Moreover I’ve seen no evidence that hiding from the Legion even worked at all, even before the elves taught humans.
What, you’re telling me that in that entire war, no demon ever wrote down the coordinates of this really important place they were attacking? After getting kicked off, it’s just gone from their minds? They don’t got object permanence yet?
The lure of the Arcane tends to corrupt particularly power driven people, though. Because of that, you have people like Azshara, Xavius, Kael’Thas, and Kel’thuzzad. Arcane has been done to do some good things, but it is not obvious to me that only mages could have solved those problems. It is also not obvious to me that mages have not done more harm than good.
To be fair, the Legion was one of the most poorly managed evil organizations in the setting, and that’s saying something.
Except that the NE continued to to oppose the arcane, at least in Elves. And it makes sense that after thousands of years, they regard the arcane as fundamentally wrong.
And, as I said, opposition to the arcane is something that made the NE stand out rather than be just another one of the rising number of Elven variants.
Managed demons in ANY setting is a contradiction in terms.
The introduction of the Night Elves to the setting involved Tyrande freeing Illidan to get the aid of his arcane sorcery and fel magic. As Tyrande was the one that lifted the ban on magic, “makes sense” fits the situation as much as it is as you would suggest otherwise.
Slight bit of noteworthy context here. She freed Illidan by slaughtering Maiev’s Wardens. Apparently she spent millennia allowing them to drift away from her influence to the point where they would not obey her orders. This may give some justification to Maiev’s later actions involving her in Lordaeron.
The Wardens were the first to arrive and help Tyrande while she was performing her Night Warrior ritual, so I guess the Wardens are over all that.
Between one set slaughtered by Tyrande and then another by Illidan, these might be new recruits.
Maiev freed the Illidari, too, and even has special friendly flavor text for Demon Hunter players in Val’sharah.
Because she literally had no choice as her precious order hall was being overrun.
And now at Darkshore Maiev was working with the very Highborne mages she tried to kill, so even she’s over the ban on magic.
Weren’t they slaughtered by Forsaken rogues in “Elegy”? I don’t recall seeing any on the Warfront. It’s been awhile since I’ve done it Hordeside.
(Observation): Arcane was always described as a magical art of Order. Fel and demonology was the magic of Chaos, to the point that in WC3 their spell abilities dealt chaos damage. With arcane magic it was always a given that magic worked by fundamental principles and laws; if you cast the same spell the same way twice, you’d get the same results.
(Commentary): This is the, ‘Corruptive Nature,’ of arcane magic that has always been one of the four tenants or laws of arcane magic. The corruption of arcane is more of a psychological than physical one (not that physical corruption doesn’t happen). Even the most humble and kind person can become proud and callous. Casting a spell was described as an addictive feeling; a surge of power that made you feel like a god, leaving you struggling to resist the temptation to cast a spell again for that rush.
(Commentary): When you look at characters like Azshara, Kael’thas, Xavius, and Kel’thuzad, the story tends to repeat; you have people who at the start are genuinely good people, who become proud and arrogant, and then consumed by a desire for more power.
Some Highborne were killed that joined the early intercept forces in Ashenvale before Malfurion could arrive. Later, when the Horde got closer to Astranaar, Sylvanas remarks on how Night Elf Druids and Night Elf Mages were working together to kill and torture Horde soldiers, and Nathanos remarked to himself how none of the Horde soldiers were able to catch the Night Elf attackers.
As far as the Darkshore Warfront, Mordent Evenshade runs Ashwood Depot when the Alliance takes it back, and even gives you a quest to deliver to Maiev.
Yes but there are no active Mages in combat and they aren’t one of the selectable units.
Apperantly there are Night Elf Monks as well, as seen in A Good War, though we don’t see them at the Darkshore Warfront, either.
Point still stands that Maeiv is working with Mordent Evenshade, despite previously personally wanting to have had him killed despite the aforementioned lift on the arcane ban.
A Kaldorei Mage even brings Maeiv, Shandris, and Tyrande from Nordrassil to the Stormwind Stockades to see Sira in Shadows Rising.
Wow this could have been a cool story/world/flavour thread.
(Commentary): I once remember reading a suggestion that Night Elves switched their views on arcane and druidism to an extent. From what I recall it was basically a lasting, ‘Leyara effect,’ where many Night Elves blamed the Druids within their society for abandoning them to the Horde during Cataclysm, and at the same time the Highborne proved themselves in the eyes of the bulk of the people by stepping up to help defend and protect the Night Elves. Basically a decline in opinion for Druids while Highborne got a chance to shine and properly fit into society.
That is something I have been thinking about lately.
I run a Night Elf guild, and originally, we have always been traditionalists. A call back to the Long-Vigil, really. Now, that image is becoming blurry because guild members are making mage and DH alts, and we are recruiting more and more highborne RPers.
My character is very critical of the Arcane, and HATES the Alliance only slightly less than she hates the Horde. In an RP, I was RPing with this highborne and my character went off about how horrible humans are and so on. Interesting so see the Highborn agree, and a druid (who overheard the conversation) disagreed. Suddenly, I was put in this situation, where my traditionalist character was more aligned with the views of a Highborn rather than a druid, and I thought that was really interesting, and I began to realize just how critical my character was of druidism.
First, it was a male druid, and the matriarchal theocracy that my character subscribes too really takes issue with a man criticizing her at all. Second, the very idea that the Druid can slumber for 10,000 years, under the constant guard and care of the sisterhood, can awaken and suddenly think they can advise on matters in the waking world.
Clearly, there are problems with my character’s beliefs, but she’s not entirely wrong. Especially since Blizzard seems to consistently vindicate her prejudices via their lazy writing.