Cairne Bloodhoof Cairne Bloodhoof was the Chief of the united tribes of the tauren , chieftain of the Bloodhoof , and leader of Thunder Bluff . Allying with the Horde upon its arrival on the shores of Kalimdor , Cairne stood as one of its wisest and most venerated leaders . He wielded the shaman - blessed Bloodhoof Runespear . Cairne is voiced by William Bassett . Biography . The fearless and wizened leader of the Bloodhoof Tauren , Cairne lived near the shores of the Great Sea in the Barrens . Cairne was a peerless warrior and a wise leader of his ancient people . Though slowed somewhat by the weight of age , Cairne still possessed great strength and valor . This great hearted giant knew that his people are in grave danger of extermination from the marauding centaurs . However , he never gave up hope of one day finding a way to lead his people to a new land where they can make their home and live in peace . However , between the centaur marauders ' savage attacks on his people and their hunting of local game to near extinction , Cairne planned to relocate his tribe to the verdant lands of Mulgore . But with centaur attacks growing more and more frequent , Cairne knew that on the open plains they would not be able to defeat them , and he quickly began to lose hope . Things changed when Cairne met Thrall , the young warchief of the new orc ish Horde , and , watching him battle and destroy a group of centaurs who had been attacking a tauren , he became intrigued with their nobility and savagery . When Thrall told him that they came to look for their destiny , Cairne directed him to the north , where there was an Oracle . Thrall reported seeing an army of centaur going north , and Cairne quickly left to defend his village . Thrall brought his followers with him , and followed Cairne to defend the village . After defending against wave after wave of centaur warriors , Cairne told Thrall of his plight , and Thrall vowed to protect the caravan of Tauren as they crossed the barrens to Mulgore , in exchange for the location of the Oracle . Cairne and Thrall managed to evade and defeat the centaur marauders , and finally made it to Mulgore . Cairne told Thrall that the Oracle was within Stonetalon Peak , and bid him good luck . Upon arriving at Stonetalon , Thrall was surprised to find that Cairne had sought him out , and pledged to repay the debt they owed Thrall and the Horde . Cairne enlisted the wyvern s to help them , and helped to free them from the harpies . He then helped to claim the peak from the human s so that they could enter freely . However , Jaina Proudmoore entered first . Cairne and Thrall split upon entering the bowels of Stonetalon , and Cairne found an enchanted spirit stone that would activate an ethereal bridge towards the Oracle . When they found the Oracle , Cairne and Thrall found Jaina already there . All three spoke to the Oracle , whom Thrall recognised as the prophet which instructed him to go to Kalimdor , and he told them that they must all ally if they wished to defeat the Burning Legion . The three hesitantly agreed . Cairne ' s wisdom and strength , and the power of his tauren warriors , helped Thrall to reclaim Grom Hellscream . In a combined effort , the sorcery of all three races were needed to purge the demon ic influence from Hellscream . United in arms , Cairne pledged the loyalty of his race to the Horde , and together , they managed to defeat the Burning Legion once again . Cairne helped the orcs establish their new nation of Durotar before bidding them farewell and leaving to take his own people to a new land in Mulgore . There , they established a strong defense against the centaurs and harpies who harassed them . Several months later , however , Cairne ' s son , Baine Bloodhoof , was captured by centaurs . Cairne feared the worst , and slipped into a lethargic depression . His followers scrambled to lead their people adequately , but they were no substitute for Cairne ' s wisdom . His second , Tagar , tried to help Cairne , but Cairne would not hear of it . Tagar feared that without the leadership of Cairne , the tauren would not last long . When Rexxar and Rokhan arrived to ask Cairne for the tauren ' s assistance in the coming battle against Admiral Proudmoore and his Kul Tiras forces , Cairne told them to leave him and tell Thrall that he had died . Tagar told the heroes of Baine ' s capture , and they quickly left to investigate his disappearance . With the help of Bovan Windtotem , they recovered Baine and returned him to his happy father . Cairne , overjoyed , told Rexxar that not only would he pledge the service of his people to Thrall once more , he would be returning himself . He joined with Rexxar ' s band of warriors and returned to Dustwallow , and then helped to repel Proudmoore ' s forces . Victorious , they then took the fight to the humans and ended Proudmoore ' s invasion . Cairne returned to his people and his son in Mulgore . Cairne also recognized that the nomadic traditions of tauren society were a danger to the survival of the people . There were few tauren , and their wandering lifestyle meant that they would be vulnerable to attacks by centaur , quilboar and other races . With the help of the Horde , Cairne secured the grasslands of Mulgore as a permanent home for