Rastakhan

> "An empire is either on the rise or it is stagnating, in decline. Too long have our people sat idle and deedles in the bliss of Zandalar, but I dream of a Zulia returned to its true possessors. By all the Gods, may I not know rest until every land beneath the sun is encompassed within the rule of the trolls"
>
> - King Rastakhan I

## Rastakhan I

### Title

God-King of Zulia
King of Zandalar
King of Trolls
King of Kezan and the Mogu Steppes.
The Blessed, Benevolent and Magnanimous
 High Prophet of Atal'Rezan
The Peacemaker
The Lawgiver

### Born

17th of December, in the year -227 (Age 253) Zak'Rajan, Vol'dun

### Relatives

Prince Hawan (great-great-grandson)
36 Sons
21 Daughters
Over 20 wives and a hundred concubines

**The Blessed, Benevolent and Magnanimous** **Rastakhan**, born as Rastan of the Dazajal, is the divine and immortal ruler of the Zandalari Empire. He has sat the golden throne of Dazar for nearly two centuries, following a period of chaos and division remembered as the Zanchul Strife.

His influence over his empire and the other troll realms has come to shape much of their recent history, overtly or covertly, entering a period of rapid change and prosperity worthy of his ancient predecessors.

Deeply beloved and highly revered among trolls of all castes and tribes, he is hailed to this day as a blessed herald of the Loa and a bright hope for the future of their peoples.

## History

### Early Life

Rastakhan was born in the city of Zak'Rajan in Vol'dun, two-hundred and twenty-seven years before the opening of the Dark Portal, third son of Prince Ubal and his second wife, Xenga and a great-grandson of King Tezlekhan XII.

Thirty-six days after his birth, his father Ubal bore him to the most sacred Mount Mugamba, where he was washed in the holy waters of the river Itzari and named Rastan before the priests of Rezan and other members of the royal line, including the then-prince Adjak, who gifted the newborn Rastan the egg of a raptor and a shroud of Hijan silk to symbolise his future as warrior-priest.

In the years that followed he enjoyed a noble upbringing by the priests, warriors and scholars of Vol'dun, largely unburdened by responsabilities of state due to his distant placement in the line of succession, yet nevertheless contributing to the well-being of his realm by taking on advisory roles to the local governors of Vol'dun, after having become a priest of Rezan at age thirteen. By his seventeenth summer, he was offered by his family a position as octli in Vol'dun, but he refused, and instead travelled to Nazmir where he became councillor to the shimar of Tul'vor.

### The First South Seas War

At age twenty-five, he and his first three wives attended the coronation of Adjak IV in Dazar'alor. Shortly thereafter, the new King entered a prolonged war against the humans of Kul Tiras, who refused to pay due tribute for crossing into the South Sea. In the early stages of the conflict, the Zandalari Armada was unable to prevent the Kul Tiran fleet from destroying the trading routes of the empire, leading to the humans emboldening to such an extent they attempted an invasion of the Hiji Isles. Furious, Adjak believed the incompetence of the Armada was due to aging commanders who had grown soft in the absence of true war, and quickly worked to replace them with younger and bolder leaders, leading to Rastan being granted a position as High Quartermaster for the Armada.

In his position, he personally travelled to the front aboard a royal convoy to oversee the proper supplying of the war vessels of the Armada, it was during one such journey he was ambushed by Kul Tiran marineers, reinforced by Arathi mercenaries, and his ship was sank near the coast of Lapidis, leading many to believe he had died, or worse, was taken into slavery by the Kul Tirans.

Despite the loss of their high quartermaster, the Zandalari Armada was able to shatter the invasion of the Hijis, destroy the Kul Tiran fleet and throw their army in tatters. Nearly a month later, the Zandalari had encircled Boralus itself, and the humans were forced to surrender, having to pay tremendous reparations to the Zandalari, handing over high-ranked hostages and rulership of most of their isles, and freeing all the troll slaves they still possessed.

Alas, to the dismay of many, Rastan was not found among them.

### The Zanchul Strife

For over three decades Adjak IV governed Zandalar, and by the final years of his rule, now seventy-two years old, he was left ailing and infirm. His fifth son and heir, Prince Sarmak, took over his duties as regent, but in a tragic turn of events he lost his life before he could be crowned, breaking his neck as he fell from the steps of the golden pyramid in what many believed to be foul work. Almost simultaneously, an uprising began on the island of Crestfall and its other neighbouring domains, which the Zandalari had only recently annexed from Kul Tiras.

