[Spoilers] Night elves new capital

[Rhlor]

it was the most obvious place

[Rhlor]

sounds like nordrassil. nice, i'm into it.

night elves like trees that's a big tree

[Manariel]

I just hope they'll drive the non-Kaldorei away from Hyjal and its slopes then. Not much point making the mountain their home again if Taurens, Darkspears and the likes are allowed in Moonglade and Hyjal proper. It'll already by a hard place to defend the next time the Horde will come from them, since Ashenvale is probably still disputed, Felwood is Felwood, Wintergrasp is mostly uninhabited and Darkshore a ruined and blighted mess.

[Soon-TM]

It would be odd for Tyrande and Malfie Boi to choose Nordrassil as a new capital. I was under the impression that Hyjal was a place of worship for nelfs, with the druidic Moonglade and Barrow Dens at ear's distance. Thematically, Dire Maul/Eldre'thalas would have been much more fitting imo.

[BB8]

I just hope they'll drive the non-Kaldorei away from Hyjal and its slopes then. Not much point making the mountain their home again if Taurens, Darkspears and the likes are allowed in Moonglade and Hyjal proper. It'll already by a hard place to defend the next time the Horde will come from them, since Ashenvale is probably still disputed, Felwood is Felwood, Wintergrasp is mostly uninhabited and Darkshore a ruined and blighted mess.

I would like to see that too, but this expansion they work "together".
Wondering if Tyrande allows them to be there.

[Dalheim]

Can we bring back Ragnaros so he can torch Hyjal with the remaining night elves there? Inlcuding Malfurion and Tyrande.

[ArmatisUlv]

It would be odd for Tyrande and Malfie Boi to choose Nordrassil as a new capital. I was under the impression that Hyjal was a place of worship for nelfs, with the druidic Moonglade and Barrow Dens at ear's distance. Thematically, Dire Maul/Eldre'thalas would have been much more fitting imo.

Seriously would've been a better choice, considering they wanna wage war on the Horde. Why not set it up in their own backyard so to speak.

[Nathasil]

So that means they are going to update the miserable single Inn where Ysera still parks her ass in 2 or 3 expansions?

That sounds awesome! Boy, i can't wait!!

---

I really should just stop to read any lore in this game. BFA has killed the last traces that remained freom WC3...not that WC3 was stellar, but it was appropriately good. Especially the base game, TFT suffered a lot from the same issues the current "lore" has with non-existant power-levels and characters that believe in absolutely nothing.

Fact is: Anduin did not help the Night Elves at ANY point in BFA. Never. A core race of his "Alliance" suffers genocide and instead of helping them he choses to lead an assault against Zandalar for NOTHING.

I would really ask all of you to think about BoD for a moment. Anduin's plan there was to sail in and detonate the bombs that had been laying there for MONTHS - whcih means the Zandalari fleet, which was responsible for the Horde even being able to attack Kul'Tiras in the first place - could have been sank much, much sooner. But why do so, when you can watch the Horde pinning parents to the walls in Brennadam, am i right?

But who cares about a few thousand dead humans who could have easily been saved! They were fat anyway, right?

So after your brain somehow comes around to accept this miserable start of the entire "thing"....you notice that all what the Alliance had planned after detonating the bombs was to march up to the King's throne - killing as few Zandalari as possible - and politely ask him to surrender.

THAT was the plan. Now, if you are more than 3 years old you would probably ask now "And what is the plan if the King does not surrender?". Yeah. That's a freakingly good question right there! And Master Anduin would answer you with "We have to place our hopes in the light that Rastakhan will not force our hands!". Which sounds like an AWESOME Plan right there. Especially if "forcing our hands" means that after you kill him...you simply run away.

BoD was the most stupid "battle" ever in Warcraft. I mean it. Everything about it was stupid. It was completely forced for the sake of advancing the Horde story. There was ZERO Alliance agenda in any of this. Z-E-R-O. And the Alliance is supposed to have gone out of their way to get this?!

And now, put it back into context. Anduin chose to persue this miserable shitshow of NOTHING-as-a-Plan over helping the Night Elves.

The rest of the Alliance did so, too. Genn only helped for personal reasons, not because of Alliance BS.

Having Anduin even mention the word "Alliance" is a spit in the face at this point. In fact, having anybody at Blizzard mentioning the "Alliance" is.

This franchise is doomed.

[Ielenia]

Sure, yeah, after our one tree was -torched- let's move into another that's not the dumbest thing ever.

It's not, really.

That's like saying "our stone walls were destroyed by artillery fire. Rebuilding the wall is the dumbest thing ever."

[Niter]

- snip -

I agree with what you said.

What seems to be funny is the way Blizzard cannot be consistent with the lore... or logic for the matter.

