Many years ago, before the First War, Gul'dan exiled an Orc clan, the Frostwolf clan to a isolated valley deep within the Alterac Mountains, to the west of Hillsbrad Foothills, after they refused to drink the blood of Mannoroth. For years, the Frostwolves, who were once led by Thrall's father, Durotan, withstood their hostile environment, until Thrall unified all Orc clans under a single banner.
Despite the unification, Drek'Thar, the Frostwolf chief, elected to keep his clan in their newfound home.
Unfortunately, the Dwarves of the Stormpike Expedition had only recently taken up residence north of the Valley in search of natural resources, ancient titan relics, and any artefacts that could shed light on the history of their own race.
Note: Stormpike Dwarves had already been established in Alterac long before the arrival of the Frostwolves. The valley that we now know as Alterac Valley was merely one of many valleys bordering the Alterac Mountains.
Led by Magni Bronzebeard, the leader of the Stormpike Expedition, received an order to take control of the valley and to deal with any resistance to their expansion with lethal force.
Believing to hold a claim on the valley, the encroachment of the Dwarfs into Horde territory incited conflict between the Frostwolves and the Stormpikes, leading the latter to appeal to the Stormpike Guard, a heavily armed Dwarven army, for help against these incursions, which the captain of the Stormpike Guard, Vanndar Stormpike, would view as the work of savages. The Dwarven captain's order was as clear as day: wipe out the Frostwolves to their last, with Vanndar believing that only by killing Drek'thar would they be able to drive the Orcs out of the valley.
Drek'thar saw the Dwarven expansion as an invasive attack on a territory that his clan had long since claimed many years earlier. The Frostwolf chief wished to avoid reaching a peace agreement with the Dwarfs at all costs, instead sharing Vanndar's desire to wipe out his enemy completely, their leader included. Drek'thar also believed that the Stormpikes were copying his clan's defensive strategy, giving him the upper-hand from a strategic point of view.
