With the exception of Kul Tiras of course. But what if they did? WoW’s not adverse to retcons afterall and I’d be in favor of retroactively infusing the human kingdoms with some flavor beyond plane wonderbread.
- Stormwind
This is the easiest fix I think. They already speak in American broadcast accents. So just make them a sort of medieval USA but ya know an actual USA. So they’ve these lofty ideals about human rights and a multicultural society with liberty and justice for all. But they’re a borderline oligarchy who are pretty callous toward the common folk, and while their big city mostly preaches world wide welcome to everyone from Draenei to Gnomes the common clay of Westfall don’t take too kindly to outsiders.
- The Wastewanders
These dudes already have a distinct albeit vague Barbary Coast vibe to them. So I’d double down on that but with a more pronounced “Sinbad the Sailor”, high seas adventure theme. Then considering their peace with Uldum in BFA I figure by now you could say they’ve permanent settlements that could take architectural notes from Golden Age of Islam with a distinct “1001 Nights” flavor to any quests there.
- Stromgarde
Being the earliest human city and historically the most warlike I figure you give the Stromgardi a very militant Greco-Roman feel, proto-fascism included. But mixed with aesthetics from Medieval Greek Byzantium. I’d make them the problem-child of humanity who are the most supremacist while in typical oblivious irony are routinely as brutal and merciless as the worst of the forest trolls, orcs and ogres they claim to be self-evidently superior to. But they’re definitely the ones you want to have marching with you to war so their warmongering is tempered and tolerated.
- Alterac
I’ve banged this glockenspiel before but I insist the Alteraci should be Alpine Germanics. They got the beautiful mountain ranges, their color is orange which is IRL associated with the Germanic Dutch, and they somehow have knowledge of IRL Switzerland’s cheesemaking if nothing else. Also given their placement as a crossroads in the northern EK I figure their Germanic diaspora has leaked into parts of Lordaeron and Dalaran which would explain why you randomly get German accents or German sounding cities like Stratholme. Which I insist on pronouncing Stratholma.
- Dalaran
Dalaran itself really doesn’t need much. But I figure between their love of cafés, fine wine and cheese you give them a more decidedly French styling but keep it vague enough that it’s also a bit Spanish and Italian as well. The Romance languages afterall are said to have a charming effect on people so I’d say give the wizard nation a more distinct je ne suis pas.
- Lordaeron
Being the largest of the og human kingdoms that borders Gilneas, Alterac, Stromgarde, Dalaran and had an ish ton of Elywnian refugees come up I think Lordaeron would be the most culturally diverse of the human nations. But I’d give it’s heartland a distinct Slavic flavor. The Capitol of Lordaeron itself already has a bit of an Orthodox flavoring to it so I’d double down on that and give places like the Scarlet Monastery and Tyr’s Hand a more Eastern styling to them. And again this wouldn’t make all of Lordaeron Eastern Europe but I’d make parts of it distinctly Slavic. Yeah Menethil doesn’t exactly have that slavyanskiy ring to it, but names like Barov do, and the kings of countries being essentially foreigners who can’t even speak their subjects native tongue would be pretty accurate to fedualism. The era of the Forsaken has made this even more of a melting pot due to deaders from everywhere coming to ‘live’ there, but the local first gen Lordaeronians maintain their cultural roots.
- Gilneas
Barely counting this as they’re ex humans like the Forsaken or at least should be. But either way double down on the foggy cobblestone streets eerirely lit with gaslights for Gilneas city. And for the more rural areas you go with a decidedly pre-Christian Irish vibe. In particular I’d reframe the Northgate Rebellion as similar to the Anglo-Irish conflicts and have there be distinct classism between the ruling class, working class and rural agricultural class that’s actually been exacerbated by the Worgen curse. The aristocrats tend to stay in human form. The urban working class try to but manual labor sure is easier when you’re a 8ft tall werewolf. And the rural agricultural class tend to stay in Worgen form as it brings them closer to nature and the lands they love.
Well that’s all I got so far. Admitably I kinda fired from the hip here but it’s been an idea I’ve been toying with for awhile. I figure this would go a long way in making Azeroth feel larger and more diverse without having to constantly invent new races everytime we want an accent. It also might threaten to make the Alliance more interesting by having actual cultural disputes between the human kingdoms in their fold. Plus expand the sort of stories you could tell in general as I’d keep say the Wastewanders neutral and then we’d have cool Afro-Arab sailors kicking around like with TES’s Redguards. Plus it could add flavor to past events like perhaps Alterac turned coat because of horrific historic treatment by Stromgarde, mirroring the IRL relations between Rome and Germanic tribes.
But what do ya’ll think? Any different route youd take these nations or do you feel this needlessly complicates things?
