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Story 04 · Alliance

Night Elf

An ancient people who woke in the light of the moon. Their magic set the world on fire once; then they guarded it for ten thousand years and gave up their immortality for Azeroth.

Into the story
Night ElfRacials, Race Notes & StatsClassesPlayable Classes & Skills
Homeland
Teldrassil · Kalimdor
Capital
Darnassus
Leaders
Tyrande Whisperwind · Fandral Staghelm
Goddess
Elune
Mount
Nightsaber
Ancient name
Kaldorei

Chapter I · Origin

Children of the Stars (Kaldorei)

The night elves’ story begins on the shore of a lake. Tens of thousands of years ago, in the middle of Kalimdor, then a single continent, the Well of Eternity shone with waters full of magic.

A group of dark trolls settled on its shores and, over generations, changed under the Well’s power: they grew taller, their lives grew longer and their eyes began to shine in the night. They called themselves the kaldorei, the “children of the stars”.

The kaldorei worshipped Elune, goddess of the moon, and built a great civilisation on the Well’s shores. Their capital was Zin-Azshari, their queen Azshara; their most privileged nobles, and the closest to magic, were the Highborne.

  1. Dark troll

    Trolls on the shores of the Well

  2. Well of Eternity

    The source of magic

  3. Elune

    Goddess of the moon

  4. Kaldorei

    Children of the stars

Chapter II · Sundering

The war that broke the world

Queen Azshara and the Highborne sank deeper and deeper into the magic of the Well of Eternity. In the void between worlds, that power caught the eye of Sargeras, master of the Burning Legion.

Sargeras promised Azshara power and immortality, and she and the Highborne opened a gate inside the Well to bring the Legion to Azeroth. When the demons poured into Kalimdor, the War of the Ancients began.

The resistance was led by the young druid Malfurion Stormrage, the priestess of Elune Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion’s twin brother Illidan. The demigod Cenarius, the dragons and the ancient spirits of the forest joined them.

Malfurion saw that the only way to close the Legion’s gate was to destroy the Well of Eternity. As the gate closed, the Well collapsed in on itself, and Azshara and her palace vanished beneath the waves. This is the Great Sundering: the single continent broke apart, and the Maelstrom now churns at its centre.

Well of EternityOne continentZin-AzshariKALIMDOREASTERN KINGDOMSNORTHRENDOUTLANDMaelstrom
As you scroll, the single continent breaks apart and the Well of Eternity becomes the Maelstrom.

When the world broke

10,000years

The Well of Eternity collapsed and the world broke apart about 10,000 years before the Dark Portal.

Because the night elves later became immortal, some who fought in the War of the Ancients are still alive today; Tyrande and Malfurion first among them.

Queen Azshara

The queen worshipped for her beauty and power opened the door to Sargeras. As the Well collapsed, she vanished beneath the waves with her palace.

Betrayal

Burning Legion

Sargeras’s demon army came through the Well and set Kalimdor on fire. Archimonde was among the Legion’s commanders.

Invasion

Malfurion and Cenarius

Cenarius’s student Malfurion became the first druid and brought the ancient powers of the forest to the resistance.

Resistance

Illidan’s vials

Illidan would not let the source of magic be lost: he filled a few vials from the Well and poured them into a lake on Mount Hyjal, and a new Well was born.

A hidden well

Chapter III · Vigil

A ten-thousand-year vigil

The night elves who survived the Sundering gathered again at the foot of Mount Hyjal. The new Well Illidan had made stood above them like a threat.

Malfurion and the druids planted a giant tree over the Well: the World Tree Nordrassil. The Dragon Aspects blessed it; Nordrassil sealed the Well and gave the night elves immortality.

Malfurion banned arcane magic and imprisoned Illidan in a dungeon beneath Hyjal, with Maiev Shadowsong and the Watchers as his jailers. The druids entered the Emerald Dream in the Barrow Dens and slept for centuries, while Tyrande and the Sentinels stayed awake to guard their people.

The Highborne who would not give up magic were sent into exile. They crossed the sea to the Eastern Kingdoms and founded Quel’Thalas: the high elves are their descendants.

About a thousand years ago, qiraji armies poured out of Ahn’Qiraj in Silithus. In the War of the Shifting Sands the night elves, helped by the bronze dragons, sealed them behind the Scarab Wall; Fandral Staghelm’s son Valstann died in that war.

Sacred tree

Nordrassil

The World Tree on the summit of Mount Hyjal. It sealed the second Well and gave the night elves immortality.

Home of the druids

Moonglade

The druids’ sacred vale. Nighthaven, the heart of the Cenarion Circle, stands here today.

A sealed gate

Ahn’Qiraj

The fortress of the qiraji and the Old God C’Thun in Silithus, sealed behind the Scarab Wall.

Chapter IV · Hyjal

The night the tree was sacrificed

Ten thousand years later the Burning Legion returned. As you scroll, the map shows the last act of the Third War in Kalimdor step by step.

