“The troubles of the world were multiplying at a rapid pace.
The armistice between the Alliance and the Horde was tenuous at best. Major battles gradually erupted in strategic locations like Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin, bringing the two faction closer to all-out war.
Of greater concern were threats from outside the Horde and the Alliance. In Mulgore, the tauren dealt with encroaching bands of primitive creatures called quilboar. In Elwynn Forest, human villages were besieged by kobold thieves and diseased wildlife. In Durotar, centaur warbands plotted to take over the outlying orcish lands. The crises seemed endless. On every continent, in every nation, in every region, chaos was spreading, threatening to become catastrophe.
What the Horde and the Alliance did not realize was that this explosion of disorder was partially the work of the Old Gods. The entities were subtly fanning the flames of conflict to weaken the world’s nations. If left unchecked, those small sparks would have spread to ignite a roaring wildfire of destruction.
But they never had a chance to spread. It was not the legendary heroes of the past wars who rose up to fight for their world; it was the ordinary citizens of Azeroth who intervened. They began their journeys for different reasons. Some fought for adventure or for the noble cause of justice. Some fought for vengeance and to join the war against a hated faction. Some even fought for money and looked for ways to profit from conflicts. Still others fought for glory, so that their names would be remembered by the entire world. And some traveled alone, while others formed mighty guilds that worked together to fight against the darkness.
As the years passed, these extraordinary champions would be called upon to do the impossible. Without them, Azeroth would surely have succumbed to evil.”
W Asimov 