Timeline

Billions of Years Ago

Birth of the Great Dark Beyond
The Prime Material Plane was created from the conflux of the six cosmic forces. The Outer Planes took notice of the Great Dark Beyond and sent their servants to influence it.
The First Ones
Aman'thul, the first of the Titans, awoke. He explored the universe, found other World Souls and awakened them, and formed the Pantheon in the process.

Year -150,000~

The Black Empire
The Old Gods strike the primordial world of of Azeroth . Their influence twists the world into a dark utopia for their servants – and a horrid dystopia for everyone else.

Year -50,000~

Arrival of the Titans
The Titans arrive on the world of Azeroth and create the titanforged to fight against the forces of the Old Gods.

The First Loa
Primordial ancestors of the trolls, inspired by the deeds of the "Travelers," begin to rise up against their shadowy masters. A number of heroic individuals steal godlike powers from the servants of the dark, becoming the first Ghede Loa.

Eyes of the Earthmother
The Earthmother awakens and finds the world covered in darkness. She casts her eyes, An'she and Mu'sha – the sun and moon – from her skull to save them from corruption, but they return to fight against the darkness nontheless. An'she is severely wounded in the battle, but the Earthmother seals the darkness within her to save them.

Year -25,000~

The Crystal Age
The eredar on the planet Argus discover Arcane magic, which they call the True Magic, and establish a utopian society marrying art, science, magic, and technology together as one.

Year -20,215

The Dragons and the Trolls
The trolls, already spread across all of ancient Kalimdor and the surrounding islands, eventually make their first settlements on the Broodlands. First contact inspires the dragons to create their first visage forms.

The Winterskorn War
War breaks out between the Winterskorn vrykul and the titan-forged, eventually leading to Tyr fleeing the continent and dying in the Tirisfal Glades by Zakajz, a powerful Old God servant.

Year -19,935

Battle of Flamesfall
The Aspects ambush Fyrakk, using his cousin Alexstrasza as bait, and imprison him in the Vault of the Incarnates.

Year -19,835

Battle of Valdrakken
Vyranoth loses a duel with Alexstrasza, leading to her imprisonment. Iridikron, now deprived of allies, is fended off from his attack of Valdrakken and forced into hiding.

Year -16,000~

The Aqir and Troll War
The trolls arise on primordial Kalimdor and establish their civilization, later forming the Empire of Zul to combat the aqir. The Aqir and Troll War ends with the defeat of the empire of Azj'Aqir, with the surviving remnants fleeing to form the colonies of Ahn'Qiraj, Azjol-Nerub and Manti'vess.

Year -13,000~

Fall of the Eredar
Sargeras corrupts most of the eredar on Argus and convinces them to join his Burning Legion. However, with the help of a naaru, Velen escapes through the Twisting Nether with the eredar that had decided to reject Sargeras's offer. They ultimately call themselves the draenei, which means "exiled ones". Remnii is born and immediately put into a stasis during the escape of the draenei.

Year -11,400~

Rise of Pandaria
Kang incites a slave revolution against the mogu, successfully overthrowing them and creating the Pandaren Empire.

Year -9,500~

War of the Ancients

• Sargeras senses the Highborne's use of the Well of Eternity and discovers Azeroth. He tempts Queen Azshara and her followers with his powers, leading to a portal opening through which the Burning Legion enters the world and lays waste to the night-elven civilization.
• Emperor Shaohao, the last emperor of the Pandaren Empire, is told of the impending invasion by a jinyu waterspeaker. After purging himself of his emotional burdens, he becomes one with the land and isolates Pandaria behind a veil of thick mists, which protects it from the war and ensuing disasters but also keeps it hidden from the rest of the world for millennia.
• Allied forces led by Malfurion Stormrage, Tyrande Whisperwind, Jaina Proudmoore, and Broxigar Saurfang are able to destroy the Well of Eternity, preventing Sargeras from entering the world, and stopping the Legion's invasion – but splitting ancient Kalmidor into several continents in a cataclysm known as The Sundering.
• Illidan Stormrage uses 3 phials of water from the Well of Eternity to create a magical fount on Mount Hyjal, at the foot of Nordrassil, the World Tree. He is imprisoned indefinitely for his betrayal.
• The Dragonflights abandon the Broodlands and use powerful magic to ensure none of them could ever find it again so long as Deathwing – the fallen Aspect of the Black Dragonflight – lives.

