Void elf

Void elves (or ren'dorei, "children of the Void" in Thalassian) are a race of Void-infused elves affiliated with the Alliance. Their origins lie with a group of blood elves led by Magister Umbric who were exiled from Silvermoon City because of their research into the Void. They were transformed by void ethereals but rescued by Alleria Windrunner, who had gained mastery of the Void herself on Argus. Permanently transformed by the process, they pledged their loyalty to her and the Alliance and established themselves as the ren'dorei.

The void elves seek to utilize their great but dangerous powers for the sake of defending Azeroth and the Alliance, and to prove those who doubt or judge their abilities wrong, all the while resisting the Void's call to madness. They have the ability to metamorphose into a Void form. They are based in Telogrus Rift.

Description


Many have sought to harness the corruptive magic of the Void. Most who tried have fallen into madness. Determined to use this power for the good of Azeroth, Alleria Windrunner is the first mortal to succeed at defying the shadow's whispers. Coming to the aid of a group of her kin who nearly gave in to the darkness, Alleria has vowed to train these void elves to control the shadows within them and pledge their newfound powers to the Alliance. Void elves constantly hear voices from the Void that seek to corrupt them, something they have learned to fight against and keep control over. This assault is relentless and the discipline needed to resist them is extraordinary. The voices say many things, from lies, to things that are true from a certain point of view, things that sound true, and things that one would wish were true.

History
The void elves are tied to the experiences of two Thalassian elves who came into contact with the void and its power, and whose convergence, kinship, and shared ideals would lead to the birth of the ren'dorei.

Beyond the stars
While sojourning with the Army of the Light, Alleria Windrunner was attacked and infected with the void on a Burning Legion prison world that had been deeply saturated by its energies. She finally grew fascinated by the void and eventually learned of a mysterious ethereal named Locus-Walker, a peerless master of void energies and a ruthless enemy of the Legion, that she desired to seek out in order to learn and wield the void's power against the Legion. However, the naaru prime, Xe'ra, strictly forbidden her to do so. Alleria acquiesced to Xe'ra's wishes but did not abandon her belief that the void, while built on chaos, could be a force utilized for good.

Eventually, in a brutal confrontation with the Legion, Alleria invoked the void and annihilated the gathered monsters with its power, before escaped through a shadowy rift with Turalyon. However, Turalyon who had become one with the Light, felt agonizing pain when he came in direct contact with her. Alleria, promising him that she would never be his enemy, then departed through another portal, and soon found herself on the world of Niskara, taken prisoner alongside the ethereal she had sought for so long: Locus Walker.

Alleria used the teachings taught to her by Locus Walker to fight off their demonic assailant, and together escaped to a plane of pure shadow, the void itself. Here, Locus Walker taught Alleria much of the void, its workings, and its place in the universe. He emphasized the importance of control and sanity when wielding the void's power, and spoke at length of the duality of Light and Shadow, how the Light cannot see the whole of destiny because it alone is not responsible for it; likewise, the shadow cannot see all of destiny either. He explained how the shadow sees the Light as nothing but horrors, just as the Light sees the shadow, and how neither is true nor wrong. How the Light seeks one path and shuns all others as lies, while the Void seeks every possible path and sees them all as truth.

However, Alleria left her training incomplete after learning that Turalyon was in grave danger, and departed the shadowy realm after a brief battle with her teacher, who told Alleria that they would meet again. Reuniting with Turalyon, Alleria used her newfound control of the void to drive off his attackers and save his life, but even his plea for mercy could not stay Xe'ra's judgment: for refusing to renounce the void, Alleria would be imprisoned.



When the Xenedar was shot down, Alleria was set free. During the battles across the draenei's ruined homeworld, Alleria became aware of the existence of the darkened naaru L'ura, whose fallen state — having become a creature of the void — was attracting the attention of void-corrupted ethereals. Alleria met her teacher once again, who had come to see what the Shadowguard, his people who had succumbed to the void, were doing. Locus Walker offered Alleria the heart of the slain void revenant Nhal'athoth, which Alleria consumed. So long as she remained in control of herself and her mind, the shadow would be her ally.

Within the Seat of the Triumvirate, Alleria confronted L'ura herself. Locus Walker encouraged Alleria to use the power of the void rifts the darkened naaru was opening, and Alleria absorbed L'ura's essence completely, turning her to a void state. Although the process changed her, giving her access to a void form, Alleria maintained that she was still in control, the same person she had always been, but now something more. Alleria's transformation and link to the void would soon be known to her people back on Azeroth as she became the first void elf.

Exile from Silvermoon
Back on Azeroth, Alleria's people had undergone many tribulations in her absence. The high elves had been brought low by the evil Arthas Menethil, their mighty kingdom of Quel'Thalas reduced to ruins, most of their people slain. The survivors rose from the ashes, naming themselves the blood elves in honor of the perished. The blood elves — sin'dorei — learned to cope with the loss of their Sunwell, rebuilt much of their kingdom, and even allied with the Horde. Their many trials included the betrayal of their prince to the Burning Legion, but with his death and a grueling battle at the Sunwell's resting place, the exhausted fount of power was restored to the sin'dorei, now a source of the Light as well as the arcane. The Sunwell's restoration was the first step on a more prosperous path for Quel'Thalas, after some of the kingdom's darkest days.

