Civilization of Mankind

Although one of the younger races in the world of Azeroth, the humans began to disperse amongst the lands of Kalimdor and establish basic civilization since they were vrykuls that were afflicted with the Curse of Flesh, and were forced into exile by their king, which actually makes the civilization of mankind one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

## Prehistory

Since their exodus from Northrend, the vrykuls who have arrived
south had operated in the same social structure as they previously were
accustomed to: separated as different clans. However, the massive land meant
that food became more scarce in each area and before the development of early
agriculture the vrykuls were living in a nomadic lifestyle, traveling from
place to place without permanent settlements. As millennia past, the physical
change that occurred within the vrykul population had weakened their strength
and endurance. Unable to cover enough land to hunt game and feed their
homestead, the vrykuls, now calling themselves “humans”, coming from the word *gamun*, which means “short” in Vrykul, had to seek for alternative ways to feed.
Recent archaeological discovery in the Arathi Highlands uncovered fossilized
seedlings of what appeared to be wild wheat in an abandoned mud hovel suggested
that humans may start to have developed agriculture as far back as 13,700 BDP.

Since then the humans have started to establish semi-permanent
and then permanent settlements during the interim period between the vrykuls’
arrival and the Troll Wars. Two of the most significant ancient civilization
sites uncovered by the Explorer’s League, the Lordamere Lake Hereditary Site
and the Arathi River Bank Historical Site, reveal that humans’ have already
been domesticating animals (the bones of wolves were found at a carbonized
wooden fence on the bank of Lordamere Lake, dating back to at least 13,500 BDP)
for food, transportation and other purposes and developing a wide variety of
polished tools to help with labor (A broken wheelbarrow made of wood and
polished stone was found at the shore of Faldir’s Cove, thirty miles away from
the nearest ancient settlement).

The period between the vrykuls’ colonization of
the south and the Troll Wars, roughly spanning 11,000 years, is historically
divided into four periods by dwarven historian Barab Stonehead,
which now is accepted as the norm of dividing human history: the Chipped Stone Era, the Polished Stone Era, the Bronze Era and the Iron Era.

## Ancient History

### The Chipped Stone Era

(~14,500 BDP to ~13,200 BDP)

This era refers to the age that the cursed vrykul left their homelands to travel south and landed in what is known today as Lordaeron and then, a few centuries later, Arathi. It characterized by the development of agriculture,
animal husbandry, tool-making, the invention of the wheel, development of
pottery and storage of food, rudimentary system of numerical values and
calculation, development of early astronomy and divination, along with the
worship of natural elements and phenomena, as well as the construction of
permanent settlements from stone.

### The Polished Stone Era

(~13,200 BDP to ~ 11,500 BDP)

The Polished Stone Era builds up from the previous period as settlements grew larger and
began to interact more with one another, with the invention of early currency
and development of trade networks between nearby settlements. The plantation of
cotton and curing of leather had improved clothing and attire for humans. Early
aspects of feudalism and aristocracy appears in form of chiefdoms where a
series of settlements along with the surrounding land is under control of the
most powerful clan leader. Combining the early number system and the movement
of stars observed by early human astronomers had led to the development of the
calendar. Earliest forms of organized religion are also founded during this era
in form of altars and monuments made of stone and mud dedicated to the titan
Pantheon.

Humans, as creations of the Titans, had a natural affinity to
magical energy, and were already demonstrating experimentation with magic
during this period. The Circles of Binding, previously thought to be
constructed by mountain giants shortly after the ordering of Azeroth, was found,
according to recent archaeological evidence, to actually be constructed by
early humans as shamanistic rings to commune with the elementals. The sheer
size of the monolithic structures is truly astonishing and how they were
constructed remains a subject of debate in the history academia.

In terms of warfare, the bow and arrow were developed independent
of troll and night elven influence by the Arathi and Lordaeronian tribes; this,
combined with the development of horseback riding skills, had greatly increased
the range and pace of human warfare, which in turn, ignited a whole new spark
for human exploration. The Comhnards, an early Arathi tribe that inhabited
northeastern Arathi Highlands, are credited with the invention of the chariot,
possibly the earliest war machines, during this period; a device that secured
their dominance of the highlands for nearly 800 years.

### The Bronze Era

(~11,500 BDP to ~ 9,300 BDP)

The Bronze Era saw the rise of the
earliest great human civilizations in the world, where early tribal warlords
established their influence by conquering rival tribes and taking over their
settlements, namely the most researched were the Ald-Arathor Civilization, also
known as the Comhnard Empire, in southeastern Arathi Highlands; the Aeonic first kingdom, established by the Aeonic-speaking peoples of middle Lordaeron;
and the Crochbaile Empire, the Proto-Common speaking population established by
the Tyriti.

