Elariel Moonshadow

Elariel Moonshadow was a Night Elf Sentinel who left the Sentinel Army during the Cataclysm. She felt the land's pain and traveled to Mount Hyjal in search one who could instruct her in druidism. There she met Altheron Drathir, who would become her mentor.

Early Life (71 Before the First War - 20 After the First War)
Elariel Moonshadow was born in Ashenvale, long before the Horde or the Alliance ever set foot in Kalimdor. She spent much of her childhood wandering the vast forests of her homeland, fostering a love for the natural world. As she grew older she joined the Sentinels, learning to fight with glaive and bow. She saw little action in those early years, fighting off the occasional satyr raid or pacifying aggressive furbolg tribes. Then everything changed when the Burning Legion returned.

Third War (20-21)
Unlike many among her people, Elariel had not fought in the War of the Ancients. To her the tales of demons were little more than ancient legends. She had heard first-hand accounts of the war, but that had not prepared her for what came.

First she battled alongside Tyrande Whisperwind against the encroaching forces of the Horde and the Alliance, fiercely defending her homeland from the foreign invaders. When the Burning Legion came to Kalimdor, she was shocked and horrified. She had never imagined she would have to fight against these creatures of myth and nightmare, but there she was, suddenly in open war against the creatures that had once hidden inside her closet.

She fought under the command of Shandris Feathermoon throughout the rest of the war, fighting to protect the World Tree Nordrassil during the climatic Battle of Mount Hyjal. After the battle was over and the Legion defeated, Elariel dedicated herself to ridding Ashenvale of the demons that were left behind.

Cataclysm (28)
Elariel was in her home of Ashenvale, protecting the town of Astranaar from the Horde when the Cataclysm shook Azeroth. She felt the land cry out in pain, awakening a deep connection to the Wilds that had lain dormant within her for nearly a century. Not knowing what else to do, she sought out the Druids of the Cenarion Circle on Mount Hyjal, only to find the mountain under attack by fiery elementals under the command of Ragnaros the Firelord.

While her natural connection to the wilds was apparent, no Druid could be spared to teach her, not with the World Tree itself threatened. Beneath Nordrassil's roots, not knowing where to turn, Elariel met Altheron. She was fascinated to hear about this High Elf who had been trained by a dragon and had practically forced the Cenarion Circle to accept him among their ranks.

Altheron liked the girl’s fierce nature and unrelenting determination, and they fought together against the forces of Ragnaros. When the threat from the Firelands subsided, Altheron offered to teach her in the ways of the Wild as Ysondre taught him, which Elariel gladly accepted.

Rise of the Zandalari
When Altheron heard of the rising threat from his people’s ancient enemies in Zul’Aman, he determined to return home to help end it. Elariel demanded that he allow her to join him, as while she was new to the ways of Druids, she was still a skilled fighter. After a lengthy argument Altheron relented, and the two of them traveled to Quel’Thalas, joining the joint Blood Elven and High Elven forces in their siege of the Amani capital. Together they fought in the vanguard of the Elven armies, ending the Amani invasion before it could begin.

Rage of the Firelands
Altheron and Elariel heard of the Firelord’s renewed assault against Hyjal and rushed back to the World Tree, Elariel’s Ashenvale-bound Hearthstone the only reason they managed to make it there. They joined in pushing back the Firelord’s forces once more, charging into the Firelands themselves. In the end, they were among the heroes that ended the threat of Ragnaros for good.

Mists of Pandaria (30)
In the years following the Cataclysm, Altheron turned his efforts to healing the damage wrought upon the world and teaching Elariel the ways of the Wild and the Emerald Dream. Elariel’s fierce nature led her to favor taking the form of a Nightsaber when in combat, tearing enemies apart with her fangs and claws. Learning the healing arts was more difficult for her, but she stubbornly persisted in her efforts to learn, a trait Altheron admired.

