The Night Elves had originally called themselves the Kaldorei, meaning "Children of the Stars." They were nocturnal beings who lived in a region the Loa had declared forbidden, so Zandalar had never discovered them—until they emerged from that land wielding a power known as the Arcane.
The Kaldorei worshipped the moon, the White Lady, in the night sky. The Tauren called that moon Mu'sha, while the Kaldorei called her Elune. They also allied themselves with several powerful Loa, and they looked much like Trolls. As a result, Zandalar had never targeted them, choosing instead to ignore them.
Thanks to Zandalar's indifference, the Kaldorei developed rapidly. Their leader, Azshara, won the unanimous approval of her people by building the city of Zin-Azshari to honor Elune, and became the Night Elves' sole queen.
After becoming queen, Azshara continued to expand her people's settlements. Besides Zin-Azshari, they built the City of Glory, Suramar; the City of Plenty, Zin-Malor; the city of Shandara in the far north; the secret city of Eldre'Thalas, hidden among the mountains; and their imperial capital, Zin-Azshari, in the forbidden land.
As if they had become obsessed with building cities, the Kaldorei built them everywhere. Their influence across the continent expanded rapidly, until Zandalar could no longer ignore them and organized an army to attack. But the Troll army was routed by the Kaldorei's frenzied use of the Arcane, as well as having its retreat cut off.
The defeat in the war led the Amani and Gurubashi to break away from Zandalar. Meanwhile, the Kaldorei reached out to the Pandaren, who were resisting the Mogu Empire, and the two formed an alliance. Under their combined pressure, the Mogu Empire nearly collapsed.
Faced with the rising Kaldorei Empire, the Mogu and Zandalari Trolls had no choice but to join forces. The Mogu Empire reached out to Zandalar, promising to share its lands. Zandalar accepted the offer and sent Raptor riders to help the Mogu Empire suppress the Pandaren, but the army was ultimately defeated by the Pandaren Cloud Serpent Riders.
One military defeat after another cost Zandalar its credibility, and its alliance with the Mogu Empire fell apart. Meanwhile, the Kaldorei Empire began expanding on an even greater scale, threatening the holy mountain of Zandalar.
Although they were at a disadvantage against the Kaldorei, the Zandalari Trolls still fought back with all their might. The war dragged on for a long time, until the Zandalari Trolls could no longer resist and sent envoys to the Kaldorei capital of Zin-Azshari, a place they had never visited before.
In the former forbidden land, now the capital of the Kaldorei Empire, the Zandalari envoys witnessed an astonishing sight: a lake called the Well of Eternity, vast and brimming with energy, and beside it a magnificent city that rivaled Zuldazar.
The Kaldorei leader, Azshara, eventually accepted Zandalar's offer of peace—not because of the Zandalari's stubborn resistance, but because she did not want to waste any more time on the war. She allowed them to keep their holy mountain, on the condition that all Trolls stop harassing the Kaldorei. Zandalar accepted this humiliating agreement.
Though the agreement was humiliating, it had at least bought them a chance to catch their breath. The Zandalari Trolls had been defeated, but the war had also made them deeply interested in the Kaldorei. They studied them and eventually reached a conclusion: the Kaldorei were the most savage and backward Dark Trolls in Troll society.
The Dark Trolls were so savage that they ignored the Loa's warnings and entered a forbidden land that no other Trolls dared to approach. The energy of the Well of Eternity transformed them, and they changed their beliefs and became the Kaldorei—that is, the Night Elves.
The Night Elves scoffed at Zandalar's theory, despite the Zandalari's confident claims, and said it was nothing more than a way for the Zandalari Trolls to console themselves. Tian Sang knew the Night Elves really had once been Dark Trolls, but Zandalar's self-consolation was no empty boast either: Zandalar had never risen again.
After suffering repeated setbacks, Zandalar fell into decline. It made no further attempt to reclaim its former glory or reach new heights, instead allowing its caste system to grow increasingly rigid, until the Kaldorei accidentally summoned the Burning Legion into the world.
To resist the Burning Legion, the Kaldorei blew up the Well of Eternity, shattering the Ancient Kalimdor Continent. The Zandalari Trolls did not take part in the war. Heeding the Loa's warnings, they used a magical barrier to protect Zandalar's land, preventing it from sinking beneath the sea and turning it into an island instead.
After the cataclysm of the Sundering, the Zandalari Trolls fell quiet, but they still managed to accomplish a few things. They helped the Gurubashi Empire defeat Blood God Hakkar and helped the Forest Trolls fight the alliance of humans and High Elves. The latter effort failed, but that was due to the Forest Trolls' own recklessness.
Aside from maintaining their position by involving themselves in the affairs of their kin, the Zandalari also discovered Kezan. They enslaved the Goblins on the island and forced them to mine a certain ore. But the ore's energy affected the Goblins instead, making them clever and cunning. They invented machines and bombs, then escaped Zandalari control.
The history recorded by Zandalar also contained some vague and missing parts. But even so, its long, connected record was more than enough to serve as a mirror. Drawing on his knowledge of politics from Earth, Tian Sang carefully absorbed the lessons it had to offer.
After giving Tian Sang a general overview of history, Lal taught him all kinds of knowledge about voodoo and the Loa, as well as some Zandalari Troll traditions. Of course, this smiling Witch Doctor priest often slipped his own opinions into what he taught. Well, they weren't really personal opinions so much as what he genuinely believed.
If Tian Sang had been a Troll born and raised, he might really have succumbed to the brainwashing: Trolls were noble, Zandalar was great. But unfortunately for Lal, Tian Sang was a transmigrator, and what he saw was this: the noble Forest Trolls could barely get enough to eat, while the great Zandalar still practiced cannibalism.
The history recorded by Zandalar was magnificent, and its culture was fascinating. Tian Sang admired both deeply, but he didn't believe he should abandon his own values and accept the Troll way of life wholesale. That would be wrong. He had to live as his true self, and seek the truth in facts.
The seventh year of the Dark Portal passed quickly. That year, Tian Sang cut off all contact with the outside world while on Zandalar Island, immersing himself completely in his studies. He learned to prepare all kinds of potions and medicinal wines, felt the power of voodoo and shadow, studied how to communicate with the Loa, and learned to use their power.
Even while studying, Tian Sang didn't forget his companions. He often met with Malacrass, Haimuxi, and the others who were studying in Zandalar, visited their places of study to observe, and made some local Zandalari friends as well. One of them was Talanji, a female Troll and follower of Gonkk, the Raptor Loa, who hoped to promote Druid culture.
Talanji was a fiercely independent Troll woman, a rarity in Troll society, where men held great power. Of course, that was also related to the forceful personality of Princess Talanji, the current Zandalari heir and only daughter of Rastakhan, the High Priest of the King's Guard.
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