The addon Legion brings a completely new elf species to World of Warcraft – and they have a dark fate.
Endless Magic, Endless Hunger
The shattered islands are home to many new cultures that have not been heard of in World of Warcraft before, and which will see the light of day for the first time with Legion. The possibly largest new faction are the Nightborne, a splinter group of the Night Elves that formed 10,000 years ago after the War of the Ancients. Back then, the Well of Eternity exploded due to Azshara’s greed for power, destroying the known world, separating the continents, and resulting in the division into Night Elves and High Elves.
Clearly, there was a third grouping that preserved part of the power of the original Well and has since existed on the fragmented islands (although these were only raised from the sea in the Warcraft games – I am very curious about the lore explanation).
The Creeping Zombiefication
Similar to the High or Blood Elves, the Nightborne draw from their own source of magic, the Nightwell. This supplies all elves within Suramar with arcane energy and thus allows them to become powerful mages. However, like their brothers and sisters, this source comes with a dependency on magic, which only becomes apparent when access to it is lost.
Once a Nightborne can no longer access the Nightwell, they begin to suffer from withdrawal symptoms. The body transforms, becomes frailer and weaker, until the creatures are clearly recognizable as “Nightfallen” – emaciated elves who still retain their personality and knowledge.
If this condition persists for a longer period, the degeneration continues and the Nightfallen eventually become the “Withered”: burnt-out husks that have largely lost their personality and intelligence and only thirst for new magic. Clear parallels can be drawn to the Searing of the Blood Elves, but with the difference that the Withered arise from a lack of magic, while the Searing arise from excess.
Due to this gruesome process, banishment in the society of Suramar is considered the highest punishment for offenses, as it condemns the respective elf to a terrible fate.
This aspect of the people alone offers material for countless exciting stories. I would not even rule out that parts of the Nightborne might join the Alliance or the Horde in a later addon, once the Nightwell has been destroyed …
