice opposition against the usage of fel magic and questioned Gul'dan's motives. Seeing that Draenor was dying, Durotan brought his Frostwolf tribe into Azeroth so that they may survive. 

During the First War, the Frostwolves fought against the humans alongside the other clans, but Gul'dan, tired of Durotan's insubordination, banished Durotan and the Frostwolf clan from the Black Morass, telling them to leave the Horde forever at the threat of having all the members of the Frostwolf clan wiped out. While hating the decision (which would make him look like a coward and discrediting his previous objections to Gul'dan), Durotan did not want to risk the life of his wife Draka, his unborn child, or the rest of his tribe. The Frostwolves would settle deep in the hidden valleys of Alterac Mountains. With the aid of the shaman Drek'Thar (who forsook the warlock ways), they were able to survive in the harsh lands, and even befriend the local wolves.

When Durotan's son Go'el (later Thrall) was born, however, Durotan decided to take action against Gul'dan, meeting secretly with his old friend Orgrim Doomhammer. Durotan and Draka met with Orgrim in secret and told him about Gul'dan, his Shadow Council and their servitude to demons. As they parted, however, the guards that Orgrim sent to escort Durotan and Draka would turn out to be assassins loyal to the Shadow Council. These assassins would attack and slay Durotan and Draka in their travels, and while they fought bravely, they were overwhelmed and murdered.

Despite their brutal deaths, Durotan and Draka would be avenged -- first, by Orgrim Doomhammer who rooted out a majority of the Shadow Council members and killed their puppet Blackhand; and years later, when their son Go'el would grow up into Thrall, Warchief of the Horde. The kingdom of the New Horde would be named Durotar after Durotan. The spirit of Draka, meanwhile, would be featured immensely in Shadowlands, where her spirit would serve the Shadowlands as a baroness in Maldraxxus. 


Kilrogg Deadeye: Chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow clan, Kilrogg saw his clan slowly being picked off by the bird-like arakkoa. Going through his clan's ancient sacrificial ritual, Kilrogg sacrificed his left eye to receive a vision of the future. Seeing his entire future up to his death at the hands of the humans of the Alliance Expedition, Kilrogg proceeded to kill his father, take over his clan, and off to face his destiny. Kilrogg would be present with the rest of the chieftains that accepted Gul'dans offer of power, and the Bleeding Hollow Clan is noted to have slaughtered the ancient Primals of Farahlon.

Kilrogg was noted to be unwilling to throw lives away in combat, but is all the same very ruthless -- he is noted to have killed three sons and two grandsons that challenged him for leadership. During the First War when the Horde invaded Azeroth, Kilrogg Deadeye and his clan led raiding parties into the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale. This led to a particularly bloody conflict between the Bleeding Hollow clan who sought to claim the area, and the local Gurubashi tribe of trolls. The trolls were far more experienced with the lay of the land, but the orcs were far more brutal. While Blackhand ultimately ordered the Bleeding Hollow clan to pull back, a significant portion of Kilrogg's clan was lost to this guerilla warfare. Kilrogg later joined Cho'gall of the Twilight's Hammer Clan to assault Stormwind City itself, ultimaetly entering the city and engulfing Stormwind in fel-fire. A two-pronged attack by the Alliance knight Anduin Lothar, however, forced the Bleeding Hollow and Twilight's Hammer clans into retreat, leading to the biggest loss of the First War.

During the Second War, Kilrogg served dutifully under Blackhand and later Doomhammer. His clan would be stationed around Khaz Modan, controlling the Horde's vital mining and oil refining operations. Doomhammer left Kilrogg in Khaz Modan to deal with the subterranean dwarves. Ultimately, however, the Horde lost the Second War, and while the Bleeding Hollow clan was driven out of Khaz Modan by Alliance forces, the elderly Kilrogg still managed to escape. He would lead the remainder of his clan in evading the Alliance hunting parties for two years until the events of Beyond the Dark Portal, where he arrived to meet Teron Gorefiend's summons. Kilrogg ended becoming one of Ner'zhul's advisors, but near the draenei necropolis of Auchindoun, Kilrogg suddenly displayed an uncharacteristic amount of fear. While he eventually relented and rested there, his visions would turn out to be accurate -- it was this event that led to the death he saw in his vision. In a honourable duel with the Alliance force commander Danath Trollbane, Kilrogg was blind-sided and his throat was slit by the human.

He would be survived by his son, the mag'har Jorin Deadeye, who joined the modern-day Horde. Also, in Warcraft II, Ogre Mage spellcasters had access to the spell 'Eye of Kilrogg', presumably developed by Kilrogg or named in honour of him, where they can summon a disembodied eyeball that can spy upon enemy encampments and transmit all it saw to its caster.

