Troll (Warcraft)
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In the fictional Warcraft Universe, Trolls are a race of tall although often crouching, lanky humanoids. Trolls vary in color, often with boar-like tusks protruding of the lower part of their jaws. Many Trolls sport a natural mohawks in every color imaginable. While some trolls appear well muscled, some others appear quite lithe; all breeds are tall and standing approximately 7.5 feet in height.
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[edit] Description
The trolls of Azeroth are generally accepted to be a primitive, savage race. These practitioners of dark mysticism, superstition, and voodoo are, upon closer inspection, much more complex. The trolls are one of Azeroth's most ancient races (even older than the ancient night elf civilization), though the state of present day trolls gives little indication to their complex and compelling history. The trolls are renowned (or made infamous) for their incredible racial ability to regenerate from wounds. Trolls can even regrow severed limbs. They are agile, cunning and completely ruthless when it comes to hunting prey (whether it be animal or person). It would be a grave mistake to cross a troll on a whim, thinking them to be primitive and stupid. Trolls are notoriously carnivorous, and will, given the opportunity, eat any animal they are capable of killing - this includes everything from kodo and thunder lizards to Orcs, even allies and friends.
The earliest known troll tribe is the one known as the Zandalar tribe, which can still be seen in small numbers on Yojamba Isle in northern Stranglethorn Vale. As time went on however, and trolls began to dominate most of Kalimdor, tribes began to branch off from the Zandalar tribe to different corners of Azeroth. There are actually several different types of trolls in the Warcraft Universe depending on their environment; On the continent of Azeroth, there are blue-skinned Jungle Trolls who inhabit the rainforests of Stranglethorn Vale; In the once human-dominated lands of Lordaeron, green-skinned Forest Trolls are a constant threat; On the frozen continent of Northrend and in the dwarven lands of Khaz Modan, grey Ice Trolls are a common sight; tan or orange-skinned sand trolls have a city in Tanaris (Zul'Farrak); finally, in the ancient Ashenvale Forest of Kalimdor, the rare and very mysterious Purple skinned Dark Trolls are said to constantly be at odds with the native Night Elves.
Trolls speak one racial language: Zandali. However, they differ dialectically by region/subrace and speak in distinct accents. While Forest and Ice Trolls speak in accents similar to Spanish, Jungle Trolls speak in an accent resembling Jamaican (although if you ever ask a troll, he will insist that it is a troll accent).
Forest Trolls were allies of the Horde during the second Great War, where they joined in order to strike against the hated High Elves of Quel'Thalas. When the Horde were defeated, the Trolls abandoned the Orcs, going off on their own.
The Jungle Trolls are the present allies of the Horde, a tribe of trolls befriended by the Orc Warchief Thrall when the Horde ended up on the shores of their island while escaping from Human enslavement. After a battle against a Sea Witch, and a subsequent escape from their now-sinking, Murloc ridden island, the Darkspear Trolls left with the Orcs, ending up in the new Orc land of Durotar.
The Jungle trolls pledged an oath of loyalty to the Orcs, who let them set up a village off the coast of Kalimdor in the Echo Isles. After an armada of Kul Tiras warships pushed them off the Echo Isles they set up Sen'jin Village. In the game, World of Warcraft, players can choose to play as one of these trolls. They are the Darkspear tribe who are xenophobic, cruel, and who constantly wage war on the other tribes and show disdain for other races. For example, in World of Warcraft, an evil troll witch doctor named Zalazane has been attacking the trolls of Sen'jin Village from the ruins of the Echo Isles, using voodoo magic to hex other trolls and put them under his control. One of the earliest quests both orc and troll players must undertake is to kill Zalazane, with a related quest being to recover from Zalazane's altar the skull of Minshina, the brother of the leader of Sen'jin Village, in which his spirit is imprisoned.
[edit] History
About 16,000 years ago before the First Great War, long before the War of the Ancients, trolls lorded over much of Kalimdor (then a single continent). At the same time as the Troll Empire, the world was also ruled by the Azi'Aqir, a race bent on eradicating all non insect life from Kalimdor. The Trolls fought them for many thousands of years, but never won a decisive victory. Eventually due to the trolls' persistence, the Aqiri kingdom split in half and its citizens were driven into exile in separate locations. The Azjol Nerub, or Nerbuians (Crypt Stalkers as they are seen in game) in the North, and the Ahn'Qiraj or the Silithid, in the south. It was the Troll heroes who defeated these great menaces and paved the way for all future races of Azeroth.
