Proverb is a psuedo-weekly column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @Heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!
If you haven't already, be sure to read part 1! We pick up with the recent history of the blood elves and high elves.
The blood elves under Kael'thas largely fled to Outland from the humans, who viewed them as traitors. Some blood elves stayed behind to rebuild Silvermoon and attempt to reclaim their homeland from the undead. Lor'themar Theron stayed in Quel'thalas as Regent Lord of the Blood Elves, while Kael'thas took the ambiguous title of Lord of the Blood Elves. Kael'thas' alliance with Illidan to use alternative energies, largely demonic ones, led him down a dark path. He and his forces captured the naaru M'uru and sent it back to Silvermoon with Grand Magister Rommath, with the message that the blood elves could use the naaru for power and to prepare to join him in Outland.
Kael'thas continued to gather power in Outland. He sent a large regiment of his most powerful forces to attack Shattrath City, one of the largest settlements opposing the rein of Illidan. During their attack, these blood elves laid down their weapons, and a blood elf by the name of Voren’thal stepped up as their leader. He professed to A'dal, leader of Shattrath, that he had seen him in a vision and the only hope for the blood elves was with this naaru. These blood elves vowed to serve A'dal and took on the name the Scryers, leaving Kael'thas. This was the largest loss Kael'thas took to his power until his death. The Scryers remain neutral to the conflicts of the Horde and Alliance and will ally with any adventurer willing to help their cause.
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| Blood Elves |
The blood elves remaining in Quel'thalas rebuilt much of Silvermoon, and never heard again from Kael'thas. Lor'themar and the blood elves decided to ally with the Horde. They were very bitter with the humans, and still held grudges against the night elves from years ago. Their alliance with the Horde was largely motivated by the membership of the Forsaken, led by their former Ranger-General
Sylvannas Windrunner. They remain skeptic of the Horde, and the Horde remains untrusting of them. Together, the blood elves, with the help of the Horde, continue to reclaim Quel'thalas and fight the Scourge.
Once the blood elves of the Horde ventured into Outland, they discovered that Kael'thas had gone mad. The blood elves of Silvermoon no longer call Kael'thas their lord, and subsequently assisted in his defeat. Kael'thas returned to Silvermoon after his near death, stole M'uru, and rekindled the
Sunwell with his newfound powers, summoning the demon lord
Kil'jaedan into the world. Kael'thas was killed and Kil'jaeden banished by the combined forces of the
Aldor and the Scryers under the banner of the
Shattered Sun Offensive.
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| High Elves |
A'dal chose to donate his powers to the blood elves of Silvermoon as they were forgiven for their past sins as they repented by defeating Kael'thas and Illidan. The blood elves now follow Lor'themar and other prominent Blood Elves of Silvermoon, as well as the Horde, their thirst for magic largely satisfied by the generosity of A'dal and the restoration of the Sunwell. The blood elves of Silvermoon remain as members of the Horde, and the Scyers remain in Shattrath and at the Sunwell.
When Dalaran was moved to Northrend to battle
Malygos and the blue dragons, the
Kirin Tor took all the help they could get. A group of blood elves from Silvermoon appealed to
Rhonin to allow them entrance to the Kirin Tor's membership. A group of high elves who had gathered in Dalaran over the years banded together under the name of the Silver Covenant to oppose this request, associating the Blood Elves still with Kael'thas' betrayal. The Kirin Tor has not made an official decision to admit the Blood Elves to the Kirin Tor, but many high elves are still among their ranks.
Vereesa Windrunner, who leads the Silver Covenant, is wife to Rhonin and strongly opposes the blood elves' initiation to the Kirin Tor.
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| High Elven Eyes |
Due to the blood elves willingness to use alternative forms of magic, there are some subtle physical differences. Blood elves relied on demonic energies for a time, and their glowing green eyes are a remnant of that. High elves usually have blue eyes, with some having violet or red. Blood elves have much paler features than high elves for the same reason. It is not clear if these differences are genetic (as orc skin is, even though the color mutations were magic based). If so, blood elves may be very distinct from high elves.Blood elves chose red and black as the theme their common garb to remember their losses to Arthas, and high elves traditionally avoid these colors as to not get mistaken for blood elves.
