It was likely a combination of all those things. Some were kept as personal pets, others were used to do menial labor that the highborne considered beneath them and the weak ones were sacrificed to further empower the legion portal above the Well of Eternity
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Just because they dont show the countless Furbolg, Tauren and other tribes doesnt mean they did not exist. Most of yhe races we have around in Modern WoW existed in some form in ancient kalimdor, and that “unclaimed” land is where they live- its just that they dont have great kingdoms or empires to show on the map.
Is this trying to disprove something I said?
Who do you think did all of the scutwork the stuff hidden from others like mining and stuff? Much of it may have been phased out in favor of arcane constructs who didn’t tire, rebel, or need to be fed in places like Suramar with the obsoleted slaves being exterminated. The Night Elves of the past are NOT nice people.
The Darkening of the Kaldorei probably dates to the transition from republic to empire, probably whenever Azshara’s reign started.
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enslavement is less about efficient production and more about lording over your lessers
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And there is nothing stating these night elves particularly interacted with or influenced these furbolg/tauren/earthen. From what we have seen in WoTA trilogy and Chonicles the night elves had little to no diplomatic or military contact with them.
And when I say “claim” I would say its more like they had a great degree of influence in the area(like they could build whatever infrastructure they wanted) but doesnt neccesarily mean they drove out the other races living in their borders.
Given how vast the Kaldories’ expansion and empire was, them forcing nomadic people like the tauren further away from their normal hunting and gathering grounds is far more likely. Afterall we do see kaldorei ruins scattered everywhere, there are very few areas that don’t have any elven ruins at all.
Actually it’s very much about having cheap labor for labor intensive activities. However with industrialisaiton, slavery becsomes economically obsolete which is why the North abandoned slavery decades before the Civil War. Not because Northerners were any less prejudiced against blacks or Indians.
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The Night Elves lived with the Highmountain Tauren next to Val’sharah and Suramar without issue. Huln still respects Jarod Shadowsong to this day.
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We do know they fought a full on war against the earthen at some point in time,
And they occupied Stormheim until the legendary vrykul Magnar Icebreaker and his lads managed to beat them back into Suramar.
That’s mainly because Huln and the other Highmountain tauren came to the Kaldoreis aid during the War of the Ancients. That’s where the respect for Jarod comes from.
I’m talking about when the Kaldorei were initially building and expanding their empire. And besides, just because one thing happened, doesn’t mean the other didn’t
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It’s my suspicion that Jarod spent much of the rest of Huln’s life kicking beers and fishing with him in the lodge that would later become the home of the Hunter’s Order. And then withdrew into seclusion after the latter’s death.
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That’s true, but we’ve only heard of Tauren becoming nomadic because of competition for hunting grounds with the Trolls, as we haven’t heard of much interaction with the Tauren and the Night Elves besides the Highmontain.
Highmountain and Stormheim are also located in what was Amani territory before it became Night Elf territory. Are we to assume the Amani also tried to push them off of those lands?
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It’s certainly a distinct possibility, since we know how extremely territorial the Amani are when it comes to defending what they consider theirs.
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Which again proves counter to your claim. Neither the taurens/earthen were particularly angry or showed any animosity to the night elves when they joined them against the Legion in WoTA novel. At best, just indifference.
Read the thread, not sure how it goes against any of what I’m saying. Given that it details the night elves expanding into territory that the trolls considered to be under their sphere of influence, and then used their superior military and magical prowess to systemically dismantle the supply chains of the trolls and beat them back.
And THEN go on to negotiate a one-sided peace with the Zalandari to reign the other trolls in. These are the actions of a militarily powerful empire using their powerful military to establish control over territory. Azshara might say she has little interest in conquest, but unless you narrowly define “conquest” as besieging and taking over the cities of other people, she sure did a lot of conquering.
I feel like I’m missing something, why are people in this thread bristling against the idea of a ancient empire doing basic empire things like conquering and controlling territory with their militaries?
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You answered your own question:
The Troll Empires were also empires, and, as Karestae noted in the post above your last one, did basic empire things as well.
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Of course the troll empires were empires. I never said they were not? The history of the ancient Kaldorei empire is the classic tale of a newer empire with superior technology (magic) wrestling control over territory from the older, less technologically capable empires that came before.
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The Trolls settled in empty land. The elves took it from the trolls by force. It should be obvious who is in the wrong here.
I think it’s a little silly to think in terms of right and wrong when talking about the actions of ancient empires in real life, let alone purely fictional empires.
Then again, the story of Azshara and Sargeras and all the stuff around the War Of The Ancients is a cautionary tale about the dangers of societies succumbing to decadence and hubris. So there is some moralizing going on.
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Many of those same Night Elves on the other hand would have rather died than accept the aid of the creatures they held in high contempt.
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