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BLOOD ELVES Blood elves once called themselves high elves. In the transition that led to this renaming, they glorified their civilization while discarding their honor. Life for the Blood Elves changed during the Third War, when King Arthas’s Scourge sacked Quel’Thalas and shattered the elven race. The Scourge slayed more than 90% of the high elven population, devastating their culture. Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider was studying magic in Dalaran at the time of the disaster. When he heard what had happened, he quickly returned home and took command of the survivors. Kael’thas renamed them “blood elves” in honor of their fallen kin. Prior to the Sunwell’s destruction, all high elves everywhere were constantly bathed in its magical power. Now bereft of this arcane energy, the blood elves (and high elves) suffered. Kael’thas claimed that they would soon die without another magical source to replace the Sunwell.
He took a group of the strongest blood elf warriors and spellcasters and joined the Alliance against the Scourge. They were eager to avenge themselves on the undead forces. However, bigotry prevented the human forces from seeing the aid the blood elves could bring to their fight. Imprisoned and sentenced to death by the humans who had commanded them, the blood elves escaped, fled to Outland, and joined Illidan Stormrage’s forces. This group of blood elves then helped defeat the demon Magtheridon and claimed his Black Citadel as their own. In exchange for the blood elves’ loyal service, Illidan gave them a place to live, as well as further techniques to siphon mana from anything with arcane power. Blood elves on Outland now hunt demons and feed off the demons’ magic. As a consequence, despite what other races might suspect, blood elves are hardly on friendly terms with demons. Indeed, blood elves too view demons with abhorrence. Even blood elf warlocks believe demons are useful tools, not potential allies. Not every blood elf lives in Outland. Most blood elves still live on Azeroth, particularly in Quel’Thalas. These blood elves seek to reclaim their lost homeland and destroy the Scourge at any cost.MG 65 A lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the blood elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath has made great progress in teaching the blood elves advanced techniques to manipulate arcane energies. With renewed purpose, the blood elves have now rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, though it is powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now focus on regaining their strength, even as they forge a new path into an uncertain future.TBCMan 12, 13 While they despise most other races, they have come to accept that the Forsaken are different, or at least share the same goals as the blood elves. The blood elves in Outland do not give the Alliance or the Horde much thought. They are busy seeking power and honing their abilitiesFor nearly seven thousand years, the high elves cultivated a shining magical kingdom deep within the forests of northern Lordaeron. But five years ago, the undead Scourge invaded Quel'Thalas and drove the elves to the brink of extinction.
DRAENEI
They followed the path of the Holy Light of Creation as shown to them by the naaru. Unfortunately, Kil'jaeden eventually discovered the refuge, and found the combat-driven and honor-seeking orcs to be easily manipulated. As a potent act of vengeance and a safety precaution, Kil'jaeden ordered the draenei to be exterminated by the orcs through his student, the warlock Gul'dan.
A number of draenei still remain untainted, and it is these that have crashed onto Azeroth in a dimensional traveling ship sabotaged by the malicious blood elves of Outland (not the blood elves that joined the horde). The draenei are the new Alliance race in the Burning Crusade expansion.
DWARVES
The stoic dwarves of Ironforge spent countless generations mining treasures from deep within the earth. Secure in their impregnable stronghold of Ironforge Mountain, the dwarves rarely ventured beyond the wintry peaks of Dun Morogh. Even so, when the orcs invaded Azeroth and set out to conquer the human, elven, and dwarven lands, the dwarves offered to join the Grand Alliance. The resilient and ingenious dwarves proved to be the backbone of the Alliance forces and helped usher in victory after victory. Recently the dwarves unearthed a series of ruins that held the key to the secrets of their lost heritage.
An integral part of the Grand Alliance, the rugged dwarven armies have been called away to battle the merciless Horde in faraway lands. In these perilous times, the defense of the mountain kingdom falls to brave dwarves like you. The spirits of the dwarven kings watch over you, and the very mountains are your strength. The future of your people is in your hands.
GNOMES
They are great mechanics and inventors, and are renowned for their knowledge and eccentric natures. The gnomes had a city, Gnomeregan, built into Ironforge Mountain; but invading troggs destroyed it and slaughtered its citizens. Many survivors moved into Khaz Modan and now live with the Ironforge dwarves, and a few traveled with their dwarven friends to Kalimdor. The gnomes are still reeling from the destruction of their home city and are loath to leave the safety of the dwarven tunnels. Most gnomes on Kalimdor remain secluded in Bael Modan.
