Magic addiction

A blood elf consuming the magical energies from a mana wyrm.

“Control your thirst for magic... It is a thirst unending.”

— Arcanist Helion

Magic addiction is an affliction suffered by demons and various races on Azeroth, which causes an intense dependence on magic energies and requires its consumption on a regular basis. If this need cannot be satisfied, the individual will gradually weaken, showing physical and moral sufferings due to their "hunger", and this until death. This degradation can also manifest itself through physical transformations and a collapse of mental health, leading to violent and dangerous behaviors. It is possible for the Highborne and their afflicted descendants, to drain mana from a surrounding source, including mana-bearing items, artifacts, ley lines, or even creatures and people possessing mana.

Highborne

The Well of Eternity during the War of the Ancients.

Thousands of years ago, the Highborne led by Queen Azshara lived in opulence and used their great magic with whim and caprice. Many were fascinated, obsessed, and tempted by the original Well of Eternity. The mages of Mennar Academy, who were among the first in the Kaldorei Empire to study the arcane and realize the Well's potential, worried about the possibility of arcane addiction and advocated caution, but this only put them in conflict with Azshara and the Highborne in Zin-Azshari. The Highborne's reckless use of the arcane eventually attracted the Burning Legion, and following the War of the Ancients, the kaldorei outlawed magic on pain of death. Banished from Kalimdor for their refusal to give up arcane magic, most of the Highborne traveled to the Eastern Kingdoms and founded Quel'Thalas, within which they unleashed their magical wonders.

However, not all the Highborne were exiled. Isolated when the Great Sundering decimated the world, Eldre'Thalas narrowly escaped destruction thanks to the efforts of Prince Tortheldrin and his followers who wove a great spell of protection. The Shen'dralar soon discovered that the Well of Eternity had been destroyed, and without the fount of power to draw on, they fell into a deep lethargy and languished in their isolated sanctuary. The prince eventually formulated a plan, he constructed a prison to house a new source of power behind a grand force field: a demon named Immol'thar. Any objections to siphoning the demon's power were quickly settled once the other Shen'dralar experienced the demon's energy for themselves. Though dark and volatile, Immol'thar's power was invigorating and addictive, more so than the Well of Eternity had been. The siphoned energies would sustain the Highborne's magic, allowing those within the walls of Eldre'Thalas to feed their endless and growing magical pangs. Their subsequent dangerous actions went unnoticed by their distant kindred.

Thousands of years passed and the power required to keep Immol'thar imprisoned, while sustaining life within Eldre'Thalas, began to shift. Almost overnight, Tortheldrin's seemingly ingenious plan unraveled, and his access to the demon's magic was gone. Not only had the Shen'dralar lost their immortality once again, but they had also grown hopelessly addicted to Immol'thar's potent energies. Desperate to regain his power, Tortheldrin and his Shen'dralar loyalists murdered their fellow Highborne. Having thinned the population, the remaining elves could draw on Immol'thar's power indefinitely. The majority of the elves, including the prince, was ultimately killed by the Horde when they raided Dire Maul in Year 25 ADP. The surviving ones fled the ruined city and wandered in the woods for years, trying to wean themselves off demonic power and feel whole again. They have since been reinstated into kaldorei society prior to the Cataclysm.

High/Blood elves

The Sunwell on the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Banished from Kalimdor for their refusal to give up arcane magic, the Highborne founded the kingdom of Quel'Thalas, within which they unleashed their magical wonders. Their first king, Dath'Remar Sunstrider, created the Sunwell using a stolen vial of the Well of Eternity. It was his belief that the Sunwell would surpass the old well; its powers not only began suffusing and strengthening the Highborne, but altered their appearance, giving birth to the quel'dorei (high elves in Thalassian). The Sunwell's energies were essential to the elves' way of life, and the very existence of Quel'Thalas; it was the heart of their society. It had empowered the magi who had built their kingdom and enabled some of the elves' day-to-day spellcasting. Magic had become as much a way of life for the high elves as eating or breathing. The Sunwell's energy pervaded the quel'dorei every moment of every day, washing over them with its power, feeding them unceasingly.

After 7,000 years of being suffused by the power of the Sunwell, the high elves developed an innate, seemingly incurable addiction to its arcane energies. This changed when Quel'Thalas was invaded, and nearly obliterated, by the undead Scourge in the Third War. The Sunwell was tainted and defiled by necromancy, and the surviving elves destroyed it to avert a further catastrophe. The war's end was brutal: ninety percent of the high elves had been slaughtered, their kingdom was left in ruins, and their source of power was gone. The latter's destruction was immediately felt, and the pangs of addiction would only grow more debilitating as time passed, leading many quel'dorei to fall ill and lethargic.

The survivors, rallied by their prince, began calling themselves the blood elves in honor of their perished kin, and were left with a weakening, sometimes fatal, hunger for magic in its place.

Finding a cure

In the aftermath of the Third War, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider asserted that finding a cure to this crippling addiction was of paramount importance. He believed that only a new source of power would save his people, and instructed his regent, Lor'themar Theron, to govern the elven kingdom while the prince and his army left to battle in Lordaeron. Lor'themar and Halduron Brightwing safeguarded the land, battling the lingering Scourge remnants with their Farstriders, while seeking a cure for their people's seemingly insatiable hunger. Notably, the rangers were affected by the withdrawal less so than their brethren. The cause of this was unknown.

