Hi guys! This is part one of the final post in the WoW Classic Beginners guide. In this post, I’ll be covering the Alliance lore (story). If you have more questions please leave them in the comments.

Classic WoW begins after the events of Warcraft III (the Third War). The end of the third war brought about four years of peace. As you can imagine it didn’t take long for that peace to shatter.

The human kingdom Lordaeron fell in the third war. So, Stormwind, which had just rebuilt its city, took up the mantle to lead the Alliance, which the Night Elves from Kalimdor joined. The Night Elves problems were with the Orcish Horde which had settled in Durotar. Basically, the Orcs were camping in the Night Elves backyard.

So, let’s get into the meat of the story.

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WoW Classic Beginners Guide

The Drums of War: Alliance

Four years after the third war ended, the drums of war thundered once again.

By the beginning of Vanilla WoW, the Horde and the Alliance are in a cold war. After the Battle for Mount Hyjal, where the factions stopped Archimonde from destroying the world tree, Nordrassil, the Horde and Alliance formed an agreement for peace. But, the pact was weak and began to crumble. Soon the factions engaged in skirmishes in designated battlegrounds.

WoW Classic Beginners Guide: Humans

During the first war, the Kingdom of Stormwind was destroyed by the savage Orcish Horde. The brutish Orcs barreled through the Dark Portal and laid waste to the land. Nothing but destruction laid in the wake of the Orcs. Survivors traveled north to take refuge in the human Kingdom of Lordaeron, which became the center for the Alliance of Lordaeron.

Stormwind rebuilt its city after the third war. But, during the third war, the Kingdom of Lordaeron fell to the undead scourge. As a result, Stormwind led the Alliance.

The kingdom faced problems though because King Varian Wrynn had gone missing on a diplomatic mission. His son, Prince Anduin Wrynn, became king instead. Anduin was only a child. So, the day-to-day governing affairs weren’t handled by him. Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Lady Katrana Prestor served as regents.

What the residents of Stormwind didn’t know, is that Lady Katrana Prestor was the black dragon Onyxia in disguise. She purposefully caused chaos by whispering in the ears of the nobles. As a result, Stormwind’s streets faced riots because the Defias Brotherhood (Stonemasons Guild) was being denied payment for honest work. Lady Prestor also plotted with the Defias Brotherhood to kidnap the king.

The Defias Brotherhood helped to rebuild Stormwind. They didn’t receive the compensation they deserved. So, the Defias Gang led by Edwin VanCleef were out for revenge. He took his gang and moved into Westfall, where they took refuge in the Deadmines.

As a result of the Alliance troops fighting wars on distant shores, the Kingdom of Stormwind was unable to stop VanCleef from causing problems throughout the kingdom. Which is why the residents of Westfall created The People’s Militia to fight the threat.

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WoW Classic Beginners Guide: Dwarves

During the Classic, the Kingdom of Ironforge was led by King Magni Bronzebeard. Ironforge city is located in the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh. It’s a city built within the mountainside. The dwarves joined the Alliance of Lordaeron during the second war. It was to protect Ironforge from the Orcish horde, which had invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal.

After the third war, the Bronzebeard clan lived in Ironforge. There are three Dwarven clans, Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron. They have divided about 230 years ago during the War of the Three Hammers.

But, the Dark Iron dwarfs are the main enemy to the other clans. During the War of Three Hammers, the Dark Iron clan tried to take Ironforge from the Bronzebeard clan and the Wildhammer clan. Eventually, the war ended, and the Dark Iron clan was kicked out of the mountain city. Their clan headed south. Then they created a city in Redridge Mountains.

The War of the Three Hammers was brutal. Once the war concluded, the Wildhammer clan settled in the Wetlands. Wildhammer dwarfs share a special bond with griffins, and today provide them for the Alliance. After the third war, however, the Wildhammer’s weren’t in the Alliance, but they were friendly to its members. The clan was on good terms with the Bronzebeard clan.

Dwarves Continued: After the War of the Three Hammers

Years later, the Dark Iron clan did a two-pronged assault on the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans. The Dark Iron dwarves succeeded in destroying Grim Batol, which is the city the Wildhammers had built in the eastern Wetlands. But, the assault on Grim Batol made the city uninhabitable, and that’s when the Wildhammer clan moved north to Aerie Peak.

In Vanilla (classic) WoW, King Magni’s daughter, Moira, is assumed to be kidnapped by Dagran Thaurissan, the leader of the Dark Iron dwarves. Also, Magni’s brother Muradin Bronzebeard was missing, as it was believed he’d been murdered by Arthas Menethil (Prince of Lordaeron) during the third war.

WoW Classic Beginners Guide: Gnomes

Gnomes are engineers. They’re always tinkering with new machines, and innovating new ideas. The gnomes are led by High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque. He refers to himself as “King of Gnomes” but his position is an elected one.

