Talk:Dark elf

Night elves?
It's completely possible that the dark elves were the night elves. Their lifespans are discribed as minute by Deathwing, who's atleast 64,000 years old. They weren't made immortal until after the war, which, on either timeline, Deathwing probably didn't know about. On the original timeline, atleast, even the dragons believed the night elves extinct until the third war.

Further more, they are never directly refered to as "The Dark Elves", rather, its a discription. They were elves, and they were dark, hence, the dark elves.Tweak the Whacked 17:38, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * That is exactly what the Who were the dark elves? section described as a possibility. 17:47, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * However, no race is ever or should ever be referred to in "caps", I.E. "The Night Elves", or "The Highborn Elves". Races are usually always "lower case". As for use of "the dark elves" actually that's a quote from page 161, "...the beauty of the dark elves".


 * As for immortality, I'm pretty sure there is some contradicting evidence on that, some sources imply they were immortal long before the War of the Ancients, while others imply it was after the war.Baggins 17:51, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

I've yet to see a source that implies that they were immortal before the war, extremely long lived, yes, but not immortal. As for the who were the dark elves section, yes it brings up the possibility of the dark elves being a direct reference to the night elves, but seems to lean against that possibility, or atleast thats the impression I got from reading it.Tweak the Whacked 18:08, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, it points to three possibilities, proto-night elves. The standard night elves, and the highborn elves. From what we have been told all three are seperate 'races' according to various sources of lore. The idea that highborn elves were already a seperate race, is mentioned in their article.Baggins 18:13, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Immortality
Back to immortality, according to many sources, it was the original Well of Eternity that was reponsible for the immortality (bear with me some of the quotes are repeated accross several sources);

World of Warcraft Website;
 * In time, a primitive tribe of nocturnal humanoids were drawn by the Well's strange energies and built crude homes upon its tranquil shores. Over time, the Well's cosmic power affected the tribe, making them strong, wise, and immortal. Their skin turned various shades of violet, and they grew taller in stature. The tribe adopted the name kaldorei, which meant "children of the stars" in their native tongue...Three of the Dragon Aspects grew the first World Tree, Nordrassil, atop the Well so that the tree, which was linked to the Emerald Dream, would act as a regulator on the Well's magics. Nordrassil also bestowed a number of gifts upon the night elves, including continued immortality.


 * Malfurion, convinced that the Well of Eternity was the demons' umbilical link to the physical world, insisted that it should be destroyed. His companions, knowing that the Well was the source of their immortality and powers, were horrified by the rash notion. Yet Tyrande saw the wisdom of Malfurion's theory, so she convinced Cenarius and their comrades to storm Azshara's temple and find a way to shut the Well down for good.

Warcraft III manual;
 * In time, a primitive tribe of nocturnal humanoids cautiously made their way to the edges of the mesmerizing, enchanted lake. The feral, nomadic humanoids, drawn by the Well’s strange energies, built crude homes upon its tranquil shores. Over time, the Well’s cosmic power affected the strange tribe, making them strong, wise and virtually immortal. The tribe adopted the name Kaldorei, which meant “children of the stars” in their native tongue. To celebrate their budding society, they constructed great structures and temples around the lake’s periphery.

In the RPG;
 * "Ten thousand years ago, the Kaldorei — beings now called night elves — maintained the arcane Well of Eternity, a massive pool of pure, liquid magic. The Well was responsible for transforming the simple beings living nearby into the intelligent and immortal Kaldorei. The Well, in all of its various incarnations, has been indirectly responsible for all three of the wars to tear Azeroth — and the orc’s homeworld of Durotar — apart. Ten thousand years ago, the corrupt Queen Azshara of the Kaldorei and her Highborne servitors summoned to Azeroth the Burning Legion, demons that could smell the arcane magic leaking from the Well."


 * –14,000 A race of feral, nomadic humanoids is drawn to the Well of Eternity. Known as the Kaldorei, they are transformed by its power and become strong, wise and virtually immortal. Unbeknownst to them, their transformation accidentally releases magic into the world.


 * Ultimately, the magic corrupted them. The Kaldorei had been a simple folk who gazed blissfully at the stars, enjoying the immortality given to them by the Well, but their haughtiness robbed them of that gift forever. Each succeeding generation became prouder and more decadent, and the lust for power only made the Kaldorei more of a beacon to the Lords of the Twisting Nether. Finally, their greatest mage, Queen Azshara, cast a spell in the heart of the Well of Eternity itself — and a way was opened for Evil to invade the world.