Within Zanchul, which is the pyramid where the Speakers of all foreign troll tribes and empires convene, great unrest began as a result of Sarmak's death, and hundreds of petitions began to be made daily for the regency to be given to Sarmak's youngest brother, Prince Jal'nuat, who was seen as a fit and promising candidate for the crown. But that would not only skip Adjak's sixth son Tlaloc (who was believed to have played a hand in Sarmak's death), it would also skip Sarmak's own son, who was by law the new heir, though at the time only an infant.

Tensions continued to mount in the months that followed, as Adjak still clung on his deathbed, and the uprisings on the isles spread all the way to the slave holds in Gilijim. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the High Speakers of Zanchul overstepped the bounds of their authority, and alongside the shimars and kubunal of Zuldazar formed a regency council to oversee the passing of the crown.

However this was met with tremendous opposition by Sarmak's brothers, who incited regular protests across Zandalar against the new regency, seeing it as an attempt by the King's advisors to usurp the royal line of their authority. It was in the midsts of these riots that Prince Jal'nuat, too, lost his life, casting Zandalar in even greater disorder, as the rioters in turn responded by assassinating the High Speakers of Zanchul.

It was in this chaos that a fleet of Gurubashi ships, hailing from the east, landed in Dazar'alor with twenty-thousand warriors and stormed the capital alongside the soldiers of the Zandalari Armada. At their head, was none other than Prince Rastan, who had survived all these years at sea, but had returned changed, with only one eye and many scars of war, and the daughter of the last Gurubashi king as his wife, but yet youthful in spite of his great age, nearing his sixty summers. With the aid of the Gurubashi, he immediately seized control of the city, of Zanchul and the royal pyramid, putting an end to the regency council as well as the riots. He made himself regent and used the troops of his Gurubashi allies and the Zandalari Armada to keep the peace, but soon he was found to be more popular than anticipated, as a veteran of the South Seas' War, a Prince of the royal blood and a deft diplomat, he was beloved by the peasants and respected by the higher castes. Thanks to his shrewdness and his charm he was able to bind many of the splintered factions of the Empire back together under his rule.

Thus when Adjak at last passed away, Rastan was by his side and he was immediately recognised by all as the most worthy successor, in spite of his initial refusal wishing to give the crown to Sarmak's infant son. So it was that a month later, Rastan was enthroned in the royal pyramid as Rastakhan, God-King of Zulia and of the Zandalari.

### King of Zandalar

#### The Madness of Nahrokal

In his first years as King, Rastakhan's rule was already well consolidated thanks to his time as regent, thus, he looked outwards. His first concern was the quelling of the human uprisings through the isles; once more Rastakhan found himself at sea, not as High Quartermaster but as Supreme Chieftain of the Armada. The rebels were ruthlessly and rapidly dismantled in Rastakhan's wake and that of his Gurubashi allies, yet as the other isles were retaken, the Kul Tiran fleet, in what meagre state it still was, came to garrison Crestfall.

Rastakhan let the humans take that small and worthless prize, and instead turned towards Stranglethorn, the homeland of the Gurubashi. There, great turmoil was among the people since the reigning Jungle King Nahrokal had pledged his soldiers to Rastakhan's aid. During those few years, it seemed the Jungle King had given into bouts of delirium, often standing alone atop the very summit of his ziggurat as he professed that his mind was wracked by visions. He began decrying terrible prophecies to his priests and chieftains, he imprisoned his wives and went to his beastiary to put his tiger pet to the blade. He withdrew in seclusion in a tower with no windows built only for him, and ordered that all tigers in Stranglethorn had to be culled before he could leave, for he dreamed that his dynasty would end in the belly of a tiger. Before even a hundred tigers had been slain, however, Nahrokal burst out of his tower, screaming: *"E'CHUTA! HE LIVES IN THE WATER!"* rallying at once his personal guard to ride out into the Swamps of Sorrows in a crazed fit of madness, and none of them were ever seen again.

This had left the Gurubashi in a state of confusion and disorder, worse, by the time Rastakhan arrived, Nahrokal's only remaining son was swallowed whole by one of the dire tigers his father had ordered killed.

