War Against the Drust

The War Against the Drust was a conflict that took place on Kul Tiras between the native Drust and the human settlers.

Long ago, when the humans settled Kul Tiras, they encountered the native Vrykul known as the Drust. Drustvar was their ancestral home, and though the humans tried peace when they landed there, the Drust immediately went to war. Only a few tolerated new neighbors. The rest launched endless raids into the humans' fledgeling hamlets and settlements, and attacked even the farmers and civilians. Not all of the Drust agreed with the war however, such as the Thornspeakers who left the Drust to join Kul Tiran society.

The Drust assaults carried on for many years, until the ancestors of House Waycrest decided something had to be done and began a war against the Drust. But though the Waycrests were hearty folk, the Drust death magic was strong and the humans began to lose the war. House Waycrest researched their magic and created the Order of Embers to fight them. To counter the Drust magic, the Order of Embers used weapons of silver.

In time the Drust would be forced to withdraw as they lost numbers to the human settlers. When their great leader Gorak Tul ran out of living warriors, he conducted a ritual to create stone constructs to fight for him as part of his desperation to win. Colonel Arom Waycrest (who would later become a Lord) led the humans' final assault on the Drust and stabbed Gorak Tul himself. As he was stabbed Gorak Tul's power was broken and with it his connection to his stone constructs, which shattered. But though wounded and broken, Gorak Tul did not die.

In modern times, the story has been warped. The modern Kul Tirans believe that the stone constructs were used for a longer period than just near the end of the war, that Arom had killed Gorak Tul, and that Gorak Tul's living army fell soon after his death instead of earlier on.

The Drust would live on as spirits, trying to return to the physical world. The Waycrests had wiped out the Drust, but could not destroy Gorak Tul. For countless years he waited to enact his vengeance, until Lady Waycrest provided the means. In the present day, Gorak Tul taught the Drust's ancient death magic to Lady Waycrest, who in turn formed the Heartsbane Coven. The coven's magic awakened the remaining stone constructs. However, Lady Waycrest was merely a vessel for his power and her death opened the Rupture, the doorway for the Drust to enter Azeroth. At the Rupture, Gorak Tul was able to raise his people from the dead, but he was slain nonetheless. With his death, the Heartsbane Coven was broken and Drustvar was released from Gorak Tul's power.

Adapted from Wowpedia