The Story of Dal'Render Blackhand
Enheilras - November 2nd, 2005
Rend and Maim were brothers, possibly twin (Although Rend is
clearly older) born to the Chieftain of the Blackrock Clan,
Blackhand the Destroyer, along with their older sister, Griselda.
They grew to be strong boys, striving to honor their Father as
they joined the ranks with the Blackrock Clan at a fairly young
age during the Draenor Conquest War Campaign and exhibited
phenomenal potential on the Battlefield, where fighting together,
each other's strengths overcame the other's weaknesses, making
them into a superb war machine. Their blood and ability allowed
both brothers to quickly gain General Status in the Blackrock
Clan when the Invasion of Azeroth Commenced.
Although they were unphased when they took upon the task to kill
their only sister for joining a rebel band of Ogres led by her
love, Turok, the later murder of their Father hit them,
especially Rend, very hard. Evidence shows that Ral'render
Blackhand, as his full name goes, most likely knew of his
Father's puppet status as a figurehead while the Shadow Council
was the true power in controlling the directives of the HOrde,
and didn't care due to him being next in line for the position.
This is further expressed from the fact that the brothers worked
for Gul'dan in numerous occassions, and carried out personal
tasks for him, including the assassination of Durotan Frostwolf
and his wife, Draka in the mountains of Alterac, due to gain
favor with the Shadow Council in order to solidify Dal'render's
place as next-in-line for Warchief. This expresses that the
position was incredibly important to him, and he most likely saw
it as a birthright, so to have it taken away so suddenly by
Orgrim's coup, as well as witnessing that same Orc destroy the
Shadow Council, truly shattered his dreams and life goals.
To this end, Rend and Maim took all the Blackhand Loyalists and
split from the Blackrock Clan in pure Defiance of following the
command of Orgrim DoomHammer. This group called itself the Black
Tooth Grin, and each member removed one of their tusks to show
loyalty to the sons of Blackhand. The Black Tooth Grin, once
formed, proved to be a merciless clan of crazed warriors second
only to the Blackrock Clan itself as a savage force of
destruction. Under the tactical overseeing by the Warchief
Himself, Rend and Maim proved to be excellent leaders with the
unconditional loyalty of their new clan. The Black Tooth Grin was
solely responsible for the Campaign of Khaz Modan, which ended in
the complete obliteration of the Alliance Nation of Stromguarde,
opening the Highlands and Hinterlands for the Horde to
proliferate. While the Blackrock Clan focused on the West Front,
pushing to Lordaeron, the Black Tooth Grin and Stormreavers
pushed North to the Caer Darrow Runestone, and in two pivotal
victories in Stratholme and Tyr's Hand, destroyed the Queldorei
armies and cut off the Kingdom of Elves from the Alliance,
conquoring all of Quel'thelas save the main city itself.
Within the Hinterlands, Rend and Maim discovered the Dragon Bough
where the Red Aspect, Alexstraza the Life-Binder, dwelled.
Seizing the opportunity, both brothers charged in, and in a
battle that rests as one of the most embarrassing loss in the
history of the Dragonkin on Azeroth, the two Orcs single-handedly
(or double-handedly) managed to defeat the Red Dragon Aspect and
drag her body to Grim Batol in Khaz Modan, delivering it to the
Shadow Council under Nekros the Warlock and the new Chieftain of
the Dragonmaw Clan, Zuluhed the Whacked. These Dragonkin were
later used in the siege of Dalaran by the Blackrock Clan, and
scorched the countryside of Lordaeon, wiping out a majority of
the world's Gryphon force as they dominated the skies of Azeroth
under the tamings of the Horde.
When the obliteration of the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer
Occured in the Tomb of Sargeras, the clock of the Horde began to
tick out. This is where the story of Rend and Maim differs, and
for continuity, I shall tell both, but in separate posts.
One story goes that in the Eve of the HOrde's Fall, the Horde let
loose the Burning Blade upon the Highlands to slow Lothar's
Advance upon Khaz Modan. The Black Tooth Grin, seeing its chance
of usurping the position of power from the Blackrocks dashed,
joined the Bleeding Hollow in Ironforge and joined Kilrogg
Deadeye in Exodus through the Swamp. This seems likely as the
Black Tooth Grin's main base of operations was located in the
Black Morass, now named the Blasted Lands and the Swamp of
Sorrows, so they likely did manage to join the Bleeding Hollow
under their guise.
