Stormwind in Shadow

After the Second War, the Stonemasons' Guild under Edwin VanCleef rebuilt Stormwind City from its ashes. When the work was done, the House of Nobles refused to pay them. The masons rioted, were driven out and became the Defias Brotherhood, which now preys on Westfall from hidden mines and plots against the crown.

King Varian Wrynn, the boy Lothar once saved, vanished on his way to a diplomatic meeting at Theramore; rumor says the Defias took him and held him on Alcaz Island. His young son Anduin was crowned, with Highlord Bolvar Fordragon as regent. At court a gracious noblewoman, Lady Katrana Prestor, gained great influence. She was in truth Onyxia, daughter of Deathwing, quietly steering the kingdom toward ruin.

The Alliance has changed. Lordaeron is lost, and the night elves joined the Alliance after Hyjal. In Dun Morogh, troggs boiled up from below and overran Gnomeregan; the gnomes' desperate attempt to flush them out with radiation poisoned their own city, and High Tinker Mekkatorque led the survivors to shelter in Ironforge. King Magni Bronzebeard rules there, and his Explorers' League digs for the titans' secrets across the world.