Eredar

The eredar are a species of supremely talented magic-wielders who arose on the planet Argus countless millennia ago. They built a vast civilization of wondrous cities and a peaceful way of life on the planet. 25,000 years ago though, the tranquility of Argus was shattered, and they were separated in two groups: the draenei and the man'ari.

The man'ari are the demon-corrupted eredar who now lead the Burning Legion. They are commonly referred to as just the eredar, this could be because, other than the draenei and man'ari, there is no evidence of other kinds of eredar left in existence. These eredar are the first among the demons of the Burning Legion.

History


The dark titan Sargeras, in order to create a great Legion, planned to bolster his ranks by creating demons. He was attracted by the eredar's magical affinity, and contacted them, promising their three leaders, Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and Velen, immortality and vast powers. A troubling vision soon came to Velen, who saw the eredar transformed into unspeakable demons. But despite Velen's misgivings, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden agreed to join Sargeras' Burning Legion. The eredar were the first sentient race to pledge their allegiance to Sargeras. Knowing that other sentient beings would inevitably join the Legion, the eredar declared that their primary language, Eredun, would be the Legion's common language.

With his fellow eredar already becoming corrupted by demonic power, Velen split from the man'ari — who were now a "twisted demonic reflection of" the original eredar — on Argus with the help of the naaru, renaming themselves the draenei, or "exiled ones" in Eredun. The man'ari continued to call themselves "eredar" under Kil'jaeden and were infuriated with what they perceived as a betrayal. They hunted Velen and the draenei across dozens of worlds for thousands of years. Every time it seemed that the draenei had found a new home, the Burning Legion would fall upon them. The indigenous races of many worlds were oftentimes mutated by the eredar's malevolent warlock powers and turned into demons themselves.

Both factions continued to use the Eredun language, though specific dialects have evolved: the Demonic Eredun and the Draenei.

The draenei traveled through most of the cosmos and eventually discovered another, safer world to settle down upon. They named this world Draenor or "exiles' refuge". At first there was peace with the native orcs living there, and they struck up trade and diplomacy with the shamanistic race. But soon the draenei's existence there was discovered by the evil eredar. The eredar then began to corrupt the orcs and turned them into a war-like race by granting them access to warlock magics. The orcs subsequently hunted down the draenei, almost wiping out the entire race.

The eredar consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power. Until now, only the titans have ever challenged them. Each of the leaders, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, built a hierarchy of demons, jealously protected from the will of the other. These groups strove for dominance of Azeroth and other worlds. But now, at long last, Archimonde is dead, killed by the heroes of Azeroth. Individual eredar and a few hopeful heroes of the lesser races have decided that they are the best candidates to replace him. These prideful few have taken their first careful steps toward locating and eliminating the presumptuous competition that might seek to displace them.

Titan's origins


All demons, including the eredar, were mortal once, but have been transformed into demons by corruption caused by Fel Energy. This change included a powerful command of arcane energy. It is said that Sargaras believed that the demons originally were not corrupt, and that it was the Titan's ordering of the universe that was ultimately responsible for the demons corruption. In this scenario, it would imply that the titans considered the various natural races that pre-existed on worlds they visited to be demons, but were actually corrupted by the titans themselves. Sargeras later came back and freed many of them, bent on using them to destroy the Titan's work.

Original lore


Eredar were supreme sorcerers at the dawn of the universe. Some believe that they devoured their own world by using radical warlock magics. They consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power.

Over the eons, Sargeras encountered two powerful demonic races, both of which were bent on gaining power and dominance over the physical universe. One of them was the eredar, an insidious race of devilish sorcerers, who used their warlock magics to enslave a number of worlds that they had invaded. The indigenous races of those worlds were mutated by the eredar's chaotic powers and turned into demons themselves. Though Sargeras' nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the vile eredar, he was greatly troubled by the creatures' corruption and all-consuming evil. Unable to fathom such depravity and spite, the great Titan began to slip into a brooding depression. Despite his growing unease, Sargeras rid the universe of the warlocks by trapping them within a corner of the Twisting Nether.

Still, Sargeras went mad and decided to undo the Titan's works throughout the universe, he set out to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe to the flame. In his fury and madness, Sargeras shattered the prisons of the eredar and the nathrezim and set the vile demons free. The cunning demons, bowing before the dark Titan's vast rage and power, offered themselves to him and swore to serve him in whatever malicious way they could. The eredar were Sargeras's first recruits in the Burning Legion, serving as tactical advisors and intelligence officers.

From the ranks of the powerful eredar, Sargeras chose two champions to lead his demonic army of destruction. Kil'jaeden the Deceiver was chosen to seek out the darkest races in the universe and recruit them into Sargeras's ranks. The second champion, Archimonde the Defiler, was chosen to lead Sargeras's vast armies into battle against any who might resist the Titan's will.

New lore
The idea that eredar were previously mortal before being corrupted has existed long before The Burning Crusade's release. Chris Metzen stands by the lore described in the history section, who for better or worse are among the primary antagonists, more firmly in the backstory.