The development of bronze tools has enabled mankind to develop
more efficient tools for farming, allowing them to grow much larger
settlements. The city of Arathor was founded around 10,800
BDP, and housed a population of over 3,000 at the time. Craftsmanship has also
seen a significant improvement during that time, where smithing and smelting
had been invented and improved over the period. Improved woodcraft had also
enabled humans to support a range of developments from better insulated housing
to more reliable wheeled transportation and polished needles enabled better
quality clothing and design, which evoked one of the earliest forms of social
segmentation between higher and lower levels of society.

Earliest forms of paper-making were developed by the Aibhnites of
southern Arathi and the Seerese of eastern Lordaeron independent of each other
during the Early Bronze Era: the Aibhnites flayed and dried sheepskin into hard
parchment that was easily preserved and written on; whereas the Seerese
extracted, churned and dried the juice of a weed appropriately named “Milkweed”
native to the continent of Lordaeron to make paper. Writing was also developed
by the separate human tribes of the two major language systems that the modern human
language is based upon: the Aeonic language system of Lordaeron (known today as
High Common) and the Arathi language system (known today as Old Common or
Arathi Common). Due to the common ancestry of mankind, the languages and
alphabetical system were very similar to one another and are both
linguistically related to Vrykul.

Bronze weapons and armor have also rapidly replaced bone and
leather in warfare, where the Proto-Lordaeronians utilized with great
prevalence. An early set of bronze armor, complete with a breastplate, helmet,
gauntlets and greaves, accompanied with a bronze shortsword and shield, was
found twenty miles southwest of the Capital City. It is widely believed to be
the armor of Adayr the Warrior, the fifth king of the Aeonic second kingdom,
which would date back to around 9,500 BDP.

This period has also seen a gradual sophistication of the
structure of human society. As more powerful warlords conquered weaker tribes
their span of control increased significantly to a point that power over lands
had to be delegated to leaders of different families, thus founding an
aristocratic system ruled by a supreme leader which influenced the modern-day
political system greatly. The Gyraema Code, the first law code in history of
mankind, was enacted by the Tyrite Second Dynasty king Gyraema in around 9,700
BDP and written upon a leather-bound codex of sheepskin parchment. Organized
religion has also risen in prominence in human society with more questions being
raised about the surrounding world as humans delve into their environment;
those who learned the ability of manipulating their environments through
experimentation with magic had earned respect as mediums with the Great Ones
and with nature. The shamans and priests began to hold higher positions and
greater power within society of man, and large scale places of worship started
to appear, as evidenced by the Clay Pyramid of Calaghyne, located fifty miles
northwest of Stromgarde, dedicated to Khaz’goroth the Forger, was constructed
around 9,500 BDP by the second king of the Crochbaile Empire, Calaghyne.

The Sundering in 10,000 BDP, albeit its massive scale and
catastrophic nature, held surprisingly little influence to human beings. The
reason, as theorized by dwarven historians, might be that during this period,
humans have little contact with other civilizations except for those in
immediate vicinity, as wide-scale trade and trade routes were established
during the Middle Iron Era, which dates to millennia after the Sundering.
Thalassian historians were inclined to link the fall of the Comhnard Empire and
the rise of the Azerothian/Stormwind Civilization to a mass-scale exodus of
human population towards south after the Sundering, pointing out findings in an
underwater cavern just below Stormwind harbour to contain archaeological
evidence of the early Stormwind Civilization dating back to around 9,900 BDP,
mere decades after the calamitous event.

### The Iron Era

(~ 9,300 BDP to 2,800 BDP)

The Iron Era is the longest period
among the four archaeological periods of early history of mankind, its
beginning marked by the first recorded usage of iron to forge arrowheads in an
ancient manuscript found in the Dorkel Cavern near Pyrewood Village, dating
back to around 9,300 BDP. This period has seen a greater increase of
exploration and trade activities between the human tribes, and marks the formal
encounter with other sentient species.

This period had given rise to some of the largest nations over
the course of human history that spanned over the three continents of the
Eastern Kingdoms, which led to enormous scales of warfare amongst the human civilizations,
especially during the Middle Iron Era. Particularly influential was the Nyr-Arathor Empire, the Aibhnite nation that replaced the Tyriti in their rule of the
Highlands and have expanded their nation towards both north and south through a
two-hundred-year period of warfare known historically as the Grand Conquests,
pushing human history into the historical period dominated by warfare, known as
the Dark Times.

