Them’s fightin’ words!
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I personally believe that, overall, Blood Elf Demon Hunters recieved an warmer welcome home than their Night Elf counter parts.
My theory for that is mainly that, for blood elves, fel magic is not as taboo as it is among the night elves. Then this gets added to the part of the program that, by comparison, blood elf DHs are much newer than night elf ones. The blood elf ones are more likely to have living relatives and old friends who they have not been away from for nearly as long.
That all said, among Pandaren, I would imagine DHs have a rather lacking amount of Cross-Faction animosity. Both likely dislike the other faction for obvious reasons for both, but when confronted with each other they ‘conviently’ saw other enemies… over there… away from each other.
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Traditionally, Blood Elf society has been an arcane aristocracy, where your magical prowess and pedigree determined your status in society. But ever since the Scourge sacked Silvermoon and decimated the population, the value of nobility fell out of favor and that power vacuum was filled by the more… utilitarian members of the military.
Prior to this reversal of roles, the Sin’dorei military was seen as inherently subservient to the whims of magisters and not nearly as prestigious, like comparing an Ivy League school to community college, or a lawyer to an electrician.
But since joining the Horde, Silvermoon’s recovery has led to the formation of a competing two-pillar hierarchy: the traditional nobility still clinging to power, and the ascendant military of the Farstriders and Blood Knights serving a much more tangible purpose, leading to an uneasy social tension between the old “guard” and the new, with neither being dominant enough to assert total control over the other.
Related to that: for Blood Elves, magical skill is a very relative thing, where even their “physical” classes (warriors, rogues, hunters) or priests and paladins utilize minor arcane tricks to augment themselves and their abilities in unconventional ways. For example: a Blood Elf warrior’s Ignore Pain ability is a very basic barrier spell.
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I was about to counter this by saying that Anduin and Varian etc. dont speak much differently from, say, Arthas. But then I realized Varian was a small boy when Stormwind fell, and then raised in Lordaeron.
So perhaps the Wrynns and other nobility have a more Lordaeronian affectation due to the exile, speaking differently from commoners.
Either way headcanon accepted.
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More industrious Goblins, especially in the merchant industries, tend to know multiple languages. Goblins have also invented the most popular version of Azeroth’s equivalent of Sign Language, originally for use between workers in noisy environments but also the not insignificant number of goblins left partially or fully deaf due to injury or industrial accidents. As goblins tend to bring languages with them wherever they travel, signing has become increasingly popular with the world’s more peculiar sentient races to whom Common or Orcish is linguistically (or even physically) difficult.
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Ayy, looks like we had the same idea.
Here’s another - there are clear oriental (moreover Pandaren) influences in Goblin cuisine thanks to the presence of classic noodle boxes, bamboo straws and noodles themselves, amid the hodgepodge of other influenced food.
It’d come as literally no surprise that a Grandmaster (Rochu) had visited Kezan in the past and likely spread said goodness to the probably-recently-freed-from-slavery populace of the time.
Given the Zandalari have also shown such a love for food, why not take their ideas too?
I figure they take one look at the Troll’s tortillas in Zandalar and turned 'em right into commercialized burritos and quesadillas.
The Taco Bell kinds, not the Taco Bill kinds.
A mix-and-match to mad scientist proportions, to create a bastardized tortilla so unsightly (and delicious) that even their originating culture either loves/hates it with every fiber of their being!
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What an incredibly lovely thread!! :'D
My guild & the greater night elf community have collaborated for more headcanons than I can count, so I will just post links to a couple of my favorite ones!
Night Warrior Rituals & Side Effects:
https://the-silver-circle.tumblr.com/post/181814374898/blessings-of-the-night-warrior-this-headcanonNight Elf Markings & Meanings:
https://the-silver-circle.tumblr.com/post/172592694988/credit-for-the-original-rendition-of-this-post
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I am both in agreement with this and adding onto it:
Due to the blood elf Illidari having entered into Illidan’s service when they and every other of their people still holding loyalty to Kael’thas, and equally as betrayed by his turning to the Legion as the rest of them, the sacrifices they made are viewed as having been for the better of their people.
The blood elves are not quick to forget that it was the fel that allowed them to rebuild, nor to forget that that was not the only thing they utilized that was at best morally dubious to return to a position of any power.
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Funnily enough I made a blood elf illidari in legion who thought ICly that he would receive heroic acclaim for his efforts in going to Outland and assisting in the job of finding a new power source for the Sin’dorei. Oocly I didn’t think it’d go quite the way he expected. But the sheer hatred he received actually surprised me OOC. I was legit shocked at how abhorrent many elf RPers found the Illidari, because i thought along similar lines to you, Solafina. Eventually I stopped Rping him entirely - didn’t find the constant hate particularly fun xD
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On the magic part I think the same thing, and also apply it to gnomes since they’re magically adept and well, magic helps make up for a lot of disparities when you’re small.
