Internment camps Following the conclusion of the Second War , the surviving orcs were rounded up and imprisoned in internment camps , the majority of which were under the watch of Aedelas Blackmoore , headquartered at Durnholde Keep . Surprisingly , the orcish prisoners seemed to lose their energy over time and acted more and more apathetic and resigned to their fates . Fights , whether between two prisoners or between prisoners and guards , decreased in frequency until they were virtually unheard of . The once fearsome race of warriors had become a pitiful people to whom even moving around didn ' t seem worth the effort , and many prisoners could be seen sitting in their own filth . Some in the Alliance became worried that these were symptoms of some sort of disease , and that it might be contagious and contractible by other races . But Antonidas of the Kirin Tor developed a different theory as to the reason for this dramatic change in behavior , a theory which proved to be correct : the orcs had been under the influence of demonic and warlock magics for so long that they had become unable to function without them . The orcish prisoners were suffering withdrawal symptoms . Most of the people with whom he shared his theory saw no reason to do anything to cure the orcs of their condition , something which the compassionate Antonidas had unsuccessfully attempted to do on his own . After all , these were the same orcs who had conquered Azeroth and slaughtered countless humans , and now they had become as harmless as sheep . Few people considered that to be a bad thing . Because the prisoners at the camps had gone so long without making trouble , security measures had become very lax . Since nobody ever tried to escape , fewer and fewer guards were assigned to each camp and the walls were easy to scale if one were so inclined — which one never was , until the capture of Thrall . After having been raised as a slave by Blackmoore , Thrall finally escaped only to be captured again by a human patrol . But the soldiers did not recognize him as Blackmoore ' s slave and mistook him for just another orc left over from the war . They secured him in a net and dragged him to the camp ( literally ) , where he was shocked to see the race of mighty warriors he had been told he belonged to in such a state . After speaking with some of the prisoners , learning about their condition and being told that Grom Hellscream was one of the few orcs who had managed to overcome the listlessness , eluding capture and continuing to harass the Alliance with his remaining soldiers , a prisoner approached Thrall and told him that Blackmoore had arrived at the camp to retrieve him . Realizing he had to leave , it was a simple matter for Thrall to climb the wall and run off when nobody was paying attention ( after creating a distraction by having two orcs fight inside the camp ( from Lord of the Clans ) ) . Some time later Thrall joined forces with Orgrim Doomhammer , Hellscream , and the Frostwolf Clan which he had discovered he belonged to . He infiltrated one of the camps by allowing himself to be captured once more . While there he spoke to the prisoners , convincing them that their freedom was worth fighting for and demonstrating his newfound shaman powers . He proved quite effective at inspiring them , since when Hellscream and Doomhammer finally raided the camp the prisoners overcame their lethargy and joined in the fight , overwhelming the guards and gaining their freedom . The process was repeated again and again and with each raid the orcish forces grew stronger , and the spirits of the orcs were buoyed more and more in spite of the lack of demonic energies upon which they had grown dependent . Beginning of the Internment Camps . From Chapter IV , The Invasion of Draenor on the Official site : From Chapter IV , The Battle of Grim Batol on the Official site : Lethargy of the Orcs . From Chapter IV Lethargy of the Horde on Official site : Fall of the Interment Camps . From Chapter IV , The New Horde on the Official site : Internment camps today . Today , most internment camps lie in ruins . They include :