Draenei - guide and lore.

by **Aadaria-Ioanna** Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:19 pm

Draenei- Guide and Lore.

1. History

Home Planet.

The Planet Argus was once the homeworld of the Eredar(Not the Man'ari eredar.Important detail that.) and as such would have once been the homeworld of the Draenei.It was a Utopian Society where its inhabitants were both intelligent and highly gifted in arcane use.This may be why Sargeras was attracted to this planet.The draenei fled as Kil'jaeden,Archimonde and those who followed them began to mutate into what is now known as Man'ari Eredar.

The fate of the planet is uncertain as at one stage in the lore it was stated to have been destroyed by the demonic powers of the Eredars corruption.However,recently Rise of the Horde has leaned towards the approach that it did survive and could now be the Legions Headquaters,maybe even the Legion Stronghold.

Racial information

The draenei, which means "exiled ones", are a faction of uncorrupted eredar that originated on the race's homeworld, Argus. 25,000 years ago, under the leadership of the trio of Kil'jaeden, Archimonde and Velen, the eredar had an arcane-based society comparable to or more advanced than today's Quel'Thalas; but then Sargeras turned the first two leaders and their followers into the demonic man'ari eredar, forcing Velen and his people to flee Argus on a dimensional ship provided by the naaru K'ure. During their travels, the naaru introduced the draenei to the Light and promised that they eventually would be part of the great Army of the Light, which would put an end to the Legion.

Arrival at Draenor

This ship was not the Exodar or Tempest Keep - after it spent thousands of years traveling between worlds and finally landed on Draenor, it became known to the native orcs as Oshu'gun (the Mountain of Spirits), that giant white rock in Nagrand. Oshu'gun is a holy place to both the draenei and the orcs, containing the weakened K'ure and the spirits of orcish ancestors. [Source:Rise of the Horde]

The draenei spread throughout their newfound "Exiles' Refuge", Draenor, building cities, the largest of which was their new capital, Shattrath. For centuries, they lived in peace with the orcs - although the two races largely kept separate - and warred against the primitive natives of the land, first and foremost the ogres. However, eventually Kil'jaeden, with the help of the warlock Gul'dan, turned the orcs against the draenei. The newly-formed Horde, under the Legion's influence, waged genocide against the draenei, ending with the fall of Shattrath. The once-great draenei cities were left in ruins, eighty percent of the population perished, and many of the survivors were mutated by the fel energies that poisoned the very land of Draenor and turned into the krokul, the Broken, mistrusted by and mostly isolated from their uncorrupted brethren. One of these Broken, Nobundo, would then go on to found draenei shamanism.

Most of the survivors flocked to Zangarmarsh [RotH], where they hid until a new contingent of naaru, drawn to Outland as a strategic location for both the Legion and the anti-Legion forces, arrived in another dimensional fortress, Tempest Keep. With the naaru dispersing throughout Outland, Kael'thas Sunstrider and his blood elves seized control of Tempest Keep. In response, Velen's draenei launched an attack on the fortress and departed Outland in one of its wings, the Exodar. However, when the blood elves sabotaged its engine, the Exodar crashed on Azeroth, or more specifically Azuremyst Isle, beginning the story told in TBC. (Starting quests on Azuremyst)

2. Mutations

This is a description of the different Mutations of the Eredar race based on either fel taint,fel corruption or the light.The majority if not all Draenei would both recognise these races and in some cases look down upon them.

Draenei are physically different from the eredar of the Burning Legion. Draenei come in a wide variety of flesh tones, from ivory, aqua blue, dark blue, purple, and ebony. They do not, however, seem to exhibit the red skin of demonic eredar. Draenei also lack the horns that demonic eredar have on their faces. They do have fangs.They do however,have tendrils which hang from their chin(Males) or behind their ears.(Female.).The females also sport horns although,if these serve a purpose is unknown.

Man'ari Eredar

These are the Eredar who joined Sargeras and his Burning Legion.Corruption by heavy amounts of fel energy have caused them to sprout a set of sickly wings from there back and has caused the appearence of horns upon there head(Not shown on Game models.).In World Of Warcraft however,they appear as just Draenei with different skin colours,eye colour and altering heights.

Broken draenei

A heavy mutation of Draenei,although they do appear very similar.This Species of Draenei known as the Krokul was corrupted (Accidently) during the orcish attack on Shattrath City in which they were forced to inhale/absorb large amounts of fel energy that caused there bodies to deterioate over time.They appear as small draenei with wide,swollen arms and legs.The hooves also began to break up and spread apart into feet.Another side effect is the lost of basic mental capabilities.