The Aibhnites have contributed significantly to the development
of astronomy, mathematics, engineering and architecture, inventing the sun
dial, the decimal numerical system widely used by all human nation, and modern
mathematical and triangulation methods that enabled the construction of complex
monumental structures like the Floating Gardens of Arathor. At the height of
their time, the Nyr-Arathor Empire spanned across from what is now modern day
Hillsbrad to the northern Redridge Mountains.

Around 9,000 BDP, a tribe of humans known as the Aeqors that
settled in what is known today as the southern Silverpine Forest have
cultivated an interest towards the great unknown expanse and what lies beyond
the horizon. Overtime they developed a device that enabled them to travel vast
areas of water. Riding upon those devices it is said that the tribe moved to a
land of eternal fair weather, to establish a nation that became what is known
today as Kul’Tiras. The Aeqors, ancestors of the modern-day Gipfenians, were
pioneers of navigation and sea-faring, an advancement made possible only through
the formation of the Great Sea after the Sundering. Such a development led to
the Aeqors conquering most of the Gilnean Peninsula and Silverpine Forest, the
western Wetlands, and southern Hillsbrad. The Aeqors traded regularly with the
Aeonic kingdoms of the north and the Nyr-Arathor Empire to the south, creating
enormous wealth and prosperity for the nation, while bringing about the
knowledge of seafaring to the rest of human civilization.

The Grand Conquests of the Nyr-Arathor Empire has led to a period
in Old World history known as the Gaidean period (~8,800 BDP - ~7,600 BDP), in
which the Aibhnite/Tyriti/Comhnardian culture and power was at its peak in Lordaeron,
Khaz Modan and Azeroth, experiencing prosperity and progress in the arts,
exploration, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy,
and science. The Gaidean period saw the rise of *An Turas* (a form of drama usually depicting an epic adventure), Niellan
poetry (The precursor of the modern Azerothian four-verse poem), the Seaht
 and the
philosophies of Darysism (The teachings of Darys of Arathor, a form of
idealistic hedonism) and Ioaneanism (The ideas of Ioanias of Cartha, a form of divine
humanism). Arathorian science was advanced by the works of the mathematician Valahys
(his works in geometry, arithmetics and triangulation methods) and the polymath
Arydin (his contributions to geometry, invention of the catapult, measurement
of objects’ volume, and insight into shamanistic powers). The Gaidean period
shaped the foundations of which the modern human culture is established upon.

In 7,510 BDP, the Aeqors, accompanied by several of the Aeonic
kingdoms and the nomadic tribes of Seer, Strannik and Ravnin, led a massive
invasion against the encroaching empire of of Nyr-Arathor, thus beginning a one-hundred-and-fifty-year
conflict known as the War of Ten Kings, ending with the Sack of Arathor in 7,357
BDP, marking the end of the Nyr-Arathor Empire. The Aeqors established the Boralian Republic, which would go on to become one of the largest nations in human
history.

After another five decades of strife, the Boralian Republic controlled
from land from as north to the border between Silverpine and Tirisfal, to as
south as what is known today as the Badlands, only facing resistance and waging
constant border conflict of the now scattered Arathi tribes and the Azerothian
clans, now establishing a minor war-driven civilization in the south, battling
the Gurubashi Empire to the south while fighting amongst each other. The
Seerese tribes claimed the open plains and lush woodlands west of Tirisfall,
while the Stranniks and Ravnin united into a nation that settled within the
heartland of the Alterac Mountains, to establish the Symapada Korolate, the basis
of the nation known today as the Kingdom of Alterac.

The Boralian Republic inherited much of the culture of the
Nyr-Arathor Empire while embracing many of the new ideals created in the city
states of Kul’Tiras and Tol’Barad, such as democracy, public voting and *foifectae rainnum* (Aeqor for “perfect
reign”, the prototype of a utopian society). The Boralian period also marks the
beginning of slave culture and sexual labor, as the Republic captured men and
women of the Arathi and Azerothian tribes to construct great monuments and
satisfy bestial needs for the social elite of the Republic. A mural in what was
identified as probably the earliest brothels in the world, contain even
depictions of troll females, thus would suggest that the power of the Boralian
Republic has already expanded into that of the Gurubashi Empire. Social
segregation is also much more prevalent in Boralian culture, with the leaders
of the Republic leading lavish and exquisite lifestyles while the common
citizens of the nation led fairly common lives, albeit still considerably
better than that of slaves. It is during such an age that could be said that
human civilization had bathed in its fullest glory.