Fenris Wolfbrother: Also known as 'Fenris the Hunter', Fenris Wolfbrother is the chieftain of the Thunderlord Clan. In truth, he was actually the oldest son of the Frostwolf chieftain Garad, father of Durotan, who forsook the Frostwolf clan and joined its rival clan, the Thunderlords. The more warlike clan suited Fenris more, and he quickly clawed his way into power among it. As chieftain of the Thunderlords, Fenris refused to have anything to do with the Frostwolf clan, up until Blackhand's unification of the orc Hordes to conquer Draenor. Unlike the Frostwolf and Whiteclaw clans, who were reluctant in killing the giant races like the ogres and gronn, the Thunderlords reveled in the violence. One of these conflicts led to the confrontation with the mighty Gruul the Dragonkiller, causing the deaths of many Thunderlord warriors before Fenris was forced to call a retreat. 

Between the conquest of Draenor and the invasion of Azeroth, the threat of starvation and a lack of battle caused many clans, among them the Thunderlords, to become agitated and turn on each other. Warchief Blcakhand banished these rabid clans into the Hellfire Peninsula. By the time of Ner'zhul's rule in Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Fenris had regained enough of his sanity to pledge himself to the Horde once more. Alongside Tagar Spinebreaker of the Bonechewer Clan, Fenris was transported by the Horde's ally dragon, Deathwing, to steal a boat from Menethiln Harbour and into the Tomb of Sargeras to claim the Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras, one of the powerful artifacts that Ner'zhul required. 

Unlike practically every other orc from the Second War, Fenris's ultimate fate was never elaborated in any novels or even the Warcraft Chronicle series of books. 

Hurkan Skullsplinter: Hurkan Skullsplinter was the original chieftain of the Bonechewer Clan prior to the invasion of Draenor. Not much is known about him, but he is noted to be as large as Orgrim Doomhammer. Like most of his clan, Hurkan was prone to fits of madness and bloodlust, moreso than the average orc. When the Horde was about to invade Azeroth, Warchief Blackhand made the decision to leave the uncontrollable Bonechewer Clan in Draenor. 

At some point during the Second War, Hurkan gained possession of the Skull of Gul'dan, which found its way after Gul'dan's death all the way to Outland. During the events of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, Grommash Hellscream would challenge Hurkan (unnamed in the game itself) for possession of the Skull of Gul'dan, and kill him in combat. Hurkan was later replaced by Tagar Spinebreaker. 

Zuluhed the Whacked: One of the only shamans left among the Old Horde, Zuluhed was unique in that he was one of the few orc spellcasters in the First Horde who refused to abandon his shamanic magic for warlock magic. Eternally loyal to the Warchief Blackhand, Zuluhed would later rise into prominence among the small Dragonmaw Clan. After Blackhand's death, Zuluhed would pledge his clan's loyalty to Rend and Maim, the sons of Blackhand, who were rivals to the then-warchief Orgrim Doomhammer. 

During the Second War, Zuluhed received ominous visions of a powerful artifact hidden within the Redridge Mountains. Following his visions, Zuluhed came across a timelessly old artifact who he named "Demon Soul". In reality, it's the powerful artifact Dragon Soul, the only thing that can bind the mighty Dragon Aspects of Azeroth, and the source of Zuluhed's visions was the black dragon aspect Deathwing. Despite Zuluhed's skills, he was unable to unlock the powers of the Demon Soul. His second-in-command Nekros Skullcrusher was able to utilize warlock magic and the artifact to capture the red dragonqueen Alexstrasza, and subsequently subjugate her red dragonflight into the airborne armies of the Horde. This caused the Dragonmaw clan to rise into prominence among the Horde practically overnight. 

Zuluhed helped to organize the enslaved dragons during the Second War, although the power of the dragons' fire were stunted by the magical Sunwell shields of the elven city of Silvermoon. Near the end of the Second War, Zuluhed was summoned back to Draenor through the Dark Portal, an act that spared his life when Alexstrasza's mate Korialstrasz, and a group of adventurers that included Rhonin and Vereesa Windrunner freed Alexstrasza, defeated Deathwing and destroyed most of the Dragonmaw Clan in Grim Batol. 

In Burning Crusade, it's revealed that Zuluhed survived the rending of Draenor, and he eventually pledged the remnants of the Dragonmaw Clan in Draenor to the services of Illidan Stormrage. Zuluhed enslaved the matriarch of the nether dragons, Karynaku, and once more forced a mighty dragonqueen to provide young to be enslaved by his clan. The rest of the Netherwing Dragonflight, seeking the freedom of their matriarch, would enlist the aid of adventurers to sabotage the Dragonmaws' plans, and ultimately, at the end of the questline, adventurers from Azeroth would free Karynaku and slay Zuluhed the Whacked in revenge. 

