Vengeance is Borne from the Ashes
It is often in times of deepest darkness that a hero arises from the most unexpected of sources. The year 1049 P.F (post founding of the new Alliance capital of New Stormwind in Azeroth) would certainly qualify. Whether a hero arose, however, is open to dispute.
After a long period of tension between the horrifying undead armies of Northrend and the civilizations of Azeroth, the conflict known as the War of the Five Nations erupted. In a tempest of fire and rage, skeletal hordes and the hulking corpses of spider-like nerubians crossed the Veiled Sea and landed at the northernmost tip of Kalimdor, ready to wrack havoc among the free peoples of the world.
While fel orcs battled their brothers in Durotar and civil war erupted in the Alliance, the majority of the fighting happened near Elthop Forest. This haunted place would be central to the mysterious events that would occur later that year.
I must remind eager readers however, that this is not simply the retelling of a war. What happened in 1049 was crafted as much by a handful of individuals as by the armies of the Undead Scourge, the Orcish Horde, the Human Alliance, or the Night Elf Sentinels. More than anything else, this is the story of the courage of a few on both sides against treachery and chaos. This is the story of Banehallow, the Dreamer, and Nortrom, the Silencer. This is the story of the Culling Blade and its mad captain, of the last ride of the Watchers and the deadly game the Weaver played, of the curse of the Avernus bloodline that saw the last Lord of Avernus fall to madness and vengeance. This is the story of assassins and generals, of demons and mages, of crusaders and demigods.
"When the dead walk, there is much to fear. But when they also plot and manipulate, then must the living tremble for their foe has grown all the stronger."
-Archmage Telvannis