Zanick's story

Zanick was born in a tiny troll settlement on the fishing shore called Jasa'kul on the Darkspear's rainswept island in the Great Sea, eight years after the outbreak of the First War.

Zanick believes that she has some Zandalari blood from her mother's side, possibly from an emissary that visited the Darkspears on their remote island many generations ago. This may explain the frequent use of 'Zan' in Darkspear troll names (e.g. Hai'Zan, Zando'zan, Zansoa, Miao'zan).

Her mother, Zan'aya, was a weaver and seamstress. Her father, Korashi, was a fisher and also one of the watchers who guarded the village from the constant threat of murlocs. When she was about ten winters old humans built a settlement on the island and Zanick's family had to move further inland to avoid them. This was just the first of many times that Zanick was forced to abandon her home.

Later that same year the orc fleet came to the troll's island. The orcs, led by Thrall, helped the trolls to attack the humans to drive them away. But at the height of the battle they were attacked by vicious murlocs. Many of the orcs and trolls in the war party were killed, including Zanick's father. Eventually Thrall and his warriors escaped and freed many of those that had been captured. Sen'jin himself died from the wounds inflicted by the murlocs after asking Thrall to lead the trolls to safety.

Meanwhile the troll settlements were being battered by great waves sent by the Sea Witch and attacked by bands of rampaging murlocs. The trolls left behind in the villages, mostly elderly and women trolls, fought hard to protect their home and their young ones. Zanick's mother was amongst those that died fighting so that the children could escape to safety inland. When the battles were finally over the orc fleet sailed westward to look for a new homeland, taking with them a group of Darkspears led by the shadow hunter Rokhan.

For the next year the remaining trolls gathered supplies and repaired their ships so that they could follow the orcs. Throughout this time the Sea Witch used her magic to send torrential rain, battering waves and flooding tides that threatened to swamp the troll's island. Her minions, the murlocs, repeatedly attacked the trolls' settlements to hinder their efforts. At this time Zanick was cared for by her mother's brother, Hai'Zan. Eventually the Darkspears set sail with all that they could gather and crossed the Great Sea to Kalimdor where they built a new home on the Echo Isles.

Zanick grew up in the home of her uncle who was the village butcher. She helped him when she could and she soon became adept with a blade, learning at a young age how to cleave flesh from the bone. But Zanick had no desire to become a butcher. When she was twelve she took a great interest in the troll warriors that she saw leaving the Echo Isles to fight in the Third War and in the tales of battle that those that returned told around the campfire.

The village elders arranged for Zanick to follow her mother's profession and be apprenticed to a tailor, since she had nimble fingers. But even at this age she was too adventurous to study hard at learning a craft. She would often go diving for clams and search the outlying islands for raptor eggs. On many occasions she was punished for disobeying the rules and leaving the safety of the village.

One year later, a human fleet attacked the Echo Isles and, along with many other trolls, Zanick was evacuated to Orgrimmar. There she was inspired by the troll, orc and tauren soldiers as they prepared for battle. During this time she first practised the skills of hiding in shadows and spying unnoticed as she tried to learn all that she could of the exciting and frightening events unfolding in Durotar beyond the city gates. She often got into trouble with the city guards for sneaking into places she should not be, such as the watch towers and the buildings where the Weapon Masters taught.

After the human fleet was defeated, Zanick expected that she would return to her home on the Echo Isles. But the dark magic of the troll witch doctor Zalazane forced the Darkspears to abandon their home yet again. Zanick remained in Orgrimmar until the new village, Sen'Jin, was ready.

In Sen'jin village Zanick spent four long years listening to tales of far away places, stories of the once-great troll empires and learning about the lore of the gods from old Master Vornal. Here again she frequently got into trouble, straying too far from the village and getting cornered by scorpids or having to be rescued by the Sen'jin Watchers whilst spying on the centaurs in the valley to the south.

When she reached the age of seventeen winters Zanick decided to train for the adventuring life. In the Valley of Trials the trainers recognised that her agility and stealthiness made her best suited to be trained as a scout.

Throughout her training Zanick showed a preference for using daggers, building on the skills she developed helping her uncle. Long after she could have progressed to using swords she prefers to use two short blades for speed and precision, much like the fang and claw of Beth'ekk the Panther God, who Zanick feels is the spirit that most guides her path. Like Beth'ekk, Hunter of the Dusk and Dawn, Zanick prefers to stalk her enemy and then attack from ambush. She has been a loner for much of her life and even now, like the panther, Zanick prefers to work alone.

Zanick's hair colour, ag’nar, is often called 'flame-hair' and in troll folklore is associated with a fiery temper. This temper and her dislike of blood elves have sometimes caused problems for Zanick. Whenever possible Zanick avoids blood elves. She is distrustful of Forsaken, although she will team up with them if the need arises.

Zanick is very proud, revengeful and ambitious. She feels strongly about the heritage of the troll empire and is quick to remind others that the trolls were mighty long before most of the other races even appeared on Azeroth. She would dearly love to work towards reclaiming their ancestral lands and rebuilding a mighty Jungle Troll nation. Until that day, Zanick is determined that the Darkspears get the respect that they deserve within the new Horde.

"It was night-time. I remember voices shouting orders, and a line of fires that had been lit to keep the murlocs away. My uncle appeared at the door of our hut and told us to get away. Then he hurried towards the sound of fighting. My mother told me to help the little ones and then she grabbed one of my father's fish spears and headed for the inland gate.

"I rushed to the next hut and dragged a tiny child by the hand. When we reached the log-wall my mother had fought the murlocs back away from the path that led over the hill. She told me and the other children to keep going until we reached the hunting camp. As we reached the brow of the hill I looked back once. I thought I could see my mother and a handful of others, swinging and thrusting their weapons amidst a group of murlocs, as the flames leaped high over the village behind them. But I can't be sure it was her.

"I never saw her again. I'm not even sure if this is a true memory, or just my imagining of what it must have been like..."

Zanick