One possibility would be the introductory quest for the High Elf Allied Race could involve them being cut off from the Sunwell. Maybe the Blood Elves could fear that the High Elves associating with the Void Elves could somehow jeopardize the Sunwell, prompting Lor'themar to cut them all off. It would make for interesting story and would emphasize the divide.
Of course, those who want High Elf priests and paladins would be left out in the cold.
Because burly Kul'Tirans are not the only ones there. There are also skinny Kul'Tirans and Kul'Tirans which are exactly the same as normal humans. Jaina is a Kul'Tiran. What do you think she is genetically different from burly and skinny ones or what?
Void Elves didn't share the exact same culture with Blood Elves, they were Blood Elves. They were invented out of the blue for the Allied Race slot. But they are an example that culture similarity does not matter.
High Elves would be amazing!
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Traycor love your ideas and concept art! good job! <3
Auric Sunchaser was at the Sunwell already, so he isn't stuck in Outland. But I imagine his visit to the Sunwell was a one time deal.
You're not understanding my point. All these other races you listed are living breathing beings and they can always breed more, hence that's where playable characters come from. New Undead elves can only be created by Arthas or the present Lich King, or maybe even the DK player, but then you'd have to explain why the Ebon Blade faction allies with the Horde in the first place.
When we looked at the relics of the precursors, we saw the height civilization can attain.
When we looked at their ruins, we marked the danger of that height.
- Keeper Annals
Oh, by the way Traycor, congrats on the 80 pages on your silver covenant high elf thread
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Corebit, what you said above i agree with you.
It's just that Dark Rangers and San'layn exist in WoW lore for a while now, all created by Arthas at the time of warcraft 3. They just aren't playable, just like high elves.
I think it would be a time for Sylvanas to unite them and bring them to the horde, playable that is.
I'm surprised this is still going...
I suspect poor Blizzard are just going to hope this situation disappears as many others.
I would disagree. The point of chronicle is to collate, review and update the lore. To tidy up twenty years of sometimes messy storytelling and to produce a cohesive whole as a basis for the future. Now, this is pertinent because having invested so much effort into going through all the lore and stories,Blizzard is extremely unlikely to go through it again. They finally have a solid base of lore they can now go back to in order to inform the development of future content.
As for your example of Argus, I would, again disagree. Just because they referred to Azeroth as 'the final Titan' does not mean that the existence of Argus is a retcon. If the final Titan were a title to be taken literally, you would have to discount Sargeras himself as well as the other Titans who merely lost their physical bodies, yet persisted in existence. The phrase 'final titan' probably means the last Titan discovered, as you might refer to the last player in a team roster as 'the final player'.
Remember, a retcon is something that overwrites previously established canon. New lore that does not contradict previously established canon is just that, new lore.
The lack of focus on High Elves is also understandable. The Blood Elves, who lest we forget are the High Elves of the WoW franchise, receive a lot of attention, with whole sections of the story devoted to them. The High Elves who remained with the Alliance aren't mentioned at all following the fall of Dalaran, and the last mention is of Quel'Dorei who journeyed with Jaina to Theramore where many likely died in Garrosh's bombing. The one area I thought there would be some mention of the high elves was in the Wrath of the Lich King chapters, but the Silver Covenant received no mention whatsoever.
The lack of emphasis on the Void Elves is understandable as they have just come into existence and their story will be that of the wider void versus light conflict that will not only form the core of the game's story going forward, but the story of the thalassian peoples as they divide into light and void focused groups.
I am convinced, given the new plot paradigm of light versus dark, that the Void Elves are destined to play a major role in the future of the game, particularly Alleria and Umbric as the two Void Elf leaders (even if Alleria is a different sort of Void Elf). The Thalassian storyline makes the most sense as reflecting this new paradigm. High Elves of the Alliance have no place in that new dichotomy. A dichotomy by definition involves only two things after all.
That Blizzard can change anything they want is true, but it is not an argument I wager is worthy of much respect. Firstly, because it is not an argument. It is a statement. Where you to claim that Blizzard could introduce a race sentient bananas as the next Alliance race, I would have to concede the point because they CAN do that if they wish. But you might wish to object to that example on the grounds that it is obviously ridiculous. Which it is.
