Silvermoon: capital of the high elves

Founding the city

Silvermoon was raised by the exiled Highborne under Dath'Remar Sunstrider after the Great Sundering. Thus a citadel of elven arcane culture appeared in the far northeast of the Eastern Kingdoms.

City of magic

Silvermoon drew on the energy of the Sunwell — the sacred font that gives the high elves their near-insatiable craving for magic. Its spires, pavements and runic wards were counted among the wonders of Azeroth.

◆Fall in the Third War

In the Third War Prince Arthas led the Scourge and carved a bloody scar through Quel'Thalas straight to the Sunwell. Silvermoon fell and most high elves perished — the greatest catastrophe of their people.

◆Legacy

Having defiled the Sunwell, Arthas raised Kel'Thuzad as a lich. The survivors later named themselves the sin'dorei — 'children of the blood' — in memory of the fallen. In the Vanilla era the ruins of Silvermoon remain a symbol of that tragedy.

◆Silvermoon in the Vanilla era

In classic WoW the city itself is inaccessible to players, yet its shadow lies across the lore: the Scourge threat in the Eastern Plaguelands and in Naxxramas is a direct echo of Quel'Thalas's fall.

◆Why this matters

Silvermoon's history explains why high elves are so rare in the Vanilla Alliance and where their eternal feud with the Scourge comes from.

◆Related articles

• History of the high elves
• Quel'Thalas
• Sunwell
• Dath'Remar Sunstrider
• Scourge

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