Where Do Blood Elf Warlocks Stem From? Do They Use Fel Magic?

[Cheapnecrolyte]

Hi. I am curious where blood elf warlocks stem from? And by that, I mean who is partially or ultimately responsible for their existence? Who did they get their practice from? Illidan? It seems to me that Illidan is partially responsible for the blood elves' existence so what differentiates the practices of a blood elf demonologist and a blood elf demon hunter? How do blood elf demonologists perceive demons with clarity? Do they blind themselves to develop spectral sight? Or can they not perceive demons as clearly as demon hunters? Perhaps they're the ones who make demons come into a world with different forms? Can a warlock force a deceitful demon such as an imp or Kil'jaeden to appear as an ancestral spirit or infernal?

Anyways, I'm just curious where blood elf warlocks stem from and if they use fel magic because if warlocks use a magic that was established by canon to gradually transform its wielder into a demon(ic) being and blood elf warlocks ultimately got their practices from Illidan, shouldn't Illidan be part warlock or shouldn't blood elf warlocks have the ability to transform into a demon?

[McFuu]

Hi. I am curious where blood elf warlocks stem from? And by that, I mean who is partially or ultimately responsible for their existence? Who did they get their practice from? Illidan? It seems to me that Illidan is partially responsible for the blood elves' existence so what differentiates the practices of a blood elf demonologist and a blood elf demon hunter? How do blood elf demonologists perceive demons with clarity? Do they blind themselves to develop spectral sight? Or can they not perceive demons as clear as demon hunters? Perhaps they're the ones who make demons come into a world with different forms? Can a warlock force a deceitful demon such as an imp or Kil'jaeden to appear as an ancestral spirit or infernal?

There isn't a really direct link but... A couple of lore points pop into mind and some connecting the dots logic.
Kael'Thas aligned with the Legion, so any Blood Elf of Outland could gain direct access to Warlock training.
Blood Elves are consumed with the need for magics, and make use of demonology to gain access to fel magic.
Blood Elves are extremely adept at anything magical, so seeing Warlocks would allow them to begin accessing that source of magic.
They are allied into the Horde, live near the Forsaken... You see where this is going, they have access and are the most adept magic users on Azeroth.

Illidan isn't really partially responsible for Blood Elves.
The spectral sight Demon Hunters have doesn't give them exclusive rights to seeing Demons.
Kil'Jaeden isn't a demon.
Warlocks summon the demon they want, unless they are dabbling in fel magic they are unfamiliar with, they know how to summon specific demons to bind. They don't summon imps and then turn them into something else.

[Felrane]

Well the Highborn were working with Ashara back before they were banished so it wouldn't be to far of a stretch that some of them were already simi practicing felmagic. Demonic magic most likely was banned just like humans banned it but its not terribly hard to learn for a mage. Its alot easier and more potent then arcane and they did learn about it just you were not supposed to use it.

From archmage antonidas journal.

Oct 8.

As I have said before, I am becoming increasingly disturbed by the dangerously vast potential of certain schools of magic, and the contrasting amount of laws and boundaries that should be set to limit them. Furthermore, comprehensive research on these volatile schools shows a trend of decreasing academic prerequisites yielding increasingly powerful outcomes.

A student of mine asked me today, "Why are there so many limitations on traditional portals, when Fel portals can be made twice as large and last ten times as long?" The student was not yet educated in the abstraction of what is practical versus what is achievable, yet the question held within me a certain duality: What future is there for the established practices of magic when so many wild variations threaten to overshadow them?

I do all I can to stifle studies of Fel magics and necromancy here, yet I find myself both disturbed and enthralled by their potential. I refuse to believe that that their efficiency so soundly trumps the common criticisms of being unstable or "evil" that these schools hold the monopoly of avenues for magical progress. Yet when witnessing the massive infernal for one's self, or seeing acres of land blighted at the wave of an hand, I fear my beliefs may soon shift from gospel to dogma in the minds of my peers.

