Draenei The draenei ( pronounced as " DRAN - eye " , " DRAHN - eye " , or " DRAYN - eye ) " are a faction of uncorrupted eredar who fled their home world of Argus , and again from Draenor following the corruption of the orcs as part of Kil ' Jaedan ' s plot to wipe out the Draenei . Their base is on the Azuremyst Isles , near the west coast of Kalimdor , and they are part of the Alliance in the Burning Crusade expansion . Their capital city is the Exodar . History . Long ago , on the planet of Argus , the eredar race arose . They were extremely intelligent and had a natural affinity for magic in all of its forms . Using their gifts , they developed a vast and wondrous society . At some point , they were visited by beings of light , Naaru . They gifted the eredar with the sacred ata ' mal crystals , which enhanced their intellect and help them unravel the mysteries of the universe . At the height of their society , the eredar ' s three most prominent leaders , Kil ' jaeden , Archimonde , and Velen , were approached by Sargeras , the Fallen Titan . Sargeras claimed he was impressed by the work of the eredar : he wanted to supply them with even more power and knowledge , in exchange for their loyalty . But while Kil ' jaeden and Archimonde readily accepted the deal , Velen had a vision of the future that filled him with dread . He saw the dark future his people were heading towards : siding with the dark titan Sargeras and transforming into demons . Velen saw the Legion in all its terrible might and witnessed the destruction it would wreak upon all of creation . He hastened to warn Kil ' jaeden and Archimonde , but they dismissed his concerns and proceeded to profess loyalty to the Destroyer of Worlds . Together , the latter transformed a majority of their people into an insidious race of warlocks and later allied themselves with the Burning Legion . Velen nearly despaired , but his prayers for help were answered . A being came to Velen and explained that it was one of the naaru , a race of sapient energy beings bent on stopping the Burning Legion . The naaru offered to take Velen and any other like - minded eredar to safety . Deeply relieved , Velen gathered the other eredar loyal to him . Naming themselves the " draenei " , or " exiled ones " in the Eredun language , the renegades barely escaped from Argus in the naaru ship Oshu ' gun , with the Burning Legion hot on their heels . Kil ' jaeden was furious with what he felt was Velen ' s betrayal , and the demon vowed to hunt Velen and the rest of the draenei to the ends of the cosmos if need be . The draenei visited many worlds and explored much of the known cosmos in their quest to find safe harbor . Still , a hell - bent Kil ' jaeden would not give up his pursuit , sending his agent Talgath to hunt them down . Meanwhile , the enigmatic naaru race blessed the draenei with Light - given knowledge and power . The naaru explained that there were other forces in the cosmos that would stand against the Burning Legion . One day the naaru would forge them into a single unstoppable army of the Light . Deeply affected by the naaru ' s words , the draenei vowed to honor the Light and uphold the naaru ' s altruistic ideals . At last Velen and his draenei settled upon a remote and peaceful world that seemed an ideal refuge . They named it Draenor , or " Exiles ' Refuge " , and there they quietly cultivated their society once again . Ever wary of being discovered again by Kil ' jaeden ' s forces , Velen and his mystics kept their magic hidden . In time the draenei met and befriended the shamanic orc clans that already lived in the tranquil southern grasslands ( later called Nagrand ) . Aside from engaging in some limited trade , the draenei and orcs regarded one another with respect but kept mostly to themselves . However , no amount of preparation could keep the draenei hidden forever . Eventually , Talgath — after some 25 , 000 years of pursuit — stumbled upon Draenor , and reported back to Kil ' jaeden . Kil ' jaeden , however , was intrigued by the neighboring orcs . Through his protégé Gul ' dan , he quickly succeeded in corrupting them . Smoothly manipulated from a state of wary acceptance into blind rage and blood lust , the orcs attacked the draenei . This bloody conflict lasted nearly eight years , but the orcs ' triumph was unequivocal . The orcs killed over eighty percent of the draenei race and sent the rest fleeing for safety to the remote corners of the world . Draenei who had fought the Horde and survived found that they had been affected by the fel energies wielded so freely by the orc warlocks . These draenei have since mutated into lesser forms , resulting in a series of subspecies . Kil ' jaeden ' s revenge was complete , or so he thought — Velen and a handful of untransformed draenei have survived the destruction of their cities by the orcs and fled to Zangarmarsh . There they have been hiding until recently . After coming to Draenor , the blood elves discovered the power of Tempest Keep and successfully seized it . To escape , the draenei came out of hiding and managed to wrestle control of a wing of the keep , " The Exodar " , and tried to use it to flee and find aid in retaking their home . Before they could , however , the blood elves managed to sabotage what is essentially the " engine " of the draenei ' s transdimensional travel . The remainder of the Keep lies in Outland in Netherstorm and is now the home of Prince Kael ' thas . When the draenei tried to planeshift , their sabotaged engine went