Now that the Great Sea is once again under the dominion of our wave riders, Ner'zhul has come upon a plan to increase the powers of the Dark Portal. While he was the tutor of Gul'dan, the Shaman bound their souls so that he could keep watch over his disciple. Even though Gul'dan knew that this link would serve to inform Ner'zhul of the Warlock's studies with the spirits that dwelt in the Twisting Nether, he was too arrogant to care.
Ner'zhul has ordered you to lead a small band to the tomb in order to find the Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras. The remains of the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer encampment surround the entrance to the tomb and the howling of their tortured souls fill the air. Although the inhabitants of this place died long ago, their bodies have been torn from earthen graves by the vile magics of the Daemons and made to stalk this region for all eternity.
This mission is more of an adventure map than the usual battle. You begin with a limited number of units, and must keep your sole death knight alive. You will rely on sparse buildings such as a cluster of farms and a shipyard to create a transport. A few upgrades for your units can be found by discovering a temple of the damned, a blacksmith, and a lumber mill, as you traverse the map.
Additionally, you will rescue several grunts, axethrowers, two ogres with a blacksmith, and a catapult - slightly evening the odds against the increasingly difficult enemies blocking the path. Still, it remains highly advisable to err on the side of caution, as these units cannot be replenished if lost.
The Daemon holding the Scepter is much stronger than usual. See the unit box for details.
Due to an engine limitation, the humans will fight against you alongside the forces of the Tomb Guardians with the Azeroth paladins even healing the skeletons. Additionally the solitary daemon and the many skeletons are listed as being members of Kingdom of Azeroth and Lordaeron respectively in the results screen.
Despite being a tomb, the temple is depicted as a bunch of rocks in the wastelandtileset, just like its last appearance in Tides of Darkness.
In this version, the lone generic death knight is a named death knight character, Ragnok Bloodreaver, who is accompanied by Tagar Spinebreaker and Fenris Wolfbrother as well as their clans, the Bonechewer and Thunderlord clans respectively, making a force of thirty warriors. There is no specific mention of trolls or ogres in this expedition.
The encounter with the Alliance forces is cut along with the revenants of the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer clans.
The old Horde freeing orc prisoners and meeting survivors from the previous battle at the tomb is also cut.
The lone Daemon is now a non-specific demonic creature with very bizarre characteristics including spikes over most of its body.
Even if the Alliance forces were not mentioned in the book, it is later said the Alliance still knew what happened inside the tomb and that Turalyon thought it empty.[2]
Assault on Kul Tiras
The Heart of Evil
Footmen
Archers
Knights (One, Dalaran)
Ballistae
Skeletons
Daemons (one)
