Blackrock clan

The Blackrock clan is a prominent orcish clan originally hailing from the caverns of Gorgrond. On Draenor, they were known for their strict military discipline and skills in mining and blacksmithing. One of the first orcish clans to be taught the ways of fel magic, the Blackrocks were the strongest faction within the Old Horde during the course of the First and Second Wars, and the Horde's first two Warchiefs — Blackhand and his deposer Orgrim Doomhammer — were both Blackrocks.

Following the Horde's defeat, parts of the Blackrock clan were placed in internment camps and later joined Thrall's Horde once freed, whilst the remaining free Blackrocks joined forces with Blackhand's sons, Rend and Maim, in what would become known as the Dark Horde at Blackrock Mountain. During the Third War, a faction of the clan in Lordaeron attempted to revive their old demon-worshipping traditions but were thwarted by the Alliance of Lordaeron and, later, the Scourge. The Blackrocks of the Dark Horde initially did not join Thrall's new Horde, instead choosing to pursue their own, darker path under Rend's leadership, but many of them were later granted amnesty by the then-Warchief Garrosh Hellscream and recruited into his ranks.

Early history
Roughly 800 years before the First War, the orcs began to migrate out of Gorgrond, but many orcs chose to remain in the region and gradually formed several distinct clans. The Blackrock clan lorded over much of Gorgrond and remained in their ancestral caves to study the earth around them. A great foundry served as the ancestral home of the clan, wherein master smiths smelted and worked the impossibly hard blackrock ore that is the clan's namesake.

Rise of the Horde
In the years preceding the First War, the Blackrocks were led by a powerful warrior named Blackhand, who commanded enormous respect from orcs around the world. Like the Warsongs of Nagrand, the Blackrocks had long clashed with local ogre populations. By the time of 11 years before the First War, the orcs had crushed their brutish enemies and driven most of them from Gorgrond.

Years later, the Orcish Horde made war upon the draenei. Disagreements over battle tactics between rival chieftains often led to infighting, and the orcs had little success with attacking large draenei settlements. The demon lord Kil'jaeden was displeased by this and ordered his servant, the warlock Gul'dan, to find a true leader — a Warchief — to lead the Horde. Chieftain Blackhand was the only orc Gul'dan knew of who possessed the strength and confidence to exert control over the Horde. Of all the clans, his Blackrocks had been the most successful against the draenei, and if they led the Horde, they could impose their strict military discipline on the other orcs and use their elemental forges to create armaments and massive war machines to destroy the draenei's defenses. Gul'dan met with Blackhand and promised that if he took up the mantle of Warchief, his shaman would wield power again, his soldiers would become mightier than the other clans and he himself would be remembered as the greatest orc leader to ever live. To win Blackhand's support, Gul'dan trained some of the Blackrock shaman in the ways of fel magic and taught them how to rapidly grow adolescent orcs to adulthood by imbuing them with fel power. Blackhand was impressed with the results and ordered that his young sons, Dal'rend and Maim, be granted the same treatment. Blackhand agreed to lead the Horde, and Gul'dan promised to include the Blackrock chieftain as a member of the newly-formed Shadow Council, though in truth this was merely a tactic to make the Warchief believe he would hold authority over all aspects of the Horde. The warlock and the Warchief distrusted each other; Gul'dan intended to use Blackhand as a puppet ruler, while Blackhand intended to use Gul'dan to secure his place in orcish history.

Shortly thereafter, Gul'dan dispatched agents of the Shadow Council to spread word of Blackhand's deeds and the powerful new force discovered by the Blackrock shaman. Many orcs grew intrigued and looked upon Blackhand with awe. The next year, Gul'dan called for a gathering of the chieftains and their shaman at Oshu'gun. Gul'dan told the gathered shaman that the elements had abandoned them, but that benevolent beings had taught the Blackrocks how to wield a glorious new power known as fel magic. The Blackrock warlocks demonstrated their strength by siphoning the life from draenei captives and burning them from the inside out, and powerless shaman from all clans pleaded with the Blackrocks to teach them their fel secrets. The Blackrocks and their chieftain were seen as masters of fel magic and were treated with immense reverence. Gul'dan addressed the gathered orcs once more and convinced them that they needed a single military leader and that Blackhand, who had led his clan to victory after victory against the draenei, was best suited for the role. In the end, the clans unanimously voted for Blackhand as their Warchief.

