Azshara was the queen of the kaldorei (The night elves, or kaldorei, meaning "Children of the Stars" in their native tongue of Darnassian, have a long and fascinating history.) thousands of years before the First War (The First War between orcs and humans was fought following the arrival on Azeroth of the orcish clans of Draenor.). Entrancingly beautiful and beloved by her people, Azshara began a descent into madness when she was corrupted by the Dark Titan Sargeras (Sargeras the Destroyer, the Fallen Titan, is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion.), master of the Burning Legion (The Burning Legion (aka demon hordeDotD 161) is a massive army of demons, infernals, and corrupted races who seek to destroy any trace of order in the Universe.). After her defeat at the hands of Malfurion Stormrage (Malfurion Stormrage is the greatest Archdruid ever to live, and arguably one of the most powerful beings in Azeroth.) and the Great Sundering that sent her and much of her Highborne (Highborne elves (aka Highborn elves) were the upper classes of the Kaldorei civilization and were the favoured servitors of Queen Azshara whom she called the quel'dorei ("High Elves"LoC 113 or "Highborne).) into the depths of the sea, Azshara was transformed into the Empress of Nazjatar - progenitor of the serpentine naga (The naga are former Highborne night elves who mutated into vengeful humanoid sea serpents.).
BiographyAzshara was widely considered the most beautiful of night elves and swiftly became the most beloved monarch in night elf history; such was the people's love that the capital was renamed "Glory of Azshara" (Darnassian: Zin-Azshari (Zin-Azshari ("Glory of Azshara" in Darnassian, and sometimes known as just "Azshara"A&HC 72) was a lavish capital of the Night Elves 10,000 years ago, named for their beloved Queen, Azshara, built on the banks of the Well of Eternity.)). Azshara was adored by all Night Elves but she reserved her love only for her Highborne, the corrupt Night Elf noble elite, who were hated among the jealous masses, for amongst the Highborne were some of the most powerful practitioners of magic.
The Well of Eternity (The glowing, swirling pool known as the Well of Eternity was once a sizable lake.) had always been the central part of the night elves' life and culture, its magical forces emanating throughout and influencing all life, but the obsessive Highborne, spurred on by Azshara, began to delve into the magics of the well more deeply, too deeply.
One day the queen was approached by her most trusted advisor, Counselor Xavius (Lord Xavius was a powerful user of magic, and the high councilor to Queen Azshara.), who approached her with an idea of using the power of the Well of Eternity (The glowing, swirling pool known as the Well of Eternity was once a sizable lake.) to cleanse the world, and make it perfect in her eyes. Their meddling with immense magic, however, drew the eye of an interested observer: Sargeras (Sargeras the Destroyer, the Fallen Titan, is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion.). Seeking to unleash his Burning Crusade upon Azeroth, the Dark Titan entranced Xavius, pulling him under his power, following quickly with most of the Highborne and eventually Azshara herself. Xavius helped the queen communicate with Sargeras, whom she told of her desire to cleanse the world of the lesser races. Sargeras tricked the queen into making a portal from which he launched the first invasion of Azeroth (The following is a list of links to pages that might share the same title.) by the Burning Legion, an event which is now come to be known as the War of the Ancients (The following is a list of links to pages that might share the same title.).
They decimated the city and eventually most of Kalimdor (In the World of Warcraft on the world of Azeroth, there are three main continents.) except the Highborne. Thousands of night elves were slaughtered as the dark Highborne stood safely atop their walls and Azshara laughed at the deaths of her kind. "Azshara help us!" "For Azshara!" "Run Azshara!" were among the few battle roars emanating from the chaos, but Azshara just laughed.
Eventually a resistance was formed but Azshara took no attention to this. Sargeras simply set three demons out to do his bidding: Archimonde the Defiler (Archimonde the Defiler was the left hand of the fallen titan, Sargeras.), Mannoroth the Destructor (Mannoroth the Destructor was a Pit Lord whose ruthlessness and vile cunning made him into one of the favoured lieutenants of his masters, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, the champions of the Burning Legion.), and Hakkar the Houndmaster (One of the primary lieutenants of the Burning Legion during the time of the War of the Ancients, Hakkar the Houndmaster was the first member of the Legion to set foot upon Azeroth.). All three commanded and watched over the Legion and would have prevailed had it not been for the efforts of three night elves: Malfurion Stormrage (Malfurion Stormrage is the greatest Archdruid ever to live, and arguably one of the most powerful beings in Azeroth.) the druid, Illidan Stormrage (High Warlord Naj'entusSupremusShade of AkamaTeron GorefiendGurtogg BloodboilReliquary of SoulsMother ShahrazIllidari CouncilIllidan Stormrage
Illidan Stormrage, known as The Betrayer, is currently the self-proclaimed Lord of Outland, ruling from the Black Temple.) the sorcerer (twin to Malfurion), and Tyrande Whisperwind (Tyrande Whisperwind (pronounced Ti-Ran-da) is the high priestess of Elune, Mother Superior of the Sisters of Elune and the official head of the night elf government.) the priestess (beloved of both brothers).
When the portal to the other realm was almost open, the combined force of the Night Elves and their allies from the future (see War of the Ancients (The following is a list of links to pages that might share the same title.)) charged in to destroy it. Irritated by the lack of order, Azshara approached Mannoroth (Mannoroth the Destructor was a Pit Lord whose ruthlessness and vile cunning made him into one of the favoured lieutenants of his masters, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, the champions of the Burning Legion.) and demanded an explanation. Enraged by both his own failure and the questions asked by the Queen, he wanted to rip her head off, but quickly saw the error of his ways when he realized that Azshara kept inside her a power to which only Sargeras (Sargeras the Destroyer, the Fallen Titan, is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion.), Kil'jaeden (Kalecgos BrutallusFelmystEredar TwinsM'uruKil'jaeden
Kil'jaeden the Deceiver is a powerful eredar demon lord and is the acting leader of the Burning Legion.) and Archimonde (Archimonde the Defiler was the left hand of the fallen titan, Sargeras.) would prove superior. Azshara forgave him that mistake and urged him on to allow Sargeras (Sargeras the Destroyer, the Fallen Titan, is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion.) entrance to Kalimdor.
Not much later, the portal was destroyed and. |
