Alliance of Lordaeron


 * This article is about the Alliance in the Second War. See "The Alliance of Lordaeron" for the in-game book and section 2 of Chapter IV of the History of Warcraft. For further history of the Alliance in current times, see Alliance.

The Alliance of Lordaeron (aka Lordaeron Alliance, Great Alliance, or Alliance) was the union of the seven human kingdoms, along with the dwarves of Khaz Modan (which also included the gnomes of Gnomeregan) and Aerie Peak, the high elves of Quel'Thalas, and others with major political influence including the Church of the Holy Light.

Following the destruction of the Kingdom of Azeroth by the Orcish Horde, its survivors fled to Lordaeron. Realizing the threat the orcs posed, Regent Lord Anduin Lothar, leader of Azeroth's refugees, was able to convince the leaders of the other human kingdoms, as well as the dwarves and gnomes, whose lands had come under siege by the Horde, to join against the orcs. The high elves joined reluctantly, being honour-bound to come to the aid of Lothar, the last descendant of the Arathi bloodline. Their reluctance turned to grudging enthusiasm when they realized that the Amani had joined the fight. Later in the war, the Wildhammer dwarves of Aerie Peak joined the conflict on the side of the Alliance.

The Alliance of Lordaeron was led by King Terenas Menethil II, who accepted ambassadors or the monarchs from all member nations and races to his capital. Rarely did the monarchs of the major realms come together. Generally they spoke through couriers and diplomats, with the occasional state visit thrown in as well. One of the inner council of the Kirin Tor had ever been present at such events (with the exception of one meeting Dalaran was not invited, lead by Lord Prestor, though spied upon by Krasus). While Terenas was highest in charge of the Alliance regarding military, each nation and race retained a great deal of autonomy and self-government in internal affairs. This agreement, however, was only effective during wartime, and led the Alliance to victory in the Second War, but to its ravaging during the attack of the Scourge.

The Alliance of Lordaeron was radically reformed after the Third War, thus creating an Alliance between the humans, the ironforge dwarves, the night elves, the draenei, and the gnomes, as well as lesser groups including high elves, half-elves, wildhammer dwarves, and a few half-orcs. The blood elves were not a member race, due to their departure to Outland or new allegiance to the Horde.

The Seven Kingdoms, heart of the Alliance
When the refugees from Stormwind arrived on the shores of Lordaeron bringing their tales of the Horde, the humans saw the common sense in forming an Alliance of their countries, and with their neighbor races.

It was not as simple as that, however. When the refugees arrived on the shores of Lordaeron fleeing the horrible Horde, King Terenas of Lordaeron called delegates from the seven nations of humanity together to meet to discuss the threat. King Terenas of Lordaeron called the other human kings together to discuss the Horde and Stormwind. King Terenas took the refugees at their word about the danger in the south, and agreed to join forces. Backed by Daelin Proudmoore of Kul Tiras, he moved that the humans unite to save the Stormwind people and remove the Horde from the land. The other five leaders were harder to convince. Kul Tiras, Dalaran and Stromgarde were agreeable, while Gilneas and Alterac were hesitant.

As they were meeting, the Ironforge dwarves faced the Horde as it rampaged through their lands, and knew they needed aid if we were to protect their homeland. The Horde also caught the attention of the high elves in Quel'Thalas. Each of the races approached the humans to discuss the Horde and to eventually join the Alliance.

Most of the human countries, after much quarreling, finally agreed to unite for the betterment of the future. They called themselves the Alliance and put their armies under the control of Lothar, who had faced the Horde. They included all seven of the human nations, some more grudgingly than others.

Azeroth
Azeroth, the shattered southern country, brought its resolute and angry refugees into the Alliance. Now under the rule of the Regent Lord Anduin Lothar, these people once made up the mightiest of the human kingdoms. They mourned their beloved King Llane who died when Stormwind fell to the Horde, and they settled near Southshore, determined to take back their homes.

