Thrall

Warcheif of the Horde

Biography:
 Becoming the Warchief:

Thrall is the son of Durotan, former chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, and Draka. Thrall was found amongst the bloody bodies of his murdered parents by Aedelas Blackmoore, commander of the internment camps which held orcs after the end of the Second War. Blackmoore returned to his fortress, Durnholde Keep, with Thrall, and raised him as a gladiator — with all the savagery of an orc, but with the keen strategic intellect of a human. He was trained and taught by many, wet-nursed by a human woman, and grew to befriend her daughter, Taretha Foxton. Thrall proved to be an excellent student and a phenomenal fighter. He was clever, quick and enormous even by orc standards. However Blackmoore's abusive beatings both in and out of the ring began to take its toll. Taretha began to write him letters and secretly delivered them to him in his cage within books, and he wrote back to her. Eventually, he wrote to Taretha that he wished to escape.

Taretha created a diversion inside Durnholde Keep which allowed Thrall to escape from his cell unnoticed. They met up outside the fortress by a cave, and Taretha gave him provisions and supplies. He then left Durnholde, hoping to never return.

However, Thrall was captured and taken to an internment camp run by one Major Lorin Remka. It was here that he met an old orc with glowing red eyes named Kelgar, who told him of the corruption of Gul'dan, and how the old ways had been so much better for the Horde. He told him that the only one still thinking of embracing this was the undefeated Grom Hellscream, Chieftain of the Warsong Clan. When another orc told Thrall that Blackmoore had arrived at the camp looking for him, Thrall escaped again, and sought out Grom Hellscream.

After finding the chieftain and proving himself, Hellscream took Thrall under his wing, teaching him the Orcish tongue, and telling him that—based on the tattered swaddling cloth Thrall showed him — he was a part of the exiled Frostwolf Clan. After spending some time with Hellscream, Thrall decided to take his leave of them for a while in order to search out his roots in the Alterac Mountains.

After trekking to exhaustion, Thrall was rescued by the Frostwolves and taken to their camp. There he met Drek'Thar, who told Thrall that he was the son of the chieftain of the Frostwolves. After finding his place among the Frostwolves, Drek'Thar taught Thrall the old ways of the Horde, before Gul'dan's corruption, and soon Thrall was accepted as a member of the clan. A frost wolf named Snowsong eventually chose Thrall as her companion. It was some time after that choosing that he was called away by Drek'Thar, and came upon a quiet place where he had never been or seen before. Here he was to be initiated.

In one of the most spiritual experiences of his life, Thrall befriended the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and the Wilds. He became the first new shaman since Gul'dan's vile corruption of the Horde. He returned to the camp a new orc and became fully immersed in the old ways of the shaman and his clan, embracing his role as son of the chieftain. This was a significant and symbolic event, since Thrall was the first shaman to be accepted by the spirits since Drek'Thar's time. Not only did this mean Thrall would be destined to be one of the greatest shamans in orcish history, but it also meant that the spirits finally forgave the orcish race for consorting with demonic powers, and deemed Thrall as the first of a brand new generation of shamans.

The camp was soon visited by a wandering stranger. At first, Thrall spoke pleasantly with him, but began to grow angry when the stranger accused the Frostwolves of hiding away in the mountains. His fury — and orcish pride — growing within him, Thrall informed the stranger that he would join with Hellscream and the Warsong and lay siege to the encampments. The stranger dismissed Hellscream as a "demon-ridden dreamer", and said that the humans were not worth fighting. Enraged, Thrall challenged the stranger to single combat. The stranger threw aside his cloak to reveal well-worn black plate armor and a massive warhammer. After a short but brutal contest, Thrall managed to disarm him, but was prevented from throttling the stranger by some of his clan. It was then that the stranger revealed himself as Orgrim Doomhammer — the Warchief of the Horde. Doomhammer had been contacted by Drek'Thar about the return of the son of Durotan. The Warchief decided to provoke Thrall into a fight to see if Drek'Thar's praise was deserved — and it was. Not only was Thrall able to challenge Doomhammer's strength, he also was able to best him — a feat only once before accomplished...by Thrall's father. Thrall on the cover of Lord of the Clans Thrall on the cover of Lord of the Clans

Doomhammer named Thrall his second-in-command and explained his strategy for liberating the encampments. Per Doomhammer's plan, Thrall infiltrated the camps masquerading as one of the downtrodden, lethargic prisoners, and then riled the orcs up with shows of his shamanistic powers. With the downtrodden orcs revitalized by their restored heritage, they quickly overran the encampments. On the first three encampments, this proved to be an effective tactic. On the fourth, Thrall was too easily recognized, and thus they had to resort to the numbers of the new Horde — and the shamanistic powers wielded by Thrall — to liberate the encampment. At the fifth, however, they were even better prepared — knights from Durnholde had been stationed at the remaining encampments, so that whichever camp they attacked, there would be a greater resistance. During the liberation of this encampment—now the Horde outpost of Hammerfall in the Arathi Highlands — Doomhammer was killed by a spear strike to the back. With his dying breath, he gave Thrall his black plate and warhammer, and named him Warchief of the Horde.

