Eldre’Thalas as a new home for the Night Elves

[Astranea]

Since the Night Elves have lost Darnassus, people are expecting them to go settle in Hyjal by the new Well of Eternity, and it undoubtedly makes sense.

But what if the druid guardians of Nordrassil did not want the area to become too heavily inhabited/urbanized?

In such case, maybe the Shen’dralar mages could team up with their trainees and a number of displaced Darnassians to reclaim the ruins of Dire Maul and make a new home in the luxuriant forests of Feralas.

After cleansing and rebuilding, it could look awesome!

As seen on the Argent Archives:



And, imagine how many secrets could still lay undiscovered in ruins of the ancient city: it WAS the archive of Azshara’s most precious tomes after all.

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But wouldn’t Hyjal be a much more logical choice?

Not saying it isn’t, but one has to wonder how the druids and priesthood may feel about urbanizing Nordrassil and the new Well of Eternity. Such a powerful and sacred site might be better protected by its guardians and only allow a few trusted adventurers and scholars rather than become a playing field for the masses.

How about any other settlements on Kalimdor?

There are currently no large settlements left on Kalimdor: just small villages which could not possibly accommodate all of the displaced Night Elves. Scavenging the ruins of an ancient city for resources to build a new settlement on the same site would be much easier than obtaining/moving them elsewhere. Also, Eldre’Thalas is close to Feathermoon, one of the major night elven military strongholds.

But Dire Maul lies within Horde territory?

Not quite. The Chronicles [Volume 3, pg. 120] state that it was Horde adventurers who completed the Dire Maul dungeon, but that’s hardly the same as declaring that the Horde permanently occupied the ruins of Eldre’thalas or that the whole region was conquered.

Furthermore, the Night Elves’ veteran troops being sent down through Feralas to respond to the Silithus feint was a plot point in how the Horde was able to steamroll through Darkshore as hard as it did during the War of the Thorns, and since it can be argued that the Alliance still has more presence there than the Horde, holding a military stronghold vs a small tauren camp, Feralas can very easily be considered at least partly under Night Elf control.

But even IF things had recently changed (not stated anywhere), since it’s clearly the Horde’s (Silvana’s) fault if the Night Elves do not have a capital any more, the ruins could be gifted back to the Night Elves as a gesture of good will and repentance. I am sure the Tauren/Baine would find it reasonable.

But the scrolls hidden in Dire Maul are dangerous!

Nobody says they would all need to be put to use. They could try to salvage what applicable to noble deeds, and destroy or lock away the rest to prevent it from falling into the wrong people’s hands. The point being: the discovery of ancient secrets is always a pleasant theme for a quest line. We could get more insight into Azshara’s character which may come in handy eventually. And sure, there could be greedy NPCs that need be stopped. But that’s what Heroes are for, right?

Still, the aesthetics of elven cities belong to the Horde!

Indeed, which is why this is NOT about a small Suramar or a second Zin-Ashari.

I am talking about a forest-city rich in temples and gardens where columns and trees all come to make part of the same structure built around nature rather than its place, as shown above.

A new night elven capital would need to maintain the same kind of vibe we had in Darnassus as well as we still have in many shrines of Elune scattered around Azeroth. Hence, it should be based on an open architecture that can intertwine with nature and be a whole with it.

Besides, even the reintegrated night elven Highborne originary of Eldre’Thalas can be considered forest-dwellers, having wandered for years in the dense woodlands of Feralals to cleanse themselves off demonic powers before seeking audience in Darnassus.

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If you like the idea and you are a Twitter user, please help share the word!

And there is also a thread on the official WoW EU Forum.

[Asotcha]

Those pics are gorgeous--it would be pretty nice to see something like this for the nelves future

[Devonitar]

It would be great, but sadly I don't think it will happen. Besides, I believe Blizz is more inclined to make Hyjal a night elf capital, since in some of her rants Tyrande speaks about returning to Hyjal.

[Warmage]

That would be amazing. Always seemed that this place was too big and cool to just be a few dungeons
We could have a long quest line where we gradually take control of it and the last phase all AH and other capital NPCs appear. With a 3-4 min long awesome cinematic too

[Amaterasu65]

Would be way prettier, but way more dangerous in the long run. Hyjal is strategically superior both location wise, and having all the other allying forces nearby (Ancients etc).

[matrix123mko]

I prefer to make it an ogre capital.

They could try to salvage what applicable to noble deeds, and destroy the rest to prevent it from falling into the wrong people’s hands.

No! They should never destroy priceless scrolls!

[Pregnant Orc]

No! They should never destroy priceless scrolls!

Agree.
Both to preserve knowledge and to make a new source of danger with all the reclaimed tomes.
Lock the scrolls up and make a great it into a deep dark library. Part elven restoration, part old ruins, part things hiding beneath.
Great dungeon/raid potential going down into the "Forbidden Athenaeum" or something similar in the future as well whenever the hidden secrets corrupts someone into a tool for a big bad or some big bad invades it.