Rastakhan quickly aided the Gurubashi warriors in securing the stability of their realm, to prevent a succession crisis like the one that had just shaken Zandalar. He put important figures such as warlords and high prophets under strict guard and appointed the most popular of Nahrokal's champions, Tzel'zan, as 'Guardian of the Crown' until Nahrokal would one day return. Rastakhan personally remained in Zul'Gurub for many months, proposing laws and suggesting a new governing structure that would set down the powers of the Guardian and ensure a lasting period of unity, thus earning one of his many titles 'The Lawgiver'.

Only once he was assured that his Gurubashi allies were in good stead, Rastakhan departed to his home island. Indeed, the new rule Rastakhan had helped build prevented what could have been a bloody conflict and ensured that the jungle trolls remained a strong and undivided power close to the Zandalari for generations to come, even in the absence of a King.

#### Rastakhan's Reforms

Returning to his seat in Dazar'alor, Rastakhan received high praise for his achievements in Zul'Gurub and began to contemplate how he would mark his own rule over the Zandalari Empire. For many years, the Zandalari had pursued a doctrine of isolation, leaving them aloof and untouched by the happenings of the rest of the world; bonds with the other realms of the trolls were either severed or were left to decay, but even at the beginning of his regency, Rastakhan had forged an alliance with the Gurubashi by marrying Nahrokal's daughter. He began to envision a new world, one where the decline of the ancient empires of the trolls was halted as they emerged once again as the dominant power across all lands.

Yet for years, that vision was only a dream: Rastakhan endeavoured to firstly return Zandalar on the world stage by abolishing all restrictions on trade and establishing new commerce with the South Sea Isles, mainly the Hijis and Gilijim, as well as Tzel'zan's Gurubashi further to the East. Weapons of finest quality crafted in Zandalar were exchanged for the rich spices of the Hijis and exotic beasts from Gilijim, and precious jade from Stranglethorn. Shortly thereafter trade routes branched out for the ports of the Mogu lands to the south, in the Steppes of Townlong and the Kun-Lai. Within twenty years, even the Farraki and the isle of Tel'abim and the Uldumani to the west were linked to Zandalar, transforming the isle into the economic core at the centre of the southern hemisphere, linking through the trolls east to west and west to east. Already Dazar'alor prospered as it had not in many years, and now Rastakhan began to look outwards.

##### The Great Ideal for Zulia

With the growth of his empire's wealth secured, Rastakhan once more contemplated his vision for a restoration of the troll empires, now that he had the means to begin laying the foundations for such a great plan. He wished for his Great Ideal for Zulia, as he had began calling it to his advisors, to truly succeed, and that meant avoiding the repetition of the errors of all those who had attempted such a plan in the past, it meant a recognition of the reality of the trolls' current situation and the formation of rational, varied measures meant to address each empire's different issues. Rastakhan knew there could be not one single answer to solve the decline of the trolls, nor did he believe that operating rashly could bear the fruits he required, thus was Rastakhan's philosophy set down, under the principles of gradual change, open trade, and the subtle spreading of Zandalari influence throughout the world.

To these ends, Rastakhan began lifting many tariffs towards the realms of the trolls, while maintaining them for all others. He began sending out flocks of envoys, diplomats and establishing embassies in many of the major cities of the trolls, to maintain strong relations with Zandalar and account for the current state of whichever land each ambassador oversaw. This soon led to the creation of the Hands of Rastakhan, initially three, (though years later four, with the inclusion of the Drakkari to the Zandalari sphere of influence), which were magistrates in charge of all diplomatic matters within one given domain of the trolls, acting in the stead of King Rastakhan himself, providing advice and support to the other troll leaders while ideally steering their governance towards achieving Rastakhan's goals.

##### Gurubashi War

Sooner than he expected, however, his plans bore tremendous fruit and the trolls felt greatly emboldened with the backing of Zandalar. In particular in the Gurubashi lands, where Rastakhan freely funded the reconstruction and renovation of many of their cities and cultural heritage, such as monuments and ruined landmarks. He even helped build a whole new city upon the sea, Kal'ai, that had until then only existed as a footnote in Zandalari history books. However after Tzel'zan had died, his successors were substituted by a string of aggressive chieftains who shared none of Rastakhan's caution. Immediately they set themselves to the reconquest of their old lands, and in spite of tactical disagreements, Rastakhan supported them nonetheless.

The Gurubashi faced a number of early successes, retaking much of what is now known as Duskwood, while the humans willingly surrendered Westfall. This eventually led to the Gurubashi War, which in a terrible turn of fate, concluded disastrously, decimating the Gurubashi and causing the splintering of the jungle troll tribes.