In the newer lore, Sargeras' first battles with demons may not have been with the eredar, it is possible he may have fought some other demonic race from the Twisting Nether before his battles with the nathrezim.

Biology


The eredar mutated by Sargeras's demonic power are physically similar to their original shape, with a few minor differences (the original eredar shape is thought to have been preserved in the draenei). These creatures are of impressive size, far larger than any human or orc, with a bulky muscular body and a long tail. Long pointed ears sweep back from its bestial face and horns sprout from its wide brow (Although Archimonde's cinematic and drawn art shows a different style of cheek spikes, and no spikes above the eyes). The hooves of demonic eredar are more compact than those of draenei, and most of the demonic breed lacks cranial hair. The hands of demonic eredar are clawed.

Most significantly, demonic eredar are much larger than draenei - though few could match Archimonde's preferred height (he could change his size in Twilight of the Gods).

Most man'ari eredar in World of Warcraft use the same model as the draenei (see Prince Malchezaar as an example) showing few physical differences but for height, skin color, and eye color. Kil'jaeden shows a greater amount of physical variation, however, having sprouted both horns and wings in his most recent incarnation in addition to the more regular man'ari mutations; though these additional appendages could be a result of his shape-altering abilities rather than the influence of fel magic. Two female eredar, Lady Sacrolash and Grand Warlock Alythess in Sunwell Plateau, also show a minor difference from their draenei counterparts in that they have much longer tails.

Argus
It is unclear what exactly became of the eredar homeworld, Argus. Some believe that the demonic eredar devoured their own world by using radical warlock magics, though information recently offered by the draenei suggest Sargeras was responsible for the planet's destruction. Seeing as how Draenor was ripped part by the fel-magic of the orc warlocks, it is possible that the same or worse happened to Argus. It is also possible that Argus, drained of all forms of non-demonic life, still exists and serves as a stronghold of the Legion.

Sociology


Pre-eminence in eredar warlock society depends almost entirely upon magical power. Those who command the greatest selection of paramount spells — and thus in theory the greatest magical arsenal — rise to higher ranks. Those whose arcane abilities top out at such pitiful cantrips as wish and shape change are grunts and lackeys, scarcely worthy of notice. Because of the very nature of magic, rank, magical power, and overall intelligence go hand-in-claw.

This rule of rank is never deviated from; Archimonde's status among his brethren is backed up by his mastery of the most destructive forms of magic, and his adeptness of all others (recall his single-handed destruction of Dalaran). However, while Archimonde is violent and destructive, Kil'Jaeden is ruthlessly cunning, and coupled with his powerful magic, may even make him an even more dangerous demon than Archimonde.

Factions



 * Burning Legion:
 * Eredar warlock
 * Eredar Diabolist
 * Eredar Sorceror
 * Eredar Warlock
 * Wrathguard


 * Uncorrupted:


 * Draenei
 * Broken - Major mutation, though still appearing similar to original draenei; some are members of Akama's Ashtongue tribe or the Kurenai of Nagrand.
 * Lost One - Major mutation, bearing almost no resemblance to the original draenei, though looking similar to the Broken; the tribe known as the "Lost Ones" is found in Fallow Sanctuary.
 * Cursed Lost One - Further mutated Lost Ones because of the Fel-Tainted Morsels.

Notable eredar
Though many eredar were part of both invasions of Azeroth (the War of the Ancients and the Third War) and several more inhabit Outland, few individuals are known to mortals; only three, the greatest in magic, were commonly known: the Defiler, the Deceiver, and the Divine. However, with the arrival of the draenei and tentative contact with Outland, a few more have made themselves known.

New and old lore

 * Some speculatate that the pit lords, nathrezim, or even the old gods may have been the ones that caused the corruption of Sargeras instead of the eredar.
 * Another reconciliation suggestion is that the eredar were evil to begin with and that it was only after Velen's vision that a faction within the eredar started to seek salvation from the naaru.
 * Yet another theory speculates the eredar did corrupt Sargeras, or at least affected his mind, but he might have imprisoned them in Argus binding them there to prevent the Eredar warlocks from spreading to other worlds. With the help of the Naaru, the dark Eredars slowly abandoned the ways of arcane magic using the Ata'mal crystals gifted to them. Thousands of years later, Sargeras's corruption finally sunk in and he transformed into Sargeras the Destroyer. Thus he returned to those demonic races he had formerly defeated, to free them if they served him, thus re-corrupting the Eredar. That sounds pretty reasonable and kinda fits with the manual story somewhat. The flaw in there is that we haven't been told yet if demons can be purified, and converted over time into good-doers with the use of Ata'mal crystals.
 * Kil'jaeden is known as the Deciever, and given that it was he who claimed the eredar corrupted Sargeras, it's always possible that Kil'jaeden was simply lying.

Other relatives?
It is unclear if the ered'ruin, and possibly fiends, have also diverged from the original eredar.