The Prisoners (WC2 Human)

Commanders and leaders
	Alliance of Lordaeron Unknown Alliance commander; Milan;
	Orcish Horde Unknown Horde commander;

Belligerents
	Alliance of Lordaeron Kingdom of Lordaeron;
	Orcish Horde Blackrock clan; Stormreaver clan;

The Prisoners
Location	Thondroril River and Stratholme, Eastweald
Result	Alliance of Lordaeron victory
Belligerents
	Alliance of Lordaeron Kingdom of Lordaeron;
	Orcish Horde Blackrock clan; Stormreaver clan;
Commanders and leaders
	Alliance of Lordaeron Unknown Alliance commander; Milan;
	Orcish Horde Unknown Horde commander;
Casualties and losses
	Alliance of Lordaeron Moderate;
	Orcish Horde Heavy;
Previous	The Battle at Darrowmere
Next	Betrayal and the Destruction of Alterac
Alternate level	The Destruction of Stratholme

This article contains lore taken from Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, the manuals, and/or official bonus maps.

The Prisoners is the tenth mission of the Alliance campaign in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

Mission briefing

Following the battle at Caer Darrow, a number of renegade Alterac soldiers were captured. A crew of Alterac sailors were also caught assisting the Horde during the battle and have been placed under close guard. Under the edict of Lord Lothar, you are to restrain the prisoners until they can be escorted to the capital of Lordaeron for interrogation.

Objectives

Build transports at Stratholme
Transport four Alterac traitors to the Circle of Power at Stratholme

Background

Note: this account comes from the Official Strategy Guide, which features a first-person description of each mission from the game.

Milan's force was ordered to closely guard a number of Alterac sailors (both humans and elves) who were caught assisting the Horde during the previous battle. Since they would need ships to carry out their orders, their first building priorities was a lumber mill, a blacksmith, a barracks, and, of course, a shipyard. There was plenty of gold and lumber in the area, but they needed many workers to collect it. When the labor force had completed the shipyard, they discovered that enemy transports were unloading orcs to the south of town. Although the few troops they had trained could deal with them for the time being, spies reported that they would soon arrive in increasing numbers. At the south edge of town they erected several cannon towers to deal with them, and fortified those with farms and archers for good measure. Once the town was reasonably secure, they concentrated on a foundry for the production of battleships.

Getting the captured sailors was no easy task. A small Horde village separated the main body of water from the river sneaking toward the prisoners, so they prepared an amphibious group of three battleships and two transports loaded with footmen, ballistae, and a couple of peasants. First, they sent the battleships in to take out the tower and draw the catapults closer to shore for their destruction. Once the coastline was clear, they moved their warships close to shore and landed the transports. As soon as they unloaded, ogres began pouring in from the settlement, but in their ignorance the monsters tried to concentrate on the Alliance ballistae while footmen and cannon fire cut them down. When the smoke had cleared somewhat, the peasants built two cannon towers close to shore and the remaining ogres were drawn in to their deaths. The rest of the village fell quickly; the ballistae made quick work of the enemy juggernaughts anchored on the river.

In order to recover the prisoners, they first had to construct another shipyard on the river. From there, they launched three more battleships to deal with the numerous enemy cannon towers set up along the river, and only then did they launch a single transport to pick up six of the captives. The rest were promised safe passage later, but at that time it was imperative that they got a few of them back to town. They were hurried from the river to the waiting flotilla on the sea, and were escorted back. They then forced four of them to stand on the mysterious Circle, which glowed brightly for a time, then faded. The prisoners simply stood dumbfounded until they were locked up in the town hall. Later, they received word that their memories had been thoroughly inspected from afar, and what had been found was not to Milan's liking. The traitor nation of Alterac was to be destroyed for its crime. Milan was deeply ashamed and angered that those of his own race would betray the Alliance. He did not mourn their demise....^[1]

Alternate text

The Official Strategy Guide presents a different version of the mission briefing, which never appeared in the actual game:

After the battle at Caer Darrow, a number of Orcish soldiers were captured, along with the infamous Warlock Gul'dan. A crew of Alterac sailors were caught assisting the Horde during the battle and have been placed under close guard. Under the edict of Lord Lothar, you are to restrain the prisoners until they can be escorted to the capital of Lordaeron for interrogation.^[1]

Despite this text, the strategy guide's level map does not include a Gul'dan unit near the Alterac prisoner units.

Retcon

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

In Tides of Darkness, a number of Alterac traitors are taken prisoner after the Battle at Crestfall instead. They had been serving as guides on the orcish ships. Admiral Proudmoore hoped that their testimonies could be used to have Lord Perenolde hanged for his treason.