Shadow Council (alternate universe)

The Shadow Council is a group of mortal warlocks that serve the demons of the Burning Legion.

Its symbol was Headpiece of the Shadow Council, which topped staff.

History
The Shadow Council was founded by Gul'dan of the, who was contacted by the demon lords of the Burning Legion. He gained the support of many orcs and ogres, and also managed to gain the allegiance of the traitorous draenei known as the Sargerei.

Warlords of Draenor
A part of the council is captured by the Iron Horde in order to use to open and maintain the Dark Portal. , and Teron'gor are inside Fel Spires near the Portal. They are freed during the assault by the Horde and Alliance. Another group of warlock prisoners had been transported to Grommashar where they faced ogres from the.

Following their escape from the Iron Horde, the Shadow Council regrouped in Gul'var/the Gloomspire (depending on the player's faction). While Khadgar and Cordana Felsong hunt them down, Gul'dan sends Teron'gor to in Talador to "bleed them dry", and Cho'gall to Oshu'gun in  so that he can subjugate, to which Cho'gall responds that "the pale are the key."

Gul'dan flees after being found by an Adventurer working with Khadgar, but not before having Razuun/Giselda the Beautiful attack the Adventurer as a distraction. He later sends to assassinate Khadgar, but Garona is fought off by Cordana and flees.

Talador has a heavy Shadow Council presence, with both and  under its occupation and  under attack. Shadow Council forces are able to steal the Heart of Auchindoun, though defenders are able to keep pieces out of their and reacquire them. Shadow Council warlocks in the northwest are draining life from the land, preparing to summon a demon lord.

In Nagrand, Cho'gall transforms K'ure into a void god and turns against Gul'dan. He goes on to invade Highmaul, where he meets his demise.

Socrethar meets his end when the Sunsworn and make a move to reclaim Shattrath.

Fury of Hellfire
After the death of, Cordana helped Khadgar break Garona free of Gul'dan's control, with the use of a Shadow Council Orb of Dominion. After using it to break Gul'dan's hold over Garona's mind, Cordana took the orb away to destroy it. Even as Gul'dan lost his personal assassin, the warlock to gain control of the Iron Horde by re-offering the demon blood. However, still refuses and moves to strike Gul'dan down. The latter effortlessly incapacitates Grommash and opens the offer of demon blood to all orcs present, many of whom struggle with the decision of whether or not to accept. Ultimately it's Kilrogg who steps up to drink from the crude chalice, despite Grommash's urgent warnings. Once Kilrogg drinks the demon blood he quickly mutates into a fel orc and Gul'dan takes control of the Iron Horde.

With their master in control of the Iron Horde, the Shadow Council freely operates within Tanaan Jungle as they aid the new Fel Horde. Sometime after a group of arakkoa led by Shadow-Sage Iskar join up with the Shadow Council with some members seeking an end to the Curse of Sethe and others merely power-hungry. The Shadow Council is then able to aid their master in acquiring The Cipher of Damnation to Gul'dan. However defects from the Shadow Council and aids the commander in thwarting Gul'dan's plans for the cipher by killing the insane Cyrukh.

Meanwhile it is soon discovered that rather than destroy the Orb of Dominion, Cordana fell to its influence and the warden become corrupted from afar. When the commander brought her a number of Tomes of Chaos from to destroy, she instead attempted to use the fel magic within them to take the ring Khadgar had given the commander. The commander was forced to fight her until she retreated through a demonic portal, vowing that the Burning Legion would soon come to destroy Azeroth. Khadgar was visibly stricken with grief at her betrayal.

Determined to put a stop to Gul'dan, Khadgar sends adventures into to end the warlock's once and for all. This assault devastates the Shadow Council as many of its members and senior leadership are slain, with even their burning masters falling to the might of Azeroth's champions. However Gul'dan himself lived, by being thrown threw the Black Gate by Archimonde in his dying act. Upon the demon lords' death Grommash and Khadgar have proclaimed that Draenor is free

Grommash, Yrel, and turning their attention to rebuilding, could signify that the Shadow Council has been destroyed or has been weakened to the point the Draenor leadership feels that they are no longer a threat.

Legion
During the Burning Legion's Assault on Violet Hold, several appearing orc and ogre warlocks are tagged as members of the Shadow Council. They respectively look like Tanaan Jungle fel orcs and spellcasters of the Gorian Empire, indicating that they come from the alternate Shadow Council instead of their Azeroth self.

Members
The shape of this Shadow Council is unclear. The original Shadow Council had at least seven circles, the Inner Circle being the Seventh, and both Razuun and Giselda the Beautiful are being described as "inner council members".

Groups

 * Gorebound
 * Sargerei

Trivia

 * In the Warlords of Draenor alpha, the was Gul'dan's main force, contradicting the statement from the Warcraft II manual (though The Last Guardian implies the Stormreavers existed on Draenor in some form) that Gul'dan made it after the orcs reached Azeroth. However, this was corrected early in the beta testing and the Stormreavers were replaced with the Shadow Council with all references to the clan changed.
 * Despite the fact described above, in the Gul'dan and the Stranger comic that was released before Warlords of Draenor Gul'dan was shown to be surrounded by guards wearing blue garments reminiscent of the Stormreaver clan.
 * The Shadow Council was intended to receive more intention than what was provided in Warlords of Draenor. According to Ion Hazzikostas, they were not given the attention due to the focus on wrapping up the expansion's core storyline.
 * In the Warlords of Draenor beta, Acolyte Vexaar was a member of the Shadow Council.

Speculation
While there are no orcs clearly associated with the, it can be speculated that, similarly as Tagar, the clan's members were assimilated into the Shadow Council and probably make up the Council's members.