The Draenei

We’ve gone through all the races initially available in World of Warcraft and are now moving on to races added during the game’s expansions. First up will be World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade’s draenei.

Burning Crusade added a sort-of sci-fi flair to World of Warcraft, and the draenei are a large part of that flair, in addition to the setting; Outland, the shattered remnants of the Orcish homeworld of Draenor.

The draenei are members of an ancient race, the eredar. The eredar have been on Azeroth before, as the lieutenants and commanders of the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients and the Third War. To explain this, we need to go back more than 12,000 years to the eredar’s original homeworld; Argus.

Argus was home to the mighty civilization of the erdar. Eredar were a race very skilled in the arcane, and built an entire civilization over the long millenia using that arcane knowledge. Machine soldiers and servants powered by magical energy, great shielded cities, and many more wonders. Almost every eredar is born with some degree of magical aptitude. Eredar also do not die of old age, at least not in a way mortal races could perceive. This meant there were erdar millenia old who held immense skill and power. Three of which ruled over eredar society. They were called the Triumvirate; Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and Velen.

Kil’jaeden was a genius, even for the already lofty heights of eredar intellect. Initially he ruled the eredar with his closest friend, Velen, as a duumvirate. When Thal’kiel, an eredar Wakener, failed in a demonstration of demon-summoning, he planned to avenge his embarrassment by summoning a demon army to overthrow the government and rule as overlord of the eredar. His apprentice, Archimonde, informed Kil’jaeden and Velen, allowing Thal’kiel to easily be defeated. As reward, and after witnessing Archimonde’s raw talent, he was allowed to rule alongside Kil’Jaeden and Velen, creating the Triumvirate. 

In time, Sargeras would come to lay eyes upon Argus. Sargeras’ demons were an unstoppable tide of destruction, but they lacked focus. He needed commanders, great minds and powerful beings capable of dominating and focusing the demons’ fury. He viewed the eredar as perfect for that role. Sargeras whispered to the leaders, offering them untold power and the answers to the mysteries of the universe, if they would only swear loyalty to him. Kil’Jaeden and Archimonde agreed to do so, but Velen had reservations. What sort of being would ask for fealty in exchange for knowledge? Around this time, beings made of light called the Naaru approached Velen and told him that his planet was on the cusp of ruination, and to prepare as many like-minded individuals as he could to be evacuated to the Naaru’s dimensional fortress, the Geredar. The dimensional fortress acted as a sort of ship, allowing its occupants to move across space, and even dimensions. 

As Sargeras’ forces began taking over Argus, the effects of demonic corruption began. Kil’jaeden’s skin began turning red, his eyes changed color as well. Any goodness left in the eredar who swore themselves to Sargeras ebbed away. The Legion and Kil’Jaeden learned that Velen was going to flee with loyal followers who had rejected Sargeras’ offer. This enraged Kil’jaeden, he believed his best friend was abandoning their people at their greatest moment, and in his fury dispatched the might of the eredar military to stop Velen. If he wouldn’t accept the gift of Sargeras willingly, he would do so or die.

Eventually, Velen and his followers were spirited away by the Naaru. Sadly, not all who rejected the Legion made it, and many innocent eredar were killed by their own people. Considering that the vast majority of his race had willingly embraced joining the Legion, Velen decided they would no longer refer to themselves as the eredar, as the eredar had made their choice, to serve Sargeras. His people would now be called the draenei, which in their language means “exiles”.

The draenei would eventually settle on another world, only to once again need to flee when Kil’Jaeden would inevitably find them. This cycle occurred many times, over millennia, until the draenei settled on a world long enough to give it their name; Draenor.

The draenei lived on Draenor for centuries, it seemed that they had finally escaped Kil’Jaeden. Draenor was a wild, verdant planet. The native races of Draenor were primitive and war-like. Ogres had an empire on the planet, roving clans of orcs lived in the immediate vicinity the draenei had settled in. The site where their ship, the Genedar, had crashed in eventually became a holy site to the orcs, called Oshu’gun. The draenei and orcs rarely fought, both races tending to avoid the other. The draenei used their magical and technical abilities to cloak or otherwise fortify their settlements.

However, as discussed in our article on the orcs, in time the Legion would find Draenor. The orcs would willingly drink the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth and begin a genocidal war against the draenei after unifying into a single horde.

The Horde slaughtered many draenei, and many were also taken to use as fodder for the Dark Portal. Gul’dan and the other warlocks under him needed souls to open the portal, and the draenei would be that fuel. The rest were butchered and their bones used to create the Path of Glory. In the prelude to this, the Naaru had built a new dimensional fortress in the northern part of Draenor, called Tempest Keep, to be the seat of their operations on Draenor. Again, Velen took what little remained of his people and began the journey to Tempest Keep. By this point, the Alliance had begun their counter-invasion of Draenor after defeating the Horde on Azeroth. A group of renegade Blood Elves (recently broken from the Alliance) seized control of Tempest Keep. The draenei managed to take over a satellite vessel, the Exodar, and used it to evacuate most of their remaining population to Azeroth, where they would go on to join the Alliance and make a last stand against the Burning Legion.

Velen swore they would stop running, now they would fight.

This is where draenei begin in Burning Crusade. In time they would return to their long-lost homeworld, and seek closure on the painful chapters of their history, on Argus and Draenor.

Draenei can play as warriors, paladins, death knights, hunters, shamans, monks, mages, and priests.

Draenei racials reflect their connection to the Naaru and the Light, as well as their cultural aptitudes for using crystals.

1. Gift of the Naaru. Every three minutes, a draenei can invoke a blessing by the Naaru to heal a target for 20% of their health over five seconds.

2. Heroic Presence. The draenei have an empowering effect on others when fighting. Their presence provides strength, intellect, or agility to everyone in their party, based on class. This amount scales with level.

3. Gemcutting. Crystals and gems were a favorite medium for draenei casters for thousands of years. Draenei jewelcrafters start at 10 skill instead of 1.

4. Shadow Resistance. Draenei faith in the Light and Naaru is so strong that it makes them resistant to shadow-based damage, taking 1% less damage from such forces.

The draenei are one of Warcraft’s most distinct races, combining classically demonic appearances (horns, hooves, tails) with a story of fleeing from darkness and striving to walk in the Light. Draenei are refugees, survivors, crusaders, devout followers, and many more things, so whichever path your draenei walks, may the Naaru watch over you!