During the dark days of the First War, a cunning human officer named Aedelas Blackmoore found an infant orc abandoned in the wilds. The infant orc, whom Blackmoore aptly named Thrall, was taken to the prison-fortress of Durnholde. There, Blackmoore raised the young orc as a favored slave and gladiator. Intending to train the young orc to be not only a peerless warrior, but also an educated leader, Blackmoore hoped to use Thrall to take over the horde, and thereby achieve dominion over his fellow men.
Nineteen years passed and Thrall grew into a strong, quick-witted orc. Yet his young heart knew that a slave’s life was not for him. Many things had transpired in the world outside the fortress as he grew to maturity. He learned that his people, the orcs - whom he had never met - had been defeated and placed into internment camps in the human lands. Doomhammer, the leader of his people, had escaped from Lordaeron and gone into hiding. He knew that only one rogue clan still operated in secret, trying to evade the watchful eyes of the Alliance.
The resourceful yet inexperienced Thrall decided to escape from Blackmoore’s fortress and set off to find others of his kind. During his journeys Thrall visited the internment camps and found his once mighty race to be strangely cowed and lethargic. Having not found the proud warriors he hoped to discover, Thrall set out to find the last undefeated orc chieftain, Grom Hellscream.
Despite being constantly hunted by the humans, Hellscream still held onto the horde’s unquenchable will to fight. Aided only by his own devoted Warsong clan, Hellscream continued to fight an underground war against the oppression of his beleaguered people. Unfortunately, Hellscream could never find a way to rouse the captured orcs from their stupor. The impressionable Thrall, inspired by Hellscream’s idealism, developed a strong empathy for the horde and its warrior traditions.
Seeking the truth of his own origins, Thrall traveled north to find the legendary Frostwolf clan. Thrall learned that Gul’dan had exiled the Frostwolves during the early days of the First War. He also discovered that he was the son and heir of the orc hero, Durotan - the true chieftain of the Frostwolves who had been murdered in the wilds nearly twenty years before…
Under the tutelage of the venerable shaman, Drek’Thar, Thrall studied the ancient shamanistic culture of his people that had been forgotten under Gul’dan’s’ evil rule. Over time, Thrall became a powerful shaman and took his rightful place as chieftain of the exiled Frostwolves. Empowered by the elements themselves and driven to find his destiny, Thrall set off to free the captive clans and heal his race of demonic corruption.
During his travels, Thrall found the aged warchief, Orgrim Doomhammer, who had been living as a hermit for many years. Doomhammer, who had been a close friend of Thrall’s father, decided to follow the young, visionary orc and help him free the captive clans. Supported by many of the veteran chieftains, Thrall ultimately succeeded in revitalizing the horde and giving his people a new spiritual identity.
To symbolize his people’s rebirth, Thrall returned to Blackmoore’s fortress of Durnholde and put a decisive end to his former master’s plans by laying siege to the internment camps. Yet, during the liberation of one camp, Doomhammer fell in battle. Thrall took up Doomhammer’s legendary warhammer and donned his black plate-armor to become the new warchief of the horde. During the following months, Thrall’s small but volatile horde laid waste to the internment camps and stymied the Alliance’s best efforts to counter its clever strategies. Encouraged by his best friend and mentor, Grom Hellscream, Thrall worked to ensure that no orc would be cast into slavery - either by humans or demons - ever again.
Text above is taken from the Warcraft III manual
ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/Warc...
Original thumbnail artwork by Justin Thavirat
Music composed by Tracy W. Bush, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes, Glenn Stafford and Victor Crews
0:00 - Bloodlust
5:09 - Doomhammer’s Legacy
10:25 - Temporary Alliances
15:04 - Remnants of the Horde
20:27 - Doomhammer’s Legacy
25:41 - Bloodlust
30:55 - Temporary Alliances
35:34 - Remnants of the Horde
40:55 - Bloodlust
46:08 - Doomhammer’s Legacy
51:24 - Temporary Alliances
56:03 - Remnants of the Horde
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