The Elves were mainly split into three factions; the Blood Elves, the Night Elves, and the High Elves. Ten thousands years ago they had all belonged to the same race. The High Elves had once been the masters of arcane magic and all Elves had bowed down to their Queen Azshara. But the queen had become corrupted by her own vanity and greed only to be cursed along with her closest followers to become a water breathing reptilian race called the Naga. A handful of High Elves still existed but they mainly served the magical nation of Dalaran. The rest of the High Elves had become Blood Elves after an attack on Silvermoon City, the capital of Quel’Thalas.

The Night Elves were once the lower class of Elves. They were mainly warriors, priests and craftsmen and were charged with protecting the land while the High Elves practiced music, art and arcane magic. With the loss of the queen they took after following the druidic forces of nature and the Moon Goddess Elune. They had also isolated themselves for thousands of years and as such didn’t even look like the other Elf races. While the High Elves and Blood Elves had white and reddish skin, the Night Elves were darker with hues of blue and purple.

Most of the other races were split into factions as well. The humans had made a loose alliance of all of their various kingdoms, including the nation of Gilneas whose citizens were infected by a disease that made them wolfmen. The Dwarves had several clans that had recently decided to unite. The same had been true for the Trolls except that most of the their tribes were uniting for the purpose to take over the world under their Zandalari masters.