Withdrawal from magic was an issue the blood elves struggled with daily; reclaiming their kingdom was a daunting task, beset on all sides by enemies but lacking in allies, even without their weakening addiction to magic to consider. The withdrawal proved fatal to the very young, the very old, and the sick, and had grown steadily, worsening with time.

At some point, Magistrix Elosai was exiled to the Thousand Needles for her searches to find a cure to the blood elves' magical addiction, and every copy of her treatise on natural cures was burned. In the end though, her cure failed and accelerated her transformation into a wretched. She miserably wondered whether the other Magisters were right and that their magical addiction was something they must live with- that it couldn't be overcome.

Mana draining

A blood elf preparing to Mana Tap.

An answer to this predicament came from an unlikely source. While in Lordaeron, Prince Kael'thas met Lady Vashj and her serpentine naga who claimed that her master, Illidan Stormrage, could help the blood elves in their struggle with magic addiction. Desperate to find a cure, Kael'thas did the unthinkable: he embraced his people's Highborne ancestry, traveled to Outland, and pledged his allegiance to the half-demon in hopes of finding a new magical power source upon which to feed. However, Illidan informed the prince that there was no cure, but that the addiction could be sated. He shared with Kael'thas and his blood elves the ability to drain mana from various arcane-bearing sources, even demons.

It was suggested by Kanrethad Ebonlocke, who was present during the Black Temple's fall, that Illidan Stormrage had originally intended to use the Shrine of Lost Souls to free the blood elves of their addiction to the Sunwell, which he used to break his demonic servants free of their addiction to the Legion's magic. However, for one reason or another did not let them near it.

In time, Kael'thas sent one of his most loyal advisors, Grand Magister Rommath, to spread these teachings - albeit with certain details left out - back home to Quel'Thalas, to reinvigorate their people. The latter took care to limit what the general population knew, hiding Kael's contact with Illidan; it is likely the involvement of demons would have horrified most blood elves. Rather, Rommath encouraged his people to sate their cravings with good judgment and to strive to maintain a healthy balance between deficiency and overindulgence.

Most blood elves embraced these teachings, using them to drain arcane power from compact mana crystals (which became a popular product) and innocuous mana-bearing vermin. In Outland, Kael'thas' magisters have refined their usage of mana crystals to the point where they can siphon large amounts of energy in a matter of seconds. They do this by attuning smaller bloodgem crystal shards to larger, fully charged ones. Exposure to this level of raw energy greatly magnifies their innate addiction to magic, however. Mana draining can be in fact used on anything containing arcane power, including crystals, artifacts, creatures, and even mortals possessing such power.

In The Burning Crusade, this was illustrated by the blood elf racial ability, [Mana Tap], which drained a small amount of mana from any target possessing some.

Abstinence

Whether or not they are spellcasters, all high elves suffer acute pangs of withdrawal in the absence of the Sunwell's energies. A crucial difference between them and the blood elves, during the time when the Sunwell was unusable, is that the high elves refused to feed their hunger for arcane magic by draining that magic from alternative sources. By embracing this technique, the blood elves prioritized their survival, health, and well-being; they believed this strength was needed to see Quel'Thalas restored. By refusing, the high elves prioritized their pride and personal ethics, even to their own detriment; they believe this was the moral choice. One answer to magic addiction was thus to abstain from magic entirely.

On several occasions after the Sunwell's defilement, Kael'thas Sunstrider publicly asserted that his people would die unless they found a new source of magic. Technically the prince was mistaken. According to Azeroth's top priests and medics, the only high elves to perish due to magical withdrawal have been the very old, the very young, and elves who were already in poor health. Such a low rate of attrition might be considered an argument in favor of simply forgoing magic and suffering through the consequences. Indeed, a few high elves are said to have succeeded in taking this route through sheer willpower: they survived the process, however unpleasant. This is not to say, however, that withdrawal from magic would leave the high elves unharmed. On the contrary, permanent mental or physical damage is possible.

The high elves of Quel'Danil swore off magic completely, while the high elves of Quel'Lithien opposed mana draining on moral grounds. On the other hand, abstinence was not for everyone. While rangers could get by with minimal assistance, more magic-inclined elves who ceased their intake of magic became gravely ill, such as Vereesa Windrunner who received help from her husband Archmage Rhonin to recuperate from the magical withdrawal.

Those high elves eventually had to deal with their addiction in a similar manner to the blood elves, using stolen artifacts and mana-bearing crystals to sate their hunger. The high elves in Allerian Stronghold notably used draenei artifacts containing raw, magical energy to resist the lure of demonic magic. By the time of the Cataclysm, the high elves at Quel'Lithien Lodge found an item of seductive magical energy and succumbed to their addiction, becoming wretched.

Wretched

Reckless exposure to arcane magic will make an elf one of the Wretched.

Although mana draining was an efficient way for an elf to retain their strength, it was only a temporary respite from magic addiction. