Blood elf ( playable ) The blood elves of Silvermoon City start in the Eversong Woods , the northern section of Quel ' Thalas . Farther south is the Ghostlands , a level 10 - 20 zone . Background . Long ago the exiled high elves landed on the shores of Lordaeron . They struck out to find a new home , and after many battles with the trolls , established the kingdom of Quel ' Thalas . Using a vial of sacred water stolen from the first Well of Eternity , the high elves created a fount of mystical power at a convergence of ley energies in Quel ' Thalas . They named this fountain the Sunwell . Its potent arcane magic fed and strengthened the high elves , and soon the wondrous city of Silvermoon was established . Protected by a magical barrier , the high elves enjoyed peace for roughly four thousand years , but that peace was not meant to last . The Amani trolls gathered an immense army and assaulted the elven kingdom . Vastly outnumbered , the high elves hastily struck an alliance with the human nation of Arathor . The elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic . In exchange the humans aided the elves in destroying the trolls ' power base forever . Over the following years the high elves returned to their reclusive ways , but during the Third War , the diabolical Prince Arthas Menethil ( under influence of the Lich King and following the Burning Legion orders ) brought battle once again to their doorstep . Arthas required the power of the Sunwell to revive the necromancer Kel ' Thuzad and raise him as a lich . He invaded Quel ' Thalas and wiped out most of its population . In the end , even King Anasterian Sunstrider lay dead . Additionally it became clear that the high elves had become addicted to the Sunwell ' s arcane energies . Now that the source of their magic was gone , the few remaining high elves quickly grew ill and apathetic . Prince Kael ' thas , last of the royal line , returned from his studies in Dalaran to find Quel ' Thalas in ruins . Thirsting for vengeance , he gathered the survivors , renamed them " blood elves " ( sin ' dorei in Thalassian ) , and took a group of the strongest fighters to join Lordaeron ' s campaign against the Scourge . Due to human prejudice , Kael ' thas was forced to accept the assistance of Lady Vashj and her reptilian naga . When the humans discovered that the blood elves had been working with the naga , Kael ' thas and the others were imprisoned and condemned to death . Lady Vashj soon arrived to set them free , leading them through a portal and into the broken wastes of Outland . There , the elves met the one being capable of putting an end to their hunger : the renegade night elf / demon , Illidan Stormrage . Certain that the blood elves would die without Illidan ' s assistance , Kael ' thas agreed to serve the Betrayer . A lone representative , Rommath , was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the blood elves remaining in Quel ' Thalas : that one day Kael ' thas would return to lead his people to paradise . Rommath had made great progress in teaching the blood elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies . With renewed purpose , the blood elves have rebuilt the city of Silvermoon , though it is powered by volatile magics . Emboldened by the promise of Kael ' thas ' return , the weary citizens of Quel ' Thalas now focus on regaining their strength , even as they forge a new path into an uncertain future . In Burning Crusade . At the bidding of his new master , the wayward prince eventually returned to Azeroth and seized the site of the Sunwell , hoping to use the fount as a means to usher Kil ' jaeden into the world . Ultimately , Kael ' thas was slain before his recklessness could bring ruin to Azeroth . In the wake of Kil ' jaeden ’ s defeat , the draenei prophet Velen purified the Sunwell with the Light - infused heart of a fallen naaru , transforming the fount into a source of both holy and arcane energies . Inspired by the Sunwell ’ s rebirth , the blood elves have since entered into a shining new era in their ancient race ’ s history . Although some elves remain hesitant to abandon their dependence on arcane magic , others have embraced change for the betterment of Quel ’ Thalas . Yet only time will tell if the blood elves can avoid repeating the tragic mistakes of their past . In Legion . Due the preserving efforts of Maiev and the machinations of ( from an alternate timeline ) who allowed the return of the Burning Legion to , Illidan was revived and began rebuilding his army of Illidari ( demon hunter s ) . Either due to prejudice or some other unknown requirements , only blood elves and night elves were allowed to join his demon attribute - enhanced army . Appearance . Males of the race are tall and slender , standing above the average human , and characterized by a lean , athletic musculature , making them seem somewhat thin when compared to larger races such as orcs . Females stand somewhat shorter , just above a human male in height , and have slender , delicate builds . They have a wide range of hair colours spanning from charcoal black to nearly white and a spectrum of skin colours ranging from pale to tan to ruddy . Blood elves have very long and thin ears , however their ears differ greatly from a night elves . The ears of a blood elf point vertically , whereas a night elf ' s ears point behind them . Blood elves also have eyebrows that extend well off of their face like whiskers . Both males and females are what would typically be considered exceptionally beautiful , with chiseled , refined features ; males can also sport some facial hair , in the form of goatees . Their eyes glow green due to the influence of the fel energies they turned to with the destruction of the Sunwell . Starting info . Starting clothes . The starting clothes for blood elves vary depending on the class , for example , the caster classes , like mages , priest and warlock begin with a robe ( each one resemble the colors of the class , i . e : red for warlock ) while the melee classes begins with a war - like armor , made of mail , linked on the middle ( for paladins ) or made of leather with a bit of body armor for hunters and rogues . The main colors for a blood elf ' s clothing are red , white , orange , green , blue and sometimes purple . Most of the blood elf magisters use robes , with different colors , like red , green , and purple . Starting attributes . Classes that don ' t start at level 1 . Racial abilites and traits . Reasons for racial abilities . Arcane Torrent comes as a natural manipulation of Arcane energies from the Sunwell and allows the elves to tap into and unleash the magic that is their birth right . The elves have long delved into the magical and arcane as evident by their cultural centerpiece , the Sunwell . Thus , they have developed a natural Arcane Affinity as a result of the well ' s magical presence , making the blood elves naturally skilled with arcane arts such as Enchanting . The elves ' constant exposure to magic also gave them a natural defense against many kinds of magical manipulation , granting them a natural Magical Resistance . Classes . Blood elf characters can play as the following classes : Class rationales . It is also quite likely that the decision was made to reflect the magic nature of the blood elves as all their classes use some kind of magical powers . ( With the possible exception of rogues , although that class ' description refers to them using a ' touch ' of mysticism . Also rogues can be explained as a type of ranger . ) Additionally , blood elves generally prefer to engage enemies at range - only three of their classes are melee fighters . Also , Mana Tap would not work with rage . However , with the recent addition of the death knight ' s runic power mechanic , this is no longer justification , as Arcane Torrent awards the very similar depleting - with - time resource of runic power , though runic power is magical , and not emotional energy . As seen in the Undead campaign in and the Blood Elf campaign in , elven swordsmen with no mana do exist . Thaladred the Darkener and the Sunblade Vindicator s ( no relation to Draenei paladins ) also appear to be warriors , both use warrior abilities , have no mana bar , and the former is wearing the Warrior tier 5 armor set . Because of these examples , it is not unjustified that Warriors will become a playable class for Blood Elves in Cataclysm . Mounts . The racial mount for the blood elf is called the hawkstrider , although at first they were named ' cockatrices ' as announced by GameSpot . Blood elf paladins ( Blood Knights ) have a darker version of the charger that is black with bronze and red armor . Languages . Blood Elf characters may speak Thalassian and Orcish . Roleplaying a blood elf . Roleplaying a blood elf . . . now there ' s a tricky subject to speak about . One way that makes it easy is to think of a nobleman or a nobleman ' s guard ; they speak what some might call a " royal language " . Most of their words are formal , especially to those of their own kind or the Forsaken , as the Forsaken are their close allies . As for their beliefs , the blood elves mainly have a faith in the Arcane as well as The Light . They hold a grudge against their high elf brethren as well as their night elf cousins . Even with this hatred , the blood elves are more like the high elves than one might think .