Warcraft Queen

[Shameka Roessler]

Azsharais the queen of the naga, ruling from the underwater city of Nazjatar. Once the ruler of the Kaldorei Empire over ten thousand years ago, she was entrancingly beautiful and beloved by her people. When her Highborne made contact with the Dark Titan Sargeras and his Burning Legion, she accepted his offer to cleanse her world of the impure, of the inferior races. The Highborne and the demons worked together to summon the full might of the Legion and their master on Azeroth through the Well of Eternity, but the Kaldorei Resistance thwarted their efforts.

The Well of Eternity was destabilized, and collapsed, swallowing immense swathes of land with it in an event known as the Great Sundering. Azshara and many of her Highborne followers fell into the depths of the newly created Great Sea and would have drowned if not for the intervention of the Old Gods. They forged a pact with N'Zoth, who saved the Highborne by transforming them into the serpentine naga, a price they would pay by becoming their servants. For ten thousand years, she led the creation of the Nazjatar Empire in the depths, preparing an army to serve her master's plans.

During the Fourth War, Azshara split open the ocean as the Alliance and Horde fleet sailed above. As both factions' naval forces were smashed on the ocean floor, she welcomed them to Nazjatar. The Alliance and Horde had to work together to confront Azshara in her Eternal Palace.[4] Azshara was defeated, but not before she freed N'Zoth from his prison. Azshara was taken to Ny'alotha, where she was tortured in punishment for her defeat before being rescued by adventurers. Azshara has since remained missing, awaiting an opportunity to claim the power she desired.

Queen Azshara was born with golden eyes, which were quite rare in night elves before the Great Sundering. Thus, golden eyes were commonly regarded as a sign of future greatness. Indeed, she was widely considered the most beautiful of night elves and swiftly became the most beloved monarch in night elf history. Strong-willed, manipulative, and incomparably beautiful, Azshara possessed far more magical talent than almost any other night elf. As one of the Highborne and sole heir to the throne, she had long been fascinated with the Well of Eternity.

Azshara's coronation ceremony lasted days. Each night, the Highborne nobility lavished precious gifts on Azshara to curry her favor, but there was one she cherished more than all the others. A night elf named Lord Xavius presented the queen with a jeweled scepter, etched with delicate magical sigils. He promised Azshara that so long as she kept it close, it would bring her prosperity and great power. Azshara held the scepter aloft, and the jewels shimmered in the light of the moons like brilliant stars. The sight of the queen and her gift was so beautiful that it brought many of the attendant Highborne to tears. One of the first things Azshara did with the scepter was to use its power to enhance her legendary beauty. As the years wore on, the queen seemed to grow younger and more mesmerizing. A brilliant aura enveloped Azshara, enthralling those who looked upon her. The Highborne marveled at this strange phenomenon. A few even took it as a sign of divinity.[5]

After her coronation, she indulged her interests to the fullest. Soon she ordered the construction of a lavishly bejeweled palace on one of the Well's shores. Seeking to please the queen, the nobles proposed that the night elf capital city be renamed in her honor. Azshara graciously accepted, and after a much-heated debate, the city's name was changed to Zin-Azshari, or "glory of Azshara". Night elves everywhere celebrated the city's new name, for they loved their queen as much as they distrusted the decadent Highborne or the quel'dorei. Such was her charm that her people did not truly consider her one of the Highborne. Azshara was adored by all kaldorei, but she reserved her love only for her Highborne, the corrupt noble elite, who were hated among the jealous masses, for amongst the Highborne were some of the most powerful practitioners of magic. Azshara and her court took up residence in the new palace as soon as it was complete.

Azshara ordered her Highborne to join the night elf priests in trying to uncover the secrets of the Well. In their quest to learn its secrets, the night elves discovered that they could manipulate the cosmic energies flowing from the Well.[6] Perhaps no one was more suited to this task than Azshara. She was one of the greatest magic users who had ever lived. As she honed her command over the lake's energies, she infused a drop of its living waters into her bejeweled scepter. Queen Azshara's enchanted scepter afforded her great power. Imbued with the Well of Eternity's potent waters, it held sway over the rivers and the seas, aquatic creatures of all kinds, and the life energies that stirred within Azshara herself. She granted it a new name, one befitting its remarkable properties: [Sharas'dal, Scepter of Tides].[5] Many of the Highborne living in the palace devoted themselves to constant study of the Well. As their obsession grew, these Highborne drew magic from the Well's depths at reckless speed and channeled the chaotic energies into ever-greater spells. The Well was thrown into constant turmoil. Dark storms broke out over its surface, and its waters darkened until they became utterly black.[7]

