Originally a member of the Doomhammer clan, Orkahm was part of the first generation of orcs to be drawn under the Burning Legion's sway by the treacherous Ner'zhul. A proud warrior from an early age, Orkahm swiftly established himself as a fearsome slaughterer, even earning a small degree of renown among the other clans for his willingness to charge into combat against any opposition. A staunch follower of Orgrim Doomhammer, Orkahm's voice was among the first to celebrate Orgrim's overthrowing of the Shadow Council's puppet, Blackhand the Destroyer, and soon advanced to become a deeply trusted lieutenant of the new, far more strong-willed Warchief. As such, Orkahm was also the first swearing his allegiance to follow his mighty clan leader in vengeful wrath when the power-maddened Gul'dan betrayed the Horde at the climax of their campaign against the humans of Lordaeron.

The shattering defeat of the Horde at the hands of the rallying human forces that followed crushed Orkahm's spirit, as he until then had been utterly convinced of the Horde's unstoppable fury and might. To make matters worse, his own mate, a fierce, temperamental Frostwolf, was killed and her body hewn apart by vengeful human soldiers during the final moments of the last, decisive battle. A shadow of his former self, Orkahm was powerless to stop his entire contingent of warriors from being captured and imprisoned. As much as he could hope for a swift execution to end his misery, it was not to be as the Lordaeron internment camps were created in an effort to cull the orcs' bloodlust.

Like his brothers and sisters, Orkahm soon fell prey to the racial withdrawal of no longer being fueled by the fel energies of the Blood Curse. Effectively a captured enemy officer, he was also forced to endure repeated physical and psychological abuse by the more vindictive of the human overseers, who would go to increasingly cruel lengths to cajole a reaction out of the broken warrior. Eventually they grew tired of their games (and too wary of being reprimanded by their superiors) and regressed into subjecting Orkahm to extended periods of starvation and neglect.

The superiors inevitably noticed the deterioration of the aging orc, but rather than risk having accusations levered at their own leadership abilities, it was decided in secret to simply transfer Orkahm to a camp further from the capital. This cycle repeated itself until Orkahm ended up at the most recently constructed camp, all the way into the easternmost end of the Arathi Highlands. These camps were policed by younger officers that had only heard of the orcs' brutality through war veterans' ale-slurred stories and thus they paid slightly more attention to the general well-being of their charges. At this point, it was much too little too late, as Orkahm was so numbed by the collective lethargy of his people that he hardly registered his decrepit condition anymore. Somehow, inexplicably, he nevertheless continued to cling onto life.

The arrival of Thrall and his resurgent New Horde became the turning point for Orkahm, who at first could not believe the sight of the young heir of the Frostwolves appearing side by side with the old Doomhammer chief, spearheading a great swathe of armed Orc warriors. Far too weakened to join the imminent battle, Orkahm nevertheless managed to wrestle a human crossbowman to the ground out of sheer desperation and snatched up the soldier's massive pavise to act as a combined shield and battering ram. Wielding the pavise with all his remaining might, Orkahm managed to maintain a way of exit for the young, the old and the sickly to evacuate the camp, even as Thrall and Orgrim led a vicious counterattack to stall the newly arrived human reinforcements.

When Thrall reappeared from the flying cinders and smoke - wearing Orgrim's dented black armour, crackling warhammer in hand - it was almost enough to break Orkahm's soul a second time as the old veteran realised that his great leader, Doomhammer, had fallen, and he wept bitter tears. Then, as Thrall spoke to the freed prisoners that stood assembled around him, telling them of their new future, Orkahm felt the first shred of hope stir within. When, as a final incentive to accompany his words, Thrall called down the fury of heaven and earth in a grand display of his new shaman powers, Orkahm's mind was set.

Realising that his own body was beyond repair to ever serve as a warrior again, Orkahm rescinded his bloodstained past and swore allegiance to the new Warchief. Rather than slaying the enemies of the New Horde on the battlefield, Orkahm resolved to be a source of restoration and rejuvenation to his people, following the tenets of earth and water to strengthen and heal from within. In the wake of Mannoroth's death and the defeat of Archimonde, Orkahm came to fully embrace the young Warchief's vision of the Horde and the Alliance coexisting peacefully.

As Orkahm now continues to pursue his new path as a shaman of Earth, he also busies himself with the internal relations of the Horde itself, often travelling between the various capitals of the individual factions to study and befriend.