Arcanum of Vicious Agility

So... these are my theories. Hardly any of this can be proved or disproved.

Races

Here I will list races of titan origin and guess what they were originally for:

• Seed races are races deployed/seeded to the planet to build/tame it, as opposed to created from developing organic life, or existing on their own.

• The earthen, lead by King Urel Stoneheart, were deployed to shape the subterranean features of the world. There are different "generations" of earthen, but the order of each, relationships between each, and purpose of each, is debatable. You have the original ones (if not one of the following), the stone troggs, the normal earthen (Uldaman), the Northrend earthen (Ulduar), the dwarves, and the fleshy troggs. They fit somehow. The First War between Earthen and Iron Dwarves happened a few minutes ago (as of Storm Peaks quests), about the time of the Howling Fjord/Grizzly Hills quests. Bouldercrag the Rockshaper was a lieutenant, and he just forgot to mention his king (and his king's death).

• The sea giants, lead by Lord Arkkoroc, were deployed to shape the sea floor of the world.

• The mountain giants were deployed to shape the mountains of the world. Their coloring is based on region. I have some interesting theories on them. They, due to their connection to the earth, are easily corrupted, or earth elementals just tend to take their form. Same with the following few types of giant:

• The stone giants (wood giants) are rugged mountain giants.

• The colossi are rugged mountain giants.

• The molten giants are either fire-corrupted mountain giants or fire elementals that just look like mountain giants.

• The storm giants, lead by Gymer, were deployed to shape the atmosphere of the world.

• The fire giants, lead by Ignis the Furnace Master, were deployed to create new types of constructs if need be.

• The stone giants (like Archavon) were created to be heavy guardsman.

• The ice giants (or frost giants), lead by Hodir, were deployed to shape the artic atmosphere of the world.

• The flesh giants are undead storm giants or undead ice giants. The Lich King made them. There is no "Dead Watcher" in that last hall of VoA. Is there?

• The vrykul, lead by King Ymiron's ancestor (under Tyr?), were deployed to be antibodies. They are biological front-line soldiers designed to fight the Old Gods and the elementals. They hate manual labor because the other construct castes did that for them. They eventually became too aggressive, and lost sight of their purpose. It is not so much that they turned to conquest, as it is that their purpose and culture are one (they were not ordered to fight, they fight because they want to, as programmed). Eventually, they were supposed to calm down and turn into humans, and populate the planet as a race "worthy of genesis in [their] own right". Due to Loken's interference, the vrykul saw this as betrayal by their makers, and locked themselves away. The politics between the Icecrown ones, lead by Overthane Balargarde, and the Howling Fjord ones is beyond me.

• The female frost vrykul, lead by Thorim, were... I'm at a loss. Same as normal vrykul, but blue and (allegedly) sexy?

• The sea vrykul/kvaldir, lead by Drottinn Hrothgar (under Bor?), were deployed to be antibodies specializing in underwater and naval combat. They were reactivated when Shield Hill were defiled. Why they dissolve, when newer lore says that they are normal vrykul, is unknown. They either teamed up with, or had a rivalry with, the sea giants.

• The stone golems were created by the earthen to be guardsman.

• The frostborn were... I dunno.

• The tol'vir, lead by an unknown pharaoh, were deployed to maintain titan lore repositories and titan machinery surrounding the titan cities of Ulduar and Uldum.

• The obsidian destroyers are creations reverse-engineered from the tol'vir template by the Old Gods.

• The mechagnomes, lead by Mimiron, were deployed to invent new types of machines if need be. Some were brought south by the earthen to Uldaman, but why?

• The gargoyles are creations reverse-engineered from an unknown template by the Old Gods. The relationship between Yogg-Saron the the Lich King fits here.

• The iron dwarves, iron vrykul, and iron giants were created by the fire giants at Loken's behest out of iron and saronite. They may be based on an anti-Old God system invented by the fire giants at an earlier date (per Flame Leviathan#Quotes implying that they are supposed to be there). Perhaps that was Loken's initial excuse to build the army.

• The iron golems were created by the iron dwarves to be guardsman.

• The stone keepers were created to be research assistants. Their functionality overlaps with the stone watchers.

