As we know their is alot of history between the Horde and the Amani tribe, from allies in the Second War, to outright enemies when the Blood Elves joined the Horde, which wasn’t helped when the Horde killed Zul’jin to protect Quel’thalas.
During Battle for Azeroth, the Amani went hostile upon realizing that the Horde was courting the Zandalari to join their ranks and the Horde responded in kind.
However something very interesting caught me eye in the latest chapter of the Exploring Azeroth series.
Per Exploring Azeroth: Islands and Isles Dazar’alor is a more peaceful place, with the Farraki and Amani no longer harassing merchants. Furthermore Thalyssra is able to walk through both enclaves, which she noted are much friendlier places.
Let that sink in, the Amani let a leader of the Horde walk through their enclave with no issue. That’s the most positive relation between the Horde and the Amani in years and I can’t help but wonder what could come next.
I’m hoping Amani/forest trolls are the horde AR in Midnight. I don’t think all Amani are going to be siding with us/the horde/against the void, but still hoping there are some that are on our side and that we can play as them.
I could easily see a storyline where Amani rebels either side with the Horde or Void. Though I would prefer if it the pragmatism saw the Amani begrudgingly accept the aid of the Horde, through Zandalari and/or Revantusk, and the twisted Vilebranch being the Forest Troll tribe that sides with the Void.
I don’t see the problem here. Velen just pardoned a bunch of Eredar and allowed them to join the alliance. You know the most evil race in the franchise and responsible for the destruction of many worlds. Whatever beef there been between Horde and the Amani can be fixed with the right leaders on both sides coming to an agreement.
Amani would make a fine addition to the Horde. Give them those bulkier, hulking troll models. Bit of a shame there isn’t a noteworthy troll to lead them. Blizzard’s track record with new characters in leadership roles has been very lackluster. I think they underestimate the power an old, established name has, and they rarely lay the foundation for a new character to be established prior to assuming a leadership position for a playable race.
my current Main is a Zandalari shaman but they have the same problem as Darkspear model. They are slim and not bulky at all. Sadly the buff Troll model like used by Amani and Ice Trolls was never usable for players.
True, but I believe on private servers at least it’s been proven that they can wear armor. I think their models were derived from the orc skeleton, maybe?
Either way, the bulkier forest trolls would complete the troll aesthetics nicely. I imagine one could argue they could be incorporated into the base troll race as new body types.
that sink can stay outside thank you very much. but in all seriousness they’ve been taking the grit and friction between other races out since dragonflight. all of the races are slowly becoming wholesome chunguses. i’m sure they’ll find a way to redeem the ascended nerubians and the arathi will learn to co-exist with the horrible man-eating kobyss too
The Amani should be used as a wedge issue to divide the Horde. (Bias Warning: I intensely dislike Horde Unity and am always looking for reasons to divide the Horde.)
The Amani should approach the Zandalari, the nominal leaders of all Trollkind, and demand that they fulfill their responsibilities in that role by interceding against the Blood Elves. This would pit Silvermoon against Dazar’alor in a tense political conflict and force others to choose sides.
Some sides are obvious. The Forsaken aren’t going to backstab their nearest ally on behalf of some random Trolls they don’t care about, but the Darkspear Tribe is probably going to align with Zandalar and pursue a long-term goal of uniting Trollkind under the Horde’s banner. Others are less obvious.
Who do the Orcs favor? Trying to rope all Trolls into the Horde would surely appeal to them, but do they want to set the precedent that the Horde Council has the right to demand its members give up land? Do they want to risk alienating the Elves so much that they might just leave the Horde entirely rather than complying with a pro-Amani resolution?
Tension is fun and all but not a single race of the western Horde has a credible reason to back the Amani against the elves. The Darkspear have bonded with the blood elves for their shared “mortal enemy,” and the last time they visited QT in force was to help the Farstriders raid ZA. The old Troll Compendium says orc-Amani relations were disastrous in the aftermath of WC2 and that the only forest trolls who stuck with the Horde (Revantusk) were attacked by the others for it; Thrall was disgusted with them even in WC3. And I can’t imagine what would compel the tauren to side with these guys they have zero history with over their allies of nearly 20 years.
I could absolutely see Talanji trying to broker a peace deal between these two allies of hers that despise one another, but I really don’t think the issue of the Amani would fracture the Horde.
Honestly, considering the Zandalari have always had a very paternal relationship with all of the other troll tribes, I think it’s a step too far to even call them and the Amani allies. They’ve always been a lesser subservient tribe who had to be rescued by the Zandalari.
If a clever and charismatic figure emerged amongst the Amani, and gained diplomatic standing enough to speak in Orgrimmar, I imagine they could weave the sort of narrative a lot of western Horde races could empathize with.
Of course, it doesn’t start with greivances with the Blood Elves at all.
It starts with a cultural exchange, discovering the similarities they have with one another, forming bonds that grow stronger. Shamanistic practices, hunting rites, etc… the sort of aspects of life shared by most western Horde races.
From there, these Amani relate the ancient history of their empire, one in which their very founding was based on the defeat of an ancient, implacable enemy. Sympathetic orcs praise the Amani’s battle with the minions of the Old Gods.
Rather than discussing the Highborne or Quel’Thalas, they discuss how it feels to be betrayed and misled by a leader they all but worshiped. Again, this is something many western Horde races can sympathize with, whether it’s the orcs and where Garrosh took them, or the treason that led to the death of Cairne.
While all of this is going on, naturally the Blood Elves are growing anxious. They don’t WANT to see the Amani getting this friendly with the rest of the Horde. Inevitably some Blood Elves speak out, stepping in the trap laid for them. The sympathetic western Horde looks at the elves and see’s in their antagonism an unwillingness to move forward. They see, in their allies, the same stubborn unwillingness to believe the Amani could have changed and been redeemed, that they’ve always perceived the Alliance holding towards the Horde.
Once THAT seed has been planted, the seeds for division haven’t only been sewn, but they’ve sprouted and grown enough to begun bearing fruit.
The orcs already have this with forest trolls in the form of the Revantusk Tribe that the other forest troll tribes immediately tried to exterminate the moment they allied with the Horde again.
You could have the most charismatic Amani to have ever lived, but he would still face a near insurmountable task when it comes to turning the western Horde against the blood elves in any way, shape or form - they’ve fought and bled alongside the blood elves who have proved themselves steadfast allies in battle after battle. Add to that you don’t have just the voice of the blood elves on their own, but that of the Revantusk and Darkspear Tribes as well. The last time the Horde fought alongside Amani was during the Second War, and it ended with the Amani feeling abandoned by the Horde. Since then they’ve only warred, the western Horde was even vital in finally putting an end to the Amani’s final attempt at retaking their lost homeland by force of arms.
It’s a seed planted in barren ground and if Blizzard spun this story that Amani would most likely be in league with the Void.
Of all the plotbeats I’m interested in, Horde division for the third time doesn’t seem that interesting. No Horde nation has a single reason to back the Amani in present time, regardless.
Even if the writers did toss out all the Amani’s previous portrayals and reinvent the tribe as wheeling-and-dealing political schemers, I’m not convinced they could sell that con to the Horde. Not without lowering its collective IQ significantly. Which, to be fair, is how they contrived our last two Horde civil wars…
They realistically wouldn’t. The Blood Elves have been stronger allies in both the might of its military and magic, as well as actual loyalty then the Amani ever have been.