We should not forget that, according to WC3, the Night Elves did not really have 'a capital' per se. Even the RPG books, which were not cannon, had Nighthaven, Astranar and Auberdine, if I'm not mistaken, mentioned as their largest cities, but they had their presence all over northern Kalimdor. Being ambushed there not once, not twice, but three times (WC3, Cataclysm and then BfA) seems stupid. How could the Horde send 'elite Rogues' to take over entire settlements on their own? What about fielding entire armies all over Ashenvale? It is a big, massive, dense forest, according to lore, not what we have seen in-game. And, to make things even more puzzling, how come the 'Night Elven army' would be driven away? They spent thousands of years protecting their lands, and having the Ancients on their side, only to fall miserably as a plot device. It is appalling to say the least. The lore is so ridiculously mistreated that, let's not forget, the Horde, lore-wise, did not keep a strong presence in Ashenvale... as a matter of fact, all they had was Azshara. Stonetalon, Ashenvale, Darkshore, were pretty much all Kaldorei zones lore-wise post Cataclysm.

Teldrassil was a bad decision, not based on lore, but a decision made to keep the NE starting zone away from the main land, especially since it was so far away from other Alliance zones. Teldrassil falling shouldn't be that big of a deal for the Kaldorei in the end, as they had never had a proper capital until Teldrassil, and leaving the northern Kalimdor mainland behind should have been rejected by most. Most Kaldorei are thousands of years old... and Teldrassil has existed for about 30 years. Night Elves aren't and shouldn't be like Humans that adapt and change so quickly, especially when that isn't necessary to begin with.

Now, going back to Hyjal sort of makes sense, and it's likely the best position for a race on the backfoot to be, as getting to them is literally an uphill battle. What is funny about it is that, once more, most Kaldorei should probably consider Ashenvale, Stonetalon Peak, Nighthaven and Darkshore locations their ancestral homes, and leaving all that to focus on Hyjal might not make much sense.

Whatever happens, pretty much everything related to the Night Elves post Warcraft 3 is pretty much awful storytelling, and most of what made them one of the freshest races in Warcraft has been lost since.

We surely care more about the Kaldorei than Blizzard's writers and game developers. We should not expect that to get any better. We will be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

[CaptainV]

So that means they are going to update the miserable single Inn where Ysera still parks her ass in 2 or 3 expansions?

That sounds awesome! Boy, i can't wait!!

---

I really should just stop to read any lore in this game. BFA has killed the last traces that remained freom WC3...not that WC3 was stellar, but it was appropriately good. Especially the base game, TFT suffered a lot from the same issues the current "lore" has with non-existant power-levels and characters that believe in absolutely nothing.

Fact is: Anduin did not help the Night Elves at ANY point in BFA. Never. A core race of his "Alliance" suffers genocide and instead of helping them he choses to lead an assault against Zandalar for NOTHING.

I would really ask all of you to think about BoD for a moment. Anduin's plan there was to sail in and detonate the bombs that had been laying there for MONTHS - whcih means the Zandalari fleet, which was responsible for the Horde even being able to attack Kul'Tiras in the first place - could have been sank much, much sooner. But why do so, when you can watch the Horde pinning parents to the walls in Brennadam, am i right?

But who cares about a few thousand dead humans who could have easily been saved! They were fat anyway, right?

So after your brain somehow comes around to accept this miserable start of the entire "thing"....you notice that all what the Alliance had planned after detonating the bombs was to march up to the King's throne - killing as few Zandalari as possible - and politely ask him to surrender.

THAT was the plan. Now, if you are more than 3 years old you would probably ask now "And what is the plan if the King does not surrender?". Yeah. That's a freakingly good question right there! And Master Anduin would answer you with "We have to place our hopes in the light that Rastakhan will not force our hands!". Which sounds like an AWESOME Plan right there. Especially if "forcing our hands" means that after you kill him...you simply run away.

BoD was the most stupid "battle" ever in Warcraft. I mean it. Everything about it was stupid. It was completely forced for the sake of advancing the Horde story. There was ZERO Alliance agenda in any of this. Z-E-R-O. And the Alliance is supposed to have gone out of their way to get this?!

And now, put it back into context. Anduin chose to persue this miserable shitshow of NOTHING-as-a-Plan over helping the Night Elves.

The rest of the Alliance did so, too. Genn only helped for personal reasons, not because of Alliance BS.

Having Anduin even mention the word "Alliance" is a spit in the face at this point. In fact, having anybody at Blizzard mentioning the "Alliance" is.

This franchise is doomed.

Anduin tried to help Tyrande but she refused to work with him and Anduin is not his father, not defending his actions here but there is a reason he is the "boy" king, hes a flawed character.