• The stone watchers were created to be guardsman. Their functionality overlaps with the stone keepers.

• The stone watchers in Uldum are the same, but cooler. And undead-looking. They need lotion.

• The troggs were an attempt at earthen, but failed. It would help if the Lore Keeper of Norgannon gave chronological references.

• The proto-dragons were created in Sholazar Basin, and originally existed in several colors based on environmental factors and titan tweaking. The titans originally created one entity from them, Galakrond, to police the world for Old God corruption. However, as he and the rest of them were all mere beasts, the vrykul were required to direct them. Galakrond eventually overloaded, and exploded, next to the temple where he was constructed. The titans then decided to split his powers into five entities (to counter the five Old Gods) of increased intelligence, the Dragon Aspects, and then segregated and similarly enhanced their kin, crating the modern dragonflights. Before that, color was based on features that manifested, and not entirely on breed. That is, mutations were color-coded, and not entirely based on the hides of the also mutation-prone parents, but they could be bread to be constant. Perhaps the vrykul enslaved the proto-drakes out of jealousy (or hatred of the titans), or the vrykul invented/discovered them for their masters (or their masters liked their pets more than them).

• The four Uldum watchers, Ammunae, Isiset, Setesh, and Rajh, were created to mix their four forces and help terraform the planet.

• The six Ulduar watchers, Loken, Freya, Hodir, Mimiron, Thorim, and Tyr, were were created to oversee everything on Azeroth. I think that they, at least, are titans. If not, then... I dunno.

• The Anubisaths are creations reverse-engineered from the Setesh template by the Old Gods. They have the power of a stone watcher.

• The Horusath(s) are creations reverse-engineered from the Rajh template by the Old Gods. It, being an improvement on earlier stolen methods, has much more power (but not the power of the original).

Locations

Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves is where anyone should start when talking about titan cities. However, it seems to have been retconned (The Sundering, also mentioned in the APG, is not Loken's orders or the Curse of Flesh), which calls into question the whole of it. However, it is still a good place to start. The earthen come from three cities...

Uldaman - Formerly a massive greco-roman city, it was buried for reasons unknown. Earthen all turned to dwarves and left, but some are still there.

Ulduar - Crewed by storm giants, ice giants, and earthen, this city was a command post. It really was not a city at all, but a prison. With all the RPG's "speculation" is it really that big of a surprise? Earthen were there, but were forced out.

Uldum - Not a city at all, but a complex of pyramids meant for terraforming. Earthen are there a bit. Went to Deepholm?

Titan castes

Crafter (Hall of the Crafters)

Keeper (Hall of the Keepers, see watcher)

Shaper (Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves, Highlord Demitrian)

Watcher (Hall of the Watchers, various stuff)

Timeline

Here I will list a speculative timeline or list of events:

This should be self-explanatory, but one thing fouls up the whole works: The Tribunal of Ages saying "Creators arrived to extirpate symbiotic infection."

The original timeline was:

• Arrive on Azeroth.

• "As the Titans made their way across the chaotic, primordial landscape, they encountered a number of hostile, elemental beings. The elementals, worshiping a race of unfathomable evil beings known only as the Old Gods, vowed to drive the Titans back and keep their world inviolate from the invaders' metallic touch." - Warcraft III manual, and The Old Gods and the Ordering of Azeroth.

• War.

• Victory.

The Tribunal of Ages implies:

• "In the early stages of its development cycle Azeroth suffered infection by parasitic, necrophotic symbiotes."

If "development cycle" means pre-titan, no problem there.

• "Old Gods rendered all systems, including Earthen defenseless in order to facilitate assimilation. This matrix destabilization has been termed the Curse of Flesh. Effects of destabilization increased over time."

So that is the war, right? Note that while it too lacks chronological references (like the Lore Keeper in Uldaman), Brann specifically says "And then what?"

• "Creators arrived to extirpate symbiotic infection. Assessment revealed that Old God infestation had grown malignant. Excising parasites would result in loss of host."

Wait, NOW the titans come? They should have been there initially. The can mean either: 1) The earthen predate the titans on Azeorth, like an automated vanguard. Not likely if Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves is true. 2) The titans were there from the start, but on another section of Azeroth, and DID NOT NOTICE the Old Gods. 3) The titans left at some point, and then came back after the Old Gods arrived.