The two of them grew close in their time together as shan’do and thero’shan, closer than some in the Cenarion Circle deemed appropriate. Altheron thought little of the remarks from some of the other Druids, not noticing his pupil’s growing infatuation with him. Elariel remained silent, fearing rejection.

Neither Altheron nor Elariel joined the expedition to Pandaria, focusing on healing the wounds left by the Cataclysm.

Warlords of Draenor (31)
Altheron and Elariel continued their efforts across Azeroth, returning to Quel’Thalas for a time to work on finally cleansing what remained of the Ghostlands. While Elariel wanted to join those charging through the Dark Portal, Altheron reminded her that their own world still had many wounds in need of mending. Other worlds could be left to those seeking glory. They had a greater task.

While she chafed at being kept back while the armies of the Alliance and the Horde fought off invaders from another world, Elariel accepted her shan’do’s counsel, and her feelings for him continued to grow as she continued to learn from him.

Legion (32)
When the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth once more, Elariel's teacher Altheron was among those called by Malfurion Stormrage to the Moonglade, and she followed. There, the assembled Druids of the Cenarion Circle opened up the Emerald Dreamway, for the first time creating a way for physical passage through the Emerald Dream. Altheron and Elariel traveled with the Keeper Remulos through the Dreamway to the Dreamgrove in Val’sharah, the birthplace of the Druid order, where the demigod Cenarius first taught Malfurion Stormrage the ways of the Wild.

In the Dreamgrove, Altheron learned that the last branch of G’Hanir, the Mother Tree, which had been left with the Druids of the Dreamgrove for safekeeping, had been corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare. Altheron journeyed into the Emerald Dream to recover the staff, taking it to Nordrassil on Mount Hyjal to cleanse it.

There he and Elariel discovered the World Tree had been attacked by the Legion, and the two of them worked to heal the survivors of the assault, including Hamuul Runetotem, Broll Bearmantle, and Celestine of the Harvest. Altheron began a cleansing ritual on the staff and a Legion portal quickly opened, the Pit Lord Destromath stepping out to destroy them. Elariel and the other Druids battled the demon while Altheron continued the ritual. When it looked like they would be struck down the bird goddess Aviana appeared, using her command of the winds to hold the Pit Lord at bay, giving Altheron time to complete the ritual, cleansing the staff G’Hanir. Using the staff, Altheron summoned the spirits of the forest to destroy Destromath in a dazzling display of power much like that used by Malfurion against the demon lord Archimonde.

After returning to the Dreamgrove, Altheron is declared an Archdruid of the Cenarion Circle by Malfurion. Altheron then declared Elariel’s training to be complete, naming her a full Druid and member of the Cenarion Circle.

Malfurion later approached Altheron, taking him to speak with Cenarius. Elariel begged Altheron to take her with him, telling him that she wants to keep working with him, and that while her official training might be over, she believes there is still much she could learn from him. They travel to Cenarius, only to find him in an unbreakable sleep, trapped within the Nightmare. They seek the aid of various other Archdruids, and together they summon Ysera, the Aspect of the Green Dragonflight, ruler of the Emerald Dream, and Cenarius’s adoptive mother. She told that Xavius and the Legion are behind the spread of the Nightmare, and that even the ancient World Tree Shaladrassil had fallen to the Nightmare. She told them that only the Tears of Elune held a power great enough to cleanse Val'sharah of the Nightmare's corruption.

Altheron and Elariel traveled together to the Temple of Elune and battled the Nightmare corruption in Val’sharah, along with the forces of the Burning Legion assaulting the temple. They fought their way to where the Tears were locked away for safekeeping, only to discover that Xavius had already taken them. They returned to Malfurion just in time to witness Cenarius's body disintegrate as the demigod gave in to the corruption of the Nightmare. Malfurion, enraged, charged into the roots of Shaladrasil to confront the cursed satyr. Ysera took Altheron and Elariel in pursuit of the ancient Archdruid, all of them falling into Xavius's trap.