Blackhand ordered his Blackrock masons to begin construction of a capital, known as the Citadel, in western Tanaan Jungle. While the masons worked, the Warchief assigned specific roles to the various clans and also created a new clan, known as the Black Tooth Grin, which consisted of soldiers handpicked by the Warchief himself and would serve as the scouting arm of the Blackrock clan. The Blackrocks themselves were among the clans that would make up the Horde's main fighting force, leading direct assaults on draenei settlements and forming the backbone of the orcish army. To maintain order and discipline in his armies, Blackhand named Eitrigg, Varok Saurfang and Orgrim Doomhammer as his lieutenants. The three of them oversaw the Blackrock war machine as smiths slaved away at their forges in Gorgrond day and night, crafting thousands of new weapons, armor and siege engines for the clans. Meanwhile, the most powerful Blackrock warlocks were sent to the other clans to artificially age adolescent orcs much as they had done with their own clan's youths.

The First War
A few years after genocide of the draenei concluded, the Blackrocks accompanied the Horde through the Dark Portal to Azeroth during the First War. The Blackrocks rose quickly in power and were responsible for numberless victories against the humans throughout the war. Orgrim Doomhammer had long sought to erase the corruption that had damned his people, and when Gul'dan fell into a coma he challenged Warchief Blackhand to a mak'gora duel. Orgrim ended the contest when he crushed Blackhand's skull with the Doomhammer, after which he was declared the new Warchief of the Horde and chieftain of the Blackrock clan.

The Second War
Although years of war had reduced their numbers, the Blackrock clan remained the strongest within the Horde, and they continued to dictate the course of the war, intimidating the lesser clans within the Horde into following Orgrim's lead. The forces of the Blackrock clan were fanatically loyal to Doomhammer and would serve him with their lives. As the dust of the First War settled, Orgrim's followers scrambled to find new weapons. Blackrock orcs commandeered the forges of Stormwind City, but many of them were in ruins due to the fire that had raged through the city. After Gul'dan created the necromantic horrors known as the death knights, Orgrim ordered members of the Blackrock clan to keep a close watch on the undead beings; the Warchief secretly planned to destroy Gul'dan and his new soldiers after the Horde had secured victory.

After the Horde swept through the lands of Khaz Modan and the Bleeding Hollow clan were stationed outside the cities of Ironforge and Gnomeregan to keep their inhabitants contained, Orgrim ordered his Blackrock orcs to mine the surrounding mountains and commandeer the dwarves' forges. Before long, thick smoke blanketed the region, and blacksmiths distributed newly wrought armaments and siege weapons throughout the Horde in preparation for an assault on Lordaeron to the north.

When the Horde began moving from the Hillsbrad Foothills to Quel'Thalas, Varok Saurfang commanded a rearguard of Blackrock orcs to waylay the Alliance, giving the rest of the Horde precious time to cross Hillsbrad and funnel through a narrow mountain pass into the Hinterlands.

After the Horde's final defeat at Blackrock Mountain, the forces of the Black Tooth Grin clan under the leadership of Dal'rend and Maim Blackhand gathered with other Horde survivors, mainly from the Blackrock clan, and waited until the Alliance had pulled its forces out of the region. When the way was clear, the orcs snuck back into Blackrock Spire and took control of the stronghold, when a bargain was struck between the Dark Irons and the Balckrocks; the dwarves descended even deeper into the mountain, while the orcs occupied the higher levels. Like many bargains, it was never intended to be kept. It was there that Rend declared himself Warchief and chieftain of the weakened Blackrock clan. Dal'rend and Maim despised Orgrim for having killed their father, Blackhand, and blamed him for the Horde's defeat. The brothers now planned to reforge the Horde as they saw fit and gradually reached out to other large groups of survivors. Kilrogg Deadeye and the Bleeding Hollow ignored them, but the Dragonmaw clan pledged their support and offered to give some of their enslaved dragons to the forces at Blackrock if they were ever needed. In the aftermath of the Second War, many members of the Blackrock clan were also captured by the Alliance and placed in internment camps.

The imprisoned Blackrock orcs in the internment camps were later freed by Thrall, Orgrim Doomhammer's successor, and joined the modern Horde.