During this period, iron-working had seen significant improvement
over the Nyr-Arathor period, with rapid sophistication in iron-based alloy
making methods during the reign of the Boralian Republic. Seen and read from
manuscripts in multiple nations of that period, the Boralians have already
equipped their legionnaires with high-quality steel weapons by the end of the
sixth millennium (~5,800 BDP). A piece of metal scrap was uncovered in a ruined
blast furnace in the Arathi city of Cartha showed that the Arathis were already
experimenting on creating alloys through combining iron and bloodstone ore,
although their craftsmanship was far too primitive to master the skills
required to create bleeding steel. The Aeonic kingdoms possessed far inferior metallurgic
techniques in comparison to the Arathis and the Boralians, as they were still
using a mixture of bronze and pure iron weapons during the Middle Iron Era.

The beginning of the Middle Iron Era began with the conquering of
the Azerothians in 5,324 BDP by the Boralian mage-general Deonys Gaeryus
Sessarus, an influential general, politician and powerful druid that served as
the Druydes Magnus and head of the Senate under the rule of Imperatrix Julyene Benellya. After the death of Benellya in 5,359 BDP, Gaeryus Sessarus succeeded
her as Imperator of the Republic appointed by the Senate. Sessarus proved to be
a competent military commander who sought to establish an empire where the sun
never sets and sought to bring all lesser beings (including the Azerothian tribes and the jungle trolls of Gurubashi) under the might of the
Republic ,
within four decades of his ascension to his title, Sessarus was able to conquer
the tribes of Choilteir, Azer and Ealanta, as well as winning numerous
campaigns against the Gurubashi Empire, thus expanding the extents of the
empire to as far south as northern Stranglethorn Valley. In his later life,
Sessarus was mad with power and accolades, who promoted himself to *Deachtor Buntachus* (“Ruler for life” in
Aeqor) and resolved to disband the Senate. Sessarus was pushed off the balcony
of his palace in Boralus during an evening stroll by an assassin sent by the
Senate and the Druydes Magnus.

After the death of Sessanus, the Boralian Republic descended into
a brief period of civil war between three sects: supporters of the Republic led
by head of the Senate Antonydyus, the Druydes Magnus Turalyan who allied himself
with the Aeonic kingdoms, and Gaydeus Markus Sessarus, the nephew and heir to
Gaeryus Sessarus of House Sessarus. Eventually Gaydeus succeeded the position
of Imperator by force and executed the Senate while Turalyan escaped to the
Aeonic kingdoms, where he died.

The ascension of Markus Sessarus, who is more commonly known by
his honorific title Aldus Sessarus (“Sessarus the Supreme” in Aeqor) and
proclaimed *Imperus* (“Empire” in Aeqor),
thus desolving the Boralian Republic and reforming it into the Boralian Empire.

Under the reign of the empire there was another peak in human
culture, science, religion and natural philosophy, with numerous inventions
such as the arch structure, basic trigonometry and algebra, the water mill,
paved roads and rivets. Boralian poetry and literature were focused on epic
poems and natural and political prose, discussing historical issues, natural
scenery and commentary on the world as it is. The Boralian Empire succeed many
thoughts and traditions of the Nyr-Arathor Empire, particularly prevalent was
the philosophy of Darysism, especially among the social elite of the Empire.
Education was also far more prevalent within the empire, establishing schools
and colleges all over the great cities. The Great Bridge of Arathor,
constructed in place of what is now known as the Thandol Span in 3,700 BDP, was
one of the largest wooden structural bridges in the world before its
destruction during the Troll Wars.

In terms of military, iron-based alloys were crafted and
experimented on, an early shortsword found in ruins of a southern city of which’s
name has yet been uncovered contained minor mithril components within, and an
old Boralianesque mithril mine was discovered within the Cold Ridge Mountain Range with a road leading out that could fit in two modern siege engines side
by side, crossing the Wetlands and connecting directly to the King’s Road in
the Arathi Highlands, suggesting that the Boralians have been excavating and
experimenting the use of complex metals as early as 5,000 BDP. The Boralians
are also credited as the inventors of the compound ballista, during the late
Middle Iron Era around 3,400 BDP.