Anduin's naieve sense of moral justice is going to cost people their lives, and thats literally the point, Anduin's innocent, too innocent, and a poor leader because he cant understand what it takes to have a firm hand.

Hes getting better at it, but by then it maybe too late. As for Tyrande, she did not help herself by choosing to ignore his wishes even if they were in every justified right for her, unreasonable.

Anduin is trying to maintain reasonable decorum so as not to create an endless cycle of hatred, while Tyrande represents the savagery of the night elves rekindled, it was inavoidable there'd be tension between them, shes older and wiser and has seen far more in her lifetime.

Battle of Dazar'Alor actually did make sense despite your pretext for one reason alone. Anduin wanted the Kul'tiran fleet to secure the sea, giving the Alliance a huge military advantage and complete and UTTER dominion of the ocean. By destroying the Zandalari fleet, the Kul'tiran fleet in turn remains the absoleute dominant force of the sea giving the Alliance unchecked superiour naval power, which may very well be a danger to the Horde one day.

As for attacking the city itself, making sure as many Zandalari who at this point were joining the Horde died, was a critical strategy to reducing the Horde's numbers after the Alliance lost so many troops at Teldrassil and Undercity. The Kul'tiran people may have had amassive fleet, but not a massive army, the Zandalari had just been ravaged by a civil war, like the KT, but theirs was more difficult and took heavier losses, this was ideal for the Alliance to exploit to their gain.

Also, months of planning was required because in any military operation that requires pre-planned objectives to succeed, the Alliance *had* to set up the Zandalari fleet to be destroyed while the Zandalari, were on it, killing thousands of trolls otherwise the ships woulda been lost but not the trolls on them.

It was a major mili8tary success, so on that front, im defending it.

The/alliance/horde perspective is skewed regarding how Rastakhan died but I believe it to be somewhere in the middle, passions were spoken, most likely by Genn, but Jaina gave him a fair chance to surrender, Rastakhan knowing he was bonded to Bwonsamdi the loa of death had promised the loa a bounty of death to save his daughter, so this was his only option.

Finally, you have his death, and also the failed attempt to capture Jaina. This was pivotal for the Horde because she was a powerful Alliance leader and her failed capture meant the Alliance completed its vengance against Teldrassil, the Horde won *Nothing* in the battle for Dazar'alor and it cost them, everything.

The attack on Darkshore was different, reckless and dangerous. Tyrande attacked a position recently conquered by the Horde and fortified to retake what amounts to a ruined land for the sake of vengance. It was basically the most reckless attack in the history of Warcraft.

Her enemy had plague, poison and worse in droves, and many of her kin died, Sira was raised and Delaryn too, in the end her bond to become a night warrior ended in misery, a false hope.

That being said I do admit that wa sa major letdown, Tyrande being a night warrior should have had more major consequences, like making it impossible to revive undead, killing a Val'kyr was admittingly a win for Tyrande but only a very minor one in the grand scheme of things.

Sylvanas biggest problem in BFA was no consequences for her actions, for every person she hurts the punishment is... a scar on her face so small and insignificant it barley damaged her?

Sylvanas is badass, sure, but not THAT badass, and Saurfang is THE most powerful warrior in the setting, comming from the same line of warriors who LITERALLY maimed the dark titan himself.

So... it does admittingly ire me that Sylvanas has not yet suffered a MAJOR consequence for her actions, and I do hope in Shadowlands she gets some agonisingly painful suffering for her deeds. Alas, she wears even more plot armor than Anduin so I doubt it somehow, I suspect at most we beat her up and then she reveals she was a hero all along.

[Manariel]

So that means they are going to update the miserable single Inn where Ysera still parks her ass in 2 or 3 expansions?

That sounds awesome! Boy, i can't wait!!

---

I really should just stop to read any lore in this game. BFA has killed the last traces that remained freom WC3...not that WC3 was stellar, but it was appropriately good. Especially the base game, TFT suffered a lot from the same issues the current "lore" has with non-existant power-levels and characters that believe in absolutely nothing.

Fact is: Anduin did not help the Night Elves at ANY point in BFA. Never. A core race of his "Alliance" suffers genocide and instead of helping them he choses to lead an assault against Zandalar for NOTHING.

I would really ask all of you to think about BoD for a moment. Anduin's plan there was to sail in and detonate the bombs that had been laying there for MONTHS - whcih means the Zandalari fleet, which was responsible for the Horde even being able to attack Kul'Tiras in the first place - could have been sank much, much sooner. But why do so, when you can watch the Horde pinning parents to the walls in Brennadam, am i right?

But who cares about a few thousand dead humans who could have easily been saved! They were fat anyway, right?

