Gul'dan
Gul'dan was the first Orcish warlock as well as the de facto founder of the Horde. He betrayed both his people and his mentor Ner'zhul Shadowmoon to the Demonlord Baphomet for personal gain and power, and was directly responsible for the orcs' fall to demonic enslavement and their subsequent invasion of Toriel. Tutored by the leaders of the Burning Legion, he is considered one of the most powerful warlocks to have ever existed. He founded the Shadow Council.
History
Early Life
Gul'dan was born crippled, weak and deformed in a small orcish village. His condition made him a target for constant mockery and abuse, for which he hated his clan. When the others finally tried to beat him to Death to be rid of him, the clan's shaman stopped them and told Gul'dan that he saw greatness in him, advising him to go seek his destiny. Gul'dan angrily rejected the shaman, and the chieftain banished Gul'dan from the village. The bitterness that had sustained him all his life ate at him until nothing was left. After months of starvation and wandering alone through the wastes, Gul'dan began to consider that the safety of a clan might be better than endless suffering. He finally heeded the old shaman's words and, looked for the elemental spirit to commune with them. He offered himself in the service of whatever would end his anguish. The spirits of fire, earth, water, and air approached him but, sensing the darkness and fury within the Orc's heart, violently recoiled from him. However, in the absence of the furies, a demonlord, Baphomet began to whisper to him. The demonlord offered Gul'dan power in return for becoming the harbinger of his fury. Baphomet needed a public figure to unite the orcs against the other mortal, but Gul'dan could not inspire or lead his people by example. The Demonlord ordered him to ally with someone who could, but first he would need to eliminate everyone who knew of his past. Gul'dan returned to his village, draped in tattered robes. When the chieftain furiously reminded Gul'dan that he was never allowed to return to his people, Gul'dan roared that he had no people and obliterated the chieftain with his newfound power. Gul'dan then went on a rampage, killing all of his former brethren. As the village burned, Gul'dan spotted the village shaman - the only source of any relative kindness in his life. Gul'dan earnestly thanked the shaman, saying that he had found his destiny, then killed him as well. Claiming the shaman's staff and a ring, Gul'dan left the burning ruins of his birthplace behind forever. Its name and existence would be lost to history - just as the vengeful Gul'dan preferred.Rise of the Horde
Careful to hide his demonic powers, Gul'dan approached the Shadowmoon clan, whose shaman commanded respect from all orcs, perfect for Baphonmet's plan. He told them that his village had been destroyed by ogres and he was the only survivor. Orcs accepting newcomers into clans was uncommon, but the Shadowmoon took pity on Gul'dan and did just that. Gul'dan carefully observed the clan's shaman for one that would work, and eventually settled on the chieftain Ner'zhul. He was dedicated, forthright, and persistent, but also held turmoil and sorrow because of the death of his mate Rulkan and the recent trouble with elemental spirits. Gul'dan preyed on Ner'zhul's inner darkness. He told the chieftain of his own troubles, of the family and friends he had lost at his village, and in Time befriended him, and convinced him to take him on as an, unbeknownst to him, pretend shaman apprentice. Through Gul'dan, Baphomet now had access to a public figure. As the Demon began to manipulate Ner'zhul, he tasked Gul'dan with making the orcs see the humans and elves as enemies. As Ner'zhul rallied the orcs for a war against the humans and elves at the behest of a powerful ancestor referred to as "The Beautiful One" (in truth, Baphomet in disguise), Gul'dan supported Ner'zhul fully. However, when Ner'zhul began to notice that they could no longer call upon the power of the elements or the ancestors, the shaman began to sense something was amiss. He discovered that he had been duped by Baphomet and attempted to back out. To Ner'zhul's horror, he discovered that Gul'dan had seen everything and told Baphomet of it all before Ner'zhul returned. As a necessity of his bid for power, Gul'dan trained a number of like-minded and powerful orcs, whom he named the Shadow Council. The Council was soon using its power and influence to direct almost every aspect of orc society, so as to distract those few who opposed his dark ideals from