  1. Third War

    Strangers arrive

    Orcs and humans cross the sea and set foot in Kalimdor. Thrall’s Horde and Jaina’s humans enter night elf lands they know nothing about, and the Sentinels treat them as enemies.

    Border

  2. Ashenvale

    Cenarius falls

    Grom Hellscream’s Warsong orcs cut down the sacred trees of Ashenvale. Cenarius comes to defend the forest, but Grom, strengthened by drinking demon blood, kills him.

    Loss

  3. Felwood

    Illidan set free

    To find power against the Legion, Tyrande frees Illidan from his prison. Illidan drains the power of the Skull of Gul’dan and kills Tichondrius, one of the Legion’s commanders; but the power changes him too, and Malfurion banishes him. The forest the skull poisoned becomes Felwood.

    Corruption

  4. Mount Hyjal

    Three peoples, one front

    At the call of the prophet Medivh, Malfurion, Thrall and Jaina join forces on Mount Hyjal. Humans, orcs and night elves slow Archimonde’s march on Nordrassil step by step.

    Alliance

  5. Nordrassil

    The tree’s sacrifice

    When Archimonde reaches the tree, Malfurion sounds the Horn of Cenarius. Thousands of wisps swarm Archimonde and destroy him with the tree’s power. Nordrassil is left half burned, and the night elves lose their immortality.

    Victory
Third WarStrangers arrive
StrangersAshenvaleCenarius †AshenvaleWarsongFelwoodIllidanThree armiesBurning LegionArchimonde †NordrassilMount Hyjal

Chapter V · Today

In the shadow of Teldrassil

Wanting to win back immortality, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm planted a new World Tree off the coast of Darkshore: Teldrassil. The Dragon Aspects did not bless it, and signs of corruption already show among its branches.

The night elves’ new capital, Darnassus, rose on its crown. Tyrande Whisperwind leads her people, while Malfurion was lost deep in the Emerald Dream and has not returned.

After the Third War the night elves gave up thousands of years of solitude and joined the Alliance. Today they fight the Horde in the forests of Ashenvale and the remnants of the Legion in Felwood.

Leaders

Who leads Darnassus today.

High Priestess of Elune

Tyrande Whisperwind

Leader of her people since the War of the Ancients and commander of the Sentinels. She rules from the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus.

Archdruid

Fandral Staghelm

Head of the druids while Malfurion is gone. He planted Teldrassil, and he lost his son Valstann in the War of the Shifting Sands.

Lost

Malfurion Stormrage

The first druid and the man Tyrande loves. After the Third War he entered the Emerald Dream and never woke.

Teldrassil

A world on top of a tree

Teldrassil is so vast that its boughs are as wide as a whole region. Night elf characters begin the game in Shadowglen; the roads from the village of Dolanaar to Darnassus run along the top of the tree.

The boat from Rut’theran Village at the foot of the tree sails to Auberdine on the coast of Darkshore; that harbour is the night elves’ link to the mainland.

To Auberdine ↘1Darnassus2Shadowglen3Dolanaar4Rut’theran Village
Teldrassil.Boat
  1. 1DarnassusThe night elf capital, home of the Temple of the Moon
  2. 2ShadowglenThe vale where night elf characters begin
  3. 3DolanaarThe village in the middle of the tree
  4. 4Rut’theran VillageThe harbour at the foot of the tree; the boat to Auberdine leaves here

Beyond Teldrassil

Watch posts across Kalimdor

The night elves guard their lands with outposts scattered through the forests of Kalimdor: Auberdine in Darkshore, Astranaar in Ashenvale, Feathermoon Stronghold off the coast of Feralas. Nighthaven in Moonglade is where the druids gather.

The boat from Auberdine sails to Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands; it is the road that ties the night elves to the rest of the Alliance.

1Darnassus2Auberdine3Astranaar4Nighthaven5Feathermoon Stronghold6Menethil Harbor
Night elf settlements in Kalimdor. Positions are approximate.Sea routes
  1. 1DarnassusThe capital on the crown of Teldrassil
  2. 2AuberdineThe harbour town on the coast of Darkshore
  3. 3AstranaarThe outpost at the heart of Ashenvale
  4. 4NighthavenThe druids’ village in Moonglade
  5. 5Feathermoon StrongholdThe island fortress off Feralas
  6. 6Menethil HarborThe harbour that leads to the Eastern Kingdoms

Epilogue

A vigil by moonlight

Once they set the world on fire; then they guarded it for ten thousand years. Elune’s light still lies on the branches of Teldrassil.

See this story’s events on the timeline

Note

The drawings are schematic illustrations made for this page; the markers on the game maps are placed approximately.

Images

The Well of Eternity illustration and the Azshara, Moonglade and Mount Hyjal images belong to Blizzard Entertainment. Maps from WoW Forever.