Warchief Thrall:

Thrall's first action as Warchief was to attack Durnholde in an effort to dismantle the entire internment camp system. He secretly met with Taretha, asking her to leave Durnholde with her family, but she refused, hoping that it would never come to battle and fearful of the consequences if Blackmoore noticed her missing (Blackmoore had taken her as his mistress, an arrangement she had never been happy with). When Thrall arrived at Durnholde with the Horde at his back, he confronted a drunken Blackmoore, and asked for a peaceful parlay in order to prevent useless bloodshed. Blackmoore went through a plethora of emotions — from amusement at Thrall's rise to power, anger at what the Warchief was demanding, and grief at how Thrall had supposedly betrayed him. Once again demanding that Blackmoore surrender or be killed, the master of Durnholde gave his response...by tossing the severed head of Taretha Foxton into the courtyard, screaming that this was what he would do with traitors.

Thrall screamed in rage and grief, the elements themselves echoing his fury, and he gave the command to attack. During the siege, Thrall cornered Blackmoore in his hidden tunnel, and tossed a sword at the traitorous man's feet. Blackmoore had sobered enough to hold his own against the Warchief — who had been holding back to allow Blackmoore a fighting chance — but when he tried to explain, and asked for Thrall's aid to help him subjugate the Alliance, the Warchief's rage at Taretha's fate broke all barriers, and he struck the mortal blow. As he lay dying, the master of Durnholde expressed pride in what Thrall had become — what Blackmoore had made him...or so he thought.

Thrall emerged shaken from the castle to find his orcs victorious. Thrall gave a message to Blackmoore's second-in-command, Lord Karramyn Langston, to take to his superiors: to free the remaining orcs, and to cede land for their use. If the Alliance would let them be, they would not trouble the Alliance and would be willing to engage in cooperation and trade. If the Alliance chose to fight them, they would have made an enemy the likes of which had never been seen before — making the old warlock-controlled Horde shrink to insignificance. He then left Durnholde after allowing Sergeant and the surviving humans to walk away unharmed. When they were gone he called upon the Spirit of the Earth to destroy the keep, before leading his people to freedom.

Thrall later composed a lok'vadnod ("song of a hero") to commemorate Taretha's sacrifice.

Thrall and Grom spent much time gathering together the dispersed forces of the Horde. But it was some time later, when Thrall was with a small force in the Arathi Highlands, that he received a strange dream. He saw armies clashing, and fire raining from the sky, and a voice warning him of things to come. Flight to Kalimdor

When he awoke, he realized that it was no dream, it was a vision, granted him by the mysterious Prophet, who enigmatically told him that he was not what he seemed, that he had abandoned his humanity long ago, and that the only hope for the orcs was to leave Lordaeron—sail west to Kalimdor, and there, they would find their destiny.

Thrall obeyed, and gathering the Horde, prepared to make their way across the Great Sea. However, Grom turned out to have been captured by humans, and Thrall quickly stepped in to save him. Hellscream then got the idea to steal the human ships so that they could leave the human lands forever. With the Horde assembled, they stole the ships, and left across the Great Sea to Kalimdor.

Involvement in the 2nd Invasion of the Burning Legion:

Halfway along their journey to Kalimdor, Thrall's ships were beset by a fierce storm near the Maelstrom and forced to take shelter on a small island. There the orcs met the troll leader Sen'jin, who told them of a murloc tribe and a human outpost that attacked his tribe night and day on the island. Fearing for the Horde and the Darkspear Trolls' safety, Thrall and his warriors assaulted the human base, only to discover that the archmage in charge was stationed there to keep the murlocs at bay. While the orcish and human forces were occupied with one another, the piscine monsters sought out sacrifices for their rituals.

