Noble Houses of Quel'Thalas

The Nobel Houses of Quel'Thalas are the many varied High Elven and Blood Elven houses that have ruled Quel'Thalas over the millennia since the founding of the High Elven kingdom. The houses have typically been split between the Great Houses, who (with one exception) had seats in the Convocation of Silvermoon, the ruling council of Quel'Thalas, and the Minor Houses, who did not. After the Scourge invasion of Quel'Thalas, the distinction has been blurred, as the Convocation was eradicated and many of the Great Houses were either wiped out or lost most of their power.

House Sunstrider

 * The royal family of Quel’Thalas, descended from Dath’remar Sunstrider, leader of the Highborne who left Queen Azshara’s service.
 * Ended with the death of Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider.
 * Lesser scions of the house may still exist (cousins & distant relatives such as Eldin & Lyandra Sunstrider), but they have no claim to the throne.

House Windrunner

 * Quel’Thalas’s greatest defenders, descended from Talanas Windrunner, the first Ranger General of Silvermoon. The majority of the subsequent Ranger Generals have also come from House Windrunner.
 * Not counted among the “seven great houses,” as they refused a seat on the Convocation. They believed their duty lay in defending their nation’s borders, not politics and committees.
 * Once the most respected of the great houses, second only to the royal family; particularly beloved by the common people.
 * The last surviving members of the house are Vereesa and Alleria Windrunner, both of whom are currently exiles from Quel’Thalas. Neither of them have pure elven children, as both married human men. Sylvanas Windrunner still exists as the undead Banshee Queen of the Forsaken and Warchief of the Horde.
 * All of House Windrunner’s holdings are within the Ghostlands, and thus are still overrun by the mindless undead.

House Drathir

 * Once the most powerful and respected of the seven great houses, known for their natural power and skill in wielding the Arcane.
 * House Drathir was disgraced in the wake of the Scourge invasion, as Dar’Khan Drathir betrayed his people to Arthas, opened Silvermoon’s defenses to him, and killing nearly all the members of the Convocation, leaving his older brother Altheron as the only survivor. Altheron was later named the Brother of the Betrayer by Regent Lord Lor’themar Theron and exiled from Quel’Thalas.
 * Altheron Drathir is the last surviving member of the house, with most of the house killed in the Scourge invasion and Dar’Khan dying his final death when the Sunwell was purified.
 * All of House Drathir’s holdings are within the Ghostlands, and thus are still overrun by the mindless undead.
 * Dawnstar Spire, the ancestral home of House Drathir, is little more than a ruin. It is still guarded by now-malfunctioning arcane golems that attack anything that comes near the spire.

House Salonar

 * House Salonar were ancient rivals of House Drathir, known for producing exceptional magisters. The position of Grand Magister was most often held by either a Drathir or a Salonar, the two houses rarely seeing eye-to-eye.
 * After the Second War up until the Scourge invasion, House Salonar held the most powerful seat in the Convocation, with House Drathir’s seat held by the young and relatively inexperienced Altheron Drathir.
 * House Salonar was wiped out during the Scourge invasion. The last leader of the house was Grand Magister Belo’vir Salonar.

House Dawnstar

 * Renowned arcane architects and artisans, House Dawnstar helped with the construction of Silvermoon and the Sunwell Plateau and built both Dawnstar Village and Dawnstar Spire.
 * While built by and named after them, Dawnstar Spire was not owned by House Dawnstar, but instead by their closest political allies, House Drathir. One of the early leaders of House Drathir commissioned his friend, the leader of House Dawnstar, to build the spire, as he trusted no one else to create a home worthy of his house.
 * When Dar’Khan’s betrayal tainted the Drathir family name, it tainted the Dawnstar family name by association. The family lost much of its power and influence in the aftermath of the Scourge invasion, resulting in many of its members developing a particularly powerful hatred of the surviving Drathirs, even more so than most Blood Elves.
 * Most of the surviving Dawnstars had to find new paths in life, either accepting their reduced status or finding a place elsewhere. Many Dawnstars accompanied Prince Kael’thas in his journey to Outland, several of them later joining the Scryers. Others can still be found in Silvermoon, their once-high status all but forgotten.
 * House Dawnstar once held Dawnstar Village as their primary holdings, but no longer have any claim on the ownership of the town.

House Falthrien

 * House Falthrien were renowned magical scholars, known for their unparalleled knowledge of the Arcane. They were old allies of House Salonar, often voting with them in the Convocation. They founded the prestigious Falthrien Academy on Sunstrider Isle, where countless aspiring magisters studied over the millennia, and ran the academy up until the Scourge invasion.
 * House Falthrien did not survive the invasion, as every elf on Sunstrider Isle was slaughtered by the undead, including the students and professors at the academy. The headmaster of the academy, who was also the last surviving member of House Falthrien, fell protecting the last of his students.
 * The Falthrien Academy was restored as the Blood Elves restored Eversong Woods to its former glory, but one of its new students fell victim to their magical addiction and became Wretched, unleashing a small army of arcane elementals and driving out the other students. The academy was eventually recovered, but it never regained its place as Quel’Thalas’s premiere place of learning.

