Blood Elf Druids

[Saichou]

Even though I am not especially passionate about playable Blood Elf Druids, after having played the Eversong Woods and Ghostlands starting zone, I do think this is a reasonable proposition from a lore standpoint – at the beginning of TBC anyway. And although most of what I'm about to present to you is backed by the existing lore, a good part of it is speculation, but it also doesn't contradict the lore (at least to my knowledge). Be warned, this is a very long post.

1. Introduction

What I intend to do in this post is give a brief description of the already established playable classes and an idea how druids might be introduced in this model. I should note that my only sources are the quest and other texts encountered in the levels 1-20 Blood Elf starting experience, as I haven't quested through Outland in a while and couldn't think of any other radiant Sin'dorei quests that would be relevant to this discussion. I would also like to remind everyone that „classes“ are just a game mechanic and therefore inherently flawed and limited representations of characters in a fantasy setting, just look at Tauren Paladins and Troll Hunters. This is by no means a justification for Belves to hijack the Nelf/Cenarius identity of what a druid should be, but is rather a suggestion on how an identity/social role that can best be described as „druid“might exist in the Belf society at the time of TBC. Similar to how Kul Tiran and Darkspear/Zandalari Trolls exist in their respective societies.

2. Existing Blood Elf classes/organizations

To start, the Belves are a very advanced and highly civilized society and the hero classes the players choose can be attributed to several organisations (unlike, for example, Goblins and Tauren, which lack such well defined structures). Before the Scourge invasion there were 3 important organisations, two of which are recognized and represented in game and one is highly probable. The first two are the Magisters (mages in the traditional sense – frost, fire and arcane – but probably also other types of magic users, but more on that later) and the Farstriders (the main and only military - hunters, rogues and warriors). At this point I would like to justify why I consider (or speculate that) warriors and rogues to be under the jurisdiction of the Farstriders, who are generally mostly rangers.

Rogues: Judging from the rogue intro quests we can conclude two things: first, that the rogue organisation the player characters are apart of is pro-government (unlike the Hidden Circle in Ironforge which is rebellious) and secondly that it is not an independent (unlike the SI:7 in Stormwind which is well established) and are therefore probably part of a much larger organisation. And since they mostly do espionage (and probably assassination) they are probably part of the military – the Farstriders.

Warriors: This is a very broad term, but warriors are most definitely part of the military. And since there is only one military faction, it is reasonable to assume that they are also members of the Farstriders.

And the third organisation, which isn't directly named in the game, is the Church of the Holy Light (whose members are, of course, priests). We know that there were priest characters before the third war (Liadrin was a priest) and that there was a high priest, so it is very probable that religion in Quel'thalas was institutionalized and functioned as an organization, just like the Magisters and Farstriders.
Now, the scourge invasion brought a great change: 90% of the population was killed (I don't know if this is canon, but it is the most often cited ratio) and most of the survivors lost their fate in the Holy Light. Not only that, but their source of power, the Sunwell was destroyed and left them with an insatiable hunger for magic. To solve this problem, Kael'thas Sunstrider joined the Illidari, the Belves started extracting magic from other beings and using Fel magic (which prompted the Magisters to accept Warlocks in their ranks). The Magisters also captured a Naaru and started extracting power from it too – and they gathered a group of former priests and made a new organization: the Blood Knights (Paladins). So now there's a new, fourth organization, which is controlled by the Magisters.