Thrall was then imprisoned within the murlocs' fiery dungeon. He learned from a troll head hunter, with whom he shared a cell, that the murlocs planned to sacrifice them both to a sea witch. Fortunately, though the murlocs were strangely advanced, they were unaware of Thrall's shamanistic abilities, and the warchief is able to escape and free his warriors. The Trolls, however, report that Sen'jin was not in the cells — he was taken as the first sacrifice. Thrall raced to the altar, but was forced to watch in horror as the murloc sorcerer killed Sen'jin. Thrall and his warriors were able to kill the three Murloc Guardians maintaining the magic barrier which prevented their escape, but it was too late for the troll leader. The dying Sen'jin revealed a vision — that Thrall would lead the Darkspear tribe to greatness. Thrall then offered the remaining trolls a place in the Horde for the kindness they had shown the orcs.

Thrall emerged from the cave and was confronted by the Ghost Sea Witch. She threatened vengeance for the destruction of her altar and worshipers. She placed a curse upon the warchief; that he and all his forces would be swallowed up by the sea. Upon returning to his base camp, Thrall discovered that his ships, damaged by the storm, were not yet ready to sail. He also learned that the island was volcanic and that the dormant volcano was about to erupt. The Sea Witch, meanwhile, launched her murloc forces against the Horde, thirsty for vengeance. Nevertheless, aided by the trolls, the Horde was able to hold off their attackers long enough to repair their ships and managed to escape before the volcano erupted.

The sea witch's curse may have come true, depending on how close her island was to Kalimdor — we know that Thrall's force was shipwrecked. We assume that the other clans, such as Hellscream's, were not among those caught by the storm and driven to the island. Second Invasion

The ships had been scattered and many of those on board barely made it to the shores of Kalimdor alive. The clans were scattered, and Thrall slowly roamed the coast, collecting the orcs and trolls he came across as he did. But Grom could not be found. This new land held many strange new creatures, but the most brutal were the centaurs, particularly in their treatment of the tauren.

When Thrall battled a group of centaurs who were attacking tauren, he was unexpectedly greeted by Cairne Bloodhoof, chieftain of the Bloodhoof Tribe. Impressed by their fierce but noble behaviour, Cairne offered to help him find the destiny of his people. Thrall told Cairne of the centaur army he had seen advancing to the north, and they quickly departed, as Cairne reported that his village was in danger. Thrall's forces followed Cairne back to their village, where they defended it from the centaurs.

Since the centaurs had driven off all the game in the region, the Bloodhoof Tribe would need to abandon their home and travel to Mulgore if they hoped to avoid starving. Cairne agreed to tell the location of the Oracle, who would help the orcs with their quest for destiny, if they would help protect Cairne's caravan to Mulgore. Thrall agreed to these terms, and helped the tauren on their lengthy journey, protecting them and their lumbering kodo beasts from marauding centaurs.

Cairne told Thrall of the mystical Oracle of Stonetalon Peak, who could help them find their destiny in these strange lands. Thrall, glad at having made a new friend in the foreign land, thanked Cairne gratefully, and they parted as allies.

When Thrall arrived at the base of Stonetalon Peak, he was shocked to find Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan battling humans under the command of Jaina Proudmoore. Her forces had cordoned off much of the pass going up the mountain, and Thrall suspected that hiring some goblins to ferry them up the mountain in zeppelins would allow them to bypass any defenses. However, as Thrall tried to make his way stealthily up to the goblins, an impatient Hellscream unexpectedly attacked the humans, who retaliated by attacking Thrall's forces. Thrall was forced to stay their wrath by attacking their bases. Finally, he managed to acquire the zeppelins. Thrall confronted Grom, but Hellscream argued that "a true warrior" would have fought the humans without question instead of trying to sneak past them and avoid a battle.

Thrall, worried that Grom's impetuous bloodlust would lead to nothing but trouble, ordered his friend and his clan to remain behind in Ashenvale as Thrall journeyed up the mountain. Grom reluctantly agreed.

Thrall made his way up the mountain, and was surprised to find his path crossing that of Cairne once again. However, Thrall would not be able to access the summit without any air support. So, Cairne suggested that they ally with the wyverns of Stonetalon. The wyverns were under the control of vile harpies, and after a short battle, they were defeated, and the wyverns, grateful, lent their services to Thrall and the Horde. With their help, Thrall defeated the humans guarding the Peak, and entered the mountain.

