I have been searching through numerous forums revolving around this topic, but I feel like it would be much easier to summarise it, as I ended up quite scatter-brained after going through so much info. If anyone could help me by answering a couple of general questions that’d be great.
Compared to the Kaldorei, how refined would I need to speak, considering how they were relatively high in ranks in terms of status?
Are their eye colours the same as the usual night elf?
If I am not going for the mage class and go for another like Rogue for example, is there any factors I need to remember in relevance to Shen’dralar’s lore?
What is the most distinct factor between the Kaldorei and Shen’dralar in terms of appearance and mannerisms? (In case I decide to go down the route of LYING about my character’s origins).
It can depend on how old or young your Highborne is. Remember Kalistia Starlance in Azsuna? She spoke like a late-teen, yet she knows and remembers her parents who lived near Nar’thalas.
It all depends on your character and how they view things. An older Highborne Mage could be more…disciplined in their approach towards others or they could be quite welcoming.
Yes. Only Azshara and Illidan had different eye colours, as far as we know. Obviously we’ve had the Night Warrior ritual, but that’s a different kettle of fish.
Indeed, some Highborne did undergo that eye-colour transformation, as we see on Horde side, where we fight a Highborne-looking Night Elf Mage.
You absolutely can role anything.
You could role a Hunter or Rogue and be like Tortheldrin’s High Ranger, Illyanna Ravenoak, who he had murdered because she refused to murder the Shen’dralar loyalists.
Equally you could also look at High Ranger Valoren (or something like that) where their is a statue of him in the Ruins of Vashj’ir.
You can also go for a Priest, their was High Priestess Siralen, who was Azshara’s personal High Priestess. Or you could be a Priest and, if female, perhaps go with a “Handmaiden” approach?
Druid might be quite hard to do.
Their truly isn’t anything on the outward appearnce for the common eye.
In Blizzard fashion, what they have typically done for the average Highborne female NPC is white hair, greyed/blue skin, no markings.
Now this changed with Illyanna and Kalistia, who had shorter blue hair, with markings. We also saw these changes with those of the Nightwatchers and who were Highborne associates of Farondis’ Court.
It is entirely up to you. Highborne can even have bright green hair and leaf-like markings as seen in the Ruins of Zin’Azshari with some of the Highborne Sharpshooter mobs.
And Dath’remar Sunstrider had amber eyes! Anyways; Silver was the common eye color for Highborne and Kaldorei pre-sundering, and while this changed for the males of the Kaldorei due to the influence of Druidic-magic(which is weird since Malfurion has somehow natural green eyes instead of the Amber ones, but blizzard did their best to make Amber eyes normal instead of the rarity they’re supposed to be) one can assume it never really changed for the Shen’dralar with only less then a handfull having the amber eyes(perhaps only Mordent, Estulan and Tortheldrin)
Ofcourse this can always change as Malfurion is a pretty clear-cut case of Kaldorei being able to have a different eye color then silver or amber!
Silver is the most obvious choice, tho… Or if you insist, amber could be pulled off to!
Kaldorei-aligned Highborne are still without markings and with white hair, but as Leia stated its not a must. We know from lore-sources that Highborne are supposed to be taller and having pastier(lighter) skin color, but again ingame they often use the kaldorei model(while they have a damn Highborne model to)
As for classes; everything is possible; although Druids would be weird its not impossible(rejoined the Kaldorei and dropped Arcane for Druidism due to reason X)
Hello there! Most answers have been given, I’ll just add some notes.
For speech, maybe speaking like how a noble may do. Instead of “don’t” saying “do not”. Not sure, you can do it if you’re fancy.
As for eyes, there were more Highborne (and night elf) who had amber eyes. It says about the Moonguard (the faction not the realm!), that those who had amber eyes were recruited into them.
Their hair being white is usually due to usage of arcane.
For classes, you can add some arcane flavour to most of classes (namely rogue, Warrior or Hunter, aside mage itself) to portray an arcane wielder. A war mage, a rogue who uses arcane to stealth instead of shadow, and a marksman who uses arcane. You don’t have to, for sure.