3. Internal conflict

But I believe that the Church also still functions separately from the Blood Knights, although very weak and mostly abandoned. In game, there is no representation of churches or temples, but there are priests, and unlike every other race that has priests and paladins, they do not share a headquarters with the paladins. In fact, it seems that the Church is only given a small study in the Sunfury Spire, while the Blood Knights have their own building. When talking to a priest trainer as a non-priest, it can also be noted that they are quite grumpy, probably because they are a dying faction. And unlike all the other Belves, it seems that they do not extract power from the Naaru, but still use the Holy Light. In a class quests for priests, the trainer notes „Now you can see how the Light serves us“, but I would personally consider that to just be arrogance, which is typical for Belves. Because a paladin quest actually sends you to extract the power from the Naaru. For these reasons I think that Blood Knights and the Church are two separate and existing factions and are ideological enemies.
Now that we have established what the four Belf organisations at the start of TBC are, let's take a look at their relations. It is stated several times that there is a distinct rivarly between the Magisters and the Farstriders. While the Church was still relevant, they probably disliked the two other organizations as well, but since they are a dying faction, only the Magisters and Farstriders remain. But the Magisters have gained a crucial advantage: they fathered the Blood Knights and are probably now also the religious leaders of the Belves. And now that we have established that the Magisters and Farstriders dislike each other and that the Church and the Blood Knights dislike each other, I think it's reasonable for the Farstriders and the Church to form an opposition to counter the Magisters. And their idea is to form a new organisation to counter the Blood Knights, to weaken the Magisters and also to offer an alternative for using fel magic and forced Naaru labour, and perhaps to also humiliate the Magisters a little bit. So what do they do?

4. Possible Druid recruitment: Groundskeepers

Well, let's take a second look at the Magisters: while they mostly study the arcane and enslaving elementals, magic is an everyday occurence in Quel'thalas so some, less talented apprentices probably end up doing much more menial tasks, like enchanting, alchemy or whatever. Magic is so essential to Quel'thalas that they even used it to form the land and vegetation. They live in harmony with treants called tenders that help them take care of the forests and wild life. Now this is just pure speculation, but it wouldn't be that odd if some really bad apprentices are appointed to work with the tenders and/or supervise them, to practically be glorified gardeners – let's call them tenders, like the trees. There's at least one character shown to be tasked with taking care of the vegetation of a certain facility, and that's Groundskeeper Wyllithen (he „maintains the grounds“ as he puts it) and he's very grumpy, probably because all the other Magisters treat him like trash and because he's jealous that he has to use such primitive magic. A possible reason why groundskeepers are looked down upon could be that it reminds them of the Night Elves. Regardless, I believe that it is reasonable to assume that such mages exist and they're probably named Groundskeepers or Tenders. But, undeniably, they do help heal the land and mend plants and they even do it without using harmful magics in the process. So if someone were to suddenly elevate their position, organize them in such a way to counter the Blood Knights, the Magisters would probably be appalled that these lowlives suddenly gained importance. And that's exactly what I propose the now allied Church and Farstriders do.

5. Connection to the Emerald Dream

But the question remains, is nature magic really a viable alternative for for fel and Naarus? Well, maybe not at this stage, but surely the treants can help the Groundskeepers find a connection with the Emerald dream and, while they're not shown in game, there are probably also some pixie dragons flying about, and that's already more than the trolls had. Then there's the Amani Loa. In Zul Aman we learn that the Amani have stolen the essences of their Loa, so I think it wouldn't be that far fetched to assume their Loa abandoned them because of it. Now they too probably need new allies and I think the Belf Groundskeepers would be the ideal candidate (and this is where they would also get their shapeshift forms).

6. Social status

But how would the other Belves accept this new organization? It has already been stated that nature magic is looked down upon, why look past that? While this is true, it is also true that what the Magisters and Blood knights are doing is inherently evil, and most Belves probably just don't wanna be evil (like in our world, some people just prefer to buy eco-friendly products and use green energy because of morals). And besides, High elves are shown to be quite close to nature as they live in a forest and are not heavily industrialized and they even had a big magical tree (Thas'alah) infused with the power of the Sunwell in their forest. Questgiver Larianna Riverwind even says that the people of her village were friends and allies with the treants (it should however be stated that she sends you on a quest to kill treants because regrowing the forest would help the scourge, but maybe if the Groundskeepers had a more prominent role in the story this could have been handled quite differently).

