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Kalimdor |
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Kalimdor, or "Land of an Eternal Starlight" in the native tongue of the Night Elves, was once the only continent in the world of Azeroth. Centered around the original Well of Eternity, the Night Elves' civilization quickly spread across the face of Kalimdor. The Night Elves lived in peace and serenity for many thousands of years, until the fateful day that Queen Azshara's High Borne were contacted by the Dark Titan Sargeras. Corrupted by their own magical energies, Azshara and her servants worked to bring Sargeras and the Burning Legion into Azeroth, where the demonic army would consume the world's innate magical force and lay waste to Kalimdor. Only the combined actions of the ancient Dragons and Malfurion Stormrage's forces prevented this catastrophe. However, Furion's intervention destabilized the Well of Eternity, which exploded with such force that eighty percent of Kalimdor's landmass was shattered and drowned by the sea. The ravaged world would never be the same.
The western chunk of the destroyed continent, re-colonized by the Night Elf survivors, retained the name of Kalimdor. Over the next ten thousand years, the Night Elves cultivated a vast forest on the northern half of the landmass. This gigantic forest, unmatched anywhere else in Azeroth, came to be known as Ashenvale. The forest cradles the massive Mount Hyjal, upon which sits Nordrassil, the Night Elves' original World Tree.
After the invasion of the Legion during the Third War, the Night Elves desperately sought a refuge from the demonic corruption that tainted much of Ashenvale. The druids chose the island of Kalidar, off the northern Kalimdor coast, to serve as their sanctuary. Using their immense power, the druids grew a second World Tree on the island, known as Teldrassil "Crown of the Earth", to secure their place there. Within Teldrassil's branches, the Night Elves have constructed the elegant city of Darnassus, from which they oversee the purification of Ashenvale.
South of Ashenvale's borders lay the Barrens: a dry, desolate land devoid of the forest's rich greenery. However, the Barrens are far from uninhabited.
The native inhabitants of the Barrens include the Tauren, Centaur, and Harpies. The Tauren and Centaur have been fighting for centuries, and until the arrival of Thrall and the Orcish Horde during the Third War, the Tauren were on the verge of extinction. With the Orcs' aid, the Tauren scattered the Centaur into the wilderness. Having eliminated the primary threat to their continued existence, the Tauren have concentrated at the mighty city of Thunder Bluff in central Kalimdor, overlooking the verdant grasslands of their beloved Mulgore.
The Orcs, meanwhile, have established a new homeland for themselves amongst the Barrens' unforgiving landscape. Naming their new nation after Thrall's father, the Orcs founded Durotar as an adopted home for all members of the Horde and their allies. The capital city of Orgrimmar has cemented the Orcs' place in Kalimdor for generations to come.
The Darkspear Trolls, having joined the Horde during Thrall's exodus to Kalimdor, have claimed the coastal Echo Isles as their new home. Though the Trolls live by themselves on the islands, they are protected by the Horde's air and ground forces, which can be air-lifted from Orgrimmar at a moment's notice.
Meanwhile, the Human survivors of Lordaeron, led by the Archmage Jaina Proudmoore, have constructed a mighty citadel on Theramore Island, off the eastern coast of central Kalimdor. Here Jaina and her comrades seek to preserve the civilization that was decimated by the Legion and the Scourge during the Third War.
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