The Horde, Post-Legionfall: Kalimdor

The Horde stood on the brink of ruination after the Fourth War. Garrosh's dream had brought only destruction. The Alliance did not destroy the Horde... but everyone knows they could have if they'd truly wanted to.

Warchief Vol'jin kept the Horde going. An experienced warrior and canny politician, he restored the trolls to their place without being cruel to the orcs who'd so wronged his people. Like Thrall, he understood that the Horde's only hope existed in being powerful enough to deter Alliance aggression—though the Horde might not be able to win, it could at least inflict enough pain to make the Alliance think twice. Most of his efforts went toward securing food and other resources. The wealth of Stranglethorn helped make up for the loss of Ashenvale.

The Horde's depleted state limited the troops and materiel they could send to the Broken Shore. The debacle there did more to hurt the Alliance. Similarly, the Legion rarely attacked the Horde directly, and Horde partisans proved quite useful in the Broken Isles and later on Argus. While the Alliance lost power during the Legion Invasion, the Horde gained back a bit.

The loss of Vol'jin came as a harsh blow. No one is entirely sure what motivated him to make Sylvanas Windrunner his successor. However, she has surprised the Horde by mostly continuing her predecessor's policies. Though she rules the Forsaken as a tyrant, she largely allows the other Horde races to manage their affairs as they see fit. She is not popular, but most acknowledge she turned out to be a lot better than they expected.

Her critics are quiet, but worried. Many of those who oppose Sylvanas also opposed Garrosh. Under Hellscream's reign they knew that most of the Horde secretly shared their hatred of the man. Though few outside of the Forsaken truly love Sylvanas, almost no one hates her, which might allow her a dangerous leeway...

The Orcish Horde

The orcs are a shattered people. Thrall's message of liberation and Garrosh's exhortations to conquest ring hollow in the ears of hungry children and old warriors who have seen too many battles. Over and over again the orcs ask themselves what went wrong in the Fourth War, and there are dozens of different answers.

Some find scapegoats. They blame trollish treachery or Forsaken cowardice. Garrosh remains their true warchief even in death. The most extreme gathered together in the Blood of Heroes, a terrorist organization that assassinates supporters of the new regime. A failed attempt on Vol'jin's life resulted in a backlash almost wiped out the group, though there are still dozens of them in the shadows.

Some seek new answers. These orcs saw the drive for honor and glory bring ruination and they wonder why they should be asked to do these things. What does honor even mean? For the Horde, it too often seemed to be little more than a label. Now, aggressive orcs, often of the generation that came of age in Kalimdor, proclaim new definitions of honor in the streets of Orgrimmar, arguing with their brethren. Such arguments often turn into epic brawls where friendships are forged and deep hatreds sown. But they always start with words, and perhaps some of these words need to be spoken.

But most orcs simply try to get by in life. It is no small thing to grow food in the dusty soil of Durotar and the Barrens. The peons have become more confident. The Horde's conflicts always relied on peon labor, and they have a newfound understanding of their own importance. Some peons were drafted as warriors during the Fourth War's closing months, but never received the respect they were due. They do not accept this scorn quietly. More and more peons are demanding respect, showing the scars they've earned in the Horde's innumerable wars.

Shamans remember how Thrall charged them with the spiritual leadership of the orcish people, and few can deny how thoroughly they have failed. The orcish past seems to offer few answers. So many of the great heroes were warriors far crueler than even Garrosh. Some shamans argue that the context of those times justified the actions of the traditional heroes, while others instead seek new heroes who show honor in restraint and mercy. Some have found this in the partisans of the Broken Isles, though that number includes plenty of brutes as well.

The Mag'har

Mag'har life has changed little. The formidable orcish warriors of Nagrand still follow their ancestral ways, a clear reminder of how orcs lived before demonic corruption. Their braves continue battling the other peoples of Nagrand in an endless war that no side can ever truly win. Once seen as paragons of orcish virtue, the larger Horde mostly leaves the Mag'har to their own devices. The pressing need to defend Garadar means that only a handful of Mag'har go to Azeroth.

The Dragonmaw Clan

The Dragonmaw Clan had been in conflict with the Alliance Wildhammers for so long that the Fourth War meant little more than a brief increase in violence. Now disarmed and forced into peace, the Dragonmaw orcs wonder when the next warchief will lead them into battle. Some of the orcs in the main Horde find inspiration in their impetuousness, though others view the Dragonmaw as a warning of what orcs can let themselves become.