7. Criticism

Now some criticism I have of my own theory. First, yes, I realize it's not very convincing to have only one named representative for Belf Druids, especially if he's named after a character from The Simpsons, but the Worgen also have only one druid, Celestine of the Harvest, and she wasn't even a real druid to begin with. Highmountain Tauren have zero druids, and yet they're playable. What I think is important is that there is a caste of Groundskeepers. Secondly, their status. Groundskeepers probably wouldn't have a lot of prestige, but neither do Kul Tiran Thornspeakers. And there's like six of them. And they don't live in the cities. And finally, how well do they fit in the general, already established druid identity. Here I would again point out Darkspear/Zandalari and Kul Tiran druids. The troll worship Gonk, the raptor Loa of the hunt and are vaguely connected to the Emerald Dream. The Kul Tirans worship... uh... the cycle of life and death? And their connection to the Emerald Dream is... well, it's safe to say that the Thornspeakers were made up on the spot.

8. Conclusion(?)

And lastly, I know that the Belves solved their mana addiction at the end of TBC and so adding this story now would be pointless. But it could still work retroactively. Blizzard could just say „Uh, yeah, there have been Groundskeepers helping to regrow Quel'thalas since the end of the Third War, you just haven't seen them.“ And honestly that wouldn't even be such a huge retcon because there hasn't been any new lore on the Belves since TBC.

So there you have it folks. I think Belf druids would be pretty cool and unique, sort of a contrast to the other more serene and patient druids, they could be grumpy and strict. Also they wouldn't wear robes, but pants, like gardeners. Their cat form would be a lynx (the Loa Halazzi), bear form could come from the bear Loa Nalorakk, there's an eagle Loa for flight form and Jan'alai the dragonhawk Loa could be a base for the Moonkin form.

I would like to hear your suggestions and criticism. Cheers!

[Ardenaso]

I mean they have Druidic Runestones (hello Caer Darrow?) and so it's really sensible that they should be allowed to be Druids.

[Tarba]

Botanica outland : bood elves druids.

[Varodoc]

I'd accept either BE or Nightborne druids. I just want a druid option that doesn't look ugly. Tauren and trolls are really not my thing, I play humanoid races only.

Lorewise I don't think it'd be too difficult to allow that. Just say that some elves started learning druidism from tauren. Just like how orcs learned arcane from the undead and became mages in Cataclysm. If I'm not mistaken there's even a druid camp at the entrance of Silvermoon.

[Razion]

The Dread Scar. A giant swathe of plagued land that stretches throughout all of Quel'thalas. The Blood Elves are eager to be rid of it and heal the land. With so many world-threatening disasters, there have been a great many druids and shaman lending aid to mend unnatural and natural disasters that the Blood Elves would know about. Attempts by druids and shaman healing the Plaguelands just south of them provide very real and close examples so that even common Blood Elves would know of the benefit of these magics. Blood Elves have no qualms with taking up any kind of magic if it means giving them the power they need to accomplish their goals. In order to heal the land and lead the Blood Elves to a new era of prosperity, I believe turning to Druidism, and Shamanism as well, will be a necessary step for them to heal their homeland and return to power. Other races have taken pilgrimages to the Sunwell which would provide opportunity for exchanging of ideas to present the idea further to the Blood Elves that the magics of Druidism and Shamanism can help heal the land, better serving the Sunwell and making it less vulnerable to forces like the Legion or the Void.

[Moonrage]

The Dread Scar. A giant swathe of plagued land that stretches throughout all of Quel'thalas. The Blood Elves are eager to be rid of it and heal the land. With so many world-threatening disasters, there have been a great many druids and shaman lending aid to mend unnatural and natural disasters that the Blood Elves would know about. Attempts by druids and shaman healing the Plaguelands just south of them provide very real and close examples so that even common Blood Elves would know of the benefit of these magics. Blood Elves have no qualms with taking up any kind of magic if it means giving them the power they need to accomplish their goals. In order to heal the land and lead the Blood Elves to a new era of prosperity, I believe turning to Druidism, and Shamanism as well, will be a necessary step for them to heal their homeland and return to power. The Worgen and Draenei both have cultures that revere the Light, and making pilgrimages to the Sunwell would provide opportunity for exchanging of ideas to present the idea further to the Blood Elves that the magics of Druidism and Shamanism can help heal the land, better serving the Sunwell and making it less vulnerable to forces like the Legion or the Void.