Lost ones

Lost ones have corrupted further than Broken that barely resembles the Draenei.This race is extremly aggresive and primitive.Unlike broken who seek to be able to reuse the light,these have forsaken the light in turn for warlockery.

by **Aadaria-Ioanna** Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:19 pm

Age

In the Warcraft universe, longer-lived races also mature slowly(See Night Elves). Regrettably, no definite figures exist for the draenei. They are an extremely long-lived race - possibly immortal, although there is no canonical source explicitly confirming or denying this. Whether mortal or immortal, they live at least long enough for some NPCs, most notably Velen but not limited to him, to remember Argus, which makes them more than 25,000 years old. The closest we have to a reference is Rise of the Horde, where Durotan notes that a child in Telmor remained virtually unchanged for about three decades.

It's safe to say, however, that today's adult draenei were born long before the rise of the Horde. Your character could be born on Argus, on one of the worlds the draenei visited during their flight from the Legion, or on Draenor in times of peace - but in any event, they remember the orcs turning evil and destroying their civilization, and everything that followed then.

This wow.com article: http://www.wow.com/2...-youre-how-old/ - contains some speculation (not canon) on what exactly it means to reach adulthood at a later age for long-lived races like the night elves and draenei.

Your character's past

This crash course should be enough to decide on a rough backstory for your character. As with any RP character, of course, you don't have to fill all the blanks immediately.

Try answering the following questions:

- Where was your character born and raised? On Argus, aboard Oshu'gun, on one of the worlds that the draenei briefly stayed on, or on Draenor? If on Draenor, where?

- How much do you remember of the world that was?

- What was your opinion about the orcs back when your peoples lived in peace?

- What did you do when the orcs turned on the draenei? Did you participate in the defense of your town, or did you flee?

- What did you do in hiding? Did you stay with most of your people or were more of a wandering lone wolf?

- How did you arrive on Azeroth? The Exodar is the default option, but you may choose to ignore the starting quests and say you have arrived through the Dark Portal or some other portal.

Archetypes

Sadly, not many draenei have been extensively featured in background lore, except Velen himself. Nobundo and Akama are Broken, and the latter actually predates the massive TBC retcon of the draenei, and are thus not that useful as role models for player characters. There is also Iridi, a priestess from Night of the Dragon. Still, from the personalities displayed by the NPCs, you can discern the same three archetypes as more of a sliding scale than a strict division.

Traditional

This is what the draenei are often stereotyped into. Stoic and pious, these draenei live a heavily religious life, highly revere the Light and actively worship it. They speak in parables and "high speech", enduring, assuring with their very presence. If military types, these are real holy warriors. Velen is of this type, as are the members of draenei spiritual organizations, most notably the Aldor and the communities at the temples throughout Outland.

Neutral

Many draenei in the starting zone, however, give a different impression. They are simple commoners and ordinary soldiers, not particularly religious, just trying to survive. Neutral draenei are practical-minded, thinking less of the Light, naaru and other abstract matters and more of the immediate concerns of the colonists from the Exodar, and the challenges at hand.

Adventurous

The draenei are natural explorers, and their adventurers take it to the extreme. They are the discoverers of new horizons, curious about this new world, Azeroth, and setting out to map it out and uncover its secrets. They are open-minded, easily absorbing new knowledge, and feel less bound by customs (although they still respect the Light).

Culture and social roles

The draenei are the sole remaining preservers of the original eredar culture of Argus, featuring arcane magic(Very arcane orienated race) and technology-from-magic, which they seem to have no intention of giving up anytime soon. Since their escape from Argus, however, their culture has obviously been centered around the Light.

Unlike the humans, who often speak of the Light as a kind of deity, I can't imagine the draenei thinking of it as personified. The teachings of the Light, first and foremost, are an abstract philosophy. When it comes to the powers of the Light, they aren't perceived as miracles or ascribed to any lucky coincidence; the draenei have had a personal touch with the Light, living alongside their spiritual guides - the naaru - for centuries and millennia. These powers just are, accepted as a given. Every draenei has the Gift of the Naaru [Quest: Rescue the Survivors!], a Light-based first aid ability, although it's unknown whether it's present since childhood or manifests at a later age.

The traditional draenei, however, still see major symbolism in everything, and spend a lot of time in prayers and meditation.

The draenei architecture comes in two forms: shiny stones and crystals, and brown stone buildings seen in Shattrath and in Outland temples. The Exodar doesn't count - it's naaru technology.

