Siege of Hellfire Citadel
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This article's name is unofficial.
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| Siege of Hellfire Citadel | |||||||||||
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| Location | Hellfire Citadel, Hellfire Peninsula | ||||||||||
| Result | Sons of Lothar victory | ||||||||||
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The siege of Hellfire Citadel marked the first Draenor-side offensive of the Alliance Expedition during their invasion of the world.
Battle
After several months of defending the Draenic side of the Dark Portal, the Sons of Lothar neared completion of their primary base of Honor Hold. During that time, the expedition had to fight off repeated Horde attacks under the leadership of Kargath Bladefist,[1] though most had been little more than brief skirmishes or diversions, Honor Hold sometimes even being attacked just by peons. The Sons of Lothar received erratic shipments of supplies and manpower from their homeworld, as the Azerothian side of the Dark Portal switched sides several times during the late stages of the conflict.[2]
At some point, Khadgar finally understood why the Horde was holding back - Ner'zhul awaited a particular celestial event involving constellations seen in Draenor's skies. The constellations of the Staff, the Tome, and the Seer matched with the artifacts stolen from Azeroth, the Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras, the Book of Medivh, and the Eye of Dalaran, which would give the Warchief all the energy needed for a spell of tremendous power. When the archmage realized the situation, he understood that the expedition only had fifty-five days to stop the old shaman. Preparations were swiftly made for an assault on the Horde's capital of Hellfire Peninsula, but Ner'zhul had already left the fortress, leaving Kargath Bladefist and his Shattered Hand clan behind to slow the approaching Alliance forces. He also ordered his ogre mage apprentice Dentarg to stay there in order to counter the Allied mages. Any eventual Horde survivors were told to then join the other clans at Black Temple.[1]
Alleria's rangers infiltrated the ramparts before dawn, aiming for its watch towers. Danath Trollbane then led an initial decoy charge of knights and other cavalrymen to the rear of the fortress, with the goal of distracting its orcish defenders in order to let the rangers take out the sentries and open the gates wide for a second wave of Alliance infantrymen under Turalyon's command to come through, who would attack the Horde from behind, box its warriors in, not giving them room to escape, and then have all Alliance forces close ranks to cut down any orc still fighting.[3] Meanwhile, Kurdran's gryphon riders clashed with the black dragons left by Deathwing to watch over his allies, supported by Khadgar's mages covering the skies with a blanketing fog that the Wildhammers could exploit against their enemies. A black dragon accidentally spewed magma over Horde forces and then crashed into the Citadel's walls as he tried pursuing Kurdran into the fog.[2][1]
Khadgar himself hunted down Dentarg up to the Citadel's throne room, the two spellcasters engaging in an honorable duel of magic from which the human emerged victor.[1]
Aftermath
After realizing that they were tricked by the Horde of Draenor, the Sons of Lothar divided their forces into two. One expedition would go north in search of the Skull of Gul'dan, while the other would go south tracking the Eye of Dalaran down.
Forces
References
- ^ a b c d Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 17
- ^ a b Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 16
- ^ a b Beyond the Dark Portal, chapter 18
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