[Hellspawn]

I think Eldre'Thalas would be cool, unlike a new capital in Hyjal it would be like this city that got many secrets that are lost and can be rediscovered. They would have access to the water and it would be quite central in Kalimdor with good access to other zones.

On the other side, Hyjal is to "modern" night elfs what Zuldazar is to trolls. You get Nordrassil, the new Well of eternity and all the druidic shirnes. The main hub would be on the highest point in Kalimdor, literally looking down on everyone else. You get all the old stone ruins currently there which indicate that night elfs lived there.

Personally any of the two places would be good to me.

[Varodoc]

It does not lie in Horde territory... Feralas is not and never was Horde territory... the Alliance literally has more presence there than the Horde. They have an entire military stronghold vs a small tauren camp.

[Astranea]

I prefer to make it an ogre capital.

Fair enough, to each their own. ;-)

No! They should never destroy priceless scrolls!

But... not even those explaining how to call in the Legion?

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It does not lie in Horde territory... Feralas is not and never was Horde territory... the Alliance literally has more presence there than the Horde. They have an entire military stronghold vs a small tauren camp.

That’s what people on EU wow forum have been saying. They claim it is written in the wow Chronicles, although I couldn’t say where exactly as they didn’t tell.

AFAIK the ruins of Eldre'Thalas were raided by the Horde in year 25 and it was them who discovered the Shen'dralar feeding on Immol'thar’s magical power and killing the majority of the remaining elves, including the corrupted prince. [World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3, pg. 120]

Wouldn’t be able to say if it was just a raid or they later gained control of the entire area. I always assumed it was an Alliance zone, but I can’t say I have read the whole of the Chronicles throughougly. As a matter of fact, I do not even own a copy of Volume 3 (yet).

[Varodoc]

Fair enough, to each their own. ;-)



But... not even those explaining how to call in the Legion?

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That’s what people on EU wow forum have been saying. They claim it is written in the wow Chronicles, although I couldn’t say where exactly as they didn’t tell.

AFAIK the ruins of Eldre'Thalas were raided by the Horde in year 25 and it was them who discovered the Shen'dralar feeding on Immol'thar’s magical power and killing the majority of the remaining elves, including the corrupted prince. [World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 3, pg. 120]

Wouldn’t be able to say if it was just a raid or they later gained control of the entire area. I always assumed it was an Alliance zone, but I can’t say I have read the whole of the Chronicles throughougly. As a matter of fact, I do not even own a copy of Volume 3 (yet).

What Chronicles meant by that is that canonically it was Horde adventurers who completed the Dire Maul dungeon. Chronicles volume 3 explained which faction cleared which raids/dungeons. It doesn't mean that the Horde occupied the ruins of Eldre'thalas or anything like that. So the people who told you that are wrong.

[Vaedan]

Copying from EU Forum:

I know now that the Night Elves have lost Darnassus most people are expecting them to go settle in Hyjal by Nordrassil and the new Well of Eternity, and it undoubtedly makes sense.

But what if they didn’t all want to settle there or the druid guardians did not want the area to become too heavily urbanized?

Personally I can’t help feeling it would be cool if the surviving Shen’dralar Highborne scholars joined up with their trainees and a number of displaced Darnassians to reclaim the ruins of Dire Maul and make a new Night Elven city in the lush forests of Feralas. Sure, there would be quite some cleansing and rebuilding to do… but it could look awesome. Really really awesome.

As seen on the Argent Archives:



And, imagine how many secrets could still lay in the city… it WAS the archive of Azshara’s most precious tomes after all…

But those scrolls are dangerous!

Nobody says they would all need to be put to use. They could try to salvage what applicable to noble deeds, and destroy the rest to prevent it from falling into the wrong people’s hands. The point being: the discovery of ancient secrets is always a pleasant theme for a quest line. We could get more insight into Azshara’s character which may come in handy eventually. And sure, there could be greedy NPCs that need be stopped. But that’s what Heroes are for, right?

But it now lies within Horde territory!

Indeed, and now we just made peace we do not want to start another faction war. But since it’s clearly the Horde’s (Silvana’s) fault if the Night Elves do not have a capital any more, granting back these ruins to rebuild may be considered a gesture of good will and repentance.

This is really great work. I love the concept and it feels like a meaningful proposal for night elves. I never liked those theories where night elves settles on continent other than Kalimdor. I still believe that heart of kaldorei is in the northern parts of Kalimdor and their capital should be here.

Having Eldre'thalas rebuilt as kaldorei city is also pretty likely due to Sentinel Fortress on the coast of Feralas. What I'd like to see is to have Eldre'thalas serve as a place fought over by night elves and nightborne. I think even nightborne can be actually interested in the place, and it would give some interaction between those two groups, giving us chance to explore how actually night elves feel towards nightborne.

