Blood elf

The blood elves, or sin'dorei ("Children of the Blood" in Thalassian), are a race composed of former high elves who renamed themselves in honor of their people that were killed during the siege of Quel'Thalas by the Scourge during the Third War. The blood elves of Azeroth have joined the Horde in the Burning Crusade expansion, seeking to reunite with Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider in Outland. They have since reclaimed their capital of Silvermoon City, situated in Eversong Woods.

Blood elves once called themselves high elves. In the transition that led to this renaming, they glorified their civilization while discarding their honor. Life for the Blood Elves changed during the Third War, when King Arthas¡¯s Scourge sacked Quel¡¯Thalas and shattered the elven race. The Scourge slayed more than 90% of the high elven population, devastating their culture. Prince Kael¡¯thas Sunstrider was studying magic in Dalaran at the time of the disaster. When he heard what had happened, he quickly returned home and took command of the survivors. Kael¡¯thas renamed them ¡°blood elves¡± in honor of their fallen kin. Prior to the Sunwell¡¯s destruction, all high elves everywhere were constantly bathed in its magical power. Now bereft of this arcane energy, the blood elves (and high elves) suffered. Kael¡¯thas claimed that they would soon die without another magical source to replace the Sunwell. The blood elves therefore set about learning to drain magic from alternative sources. Soon, the blood elves clashed with the Scourge and the Amani trolls, who were making inroads into former elven territory. The blood elves defended their homeland, and eventually, having reestablished a degree of safety to their land and prevented their society from degenerating, Kael¡¯thas left. He took a group of the strongest blood elf warriors and spellcasters and joined the Alliance against the Scourge. They were eager to avenge themselves on the undead forces. However, bigotry prevented the human forces from seeing the aid the blood elves could bring to their fight. Imprisoned and sentenced to death by the humans who had commanded them, the blood elves escaped, fled to Outland, and joined Illidan Stormrage¡¯s forces. This group of blood elves then helped defeat the demon Magtheridon and claimed his Black Citadel as their own. In exchange for the blood elves¡¯ loyal service, Illidan gave them a place to live, as well as further techniques to siphon mana from anything with arcane power. Blood elves on Outland now hunt demons and feed off the demons¡¯ magic. As a consequence, despite what other races might suspect, blood elves are hardly on friendly terms with demons. Indeed, blood elves too view demons with abhorrence. Even blood elf warlocks believe demons are useful tools, not potential allies. Not every blood elf lives in Outland. Most blood elves still live on Azeroth, particularly in Quel¡¯Thalas. These blood elves seek to reclaim their lost homeland and destroy the Scourge at any cost.MG 65 A lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the blood elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath has made great progress in teaching the blood elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies. With renewed purpose, the blood elves have now rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, though it is powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now focus on regaining their strength, even as they forge a new path into an uncertain future.TBCMan 12, 13 While they despise most other races, they have come to accept that the Forsaken are different, or at least share the same goals as the blood elves. The blood elves in Outland do not give the Alliance or the Horde much thought. They are busy seeking power and honing their abilities

History
Ten thousand years ago, during the reign of the night elf Queen Azshara, there was an elite magic-using sect known as the Highborne, who dabbled in magics that many other elves considered heretical by drawing upon the power of the Well of Eternity. Fiercely loyal to the Queen, the Highborne opened a number of portals under her direction that brought forth the Burning Legion, triggering the War of the Ancients. Some time after the Great Sundering, most of the surviving Highborne were exiled from Kalimdor and settled on the Eastern Continent, founding the kingdom of Quel'Thalas. They became known as high elves. During this time, they created the Sunwell, and switched to a diurnal waking cycle. Their purple skin eventually faded to a pale peach color, like that of the humans and dwarves.

For the history of the high elves in the years between their exile and the Third War, see High elf.

During the Third War, Prince Arthas led his army of the Scourge against them, ravaging Quel'Thalas and corrupting the Sunwell. Most of what was left of Quel'thalas was burned down by the high elves, in an effort to give the Scourge a psychological victory and leaving the few high elves left who were making their last stand on Sunstrider Isle. Despite their efforts, most of the high elven population were eradicated during this conflict. In remembrance of their fallen brethren, most of them renamed themselves the blood elves, or sin'dorei, and swore to avenge their fallen race.

Cut off from their source of power once again, the elves went into magic withdrawal. Desperate for aid following the Third War, the blood elves allied with the naga. This was seen as treachery by the Alliance and they were sentenced to death. Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider led his followers to freedom, to the extra dimensional wastes of Outland, the remnants of Draenor, and pledged allegiance to Illidan who promised to grant them a new source of magic by siphoning the chaotic energies of demons. Together with their allies the naga, Illidan led the blood elves to conquer Outland, gaining in the process the friendship of the nearly extinct Broken. The blood elves then followed Illidan to the Icecrown Glacier in an attempt to destroy the Lich King. However, they were defeated by Arthas, who wounded Illidan, forcing the blood elves and naga to retreat, allowing Arthas to ascend the glacier and merge with the Lich King.

But not all blood elves currently reside in Outland with Illidan: some have remained in Azeroth. Flushed with their newfound ability to siphon mana from creatures of the Twisting Nether, the blood elves have managed to retake their beloved land of Quel'Thalas. Silvermoon has been rebuilt and the resident blood elves there plot to return to Outland, where they can reunite with Kael'thas and achieve the golden destiny he promised them.

Unfortunately, the decisions of Kael'thas to continually accept the aid of the naga and willingness to use fel magic has caused blood elves to be shunned by the Alliance. Thus, the remaining blood elves on Azeroth looked to the Horde to help them reach Outland. Addiction to fel magics and the desperate search for a cure are things the orcs are very familiar with, and many older orcs who've experienced similar addictions feel a kinship with the blood elves. The trolls who have been the ancient enemy of all quel'dorei since antiquity accepted them warily.

The Forsaken have been working closely with the blood elves to purge the greater Plaguelands of Scourge presence since their induction. Lor'themar Theron was Sylvanas Windrunner's second in command during the Second Battle of Quel'Thalas, and many Forsaken were high elves culled from the same battle. The aid provided by the Forsaken has included reinforcements, a number of outposts in and around the reclaimed blood elf territories, and a teleportation device between the Undercity and Silvermoon. next-->>