So after your brain somehow comes around to accept this miserable start of the entire "thing"....you notice that all what the Alliance had planned after detonating the bombs was to march up to the King's throne - killing as few Zandalari as possible - and politely ask him to surrender.

THAT was the plan. Now, if you are more than 3 years old you would probably ask now "And what is the plan if the King does not surrender?". Yeah. That's a freakingly good question right there! And Master Anduin would answer you with "We have to place our hopes in the light that Rastakhan will not force our hands!". Which sounds like an AWESOME Plan right there. Especially if "forcing our hands" means that after you kill him...you simply run away.

BoD was the most stupid "battle" ever in Warcraft. I mean it. Everything about it was stupid. It was completely forced for the sake of advancing the Horde story. There was ZERO Alliance agenda in any of this. Z-E-R-O. And the Alliance is supposed to have gone out of their way to get this?!

And now, put it back into context. Anduin chose to persue this miserable shitshow of NOTHING-as-a-Plan over helping the Night Elves.

The rest of the Alliance did so, too. Genn only helped for personal reasons, not because of Alliance BS.

Having Anduin even mention the word "Alliance" is a spit in the face at this point. In fact, having anybody at Blizzard mentioning the "Alliance" is.

This franchise is doomed.

Quoted for truth.

[Hellspawn]

Night Elfs will not move on top of Nodrassil, the tree is not big enough for that but around it. I think its a good idea to move night elfs there it fits their theme best
Hyjal is the highest point on Kalimdor and they are surrounded by their nature allies, wild gods, stone giants and Dryards.

Lorewise night elfs always would withdraw to Teldrassil in times of great dangers. Since dark trolls are already gone they just need to get rid of the non-night elf druids there. But my guess would be that night heaven stays neutral.

Anduin tried to help Tyrande but she refused to work with him and Anduin is not his father, not defending his actions here but there is a reason he is the "boy" king, hes a flawed character.

He refused to use his troops to support the night elfs to get Darkshore back. In-world attacking Dazar'Alor made sense, but realistically trying to capture their King with an Invasion army was really stupid. They should have just blown up the fleet. In the end the night elf should just suck it up non of the Horde leader showed any empathy either.

[Odinfrost]

Night Elfs will not move on top of Nodrassil, the tree is not big enough for that but around it.

Sure, the in-game tree isn't the proper size, but Nordrassil is HUUUUUUUUGE. In the WC3 cinematic you can see the new roots sprout after Archimonde goes boom, and these newly growing roots are larger than the trees surrounding Nordrassil. If they wanted to, they could most definetely use it the same way they used Teldrassil

[Mace]

https://i.imgur.com/cQ0gtdo.png
it was the most obvious place

While that is not proof of a capital will be there, my strongest instinct tells me if blizzard were going to work on a capital for night elves, it would be Hyjal - Well of Eternity and Nordrassil are the arcane-nature duality power central to the race and they are both there.

If they don't build one it's going to be Suramar whether they share with Nightborne or kick them out - it's the most practical choice and far easier to change lore than design yet another capital.

Eldre'thalas is a 3rd choice option, but it's old design and at this point using it you might as well rebuild it from scratch and Hyjal makes a better local, more sense and is a nice location. But it is a viable option, either as primary capital or 2nd NElf city

My future Prediction of Night Elves with Hyjal Capital
Hyjal restored, before the buildings come up. THis image is of PIan di Cultura. Just imagine Nordrassil at the top of the path, with the Well of eternity beneath it, and the night elves build a beautiful new capital on the grass land open areas along the route down.




The night elves are alliance only in name, they help EK group with nothing, and don't ask for any help - they are focused on rebuilding (Highborne focus on civilization and progress, Druids on restoring nature and balance/harmony, Priests still govern making sure everything holds together and the NElves don't go off course. However they all watch global affairs closely, making sure they are never caught off guard and are prepared.

I also predict Shadowlands will restore the WoT slaughtered Night Elves and it would be very welcome if the Farondis also get that miracle too

A better, brighter and bigger Future For Night Elves
Night elves, are now crazy about regrowth (druids) and Development (Highborne led) - they harness their power fully, to protect their lands from ever being at the mercy of other races and to make sure they're race and civilization recover into a power house. It is not a drive for an empire, but rather that the places they call home will be restored and secure.