The cultural communication established during this period is also
considerable, as the first series of formal diplomacy between humans and other
sentient species were established, contributing to philosophical thought,
cultural traditions, art, technology and religion. Constant warfare between the
Gurubashi trolls and the Boralian Empire have resulted in the cultural exchange
between the humans and the jungle trolls, the raiding parties of the Empire
came back bringing piles of a shining metal that they named *soud* (gold) which became a precious
metal in later history; they also returned with cart loads of mysterious idols,
scrolls of incomprehensible languages describing magicks of unknown power, and
hundreds of troll slaves captured in skirmishes. The Imperators of the empire
were known to despise trolls and usually forces them to perform heavily labor
and work them to exhaustion. Troll females were often sold to aristocrats as
servants, bathhouses as assistants, or downright into bordellos as playthings
of the higher society.

The liberal mindedness of Boralian people is represented in the
variety of religions during this period. Although during the period the
majority of the Aeonic populations believed in Littaldism, there were evidence of temples erected to Dicheallism
 and even altars
dedicated to the Loa (indicating the cultural exchange between the human and
troll empires). There were depictions of human witch doctors sacrificing
captives’ hearts to appease the Loa in Boralian manuscripts dating back to
4,500 BDP. There was also evidence of the practice of Chongism amongst the
social elite of Boralus, as a raepory statuette of the August Celestial Yu’lon
was found in the tomb of Aldus Daelus, which dates back to at least 3,400 BDP.

According to *Annalys Aldus*,
in 4,353 BDP, a Pandaren envoy led by diplomat and governmental official Jian
Chang arrived in Boralus from a “faraway land”. The Pandaren brought with them
exotic spices, plants, exquisitely crafted ceramics and a peculiarly smooth
textile called silk, as well as so much gold as to shock Aldus Thaddyus off his
throne. The Pandaren told them of a land where “fields were sown with gold and
rivers bled milk”, a land of “hundreds of emperors and thousands of princes”,
where the races would “live in harmony and exchange wisdom”. The Pandaren
provided insight into alchemic theory, political thinking, military strategy as
well as the arts of life (referred by them as Chong), bringing forth a new form
of natural philosophy named Chongism and worship of the August Celestials,
prompting a fascination to Pandaren culture within the higher courts. However,
the greed and violence of man had disgusted the Pandaren envoy and they would
soon depart for their homeland. Aldus Thaddyus, obsessed with the wonders and
myths of Pandaria, ordered his fleet to search for the homeland of the
Pandaren, of which none returned. Thaddyus died shortly afterwards due to
poisoning of liquid silver caused by his long-term consumption of the “elixir
of life” formula given by the Pandaren to his royal alchemists.

The late Iron Era is
marked by the gradual fall of the Boralian Empire, which began around the
4,000s. Contributing factors towards the downfall of the most powerful
civilization of the time include the corruption of the social elite, the
numerous clashing beliefs that co-existed within the empire, the rise of the modern
Arathi in the Badlands, and multiple revolts and uprisings led by Troll slave
soldiers. One of the most accepted theories about the fall of the empire was
related to the bargain that the Gurubashi voodoo priests struck with the
malevolent entity known as Hakkar the Soulflayer, which was a strategic gamble
made by the Gurubashis to weaken the human empire’s hold upon their lands. It
is said that a terrible curse was put upon the humans that they would be torn
asunder by the very force that previously held them together: faith. Whether
this is truly the case is indeed questionable, however, a fateful event that
had influenced and changed human religion forever was no doubt one of the
greatest factors that had undermined the empire and led to the rise of the
modern Arathi.

In around 3,750 BDP,
a diplomatic envoy of the high elves of Quel’thalas arrived in the Aeonic
Kingdoms, introducing them to the Light, a mysterious, benevolent force that
exists within the physical world that could be manipulated and controlled with
proper training. The Light quickly became established as a religion and came to
the empire via merchant caravans some a hundred years later. At first it was
treated like the other numerous faiths that co-existed within the empire.
However, the preaching of dogmatic teachings such as unity, strength and
equality within the light by Aeonic priests was soon to arouse the ire of the
nobles of the empire, who, as the highest caste within a society strictly
dictated by class, feel politically threatened by such bold statements and had
ordered the ban of the religion and execution of practitioners. Such
persecution reached its extreme during the rule of Aldus Carthus, where
thousands of people were buried alive with the mere association with the faith
of Light, claiming that those would find redemption where “the Light could
never reach”. This had led to much displeasure to the population that revered
the Light, which gained some prominence during the years of neglect by the
aristocrats. Such action has also enraged the Light-faithed Aeonic Kingdoms and
led directly to the Carthian Wars, a two-centenarian conflict that eventually
led to the shattering of the Boralian Empire.

