Anduin Lothar

Lord **Anduin Lothar**, the Lion of Azeroth, was the last true descendant of the ancient Arathi bloodline, a knight champion of the Kingdom of Azeroth during the First War, and the supreme commander of the armies of the Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second War. He perished in combat at the base of Blackrock Mountain against the orc Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer just before the end of the Second War and the closing of the Dark Portal. He is considered one of the greatest warriors of all time. King Varian Wrynn named his son, Anduin Llane Wrynn after him.

## Biography

### Before the War

Sired and raised in the Kingdom of Azeroth, Lothar grew up in the royal court as a childhood friend of both the Prince Llane Wrynn I and Medivh. The trio shared many adventures in the Azerothian wilderness in their youth. Upon coming of age, Lothar joined Stormwind's military, quickly becoming part of the King's Honor Guard. He was later knighted and rose to the position of Grandmaster in the Brotherhood of the Horse.

### The First War

When the Orcish Horde first arrived in Azeroth and launched their initial attack on Stormwind Keep, Lothar aggressively advocated taking the battle to them. King Adamant Wrynn III shared Lothar's view and therefore pledged to rid his beloved land of the orcs. The king died, however, before that pledge could ever be fulfilled, and was succeeded by his son Llane Wrynn I. The new king continued his father's work, and the battles against the orcs raged on. Llane named Lothar his lieutenant-at-arms and together they led Stormwind's armies against the orcish Horde. During this time, the orcish invaders were held back to the Swamp of Sorrows.

At one point during the War, the Tome of Divinity, a book of great value to the Clerics of Northshire, was stolen by a rogue band of ogres led by the ogre lord Turok. Lothar led an expedition into the ogres' hideout, the Deadmines in Westfall, in an attempt to recover the tome, but were completely overrun and held captive to be killed slowly. Lothar remained imprisoned within the caves for twenty months before he and his few surviving men were saved by Azerothian troops. He retrieved the Tome of Divinity and returned to Stormwind, safeguarding the book at Northshire Abbey. Reintroduced to the conflict, Lothar continued to lead the forces of Stormwind against the orcs.

Lothar was shocked when the wizard Khadgar, the apprentice to his old friend Medivh, arrived to tell him that the great mage had betrayed humankind by summoning the orcs into Azeroth. Despite this information, Llane could hardly believe that the magus would willingly betray Azeroth and that all his actions could be justified as part of a brilliant scheme. Llane felt confident in Medivh's allegiance and that his army and Medivh would be enough to beat back the Horde. Forced to choose between his convictions and his loyalty to the king, Lothar chose to follow his instincts and personally led a force to storm Karazhan and kill Medivh. The band of troops, along with Lothar, Khadgar, and the half-orc Garona, descended into the lower tower and confronted the mad guardian. Khadgar finally managed to stab Medivh in the heart, and Lothar removed his head with one swipe from his greatsword.

Unfortunately, the death of Medivh could not stop the rampaging onslaught of the Horde. Lothar and his warriors,

 File:Lothar travis fimmel style by kriscooper-d89y8fl.jpg
 returning home from Karazhan, hoped to stem the loss of life and save their once-glorious homeland. Instead, they returned too late and found their beloved kingdom in smoking ruins and their courageous king murdered. The orcish Horde continued to ravage the countryside and claimed the surrounding lands for its own. Forced into hiding, Lothar and his companions swore a grim oath to reclaim their homeland at any cost. Lothar, knowing that the Kingdom of Azeroth had been lost, decided to save what remained of his once mighty people. He gathered the tattered remnants of the army and as many civilians as he could save and led them in a desperate retreat across the Great Sea, eventually landing upon the shores of the Kingdom of Lordaeron.

### The Second War

With Llane dead and Prince Varian still in his minority, Lothar - as Knight-Champion - acted as Varian's regent until Stormwind could be retaken. Once he arrived in the court of King Terenas Menethil II of Lordaeron with Varian and the Archmage Khadgar, the apprentice of Medivh, Lothar told his dire story to all who would listen. Lothar's eloquent pleas ultimately brought the human kingdoms together for an emergency council, where his friend Terenas' masterful politics created the Alliance of Lordaeron. Having been contacted by Terenas with Lothar's tale, the normally aloof high elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas sent a contingent of their forces, knowing that they could finally pay off their debt to the Arathi bloodline for saving their lands during the Troll Wars. The Wildhammer Clan dwarves of the Kingdom of Aerie Peak were attacked by the Horde as well and quickly pledged themselves to Lothar. The Alliance was later joined by the Bronzebeard Clan of dwarves from the Kingdom of Ironforge and gnomes of Gnomeregan, who had been forced out of their lands by the Horde's advance.

Because of his great skill in warfare and his experience in battling with the orcs, and because the kings of the north were not comfortable placing their troops in the command of a rival nation, Lothar - a neutral party - was named the Supreme Commander of the Alliance forces. He quickly named Turalyon his second-in-command, and Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, Uther the Lightbringer, and Khadgar as his lieutenants. Lothar was 57 years old by the time the orcs had reached the shores of Lordaeron. Throughout the Second War he led his forces from battle to battle with valor and skill. After the Horde's mysterious retreat from Lordaeron and Grand Admiral Proudmoore's naval victories against the Horde in the Baradin Sea, Lothar led the armies of the Alliance to liberate much of Khaz Modan (meeting up with Muradin and Brann Bronzebeard) and Azeroth, eventually breaching the Black Morass itself. Lord Lothar, seeing that the Horde was fracturing from within, gathered the last of his forces and pushed Orgrim Doomhammer south, back into the shattered heartland of Stormwind. There, the Alliance forces trapped the retreating Horde within the volcanic fortress of Blackrock Spire. Lothar was killed at the foot of Blackrock Spire after a force of Alliance troops under his command was ambushed by Horde forces.

He became separated from the main body of his troops in what is perhaps the greatest battle in Azeroth's history. Amid the chaos, he was forced into combat with Orgrim Doomhammer, Warchief of the Horde; after a long and draining fight, Lothar was defeated in single combat after his sword was shattered by the Doomhammer, his skull crushed by a powerful blow from the legendary weapon. However, many others believe that Doomhammer did not win fairly and Lothar was killed after being ambushed by a group of the Horde's warriors. This is reinforced by children in Stormwind who say Lothar fought with his bare hands after his sword was shattered and killed several dozen orcs before his heroic demise. Regardless, his blade fell from his dead grasp, though it did not lie for long.

Doomhammer believed that Lothar's death would break the fighting spirit of his forces, but what happened was quite the opposite. After Lothar's death, his most trusted general, Turalyon, took up his shield and sword and led the armies of the Alliance to eventual victory over the Blackrock Spire's defenses; allowing Lothar's old ally and friend, Khadgar, to later destroy the Dark Portal.

### Legacy and Memorial

Anduin Lothar did not live to see his beloved homeland freed from orc control and rebuilt, but a massive stone statue depicting Lothar in his final charge was built (by orcish prisoners of the Alliance no less) and still stands in the Burning Steppes, pointing defiantly towards Blackrock Spire. Lord Lothar's legacy lives on in all the free peoples of Stormwind. The current crown-prince of the nation bears Lothar's name.

The Alliance Expedition to Draenor, led by veterans who had fought alongside Lothar in the Second War, named themselves the Sons of Lothar "in honor of the greatest, most selfless man we ever knew", as Khadgar relates it. The Monument of Remembrance in Honor Hold was also built as a memorial to everything he fought for.

Sometime during his life, Lothar wrote what is considered to be an ultimate compendium of battle strategy, simply titled A Treatise on Strategy.