#Primal Thorntusk

[tumblingxelian]

Rebirth: The Empire of Zul

 'Rebirth: Empire of Zul' is a concept I hashed out with a poster by the name of DarkAtlan over on SB & Streamlined while on SV. I really like it and wanted to share so, with permission thought I'd post it here as well. For reference, these posts cover the ideas development.  Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 

                                            Rebirth: The Empire of Zul

1st War Before any within the kingdom of Stormwind even knew of orcs, there was Zul'jin, warlord of the Amani tribe, the infamous raider of Quel'thalas and leader of the mightiest tribe of forest trolls and master of the city Zul'aman. For many years since ascending to his position as a youth Zul'jin combated the elves as best he could, organizing elite warbands and well timed raid into their territory; but while doing more damage to their hated foes than any forest troll in living memory, Zul'jin knew his tribe could not triumph alone. They lacked the numbers and the knowledge.

With this in mind, he set off on a journey, Zul'jin traveled the width and breath of of Azeroth.

In his travel he met with the leaders of the small but passionate Witneraxe and Frostmane tribes to whom he gave gifts, impressing the ice trolls with his piety, his skill and ambition. For a time he was apprenticed to the brilliant shaodwstalkers and honored priests of the jungle trolls, garnering renown among the great tribes of Stranglethorn Vale.

When his learning was complete he began travelling north and sought out the Smolderthorn and Fireetree tribes, who had been separated from their northern kin since the Troll Wars. He challenged their leaders and proved victorious, gaining control of the fiery steppe trolls and inducting them to the Amani empire once again. Sparing their leaders so that they could rule in his name, Zul'jin set off north with his fellow trolls behind him, promising forests unspoiled by humans, so to be reclaimed from the elves and more.

Just as he left, one Ogrim Doomhammer was being assigned to search for the mysterious forest warriors who so resembled orcs and ogres, he met with no success in this mission.

2nd War Over the ensuing years, Zuljin worked tirelessly to unite his kindred, challenging leader after leader, seeking out isolated bands and families to marching into Zin'thalor alone and leaving the bloody city of sacrifices with his head held high and the infamous Vilebranch tribe swearing allegiance to the warlord and his goal of retaking the northern forests and the HInterlands. However, as Zul'jin is preparing for a 'war-to-end-all-wars invasion of Quel'thalas' messengers from the Frostmane tribe arrive, bringing word that small, green skinned red eyed creatures, like diminutive forest trolls had fallen upon the human kingdom to the south and were marauding across Dun Morogh, forcing the dwarves and gnomes into hiding (They did not find the ice trolls in their well hidden encampments) With word of a 'massive marauding army invading out of nowhere, killing everyone and everything, and he puts the invasion on hold- as a precaution in case these 'orcs' attack Zul'Aman while his army is busy elsewhere.' Eventually his scouts and spies report that these 'orcs' seem focused exclusively on the humans, however by this time he has also received word that the High Elves have joined an alliance with the human and dwarvern kingdoms. Rankled, Zul'jin holds back his forces, knowing even his burgeoning empire cannot tackle every enemy the forest trolls have ever had and then some alone. Instead he spends the war watching from the side lines and making only small forays into his enemies territories to fan the flames. 'Only that doesn't work out' Without forest trolls Ogrim was more reliant on goblin mercenaries and made little effort to invade Quel'thalas, however he still spread his forces too think and on too many fronts that, on what seemed like a moment of victory, he fell thanks to the betrayal of Gul'dan and Cho'gall and the horde was defeated and interned. (Full Quote from DarkAtlan) "The Alliance comes out fairly intact, the Elves only contribute token forces (that's canon- the Elves sent the bare minimum to the Second War until the Trolls+Orcs attacked Quen'thalas, then the Elves went all in). And Zul'jin basically said 'ok, now is not a good time to invade, the Elves are as strong as ever, and they have like 4 human kingdoms and 1 dwarven kingdom they were only just allied with that might back them up.' So instead of invading, he spent the next few years consolidating, making the Tribes integrate into one nation, building defenses, training powerful witch-doctors, with the plan of invading Quel'thalas once the Elves and the Alliance have firmly gone their separate ways. (The Elves, in canon, left the Alliance as soon as the Second War was over- they wanted to kill the Orcs, not keep them prisoner, but there were strong enough ties that the Elves sent a fair number of forces to fight the Scourge, travel with Jaina to Kalimdor, and travel to Northrernd with Arthas. So even though the Elves weren't officially part of the Alliance, they were an unofficial part.)"