The Third War
Shortly prior to the Third War, the Blackrock forces in southern Lordaeron re-embraced their demon-worshipping heritage and became a major problem for the Alliance. The clan's warlocks predicted that demons would soon rain from the sky and that the world would burn, referring to the upcoming invasion by the Burning Legion. The orcs' uprisings forced the Alliance to take decisive measures, and King Terenas Menethil sent his son, Prince Arthas, with Uther the Lightbringer to contain the threat. Arthas helped repel a Blackrock attack on the defenseless village of Strahnbrad, slaying the Blackrock Slave Master, but not before the orcs managed to haul off several villagers to their nearby encampment. Uther's attempts at parleying with the Blackrock blademaster failed, and shortly afterward the blademaster sacrificed several human captives in the name of the Legion. Arthas led an attack on the blademaster's lair and succeeded in slaying him, but told Uther that he suspected the orcs had been attempting to summon demons with their sacrifices. However, the Lightbringer reassured the prince that the orcs were simply trying to hold on to dying traditions and that their demons had been defeated a long time ago.

Months later, as the Legion-controlled undead Scourge ravaged Lordaeron, an encampment of Blackrock orcs led by Jubei'Thos and various blademasters and far seers maintained a functional Demon Gate near the Alterac Mountains. Kel'Thuzad and Arthas (who was now a Scourge death knight) sought to claim the gate by destroying the Blackrock base so that Kel'Thuzad could commune with the demon lord Archimonde. Upon encountering the undead, the Blackrocks proclaimed that the Legion had sent the dead to test them. The orcs considered themselves the true servants of the Legion and believed that the mindless undead were weak and impure. Kel'Thuzad replied that the orcs had failed their task and that they, too, had to be scourged from the world. When Arthas asked how the demon-worshipping orcs fit into the relationship between the Burning Legion and the Scourge, Kel'Thuzad explained that it was a very complicated matter, but that, simply put, the orcs no longer held any favor with the Legion. Ultimately, the Blackrocks and their heroes were slaughtered, and Kel'Thuzad succeeded in contacting Archimonde.

Elsewhere the Blackrock clan members of the New Horde helped set up Orgrimmar in Kalimdor as evidenced by the Blackrock banner visible in the city's entrance when Rexxar visited the capital.

The Dark Horde
In Blackrock Spire, Warchief Dal'rend had found a new home for his people. Rend and Maim ruled the Spire, in constant conflict with the Dark Iron dwarves over control of the stronghold. The black dragon Nefarian, son of Deathwing, gained the servitude of the Blackrock orcs and asserted dominion over the Spire, with Dal'rend under his command. The orcs were used primarily as beasts of burden and cannon fodder for the black dragonflight, being known together with their allies as the Dark Horde.

A force of Blackrock orcs under the leadership of Gath'Ilzogg traveled from the Burning Steppes and claimed Stonewatch Keep in the Redridge Mountains with the aid of the human warlock Morganth. The orcs fought with horrific savagery, presumably fueled by Morganth's evil magic. Many human soldiers perished trying to defend the keep, but ultimately nothing could be done. Oddly enough, Morganth turned on his Blackrock cohorts shortly after the victory at Stonewatch, constructing the Tower of Ilgalar and building a small army of Shadowhide gnolls who began attacking humans and orcs alike. Whatever betrayal took place between Morganth and the Blackrock warlord Gath'Ilzogg remained a mystery, though it was later discovered that Morganth had been searching for the Scythe of Elune.

From Stonewatch, the Blackrock clan marauded the areas north of Lakeshire, keepings its citizens penned in the town like cattle. Once, the clan staged a ruthless offensive on Lakeshire itself, killing many humans and destroying the bridge spanning Lake Everstill. The Blackrocks enlisted shadowcasters, equipped with midnight orbs, to aid their attacks in Redridge, while outrunners and renegades ran ambushes between Lakeshire and Stonewatch. The outrunners were led by a vicious, crafty orc named Tharil'zun. Gath'Ilzogg holed himself up in Stonewatch Keep, plotting the Blackrocks' further "crimes against humanity". Lakeshire's magistrate, Solomon, sent envoys north to Ironforge to request King Magni's aid against the Blackrock incursions. Princess Moira volunteered to help, but while traveling through the Burning Steppes she and her guardsmen were ambushed and captured by Dark Irons. King Magni was not personally concerned by the Blackrocks. According to him, the orcs were fighting a losing war and would eventually die off.

