Beyond the Dark Portal #2: the scars of war

August 10, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Beyond the Dark Portal" series — Beyond the Dark Portal #2. The story of Beyond the Dark Portal, from the internment camps to the end of Draenor. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The victory left a problem no one knew how to solve: thousands of imprisoned orcs. The Alliance created internment camps to hold them, and they were expensive. The arguments over who would pay and what to do with the prisoners began to crack the Alliance right after the war.

The internment camps

Lordaeron and the Kirin Tor argued that the orcs should be held in camps paid for by the Alliance. The decision became law, and the camps were placed under the supervision of Danath Trollbane, of Stromgarde.

In the camps, the orcs fell into a kind of lethargy. Without war and without the demon blood, many lost the will to fight. That lethargy would only be broken years later, by Thrall.

Who wanted another solution

Gilneas and Stromgarde preferred to execute the prisoners. To them, keeping orcs alive was a risk and an endless expense.

Terenas created a new tax to pay for the camps. The tax angered the kingdoms, especially Gilneas, and helped push it away from the Alliance.

The Alliance begins to crack

Quel'Thalas left the Alliance. King Anasterian felt the elves had been abandoned during the war.
Stormwind began to be rebuilt, under Turalyon's supervision.
Alterac, the traitor kingdom, was left with no fate decided.

What this changes in the story

The internment camps are one of the most important parts of the period between the wars. In them, the orcs lost their bloodlust, but also their will to live, in a lethargy the humans blamed on a disease. For the orc people, they were years of humiliation.

This is the world Thrall grows up in. Raised as a slave and gladiator by Aedelas Blackmoore in Durnholde, he escapes, finds the free orcs and frees the camps, starting the new Horde that goes to Kalimdor in Warcraft 3.

The cost of the camps was also the first big reason for fights inside the Alliance. When the Scourge arrived, the Alliance was already weakened by the disputes that began here.

Episode timeline

The Alliance imprisons the defeated orcs.
The internment camps are created and supervised by Danath Trollbane.
Gilneas and Stromgarde call for the prisoners to be executed.
Terenas creates a tax to pay for the camps.
Quel'Thalas leaves the Alliance.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Danath Trollbane | The supervisor of the internment camps, from Stromgarde. | | Terenas Menethil | The king of Lordaeron, who created the tax for the camps. | | Anasterian Sunstrider | The king of Quel'Thalas, who took the elves out of the Alliance. | | Genn Greymane | The king of Gilneas, opposed to spending on the camps. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Hillsbrad Foothills: Durnholde Keep, tied to the internment camps.
Old Hillsbrad, in the Caverns of Time: the dungeon where you help Thrall escape from Durnholde.
Silverpine Forest: the Greymane Wall, a symbol of Gilneas pulling away.