You lost me at having Worgen and Draenei making pilgrimages to the Sunwell. Of all Alliance races Worgen probably dislike the Horde the most (maybe right after Night Elves) and I don't think either race would ever want to journey to Quel'Thalas.

[Saichou]

Not only the dread scar, but also the entirety of the Ghostlands, which used to look just like Eversong Woods.
There are a few issues I have with an "they just learned it from the other races" explanation.
First, it would just make them a copy of the cenarion circle druids. Tauren and trolls are deeply spiritual and they would probably try to pass on their philosophical teachings as well, and the belves just don't really fit into that.
Secondly, I dont think horde druids and shaman would be very helpful in healing the land as most of the horde territories in kalimdor are fairly barren and the local druids have been trying to "heal the land" since vanilla without much success.
And finally, magic has actually become a big part of the land itself as the forest's mother tree Thas'alah was literally imbued with water from the sunwell, so it would take a special kind of druid to start healing it. I would even argue that cenarion druids would find the land unnatural.
What I'm trying to say is that it has been shown in game that there are belves who tend to the forests and are already part of blood elf society.

[Razion]

You lost me at having Worgen and Draenei making pilgrimages to the Sunwell. Of all Alliance races Worgen probably dislike the Horde the most (maybe right after Night Elves) and I don't think either race would ever want to journey to Quel'Thalas.

Would be fair enough, however, Draenei already have a presence on the island as part of the Shattered Sun Offensive. High Elves already take pilgrimages to the Sunwell, as seen in the Quel'delar questline. And while Void Elves aren't welcome on the island anymore, they only had their access revoked when they proved that their presence was a physical danger to the Sunwell - the Void Elves were allowed an opportunity to go to the Sunwell initially, which seems to indicate that the Blood Elves don't consider it Horde territory as much as it is Neutral territory. And even in terms of literal game mechanics, the Isle of Quel'Danas is considered contested territory.

Not only the dread scar, but also the entirety of the Ghostlands, which used to look just like Eversong Woods.
There are a few issues I have with an "they just learned it from the other races" explanation.
First, it would just make them a copy of the cenarion circle druids. Tauren and trolls are deeply spiritual and they would probably try to pass on their philosophical teachings as well, and the belves just don't really fit into that.
Secondly, I dont think horde druids and shaman would be very helpful in healing the land as most of the horde territories in kalimdor are fairly barren and the local druids have been trying to "heal the land" since vanilla without much success.
And finally, magic has actually become a big part of the land itself as the forest's mother tree Thas'alah was literally imbued with water from the sunwell, so it would take a special kind of druid to start healing it. I would even argue that cenarion druids would find the land unnatural.
What I'm trying to say is that it has been shown in game that there are belves who tend to the forests and are already part of blood elf society.

Lands like Desolace have seen much restoration in the face of a lot of the devastation wrought in the wake of Cataclysm, but other lands that lay barren like Durotar are that way because Thrall wants it that way - he chose Durotar specifically because it would be land the Alliance wouldn't fight over, and also as a way for his people to atone for what they had done.

But again, what's important for the Blood Elves are the Plaguelands below them serving as a close and real example that druidism can heal plagued lands right on their doorstep and again - the Blood Elves aren't shy about wielding power that helps them accomplish their goals. And while Dark Shamanism may be more in line of what Blood Elves used to do, I think considering their recent approach to the Light making them as a people more spiritual, I don't think it's out of the question that the Tauren - especially those that revere the Sun - would have something to say to the Blood Elves that they may be more willing to listen to.