Oct 16.

My primary focus has shifted to research of the plague that ravages the north. I've canceled most of my classes to focus on research of this terrible anomaly.
With immense precaution I've procured a shipment of the infested grain. Immediately I was both impressed and suspicious with how innocuous the whole package presented itself. There was no discoloration, no discernable odor, and no variation at all from any other sheaf of grain.
At that moment it was no longer a mystery of this plague spread so quickly.

Oct 17.
Further study of the plague has yielded disturbing conclusions, and even more disturbing implications.
Initial testing showed the plague had only minor effects on non-human creatures. Symptoms ranged from fatigue, nausea, fever, to minor hallucinations, but rarely resulted in death. On human tissue, however, the plague acts uniformly and unprecedented expediency towards necrosis.

It would be foolish to think that such an efficient human killer only being found in human rations is a coincidence. While it's certainly possible that these two occurrences are unrelated, I've decided to delegate more resources towards finding the source of this plague, for I fear there are intelligent hands pushing it upon our kin.

More research must be done here at Dalaran, however, I will decide who to investigate in my stead at a later date, after some heavy deliberation.

Oct 18.

I've stumbled upon a key factor of this plague, one so cleverly hidden in its methodology that I've come to two immutable conclusions: That its development was for the singular prupose of ending human life, and its inception was at the hands of an intelligent being.
Long term affliction of the plague causes a certain reanimation of activity in the dead. This activity is very small at first, and I disregarded it as a minor side-effect. However, this energy remained persistent and unwavering. A thought struck me, one which was both surprising and strong: The corpse was waiting for something.

At that moment I did not have any evidence to prove it, but I nonetheless spent time pursuing it. I used my limited knowledge of necromancy and casted simple curses on the corpse. At the time I had no motivation to raise the dead, only to change or distinguish the radiating energy off the corpse. Imagine my surprise when it sprung to life and attacked me.

I did not hesitate to incinerate it to dust, and I now regret doing so. But I was able to prove my unprovoked theory, that the corpse (and by extension the plague that saturates it) was indeed waiting for further commands. It's clear that those who die by this plague are only lying dormant in their graves, awaiting one skillful in necromancy to awaken them.

In short, it is indisputable that the plague is magical in nature.

Oct 20.

I have decided to send my most trusted disciple, Jaina Proudmoore, to investigate the source of the plague. Based on my research, I believe only my skillful disciple will be able to handle the unknown challenges that await such an endeavor. She will take with her a copy of this journal and my other research documents regarding the plague. Indeed I will make it public, for all people need to become aware of this imminent threat.

I only wish I could investigate it myself, but Terenas has proved to be predictably stubborn to my requests. It is paramount that I convince him to quarantine the north. Little else matters at this point in time. Regardless, I have the fullest faith in Jaina's cunning. If she or I cannot put an end to this infestation, I doubt anyone can.

-Antonidas-
<This is marked with the seal of the Council of Six>

[DarthMuffin]

Illidan is in no way responsible for the blood elves' existence and they didn't train as warlocks under him.

There's a lot that can be said about elven lore and I'd recommend reading up a bit on wowpedia if you want to know more. The short and quick version is this:

The High Elves of Quel'Thalas were dependent on the Sunwell as a source of magic. During the events of Warcraft 3, Arthas and the Scourge sacked Quel'Thalas and corrupted the Sunwell. The elves thus lost their source of magic. Their prince Kael'thas renamed his people Blood Elves in honour of the fallen. Around this time some elves started using "darker" magics and some turned to fel as an alternative to their lost Sunwell. That's where blood elf warlocks stem from, they were born out of necessity in a time when the elves needed a renewable source of magic, so to speak.