However, after their victories rivalry began to split the Trolls. Twin troll empires were formed from this rivalry -- the Gurubashi Empire of the southeastern jungles and the Amani Empire of the middle forestlands. A few small tribes that wanted no part of this rivalry escaped far to the north (in the region now known as Northrend). These tribes founded a small nation known as Gundrak, but never achieved the size or prosperity of the southern empires. The Gurubashi and the Amani empires had little love for one another, but rarely warred against each other.
Despite the warfare, neither civilization expanded much farther than their original boundaries. However, ancient texts speak of a small faction of Amani trolls that broke off from the empire and founded their own colony in the heart of the dark continent where they discovered the cosmic Well of Eternity. The cosmic energies transformed them into beings of immense power. Some legends suggest that these trolls became the first night elves, though the theory has never been proven. However, it would be the Night Elves who would dismantle the Troll Empires once and for all.
[edit] The Rise and Fall of the Night Elves
Aside from their shadowy origins, there is no doubt that the night elves came to power soon after their discovery of the Well of Eternity. The troll empires attempted to halt their expansions, but the night elves, in spite of this, built up a mighty empire that expanded across primordial Kalimdor. The night elves wielded fierce magics bestowed upon them by the Well of Eternity, the power of which was never before imagined by the trolls. The night elves soon accomplished what the Aqir could not do: topple the two greatest empires in the world.
The trolls buckled under the onslaught, unable to counter the elves' destructive magic. The night elves proved to be every bit as cunning and bloodthirsty as the savage trolls -- incurring the latter race's eternal hatred and disdain. The Gurubashi and Amani empires fragmented within only a few short years.
The night elves' use of arcane magics did more than defeat the troll empires, however. They also lured the demons of the Burning Legion from across the Twisting Nether. The demons demolished much of the night elves' civilization. Though there are no records to indicate that the Legion attacked either troll civilization, it is likely that battles took place across the breadth of the continent.
The terrible conflict -- known as the War of the Ancients -- ended when the Well of Eternity imploded. The shockwave that followed shattered the greater landmass of Kalimdor in an event that came to be known as the Great Sundering of the world. The center of the continent was blasted beneath the sea, leaving only a small group of broken single continents.
Thus, great chunks of the Amani and Gurubashi empires still exist in the present day lands of Quel'Thalas and Stranglethorn (respectively). Both civilizations recoiled from the vast destruction of the primordial world they had known. The dauntless trolls rebuilt their ravaged cities and set about to reclaim some of their former power.
[edit] Wrath of the Soulflayer
In the centuries following the Great Sundering, famine and terror made the years difficult for the troll race. The Gurubashi trolls, driven to desperate measures, sought the aid of the darkest god from the trolls' collective pantheon of primitive deities: Hakkar the Soulflayer. Hakkar was a vile and bloodthirsty spirit who exulted in blood sacrifice. Though he aided the Gurubashi trolls in greatly expanding their civilization throughout all of Stranglethorn and the islands of the South Seas, he demanded a great price. The bloodthirsty god demanded blood sacrifices every day. The trolls soon realized what a terrible mistake they had made by consorting with such an evil force.
The strongest tribes rose up against Hakkar and his followers, and a terrible war ensued. The budding empire was devastated by the magic unleashed by the angry god and his rebel children. However, the trolls succeeded in destroying Hakkar's physical manifestation and banishing his followers -- the Atal'ai -- from their kingdom.
The Atal'ai were forced into the uncharted Swamp of Sorrows to the north. There, they built a great temple to their fallen god -- Atal'Hakkar -- where they could continue to do their master's work.
The rest of the Gurubashi tribes went their separate ways after the war had left their homeland in ruins. The Skullsplitter, Bloodscalp, and Darkspear tribes set off to claim their own lands in the vast jungles, and a fragile peace settled over the broken empire.
[edit] The fight for Zul'Aman
After the War of the Ancients, the new night elf civilization banished those responsible for the Legion's invasion. The highborne, as they were called, did not hesitate to leave their brethren behind in search of a new home where they could practice their magic without persecution. The highborne soon arrived on the shores of what would eventually become Lordaeron. At first the elves settled in what would become the Tirisfal Glades but after a few years many of them started to go mad. Because of this, the elves decided to leave, speculating that something evil slept under this part of the world. They then travelled through the heavily forested lands of north eastern Lordaeron until they discovered a powerful ley configuration. However, the Amani Empire was heavily settled in the area and refused the elves entrance into their lands. The elves responded by attacking them with their arcane magic. Thwarted for the time being, the Amani pulled back to their capital city.
