The Corruption of the Clans

Full History

The orc clans of Draenor were transformed when Gul'dan and the Shadow Council placed demonic power at the center of their society. Old shamanic practices and clan loyalties came under pressure from warlocks, while the promise of strength concealed enslavement to the Burning Legion. The blood of Mannoroth became the emblem of that bargain. The Horde that would invade Azeroth had been fashioned by corruption before it crossed the Dark Portal.

The clans did not enter this change as a single united nation. Rival chiefs, ancestral customs, and relationships to the spirits distinguished one group from another. Gul'dan's schemes and the authority built around the Shadow Council altered those balances, making Blackhand a warchief whose power served hidden masters. The orcs' aggression was redirected toward ever larger wars, while the cost of their transformation became apparent in the loss of spiritual freedom.

Durotan's Frostwolves resisted aspects of that corruption and suffered for their refusal, but their dissent could not prevent the broader Horde's invasion. The First War carried the results of Draenor's upheaval into the human kingdom of Stormwind. Generations later, Thrall would seek to restore shamanic traditions and escape the demon's bond. His task began because the original transformation had damaged not only a fighting force, but the cultural foundations of a people.