Their racial language, also called Draenei, is based on Eredun, but probably has diverged as far as Thalassian from Darnassian - even though some words are still the same.

As far as relationships are concerned, the draenei at least have families and the concept of husbands and wives [Quest: Searching for Galaen], but it's unknown if they have formal marriage ceremonies or it's a de facto union.

Like orcs,there is no evidence of gender roles - every draenei organization seems to consist of men and women in comparable proportions. Still, with the glaring physical differences between the sexes.

However..

There actually is evidence of a history of gender roles.

In Shadowmoon Valley, at the Altar of Sha'tar, Exarch Onaala specifically states, "When I was young I trained hard to become an anchorite in the priesthood. Female exarchs were practically unhead of. Nowadays gender matters little - it is courage and conviction that make all the difference."

So while gender roles have largely been done away with, the draenei actually did have them at one point.

Additionally, in the Black Temple trailer, Akama states, "... as frightened women and children huddled in darkened corners." The very nature of this line suggests that women are seen as something to be protected by the men. Therefore, some of those previous gender roles still seem to influence their viewpoints.

by **Aadaria-Ioanna** Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:20 pm

Naming

The absolute majority of draenei NPCs has only one name. There are only two known draenei with second names: Caregiver Topher Loaal and Caregiver Ophera Windfury (an obvious reference to Oprah Winfrey), both innkeepers. From this, I think it's safe to assume that second names are very rare in draenei culture, if they exist at all. Draenei given names are vaguely alienish or Greek-sounding (some borrowed from Greek mythology), display a wide variety of patterns, and often have double vowels (-aa- or -uu-). If you have trouble naming your character, look at the list of NPCs and come up with something sounding roughly along these lines.

Titles (meaning extrapolated from the game, except for Anchorite, which is confirmed):

- Exarch: Some kind of leader, apparently a military officer. There is one known High Exarch (Commodus).
- Vindicator: Paladin.
- Anchorite: Priest. [Quest: The Cleansing Must Be Stopped] There is one known Grand Anchorite (Almonen).
- Harbinger: Warrior.
- Peacekeeper: Guard.
- Caregiver: Innkeeper.
- Emissary: Diplomatic envoy

Some additional titles found in-game:

- Mystic: Mage. Is referred to in the mage training area in the Exodar, which is called the Hall of Mystics
- Magister: Village elder of some kind. Does not necessarily refer to a mage (magister means master or teacher), could be any senior non-military elder of the local settlement. Referred to in Rise of the Horde (Velen was staying at the Magister's dwelling in Telmor).
- Soulpriest: Priests of the Auchenai order.
- Death-speaker: Ritually-blinded members of the Auchenai.
- High Priest: Senior member of a priestly order (High Priestess Ishanah of the Aldor).
- Lightwarden: Senior military leader or simply a prestige title. Is shown leading draenei forces, including an exarch, against Socrethar. If it is an actual rank, then it seems to be superior to exarch.
- Elementalist: Shaman.
- Artificer: Craftsmen.
- Greatfather: Ancestor of some kind. Could be the draenei form of grandfather.
- Stormcaller: Shaman.
- Windspeaker: Shaman.
- Earthcaller: Shaman.
- Farseer: Shaman.
- Demolitionist/Senior Demolitionist: Saboteurs. The latter outranks the former.
- Scout/Tracker: Hunters.
- Technician: Engineers.

Relations

Azeroth is a new world to the draenei, and as such, they wouldn't have had much contact with its native races - except those they already met back in Outland.

Night elves

While the draenei presumably don't know much about their history, they at least know that they are sworn enemies of the Legion, who dealt it two heavy blows during the previous invasions, even going as far as sacrificing their immortality to destroy Archimonde. That alone is a feat worthy of reverence. The two races have already been seen working together against the Legion and the orcs in Forest Song, although territorial disputes are likely, as well as disputes over the use of arcane magic and the devastation of the Azuremyst Isles.

Humans

The humans are complicated. On one hand, those draenei who have met the Sons of Lothar are likely to see that particular faction in positive light, as enemies of the Horde; and they share their faith in the Light, including priest and paladin traditions. However, humans are often reckless, overzealous and prejudiced, some openly racist, and quick to openly mock the draenei and equate them with the man'ari just based on appearance.The draenei would see the humans as a promising young race with potential, but needing guidance so that it does not go to waste in an unwelcome direction and do harm to the whole world.

