Not all that long ago, and practically the blink of an eye to some of the longer-lived races of Azeroth, Humanity was not a single, unified force that made up the backbone of an inter-racial Alliance. Before the Orcs ransacked Stormwind at the end of the First War, there were several human nations, each with their own rulers, armies, and territories. In the face of outside aggression, humanity could band together, such as to fight off the Amani Trolls, and it was in the Troll Wars that humans made their first friendly contact with the High Elves of Quel'thalas, providing military support in exchange for training in the Arcane.
Altogether, humanity comprised seven kingdoms: Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Alterac, Gilneas, Dalaran, Kul Tiras, and Stormwind far in the south. Yet in the wake of the three great wars and the period that followed, many of these nations have crumbled. But are they due for a comeback? Let's look at each of them.
Stormwind is obviously in the best position of all the human kingdoms, rebuilt following the Second War to become the beating heart of the Alliance. Despite problems with the Defias and invading Blackrock Orcs, Stormwind manages to control a fairly large territory, even before you factor in its role as the Alliance's main capital. We're not worried about Stormwind.
Dalaran was always a little strange compared to the other kingdoms, as it was not a monarchy, and really served as a kind of huge and powerful university. Dalaran embraced the Horde in the fight against the Lich King, and despite a few squabbles, even following the Wrathgate Incident it served well as a neutral operation. With Jaina's ascension to leadership of the Kirin Tor, and the revelation that some members of the Sunreavers were using Dalaran's resources to aid Garrosh's Horde, Jaina ended Dalaran's neutrality. The Horde had been in Dalaran at the Kirin Tor's invitation, and that invitation had expired. So that's a second human kingdom we can put together with Stormwind, strengthening human solidarity.
Gilneas was long thought a lost cause. Following the Second War, Genn Graymane was outraged that the Orcs were allowed to remain in Azeroth, and withdrew from the Alliance and indeed the entire world, building the Graymane Wall to isolate the nation from the disastrous chaos that might ensue in future years. Yet, as the Scourge threatened to overtake the continent, Archmage Arugal, a Gilnean mage in Dalaran who wanted to help protect his homeland, ultimately unleashed the Worgen curse, which ran rampant through Gilneas. With the Wall shattered by the Cataclysm and the Forsaken invading, ultimately Gilneas was forced to accept the help of the Alliance. The thing about Gilneas is that much of the country is arguably not human anymore, yet Gilnean humans and worgen live side by side. The Gilnean return to the Alliance fold may have been fostered by the Night Elves, and it may have only come thanks to an enormous crisis, but Gilneas has rejoined humanity, even as its peoples bodies have transformed into something else. Three kingdoms, then.
Stromgarde is actually the oldest of the human kingdoms, as Arathor was the first of humanity's nations. Yet Stromgarde is a ruin for the most part. The capital is overrun with remnants of the Old Horde, except for a single district. Much of the land has been taken back by the wild. It probably does not help that Stromgarde sits right on the front between Alliance forces and the advances of the Forsaken. It's not that there aren't still some people in Stromgarde to contribute to humanity's protection, but they're not really in a position to do much.
Alterac was utterly devastated by the Second War, after the Perenolde dynasty tried to ally with the Horde to be spared their wrath. As if that wasn't enough, the replacement that the Alliance installed after the Perenoldes were defeated was Daval Prestor, who we might also remember as a certain enormous flying volcano named Deathwing the Destroyer. Alterac is a complete ruin now, and the only remnant of its people is the Syndicate, which is little more than a gang of thieves, and not remotely interested in an alliance with, well, anyone.
Kul Tiras would probably be fine with helping the rest of humanity if they could get to them. We actually know next to nothing about what has happened to Kul Tiras, but we do know that there could be one major point of contention. Jaina Proudmoore's father was the leader of the nation, but he died when Jaina allowed Rexxar and his companions to fend off an attack from Theramore. Jaina had hoped that by engaging with the Horde and preventing a fullscale invasion of the newly-established nation of Durotar, a lasting peace between the Alliance and Horde might be preserved. Of course, the crater that is what remains of Theramore proves that this did not work out. It's likely that Kul Tiras would be happy to help fight off the Horde, but we don't really know where they've gotten off to, so we'll put this in the "maybe" category.
And then there's Lordaeron. When the Lich King lost his grasp over the Forsaken, there may have been some hope among the undead of Lordaeron that they might be able to rejoin their brethren, to fight for the Light and righteousness once again. Yet many of the Forsaken had spent too long as Scourge. They felt a bitterness toward the living and a seething lust for revenge against the Lich King. It did not exactly help that the living humans they came across reacted with horror and revulsion, nor did it help that Sylvanas had a very different vision for her people - one that embraced undeath. While members of the Forsaken can be good and heroic, the overall structure and path that Sylvanas has laid out for them makes peace with humanity a near-impossibility. Factor in the Wrathgate, the massacre of Hillsbrad, and the unprovoked and brutal assault on Gilneas, and we can safely say that the Forsaken are not going to be rejoining humanity any time soon.
So that's three that are solidly part of the Alliance, one that would be if it had the strength to do anything other than grab on and hope they don't die out, one that probably would help if they weren't an entire nation lost at sea, one that was really just utterly destroyed, and another that was destroyed, but came back as humanity's enemy.
I actually think there's a lot of untapped potential in the story of humanity's many nations. With the Dwarves uniting the three great clans, it strikes me that it would be fascinating to see humanity try to pull itself back together.
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