All the World's a Stage: Draenei and timelines in roleplay
by Anne Stickney 
May 22nd 2011 at 4:00PM
Sometimes it's easier to work with certain races as far as timelines go, and sometimes it gets very, very tricky. Today's subject is one of the trickiest. The draenei date back to the vanilla days of World of Warcraft -- but the draenei of Azeroth as we knew it then were most decidedly not the draenei we know in Azeroth today. While we mistakenly assumed the draenei always appeared as they do in the Swamp of Sorrows -- misshapen, deformed, and a bit ugly -- the draenei of the Swamp of Sorrows are actually mutated versions of the original race.
None of this was revealed until the announcement that draenei would be the playable Alliance race in The Burning Crusade. Once the draenei were announced, a flurry of speculation as to the race's origins and radical change in appearance appeared, as well as one of the most notorious lore snafus in Warcraft's history. If the draenei seem out of place on Azeroth, it's because they absolutely are -- they aren't even native to the planet Draenor from which their flight and subsequent crash landing on Azeroth originated. You think elves are old? Take a gander at the draenei lifetime, and prepare to be overloaded with potential for more roleplay material than you can shake a face tendril at.
Age range and life span
Unfortunately, we have absolutely no source material for the average draenei lifespan. They were written into the Warcraft story after the last of the Warcraft RPG source books came out, leaving a hole as far as referential information for draenei life spans. Therefore, we can only estimate approximate ages for draenei using references given in game, comparing them to creatures with similar lifespans.
It has been suggested that the draenei themselves are immortal, and this is not really as out-there an assumption as you'd think. The leader of the draenei, Prophet Velen, is at least 25,000 years old, predating the existence of the night elves by a good 10,000 years. Given Velen's age and then taking Velen's appearance into consideration, Velen could be considered "old" by draenei standards -- but he certainly doesn't act like a doddering old man, nor is he incapable of leadership.
That said, the draenei race were and are eredar, a race also generally considered immortal. But the draenei have spent the last 25,000 in the company of those wonderful Light-filled windchimes known as the naaru, bathing in the glow of the Light and learning the paladin arts as well as the art of healing. It's entirely possible that the effect of simply being in the presence of the naaru for that long could also have extended the life span of the draenei -- but this is all, of course, speculation.
In fact, speculation is about the best shot you've got to go with if you're roleplaying a draenei -- the extent of draenic history plus the implied length of their life span gives players an incredible amount of room to work with. If we want to make some comparisons as far as age ranges go, the rule of thumb in the Warcraft RPG source guides seems to indicate the longer the life span, the longer it takes for a character to reach "maturity." Night elves reach maturity at age 110 or so, while other races that may or may not be immortal start a bit later than that. In the case of the naga -- night elves that were magically transformed by an Old God -- they don't reach maturity until age 500, and it's unknown how long exactly they live, much like the draenei. Keep in mind that 500 years may seem like a lot to us, but to a race that can literally live infinite amounts of time, it's a bare blink of an eye.
Draenei history
Since you're got an infinite amount of time to work with, a quick look at known draenei history can be helpful in determining exactly what your draenei character may or may not have lived through. Unfortunately, the only mention of draenei in the official timeline is the date of The Burning Crusade, which took place in year 26. This is the year that the Exodar crash landed on Azeroth and stranded the draenei race, who promptly joined forces with the Alliance.
So it falls to the unofficial timeline listed on Wowpedia for a vague idea of the other significant dates in draenic history. While the unofficial timeline is just that, unofficial, it also represents a timeline of all recorded "important events" in the Warcraft universe, compiled from everything Blizzard has published to date. While some sources have the opening of the Dark Portal listed as happening 25 years before World of Warcraft, others state it's been 30 years; the unofficial timeline uses this 30-year standard, which is why the official and unofficial timelines may clash when it comes to precise dates.