[guisadop]

I believe High Elf Druids were established but were retconned/buried later. And considering how close they are to nature and their homeland, especially in their W3 representation, it wouldn't be THAT far-fetched.

[Beloren]

Even though I am not especially passionate about playable Blood Elf Druids, after having played the Eversong Woods and Ghostlands starting zone, I do think this is a reasonable proposition from a lore standpoint – at the beginning of TBC anyway. And although most of what I'm about to present to you is backed by the existing lore, a good part of it is speculation, but it also doesn't contradict the lore (at least to my knowledge). Be warned, this is a very long post.

1. Introduction

What I intend to do in this post is give a brief description of the already established playable classes and an idea how druids might be introduced in this model. I should note that my only sources are the quest and other texts encountered in the levels 1-20 Blood Elf starting experience, as I haven't quested through Outland in a while and couldn't think of any other radiant Sin'dorei quests that would be relevant to this discussion. I would also like to remind everyone that „classes“ are just a game mechanic and therefore inherently flawed and limited representations of characters in a fantasy setting, just look at Tauren Paladins and Troll Hunters. This is by no means a justification for Belves to hijack the Nelf/Cenarius identity of what a druid should be, but is rather a suggestion on how an identity/social role that can best be described as „druid“might exist in the Belf society at the time of TBC. Similar to how Kul Tiran and Darkspear/Zandalari Trolls exist in their respective societies.

2. Existing Blood Elf classes/organizations

To start, the Belves are a very advanced and highly civilized society and the hero classes the players choose can be attributed to several organisations (unlike, for example, Goblins and Tauren, which lack such well defined structures). Before the Scourge invasion there were 3 important organisations, two of which are recognized and represented in game and one is highly probable. The first two are the Magisters (mages in the traditional sense – frost, fire and arcane – but probably also other types of magic users, but more on that later) and the Farstriders (the main and only military - hunters, rogues and warriors). At this point I would like to justify why I consider (or speculate that) warriors and rogues to be under the jurisdiction of the Farstriders, who are generally mostly rangers.

Rogues: Judging from the rogue intro quests we can conclude two things: first, that the rogue organisation the player characters are apart of is pro-government (unlike the Hidden Circle in Ironforge which is rebellious) and secondly that it is not an independent (unlike the SI:7 in Stormwind which is well established) and are therefore probably part of a much larger organisation. And since they mostly do espionage (and probably assassination) they are probably part of the military – the Farstriders.

Warriors: This is a very broad term, but warriors are most definitely part of the military. And since there is only one military faction, it is reasonable to assume that they are also members of the Farstriders.

And the third organisation, which isn't directly named in the game, is the Church of the Holy Light (whose members are, of course, priests). We know that there were priest characters before the third war (Liadrin was a priest) and that there was a high priest, so it is very probable that religion in Quel'thalas was institutionalized and functioned as an organization, just like the Magisters and Farstriders.
Now, the scourge invasion brought a great change: 90% of the population was killed (I don't know if this is canon, but it is the most often cited ratio) and most of the survivors lost their fate in the Holy Light. Not only that, but their source of power, the Sunwell was destroyed and left them with an insatiable hunger for magic. To solve this problem, Kael'thas Sunstrider joined the Illidari, the Belves started extracting magic from other beings and using Fel magic (which prompted the Magisters to accept Warlocks in their ranks). The Magisters also captured a Naaru and started extracting power from it too – and they gathered a group of former priests and made a new organization: the Blood Knights (Paladins). So now there's a new, fourth organization, which is controlled by the Magisters.