Tomb Guardian: The Tomb Guardian was seen in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, when Maiev Shadowsong entered the Tomb of Sargeras in pursuit of Illidan Stormrage. The Tomb Guardian is a mighty demonic Doom Guard that faced off against Maiev, and through the runes Gul'dan transcribed with his blood on the walls of the tomb, Maiev discovers that the Tomb Guardian was the leader of the demons that Sargeras left to deal with Gul'dan once his usefulness is over.

Shadow Council Warlock: Shadow Council Warlocks are, obviously, warlocks in service to Gul'dan's Shadow Council. Formed around the same time during the creation of the First Horde, Gul'dan, Cho'gall and the rest of his loyalists secretly created a Shadow Council of warlocks loyal to Gul'dan that pulled the strings behind the Horde. Ultimately, upon Gul'dan's coma and Blackhand's death after the end of the First War, Orgrim Doomhammer rounded up most of the Shadow Council and executed them. There are known to be survivors, however, and during World of Warcraft, specific mobs called Shadow Council Warlock could still be found in Shadowmoon Valley, Violet Hold and the Tomb of Sargeras.

Shadow Council Necrolyte: Necrolytes are one of the primary spellcasters in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, alternatively also called necromancers in lore. Trained in temples, while these spellcasters are not particularly durable, they are able to cast the Raise Dead spell to turn the tide of battle by transforming corpses into the walking dead. In addition, they are able to cast the spell Dark Vision to scry onto other locations, and Unholy Armour to bolster the strength of their allies. Nearly all the Necrolytes were purged by Orgrim Doomhammer between the first and second war, although they would be succeeded by the Death Knights, when Gul'dan ripped the souls of the dead Necrolytes and put them into human corpses. Some necrolytes from the Stormreaver clan survived all the way until the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, although they live in seclusion away from the other orcs. By World of Warcraft, many members of the Scourge also take the title 'necrolyte'. 

Stormreaver Warlock: Stormreaver Warlocks are members of the Stormreaver clan that were abandoned by Gul'dan during the events of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, living in solidary hermit lives primarily in the Broken Isles. The Stormreaver Warlock is the most powerful variation of the common Stormreaver hermit creeps in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and were able to cast the spell 'Raise Dead'. 

Vicious Felhound: the Vicious Felhound shares its name with a level 20-40 fel wolf mob in the alternate-timeline Talador. 

Harvest Soul: Soul Harvest is a level 60 Warlock added in Legion, increasing the damage of the warlock and his/her pets. 

Elekk Grazer: Elekk Grazers are level 10-40 Elekks located in Embaari Village in Shadowmoon Valley, or at least the alternate-timeline Draenor featured in Warlords of Draenor. The Elekk Grazers will walk towards the player should they enter their enclosure and walk towards their calves. This little tidbit is represented in Hearthstone by them summoning Baby Elekks as a Deathrattle. 

Every other card: Resist, Demonic Replacement, Rain of Destruction, Weakened Elemental, Desperate Claw, Wretched Elemental, Fel Furor, Suspicious Elemental, Soulwringer, Raging Infernal, Torment Soul, Ensnare Soul, Power of Gul'dan, Bloodclaw Dragon, Defeated Soldier, Disturbed Spirit; are all original to Hearthstone. "Disturbed Spirit" shares its name with a mob that represents the dead killed in Gilneas during Cataclysm, but has nothing to do with the Disturbed Spirits here.


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Lore-Friendly 'Reprints'
In a nice bit of appreciation from me, a lot of the cards used by the characters in 'Book of Heroes' are collectible Hearthstone cards... but renamed or given new artwork in order to fit the flavour of whichever hero is using them. So, for example, most Draenei are taken out of the pre-Burning-Crusade fights. Some cards also have their costs and stats adjusted, though I'm not going to list every one of those.  Since a lot of these cards recur across various boss fights, here's a list of them at the end:
  • Arcane Wraith: Functionally identical with Greyheart Sage from Ashes of Outland, albeit as an arcane elemental instead of a draenei.
  • Wink Fox: Almost identical to Blink Fox from The Witchwood.
  • Horde Armorsmith: As usual and in multiple missions, replaces Armorsmith. 
Many of the cards in Book of Heroes reuses card art from the WoW TCG, and even some from Hearthstone, which, I think, is nicely becoming a bit more common to get extra solo-adventure-unique cards. Links will be provided for WoW-TCG art. Here's a somewhat-comprehensive list of all of them.
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