A blood elf magister, Umbric, was determined that the sin'dorei would never fall prey to their enemies again. Convinced that the void was essential to the defense of Silvermoon, Umbric and his followers delved into it against the wishes of Quel'Thalas' Grand Magister, Rommath. Eventually, Rommath had them banished, reasoning that any who treat with the void pose a danger to the Sunwell, and Umbric led his followers south to the Ghostlands to pursue their research. He made a breakthrough after discovering notes left by Dar'Khan Drathir, one of Quel'Thalas' most vile traitors, who had sought the power of the void long before selling his people to Arthas. While Drathir had not succeeded in his endeavor, eventually abandoning his research after a failed attempt to reach a void-infused rift world supposedly containing an item of great power, Umbric — who only now conceded that Rommath may have been right to oppose this course of study — was able to build upon Drathir's findings and open the way to the rift.

With his followers, Umbric traveled to the void world now known as Telogrus Rift, which had been destroyed long ago by a being of great power (possibly Sargeras himself). But the fragmented world endured, heavily bathed in the void's energies. Umbric, at last, had found what he was looking for: an ancient and powerful cube that could grant its masters control over shadows.

Return to Azeroth
Returning to Azeroth, Alleria was forced to face several hard truths, among them her people's alliance with the Horde. Although the rulers of her kingdom had never held the loyalty to the Alliance that Alleria herself had come to feel — indeed, Quel'Thalas had rescinded its membership in the Alliance under her former king Anasterian's rule, and relations had only worsened since — she was determined to see Silvermoon stand again on the Alliance's side, and was certain that her people would shrug off the Horde if given the choice. Called upon by King Anduin Wrynn to seek out new allies for the Alliance, Alleria traveled to Silvermoon City to meet with her old Farstrider comrade-turned-ruler, Lor'themar Theron, Quel'Thalas' regent lord with the fall of the royal family. She presented Theron with an offer from Anduin, but Lor'themar was unreceptive to it, lamenting only that Alleria had returned on a politically-motivated mission and not out of love for Silvermoon. Alleria asked whether this was how he truly felt, or rather the agenda of her sister, his Warchief. Lor'themar then brought up Alleria's consumption of the void, asserting that her own words, haunted as they are by the lords of the void, were no more trustworthy.

Alleria, seeing her offer had been "anticipated and spurned," accepted his answer and prepared to depart, but made a final request — that she be permitted to visit the Sunwell again; it had been a thousand years, from her perspective, since she had seen it last.

Rommath immediately objected, suspicious of Alleria's intentions, but Lor'themar overruled him, stating that no matter what she'd become, Alleria was still a daughter of Quel'Thalas and he would not deny her a pilgrimage to their people's most sacred site. Alleria then accompanied the blood elf leaders, as well as the concurrently visiting nightborne leaders, to the Sunwell.

Alleria was overcome with emotion at seeing the well again, and learned from Lady Liadrin that its energies had been changed: the Sunwell was no longer a source of pure arcane energy, but also holy Light, and it was the Light that now sustains their people. Alleria had noticed the change, but when she stepped closer to its waters, the plateau erupted into void corruption. Void beasts, drawn to the Sunwell by Alleria's presence, swarmed the plateau and were fought back by all those gathered. An unseen presence loomed behind the curtain, apparently using the void within Alleria as a "vessel" to corrupt the Sunwell, and unleashed a void horror upon it. Combining her powers with Rommath and Thalyssra, Alleria succeeded in closing the void rift before disaster could strike, but from the blood elves' perspective it had already happened. Rommath ordered Alleria arrested as a saboteur, but Lor'themar interceded, instead banishing Alleria back to Stormwind on the grounds that her very presence poses a danger to Quel'Thalas.

Alleria returned to Stormwind to report the poor outcome of her negotiations, but an earlier comment made by Rommath, suggesting that like Alleria, other blood elves had been exiled for dabbling in the void, gave her another quest to pursue.

Convergence of shadows
Alleria ventured to the Ghostlands, and sought out the tracks and traces that Umbric and his group had left behind. With each piece Alleria put together, she gained a better understanding and empathy for these elves, exiled and shunned for delving into the void, as she had been. Further, Alleria worried about where this research into such a strange and unknowable object might take them. Alleria followed the trail to Dawnstar Spire, and atop it she opened her own portal to Telogrus, where she finally met Umbric.

