Before Expansions - The Story of Four Years Passing

We were first introduced to the World of Warcraft four years after the conclusion of Warcraft III. Events had progressed, some surprisingly so - the undead forces under Sylvanas Windrunner, the self-styled Banshee Queen, has joined Thrall's New Horde while the night elves of Kalimdor (formerly part of a triple alliance with Jaina Proudmoore's forces of survivors from Lordaeron and Thrall's Horde) had chosen to ally themselves with the humans against the orcs. The peace won with the defeat of Archimonde was sliding inexorably towards war.

Unseen and unheard of during the Legion's advance, the humans of Stormwind had completed the reconstruction of their city, but not all was well - with tensions on the rise outside her walls and a conflict with the masons who'd helped rebuild those walls in the shadows, Stormwind could ill-afford the disappearance of her King - yet Varian Wrynn was gone, lost on a mysterious diplomatic errand, and in his place his young son Anduin, still only a boy, ruled the city. His rule was tenuous, more a figurehead, and real power lay in the hand of Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Lady Katrana Prestor.