Thanks to the number of elves in Dalaran and the previously noted willingness to aid one another, Zul'jin is wary to attack so soon, after having seen the humans, dwarves and elves so easily unite and knowing such an alliance spelled doom for the empire the last time they battled. 3rd War Knowing they cannot be idle, Zul'jin gains the loyalty of the Winteraxe and Frostmane ice trolls through trials of challenge and promises that if they swear fealty to his empire he shall help them reclaim their lands (He orders the Winteraxe south as they had been facing troubles with humans & orcs). As the Dwarves are trying to re-settle ice trolls and some of the more blood thirsty soldiers of Zul'jin's army work together to undermine their expansions back into Dun Morogh and Loch Modan. The alliance is occupied with the Dragonmaw clan and their lost expedition, they d not have the resources or the where with all to notice the changes in the trolls behavior, assuming that the ice trolls are just taking advantage of the damage done by the horde & the forest trolls were chased from their traditional lands by the horde. Zul'jin also has his people stealing whatever they can, so they can reverse engineer it and running spying and espionage missions.

However just as things seem to be looking up, he gets word of strange human cults meeting in the woods, of undead roaming the forests and is forced to begin research into these strange developments. As time wares on it becomes clear that something much more sinister is going on than mere necromancy and his spies are reporting fleets of ships of orcs and humans fleeing west and others north. Unsure of what this means but unwilling to be ignorant, Zul'jin orders the Revantusk tribe and a portion of his own fleet to sail west and investigate.

Expedition: Thanks to the frequent meet up on Zandalar the Amani empire is at lest vaguely aware of Kalimdor & of the Farraki, though they still end up bearly crashing upon some islands and meeting the Darkspear, freeing them from the Sea With before arriving on Kalimdor. Arriving in the deserts of Tanaris they find the capital of the Farraki, Sandfury tribe to be on hard times, their once beautiful jewel of a city is aging, their desert is unforgiving and outsiders such as ogres and expanding Aqir have been driving them deeper and deeper into their city. Forging a pact, primal torntusk (leader of the expedition) convinces the Farraki to accept their aid and join the empire. Unhappy but acknowledging they have few other options the Sandfury agree in part thanks to their Martyr, Theka agreeing. Leaving half their forces but taking a small contingent of Farraki in return the expedition travels north, being advised to seek out the Dark trolls of the northern forests. However when they arrive the expedition finds the forests of Ashenvale consumed by bloodshed. (Full Quote from DarkAtlan) "The Empire- now including the Tanari trolls- send an expidition north, while they're securing Tanaris. The expedition arrives in Ashenvale first, ahead of Grom.(Canonically, in WC3, Grom destroyes the Dark Troll settlement in Ashenvale while gathering Lumber.)They help defend against the Orcs, but see the writing on the wall- they can't win. So they convince the Dark Trolls to join the Empire, and they abandon the village, moving north. As they move futher north, they encounter several more small Dark Troll tribes, making friendly contact, but don't absorb them- they just trade a little, and male camp nearby. (Learning more for the future, when they can return in force.) However, Tyrande and her Night Elves attack the Dark Trolls. (Canonically, Tyrande and the night elves destroy a lot of Dark Trolls while trying to awake the Druids of the Claw in WC3). The survivors- refugiees- link up with the Empire Expidition. The Expidition moves north. By now they have discovered a lot that worries them- Horde killing everything that moves (thanks Grom!), Undead killing everything, Demons killing everything, Night Elves killing everthing (they don't know that Tyrande was trying to get to the Druids, they just think that the Night Elves were killing everything around them out of spite- they saw them kill their Furbolg allies, but don't know those Furbolgs were corrupted and hostile). They arive at Mount Hyjal, and link up with the Dark Elves there. They explain the situation, and the Shadowtooth tribe (largesat of the dark trolls) listen- their scouts had seen a little of this. They fortify their positions." While this is going on, a few captured witch doctors (kept by the corrupted warsong sacrifices, torture or blood sport) were freed by Thrall & Jaina and to repay their debt helped purify Grom before splitting and finding their kindred. (Full Quote from DarkAtlan)"Finally, the battle of Mount Hyjal. The Orc/Demon armies attack, going first through the Alliance fortifications, then through the Horde. Then the Troll empire, leaving the Shadowtooth, the Dark Trolls, and the Expedition beaten but alive, before they hit the Night Elf base and are delayed just long enough for Malfurian to beat Archimonde (thanks to the World Tree). Afterwards, the Shadowtooth know they can't stay on Hyjal- too much demonic corruption, undead blight, and hostile forces around them- so the Expedition and all that's left of the Dark Trolls move back down south to Tanaris. They join back up with the Empire, and help retake Tanaris, moving in there."

