Imperator Hok'lon

Hok'lon
Race:	Ogre
Title(s):	Imperator Sorcerer-King
Occupation:	Imperator of the Gorian Empire
Affiliation:	Gorian Empire
Status:	Deceased

Imperator Hok'lon was an Imperator of the Gorian Empire. Hok'lon is most famously known for his war against the Draenei upon learning of their construction of Shattrath City. Hok'lon led a brief, grandiose, and entirely unsuccessful campaign to reclaim the area for the Gorian Empire and died in the attempt.

History

Hok'lon lived during Highmaul during the century following the Draenei's crash-landing on Draenor. Following the demise of Goria three centuries earlier, the official capital of the Gorian Empire had been moved to Highmaul in Nagrand. Though the Empire had been felt a grievous blow by the loss of Goria and all of their most prominent arcanists, it yet endured, struggling to hold on to what power it could. Upon learning of the Draenei's eventual decision to construct Shattrath upon the presently unsettled land which had once been home to the greatest civilization Draenor had ever seen, Hok'lon used this offense to the ogres to claim the title of Imperator upon a wave of popular support.

Hok'lon incited his people to wage war by publicly sneering at the draenei, which he called "usurpers". It was seen as a unforgivable insult for these small, weak newcomers to build a city on the bones of the Gorian Empire's great capital, but Shattrath's sleek construction and otherworldly defenses gave the ogres pause. Nothing like their technology had ever been seen on Draenor before, and even some their weakest apprentices had more refined and effective magical techniques than even advanced ogre sorcerers. Hok'lon believed that the draenei had stolen their power using hidden knowledge left beneath the old capital. A gifted sorcerer himself, Hok'lon declared that he would conquer Shattrath. He promised that Highmaul would become the center of a new, enlightened Gorian Empire once the draenei had been slaughtered. The draenei had even already rebuilt their city for them. Bladespire and Highmaul's aristocracies, eager to claim the new city for themselves, threw their support behind Hok'lon.

An ogre army made of the finest soldiers Highmaul and distant Bladespire Hold could provide marched on Shattrath. The gorians vastly outnumbered the draenei, but the city's defenses easily repelled their first attack. As the ogres regrouped, Rangari and Vindicators launched surprise counterattacks from multiple directions. The High Vindicator Akama led an elite force of holy warriors that included two of his greatest followers, Maraad and Nobundo. They found and killed Hok'lon and his generals, leaving the ogre forces in disarray. Rather than slaughter their foes, the draenei then immediately returned to Shattrath. The draenei leader, Velen, appeared on Shattrath's ramparts, wreathed in the Light and speaking with a voice that rumbled through the heavens: "Go home, and you will not be harmed". The ogres fled. The grandiose war that was meant to revive the Gorian Empire had fallen after one attack, and the Highmaul ogres never attempted a frontal assault on the draenei again.

Legacy

Hok'lon's legacy as Imperator is mixed. He can be considered the last Imperator to rule over a united Gorian Empire. His ambition to reclaim Goria's land for the Gorian empire made him extremely popular during his short reign. Following his disastrous defeat at Shattrath, the Ogre clans would never truly come together under one Imperator in the same way again. Other accounts of Hok'lon's reign are less generous, who consider Hok'lon a fool who wasted the flower of Gorian youth in a hopeless war. He is still remembered more for his successes than his defeats, however.

Imperator of the Gorian Empire
Preceded by Imperator Molok (Earliest known)	Imperator Hok'lon	Succeeded by Imperator Kelgrok (Earliest known claimant)