The Carthian Wars
weakened the Empire severely, causing schism within its population and loosened
the Empire’s hold upon its lands, including the woods of Elwynn and the highlands
of Arathi, where the Arathi people and the tribes of Azeroth rose against the
rule of the Empire, which had been suppressing the Arathi populations for
centuries. The oppressive rule during the late history of the Empire was
characterized by heavy corruption and brutal religious repression: burning holy
books of the Light and executing worshippers of the Light by drowning; which
aroused the ire of the Aeonic Kingdoms and their high elven allies. It was soon
before the Aeonics declared war upon the Empire and started invading the Empire
through its northern borders.

Around the same
period, the numerous nomadic tribes of Seer, along with the Strannik and Ravnin,
united under one single banner under the legendary warrior-king Yvann Vytash
and with sweeping momentum attacked Empire over the Alterac mountain range,
pillaging and looting imperial settlements in Hillsbrad, critically damaging
the agricultural heartland of the empire.

Eventually the
Empire had collapsed from the inside in 3,093 BDP, where after losing land to
the Aeonic Kingdoms, the unified Seerese tribes and Arathi, the Light-faithed
noble Anduyn Aedelas led rebellion within the city of Boralus and assassinated
the last Boralian Emperor, Casperian within his throne room. At the time, the
empire had retreated to Kul’Tiras and Tol’Barad, with almost no holdings upon
the mainland. To make peace with the other Light-faithed nations, Aedelas cede
all mainland territories of the Empire, declared the empire no more and
re-established the Senate to become the Tyrasian Republic, officially endorsing
the Light as its faith. Thus, the glory of mankind has fallen into a dark age
of chaos dominated by fear and bloodshed.

The last three
hundred years of the early history of mankind was a period of prolonged
bloodshed known today as the Brunatre Terror, where the Seerese tribes poured
down from the snowy mountains of Alterac to decimate the lands of the
civilized, where they waged a seemingly endless war upon horseback with the
Arathis. The Seerese tribes devastated the Aeonic nations, who, still
recovering from their conflict with the former Empire, were little threat
against the hordes of Seerese horsemen. The tribes of Azeroth, at the same
time, faced the increasing menace of the Gurubashi Empire, which, slowly recuperated
from their war against the Empire, set their eyes upon the lush lands of man to
expand their holdings and exact their revenge against mankind.

This period also saw
the gradual rise of the Arathi people, who, returning from their exile within
the Badlands, have re-populated and rose to become a unified people, with the
passing centuries slowly blurring the differences between the Comhnardians,
Tyriti and Aibhnites, blending their characteristics, culture and beliefs into
one large ethnicity. Through the years of decline of the Empire, the Arathi
rose to conquer minor southeastern tribes and amass an army of riders, and
reclaim their homeland through waging a mobile war against the Empire’s heavily
armed but cumbersome armies. The Arathi repopulated the ancient capital city of
Arathor, where they reconstructed their city to become a grand bastion of their
people.

In around 3,000 BDP,
the Gurubashi Trolls, confident of their victories over the Azer tribes, sent
runners to collude with the Amani Empire due north, at war with the high elves
at the time. The Gurubashi spoke of humanity’s fall from glory due to their
differences and how their infighting had severely weakened their strength. Bent
on returning to the heyday of troll civilization, the Twin Empires united once
again, this time against the cunning humanoid races of Lordaeron, and began an
approximately three-hundred-year period of warfare known today as the Troll Wars.

This period is widely acknowledged by historians to
found the basis of the long-lasting alliance between the humans and the high
elves, which had significant influence to human culture. The elves introduced the
Light to the multi-deity, titan-worshipping humans, which became a great
unification power and beacon of hope to man. The elves also taught the humans
deeper workings of arcane magic, who were previously only able to manipulate
simple incarnations of nature and the elements; and as a joint effort, founded
the city of Dalaran as the center of magical learning within the known world.
The elves also taught men advanced knowledge in metalworking, architecture and
construction and military theory, as well as brought scholars to record and
compile earthly subjects such as botany, agriculture, medicine and commerce. Such
exchange was immensely influential to the shaping of modern human culture that
it is also dubbed by modern historians as the “Age of Enlightenment”.

## Troll Wars (~3,000 BDP - ~2,800 BDP)

> *Main Article: Troll Wars*
>
>