the tauren , and constructed their first city high atop Thunder Bluff . Cairne is dedicated to serving his people and to watching over their safety in an ever - darkening world . An outstanding warrior , Cairne is considered one of the most dangerous creatures alive . Despite his strength and valor , he is a gentle soul who longs only for the peace and tranquility of the open plains . It is rumored that if he could lay the responsibilities of chieftain on another , Cairne would leave Thunder Bluff in an instant and retire to the wilds . Many believe that he is training his son , Baine , to take his place as chieftain one fateful day . " Cairne Bloodhoof employed only tauren holy strider s , out of respect of their long heritage . Although his demeanor did not suggest a covert mind , Cairne does not disclose how many holy striders he employed , only that they are all tauren . Perith Stormhoof , a notable holy strider works only for Cairne Bloodhoof and kept many of his leader ’ s secrets ( even secrets Thrall doesn ’ t know ) . Cairne was the spiritual leader for the tauren tribes in Kalimdor . He had an incredibly strong connection with the environment and deeply respected both the elemental forces and the natural beasts of the wild . Cairne was an extremely wise individual , but his lumbering demeanor often comes across as ponderously slow to members of other races . He always prefered to contemplate problems before acting to try to solve them , and frequently meditated for several days in a row without interruption . However , when he did decide to act , Cairne could rarely be deterred from his path . He fought with incredible passion , but was never out of control . He prefered to observe his enemies before fighting them so that he could more fully understand their strengths and weaknesses . Cairne had a very trusting attitude toward orcs and greatly respects their newly shamanistic culture . Night elves are likewise regarded positively because of their strong connection with the woodland environment . However , he usually avoided humans , dwarves and goblins ; and if they had to be dealt with , he tended to treat them in a patronizing manner . Cairne believed that the spiritual eyes of these races have not fully opened yet , and that members of these races are , in essence , children who are still learning and must be coddled . He had great disdain for the arcane practices of high elves and deeply resented their abandonment of the natural ways . In World of Warcraft . Cairne Bloodhoof is a level ? ? faction leader located on the High Rise in the tauren city of Thunder Bluff . He starts the quest . He ends the quest ( Feast of Winter Veil ) . Cairne honors members of the Horde who attain the title of Loremaster by delivering to them their . See List of Thunder Bluff NPCs . Tactics . Thunder Bluff is a very easy city to get into . It can be underguarded by Horde players so you do not always have to worry about them . Get the entire raid onto an elevator and go up . However , if word of incoming Alliance raids reaches the Horde , it is likely that shamans and balance druids will blow players off the platforms , making it much much more difficult to get to him . Run straight for the giant totem pole in the center and run up it to Cairne ' s rise . go to the center of the little amphitheater and AoE all the guards that you pulled . Then pull and kill Cairne . Cairne isn ' t as difficult to deal with as the other Horde bosses , Cairne has several knock back attacks that he will use on the tank as well as a random charge . The main tank should immediately run behind Cairne , The rest of the raid should filter out , but must not go beyond the first set of tents , as if Cairne charges them he will run back to his tent and reset . Without the worry of a reset Cairne is a really simple fight and can be downed without much resistance . In Cataclysm . During the Story & Lore panel of BlizzCon 2009 an artwork of Cairne and Thrall rescuing babies is shown , Chris Metzen described it as : " so bad ass " . Shocked at the rumors that the new Warchief slaughtered innocent druids , Cairne challenged Garrosh Hellscream to an honorable duel in the arena of Orgrimmar . Prior to the battle , Magatha Grimtotem offered to bless Garrosh ' s weapon , Gorehowl . However , unknown to Garrosh , Magatha secretly poisoned the weapon with a potent toxin . During the course of the fight , Cairne appeared to have the upper hand until his ancient Bloodhoof Runespear was shattered by Gorehowl . Garrosh attacked again , cutting Cairne along his chest . As Cairne began to retaliate , the poison from Gorehowl sank into his blood , weakening him . As he died from the poison he realized Magatha ' s betrayal , his final thought " " And so , I , who have lived my whole life with honor , die betrayed " " . His body was taken to Thunder Bluff , and after the uprising of the Grimtotem and retaking of Thunder Bluff by his son , Baine , Cairne ' s remains are placed upon a pyre along with the shattered debris of his Runespear . Thrall returns to mourn him , devastated by the loss of his friend . In a final farewell and show of honor to his friend , Thrall took a small piece of the shattered Runespear with him . Baine then succeeded his father as leader of the Horde Tauren .