The gnomes joined the Alliance of Lordaeron in the second war and provided the Alliance with weapons and machinery. So, the gnomes weren’t really on the front lines back then.

Their city, Gnomergan is underground in Dun Morogh. It was taken over by a trogg infestation during the third war. The dwarves felt sorry for their gnomish neighbors, and King Magni invited them to live in Ironforge.

Mekkatorque’s best friend and advisor, Sicco Thermaplugg, convinced him to gas the Troggs out of Gnomergan. However, the plan backfired and many gnomes were poisoned and became Leper gnomes. The gas turned Thermaplugg crazy, and he stayed within Gnomergan as a shadow of his former self.

Thermaplugg had always been jealous of his old friend. His secret plans to gain control came out once the gnomes moved into Ironforge. He’d planned to only gas about 30% of Gnomergan and rule the rest. However, the plan was a disaster as about 80% of the gnomish population died in the city.

Now, High Tinker Mekkatorque is determined to reclaim Gnomergan for his people.

Night Elves

The ancient Night Elves are from the continent of Kalimdor. They can also be referred to as Kaldorei which translates to “Children of the Stars” in Darnassian. Led by the High Priestess of Elune, Tyrande Whisperwind, the Night Elves have existed for thousands of years. During the third war, the Night Elves joined the Alliance to stop the Burning Legion.

About 10,000 years ago, when Azeroth was only one continent called Kalimdor, the Burning Legion (an army of demons) were attracted to Azeroth because of the Highborne’s use of magic. Highborne elves were like nobles in the Night Elven society. They practiced the arcane arts (magic) and drew power from the Well of Eternity.

Queen Azshara ruled over the Night Elven empire. She was said to be the most beautiful elven woman, and Azshara was also one of the most powerful mages. The queen wanted more power, and eventually made a pact with the Burning Legion. Many of the Highborne elves, including Lord Xavius her high councilor, pledged allegiance to the Legion.

But, the queen’s actions led to the War of the Ancients. The conclusion of the war saw the Well of Eternity being destroyed. The destruction of the well was so great, it caused the Sundering, which ripped the continent of Kalimdor apart, and left a chaotic swirling mass of water in the ocean called the Maelstrom. Queen Azshara and her city, Zin’Azshari, were swept away in an enormous tsunami, which killed millions of her people.

Night Elves Continued: After the Sundering

Azshara made a new deal with the Old God, N’Zoth, so that she and her followers would be spared from the drowning. N’Zoth made her a sea creature called a naga, and she ruled the sea for 10,000 years.

After the War of the Ancients, the Night Elven society began to break apart. Some of the Highborne still resided in Kalimdor, but the rest of the Night Elves didn’t trust them. It was illegal in Night Elven society to use the arcane, and Malfurion Stormrage (Tyrande’s husband), was a druid who enforced the law. Night Elven society turned toward nature, which caused druidism to become popular.

Eventually, the remaining Highborne, led by Anasterian Sunstrider, sailed across the sea, until they reached the Eastern Kingdoms and the continent of Lordaeron. The elves who settled in Lordaeron became known as High Elves.

In the Burning Crusade expansion, those same High Elves joined the Horde and renamed themselves Blood Elves. But, during Vanilla (classic wow) some of the High Elves were still in the Alliance. As the original High Elves had joined the Alliance of Lordaeron during the second war.

As for the Night Elves, they joined the Alliance during the third war. Tyrande Whisperwind and Fandral Staghelm were leading the elves because Tyrande’s husband was sleeping within the Emerald Dream. All Druids must sleep within the Emerald Dream to preserve the natural world.

But, once Malfurion was asleep, he became trapped in the Emerald Nightmare. This meant that Fandral Staghelm became the Archdruid of Darnassus. Most of the Night Elves were loyal to Tyrande, but a few followed Fandral and his aggressive military views, which led to strife within the kingdom.

WoW Classic Beginners Guide Story: Conclusion

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I hope this WoW Classic Beginners Guide made the Alliance side of the lore easier to understand. If you have questions, please leave a comment below.

Check out the first post in the WoW Classic beginners guide. The fourth posts explains more of the story. You can find it here the Classic WoW beginners guide story part 2.

Please feel free to visit the difference between WoW Classic and retail WoW, and the best addons for WoW Classic. There are also helpful articles about the Seven Best Quest Chains in WoW Classic, Professions in WoW Classic the Most Interesting Zones in WoW Classic, and How to Make Gold in WoW Classic.

World of Warcraft Patch 8.2.5 Content Notes was released last week. The holidays are coming up fast, so feel free to visit the 23 must-have gifts for World of Warcraft fans. Want a more general list? Then check out the 22 must-have gifts for Video Gamers. WoW Classic has been a hit, so don’t miss the. BlizzCon is next month and we’ve got many juicy things to discuss. Check out the World of Warcraft Story so far, and the possible World of Warcraft Expansion leaks.

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