Brotherhood of the Horse

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NeutralBrotherhood of the Horse
Warcraft I - Knight.jpg
Main leader  Llane Wrynn I †
Secondary leaders  Anduin Lothar
 Gavinrad
Race(s) HumanHuman Human
Capital Stormwind City
Theater of operations Azeroth
Language(s) Common
Affiliation Kingdom of Stormwind
Status Destroyed

The Brotherhood of the Horse[1][2][3] (aka Knights of Azeroth[4][5][6][7][8][9] or knights of Stormwind[10][11][12]) was the official name of the knights of the kingdom of Stormwind before the First War.

History

First War

WCOnH logo.png This section concerns content related to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

The most notable member of the Brotherhood was Anduin Lothar, who held the position of Armsman[1][2] and Knight errant.[3] As the fighting elite in the king's service, the knights were well respected throughout Stormwind, and the tales of their fighting prowess were known far and wide.[13]

Prior to the beginning of the First War, the orcish forces who came through the Dark Portal easily slaughtered the human peasants they encountered. They met their first real opposition in the knights of Stormwind, who defeated the unprepared troops of the Twilight's Hammer clan and the Bleeding Hollow clan during the first siege of Stormwind Keep.[14] The knights then rallied the remaining soldiers to temporarily push the orcs back to the Black Morass, where the orcs escaped by hiding in the Swamp of Sorrows.[15]

At the beginning of the First War, Sir Anduin Lothar decided to use the orcs' mobility against them and placed large numbers of human troops under the command of his fellow loyal knight, Gavinrad the Dire. In some cases, small units of human knights were able to bring down entire orc raiding parties without any casualties.[16]

Toward the end of the conflict, Orgrim Doomhammer specifically targeted an encampment near the center of the human lands where knights and other soldiers were sent to train.[17]

With the war coming to an end, Lothar led a war party to Karazhan to confront Medivh. He charged Gavinrad with commanding Stormwind City's defenses in his absence.[18] Shortly thereafter, the Horde began the second siege of Stormwind, and King Llane Wrynn I was assassinated by Garona Halforcen. When Lothar returned, he ordered a mass evacuation of the city. He, Gavinrad, Khadgar, and the remaining soldiers gathered Prince Varian, Queen Taria, and any other citizens they could find and led them toward the harbor to escape on the remaining ships. They fought street by street, losing many along the way, including Taria.[19] By the end of the war, the majority of Stormwind's knights had been destroyed.[9]

One knight deprived the orc Nekros Skullcrusher of half a leg during the conflict.[20]

Second War

WC2-BnetE-logo.png This section concerns content related to Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness or its expansion Beyond the Dark Portal.

The corpse of a knight of Stormwind being transformed into the host body of the death knight Teron Gorefiend, as depicted in Hearthstone.

Gul'dan gathered the corpses of Stormwind's greatest knights[21] that had been slain in the last battles of the First War[6] and instilled the souls of the fallen Shadow Council in them to create the death knights.[5][6][21]

The dark fate that the Brotherhood suffered after the First War was grim news to the knights of Lordaeron, who during the Second War swore to both avenge their fallen brethren and free their homelands from the Horde's grip.[4]

In the RPG

Icon-RPG.png This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Stormwind proved an overwhelming shock to the Horde. The footmen guarding the city's entrance put up the first fight the orcs had seen, but they still managed to push their way through the gates. By the time they realized that this minimal resistance was a trap, it was far too late. Armored warriors riding beasts of pure muscle and sinew — creatures we know as horses — flanked the Horde's disorganized group, crushing warriors under the hooves of their mounts and striking down even the mightiest of orcs with their lances and blades. The orcs learned to call these mounted warriors knights and cursed the world that had cost them victory for the first time. Shamed, the orcs retreated, hounded by the leaders of the Brotherhood of the Horse every step of the way. Gul'dan concealed the final steps of the orc retreat with a wall of impenetrable fog; this simple spell may have saved the Horde from complete destruction.[22]

Trivia

  • The sword  [Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood] is rumored to have belonged to Anduin Lothar.[23] If that was the case, its name would as such be a reference to the Brotherhood of the Horse.
  • The Gatehouse in Karazhan contains ornamentation in the form of horse heads. Chris Metzen was initially skeptical toward their inclusion but suggested that they could be connected to the Brotherhood of the Horse.[24]
  • With the exception of a mention in the non-canonical Horde Player's Guide, the name "Brotherhood of the Horse" is only mentioned in contexts relating specifically to Anduin Lothar in canonical sources;[1][2][3] descriptions of Stormwind's knights in general use the more generic terms "Knights of Azeroth" or "knights of Stormwind" instead.

References

 
  1. ^ a b c Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, Chronicles of the War in Azeroth
  2. ^ a b c Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Legends of the Land, Sir Anduin Lothar
  3. ^ a b c Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, A Brief History of the Fall of Azeroth
  4. ^ a b Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Alliance Ground Units, Knight
  5. ^ a b Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, The History of Orcish Ascension, The First War of Orcish Ascension
  6. ^ a b c Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Ground Units of the Orcish Horde, Death Knight
  7. ^ The Dead Rise as Quel'thalas Falls (WC2 Orc)
  8. ^ Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal manual, Legends of the Land, Teron Gorefiend
  9. ^ a b Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual, Human Units, Knight
  10. ^ Warcraft: Orcs & Humans introduction
  11. ^ H [25-30] Spectrecles
  12. ^ Wrath of the Lich King Features: Death Knight Lore
  13. ^ Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, Azeroth Army of the First War, Knight
  14. ^ Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual manual, The History of Orcish Ascension, The Mastery of Forces - Medivh and Blackhand
  15. ^ Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, The Destiny of the Orcish Hordes
  16. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2, pg. 124
  17. ^ The Center of the Human Lands (WC1 Orc)
  18. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2, pg. 134
  19. ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2, pg. 136
  20. ^ Day of the Dragon, pg. 51-52
  21. ^ a b World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 2, pg. 148
  22. ^ Horde Player's Guide, pg. 167
  23. ^ Ultimate Visual Guide, pg. 25
  24. ^ Seth Schiesel 2005-02-10. World of Warcraft Keeps Growing, Even as Players Test Its Limits. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29.​ “"Well, I'm not so sure it makes sense just because it's a carriage house," Mr. Metzen said. "But check it out: in Warcraft 1 it said that Lothar was part of the Brotherhood of the Horse, and I thought that was kind of lame then, but maybe a horse head will work because of that. Yeah, that's hot."”
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