Most live in Khaz Modan and mix freely with the dwarves, sending representatives to speak to the dwarven king on their behalf. Those few gnomes who traveled to Kalimdor live in a similar fashion in Bael Modan. Gnomes are gifted tinkers. They have a penchant for creating radical technology and innovative designs. They often work together with Ironforge dwarves, developing the blueprints and concepts from which the dwarf smiths draw their inspiration.
HUMAN The noble humans of Stormwind are a proud, tenacious race. They bravely fought the orcish Horde for generations as the patrons of the Grand Alliance. Just as they thought peace had at last settled over their war-torn kingdoms, an even darker shadow descende upon the world. The undead Scourge unleashed a foul plague of death upon humanity and succeeded in decimating the northern human kingdom of Lordaeron. The few humans who survived fled south to the protection of Stormwind. Yet no sooner had the undead struck than the demonic Burning Legion began its cataclysmic invasion of the world.
The child-king Anduin Wrynn rules the people of Stormwind, who remain steadfast in their commitment to the Grand Alliance. Backed by their stalwart allies, the armies of Stormwind have been called away to once again fight the savage Horde on distant battlefields. With the armies gone, the defense of Stormwind now falls to its proud citizens. You must defend the kingdom against those who encroach upon it, and hunt down the subversive traitors who seek to destroy it from within. Now is the time for heroes. Now humanity’s greatest chapter can be told.
NIGHT ELVES
The kaldorei are an ancient and reclusive race born during the waking of the world. Their ancient heritage has shaped them into a devoted warrior race, with a reverence for nature and animistic mystical forces. The kaldorei are practical but superstitious, and often a paradox. They are a people possessed with a deep spiritual passion and a desire to find solace. In the time before, the kaldorei were immortal. Their powerful magic was recklessly unleashed by the quel’doreiWoWRPG 38, who believed they were superior to other kaldorei and practised magics far beyond the considered norm. This careless use of magical might allowed the Burning Legion to invade the world, and finally led to a catastrophic battle known as the Sundering.
Still, they do not trust many of the lesser races of the world, whom they see as foolish and too short-lived to recall the mistakes they made in the past. Many of the night elves consider it their duty to ensure the safety and balance of the world. Because of this perceived air of superiority, many of the younger races mistrust the night elves, if not for their shadowy magic then for their aloof and judging demeanour.
ORCS
Some orcs still hang on to the arcane practices of the past, but their time is fading. Though brutal in combat, orcs fight with a feral grace and a brutal passion that equals the finest fencing of an elven noble. For an orc, skill in battle brings great honor. It is the concept of personal honor that pervades orcish society, a concept that has made the race more cohesive and more of a threat to their adversaries in the Alliance. The concept of honor pervades all echelons of orcish society. Even the naming of an orc is temporary until he has performed a rite of passage. Once an orc has brought honor to his name and the name of his clan, the elders give him a second name based upon his deed. For an orc, honor is as important as his clan, and most will die defending either clan or personal reputation. This is a new development for the orcs; before, when led by the forces tainted by the Burning Legion, the orcs were a bestial force barely controlled by demonic magic. While the orcs might seem quick to anger, they are tempered by the wisdom of their leaders and their shamans.
No doubt the leadership of Thrall and the support of the tauren and jungle troll elders has aided in this solidarity, but it is quite apparent that humanity has underestimated the ability of the orcs to unify and create their own distinct and powerful culture. Perhaps in time, the two factions might come to an understanding, but with the current division of Alliance and Horde, no one can say how that peace might come about or when.