That said, the history of the draenei starts with the eredar -- or rather, the corruption of the eredar. In year -25,000, Sargeras came to the planet Argus (the homeworld of the eredar race), looking for suitable lieutenants for his dark army known as the Burning Legion. There were three prominent leaders of the draenei at that time: Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, and Velen. Though Kil'jaeden and Archimonde agreed to swear loyalty to Sargeras, tempted by the promise of power, Velen was uncertain of Sargeras' true motives.
And it's a good thing he was. Shortly after Sargeras' appearance, Velen had a vision of the future, one in which he witnessed the Burning Legion wreaking havoc upon all of creation. Though he tried to warn his fellow leaders, they dismissed his worries -- and the eredar who swore loyalty to Sargeras were transformed into the demonic entities we know today. Velen, however, prayed for help and received it from an unlikely source: a creature glimmering with Light, the first appearance of the naaru. The naaru offered to help Velen and any others who wanted to flee.
The next date mentioned isn't even in the unofficial timeline. It's merely referenced in the novel Rise of the Horde, when a young Durotan and Orgrim Doomhammer met the draenei people in the beginnings of the book:
The unofficial timeline lists the novel Rise of the Horde as occurring from roughly year -25,000, when the draenei left Argus for good, to year -19 in the Warcraft timeline. However, there are books in game that reference these events. Kil'jaeden and the Shadow Pact mentions the first contact between Ner'zhul and Kil'jaeden and the events that bring about the forming of the Shadow Council. Kil'jaeden and the Shadow Pact is listed at -100 in the timeline, and Durotan and Orgrim are mere youths at the time."Many things, " Restalaan said amiably. They were passing through the gates now, and receiving curious, but not hostile, looks from the denizens of this place. "We are travelers, fairly new to your world."
"New?" Durotan said. "It was over two hundred summers ago that your people came here. We were not as we are now." -- Rise of the Horde
It's obvious where the conflicts lie in the timeline. The average age of an orc, according to the Warcraft RPG books, is only supposed to be about 100 years or so, yet Orgrim and Durotan would have been very, very old by the time the Dark Portal originally opened, were that the case. Unfortunately, a lot of lore in Warcraft has fairly ambiguous dates -- and again, trying to pin down precise dates is an absolute nightmare. However, we can gather that the draenei arrived some 200 years before Kil'jaeden on the little planet known as Draenor. In that time, they lived fairly peacefully side-by-side with the orcs, even going so far as to trade with the various orc clans.
Kil'jaeden's appearance changed all that, however. After manipulating the orc shaman Ner'zhul and then his apprentice Gul'dan, the orcs of Draenor -- with few exceptions -- drank the blood of Mannoroth and transformed from fairly peaceful, if somewhat brutal creatures into the bloodthirsty orcs of early human history. After this transformation, Kil'jaeden -- still angry about Velen's refusal to join the Burning Legion -- tricked the orcs into thinking the draenei were enemies.
The result was incomprehensible slaughter. This was at some point just before the Dark Portal opened and the orcs were unleashed upon Azeroth (year 0 in the timeline). From year 0 to year 31 in the unofficial timeline (year 26 in the official timeline), the draenei spent their time fleeing the remaining orcs of Draenor and dealing with the appearance of Illidan, the loss of the Temple of Karabor (otherwise known as the Black Temple), and the uprising of Kael'thas' blood elf forces, as well as trying to recover from the destruction of Draenor into the shattered world we know today as Outland.
Resources for draenei history
Needless to say, this is quite a bit to comprehend. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your viewpoint), there are very few resources out there for draenei history, making it a fairly quick task to get caught up. Rise of the Horde covers the events of the flight from Argus and subsequent life on Draenor in detail, and I highly recommend it to those looking for some insight on the draenei race. In addition, draenei shaman wanting to know more about the development of shaman history in regards to the draenei -- and any who want to research the effects of Draenor's destruction on the draenei race -- should definitely check out the short story Unbroken on the World of Warcraft website.
Other than that, Wowpedia remains a good source for information -- and of course, there's always the Know Your Lore column as additional research material. It doesn't seem like a lot of information to work with, but in a way this is a blessing. Those seeking to play a draenei don't really have to dig too deep for the known information regarding the draenei race, and they are left with a gigantic amount of blank space with which to fill with whatever backstory they'd like.