Remember Shen’dralar were scholars and read and kept many books, so basically they would be woke.
And, Shen’dralar currently stand with the Kaldorei now. The Highborne kept portals open to Stormwind when Teldrassil was burning, Mordent Evershade himself is in Darkshore, etc. So I don’t think lying would be needed. Despite their deeds, they are already accepted.
Good luck!
For the Moonguard thing about Amber eyes, this is the page:
It should be worth noting that in the short stories relating to the War of Thorns, cheers and songs of praises were heard from the Sentinels forces when the Highborne arrived to teleport in supplies, soldiers and huntresses.
This does suggest a change has happened, in terms of the modern lore, that isn’t reflected in-game.
For your first question, it really depends entirely on the Highborne in question – it has been a long, long time since they were the higher caste (see: ten-thousand years), so it depends entirely on your Highborne – do they cling to customs of the past, or do they take on the more progressive approach of current Highborne?
In the past, after the Sundering, the Highborne were exiled and there was a death penalty on the usage of the Arcane. It seems to have stayed this way for a long time.
In current times, the Shen’dralar appear remorseful and/or regretful of the past. They have a more progressive mindset and were allowed back into the Night Elf society during the events of the Cataclysm. Now, they even train others in their arts. A good book on this is the Wolfheart novel, if you’d like to know more!
Additionally, Highborne magi appear again in Darkshore where they fight for the kaldorei.
Eye colour is the same, yes! They can be gold, silver or black. In terms of eye colour, they’re much like the “lower” caste kaldorei – gold meant (in the past, pre-Sundering) signs of greatness, while they became much, much more common after the Sundering. Silver is a typical eye colour for Night Elves; it does not have much meaning in particular. Black is, as you likely know, the blessing of the Night Warrior granted in Darkshore.
Not all Highborne were mages. It is probable that your elf would have had some kind of involvement with the Arcane considering how deeply embedded it is within the Highborne, but they do not need to have any magical abilities. Nothing seems to say non-magi Shen’dralar were not a thing, either. Mage, Priest, Rogue, and Hunter seem the most logical options.
As mentioned before in this thread, Ilyanna Ravenoak was one of Prince Tortheldrin’s most valued hunters, telling us there were hunters amongst the Shen’dralar.
Some differences (although they are not exclusive to Highborne!) is that the some of the Highborne seem to have pastier skin and generally wear rich clothing. Usage of the Arcane (read: magi) and arrogance are also common traits of the Highborne.
I would not use Malfurion as an argument as to why your character can have eye colours that aren’t black, gold or silver - Malfurion has verdant green eyes, but he also has various attributes of different animal forms. It could well be a result of his close connection to the Dream or nature in general.
Hello! as a long time roleplayer of a Highborne in the past (before they were actually a thing acceptable within the Alliance as well) I can give you some suggestions and pointers.
Compared to Kaldorei, your Highborne may be more well educated thus have a greater lexicon to draw upon. However if you’re not comfortable with eating three thesauruses for breakfast every day then there is nothing wrong with having a terse or laconic Highborne as well. Also their status is effectively moot now, they’re just symbolically Highborne in modern Night Elf society.
They have a higher incidence of Golden eyes traditionally, as they bred the colour for their association with arcane potential and great destiny. Again though, not all need them and eye colour is hardly a thing these days amongst Night Elves.
The Highborne can be any class the Kaldorei can be (although I’d be curious to see how a Druid reconciles their heritage). Specifically Shen’Dralar however one must be aware that Prince Tortheldrin did purge his own people to make sure there was enough magic for them to feed on.
(As an aside, it was revealed in the Chronicle that the Horde were the ones who assaulted Dire Maul in lore and slew the prince. Conjecture may suggest then it was Horde aggression that pushed Mordent Evershade to try reconnect with their Kaldorei brethren.)
Appearance? Many of the Shen’Dralar have silver hair, although not exclusively. There doesn’t seem to be any major appearance differences and their mannerisms only suggest they might be quite bookish and scholarly compared to your average Night Elf. Otherwise you’re quite free to express any oddities or quirks as being part of the individual Highborne in question.