their true masters, Gul'dan and Baphomet. He opened schools of demonology and Necromancy to teach shamans new power to replace their lost connections to the elements. To seal the bargain between him and Baphomet, Gul'dan and the Shadow Council offered the clan chieftains the Blood of Baphomet. The first chieftain to accept his gift was Grommash Redfang, with majority of the remaining following suit right after. The resulting Horde was bloodthirsty, barbaric, and evil, an extension of the demons whom they now worshiped. Another individual Gul'dan encountered was Garona Halforcen. As a half-orc outcast, Garona had found survival to be brutally difficult. She had learned quickly how to avoid unwinnable fights, and how to quietly kill relentless pursuers. Gul'dan bound her mind to his will and began to secretly train her in the art of assassination. She did not fully understand his intentions, but she grew to resent his cruelty. Still, she obeyed. Survival demanded nothing less. Gul'dan had her magically aged and tortured.Garona was well-versed in the culture of the orcs. She quickly became the chief interpreter of the Shadow Council and Gul'dan's personal spy and assassin. With this new horde, Gul'dan and the shadow Council guided the orcs into battle, facing the elves and humans, murdering every single one they could find on their path of destruction. This started the Orc War, and was the begining of Baphomet plan, to bring chaos and destruction to Toriel, in order for the demons to rise back into the Material plane.Spies
Gul'dan ran into Garona, a half-orc that he took under his care. Gul'dan bound her mind to his will and began to secretly train her in the art of assassination. A cruel master, he had her magically aged and tortured she became Gul'dan's personal spy and assassin, his's corruption allowed him to control the will of Garona. In time Chieftain Zagrel of the Whiteclaw Clan would call upon the clans to end the assault on the Orrin Empire and the Kingdom of Lórien and focus their attention on shamanic rituals under the belief that only through dedicated worship and adherence to old traditions could the orcs regain their relationship with the elements. Gul'dan fearing that Zagrel could eventually win the support of orcs who questioned the Horde, such as Durotan Horseskull and his Horseskull clan sent Garona to strike the Whiteclaw chieftain down. After their leader's untimely death, inner turmoil gripped the clan as Zagrel's brothers and sons fought for the title of chieftain. The Whiteclaws would endure, but would never be as strong as they had once been. As the Horde waged war, Gul'dan dispatched Garona with care and precision. Influential orcs who expressed doubt or dissent were often found dead shortly after a skirmish with elven or humans forces. Gul'dan was never suspected, nor was Garona. Garona was caputerd by the Hesian Order, and was under the care ofMedivh, a powerful wizard, yet Gul'dan could spy through Garona's eyes, and ordered her to dig up information in the mage's home, hoping to learn the inner works of the Hesian Order.Betrayal and death
After the fiasco of the siege on Orrin Empire's capital, and the destruction of the horde's outposts and encampment in the region, Gul'dan nourished a deep hatred for the elves of the Kingdom of Lorien who helped the humans. Garona also revealed herself as a double agent, betraying Gul'dan, her half-elven lineage angering Gul'dan even more. The warlock set out to locate the queen of the elves to enact his revenge. Gul'dan's thirst for revenge proved to be the Horde's undoing. With nearly half of his standing forces suddenly gone, to attack the Elf. This would ultimately give the Orrin empire time to regroup and retaliate. Gul'dan did indeed manage to attack queen Lireesa Windrunner as she was, with her troop, on a journey back to the elven kingdom. Gul'dan used his demonic power to kill the queen and her troops. Back from his vengeance, the orc had been drawn away from Orrin's empire, they considered Gul'dan and those who joined him on his quest for vengeance as traitors. When the horde finally met with Gul'dan and the survivors of their attack on the elves, their bloodlust took over, and they slaughtered Gul'dan and the remainder of his clan."You died because you betrayed us. You meant to help the horde exterminate all resistance on this world. Yet at the moment of truth, you abandoned them. You split their armies to claim revenge. Our plans came to nothing. You earned your fate."
Gul'dan
Children
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