I tried posting this long ago, but exams LAST year got in the way. >.>;
This is a fanfic based on what happened way before Warcraft 1, back when the night elves had just awoken in the world. This was also when Kalimdor was one huge landmass (as opposed to the three landmasses in the Warcraft games). If the year when the night elves awoke (10,000 BP) is confusing, BP means “Before Portal”…as in before Medivh set the orcs loose through the world (but they don’t KNOW that, obviously :P).
But anyway, here goes. Indenting for new paragraphs seems a little awkward here, but I did what I could.
Chapter One: Birth of the Kaldorei
The evening sun sent shafts of golden light through the pine trees of Kalimdor. A gentle breeze rustled their branches. Night, however, was never still or silent; the nighttime of Kalimdor was the time for countless nocturnal species of the continent. The dominant of these species were the night elves.
The night elves awoke in the vast Ashenvale forest in northwest Kalimdor as a primitive, nocturnal, feral, humanoid race. Their skin held a purple hue, as did their hair. Their eyes shone radiant silver. All of the night elves were lithe and agile, though many of the females had proven to be the stronger warriors. The males, however, were much wiser; the female warriors came to regard their male counterparts as soothsayers and fortune tellers.
Since their birth in the year BP 10000, the night elves quickly aged and matured. The night elves came to wear robes and dresses of fur and leaves that provided perfect camouflage against the thick undergrowth of Kalimdor. Later, they mingled this clothing with leather to form better fitting (and more comfortable) garments. They discovered that a sharp stick used as a projectile could do devastating damage to foes of other races, and they came to develop this into the bow and arrow. Soon afterwards, the night elves discovered iron and steel. They realized that when it was sharpened, metal could do more damage than their arrows. Slowly, and over time, the night elves learned that when the steel was placed near flame, it could be reshaped and forged into finer weaponry. Upon this discovery, the night elves began to perfect their strongest weapons: The katana, the shuriken, and the ballistae.
The night elves came to look to a female night elf named Azshara as a queen and a leader. Azshara was a mighty warrior, became distinguished for her valor in combat. She led the night elves through many hardships, including competition with satyrs, trolls, and other races of the land. Azshara’s hair was bound into a long braid that ended at her waist, and she always wore brown leather and a silver breastplate. She had a heroic, noble posture that made night elves glad to call her their queen.
As the sun set, the night elves began to emerge from their dwellings. Some of the night elves resided in crude huts, others lived in nearby caves. Aszhara lived in a larger hut on a ridge that overlooked all of the others. Had Azshara known what the fateful night would eventually bring to the night elf race, she would have ordered her entire race to leave the land and migrate south.
Aszhara had just emerged from her hut and was watching her people rise from slumber when a shout suddenly attracted her attention. “Queen Azshara! Queen Azshara!” A young male night elf burst into view. His face beamed in a way that looked as though all of his dearest wishes had been granted. “My queen, I have something to report!” Two female guards, both in body armor colored purple, stumbled up after the man. “Your pardon…” panted one of them, for keeping up with the man while in their armor had been quite a job. “Your pardon my queen, but he insisted upon being able to see you.”
Azshara surveyed the young elf’s eager face. “What is so important that you look this radiant, child?”
The elf caught his breath, still beaming. “My queen, you must see it. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I was looking far, far north for more steel, I work at the smithy, my queen, and I felt some kind of strange aura. It was almost like I felt sheer power itself. I moved toward where it seemed to be coming, and it almost seemed to lure me toward it. Then I saw…it!”
Azshara’s eyebrows rose. “What is [i]it[/i]?” She asked, now very intrigued.
The elf bobbed his head eagerly. “Of course, of course. It looks like a body of water, my queen. A giant well, perhaps. But it is not water itself…not normal water at least. The water was what was giving off the aura of power I felt, and it made me feel…stronger, wiser, almost as if I was a divine being. You must see it, my queen!”
Azshara looked toward the north. She had looked in that direction many times before, and yet it looked perfectly normal to her. There did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Even so, none of the night elves had traveled very far north, and Azshara knew better than to doubt her people…
“Take me to this…aura of power you speak of, young elf. Bring me and ten others.”
Some time later, when night had fallen completely and the moon was shedding its pale light onto the forest grounds, the young male night elf was leading Queen Azshara, five of her strongest female fighters, and five wise male scholars. The young elf walked at Azshara’s side, and the others brought up the rear. The queen and the warriors would serve as a guard, while the scholars would study the body of water the young elf had reported.
