Early Troll Civilization Early Troll Civilization are short essays included as part of the Troll Compendium on the old official site . It is reproduced here , in case the archive of the pages disappears . Early Troll Civilization . Below you can read the history of the trolls , beginning from 16 , 000 years ago and continuing up to the Second War . From their beginnings as lords of Kalimdor to the devastation of the Sundering and the rise and fall of the Gurubashi and Amani empires , the trolls share a blood - stained history . The Rise of Troll Civilization . The earliest known trolls belonged to the Zandalar tribe , from which all other trolls are descended . On the whole , the Zandalari valued knowledge above all else , but a significant portion of the tribe hungered for conquest instead . These disaffected trolls eventually departed to form tribes of their own . As time went on , what remained of the Zandalar tribe came to be regarded as an overarching priest caste for all trolls . The Zandalari worked tirelessly to record and preserve troll history and traditions , and these wise trolls acted to further the goals of troll society as a whole . Greatly respected by all other trolls , the Zandalari nevertheless remained apart from the day - to - day politics of their people . About 16 , 000 years ago , trolls lorded over much of ancient Kalimdor , which was the only continent on Azeroth at the time . Out of the tribes that had split off from the Zandalari , two troll empires had emerged : the Gurubashi empire of the southeastern jungles and the Amani empire of the middle forestlands . Several smaller troll tribes were also driven out of civilized lands and into the far north , where they settled in the region that would later be known as Northrend . These tribes founded a small nation known as Zul ' Drak , but this kingdom never achieved the size or prosperity of the southern empires . The Gurubashi and Amani empires had little love for one another , but their conflict rarely escalated into war . At the time , their greatest common enemy was a third empire : the civilization of Azj ' Aqir . The aqir were intelligent insectoids who ruled the lands of the far west . These clever insectoids were greatly expansionistic and incredibly evil . The aqir were obsessed with eradicating all non - insect life from the fields of Kalimdor . The trolls fought the aqir for thousands of years , but never succeeded in winning a true victory . Eventually , due to the trolls ' persistence , the aqiri kingdom split in half . Its citizens fled to separate colonies in the far northern and southern regions of the continent . Two aqiri city - states emerged : Azjol - Nerub in the northern wastes , and Ahn ' Qiraj in the southern desert . Although the trolls suspected that there were other aqiri colonies beneath Kalimdor , their existence was never verified . With the insectoids driven into exile , the two troll empires returned to business as usual . Neither civilization expanded much farther than its original boundaries . Newer Foes : The Kaldorei . The night elves developed along the shores of the Well of Eternity , and so they were strengthened by its energies . Despite the trolls ' attempts to keep this new race from claiming further territories , the night elves built up a mighty empire that expanded rapidly across Kalimdor . Wielding fierce magics never before imagined by the trolls , the night elves soon threatened the two greatest empires in the world . The night elves systematically dismantled the trolls ' defenses and supply chains . Unable to counter the elves ' destructive magics , the trolls buckled under the onslaught . The territories of the Gurubashi and Amani empires fragmented within only a few years , and the night elves ' shockingly quick victory incurred the trolls ' eternal hatred . Eventually the night elves were burned by the arcane fires they had sought to control : the elves ' reckless use of magic lured the Burning Legion to the world of Azeroth . The demons crushed much of the night elves ' civilization . There are no records to indicate that the Legion attacked either troll civilization , but it is likely that battles took place across the breadth of the continent . At the end of this terrible conflict , known today as the War of the Ancients , the Well of Eternity imploded . The resulting shockwave shattered ancient Kalimdor into several landmasses and drove the center of the continent far beneath the sea . Large tracts of land that once belonged to the Amani and Gurubashi empires still exist in the present - day lands of Quel ' Thalas and Stranglethorn , respectively . A Savage God . The long centuries following the Great Sundering were difficult ones for the troll race . The dauntless trolls rebuilt their ravaged cities and set about reclaiming some of their former power . Even so , famine and terror became commonplace within the broken kingdoms . The jungle trolls , driven to desperate ends , sought aid from ancient mystical forces . Both troll empires shared a central belief in a great pantheon of primitive gods , but the Gurubashi empire alone would fall under the sway of the darkest one . Hakkar the Soulflayer