Before the Kaldorei

Full History

Before the kaldorei dominated Kalimdor, troll peoples had built empires and fought terrible wars against the insectoid aqir. Their civilization was ancient, widespread, and far from politically uniform. The later rise of elves wielding the Well of Eternity's power challenged troll dominance and split older spheres of influence. The story of the trolls cannot be reduced to the small tribes encountered in the modern world.

The original Troll Compendium identifies early troll societies and the long conflict that helped break the aqir power. The Gurubashi and Amani traditions belong to a history extending far beyond the kingdoms that later fought over southern jungles and northern forests. Kaldorei expansion brought a different threat: arcane magic gave the elves advantages against ancient troll positions, and the destruction associated with the Sundering fragmented the lands on which old powers had depended.

Troll memory preserved rival stories about the origin of the night elves, including a theory that early elves descended from trolls altered by the Well. The original source treats that belief as plausible but unproved; it is not established ancestry. The Zandalari, Gurubashi, Amani, and other descendants also maintained different histories and loyalties. Their survival after imperial decline explains both enduring pride and the many conflicts among the tribes at the beginning of World of Warcraft.