Anatomy of a City : Silvermoon From WoW Burning Crusade Insider # 10 : The Insider recently sat down with the World of Warcraft design team and learned more about Silvermoon City , one of the two new capitals that will be introduced in . Read on to see the ideas that led to the rise of the blood elf capital , and its rebirth from the ashes of the Third War . . . The Scarred City . The rich and detailed history of Silvermoon City provided the dev team with a wealth of possibilities from which to weave the blood elves ' mystically - charged capital . One of the central themes of Silvermoon is the idea that it is the scarred descendent of a once - proud elven metropolis . When Arthas and the Scourge plowed through the defenses of Silvermoon during the Third War ( a tragic event that occurred in the timeline of Warcraft III : The Reign of Chaos ) , they tore a path of destruction through the city and the surrounding landscape . In The Burning Crusade . This translates into a divided Silvermoon . The blood elves ' capital is split in half , with one side recently restored to its former grandeur , while the other is abandoned and left to ruin . Before the coming of the Scourge , Silvermoon City was the heart and the capital of Quel ' Thalas , the high elves ' magic kingdom . Quel ' Thalas was an idyllic sanctuary in where the high elves could pursue their arcane studies . For close to seven millennia , the elven kingdom and its capital Silvermoon stood , and the homeland of the high elves flourished . But all this changed when the Scourge came to claim the most sacred and precious possession of the High Elven nation – the arcane energies of the Sunwell , located at the heart of Silvermoon . By the time Arthas and his army of the dead turned southward , no one remained in Quel ' Thalas – at least no one living . With the design of Silvermoon City , the dev team sought to capture this pivotal event in blood elf history . In a way , Silvermoon also serves as a look into the psyche of the blood elves as a whole , and as we ' ll see , not everything is quite right in the newly rebuilt capital . Mirror , Mirror , on the Wall . What does elven architecture look like ? In previous Warcraft games , players could only catch brief glimpses of the magnificent and otherworldly constructions of Azeroth ' s high elves . As players led their armies through the forests of Quel ' Thalas or whittled down the high elves ' defenses in Warcraft III , they caught brief peeks at elven structures . In World of Warcraft : The Burning Crusade , players will be able to take a much more detailed look at the blood elf way of life . The blood elves are trapped in a struggle with their hunger for magic , caught between mastering this desire or letting it master them , and the duality of Silvermoon reflects their inner struggle . One side ruined , one side restored to its former glory ; magnificent on the outside , lingering darkness on the inside . Small details like floating flowerpots and the omnipresent glowing green crystals further underline the idea that the rulers of this city are completely drunk on magic . But the truly interesting insights reveal themselves when players look closer at what is going on in Silvermoon City . Beyond the luscious avenues , behind the rich billowing curtains , lie dark and gloomy interiors , and those who explore the other side of Silvermoon City may find that the city ' s beautiful façade serves only to hide the true , more - sinister side of the city . . . We Built This City . The dev team closely examined the original cities from World of Warcraft when designing Silvermoon , and the lessons they ' ve learned since the launch of the original game informed its creation at every level . One key lesson learned from the current cities is that many players tend to gather around a few points of interest : mailboxes , auction houses , banks , flight paths , and inns . This can result in a noticeable slowdown for those entering one of these hotspots ; and falling into the infamous trench in Ironforge has been the unfortunate fate of many a hero . The way the dev team approached this challenge while designing Silvermoon was to spread out the traditional crowd magnets . Silvermoon City features two auction houses , two banks , two inns , and eleven mailboxes . Also , the flight master resides outside the city , so new arrivals won ' t be dropped into a huge crowd of players upon their arrival . All the Small Things . Now that we ' ve discussed some of the basic themes and ideas behind Silvermoon City , let ' s take a look at some of the smaller details that truly make the city come to life . Players of Warcraft III will probably remember that the high elves used golems to protect the Sunwell ; the blood elves are continuing this practice by using golems to patrol the streets of their fair city . Their golems are a little more advanced ( and shinier ) than the original protectors of Silvermoon . These magically - automated guardians also constantly remind everyone in the city of the of the blood elves ' leader and savior , Prince Kael ' thas , by reciting lines of carefully - worded propaganda . This helps prevent the blood elven denizens of the city from forgetting to whom they owe their absolute loyalty . There are also several unique NPCs walking the streets of Silvermoon , like two magi engaged in a polymorph battle , or the diplomatic emissaries representing the Horde ( a reflection of the recent change in faction loyalties ) . Another major design challenge was to make Silvermoon City easy to get to even at higher levels , despite the fact that players will often be adventuring in the far corners of the world . Most blood elf players will likely spend a lot of their time in Silvermoon City from level six to the early twenties , but there may be quests there all the way up to level 70 . So , Undercity and Silvermoon City will be linked by a portal located just outside the city walls of the Forsaken capital , allowing players to hop off the zeppelin and teleport directly to the blood elves ' capital . The Earth and the Sky and the Water , Remade , Like a Casket of Gold . Silvermoon City is a study in contrast , a place where beauty and horror live side by side , where the hopes for a bright present are overshadowed by the dark memories of its tortured past . Demonic powers and magical mysteries abound in its streets , and adventure is only a whisper away . The dev team has sought to build a city that captures the strong design philosophies exhibited by the other capitals of Azeroth , while blending these with new and exciting ideas . Blizzard awaits with great interest your first steps down the sunny streets of the Bazaar , your slightly concerned strolls through Murder Row , and your first sights of the magnificent fountains in the Court of the Sun .