Though generally a peaceful race, the draenei have been through more than enough in the past couple hundred years to warrant a grimmer outlook on life. A warlike, savage draenei bent on revenge for the atrocities committed against his people is just as likely an option as one that is peaceful and wishes only to spread the message of the Light to as many as possible. In recent events in The Burning Crusade, Prophet Velen is directly responsible for the rebirth of the Sunwell -- an act that highlights the generosity of the draenei race. It also highlights the relative mysteriousness of the naaru, who saw the events of the Sunwell's recovery many, many years before.
Playing an immortal race may seem like an easy out for most roleplayers, but in actuality, it presents one of the toughest challenges roleplay has to offer. Trying to wrap one's mind around the concept that the two years or so the draenei have been present on Azeroth is merely a blink of an eye, a quick intake of breath to most draenei, is difficult to say the least. And trying to pack a draenei's background with history when known history for the race is so small and finite makes it even more difficult. Add to that the general wibbly-wobbly nature of Warcraft timelines and a lack of any real coherent dates for the events that we have been presented with, and you're looking at a real headache.
But ultimately, while a draenei may seem like a challenge, they also present one of the most fascinating races Warcraft has to offer. Unlike the orcs, who have rather firmly settled on Azeroth, the draenei are new enough to Azeroth that everything is likely to feel alien and odd. There are some similarities between Draenor and Azeroth, but the different races of Azeroth present something the draenei have never before seen. Add to that the fact that despite being from two completely different worlds, the races of Azeroth seem to revere the same Light that the draenei have been working with thousands of years before any of those races really developed.
When you put it all together, you've got a recipe for a truly fascinating history and a whole host of possibilities for roleplay. Interaction with the other races of Azeroth still presents new and interesting insights for a draenei; traveling the world of Azeroth presents new and exciting vistas, lands never seen. The story of the Lich King was something the draenei had never heard of; they weren't there for the Third War and Arthas' downfall.
And now, Cataclysm hits particularly close to home for the draenei. The world of Azeroth has shattered in a way eerily similar to the destruction of Draenor, years before. While some may be intimidated by the lack of information, the draenei have a lot to offer -- and it's well worth embracing the unusually blank canvas of the draenei race.
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Filed under: All the World's a Stage (Roleplaying)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Udderpowered May 22nd 2011 4:17PM
"However, we can gather that the draenei arrived some 200 years before Kil'jaeden on the little planet known as Durotar."
You mean Draenor? Or whatever the natives called it before the Draenei turned up, I'd love to hear more of Outland's ancient history, the Arrakoa were clearly very advanced at one point going by the crystal attuement things in Blade's Edge.
Anne Stickney May 22nd 2011 4:34PM
Yeah, I meant Draenor - thank you, been corrected!
MisterRik May 23rd 2011 1:29PM
You bring up a question I've wondered about for some time now: What did the orcs originally call their home world? In the RTS games we learned their world is called Draenor, but then with the introduction of the draenei in WoW, we discover it was the draenei who gave it that name. By the time of TBC, it's simply called "Outland" by the people of Azeroth - even the orcs and draenei call it that.
Surely the orcs had their own name for their native planet? Or maybe, as a somewhat primitive, tribal society, they had no knowledge of there being other worlds (until the Burning Legion came along and showed them Azeroth), and so saw no need to name their planet? Even then, though, it seems they would have some sort of name for it, even if that name was simply the orcish word(s) for "our world", similar to the way many (if not most) Earth cultures are known by words that, in their language, simply mean "the people".
sfgreenwell May 22nd 2011 4:35PM
It's my understanding that the Exodar crash landed into Azeroth just in time for the starting zones to occur and for your Draenei to make it all the way over to the Eastern Kingdoms where, upon learning more about the fact that "holy shit, these people worship the same thing we do in pretty much exactly the same way" they decide to join the Argent Dawn to fight back the Scourge in Vanilla Naxx.