Dwarves

The draenei have dealt with Wildhammer dwarves more than Ironforge ones, as they were part of the Alliance Expedition under Kurdran. Those have proven themselves as dependable allies, at least, and the ambassador to Aerie Peak has shown to hold them in high regard. The Ironforge dwarves are probably another mixed bag: on one hand, loyal and dependable, on the other, they may be going a little too far with their tireless unearthing and exploitian of world secrets and their drinking habits...

Gnomes

The draenei had no exposure to them prior to the Exodar crash. However, recklessness and lack of foresight practically defines the gnomes, so while the draenei may be at least somewhat curious about their technological wonders, the memories of the shattering of Draenor are just too fresh to look calmly at the potentially world-wrecking consequences of these machines. They will be wary.

Horde races

Orcs

I don't really have to explain this one. Even if they were under demonic influence, they still did unspeakable evils against the draenei race, and then the Alliance. The orcs still on Draenor are pretty much kill-on-sight, and while Thrall's new Horde may claim to have reformed, it's a little hard to believe when their homeland and capital are named after the massacrers of Shattrath (Durotan and Orgrim are most likely seen as betrayers), and the part of this Horde that the draenei have the most personal exposure too are cutting down Ashenvale and slaughtering night elves.

Tauren

Apart from the druids of the Cenarion Circle, the draenei's only exposure to the tauren is likely to be on a battlefield. So they are treated like any members of the Horde: enemies by default.

Trolls

While there are different tribes of trolls on Azeroth, most of them attack outsiders on sight, and thus hardly qualify as candidates for productive relationships. Of the Darkspear tribe, the draenei only know that they are allies of the orcs, and thus, enemies.

Forsaken

Free-willed or not, they are undead. Abominations to everything the Light stands for, creatures that must not exist. The average draenei would probably not even see the difference between Forsaken and Scourge, and see returning the undead to their natural state as a coup de grace.

Blood elves

Perhaps the second non-demonic race the draenei hate the most, after the orcs. Although they didn't arrive on Outland until a few years ago, Kael'thas and his followers already managed to set themselves up as the enemies of everything the draenei stand for, causing damage to the land and capturing naaru and their vessels. The Scryers may be an exception, as they're admitted in Shattrath (although still highly mistrusted), and the Shattered Sun Offensive events have seen the two races working together to banish Kil'jaeden and restore the Sunwell, but it will be a while before the old hatreds heal.

Now would be a suitable time to mention the Earthen ring
The Earthen Ring is the shaman organization of Azeroth.Its main goal is to maintain the balance between the world and the elementals that dwell upon it.Originally a Horde only organisation,they began to allow Draenei and Broken into their ranks to help mend and heal Outland.Therefore Draenei Shamans within the Earthen Ring ranks are likily to look at Tauren,trolls and orcs differently than those listed above

Draenei factions and organizations

Hand of Argus

An organization of draenei vindicators keeping peace in their newfound land, the Azuremyst Isles - although it also has one representative in Telaar in Nagrand and one in Forest Song in Ashenvale. Led by the Triumvirate of the Hand: Vindicators Boros, Kuros and Aesom. This is the "Hand" referred to in the name of the Tabard of the Hand, a reward for the draenei-only quest "Ending Their World".

Auchenai

Perhaps the most prominent reminder that not all draenei are "nice", the Auchenai were once priest keepers of Auchindoun, with one of them, Nemuraan, playing an important role in the Alliance Expedition's quest to stop Ner'zhul [Beyond the Dark Portal]. Since then, however, they have become hostile to both the Alliance and the Horde and turned away from the Light, openly practicing necromancy and warlock magic.

Shield of Velen

This is the title used by Velen's personal guard, located in the Vault of Lights in the Exodar.

Aldor

The Aldor are an order of draenei priests, now led by High Priestess Ishanah and formerly by Velen. They remained in hiding in the ruins of Shattrath after the orcs razed the city, until recently the naaru faction known as the Sha'tar arrived to rebuild the former draenei capital.They did not react well to the naaru's admission of blood elves into what they saw as their city, engaging in rivalry with the Scryers - at least until Kael'thas re-emerged on the Isle of Quel'Danas and both factions joined the newly formed Shattered Sun Offensive.

Shattered Sun Offensive

A joint military campaign between the draenei and blood elves of Outland, aimed against Kael'thas and his efforts to summon Kil'jaeden into Azeroth through the Sunwell. Based in Shattrath and Sun's Reach on the Isle of Quel'Danas, it included members of the Aldor, Scryers, and Liadrin's Blood Knights. Presumably disbanded in lore now that the Sunwell is restored and the invasion threat is gone.

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