I don’t mean to come upon this with hopes that they are, but I’m genuinely curious.
During an Alliance quest in BfA, it gave mention that they were hunting down Blood Prince Dreven for some time. Apparently, Dreven wanted to join the Horde, but in order for this to happen, Sylvannas employed them into doing a mission. If they succeeded, they would be welcomed in. None of the other leaders of Horde races were made aware of this except Talanji, who voiced mistrust.
Of course, the Alliance intercepted attacked Dreven and killed him along with his followers. Fast forward sometime after, Sylvannas abandons the Horde and ending the Fourth War. Because she is no longer the Warchief and leadership changed into a council by the Embassy, most of her rule would be obsolete and no longer in place.
By this logic, what little of San’layn still ‘employed’ by Sylvanas would likely be revoked and perhaps pushed out of the Horde. The San’layn have always been a race that both Horde -and- Alliance hated. Practically hunted down and killed on sight, for that matter.
This is one of those “wait and see” bits. I k ow Rokhan knew about them too, for what it’s worth, as he was present with Talanji at the meetings in Nazmir. I do know that if they don’t expand on the origins of the San’layn in SL it’ll be a wasted opportunity.
As far as I know, no. The San’layn were a political faction of Darkfallen loyal to the Lich King who were supposedly all killed off during Wrath, with the exception of the one in the Alliance war campaign. With him gone, I think that’s pretty much it for them.
Tbh as the War Campaign Undead bloodsucking Sin’dorei were referred to as San’layn, I think the terms “San’layn” and “Darkfallen” are interchangeable at this point.
Anyway to respond to OP are they part of the Horde? I’d suggest not openly, no. Dreven and his cadre were allowed to join, sure. But as far as we could tell there were only a few of them, and before the Alliance killed them they actually turned on their Horde crewmembers, and were sucking their blood. So are the San’layn, as a political faction, part of the Horde? No.
That said, I don’t think it would suspend disbelief too much to be a straggler. Undead elves are a part of the Horde, as a part of the Forsaken. We know for certain that some San’layn survived the defeat of the Scourge, or else Dreven’s faction would never have existed. With that in mind I don’t think it’d be unreasonable for a San’layn to lay low among the Horde, or even to rejoin as an individual.
Keep their backstory in mind. The San’layn have a HORRENDOUS past, when you think about it - their origins coming from Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion. They were elves who defended Quel’thalas only to have it all but fall to the Scourge. Then they followed Kael’thas to stand in solidarity with the Alliance only to be betrayed by Garithos. They then fled to Outland and joined Illidan Stormrage before going to attack the Lich King in Northrend, who killed them and raised them again as vampiric monsters who crave blood.
With that in mind, in the space of two years lorewise, these elves went from happy Thalassians to survivors of a murdered Kingdom, who were betrayed by the Alliance and forced to join a half-elf-half demon named Illidan, before joining the Lich King who destroyed their homeland in the first place. Like WHEW that’s some trauma. I’ve been thinking of making a San’layn character myself. They have motive enough to join the Horde, and their backstory is both tragic and interesting.
But the big caveat I’d PERSONALLY suggest - I don’t think they’d want to spread it around. I don’t think they’d want to TELL everyone they’re San’layn. Their hunger for blood makes them untrustworthy at best. A smart San’layn would probably just say they’re a Forsaken, just an average undead elf.
I’m thinking they’re all dead now - at least the survivors that attempted to join the Horde.
I’m pretty sure Horde players never even knew the San’layn were around while they were one ship over, unless/until they played the Alliance campaign, so part of me thinks they were throwaway baddies. But this being Blizzard, you never know.
Blizzard being Blizzard, “all” of anything are never gone. Even if they temporarily say that they are gone. Later they turn back up as mobs on an island, or something, because why not?
While it doesn’t seem that many San’layn have joined the Horde, I agree with Sarestha that the idea of there being a few surviving San’layn who’ve joined the Horde as individuals is perfectly reasonable
The noticed the term “San’layn” is usually thrown around freely in the RP standpoint to be mixed up and misunderstood as Blood Death Knights.
As Auhgag pointed out, The San’layn were a political faction of Darkfallen loyal to the Lich King.
Blood Death Knights are just DKs who use blood magic as their power. Perhaps learned from San’layn, but are not specifically labeled as them. Just knights of undeath with blood magic.
The San’layn (sometimes spelled in lowercase, also known as the Darkfallen) are vampyr blood elves in service to the Scourge
The Darkfallen and San’layn are literally different names for the same thing. All Darkfallen were raised into the service of the Scourge. All of them were also followers of Kael’thas who died in Northrend during the events of Warcraft 3 the Frozen Throne… and were raised as minions of the Lich King thereafter.
It’s possible that San’layn is the Thalassian translation of “Darkfallen.” No source exists that says that, but it would explain the dual-names.
Darkfallen/San’layn and Death Knights appear to be two separate types of undead, yes – though there’s little enough lore about how various types of undeath work that it’s difficult to outline exactly how they differ.
Part of the Horde? Probably not officially. Can you as a player rp as one and still be in the Horde? Yep. All it takes to be in the Horde is to make an oath of loyalty. So… yeah. I wouldn’t expect to see anything official anytime soon, but there’s a massive thread in GD about adding San’layn to the game as playable characters.
Towards the end of the Alliance war campaign Dreven and his followers openly used Horde members as ingredients. I’m also pretty sure he reveals he has little to no interest in loyalty to the Horde just before he dies and that he was just using them.
Anyone loyal to Dreven that was a member of his San’layn I’d consider felt the same way. At best, any survivors would be loyal to Sylvanas and have left after her. At worst, they’re going back to the Scourge to cook up another nefarious plot.
Of course, everyone is an individual and it wouldn’t take much to give a Darkfallen the motives and backstory to try and be a part of the Horde. Though openly advertising what you are in Orgrimmar probably is still not safe.
Anyone trying to fit a San’layn character into the Horde should also remember that San’layn are blood elves, and broadly speaking they’re blood elves who fought hard for Prince and country.
Individual San’layn might want to join the Forsaken, or feel some sort of affinity for the Horde at large – but they also might still feel loyalty and belonging for Quel’Thalas, and indirectly join the Horde by going home.