Stonard

The orcs of Stonard spent much of the Fourth War under Alliance occupation. As the oldest still-inhabited orcish city in Azeroth, it has some symbolic value. Life under human occupation was bleak, though Stonard's residents typically had their needs met. Yet the human guards often looked the other way when Gilnean partisans emerged from the pitch-black swamp nights to wreak havoc on the orcs. A human constable, working with an orc shaman, did finally bring these Gilneans to justice.

Suspicious of the Alliance and of the Horde, the orcs of Stonard focus on growing their own strength. There is little opportunity in the encircled city, so many of their young ones seek their fortunes as freelancers and partisans. The Broken Isles proved lucrative for many.

The Darkspear Tribe

The trolls suffered greatly during the Fourth War but they emerged as victors. Garrosh had never made any secret of his scorn for the trolls, and Darkspear warriors were often assigned the most dangerous tasks while the people of the tribe languished in privation. Now, the trolls find themselves in charge. Though a Forsaken is warchief, the western Horde still relies on troll and goblin administrators. They ensure that the roads stay in repair, that taxes are collected, and that food reaches its destination.

It's quite a jump from the tribal world that is still within living memory for most trolls. The Darkspear claim that they are simply tapping into ancestral wisdom—after all, the trolls brought civilization to the world. Empire-building is in their blood. But the truth is a bit grubbier. The majority of the Darkspear Tribe still lives the way it always has. Only a handful of bright young minds, trained by elves and goblins, act as the Western Horde's brain trust. This clerisy is badly overstretched and most young trolls are still brought up to be hunters, fishers, or farmers.

The Darkspear Tribe has become something of a super-tribe. Many of its members hail from defunct tribes like the Skullsplitter or the Gurubashi. Those without Darkspear ancestry are relegated to second class membership. Men from these tribes find it almost impossible to marry, unless they can bring in women from their home villages. The best opportunities are often closed to the children of these immigrants—though most would rather farm cassava melons under the Darkspear protection than take their chances in the Stranglethorn wilderness.

The obstacles to integration exacerbate the trolls' problems with intellectual capital. Yet tribe is family, and how can family really accept someone who is not related?

Wealth has started to come in for the Darkspears. Plantations in Stranglethorn have been re-established, and their goods are sold all over the world. Incense is burned on the altars of new stone temples and the richest Darkspear headmen dream of one day making the Echo Isles a city to rival Darza'alor. Indeed, Zandalar's diminishment has increasingly made the Darkspear seem to be the leader of troll kind. A united troll empire is far off, but could become a great power that would no longer even need the Horde.

The Revantusk Tribe

The Horde almost forgot about the Revantusk Tribe during the Fourth War. Prizing aggression, the Revantusk struck against their rival forest tribes, conquering many. Some of the Revantusk fancy themselves as the Darkspear of the north but they show little of the reason and caution displayed by their jungle cousins. Defeated forest tribes are treated as chattel. Horde officials suspect that it's only a matter of time before the enslaved forest trolls exploded in a paroxysm of violence, but no one has any real idea how to solve this.

The United Tauren Tribes

The United Tauren Tribes behold the war's aftermath with bemusement. Nearly all of the chieftains and shamans knew that Garrosh's war could only end in misery, but felt they had no choice but to honor the debt they owed to the orcs. Now that this debt has been honored, and Tauren lands are scarred by war, they wonder how much they still owe to the Horde. No one wishes to leave, but the United Tauren Tribes are increasingly inclined to keep their own counsel, and they appreciate that Warchief Sylvanas appears to respect this wish.

More troubling than the war is the fact that the world has changed beyond imagining. The Tauren once believed that the Horde would give them the chance to roam the plains of their ancestors, free of centaurs or quilboars. Yet the plains are no longer as big as they once were. Orcish farms take up more and more land in the Barrens, limiting the space the Tauren can use for their herds and shrinking the amount of game. Though the Tauren have ventured into agriculture, they do not yet have the means to become efficient at it, nor do they want to be bound by agricultural plots.

Older Tauren wonder if they have exchanged a quick downfall at centaur hands for a much slower one beneath the wheels of Horde progress. The spirits do not offer many answers, though plenty languish under the sprawling orcish farms of the Northern Barrens, or in the stone and steel of Orgrimmar. The Earthmother loves all Her children, but is Her love really so great as to transcend tribe? The new priests and Sunwalkers say that this is how it must be, but the wise ones shake their heads.

The new faith of the Light is shared cautiously within the United Tauren Tribes. Its practitioners say that the Tauren have always worshiped the Light—that this is seen in how all in a tribe care for one another. Now, they just have a better understanding of the subject. But the traditional Tauren point out that the Earthmother is what is real and all around. She is not words from a book or obscure points of theology. And the Sunwalkers listen and think, since there is nothing holy about ignoring one's elders. But neither can they forget what they have seen in dreams and visions.

