Hyad (Clan)

The Clans of Hyad, also known as the Hyadese humans, are a confederation of human families representing the most significant population on the island of Hyad.

Origins
During the Titans' successful conquest of Azeroth, the forces of the Black Empire gathered in the southernmost reaches of modern day Pandaria, pooling their dark energy together to summon a mighty Old God in a a last ditch effort to corrupt the planet. Just before the spell could be completed, the titan-forged successfully purged the dreaded monsters. However, a dark rift was left to the realm of their would-be destroyer. Unlike the wound left by Y’shaarj, this rift was not ostensibly damaging to Azeroth herself, and thus the keepers were simply ordered to keep watch of the area until further notice.

Following the war, the Pantheon determined that Azeroth would be in great peril if an additional Old God was allowed to infect the planet in their absence, and thus formulated a plan. The mogu were ordered to carve a vast ocean out around the rift, and build immense barricades as a means to slow the eldritch beast down were it to enter into reality. The newborn mogu were commanded to construct and oversee a great fortress-barrier around the area, much like those at Ulduar and Ahn'Qiraj. Meanwhile, keeper Odyn would send legions of iron Vrykul to serve as guards and foot soldiers.

Birth of the Azotha
These relentless constructs continued their service for millennia on their remote facility. However, their mainland brethren began to be infected with the curse of flesh, succumbing to the machinations of the imprisoned old ones. During the Age of a Hundred Kings, defeated mogu warlords traveled south in an effort to turn the armies to their petty causes. Despite being turned away, these travelers would sow the seeds of chaos within the ranks of Hyad in the form of the Curse of Flesh. Over time, the native vrykul and mogu world degenerate into mortal, fleshy creatures susceptible to emotion and frailty. A city, Heido,was built around the titanic prison, with its guards now forced to indulge in food and shelter. All records regarding Nuwen ceased at this time, and the combination of this and the physical predicament of the guardians caused them to lose their focus. Both vrykul and mogu were both naturally brutal populations when exposed to the curse, and many conflicts would arise among the two races, as well as their kin. However, due to their historically administrative roles, the mogu were able to convince the majority of the vrykul to rejoin their service. The cleverest managed to win the loyalty of larger forces, and thus rose to become the first emperors of the newly named Tian-Hyad. In exchange for loyalty in some cases, loyal vrykul were taught the art of sorcery. As a result, hyadese magic is extremely similar to that of the mogu.

Those vrykul who found themselves among the losing side of these conflicts or desired to serve none at all soon found themselves at the mercy of the merciless. Many would sail away, settling in maritime communities along the southern coast of Kalimdor. These exiles retained knowledge of their origin and worshiped the Keepers they had once served, but over time their skin grew darker than their brethren. They would name themselves Azotha, after their planet’s world soul. Those that remained were not content to serve for long, however. The mogu grew jaded and decadent, taking for granted the backbone of their empire. Their subjects grew tired of their mistreatment, and erupted into bloody revolt. What followed was a mutually devastating series conflicts known as the Vrykul-Mogu Wars, which ended in the eventual dissolution of all mogu control and the establishment of the vrykul-led Juren Dynasty. The Hyadese would rule ever since, although they would be plagued by the evil of Kaiwan, and each of their dynasties would be ended when the malefic Flayed King possessed the form of their final emperor.

Physical Description
In appearance, the Hyadese are nearly identical to their kin of the Eastern Kingdoms. Minor differences in coloration and facial structure exist, and although there are many exceptions to this rule, the hyadese are moderately more lithe.

Their ancient ancestors in the Juren, being either vrykul or close descendants of vrykul, were several orders of magnitude taller and more war-like.

Religion and Culture
The Hyadese are particularly adept at magic for humans, as they learned early on from the mogu. Like elves, there exist many families in Hyadese society that emphasize the importance of magical bloodlines, choosing suitors for their children so that their decendants have a greater affinity for the arcane.

Notable Hyadese Humans

 * The Flayed King (Formerly)
 * Woo Ping
 * Wu Shen
 * Shen Kang Cheng