Year -8,700~

War of the Satyr
The satyr, led by the Praetors of the Emerald Flame, lead the remnant of the Burning Legion strike back against the Night Elves, but are ultimately defeated.

• The Druids of the Pack create the Scythe of Elune and unleash the Worgen Curse, but are imprisoned in the Emerald Dream after they lose control of themselves. The Cenarion Circle is formed to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

Year -6,200~

Founding of Quel'thalas
After being displaced for 500 years, the Highbourne kingdom of Quel'Thalas is founded, and a new Well of Eternity is created by using a vial of water from the original. The new Well is named the Sunwell, and the denizens of this new land the Quel'dorei.

Year -2,400~

Rise of the Apexis
On Draenor, the arakkoa are led to Arak from Gorgrond to Arak by Rukhmar before she died. They create the Apexis civilization in their goddess's memory and begin to explore the world.

Year -2,088

Guardians of Tirisfal
The reckless use of magic by humans begins to draw the attention of the Burning Legion once more. Demons begin to manifest in Azeroth. In response, Dalaran creates the Council of Tirisfal to secretly fight and contain the demons without spreading panic. Seventy years later, create the position of the Guardian of Tirisfal, a champion empowered with the strength to repel the legion. This guardian takes the mantle for a hundred years before passing it to another. Alodi becomes the first Guardian.

Year -1,400~

Death of the Evergrowth
On Draenor, Gnarlgar rallies the Primals against the Apexis and creates a new Sporemound known as Taala. The Apexis annihilate the Primal army with the Breath of Rukhmar, permanently destroying the Evergrowth and preventing it from ever returning again, leading to a golden age of mortal civilization on Draenor.

Year -752

Kilnar Goldensword is born.

Year -500~

The Birth of the Centaur
The tauren inadvertently awaken the slumbering Princess Theradras, who corrupts the fertile lands of Mashan'she with earth-aspected magic, turning the region into a barren plain later called Desolace. Zaetar, son of Cenarius, arrives to investigate, encounters Theradras, and strikes a deal with her. From that bargain, the centaur are born again. Maraudon, the land where the two first met, becomes treated as holy ground by the centaur.

Year -383

The War of the Shifting Sands
C'Thun and the qiraji awaken and march on northern Kalimdor. Fandral Staghelm leads night elves and dragons against the qiraji, pushing them back to the desert of Silithus. They are successful in sealing them within Ahn'Qiraj, but Fandral's son is slain in battle.

Year -311

Aegwynn is named the Guardian of Tirisfal.

Year -220

Rise of the Orc Clans
The orcs emerge from the subterranean caverns of Gorgrond and begin to spread across Draenor, forming various clans. The first shamans from the Shadowmoon Clan are taught the ways of the elements.

Year -7

Adherents of Ruhkmar
The Bloodmane saberon declare war upon the high arakkoa but are defeated by the Talon King Terokk. Terokk establishes the city of Skyreach but is later betrayed by the Anhari priesthood, who wish to retain sole control over arakkoan society. Terokk and his daughter Lithic are thrown into the Sethekk Hollow to become Outcasts. Lithic dies in the fall, but Terokk and his followers are guided by Anzu to create the talonpriests and establish the city of Skettis. Terokk eventually becomes insane and is sealed in a realm of shadow by his followers.

Year 103

Kael'thas Sunstrider is born.

Year 189

Fall of the Throne of Elements
Imperator Molok of the Gorian Empire sends an ogre army to claim the Throne of the Elements and the power of the elements by force. The dissonance between the ogres' reckless arcane magic and the lingering power of Grond's remains creates an explosion that blows apart the orcish temple, leaving behind only a few standing stones and throwing the elements into disarray across Draenor.

