So, when I was coming up with something for Vanaelia’s background, I realized I didn’t know quite enough about the history of dwarves and high elves ( as an amusing side, talk to text heard High Elves as high heels).
Specifically, I suppose I’m wondering if there was a chance that High Elves and dwarves would have worked together prior to, I suppose, the first war. I don’t know if it would end up being bronzebeard or wildhammer Dwarfs, with the idea I had is that she was part of an elf attache to dwarves dealing with troll incursions.
Is that plausible? From what I’ve read, the High Elves and bronzebeard dwarfs don’t really get along that well, but they’re on decent terms with wildflowers. I don’t know enough about the war of the three hammers to come up with anything specific.
I should point out that this is more for the sake of plausibility, and not necessarily accuracy. I’m fine with massaging the lore a bit, as long as it doesn’t break certain foundations. I wouldn’t, for example, say that she had been working with draenei.
But does not seem possible? High Elves working with dwarves to deal with trolls, prior to the first war. Fifty, a hundred years ago?
The Wildhammer dwarves used to be quite isolationist, and they arrived at the Hinterlands about 270 years ago. After the war of three hammers. The first time High elves and Wildhammer dwarves worked together in any large capacity was during the second war, and then after the third war when the wildhammer struck an alliance with the highvale high elves.
I’m sure individuals and such could have worked together before, but there are no known examples.
How 'bout Bronzebeard? I’m not terribly picky; also, how long ago was the War of Three Hammers? An approximation or estimate is fine.
Specifically, I’m looking for a reason a dwarf might remember working with her before her luxurious void tresses.
I have zero problems making something up (“Those poncy, noodle armed spinnin’ gits are ridiculous, but at least they’re good at killin’ trolls”), I just don’t want to go too far.
Well Earthen fought with Kaldorei against the Legion. It is a bit further back than the High Elves and modern Dwarves. But maybe some familial legend or link could be “massaged” from that.
Hard to say but it’s possible. The issue is we don’t know the construction date of Quel 'Danil Lodge and Far Striders Lodge which are the two main outpost for High Elves in Dwarven land .
Depending on the age of those structure would date when Friendly Dwarf and High Elf relations would have started as they would have to been on good terms to allow such buildings to exist. Once those buildings exist you can say High Elves and Dwarfs would be working together against common enemies like trolls , gnolls, etc.
That was my line of thinking, too. I think this is one of those things Blizzard is deliberately vague about, to allow for some freedom for people making up stories.
I think I’m going to go with that. There’s trolls in The Hinterlands, so that helps with the narrative. And trolls and dwarves are long lived enough that a century and change work. Thanks!
Now, all I have to do is figure out why Bronzebeard dwarves would be part of this. I…should brush up on my Dwarven lore.
We know exactly when thanks to the Chronicles. The WoTH happened 230 years ago over a period of some years.
Dwarves actually can live that long I’m fairly sure. Though you would probably be considered very very old at that age, but it is maybe possible. Madoran, the king of Ironforge at the time, was Magni’s father (Muradin and Brann’s too). We don’t know when they were born, but that Ironforge has only had two kings in several hundred years shows their age capabilities.
So yes a dwarf may still be alive from the time of the civil war and onwards. 50-100 years ago easily still will be.
Dwarves likely live long enough that current adult dwarves had grandparents who fought in the War of Three Hammers, though we don’t know how old Magni is. We don’t really have set numbers because Blizzard is allergic to worldbuilding properly, but a dwarf old enough, even barely, to have fought in the War would be elderly now, I’d think.
In terms of prior interactions, while elves and dwarves would of course had their major differences, dwarves were very industrious and a dominant force on the continent prior to the War of Three Hammers, and likely would have had regular interactions, or at least quasi-regular, with the high elves. Keep in mind that dwarves were united as a big old kingdom starting about 2k years ago, that’s a huge stretch of time. Even if high elves and dwarves were super isolated from each other and barely interacted at all, there’s going to be many instances of contact and working together in some fashion over that time period.
I forget where it was stated but Muradin is in his early 200’s. And is pretty much in his prime. Assuming the age gap between the brothers is only a few years, Magni would probably have been a kid during the war since his father was leading the Bronzebeard clan then
EDIT: just double checked, but Muradin was 221 during the 3rd war so he was already born by the time the war of 3 hammers was nearing its end
While Quel’thalas was isolationist, it was by no means hostile to Ironforge. The Farstriders, its ranger corps, maintained a series of lodges supporting expeditions abroad, as far south as Loch Modan. The nations seem to have been cordial right up until about BC, when an Ironforge dwarf acted as an agent of a Darnassian surveillance / sabotage mission.
Some elves & dwarves remained friends in any case.
Dwarf/Elf antagonism as known from the Tolkien-verse seems not to have been the circumstances for relations between Quel’thalas and Khaz Modan.