Note: The elves wish to secure Hyjal and purify it, and as it stands it looks like a nightmare wasteland and with the horde and alliance still infesting their old stomping grounds the Dark trolls, while unhappy, acknowledge they need a fortified position to regain their strength. This is heavily encouraged by the empire forces as it ensures Zul'farrak is reinforced more easily. and will help tie the Farraki and Dark trolls together and them to the empire.

While all of this was happening Zul'jin was busy leading his forces to repel the sudden waves of undead, barring the Mossflayer tribes, the amani empire (Now coining itself as just 'the empire') retain most of their holdings save for a few other scattered camps.

WOW In the periods between W3 and WOW, word of the dreaded blood god Hakkar reaches the empire and they send a force to investigate these matters headed up by the minor Darkspear tribe. This united force containing trolls of every faction within the empire take over the Yojama isles and begin waging a war of sabotage on the Gurubushi and welcoming dissidents from the jungle tribes. Eventually the Zandalari arrive and are surprised to see the unity and cohesion among the trolls present and take on a role of advisers and teachers while observing and learning more about the empire to which they had previously only know to contain forest trolls. By the timeline of Vannila WOW (Quote from DarkAtlan) "Situation (as of WOW)Capitals:Kalimdor:Oggrimar (Orc/Goblin)(Horde)Thunder Bluff (Tauren)(Horde)Teldrasil (Night Elf)(Alliance)Exodar (Draenei)(Alliance)(Burning Crusade)Zul'Farak (Sand Troll/Dark Troll)(Troll Empire) Eastern KingdomsStormwind (Human)(Alliance)Undercity (Undead)(Horde)Silvermoon (Blood Elf)(Horde)(Burning Crusade)Ironforge (Dwarf/Gnome)(Alliance)Zul'Aman (Forrest Troll)(Troll Empire)Zul'Gurub (Jungle Troll)(Troll Empire)" Northrend:Zul'Darak (Ice Troll)(Troll Empire)(Wrath of the Lich King) Zul'gurub is late to join due to the chaos of putting down Hakkar (A battle in which Zul'jin may lose an arm, but in such a way it deeply wounds Hakkar) and initially the ice trolls and Darkspear are more like the canon Revantusk in terms of relevance. With Hakkar's defeat however the jungle troll tribes are forced to stand as one and join the empire, as each faction is seeking more allies, all watching one another with paranoia, part of what keeps the horde & alliance in peace is fear that the trolls will either join one side or attack whoever wins. Notes:Thrall is in need of more allies without trolls but is unwilling to force the ogres back into the fold and so instead works to get a goblin cartel to join, this also aiding his goals of peace as the goblins find war unprofitable. Led by Gazlow & Boss Mida, the new but burgeoning cartel works to take hold of the Echo isles as their main base and act as horde engineers, researchers and diplomats primarily.

Thanks to the close presence of the Farraki and their history of conflict with the Aqir, the empire is deeply involved with the Might of Kalimdor. Dark Trolls have small villages and bases scattered throughout the forests of Kalimdor. Burning Crusade: Before the third invasion of the legion, the Dranei crash upon Azuremyst Isles and Thrall accepts the blood elves into the fold. This is significantly easier than in canon as the blood elves and orcs lost little to each other during the war and so there is less hatred. Similar the high elf and blood elf populations are slightly higher thanks to escaping the 2nd war unscathed. The Zandalari also opt to join the empire, though unlike the other troll tribes there is no submission and it is treated as a pure alliance, as they wish to be involved in world politics again and intend to wait for Zul'jin to one day die and use their position as teachers and advisors to subtle take over the empire in a generation or two. The empire is only loosely involved in the War of Outland, due to less personal investment save wanting to kill Blood Elves and disliking demons, though the other factions do pressure them and they are not eager to let potential resources go to waste. The empire also sends a large force to Quel'danas, mostly because its a great excuse to kill elves and they won't pass it up. Wrath of the Lich King: Up until this point the Frost King Malak has been keeping an eye on the now names 'Empire of Zul' (Granted to the empire by the Zandalari) he and his tribe have long been insular and needed no one, however the scourge had been a growing pressure so he always worked to ensure a relationship of mutual respect with Zul'jin and may have planned an equal alliance similar to the Zandalari's. However the traitors Drakuru (Who sold out the keep he was meant to be guarding) and Kril'fon who helped open the way into the lowest tier for the Scourge forces allowing a two pronged attack upon the previous unsalable kingdom and forcing them into a position of weakness before the war upon norhtrend was declared and forcing Malak to submit to Zul'jin over allying as equal, though he is still treated with great respect. Cataclysm: (Quotes from Dark Atlan)"In this au, they're already part of an empire- one with land the Zandalari can move to- so they don't need to resurect the Thunder King and invade Pandaria" when Zandalar possibly starts sinking, though tier repute is damaged. "The Troll empire became a part of a three-way war in CAT. They too would wash up on Pandaria, but while the Alliance enlisted the Jinyu and the Horde enlisted the Hozen, the Trolls enlisted the Mogu. (some of them anyway.) The resurection of the Thunder King would be done by Mogu who didn't ally with the Trolls, and all three factions would join to defeat him, and later at the Siege of Oggrimar all three factions would work together." Note: DarkAtlan contributed far more than just the quotes, this is a streamlined version of our discussion, with their quotes added as they worked perfectly well without alteration.

