Just posting this here, again for the brain-rotted.
I think regardless of the question of if there are Night Elves actually living on Kalimdor or not, the key importance is where are Night Elves physically located in game.
The game is prime canon, the books are not, and even the game is subject to retconning itself. Time and again, we see what is physically present in game locations trump any other consideration mentioned in an easy merch opportunity parading around as a book. The “Exploring” series almost solely tries to justify the continued existence of enemy mobs that were supposed to have been cleared out by the time of our questing there unless they were actually put in a temporary phase.
So yes, in theory, all of Kalimdor in canon is traditionally the Night Elf home.
And yet not one piece of writing since the Burning of Teldrassil has actually acted like that.
Darkshore got enough cutscenes around it that that’s a maybe as far as sticking around if the area gets another update – which I’m not holding my breath on. It’s not like WC has this great and beautiful multi-genre product line which cares about the current state of canon outside of WoW. Only WoW players care about other WC products besides the RTSes, IMX. What we see in game is what actually matters.
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That doesn’t negate the current lore that the Kaldorei own all their Kalimdor holdings again, regardless of you and others wanting to claim otherwise
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Pretty sure Exploring Kalimdor, a book that thought that the Dark Portal was used 1,000 years ago in Azshara in the War of the Ancients 1,000 years ago also said they abandoned the area after lmao.
And then of course, new lore says “everything is interpretive and we change it on a whim” making those already retconned books pretty much irrelevant.
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Strange then how it took them until 10.2 to relocate the refugees in Stormwind even though the books said they had a place of refuge in Kalimdor. It’s almost like Blizzard is inconsistent and that is exactly why we’re upset. The Night Elf NPCs act like they don’t have a home until Amirdrassil, even though the novels say otherwise. EVERYTHING represented in game says they are without a home until Amirdrassil shows up.
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They have a military presence in those locations except darkshore which is abandoned because it’s a blighted ruin, Ashenvale is still being invaded by the horde. A military presence is much different from a civilian one.
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I never said they were, others did. I’m trying to figure out what’s actually happening and expressing my views on it IF that’s true.
Again, I repeat.
Darkshore is unlivable. Darkshore was unlivable BEFORE Teldrassil went up. Literally stated that multiple attempts to settle it happened and all failed. That is lore. That is canon.
So even if it weren’t corrupted, it is unlivable as far as we know without Darnassus.
Then you have Ashenvale. Something Kalimdor said was an active battleground. Except now the majority of the Night Elves, the main supply line, and the main source of power are moving halfway across the planet.
Again, there is no vast population of Night Elves that live outside of Darnassus. There are no hidden pockets filled with Night Elves. And there’s no way to support or wage war across the planet.
We just had a massive expansion about war and the complications of being able to wage a war across the distances without bases of operation.
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They dont have to be.
But they have been multiple times over so the point is moot
Except it’s not abandoned? We literally had an entire war zone based on retaking the place in BFA. It’s almost like some of you guys don’t play the game and just make stuff up to complain about
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Read exploring Kalimdor, it is abandoned and why Rexxar and the troll didn’t have to hide from patrols.
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Again, they still retook it. Regardless of any claims to the contrary
I respect this endeavor, but at the end of the day, every time I’ve seen someone have a knockdown drag-out fight of “what does source 13 on the wiki page for this say” versus “what are vibes”
the vibes are the ones that end up carrying the day in this franchise in 5 years
Most other EUs I’d care a lot about sourcing and evidence, absolutely nuts to me that people here still are trying after Chronicles got retconned into unreliable narrator.
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Didn’t they literally have to hide from the sentinels on the border?
Darkshore isn’t abandoned. Exploring Kalimdor highlights that the roads are still patrolled by the Sentinels, which is why Rexxar and Zek’han had to avoid them.
Ashenvale has been fully reclaimed. All territory that was lost by the Night Elves during the War of Thorns is back in their hands, with Astranaar being rebuilt and fortified to protect it from future assaults.
Their holdings in Stonetalon, Hyjal, Felwood, Moonglade, Winterspring, Desolace and Feralas were never under threat.
Again, we’ve seen zero evidence that the Night Elves are planning on leaving Kalimdor. None. This is doomsaying nonsense from a bunch of eejits who prefer to use their own headcanon and massive logic leaps to justify their anger rather than actually use their brains.
In Ashenvale, not in Darkshore, they even comment on how there are no animal sounds or something like that in Darkshore.
No, it is not patrolled, it is no longer patrolled. They hide from the patrols in Ashenvale not in Darkshore.
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After the Fourth War, Zekhan and Rexxar visited the area. Except for some wildlife, they found that little life remained in the mists of Darkshore; birdsong gone, chased off by the wails of those unwilling to pass on.[19] Ameth’Aran and Bashal’Aran remain ruined, but the Grove of the Ancients and Shatterspear Vale are still active. As they wandered northward to see the remains of Teldrassil, the pair had to be careful not to be seen, as to not start another war and don’t trouble the night elves. After avoiding the main road, they didn’t have to be so careful. The forest roads were once highly patrolled, but now they’re mostly left alone, with Tyrande and her Sentinels focusing their wrath elsewhere.
Exploring Kalimdor is set almost immediately after the close of the 4th War. So the Night Elves were still very much on the warpath and Tyrande was still in her Night Warrior phase.
I think the books mentions that once they got off the main road, they didn’t have to be so careful. Made it sound like there were still enough sentinels patrolling that if caught it could spark another war, which neither one wanted
Its funny how yall are holding random passages of books or quests like they actually matter
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And by virtue of not being able to use it, have to abandon it.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh they technically own it, but can’t use it, can’t support it, can’t live in it, and the Horde can roam there completely unchecked because there is no military presence because it was abandoned…But they still like, own it”.
Come on, now.
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