GTW Basic Storyline

Pre-campaigns storyline for the Great Troll War Mod:

Gilneas and the Evil Brigade Wars-

The following is an account of how Gilneas came to use dark, chaotic magiks. It is also an account of the Evil Brigade Wars, which occurred roughly 50 years before The Great Troll War. Although understanding of these wars is not essential to the understanding of The Great Troll War storyline, it does help.

Unlike The Great Troll War storyline, this is not based off any WarCraft lore, but it contradicts no WarCraft lore either.

This is exciting, and well-done, so don't worry about getting bored while reading it, even though it appears long.

Gilneas lies in relative seclusion, separated by mountains and seas from other major nations. Gilneas retained enough contact with other nations to keep apprised of inventions among other things so they would not become “backward”, but they never truly broke their seclusion. The land area of the nation is rather small, but luckily most of it is usable and not covered by mountains or lakes. The relative seclusion forced the Gilneans into a state of paranoia, and they created a great army and vast navy. The paranoia was fed by the fact that although they lie in relative seclusion, Lordaeron, Azeroth, and Stromgarde form an invisible triangle around the nation. The quest for power to defend themselves became constant, and years only served to increase paranoia. Gilneas sorcerers unlocked the mystical dark powers of chaos, and immediately put them to use. This powerful form of magic allowed those who wielded it to quickly silence any who objected to it. Within five years wielders of chaos took over the government of Gilneas and the people followed them into the darkness. The armies fed off the dark power, and were driven by it. The once grand, shining army of Gilneas was transformed into a massive black horde. Armor and weapons were imbued with dark energies, making them even more powerful than before. The average life expectancy of a Gilnean dropped, but the power they held within that lifetime increased greatly. An army the likes of which no one on Azeroth had ever seen was created.

About 50 years before the Great Troll War, Gilneas attempted to attack Kul Tiras. They sent their massive pirate-filled navy to the shores of Kul Tiras. The Kul Tirans fought as well as they could, but Kul Tiras is mainly a merchant nation, not fit for fighting. Their navy, at the time, was decent, but nothing special (although their ships were the fastest). They got word of their plight to Azeroth. The Azerothiens agreed to lend their aide to the Kul Tiras cause (for many reasons, foremost being that Gilneas posed an obvious threat to Azeroth, and Kul Tiras' merchants helped Azeroth). Azeroth quickly sent forth 50 full regiments in over 300 transport ships (accompanied by 100 frigates, 75 gallies, 50 destroyers, and 10 full-fledged battle ships, all under the command of Admiral Piznoski, who resided in his flagship, the Imperious Prow, which was the largest of all ships in the attack group). The fleet dropped off the 50 regiments and their transport ships, and then joined with the Kul Tiras fleet (3 battle ships, 25 destroyers, 45 gallies, and 70 frigates). The combined fleets set off to face the Gilneas fleet (numbering roughly 30 battle ships, 50 destroyers, 60 gallies, and 80 frigates; Admiral Planktooth’s flagship, Furious Harbringer, eclipsed all other vessels used in the engagement, utilizing a massive number of cannons, ballistae, and catapults). The naval battle was fierce, and both sides fought to a stand-off. News of the war reached the nations of Lordaeron, Dalaran, Stromgarde, Alterac, and Khaz Modan. Khaz Modan decided to ignore it entirely, dismissing it as a “Petty Human War”, while Stromgarde offered a temporary alliance to Gilneas. Lordaeron and Dalaran offered their support to Azeroth and Kul Tiras. Stromgarde bypassed Alterac and set up a base on the island of Tol Barad. From there, they branched out to Zul ‘Dare and Crestfall. They extended an offer to Gilneas that would allow Gilneas to build bases on the islands as well. Gilneas accepted. Lordaeron and Dalaran were comparatively slow to move. Stromgarde added 20 battle ships, 60 destroyers, 100 gallies, and 200 frigates to the Gilneas Navy. Gilneas added 10 battleships, 20 destroyers, 40 gallies, and 80 frigates to their assault fleet. The combination of two such massive fleets put Kul Tiras and Azeroth at a great disadvantage. Their fleets fought well, but fell easily. Gilneas and Stromgarde commenced the invasion of Kul Tiras, bringing the massive number of 200 full regiments to the island nation. Azeroth and Kul Tiras’s collective regimental strength was only at 65. Azeroth committed more reinforcements to the defense of the nation, upping the regimental strength to 100, and Azeroth sent a new fleet to replace the old one. Lordaeron and Dalaran threatened the Gilneas homeland, forcing them to recall 20 of their regiments, but still doing little to deter them (as Gilneas and Stromgarde combined easily blocked any way to the Great Sea from Lordaeron. To get there, they would have to pass through either the lands of Gilneas or Stromgarde.

The Kul Tiras and Azerothien forces commenced in creating large walled fortresses to defend key areas, but many in the north portion of the nation were destroyed before they were finished. Gilneas and Stromgarde gained victory after victory as they took every piece of land but the great capitol of Kul Tiras. 50 regiments guarded the city and about 20 kilometers around the city. These 50 regiments were all that remained of the combined forces. The city’s great harbor was guarded by the reinforced Azerothien fleet, and whatever Kul Tiras could scrap together. Stromgarde and Gilneas launched a massive assault on the capitol city, with a total of 100 full regiments. Their fleets, which numbered 25 battle ships, 60 destroyers, 100 gallies, and 120 frigates (plus the Gilneas and Stromgarde flagships), assaulted the harbor simultaneously with the ground attack. The effect proved devastating to the Azerothiens. They could not retreat to their homeland, they could merely hold their land, or die doing so. The defending armies and fleets were decimated by the combined armies and navies of Gilneas and Stromgarde.

