Eredar

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This article is about general eredar history. For the leaders of the Burning Legion, see man'ari eredar. For the renegades who escaped with the aid of the naaru (and any of their subspecies), see draenei.

The eredar were a race of supremely talented magic-wielders who arose on the planet Argus countless millenia ago. There, they built a vast civilization of wondrous cities and a peaceful way of life. But 25,000 years ago, the tranquility of Argus was shattered.

History

File:Eredarmural.jpg

Velen the Divine, an example of pre-transformation eredar

The great titan Sargeras, in order to create a great Legion, planned to bolster his ranks by creating demons.[1] He was attracted by the eredar's magical affinity, and contacted them, promising their three leaders, Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and Velen, immortality and vast powers. 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.[2]

With his fellow eredar already becoming corrupted by demonic power, Velen led a group of his people away from Argus with the help of the naaru, renaming themselves the draenei, or "Exiled Ones" in Eredun. The eredar under Kil'jaeden were infuriated with what they perceived as a betrayal, and hunted Velen and the draenei across several worlds. The indigenous races of those worlds were oftentimes mutated by the eredar's malevolent warlock powers and turned into demons themselves.

Both factions continued to use the Eredun language, though specific dialects have evolved.

The draenei traveled through the cosmos and eventually discovered a world which they decided 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 led the evil eredar to Draenor. The Eredar then began to corrupt the orcs, turning them into a warlike race and granting them access to warlock magics. The orcs subsequently hunted down the draenei, almost wiping out the entire race.

It is unclear what exactly became of the eredar home world, Argus. Some believe that the demons devoured their own world by using radical warlock magics, though information recently offered by the draenei suggest Sargeras was responsible for the planet's destruction. It is possible that the planet was not actually destroyed, but simply stripped of life, in which case it would be a major stronghold of the Legion.

The eredar consumed all life around them and set out to find more places of mystical power. Eredar warlocks are now counted as some of the greatest sorcerers in the universe, and Archimonde and Kil'jaeden are almost as feared as Sargeras.

It is suggested that the eredar were the first race to discover and master magic, barring the Titans. They are referred to as "one of the oldest known races in the universe,"[3] so long-ago mastery of magic is nowhere near implausible.

Other Legends

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According to the existing lore it is said that most if not all demons (including the eredar) were mortal once, but have been transformed into demons by corruption caused by [Fel Energy]. This change includes a powerful command of arcane energy.Template:CiteTemplate:Cite This possibility was presented by Sargeras himself, which might point to the ultimate truth. 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.Template:Cite In this scenario, it would imply that the titans considered the various natural races that pre-existed on worlds they visited to be demons (either because they had societies based on the use of arcane magic, or tried to defend themselves from the the invading titans). The titans including Sargeras battled them, and locked them up and took over their worlds. Sargeras later came back and freed many of them, bent on using them to destroy the Titan's work. However, another legend states that Sargeras never actually battled any demons before going mad, and was the one that actually created them from mortals in the first place.

A sorcerer of the man'ari eredar

Some of the other legends for Eredar include; From Warcraft III manual;

Over the eons, Sargeras encountered two powerful demonic races, both of which were bent on gaining power and dominance over the physical universe.

The Eredar, an insidious race of devilish sorcerers, 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 slipped into a brooding depression. Despite his growing unease, Sargeras sought to rid the universe of the warlocks for all time, by trapping them within a vacuous corner of the Twisting Nether.

In his 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. From the ranks of the powerful Eredar, Sargeras chose two champions to lead his demonic army of destruction.Template:Cite

Lore from [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/story/chapter1.html#2 WorldofWarcraft.com; From Chapter I: Mythos;

Though Sargeras's nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the vile eredar, he was greatly troubled by the creatures' corruption and all-consuming evil. Incapable of fathoming such depravity, 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.

In his fury, Sargeras shattered the prisons of the eredar and the Nathrezim and set the loathsome demons free. These cunning creatures bowed before the dark Titan's vast rage and offered to serve him in whatever malicious ways they could. From the ranks of the powerful eredar, Sargeras picked two champions to command 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.

From Manual of Monsters;

First among the demons of the Burning Legion are the eredar. This creature is 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. In the Twisting Nether, only the titans have ever challenged them. Two Eredar, exalted by Sargeras’ power as well as their own, stood as the lords of their race: Archimonde the Defiler and Kil’jaeden the Deceiver. Each built a hierarchy of demons, jealously protected from the will of the other. These groups strove for dominance of Azeroth and even other worlds. But now, at long last, Archimonde is dead, killed by the heroes 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.

