Arathi tribe

The Arathi (pronounced Ah-RATH-ee) were a tribe of humans led by the barbarian chieftain Thoradin who united many other human tribes and formed the empire of Arathor under his reign. They built Strom in the modern Arathi Highlands as the capital city of the Arathor Empire. The Arathi participated in the great Troll Wars, coming to the aid of the high elves of Quel'Thalas. The ancient Arathi were conquerors who recognized wisdom in extending cooperation, peace, and equality to the vanquished tribes.

Following the fracturing of the Arathor Empire, many nobles, soldiers, and mages left the capital, which became known as Stromgarde. Those that left headed northwards and founded many other famous cities across the continent of Lordaeron. At the same time the heirs of Thoradin and descendants of the original Arathi tribe traveled south to found the kingdom of Stormwind. One of the descendants of Thoradin, Faldir, became a leader of the expedition south. Having witnessed the gradual fracturing and collapse of the Arathorian Empire, with several of the Arathi city-states becoming independent kingdoms, Faldir led a group of his followers south across the sea, having heard rumors of a lush, unplumbed land where they could make a new beginning.

The last known descendant of the Arathi bloodline was Lord Anduin Lothar who, like his ancestor Thoradin, was a great warrior and rose to lead the Alliance of Lordaeron in the Second War. Settlements excepted, the remains of the common folk include the now-undead independent denizens of Stromgarde Keep, as well as the League of Arathor.

In the RPG
The Arathi were a tribe of humans which founded the Empire of Arathor. They saw the potential in uniting the individual human tribes, particulary when faced with the increaing dager of the troll warbands.

For thousands of years after the Sundering, the human tribes teetered on the brink of extinction as their numbers were winnowed by an ever-increasing struggle simply to gather what was needed for survival. For millennia they persevered, wandering ever further afield in search of food, wood and refuge. Finally, the clouds parted. The sun returned and green sprouts pushed through the ash-fertilized earth of the sere plains. The surviving tribes of humans sent out intrepid bands to explore the reborn world and to find their long-lost brethren. Slowly, trade routes were established across the revitalized world. However, the savage trolls had survived their own hardships and emerged to once again attack the human merchants and travelers. Soon the trolls were bold enough to raid settlements, pillaging the towns and taking away slaves and fodder for their heathen rituals. Around -2,800 BDP, the strongest of the human tribes, the Arathi, convinced the scattered threads of humanity to gather under their rule and wove them together into the empire of Arathor. Though some tribes chafed when their destinies were bound together, the Arathi assured them the land would always belong to all peoples and named the land as a whole in homage to their ancient ancestors: Azeroth.