The coalition of Azerothien and Kul Tiras forces retreated back to the Azeroth mainland (those that could retreat; this was mainly those lucky enough to be on board naval ships that were away from the capitol). The Azerothiens knew that any chance of a naval victory had been lost. They retreated from the shores, allowing Gilneas and Stromgarde to land. The first target was Stormwind, as the Azerothiens had managed to deceive their enemies into thinking they had retreated to Northshire. A massive defense was mounted just to the west of Stormwind. The Azerothiens retreated, but Gilneas and Stromgarde had taken grave losses from the battle. They pushed on to the walls of Stormwind, and were repulsed. Azeroth had managed to gather a massive portion of their army and station it at Stormwind. Numerically they were still outnumbered, but the walls aided them greatly. The black magics from the Gilnean sorcerers wreaked havoc upon the western walls, and lower western section of the great city, but did little more. The Azerothiens forced the Gilneans to retreat to the coast. They then pushed them back to Kul Tiras. Once there, Gilneas and Stromgarde turned on one-another. The carnage was massive. Stromgarde’s mighty iron shields against Gilneas’ black magic. The black sorcerers cast spells upon the Gilneas Black Armor to make it even better than the magnificent steel armor worn by the Stromgardiens. The armies ended up being equally matched. Gilneas “lost” two years after the start of the “Great Island Slaughter”, as increased attacks by Dalaran and Lordaeron forced them to withdraw to protect their land. Alterac attacked Stromgarde around the same time, but even without half its army, Stromgarde easily stopped the weak nation, and fully established its dominance over them. Azeroth and the remnants of Kul Tiras seized the opportunity, and fully defeated all the Stromgardien forces remaining on the island. It was pitifully easy for the Azerothiens to kill off the remaining 3 regiments.

Gilneas remained solely within its own borders for 45 years after the Evil Brigade Wars. They continued with their black magic, for it would take a far greater event than a defeat in foreign lands, or a few Trolls, to get them to leave the black arts behind…

The Troll Containment Act-

Nearly 45 years later, Azeroth had rebuilt the few ravaged areas and relative peace ensued. Azeroth's great army was used for hunting bandit gangs, trolls, and wargen as opposed to battling other nations. Some might say the large nation grew soft. Others will tell you that this assuredly aided in the struggle to come. Azeroth, at the time, was filled with thick, verdant forests and woodlands. Bandits, trolls, wargen, and other small groups could easily hide for days, and mount ambushes in the deep forests. The Azerothien army adapted to the conditions, and became adept at traversing their realm. They decommissioned the Lionhawk Riders, for they no longer proved of any use in this new combat zone. Air regiments could not penetrate the dense canopies, and thus Azeroth decided to relocate those warriors to more vital areas of its army. Cavalry became most vital of all, for its ability to quickly move and attack bandits before they could get away. Wizards journeyed to Dalaran, where they furthered their learning of the magical arts. Azerothien wizards tended to favor the use of lightning, for it was precise, and could be put to good use in the forested realm. Azerothiens made little use of fire, fearful of forest blazes which might consume numerous villages.

Azeroth grew somewhat complacent, facing only occasional raids by small groups of enemies, and no concerted force from any nation, and no major wars. It was a relative time of peace.

The Forest Trolls, however, seemed almost to be seeking an end to such a peace. The Forest Trolls had finally recovered some of their former glory from before the original Troll Wars. Great clans had been created, and the Forest Trolls could be found almost anywhere on the continents of Lordaeron and Azeroth. The Azerothien Forest Trolls began to increase their raids on convoys, but if this alone was the issue, Azeroth would not have felt the need to take the actions it did. The trolls also increased their raids on outposts, villages, and even towns. The trolls managed to scare the Azerothiens, so much so that the king felt that something must be done about this disturbance.

Not willing to commit his army entirely to a conflict yet, King Tutenon of Azeroth created a proclamation called the Troll Containment Act. It allowed for any human to slaughter a troll, and return its head to a local lord for a monetary reward. Tutenon also ordered a quarter of the Azerothien Military to scour the woods for troll camps, and to destroy them.

Between the Troll Containment Act and the scouring army, the Forest Troll Clan Chieftains of Azeroth met to discuss what to do. Every chieftain in Azeroth made sure they were at the historic meeting. The chieftains decided to choose twenty warlords, who would rule multiple clans. This would aide in settling clan differences, and ensuring strong leadership.

After all twenty warlords had been chosen, the one whom one might think most-likely to become a warlord was left without such a position. Chief Harraxe fumed, and withdrew his support from the troll coalition. Harraxe didn't know that the other chiefs feared Harraxe too much to give him the power of a warlord, but even had he known he could have cared less. He cursed them for fools, and journeyed back to southeast Azeroth, where his clan, the Blood Axes, awaited his arrival. While the troll coalition attempted to weaken the Azerothiens, they met with little success other than allowing King Tutenon to declare full war upon the trolls.

Harraxe and his Blood Axe clan decided to take the war into their own hands, and they instantly began a string of guerilla assaults on key Azerothien positions...

Rebelling, huh? Sounds interesting...

and you play as what? the troll coalition or the blood axes?

In the first campaign you take control of Chief Harraxe and his Blood Axe clan. In the second campaign you take control of Colonel Roham (my avatar) and Task Force Spear, an elite anti-guerilla force.

colonel roham is sexy.
but how is the story going to start?

Essentially, the post.

Harraxe takes his Blood Axe clan, and he starts an assault on an outpost. I'll withold the rest so as not to spoil the campaign.

That sounds AWESOME!

Thx =)