Thrall and Cairne separated and searched the caverns themselves. After much time, they found the Oracle's chamber, but they also found Jaina Proudmoore, and were about to battle when the Oracle appeared, revealing himself to be the Prophet Thrall and Jaina had met in Lordaeron. He told Thrall of Grom's corruption, and that the orcs and humans must join forces or be destroyed. Reluctantly, Thrall agreed, desperate to save Grom.

Thrall and Grom Hellscream battle Mannoroth:

They returned to the Barrens to find Grom in command of the corrupted Warsong Clan, and he moved against them as the demonic invasion of Kalimdor began. An epic battle took place between the Warchief and Hellscream's forces, with many warriors being struck down in the ensuing clash. Thrall, with the help of Cairne, managed to fight his way through the corrupted orcs and stood before the Warsong Chieftain. Hellscream taunted Thrall, telling him that the demons didn't forcefully corrupt the orcs, but that the orc chieftains themselves chose to drink the demon's blood. Filled with rage and anger at this betrayal, Thrall charged at his old friend and the two had a fierce one on one duel. After a long and desperate struggle, Thrall managed to capture Grom's essence in a Soul Gem and returned it to a Ritual Circle, where with the combination of orc and human magic, the demons were purged from Grom's system. Grom, realizing what he had done, was instantly apologetic, and he and Thrall immediately set out to face Mannoroth in the canyon carved by the falling infernals.

Thrall put an initial assault against Mannoroth, but was subdued quickly, and would have been killed, had Grom not gathered his strength and made a devastating blow against Mannoroth, shattering his plate and driving an axe deep into his belly. This was enough to kill the pit lord, but as Mannoroth died explosive energies burst forth from his body and hit Grom at point blank range. The chieftain of the Warsong Clan was mortally wounded. As the demonic, red haze lifted from the eyes of Grom Hellscream and his clan mates, he died a hero's death.

Thrall and Jaina retreated back into Ashenvale, but found a new threat behind them as well as in front. The night elves, cursing them for the killing of Cenarius, attacked them as they attempted to make a new settlement.

The demons and undead, orcs and humans, and night elves were all battling one another for survival, until finally, Thrall received a vision to bring Jaina to a grove at the base of Mount Hyjal. There, he met the leaders of the Sentinels, Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage. They were surprised at finding each other there, until the Prophet appeared once more, and revealed himself to be Medivh, the Last Guardian. He convinced them that they must all ally against the Legion or they would surely and quickly be defeated.

Though uneasy, Tyrande and Malfurion agreed, and they all allied against Archimonde and his plethora of demonic and undead followers.

The three races collectively defended Nordrassil and Mount Hyjal with three fortified settlements going up the mountain, doing their best to slow Archimonde's ascend until the night elves' trap was prepared.

As Archimonde made his way up the mountain towards Thrall's base, he told Thrall that his race wasn't worth bothering with. Thrall replied by saying that all that mattered now was that his people were free, and struck out, dealing damage to Archimonde, before Jaina spirited him away.

Founding of Orgrimmar:

Following the victory at Mount Hyjal and the defeat of the Burning Legion, Thrall gathered his people and resolved to find a place for them in the rugged, beautiful lands of the Barrens. He founded Durotar, named after his heroic father. Its capital city was Orgrimmar, named for Orgrim Doomhammer. After many months, things began to pull together. The orcs were fleshing out Durotar, the tauren had gone into Mulgore, and the trolls had settled on the Echo Isles off the coast, as well as a small village on the Durotar mainland, named Sen'Jin in honor of their lost leader.

Thrall was soon met by Rexxar, a son of the Mok'Nathal, who had tried to save his scout Mogrin from a group of quilboars, and delivered a message. Thrall read it carefully, saddened by Mogrin's death, and welcomed Rexxar to the newly crowned land. Rexxar considered staying, but said that he would need to earn his keep. Thrall agreed, and sent Rexxar to speak to various citizens of Orgrimmar and see what he could do to assist them in their tasks. He also asked Rokhan the shadow hunter to assist Rexxar. The two were later joined by a wandering pandaren brewmaster named Chen Stormstout, who had been searching the area for ingredients to use in his new concoction. After Rexxar helped him find those ingredients, Chen tagged along with the troll and the Mok'Nathal, eager for adventure. Thrall waited in Orgrimmar, helping build the city.

Rexxar performed his deeds successfully, and Thrall began to respect the beastmaster. But soon he brought ill news that humans were amassing on the shores of Durotar. Thrall was troubled. The treaty he had made with Jaina had hoped to keep such incursions from happening. After several more encounters with human hostiles, there was a summit arranged between Thrall and Jaina. Rexxar encouraged Thrall to send him in his place, sensing a trap. Thrall reluctantly agreed. Sure enough, the "emissaries" were uninterested in talk and unsuccessfully tried to kill Rexxar and his friends, after expressing disappointment that Thrall himself had not come to be slaughtered.

