Sign inThe Sundering
The Sundering, also called the Great Sundering, was the catastrophe that ended the War of the Ancients about ten thousand years before World of Warcraft. When the Well of Eternity collapsed, it tore the single ancient continent of Kalimdor apart, sank the night elf capital and left the Maelstrom spinning in the middle of the sea. The map of Classic, with Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms on either side of a great ocean, is the map the Sundering left behind.
What happened
During the War of the Ancients, the night elf queen Azshara and her Highborne were working the Well of Eternity to bring Sargeras into Azeroth. Malfurion Stormrage and his allies attacked the palace at Zin-Azshari and disrupted the spell. With the Highborne's magic spiraling out of control and the Legion's portal tearing open, the Well imploded.
The explosion shattered the land. Most of ancient Kalimdor sank or split away, and the eastern part drifted off to become the Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend and Pandaria. Where the Well had been, a permanent whirlpool formed: the Maelstrom, which sits between the continents on every Classic world map.
Azshara's capital, Zin-Azshari, was swallowed by the sea along with the queen and most of her Highborne. In the lore, they survived beneath the waves and were transformed into the naga, serpentine creatures who serve her.
Aftermath
The surviving night elves rebuilt around Mount Hyjal. Malfurion and the druids convinced them that arcane magic had caused the disaster and banned its use. Illidan Stormrage had already secretly made a new Well on Hyjal, so the dragon Aspects planted the World Tree Nordrassil on top of it, and the druids entered a long sleep in the Emerald Dream.
The surviving Highborne who refused to give up magic were eventually exiled. They sailed east, landed in the Eastern Kingdoms and founded the high elf kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Their descendants are the high elves of Classic and, later, the blood elves.
Where players see it in Classic
Azshara
The zone of Azshara is the remains of Zin-Azshari's outskirts. Its shattered coastline at The Shattered Strand and the Bay of Storms show where land fell into the sea, and the Ruins of Eldarath and the Temple of Zin-Malor are Highborne ruins left standing. Naga patrol the coast, a reminder of what Azshara's court became.
Ashenvale and the Zoram Strand
On Ashenvale's western coast, The Zoram Strand is the drowned city of Zoram. In The Zoram Strand, a night elf sentinel explains that Zoram was "destroyed during the Sundering and submerged beneath the seas," and asks players to drive off the naga who have returned. In Ruuzel, players take the [Ring of Zoram], which belonged to Zoram's rulers, from the naga leader Ruuzel.
Blackfathom Deeps
Blackfathom Deeps was a temple to the moon goddess Elune that sank during the Sundering. Today it is held by the Twilight's Hammer cult and by naga under Lady Sarevess, one of the first naga commanders players meet.
Darkshore
The Highborne ruins of Darkshore, such as Ameth'Aran (Ameth'Aran) and the Ruins of Mathystra, are cities that stood when the Well collapsed. In For Love Eternal, a night elf mourns his love who died at Ameth'Aran "in the aftermath of the battles at the Well of Eternity."
Dire Maul
Dire Maul, the Highborne city of Eldre'Thalas in Feralas, survived the Sundering. Its Shen'dralar kept practicing arcane magic, which shows what the night elves gave up after the disaster and why the druids feared it.
Teldrassil
Nordrassil was planted after the Sundering to guard the second Well. Night elf characters start in Teldrassil, the new World Tree, because Nordrassil was weakened at the end of the Third War. In Crown of the Earth, Tenaron Stormgrip in Shadowglen explains this history.
Later history and retcons
- Cataclysm (2010) made the Maelstrom a playable zone and showed Deepholm, the elemental plane beneath it. Deathwing's return reshaped coastlines in a second, smaller catastrophe.
- Cataclysm also opened the Well of Eternity dungeon, set at the moment before the Sundering.
- Legion (2016) revealed that the night elf city of Suramar survived the Sundering under a magical dome, and showed Azshara still alive as queen of the naga.
- The Chronicle books (2016 onward) tied the date of the Sundering to about ten thousand years before the Dark Portal opened. Earlier sources gave rougher figures.
Sources
Categories: Lore
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