House Duskwither

 * House Duskwither were ancient rivals of House Falthrien, their own Duskwither Spire rivaling the Falthrien Academy in prominence.
 * House Duskwither survived the Scourge invasion, but only barely. All the most powerful and brilliant magisters the house had produced fell to the Scourge, leaving only lesser cousins to claim the leadership of the once great house.
 * Magister Duskwither, the current head of House Duskwither, attempted to find a new, sustainable source of magic for the Blood Elves, but his experiments failed, only resulting in many of his apprentices succumbing to their magical addiction and becoming Wretched. He fled his academy to escape the consequences of his failure.
 * Duskwither Spire and the surrounding grounds were eventually recovered and are once again in the hands of House Duskwither.

House Wyrmrider

 * House Wyrmrider were the first to domesticate the dragonhawks local to the woodlands that would become Quel'Thalas, and they remained the most prominent breeders and trainers of dragonhawks up until the Scourge invasion.
 * House Wymrider had a strong military tradition, most of them serving in the military at some point in their lives, most of them serving as dragonhawk knights.
 * House Wyrmstar was nearly wiped out in the Scourge invasion, as its various members went out to fight and were massacred. The only survivors of the house were and, while Theral and Theleria Wyrmrider continue to exist as undead, a death knight and a dark ranger. The house has fallen even further since Theral was returned as a death knight and  served the traitorous Kael'thas, both of them disgracing the house.

House Starseeker

 * House Starseeker are a powerful family of Magisters known for their experimentation in the mystic arts. They pioneered many branches of arcane study and were always on the cutting edge of magical research. Back in the days of the Highborne they were the first to map the stars and they continued this work by scrying other worlds in the Great Dark Beyond.
 * Of all the Great Houses, House Starseeker were the closest to the wizards of Dalaran, their children always splitting their formative years between studying at Dalaran's academies and studying at the academies of Silvermoon. Due to this, they also had a strong connection to the Alliance for many years, until Garithos broke their faith in the Alliance.
 * House Starseeker lost many of its members to the Scourge, but three sons of the family survived,, , and Laeral "Wyrm" Starseeker, though none of them have taken up leadership of the House, leaving it's fate in a state of limbo.

House Saltheril

 * House Saltheril is known for their lavish, extravagant, and exclusive parties. While not one of the great houses, House Saltheril has a surprising degree among the minor houses, as nobles and officials far greater than the Saltherils are often in attendance, and political scheming is just as common at their parties as drinking is. They control which minor houses are permitted to mingle with their betters and which are refused, which is a greater power than many outsiders would believe.
 * The current Lord Saltheril has made several attempts to increase the status of his house, with no success. While influential among the lesser lords and ladies, Saltheril is missing an important element necessary to gain power in Silvermoon: magic. House Saltheril has never produced any skilled or powerful magisters, and the current Lord Saltheril is no exception, having little to no skill in magic himself.
 * Saltheril’s Haven is one of House Saltheril’s more prominent holdings, as it is where they host many of their grandest parties (the ones not in Silvermoon, at least).

House Dayleaf/Bloodleaf

 * House Dayleaf is one of the more powerful minor houses, known mostly for its farms and orchards, from which much of Quel’Thalas’s food and wine originate. Before the Highborne’s exile they were in a very similar position, their stores providing provisions for many on their journey east.
 * House Bloodleaf is still strong, though it has suffered disgrace in recent years.

House Sunstriker

 * House Sunstriker is one of the largest minor houses, the family being unusually prolific for elves. This has resulted in many jokes at the house’s expense, including “There are as many Sunstrikers are there are trees in Eversong” or “Every time the sun sets, a Sunstriker is born.”
 * Sometimes referred to as “wannabe Sunstriders.”
 * Despite the mockery, the Sunstrikers actually have a surprisingly subtle brand of influence, due to the fact that there are Sunstrikers in nearly every profession.

House Thuron

 * House Thuron are known for being the greatest breeders of hawkstriders in Quel’Thalas, their avian steeds highly sought after by nobility and foreigners alike.
 * House Thuron’s holdings include Thuron’s Livery, just outside Silvermoon, where they conduct much of their business.

House Andilien

 * House Andilien were known for their incredibly private nature. There were rumors that the family dabbled in dark magics, but there was never any evidence of this, and the rumors never went further than that.
 * House Andilien was wiped out during the Scourge invasion, their estate among the first to fall to the undead.
 * The ruins of Andilien Estate in the Ghostlands are all that is left of the house’s holdings.

House Dawnsinger/Dusksinger

 * House Dawnsinger was a lesser offshoot of House Dawnstar, so low in the social hierarchy that it could barely be considered a noble house.
 * House Dawnsinger’s only “holding” is a residence in Silvermoon attached to a shop and smithy, from which they ran the family business of forging enchanted weapons and armor.
 * The majority of House Dawnsinger was wiped out during the Scourge invasion, leaving Thal’ana Dawnsinger as the last surviving member.
 * Thal’ana was among the group of Blood Elves that followed Magister Umbric in his research into the Void and was thus exiled and later became a Void Elf. Upon her transformation, she changed her house name from Dawnsinger to Dusksinger.