In the Searing Gorge, the dwarf Lathoric the Black created the golem Obsidion in the name of Ragnaros. Lathoric intended to use Obsidion to destroy the Blackrock orcs and unite the Dark Irons with their brethren in the Blackrock Depths.

The Horde traitor Grark Lorkrub was found to be giving the Blackrock orcs vital information about the Kargath Expeditionary Force's day to day operations and began hiding amongst the Blackrock forces in the Burning Steppes. Lexlort ordered Horde adventurers to confront and capture him. The black drake Kalaran deceived adventurers into helping him and sabotaging the Dark Irons in the Searing Gorge, proclaiming that the "legions of Blackrock" would soon invade and lay waste to the gorge.

Alliance forces in the Burning Steppes assumed that the Blackrocks were a product of their savage upbringing. However, when they discovered that the black dragonflight were the ones controlling the orcs and fueling them with rage and hostility, an adventurer was sent to warn Magistrate Solomon in Lakeshire. As Lakeshire could not possibly survive an attack from both the Blackrock orcs and the black dragonflight, the adventurer was sent on to Stormwind City and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon to request aid. Since Lady Katrana Prestor refused to help, Bolvar instead empowered the adventurer as an acting deputy of Stormwind; if they managed to find proof of the black dragonflight's involvement with the Blackrock orcs, Bolvar would send military aid to Lakeshire. Solomon sent the adventurer back to the Burning Steppes, where they began investigating the disappearance of Marshal Reginald Windsor, the commanding officer of an Alliance squad that had been gathering large amounts of intelligence about the Blackrocks. When Windsor was lost, so was all of the precious information. Ragged John, who was with Reginald when he went missing, related how the two of them were attacked by a Blackrock raiding party in the middle of Blackrock Mountain. Windsor fought the orcs off with the ancient dwarven hammer Ironfoe, but it soon became clear that John and Reginald had been caught up in a battle between the Blackrocks and the Dark Iron dwarves (the orcs had arrived early to set up traps and "other diabolical things"). When the Dark Iron army arrived, they recognized Ironfoe and chose to spare Reginald's life, imprisoning him in the Blackrock Depths rather than killing him on sight. Reginald was eventually freed and would go on to unmask Katrana Prestor as being the black dragon Onyxia, sister of Nefarian, though he paid for it with his life.

Some time later, Horde adventurers in Blackrock Spire discovered Blackrock documents signed by Warchief Rend. This came as a shock, as it was previously thought within the Horde that Dal'rend had been slain decades earlier. The adventurer was sent to Orgrimmar to learn what Eitrigg knew about the Blackrocks before conferring with Warchief Thrall to find out what he wished to do about this problem. Thrall proceeded to send adventurers to Blackrock Spire and ordered them to retrieve Rend's head in the name of the Horde.

Cataclysm
A force of Blackrock orcs under the leadership of Kurtok the Slayer managed to invade Northshire Valley after the Cataclysm opened a break in the mountain between Northshire and the Burning Steppes to the north. Battle worgs were sent against the defenders of Northshire Abbey while spies peered at the human forces from the valley's northwestern forests. Goblin assassins were hired to kill the human soldiers and ambush a battalion stationed behind the abbey. Alliance adventurers were sent to kill the worgs, spies and assassins, as well as heal fallen human soldiers, but a large contingency of Blackrocks remained in the eastern valley and began burning down the forests. They took over and began burning down the Northshire Vineyards, planning their final assault against the human defenders. Adventurers were sent to kill the rampaging orcs and collect their weapons, as well as extinguish the fires raging across the vineyards, before being ordered to kill the invasion leader himself, Kurtok, who hid in a passage leading into the mountains in preparation for another assault. Once Kurtok was slain, peasants were sent to the pass in an attempt to seal the passage so that no more orcs could come through.
 * Northshire Valley