3. Internal conflict

But I believe that the Church also still functions separately from the Blood Knights, although very weak and mostly abandoned. In game, there is no representation of churches or temples, but there are priests, and unlike every other race that has priests and paladins, they do not share a headquarters with the paladins. In fact, it seems that the Church is only given a small study in the Sunfury Spire, while the Blood Knights have their own building. When talking to a priest trainer as a non-priest, it can also be noted that they are quite grumpy, probably because they are a dying faction. And unlike all the other Belves, it seems that they do not extract power from the Naaru, but still use the Holy Light. In a class quests for priests, the trainer notes „Now you can see how the Light serves us“, but I would personally consider that to just be arrogance, which is typical for Belves. Because a paladin quest actually sends you to extract the power from the Naaru. For these reasons I think that Blood Knights and the Church are two separate and existing factions and are ideological enemies.
Now that we have established what the four Belf organisations at the start of TBC are, let's take a look at their relations. It is stated several times that there is a distinct rivarly between the Magisters and the Farstriders. While the Church was still relevant, they probably disliked the two other organizations as well, but since they are a dying faction, only the Magisters and Farstriders remain. But the Magisters have gained a crucial advantage: they fathered the Blood Knights and are probably now also the religious leaders of the Belves. And now that we have established that the Magisters and Farstriders dislike each other and that the Church and the Blood Knights dislike each other, I think it's reasonable for the Farstriders and the Church to form an opposition to counter the Magisters. And their idea is to form a new organisation to counter the Blood Knights, to weaken the Magisters and also to offer an alternative for using fel magic and forced Naaru labour, and perhaps to also humiliate the Magisters a little bit. So what do they do?

4. Possible Druid recruitment: Groundskeepers

Well, let's take a second look at the Magisters: while they mostly study the arcane and enslaving elementals, magic is an everyday occurence in Quel'thalas so some, less talented apprentices probably end up doing much more menial tasks, like enchanting, alchemy or whatever. Magic is so essential to Quel'thalas that they even used it to form the land and vegetation. They live in harmony with treants called tenders that help them take care of the forests and wild life. Now this is just pure speculation, but it wouldn't be that odd if some really bad apprentices are appointed to work with the tenders and/or supervise them, to practically be glorified gardeners – let's call them tenders, like the trees. There's at least one character shown to be tasked with taking care of the vegetation of a certain facility, and that's Groundskeeper Wyllithen (he „maintains the grounds“ as he puts it) and he's very grumpy, probably because all the other Magisters treat him like trash and because he's jealous that he has to use such primitive magic. A possible reason why groundskeepers are looked down upon could be that it reminds them of the Night Elves. Regardless, I believe that it is reasonable to assume that such mages exist and they're probably named Groundskeepers or Tenders. But, undeniably, they do help heal the land and mend plants and they even do it without using harmful magics in the process. So if someone were to suddenly elevate their position, organize them in such a way to counter the Blood Knights, the Magisters would probably be appalled that these lowlives suddenly gained importance. And that's exactly what I propose the now allied Church and Farstriders do.

5. Connection to the Emerald Dream

But the question remains, is nature magic really a viable alternative for for fel and Naarus? Well, maybe not at this stage, but surely the treants can help the Groundskeepers find a connection with the Emerald dream and, while they're not shown in game, there are probably also some pixie dragons flying about, and that's already more than the trolls had. Then there's the Amani Loa. In Zul Aman we learn that the Amani have stolen the essences of their Loa, so I think it wouldn't be that far fetched to assume their Loa abandoned them because of it. Now they too probably need new allies and I think the Belf Groundskeepers would be the ideal candidate (and this is where they would also get their shapeshift forms).

6. Social status

But how would the other Belves accept this new organization? It has already been stated that nature magic is looked down upon, why look past that? While this is true, it is also true that what the Magisters and Blood knights are doing is inherently evil, and most Belves probably just don't wanna be evil (like in our world, some people just prefer to buy eco-friendly products and use green energy because of morals). And besides, High elves are shown to be quite close to nature as they live in a forest and are not heavily industrialized and they even had a big magical tree (Thas'alah) infused with the power of the Sunwell in their forest. Questgiver Larianna Riverwind even says that the people of her village were friends and allies with the treants (it should however be stated that she sends you on a quest to kill treants because regrowing the forest would help the scourge, but maybe if the Groundskeepers had a more prominent role in the story this could have been handled quite differently).