Kael'thas eventually joined Illidan and took some of his forces to Outland with him. These events are depected in Warcraft 3's expansion. Over the course of the Burning Crusade expansion, we learn that Kael betayed Illidan and joined the Burning Legion instead. It must be stressed that the "main" blood elf faction in Quel'Thalas was not aware of this.

At the end of BC, the Sunwell is reignited and blood elves thus have their source of magic back. Siphoning magic from demons is probably less widely accepted now than it used to be because of this and warlocks are probably treated as outcasts in blood elven society nowadays, like for most races except forsakens.

Again, there's a lot more that can be said about the history of the elves in general and more specifically about the evolution of the blood elves. But that's the gist of it. As for the differences between warlocks and demon hunters, that's still a bit of a subject of debate amongst lore fans. Demon Hunters absorb a demon soul as part of their induction and go through rigorous training, whereas warlocks are in essence simply mages who decided they wanted more power whatever the cost.

[Spiffums]

Back in Vanilla/TBC warlocks were mages who got tired of sucking.....or so the joke when.

[Cheapnecrolyte]

Illidan is in no way responsible for the blood elves' existence and they didn't train as warlocks under him.

There's a lot that can be said about elven lore and I'd recommend reading up a bit on wowpedia if you want to know more. The short and quick version is this:

The High Elves of Quel'Thalas were dependent on the Sunwell as a source of magic. During the events of Warcraft 3, Arthas and the Scourge sacked Quel'Thalas and corrupted the Sunwell. The elves thus lost their source of magic. Their prince Kael'thas renamed his people Blood Elves in honour of the fallen. Around this time some elves started using "darker" magics and some turned to fel as an alternative to their lost Sunwell. That's where blood elf warlocks stem from, they were born out of necessity in a time when the elves needed a renewable source of magic, so to speak.

Kael'thas eventually joined Illidan and took some of his forces to Outland with him. These events are depected in Warcraft 3's expansion. Over the course of the Burning Crusade expansion, we learn that Kael betayed Illidan and joined the Burning Legion instead. It must be stressed that the "main" blood elf faction in Quel'Thalas was not aware of this.

At the end of BC, the Sunwell is reignited and blood elves thus have their source of magic back. Siphoning magic from demons is probably less widely accepted now than it used to be because of this and warlocks are probably treated as outcasts in blood elven society nowadays, like for most races except forsakens.

Again, there's a lot more that can be said about the history of the elves in general and more specifically about the evolution of the blood elves. But that's the gist of it. As for the differences between warlocks and demon hunters, that's still a bit of a subject of debate amongst lore fans. Demon Hunters absorb a demon soul as part of their induction and go through rigorous training, whereas warlocks are in essence simply mages who decided they wanted more power whatever the cost.

So Illidan isn't partially, indirectly, or ultimately responsible for the blood elves and the Sunwell that once fueled them when they were high elves? I thought he created vials of water from the Well of Eternity, one of which was used to create the Sunwell? I'm pretty sure Illidan was partially, indirectly, or ultimately responsible for blood elf warlocks? Aside from being responsible for their Sunwell, he's the one who taught mages how to siphon demonic fel energies. I'm just curious why blood elf warlocks don't ritually sacrifice their eyes to see their demons with clarity or transform into demons over time when they did get (or might have gotten) their art ultimately from Illidan. Why are they cheap blood mages?

[Calfredd]

So Illidan isn't partially, indirectly, or ultimately responsible for the blood elves and the Sunwell that once fueled them when they were high elves? I thought he created vials of water from the Well of Eternity, one of which was used to create the Sunwell?

Illidan wasn't the only one who secretly bottled water from the Well of Eternity. Dath'Remar had his own vial and created the Sunwell.

[Dhrizzle]

I thought it was Illidan who showed the Blood Elves how to use fel magic to sate their craving for arcane energy which would be a first step on the way to warlockery, though I guess some HElf mages could have turned to fel before the fall of Quel'thalas.

