Gnolls — Historical Record

Full History

Gnolls inhabited parts of the Eastern Kingdoms and stood among the many dangers faced by settlements beyond the protection of major cities. Their bands were not central actors in the wars against the Legion, but their violence contributed to the insecurity of the countryside. They belong to the original World of Warcraft landscape as persistent local adversaries. The presence of such threats helps explain why a kingdom's restored capital did not mean its provinces were safe.

Human lands had endured the First and Second Wars, the collapse of Lordaeron, and the rebuilding of Stormwind. Against that background, gnoll raiders and encampments imposed additional burdens on roads, farms, and borderlands. Their conflicts could matter intensely to people living far from royal courts and great battlefields. The game presents encounters with different gnoll bands, not evidence of a single uniform leadership guiding every one of them.

The available original sources supply localized threats and some tribal distinctions but little secure ancient history for the race as a whole. It would be misleading to invent an origin or a comprehensive chronology to enlarge this chapter. Their historical place is the continuing danger they posed to vulnerable communities in a world where the end of one war did not deliver general peace.