friendly zandalari

[Oneirophobia]

The Zandalari are traditionally friendly..enough... towards outsiders. Friendly perhaps isn't the right word. Smart enough not to be dicks for the sake of muh xenophobia, perhaps.

In Vanilla we met them in Yojamba Isle in Stranglethorn and we assist them with culling the Hakkari. You could even get exalted with them!

Next, we see them in Wrath in Zul'drak, documenting the downfall of the Drakkari. The Zandalari essentially establish themselves as #NotAllTrolls, rarely speak with that written accent we're used to, and are interested in preserving the history of their species as a method to show what *not* to do as a troll empire.

And then suddenly they go down the d-bag path in Cataclysm and try to rally the splintered troll empires instead of learning from the history they've been so keen on. They continue this trend in MoP.


What is revealed in MoP, however, is that the Zandalari are sort of split in two. The original emperor of the Zandalari, Rastakhan, is likely responsible for our first two interactions with the Zandalari, and a religious usurper/troll purist known as Zul is responsible for the dickery we experienced in Cata and MoP. Consider it perhaps two political parties and their affiliates. Rastakhan isn't about troll supremacy (at least not actively) and is open to working with other races, whereas Zul and his followers want to establish strict dominance over the "lesser races."

In the chronicles it sort of establishes the Zandalari as pricks, but only insofaras they don't trust their Mogu friends and are willing to backstab them at a moments notice. Of course, the Mogu feel the exact same way, and it isn't like the Horde already has tension in a similar fashion with the Forsaken. The Zandalari are indifferent towards the enslaved Pandaren and I suppose it could be argued they don't really get a say in the Mogu's affairs so why bother saying something and risking their alliance. I'm sure it is more of a "whatever none of my business and who really cares about these random panda people" sort of deal. It will be interesting to see (if we see at all) how the Pandaren feel about being allied with the Zandalari.

It has been said since that there is an on-going civil war between Zul's rebels and Rastakhan's loyalists. I can bet it will be discovered that Zul is in league with the blood trolls and whatever is corrupting the loa. Hint: old gods.

I hope this helps, I'm a big fan of the trolls.

[Maljinwo]

It has been said since that there is an on-going civil war between Zul's rebels and Rastakhan's. I can bet it will be discovered that Zul is in league with the blood trolls and whatever is corrupting the loa. Hint: old gods.

I hope this helps, I'm a big fan of the trolls.

I'm pretty sure Rastakhan was okay with Zul reuniting all the tribes, but it quickly spiralled out of control.

[Oneirophobia]

I'm pretty sure Rastakhan was okay with Zul reuniting all the tribes, but it quickly spiralled out of control.

It's possible, but it occurred after the cataclysm and the cataclysm is when Cho shows us Zul tells Rastakhan to go fuck himself, packs up his rebels and leaves for the mainland. We don't really have any information on what Rastakhan is like other than Cho's stories, do we?

[Maljinwo]

It's possible, but it occurred after the cataclysm and the cataclysm is when Cho shows us Zul tells Rastakhan to go fuck himself, packs up his rebels and leaves for the mainland. We don't really have any information on what Rastakhan is like other than Cho's stories, do we?

From what I understood, Rastakhan gave Zul permission to go gather the tribes and provided him with ships. Maybe he really wanted to help trollkind or no. So far, all we have is Cho's vision and Vol'jin's dialogue outside Zul'Aman:

Vol'jin says: King Rastakhan, he be plannin' to unite da troll tribes under his Zandalari.
Vereesa Windrunner says: Including the Amani?
Vol'jin says: Da Amani, da Gurubashi, all 'o dem. He be dispatchin' emissaries to every tribe.
Halduron Bringwing says: My scouts have reported nothing but quiet outside Zul'Aman.
Vol'jin says: Dey be holed up inside da ruined city, regroupin'.
Vol'jin says: Rastakhan be callin' me his brother, but da Horde be our true brothers. We gotta stop him before he can sweet-talk the others into joinin' his empire.

[Aucald]

Zandalar was on relatively good (if frosty and/or aloof) with the other races of Azeroth up until Cata - they actively aided the heroes of Azeroth with Hakkar before he could become a threat, they also aided in containing and defeating the Scourge threat in Zul'Drak back in WotLK as well. It was until the Cataclysm and the rise of Zul that Rastakhan began proselytizing to the other Troll tribes and put them under a unified banner. Given that Zul is now a solid antagonist it looks like the tone in Cata had been largely set by him, with Rastakhan again being receptive to the entreaties of at least the Horde.

[Deleted]

So... Warchief Rastakhan then?
That sounds cool

If the character gains a huge support, isn't that far-fetched.

[Maljinwo]

If the character gains a huge support, isn't that far-fetched.

It's kinda sad to think that Rastakhan has a succesor and Vol'jin didn't

[therealstegblob]

Wasn't MoP canonically half a decade ago at this point?

Nigga, MoP was half a decade ago IRL.

[Sangris]

It's kinda sad to think that Rastakhan has a succesor and Vol'jin didn't

Actually, the emphasis on his daughter makes me think that he will die pretty early in BfA, though I hope I'm wrong on that.

[My User Name]

Simple.

Because both sides gain profit.

Horde needs a good fleet if they wish to rival those of Kul Tiras. And what better choice do they have than Zandalar?

So they handle Zandalari's internal problems and strengthen Rastakhan's presence. In turn, Zandalari gives manpower and naval power to them.