Leadership/Political breakdown: Forest troll, Zul'jin defeated or won over every leader of every forest troll tribe, unifying the forest troll tribes once again into the amani empire of which he is the warlord/emperor. His only real competition in Warlord and witch doctor Warlord Jin'zakk who acts as something of a high priest. The title warlord seems to be one that can exist for lots of trolls of many ranks and so a broad term meaning "in charge of the combat force". Local tribe leader still lead their own tribes similar to mayors or lords but all answer to Zul'jin.(There may be some issues with the Vilebranch worshiping Hakkar's egg that need to be dealt with, but over all, fairly straight forward)

Ice Troll, Before the Drakkarri were members, ice trolls were represented only by the Frostmane tribe of Dun Morrog and the Winterax tribe of Alterac.

The deal was simple, join swear loyalty to the empire and receive soldiers/support. Knowing they could never reclaim their home themselves, the 'Great father' of the time agreed enthusiastically and Korrak had already agreed to follow Zul'jin after being defeated by him. Due to their demonstrated loyalty, the Frostmane & winterax get a lot of freedom and self governance from the amani, but ultimately their relationship to Zul'jin & the empire is the same as the other forest troll tribes, regardless of self governance. They will maintain their old ways of choosing leaders, but said leader of the tribes will intern swear themselves to the empire and rule in its name, even if they did become a kingdom in their own right. The next batches of trolls complicate matters more though: Farraki/Sand Troll,Technichally led by Chief Ukorz Sandscalp, the Farraki are also led by Hydromancer Velrath and Sul the Sandcrawler, who both hold revered positions and can counter him. All among respect, Theka the Martyr who holds no official position but is everyone's idol.The Farraki are a longstanding civilization with a well remembered history and great sense of pride in their people and their own strength. Even with the writing on the wall, completely conceding to swear themselves to a foreign (if troll) empire would rankle on them, but be necessary for survival. However I imagine the relationship is treated more like an alliance, regardless of what it is in reality. The sand trolls still rule their own city and bring their issues or disagreements to Zul'jin, however the balance of power is obviously not equal and Zul'farrak is further divided by its new residents. Ukorz is the nominal leader of the tribe, however Velrath the Hydromancer holds a great deal of sway, comparable to his own and Sul often acts as a decider should the two come to odds, the trio forming a council. Dark trolls, A scattered people, the dark trolls had not formed into a city, or kingdom or empire as their brethren, instead being small tribes or family units loosely acquainted by necessity, familiarity and the lands. Now though they have been forced from their forests and taken up residence in the unfamiliar city of Zul'farrak. Among these tribes the greatest, or at least largest and most martial is without a doubt the Shadowtooth clan, however longstanding attitudes remain and so their dark trolls have formed a loose council of tribal leaders for which the Shadowtooth clans tribe leader acts as the speaker for city politics and as their representative in the greater empire. Essentially the leaders of each tribe have meetings, talk and vote and the Shadowtooth leader speaks with the rest of the empire. The Dark trolls have mostly taken up residence in the mountains of Zul'farrak and the large stone mass beneath where the chieftain of the Sandfury resides, finding the darkness to suit them. Jungle trolls,Found upon the lost isles darkspear joined the Amani empire when left out of options thanks to the terrible sea witch that had overtaken their island. Minor members of the empire, even compared to the dark trolls they were subordinate to the amani but became central figures when work of Hakkar's would be rebirth began to emanate throughout the world. Taking over the Yojambe isles, the Darkspear,backed by members of the empire waged war upon the Hakkari zealots of Zul'gurub, slowly being joined by dissident from the Bloodscalp, Skullsplitter and even Gurubushi tribe. The Zandalari also provided surprise aid. With the defeat of the blood god and those who had sworn themselves to it put to the sword, the empire was left in a position with several tribes, all large and holding respectable territories clamoring for positions and blood. In the end the decision was forced, the jungle trolls would join the empire, no one tribe would lead the jungle trolls though, the skullsplitter and Bloodscalp hated each other, the darkspear were seen as inexperienced and meek, while no one trusted the Gurubushi. Thus a Tribal Council was formed, each tribes leader and their greatest priest would act as representative for their people and meet to debate the course of the jungle