Lordaeron
Lordaeron's King Terenas proved to be Azeroth's staunchest ally, calling a conclave of all human kingdoms to meet to discuss the fall of Azeroth. Its armies were the heart and backbone of the Alliance.

Stromgarde
Lordaeron’s opposite was Stromgarde; its leader, Thoras Trollbane, led his kingdom with a strict, martial philosophy. While Lordaeron brought the priests, Stromgarde brought the warriors. This kingdom borders Khaz Modan, and served as the first area of defense from land-based attacks for the humans and sent half of its standing armies to the main Alliance army. Stromgarde left the Alliance after the Second War, upset with certain political decisions.

Kul Tiras
Admiral Daelin Proudmoore led the island kingdom of Kul Tiras. Kul Tiras was a naval and merchant country, and thus both rich and powerful. Proudmoore was an ally of Anduin Lothar, so he was Azeroth's second strongest-patron. Daelin Proudmoore, also the father of Jaina Proudmoore, would later go on to terrorize the Horde on Kalimdor, souring relations between the Alliance and Horde; he would meet his death at the hands of Horde heroes.

Gilneas
Genn Greymane ruled Gilneas, the peninsula nation near Kul Tiras. Personally, he was a selfish old fool who only aided the Alliance when it benefited him. He joined the Alliance in the Second War, but offered only token support. His coast is well fortified to this day, and a strong wall separates his peninsula from the rest of the continent. No one has seen the lands of Gilneas — or the people of Gilneas — since the wall was erected.

Dalaran
Dalaran was a nation populated by, and run by, magi. The Kirin Tor ran the country as a conclave, their committee leading the magi in an intellectual as well as political fashion. Antonidas was the true ruler of the Kirin Tor, and his wise, fatherly countenance became the sect's public face. They were once a powerful nation, strong allies of the Alliance, trading considerable knowledge for the protection of the other nations. Dalaran’s archmagi were invaluable in the Second War. Later, in the Third War, Arthas and Archimonde of the Burning Legion destroyed Dalaran. Currently, a magical wall encircles the area, where the ruins once was, while the rebuild city itself is floating over Northrend.

Alterac
Lord Aiden Perenolde, perhaps the most notorious human noble of the Second War, was in charge of Alterac at the beginning of hostilities. Perenolde was cowardly and his will weak; he betrayed the Alliance, sending ships to strike at their vulnerabilities. Captured and ousted, now Lord Aliden Perenolde, Aiden's son, leads the Syndicate, a bandit group that includes Alterac's fallen nobles who seek to reclaim their kingdom. They also have holdings in the ruins of the City of Stromgarde and Durnholde Keep. In their desperation, it appears they have formed an alliance with the Argus Wake an arm of the notorious orcish Shadow Council.

Quel'Thalas
Quel'Thalas, the kingdom of the high elves, is located on the northern tip of the continent of Lordaeron, northeast of Stratholme. At the time of the Horde's approaching invasion of Lordaeron, King Terenas sent emissaries to King Anasterian Sunstrider and the Convocation of Silvermoon. In it, Terenas mentioned that Lord Lothar was the last descendant of King Thoradin of Arathor. Millennia earlier, during the Troll Wars, the elves had made a pact to aid Thoradin and his descendants, the Arathi. Anasterian, seeking an opportunity to fulfill the Sunstrider Dynasty's debt to Thoradin, grudgingly sent a small force to the Alliance armies stationed in Hillsbrad. The party was led by Alleria Windrunner, a captain in the Silvermoon Ranger Corps.

When the Horde invaded Quel'Thalas and began burning the edges of Eversong Woods, Alleria ran ahead to Silvermoon to warn of the oncoming Horde, and that, when Anasterian and the Council refused to acknowledge the threat, Alleria threw the head of a forest troll at Anasterian's feet, saying that she and her sister Vereesa had slain the troll near the river not far from Silvermoon. This provoked a reaction from the high king, who had fought against the trolls during the great war millennia earlier, and he ordered the full mobilization of his army to combat the Horde onslaught.

