The Age of Kingdoms designates the long period between the aftermath of the Great Sundering and the opening of the Dark Portal. During this era, Azeroth’s modern mortal civilizations emerged, expanded, and came into conflict, while distant events on other worlds quietly laid the groundwork for a global catastrophe.
In the millennia following the Sundering, the Eastern Kingdoms were dominated by ancient troll empires, most notably the Amani in the north and the Gurubashi in the south. These empires controlled vast territories and frequently warred among themselves.
The arrival of the High Elves altered this balance. Having settled in the northern forests of Lordaeron, the elves founded Quel’Thalas and used arcane magic to defend their lands. A prolonged conflict between the High Elves and the Amani trolls followed. With human aid, the elves ultimately broke Amani dominance, forcing the trolls into permanent decline. This alliance marked one of the earliest recorded cooperative efforts between humans and elves.
Humans, descendants of titan-forged vrykul affected by the Curse of Flesh, spread rapidly across the continent. Over time, they established several independent kingdoms, including Arathor, Stormwind, Lordaeron, Alterac, Kul Tiras, Gilneas, and Dalaran. Arathor, centered in Strom, was the first unified human empire; its later fragmentation gave rise to the distinct human realms known in the modern era.
South of the human lands, dwarves arose from titan-forged earthen transformed by the Curse of Flesh. Their society centered around Khaz Modan, where three clans — Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron — coexisted uneasily. The eventual War of the Three Hammers fractured dwarven unity, leading to the Dark Iron dwarves’ exile into Blackrock Mountain and setting conditions that would later allow the elemental lord Ragnaros to gain influence.
The gnomes, closely related to dwarves, developed a technologically advanced society in Gnomeregan. Although politically minor at the time, their engineering expertise became increasingly significant in later alliances.
Arcane magic was carefully regulated during this age, particularly after the destruction caused by the War of the Ancients. The Council of Tirisfal, composed of powerful mages, appointed a single Guardian to protect Azeroth from supernatural threats. Over successive generations, this role culminated in Medivh, whose eventual corruption would prove catastrophic.
While mortal nations focused on territorial consolidation and regional conflicts, hidden forces began to stir. The Burning Legion, thwarted once before, continued to seek entry into Azeroth. Its agents worked indirectly, exploiting ambition, fear, and arcane curiosity rather than direct invasion.
On the distant world of Draenor, the orcs lived as shamanistic clans bound to ancestral traditions and elemental spirits. They coexisted uneasily with the draenei, refugees from the Burning Legion who had fled across the cosmos.
This balance was shattered when the demon Kil’jaeden manipulated the orc shaman Gul’dan and corrupted the spiritual leadership of the orcs. Through demonic influence and fel magic, traditional shamanism gave way to warlock practices. The orcs were eventually coerced into drinking the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth, binding them to the Burning Legion and accelerating their descent into violence and conquest.
The resulting wars nearly annihilated the draenei and transformed the orc clans into a unified, militarized Horde.
As Draenor’s resources dwindled and demonic control tightened, the Horde was directed toward Azeroth. Using arcane knowledge secretly provided by Medivh — himself possessed by the spirit of Sargeras — Gul’dan and the Shadow Council completed the Dark Portal, linking the two worlds.
The opening of the portal marked the definitive end of the Age of Kingdoms. What had once been a world of regional conflicts and slow expansion entered an era of total war. The orcish invasion that followed would ignite the First War, reshaping Azeroth’s political, racial, and military landscape permanently.