“Those dedicated to preserving the raw power and splendor of the wilds came to be known as druids, while elves with an aptitude for magic adopted the name Highborne. And so for generations these elves lived in harmony until the Highborne Queen Azshara, in her vast hubris, sought to trade away the peace and glory of her empire for the mere promise of power.”, page 23
Druids and Highborne (and Priestesses of Elune) were apparently the three cornerstones of Nelf society from the very start
and this patch, Hamuul Runetotem says that there were already other druids on Azeroth at the time the Tauren joined the Cenarion Circle, meaning there exists druids beyond the teachings of Cenarius, and those gathered are Worgen (Harvest Witches, who in the worgen questlines are called druids), Trolls both baseline and Zandalari, Kul Tirans, etc
just decanonize it
“First Cenarion Druid” or maybe “First Ascended Druid” in the sense Malfurion is now a Wild God or something
I mean, I still think Night Elves being evolved from Trolls is a silly idea.
Every single bit of Lore we had on the changes the Lore made was that…they weren’t from Trolls. It made them taller? Well, no. Trolls are taller. It made them smarter? Well, no. Trolls are just as intelligent. It made their skin purple? Well, no, cuz Trolls can be purple.
So like, that’s 3 for 3 on physical changes listed that didn’t happen. Meanwhile, you had the Trolls say the Night Elves used to be Trolls, and it was kind of on the tail end of a book.
But ok, even accepting all of that. At least change the physical changes, right? No reason to say Night Elves are more intelligent than Trolls.
But I digress.
The implication does indeed seem to be that Faerie Dragon led Night Elves to the Well, which seems like it’s Elune’s hand. But I don’t think that’s new. I think that was in Chronicles.
It always cracks me up to imagine the day a troll had a freaky five fingered and toe’d baby with a tiny nose, no ability to grow tusks, and apparently a big brain.
Phrasing is incredibly important here, and I feel some of that is lost in this critique.
Notably the argument that ‘Khadgar said that trolls have an inferior intellect.’ which the book doesn’t actually say. It does say that the Dark Trolls evolved into a race of superior intellect (aka the Night Elves), but that by no means implies that the Dark Trolls are stupid, backward or savage. It just means that the Night Elves are smarter than the Dark Trolls are. Which was likely true. They were in the presence of, and likely drinking, water that was laced with titan blood and all the arcane power that comes with that.
It’s like saying Neil deGrasse Tyson has superior intellect to Norman Reedus. Does that mean Norman Reedus is an unintelligent oaf? No, it does not. It just means Neil is smarter than Norman, which is likely true, Neil is an Astrophysicist. You don’t get to be one of those if you’re an absolute dummy.
The book is also specific on what type of troll Khadgar is referring to, which again is the Dark Trolls. He does not say or even imply that the Night Elves are smarter than all trolls. That in itself would be a rather stupid statement given that the Zandalari, Gurubashi, Amani and Drakkari empires all existed at this point and the Zandalari were very advanced. The Dark Trolls are the exception to this though as they never had an empire of their own. You can even look at the maps of the Troll Empires and you’ll see the Dark Trolls, by comparison to all the other tribes at that time, had very little in the way of territory and what territory they did have was not connected.
Because it’s Night Elves, and it treats them as an active cornerstone/force…
I know I’m the only one who ever brings this up, but I’ve had a long standing theory that Blizzard has a third internal version of the War of the Ancients that we know almost nothing about. In Stonetalon Mountains, there is a quest where ghosts talk about Xavius and Malfurion coming to talk to the residents on joining the Legion (Or something along those lines.)
But those Highborn say “Malfurion and his dirt loving brothers”, indicating the existence of a druidic order at the time of the War of the Ancients.
That has, to my knowledge, been the only time that idea has ever been mentioned, but it stuck with me. With that sort of phrasing, that makes two times it’s been mentioned/implied.
Blizzard does not have internal versions of anything in any material sense
it’s just dev headcanons or AU canons they sometimes slip into the game unnoticed
eg the constant drama of the Purge of Dalaran; the in-game version is NOT what many devs wanted as canon, but the aftermath of the purge in the narrative such as in BFA is made with that “desired canon” in mind
The rake they stepped on here is the implication that “All of X are X”. It was a simple thing to sidestep, but somehow they did not seem to realize how it read.
Sometimes I think Blizzard’s writers forget their trolls are highly distinct from most fantasy properties and fall back on fantasy standards. In most instances outside WoW trolls are indeed about as smart as a turnip.
You also have to wonder what is being picked up from older lore sources.
A lot of the older/original lore from Dark Trolls from both the Troll Compendium (which was the website) AND the RPG books make it clear that Dark Trolls were less intelligent than other Troll tribes. They were far more brutal, the largest (Or at least tallest) Troll species, and I think the exact words of “less intelligent” were actively used.
That being said, it’s still stupid, and it shouldn’t be that way
Yeah, well. Definitely no arguing that the Lore guidelines should be much more strict. I know a former dev said that stuff is optional, but it shouldn’t be.
My thoughts on the Purge of Dalaran aside, it definitely shouldn’t be any drama on it. Purge as it stands only even works with the original version of Darnassus being razed to the ground with the Divine Bell (I think I’ve got my artifact right) which was planned as seen on the PTR through achievements and such.
It’s like they write a story then change stuff and never go back to adjust things they wrote for the original version.
The Dark Troll lore is really old and the lore source is questionable given that Blizzard didn’t preserve it when they revamped their website. Literally all the Troll Compendium says about Dark Trolls is the following:
Historical capital: None
Known tribe: None
Description: According to scattered reports, dark trolls have gray to black skin and lead a mostly subterranean existence. Alleged sightings of dark trolls usually involve hulking and brutish creatures who attack with little tactical planning or coordinated effort. Thus, it has been theorized that dark trolls are much less intelligent than other trolls.
Background: There is no evidence that the dark trolls have ever formed a civilization or nation. Indeed, their estimated numbers are so few that their existence as a distinct category of troll is considered highly questionable. In consequence, it seems likely that if the dark trolls do exist, they are derived from a single troll tribe.
Maybe we’re going to get some Dark Troll lore in the next expansion though. I get a feeling they’re going to be the ally we work with against the Nerubians.
Yeah, that’s my thought as well. The fact that Talanji is down there also makes me think we’ll see Dark Trolls, as I can’t imagine her going down into the depths, so close to hostile Nerubians just to sight see.
Well… There was one dark troll in BFA and she seemed as bright as any other troll. It does not even jive with what Chronicles said. The Dark Trolls just did not care for empire building. They lived largely underground and were content living in tune with nature. It was never the implication they COULDN’T build empires, it was they did not want to. It is a bad look for Blizzard to say just because they chose to not build megalithic structures they were somehow inferior to other trolls.
Being I don’t have the old rpg books I can’t say for certain what is in them, but the compendium at least never mentioned the dark trolls were dumbers then other troll kind.
Exactly, which is why I raised an eyebrow at the whole ‘Khadgar said all trolls were intellectually inferior to Night Elves’ critique, because that wasn’t said or implied.
If I say that you have ‘inferior intelligence’ I am saying that you’re stupid, that you’re about as dull as a sandstone hammer. That’s an insult. If you’re smart, which most trolls are, and then I say that someone has ‘superior intellect’ to you, that just means they’re smarter than you are.
Now you can take that as an insult, I suppose. That’s definitely a take. But it’s not a take I’d run with personally.