Year 192

Fall of Goria
The orcs lay siege to the ogre capital Goria. Molok and his sorcerers create the red pox, which begins to spread among the orcs, but Nelgarm and his fellow shaman convince the elements to completely destroy Goria.

Year 269

Spinyl is born in Quel'thalas, breaking the ancestral laws of the Sayaad homeworld.

Year 392

A New Home
The draenei arrive on Draenor, the homeworld of the orcs, after crash-landing on the Genedar. The Council of Exarchs is formed to help lead their new society. Remnii is awakened from stasis.

Year 397

Putting Down Roots

• The draenei establish Shattrath City on the ruins of Goria, and Auchindoun close by.
• The Temple of Karabor is founded. The Shadowmoon orcs begin to worship the darkened naaru K'ara as a deity, calling it the "Dark Star", but quickly outlaw the practice after discovering that wielding the Dark Star's power causes insanity. Simultaneously, K'ure begins attracting the souls of deceased orcs to the Genedar, causing the orcs to transform the Genedar into a pilgrimage site called Oshu'gun.

Year 492

The Defense of Shattrath
Imperator Hok'lon leads the Gorian Empire in an attempt to retake the ruins of Goria from the draenei. The attack is easily repelled by the draenei and Hok'lon is killed. The ogres flee after Velen appears on Shattrath's ramparts, wreathed in light, and tells them that they will be allowed to leave unharmed.

Year 503

Nyxxa discovers an organization known as the Illidari, and begs to be recruited into their ranks.

• Interaction: A Single Act of Kindness takes place.

Year 517

The Gnoll War
King Barathen Wrynn of Stormwind defeats Garfang and his gnoll armies in the Gnoll War.

Year 547

Medivh is conceived by Aegwynn and Nielas Aran. Aegwynn hides the power of the Guardian of Tirisfal inside him, to be activated when he reaches maturity. Sargeras' spirit, which was hiding inside Aegwynn, possesses the infant.

Year 552

Anduin Lothar is born.

Year 558

Blackhand is born.

Year 566

Grommash Hellscream is born.

Year 571

The Guardian Awakens
Medivh awakens from his coma, ten years later. When he awakens, he becomes incredibly repentant and works to make up for the trouble he caused. Shortly after, Gurubashi trolls begin launching raids on human settlements in retaliation for the humans pushing farther and farther south into Gurubashi territory. King Barathen dispatches soldiers to intercept raiding parties but forbids them from striking into Gurubashi lands.

Year 574

The Gurubashi War

• The Gurubashi rally under Jok'non's son, Zan'non, and march to war against Stormwind, launching an attack on Stormwind City itself. Barathen dies during the battle and Llane is forced to convince Medivh to unleash his full Guardian powers to repel the attack. Llane, Medivh and Anduin are hailed as heroes by the kingdom.
• Medivh is approached by the caretaker, Moroes, who leads him to Kharazan and tells him of his lineage. He accepts his position as Guardian and formally approaches the Council of Six in Dalaran. Over the years, he was known for throwing lavish parties with powerful nobles and magi.
• Lirath Windrunner is born.

Year 579

First Contact
Two young orcs, Orgrim Doomhammer and Durotan, are saved from an ogre by a group of draenei. The draenei invite them to the nearby settlement of Telmor, where Velen requests an audience with them before the two orcs are escorted back to the borders of Gorgrond.

Year 581

Battle of Bladespire
The Frostwolf and Whiteclaw clans defeat the Bladespire ogres, taking Bladespire Hold and liberating the mok'nathal.

Year 584

Rise of the Horde

• Gul'dan returns to his home village and burns it and everyone within it to ash. He then ventures to the Shadowmoon clan and convinces them to let him join them, claiming his home village was destroyed by ogres. Gul'dan wins the friendship of the Shadowmoon chieftain, Ner'zhul, allowing Kil'jaeden to begin manipulating his thoughts.
• Gul'dan manipulates the Bladewind clan into launching raids on draenei caravans again, killing and kidnapping dozens of draenei. Vindicator Maraad and the draenei retaliate and storm the Bladewind village, but when Maraad sees the corpse of his sister Leran he goes into a rampage across the village. Gul'dan kills the surviving Bladewinds as they attempt to flee, then returns to the Shadowmoon and tells of how the draenei launched an unprovoked massacre against the Bladewinds.
• Kil'jaeden appears to Ner'zhul in his dreams, disguised as the spirit of his deceased mate Rulkan, and tells him that the draenei are planning to destroy the orcs. Ner'zhul calls for a clan meeting at Oshu'gun, where the orc chieftains agree to band together to defeat the draenei, marking the creation of the Horde.

