Tauren and centaur enter a long struggle

Full History

The tauren lived by longstanding tribal traditions rooted in the land and the teachings of the Earth Mother. Their history on Kalimdor was shaped not only by spiritual life and migration but by pressure from hostile centaur populations. For generations these enemies pursued and attacked tauren settlements. The tribes struggled to remain united and secure in a landscape where open ground gave little shelter from mobile raiders.

The origins of the centaur also belonged to the sacred and tragic stories of Kalimdor. Original Maraudon traditions connect the race to the union of Zaetar, a son of Cenarius, and Princess Theradras. Those traditions explain part of the centaurs' place in the region without establishing a complete and precise timetable for every early encounter with the tauren. The important surviving history is the enduring hostility and the danger it posed to the tribes.

By the time Thrall's Horde reached Kalimdor during the Third War, Cairne Bloodhoof's people were in serious peril. Thrall and his warriors assisted the tauren against their enemies, and the encounter created a lasting bond between their leaders. The tauren in turn helped the orcs understand the land and became valued allies in the struggles that followed. The alliance was founded in shared action rather than in a claim that the two peoples had always belonged to one nation.

The tauren established a more secure center in Mulgore, with Thunder Bluff rising as a seat of tribal life and leadership. Their struggle against centaur forces did not vanish from the surrounding Barrens and neighboring regions, but they no longer faced it in quite the same isolation. At the original World of Warcraft starting point, their presence in the Horde reflected an old struggle transformed by a new political friendship. The centaur conflict helps explain both the migrations of the tauren and the urgency with which they embraced a chance for safety.