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In the fictional Warcraft Universe, Quel'Thalas was the homeland of the High Elves. The Blood Elves now occupy this region made accessible to players with World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade expansion.

Quel'Thalas is a magical forestland in the northernmost corner of the Eastern Kingdoms of Azeroth. The capital, Silvermoon, stands in the very heart of the elven lands and from it reigned the Council of Silvermoon, traditionally led by the ancient Sunstrider Dynasty. Quel'Thalas borders both the Forest Troll homeland of Zul'Aman and lies wholly within the borders of the human nation of Lordaeron. The Rangercorps, traditionally led by a descendant of the Windrunner House, protected the borders of the lands and its treewalls. Magical rune stones guarded against demonic energies.

Ten millennia ago, a group of Night Elves called the Quel'Dorei, or "High Elves," led by Queen Azshara, attempted to discover the secrets of the Well of Eternity, which the Night Elves had built their wonderous civilization around. The Elves tampering with the Well alerted the Demon Lord Sargeras of its existence and used the Elves to create a portal within the Well to allow him and his army of demons into Azeroth. The Night Elves rebelled against their Queen and as a result, the portal failed and the resulting explosion sundered the world. The Night Elves' leader, Malfurion Stormrage, outlawed the use of arcane magic making its use punishable by death. But the remaining Quel'Dorei felt it was their right to use the arcane and when they did so, Malfurion could not bring himself to kill so many of his people. He decided to banish the Quel'Dorei and they left Kalimdor for across the sea.

The self appointed "High Elves" sailed to what is now northernmost Lordaeron where they set up a magnificent capital far from the eyes of the Night Elves. This was not without difficulty, however, for the lands taken by the High Elves originally belonged to the local tribes of Trolls. Because of this, the High Elves and the Trolls share a bitter enmity that lasts to this very day.

During the Second War against the Orcs of Draenor, the High Elves allied with the human nations of Azeroth in order to drive off the orcish invasion. The High Elves also wanted the humans' help in eliminating the Trolls at last. Because of this, the leader of the Trolls at the time, Zul'jin, formed an alliance with the Warchief of the Orcish Horde, Orgrim Doomhammer, out of necessity.

Later, the warlock Gul'dan captured the Runestone of Caer Darrow in order to utilize its magics to create the Ogre-Magi. After the Second War, the High Elves left the human Alliance, saying that too much of their beloved forests had been destroyed by the Orcs. Many years later, when the undead Scourge began its invasion of Lordaeron, Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron began an assault on Quel'Thalas. His goal being the mystic Sunwell, the source of the High Elves' magical power. The Sunwell was needed to resurrect the necromancer, Kel'Thuzad, as a lich. After bypassing two magical Elfgates and killing the Ranger General at the time, Sylvanas Windrunner, Arthas devastated the once-magnificent kingdom of Quel'Thalas and resurrected Kel'Thuzad. The High Elves, not wishing to abandon their homeland to the Scourge, set fire to the forests as they fled.

Until recently, Quel'Thalas remained a ruined land blighted by dark magics and wandering undead. The last heir of the Sunstrider royal family, Prince Kael'thas, survived the destruction of Quel'thalas, having been away at the time. Some of the High Elves renamed themselves Blood Elves to honor their fallen brethren. More recently, during the waning of the Lich King's power and after many crippling blows exacted upon the Scourge by the Alliance and the Horde, the Blood Elves have reclaimed and regrown part of their kingdom.

Chris Metzen, the Warcraft Universe co-creator, originally wished Quel'Thalas to be pronounced as Kel-Thalas, however, Bill Roper, one of the voice actors of Warcraft, had already recorded the dialogue pronouncing it, Kwell-Thalas and it was too late to change. This event prompted new procedure at Blizzard Entertainment for Metzen to provide pronunciation cards for any names of characters and places.

• Quel'Thalas at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki

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