In the meantime, there are stories to tell and songs to sing. These are strange days but the Earthmother will abide beyond them. Orcs and trolls depend on their cities. If nature wipes them clean, the Tauren will remember the old ways, and will re-teach them to their misguided friends.

And the world keeps changing.

The Shu'halo'hanok (Forest Tauren)

The reclusive Tauren of Feralas have been pushed to the limits of their patience. The Horde and the United Tauren Tribes have brought chaos, refugees, and strange spirits. They started a war against the elves which the Shu'halo'hanok had no desire to pursue. The forest Tauren now seek to limit their involvement. The spirits of the forest have always provided shelter, and they will do so again. Or so forest Tauren hope.

The Thousand Needles Tribes

The floods of the Cataclysm have forever changed the Thousand Needles. Though the tribes here miss the old days, they know there is opportunity in the crashing seas. Food is easier to come by than it was before and the deluge forever destroyed the centaur clans that plagued them in the past. Tauren boats now brave the treacherous tides while their fliers soar between the mesas. More than any other group of Tauren, these tribes welcome the new technologies brought by goblins and gnomes. Some have even improved upon the basic designs, reminding the world that though the Shu'halo rarely train as engineers, they seem to have a curious knack for the subject.

The Taunka Tribes

The Taunka tribes of Northrend focus on slowly regaining their strength. The Scourge harrowed their people, and only a few tribes survived. But the borders of Northrend are hardening, and it will be more difficult for these hunters and herders to live the ways that their ancestors did. The Horde can only provide limited help, but for now, it is all that the taunka can get.

Highmountain

The mighty Highmountain Tauren of the Broken Isles may offer a preview of what's in store for the United Tauren Tribes. While the Kalimdor Tauren once roamed across their sprawling continent, the Highmountain Tauren had always been limited to the wooded slopes and deep ravines of their homeland.

As a result, their settlements became permanent, houses of wood and hide set up on foundations of sturdy stone. The tribes are no longer family: they are more akin to states, with the stratification that entails. Few farmers would dare question a warrior, and warriors obey their chieftains—all obey the spirits and the words of those who hear them. 

Though they acknowledge the spirit world, each tribe will show strong preference for the spirits of their particular land. This is not selfishness—for no Tauren is selfish. But this intense loyalty to particular spirits is how the sons and daughters of Highmountain show their loyalty and obligation to hearth and kin.

Yes, they are still Tauren. Those of Highmountain care for those within the tribe (even if inter-tribal war, almost unheard of in Kalimdor, is known to occur in Highmountain). They hear the spirits and obey—even if a tribe will usually only listen to its own spirits. Though the shaman-chief of the Highmountain Tribe has technical authority over all other tribes, this is more true in word than in action. Even the Highmountain Tauren are uncomfortable with great central authority.

Some among the Kalimdor Tauren see the ways of Highmountain as an effective compromise. Others view them as a dead end.

The Bilgewater Cartel

Trade Prince Gallywix claims he nearly went bankrupt funding the Fourth War. This isn't quite true, but the coffers of the Bilgewater Cartel are definitely in paltry shape. This just means the goblins must work even harder to break even. Goblins usually enjoy a challenge, but many are grumbling. The ups and downs of life are one thing, but the brutality of war was quite another.

Bilgewater soldiers learned to protect their buddies out on the front and they don't like being set against each other upon their return. Some of these old soldiers are organizing and creating secret companies within the cartel, offering goods and services at the prices they think they should get. What they do is technically illegal—Gallywix always gets a cut—but these clandestine businesses are good at what they do. And they're tough enough that bruisers think twice before tangling with them.

The goblin shamans have also been changed. Many have seen the devastation of Hyjal, and realize there is a limit to how much the natural world will accept. They now speak of long-term profits that can come from a solid relationship with the spirits, but few listen to them. As is so often the case, a goblin's best friend is anyone from another race, and these shamans head to Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff to learn more about how they can secure spiritual profits over a period of decades rather than weeks.

Horde taxes have always been onerous. While Garrosh levied them for war, Vol'jin and Sylvanas levy them for peace. It's not a burden that the Bilgewater goblins, already kept on the brink of penury by Gallywix's fees, enjoy paying. Many cannot afford to, and take great measures to keep their earnings secret (sometimes helped by the veteran companies). Other goblins, loyal to the Horde and not the trade prince, experiment with new taxation methods and figure out the best way to collect.

The Forest Hozen

They will be discussed in a separate entry on Pandaria.