troll or how to meet the needs of the empire. Vol'in is the speaker for thr Tribal Council due to having been in the empire longest. In the end, all are subject to the empire, having essentially been conquered. However competition between the four tribes is fierce and with more trolls joining them from the south seas nothing is certain. The darkspear likely take up residence on Yojamba isles after the war and any other islands locations nearby. No tribes, prior to this point, stood taller or more successful than these final two tribes and thus the balance of power between them and Zul'jin is unique. Drakkari,The mighty ice troll empire, a nation carved from stone and ice into a ziggurat that stretches across the frozen north and thanks to its magic and sheer brute effort, managed to rise to great success and remain united through thousands of years of hardship. Stubborn and isolationists by nature, having been led by their royal family for ages, they were not eager to join the new empire, content with their holdings and their great walls, temples and forts. However the brutal Frost King Malak could see the growing threat of the Scourge and so made it a point to keep a polite relationship with Zul'jin as the leader of the closest tribe/kingdom to his own. He likely intended to forge a genuine alliance in the future, however when war was declared on Northrend and a traitor from within undermined their defenses, the Drakkari were left in a position of weakness when reached out to by the empire. With few options barring the unthinkable, they accepted the empire help and their offer to join it. Frost King Malak retains his position and is treated with great respect, however the empire works hard to make the Drakkari integrate and committed so that they cannot just leave when it suits them. Barring the Zandalari and their leader, Malak and his people are the closet things to an entirely independent power block within the empire. Zandalari,King Rastakhan and Zul'jin's relationship could be described as 'polite avoidance'. For while the Zandalari have the weight of history behind them and are regarded as the wisest and most spiritual of all trolls, it is hard to ignore the recent accomplishments of Zul'jin and his forces, meaning even the 200 year old king cannot simply claim leadership without creating a schism in the empire. The Zandalari were themselves surprised by the speed at which the Amani empire spread and thanks to being caught off guard struggled to be able to take the lead in matter they felt duty-bound to be involved in, becoming advisers and teacher in place of leader. Thanks to this awkwardness, and Zul'jin's position as the uniter of so many tribes, special care is taken to ensure the two leaders are never actually together. That is to say, Zul'jin is the leader of the empire, however none would dare suggest king Rastakhan bow or swear fealty to even the most accomplished forest troll regardless of how accomplished or blessed. But in the same vein one cannot disparage Zul'jin's accomplishments by expecting him to become subservient to a leader who has not led. Thus, the Zandalari did not swear fealty but they did become members, thus Zul'jin and Rastakhan interact purely through emissaries, thus Zul'jin is can command Zanalari but they shall call him by other titles than emperor so as to not disrespect their king. It is awkward and an incredible balancing act, but a necessary one to keep the empire united and driven towards restoring trollish civilization to even greater eights than it once held. Summarized: Basically Zul'jin is the official leader of the Amani with a high priest and is the leader of the reborn Empire of Zul, though he doesn't claim leadership of the Zandalari and is 'ally' of the Drakkari. Amongst the Amani though he is sole exclusive leader, with a spiritual side leader, similar to a human kingdom with the crown and church. This system is similar amongst the rest of the tribes, just with whoever leads the other tribes filling in for Jin'zakk as the 'other' but lesser 'power'. The Farraki are led by a council of three, but if Theka shows up they'll all side with him. The Dark trolls are an anarchic mix of different family heads and tribes heads all voting and then their chosen speaker delivering their case. The jungle trolls are led by a council of eight, IE, one military and one spiritual leader from each tribe with them all voting on collective actions and decisions and Vol'jin as their speaker in the empire. Malak still leads his own kingdom, but will follow Zul'jin's lead. Rastakhan is 'independent' but his people would still be expected to follow Zul'jin's order, if not treat him as emperor and he's expected to treat them with a certain amount or reverence and respect.

And that's everything I have right now, though there may be a few details I missed. 

Like it, hate it, I'd love to hear your thoughts, thanks once again to DarkAtlan for discussing this with me in such depth and thanks to everyone who read through to the end!