Amongst the night elves, the druids seek to regrow all the forests lost and heal lands, the Highborne lead efforts focused on restoring the ruins and as much of kaldorei civilization as possible. Highborne do not have the respect they took for granted in the pre-sundering era, so they are very focused on trying to prove they are the high calling they were once believed as. They engage with the rest of the world, and are known for having high standards almost as if "we'll teach you how to live the right way" They do this from their centre in Eldre'thalas - they rule western and northern Feralas spilling into much of desolace, but unlike Hyjal, they're far more engaged with the world, trade etc, and serve as the defacto night elf civilization on Kalimdor - while Hyjal is full of researchers, and is more considered a sacred capital - the Highborne study and utilise the Well, the druids the nature and the emerald dream through the tree, and a new Cathedral to Elune and primary HQ of the Order of Elune is built there. The Cathedral of Eternal night is the broken isle chapter, Nightborne and Val'Sharah priests that moved south operate it there - Elunites do pilgrimage to Hyjal, though it is mostly night elven. However CoEN has Nightborne, Fangfire worgen, Void elf races involved.

This effectively makes the NElves two major operations, but the greater focus is on the Hyjal faction. This is what the game will focus on when dealing g with night elves mainly, Highborne will be background

Highborne Alternative
A recent proposal caught my eye - Blizzard swing the Highborne over to Suramar that opens itself up as a neutral sanctuary city due to political developments.

In this scenario, the Nightborne are still horde but the city is open to Night elves too, and alliance Highborne migrate their - together they start a kaldorei civilization rebuild initiative - most Highborne development continues via the broken isles alongside the Nightborne, think of it as a Dalaran, but horde centric instead.

Blizzard here choose to develop future Highborne stuff in conjunction with the Nightborne, leaving Kalimdor more right elf wc3 group , heavier priest/druid focus and minute highborne presence.

How the Various Night Elven Races/Groups look in 10.0
A new night elf grand Holy capital is on Mount Hyjal. It's the best location if you're going to build fully for the night elvs - but if you're not, it's the broken isles. Hyjal has the Well of Eternity, the Tree, the wild gods. Build a great city, and a temple, and there is lots of forest for miles around - it can serve as the central hub for the kaldorei moving forward.

•Highborne will have their all capital in Eldre'thalas [Alliance] Or shifted to Suramar
•Nightborne in Suramar [Horde]
•Nazdorei (future allied race based on naga/night elf in New Zin'Azshari - Nazjatar [TBD - but likely alliance, could be both]
•Fangfire Worgen (new Worgen NElf allied race) - Shal'anir Val'Sharah [Alliance]

•Darnassian Capital - Hyjal

Hyjal capital would actually involve druid culture too amongst priest and Highborne. Yes Highborne will have a huge presence due to the well, druids because of the wild gods and trees, and Priests will have a temple built. And no, no tree city, Nordrassil and the surrounding forest is the tree portion, architecture is pre-sundering but full of nature and life as all aspects meet.

The capital on Hyjal, New Elundis, is not your typical city, sure, trade happens etc, but access is mostly through portal and with permission. There are very strict rules of behaviour and contect, and many no-go areas for visitors. The well of Eternity sacred to the night elves is there and is the frontier of arcane research and development, while the nature wild gods so revered by the night elven druids also reside there as a land deeply connected with nature. the restord forests are huge wild lands, but you can often see wild gods visiting the city, and the massive tree in the centre hosts many unique life forms as a gateway between the dream and the present.

Deep Dive

they've probably gone a lot further in the healing/cleansing of the forest arena, the Druids have learnt to tap the power of the Emerald dream into the world in ways unknown previously (this follow Malfurion's gains in Stormrage book), the night elves are now using their powers fully - both well of Eternity and the Emerald dream world tree.

They are very determined to be strong enough to defend their lands (priest), guard nature (druids) and be the leaders of civilization and progress i.e. show the world how it's done (Highborne).

They consider themselves the only ones truly responsible enough with this power - having witnessed the other races often abuse power, and realising they (after Azshara's reign) have really proved themselves not only capable but the best at managing and the best equipped to do so. They highlight their society as being the most balanced and capable of dealing with and utilising power effectively.

it's not all talk. While they remain mostly reclusive and autonomous to the rest of the races, they work with wild gods, the blue flight (highborne) and greenflight too. The druids (incl tauren, trolls, worgen ones) are very much involved in Hyjal though it's the night elf capital. they tap the power of the dream to heal the forests. The cenarion circle isn't dissolved because the Night elves made their capital in Hyjal, it continues its work on and in the great tree and surrounding forests, druids intermingle with the night elves in their city, though they mostly stay out in the woods.

It's not the the priesthood don't trust the Highborne, they consider it their duty that Kaldorei civilization would never go off kilter again, so they watch and monitor - but the way they do this mainly is buy maintaining the moral rectitude, and discipline of the people, the thing is , the highborne badly want their reputation and revere restored. Farondis restoration boosted this a long way, but the pride of the Highborne is what forces them to be even more diligent, they don't want the people to ever think they'd repeat the past and that they can be fully trusted, they are also driven by proving to the people the Night elves do things best, and they are most capable.