answered the jungle trolls ' plea . Hakkar gave the trolls his secrets of blood and helped them extend their civilization across most of Stranglethorn Vale and certain islands in the South Seas . He brought the jungle trolls great power , but in return the bloodthirsty god required that souls be sacrificed to him . His demands quickly escalated , and he grew impatient with his loyal priests , the Hakkari . He told them to find a way to summon him physically into the world , so that he might directly drain the blood of his victims . So vast was his hunger that he dreamed of devouring the lives of all mortal creatures . Most of the Hakkari had already begun to guess at his insatiable appetite , and they were horrified at the prospect of the damage he might wreak and the power he might gain if given the ability to feed unchecked . Nonetheless , the Atal ' ai , a small extremist faction of the Hakkari , decided to do as Hakkar wished . Civil War Among the Jungle Trolls . Before the Atal ' ai could complete the summoning , the other jungle trolls , including the Hakkari , rose up in open revolt against the cruel god . Even the Zandalar tribe was drawn into the conflict , for they saw that Hakkar presented a deadly threat to the entire world . The magics that were unleashed laid waste to Zul ' Gurub , but just as the battle seemed most hopeless , the trolls succeeded in destroying Hakkar ' s avatar . Driven from the jungles , the Atal ' ai were hunted nearly to extinction . Only a small group of Atal ' ai escaped into the Swamp of Sorrows , where they secretly built a great temple to their god : the Temple of Atal ' Hakkar . Having helped fight the fanatical Atal ' ai , the Hakkari hoped their role in carrying out sacrifices for Hakkar would go unpunished . They soon discovered otherwise . Once the more immediate threat of the Atal ' ai had been eliminated , the jungle trolls turned on the Hakkari as well . Many former priests were tortured and executed in grisly public spectacles . Others were torn apart in mob violence . The luckiest Hakkari were simply stripped of all their possessions and forcibly ejected from Zul ' Gurub . They were warned not to return on pain of death . Bitter and desperate , the surviving Hakkari reached a terrible decision . They tracked down their former enemies , the Atal ' ai , and offered to help them summon Hakkar into the world . Pleased by the suffering that the Hakkari had clearly undergone , the Atal ' ai were convinced of the Hakkari ' s change of heart , and accordingly welcomed them into the temple . The Atal ' ai and Hakkari continued to do their god ' s work there , preparing for his arrival into the physical world . The green Dragon Aspect , Ysera the Dreamer , soon learned of the evil priests ' plans and smashed the temple beneath the marshes . To this day , the temple ' s ruins are guarded by mighty green dragons . The remnants of the Gurubashi empire went their separate ways , claiming territories in the vast jungles of Stranglethorn Vale . These scattered tribes began fighting one another , and at length the Darkspear tribe , which was smaller than most of the other tribes , was driven off the continent altogether and took to the ocean . Hoping to avoid further conflict , they settled on a remote desert island . A fragile peace settled over the broken empire . Nevertheless , trolls spoke of a prophecy that Hakkar would one day be reborn into the world , and on that day , he would consume it whole . Defeat of the Amani Empire . The War of the Ancients and the Sundering both came about because the night elves had abused arcane magic . Still , the highest caste of night elves , the Highborne , refused to relinquish arcane magic . As a result , they were exiled from Kalimdor , and they sailed across the sea and landed in Lordaeron . These exiles renamed themselves the high elves . As they pressed further inland , the high elves developed a blood feud with the forest trolls , who controlled most of the northern reaches of Lordaeron . Finally the weary elves reached a forested region that reminded them of their distant homeland in Kalimdor . Driving out the resident trolls , the high elves established the kingdom of Quel ' Thalas . Elven magi crafted monolithic Runestones along the borders of Quel ' Thalas . These massive stones powered a magical shield intended to mask the elves ' magic from extra - dimensional threats and protect the land from invasion . The Runestones also frightened away the superstitious trolls for a time . The hard - won peace of Quel ' Thalas endured for roughly four thousand years , at which point the forest trolls gathered together and staged a vicious campaign to destroy the elven intruders forever . The high elves were hopelessly outnumbered . King Anasterian Sunstrider of Quel ' Thalas desperately sought allies to aid him in the war , and so it came to pass that the king struck a partnership with the human nation of Arathor . The elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic . With these new magi and the armies of Arathor , the high elves succeeded in destroying the trolls ' power base . The Amani empire would never fully recover from its defeat .