Kalimdor (landmass)
- For the modern-day landmass, see Kalimdor.
Kalimdor | |
---|---|
A map of Kalimdor after it was ordered by the titan-forged | |
Type | Continent |
Capital(s) |
Zin-Azshari (Kaldorei Empire) Zuldazar (Empire of Zul) Unknown (Pandaren Empire) Valdrakken (dragonflights) |
Formerly |
Mogu'shan Palace (Mogu empire) Y'Shaarj's temple city (Black Empire)[1] |
Races | Various |
Government | Various |
Ruler(s) |
Azshara Shaohao Alexstrasza Many others |
Major settlements | Suramar, Eldre'Thalas, Hajiri, Zul'Gurub, Zul'Aman, Zul'Drak |
Minor settlements | Ara-Hinam, Aru-Talis, Black Rook Hold, Galhara, Zul'Farrak |
Languages | Darnassian, Mogu, Zandali and various others |
Faiths | Elune, Sargeras, Loa, Wild Gods, August Celestials, Old Gods, Titans |
Affiliation | Titans, Azj'Aqir (Ahn'Qiraj, Azjol-Nerub, Manti'vess), Empire of Zul (Zandalari Empire, Gurubashi Empire, Amani Empire, Drakkari Empire), Mogu empire, Pandaren Empire, Kaldorei Empire, Kaldorei Resistance, Burning Legion, and various independent clans and tribes |
Former affiliation(s) | Black Empire |
Location | Azeroth |
Status | Broken |
Kalimdor (aka ancient Kalimdor[2][3] or Old Kalimdor)[citation needed] was the name of the main continent shaped by the titans on the world of Azeroth ages ago.
History
Ordering Azeroth
After battling and imprisoning the Old Gods, the titanic Keepers set out to repair the damage Y'Shaarj's death had caused. At the continent's center, where Y'Shaarj had settled, an immense hole was torn as Aman'thul ripped Y'Shaarj from the planet's crust, and from which tremendous amounts of arcane energy - the very lifeblood of the world-soul - now seeped. The Keepers closed the wound in the form of a massive lake of scintillating energies. The lake, which they named the Well of Eternity, was to be the fount of life for the world.
Its potent energies would nurture the bones of the world and nourish life to take root in the land's rich soil. Over time, plants, trees, monsters, and creatures of every kind began to thrive on the primordial continent. As twilight fell on the final day of their labors, the Titans named the continent Kalimdor: "land of eternal starlight" in their language.[4]
The waters of the Well of Eternity would coalesce in a select few places and create gigantic enclaves of life that Keeper Freya would take care of. It is from these magically nurtured places - the Un'goro Crater, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Sholazar Basin - that the Wild Gods would eventually emerge.
With time, that landmass became home to a number of disparate races and creatures, all vying for survival amongst the savage elements of the waking world.[5]
The Great Sundering
10,000 years ago, while the War of the Ancients was raging on, Sargeras' failed entrance through the Well of Eternity caused the unstable portal within the Well's depths to explode and ignite a catastrophic chain of events known as the Great Sundering. The massive explosion sent massive quakes ripping through the tortured earth and the surging Well of Eternity buckled in upon itself and collapsed. The resultant catastrophic explosion shattered the earth and blotted out the skies. As the aftershocks from the implosion rattled the bones of the world, the seas rushed in to fill the gaping wounds left in the earth. Nearly eighty percent of Kalimdor's landmass had been blasted apart, leaving only a new, raging sea, and the Maelstrom - an eternal storm of chaotic energies at its center, surrounding a handful of major new continents and scattered islands: the Eastern Kingdoms, the Broken Isles, Pandaria, Northrend, the Dragon Isles, the remnant still referred to as Kalimdor, and many other smaller islands.
Geography
Since the Elemental Lord Al'Akir was fought by the titan-forged in his lair among the highest peaks of Azeroth,[6] this means the highest point in Kalimdor (at least before the ordering of Azeroth) was located in Al'Akir's domain to the southwest, near the ocean, between what would become Uldum and Pandaria.
Locations
Please add any available information to this section.
- Kaldorei Empire
- Empire of Zul
- Mogu empire/Pandaren Empire (Pandaria)
- Azj'Aqir
- Titans & Dragonflights
Inhabitants
Native
-
Wild god heritage
Trolls and elves
-
Titan
-
Dragonkin
Other
Outsiders
In the RPG
World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game states that the war between the titans and the Old Gods "ripped Azeroth into new shapes".[8]
Notes
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 hints that the Kalimdor landmass wasn't the only continent on Azeroth.[9] World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3 however states that the night elven empire was located on Azeroth's single landmass.[10]
- The ancient landmass known as Kalimdor would be called a supercontinent since all known lands on Azeroth were once a part of it.
Gallery
Ancient Kalimdor as seen in Legacies.
Azshara's Palace within Zin-Azshari.
The Well of Eternity during its last days.
(in-game depiction)A map of Ancient Kalimdor in Black Rook Hold.
References
- ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 36
- ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 70
- ^ Troll Compendium/Other Trolls#Zandalar Tribe
- ^ [The Old Gods and the Ordering of Azeroth]
- ^ [The Kaldorei and the Well of Eternity]
- ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, pg. 32
- ^ [1-30] Tal'doren, the Wild Home
- ^ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, pg. 22
- ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1, Coming of the Old Gods: "This burgeoning civilization was located near the center of Azeroth's largest continent."
The Ordering of Azeroth: "...titan-forged surveyed the world they had shaped, and they named the primary continent Kalimdor."
The Curse of Crystalsong: "Following the Sundering, Azeroth's main continent had fractured..." - ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3, pg. 69