In Redridge, Lakeshire once again came under threat from the Blackrock orcs, who joined forces with the Redridge gnolls to plan an attack on the humans. Several orcs were placed in the Rethban Caverns under the direct command of the gnoll leader, Yowler. The orcs also gave Ardo Dirtpaw a magical orb which allowed him to control the local ettins. The Blackrock invasion plans carried by Yowler revealed a massive buildup of orcish and gnoll forces in eastern Redridge and that the Blackrock general Gath'Ilzogg was planning to march his armies across Lakeshire to attack Stormwind City directly. In order to prevent the impending orc assault, Magistrate Solomon and Colonel Troteman turned to the renowned war veteran John J. Keeshan. However, as Keeshan refused to help, Alliance adventurers were tasked with rousing him from his stupor by retrieving Keeshan's armor and personal possessions from Alther's Mill and Render's Camp as well as rescue the various members of Keeshan's battalion, the Bravo Company, from orcish captivity in several locations around Redridge. The adventurer, Keeshan and the reunited Bravo Company proceeded to head to Camp Everstill on the far side of Lake Everstill. Since the orcs had destroyed the bridge leading to Stonewatch Keep, the humans had to either head north through Alther's Mill, cutting their way through an army of worgs, or south through Render's Valley, which was described by Jorgensen as a death trap. Keeshan told Messner to find some seaforium while the adventurer was sent to both gather material for camouflage and find the 7 scout Brubaker. When the adventurer found Brubaker, he had been killed by orcs and gruesomely strung up, but a note in his pouch revealed that the orcs had cages full of prisoners of war, which would have to be freed before the valley could be blown up, and that the orcs were being backed by black dragons. After constructing the camouflage and killing several Blackrock scouts, the adventurer accompanied Jorgensen to free the prisoners in Render's Valley before planting the seaforium charges and finally blowing all of Render's Valley up, turning it into Render's Crater and killing many orcs.
 * Redridge Mountains

The Bravo Company began closing in on the Blackrock high command in Stonewatch, but first turned their attention to the nearby army of Shadowhide gnolls and their master, Grand Magus Doane — a human traitor working for the Blackrock orcs. After retrieving the key to Doane's tower, the Tower of Ilgalar, from General Fangore and slaughtering the gnolls, the adventurer confronted the magus inside the tower, but Doane managed to teleport away before the hero could finish him off, mentioning "Darkblaze" in the process. Shortly afterward, Colonel Troteman arrived with a large siege tank to help the Bravo Company "end this mess". The Blackrocks had become aware of the adventurer's location and sent a large force to meet them head on, and the hero was tasked with piloting the siege tank to clear a path to Keeshan's Post in the north, killing hundreds of orc soldiers in the process and finally only leaving the Blackrocks holding out at Stonewatch Keep. The Bravo Company proceeded to head to Stonewatch to put an end to the Blackrock high command and the orc invasion, confronting and killing both Tharil'zun and Gath'Ilzogg (who had now somehow become death knights). However, Troteman warned that the Company had walked into a trap, and suddenly the black dragon Darkblaze, the true form of Grand Magus Doane, appeared in the distance. Darkblaze asked the Bravo Company if they had truly believed that the orcs had the presence of mind to plan such a large-scale invasion, before declaring that they would die as an offering to Deathwing as the march upon Stormwind began. After a fiercesome struggle, Darkblaze incinerated most of the Bravo Company, killing them instantly. However, Keeshan managed to leap into the dragon's mouth as the heavily wounded Darkblaze began flying out across Lake Everstill. Before long, the dragon succumbed to his wounds and fell into the lake, taking Keeshan with him. The adventurer, now the last surviving member of Bravo Company, headed back to Lakeshire to tell Magistrate Solomon that the orc invasion had been stopped, but at great cost. However, Keeshan's body was never found.

Some time later, in the Burning Steppes, the Blackrocks began gathering their forces and preparing for yet another invasion of Redridge. These plans were described by the Horde as an act of "blind aggression" and by Ariok as being for no reason other than blind territorialism. To prevent this from coming to fruition, Alliance and Horde adventurers were sent to the steppes to assist either Colonel Troteman and John J. Keeshan — who had survived his confrontation with Darkblaze — or the Blackrock veteran Eitrigg and his son, Ariok.
 * Burning Steppes

