Eredar

For the other subspecies, see Lightforged draenei, Broken and Lost One.

The eredar are a race of supremely talented magic-wielders who arose on the planet Argus countless millennia ago. Exceptionally skilled in magic, their mastery of the arcane arts were renowned throughout the scattered worlds of the Great Dark Beyond. Led by a triumvirate of wise and powerful leaders — Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, and Velen — they built a vast civilization of wondrous cities and a peaceful way of life on their homeworld.

However, 13,000 years ago, the Dark Titan Sargeras shattered the tranquility of Argus by offering the eredar immeasurable knowledge and power. The eredar were a knowledge-seeking race, as such Kil'jaeden and Archimonde accepted Sargeras' offer. The titan bathed the eredar in his fel might, and turned them into demonic members of the Burning Legion. Velen and his followers, however, managed to flee Argus with the help of the divine naaru, who would rename them draenei, or "Exiled Ones".

The draenei refer to their corrupted brethren as man'ari (pronounced man-ah-ree), or "unnatural beings". They have stopped referring to themselves as "eredar" because of the negative connotation it now has, following the vast majority of eredar being turned into demons, although it is still the name of their race. The man'ari eredar now act as some of the most powerful weapons in the Burning Legion's arsenal. Skilled sorcerers in both fel and shadow magics, they are often found in command of contingents of demon forces. When facing man'ari eredar of great power, large armies are useless for the most part. Their corruptive powers over mortal souls are such that only the strongest-willed can even stand face to face with them.

History
Nearly 25,000 years ago, on the planet of Argus, the noble and enigmatic eredar race arose. They are one of the oldest known races in the universe. They were extremely intelligent and had a natural affinity for magic in all of its forms. Using their gifts, they developed a vast and wondrous society in which art, science, magic, and technology were all as one. Their society was powered by argunite. They were aided in this development by an ancient artifact known as the Ata'mal crystal, a triangular crystal whose origin was a mystery to the eredar, though it had been a gift bestowed upon them by the naaru in ancient times. The eredar hunted great horned beasts for sport.

The eredar were apparently ruled by political regimes under the rule of multiple capable persons. The Second Duumvirate consisted of Kil'jaeden and Velen. Velen was an exceptional master of holy magic, who once used T'uure, a holy artifact of the naaru, to cure a curse that robbed the eredar of their mental capabilities. An order of eredar mages called the Wakeners under the leadership of Thal'kiel first delved into the Void and summoned demons. Presenting this before the duumvirate, hoping to gain the acceptance of them. When denied, he secretly summoned even more demons to usurp the duumvirate and become the sole dictator of Argus. He was betrayed by his apprentice Archimonde, who decapitated Thal'kiel and his order was hunted and their scriptures burned.

13,000 years ago, the dark titan Sargeras, in order to create a great Legion, planned to bolster his ranks by creating demons. He was attracted by the eredar's magical affinity, and he contacted them under the guise of a benevolent being, promising their three leaders, Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and Velen, vast powers and that he would use his power to transform their race into an even greater one so they may spread his universal union. A troubling vision soon came to Velen, who saw the eredar transformed into unspeakable demons. But despite Velen's misgivings, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden agreed to join Sargeras' Burning Legion. The eredar were the first sentient race to pledge their allegiance to Sargeras. Knowing that other sentient beings would inevitably join the Legion, the eredar declared that their primary language, Eredun, would be the Legion's common language. Argus became a demon world, and the stronghold of the Burning Legion.

With his fellow eredar already becoming corrupted by demonic power, Velen, along with those who would follow him, split from the bulk of eredar society — who were, by now, a "twisted demonic reflection of" the original eredar — on Argus with the help of the naaru, renaming themselves the draenei, or "exiled ones" in Eredun. The man'ari (so called because of their transformation into demons) continued to call themselves "eredar" under Kil'jaeden and were infuriated with what they perceived as a betrayal. They hunted Velen and the draenei across dozens of worlds for thousands of years as the draenei used a massive naaru dimensional ship called the Genedar to escape. Every time it seemed that the draenei had found a new home, the Burning Legion would fall upon them. One such world was Fanlin'Deskor, whose surface was ripped apart by the Legion, after which nothing was left behind. The indigenous races of many worlds were oftentimes mutated by the eredar's malevolent warlock powers and turned into demons, marking such twisted demonic beings as man'ari themselves.

Both factions continued to use the Eredun language, though specific dialects have evolved: the demonic Eredun and Draenei languages.

The draenei traveled through most of the cosmos and eventually discovered another, safer world to settle down upon. They named this world Draenor, or "exiles' refuge". At first, there was peace with the native orcs living there, and they struck up trade and diplomacy with the shamanistic race. But soon the draenei's existence there was discovered by Kil'jaeden via his agent, Talgath. This time, however, Kil'jaeden decided that instead of launching a full invasion of the planet, from which the draenei had managed to escape in the past, he would use the native orcs to do his bidding for him; thus Velen and the draenei wouldn't realize the Legion was involved and flee until it was too late to do so. Kil'jaeden and the eredar then began to corrupt the orcs, turning them into a bloodthirsty, war-like race by granting them access to warlock magics. The orcs formed the Horde and subsequently hunted down the draenei, almost wiping out the entire race; indeed, they believed they had, but Velen and a few others had managed to escape the onslaught. The draenei used the dimensional ship known as the Exodar, a vessel of the great naaru fortress Tempest Keep to escape to the world of Azeroth to ally with the Alliance.

