Night elves

The kaldorei: an ancient people who once ruled an empire, lost it to their own magic, and hid in the forests for ten thousand years. The Burning Legion's return forced them out, and in Forever they face a world that is changing fast, including cousins from the sky.

A night elf warrior rendered from the WoW Forever client — A night elf warrior, rendered from the Forever client's own model.

Lore name: Kaldorei
Homeland: Teldrassil, Darkshore, Ashenvale
Capital: Darnassus
Leader: Tyrande Whisperwind, Priestess of the Moon (client)
Home faction: Darnassus

What the client says

Night Elf (Alliance)

Lore name: Kaldorei. Languages: Common, Darnassian. Starts in Teldrassil. Classes: Druid, Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Warrior. Racials: Elune's Light, Quickness, Shadowmeld, Wisp Spirit.

The client's character-creation text: Ten thousand years ago, the night elves founded a vast empire, but their reckless use of primal magic brought them to ruin. In grief, they withdrew to the forests and remained isolated there until the return of their ancient enemy, the Burning Legion. With no other choice, the night elves emerged at last from their seclusion to fight for their place in the new world.

Who they are

Night elves remember a time before any other mortal kingdom. Their empire was powerful and careless with magic, and its ruin taught them to fear the arcane. They withdrew into their forests, where druids and the priestesses of the moon goddess Elune kept them apart from the world. When the Burning Legion came back, they had to come out and fight, and they have not gone back into hiding.

In grief, they withdrew to the forests and remained isolated there until the return of their ancient enemy, the Burning Legion.
From the game client: Night Elf, the race description in the WoW Forever client

Warcraft background: Ten thousand years ago the Highborne's use of the Well of Eternity drew the Burning Legion to Azeroth. The War of the Ancients ended with the Well destroyed and the land sundered. The night elves renounced arcane magic, and the druids under Malfurion Stormrage slept in the Emerald Dream while the Sentinels under Tyrande kept watch. In the Third War they defeated Archimonde at Mount Hyjal at the cost of the World Tree's immortality, and afterwards grew Teldrassil, a new World Tree.

Homeland and capital

Darnassus sits in the branches of Teldrassil off Kalimdor's north-west coast. Their older lands are Darkshore and Ashenvale, where Sentinels fight the orcs' logging camps, and Moonglade, sacred to druids. In Forever, the mountain where they fought Archimonde, Mount Hyjal, opens to players for the first time.

The Alliance capital is populated by Night Elves and is located in the island of Teldrassil. Ruled by the Priestess of the Moon, Tyrande Whisperwind.
From the game client: Darnassus, the faction description in the WoW Forever client

Allies and enemies

Allies: the Alliance, which they joined after the Third War; the Cenarion Circle, shared with the tauren; the Guardians of Hyjal.
Enemies: the Horde's Warsong orcs in Ashenvale; the Burning Legion and its satyrs; corrupted furbolgs; and the Highborne's old arcane ways.
Complicated: the Skyborne. Descendants of Highborne who left after the War of the Ancients, they speak Darnassian but one of their orders wants the arcane back. See the Skyborne.

Language and names

Night elves speak Common and Darnassian. In Forever's client both Skyborne orders know Darnassian too, so it's the one racial language shared with a Horde race. Night elf names are long and musical, often with apostrophes. A second name could be a family, a grove, or a Sentinel's earned name (Shadowsong, Moonblade and Starbreeze are the style).

Notable figures

The client names Tyrande Whisperwind, Priestess of the Moon, as ruler of Darnassus. Blizzard's beta notes mention Sentinel Lynessa Duskblossom in the quest "Escaping Ban'ethil".

Racial abilities as flavour

Shadowmeld lets a night elf melt into the dark; Wisp Spirit shows their spirit taking the form of a wisp after death; Quickness is their grace. Forever adds Elune's Light, a blessing of the moon goddess. See Races.

In WoW Forever

In WoW Forever: Night elves' classes are unchanged, but their world grows. Mount Hyjal opens with the Guardians of Hyjal and the Barkskin furbolgs; the client adds The Watchers, night elf jailers who keep an underground network of prisons; and the Skyborne bring Highborne history back into the present.

RP hooks and character ideas

A Sentinel who fought at Hyjal and returns to the mountain for the first time since, to find it changed.
A young druid who has only known Teldrassil and must decide whether the Skyborne are kin or a threat.
A Watcher, trained to keep the worst things locked away, who has let something slip.
A priestess of Elune who thinks the High Order's arcane ambitions are the first step back to the old empire's mistakes.
A night elf who secretly studies the arcane and sees in the High Order a chance to learn openly.
A Darkshore fisher whose village is caught between Sentinels and Horde loggers.