haywire , and " The Exodar " ended up hurtling out of control through the Twisting Nether until it crash - landed on a chain of islands , the Azuremyst Isles , off the western coast of Kalimdor . As the surviving draenei salvaged what they could of their ship and tried to help what was left of their people , they began exploring this new world ; contact with the night elves of Darkshore was imminent . Alternate histories . This information may not fit well with later material , however it is kept here for historical purposes . For centuries the draenei have been battling the Fel Orcs . . . they have fought the orcs and their demon masters for generations . . . but in the last hundred years the draenei have been slowly losing . One group was lead by Akama , Elder Sage of the draenei . Cursed orcs serve Magtheridon — a terrible lord whose Black Citadel lies to the west . The cursed orcs , under the command of Magtheridon , hunted the draenei to the brink of extinction . With the help of Illidan and Kael ' thas , the draenei hoped to turn the balance in their favor and rid themselves of the fel orcs once and for all . With Illidan ' s help , they fought back to retake their ancestral lands ; and hoped that they would end their curse forever . The draenei lived alongside orcs for countless generations on the planet Draenor . When that world exploded and crumbled into what is now known as Outland , most of the draenei perished . A few managed to survive the cataclysm , however . When the Dark Portal was reopened into Azeroth , a small number of draenei traveled through , scarred by the ordeal of their world ' s destruction . These ragged wretches now call themselves the " Lost Ones , " in mourning of their former world . Though otherwise a peaceful , private race , the draenei carry an intense hatred for all orcs and will slay them whenever the opportunity arises . Their home on Azeroth lies within the Swamp of Sorrows , though some have begun to travel beyond the Swamp ’ s borders in recent times . Scattered tribes of draenei are rumored to wander still the devastated fields of Outland , the last remnants of Draenor that still float within the Twisting Nether . Having lost their home ages ago , the draenei struggle to reclaim their former lives - an impossibility , since their home no longer exists . Still , without the attempt , they would wither and die . Another factor that keeps the draenei alive is revenge against the orcs who once lived among them . They will take any risk to see an orc killed . If they can wipe out the entire race , so much the better . The draenei avoid combat unless the enemy in question is an orc . Then the normally peaceful draenei lash out in a fury , doing everything in their power to destroy their hated enemy . They established a colony in the Swamp of Sorrows called the Fallow Sanctuary . They became vicious draenei and sequester themselves from outsiders , called themselves " lost ones " . Culture . The draenei culture is centered around two things : the Holy Light of Creation and magic . The first is the result of their unique relationship with the naaru , while the second is the path that the eredar have always followed . As a result , draenei usually choose religious professions , such as priest s or paladin s , or magical ones , such as the mage . A few have started to follow the path of the shaman under the guidance of Farseer Nobundo . As a people , the draenei have devoted themselves to preparing for the day when they will join the Army of the Light , when they will finally take the fight back to the Burning Legion and atone for the sins of their man ' ari brethren . In spite of this overarching goal , the draenei still lead personal lives and pursue their own interests , just as other races do . As far as interracial relations go , the draenei still distrust or in some cases hate the orcs after having lost so many of their kind when the orcs turned on them . Certain characteristics of modern orcs , such as their still - green skin and the fact that some still practice warlock magic ( though their new allies , the humans , worgen , dwarves , and the gnomes , are also guilty of this ) , as well as personal grudges on both sides , make the road to forgiveness difficult , regardless of whatever peace initiatives Velen or Thrall are willing to launch . Nevertheless there are still cases of acceptance between the two ; for instance , the Horde aligned Earthen Ring has accepted draenei and Broken shamans to heal Outland . The draenei are also coming to loathe the blood elves , due to the unprovoked assault on Tempest Keep by the blood elves under Kael ' thas and their new methods of feeding their magical addiction . They do see that not all blood elves serve Kael ' thas and even Velen himself has forebodingly told of the redemption of the elven race in the Sunwell Plateau epilogue . As with any other races though , there are people among them that have strong opinions and beliefs based on first impressions : Despite the help offered by the Scryers and Naaru ' s acceptance of them the Aldor are in strict competition with them , going so far as not to associate at all with those who have chosen to side with the Scryers . Despite their differences , the draenei can be found fighting alongside blood elves against the Burning Legion on the Isle of Quel ' Danas as part of the Shattered Sun Offensive . Early overtures of friendship with the Alliance had been met with varying degrees of success . Many of the Alliance races have trouble