Tauren

The Tauren, also known in their ancient tongue as Shu'halo, are a race of physically large, imposing, nomadic creatures with a bovine appearance. Longtime allies of the once-immortal Night Elves and the ever vigilant Sandfury Trolls, the Tauren lead a wandering existence in their various tribes throughout the lands of Mulgore and the Barrens. Though naturally peaceful and very much in tune with the world around them, Tauren rage can be invoked if pressed hard enough, much like the Centaur of the Barrens and Mulgore have done in the past.

Characteristics
Physically larger than even Trolls or Night Elves, ranging from a height of six to ten feet and weight between four hundred and eight hundred pounds, the Tauren are a naturally imposing, but generally peaceful race. They possess horns on either side of their heads, which are small and rounded at birth, but can grow several yards long and thick upon maturation, enough so to be used as goring weapons in a pinch. Though naturalists and shamen on par with their Night Elf and Sandfury Troll allies, the Tauren have never possessed the Night Elves' former immortality, nor practiced the life-extending voodoo of the Sandfury. As such, a typical Tauren lifespan is a fair eighty to one hundred years, providing centaurs or conflict do not end their life earlier than that.

Racial Aspect : [Azeroth Attuned] - The Tauren have been the speakers to the elementals and the tenders to nature for millennia, ever mindful of taking care of Azeroth. As such, the Tauren are the natural beacons for the elementals and creatures such as Dryads and Keepers of the Grove. These beings are immediately friendly to Tauren, unless the Tauren proves themself to be hostile.

History
Much of the origins of the Tauren is unwritten, told only through word of mouth from soothsayers to listeners, and from those who heard to those who would listen again. However, it is clear from Zandalari records that the Tauren are at least as old as the trolls and the aqir themselves, as reports of "powerful, horned creatures that walked on two legs" combating the Aqir forces exist. What is known is that the Tauren have a long history of many tribes, which would be united for some time before returning to individual tribes once more. The Tauren were instinctive practitioners of Shamanism, being very in-tune with Azeroth on their own even before they were visited by Cenarius, who took a liking to the bovine people and taught them the ways of Druidism as well.

When Cenarius later left the Tauren to instruct the newly-risen Night Elves, the Tauren honored and maintained the demigod's teachings, keeping the arts of Shamanism and Druidism strong amongst their people. In turn, thousands of years later, when Cenarius returned to request their aid in the War of the Ancients, the ever-attuned Tauren honoured his request and marched to join the Night Elves and the Troll Empires in stopping the Burning Legion. Though they fought bravely against the demons of the Burning Legion and won the War of the Ancients, the Tauren were unable to stop the Sundering, which tore Azeroth apart. Following the splitting of the continent, the Tauren briefly aided their Night Elven allies in rebuilding their lives before they travelled south through what is now Ashenvale and the Barrens to reside in Mulgore, where the tribes split again.

For generations, the Tauren lived in relative peace, with only the rare conflict with the nearby Quilboar, strange, pig-creatures born in the image of Agamaggan, the Boar Ancient. This ended with the migration of Centaur tribes from south of the Barrens, who surged forward and violently took root in the lands of the Barrens and Mulgore, heedless of the Tauren and Quilboar already living there. For nearly one thousand years, the Tauren were forced to face the cruel Centaurs and the panicked, desperate Quilboar in constant fighting, losing many of their tribes and people to the violence. Though the Tauren were strong, and when pressed into a corner, would fight ferociously, the Centaur numbers were too great and their foul tactics too ruthless for the Tauren to defeat.

Their suffering was eased, however, when the Sandfury Empire marched north from Tanaris and the Thousand Needles. The Troll forces slammed into the Centaurs and broke their lines, conquering minor tribe after tribe and enslaving them, while at the same time, offering aid to the Quilboar, and later the Tauren. Through the efforts of the Sandfury Empire, the Tauren were able to repel the Centaurs out of Mulgore and construct a massive gate to safeguard entrance to their homeland. Later, when the Sandfury retreated from the Barrens, taking the Quilboar and offering them the Thousand Needles as a new home, the Tauren were again faced against the Centaur forces. However, with their massive gate preventing the Centaurs from invading Mulgore again, and with the Quilboar no longer attacking them, the Tauren were able to constantly keep the Centaurs as bay.

The constant conflict with the Centaurs continue for generations, with the Tauren tribes able to live safely within Mulgore, but constantly attempting to branch outward into the Barrens. Over the thousands of years, more combat-ready and vengeance-fueled tribes were established along the front lines, including the Bloodhoof Tribe, which ventured out into the Barrens in scouting and surveying packs often in order to obtain information on the Centaur plans and bring more of the Barrens' fauna and flora back to Mulgore. The Tauren, safe within Mulgore, further developed their ties to the land and nature through their practiced Shamanism and Druidism, ever bolstering their great gate with gigantic thorns inspired by the Quilboar and requesting aid from the elementals to barrage the Centaurs with weather attacks.

The conflict came to a vicious halt when the Orcs and Darkspear Trolls arrived on the shores of Kalimdor. The Orcs came upon a Bloodhoof scouting party under assault from Centaurs and marched to aid them, earning them the blessings and gratitude of Cairne Bloodhoof, leading of the tribe. The two groups united and later would remain allies as part of the Second Alliance of Kalimdor, where they introduced the Orcs to the Night Elves as fellow spirits of the world, and the Darkspear Trolls to the Sandfury Trolls. When Archimonde's Burning Legion arrived to conquer Kalimdor, the Tauren joined the fight against his demonic and undead forces, wielding the wrath of nature itself to stop the demon horde.

Following the Third War, the Tauren remained staunch allies with both the Night Elves and the Orcs of Durotar. Cairne Bloodhoof, who had united the Tauren tribes under the Bloodhoof banner in order to fight the Burning Legion, used the assistance from the elementals and from nature to create a capital settlement atop a massive, protected tree, much like the Night Elves had done countless times. The Tauren named their new capital Thunder Bluff and maintained the tall settlement as a beacon for the elements, where they worked alongside Orc, Night Elf and Troll shamans and druids to moniter Kalimdor's lands following the banishing of the Burning Legion.

Timeline
3rd yo