After speaking briefly with Anne Stickney of WoW.com the other day, it was mentioned that there's still a great level of confusion regarding the evolution from night elves to blood elves and how it all happened. While I know she'll have her own summary up soon (if it's not already), I figured I'd support the effort and help tackle this topic as well. Specifically, I wish to cover in detail the Kalimdor side of these events.

Children of the Stars

The night elves originally referred to themselves as "kaldorei," or "children of the stars." They mostly lived on the shores of the Well of Eternity, the powerful source of arcane magic on the singular massive continent known as Kalimdor. Because of this proximity, magic permeated almost every aspect of kaldorei society, building it to impressive heights and allowing the nocturnal elves to achieve great miracles in their time.

As a people, the night elves were ruled by their beloved queen, Azshara, a wondrous beauty and powerful practitioner of magic in her own right. Indeed, it is said that there were no others in the world who could match her strength in the arcane. To Azshara herself, this meant that there was no one in the world worthy of her attentions or affections.

There were those, however, whom she favored amongst those who served her. These "quel'dorei", or "people of noble birth," were elevated in status above the others, and were given special treatment. Arcane magic became even more a part of the lives of these "highborne" kaldorei, to the point that they became recognized as the strongest wielders of magic among the night elf race.

It's important to note here that the highborne were not necessarily physically different from their non-highborne brethren. At first glance, telling a highborne and a non-highborne apart would be difficult, as the primary differences fell pretty strongly upon caste lines. Being a highborne was more of a social difference that came from the perception that you were born to a greater status.

The Sundering

The desire for power naturally found within those who believe themselves superior lead the highborne to delve deeper into the swirling arcane vortex that was the Well of Eternity. It was here that Queen Azshara finally discovered a being that she believed was worthy of her affection—the Dark Titan, Sargeras.

Azshara, having been made to believe that Sargeras was a god of great power, sought to rule by his side. She thus instructed her highborne servitors to open a portal using the potent magics of the Well itself in order to link Azeroth with the Twisting Nether. It was through this portal that the Burning Legion first stepped through.

However, not all demons that fought during the invasion came through the portal. It was Sargeras himself who reconstituted a new body for Azshara's defeated advisor, Xavius, and bestowed upon him the dubious honor of being the first of a new type of demon. Indeed, he even gifted Xavius with the ability to reshape other kaldorei into his image, and thus were born the vile satyr.

The War of the Ancients that accompanied the Burning Legion invasion saw the death of a great number of night elves, regardless of social class. In the end, however, the Well of Eternity was destroyed along with the portal. The palace of Zin-Azshari, Azshara's seat of power, was shattered, and a great number of the quel'dorei loyal to her fell to the bottom of the sea with their queen.

Not all the quel'dorei were in the palace, however. A few, lead by Dath'remar Sunstrider, were able to escape the madness within the palace and find safety amongst the other survivors. It would be these highborne who would become the ancestors of those we would eventually know as "high elves."

The Exile

Years after the Sundering, as night elf society was still rebuilding, the surviving highborne began to chafe under the ban against arcane magic that had been a consequence of the war. Those who still considered themselves loyal to Dath'remar Sunstrider executed a defiant demonstration of their abilities to prove, once and for all, the power of the arcane. They unleashed a great arcane storm upon Ashenvale forest to prove their point.

Malfurion Stormrage, archdruid and leader of the surviving night elves, was infuriated at this dangerous display. But he and the other druids were unwilling to put so many of his people to the death required by the ban, and so the highborne were instead exiled from what remained of Kalimdor.

The exiles proudly took their boats and fled across the sea, past the Maelstrom that marked the grave of the first Well of Eternity, and founded a new society on the shores of what we would eventually call the Eastern Kingdoms.

Eldre'Thalas

The highborne capital, second only to the great palace of Zin-Azshari, was known as Eldre'Thalas. Modern times have renamed the ruined location Dire Maul, a name more befitting the foul dangers that lurk within. In its heyday, however, Eldre'Thalas was a grand city that held some of the queen's most prized secrets.

Those known as the Shen'dralar were Queen Azshara's more revered arcanists, a sect of quel'dorei who were the custodians to the arcane secrets within Eldre'Thalas itself. The Sundering left these men and women hidden and isolated from the rest of their world, and the ruins of their city became lost and forgotten within the thick rainforests of Feralas.

Because of this, the Shen'dralar never knew of the exile of their brethren, and they continued to survive within the shattered remnants of their once great city. They are the last remnants of ancient highborne society left in a world that has almost forgotten their kind, but they yet persist.

The Naga

When the first Well of Eternity was destroyed, the great palace of Zin-Azshari, and most of the surrounding capital city, fell to the bottom of the sea. Above the waters formed the Maelstrom, the eternal chaotic storm that serves as warning to any passing by ship. But below them formed something entirely different.

Queen Azshara and her highborne servitors did not drown beneath the waves. No, they were offered a deal from beings of greater power. The exact nature of the deal is unknown, but what is known is the monstrous shape that these sunken highborne took for themselves.

They all became the serpentine naga, a mysterious reptilian race feared by sailors the world over. Azshara herself also took a new visage, but what that is has yet to truly be seen...

...or has it? (image courtesy of Shadows and Light)