The elves soon constructed the magical Sunwell, whose scintillating waters were the very same as that of the Well of Eternity. From the sunwell, the highborne drew their magical powers. The highborne elves renamed themselves the Quel'dorei (or high elves), and the civilization they established was called Quel'Thalas.
When the Amani trolls recovered enough to attack the high elves, they found them to be too well entrenched in their newly claimed lands. Thus, the Amani and the Quel'dorei began a never-ending war over the trolls' ancestral lands. The high elves and the forest trolls would forever be mortal enemies.
[edit] Trolls in recent times
In time, the last vestiges of the ancient empires crumbled into bickering tribes. In Stranglethorn, a rift grew between the Bloodscalp, Skullsplitter and the Darkspear Tribes, with the Darkspears being ultimately exiled from their homeland. They left Stranglethorn's shores and settled on some of the numerous islands in the South Seas.
In the north, the Amani empire (having never truly recovered from the Great Sundering), eventually collapsed from the inside, leaving the high elves to expand their territory as they pleased. The remnants of the Amani split into the various forest troll tribes: the Witherbark, Mossflayer, Vilebranch, and Revantusk tribes. The trolls eventually settled in the temperate forests that would later gain the name: the Hinterlands, although the Witherbark trolls also had holdings in the Arathi Highlands.
Many forest trolls of the old Amani empire were united under the troll hero Zul'jin shortly before the outbreak of the First War; but although they were able to undertake daring raids on the outskirts of High Elf civilization; Zul'jin's raid parties were unable to inflict any serious damage on Quel'thalas.
Change for the forest trolls came when the orcish Horde was unleashed upon Azeroth. The First War did not have any effect upon the forest trolls. However, when during the course of the Second War the Horde assaulted Lordaeron, the Horde saw the possible advantage of an alliance with the forest trolls and after they rescued a captured Zul'jin, he put the forest trolls at the disposal of the Horde. They soon conscripted them. The forest trolls, seeing the Horde as a way to finally eradicate the high elves, readily agreed. The Horde attacked Quel'Thalas, but was thwarted by the armies of the Grand Alliance. This turning point loss saw the downfall of the mighty Horde.
The Orcs were eventually defeated, rounded up, and placed in internment camps. The trolls, wanting no part of the orcs' punishment, selfishly abandonded their one-time allies and returned, more sullen than before to their forest homeland. Zul'jin, perhaps disheartened as the trolls he had united parted ways yet again- became a recluse and is probably at this point wandering in the woods of Quel'thalas. Zul'jin's own tribe- the Revantusk, regard him as a hero, still hold onto his alliance with the Horde and impatiently wait his return.
When Thrall rallied the Horde once more and set sail from Lordaeron, the ships came upon a volcanic isle in the sea. On the island were the last remnants of the forgotten Darkspear tribe. Led by their aging leader Sen'jin, the Darkspears aided the orcs in eradicating a human outpost on the island. When a rampaging army of aquatic murlocs assaulted the trolls' village, Thrall came to their aid and together, they defeated the murlocs and their sea witch commander, although Sen'jin was killed in the battle. Pledging a vow of eternal gratitude to the Horde, the trolls left the island with the orcs and sailed into the horizon.
When they reached the shores of distant Kalimdor, the Horde met a series of challenges which led them to the Battle of Mount Hyjal. There, the trolls under their new chief, Vol'jin, fought alongside the orcs against the Burning Legion. After the battle, the weary Horde was faced with one last challenge. Together, they carved out a new nation where they could attempt to find their place in the greater scheme of things. The Darkspear trolls settled in southern Durotar and the Echo Isles.
The tentative truce between the Alliance and the Horde, forged during the Battle of Mount Hyjal, was shattered when the Kul Tiras navy assaulted the shores of Durotar. The Echo Isles became the front of the battle and the trolls ultimately evacuated from the islands. The Kul Tiras was eventually defeated,but the mad witch doctor, Zalazane enslaved several trolls and took over the echo isles. the darkspears then made their home on the coast in the fishing village of Sen'jin named for their fallen leader.
[edit] Trivia
In the World of Warcraft game, the male troll dance consists of Capoeira moves, many specifically shown in this video.
The Trolls of the Darkspear tribe objected to the inclusion of the Forsaken into the Horde, since they did not trust them due to the Forsaken's manipluative nature, they also objected to the inclusion of the Blood Elves, as all Trolls hold a special level of hatred for all elves.
[edit] External links
- Troll at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki
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