Quick Overview
The draenei inhabited Draenor before the orcish Horde invaded Azeroth. The corruption of the orcish clans brought violence to their communities and left survivors scattered across a devastated world. Some survivors appeared as Broken or Lost Ones, forms familiar from the original Warcraft games. Their earlier history belongs to the rise of the Old Horde, not to any later playable expansion campaign.
Full History
Before the First War, the orcish clans lived on Draenor, a world also inhabited by the draenei. The clans had long traditions of shamanism and ancestor reverence, but demonically influenced warlocks and leaders transformed their political and spiritual life. The draenei became victims of the campaigns that accompanied the creation of the Old Horde. This violence preceded the opening of the Dark Portal and the invasion of Azeroth.
The devastation of Draenor was compounded after the Second War when Ner'zhul attempted to open multiple gateways. The resulting catastrophe broke the world apart, leaving survivors among its scattered remnants. The original games present draenei and Broken survivors in the context of those conflicts. Their existence is important to understanding how the Horde's history affected peoples beyond the orcs themselves.
The Broken and Lost Ones should not be treated as proof of every later account about draenei society. Their original appearances convey survival, displacement, and the difficulty of living amid demon-touched lands. This early history supplies a meaningful connection to Warcraft II and III without depending on subsequent expansion quests or the later playable draenei starting experience.
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Through History
Explore documented turning points and follow their connections. The complete account remains in Full History above.
No additional documented milestones are available yet. The Full History above remains the primary account.
Further Reading
A research reference supplied with this article.