To this day, the draenei remain loyal members of the Alliance, and the man'ari eredar, now the most stalwart enemy of the draenei, comprise the commanders and strategists of the Burning Legion. The eredar have rewritten Argus history books to paint Velen as a traitor.

Demonic eredar
Demonic eredar, described with the term man'ari (pronounced man-ah-ree) eredar (or simply by the broad category 'man'ari'), are eredar that have been turned into demons by the Burning Legion. 13,000 years ago, the Dark Titan Sargeras bathed the eredar in his fel might, and turned them into demonic members of the Burning Legion.

The man'ari eredar now act as some of the most powerful weapons in the Burning Legion's arsenal. Skilled sorcerers in both fel and shadow magics, they are often found in command of contingents of demon forces. When facing eredar of great power, large armies are useless for the most part. Their corruptive powers over mortal souls are such that only the strongest-willed can even stand face to face with them.

Name
"Man'ari" is an Eredun term that translates to "unnatural beings". It was originally described as a word with no specific translation, use to describe something considered "horrifically wrong, something twisted and unnatural and defiled". "Man'ari" is most often used by the draenei to describe the eredar followers of Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, as the draenei believe that these demonic minions are no longer recognizable as true eredar, but it could reasonably be used to describe any species that Sargeras has twisted from their natural state to a demonic one (such as satyr). However, some demonic eredar also appear to refer to themselves as "man'ari", and usage of it as a species name to refer to the eredar of the Burning Legion can be considered grammatically correct as Kil'jaeden appropriated the term for his own use, though the man'ari mostly refer to themselves simply as "eredar", as they do not consider their state to be a defilement. The draenei no longer call themselves eredar, likely because the name is mostly associated with the demonic man'ari eredar.

Biology
The eredar are bipedal ungulates, physically similar to their original shape, with a few minor differences (the original eredar shape has been preserved in the draenei). The most obvious difference is their skin color; though several man'ari eredar, such as Archimonde and Lady Sacrolash, retain a blue-gray skin color, most have blood-red skin. Their eyes glow fel-green; much like draenei, the glow in an eredar's eyes will fade away when they die. Many male man'ari lack cranial hair, and man'ari females have longer tails than their draenei counterparts. Eredar hands are clawed.

Most significantly, many man'ari eredar tend to be larger than draenei, though few could match Archimonde's preferred height (he has been shown of being capable to change his size at will).

Kil'jaeden shows a greater amount of physical variation, having sprouted both horns and wings in his most recent incarnation in addition to the more regular man'ari mutations; though these additional appendages could be a result of his shape-altering abilities rather than the influence of fel magic.

Any draenei that allows themselves to become corrupted can become a man'ari eredar, transforming from humanoid to demon. Two recent examples are Levixus, an eredar who was born as a draenei, and Exarch Othaar, who became a man'ari and took the name Socrethar when he swore himself to the Burning Legion.

The old eredar believed in the value of phrenology - the measurement of skull in order to divine mental aptitude. Believing that an eredar's mental faculties, such as willpower, memory, and perception, could be attributed to the shape and size of various protuberances on that individual's skull, it was theorized that skulls of proficient spellcasters could channel magical energies even after death.

Sub-species

 * — The eredar that joined the Burning Legion became demons. While they still refer themselves as eredar, the draenei came to know them as man'ari.
 * — Demonic eredar who serve as honor guard for the leaders of the Burning Legion.
 * Eredar brute — The sub-type of eredar who undergo a transformation that grant them strength.
 * Doommaiden — The sub-type of female eredar that have wings.
 * — A faction of eredar that refused to join the Burning Legion and instead sided with the forces of the Light under the wise prophet, Velen. This includes both those that fled Argus millennia ago and any descendants born afterward, such as on Draenor.
 * — Some draenei, after separating from the main group, were infused with the light of Xe'ra becoming Lightforged.
 * — Corrupted and mutated draenei transformed by a "red mist" unleashed by the Old Horde during the attack on Shattrath City, which cut them off from the Light.
 * — The most severely mutated and devolved type of draenei.
 * Broken of Argus — The eredar corrupted and mutated since the draenei flight from Argus.
 * Voidscarred — The void-corrupted Broken located in Mac'Aree on Argus.
 * Ur'zul — The demonic creatures on Argus formed from the tormented bodies and souls of Krokul and fallen members of the Army of the Light.

Original lore
Eredar were supreme sorcerers at the dawn of the universe. Some believe that they devoured their own world by using radical warlock magics. They consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power.

