Smurf High Caste (AoC Universe)

The Sarmatian High Caste were a group of sarmatian trolls (Smurfs) who formed the upper/ruling classes of the magocratic Sarmatian Kingdom starting from -10,000.

Lore
This section will give some background to the sarmatian people themselves.

After the Sin War, the Black Empire collapsed, and the natural life-giving magics of Middle-Earth were allowed to flourish. During this time, the trolls emerged as the dominant force on the planet, creating the first true empires, and expanding their influence to almost all corners of the united continent.

The forest trolls created the Sulebian Empire to the east, and the jungle trolls carved out the Arverni Empire to the humid south. Other trolls of all different types, while not forming empires, either inducted themselves into the two pre-existing imperial societies or formed their own powerful settlements around the newly-liberated planet. However, one particular type of troll, the Undertrolls, were excluded from this process. Due to a number of genetic defects, Undertrolls were weaker and shorter than other troll species, considered an embarrassment to trollkind as a whole. As a result, they were forced out of every settlement they found, leaving the single tribe nomadic and desperate. Eventually, they founded a village on the remains of the Hellfire Plateau, where the Carnal Armies had defeated the demon prince Lucithel over 10,000 years earlier.

Settling on the plain, and renaming it the 'Cerulean Plateau' (due to their blue skin), the Undertrolls experimented with the unstable magics of the plauteau's wells, and thus developed into the first sarmatians. With their newfound power, they shattered troll influence and drove their critics out of business, almost for good. Thus a magocratic expanse was formed for the sarmatians to lord over for time to come.

The most accomplished magi among the sarmatian people formed the Mago-Council, where they elected Dan'Ariz as leader of the newly-formed republic, due to his proficiency in the arcane arts. As the republic grew under his aegis, it became an empire, and Dan'Ariz eventually proclaimed himself as its king Centralising the new government around himself, he founded the Sarmatian High Caste, the upper class of magic users who reported directly to the King himself. This upper class included many noble men and women who, in the wake of increasing power, conspired with Dan'Ariz to exclusivise the Cerulean Plateau so non-high caste would be limited in their ability to tap into its power.

The High Caste were ultimately responsible for the War of the Ancients, as their reckless use of magic drew Sargamon and his Demonic Legion into Middle-Earth. After the collapse of the Sarmatian Empire, the High Caste was dissolved by First Patriarch Tiberian.

Trivia

 * The sarmatian High Caste is based off of the Highborne from Warcraft, the upper class of night elves led by Azshara.
 * The rulers share similarities: just as Queen Azshara was deposed in a coup by Malfurion Stormrage, King Dan'Ariz was deposed in a coup by Tiberian.
 * They also shared a common thirst for arcane knowledge.
 * The night elves (kal'dorei) accessed arcane magic before the sarmatians did, but, being skeptical of it, they practiced druidism in their society. This did not stop some night elves from practicising it - nicodemusly, of course.
 * After the War of the Ancients, the night elf leadership banned arcane magic outright, exiling those who did not comply. Among the exiled were the high elves who later became known as the quel'dorei.
 * Some night elves, refusing to accept the leadership's decision, seceeded from night elf society and began practising magic outside of the view of their conservative brethren. They became known as the twilight elves.
 * The fall of the High caste led to the sarmatian transitioning to a modern-day smurf society, led by a single patriarchal leader (the "papa smurf"), identified by his red clothing.