Azshara

Queen Azshara is a character in the fictional Warcraft Universe.

Azshara was once the queen of the Kaldorei on the lands of ancient Kalimdor. She ruled them with benevolence and kindness, and was revered by her people for her beauty and spirit.

Azshara built a palace on the shores of the Well of Eternity, where she and her servants, called the Quel'dorei, or Highborne, studied the Well. Though the Kaldorei civilians continued to adore Azshara, they began to spurn the Quel'dorei for their smug narcissism and the superiority they seemed to display.

As they worked to discern the deepest secrets of the Well, Azshara and her followers found that, in time, they could control the flow of its mysterious energy.

Wishing to see the limits of her newfound powers, Azshara had many magical experiments done within the confines of her palace, seeking to test herself and her followers. The Highborne began to use magic recklessly and without any caution.

To the people of Kalimdor, a change had come over Azshara and the high-borne. Though previously something of an annoyance, the Highborne had now become cruel to the populace. Azshara, meanwhile, had secluded herself within her palace, and her skin paled over time. She heedlessly continued to embrace her new identity, and worked to test the limits of the Well's power. Soon, however, she attracted attention that was not of this world.

Azshara's experiments continued unabated, and soon, she felt a presence so powerful that it overwhelmed her, and she was greeted by the ancient Titan, Sargeras.

Azshara, impressed beyond words by Sargeras' power, agreed to allow him passage to their world. The Highborne too, were struck with awe as the majesty of Sargeras filled their minds. Soon, they abandoned worshiping Elune, instead worshiping Sargeras as a god.

Azshara and her followers banded together in a magical network and crafted a portal at the bottom of the Well of Eternity. Archimonde and Mannoroth came hurtling into this world with a legion of demons at their backs, and they ravaged the land, killing every creature in their path.

As all of Kalimdor fell to pieces around them, Azshara and the Highborne basked in the majesty of their magical creation and the power of Sargeras' innumerable demon hordes .

Some time into the invasion, Illidan Stormrage, one of the Highborne who had left her at the will of his brother, Malfurion, returned to warn Azshara that Malfurion was attempting to destroy the Well of Eternity to collapse the portal that Azshara had created. Azshara would not hear of that, and immediately prepared for Malfurion's assault.

The destructive magics she unleashed upon Malfurion's forces slaughtered most of them, but he came on relentlessly. Tyrande, attempting to attack Azshara from behind, was ambushed by the queen's guardsmen, and though she slew them, she fell with grievous wounds. Malfurion, enraged by the sight, attacked Azshara. To defend herself, Azshara attacked him with magic.

As their battle progressed, the carefully crafted spells that Azshara had spent so much time creating lost their balance, and the portal collapsed.

The resulting catastrophe sundered the world, and blew Azshara and most of her treacherous followers to the bottom of the sea.

However, in the aftermath of the explosion, the energies of the Well transformed the Night Elves into denizens of the deep. Over time, buried among the sunken ruins of Zin-Azshari, Azshara and her followers became the serpentine Naga. Azshara herself continued to transform into an insidious creature, malignant and cunning. More recently, she sent up expeditions of naga to survey the land and attempt to establish a power base. For the time will come, she is confident, when they shall have their revenge.

This differs greatly with the account provided in the Well of Eternity book series. In the literature, Azshara is not as much personally involved in the casting and summoning, being replaced by her subordinate Lord Xavius. In addition, there is no "final showdown" or confrontation between Malfurion, Tyrande, and herself; instead, she is awaiting Sargeras' arrival from her palace room, when the Well of Eternity begins its implosion. Her hastily constructed magical barrier protects those in the palace, but she senses her power quickly fading, and accepts an offer of aid from the Old Gods, leading to the morphing of the Highborne into the Naga.

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