| Azeroth (world) |
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Information AboutAzeroth (world) |
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Azeroth is an Earth-like planet in the fictional Warcraft Universe , inhabited by a diverse array of species. Most of the action of the Warcraft games takes place on this planet. Due to the continual battle being waged in the Warcraft Universe the official boundaries of kingdoms and countries tends to change throughout the world's history. Reflected here is the world as seen in '' World Of Warcraft '' after the events of the Third Great War . HISTORY Azeroth's ancient history is steeped in mystery, but at the earliest known time it was controlled by a race of powerful evil entities known as "The Old Gods" who reigned over a race of Elementals. Eventually the Titans, a race of benevolent Gods who shaped young worlds and prepared them to grow, arrived in Azeroth. The Old Gods vehemently opposed the Titans, and sent their armies against them. Despite their vast power, the Old Gods were defeated, chained together underground by the Titans. Without their Gods' powers to maintain them, the elemental forces were banished to another plane as they could not sustain their existence alone. Then the Titans began their work shaping the new Azeroth. They created two races to help them in their task; the Earthen (who would ultimately become the Dwarves ), a race of stony subterranion humanoids who had power over rock, and the Giants, who shaped things under the sea. With much toiling they created the single continent, "Kalimdor", meaning "the land of eternal starlight" (it is unclear who attributed this name to the continent.) In the center of the continent they created a lake full of potent mystical energy which would flow out and nourish the world, spreading new life throughout the continent. They named this lake "The Well of Eternity". Their work done, the Titans chose the most powerful race of all then living on Azeroth, the Dragon Flights, and charged them with the task of safeguarding it. Each of the five ruling dragon flights was imbued with a power from one of the Titans and given a domain to watch over. With this complete, the Titans left the world to continue their mission, and never returned to it again. After this many races sprung up on the new continent and contended for power. The first races worth noting were the Silithid and Nerubians, insectoid races that then formed one civilisation known as Azi'Aqir. For a time they were the most powerful race in the world before the Trolls rose up and struggled against them. This war lasted for many ages with neither side gaining the advantage at first, before the Trolls, ultimately, through perseverance split Azi'Aqir in two and banished its citizens to the north and south ends of Kalimdor (which would eventually become Northrend and Silithus.) The Trolls, now the ruling race of Azeroth, quickly became divided into many different factions, slowly losing racial unity that they would never regain. Around this time the Night Elves emerged near the Well of Eternity. There is evidence indicating that the Night Elves were actually a tribe of Trolls who were transformed by the Well of Eternity into their current form, although nothing is stated explicitly. The Night Elves used the potent magic of the Well to control the continent and quickly became the single ruling race. They entered into a magical renaissance period where many frivolously used magic for their own amusement. Through a complicated chain of events this triggered the invasion of the Burning Legion from the Twisting Nether . After an epic battle, the Well of Eternity (which was also the portal through which the Burning Legion sought to enter the world) exploded, burying the surrounding Elven cities under the sea, and shattering the one large continent into four separate ones. The location of the destroyed well and portal is even nowadays marked by a fierce counter-clockwise spinning stationary storm and vortex, known as the Maelstrom . Not shown on the map above is the ice continent of Northrend , which lies off the northern edge of the map, home to the Nerubians and the Lich King . After this event, which would come to be known as the Great Sundering, the Night Elves settled on the western continent, which they continued to call Kalimdor. They resolved to practice Druidism, and abandon the magic that had lead them to ruin, although things did not go so smoothly. Illidan Stormrage tried to recreate the Well of Eternity, instead leading to the creation of the World Tree, a colossal Tree bound to the spirit of Azeroth, to which all the Night Elves became bound, granting them immortality. Further complications came when a group of Elves tried to practice magic again and left, becoming the Diurnal High Elves who settled in the north eastern tip of the Eastern Continent forming the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Around the same time other races became more prominent. Dwarves, who had slept since the Titans' time underground as the Earthen, had been transformed into their new mortal form and emerged into the world. They formed their kingdom of Khaz Modan and may have fathered the Gnomes , their 'cousins'. Humans (whose genesis is, as of yet, unexplained) ruled over the southern part of the Eastern Kingdoms, as well as much of the northern part (Lordaeron.) Tauren and other, less civilised races (such as Centaurs and Quilboars) populated southern sections of Kalimdor, although not as successfully as the Night Elves inhabited the north. Peace was kept for a time, before, with the help of the Burning Legion, Orcs began to invade Azeroth (Warcraft I: Orcs and Humans) This encyclopedia assumes both the equator and the prime