DH Lore Notes from the Illidan novel
The lore featured here is drawn entirely from the Illidan novel, which brushes on the Black Temple invasion of Outland. More beneath the cut.
General lore notes
The first demon hunters of his retinue were kaldorei, and Illidan seems to count on their longstanding hatred for the Burning Legion to replenish lost forces.
Illidan doesn’t inform even his closest lieutenants of his plans because demons can read minds and he doesn’t want any information to be leaked by someone whose thought-hiding is less skilled than his.
The blood of powerful demons may cause someone to behave strangely until it has been properly absorbed.
Illidari pay obeisance to Illidan when he passes.
There is no gender segregation among the Illidari.
Demon Hunters - or at least Illidan - can communicate telepathically. Illidan’s voice could magically compel them to respond to his commands.
Vandiel’s ‘inner demon’ voice was actually a product of his own insanity. The struggling with ones inner demon however is still canon.
The first demon that demon hunters eat is consumed the old fashioned way. Heart and blood are consumed, which triggers apocalyptic visions that mimic what Illidan endured the first time. The entire process is modeled after the Betrayer’s experiences.
Demon meat makes people sick, behaving as though it’s alive and trying to squirm free from one's digestive system.
The smell of demon disgusts demon hunters but also sparks their hunger, compelling them to feed and become stronger.
The spectral sight of demon hunters perceives all forms of life. The most brilliant come from powerful creatures. Magic being performed is unmistakably obvious. DH can also toggle their sight to something perfectly normal, even distinguishing things that aren’t alive. They can fine tune what they want to see and how they want to see it. They can also see in the dark.
The awareness of things that Demon Hunters have increases substantially after their ritual. They can perceive the most fine details by touch alone.
DHs are tattooed by others the first time, then they learn to do it themselves. The inking is partially magical and the process is extremely painful. They keep someone's powers in check, including their enhanced sense of perception. It is especially important to maintain them because the tattoos make it easier to channel magic.
After they’re tattooed, their skin becomes scaly and/or leathery where it's touched by demon’s blood. They may also develop fangs. People mutate (or don’t) in different ways. Some become more beautiful, others more monstrous. There is no mention of what demon someone has consumed in relation to this. Something to headcanon at your leisure.
All DH endure at least some level of supernatural training, becoming able to augment their strength and speed, heal wounds by draining their enemies or externalize their fel energies to perform magic (particularly fire).
They can extend their demonic claws at will, much like felines.The weapons Demon Hunters use vary. Warglaives are traditional, as DH are modeled after Illidan who uses warglaives primarily, but scythes, daggers and other weapons are also seen.
Killing another DH has the same effects as killing a demon: they’re totally ‘absorbable’ and usable as magical fuel.
The Illidari gather their fallen dead whenever possible.
Holy Light hurts demon hunters because they’re so saturated with Fel.
On the Black Temple
While Illidan was away, aspirants (named in the novel as supplicants) were trained by his lieutenants. Varedis Felsoul was the master tutor of the Black Temple trainees.
There were about 1000 aspirants there (half of which were Blood Elves that Kael’thas personally selected for training). Only 1/5 were expected to survive the rituals and the process of adaptation that follows.
Most of the aspirants at the BT were in some way off, typically violently unhinged from personal trauma. One was even murdered by another for making too much noise.
The Black Temple was largely segregated between the different groups that made up the Illidari’s forces: the already tattooed and mutated Demon Hunters, supplicants (some sectioned themselves off further by race), Fel Orcs, etc. The list of forces on the gamepedia page for the BT raid is accurate.
The Den of Mortal Delights really do just be like that. Non-Blood Elves may be invited to partake in revelry but it’s for/by Blood Elves.
The Blood Elf forces selected for training by Kael’thas were called the Illidari Council at first. Their skill sets were very varied but all were the cream of the crop.
Newly tattooed demon hunters were given their own personal cell chambers (think a monk’s quarters), likely to help them become accustomed to their new sight as crowds are overwhelming at first.
New recruits often performed self harm or attempted suicide. This was accounted for in the ⅕ pass rate for training and mutation. Some even attempted to or successfully murdered their fellow recruits before being taken out.
Training post-ritual included but was not limited to obstacle courses, weapons, learning about demons and infiltration. During spars, they magic their weapons to blunt their edge.
Recruits killing each-other in training spars was common enough not to warrant a disciplinary sanction.
During the attack on the Temple, Illidan helped as many of his demon hunters flee as he could, staying behind to ensure that they got through the portal to Nathreza. The ones that engaged the invaders were caught out on their way to follow his orders and may have been left behind in Outland, as Vandel was.