World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 (15 page)

T
HE
D
RAGONFLAYERS AND THE
L
ONG
S
LUMBER

The Dragonflayers struggled to purge themselves of the curse of flesh in many ways. Despite all of their efforts, they would remain addled and weakened by the affliction. Eventually, these vrykul would place themselves in hibernation in the hopes of staving off the curse of flesh
.

THE NIGHT ELF CAPITAL OF ZIN-AZSHARI

F
or generation after generation, life bloomed across the ordered world of Azeroth. Nowhere was this more evident than in the dense woodlands around the
Well of Eternity. The fount of Azeroth’s arcane lifeblood accelerated the cycles of growth and rebirth. Before long, sentient beings evolved from the land’s primitive life-forms.

Among the first and most prolific were the
trolls, a race of savage hunter-gatherers who flourished in Azeroth’s jungles and forests. Though the trolls were of only average intelligence, they possessed incredible agility and strength. Their unique physiology also allowed them to recover from physical injuries at an astonishing rate, and they could even regenerate lost limbs over time.

The early trolls developed a wide array of superstitious customs. Some practiced cannibalism and devoted themselves to warfare. A rare few sought knowledge through mystic practices and meditation. Still others honed their ties to a dark and powerful form of magic known as voodoo. Yet no matter their individual customs, what all trolls shared was a common religion that revolved around Kalimdor’s elusive
Wild Gods. The trolls called these powerful beings “
loa,” and they worshipped them as deities.

Due to their reverence for the Wild Gods, the trolls gathered near a series of peaks and plateaus in southern Kalimdor. This was home to many of their honored loa. The trolls gave the holy mountain range the name
Zandalar, and soon they built small encampments upon its slopes.

The most powerful group of trolls was called the Zandalar tribe. Its members claimed nearly all of Zandalar’s tallest plateaus, believing them to be sacred ground. Atop the highest peaks they constructed a small cluster of crude shrines. In time, these grew into a bustling temple city known as
Zuldazar.

THE ZANDALARI TROLL CAPITAL, ZULDAZAR

Over the next several centuries, other tribes arose to challenge the Zandalari for territory and power. The most notable of these were the fearsome
Gurubashi,
Amani, and
Drakkari. The Gurubashi and Amani in particular laid claim to enormous swaths of land in Kalimdor’s lush jungles and woods. On occasion, tribes clashed, often over hunting grounds. Yet major conflicts were few, and rarely lengthy. Trolls were such skilled and fierce fighters that any real conflict would cost both sides dearly. Untouched land was plentiful in all directions, and the various tribes quickly learned it was wiser to resettle than risk war.

Only one place was forbidden by the tribes’ witch doctors and priests: a small mound of blackened stone at the base of the Zandalar Mountains. The loa warned the tribes’ mystics of severe consequences should they disturb the black stones. For many years, none of the trolls dared disobey.

But curiosity eventually won out.

A group of rebellious trolls plumbed the forbidden mound. They discovered that the black stones were not mere rocks—they were the jagged hide of a monstrous creature. None of the trolls had ever seen anything like it. They believed it to be an undiscovered loa, and a powerful one at that, considering that the other spirits were frightened of it. The trolls performed vile rituals and living sacrifices to awaken the slumbering monstrosity.

Roused by the blood offerings, a gigantic
C’Thraxxi general emerged from its long slumber and ruthlessly slaughtered all those who had revived it. The trolls were unaware that this was
Kith’ix, the being who had survived the encounter with Keeper Tyr. Gravely wounded, the C’Thrax had fled southwest to what would be known as the Zandalar Mountains before collapsing into a deep hibernation. Reeling from its presence, the ancient loa inhabiting the area had buried Kith’ix beneath the earth so that no other creature would disturb it.

The awoken C’Thrax looked upon troll civilization with contempt, for it was but a pale shadow of the
Black Empire of eons past. Kith’ix knew it would delight the
Old Gods to see this pitiful civilization rent to ashes. The C’Thrax reached out with its mind and found a race of creatures it could control—the aqir. In the ages after the fall of the Black Empire, these insectoids had remained hidden in small warrens and tunnels beneath the ground.

Kith’ix rallied the aqiri swarms, driving them to make war and establish their dominance over Azeroth once again. As the C’Thrax expanded its power and recovered, the insectoids began building a vast subterranean empire known as
Azj’Aqir. Kith’ix patiently watched and waited as the aqiri ranks swelled in number. When the time was right, the C’Thrax led the insectoids from their underground empire, and they swept across the land.

The trolls’ experience as hunters made them formidable foes, but the aqiri threat was unlike any they had ever faced. Numerous smaller tribes fell before the unrelenting insectoids’ legions.

As the aqir encroached perilously close to the Zandalar Mountains, the Zandalari moved to act. They united the disparate troll tribes into a single mighty force, which they called the Empire of Zul. The members of this newly forged society would put aside their differences and work together to destroy the aqir.

The Zandalari took on the role of commanding the troll armies. With their temple city looming high in the mountains, they could detect enemy movements and direct attacks at weak points. Under the Zandalari’s guidance, the other trolls used ambush tactics in the surrounding jungles to whittle down the enemy’s numbers. Elsewhere, revered priests summoned the loa to assail their enemies. These ferocious
Wild Gods joined the troll warriors in battle, ripping through the aqiri ranks and even wounding Kith’ix.

The aqir were forced to retreat before they could mount a proper siege on the sacred mountains. Kith’ix, gravely wounded by the loa, fled to the northeast with a contingent of its closest aqiri followers. There, it planned to regain its strength while the insectoids continued their war against the trolls.

Though they had driven the aqir away, the Zandalari knew that their enemy still posed a grave threat. The insectoids, if left unchecked, would attack outlying troll territories.

At the Zandalari’s behest, the other tribes moved out to hunt down the aqir. The trolls quickly learned it was not enough to simply kill the insectoids. If any aqir escaped underground, they would establish a new colony and rise up again later. To permanently end the threat, no corner of the continent could be left unguarded. Thus, the Zandalari convinced the most power-hungry troll factions to establish new strongholds across Azeroth. Chief among these groups were the Amani, Gurubashi, and Drakkari. After defeating the aqir, they could claim the fertile new lands for themselves, without any competition.

The ambitious tribes readily agreed. The Drakkari pushed into the frigid north against a colony of aqir, but the trolls faced a weapon they had never expected: corrupted
tol’vir. A small group of the
titan-forged who dwelled outside
Ulduar had been captured and enthralled by the aqir. These ferocious stone tol’vir, known as “obsidian destroyers,” almost overpowered the Drakkari. But years of battle had shaped the tribe into cunning fighters, and they devised brilliant ways to topple and shatter their foes.

The Gurubashi also encountered corrupted titan-forged. These trolls had ventured southwest, where the aqir had overrun
Ahn’Qiraj, the prison complex housing the Old God
C’Thun. Upon infiltrating the stronghold, the insectoids had enslaved the
anubisath giants who guarded the prison.

Early engagements between the Gurubashi and the aqir proved disastrous for the trolls. The insectoids and their mighty anubisaths slaughtered several large Gurubashi encampments. Thereafter, the Zandalari instructed Gurubashi priests to separate their tribe into smaller, more mobile raiding groups instead of large armies. This new tactic allowed them to constantly harass the aqir, bleeding the insectoid armies dry over a period of many years. Though they were never able to completely wipe out the aqir, the Gurubashi eventually won uncontested control of the surrounding territory.