And die in Vanilla Naxx, thus giving rise to Draenei Death Knights.
Now, take into account every single time in Draenei history where the Naaru show up just a second or two too late to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from dieing, including the "We need to leave behind women, children, and the elderly here in Shattrath, so the orcs will think they got all of you," plan, and you can see a WotLK era Draenei Death Knight bitter and grim beyond all reason.
Arthas DID send your Death Knight to die at Light's Hope, and your Draenei, having been referenced as born on Argus, has seen a LOT of terrible things, and followed by "good" things. Like getting a second chance and becoming a Death Knight. Hell, Arthas probably did more directly to positively influence your Draenei Death Knight than the Naaru ever did, and yet, it was all for a suicide mission.
WotLK era DDK would be torn beyond all reason over what's transpired, having MISSED the entirety of BC due to Scourge-ification, and would probably have difficulty reconciling a few important things. Like the Sunwell deal. Yes, it was important for the Draenei too, but reigniting the very source of magical energy that belongs to, not only the people who caused you to crash land here in the first place, but were now allied with the orcs?
The loved ones they've lost, the betrayal they have seen, the faith they've shown and the bitter realities of the world they now call home, and they are monsters in the eyes of everyone. Joe-the-Farmer doesn't even know what a Draenei is, and surely the chill in the air around DDK and the foreboding sense of death that follows him would terrify Joe, if not incite him into a protective attack against the former Scourge.
And those who know the grand truth behind the Scourge? That, like the orcs, were a machination of the Burning Legion? Even among Draenei, they'd be monsters, no better than the Eredar who willingly associated with demons and chased them from their homeworld.
And yet, DDK must go on. Going into the Post-Cataclysm era, DDK has personally lost more than most will ever claim to have, and this strange new world, following the death of Arthas, is his home now, and he must protect it.
He has been given a great gift from a terrible source. A second chance, and the freedom to use his power for good. Because clearly, those Naaru assholes can't be trusted to be proactive.
Shinae May 23rd 2011 11:53AM
I don't know why you're saying that any death knights would have have missed the Burning Crusade. Ok, you can say that was the case for your DDK, but it's not the standard.
The main source of the bodies that were raised in Archerus as death knights was from the pre-Wrath Scourge event. Remember when we all got turned into zombies, including in Shattrath? While it wasn't permanent for players, it was a way to show that, at the end of BC, there was a massive influx of Scourge that fueled Arthas at the start of Wrath.
Granted, you can RP that your character was Scrourge-ified before or after that event if you want a different history. I just want to point out the story that the game presents.
sfgreenwell May 23rd 2011 12:37PM
If memory serves, the New DK intro audio is referencing Naxx, not the end of BC. This means the template for each new dk is "died in Naxx". You CAN rp whatever you want within reason, but that's the reality of template DDK.
Also, my DK was a belf who was killed by his cousin after the fall of the Sunwell.
Shadda May 22nd 2011 4:35PM
I've always been a little confused by Auchindoun. According to Blizzard's own site: "the original exiles on Draenor found death to be an unsettling and unfortunate consequence of life, and so the draenei hid their dead away in the subterranean grave-city of Auchindoun, a labyrinthine marvel located beneath the forests of Terokkar." If the Draenei are in fact immortal, where did all of these dead Draenei come from? Auchindoun was already ancient by the time the orcs fell under the sway of the Burning Legion, so they weren't the victims of that particular genocide. It may be that the Draenei brought their dead with them, but why wait to bury them on Draenor?
LynMars May 22nd 2011 5:27PM
Some of the sources say that power and immortality were what Sargeras offered the Eradar. Which would indicate they weren't/aren't immortal. Velen being tied so closely with the Light and the Naaru may be an exception for the Draenei, though the Light along with the race's inherent magic could make for really long natural lifespans.
Also consider that a brand new lvl 1 Draenei starts by coming out of a suspension pod type thing, where they were recovering from the Exodar's crash. Perhaps on journeys between worlds, the Draenei are placing the majority of their people in stasis for the trips through the Nether? That could "extend" the lifespans too, even if the Draenei aren't aware during that time.
