Well of Eternity

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The Well of Eternity is a vast magical pool of water in the Warcraft Universe, and is the source of all arcane magic in the world of Azeroth.

[edit] Background

Before leaving Azeroth, the Titans created a lake of magical energies in the center of Kalimdor and named it the Well of Eternity. The potent energies of the lake were drawn from the limitless depths of the Great Dark Beyond and would nurture life on Azeroth allowing it to thrive and flourish.

In time, a group of humanoids that would later become the Night Elves discovered the Well. The powers of the Well changed them, making them strong, wise, and virtually immortal. They named themselves the Kaldorei, "Children of the Stars" in their native tongue, and built their glorious civilization on the shores of the lake.

Over the ages, the Kaldorei endlessly studied the Well's secrets. The Highborne, or Quel'dorei, servitors of Queen Azshara, discovered that they could harness the Well's powers to create or destroy at will - they had discovered primitive arcane magic. Azshara ordered the Highborne to double their efforts and devote themselves to mastering magic.

The reckless abandon with which the Highborne practiced magic soon drew the attention of Sargeras, who wanted the power of the Well for himself. Corrupted by the power of their magic, Azshara and the Highborne began worshipping Sargeras as a god and agreed to grant him entrance to their world. The Highborne opened a portal into the Twisting Nether from which endless legions of demons and fiends poured in to Kalimdor bent on only destruction and chaos.

The druid Malfurion Stormrage realized that without the Well, the demons would be unable to enter Azeroth and convinced his fellow Night Elves that destroying the Well was the only way to ensure the demons' defeat. As the Night Elves and Highborne fought, Malfurion's brother, Illidan, secretly filled several vials with the Well's water and escaped. When Malfurion's forces attacked, they disrupted the spell the Highborne were casting and the portal imploded.

The energies released by the destruction of the portal caused a cataclysmic explosion that rocked the world splitting the continent of Kalimdor in two and the seas rushed in to fill the void. It also scattered the waters of the Well to the winds, steeping the entire world in magical energies. Where the Well once stood, only a raging whirlpool known as the Maelstrom remained. The surviving Night Elves took refuge on Mount Hyjal only to find, to their horror, a lake into which Illidan had spilled the vials containing the Well's waters. A new Well of Eternity had been created.

The Dragon Aspects and Night Elves made a pact to guard the Well and ensure that the Burning Legion would never find its way back to Azeroth. Alexstrasza, the Aspect of Life, planted an enchanted acorn in the depths of the Well, which sprouted into a giant tree. Nozdormu, the Aspect of Time, enchanted the tree so that as long as it stood, the Night Elves would succumb to neither sickness nor time. Ysera, the Dreamer, then linked the tree to the Emerald Dream, allowing the Night Elf druids to wander the Emerald Dream. The Night Elves named the tree Nordrassil, or "Crown of the Heavens", whose life-giving energies would spread out over the world helping it to heal the wounds caused by the original Well's destruction. As for Illidan, Malfurion knew that his brother's addiction to magic would make him quite dangerous and sealed him within an underground prison.

10,000 years later, when the Burning Legion once again invaded Azeroth, the Night Elves sacrificed their immortality in order to destroy the demon Archimonde, one of Sargeras's lieutenants. After the war, and against the advice of Malfurion and the Cenarion Circle, a faction of druids led by Fandral Staghelm pushed for the creation of a new World Tree in an attempt to regain their immortality. Malfurion's disappearance allowed them to continue with their plans and thus Teldrassil was born off the coast of northern Kalimdor. But without nature's blessing, Teldrassil is slowly becoming corrupted.

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