The Hinterlands
Located to the southeast of the Capital City, the Hinterlands are home to the Wildhammer clan, renowned for their use of gryphons. Led at that time by Kurdran Wildhammer, the Wildhammer clan came under attack by what ultimately proved to be a diversionary tactic by Orgrim Doomhammer. The Warchief deduced that if he sent a force to attack the Hinterlands, the Alliance would respond, allowing him to take the remainder of his forces into Quel'Thalas with the aid of Zul'jin and the Amani. Realizing their plans, Lothar dispatched Turalyon and Khadgar, along with half the Alliance forces, to travel north to Quel'Thalas and come to the aid of the elves, while he aided Kurdran in clearing out the remaining Horde forces in the Hinterlands.

Kurdran and his Wildhammers later came to the aid of Daelin Proudmoore's forces in the Great Sea, allowing the Admiral's ships to focus on the ships while the gryphon riders battled the dragon riders of the Horde.

Khaz Modan and the Kingdom of Ironforge
The Kingdom of Ironforge (aka kingdom of Khaz Modan) is the dwarven kingdom of the Ironforge dwarves in the continent of Khaz Modan. It includes the lands of Dun Morogh and Loch Modan in the foothills of Ironforge Mountain. On their way to Lordaeron, the Horde conquered Khaz Modan and laid siege to the city of Ironforge itself, but were unable to penetrate its defenses.

The capture of Khaz Modan allowed the Horde to obtain the mineral resources required to build a fleet of vessels to sail across the Great Sea into the Hillsbrad Foothills in southern Lordaeron. With their defeat at the Capital City, Orgrim Doomhammer ordered a general retreat into Khaz Modan; Kilrogg Deadeye, chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow, informed Doomhammer that if left unchecked — if his clan retreated to Azeroth with the remainder of the Horde — the dwarves would attack or, worse, link up with the Alliance armies that were most likely pursuing them.

Gnomeregan
Gnomeregan has been the gnomes' capital city and home of the gnomish race for generations. It is located within the dwarven realm of Dun Morogh in the Kingdom of Ironforge. Not long after the War of the Hammers, the Ironforge dwarves gave gnomes a place to build themselves a city, in the dwarven owned mountains of Dun Morogh, not too far from Ironforge itself. Thus the gnomes and dwarves built Gnomeregan. As members of the dwarven side of the Alliance, gnomes served the Alliance well during the Second War, providing valuable technology such as submarines and gyrocopters to aid their cause, but, oddly, during the Third War gnomes did not lend their aid to the Alliance, barricading themselves in their city. This event greatly shocked the Alliance, but it was later revealed that the gnomes had their reasons. Ancient vile race known as the troggs had dug their way into the city within depths of the earth, and devastated the gnome population after lenghtly battle, finally driving the survivors to seek refuge within the capital, Ironforge.

Tol Barad
Tol Barad was a lesser human kingdom. It was the location of an island citadel controlled by Stromgarde during the war.

Church of Light
The Church of Light was a strong supporter of Alliance's effort. During the First War, the Clerics of Northshire bravely supported armies of the Kingdom of Azeroth with clerics who healed wounds and channeled devastating powers of Holy Light against their foes. With the defeat of Azeroth in the War, Alonsus Faol and his surviving brethren fled their base of operation at Northshire Abbey with the kingdom's other survivors to the shores of Lordaeron. There, Archbishop Alonsus Faol was one of the key figures in forming of the Alliance. Alonsus Faol and his brethren continued to offert hope and teachings and power of the Light to anyone in need, but realising that it would take more than people armed with power of the Light alone, Alonsus, and along with his young apperentice Uther the Lightbringer, created an order of holy knights, Paladins, known as the Silver Hand.