There's also a semantics difference between immortal and ageless; Draenei can be killed through normal means, and have been in droves through the centuries. So they would need some way to care for their dead, though waiting for Auchindoun seems odd, but they did a lot of bouncing around for a long time, too.
For my own RP, I like going with "really long lived" thanks to the Light and magic, but I've never been too fond of adding a buncha zeros to my characters' ages to make them seem wiser or more knowledgeable or more powerful. It's often easier for a new player to play a younger member of the species (whether Draenei or another long lived race) to get a feel for it and forge their own story.
staffan.johansson May 22nd 2011 5:54PM
One of the questgivers in Blood Watch (the town in the Draenei 10-20 zone) is reminiscing about the time on Argus. He's just level 18 - a regular dude, who doesn't appear to be particularly blessed by the Naaru (more than the rest of the race, that is). So I doubt that Velen's longevity is due to his close connection to the Light.
LynMars May 22nd 2011 7:55PM
@Staffan: Read the rest of my post, too. >.>
I don't deny that there are other long-lived Draenei who recall Argus. I tried to give a lot of reasons why that may happen. Velen is an example and a fairly important figure with some definite ties to the Light despite being rather old even among his people. The other Draenei have strong ties too that help explain longevity, but I sometimes think their magi-tech has something to do with it.
I also don't always go with NPCs being more or less powerful or memorable based on happening to be in a starting zone or not; there are plenty of really cool "low level" NPCs (Lorna Crowley, Lillian Voss, etc), but I'd call level a game mechanic that would otherwise be abstract (and balances a zone for PvP more than anything).
thebitterfig May 22nd 2011 9:16PM
A definite is disease. Arriving on Draenor, the new exiles picked up various orc diseases and died en masse. Similar things happened throughout the Americas when European settlers arrived, and it seems entirely plausible that Draenei biology got the (un)luck of the draw.
Andrew May 23rd 2011 8:41AM
I've always taken the approach that the Draenei are more like the elves of Tolkien as regards their lifespan. They age slowly, and are immortal unless killed in battle or "waste away". They could theoretically live forever but every time they go to war they do so in knowledge that not all will survive. Likewise, Draenei who have experienced great loss may simply lose their will to live, though this would be far more rare.
Also, fel magic is a significant limit on Draenei lifespans. A Draenei Death Knight has already been killed in battle, but their necromancy sustains them. For how long, who knows, this is entirely new to the species. Like the Broken and the Lost Ones they no longer have any connection to the Holy Light, but they have not suffered the extreme physiological changes. Similarly, the Broken Draenei would likely have very short lifespans, I would think equivalent to an orc or human, perhaps slightly longer or shorter depending on the degree of devolution.
Nivella May 23rd 2011 11:27PM
@ Andrew
Fel is not the same as the unholy lich magic used by death knights and the scourge.
Fel pertains to demon magics and is the power tapped by warlocks. The broken and the lost ones became like that due to fel bombs used at the loss of Shattrath (this is explained in Unbroken) and likely other places too considering how many kro kul we have running about. Fel magics have the known tendency to abuse their victims (Draenei, orcs and fel orcs, blood elves; especially the close followers of Kael'thas).
Necromancy, while still a dark art, doesn't do much more than animate dead organic matter. This is why the necromancers in auchinidon are mostly fine if a tad insane.
s.scott.staten May 22nd 2011 5:02PM
The problem with using the Warcraft RPG for any sort of age guide reference (this is especially true of Elves and other long-lived races) is that it's all copy-pasted from The D&D books it was created to be compatable with.
In short, it's not Warcraft centered information, but TSR/WOTC/Gary Gygax centric information. That doens't make it bad, but the ages poresented in what is, effectively, a D&D sourcebook may not be what the people at Blizzard will eventually go with.
And let's be honest, a 100 year "childhood" proabbly isn't all that narratively exciting.
Krz May 22nd 2011 9:11PM
Indeed... 'Teenage' drama for 50 years? No thanks.
