Pre-Imperial Era Alterac

Little is known of Pre-Imperial Era Alterac, and what is known is steeped in legend and folklore. There are tales and legend aplenty of heroes from this time such as King Reginald the Yeti-Slayer. However, there is little to be said that is actually proven. Many scholars assume some factuality from such legends, within reason. Otherwise, we would know almost nothing of this time based off of solely proven fact.

Culture
It is unknown why the cold, unforgiving Alterac Mountains were chosen as a home for many primitive Human clans and tribes. Some speculate they were driven there, others claim that it was for religious purposes, and some persist that these mountains were chosen so that their descendants would be hardened warriors, raised in harsh conditions. As time carried on, these clans formed into Houses and Houses began to rule kingdoms. It is uncertain how many of these petty kingdoms existed within Alterac throughout history, however despite the small size of the region there were plenty. More notable were the larger petty kingdoms ruled by of House of Perenolde or House of Arnwake.

These various kingdoms ranged from the size of a Duchy to a Barony in ancient Alterac. They constantly warred with one another in a series of conflicts known as the Wars of the Petty Kings. The number of these violent disputes is unknown. Many of them have been forgotten through the ages, but some do still live on in legend.

The people of these petty kingdoms are believed to have been a fierce warrior people. Strength meant survival. Although Alterac was capable of growing some food, many raided the villages of ancient humans in the Hillsbrad Foothills. Commodities that could not be made in Alterac were the primary target of these raids. Some such as the Arnwakes, the various Finger Kings, and other petty kingdoms, which were on the fringes of the Alterac territory and were capable of growing more crops, often engaged in trade when they weren't warring with other petty kingdoms.

The ancient Alteraci are believed to have worshipped local elementals. Although there is little evidence to support it, Arathorian records state that the Alteraci later converted to the Arathorian faith, indicating they did not do so previously. Whether they believed in anything at all is still uncertain, but worship of local elementals in some altered form of the Old Ways was likely practiced.