distinguishing the draenei from the man ' ari eredar who nearly brought about their destruction . The night elves in particular have twice suffered heavily at the hands of Archimonde . However , the draenei are quickly being accepted by most races , and ambassadors from the Exodar have been welcomed into the Alliance ' s halls of power — even those of the night elves , where a draenei emissary stands at the right of Tyrande herself . Racial offshoots and factions . The most ubiquitous faction of draenei in Outland are the pious Aldor of Shattrath City and their adherents throughout the Outland zones . Some draenei mutated into lesser forms , resulting in a number of subspecies of which the Broken draenei and the draenei Lost Ones are examples . Scattered tribes of Broken draenei wander amongst the devastated fields of Outland . The Kurenai or " redeemed " in the draenei language have settled in Telaar , Nagrand and befriend many Alliance adventurers . The Murkblood tribe based in the Underbog have spread from Zangarmarsh to Nagrand and are hostile to all . Akama ' s tribe is known as the Ashtongue , while the elite are known as Ashtongue Deathsworn . Some of these tribes are at odds with Akama ' s tribe . Another of these tribes left Outland after the destruction of their world and call themselves the Lost Ones . There are also several Lost Ones villages in Outland . Language . In the RPG currently , draenei have only been said to speak Draenei , with no other primary or secondary languages listed . In " World of Warcraft : The Burning Crusade " , they also speak Common . Many high - ranking draenei who have been in contact with orcs before their corruption also know Orcish . Relations . Due to the Draenei ' s friendly and honorable attitude , they tend to get along well with other races , especially those who belong to the Alliance for obvious reasons , even if the race does not return the kindness . Draenei have very strong ties with the Night Elves , who were the first of the Alliance to greet the Draenei and welcome them into the Alliance . Humans find the Draenei odd , and often refer to them as one of the Alliance ' s more " exotic " races . Some Dwarves may share this feeling , but with the Dwarves learning the ways of the shaman , it can be assumed that the relationship between Draenei and Dwarves has strengthened . The Gnomes , being a happy and friendly race , get along well with the Draenei , although some seem to agree that Draenei are " weird . " Both races have a knack for technology , which benefits in the relationship between the two races . It is rather unknown how the Draenei feel about Worgen , but they most likely have neutral feelings towards each other . Many Draenei hate the Orcs for their actions in Draenor . This leads to a distrust of the other races of the Horde . However , they don ' t seem to hate the Tauren , who are arguably the most honorable race of the Horde . Trolls appear to be distrusted as well . Forsaken are viewed as dishonorable abominations , especially due to their recent activities . While the Blood Elves are not allied with the Burning Legion , the Draenei dislike them just as much due to what their brethren in Outland did to The Exodar . Along with the Night Elves , it is very probable that the Draenei welcomed the Worgen of Gilneas as well , allowing them sanctuary in their lands if the Gilneans so choose . Relations between The Draenei and the Bilgewater Cartel can be assumed to be rather hostile , with the cartel joining the Horde . It is most likely that the Draenei have good relations with the peaceful Pandaren Of the Alliance and still probably rather well with the Horde Pandaren as they do want peace . Appearance . Draenei are physically similar to the eredar of the Burning Legion . They do not , however , seem to exhibit the red skin of demonic eredar . Draenei also lack the horns that demonic eredar have on their faces ( this is not noticeable in - game models , only in artwork ) . They do have fangs . Draenei are described as being all or overall blue ( with the exception of Velen who is described as having white skin later in his life ) . In " " , draenei skin appears in most shades of color between very pinkish - white to light blue up to dark violet . Their blood is also blue . Draenei who use the racial ability have a glowing sigil float above their head for the duration of the effect . Draenei males have tendrils coming out of their chin and a fan - like forehead plate which rises and overlaps other forehead plates behind it . Male draenei have large tails which are held erect by developed muscle structure . The female of the species exhibits marked differences : rather than the forehead plates featured on the male , they have vaguely horn - shaped cranial extensions that extend over the upper cranium and end on either side of the crown . Female cranial tendrils sprout behind the ear and are typically long enough to reach the shoulders . Their tendrils are thinner than the male ' s . Female draenei tails are shorter and have a lower muscle density . In both genders , the hooves are relatively large , in contrast to the more compacted hooves of their demonic counterparts . Draenei can choose from a diverse selection of hair colors including gray , white , blue / black , brown , and purple . Similarly , the number of facial tentacles on male draenei can be customized . They can feature zero , one , two , or four tentacles of different shape and size . Notable draenei . Main universe Alternate universe