Gnomes
Gnomes were not founding members of the Alliance, they were only represented by the dwarves, and considered part of the dwarven forces. Even though they were not leading members, they became major contributors to the war effort. Gnomes brought technical innovations to the battle front.

Knights of the Silver Hand
At the onset of the Second War, when the Alliance formed and began mustering its forces, several abbots openly wept as they realized that their pacifist priests would need to learn the arts of war; but Archbishop Alonsus Faol saw an opportunity to unite the sword and the chalice to create a new breed of holy knights: Paladins who were mighty with the hammer as well as the holy magic of the divine. He founded the Knights of the Silver Hand and began training paladins immediately. Uther was his first and greatest paladin.

Daval Prestor
During the middle of the Second War, the Alliance was approached by a man who offered his support to their cause - Daval Prestor, who claimed to be ruler of "a small kingdom in the north".

However, as it would later be revealed, Daval Prestor was in fact the great black dragon Deathwing in disguise, who sought to manipulate the Alliance for his own deeds. It is not known if there really was a "kingdom" that he ruled.

Leadership

 * King Terenas Menethil II - King of Lordaeron, Primary founder of the Alliance.
 * Regent Lord Anduin Lothar - Supreme Allied Commander, Steward of Azeroth (Nation of Stormwind )
 * General Turalyon - Knight of the Silver Hand, Lothar's successor as Supreme Allied Commander
 * Archmage Antonidas - Leader of the Kirin Tor, ruler of Dalaran.
 * Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore - King of Kul Tiras.
 * Lord Genn Greymane - King of Gilneas.
 * Lord Aiden Perenolde - King of Alterac.
 * Lord Thoras Trollbane - King of Stromgarde.
 * High King Anasterian Sunstrider - Lord of Quel'Thalas, represented by Alleria Windrunner, Sylvanas Windrunner and other high elves.
 * King Magni Bronzebeard - King of Khaz Modan, represented by his brothers Muradin and Brann.
 * Chief Thane Kurdran Wildhammer - Chief thane of Hinterlands (Northeron, Aerie Peaks , Aerie Peak )
 * Archbishop Alonsus Faol - A leader in his own right, Church of Light (Northshire, Clerics of Northshire, Knights of the Silver Hand), whose followers included most of the people from all the kingdoms combined.
 * Daval Prestor - joined the Alliance during the middle of the war, claimed to be a leader of a small kingdom in northern Lordaeron, and also from Alterac.

Presumed leaders

 * Unknown High Tinker of the city of Gnomeregan in Dun Morogh - represented by the dwarves at the meetings. He was a member of the dwarven side of the Alliance, rather than being an independent voice.

Meetings
Tides of Darkness and Day of the Dragon show some of the important meetings during the Second War. Included in these meetings were usually the human monarchs, the kirin tor, and the church of the holy light, as well as a few other important individuals. The above image details one of these early meetings of the leaders and representatives of Alliance of Lordaeron. At several of the meetings (though not all of them) were the monarchs and leaders of the seven human kingdoms and representatives from the dwarven and elven nations. The initial meetings included the monarchs of the nations lordaeron, as well as important leaders and individuals from other organizations, and cities. The large man with the axe is Thoras Trollbane, and the pair in front of him are Terenas Menethil II and Anduin Lothar. Daelin Proudmoore is the man in the tricorn hat. Seated next to him is a female ambassador from Quel'Thalas (speculation would point to Alleria or Sylvanas Windrunner). On her right, the quiet-cultured looking man is Aiden Perenolde. The mage with his back to us may be the Dalaran leader Antonidas, or Khadgar who was also at the meetings (however it is more likely Khadgar because Antonidas is described as being bald ). Next to him is large bearish man, with the heavy beard, on whose tunic can be observed to bear the letter "G," this is Genn Greymane. The dwarf is an emissary from Khaz Modan, who also represented the gnomes of Gnomeregan. Alonsus Faol was also at the meetings as well, representing the Church of Light.