Yet within the context of the world Blizzard has created, which every out of game comment has backed up, which even the very world itself reflects, High Elves in the Alliance are not a viable group. Not only is their core population too thin but the real killer is that there is nothing truly differentiating them from Blood Elves beyond political allegiance. If we therefore regard the lore as set...and as I've argued, the purpose of Chronicle is to do just that, then Blizzard cannot make High Elves viable without a massive, obvious, retcon. Even Traycor's designs would be a retcon, an attempt to force a new identity on the remaining High Elves, not for a consistent in game reason but as an excuse to say they are different from Blood Elves. Blizzard adding High Elves in other words is a brutal retcon, one that rips away the curtain and shatters suspension of disbelief. It would dwarf the biggest retcon the game has seen to date, that of the Draenei-Eredar connection. People could accept that retcon as the events altered did not take place in the timeline of the game itself. Changing High Elves of the Alliance would be alter to their status as a peripheral, vanishing people in away that everyone would notice and which would run counter to the narrative as we have experienced it this past decade.
And no, the Silver Covenant is not the face of a strong Alliance force. I know they've been involved in several story moments over the years, but that doesn't change the fact it's likely the same Elves each time working together as a dispossessed militia. You could of course argue Void Elves are the same, and I guess they are, but Void Elves and the LF Draenei are excused by being genuinely different from their parent races. High Elves are identical to Blood Elves, and I don't think they can be credibly differentiated from them. Traycor is trying, true, but he is also heavily cribbing from Wildhammer Dwarves. Blizzard might want to add Wildhammer Dwarves one day, and I doubt they will cramp their design by handing over the WH Dwarf theme to the few High Elves. The High Elves already have their own theme...it just happens to be identical to the Farstriders of the Blood Elves.
Well I think I answered a lot of this above, so I'll just reiterate that the motive of adding a group of High Elves to the Alliance that looked different from Blood Elves is the very motive that likely inspired the creation of Void Elves. And you have seen how the High Elf hardcore rejected Void Elves out of hand because they weren't proper High Elves.
I don't think it's possible to differentiate High Elves of the Alliance and Blood Elves. I know some people are trying, but what they create doesn't look right. And what does look right is already playable.
Those are my thoughts.
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Races that are already playable are probably off the table. Green Orcs, Darkspear Trolls, Blood/High Elves etc.
discord.gg/jsfDcZx High Elves supporters we now have a discord <3 The more people joining the merrier!
Thanks, RangerDaz! It's great that so many people have enjoyed the thread and pitched in. And we've still got ideas batting around like lore, class options, and home base selections. The conversation is still lively! Thanks everyone for participating.
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Thanks, raz98! That's a very high compliment!
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Thanks Drorith! If you've got any ideas for a High Elf Allied Race, feel free to chime in.
I had a new idea @Traycor. Do with it as you please. It would be a jewelry option.
Laurel Crowns!
From wikipedia, laurel crowns are symbols of victory and honor and were commonly found in Ancient Greek and Roman motifs. I think they'd be appropriate for your High Elf concept since it also has this nature feel to it. Males could be strictly leaf based, while females could have small flowers in theirs.
i am going to propose a scenario for you high elf demanders.
Say i am right and this happens.
High elves are added has a playable allied race for the alliance.
Horde overall population drastically drops to life support numbers.
what does blizzard do?
do they remove the high elves they just added and offer free race changes?
Anemo: traveler, Sucrose
Pyro: Yanfei, Amber, diluc, xiangling, thoma, Xinyan, Bennett
Geo: Noelle, Ningguang, Yun Jin, Gorou
Hydro: Barbara, Zingqiu, Ayato
Cyro: Shenhe, Kaeya, Chongyun, Diona, Ayaka, Rosaria
Electro: Fischl, Lisa, Miko, Kujou, Raiden, Razor
Dark Rangers are essentially Banshees that repossessed their bodies, or a random other body so their undead status is somewhat different from Forsaken. Real undead elves would probably look a lot like a combination of wretched and Human Forsaken. I'm not sure how popular they would be.
Undead Elves also cause problems with Blood Elf DKs, who are technically Undead Elves. Which race should they belong to.
For RP'ing an Undead Elf there are currently 2 options. Role a BE DK or role a Void Elf (Hunter) with the correct skin-tone. There is a version of the 1st Hunter Tier set in Legion which has a helmet which gives glowing red eyes if I remember correctly. There are even Undead looking pets to tame.