Chapter 4.4: The Gathering Storm – The Rise of Xul’Zir the Hollow

The War to Reclaim Eldoria

The echoes of the past had not been forgotten. The orcs, scattered yet unbroken, still whispered the name of Grommash in their war camps. The trolls, fractured and diminished, still clung to the fading shadows of their once-great empire. And yet, for all their bloodshed and ambition, neither race had been able to reclaim the power they had once wielded.

But war had a way of calling even the most fractured warriors back to the battlefield. A new darkness stirred in the ruins of Zul'Azrak—a power ancient and insatiable.

At the heart of this darkness was Xul'Zir the Hollow, the last true High Priest of the Gor'Vash, a being who had transcended mortality itself. Once a warlock of terrifying power, he had willingly surrendered his flesh to the shadows, becoming something more—a creature neither dead nor alive, a conduit for the slumbering titan Vash'Goroth.

For centuries, he had waited, biding his time, feeding off the remnants of power within Zul'Azrak. Now, with the orcs growing restless and the trolls searching for lost glory, the moment had come.

Xul'Zir would not let them reclaim their strength. He would take it for himself.

The Gathering of the Warlords

As Xul'Zir's influence spread from Zul'Azrak, warlords and kings from both orc and troll alike felt the pull of something unnatural. Their warriors began disappearing in the night, their shamans muttering warnings of dark omens. Even the mightiest warlords—those who had fought for decades to carve their dominions—felt an unease they had not known since the fall of Grommash.

It was Shaara the Howling Wind, last of the orc warlords, who called the first war council in the Broken Expanse, a land where the ruins of past battles still scarred the earth. The orc clans answered, for Shaara's name commanded respect:

Gorvak the Red Blade, still wielding Bloodfang, his axe growing darker with each battle.Mazgul the Iron Tusks, whose siege weapons had never failed him.Korrak the Pale, a shaman who had once spoken with the spirits of Grommash's fallen warriors.

But orcs alone could not face what lurked in Zul'Azrak. They needed the trolls, the masters of dark magic, who understood the horrors they faced. And so, the summons were sent to the great troll clans:

Zul'Rathis the Undying, last of the true Gor'Vash, whose body was more shadow than flesh.Rakkath Bloodfang, High Warlock of the Crimson Marshes, whose warriors thrived on the life force of their enemies.Ka'Zhul the Rotlord, bearer of the Plaguebone Staff, whose power over disease could consume entire cities.Vash'Tu the Whispering Death, an assassin-king who could kill with a mere touch.

For the first time in ages, the great warlords of the Horde and the Troll Kings stood together beneath one banner.

They would not fight for unity. They would not fight for conquest.

They would fight because if they did not, Xul'Zir would consume them all.

The Hollow King's War

With their forces united, the Horde marched south, into the twisted jungle of the Withered Wilds. The deeper they ventured, the more the land itself seemed to turn against them.

Warriors were swallowed by the earth as the very roots of the jungle came alive.Shadows moved where there should have been none, consuming orcs and trolls alike.Warlocks who attempted to scry ahead were driven mad, their souls torn from their bodies.

This was no ordinary battlefield. Zul'Azrak was awakening.

At its heart, Xul'Zir waited. He had no need for armies. He was the army.

His form was no longer bound by flesh—he was shadow, hunger, and malice made manifest. His Hollow Legion, an army of spectral warriors, rose from the ground, their bodies wreathed in dark flame. These were not mere undead; they were orcs and trolls who had willingly given themselves to him, their souls bound to the will of the Hollow King.

No blade could slay them. No magic could undo them.

And yet, the warlords of the Horde and the Troll Kings did not falter.

Gorvak and Mazgul led the charge, their warriors clashing against the Hollow Legion. Bloodfang howled as it cleaved through shadowed flesh, and Tuskbreaker shattered the risen dead with each swing.

Shaara and Rakkath wove their magics together, war cries turning into spells of destruction. The air crackled with energy as troll blood magic clashed against the Hollow King's unholy sorcery.

Ka'Zhul unleashed his plagues upon the battlefield, turning the very land against Xul'Zir's forces.

The battle raged for three days and three nights, neither side relenting.

Then, on the dawn of the fourth day, the Hollow King descended.

The Fall of the Hollow King

Xul'Zir's voice was like a thousand whispers in the wind, each one promising power, vengeance, and eternal life.

He offered Gorvak the strength to become greater than Grommash himself.He offered Shaara dominion over all of Eldoria.He offered the Troll Kings the return of their lost empire.

But they did not come for bargains.

They came for war.

With a single word, Shaara led the final charge.

Korrak the Pale invoked the spirits of Grommash's fallen warriors, binding their essence to the living.

Zul'Rathis the Undying turned the power of the Gor'Vash against Xul'Zir, unraveling the shadow magic that sustained him.

And at last, Gorvak the Red Blade drove Bloodfang into the heart of the Hollow King.

For the first time in centuries, Xul'Zir screamed.

The shadows recoiled, the jungle trembled, and Zul'Azrak itself began to collapse.

The Hollow Legion, once invincible, shattered. The souls of the enslaved were freed.

And as the temple crumbled into ruin, the last remnants of Xul'Zir's power faded into nothingness.

The Aftermath: The Horde Reborn

The battle was won, but the cost was great. Many warlords had fallen, and Zul'Azrak was no more. But in its destruction, something greater had been forged:

A new Horde.

The orcs, once divided, now stood as one. The trolls, once broken, had reclaimed their honor.

Shaara the Howling Wind was crowned High Warlord of the Horde, the first since Grommash.

And the Troll Kings, though forever separate in their ways, swore an oath—never again would their kind be forgotten.

With Zul'Azrak's fall, the Horde did not simply survive.

It was reborn.

And Eldoria would soon know that the war had only just begun.