The Migrating Troll Tribe

Kalimdor.

Tanaris Desert.

Elune above generously cast down her light, while Blue Child, unwilling to be left alone, opened its eye from some corner of the night and gazed upon Azeroth as well.

In the desert beneath the moonlight.

A fairly large camp had lit its bonfires, and over ten thousand people rested within. Though it was somewhat disorderly, order was still maintained.

A tall figure.

Stood at the edge of the camp, silently gazing at Elune in the sky.

Suddenly.

A very tall yet hunched figure approached the tall, straight-backed figure. Bowing deeply, he spoke in a respectful whisper:

"Chief. We've reached the entrance to Un'Goro Crater. Are we really taking the tribe inside? Aside from all kinds of devilsaur, violent elementals, and ferocious wildlife, there's nothing there..."

"Zangar. This is the will of the great loa. We'll only draw the Sandfury Tribe's greed if we remain in Tanaris. Though we are both desert trolls, the Sandfury Tribe will show no mercy. Nor do we need their mercy. We are weak now, so we can only leave. But we leave so that we may return in greater glory!"

Without turning around, the tall figure cut off his subordinate, Zangar. Only his deep voice echoed through the night.

"Un'Goro Crater is indeed dangerous. But this is the loa's guidance, and we cannot defy the gods' will. Zangar, what you can do—and must do—is help me guide the tribe. Put everyone at ease, and make sure we enter the crater tomorrow!"

Hearing the tall figure's decisive words, the slightly hunched figure bowed again and said softly:

"The loa's will, your glory... Chief, I'll go inspect the camp. The desert winds are strong at night. I hope those little brats have secured their tents properly!"

"Go."

After the slightly hunched figure left, the tall figure who had been staring at Elune finally turned around and looked down at the camp.

Had anyone been standing before him then, the moonlight would have been too dazzling to see his face against it. Yet his tall, powerful muscles, the blue-and-white skin characteristic of desert trolls, and his striking short red hair all marked him as a powerful desert troll.

And indeed, he was a desert troll.

His name was Tonatiuh Aztec, chief of the Sandblood Tribe, a desert troll tribe.

The Sandblood trolls were one of the many desert troll tribes in the great Tanaris Desert. Though when people spoke of the trolls of Tanaris Desert, they knew only the Sandfury trolls of Zul'Farrak.

In truth, however, while the Sandfury trolls were unquestionably the greatest force among the desert trolls and occupied the desert's only troll city.

Below the Sandfury Tribe.

There were still more than a dozen other desert troll tribes of varying size.

Their populations ranged from a few thousand to over ten or twenty thousand, while the Sandfury Tribe had a population exceeding one hundred thousand.

Among those dozen or so desert troll tribes, the Sandblood Tribe was one of the larger ones aside from the Sandfury Tribe.

Originally, they were all desert trolls and essentially shared the same bloodline. Their relations were not close, but they were passable. But starting a few years ago, the Sandfury Tribe within Zul'Farrak suddenly decided to unite all desert trolls and issued an order to every tribe that was not Sandfury—either submit to the Sandfury Tribe completely or die. From then on, Tanaris would have only the Sandfury Tribe, with no other desert troll tribes remaining.

In truth, most desert trolls were willing to move into Zul'Farrak. After all, in that godforsaken place called Tanaris, aside from the goblin cities, only Zul'Farrak was remotely fit for habitation.

But...

Rumors from within Zul'Farrak claimed that the powerful figures in the city wanted to unite all desert trolls, establish a new troll empire, and then march north.

Why not south?

Because south of Tanaris, there was nothing but sand, the qiraji of Ahn'Qiraj, and the beasts within the crater.

This should have been a good thing for the desert trolls. After all, no one truly wanted to remain in a barren desert that had nothing. If they could move north to somewhere suitable for living, everyone would be more than willing. For example, the Barrens, said to be vast grasslands teeming with beasts fit for hunting, or Ashenvale, filled with towering trees but occupied by a bunch of black-skinned long-eared folk.

However.

Things were not that simple.

Zul'Farrak's order was that strong trolls could enter the city, while the old, weak, women, and children could only remain outside it. Some were not even allowed to stay outside the city, and could only remain in the original territories of their desert troll tribes.

The Sandfury Tribe wanted only strong warriors—or rather, strong desert troll cannon fodder.

Naturally, the other desert trolls were unwilling.

They declared that either the Sandfury Tribe changed its mind and accepted everyone into the city, or it could forget about conscripting their warriors.

And then.

A civil war among the trolls of Tanaris Desert erupted.

Though it was foolish.

Resources in the desert were already scarce, and the desert trolls still had to contend with those disgusting bugs, profit-hungry goblins, and druids who had settled there in nature's name. Civil war was truly unwise.

But troll civil wars had never needed a reason... and now there was even a reason, so war began.

Seeing this, the Sandblood Tribe—the desert troll tribe closest to the south.

Under the leadership of their wise, young, strong chief, who had suddenly received the guidance of the great loa, prepared to lead the tribe away from the foolish but powerful Sandfury Tribe and into the wild Un'Goro Crater.

This young, wise, and powerful chief, Tonatiuh Aztec, had become the tribe's chief only three years ago.

Originally, like every chief before him, he had been the strongest troll in the tribe, an incomparably powerful warrior.

But one month ago.

The valiant young chief had suddenly become wise. He led the tribe's warriors to wipe out a small invading Sandfury force without suffering a single loss.

Afterward, he insisted on moving the tribe into the incomparably dangerous and untamed Un'Goro Crater.

The desert trolls of the Sandblood Tribe had initially thought it absurd. That was Un'Goro Crater. In ancient troll legends, it was the biological testing ground of the Creator Gods, filled with all manner of terrifying creatures...

For thousands of years.

It was not as though no desert troll tribes had migrated there. After all, compared with the barren desert, the crater, lush and green as far as the eye could see from the Tanaris side, was naturally far more appealing.

Yet not one troll from any tribe that migrated inside had ever emerged. Not a single one. Un'Goro Crater was like a blood-soaked maw that devoured trolls: trolls went in, but none came out.

But Tonatiuh Aztec was the chief.

He was also the strongest troll in the tribe, had suddenly become exceptionally wise, and had even received divine miracles and power bestowed by the loa. Though the tribe was filled with fear, with the Sandfury trolls hunting them from behind and the loa's miracles before them, they could only follow their young chief's footsteps despite their dread. The entire Sandblood Tribe abandoned its old territory and set out for Un'Goro.

At this moment.

The tribe had reached the border between Tanaris and Un'Goro Crater.

And their young chief, favored by the loa, Tonatiuh Aztec, looked over the tribe's temporary camp for the night. He could not help but sigh softly and mutter in a language no one in all Azeroth could understand:

"Damn it... We're finally almost there!"