[Oneirophobia]

From what I understood, Rastakhan gave Zul permission to go gather the tribes and provided him with ships. Maybe he really wanted to help trollkind or no. So far, all we have is Cho's vision and Vol'jin's dialogue outside Zul'Aman:

Well shieeet. It bothers me because the Zandalari appeared to "know better" about that sort of thing, then went right ahead and...

[Deleted]

It sounds like Zul is nothing more than N'zoth puppet, saving everyone from the Cataclysm that he himself caused, just as a tool to gain more followers who could help him free the "Blood god"...

[Aquamonkey]

Wasn't MoP canonically half a decade ago at this point?

2 years in-universe.

[madokbro]

Rastakhan as High Chieftain of all Horde Trolls, make it happen. I really, really hope he's a chill dude.

2 years in-universe.

Is there a lore explanation on how the fuck we managed to fight off four world-ending threats and survived a brutal faction war in the span of a few years, yet still have the manpower/resources/energy to fight amongst ourselves?

There should be more orphans and veteran hospitals than soldiers at this point.

[Destinas]

The Zandalari we faced in MoP were a splinter faction that followed Zul. Zul left before the Cataclysm occurred with Rastakhan's permission, but it should be noted that the God King didn't believe Zul's visions about Deathwing. Zul's followers are enemies in one of the new dungeons, Atal'Dazar. Presumably, Zul will be a boss eventually as well.

Before that in the start of Cata, Wrath, and Vanilla, there were friendly Zandalari as quest givers. Those friendly Zandalari were trying to protect the Loa in Zul'Gurub and Zul'Drak, as well as document the end of an empire. Some of those Zandalari (like Jin'rokh and Al'tabim) were present in both STV in Vanilla, and the Isle of Thunder. However, since it has been confirmed that Zandalar is caught in a civil war between Rastakhan, the Blood Trolls, and Zul's army, we can assume that some left the "main" (playable) faction for Zul's leadership.

[Zulkhan]

The Zandalari are an interesting bunch. They were never good people. Like, seriously, never. On the other hand, they always seemed rather pragmatic and able to approach other races diplomatically when this suited them. However, they were fine allying with Mogu (a race who enforced their dominance through sheer brutality and submission) literally didn't give a shit about Pandaren (some even tortured them alongside Mogu for mere fun) and genuinely consider themselves better than anyone else. They clearly never shown the necessity to act on that feeling of superiority and act like brutal conquerors as long that position of supremacy felt assured. The Cataclysm and the drastic geopolitical changes the world went through however severely damaged that conviction and made Zandalari kind of fall on the same level of other trolls, acting out of pride and fear of losing everything that made them what they are.

I never personally saw Rastakhan as a 100% genuine good guy nor Zul a 100% genuine bad guy and I tell that despite the most recent info. Rastakhan is clearly not blameless for everything that happened bewteen Cataclysm and MoP while Zul is not necessarily an evil maniac. Maybe there's more between the layers of Zandalari's inner politics than what meets the eye.

[Leodok]

Summary:

Rastakhan is the king of the Zandalari. Prophet Zul is, well, a prophet.

One day, he came and told Rastakhan the Cataclysm was coming, but the king didn't believe it.

Zul insisted a lot, until the king got tired of it and gave him some boats so he could save himself and whoever wanted to follow.

The prophet became one of our enemies. The Zandalari we fought served him. Rastakhan has nothing to do with whatever they did after leaving Zandalar.

In BfA, it looks like Zul returned to Zandalar. I guess he's involved with whatever oldgodish beings are in the troll raid.

[MikeBogina]

why are they friendly ?

we fought them in MOP both the alliance and the horde
they were clearly hostile to all, what has changed ?

What you said, is what changed. In Vanilla, they were our allies and helped fight against Hakkar, and from there till Cata, we kinda killed a lot of the troll people, including Zul'jin(that aint cool) and in Cata, when their island was sinking, Vol'jin turned his back on them and then went and had a bunch of Horde and Alliance players kill them and their allies. In MoP, they went and tried to help their old allies, the Mogu.

As far as I'm aware every Zul'Something (Zul'Aman, Zul'Farrak, Zul'zul'zul'zul'zul'zully'zul) are followers of Zul, the prophet who you might remember from MOP as warning Rastakhan of the cataclysm and ultimately leaving him to watch his nation be ripped in half down the middle.

Did you 2 start playing in MoP?

Zul means great in the troll language, just like Zin means great or glory in Darnassian. Zul was used mostly for cities, Zul'Gurub= Great Gurub or Great city of Gurub. Zul'jin is believed to have his name that way, because he was just great all around, so he was the Great Chieftain.

Zul is just more pretentious than Zul'jin with his name.

- - - Updated - - -

2 years in-universe.

and if we were in mop, wouldn't TBC be 2 years in-universe away?

Doesn't add up to the 10 years between Black temple and Legion.

[Aquamonkey]

and if we were in mop, wouldn't TBC be 2 years in-universe away?

Doesn't add up to the 10 years between Black temple and Legion.

It hasn't been 10 years between TBC and Legion. It's only been 6 years in-universe.

[MikeBogina]

It hasn't been 10 years between TBC and Legion. It's only been 6 years in-universe.

Someone better go change the wiki then

The demon hunter character's story begins 10 years prior to the events of World of Warcraft: Legion.