A Blaze of Glory (WC3 Orc)

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This article contains lore taken from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the manuals, and/or official bonus maps.

"A Blaze of Glory" is Chapter 3 of "The Founding of Durotar". It was the final confrontation between the Horde, led and championed by Thrall and Rexxar — of the Mok'Nathal — and the Kul Tiras invasion force, led by Admiral Daelin Proudmoore.

Prelude

In response to the increasingly aggressive human incursions into Durotar, Thrall and Rexxar had gathered together the various component races of the Horde and marched upon the Kul Tiras army, scoring an important victory over Proudmoore's forces at Tidefury Cove. Having regained the coast, Thrall and Rexxar plotted their next move against the armada of Kul Tiras battleships blockading Theramore Isle, Proudmoore's stronghold. As they strategised, they were approached by Jaina Proudmoore. She told Thrall of a Goblin shipyard on an outlying island of the archipelago, with which the Horde could construct a fleet to battle the Kul Tiras blockade. Although she gave her blessing to the attack upon her fanatical father, she pleaded with Thrall to avoid destroying her own forces in the impending battle, to which the Warchief agreed.

The Battle

Seas of Blood

With his companions Cairne Bloodhoof the Tauren Chieftain, Rokhan the troll Shadow Hunter and Chen Stormstout the Pandaren Brewmaster, Rexxar landed on the outlying island and defeated the Kul Tiras forces who were occupying the island. Having gained the Shipyard, the orcs quickly put the Goblins to constructing Juggernaughts and Frigates, with which they then engaged the Kul Tiras armada. A furious battle on the waves ensued. The Kul Tiras forces used their fortifications and siege weaponry to shell the orc ships as they traded cannon fire with the human fleet. Although they were successful in destroying a good many of the goblin-made ships, Rexxar's forces were eventually able to sink all six of the Kul Tiras battleships, forcing the remains of the fleet into disarrayed retreat. With the blockade broken, Thrall quickly ordered his troops onto waiting transports, and began the invasion of Theramore Isle.

Theramore Isle

The gathered armies of the Horde, led by Thrall and Rexxar, landed upon Theramore Isle and unleashed their full fury upon the walls of the city. The Horde launched a three-pronged attack: the trolls and ogres attacked from the west, the tauren attacked from the south, and the Orcs attacked from the southwest. They met stiff resistance in the form of Admiral Proudmoore's elite guard, Theramore's powerful automated defense towers, and Jaina Proudmoore's own forces. The Alliance forces defended the Citadel fiercely, fighting with an intense hatred for the Horde whom they believe to be the same as the one that ravaged their homelands and many warriors on both sides perished. Finally Rexxar and his companions were able to fight their way through the melee, defeating the Admiral's personal guard before engaging Daelin Proudmoore himself. Although Proudmoore was a ferociously powerful warrior and sorcerer, he was finally slain in the epic battle by Rexxar's party. With the Admiral's death, Rexxar ordered the rest of the Alliance forces to stand down; Jaina Proudmoore materialized, to mourn over the body of her proud, stubborn father.

Aftermath

Having no quarrel with the remaining humans, the Horde returned to Durotar, leaving Jaina Proudmoore to rebuild her small empire. Thrall offered Rexxar a champion's welcome at Orgrimmar, which Rexxar refused, saying he was a lone wanderer at heart. However, the half-ogre considered himself as part of the Horde ever after, and was and is at Thrall's service, should the Warchief ever call upon the beastmaster's considerable talents again.

Bloodhoof returned to Mulgore to rule over his own people, but it is not known what happened to Stormstout and Rokhan. Given that no word of the Admiral's ill-fated mission to Kalimdor ever reached Kul Tiras itself, it is thought that the survivors of Proudmoore's navy were absorbed into his daughter's wing of the Alliance.