The Kul Tirans

The Kul Tirans were instrumental in helping the Alliance in the Fourth War. Kul Tirans are the second playable human king. Well, technically third, after the humans of Stormwind and the (former) humans of Lordaeron, the Forsaken. Kul Tirans are a diverse lot, however, many of their people, including playable Kul Tirans, are really big individuals, nearly two feet taller than other humans. That has to do with the unique history of the Kul Tirans.

Kul Tiras began as a colony of intrepid Gilneans setting out from their homes 2700 years before the First War. When the settlers arrived on the islands, they encountered hostile giants called the Drust. Despite the settlers’ peaceful overtures the Drust would often raid the newcomers’ villages. This went on for generations until the early Kul Tirans found themselves in a protracted war with the Drust.

Eventually, the Drust were finally defeated when their leader, Gorak Tul, was killed in combat by Arom Waycrest, at the Drust capital of Gol Osigr. Not all Drust fought the humans, however. A sect of Drust druids, the Thornspeakers, lived among the humans and taught them the way of druidism. This interaction is the reason so many Kul Tirans are so large. The Drust weren’t just giants, they were vrykul. The vrykul were the Titanic creations the humans had descended from. When the vrykul succumbed to the Curse of the Flesh and became flesh and bone instead of metallic, their mutation continued until they gave birth to small, weak offspring. When the vrykul king Ymiron ordered the children killed, many were spirited away from vrykul lands, where in time they would become the earliest humans. So the drust could mix freely with humans, lending their giant size and strength to the Kul Tiran bloodlines.

1200 years before the First War the Empire of Arathor would break up, and Kul Tiras would become its own nation, ruled from its capital Boralus. Four noble families rein in Kul Tiras. The Proudmoore family rules Boralus in Tiragarde Sound, controlling the seat of the Grand Admiralty and the massive Kul Tiran navy. The Waycrests, the descendents of Arom Waycrest, continue to rule in Drustvar, producing most of the kingdom’s ore and many of its toughest fighting men. The House Stormsong rules over Stormsong Valley, a verdant land where much of Kul Tiras’ agriculture takes place. In addition, the House Stormsong also builds the ships for Kul Tiras’ navy, and blesses them, as many of the Tidesages who lead the Kul Tiran religion also hail from this area. Finally, House Ashvane, though having no area of Kul Tiras it rules over, controls the vast wealth of Kul Tiras through its founding of the trading companies by which Kul Tirans trade with the outside world. This has led to the Ashvanes gaining increasing power over politics in Kul Tiras as time has gone on. 

Kul Tiras was an important factor in the Alliance’s victory during the Second War, as the orcish navy never stood a chance at sea against the Kul Tirans, and had to utilize enslaved red dragons to keep the Kul Tiran sea wolves at bay. However, once the Wildhammer dwarves took to the skies and learned how to fight dragons, the Kul Tirans were free to hunt orcish ships with near-impunity and quickly swept the Horde’s fleet aside, helping to protect Lordaeron, Gilneas, and the other human kingdoms from Stormwind’s fate.

However, Kul Tiras’ ferocity in the face of the orcish menace would prove problematic after the Third War, where the New Horde had worked with Jaina’s city-state of Theramore. Jaina herself was the daughter of Kul Tiras Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. After the Scourge destroyed much of Lordaeron and the orcs’ escape to Kalimdor, Daelin had heard his daughter sailed to Kalimdor and the Kul Tiran navy set off in search of her.

When the Kul Tirans arrived in Kalimdor, they found orcs and trolls had already expanded over much of Durotar. Daelin ordered military operations to commence against them as he continued to look for Jaina. He would eventually find her in Theramore, and when Jaina told him this was a new horde and that she was working with them, Daelin seized control of Theramore. Daelin had seen first-hand the horrors the orcs had inflicted in the Second War, and he believed peace impossible. 

Jaina would eventually end up betraying her father and nation and help Thrall and the Horde defeat the Kul Tirans and kill Daelin Proudmoore. The Kul Tirans saw Jaina’s betrayal of her father as a black mark in their history, and held Jaina in great contempt. In addition, due to the events with the Scourge, the Alliance neglected to help the Kul Tirans in the aftermath, causing them to leave the ALliance as well. This would be a situation Jaina would make amends for in Battle for Azeroth, when she returned home and was promptly arrested and then banished by the Grand Admiral, her own mother. Over the course of the expansion, the Alliance hero helps Jaina repair the damage she did to her relationship with her people, as well as helping her come to terms with her regret and sadness over betraying her father, who went to the ends of the world to try and rescue his daughter.

Eventually, Kul Tiras would not only rejoin the Alliance, but would be instrumental in the Alliance’s devastating sacking of the Zandalari capital, Zul’dazar, where, with some previous wet work, the Kul Tiran and Alliance fleets would destroy the bulk of the Zandalari fleet, the only fleet that could stand against the Kul Tirans and help bring an end to the brutal Fourth War.

Kul Tirans can play as warriors, death knights, hunters, shamans, druids, rogues, monks, mages, and priests.

Kul Tiran racials are based on their history as seamen, and their hard lives in Kul Tiras.

1. Brush It Off. Kul Tirans are used to taking punishment. This gives them increased Vitality, and allows them to immediately regenerate a small amount of the damage they take.

2. Child of the Sea. Kil Tirans live a lot of their lives on and in the water. They can swim faster and hold their breath longer than other races.

3. Haymaker. Every 2.5 minutes, a Kul Tiran can throw a haymaker punch, knocking and opponent back and stunning them.

4. Jack of All Trades. Kul Tirans are self-sufficient folks, giving them a higher starting number of skill points in every profession.

5. Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Long years on the cold, harsh oceans makes  Kul Tirans take 1% less Frost and Nature damage.

Kul Tirans are a good choice if you want to play a big, burly monster hunter, or really like a more nautical flavor to your humans. Kul Tiras has a long, storied history in Azeroth, in addition to counting one of World of Warcraft’s most central characters, Jaina Proudmoore, among their number. So, if you decide to stand against Kul Tiras, beware the Daughter of the Sea. And if you decide to sail into adventure as a Kul Tiran, may the tides watch over you!