Before anyone will jump on me with their fangs and claws out, I just want to make sure I am getting things right.
The Quel’dorei, upper were the upper class and a sect of the ancient Kal’dorei Empire the favored servitors of Queen Azshara, and etc.
However, I have seen many Night elf magi, claiming to be a Highborne, while there are no evidence about the playable Nightelf magi being a Highborne.
Yes you may start screaming, that the Highborne of the Eldre’Thalas have joined the Alliance.
But from what we know, the Highborne have joined the Kal’dorei resistance to mentor the Kal’dorei to master the Arcane powers.
Are the player Nightelf magi really a Higborne though?
As A Kal’dorei without Highborne blood such as Illidan Stormrage and others could “easily” master arcane powers if they wished so (and had access to it). In fact, the mastering of the arcane arts was common among the populace, resulting in organizations such as the Moon Guard, the official military sorcerers. Post Cataclysm, they had no access to learn Arcane powers, and adding the Highborne to mentor the Nightelves, was a great addition to give access to the Nightelves a mage class.
Long story short, I assume you can roleplay as the Highborne, but in fact you are not a Highborne without a Highborne blood.
Chronicles expands on the likes of Mordent, and when/how they ended up where they did.
Night elves becoming mages, was at a time when he and his followers, rejoined the faction around Cataclysm.
So yeah, any representation they have is influenced by them. Or at least, was intended to be considered as such by writers.
It’s more that the Highborne under Mordent are teaching the “new generation” of night elven mages. There is a questline about it in Azshara. The player gets taught by Highborne on Teldrassil, so it stands to reason that the player character is meant to be one of that “new generation”.
But yeah, fortunately we don’t have to follow that to a tee.
There are far to many examples of characters versed enough with the Arcane as another warring tool or whatever, for all to just be an entire generation of apprentices starting in the Night elf society.
I’d still argue that we can have both even on a player level.
Specially now that the questing experience is less linear and you can pick up the story at various points.
True, few classes start on the “veteran tag” as DH and DKs do.
But it’s not really all that conflictive, and in fact I’d find it far more probable, to have the playable experience lean more on a continuation of some Highborne training, rather than having their practices being suddenly accepted to such degree that they have students flocking towards them mere months after they arrived Darnassus, and weeks away from that time when upon arriving, they were either scorned by the general populace, or downright hunted down by fanatical segments of it (Maiev and the Watchers during Wolfheart).
Honestly, this is one of the new cataclysm class-combs that felt more natural to tackle in such way.
It was, it was, it was in past. Now, you don’t need to start in Teldrassil, now you can start the game in BfA times, on the mercenary island as a real Highborne mage. Highborne mage that have joined the Alliance, not Night Elves. Highborne mage that serves the Alliance, not Kaldorei.
In the same time, when Blizzard have added mercenary island, Blizzard have removed the leaders from races description (means that you don’t need to be a Kaldorei that serves Tyrande), and have added Highborne customization (check me out in armory).
So, answer to the question of the topic - yes, new players can call them self as Highborne.
P.S. According to the lore there were Highbornes that had zero knowledge in the Arcane. Highborne does not really needs to be a mage.
You have misunderstood what my statement was I assume, I said:
I am Kal’dorei Empire geek my own, and I clearly know who can be a Quel’dorei and who cannot be.
It does not matter. Having no Quel’dorei blood in you does not make you a Quel’dorei. The Quel’dorei of Eldre’Thalas have joined to mentor the YOUNG Kaldorei as a Magi trainers, nothing more.
But there is nothing that indicates that the player Kaldorei Magi are Quel’dorei. They are lowborn commoners who have chosen to go with the path of the Arcane powers.
As people above have mentioned, you can roleplay as whoever you would like to, you can RP even as Naga if you would like to, but in fact, without RP, player Nightelves have no right to own the title Quel’dorei.
Quel’dorei didn’t join just to train new YOUNG Kaldorei. They also join Kaldorei as part of their nation. They actively fight against the Horde and in all others Kaldorei wars. They are now the Alliance Night Elves, officially and fully. When you see Night Elf mage on the Battlefield it’s impossible to tell is this mage Quel’dorei or not!
And now, since the end of BfA, when you create a new Night Elf, you can start on Mercenary Island. And that means a lot, because it’s NO WHERE MENTIONED, that you are young Kaldorei that was living in Teldrassil. No, you start as Mercenary that came from NO WHERE, after BfA.
So, since Quel’dorei Night Elves are part of the Alliance, and actively fights in Alliance wars, and since there is no where mentioned that you are lowborn, and since Blizzard gave Quel’dorei customization to players, you officially can call your self as Highborne!
So, Night Elves players even without Role Playing have all rights to own the title Quel’dorei, because there is nothing in a lore, or in game, that stands against it, nothing says that you are not a Quel’dorei!
Before the Sundering, golden eyes were extremely rare among the night elves. Golden eyes thus came to be regarded as a sign of future greatness. Both Queen Azshara and Illidan had these unusual eyes. Unfortunately the falsehood of this widespread belief was only to become clear after these two infamous individuals had reached their dark fates.
In truth, golden eyes were a sign of strong druidic potential. Little wonder that pre-Sundering night elves, with their emphasis on the arcane, did not understand the significance of these unusual eyes. Simply having this potential did not guarantee that the potential would be sensed or understood, much less wielded with skill and compassion. Despite his golden eyes, Illidan struggled with the druidic arts, though he, like Malfurion, was tutored by Cenarius.
Innate druidic power does not necessarily lead to becoming a druid, and lacking that innate power does not preclude becoming a druid. Indeed, Malfurion was born with eyes that glowed silver, but he studied druidism, and his wholehearted dedication gave him a power and skill far beyond most druids. As he continued to use druidic magic, his eyes acquired the golden incandescence that had once been so coveted by other night elves.
Golden eyes quickly became far more common. After the Sundering, night elves abandoned their former obsession with bloodlines, and so the number of night elves born with golden eyes increased significantly. In addition, the night elves resolved to be more respectful of Azeroth, and a number of night elf men followed in Malfurion’s footsteps; these new druids eventually also had golden eyes.
Azshara does, in Nazjatar.
Elisande does.
Shal’dorei NPC’s do.
Highborne group of the Shal’dorei in Island Expeditions do.
Sorry for the dumb question, but is there a specific reason why one intending to RP as a High Elf would not roll a Ren’dorei ? Is that just about personal preferences regarding classes, racials etc, or are Ren’dorei custom options maybe not fit for a solid Quel’dorei RP ?