Xavius entangled Altheron and Elariel in Nightmare-corrupted roots, forcing them to watch as he impaled the Green Aspect with the Tears of Elune, which he had corrupted with the power of the Nightmare. Their twisted power was enough to corrupt even the mighty Ysera, the ancient Dragon Aspect succumbing to the Nightmare, snatching Malfurion, Xavius riding on her back away from the entrapped Druids.

The pair were freed by Tyrande Whisperwind, who sought their aid in freeing her beloved husband Malfurion. They tracked him through the Nightmare-corrupted forests, encountering an Ancient who warned them that those who fall to the Nightmare's corruption can never be free of it. They battled through many Nightmare illusions along their way, finally confronting Xavius. Xavius sent Ysera to destroy the Temple of Elune, and the three rush back to save it from the fallen Aspect.

They battled alongside the Temple's defenders, facing against the power of one of the mightest dragons on Azeroth. When Ysera struck Altheron Elariel's heart nearly gave out, fearing he had died. But he rose back up, and they kept fighting. After a long battle the defenders finally slew Ysera, giving her peace at last. They watched then as the moon covered the sun as Elune reached down, taking Ysera's spirit into the sky, transforming her into a constellation. After that Ysera's body dissapeared, leaving only a broken fang and the now-cleansed Tears of Elune in her place.

Elariel followed Altheron to Nordrassil to meet with the various Archdruids of the Cenarion Circle, where they sought to commune with the Wild God Malorne, the White Stag, father of Cenarius and greatest of the Wild Gods. They managed to summon his spirit, the White Stag telling them that he was trapped within the heart of the Nightmare, inside a nightmare of his own creation. After gathering enough power to create a portal into the heart of the Nightmare, Altheron and Elariel used it to travel into Malorne's personal Nightmare.

Inside the Nightmare they found themselves at the center of the War of the Ancients, or more accurately, a Nightmare-warped interpretation of that war. They arrived during the battle in which many Wild Gods gave their lives fighting the Legion, the battle in which Malorne himself died fighting the demon lord Archimonde. The druids joined Malorne in the battle, defeating the phantasmal Eredar and freeing the White Stag from the Nightmare's grip. Back in the Dreamgrove, Malorne gave the Druids his blessing.

Altheron and Elariel, bearing the blessing of Malorne, journeyed beneath the roots of Shaladrassil, into the mire known as the Darkheart Thicket. There they battled Druids, Ancients, and Dragons, all fallen to the corruption of the Nightmare, before finally facing the Shade of Xavius in combat to free Malfurion. They successfully freed the Archdruid, who told them that they needed to finish this once and for all.

Knowing that they could not defeat the Nightmare alone, Altheron reached out, seeking the aid of some of his old allies from his time with The Party, who had helped him battle the Nightmare in the past. It was not long before the strange Twins portalled in, and together they charged into the heart of the Nightmare.

They fought through the corrupted Shaladrassil, traveling through the Nightmare to corrupted parallels of numerous locations in Azeroth, beginning with the Un'Goro Crater, where they found an unknown World Tree corrupted by a tumorous Old God minion calling itself Il'gynoth. The entity whispered into their minds as they fought it, seeking to corrupt them as it had the Dream around it. But they defeated the corruptive mass, ignoring its whispers. They proceeded to battle through Nightmare reflections of Mulgore and Ursoc's lair, fighting corrupted druids and the Wild God Ursoc.

They found the Emerald Dreamway consumed by the Nightmare, and within it they found the green dragon Ysondre, Altheron's old teacher, driven mad by the Nightmare, as well as several other Dragons of Nightmare. Elariel could do nothing to keep her shan'do's heart from breaking as they were forced to slay his mentor. She tried to imagine what would happen if she were forced to slay Altheron, but she could not do it.