Back to blood elves though, I like to think most, if not all, thalassian elves can innately use magic. The skilled ones went on to become magisters and the like, but even most common folk could manage simple cantrips to help them clean around the house or make performing a job a little easier. I also think, and maybe this isn’t strictly headcanon but more old/out-of-date lore(I could swear I read it somewhere once before), that Farstriders/rangers could utilize what was essentially minor nature/druidic magic (think stuff on the level of Druidcraft or Speak with Animals for DnD examples).
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I like the idea of a Blood Elf Illidari coming back that had previously aided the Alliance in the first and second war against the orcs. Then comes back from Outland and is like, wait? We joined the Horde and it’s incredibly awkward.
Yet that’s unfortunate you received so much hate. I think Demon Hunters, especially Blood Elves got a lot of unnecessary hate at the start of Legion. They were the new exciting class so a lot of people were playing them, which meant your quality of RP varied and the people you met hit or miss. I would think now it’s hopefully cooled off, a bit like with Death Knights now which got a lot of hate when they were first introduced in Wrath but now no one cares ![:woman_shrugging:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/woman_shrugging.png?v=6" ":woman_shrugging:")
Humans, particularly Stormwind and other city dwelling ones, all own reinforced umbrellas for going outdoors. Why? Gryphons. You think a horse dropping a deuce in the middle of the street is bad? Imagine from a couple hundred feet up and twice the size! Pigeons have nothing on them!
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Hey man that’s 7 years good luck.
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Afflicted gilneans will casually shift to worgen form when lifting something heavy. They often forget that this can be terrifying to those who dont realise they are afflicted.
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Nightborne are inherently some of the most powerful casters on Azeroth, in terms of raw talent and innate potential through their centuries of being infused with the Titanic power of the Nightwell.
They are also the least experienced war casters on Azeroth through their isolation in a highly cushy, bourgeoisie city, and it shows.
Whereas other mages, arcanists, wizards and other casters have learned to streamline their magic and make it as efficient as possible to make it even remotely practical in the chaos of a fight, Nightborne magic was theorised, developed and utilised to be the most show-offiest, grandstanding, attention drawing show it possibly could be.
The bigger, shinier, sparklier and more impressive the spell, after all, the more likely it would be that Elisande would notice.
As such, while the Nightborne possess unparalleled power, in terms of actually fighting, they get outwitted by mages and other casters who take the practical route, as opposed to a big fancy ritual.
Moreover, their summoned food sucks. Other mages summon bread and water as staples to keep you going; Nightborne summon decadent, sugary monstrosities to, again, show off more than anything.
The Blood Elves have had their hands full trying to rein the Nightborne in and get them to accept that sometimes a fireball is just as good in a fight as a half-hour-long conjuring of a breathtaking arcane vortex that could destroy a house… if they ever got the chance to finish the spell.
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Goblins have standardized the use of bank notes/cheques/et al and various economies make use of coins or alternate currency representing larger denominations.
Yes, the average Human/Orc agricultural laborer makes the majority of their own goods and makes only the equivalent of a couple coppers or silver a day. However some cultures, like Goblins, have a larger percentage of mid-to upper class members because their economy is more manufacturing-service-information based.
Also, I don’t think goblins have more kids on average, but rather, they reach maturity much more quickly- in much the same way that elves generally do more slowly. I think the various races have different maturation rates actually. I try to avoid the specific details so as to avoid the uncomfortable implications as they relate to real world human maturation rates.
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Oh a fun spin you can throw on it, perhaps goblin children don’t age faster. It just seems that way to an outsider because goblin children pick up things fairly quickly compared to children from different cultures.
While toddlers from other cultures are playing with dolls and barely forming words. Goblin children come out as a mouthy toddler, they learn to walk and climb in a matter of days and before they’re even 5 are already crafting shrewd inventions.
Gnomes may share a similar experience with their children but I like to imagine gnomish children are a wee bit more pleasant while goblin children are like little hellions.
Can you imagine your baby is barely a few weeks old and already knows the word no. It would be hell babysitting a goblin lmao.
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One Azerothian beast that the Mag’har became instantly smitten with is the direhorn.
It has SPIKES.
On its FACE.
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I love this.
I also love the idea that Orcs inherently find races who are spiky (trolls, tauren and, to a less extent, pointed ears) more aesthetically pleasing.
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we can go even further: the reason orcs prefer spiky fortifications and living quarters is because it reminds them of feeling safe in their homes on draenor, where the creatures are so big and ferocious that everything being coated in impaling spikes would make it difficult to assault without being impaled, thus being a safe place to rest
if you wanna go back even further you can call it a collective memory of living in gorgrond amongst the ogres or even an ancestral instinct from being descended from the breakers and their earth elemental heritage
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