of the High elfs

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The high elves, or quel'dorei —"children of noble birth" in Darnassian and Thalassian—, are a race descended from the night elf Highborne who left Kalimdor and settled in the Eastern Kingdoms, founding Quel'Thalas. They were once a significant force on the continent, but in recent times their numbers have been dramatically reduced: approximately 90% of their population was slaughtered during the Third War. Following this, most the surviving high elves changed their name to sin'dorei —"children of the blood" in Thalassian— in remembrance of their fallen brethren, and no longer consider themselves high elven.



The high elves as a whole were relatively secluded from the younger races for several millennia, though both the Troll Wars and the Second War saw relations established with them: with King Thoradin of the Kingdom of Arathor, and the Alliance of Lordaeron respectively. The high elves' reluctant allegiance to the latter proved short-lived, as the high elven king Anasterian Sunstrider quickly grew apathetic to the plight of his allies, and officially seceded his nation. Subsequently, the high elven kingdom was brought to the brink of annihilation when Prince Arthas Menethil launched the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas and decimated the high elves. Rallied by Lor'themar Theron, second-in-command of the fallen Sylvanas Windrunner, the high elves rejoined with Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, and renamed themselves "blood elves", in honor of their perished brethren. The blood elves then sought to unite and restore their people to the glory they enjoyed at the height of high elf civilization, and have retaken much of their land from the Scourge.

However, a few high elves did not rename themselves blood elves. High elves and blood elves are physiologically the same race, and the difference between high and blood elves is only political. When Quel'Thalas left the Alliance, some high elves chose to remain with their allies over their kingdom, and to this day still support the Alliance. Some high elves were exiled from Quel'Thalas after the Third War. Other high elf remnants have chosen to rejoin the Alliance in recent years, arriving to a cold reception. Modern high elves are a rare sight, and are commonly mistaken for blood elves. In consequence, there are very few high elves left on Azeroth today. High elves did not gather in any significant numbers and are a very small group of individuals. Indeed, modern high elves cannot even truly be said to have a culture—only a past filled with glory and regret.



As a people, the high elves are all but extinct: the remnants of the remnants of a fallen race. Though without any official leader, Vereesa Windrunner leads one of the few organized high elf collaborations, the Silver Covenant, as its self-styled Ranger General.

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The Tale of their Excile

As the centuries passed, the night elves' new society grew strong and expanded throughout the budding forest that they came to call Ashenvale. Many of the creatures and species that were abundant before the Great Sundering, such as furbolgs and quilboars, reappeared and flourished in the land. Under the druids' benevolent leadership, the night elves enjoyed an era of unprecedented peace and tranquility under the stars.
However, many of the original Highborne survivors grew restless. Like Illidan before them, they fell victim to the withdrawal that came from the loss of their coveted magics. They were tempted to tap the energies of the Well of Eternity and exult in their magical practices. Dath'Remar, the brash, outspoken leader of the Highborne, began to mock the druids publicly, calling them cowards for refusing to wield the magic that he said was theirs by right.
Malfurion and the druids dismissed Dath'Remar's arguments and warned the Highborne that any use of magic would be punishable by death. In an insolent and ill-fated attempt to convince the druids to rescind their law, Dath'Remar and his followers unleashed a terrible magical storm upon Ashenvale.
The druids could not bring themselves to put so many of their kin to death, so they decided to exile the reckless Highborne from their lands. Dath'Remar and his followers, glad to be rid of their conservative cousins at last, boarded a number of specially crafted ships and set sail upon the seas. Though none of them knew what awaited them beyond the waters of the raging Maelstrom, they were eager to establish their own homeland, where they could practice their coveted magics with impunity.
The Highborne, or Quel'dorei, as Azshara had named them in ages past, would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom, Quel'Thalas, and reject the night elves' precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, they would embrace the sun and be known only as the high elves.