In spite of this, Rastakhan maintained aid to his steadfast allies, and even personally sent troops to repel the humans of Azeroth once they dared invade within Stranglethorn itself. Yet afterwards there was much discontent among the surviving, humiliated Gurubashi, who furiously argued that if Rastakhan had been a true ally, all his legions should have marched to the Gurubashi's side, and thus Azeroth would have been no more. For his part, Rastakhan was indeed reticent to fully commit to the Gurubashi's war, believing that if he intervened on the Gurubashi's side, the Kul Tirans would intervene on the Azerothi's, then the other kingdoms of the humans and their allies would do likewise, beginning what Rastakhan saw as trollkind's last great struggle, and in his mind, they were yet unready.

To this day, Rastakhan continues to slowly unfold his plan to restore the empires through his Hands and his envoys, ever preparing for the glorious resurgence of his people, having found the most success in Zul'Farrak, but leaving no troll tribe from his sights.

##### Dealings with the Amani

As one of the strongest powers of the trolls, and the last great tribe still surviving in the north of the Seven Kingdoms, Rastakhan quickly endeavoured in restoring bonds with the ancient people of the forest trolls, the Amani. That in itself, however, was a challenge, for the lands of the Amani were surrounded on all sides by the clans of the dwarves and the kingdoms of the humans. For a Zandalari ship to even reach Jintha'Alor, it would have to sail through Kul Tiran waters, beyond the Channel Islands and land in hostile territory held by the Kingdom of Lordaeron, from there his envoys would have to cross over fifty leagues unseen to reach the Amani. An alternative was instead to send his ships to circumnavigate the southern cape of the Seven Kingdoms, sail east, then north until reaching the lands of the Amani. This route would cost months to traverse, but Rastakhan, ever the cautious one, favoured it and ordered that his ships stray as far as possible from the coasts of Azeroth, hoping that the humans would not notice trespass within their water.

His plan succeeded, and before the year's end, his envoys were glad to find that the Amani still held ports and first contact was made in the seaside city of Shaol'watha, from there the embassy travelled to the capital of Jintha'Alor, distributing gifts all along their road, keeping the richest ones for the King of the Woods, who at the time was Atai'nath. Overcoming his surprise, the Amani King welcomed the Zandalari in his home, filled with joy at the discovery that the Amani trolls were no longer alone in the world.

The relationship between Jintha'Alor and Zandalar grew quickly and with much enthusiasm, Rastakhan appointed one of his Hands to Atai'nath's service and his envoys returned to Zandalar with ships laden with exotic goods, such as cheese, hazelnuts, plums, roan-berries, elk hides and antlers, scrolls and books of Amani paper (whereas most trolls still maintain the practice of carving upon stone or clay tablets) and an emblazoned sword from Atai'nath's personal armoury, held in a scabbard of fine, ornamented timber.

Like with the Gurubashi, Rastakhan paid for the restoration of the Amani lands, helping them pave roads that had long fallen to disrepair and design new weapons, arbalests, with which the Amani may defend themselves from the flying gryphon riders of the Wildhammer dwarves.

###### Rise of the Horde

In the generations that followed, the Amani and Zandalari remained stalwart friends, and initially, the Amani seemed more keen to follow Rastakhan's cautious plan. That was until the Disaster in Hillsbrad, where an embassy, led by a young Prince Zul'jin met with ambassadors from the Wildhammer Clan, and the human Kingdoms of Arathor, Lordaeron and Alterac, to settle a long-standing series of border disputes and bargain for the release of troll prisoners and slaves using Rastakhan's gold. Unknown to all other participants, however, Prince Thoras of Arathor, himself very young and eager to prove himself in the eyes of his people and the other kingdoms, readied an ambush for the Amani. Before they could even arrive to the gathering, Zul'jin and his following were set upon by two scores of elite Arathi troll hunters and butchered without mercy. Zul'jin and Thoras engaged in single combat, but it was Thoras who won the day, declaring the ancestral vow of his noble house "As long as the men of Arathi do stand, no hand of friendship shall ever be offerred to a troll", thus he bound Zul'jin in chains and made of him a slave, carrying him as he were a prize back to his home.