As such they quickly ascend to handle progress, development, diplomacy affairs, and while the priests deal with internal affairs and leadership buck stops with the High Priestess, the highborne are the international face of the Night elves handling most of the interactions with other races, although a priest usually accompanies (not because of trust issues, but their position of leadership).

Although they operate in very different locations and spheres. Prince Farondis, Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage are the 3 main leaders the Kaldorei honour the most and look to and are the 3 most trusted. Farondis has respect from everyone, and is the main reason the Highborne are trusted by everyone a lot more than previously His contribution is obvious - as Tyrande isn't actually that concerned about night elf progress and development - but more spirituality and military defense, while Malfurion is still far more concerned about nature, and the harmony of the race.

Highborne in Broken Isle Alternative
In the Highborne mostly go to Suramar alternative - Prince Farondis is instead involved with Suramar and broken isle affairs, considered alliance friendly because he is night elven, he is actually neutral. New night elf isolationist leanings make for stronger broken isle ties, but they are still separate. Broken isle people engage more with others and it is those islander night elves that are friendly with Highmoutnain (they've been living close to and peacefully for 10k years - it's not going to change cos HM went horde) and Nightborne their kin in their mutual city now opened up they helped wrest from the Legion doing a lot more than Tyrande's group - Nightborne have no reason to reject or alienate these night elves even if they're on the horde and these ones are not : Suramar and the Nightborne while in the horde are not super horde loyalists that ignore everyone else - that's why it considers its city neutral for elves even though it's leadership aligned with horde

But blizzard here tie Highborne and Nightborne together and use the isle to develop a more civilization focused night elf/Nightborne world.

If they want to take it a step further, they could make NElf highborne like the Illidari, a neutral group that you can role play as a night elf mage, you helping the kaldorei/shal'dorei efforts as your main focus rather than the Hyjal efforts. You can choose to ide tidy with both just like DH and DK Nelf characters can as their faction is not loyal to the Darnassians.

This allows player Highborne lovers to sort of have what they've always wanted i.e. kaldorei civilization proper without feeling like they're being traitor or joining the horde. Their initiative with the Nightborne becomes focused on developing the fallen Elven night civilization. It also allows some complexity and nuance to elven affairs which is acceptable imo.

[Hellspawn]

Sure, the in-game tree isn't the proper size, but Nordrassil is HUUUUUUUUGE. In the WC3 cinematic you can see the new roots sprout after Archimonde goes boom, and these newly growing roots are larger than the trees surrounding Nordrassil. If they wanted to, they could most definetely use it the same way they used Teldrassil

I highly doubt that, the notion to live on the world tree seems kind of stupid to me and the Druids in Val'shara did not do it either. Also its a technical problem since they would need to extend the size of the tree to half of Hyjal. Also before WoW they did not live on Nodrassil either.... and in the end, no one wants a giant stump again.

[ravenmoon]

While that is not proof of a capital will be there, my strongest instinct tells me if blizzard were going to work on a capital for night elves, it would be Hyjal - Well of Eternity and Nordrassil are the arcane-nature duality power central to the race and they are both there.

If they don't build one it's going to be Suramar whether they share with Nightborne or kick them out - it's the most practical choice and far easier to change lore than design yet another capital.

Eldre'thalas is a 3rd choice option, but it's old design and at this point using it you might as well rebuild it from scratch and Hujal makes a better local, more sense and is a nice location.

My future Prediction of Night Elves with Hyjal Capital
The night elves are alliance only in name, they help EK group with nothing, and don't ask for any help - they are focused on rebuilding (Highborne focus on civilization and progress, Druids on restoring nature and balance/harmony, Priests still govern making sure everything holds together and the NElves don't go off course. However they all watch global affairs closely, making sure they are never caught off guard and are prepared.

I also predict Shadowlands will restore the WoT slaughtered Night Elves and it would be very welcome if the Farondis also get that miracle too

A better, brighter and bigger Future For Night Elves
Night elves, are now crazy about regrowth (druids) and Development (Highborne led) - they harness their power fully, to protect their lands from ever being at the mercy of other races and to make sure they're race and civilization recover into a power house. It is not a drive for an empire, but rather that the places they call home will be restored and secure.