Year 586

Calia Menethil is born.

Shadow Council

• Gul'dan convinces Blackhand to take up the position of warchief after training some of the Blackrock clan's shaman how to wield fel magic.
• Gul'dan forms the Shadow Council to watch over the orcs and includes Blackhand in the organization.
• Zagrel, Chieftain of the Whiteclaw clan disappears shortly after speaking out against the Horde.

Year 588

Arthas Menethil is born.

The Black Temple

• The draenei's morale begins to founder as the orcs launch coordinated assaults on settlements and outposts across the dying world. Velen and the exarchs, knowing that their only chance of survival is to hold off the onslaught and hope that the Burning Legion does not launch a full-scale invasion, order their forces to withdraw to Shattrath and Karabor.
• The orcs gather for an assault on Karabor. A mighty fire primal, Cyrukh, appears in a nearby volcano to confront them, but Gul'dan and his warlocks gather on the volcano's slopes to shatter the being's physical form and infuse its power into the orcs, shattering the last connection between the orcs and the elements. The volcano becomes known as the Hand of Gul'dan.
• The draenei hold the orcish assault at bay for a time but are defeated when the Horde uses the power of the Dark Star to kill or drive insane many of the defenders and permanently darken Karabor, turning it into the Black Temple. Velen and the survivors manage to flee via the harbor.

Year 590

The Harbinger

• Aegwynn contacts Gul'dan and the Shadow Council and tells them of Azeroth, as well as showing them a vision of the Tomb of Sargeras to Gul'dan.
• Aegwynn constructs the counterpart to the Dark Portal in the Black Morass in preparation for the invasion.
• Arcanagos, an old friend of Aegwynn, sensing the dark magics she had tapped in to, confronts her about it. The two duel, and Aegwynn kills his old friend. The sorrow that rippled through her true self resonated enough with her to slowly struggle free from Sargeras's control and begin plans to defeat herself.

The Conquest of Draenor

• More draenei survivors arrive at Telredor. The ones afflicted by the red mist mutate into Broken, and the populace of Telredor exile them into the wilds out of fear that the condition might spread. Some Broken continue to degrade into Lost Ones.
• Blackhand turns his attention on Draenor's other inhabitants. Kilrogg Deadeye and the Bleeding Hollow clan launch a campaign against Farahlon, while Grommash Hellscream and Cho'gall topple Highmaul. Elsewhere, the Frostwolf, Whiteclaw and Thunderlord clans are charged with hunting down the ogres, ogron, gronn and magnaron, though only the Thunderlords obey.
• Kargath Bladefist leads a force to conquer the arakkoa capital, Skyreach. The orcs ally with the Outcast arakkoa, who agree to infiltrate Skyreach and sabotage the high arakkoa's superweapon. Kargath and his forces then slaughter high and cursed arakkoa alike, casting some of the former into Sethekk Hollow. Some flee, while others submit to the Horde.
• Kil'jaeden ceases to communicate with Gul'dan on Sargeras' orders. The orcs begin to flounder on Draenor as the world slowly dies. The threat of starvation causes the orcs to hunt many of Draenor's native creatures to extinction and begin fighting amongst themselves.
• Gul'dan orders the construction of the Dark Portal in the Tanaan Jungle.

Year 592

The Guardian's Prison
As Aegwynn begins the ritual to open the Dark Portal, Wynn confronts her. Though Wynn is largely outclassed, the magical traps she has prepared are sufficient for her to narrowly defeat Aegwynn, using an Imprisonment spell to bind her to her lair within the Tomb of Sargeras beneath the sea. She collapses the Dark Portal with an earthquake spell before travelling to Kalimdor to live a quiet life of solitude.