“How much longer?” Azshara inquired. They had been traveling for quite some time, and even Azshara had no idea how far north the party had gone. “We will begin to feel the aura soon.” The young elf answered. “We will then be near.”
The night elf spoke true. Just moments after he had spoken, Azshara felt a sudden faint sensation ripple through her. It was strange and unearthly; it felt as though vitality and strength were coursing through her veins. She stopped, and as she did, the others halted behind her. She turned wordlessly and saw the wide eyed, quizzical, and even fascinated looks about the other night elves, and could tell that they felt the strange aura as well.
The young night elf grinned until he almost split his face in two. “It’s just so wonderful…so revitalizing…I had to show it to you, my queen!”
Azshara regarded the young elf with a new respect. “What’s your name, young one?”
“Drathion Stormrage.” The young elf answered. “Son of Archion Stormrage.”
“Drathion…” Azshara said the name several times as though saying something of great importance. “I will remember that name. Come, show me this well you speak of.”
The aura got stronger and stronger as Drathion led Azshara and the others farther north. It visibly strengthened the other elves. It seemed to dissolve the pains and sores in Azshara’s feet and legs from walking so much. She became more and more eager to find it, and she continually pressed for a faster pace.
Finally, Drathion led the night elves to a clearing…and there it was. It was a giant, circular body of water, like a well, exactly as Drathion had described it. The aura of power was strongest here, and as she stood there, Azshara felt as though she could live forever.
Wordlessly, Azshara turned to the male scholars.
“Observe this well carefully and record any changes or disturbances you see within it.”
The male scholars did not need telling twice. Before the order had even left Azshara’s lips, the scholars were at the edge of the water, observing its movements and scribbling notes with feather quills.
“Drathion.” Azshara turned to the young night elf, who seemed to cringe under being given so much attention by Queen Azshara herself. “I want you to go back to the village with two of the warriors. Give them my order that the night elves are to dismantle their huts and bring all of their supplies with them to this lake.”
Drathion tilted his head. “My queen, may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why do you want the elves to dismantle their homes?”
Azshara looked surprised that Drathion had not grasped her intention already. “We are going to settle here, of course.”
Needless to say, the night elves were shocked when Drathion returned to the village and gave Queen Azshara’s order that they were to dismantle their houses, take all of their food and supplies, and migrate north. Some of the elves questioned who Drathion’s authority for such a wild order was, but he presented a sheet of parchment with Azshara’s writing on it, giving the order clearly and warning that there would be dire consequences for those that did not do as Drathion asked.
That was all the night elves needed. Taking their homes in pieces, they slowly made their way to the strange body of water, Drathion leading them. Some of the night elves still grumbled about the suddenness of having to all leave their homes, even for the queen.
It was dawn when Drathion and the night elves finally reached the strange water, but when they did, all complaints of having to settle somewhere else fled from the night elves’ minds. They were mesmerized by it, just as Azshara and Drathion had been. They too felt the mysterious aura of power that seemed to radiate continually from the water. They also felt thankful that Azshara had ordered the night elves to settle near the strange water.
Over time, the small village grew into a lively town. The night elf society blossomed and expanded around the entire well.
After sixty years, the night elves became aware of the enchanting water’s power. Azshara was well over a hundred years old, an astonishing length of life for a night elf, but she was not old or weak. On the contrary, she actually seemed stronger and wiser. Drathion had not gained a single wrinkle when he should have aged considerably in the sixty years that passed, and many of the night elves who had been older during the discovery of the water had not passed away. Indeed, it seemed as though they had gotten stronger and more intelligent as well.
Drathion, who had become one of Queen Azshara’s most trusted friends, soon became a father when his lover gave birth to twin sons, Furion and Illidan Stormrage. Drathion had no idea that his children would change the future of the night elves in the thousands of years to come.
Azshara was making rapid changes for the night elves. She ordered night elves to expand into other parts of Kalimdor. The night elves, with Azshara’s support, named themselves Kaldorei, an abbreviation for “children of the stars”. While the night elves became more active in daytime, the hours of darkness and the moon were still the time for Azshara and her followers.
Azshara quickly came to deeply trust a special group of her most loyal and devoted followers. She often conferred with them on important issues about the night elf society and culture. She named these “elite” followers Quel’dorei, Drathion was not one of these; Azshara had understandingly opted not to put extra pressure on top of Drathion’s duties as a father.
Thus began the Kaldorei.
Yeah, I know it's short. This is sort of an overview chapter.