World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade – Quel’Thalas

Background Lore

Originally, according to Warcraft RPG: Lands of Conflict, the Quel’dorei—led by Dath’Remar Sunstrider, arrived to Lordaeron through the coast of Tirisfal Glades 6,800 years ago, where they built a settlement and lived there for some years. However, something ancient and evil lays below the ground in that area, or so legends say. The High Elves had to flee from the area because of strange voices filling their minds, driving them crazy. The Old gods are known to manifest their evil thoughts or whisperings to other beings—as confirmed in War of the Ancients Trilogy: Demon Soul, where Neltharion(Deathwing), Malfurion and Varo’Then were tempted by the whisperings in their mind.

The high elves fled north, possibly sailing through the Great Sea, reaching the northlands, which they named Quel’Thalas.

The High Elves established a city in the land they named Silvermoon and created a Sunwell at the Sunwell Grove. Time later, Forest Trolls from Zul’Aman raided Silvermoon almost extinguishing the High Elf population. A high elf emissary was sent to Strom in Arathi Highlands to seek help from the Humans. The Humans agreed to help the High Elves in exchange of teaching them magic. Nodding, the High Elves accepted to teach Humans and created the Alliance. A hundred humans were taught magic and helped battle the Trolls. Together, humans and high elves decimated most of the Forest Trolls 2,800 years ago—read The Founding of Quel’Thalas background story.

The Humans Wizards of Dalaran came the High Elven Wizards of Silvermoon for advice, reporting the summoning of Demons into the world by some human wizards. The incidents might have brought down a new invasion. Dalaran Wizards feared that Strom Kingdom would punish them if hearsay reached their ears that wizards were to blame for the demons sighting.  The Council of Silvermoon – sworn to avoid a return of the Burning Legion decided to send High elf ambassadors to meet with Dalaran’s powerful human wizards, creating the Order of Tirisfal 2,700 years ago – a secret non-public Organization within the Kirin Tor. Combining the powers of the most powerful wizards of Dalaran and of the Silvermoon Council, a single champion was infused with the powers of the Guardian. Only one champion at a time was to become the Guardian, until the Order of Tirisfal decided a new successor.

Note: The Order of Tirisfal Organization is so secret, Khadgar – a librarian of the Kirin Tor and later apprentice of Medivh did not know much of the Organization, except clues he read in books.  Yet not knowing exactly what the Order of Tirisfal was or what the Guardian was. Medivh revealed everything about both topics to Khadgar in Warcraft: The Last Guardian

Note: The last Guardian chosen by the Order of Tirisfal over 800 years ago was Aegwynn.  She broke free from the Order and chose her own successor – her son Medivh.

During the Second War, the High Elves sent rangers to help the Human Alliance battle the orcs.  Gul’dan sent the Blackrock Clan to secure the Runestone at Caer Darrow Isle. One of the many monolithic runes built by the High Elves to create a barrier around Quel’Thalas to cloak their magics from the Burning Legion for thousands of years.  With the capture of the Elven Runestone, Gul’dan was able to warp the power it contained to mutate an entire legion of his loyal and ruthless Ogres into wielders of arcane magics. The mutation caused the Ogres to grow a second head. Along with this transformation these Ogre-Magi were granted deadly magics and a malicious cunning rivaling that of Gul’dan himself.

The Ogre Magis were sent along with the Black Tooth Grin Clan to create a fortress by Tyr’s Bay to cut off Human supply lines into Quel’thalas.  The Blackrock Clan proceeded to destroy Stratholme, the chief source of Alliance Oil in the north, which was preparing to deliver massive amounts of Oil to the kingdoms in Western Lordaeron.

The Blackrock Clan sabotaged their Refineries and Platforms to halt this shipment. Once Stratholme’s ability to gather and process Oil was destroyed, the Horde proceeded to crush any and all resistance offered by the Alliance forces of Stromgarde.

With the destruction of Stratholme, the Alliance supply lines to Quel’thalas had been severed. Only a handful of Human and Elven defenders remained to safeguard the ancient Elf Kingdom from the onslaught of the Horde.

The enchanted domain of the Elves had inspired Gul’dan to unleash his most perverted creation – the Death Knights. Formed from the corpses of the fallen Knights of Azeroth, these once proud defenders of Humanity now served the Horde in a blasphemous state of eternal undeath. Conjuring dark spells of necromantic horror upon their terrified foes, these Death Knights sought to unleash their wrath upon any foolish enough to stand in their way.  Kul’Tiras, Stormwind and Dalaran’s forces were defeated.