They finally journeyed to a Nightmare reflection of the Moonglade, where they battled the Nightmare-corrupted Cenarius, Malfurion's shan'do. The demented demigod believed them to be minions of the Nightmare, working tirelessly to destroy them. Xavius, using a Nightmare illusion in the shape of Malorne, manipulated Cenarius into fighting the heroes and his own thero'shan, but even the demigod's great power was not enough, and they managed to defeat him. Malfurion stayed the killing blow however, believing that he could free Cenarius from the Nightmare. Altheron exploded on Malfurion then, enraged that the other Archdruid would think to cleanse his teacher when he had claimed the same impossible for Altheron's. If Malfurion truly cleanse Cenarius of the Nightmare, Altheron exclaimed, why hadn't he done the same for Ysondre?

Elariel clung to Altheron's arm, repeating everything he had taught her over the years, finally convincing him to leave Malfurion to his task, reminding him of the greater evil still awaiting them: Xavius. They entered into the Rift of Aln, the true heart of the Nightmare. There they faced many horrific visions from the Void, the Nightmare turning them against their own friends with its lies. Only the timely intervention of the spirit of Ysera saved them from each other, allowing them to finally defeat the Lord of the Nightmare.

They stepped out to the now Nightmare-free Dream, cleansed of all its corruption. There they were greated by Cenarius, who congratulates them on their victory over Xavius. Altheron nearly attacked the demigod in his anger until he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw the spirit of Ysondre. He approached her and had a tearful reunion with his mentor, Elariel stepping away to give them a moment alone. The heroes soon returned to the physical world, Altheron and Elariel traveling to Dalaran to give the Tears of Elune to the Kirin Tor for safekeeping.

Return to Karazhan
Altheron and Elariel later joined the combined Elven (consisting of Night Elves, Blood Elves, High Elves, and Nightfallen) armies in their siege of Suramar and assault on the Nighthold. They were among those caught in the chronomatic trap layed by Elisande, freed by the destruction of the Chronomatic Anomaly.

The Tomb of Sargeras
While Altheron battled on the Broken Shore, Elariel was sent to aid the Druids of the Talon as the Shrine of Aviana was under attack by the Legion. She failed to keep the Shrine from being overtaken and the Shrine's treasure, the Idol of Aviana, was stolen. Fearing that her failure would be the cause of some new horror, Elariel traveled with Thisalee Crow, to hunt down the Idol, finding it in the clutches of the dreadlord Infazzar. The two young druids battled an army of fel-corrupted harpies and chased Infazzar to his ship, where they slew him and reclaimed the idol.

They brought the idol to the new Shrine of Aviana in the Dreamgrove, where they unite with several other members of the Cenarion Circle in cleansing the idol of its corruption.

Shadows of Argus
Altheron forced Elariel to stay behind as he boarded the Xenedar, telling her that the mission had every chance of being a one-way trip. He told her that she needed to remain behind to protect the Dreamgrove and help eliminate the Legion forces still on Azeroth. Despite her desire to go with him, she knew that he was right, so she stayed behind, working to heal the wounds left by Legion and fighting the demons left behind, not knowing whether her shan'do lived or died.

As she hunted demons across the Broken Isles, she stumbled across a small island where she was attacked by a pack of ghouls. Surprised to find undead there, she followed the ghouls' tracks to their point of origin, a system of caverns that wound deep beneath the island. There she discovered the dreadlord Mal'Ganis raising an army of the undead in service of the Legion, using the corpses of those who had fallen in the Battle for the Broken Shore.

She was alone, but she knew that if she went back for reinforcements, by the time they returned there would be an entire undead army waiting for them. So instead she reached out to the spirits of nature for aid, and they answered. Dozens of wisps flooded into the caverns, disintegrating undead they came into contact with. Mal'Ganis, his ritual disrupted, sought to bind the wisps with his dark magic, only to be attacked by Elariel in her Nightsaber form. The Druid and the Dreadlord battled, claws and fangs tearing at one another in a wild frenzy, surrounded by a wall of wisps. In the end, a weary Elariel stood covered in wounds, but triumphant, the demon cast once more into the Twisting Nether.