|
The Keep
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Keepers of Stromgarde
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Recruits
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ranks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Nation of Stromgarde
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Troll Wars
The Troll Wars were a series of conflicts between the Forest Trolls of the Amani Empire and an alliance of the Humans of Arathor and High Elves of Quel'Thalas, ending approximately 2,800 years before the coming of the Orcs to Azeroth.
The High Elves founded the kingdom of Quel'Thalas in the northern forests, not knowing it was a sacred area to the trolls. As the Forest Trolls started attacking the fledgling nation in bigger numbers, the elves used their strong magic to frighten away the superstitious Troll war bands and it was 4,000 years before the Trolls truly retaliated.
After years of continual besiegement by the Trolls, the High Elves, with a defeat nearing, finally decided to seek the aid of the now-powerful Humans of Arathor. The Elven king Anasterian Sunstrider, son of Dath’Remar sent out their diplomats to try and negotiate the primitive humans into aiding them. Even though the elves had at times treated the humans no better than they had the trolls, Thoradin saw the danger in allowing the Elf civilization to fall, and agreed to an alliance.
The elves informed Thoradin that the troll armies were vast and that once the trolls had destroyed Quel'Thalas, they would move on to attack the southlands. The desperate elves, in dire need of military aid, hastily agreed to teach certain select humans to wield magic in exchange for their help against the war bands. Thoradin, distrustful of any magic, agreed to aid the elves out of necessity. Almost immediately, Elven sorcerers arrived in Arathor and began to instruct a group of humans in the ways of magic.
The elves found that although humans were innately clumsy in their handling of magic, they possessed a startling natural affinity for it. One hundred men were taught the very basics of the elves' magical secrets: no more than was absolutely necessary to combat the trolls. Convinced that their human students were ready to aid in the struggle, the elves left Strom and traveled north alongside the mighty armies of King Thoradin.
The armies of High Elves and Humans engaged the Trolls in a great battle at the foot of the Alterac Mountains. The battle lasted for many days, but the armies of Arathor refused to give any ground, and finally the Elven masters agreed that it was time to unleash the Elven and Human mages upon the Trolls. Magical fires from the sky hindered the Trolls' regeneration, and their morale suffered. After some hours of the magical bombardment the remaining Elves and Humans charged the Trolls, broke their lines, and forced them into a terrible rout.
As the troll armies broke and attempted to flee, Thoradin's armies ran them down and slaughtered every last one of their soldiers. The trolls would never fully recover from their defeat, and history would never see the trolls rise as one nation again. Assured that Quel'Thalas was saved from destruction, the elves made a pledge of loyalty and friendship to the nation of Arathor and to the bloodline of its king, Thoradin. Humans and elves would nurture peaceful relations for ages to come.
The Trolls would never recover from this defeat, The Gurubashi Empire had been shattered by a deadly civil war, and now the Amani Empire of the forest trolls was broken and what remained of the trolls of the northern lands was forced into the wilderness. However, the war was not completely unsuccessful for the trolls, thousands of elves and humans had been slain, and the remaining left completely weakened. Thoradin did initially not want his people to use magic, but he was forced to accept it so it could be utilized against the incredible troll armies arrayed against them. This led to the foundation of Dalaran, and later many other city-states, and following Thoradin’s death his empire split up, thus removing any hopes for a truly united humanity.
The Elves owed the humans a debt of gratitude for saving their people and ending the first major war since the Sundering and The War of the Ancients, and probably the longest in the History of Warcraft. This debt laid the base ground of the Alliance and was honored during the Second War when Anduin Lothar, last descendant of the King Thoradin of Arathor, led the Alliance of Lordaeron to war against the Horde for the second time in his life.
The Humans had the largest gains of the war: They was united, They gained a debt of gratitude from the only force able to threaten them, They were initiated into the arts of magic, Their technology was greatly improved and inspired by the elves(some claims the elves taught them of metal-smithing, though it is more likely they knew of that before the war), They became the greatest power on the continent, and they were able to spread in every direction with almost nothing in their way.
((Information taken from www.wowwiki.com, www.worldofwarcraft.com and other lore related websites)) |
|