Amongst the night elves, the druids seek to regrow all the forests lost and heal lands, the Highborne lead efforts focused on restoring the ruins and as much of kaldorei civilization as possible. Highborne do not have the respect they took for granted in the pre-sundering era, so they are very focused on trying to prove they are the high calling they were once believed as. They engage with the rest of the world, and are known for having high standards almost as if "we'll teach you how to live the right way" They do this from their centre in Eldre'thalas - they rule western and northern Feralas spilling into much of desolace, but unlike Hyjal, they're far more engaged with the world, trade etc, and serve as the defacto night elf civilization on Kalimdor - while Hyjal is full of researchers, and is more considered a sacred capital - the Highborne study and utilise the Well, the druids the nature and the emerald dream through the tree, and a new Cathedral to Elune and primary HQ of the Order of Elune is built there. The Cathedral of Eternal night is the broken isle chapter, Nightborne and Val'Sharah priests that moved south operate it there - Elunites do pilgrimage to Hyjal, though it is mostly night elven. However CoEN has Nightborne, Fangfire worgen, Void elf races involved.

This effectively makes the NElves two major operations, but the greater focus is on the Hyjal faction. This is what the game will focus on when dealing g with night elves mainly, Highborne will be background

Highborne Alternative
A recent proposal caught my eye - Blizzard swing the Highborne over to Suramar that opens itself up as a neutral sanctuary city due to political developments.

In this scenario, the Nightborne are still horde but the city is open to Night elves too, and alliance Highborne migrate their - together they start a kaldorei civilization rebuild initiative - most Highborne development continues via the broken isles alongside the Nightborne, think of it as a Dalaran, but horde centric instead.

Blizzard here choose to develop future Highborne stuff in conjunction with the Nightborne, leaving Kalimdor more right elf wc3 group , heavier priest/druid focus and minute highborne presence.

How the Various Night Elven Races/Groups look in 10.0
A new night elf grand Holy capital is on Mount Hyjal. It's the best location if you're going to build fully for the night elvs - but if you're not, it's the broken isles. Hyjal has the Well of Eternity, the Tree, the wild gods. Build a great city, and a temple, and there is lots of forest for miles around - it can serve as the central hub for the kaldorei moving forward.

•Highborne will have their all capital in Eldre'thalas [Alliance] Or shifted to Suramar
•Nightborne in Suramar [Horde]
•nazdorei in New Zin'Azshari - Nazjatar [TBD - but likely alliance, could be both]
•Fangfire Worgen (NElf one) - Shal'anir Val'Sharah [Alliance]

•Darnassian Capital - Hyjal

Hyjal capital would actually involve druid culture too amongst priest and Highborne. Yes Highborne will have a huge presence due to the well, druids because of the wild gods and trees, and Priests will have a temple built. And no, no tree city, Nordrassil and the surrounding forest is the tree portion, architecture is pre-sundering but full of nature and life as all aspects meet.

The capital on Hyjal, New Elundis, is not your typical city, sure, trade happens etc, but access is mostly through portal and with permission. There are very strict rules of behaviour and contect, and many no-go areas for visitors. The well of Eternity sacred to the night elves is there and is the frontier of arcane research and development, while the nature wild gods so revered by the night elven druids also reside there as a land deeply connected with nature. the restord forests are huge wild lands, but you can often see wild gods visiting the city, and the massive tree in the centre hosts many unique life forms as a gateway between the dream and the present.

Deep Dive

they've probably gone a lot further in the healing/cleansing of the forest arena, the Druids have learnt to tap the power of the Emerald dream into the world in ways unknown previously (this follow Malfurion's gains in Stormrage book), the night elves are now using their powers fully - both well of Eternity and the Emerald dream world tree.

They are very determined to be strong enough to defend their lands (priest), guard nature (druids) and be the leaders of civilization and progress i.e. show the world how it's done (Highborne).

They consider themselves the only ones truly responsible enough with this power - having witnessed the other races often abuse power, and realising they (after Azshara's reign) have really proved themselves not only capable but the best at managing and the best equipped to do so. They highlight their society as being the most balanced and capable of dealing with and utilising power effectively.

it's not all talk. While they remain mostly reclusive and autonomous to the rest of the races, they work with wild gods, the blue flight (highborne) and greenflight too. The druids (incl tauren, trolls, worgen ones) are very much involved in Hyjal though it's the night elf capital. they tap the power of the dream to heal the forests. The cenarion circle isn't dissolved because the Night elves made their capital in Hyjal, it continues its work on and in the great tree and surrounding forests, druids intermingle with the night elves in their city, though they mostly stay out in the woods.

It's not the the priesthood don't trust the Highborne, they consider it their duty that Kaldorei civilization would never go off kilter again, so they watch and monitor - but the way they do this mainly is buy maintaining the moral rectitude, and discipline of the people, the thing is , the highborne badly want their reputation and revere restored. Farondis restoration boosted this a long way, but the pride of the Highborne is what forces them to be even more diligent, they don't want the people to ever think they'd repeat the past and that they can be fully trusted, they are also driven by proving to the people the Night elves do things best, and they are most capable.