Rexxar returned and told Thrall that there had been a deception. Unable to believe that Jaina would order such a thing, Thrall prepared a note for Rexxar to secret into Theramore to arrange a parlay with Jaina herself. Only by meeting face to face could they ensure any sort of peace between the two races.

After hearing Rexxar's report of Admiral Proudmoore's arrival and intent against the orcs, Thrall realized that the only way to prevent yet another war was to assault Admiral Proudmoore's base and kill him. With Rexxar's help, Thrall enlisted the aid of his old friend Cairne and the tauren, as well as the Stonemaul ogres. While preparations were being made to storm Theramore, Thrall was informed that the island was surrounded by a blockade of ships that the assembled force had no way of breaching. Thrall was frustrated by this news. Then Jaina teleported onto the scene. She assured everybody that she came in peace. She had known nothing of her father's plans and didn't know what to do, she said. Thrall was sympathetic, but told her that her father's actions could destroy Durotar and that the only way to ensure the security of the new nation and his people was to kill Daelin.

Jaina understood and was willing to help, even if it meant the death of her father. She told Thrall the location of a nearby goblin shipyard which could supply him with ships to break through the admiral's blockade. He begged Thrall to spare as many of her men as possible in the coming battle; even though most of them were following her father, they were the only family she had left after the fall of Lordaeron. Thrall gave her his word that he would try to keep bloodshed on the human side to a minimum and advised Jaina to get to safety, since the battle was about to start.

Using the ships acquired from the goblins, Thrall's forces were able to fight their way onto the isle, where they proceeded to engage Daelin Proudmoore's troops. Rexxar, Rokhan, Chen and Cairne fought their way directly to Admiral Proudmoore himself and engaged him in combat. Before the battle was over Thrall tried to tell the admiral that this Horde was different from the one he had faced years ago, that they had no interest in conquest or murder. Proudmoore raged that Thrall's race was guilty of genocide, that they would never be able to atone for their rampage through Stormwind and Lordaeron that had left countless people dead. He grimly vowed that he would never stop fighting the orcs, and thus Rexxar was forced to kill him as Thrall had predicted.

As soon as Daelin Proudmoore fell, Rexxar shouted that the battle was over and ordered the human forces to stand down. They complied. Jaina fell to her knees near her father's body, asking him why he couldn't have listened. Rexxar tried to ease the sorceress' pain by telling her that her father was a proud warrior above all else, and that he should be remembered as such. Thrall proclaimed that the Horde had no quarrel with the surviving humans and that they would leave Theramore in peace. He then took his forces back to Durotar and left Jaina to her mourning.

Grateful to Rexxar for all he had done, Thrall extended an invitation to the Mok'Nathal to stay and make a home for himself in Durotar. Rexxar politely declined, telling Thrall that he was a wanderer and his place was in the wilds. But he promised Thrall that he was part of the Horde, and that if his help was ever needed again he would be there. So Thrall said goodbye to Rexxar and resumed building Durotar. For the moment, all was well. Cycle of Hatred

Three years passed, and Orgrimmar swelled. However, a series of minor incidents between the Durotar orcs and Theramore humans threatened the stability of the entire area. Thrall and Jaina desperately attempted to keep the peace, but the Horde gerw out of his control when his chief warrior Burx took an army of orcs and trolls to Northwatch Hold, the same keep Proudmoore used for his operations, and demanded they dismantle it. After the battle began, however, Jaina contacted Thrall with information that his Burx was working for the orcish end of the Burning Blade cult. Infuriated at the idea that an orc would once again serve the Legion (the demon Zmodlor was pulling the strings of the cult), Thrall immediately stopped the battle (with some impressive aid from the Spirits) and denounced Burx. When the warrior protested that he was acting within the Horde's interests, Thrall smashed his skull with the Doomhammer.

The events prompted Jaina and Thrall to pursue a more official Horde/Alliance treaty. Despite the rise of tensions in the last year or so, their actions have halted, though not completely broken, the cycle of hatred.

Thrall currently resides in his palace, located in the Valley of Wisdom in Orgrimmar. Despite the defeat of the Burning Legion and the elder Proudmoore, the Warchief's life is still far from dull. Threats to Durotar from outside and within force him to remain ever vigilant.