The False Flag

• The Dark Portal fails to open on Draenor, despite thousands of sacrifices. Rumors of an impending invasion and conquest falter, and Gul'dan loses influence because of it. Maintenance of the Dark Portal ceases and the site is largely abandoned.
• Desperate for foes to fight in light of the failure of the Dark Portal, Blackhand, heeding suggestions from Varok and the others, sets his sights on the mainland, where new land awaited conquest, largely under the control of the rest of the Ogre Empires.

Year 597

Azgadaan is born on Argus.

Year 606

The Darkspear War

• The vessel belonging to Derek Proudmoore is sunk in a skirmish with Darkspear trolls.
• Daelin Proudmoore, seeking vengeance for his son's death, leads an armada to the Darkspear Isles and sieges them.
• The sea-witch Zar'jira uses the battle to strike, causing a volcanic eruption that wipes out the Darkspear's home. The survivors are forced to flee the island under Vol'jin's leadership.

Year 608

Cowardspawn

• Broxigar the Red accuses Gul'dan of leading the Horde to ruin. He vanishes, somehow being cast back in time to the War of the Ancients.
• Arthak Saurfang is born. His mother, Tlanth dies during childbirth.

Year 611

Assassin of Kings

• Velameestra and Gilveradin Windrunner are born in Windrunner Village.
• King Anasterian Sunstrider of Quel'thalas, King Terenas Menethil of Lordaeron, and Rí Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde are systematically assassinated by Zul'jin, beginning the Second Troll Wars.
• Lord Daval Prestor of Alterac discovers and reveals that King Aiden Perenolde was the mastermind behind the criminal organization, the Syndicate, and was implicated in the assassination of the Alliance kings. After some dispute, King Arthas and the Alliance decide to grant Prestor the throne of Alterac, and the hand of his sister Calia to seal their alliance.
• Due to the fallout from the war, and the support of Prestor for the throne of Alterac over a more rightful heir, Gilneas secedes from the Alliance and constructs the Gilnean Wall to prevent outsiders from entering.
• King Genn Greymane sends his wife Queen Mia, his daughter Testament, his court alchemist Krennan Aranas, his wife's handmaiden, Refia Karver and her daughter, Lorelei outside of Gilneas to protect them from the growing threat within.

Year 613

Uther Menethil and Arator Windrunner are born.

Year 617

Cold Iron War

• Nirenn Windrunner, Gilveradin and Velameestra's mother, dies from the hex she took during the Second Troll War.
• Interaction: Hanging On and Interaction: Letting Go takes place.
• Dark Iron weaponry begins to show up in the hands of bandits and gnolls. Dark Iron dwarves also begin to attack caravans and settlements. When questioned, King Thaurissian pleads ignorance and offense. This, compounded with the sudden disappearance of King Magni's only child, Moira Bronzebeard, caused tensions rise between the dwarf clans, eventually leading to a truce between King Magni and High Thane Kurdran Wildhammer to oppose the Dark Iron.
• Uther the Lightbringer is killed.
• Somewhere in the wilderness of the Eastern Kingdoms, Tess Greymane succumbs to the Worgen Curse in the night, slaying her best friend, Lorelei Karver. Krennan discovers the scene and helps calm the rampaging girl, promising to help her find a cure for herself and her kingdom.

Year 621

Gilveradin Windrunner begins training to become a Farstrider while Velameestra Windrunner begins her studies at the Kirin Tor.

Year 627

The Prodigal Windrunners

• Velameestra Windrunner is recognized as a full mage of the Kirin Tor.
• Gilveradin Windrunner is recognized as a Farstrider.

The Doomed Wolves

• On Draenor, Durotan and Draka are assassinated, and Arthak is framed. Go'el vouches for his innocence, which prompts Orgrim Doomhammer to demand Blackhand discover who was responsible. He refuses, and the two fight in a Mak'Gorah. Blackhand wins. Arthak is cleared of all charges, and Go'el becomes chieftain of the Frostwolves after drinking from the Blood of Mannoroth.

Year 633

• Chapter Three: The Scales Tip
• Chapter Four: Homecoming