Druid Culture

Talanji's ancestors had once been Witch Doctor priests who traveled to the Mogu Empire to study Druid lore. This had allowed them to become priests of Gonkk, the Raptor Loa. Later, Talanji became friends with Princess Talanji, hitched her wagon to hers, and gained enough independence.

Druid culture originated with another Loa—known beyond their lands as a demigod and the King of the Forest, Cenarius. Legend said he was the child of Elune and Aparro, the King of the White Stags, another name for Malorne. Born half-man and half-stag, he passed Druid culture on to several friendly races, including the Yaungol.

Driven from their lands by the Mogu's oppression, the Yaungol had long since lost the legacy of their Druid culture. But among the Zandalari Trolls, plenty of knowledge had been preserved. Though it was still incomplete, Talanji had successfully gained some abilities with Gonkk's permission, and she devoted herself to spreading Druid culture.

Talanji devoted herself to spreading Druid culture, but it met with a lukewarm response. Zul'ra took the opportunity to learn from her, drawn to this culture of watching over nature and promoting balance.

Druids believed in harmony between people and nature: drawing strength from nature, using that strength to protect living things, and maintaining nature's balance. Their beliefs reflected both the traditional Chinese Confucian ideals of benevolence, righteousness, and moderation, and the Daoist ideal of quietude and non-action. They naturally felt familiar to Zul'ra.

Guided by their central belief in harmony between people and nature, Druids actively communicated with everything in the natural world. They studied the habits of plants and animals and observed the movements of celestial bodies. By familiarizing themselves with nature, they gained the ability to control its forces—the sun, moon, and starlight—and to transform into animals.

Unlike the voodoo spells that focused on support and healing, Druid spells covered support, healing, and offense, making them nearly all-purpose. Training was no easy task, however, and some of their beliefs clashed with Troll customs. That was one reason Druid culture had never caught on. In Zandalar, Trolls called Druids soothsayers.

Unlike the purely academic study of the seventh year of the Dark Portal, in the eighth year Zul'ra not only studied but also joined the Rastali Guard, becoming a Witch Doctor serving in the military. It was a sort of internship.

In the Rastali Guard, Zul'ra got a close look at Zandalar's military organization. Unlike the Amani, whose forces had many Warriors but few Witch Doctor priests, the Zandalari army had many Witch Doctor priests and few Warriors.

Compared with the Amani's backwardness, Zandalar's military organization was highly developed. It was divided into a standing army and a militia, both equipped with standardized weapons. During major wars, farmers would also be called up to fight.

Zandalar had a strict vetting system. Anyone who wanted to become a farmer had to pass the Stone Trial by lifting a boulder to display their strong back muscles. Only after passing this trial could they be granted farmland. As a result, farmers in Zandalar were also reservists.

Aside from its military organization, Zandalar also had a well-developed military supply system. Witch Doctors provided the soldiers with all kinds of medicinal liquors, and their artisans forged standardized, practical metal equipment. Of course, the caste system meant armor could not be worn freely, but it was still better than the Amani, who were still using stone tools.

The Rastali, where Zul'ra served, was Zandalar's standing army. Its soldiers were all upright-backed Zandalari Trolls, responsible for guarding Zuldazar, keeping order in the city, and protecting the borders, among other duties.

In Zandalar, any race other than Trolls was in danger, since they might become prey to Troll hunters. Like the Forest Trolls, the Zandalari Trolls also had a custom of eating people.

Unlike the Amani, where only the ruling class was permitted to eat people, in Zandalar it was the Warriors and commoners—the lower castes—who did so. The high-caste scholars serving as priests and Witch Doctors would never eat people, because they looked down on the meager power gained from doing so.

Zul'ra went on several missions with the Rastali, observing their fighting styles and weapons at close range. While Amani Forest Trolls prized agility in battle, Zandalari Trolls favored direct strength.

Unlike the Forest Trolls, who used javelins and throwing axes as their everyday weapons, the Zandalari Trolls wielded spade-and-hoe spears and greatswords in close combat, and crossbows at range. In battle, Warriors formed the front line while crossbowmen fired from behind. Witch Doctor priests mixed in among them to provide support and cover, though they sometimes joined the fighting directly.

Besides infantry, the Zandalari Trolls had also tamed creatures such as Brutosaurs, Direhorns, Raptors, Pterosaurs, Devilsaurs, and bats for transport and combat. Animal taming was a Troll tradition, and had even been included in the coming-of-age trials.

During his time with the Rastali, Zul'ra put the Voodoo and Druid knowledge he had acquired into practice, blending in his own thoughts and insights. He also learned some close-combat and weapons skills, and took a careful look at Zandalar's smelting and crossbow-making techniques, recording them on paper.

As his internship with the Rastali went on, Zul'ra spent the eighth year of the Dark Portal in Zandalar, a land where all four seasons were like spring. He officially turned seventeen, an age that meant he was due to undergo the coming-of-age trials.

As mentioned earlier, Zandalar had a very strict vetting system. After reaching adulthood, Trolls who were not chosen to become Witch Doctor priests or scholars had to undergo trials, demonstrating their strength to the king, the council, and the gods in order to earn a position.

In theory, Zul'ra was a Witch Doctor and therefore a scholar, so he did not need to undergo the trials. But when he came to Zandalar to study, Rastakhan had already told him that he would face a test.

Two years had passed, but King Rastakhan had not gone back on his word. After the Year Eight offerings to the gods had ended, he sent Zul'ra instructions: help the devoted follower Kurtaki discover why G'hnir, the God of Tigers and King of Beasts, had stopped accepting followers, and prove his own strength in the process.

After receiving Rastakhan's message, Zul'ra immediately sought out Kurtaki to ask about the situation. Kurtaki was a devoted follower of G'hnir, the God of Tigers and King of Beasts, and had kept watch on the Loa's movements for many years. He had once visited Zul'Farrak in Tanaris and discovered that his god had stopped accepting followers.

It was not unusual for a Loa to stop responding to its followers for a long time. But for one to stop accepting followers, with every shrine and temple falling silent, was rare. Such a situation meant either that the Loa had died or that something had detained them.

Loa was a general term for beings that transcended death. They possessed immortal bodies and undying souls. Even if their physical bodies in the mortal world were killed, they could find new bodies and return. No Loa had ever been known to die—but why had G'hnir, the God of Tigers, stopped accepting followers?

The story has been contracted. Please bookmark it, recommend it, add it to your reading lists if you have any, and thank you! Also, the protagonist's name has been changed from Tian Sang to Zul'ra. I won't be changing it in the earlier chapters. I thought no one cared about this, after all!