Azshara’s Court - The Royals
Note: This post contains Legion spoilers. All major ones are posted beneath the cut.
Preface: Azshara has an overarching empire, however it is made up of smaller components and groups such as different courts: the Eternal Court (her immediate court), Court of Farondis (Azsuna’s court), and Court of Suramar (Suramar). There are other groups which are not officially referred to as courts such as: the House of Shen’dralar (Eldre’thalas), etc. Therefore, there are some ranks that permeate all courts/groups and have a standing in Azshara’s overall empire, but there are also ranks specific to each court/group. These unique ranks can indicate the specific function some of these factions have in Azshara’s empire.
It is unclear if any of the royalty was actually related to Queen Azshara or had any claim to the throne. She refers to Prince Farondis as one of her favored advisors, but beyond that there is no indication of kinship. Many of the princes ruled over kingdoms considered far from the capital of Zin-Azshari, as is the case of Eldre’Thalas. It is possible that they could have been vassals chosen by Azshara to lead the kingdoms that made up her enormous empire, conveying why Farondis would have been one of her advisors in addition to prince. The princes and their royal houses may be distant offshoots of Azshara’s own predecessors, which would explain why they are considered royal, but have less of a claim to the throne than her. On the other hand, the princes may have belonged to noble houses of the highest repute with the most skilled spellcasters, especially considering Highborne arranged marriages in order to increase the magical aptitude of their offspring.
Ael-Yith <Nightborne Prince>
Aszune, an ancient princess of the Kaldorei, was punished for mocking the Oracle’s wisdom. For her punishment, she was transformed into living stone in Stonetalon Mountains and separated from her gemstone heart which, if brought back to her, had the capability to end the curse.
While the region of Azsuna bears a similar name to Aszune, there appears to be no similarity between them. The region Azsuna, or rather the prefix Azs- is closer to Azshara’s name than Aszune, which switches the second and third letters of her name. Though, Aszune does have a landmark in her name: the Pillars of Aszune, a series of arcs on the Broken Isles leading to the open sea.
Aszune guards the entrance to the Oracle’s domicile where it is revealed that the ‘Oracle’ is supposedly none other than Medivh, the Prophet, himself. If he was the one who actually cursed her, Aszune would have been a surviving member of royalty well after the War of the Ancients which seems unlikely, especially since she declares herself “ancient”. Medivh was not old enough to have lived that long, nor is there any mention of him traveling back in time to that era. He may simply have used her and her curse as a convenient way to attract the attention of others he was seeking.
There is, however, a banshee priestess in the Garden of Elune in Azsuna who goes by the name of, “The Oracle”. Cursed during the War of the Ancients with the rest of Azsuna’s inhabitants to live forever as ghosts, she is old enough to have lived during the epoch of Highborne royalty. The only discrepancy could be that the Oracle’s domicile was in Stonetalon Mountains which was on the opposite side of Zin-Azshari from the Broken Isles, although it’s not impossible for it to have occurred since the priestess may have travelled. There may also have been more than one oracle.
Tortheldrin was prince of the Shen’dralar, who were charged with the storage and safekeeping of Queen Azshara’s most precious tomes. They established their city, Eldre’Thalas, within the lush wilds of Feralas.
Tortheldrin was an innovative genius. It was his ideas, three times, that debatably saved the lives of the Shen’dralar. When the Sundering occurred, he and his followers wove a great spell to shield Eldre’Thalas from its destructive forces. Even though it happened post-Sundering, he also prolonged their immortality creating a system of pylons to imprison the demon Immol’thar, allowing them to siphon his demonic energies. Approximately 1,232 years ago, he also came up with the plan to slaughter many of his less loyal Shen’dralar in order to prevent the pylons from overloading.
Toreth was prince of Loreth’Aran, ruins found on what is now Bloodmyst Isle. Ysera, the green dragonflight aspect, gifted him and his kingdom some of her brood, allowing his people to become dragon riders. They did this for many centuries until the War of the Ancients when they, dragon and people alike, were slaughtered by members of the black dragonflight.
Prince Nazjak is a naga rare spawn.
It has been stated that royalty is present among the rank and file of the naga. The ranks of naga royalty may not be too far off from Highborne hierarchy, considering the naga still follow Queen Azshara. Many Highborne who were esteemed in the eyes of the Queen, such as Lady Vashj (her chief handmaiden) and Lady Naz’jar, received high positions as naga and carried out Azshara’s direct wishes. Thus, anyone considered a prince by naga standards may also have been considered a prince in Highborne society, if not at least a member of a high ranking house.