Meanwhile, with the destruction of Dun Modr and the downfall of Grim Batol, the Orcs had completely withdrawn their armies from Khaz Modan.  On an effort to drive back the Horde from the Northlands, Sir Anduin Lothar sent Paladins to secure the borderlands of Quel’Thalas.  The first bastion to secure was Tyr’s Hand, where the humans had joined the Horde mysteriously.  The forces of Kul’Tiras and Lordaeron quelled the uprising of Tyr’s Hand peasants and defeated the nearby forces of the Blackrock, Stormreaver and Twilight’s Hammer Clans and the Alterac Human betrayers.

With his Paladins keeping vigilant watch over the northlands, the assistant of Archbishop Alonsus Faol, Uther Lightbringer of Lordaeron, came to offer comfort to those who suffered the misfortunes of war.

Lord Lothar’s Lordaeron forces protected and escorted the Paladins Commander, Uther Lightbringer to the island township of Caer Darrow, defeating some Stormreaver and Alterac forces along the way, known as the Battle of Darrowshire.

Following the battle at Caer Darrow, a number of renegade Alterac soldiers were captured. A crew of Alterac sailors were also caught assisting the Horde during the battle and had been placed under close guard.

Under the edict of Lord Lothar, Lordaeron forces restrained the prisoners until they could be escorted to the capital of Lordaeron for interrogation. Transports were built at Stratholme to ship away the Alterac traitors toward Lordaeron.

Lord Lothar sent word that the Alliance had been betrayed. Lord Perenolde – sovereign ruler of Alterac – had been working with the Horde since the beginning of the war. It was Perenolde who provided the Orcs with the routes of the Elven strikeforce passing through Tarren Mill.

The rebellion at Tyr’s Hand was also started by Alterac spies in hopes of concealing the Orcish mining facility located there. The High Command had decreed that the nation of Alterac had committed treason against the Alliance and their union with the Orcish Hordes had to be broken. Alterac and Blackrock Spire forces were defeated.  The Horde was driven back to the Dark Portal.  Some escaped to Draenor, while others were either killed in battle or taken to internment camps. Quel’Thalas was deeply affected by the Horde during the Second War.

Silvermoon

Ghostlands

Sunwell Grove

Zul’Aman

• Lake Abassi
• Maisara Hills
• Shrine of Ula-Tek

The ruins and ziggurats of Zul’Aman seem to be more ancient than the trolls.  Brann Bronzebeard speculates maybe of Titan or Old gods origin.

Some High Elf survivors (non-Blood Elf) fled to Zul’Aman, escaping from the Undead Scourge.  Those not eaten by the cannibalistic trolls are still alive and hiding within the perilous Zul’Aman.

Burning Crusade: Quel’Thalas

Thousands of years ago, the exiled Highborne landed on the shores of Lordaeron and founded the enchanted kingdom of Quel’Thalas. These high elves, as they called themselves, created a fount of vast, magical energies within the heart of their land – the Sunwell. Over time, they grew dependant on the Sunwell’s unstable energies – regardless of the bitter lessons they’d learned in ages past.

During the Third War, the villainous Prince Arthas invaded Quel’Thalas and reduced the once-mighty realm to rubble and ashes. His undead army decimated nearly ninety percent of the high elven population. In addition, he used the Sunwell’s energies to resurrect Kel’thuzad – a powerful undead Lich – thereby fouling the Sunwell’s mystical waters. The few elven survivors, realizing that they had been cut off from the source of their arcane power, grew increasingly volatile and desperate.

In the midst of the elves’ darkest hour came Kael’thas Sunstrider – the last of Quel’Thalas’ royal bloodline. Kael, as he was commonly known, knew that the remnant of his people would not long survive without the nourishing magics that once empowered them. Renaming his people blood elves, in honor of their fallen countrymen, he taught them how to tap into ambient mystical energies – even demonic energies – in order to sate their terrible thirst for magic. In search of a new destiny for his people, Kael’thas ventured to the remote world of Outland where he encountered the fallen night elf, Illidan. Under Illidan’s tutelage, Kael and his blood elves have regained much of their former power.