And where are the elementals in this model?

• I believe that the Aesir-Vanir war was a distraction by Loken so that the forces of Ulduar could not repel the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients.

• The furbolgs were here first. Yes, furbolgs, those big, bearlike barbarians. Not the Titans — they came second. The ursine tribes were already here back when Kalimdor was the only continent in the world. The furbolgs lived at the northern tip of that great land, their fur well suited to the harsh cold. Their oral histories actually talk about seeing the Titans step forth and roam the wild. I wish furbolgs were more scholarly — it's all they can do to write their own names, usually, and those are sigils and slashes rather than proper letters. If they had a better written language we might have real descriptions of the Titans and their activities. Instead we have folk tales and songs. Yet it's enough to tell me that these shaggy bear-men saw our creators arrive and watched them build fortresses, establish strongholds, and create our race. - LoM, page 85

So Kalimdor -> Furbolgs -> Titan occupation?

However:

• [Dwarves] were here first. At least that's what Hardigan Ironjaw, of the Thor Modan expedition, tells me. He says the Titans placed dwarves here, after they'd created us. It was an experiment to see if we could survive on our own. We not only survived but flourished, spreading southward and into what would later become Kalimdor and the other continents. Hardigan thinks he can find evidence of our ancestors here in the hills, and uncover truths about our race's early culture. - LoM, page 104

The dwarf presence is confirmed in an "adventure hook" (I take the setups as canon, even if they never really happened) further down the page (with an iron statue... how much did Blizzard write in advance?). However, the book mentions dwarves being placed here and then moving south, as opposed to the ones in Uldaman waking up. Did they find dwarves on their second visit?

New story

Unaware of Sargeras' mission to undo their countless works, the Titans continued to move from world to world, shaping and ordering each planet as they saw fit. Along their journey they happened upon a small world that its inhabitants would later name Azeroth.

They had been here before, either personally or through their servants, but detected a problem. The planet was no longer a lifeless rock, but it was not being ordered either.

As the Titans made their way across the primordial landscape, they encountered a number of hostile elemental beings. These elementals, who worshipped a race of unfathomably evil beings known only as the Old Gods, vowed to drive the Titans back and keep their world inviolate from the invaders' metallic touch.

The titans recalled that there should be a lot more order here.

The Pantheon, disturbed by the Old Gods' penchant for evil, waged war upon the elementals and their dark masters. The Old Gods' armies were led by the most powerful elemental lieutenants: Ragnaros the Firelord, Therazane the Stonemother, Al'Akir the Windlord, and Neptulon the Tidehunter.

Their chaotic forces raged across the face of the world and clashed with the colossal Titans. Though the elementals were powerful beyond mortal comprehension, their combined forces could not stop the mighty Titans. One by one, the elemental lords fell, and their forces dispersed.

The elementals should have been behaving anyway.

The Pantheon shattered the Old Gods' citadels and chained the five evil gods far beneath the surface of the world. Without the Old Gods' power to keep their raging spirits bound to the physical world, the elementals were banished to an abyssal plane, where they would contend with one another for all eternity. With the elementals' departure, nature calmed, and the world settled into a peaceful harmony. The Titans saw that the threat was contained and set to work.

Again. They though about using Uldum to just start over, but the Pantheon took pity on what little life wasn't corrupted. Like these bear guys.

The Titans empowered a number of races to help them fashion the world. To help them carve out the fathomless caverns beneath the earth, the Titans recreated the dwarf-like earthen from magical, living stone. Older earthen models had devolved into troggs, turned fleshy, did both, or just broke down. They fixed what they could. To help them redredge out the seas and lift the land from the sea floor, the Titans recreated the immense but gentle sea giants. For many ages the Titans moved and shaped the earth, until at last there remained one perfect continent.

At the continent's center, the Titans crafted a 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 empower 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.

Again. It needed the extra boost. Also, they put Keeper Loken in charge. He was voted the least likely to go insane in high school.

As twilight fell on the final day of their labors, the Titans named the continent Kalimdor: "land of eternal starlight".

A titan pun, also meaning "let this day be over now". Normal planets just need one ordering, and minimal fortresses.