At the Whelping Downs, the orcs chained baby dragons of various flights to the ground, preparing them for the twisted experiments of their dark master, Nefarian. In the northwest, Ner'gosh the Shadow and several warlocks kicked the goblin warlock Gorzeeki Wildeyes out of his home at the Altar of Storms to claim it for themselves. After heroes dealt with the whelpers, rescued the dragon whelps, gathered several supplies from the surrounding areas and obtained several reagents from Gorzeeki, they journeyed with Keeshan and Ariok to Chiselgrip to rendezvous with Troteman and Eitrigg and seek the aid of the Thorium Brotherhood (killing a number of Blackrock forces in the Black Tooth Hovel along the way). With the help of the tailor Thelaron Direneedle, the adventurer constructed a disguise and infiltrated the ranks of the Blackrock clan, polishing boots for Quartermaster Kaoshin while also taking the opportunity to assassinate three prominent Blackrock allies with a scorpid barb. Kaoshin proceeded to send the adventurer to call in the war kodos from the grazing lands to the south, as General Thorg'izog said that the Blackrocks would be moving into Redridge soon. After doing as they were told, the adventurer kept the kodo-calling horn and took it back to Chiselgrip. Troteman and Eitrigg expressed concern over Kaoshin's words, as they had not known the attack on Redridge would occur so soon.

Next, the adventurer was sent to the Blackrock Stronghold and General Thorg'izog, the first of the "Big Three" running the Blackrock ground forces in the steppes. After the hero proved their worth by defeating Magma Lord Kolob, Thorg'izog tasked them with cudgeling the troops outside the stronghold as a way to keep them focused and obedient. Troteman and Eitrigg asked the adventurer to also kill several of Thorg'izog's mounted sergeants in the process by cudgeling them repeatedly. The adventurer returned to Chiselgrip before accompanying Keeshan and Troteman to Morgan's Vigil — vacated as most of its inhabitants had moved into Blackrock Mountain to fight their own battle against the Blackrocks — or Ariok and Eitrigg to Flame Crest. After gathering some more supplies, the adventurer accompanied Keeshan or Ariok to investigate the Blackrock army around the nearby Dreadmaul Rock, as well as kill several champions sent by the orcs and their black dragon allies to stand guard at rally points as a vanguard. Additionally, the adventurer delivered the dragon whelps rescued from the Whelping Downs to the red dragon Acridostrasz. Acride agreed to uphold his end of the bargain in the coming battle against the orcs; while the red flight had no particular love for Redridge, they shared the grudge against the Blackrock clan.

Finally, the hero donned their Blackrock disguise once more to deliver three special packages to the Big Three: General Thorg'izog, Dragon-Lord Neeralak and High Warlock Xi'lun. Thorg'izog, who had relocated to the Firegut Furnace, received a package of worg meat marinated in "fel slider cider" from the Altar of Storms, which he proceeded to distribute among the ogres. The second package contained several sleeping flamekin — a brand of fire demon which, to the untrained eye, would look identical to warlock imps — and was delivered to the Skull Warren, a cave where the warlocks of the Blackrock clan often practiced their magic. As High Warlock Xi'lun was busy elsewhere, the cave was instead held by Dragon-Lord Neeralak, whose expertise was in dragons, not necromancy. The disguised adventurer managed to convince Neeralak that the sleeping flamekin were imps. Finally, High Warlock Xi'lun, located in a cave atop Dreadmaul Rock, was expecting a delivery of a magical Orb of Domination from Ner'gosh the Shadow, which he would be able to use in a powerful summoning ritual. Instead, the adventurer delivered him a completely powerless glass orb. Xi'lun hesitantly accepted that the orb was the one he had been waiting for and dismissed his doubts as being "his nerves talking".

Once all three packages had been delivered, the battle was ready to start. During a war conference atop Dreadmaul Rock, Thorg'izog revealed that he was feeling ill due to "something he ate", and he couldn't promote any of his sergeants since they had all been killed in various freak accidents. Neeralak said that the "imps" he had received had woken up and started shooting fireballs at everyone in the Skull Warren, and that dozens of his dragons had been killed when two enemies swept through the front lines. Xi'lun considered them both to be failures and instead began his summoning ritual, saying that the Blackrocks wouldn't need foot soldiers nor dragons if they had a pit lord on their side. The warlock successfully summoned the pit lord Hellmondath, but when he tried and failed to use his orb to take control of the demon, the creature instead began rampaging through the Blackrock army. Thorg'izog ordered a retreat to the dragons, but Neeralak said that he had never called any dragons. The adventurer proceeded to burn down large parts of the army from atop the back of a dragon cloaked in obsidian ash to make it appear as a member of the black dragonflight. The Big Three all survived the attack; Thorg'izog returned to the Firegut Furnace, Neeralak retreated to the cave on the mountain's peak and Xi'lun hid in the back of the Skull Warren with his fellow warlocks. The adventurer was sent to kill all three, finally putting a stop to the Blackrocks' invasion plans. While the Blackrock orcs still swarmed in Blackrock Spire, both Troteman and Eitrigg doubted that their plans would take them anywhere Redridge any time soon.

