| abstract
| - "The plains are to be traversed by the children of the Earthmother; the Shu'Halo, the Tauren. The Stronghoof Tribe will do all in their power to preserve the ways of the Earthmother and honour the land." - This declaration can usually be heard in the plains of Mulgore and Thunder Bluff. "Praise the Earthmother! For she cast her shadow across the land she had so lovingly created, and our noble people arose. She breathed life into her children, who gave thanks and praised their Mother. She shone her eyes upon the land, her right eye An'she nourished the world she had created, giving her children warmth and light. Her left eye Mu'sha allowed her children to rest in peace as well as lighting up the darkness. This was the Mists of Dawn. However, tradegy soon struck! The evil whispers of the darkness beneath the earth poured malice into the hearts of the Shu'Halo! We were never a people of warfare and conquest, but these corruptions taught our people the art of war and our people fell from the grace that our Mother blessed us with. The Earthmother could not bear to see her beloved children turn upon each other and embrace these wicked ways, so she tore out her eyes and cast them out to the sky, where An'she and Mu'sha chased each other with every turning of the world. But our Mother could never abandon her children! She harkened to the winds, though sightless she still continued to guide her children across the Fields of Dawn. The Shu'Halo were given a love for the hunt, the creatures in the land were cunning and terrifying, but our people hunted them with such courage and strength, finally taming the great beasts. The great white stag Apa'ro often challenged the Shu'Halo, as a game, Apa'ro was hunted by them. He was an enormous stag, so white, so pure that he radiated a soft glow, like moonlight. He was full of ancient wisdom. Our people cornered the great stag at the corners of the world, and he lept into the sky as the proud stag could not bear to have lost the game to mortals. As the stag lept into the sky, his huge antlers caught on the stars and he could not get free. Mu'sha saw him at once and immediately fell in love with him. They conceived a child together, who was called Cenarius. All creatures bowed before the grace and beauty of the Forestlord Cenarius, he was truly cunning and communed with nature. The Forestlord befriended the Shu'Halo and together they cared for the land that the Earthmother had created. Cenarius taught our people to speak to the land, the trees and the plants. He taught our people of druidism, and it was here were the first Tauren druids were born. They swore to keep the shadows that lurked beneath the world at bay and nursed the land back to health along with the Forestlord. Centuries passed, and the Forestlord left our people and went his own way in the world. Our people thanked him greatly, but as time passed they forgot much of the lessons he had taught them. They forgot how to commune with the trees, and the vile whispers of the dark ones beneath the earth drifted into the ears of our people again. Our people closed their ears to these corruptions, but a terrible plague befell upon them. The hated Centaur appeared from the west, pillaging and ravaging, destroying all in their terrible wake. The Shu'halo were broken, driven from their ancestral homeland, hounded and stalked by hateful creatures intent on their complete annihilation. The Shu'halo were scattered across the land, constantly on the move, constantly battling for their survival. They roamed the grassy, open barrens of central Kalimdor for countless generations, hunting the mighty Kodos, skirmishing with their pursuers, united only by a common hatred for the centaur. There was a great hope that one day a great leader would arise and deliver the Shu'Halo to the Fields of Dawn once more. That is how things stood a decade ago when refugee Orcs and Trolls - fleeing the shores of a far continent and pursued by a hateful enemy called the Alliance - landed on the shores of Kalimdor. Those refugees, badly equipped and exhausted, staggering ashore from what had been a torturous journey, saw the plight of the Tauren people and intervened, sacrificing their own lives for these people they didn't know. Our people owe it to the selfless act of the Darkspear Trolls and the Orcs, then they stood together as brothers, and marched to meet the vast forces of the Burning Legion and send them back to the Twisting Nether. Since the battle of Hyjal, the wise High Chief Cairne with his loyal followers drove the Centaur back from Mulgore and secured it. For once in a millennia, the Tauren had a land to call their own. Their dreams had been fulfilled, and Cairne had brought his noble people back to the Fields of Dawn." - The story of the Tauren as told by Kogar.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)