She had arrived just in time for the ritual to unlock the cube. Umbric's followers had dispersed around Telogrus and were intent on uncovering its secrets. Umbric himself was honored to make Alleria's acquaintance, and had learned much of her ordeal on Argus and the shadows she'd consumed. But while Silvermoon's leaders looked upon this occurrence with suspicion and mistrust, seeing only a potential threat to Quel'Thalas, Umbric was of a mind with Alleria, and firmly believed that the void could be controlled and made a force for good. Alleria accompanied Umbric to the site of the cube and cautioned him to be wary as he began the ritual to unlock its power.

At that moment, the cube opened with an explosion, allowing Nether-Prince Durzaan — the corrupt ethereal who had stalked Alleria and made an attempt to claim the Sunwell — to surge into Telogrus. Durzaan immediately began a spell to capture and corrupt Umbric and his followers, binding them in an attempt to transform the elves into creatures of the void. Alleria, swearing to save her brothers and sisters, fought a brutal battle to free Umbric and slay the Nether-Prince. Displaying her fortitude, neither Durzaan's power nor his offers to share it were enough to sway Alleria's resolve, as she made clear to Umbric that the whispers are not to be trusted. Alleria succeeded in killing Durzaan, and while their minds and souls were still their own, the sin'dorei had been transformed by the ritual: now, having consumed the void as Alleria had, they had achieved new powers as well as a dangerous susceptibility to its whispers. Alleria immediately offered her aid, wanting to help her transformed kin understand and control their new forms and powers; and Umbric, apologizing for his arrogance, happily accepted. Since Umbric felt that Silvermoon had turned its back on him and his people long ago, Umbric and the void elves swore their allegiance to Alleria and the Alliance.

Alleria and Umbric became the first to embrace a new identity: the void elves, ren'dorei in their native tongue — children of the void.

Battle for Azeroth
Under Alleria's guidance, as well as the tutelage and instruction of her own teacher, Locus-Walker, the void elves made strides in mastering their nature. They claimed Telogrus as their base of operations, which has also been visited by blood elf Silvermoon Scholars and high elf wayfarers curious to learn more about the Void from their transformed kin.

Aspiring void elf adventurers are sent to Stormwind from Telogrus, urged on by Alleria and Umbric; the ren'dorei have established a presence in the city. There they meet Anduin Wrynn, who assures them that while the path they walk may be testing, they will never face the darkness alone, for the Alliance stands with them. More high elf spellcasters were seen around them.

The void elves are not recruiting, necessarily, but they are open to those who share similar interests. Their research has attracted other elves to Telogrus, with both Silvermoon scholars and high elven wayfarers arriving to study the ways of the Void. They are trying to find out if they can reproduce the original process that transformed the void elves.

During the 7th Legion's invasion of Zandalar, a regiment of void elves led by Umbric - seeing the opportunity to prove their capabilities and their loyalty to the Alliance - would attack the Bilgewater Cartel's mining operations in Zandalar in an attempt to find and capture Jastor Gallywix. Using their newfound powers to ambush the Cartel's goblins by sending void elven troops through the rift, as well as throwing the cartel's frackers to the endless void.

Though their mission ended in failure they managed to uncover the Trade prince's decoy and send the trade prince on the run, impressing the 7th Legion's Commander.

As members of the 7, several void elves participated in the Faction Assault on Vol'dun.

Notes and trivia

 * Umbric's Void Warlocks became Rift Wardens after their transformation, and the Void Mages became Locus Researchers.
 * In-game, their blood is purple.
 * The void elf racial crest and banner resemble an inversion of the blood elves' Icon of Blood with the same avian imagery and overall shape of the crest.
 * When exactly Umbric's group was exiled is unclear. Rommath's given reason for exiling them was that their research posed a threat to the Sunwell, which suggests it had to be after The Burning Crusade's epilogue, as the Sunwell was only restored after that point.
 * The idea of blood elves dabbling with the Void is an old one, as High Astromancer Solarian could already turn into a voidwalker in The Burning Crusade. Also Elsaana mentions how blood elves of the Sunfury consume the energies of Outland's voidwalkers to power their magics.
 * Alleria differs significantly from the void elf playable race by being able to switch forms between a normal-looking high elf and a darkened void elf version at will. On the other hand, before Shadowlands void elves had a purplish/bluish appearance as their baseline, although they can further darken with the random proc Entropic Embrace racial ability.
 * Void elves are the only faction to have switched factions twice.
 * Umbric and his followers never felt loyalty to the Horde, but to Silvermoon. After having mastered the Void and having been transformed, they hope to bring Silvermoon back into the Alliance, for they do not trust the Horde with their power.
 * Purple and dark blue features heavily in void elf iconography. Their tabard and heritage armor features purple as a predominant color, while multiple void elf doodads and items such as the void elf flag and the racial crest are in dark blue, although they were purple in pre-release art.
 * Void elves are Thalassian elves who have embraced the void. For general Thalassian elf culture, see blood elf.
 * Void elves speak with the English accent.
 * The use of "Ren" for "Ren'dorei" may be a reference to Kylon Ren.
 * Various voice-lines and the names for their hairstyles in character customization gesture to subculture.