Between the Wars #1: the internment camps

August 30, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Between the Wars" series — Between the Wars #1. The years between the end of Draenor and Warcraft III, from the internment camps to the rebirth of the Horde. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

After the Dark Portal fell for the second time, the Horde that stayed in Azeroth had nowhere left to go. The internment camps became home to thousands of orcs for almost fifteen years. This episode shows what life was like inside them, who ran them and which orcs were never locked up.

A deal nobody loved

The decision to imprison the orcs was a compromise. King Terenas Menethil believed the orcs would one day give up on conquest. Thoras Trollbane, of Stromgarde, and Genn Greymane, of Gilneas, wanted to execute them all.

The result was life imprisonment. Nobody walked away happy, and the quarrel stayed bitter for years.

The camps were built in southern Lordaeron. The guards were war veterans and paladins of the Order of the Silver Hand. When the first camps filled up, new ones were opened south of the Alterac Mountains.

Read more: Beyond the Dark Portal #2: the scars of war, which covers the law of the camps and Terenas's tax.

Who ran the camps

At first, the system was commanded by Danath Trollbane. But Danath crossed the Dark Portal with the expedition of Khadgar and Turalyon and was trapped on the other side when Draenor shattered.

The post went to Aedelas Blackmoore. He already ran an orc prison near the fortress of Durnholde, at the foot of the Hillsbrad hills. With the promotion, Durnholde became the center of the whole system.

Blackmoore was a fierce warrior and a veteran of the Second War. He also carried a shame: his father, General Aedelyn Blackmoore, had been convicted of selling the kingdom's secrets. Aedelas spent his life trying to erase his reputation as a traitor's son. He drank heavily, and the drink made him even crueler.

His right-hand man was Karramyn Langston. Among the officers of Durnholde were also Captain Skarloc and Lieutenant Drake, names players know from the Old Hillsbrad dungeon.

The lethargy of the orcs

The strangest thing about the camps was not the fences. It was the behavior of the prisoners.

Over time, the orcs stopped trying to escape. They stopped fighting, even among themselves. Many just sat in their own filth, reacting to nothing. The humans called this lethargy and thought it was a disease.

Since the prisoners gave no trouble, the number of guards dropped and the watch grew lax.

Archmage Antonidas, of Dalaran, studied the problem. His theory was that the orcs were going through withdrawal from demonic corruption and warlock magic. For years they had lived with the blood of Mannoroth and fel magic. Without it, only emptiness was left. Antonidas found no cure and concluded that the remedy would have to be spiritual, not magical.

That conclusion matters. The one who brings that remedy, years later, is a shaman.

The known camps

Official sources do not give the total number of camps. Some sites are mentioned by name:

Durnholde Keep, in Hillsbrad, the center of the system.
Hammerfall, in the Arathi Highlands, which later becomes a Horde base.
Lordamere, in the Alterac Mountains.
Southshore, in Hillsbrad, used as a temporary area.

The orcs who stayed free

Not every orc ended up behind a fence. Some groups stayed loose, and they are key pieces of the next episodes.

Orgrim Doomhammer was captured after the Second War. Terenas kept him in the palace of Lordaeron as a curiosity. Around year 8, Orgrim escaped through the tunnels under the capital. He even visited a camp, saw his people broken and almost fell into the same apathy. Then he vanished and lived in hiding in the most remote parts of Lordaeron.

Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan hid in the forests of Lordaeron. They raided villages for food. Grom also felt the weight of the demonic curse but, unlike the others, kept fighting it.

The Frostwolves, Durotan's clan, had lived in exile in the Alterac Mountains since before the war. They were never imprisoned.

The Dragonmaw and Grim Batol

The most dangerous free group was the Dragonmaw clan. They still controlled Grim Batol and much of northern Khaz Modan.

The reason was simple: the dragons. Since the Second War, Queen Alexstrasza had been held captive in Grim Batol, enslaved by the Demon Soul. As long as the queen was a prisoner, the red dragonflight would be forced to serve.

The clan's chieftain, Zuluhed, went back to Draenor after the Horde's defeat. In Azeroth, the one in charge was his right hand, the warlock Nekros Skullcrusher. Nekros built a secret army inside the mountain. The plan was to unleash it on the Alliance and gather the old Horde again.

What this changes in the story

The camps explain why the Horde disappears from the map between the Second and Third Wars. It was not only a military defeat. It was a defeat of the spirit.

They also cost the Alliance dearly. Keeping the camps for so many years helped crack the unity of the human kingdoms, and the Alliance of Lordaeron began to fall apart.

And it is in Durnholde, the center of that system, that the orc who brings it down will grow up.

Episode timeline

The Alliance decides to imprison the orcs instead of executing them.
The camps are built in southern Lordaeron, under Danath Trollbane.
Danath is trapped beyond the Portal, and Blackmoore takes over from Durnholde.
The orcs fall into lethargy, and Antonidas finds no cure.
Orgrim escapes Lordaeron, Grom goes into hiding and the Dragonmaw hold on to Grim Batol.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Aedelas Blackmoore | The lord of Durnholde and head of the internment camps. | | Karramyn Langston | Blackmoore's right-hand man. | | Danath Trollbane | The first head of the camps, trapped in Draenor. | | Antonidas | The archmage who studied the lethargy of the orcs. | | Nekros Skullcrusher | The Dragonmaw warlock who guarded the Demon Soul in Grim Batol. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Hillsbrad Foothills: the ruins of Durnholde Keep, now held by the Syndicate.
Caverns of Time (Tanaris): the Old Hillsbrad Foothills dungeon shows Durnholde in operation, with Captain Skarloc and Lieutenant Drake.
Alterac Mountains: the Lordamere Internment Camp, one of the old camps.
Arathi Highlands: Hammerfall, the old camp that became a Horde base.
Wetlands: the gates of Grim Batol and the Dragonmaw orcs at the Angerfang Encampment.