Amaxe May 22nd 2011 11:00PM
I guess you can call this my tinfoil hat speculation here, based on the need to consider physical maturity vs. legal maturity.
With humans, all the biology works after puberty begins. However, they are not considered legal adults until sometime later, depending on society. It used to be 21 in America, now it's 18. In Japan, South Korea and New Zealand it's 20.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority#Countries_and_subdivisions (for some lists)
We call this the Age of Majority.
So there could be a difference between physical maturity and when one is considered legally responsible to make adult decisions among the draenei too.
As for a fantasy example, In the earliest part of the novel of "Fellowship of the Ring" Frodo is considered to be in his "irresponsible tweens" with adulthood being 33. I at least had the sense that there was a difference between growing up physically and being recognized as a mature adult mentally among the hobbits.
I would imagine among the nelfs and draenei, and to a lesser extent among the Belfs and dwarfs, we could see a society with a lot of lore and knowledge and history could take longer to educate a person to adulthood mentally before they were seen as ready to take part in adult society.
Of course with this consideration, we could see (if someone wanted to play this way) after the destruction of Nordrassil and with the crash of the Exodar, Draenei and Nelfs who are physically adult moving out to the world but without the formal education their parents would have had. Perhaps a rejection of their cultural values (this could fit in perhaps with Nelf mages), or perhaps based on necessity (The draenei realize they can't educate the way they used to)
Here's my own attempt (before I did a race change): Amaxe was someone I said was on Argus, old enough to be a minor philosopher and teacher, and old enough to have to choose which side to be on, but was minor enough to not be a "mover" among the important people on Argus. In fact I envisioned her as basically just starting out in her being a teacher.
maybe some won't like that conception, but I hoped it wouldn't seem unreasonable.
Sammy May 22nd 2011 5:16PM
Thats pretty cool because I just got done reading Rise of the Horde. People should read all the Warcraft lore books.
Heres the list in order.
Warcraft - Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen
Warcraft - Lord of Clans by Christie Golden
Warcraft - The Last Guardian by Jeff Grub
Warcraft - Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
Warcraft - War of the Ancients Trilogy Book 1: The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak
Warcraft - War of the Ancients Trilogy Book 2: The Demon Soul by Richard A. Knaak
Warcraft - War of the Ancients Trilogy Book 3: The Sundering by Richard A. Knaak
World of Warcraft - The Cycle of Hatred by Keith R. A. DeCandido
World of Warcraft - The Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenberg
World of Warcraft-Beyond the Dark Portal by Aaron Rosenberg & Christie Golden
World of Warcraft - Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
World of Warcraft-Night of the Dragon by Richard A.Knaak
World of Warcraft -Arthas-Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
Warcraft-The Sunwell Trilogy vol.1-Dragon Hunt by Richard A. Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim
Warcraft-The Sunwell Trilogy vol.2-Shadows of Ice by Richard A. Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim
Warcraft-The Sunwell Trilogy vol.3-Ghostlands by Richard A. Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim
Taruun May 22nd 2011 5:48PM
Great article, but one question I would like to have answered is what is the "cut-off" point for how young a Draenei character could reasonably be. Just like it's basically impossible to RP a night elf that was born on Teldrassil, what are the events that every Draenei PC would have experienced?
Melvyl May 22nd 2011 5:46PM
Quoting Valok the Righteous during the quest A Special Surprise:
"Think back. Try and remember the proud mountains of Argus, where you were born. Remember the splendor of life, . You were a champion of the draenei once! This isn't you...Remember Argus. Don't let that happen to this world."
At the very least it seems that Valok and your Death Knight are both 25,000 years old.
emi_martinetti May 22nd 2011 6:06PM
According to this quest (http://www.wowpedia.org/Quest:Auchindoun...), the naaru ship that brought the draenei to Draenor crashed 1000 years ago. And considering that Rise of the Horde predates the Burning Crusade, I think we should take the last source, the comment of D'ore:
"I have been regenerating for nearly a thousand years. The cycle is almost complete..."
I think you should had this.