With the conclusion of the Zul'Aman campaign, the first and most difficult phase of Alaric's strategic plan had finally come to an end.
After a brief period of rest, the army began preparations for the war against the trolls of the Hinterlands.
As mentioned earlier, the troll tribes residing in the Hinterlands were once part of the Amani Troll Empire.
However, after the empire's downfall, these troll factions broke away from Amani rule and became part of the scattered troll tribes spread across the entire continent of Lordaeron.
The major troll tribes in the Hinterlands consisted of the Vilebranch, Witherbark, Bloodscalp, and Mossflayer.
Among them, the Vilebranch tribe was the most powerful, having long suppressed the other three tribes. However, in terms of strength, the remaining tribes were not to be underestimated.
These tribes had been engaged in perpetual conflict—one day, one tribe would capture hunters from another and sacrifice them in ritual offerings, and the next day, the attacked tribe would retaliate by raiding and capturing a village.
Although they had maintained a fragile balance for a long time, preventing large-scale wars, their mutual hatred ran deep.
Alaric's strategic goal was to break this delicate balance and plunge these tribes into internal strife. Once they exhausted themselves through infighting, the Alliance could seize the opportunity to eliminate them all at once.
Undoubtedly, Alaric's strategy was highly feasible. However, the key to its success lay in how to manipulate the conflicts among the Hinterlands trolls.
As foreigners and age-old enemies of the trolls, neither humans, high elves, nor Wildhammer dwarves could overtly intervene in the trolls' internal conflicts, whether to support or weaken any faction.
If they directly interfered, the trolls would immediately perceive them as threats, causing them to become more vigilant.
Alaric understood that before the Hinterlands trolls descended into chaos, the Alliance's army would have little role to play in his plan.
He needed a different approach to achieve his objective.
The first step in Alaric's plan was to drive the remnants of the Amani trolls into the Hinterlands.
During the previous battle, the Amani trolls had suffered devastating losses. Their leader, Warlord Daakara, had barely managed to escape with his life.
However, under the relentless pursuit of the Alliance's forces—both on land and in the air—his whereabouts were soon discovered.
Once a commander of a tribe numbering in the tens of thousands, Daakara was now reduced to leading a mere few hundred survivors, the majority of whom were elderly, women, or children.
The number of trolls still capable of fighting was less than a hundred.
Such a small population was nowhere near sufficient to rebuild the Amani tribe's former glory—survival in the forest alone was already a challenge.
Upon receiving reports from his scouts, Alaric ordered a relentless pursuit of the Amani remnants.
However, his true goal was not to exterminate them but to force them into the Hinterlands.
Although their numbers were insignificant compared to the Hinterlands' troll tribes, the Amani's past glory and lingering influence ensured that their arrival would be like a stone cast into a still pond, stirring ripples of discord among the Hinterlands trolls.
Based on Alaric's assessment, once the Amani remnants entered the Hinterlands, the Witherbark, Bloodscalp, and Mossflayer tribes might, out of past kinship and recognition of the Amani's "fallen royal lineage," be inclined to leave them unharmed. However, the Vilebranch trolls would certainly target them.
Alaric's reasoning was well-founded.
The Vilebranch tribe was not only the dominant force in the Hinterlands but also the sworn enemy of the other tribes—all because of one particular reason.
Among trolls, tribal alliances are rare. Even without a unified confederation or empire, conflicts and wars between tribes are common, much like the feudal clan struggles seen in early human history.
However, despite the frequency of inter-tribal warfare, it was rare for a single tribe to be universally despised and treated as a common enemy—especially among trolls, who revered strength.
A powerful tribe would typically be respected rather than hated.
The reason for this animosity was the Vilebranch tribe's worship of the Blood God Hakkar.
Hakkar the Soulflayer, also known as the Devourer of Souls, was one of the many Loa revered by trolls.
However, unlike the other Wild Gods, Hakkar was not a true primal deity but rather a dark entity from another plane (in the Warcraft universe, "other planes" refer to celestial realms beyond Azeroth).
Ten thousand years ago, during the War of the Ancients, the destruction of the Well of Eternity shattered the Kalimdor continent, breaking it into smaller landmasses and shaping Azeroth's current geography.
Along with the land's fragmentation, the once-unified trolls were scattered across the world.
This upheaval led many trolls into dire straits. Famine and death became common as their former kingdoms crumbled.
In desperation, the Gurubashi trolls of Stranglethorn Vale turned to dark gods for aid. It was then that Hakkar answered their call, becoming their patron deity.
While Hakkar granted them great power, he also demanded constant soul sacrifices.
His goal was to manifest in the mortal world and establish his reign of terror, feeding on its inhabitants.
Fortunately, the Zandalari trolls helped the Gurubashi realize the true nature of the entity they had begun to worship.
The two groups turned against Hakkar, and after fierce conflict, Hakkar and his priests were defeated. However, this also led to the fragmentation of the Gurubashi empire.
Despite their loss, the worship of Hakkar never fully disappeared. Even now, deep within the Swamp of Sorrows near the Dark Portal, the hidden temple of Atal'Hakkar still stands.
There, the Atal'ai trolls continue their devotion, hoping to summon Hakkar into Azeroth once more.
The Vilebranch trolls, despite residing in the Hinterlands—geographically far north from Stranglethorn Vale—also revere Hakkar, even though they are distinct from the jungle trolls of the south, belonging instead to the forest troll lineage.
Because of this, their ritual practices differ significantly from those of other tribes.
While most trolls engage in sacrificial rituals, these ceremonies are usually reserved for significant occasions.
However, the tribes that worship Hakkar have turned such rites into daily occurrences, leading to an insatiable need for live sacrifices.
Over time, their relentless raids on other troll tribes for sacrificial offerings made them the mortal enemies of the Witherbark, Bloodscalp, and Mossflayer tribes.
Furthermore, by abandoning the worship of the traditional Loa in favor of Hakkar, the Vilebranch trolls had also alienated themselves from the Amani trolls. To them, the Amani were no longer of any significance.
Thus, Alaric's strategy to introduce the Amani remnants into the Hinterlands was bound to ignite chaos among the trolls—setting the stage for the Alliance's ultimate conquest.
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