Part of city could be retaken by night elves, other part of city by nightborne, including many quests sending you to fight the opposing faction. Then they could have dungeons here even after this rework (I think dungeons would have to go if it would be made racial capital city) in a different form. I can imagine at least one dungeon with Battle of Dazar'Alor treatment - you fight enemies depending on your faction (so basicly as an alliance, you would clear the dungeon of nightborne intrusions, as a horde, you would halt the night elven progress in the area).

[matrix123mko]

But... not even those explaining how to call in the Legion?

Of course not. They are priceless. Demons are a perfect tool against the Void. Every warlock will tell that.

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Agree.
Both to preserve knowledge and to make a new source of danger with all the reclaimed tomes.
Lock the scrolls up and make a great it into a deep dark library. Part elven restoration, part old ruins, part things hiding beneath.
Great dungeon/raid potential going down into the "Forbidden Athenaeum" or something similar in the future as well whenever the hidden secrets corrupts someone into a tool for a big bad or some big bad invades it.

Knowledge is power. It shouldn't fall into wrong hands but it also shouldn't be forgotten.

[Thage]

It does not lie in Horde territory... Feralas is not and never was Horde territory... the Alliance literally has more presence there than the Horde. They have an entire military stronghold vs a small tauren camp.

Not just this, but the majority of the night elves' navy and no few veteran troops being sent down to Feralas to respond to the Silithus feint was a plot point in how the Horde was able to steamroll through Darkshore as hard as it did. Delaryn got promoted to leading the defense of Ashenvale and Darkshore because her superior officer died and there was nobody else with enough experience/seniority/rank available to be called in. So Feralas remains at least partly under night elf control.

I've personally been a proponent of the night elves retaking and repairing Eldre'Thalas since the War of Thorns was announced--if they were slated to lose their capital, relocating to an easily-defensible fortress of a city like Eldre'Thalas, using the Shen'dralar who joined them as their 'in,' made a lot of sense, doubly so back when Darkshore was still contested territory--the night elves could send troops up from Feralas, while the Alliance comes in from the north via Kul'Tiras and sailing around the top of Kalimdor, or by making port at the ruins of Theramore (good for getting the troops' blood up, too) and heading northwest through Dustwallow and the Barrens.

It would also open up potential for a Gnomeregan-like situation, where the night elves hold most quarters of the city for use as their capital, and the rest can be used for a new endgame or leveling dungeon involving securing the rest from the remaining ogre, demon, and Horde forces.

[Mace]

Clearing a dungeon doesn't necessarily mean it belongs to a faction. Cataclysm has the Shen'dralar commissioning people to help them get their city back.

I'm all for Eldre'thalas being a Highborne capital, and a thriving city of it's own,

but my vote goes to Hyjal - it's got everything.. arcane well of eternity all the Highborne users are going to want, a world tree for all th druids, and it's basically the place where the wild gods have been hanging out with the Nelves. Add a city and a huge temple to Elune, and you've got everything the night elves need for their capital.


Meanwhile, Eldre'thalas should be a Highborne capital. There is no reason why they can't have both. Hyjal is a more sacred/holy place, more secluded, more night elf puritan and fits their reclusive nature across the board. Whiles the Highborne would be about huge progress/development, interact more with the world and be a leading light.

That's my opinion. And if blizzard is just too lazy for either, they've already done Suramar and the Broken isles, it's easier to write a story than design a new city.

[Astranea]

I'm all for Eldre'thalas being a Highborne capital, and a thriving city of its own.

I’m not sure I follow that reasoning. Since the Shen’dralar Highborne are now members of the Night Elven society, it would feel wrong for me to isolate them again. IMHO they should reclaim the city together with the rest of the Night Elves and for all of the Night Elves, or not at all.

my vote goes to Hyjal - it's got everything.. arcane well of eternity all the Highborne users are going to want [...] Add a city and a huge temple to Elune, and you've got everything the night elves need for their capital.

JUST a city and a huge temple of Elune?

I fear that’s where we can only acknowledge to have different opinions, as that makes little sense to me after what has happened with the Great Sundering. As a matter of facts, my reasoning for Eldre’Thalas as the new Night Elf capital is exactly that the druids may want to protect Nordrassil and the new Well from urbanization as that may lead to exploitation of the Well and too much attention being brought to a critical site.

I may be mistaken of course, but I can’t help shake the feeling that many druids would fiercely oppose the idea of Nordrassil becoming a Zin-Azshari 2.0. And on the other hand, I would expect the Shen’dralar themselves to have acquired enough wisdom in the past 10k years to agree that such a powerful site should be protected. That doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to access it at all, of course... but such a powerful and sacred site should be rather studied by a few trusted scholars than become a playing field for any young mage trainee.

If it can be of any consolation however, I also think that two hubs could work for the Night Elves... I just see it the opposite way: a secluded hub in Nordrassil with mostly druids guardians, priestesses and esteemed scholars, to guard the tree and protect the well (pretty much as it is now with just a few additions) while the majority of the Night Elves of all trades would dwell in the new thriving forest-city of Eldre'Thalas.

[Ardenaso]

I've always wanted Eldre'thalas to be the restored for the Shen'dralar and the Alliance High Elves