Acride later made it into Blackrock Spire, disguised as a Blackrock orc, in order to halt Nefarian's efforts. To accomplish this, however, he first had to enlist adventurers to dispose of Nefarian's Dark Horde underlings.

Mists of Pandaria
Many members of the Blackrock clan were later granted amnesty and joined the new Horde at the behest of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream. His own bodyguard, Malkorok, was of Blackrock descent. He also became a leader of the Kor'kron who began acting akin to a secret police, ensuring the loyalty of other Horde races (and, in some cases, orcs), while abducting, brutalizing, and in some cases even murdering those they deemed treasonous or troublesome.

Culture
The Blackrocks were known for their strict military discipline and extremely regimented society. On Draenor, the clan studied the earth around them, developing their knowledge of metallurgy and smithing. Once they learned the secrets of the unique blackrock ore scattered throughout Gorgrond, the orcs were able to create astonishing tools and weapons. Blackrock blades were soon coveted for their reliability and durability. The first of the orc clans to master the art of shaping their namesake metal, the Blackrock preferred to wield blunt weaponry in battle to honor their ancestors.

The Blackrock clan originally used the naturally occurring elemental-fueled infernos of ancient Draenor to shape and harden their namesake ore. A shaman could use these bellows to channel the power of a fire spirit directly to a blast furnace, allowing the Blackrock to set up forges anywhere.

By the time immediately preceding the creation of the Old Horde, the Blackrocks boasted the largest, most organized, and best equipped orcish military in the world. The clan's shaman had perfected the art of using elemental fire to shape the blackrock ore, and the clan had the most advanced weapon foundries among all the orcs of Draenor. The Blackrocks worked their forges day and night, crafting enchanted weaponry and armor that were nearly indestructible.

After the fall of the draenei settlement of Telmor, Gul'dan offered the town to the Frostwolves, but since Durotan refused the Blackrocks instead took up residence in the city. Many of the orcs began using draenic clothes and robes as everyday clothing, melding the unique style into their own culture.

Male orcs of the Blackrock clan never cut their hair until they came of age, at which point their head was shaved and their role in the clan's society was determined. Some particularly ornamented switchblades were likely used by prominent families for many generations of initiation.

The Blackrocks of the Dark Horde in Blackrock Mountain were known to celebrate the Midsummer Fire Festival.

Organization



 * Even during the Third War, the clan's forces in Lordaeron used forces very similar to the Old Horde of the Second War, including enslaved red dragons, ogre magi and goblin mercenaries.
 * The Blackrock forces near the Alterac Mountains were divided into five groups, each led by either a blademaster or a far seer: the raiders, scouts, slavers, warlocks, and warriors.


 * In Redridge, the leaders of each unit within the clan were known as champions.
 * The orcs of the Dark Horde were divided into four legions: Blackhand, Bloodaxe, Firebrand and Scarshield.


 * The Blackrock forces in Redridge are led by a high command, consisting of Gath'Ilzogg and Tharil'zun.
 * The Blackrock hunters are a group of Blackrock orcs that stalk the forests under cover of darkness and ambush the uninitiated. They are the first line of defense for the Blackrock army, serving as scouts that report everything they see back to their central command.
 * The Blackrock ground forces in the Burning Steppes are led by the so-called "Big Three": Dragon-Lord Neeralak, General Thorg'izog, and High Warlock Xi'lun.