TAUREN Tauren have a long and complex oral tradition that has been handed down for generations. Since almost no written record exists of tauren history, the accuracy of their tales is ambiguous. Regardless, many of their stories provide the only known account for several events in history, and so these stories must be regarded as having at least some believability. The tauren race is as old as, if not older than, the night elves and much like the elves, they have a strong attunement to nature and the elemental spirits. Thus, their society is largely based on shamanism. They live to serve nature and maintain the ever delicate balance between the wild things of the land and the restless spirits of the elements. In addition, elements of druidism, which had been taught by Cenarius and then forgotten over millennia, have been recently reincorporated into tauren society, further highlighting their service to nature. In particular the presence of accounts regarding Cenarius before he was known to the elves (the "war of the ancients" trilogy refers to the night elves believing Cenarius to be a bedtime story before allying with him during the war) that are confirmed by others sources as being accurate, indicate that tauren were already a civilized presence in Kalimdor before the rise and even maybe existence of elves. In particular the birth of Cenarius is covered and their version confirmed by night elven mythos, as well as in the book "The Sundering" by Richard A Knaak. The xenophobic night elf commander, Desdel Stareye, refused to use the tauren to their abilities, namely heavy melee fighters, on the grounds that they were apparently as likely to kill night elves and earthen as demons. After the "tragic" loss of the commander, the tauren were re-deployed to extreme effectiveness by his replacement, Jarod Shadowsong. The tauren who survived the war maintained fairly good, or at least cordial, relations with the Sentinels. For countless generations after the war, the tauren roamed the plains of The Barrens hunting the mighty kodo, and sought the wisdom of their eternal goddess, the Earthmother. Their tent cities were scattered across the landscape and changed with the seasons and the weather. The wandering tribes were united only by a common hatred for their sworn enemy, the marauding centaur. At the brink of extinction, the chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof, desperate for help, turned to the strange green-skinned warriors from over the sea. Cairne quickly befriended the Warchief Thrall and the other orcs, and recognized that they shared a love for honor and battle. For their part, the orcs and the Darkspear trolls that composed the Horde found much in common with the tauren. Each of these races wanted to achieve a more shamanistic culture, and the tauren, long versed in the lore of spirit and nature, were well-prepared to provide counsel and support to the budding shamanism within the Horde. With the orcs' help, Cairne and his Bloodhoof tribe were able to drive back the centaur and claim the grasslands of Mulgore for themselves. For the first time in millennia, the tauren had a land to call their own. For this alone they were forever indebted to their orcish allies. Upon the windswept mesa of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for his people, where tauren of every tribe were welcome. Over time the scattered tauren tribes united under Cairne's rule. There are but a few tribes who disagree about the direction their new nation should take, but all agree that Cairne is the wisest and best suited to lead them toward the future. Helping the mighty Cairne in the duties of ruling his race are the Archdruid Hamuul Runetotem and the elder crone Magatha Grimtotem. Although the tauren have reclaimed their lands and battle alongside the Horde, not all is peaceful. The Grimtotem tribe tries to this day to usurp the rule of Cairne, plotting to overthrow his leadership. At the same time, the Emerald Dream, realm of the Green Dragonflight, is tainted with a strange evil. Malfurion Stormrage is trapped inside, and the green dragons act strangely, attacking all who pass near. Both elven and tauren druids are researching these events, as the Emerald Dream, home of Ysera the Dreamer, the Green Aspect, must be kept safe.
TROLLS
The Darkspear tribe owes Thrall and the orcs a great debt, and allied themselves with the Horde in gratitude. Their relationship with the noble orcs and tauren has begun to change the Darkspear trolls’ savage natures. Darkspear trolls, however, deny their dark legacy. The Horde has taught them camaraderie, restraint and, to a lesser extent, kindness
One tribe, however, was forced to overcome its prejudices when it encountered the Orc Warchief, Thrall, and his mighty Horde. The Trolls of the Darkspear tribe, long since exiled from their ancestral lands in Stranglethorn Vale, were nearly destroyed by a band of aquatic Murlocs, but Thrall and the Horde managed to save them. In return the grateful Trolls swore an oath of eternal allegiance to the Horde.
UNDEAD
The forsaken Undead or Undead, are humans and elves freed from the Lich King’s control. Hailing from the twisted, skittering darkness of Undercity, the Forsaken are nominally allied with the Horde but serve only themselves. Their objectives are twofold:
Four years ago, the high elven Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner fell in combat against the Scourge. Prince Arthas raised her as a banshee and compelled her to follow his command. When the Lich King’s power waned in the incidents surrounding the Frozen Throne, Sylvanas harnessed her fury and tore herself free from his skeletal grasp. She freed many other undead as well, and recruited powerful allies from the Burning Legion and the surrounding ogre clans. Sylvanas dubbed her new force the Forsaken, and the undead established their capital in the labyrinthine crypts beneath Lordaeron’s capital city.