The story goes on to tell that Dal'render and his brother refused
to join Ner'zhul in his plans to Escape Draenor, retiring from
the war in an effort to solidify their power. However, they were
so enamored with the personal affairs of the clan that the Black
Tooth Grin were blind to the incoming destruction of their own
world and were too late to escape it when Draenor broke apart.
Nevertheless, Dal'render and his brother survived the cataclysm
and the transformation of the Outland.
In this, as hundreds of thousands of Orcs, Ogres, and Draenei
still lived, lost in the chaos that is Outland, Rend found his
chance to become the Warchief of the planet. The Opportunity
never came to pass, as the Burning Legion quickly swarmed over
the realm, and a Pit Lord named Magtheridon rapidly assembled the
survivors to be his servents, forming it into the Horde of Agony.
Seeing their chance, the brothers confronted the Pit Lord and
broke a truce with him. As servents of the Burning Legion, Rend
and Maim became Magtheridon's personal lieutenants, and operated
the Horde of Agony ruthlessly for many years. However, the
appearence of Illidan Stormrage and his Naga and Blood Elf armies
spelled doom for Magtheridon and the Horde of Agony. The Pit Lord
called all his forces back to the Black Citadel to stage a
defense against the Siege, but Maim left with his elite troopers
to ambush Illidan. He was killed on sight by the Night Elf.
Dal'Render, however, refused to protect the demon and watched him
die, fleefully, in Illidan's assault. With Draenor in shambles,
Dal'render disappeared from the Outland, re-entering the Blasted
Lands and heading for the Spire in search of his people. This was
where he met Lord Victor Nefarion. The two spoke at great length
and reached an understanding; They broke a truce accord: Rend
could have control of the Blackrock Clan if he would aid the
Dragon in the creation of the Chromatic Flight. With the aspect
under their control, Rend could kill Thrall and take over as Lord
of all the Orcish Clans. It was too much to pass up.
he other story isn't quite as epic, but perhaps holds more truth.
When the Burning Blade clashed against the Alliance, all Clans
were ordered to rondezvous in the Spire. The Bleeding Hollow
never got this message and began to pack up and head home to
escape back to Draenor., and the Dragonmaw outright ignored it
and shut the gates to Grim Batol. As the Stormreaver and
Twilight's Hammer had recently been massacred, this left only the
Blackrock and Black Tooth Grin in the Burning Steppes as Lotha
commenced the siege of the Spire. After Orgrim's ride, in which
he single-handedly slain Lothar in Mortal Combat, and then came
back, both clans were surprised in the rage Turalyon's forced
showed in breaking through the defenses and piercing into the
spire and charging the remaining Horde Forces. Overwhelmed,
Dal'render and Maim fled to the top of the mountain with whatever
forces they could find and waited for the Alliance to leave with
DoomHammer captive. By not helping the Blackrocks, the Black
Tooth Grin suceeded in their destiny: Replacing Orgrim with their
leader. With the rest of the clans gone, all the chieftains
either captive or msising, only Rend was left; All hail the
Warchief.
With Dal'render at the lead, problems began almost
instantaneously. The Alliance raid stirred a sleeping force under
the mountain in the form of the Dark Iron Dwarves. The Dwarves,
led ultimately by Ragnaros, began invading the upper portions of
the spire. The Horde, under Blackhand, fiercely fought against
them, and it sparked a war that has lasted nearly a decade.
Rend's brother, Maim Blackhand, has since been a casualty of this
escalatingconflict that has drawn so much from both sides that
the higher-ups have been directly involved in the affairs. Lord
Victor Nefarion, seeing the Blackrock Clan as a useful weapon to
use against the armies of his hated enemy, Ragnaros, approached
the Warchief about an accord that could benefit them both.
Dal'render, seeing the Black Dragonflight as a way to extract
revenge on Ragnaros and his forces for the death of his beloved
Brother, easily signed the contract in blood to work for the
Great Dragon and procure the Chromatic Flight to forge a great
fighting army to crush the Molten Core Gods and find vindication
in the loss of perhaps the only thing Dal'render ever truly
loved: His younger brother Maim.