[Isaelyn]

Something to consider is that Arcane and Fel are opposing end of the same spectrum of magic, one end being stable and reliable(most of the time) but terribly inefficient (arcane) the other end being incredibly potent but chaotic and unstable (fel). It should also be noted, that Arcane practices and Fel practices are BOTH categorized under the moniker of arcane magic at times. It stands to reason that any mage is capable of drawing on the more reliable end is easily capable of drawing on the other of their own volition, with the caveat that they might not actually be able to control the amount of power they draw on. Given that we've seen channeling too much arcane at once can drive a person mad, the effects of fel on someone not ready for it would be catastrophic both mentally and physically which makes sense in relation to demon hunters specifically who steal their power rather than slowly acclimating to it like warlocks do.

According to a few of the letters new characters used to receive directing them to their class trainers (for humans at least) we also discern that arcane and fel magic share many of the same side effects, both are addictive, both are are corrupting influences for the weak willed, and as we can see in game while fel is more likely to change the surrounding landscape arcane is every bit as capable, but it's stability makes it less likely to. The warlock class letter specifically also implied that the church of the light didn't really differentiate between mages and warlocks all that much.

On the note of warlocks in general, it can probably be assumed that most non legion warlocks only draw on fel for a few spells. Fel, afterall, manifests itself as emerald flame and with the exception of channel demonfire and chaos bolt traditional warlock fire spells are uncorrupted, implying they're elemental flame rather than hellfire. The reason for this stems back to fel being maddening for the weak willed, which is why very few "hero" characters are capable of using it for extended periods of time.

To blood elf warlocks specifically, we note that blood elves can be mages and that they're quite talented as mages, vain, and long lived. Archmage Antonidas states in his journal that there is only so far one can progress in the study of the arcane without beginning to dabble in the fel. For a blood elf (Or, more aptly a high elf) this point is likely going to be reached very early in life and so the temptation is going to eat away with their own magic use. Mages are already trained in the schools of evocation and conjuration, so choosing to summon demons becomes easy, and from there one can easily begin to learn the secrets of warlock magic from that particular source if there are no others available. It can probably be assumed that every mage knows how to summon demons if they need to, in order to bargain for hard to get items or gather information, and they simply choose not to outside of desperate circumstances. For any mage becoming a warlock simply comes down to a matter of choice, how to apply the magic they already know and how to approach magics their peers consider taboo. For those already on the fence about it, the sudden shift to feeding on fel magic to sate their addiction could have been just enough to push them over the edge. ( though iirc lor'themar's story implies that MOST of the populace didn't know what they were feeding on. I imagine those already familiar with more advanced magics might have had an idea. )

[Kirroth]

For any mage becoming a warlock simply comes down to a matter of choice, how to apply the magic they already know and how to approach magics their peers consider taboo.

That's pretty much my impression. The two classes use the same tools, it's simply a question of what materials they apply their tools to. Regarding addiction, my head cannon from the Chronicles lorebooks is that every type of magical energy can induce mental shifts or even physical changes, especially when used carelessly in large quantities. It's just that each of them has a different flavor of effect.

Arcane is the magic of order and creation, so practitioners are vulnerable to bouts of megalomania and an urge to reshape the universe to their own design. Necromancy is the magic of death, and you just have to look at forsaken or Death Knights to see how that changes your personality. Fel is the magic of disorder and destruction, so careless Warlocks succumb to the need to bring ruin to everyone and everything around them (often joining the Burning Legion to do so). Void turns people into nihilistic doomsday cultists. The Light purifies people into nauseatingly selfless holy champions with a tendency towards forcibly purging darkness. Life is a bit tricky, but a couple examples of it going rampant would be the worgen curse and the Nightmare's cancerous growth.

The lines between warlock, mage, and necromancer are blurry and there's often a good bit of overlap. It's really mostly a question of specialization, since at the upper levels it seems to get increasingly difficult to juggle the multiple conflicting energy types at once.