The Horde is leery of the Forsaken’s tactics, however, and keeps watchful eyes on them. This caution is justified. Forsaken culture is strange, a perverse combination of the lives they once knew as mortals and the mindless slavery they experienced in the Scourge, colored by white-hot rage toward the Lich King and an almost equally intense devotion to their queen. Never sleeping, eating or falling ill, abandoned by those they once loved, the Forsaken have a brutal set of priorities. A great portion of their efforts focus on dark alchemy, and the Royal Apothecary Society commands great power in Undercity’s oily tunnels. The apothecaries constantly send Forsaken on missions to gather odd materials for their twisted experiments. Rumors tell that the undead creatures are working to create a plague that will exterminate the Scourge and every living being on Azeroth. Are the Forsaken evil? At times it can be difficult to tell. Some Forsaken attempt to reclaim their humanity by acting in kind and helpful ways. Others allow hatred to fester into cruelty and rage. All that can be said is that the Forsaken follow their own agendas, and the rest of the world be damned. And if they have their way, it will be. Not all Forsaken are evil, but many are, and other races definitely view them as such. A non-evil Forsaken must work hard to prove his neutral (or perhaps, good) intentions. Few good Forsaken exist, but many evil ones do, and their leadership is definitely up to nefarious ends. Most Forsaken are pretty despicable, and their motivations as a race are evil and destructive.WoWRPG 51-53 The forsaken are humans transformed into the undead, with all the powers associated with the Scourge. They serve the Banshee Queen, Sylvanas, looking to her as their savior for delivering them from the Lich King’s mental dominance. The forsaken dwell within the bowels of the ruins of Lordaeron’s capital city, which they have taken to calling the Undercity. Dedicated to seek vengeance upon the Scourge for damning them to their condition, they strive to undermine the Scourge’s control of Lordaeron. The forsaken have been limited in their ability to reinforce their numbers, having no necromancers among their kind. Instead, these fearless undead warriors are comprised mostly of fighters and warlocks dedicated to building a culture of their own amidst a world that hates and fears them.MoM 137 Only recently has Sylvanas recruited and trained necromancers into the Forsaken ranks  |
The blood elves therefore set about learning to drain magic from alternative sources. Soon, the blood elves clashed with the Scourge and the Amani trolls, who were making inroads into former elven territory. The blood elves defended their homeland, and eventually, having reestablished a degree of safety to their land and prevented their society from degenerating, Kael’thas left. 
After the Dark Portal was destroyed, Draenor collapsed in on itself, and what remained was a sundered mass of planetary debris and floating asteroids hovering in stasis within the Twisting Nether. The regions of Draenor that are still habitable are now known as Outland. Draenor was not the only thing to change in this ordeal, as some draenei were altered by the destruction of their world, and became known as the Broken. Some of these corrupted draenei fled through the open portals on Draenor and settled in the Swamp of Sorrows on the world of Azeroth. Several of these Lost Ones were driven mad by the absence of their home world, and sank into an even deeper primitive state. 
Driven to discover the truth about his people’s fabled origins, King Magni Bronzebeard ordered that the dwarves shift their industry from mining and engineering to that of archaeology. Magni helped to create the famed Explorer's Guild of Ironforge, a group utterly devoted to plumbing the secrets of the ancient world and delving out the truth of the dwarves’ fabled existence. 
Even after the decimation of their race and the destruction of their city, gnomes are an amiable and kindhearted lot. They make and keep friends easily; others find disliking a gnome to be difficult. Gnomes are long-lived and take a fatherly approach to other races, particularly humans. Gnome society is loosely organized. 
The warriors of humanity stood fast against the Legion and helped save the world from imminent destruction. Nearly four years later, the defenders of Stormwind stand vigilant against any who would threaten the sanctity of their lands. Situated in the foothills of Elwynn Forest, Stormwind City is one of the last bastions of human power in the world. 
This battle changed the face of Azeroth for all time, and resulted in the creation of the continents of the world, tearing the land apart and forming the vast nexus of energy at the center of the ocean known as the Maelstrom. The night elves are honorable to a fault, and they are a just and sometimes compassionate people. 
There are few of the demon-worshipping clans now, for the Alliance or the Horde itself has hunted down most of the remnants of such clans. Now, most of the orcs have embraced a life led by wisdom, honor and the values embodied in the leadership of Thrall as taught by his mentor, Orgrim Doomhammer. The orcs are one of the most populous races on the world of Azeroth. While many of the Alliance races perceive them to be brutish and savage, the orcs have undeniably spawned a complex society that embraces many occupations and many different races. 
In the timeline (prime), the tauren did not take part in the War of the Ancients, the battle against the first demonic invasion approximately 10,000 years ago. However, in the altered history created by the intervention of Krasus and his companions, they were convinced to join the alliance against the Burning Legion by the dragon-mage. 
They populate the numerous islands of the South Seas, and are renowned for their cruelty and dark mysticism. Barbarous and superstitious, the wily Trolls carry a seething hatred for all other races.
Their sprawling, subterranean realm is called Undercity. The Forsaken made allies of the Horde out of necessity and convenience. They have no love for orcs, tauren or any other living creature, but they need time to strike against the Scourge and allies to help them do it. The Forsaken claim that they joined the Horde to prove their desire to leave their evil ways behind, but no one really believes this. The Horde accepts the Forsaken’s help, as they do indeed have a common enemy: the Scourge.