Azj'Aqir

This article is about the empire, for the race, see aqir.

About 16,000 years ago, the Gurubashi and Amani empires had little love for one another, but rarely warred against each other. At the time, their greatest common enemy was a third empire -- the civilization of Azj'Aqir. The aqir were intelligent insectoids who ruled the lands of the far west. These clever insectoids were greatly expansionistic and incredibly evil. The aqir were obsessed with eradicating all non-insect life from the fields of Kalimdor.

The trolls fought them for many thousands of years, but never succeeded in winning a true victory over the aqir. Eventually, due to the troll's persistence, the aqiri kingdom split in half as its citizens fled to separate colonies in the far northern and southern regions of the continent.

Two aqiri city-states emerged -- Azjol-Nerub in the northern wastes, and Ahn'Qiraj in the southern desert. Though the trolls suspected that there were other aqiri colonies beneath Kalimdor, their existence was never verified.

Both city-states were built upon conquered tol'vir cities.

The Azj'Aqir kingdoms of Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'Qiraj have also survived in present day Northrend and Tanaris (respectively).

RPG information
Long ago, before the Sundering, there were two troll empires: the Gurubashi and the Amani. At some point in their history, the trolls found themselves threatened by an insect race called the Azj'Aqir. Eventually the trolls beat back the creatures and split them into two factions, the nerubians in the north and the qiraji to the south. The nerubians eventually faced the Lich King in Northrend, and the qiraji fought the night elves in Silithus after the Sundering.

The nerubians come from Azjol-Nerub in Northrend, but their true origins are much older. Once, they and another race, the qiraji, were one people, who established the empire of Azj'Aqir that was in power long ago. The qiraji warred with the Gurubashi and Amani troll empires, and after long centuries of battle their culture was shattered and they were driven into exile. The nerubians fled north.