At Azshara's behest, expeditionary forces were sent out to explore the world and expand the fledgling kaldorei empire's borders, founding the outposts of Shandaral, Then'Ralore and Eldre'Thalas. Azshara herself oversaw the construction of Lathar'Lazal, a temple of Elune built on the western edges of Kalimdor.[8] As masons constructed the temple, Azshara shaped the waters around it with [Sharas'dal, Scepter of Tides]. She spoke the names of the rivers and the seas, and they moved at her command. Salt water from the roaring ocean and fresh water from the mountain streams trickled to Azshara's side. With the flick of her wrist, the queen partitioned them into great lakes that hugged Lathar'Lazal's sturdy foundation. Creatures of all kinds populated these waters, and they were at Azshara's beck and call. Whenever she walked the bridges of Lathar'Lazal, nearby schools of exotic fish would array themselves in colorful patterns. She even kept a colossal sea giant bound to one of the lakes. She used her scepter to make him perform tricks and feats of strength, much to the delight of the watching Highborne. Curious night elves from the far corners of the empire journeyed to Lathar'Lazal to study the mythical creature and his habits.[5]

There was, however, one location that the queen sought to avoid: Mount Hyjal, the sacred mountain refuge of the elusive Wild Gods. Unsettled by the Wild Gods and their wild, untamable homeland, the queen publicly prohibited any attempts to expand into Hyjal under the pretense that she wanted to respect the night elves' kinship with the forests, even though in truth Azshara actually despised the mountain and the harmony it represented.[8]

Azshara also struck an accord with the Zandalar tribe of trolls, who held considerable influence over the rest of their race. Uninterested in conquering the trolls, which the queen saw as a minor nuisance at best, she allowed the Zandalari to keep their sacred Zandalar Mountains in exchange for ending troll incursions into kaldorei territory.[9]

One day, the queen was approached by her most trusted advisor, Counselor Xavius, with an idea of using the power of the Well of Eternity to cleanse the world, and make it perfect in her eyes. Their meddling with immense magic, however, drew the eye of an interested observer: Sargeras. Seeking to unleash his Burning Legion upon Azeroth, the Dark Titan entranced Xavius, pulling him under his power, following quickly with most of the Highborne and eventually Azshara herself. Xavius helped the queen communicate with Sargeras, whom she told of her desire to cleanse the world of the lesser races. Sargeras tricked the queen into making a portal from which was launched the first invasion of Azeroth by the Burning Legion, an event which is now known as the War of the Ancients.

The Burning Legion's first attack on the world of Azeroth was located at Zin-Azshari, the capital city of the ancient night elf civilization. The Burning Legion, spearheaded by Hakkar and Mannoroth, quickly decimated Zin-Azshari with no mercy, killing all that stood in their path. The second most powerful and populated city in the night elf empire, Suramar, was next in line to taste the fires of the Burning Legion. Thousands of night elves were slaughtered as the dark Highborne stood safely atop their walls and Azshara laughed at the deaths of her kind. "Azshara help us!" "For Azshara!" "Run Azshara!" were among the few battle roars emanating from the chaos, but Azshara just looked away and knew that her peoples' deaths were necessary so she could be the matriarch of a new perfect world that would be shaped after her own vision.

Eventually, a resistance was formed, but Azshara paid no attention to their efforts. Sargeras dispatched three of his most dangerous minions to do his bidding: Hakkar the Houndmaster, Mannoroth the Destructor and finally Archimonde the Defiler. All three commanded and watched over the Legion and would have prevailed had it not been for the efforts of three night elves: Malfurion Stormrage the druid, Illidan Stormrage the sorcerer (twin to Malfurion), and Tyrande Whisperwind the priestess (beloved of both brothers), and three heroes from far into the future: A dragonmage in a high elf form known in humanoid shape as Krasus and as a dragon Korialstrasz, a skilled human wizard named Rhonin, and a seasoned orc warrior named Broxigar.

Some leagues away from Zin-Azshari, in the region of Azsuna, the Highborne Prince Farondis was far enough that he did not fall under the demons' sway. Farondis decided that the only course of action for him to take was to destroy the Well of Eternity using the [Tidestone of Golganneth], one of the Pillars of Creation. Vandros, a noble in Farondis' court, caught wind of the plan and reported it to the queen. Azshara wasted no time in punishing Farondis and his people. In a frightening display of arcane energy, she destroyed the Tidestone of Golganneth and unleashed a wave of dark magic across Azsuna and its inhabitants. The land was sundered and the resident elves now wander Azsuna eternally as spirits.[10]

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