Unnamed
🇨🇴
 * Burning Steppes

🇨🇴
 * Elwynn Forest
 * Redridge Mountains
 * (removed)
 * (removed)
 * (removed)

In Warcraft II


Chieftain: Orgrim Doomhammer

Clan Colors: Red

Background: ''Although years of war have reduced their numbers, the Blackrock clan remains the strongest within the Horde. Ruled for many years by Blackhand the Destroyer, the Blackrock clan rose quickly in power and was responsible for numberless victories against the Humans in the First War. Orgrim Doomhammer - known also as the Backstabber - assassinated the ruthless, but careless Blackhand, and named himself clan chieftain and War Chief of the Horde. The Blackrock clan continues to dictate the course of the war intimidating the lesser clans within the Horde into following Orgrim's lead. The forces of the Blackrock clan are fanatically loyal to the Doomhammer and will serve him with their lives.''

Domain: Blackrock Spire, Azeroth

In Warcraft III
The Blackrock Clan was an orc faction. Among their ranks it counted peons, grunts, raiders, troll headhunters, ogre magi, catapults, warlocks, goblin sappers, goblin zeppelins, red dragons, a slave master, blademasters, and far seers. They appeared as a hostile faction in The Defense of Strahnbrad, Blackrock and Roll, and Blackrock & Roll, Too!.

Notes and trivia

 * Before Exploring Azeroth, it was stated that the Blackrocks managed to displace the dwarves in the upper portions of the city and push them into the Spire's lower parts, but only after the black dragonflight came and only after the death of Maim. Exploring Azeroth, however, says that after the Second War, the Blackrocks and Dark Iron struck a bargain, with the dwarves descending even deeper into the mountain, while the orcs occupied the higher levels.
 * Though on Draenor the clan worked the nearly indestructible Blackrock ore, once they settled in Blackrock Spire they instead started using dark iron as base component for their equipment.
 * The Blackrocks had strong ties to the Thunderlord clan.
 * At some points, members of the clan stole the Horns of Nez'ra from Ravenholdt Manor.
 * The Blackrock clan was described as a young clan in the game manual for Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. It was also said that the Black Tooth Grin clan was originally part of the Blackrock clan.
 * In older lore, the clan was also chosen at the start of the genocide of the draenei to perform the first orcish attack (against a draenei hunting party), due to the clan being based reasonably near Telmor, one of the smaller and more isolated draenei cities. This story was changed when the backstory of Draenor was solidified in Chronicle Volume 2.
 * The Blackrock clan was the main faction of orcs in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, and thus were in the most missions.
 * Despite their name, the Blackrock clan's color has always been red in the RTS games.

Skin
In Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, the dark gray skin of Rend's Blackrock orcs is explained as being due to the years they spent dwelling deep inside Blackrock Mountain without seeing the light of day. However, Warlords of Draenor, the Blackhand webcomic and a piece of artwork in Chronicle Volume 2 all depict the Blackrock orcs as having already had gray skin on Draenor, long before coming to dwell in Blackrock Mountain on Azeroth, implying that the origin of the skin color has been retconned. It can be speculated that the reason for the skin color being due to dwelling underground is still a valid explanation, but that it was a trait the Blackrocks always had due to dwelling in the caverns and mountains of Gorgrond rather than it being a trait they developed recently in Blackrock Mountain.

The skin color of modern-day Blackrock orcs is inconsistently depicted. Eitrigg was never a member of the Dark Horde but still has gray skin, whereas Varok Saurfang has green skin. A piece of artwork of a Blackrock orc in the Burning Steppes also depicts green skin rather than gray. Dranosh Saurfang on the other hand, has brown skin.

Several orcs in the new Horde, including Mok, Mokasa, General Krakork, Overlord Or'barokh, Armorer Orkuruk, General Ushet Wolfbarger, and Nassar, have the same skin color as Blackrock orcs, but it is not outright stated whether or not they are members of the clan.

In the new Horde
The Ultimate Visual Guide as well as the updated and expanded edition state that many Blackrock orcs were granted amnesty and joined the new Horde under Garrosh Hellscream. Tides of War had previously introduced Malkorok, with no mention of any other Blackrock orcs. It is unclear what happened to the rest of the Blackrocks, but it could be speculated that they sided with Garrosh, joining the Kor'kron and perishing during the Siege of Orgrimmar, just like Malkorok. Alternatively, they could still be alive and a part of the Horde following Garrosh's fall.
 * Some Kor'kron had dark gray skin and might have been Blackrocks, like the Kor'kron Assassins.