7. Criticism

Now some criticism I have of my own theory. First, yes, I realize it's not very convincing to have only one named representative for Belf Druids, especially if he's named after a character from The Simpsons, but the Worgen also have only one druid, Celestine of the Harvest, and she wasn't even a real druid to begin with. Highmountain Tauren have zero druids, and yet they're playable. What I think is important is that there is a caste of Groundskeepers. Secondly, their status. Groundskeepers probably wouldn't have a lot of prestige, but neither do Kul Tiran Thornspeakers. And there's like six of them. And they don't live in the cities. And finally, how well do they fit in the general, already established druid identity. Here I would again point out Darkspear/Zandalari and Kul Tiran druids. The troll worship Gonk, the raptor Loa of the hunt and are vaguely connected to the Emerald Dream. The Kul Tirans worship... uh... the cycle of life and death? And their connection to the Emerald Dream is... well, it's safe to say that the Thornspeakers were made up on the spot.

8. Conclusion(?)

And lastly, I know that the Belves solved their mana addiction at the end of TBC and so adding this story now would be pointless. But it could still work retroactively. Blizzard could just say „Uh, yeah, there have been Groundskeepers helping to regrow Quel'thalas since the end of the Third War, you just haven't seen them.“ And honestly that wouldn't even be such a huge retcon because there hasn't been any new lore on the Belves since TBC.

So there you have it folks. I think Belf druids would be pretty cool and unique, sort of a contrast to the other more serene and patient druids, they could be grumpy and strict. Also they wouldn't wear robes, but pants, like gardeners. Their cat form would be a lynx (the Loa Halazzi), bear form could come from the bear Loa Nalorakk, there's an eagle Loa for flight form and Jan'alai the dragonhawk Loa could be a base for the Moonkin form.

I would like to hear your suggestions and criticism. Cheers!

Nice work man, Elves are very good at magic, and they love nature too. I agree that every elven race should have mage, druid, priest as staple ( lock can be for the special groups like Illidari, Felborne, Fel elves etc, I think only void elves don't necessariy need a special group for those).

While I get that night elves are the original and complete elves.. and some people feel only they should have access to every magic available. I disagree.


1. Quel'thalas was built on freedom of ALL magic
2. We love nature every bit as much, just b/c we haven't gone all caveman like the night elf druids (oh nature is our home) - doesn't mean it's not there
3. We have treants, botanists etc - Nature is such a core part of life, and magic from the kaldroei roots concenring it would be an institution in any Elven civilization.
4. We didn't lose ability for nature magic or love for nature when we became high elves - that part of the night elf is still in our DNA


I feel the Thalassian druidsm can be different to the kaldoreri. But I also feel it doesn't need to, thanks to the nightborne.

Nightborne can connect to druidsm via Arcan'dor, Farodin and Val'sharah druids they mix with, and in turn blood elves can come to druidsm via that root. Meanwhile void elves and high elves can actually get it directly from the night elves. It really would only be an extension of their magical knowledge.

The Thalassian would have druidic magaic principalas in their culture, since they come from night elves and the magic has been there with them nearly as long as the arcane. Furthermore they were in the Long vigil for 3,000 years, without using the arcane, many would have tried druidsm and at least learnt.

I support this.

[Lieutenant Commander]

I support belf druid + shaman just so horde can turn into meme elf faction entirely.

[matrix123mko]

Now that we have established what the four Belf organisations at the start of TBC are, let's take a look at their relations. It is stated several times that there is a distinct rivarly between the Magisters and the Farstriders. While the Church was still relevant, they probably disliked the two other organizations as well, but since they are a dying faction, only the Magisters and Farstriders remain. But the Magisters have gained a crucial advantage: they fathered the Blood Knights and are probably now also the religious leaders of the Belves. And now that we have established that the Magisters and Farstriders dislike each other and that the Church and the Blood Knights dislike each other, I think it's reasonable for the Farstriders and the Church to form an opposition to counter the Magisters. And their idea is to form a new organisation to counter the Blood Knights, to weaken the Magisters and also to offer an alternative for using fel magic and forced Naaru labour, and perhaps to also humiliate the Magisters a little bit. So what do they do?

