Meaning, how did they get from Azjol-Nerub to Azj-Kahet, and when?
Pre-TWW, the aqir split into 3 sub-groups after the aqir-troll conflict: mantids in Manti’vess, Qiraji in Ahn-Qiraj, and nerubians in Azjol-Nerub, at which point they evolved divergently from one another.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but nothing in TWW actually makes mention of where the nerubians in AK actually come from or what their ancient history is in comparison to the AN nerubians. Are they an off-shoot of AN nerubians, who at some point left AN and established their own dynasty?
They’re cool because nerubians are cool, but it doesn’t really feel like there’s an in-universe reason why there are nerubians even in this expansion, aside from underground zone —> nerubians live underground —> add nerubians. It’s jarring because the aqiri offshoot races aren’t naturally-evolving races born on Azeroth, they were all artificially spawned and then evolved after the fact, they have a singular defined origin point and a specified, named place of origin as a species, and it isn’t Azj-Kahet.
Their is a quest chain in the City of Threads, that I refer to as the Nerubian Art Heist, that reveals per Nerubian history, by the Loom of Fate Anub’izek the Fatespinner saw an apocalyptic future for the Nerubians if they continued to follow their shadowy masters. Vowing to be free, she led a group of her people away from Northrend into the earth, where they would found Azj-Kahet. Queen Anub’izek would eventually fall in battle, against the sundry threats against her kingdom.
Anub’izek rebels agaisnt the Black Empire BEFORE the Titans, founding Azj’kahet
During their separation pre-Titans, the Nerubians develop the new “forms”: Sage Form, Lord Form, and Skitterling Form (the Skitterling Form was created by the Ozoli Dynasty pre-Titan, which may be the name of Anubizek’s dynasty)
The Titans arrived, Black Empire falls (the fall of the Black Empire is the dating point for when the stopped being able to make new forms, meaning the Skittering form predates such), and Anubizek who is still ruler says they cannot walk with their kindred because she sees death in their fate, presumably about Ahn’kahet in Northrend, but it’s not explicit
Ahn’kahet is founded post-Troll/Aqir war while Azj’kahet predates the Ordering itself
Azj-Kahet is nerubian America. They made a declaration of independence from Azjol-Nerub and burrowed across the sea.
95% of the sapient races on Azeroth except for trolls and dragons aren’t naturally occurring. The bestial races (tauren, quilboar, sethrak) were created by wild gods that were empowered by titans. Humans/dwarves/gnomes were titan constructs that got fleshified by a void curse. Elves are self-explanatory. Orcs and draenei are aliens (and orcs came from botani spores + gronn)
Nerubians have always been pretty independent and individualistic. They’ve always been more free-willed than the other aqiri descendants. If humans can divide themselves into seven different kingdoms, I don’t see why nerubians can’t have two.
…. If that’s the case, what would have caused two separate branches of the Aqir to evolve into the Nerubians?
After all it was the proximity to the Old Gods that caused the various Aqir sects to evolve as they did. C’Thun for the Qiraji, the Heart of Y’Shaarj for the Mantid, and Yogg-Saron for the Nerubians of Azjol-Nerub.
I’m not sure where this bit of info is coming from – nerubians didn’t exist until the trolls divided the aqir and chased them into Northrend. We also know that Azjol-Nerub is older given that Azj-Kahet was explicitly created as an offshoot of the existing kingdom.
EDIT: I just revisited the Educate Yourself quest in The Skeins history museum – Queen Anub’izek’s declaration was about the Old Gods, not Azjol-Nerub. Still, it’s written very vaguely.
“We will not bend to the whims of our own shadows,” she declared, “We shall depart this land, and we will be free” -Queen Anub’izek, as retold by Ar’syn
If they’re referring to a departure from Azj-Kahet TO Azjol-Nerub, that would directly contradict Chronicle. And the troll wars. And a bunch of previously established lore. The Drakkari Empire exists because they pushed the Aqir all the way into Northrend.
Nerubians didn’t exist until after the Troll Aqir War. Neither did the Qiraji nor the mantid. Before then it was just the Aqir. So how could the Nerubians exist before… the Nerubians existed?
This is even more confusing considering the split from aqir to the 3 other races didn’t occur until AFTER the aqir-troll war, so there couldn’t have been nerubians pre-Ordering.
The book EXPLICITLY states that Azjkahet was founded during the time of the Black Empire, created the Skittering Form, and that they lost the ability to create new forms with the fall of the Black Empire
This is the hundredth post Chronicles retcon of Chronicles, why are you people still holding on to that as the bible lmao
It is now retcon’d
I’m shocked, shocked that Blizzard would recon chronicles for the hundredth time
I’m not. They almost immediately undid Chronicle with BFA and spat on its grave during Shadowlands.
More so I’m surprised they continue to publish new Chronicle books, walk back the Titan propaganda angle, and STILL blatantly retcon everything in spite of that.
Blizzard are both implicitly and explicitly saying “yes Chronicle is supposed to be accurate” while simultaneously making **** up that contradicts it at the exact same time.
I’d rather they just kill Chronicle than continue to outright lie to players by saying they pay attention to it as a lore source, and then immediately throw it in the trash.
Dragons and likely trolls are not natural occuring. The dragons at least we can confirm were elementals that got left behind when the rest of their kin were locked up in the elemental planes.
There shouldn’t be complexity to the Black Empire because they are Cthulhu monsters, and there definitely shouldn’t be political complexity, ESPECIALLY because they are Cthulhu monsters.
Any scheming, posturing, whatever that can be easily understood is anathema to them. That’s the whole point.
If you had ever read the full breadth of the Lovecraft mythos you would know that there is in fact political-territorial drama and rebellion among the various beings and tiers of beings of that mythos. Elder Gods hate the Great Old Ones for example.
You may prefer reductionist 80’s type horror Lovecraft references, but I prefer the intrigue