The Amani were enraged and in despair, knowing they could do nothing, lest they risk Zul'jin's life. Rastakhan too, was deeply troubled, and in one of his most ruthless acts, made his protest clear by having the heads of two-thousand human slaves from the South Isles, coated in tar and sent to Arathor with a demand for Zul'jin's release. The number was symbolical as well: the Arathi had killed twenty trolls, and Rastakhan weighed a troll worth many times a human.

Yet even as his soldiers carried the heads to Arathor, the Orcish Horde made its first step upon the world. Trolls from Zul'Gurub to Zandalar and to Jintha'Alor rejoiced at how the realms of the humans, and the dwarves, and the elves, fell before the orcs, knowing at once that an ancient order of the world that had existed for thousands of years, was now no more. Rastakhan for his part, took little celebration in the triumph of the orcs, placing little trust in these strange, foreign creatures, and foreboding that should their victory be absolute, the trolls would only exchange a human boot with an Orcish one. A reality that soon became clear when the orcs attempted to invade Stranglethorn, though failing to even cross ten leagues before their whole host was devoured by the Gurubashi remnants.

In Jintha'Alor, matters turned differently. After years of fighting the humans, the slaves and prisoners of Arathor ended in the hands of the orcs, and Zul'jin himself, along with many Amani, were freed by Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer. During his captivity, Zul'jin had turned from an optimistic and charming man into a violent and bloodthirsty warrior, whose first act upon returning to Jintha'Alor was pressure his uncle the King to exterminate all humans, dwarves and elves held as slaves or as prisoners by the Amani, and join forces with the Horde. The King, Tal'zar, who had been warned ahead of time of the orcs' nature by Rastakhan's Hand, refused Zul'jin's bloody demand, underestimating just how beloved he had become in the eyes of the Amani, and would soon become in the eyes of all trolls.

The injustice, the indignities suffered by Zul'jin, embodied the very struggle of all the trolls of the east. All men who still had the pride of calling themselves trolls, suffered Zul'jin's humiliation, and when he returned, shared in his thirst for revenge. Almost immediately upon Tal'zar's refusal, every one of his chieftains and warlords sided with Zul'jin, and an enormous crowd of over three-hundred-thousand trolls gathered below his palace, shouthing the words "VENGEANCE FOR ZUL'JIN!", a popular cry that to this day rings in the mouths of millions of trolls. King Tal'zar found he had no choice but to concede to all of Zul'jin's demands, thus Jintha'Alor ran red with the blood of trollkind's ancient enemies, and the Amani bought the Horde countless brutal victories throughout the human and elven kingdoms, becoming from that day forth a people deeply devoted to war, as Zul'jin became a legendary icon hailed by all.

But ultimately, in the years that followed, the orcs proved treacherous, and turned their backs on the Amani, just as Rastakhan warned they would. Zul'jin for his part never abandoned his war, cursing the orcs for their cowardice and carrying on his struggle, continuing to rouse the Amani with fiery speeches and whip them into a frenzy, forcing all men able to hold a sword into war. Tal'zar died of illness, and the rule of the Amani passed to his son Azhdai who, just like his father, found he could do nothing but remain subservient to Zul'jin's whims, doing his best to procure him for the supplies to maintain his fight. Seeing this state of affairs, the Hand of Rastakhan found the courage to visit Zul'jin personally, only to be rebuked and banished from Jintha'Alor immediately, carrying a final message to Rastakhan that read:

> *"Let it be known that Zul'jin, First Warlord of the Amani, has no use for poses of sympathy and hollow promises. If you wish to be of aid to him, you will send him blades, and men to wield them."*
>
>

Thus all bonds with Zandalar were broken, and Rastakhan's only recourse was to send his Shera Ali'kh spies to maintain an unseen vigil over the Amani, where they remain to this day.

#### Contact with the Mogu

In former times, an alliance existed between trolls and mogu. Rastakhan, ever the scholar of history, at first sought to repair this old bond.

However, in the many centuries mogu and trolls were separated, having only passing and sporadic contact with one another, much had changed in their lands to the south. When Rastakhan's envoys and explorers landed on Pandaria, in the province of Townlong, they did not find the mighty empire described in their chronicles, but rather a disorderly and divided land, rife with squalor and decadence. Upon asking to be taken to the Emperor, the Zandalari were instead taken to a petty King, Cao Li, who huddled in a crumbling tower he called a palace.

Disappointed, but not wishing to abandon his efforts so easily, Rastakhan gave liberty to his envoys to bargain a trade route between Shan'ze Dao, the capital of these mogu, and Dazar'alor.