You may have not noticed but blood elf society changed after BC. Naaru labour is no more and Blood Knights started worshipping Light again after restoration of the Sunwell. While Blood Knights collaborate with magisters, they are independent. I would say that church and Blood Knights merged into one new organisation, similar to Church of Holy Light in Stormwind.

I think it would be better to make druids out of Magister group instead. As masters of magic, they are the group that was responsible of shaping Eversong Forest to its perfect shape. It is logical that they had their own, arcane based, secularised druidism in the past. As they and nightborne saw the power of arcane and nature in conjunction in form of Arcan'dor, they would be eager to experiment on it some more.

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I support belf druid + shaman just so horde can turn into meme elf faction entirely.

Maybe then blood elves will get some story development instead of being portal makers for orcs.

[Thalassian Bob]

I have been quietly hoping for blood elf druids for years. Just like Laura Shigihara:



In response to your full post though: As far as I'm aware, the Farstriders do not encompass Silvermoon's entire military. Far from it, in fact. The Warcraft Encyclopaedia lists the Farstriders as "considered part of the blood elf government, but its members have never been a formal military. The army that currently defends Quel'Thalas is a separate entity from the Farstriders, whose small numbers would in any case make it impossible for them to wage war".

The elite group of rangers that compose the Farstriders are more akin to special forces organisations like the Navy Seals or SAS. You are right though in identifying that not all Farstriders fit the hunter archetype that leading figures like Sylvanas or Alleria would imply. Some members appear to be more similar to rogues or warriors in combat than archers.

The fact that the Ranger-General - who is the leader of the Farstriders - seems to also serve as head of Silvermoon's entire armed forces certainly confuses things! But, while the ranger-general can give orders to the whole military, the Farstriders would appear to be subordinate only to their leader and officers within their ranks, not other military officers as well.

Anyway, it's always been my head-canon that after around two decades of peaceable and friendly relations with the Horde, many Farstriders have probably spent much time discussing the wilds with tauren and even Darkspear and would probably be very eager to learn more about Nature magic from them. And, as you say, various magical practitioners have been shaping the forests of Eversong using magic for years, so some Magisters deciding to specialise in Nature magic (more or less becoming a Thalassian version of druids) seems entirely plausible and is probably already happening extensively.

[Venziir]

Botanica outland : bood elves druids.

https://wow.gamepedia.com/High_Botanist_Freywinn was not a druid. He was a herbalist and an alchemist. A wizard who conducted various experiments on plants and plantlives while mixing up wierd potions and infusions to grant life to plants and grant himself various plant-like abilities.

[iosdeveloper]

it's very possible and i'm totally playing one

[ravenmoon]

https://wow.gamepedia.com/High_Botanist_Freywinn was not a druid. He was a herbalist and an alchemist. A wizard who conducted various experiments on plants and plantlives while mixing up wierd potions and infusions to grant life to plants and grant himself various plant-like abilities.

Druids really are just nature wizards

[Darththeo]

I am pro Blood Elf druids ... however at that point, the Horde might as well make their capital Silvermoon.

[Venziir]

Druids really are just nature wizards

Huge difference in WoW between being a druid and a wizard though. One is basically a scholar who was mastered the art of throwing a fireball in your face, or conjuring forth a picknick. The druid is one who is a devout follower of a certain diety or supernatural force, who in return grants who a set of specific powers, such as the powers to make it rain or turn into an animal - if anything, the druid is a "nature priest".

[Grythletubs]

I've wanted belf druids since TBC

But then again I bet the horde population of blood elves would go up to being 80% of the horde lol

[Highelf]

there's literally human druids...HUMAN druids. Lore have been dead for years.