Nerubian

File:Nerubian WoW Ice.jpg

Nerubian from WoW

• A branch of the Aqir race.
• Used to live in the city of Azjol-Nerub.
• Conquered by the Lich King.
• Undead Nerubians are also known as Crypt Fiends.
• According to Anub'arak, and as attested by many traps and contraptions in Azjol-Nerub dungeons, they were once good engineers

The Nerubian spider-men once ruled over the kingdom of Azjol- Nerub that stretched like a great web beneath the desolate glaciers of Northrend. However, the Lich King crushed their dark empire and sent them skittering into the arctic wastelands. Though there are few pockets of Nerubian warriors left, they still seek to gain vengeance upon Ner’zhul and reclaim their subterranean kingdom.

From in-game texts:

The Gurubashi and Amani [Troll] empires had little love for one another, but rarely warred against each other. At the time, their greatest common enemy was a third empire - the civilization of Azi Aqir. The Aqir were intelligent insectoids who ruled the lands of the far west. These clever insectoids were greatly expansionistic and incredibly evil. The Aqir were obsessed with eradicating all non-insect life from the fields of Kalimdor.

The trolls fought them for many thousands of years, but never succeeded in winning a true victory over the Aqir. Eventually, due to the troll's persistence, the Aqiri kingdom split in half as its citizens fled to separate colonies in the far northern and souther regions of the continent.

Two Aqiri city-states emerged - Azjol-Nerub in the northern wastes, and Ahn'Qirai in the southern desert. Though the trolls suspected that there were other Aqiri colonies beneath Kalimdor, their existence was never verified.

From WorldofWarcraft.com:

File:Nerubian1.jpg

Nerubian as they appear in Warcraft III

...as the Lich King extended his influence over the land, one shadowy empire stood against his power. The ancient subterranean kingdom of Azjol-Nerub, which had been founded by a race of sinister humanoid spiders, sent their elite warrior-guard to attack Icecrown and end the Lich King's mad bid for dominance. Much to his frustration, Ner'zhul found that the evil Nerubians were immune not only to the [undead] plague, but to his telepathic domination as well.

The Nerubian spider-lords commanded vast forces and had an underground network that stretched nearly half the breadth of Northrend. Their hit-and-run tactics on the Lich King's strongholds stymied his efforts to root them out time after time. Ultimately Ner'zhul's war against the nerubians was won by attrition. With the aid of the sinister Dreadlords and innumerable undead warriors, the Lich King invaded Azjol-Nerub and brought its subterranean temples crashing down upon the spider lords' heads.

Nerubians lived or drew power from ziggurats in Warcraft III.

Though the nerubians were immune to his plague, Ner'zhul's growing necromantic powers allowed him to raise the spider-warriors' corpses and bend them to his will. As a testament to their tenacity and fearlessness, Ner'zhul adopted the nerubians' distinctive architectural style for his own fortresses and structures.

• It is often suggested that the Silithid and Nerubians are both the modern relitives of the Aqir race.

See also:

• Silithid
• Aqir
• Origin of the races: The Evolution of the Silithids