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. The eredar were Sargeras's first recruits in the Burning Legion, serving as tactical advisors and intelligence officers. Eredar warlocks are now counted as some of the greatest sorcerers in the universe. Preeminence 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 shapechange are grunts and lackeys, scarcely worthy of notice. Eredar warlocks are spellcasters first. They have been known to flick their fingers in an enemy's direction, causing flesh, bone, and even steel to flare with entropic fire. They avoid combat with even an innocuous foe until they can establish a collection of defensive and self-enhancement spells. Most maintain a mage armor or frost armor effect continuously. If the enemy seems weak and not worth the expenditure of spells, eredar warlocks wade into combat with their claws. If the enemy is strong, an eredar warlock creates an advantage of numbers, summoning monsters, enchanting his opponents, and using spells that divide his enemies.Template:Cite

Another possibility is that the eredar were evil to begin with, and that it was only after Velen's vision that a faction within the eredar started to seek salvation from the naaru.

Eredar racial tree speculation

File:Draenai.jpg

Draenei racial tree (simplified)

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

The exact racial history of the eredar is not clear. Some believe that both Lost Ones and Broken diverged directly from the draenei along separate divergent paths.

Akama's tribe appears to have gone from the Lost Ones style (depiction in The Frozen Throne) to the Broken style (appearing in The Burning Crusade) from further corruption under Illidan, although this could simply be a biology retcon.

Additionally, artwork posted by Blizzard, simply called "drae", implies that it may be possible for draenei to mutate into Broken, and then mutate to Lost Ones - the Broken do look more like draenei than Lost Ones.

The demonic Eredar of the Burning Legion have developed into at least two separate forms - the Man'ari eredar and the Wrathguard eredar. It is unclear if the ered'ruin, and possibly fiends have also diverged from the original eredar.

Factions

Socrethar, an example of a transformed eredar

Burning Legion:

• Man'ari Eredar (Eredar Warlocks, Eredar Diabolists, Eredar Sorcerors)
• Wrathguard Eredar

Uncorrupted eredar:

• Draenei Eredar

Draenei Sub-species/tribes (mutated from draenei):

• The Broken draenei - Major mutation, though still appearing similar to original draenei; most are members of Akama's tribe, "The Broken", but a few are employed by Velen's uncorrupted faction.

• Lost Ones draenei - Major mutation, bearing almost no resemblence to the original draenei, though looking similar to the Broken; The tribe known as the "Lost Ones" is found in Fallow Sanctuary.

• Misc. Tribes Template:Cite

Kurenai, Daggerfen, Murkblood.

Notable Eredar

Though many Eredar were part of both invasions of Azeroth (the War of the Ancients and the Third War), and several more inhabit Outland, few individuals are known to mortals; only three, the greatest in magic, were commonly known: the Defiler, the Deceiver and the Divine. However, with the arrival of the Draenei and tentative contact with Outland, a few more have made themselves known.

Name	Role	Condition	Magical Field	Allegiance
Arazzius the Cruel	Leader of the Burning Legion in Hellfire Peninsula, resides at Pools of Aggonar	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Archimonde the Defiler	Commander of the Burning Legion's military	Dead/Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Illidari Lord Balthas	Illidari emissary to the Dragonmaw orcs.	Alive	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Illidari
Baelmon the Hound-Master	In charge of the summoning of Wrath Hounds in Blade's Edge Mountains, resides at Death's Door. Appears to be the replacement of Hakkar the Houndmaster.	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Demos, Overseer of Hate	Leader of the Burning Legion in Forge Camp: Hate	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Deathbringer Jovaan	Leader of the Burning Legion in Shadowmoon Valley, resides at Legion Hold	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Grand Warlock Alythess	Female eredar located inside Sunwell Plateau	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Lady Sacrolash	Female eredar located inside Sunwell Plateau	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Kil'jaeden the Deceiver	Recruits races into the the Burning Legion / Supreme Commander in the absence of Sargeras / Summoned by Kael'thas on Azeroth and final boss inside Sunwell Plateau	Defeatable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gif Demonic Sorcerer	Burning Legion
Levixus the Soul Caller	Responsible for binding and corrupting the stray souls lured to Auchindoun	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Prince Malchezaar	Current Master of Karazhan	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Warbringer Razuun	Leader of the Burning Legion forces in Deathforge	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Shadow Council / Burning Legion
Reth'hedron the Subduer	Leader of the Burning Legion forces in Nagrand	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Sironas	Leader of the Sunhawk contingent in Azuremyst Isles	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Shartuul	Leader of a crew of demons located south of Forge Camp: Wrath, Blade's Edge Mountains	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Socrethar	Leader of the Burning Legion in Netherstorm, resides at Socrethar's Seat	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Terrordar the Tormentor	Leader of the Burning Legion in Forge Camp: Terror	Killable	File:IconSmall Warlock.gifDemonic	Burning Legion
Velen the Divine	Leader of the exiled eredar, the draenei	Alive	Holy (Presumed)	Draenei / Alliance
Jessera of Mac'Aree	Quest giver in Blood Watch	Alive	Unknown	Draenei / Alliance