The history of the Earthen of Azeroth, leading into The War Within

World of Warcraft’s next expansion The War Within brings the race known as the Earthen to the forefront, with the first two zones largely focusing on their story in Khaz Algar, and adding them as an Allied Race early in the expansion. But most WoW players only know of Earthen from their rare appearances near Titan facilities, and as the race who when corrupted (maybe) by the Curse of Flesh turned into Dwarves.

While the Earthen’s story in The War Within has yet to be told, we can look back at their history and our previous encounters with them to see their importance to the story of Azeroth and what role they may play in its future.

The Ordering of Azeroth, the creation of the Titan-Forged — and Loken’s eventual betrayal

After the defeat of the Black Empire and the imprisoning of the Old Gods the Titan Keepers set about to “order” Azeroth, building machinery such as the Forge of Wills and the Forge of Origination to assist in their efforts to keep the Worldsoul safe for its eventual emergence as a member of the Pantheon. To aid them and the Titan Watchers in this task the Keepers crafted new races in Ulduar collectively known as the Titan-Forged, each with their own areas of expertise. In order to craft mountains and delve the deep places of the world the Keepers created what they believed to be the perfect race to do so — the troggs.

Unfortunately for the Keepers the troggs were not fit for their assigned task, being too brutish. The second attempt was more successful, however, resulting in the creatures we know today as the Earthen. Alongside Mechagnomes, Mogu, Tol’vir, and others, the Earthen labored at the Titans’ command — while completely unaware that in the aftermath of Sargeras’ defeat of the Titans the Keepers were starting to run into internal issues (to put it mildly).

While Loken’s betrayal ultimately led to the Earthen being expelled from Ulduar, there doesn’t appear to be a record of their activities during the fall of the Keepers. Loken’s army included a new variant of the Earthen known as Iron Dwarves, but the other Keepers and Watchers appear to have never conscripted the Earthen or Vrykul to help defend themselves from Loken. As a result the Earthen were free to peacefully spread throughout the depths below Northern Kalimdor, with only the occasional dustup against their trogg predecessors.

The Winterskorn War and the Earthen exile

The Earthen’s relatively calm existence came to an abrupt end with the Winterskorn War. Instigated by Loken and led by the fire giants Volkhan and Ignis, this war pitted a particularly violent clan of Vrykul named the Winterskorn against other Titan-Forged including the Earthen. Completely unprepared for the attack, a large number of Earthen were overrun by the Winterskorn army before they even knew they were at war. Still some were able to escape and they located the two Keepers Archaedas and Tyr (who had not fallen to Loken’s machinations) and the Watcher Ironaya. With their assistance — as well as that of Vrykul who rose up against the Winterskorn — the Earthen were able to fight back for awhile, until the fire giants enslaved proto-drakes for battle. Facing defeat, Tyr called upon the Dragon Aspects to aid them, and the dragons were able to bring about an end to the Winterskorn War.

While the Earthen had ended up on the victorious side, their numbers had been substantially reduced so many of them went south with Tyr, Archaedas, and Ironaya towards Uldaman, the Titan facility located in eastern Kalimdor (and post-Sundering, in the Badlands of the Eastern Kingdom). The surviving Keepers had stolen the Discs of Norgannon from Loken during the Winterskorn War, and because the information inscribed on them implicated Loken and detailed his betrayal he feared they could be used against him. Frustrated in his efforts to reclaim the Discs, Loken summoned C’thraxxi, faceless generals of the Old Gods, to retrieve them. Tyr met two of them on the field in what is now known as Tirisfal Glades, and while he perished in the fight he was able to defeat one and grievously wound another. As a result Archaedas and Ironaya were able to reach Uldaman with the Discs, the Earthen — and the Curse of Flesh. In order to protect the Earthen from the curse while a cure was researched, Archaedas and Ironaya put many of them in hibernation.

The Sundering and the Earthen’s long hibernation

Not every Earthen relocated to Uldaman; pockets of them made their home throughout Kalimdor as well as in Deepholm. During the War of the Ancients some sided with Jarod Shadowsong against the demonic invasion; however the cataclysmic event of that war known as the Sundering was especially traumatic for the Earthen. When the Well of Eternity was destroyed and the continent of Kalimdor ripped apart, the Earthen — being creatures designed to work with the earth — felt the pain of the land as it split.

These other Earthen were not immune to the Curse of Flesh, and this fact coupled with the pain of the Sundering led many of them to seek out locations to enter hibernation as those in Uldaman had done. Some even went to that titan facility where they were placed in stasis alongside their sleeping brethren. When they were finally awakened over 2500 years ago they emerged as a new race entirely — the dwarves.

Earthen presence on Azeroth heading into The War Within

Despite the effects of the Curse of Flesh, Earthen civilization can still be found on Azeroth today. When the factions traveled to Northrend during the events of the Wrath of the Lich King they encountered the Earthen at Bouldercrag’s Refuge, a group that had remained near Ulduar since their expulsion thousands of years earlier. Uldaman also hosts a population of Earthen, but as they attack anyone who enters the facility it is arguable they are more mindless constructs than an actual humanoid race (the ruins of Uldum have a similar Earthen mob). The creatures of Deepholm include Earthen and Stone Troggs that appear to have escaped the Curse entirely as well. While this can be explained away by their existence on what is technically a separate plane, the other Earthen are anomalous in their immunity — a curiosity that extends to those we meet on Khaz Algar.

While the Earthen have been present for many historical events since their creation, The War Within is the first time they’ve had a starring role in the proceedings. While it’s easy to dismiss the Earthen as proto-dwarves, their status as one of the few uncorrupted Titan-Forged races remaining make them a key to understanding the goals and future of the Titans and Azeroth. Similarly, the ability of some groups to escape the Curse of Flesh permanently — as can be inferred by the fact they will be a playable race as Earthen — could help resolve some questions of Azeroth’s distant past that remain unanswered.

With the Worldsoul Saga‘s focus on the cosmic powers and promising the return of the Titan Pantheon the Earthen should be expected to remain central to the plot through its conclusion.