meridian pass through the center of the Maelstrom. However, it should be noted that the southern portions of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have a tropical climate, and if the world of Azeroth is spherical like our own world, the Equator would be more likely to either pass through the southern edges of the continents or through the ocean to the south. At this time, however, there is no indication that the world actually is spherical, aside from some globes that can be seen in World of Warcraft. LOCALES OF AZEROTH The world of Azeroth is divided into three continents; Northrend, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Eastern Kingdoms ''.]] .]] The Eastern Kingdoms is actually not a continent, but a Supercontinent , traditionally was divided into three continents. The southern continent of Azeroth, comprises one of the few remaining human bastions on the world of Azeroth, this continent is all the lands south of Blackrock Mountain. North of Azeroth lies Khaz Modan, the ancestral homeland of the Dwarves comprises of all areas to the north of Blackrock Mountain, but south of Thandol Span. Finally furthest to the north is the continent of Lordaeron, original home of the Alliance. Lordaeron, prior to the Second Great War was home to 6 human nations, the high elven nation of Quel'Thalas, and Aerie Peak, home of the Wildhammer Dwarves . Following the devastation caused by the Second and Third Great Wars, many of these nations were either completely destroyed or rendered greatly weakened. Azeroth Azeroth was once the strongest human nation of the world of Azeroth. However after the Dark Portal was opened and Orcs and Ogres began invading the country of Azeroth the people were forced to flee to the nation of Lordaeron. After the victory of the Alliance over the Horde in the Second Great War, the Alliance reclaimed their nation, albeit at a fraction of its former strength. After having lost much of Lordaeron to the undead, Azeroth has become one of the last bastion of human rule.
Khaz Modan Khaz Modan is a mountainous landmass that has dry and barren mountains, snow covered mountains and volcanic mountains, however towards the north of the nation are the Wetlands as it connects to Lordaeron across the Thandol Span via two dwarven-engineered bridges, however after the collapse of one, and another in ruins only one remains passable.
Lordaeron Connected to Azeroth by the Thandol Span in northern Khaz Modan, this smaller continent was much more suitable for farming and had a much larger Human population than Azeroth until recent times, when the Plague of Undeath was set loose by renegade mage Kel'Thuzad . Nowadays, it is home to a faction of the Undead known as the Forsaken, led by Sylvanas Windrunner , the Dark Lady. Much of this once lush landmass is now plagued by blight and the curse of the dead.
Kalimdor This vast landmass in western Azeroth was only recently discovered by those of the Eastern Kingdoms. It was Medivh , the Last Guardian of Azeroth, who was able to convince Orc Warchief Thrall to journey beyond the vast Great Sea and seek refuge from the imminent invasion of the Burning Legion therein. Thrall and the Orcs landed in the hostile Dustwallow Marsh, and from there ventured into the depressing Barrens, gathering for themselves a false impression of Kalimdor's true nature; for while a great part of the coast is rocky and barren, and the Barrens themselves little more than a dry wasteland, most of northern Kalimdor is covered by lush forests and sweeping plains. Central Kalimdor's landscape is dominated by the Barrens and harsh lands such as Durotar and Dustwallow Marsh. The sandy desert of Tanaris, the lush jungle of the Un'Goro crater, and the massive uncharted wasteland of Silithus make up the greater part of southern Kalimdor.
Northrend ''.]] The arctic landmass of Northrend is a comparatively small continent, composed mostly of frigid tundra permanently encased in ice. Once home to a small human population in ages past, the coming of Ner'zhul , the Lich King, ended such forever, their place being taken by hordes of Undead. The most common inhabitants of Northrend are the spider-like creatures known as Nerubian s. Once, their subterranean kingdom of Azjol-Nerub was the most prosperous in the harsh land of Northrend, their people thriving in conditions which bested all others. However, the coming of the Lich King was the end of their reign as well. The infusion of his death plague was actually ineffective against live Nerubians, but it still worked on dead ones, turning them into servants of Ner'zhul. Thus, the War of the Spider began. While the spider-people did their best to fight off the Lich King's Undead, the fall and Undead rebirth of Anub'Arak, one of the lords of Azjol-Nerub and its people, spelled an end to their struggles. The Undead Nerubians were incorporated into the vast ranks of Ner'zhul 's undead army, called The Scourge, becoming the Crypt Fiend s and Crypt Lord s. Impressed by the Nerubians efforts in battle and resistance to his plague, the Lich King decided to use Nerubian architectural style for Scourge buildings, so some of their culture still remains in Northrend. Northrend is currently the base of operations for Arthas , who was corrupted by the sword Frostmourne, a mystic weapon fashioned by the Lich King. Northrend is not accessible in the ''World of Warcraft'', but some of the locations that were mentioned in ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' and ''Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne'' are:
INHABITANTS OF AZEROTH Races native to the world of Azeroth: Major Races
Foreign Races Races which migrated to Azeroth from Draenor : SEE ALSO
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