For years, commerce seemed to flourish in Townlong, to the point that King Cao Li granted the Zandalari merchants a writ that allowed them to build a new port near his city, as well as lodgings, markets and workshops to boost their dealings in the region, which would, ultimately still be subject to taxation by the mogu. Hearing this, Rastakhan funded the endeavour and sent his best architects to oversee the construction of the new edifices. At staggering speed, before the next year was over, the Zandalari had built a beautiful seaside village in the traditional style of the trolls, with squared homes and towers and a long wharf of which gate bore carvings of famous troll seafarers (including Rastakhan) and their sea deities.

The mogu were so awed by the village the trolls had built, known as Dao'Watha, and the spectacle of culture the Zandalari made on their coasts that a massive influx of travellers came to them, if only to view the art of their craft. Tens of thousands of mogu visited Dao'Watha daily, and often left wearing troll clothes and ornaments, and boasting troll baubles to all they met. Moreover, the wharf the trolls had made was far bigger and more stable than those provided by ports anywhere else in Townlong, making many more ships divert their routes to berth in Dao'Watha instead.

##### War in Townlong

In only a few weeks, the city of Cao Li was flooded with wealth, most of which still ended in his hands, rather than the Zandalari's. He was quick to put it to good use by enlisting the aid of mercenaries, bribing his opponents and supplying a new army to bring all of Townlong under his yoke. Within only a few years, Cao Li scored tremendous victories, coming as far as dominating a large part of the Serpent's Spine, one of the greatest fortifications in the whole world.

Returning triumphant to his capital, Cao Li found he had a thorn in his back: Dao'Watha, that rich port near his own city, Dao'Watha where the trolls leeched coin that should have rightfully been in his coffers. All his enemies were undone before him, what right had these little merchants to take anything from him? He began to hatch a plan, and hastily he put it into motion: in the dark of night, at the height of autumn, his soldiers stormed Dao'watha, murdered the trolls and seized their ships. Cao Li thought himself cunning, since winter was nigh, there would be no shipments from Zandalar until spring and this allowed him time to prepare.

He ordered the construction of new defences on Dao'Watha, to hinder the landing of any Zandalari forces, as well as the construction of catapults and ballistae to repel their warships from the shore. Month after month, Cao Li prepared, and yet when the Zandalari finally arrived, the siege of his city lasted barely half a day.

As Rastakhan learned of Cao Li's treachery, he was pleased. He had intended to work his influence slowly over Townlong and its denizens, but Cao Li had given him an easy path towards a quick victory. No matter what wealth Cao Li thought he had, or what soldiers he could muster, Zandalar had more. With the promise of coin, before he had even made landfall, Rastakhan turned the peoples Cao Li had conquered against him, many in fact only knew of the trolls from Dao'Watha, and their reputation was held in high regard, it was fact seen, by many of these, that submission to the trolls was preferable than chafing under Cao Li's tyranny.

And so, beset from enemies both from within and without, Cao Li quickly capitulated and was slain. His precious city, Shan'ze Dao, was razed to its foundations and rebuilt under Rastakhan's designs to reflect a more troll likeness. Mogu towers and shrines were replaced by towering troll ziggurats and pyramids, and Dao'Watha soon came to be the name of the whole city, not just its seaside village. Rastakhan then came personally to meet with the mogu leaders who had worked with his forces to overthrow Cao Li, and together they agreed that all of Townlong and the lands possessed by Cao Li would pass to the trolls, who would act as the new guardians of the region.

Such a large gain of territory from a foreign force shocked and startled the other mogu and pandaren powers of the southern continent, who levied great protest against the trolls, though, embroiled as they were in their squabbling, they could do nothing to truly remove them, and so limited themselves to cutting all trade with Zandalar.

Rastakhan was content with these results, and his plans for Townlong did not end there. He did not wish to merely be a protector of Townlong, he wished for the whole region, nearly the size of Zandalar itself, to also become proper part of Zulia. To this end, he encouraged the emigration of tens of thousands from Zandalar into Townlong, to the extent that the native population of mogu and pandaren was overwhelmed, and only a few generations later, were an absolute minority in their own native lands.

Having seen the fate of Townlong, the rest of Pandaria has carefully been readying itself for a war of annihilation against Rastakhan, and indeed, he in turn, has been planning for a way to bring the whole continent under his rule.

One continent at a time, until all of Zulia is governed by its rightful people.