Over the eons, Sargeras encountered two powerful demonic races, both of which were bent on gaining power and dominance over the physical universe. One of them was the eredar, an insidious race of devilish sorcerers, who used their warlock magics to enslave a number of worlds that they had invaded. The indigenous races of those worlds were mutated by the eredar's chaotic powers and turned into demons themselves. Though Sargeras' nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the vile eredar, he was greatly troubled by the creatures' corruption and all-consuming evil. Unable to fathom such depravity and spite, the great Titan began to slip into a brooding depression. Despite his growing unease, Sargeras rid the universe of the warlocks by trapping them within a corner of the Twisting Nether.

Still, Sargeras went mad and decided to undo the Titan's works throughout the universe, he set out to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe to the flame. In his fury and madness, Sargeras shattered the prisons of the eredar and the nathrezim and set the vile demons free. The cunning demons, bowing before the dark Titan's vast rage and power, offered themselves to him and swore to serve him in whatever malicious way they could. The eredar were Sargeras's first recruits in the Burning Legion, serving as tactical advisors and intelligence officers.

From the ranks of the powerful eredar, Sargeras chose two champions to lead his demonic army of destruction. Kil'jaeden the Deceiver was chosen to seek out the darkest races in the universe and recruit them into Sargeras's ranks. The second champion, Archimonde the Defiler, was chosen to lead Sargeras's vast armies into battle against any who might resist the Titan's will.

New lore
The idea that eredar were previously mortal before being corrupted has existed long before The Burning Crusade's release. Chris Metzen stands by the lore described in the history section, who for better or worse are among the primary antagonists, more firmly in the backstory.

In the newer lore, Sargeras' first battles with demons may not have been with the eredar; it is possible he may have fought some other demonic race from the Twisting Nether before his battles with the nathrezim.

This is confirmed in the WOW magazine which shows Sargeras also fought the ered'ruin, mo'arg, sayaad, and infernals.

In the RPG
All demons, including the eredar, were mortal once, but have been transformed into demons by corruption caused by fel energy. This change included a powerful command of arcane energy. It is said that Sargeras believed that the demons originally were not corrupt, and that it was the Titan's ordering of the universe that was ultimately responsible for the demons corruption. In this scenario, it would imply that the titans considered the various natural races that pre-existed on worlds they visited to be demons, but were actually corrupted by the titans themselves. Sargeras later came back and freed many of them, bent on using them to destroy the Titan's work.

The eredar consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power. Until now, only the titans have ever challenged them. Each of the leaders, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, built a hierarchy of demons, jealously protected from the will of the other. These groups strove for dominance of Azeroth and other worlds. But now, at long last, Archimonde is dead, killed by the forces of Azeroth. Individual eredar and a few hopeful heroes of the lesser races have decided that they are the best candidates to replace him. These prideful few have taken their first careful steps toward locating and eliminating the presumptuous competition that might seek to displace them.

These creatures are of impressive size, far larger than any human or orc, with a bulky muscular body and a long tail. Long pointed ears sweep back from its bestial face and horns sprout from its wide brow

Sociology
Pre-eminence in eredar warlock society depends almost entirely upon magical power. Those who command the greatest selection of paramount spells — and thus, in theory, the greatest magical arsenal — rise to higher ranks. Those whose arcane abilities top out at such pitiful cantrips as wish and shape change are grunts and lackeys, scarcely worthy of notice. Because of the very nature of magic, rank, magical power, and overall intelligence go hand-in-claw.

This rule of rank is never deviated from; Archimonde's status among his brethren is backed up by his mastery of the most destructive forms of magic, and his adeptness of all others (recall his single-handed destruction of Dalaran). However, while Archimonde is violent and destructive, Kil'Jaeden is ruthlessly cunning, and coupled with his powerful magic, may even make him an even more dangerous demon than Archimonde.

Notes and trivia

 * In the World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade Battle Chest Guide, the race section has a separate page for the eredar and for the Burning Legion (with its many races).
 * The Crest of Knowledge contained the vast sum of knowledge cultivated by the Ancient Eredar.
 * Originally, before the invention of draenei as a concept, the race of demon was known as "the eredar warlocks".
 * Originally, male and female man'ari eredar used unique models, with unique armor features (although they still used the same animations as their draenei cousins). However, man'ari eredar introduced in patch 6.2.0 and onward instead use a slightly modified version of the updated draenei model, which allows them to wear different pieces of player armor, something that was not possible with the to early -era models.
 * A female man'ari model was not introduced until the addition of the Eredar Twins in patch 2.4.0. Originally, Sironas, the only pre-2.4 female man'ari in the game, used a female draenei model.
 * Players can turn into a man'ari eredar for a brief time using Jewel of Hellfire.
 * Eredar males are voiced by Brian Silva.
 * The eredar have the habit of using tail jewelry, such as Delicate Tail Band or Small Tail Ring. The more decorative the cuff, the more prestigious the individual.
 * The eredar do not seem to use surnames.