Ice Trolls
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In the fictional Warcraft universe, the Ice Trolls are the descendants of the Gundrak trolls. The Gundrak lived in the far north of the world before the Great Sundering. As the troll empires in the southlands warred against the aqir insectoids, the Gundrak lived in relative peace. When the Azi'Aqir empire was dismantled, the aqir split into two groups. One of these groups relocated to the far north. Upon arriving, the aqir immediately clashed with the Gundrak trolls and though the trolls defended their land viciously, the aqir managed to procure a large amount of the icy land. Soon the aqir had established the city-state of Azjol-Nerub and were thereafter known as Nerubians. The two civilizations fought on and off over the millennia.
After the War of the Ancients far to the south, the ripples of the Great Sundering were felt even in the far north. As the land south of them was torn asunder, and the frozen northlands were completely cut off from the rest of the world by the iron-grey sea. This newly formed continent came to be known as Northrend. The status quo was maintained on Northrend for several millennia as the Gundrak trolls continued to do battle with the Nerubians.
Then, on one fateful day, a meteorite streaked through the sky and crashed into the Icecrown glacier. The meteorite turned out to be the Lich King, Ner'Zhul encased in an icy cask, hurled onto Azeroth by the demonlord, Kil'Jaeden. Shattered by the fall, the icy cask resembled a great, icy chair, and was dubbed the Frozen Throne. From Icecrown, Ner'Zhul expanded his consciousness across the land. With his considerable powers, he easily enslaved the minds of the ice trolls. Under his command the trolls and the other creatures he had enslaved marched across the northern continent destroying the few human settlements and remaining ice troll villages.
The Nerubians proved to be too difficult to enslave with mind control. Thus, the Lich King ordered his newly formed army to fight a battle of attrition with the denizens of Azjol-Nerub. The city was utterly destroyed, and the dead Nerubians were raised as the Lich King's willing servants.
Miraculously, a small number of ice troll settlements avoided enslavement and these free ice trolls continue to eke out an existence in the frozen north.
Far to the south of Northrend, on the continent of Azeroth, Ice Trolls may be found in certain locations. One well known location is among the snowy peaks of Dun Morogh in the dwarven land of Khaz Modan. These ice trolls live a mean existence in the harsh land whose summers are frigid and the winters too cold to bear. Troll civilization in the high mountains has never taken root due to this fact, and the fact that the native dwarves tend to keep their numbers in check.
Before The Great Sundering, Kalimdor was the only landmass on Azeroth, similar to Pangaea. The trolls living in the Northern area of that landmass would become the Ice Trolls, and it would then split off and become the continent of Northrend. However, part of the Ice Trollish lands were part of what would become the Eastern Kingdoms, which would stay in the area now known as Khaz Modan.
[edit] Role in Warcraft
The ice trolls are usually creeps and mercenaries in Warcraft III.