 * In studying the Well’s energies, the Kaldorei were infused with its power, becoming immortal and gleaning mastery over the creatures of the land. In time, they learned to manipulate the powerful energies directly. Thus did the study of arcane magic begin. Some Kaldorei believed that abusing the Well’s arcane energies could only lead to ill, but their words of caution were ignored as their brethren flew headlong into the study of magic. Their greatest wizards and sorcerers built beautiful cities, crafted amazing magical devices, and reshaped their world to better suit their needs. One of the greatest of their sorcerers was Azshara, a gifted woman who seemed to know more about magic than anyone alive even though she never studied a single treatise on the subject - as if she understood magic at its most primal level. Before long, Azshara was crowned the Sorceress-Queen of Kalimdor.

or within WoW itself;
 * the night elves imbue the World Tree with their magic, giving back the immortality and power the Well of Eternity had gifted them.
 * In time, a primitive tribe of nocturnal humanoids cautiously made their way to the edges of the mesmerizing enchanted lake. The feral, nomadic humanoids, drawn by the Well's strange energies, built crude homes upon its tranquil shores. Over time, the Well's cosmic power affected the tribe, making them strong, wise, and virtually immortal. The tribe adopted the name Kaldorei, which meant "children of the stars" in their native tongue. To celebrate their budding society, they constructed great structures and temples around the lake's periphery.(The Waking World and the Well of Eternity)


 * Malfurion, convinced that the Well of Eternity was the demons' umbilical link to the physical world, insisted that it should be destroyed. His companions, knowing that the Well was the source of their immortality and powers, were horrified by the rash notion. Yet Tyrande saw the wisdom of Malfurion's theory, so she convinced Cenarius and their comrades to storm Azshara's temple and find a way to shut the Well down for good.(The War of the Ancients)

However, there are other quotes that imply they weren't immortal before the war.

In the RPG;
 * The Kaldorei closed themselves off from the rest of the world and remained hidden atop the holy mountain of Hyjal for thousands of years. Although they resisted the lure of arcane magic, night elves were closely linked to other power. Mount Hyjal was a source of great mystical energy; prolonged exposure to this magical essence gifted the Kaldorei with immortality and tremendous resistance to magic.
 * In the time before, the Kaldorei were immortal, their powerful magic recklessly unleashed by the Quel’dorei. This careless use of magical might allowed the Burning Legion to invade the world, and finally led to a catastrophic battle known as the Sundering.
 * The bronze dragon Nozdormu granted the night elves immortality as long as Nordrassil stood...
 * Fearful of another Sundering, three of the great Dragon Aspects grew the World Tree of Nordrassil over the Well and cast spells over it. Alexstrasza’s spell gave night elves immunity to sickness and disease, Nozdormu’s granted them immortality, and Ysera bound the tree to the Emerald Dream.

So as I said before the lore is a contradictory on that detail. Although it can probably be said that there are more references to them being immortal before the War of the Ancients than there are those that state they became Immortal after. According to Warcraft Encyclopedia, both are true, they were immortal before hand, and were given continued immortality after the war.

--Baggins 18:19, 8 December 2007 (UTC)


 * It was horribly obvious that Deathwing meant the night elves... because Rhonin could not have possibly known about the night elves, he called them "dark elves". Saimdusan (talk) 21:49, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * In the german version of the book they are not called "Dunkelelfen" (german for Dark Elves), just as "dunkle Elfen", describing their skin colour as dark. I always assumed that those are the Night Elves and Rhonin didn't know that term. Regarding the little background information of dark elfes I would say that they are in fact the night elves.--LemonBaby (talk) 19:54, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

RP'ing a Dark Elf
Is it safe to say my night elf is dark elf in RP? Or is that not possible? Cierran 23:11, 11 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Didn't the lore state they have like a minute lifespan ... what does that even mean? They aren't born, they appear? lol 04:31, 24 January 2008 (UTC)


 * It is 'my-nute' (Short or small) not 'min-ut' (60 seconds).-- 02:49, 3 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Well then...that would explain a lot. 03:32, 3 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah, but compared to Deathwing whos at least 64,000.. Cierran 10:58, 28 March 2008 (UTC)


 * More importantly it implies they aren't "immortal".Baggins (talk) 06:40, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Neither are humans. We all know if there's still WoW a 100 years from now, you'll still "Pwninator, lvl 70 human warrior".  Mr.X8  Talk Contribs  16:17, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Rofl i had thought at first minute too then i re-read it andi understood. But a minute lifespan would be funny, but still Dark Elves seem to be gone, as none have been spotted in a long time and they may actually be extinct.-- 03:15, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Retcon
They may be retocnnet out, or do you think that Scholomance Acolytes could be Dark(ened) Elves? And why would some speculate that dark elf is other name for highborne? Noobi666 (talk) 14:01, 28 November 2008 (UTC)