As such they quickly ascend to handle progress, development, diplomacy affairs, and while the priests deal with internal affairs and leadership buck stops with the High Priestess, the highborne are the international face of the Night elves handling most of the interactions with other races, although a priest usually accompanies (not because of trust issues, but their position of leadership).

Although they operate in very different locations and spheres. Prince Farondis, Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage are the 3 main leaders the Kaldorei honour the most and look to and are the 3 most trusted. Farondis has respect from everyone, and is the main reason the Highborne are trusted by everyone a lot more than previously His contribution is obvious - as Tyrande isn't actually that concerned about night elf progress and development - but more spirituality and military defense, while Malfurion is still far more concerned about nature, and the harmony of the race.

Broken Isle Alternative
In the Highborne mostly go to Suramar alternative - Prince Farondis is instead involved with Suramar and broken isle affairs, considered alliance friendly because he is night elven, he is actually neutral. New night elf isolationist leanings make for stronger broken isle ties, but they are still separate. Broken isle people engage more with others and it is those islander night elves that are friendly with Highmoutnain (they've been living close to and peacefully for 10k years - it's not going to change cos HM went horde) and Nightborne their kin in their mutual city now opened up they helped wrest from the Legion doing a lot more than Tyrande's group - Nightborne have no reason to reject or alienate these night elves even if they're on the horde and these ones are not : Suramar and the Nightborne while in the horde are not super horde loyalists that ignore everyone else - that's why it considers its city neutral for elves even though it's leadership aligned with horde

But blizzard here tie Highborne and Nightborne together and use the isle to develop a more civilization focused night elf/Nightborne world.

If they want to take it a step further, they could make NElf highborne like the Illidari, a neutral group that you can role play as a night elf mage, you helping the kaldorei/shal'dorei efforts as your main focus rather than the Hyjal efforts. You can choose to ide tidy with both just like DH and DK Nelf characters can as their faction is not loyal to the Darnassians.

This allows player Highborne lovers to sort of have what they've always wanted i.e. kaldorei civilization proper without feeling like they're being traitor or joining the horde. Their initiative with the Nightborne becomes focused on developing the fallen Elven night civilization. It also allows some complexity and nuance to elven affairs which is acceptable imo.

I'm going to post this on the official forums, because i really think it's good and well thought out, it's also the sort of future I think works well for all night elf fans - and it doesn't leave anyone out.

It also looks up, makes, the night elves are recovering, getting stronger and more powerful, but also employing the full aspect of the race, without losing what their cores are. It is the sort of thing I feel blizzard would probably do if they were really interested in Night elves and wanted to actually develop them well, with improvements and gains instead of nerfs and losses - making them the sort of titanic race they described in the WC3 manual yet fitting well with other racial powers like humans, orcs , undead etc.

[Tuor]

Fact is: Anduin did not help the Night Elves at ANY point in BFA. Never. A core race of his "Alliance" suffers genocide and instead of helping them he choses to lead an assault against Zandalar for NOTHING.

He did even worst then that. He asked NElfs to send their troops to Silithus allowing Sylvana to attack Darkshore/Teldrassil. It seems that was a planned divertion manouver of Sylvanna to split NElf forces.
And then when the horde attacks Darkshore Anduin refuses to sent help. It is fault that NElfs lost their lands (which are of extreme importance for the Alliance).

Blizzard writting really starts to suck.

EDIT:
As for the capital, i think Nordrassil/Hyjal is nothing else then a temporary settlement, for over 10k years NElfs never built anything there, Hyjal and Nordrassil are their sanctuary, i don't think they will built there a city.

[Hellspawn]

EDIT:
As for the capital, i think Nordrassil/Hyjal is nothing else then a temporary settlement, for over 10k years NElfs never built anything there, Hyjal and Nordrassil are their sanctuary, i don't think they will built there a city.

For 10k years they did not build any capital... and then suddenly Darnassus! And since it got destroyed, why wouldn't they build another one now? Also since Hyjal had its story in cataclysm what better reuse of the Zone to make it the center point for the night elfs and build their capital there.

[Tuor]

For 10k years they did not build any capital... and then suddenly Darnassus! And since it got destroyed, why wouldn't they build another one now? Also since Hyjal had its story in cataclysm what better reuse of the Zone to make it the center point for the night elfs and build their capital there.

I think Blizzard might even give a capital city for NElfs in the books, but they have being shifting from the capital city systhem, and now they even implementing a united leveling systhem. The goal of capital cities was to serve has quest hubs, there isn't any reason for them (Blizzard) doing that again. So, we might not even see a huge city at all in the game.

I still hope them to rebuilt Teldrassil/Darnassus, the island is still there... And obviously has been heavily damaged.