While blood elves actively seek magic to feed upon to sate their hunger, high elves try to suppress it. Some high elves wear
Sunwell Rings, which almost completely satisfy them, but many others stay near magical founts like moonwells, as well as meditate for at least an hour per day. Blood elves that fail to satiate themselves often degenerate into
Wretched, their addiction warping their physical forms.
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This week on Proverb, as per request of Angusthehaggis on Twitter, we'll be looking at the differences and origins of the modern Quel'dorei and Sin'dorei, commonly known as "High Elves" and "Blood Elves". This article ended up very long, so the second part will be out later this weekend.
The High Elves have a long and rich history. High Elves were originally Night Elves, or Kal'dorei, but through their practice of magic underwent some physical changes that turned them into a distinct race, especially under the physical separation of the two factions due to the exile of the Highborne from Kalimdor. If you aren't familiar with this story, take a quick read of Proverb: The Vials of Eternity.
The Quel'dorei named their settlement Quel'thalas, or "High Kingdom". The northernmost portion was named Silvermoon, with the sprawling capital city bearing the same name. Lush forests composed the southern regions of Quel'thalas, including the Eversong Woods and Eversong Forest. The High Elves
fought many wars with the local forest trolls, namely the Amani trolls. Wars with the trolls raged on for years, and the high elves eventually turned to the human kingdom of Arathor for help. The humans were reluctant, but helped for their own safety from the trolls. The elves taught the humans magic, and together they defeated the Amani empire. In exchange for the help, Anasterian Sunstrider, king of the high elves, pledged loyalty to the bloodline of Thoradin, king of Arathor.
The High Elves largely remained reclusive and distant from the human nations that came and went over the years. Elves are very proud and arrogant, and the elves of Quel'thalas would need good reason to ally with the humans.
Some 1,200 years after the troll wars, the Alliance of Lordaeron was founded, consisting of the seven human nations of the time, in reaction the orc's invasion of Azeroth and the fall of Stormwind. King Terenas sent an emissary to Silvermoon to ask for the elves help. Anasterian decided to help only because Lord Lothar was among the humans requesting help, as Lothar was a descendant of Thoradin. Anasterian sent a small force led by Alleria Windrunner, who soon reported the immanent threat of the trolls and their new orcish allies. The high elves joined in full force to protect their homeland. The newly formed Horde did much damage to Quel'thalas, especially the red dragons enslaved by the Dragonmaw clan of orcs. Anasterian blamed Terenas' poor leadership for the burning of the forests of Quel'thalas. Lothar perished during the war, and the high elves considered their debt to Thoradin's bloodline paid and the humans careless. The nation of Silvermoon largely shut itself off from the world. A few high elves remained outside of Azeroth, but very few wanted to mingle with the humans or other races. A few high elves studied in Dalaran (including Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider), which was the premier location for studying magic, perhaps even exceeding Silvermoon.
The High Elves remained isolated as the Scourge ravaged the human kingdom of Lordaeron. With Arthas leading them as the Lich King's token Death Knight, the Scourge ravaged Quel'thalas, destroyed Silvermoon and the Sunwell, and killed around 90% of all of the High Elves who died defending their homeland, including King Anasterian Sunstrider. The elves would never forget the loss of their great kingdom to Arthas, prince of Lordaeron, adding another mark against the humans' reputation.
Kael'thas returned to Quel'thalas, infuriated at the destruction of his homeland during his absence. He rallied as many High Elves as he could gather, and renamed his people Sin'dorei, or blood elves, to reflect their thirst for vengeance and a new source of magic to quench their thirst after the loss of the Sunwell. Roughly 90% of the remaining High Elves followed Kael'thas and took on the new name. He allied with the humans temporarily, then left them to take an offer from Illidan Stormrage to find new, exotic forms of magic to feed his people.
The other 10% of the high elves remained elsewhere. Many of them were elsewhere during the destruction of Silvermoon or fled. These remaining High Elves were of a loose association to each other and called their organization the Silvermoon Remnant, and still consider themselves to be members of the Alliance. While the high elves traditionally used the Sunwell to satisfy their thirst for magic, the ones that traveled around Azeroth used alternative sources. For example, current day Stormwind contains a Moonwell with a few high elves around it. Many high elves traveled with Jaina Proudmoore to found Theramore, where they currently hold two seats in her advising council. The high elf population continues to dwindle, as the high elves are disparate and many defect back to Silvermoon to join the blood elves.
Continue to part 2.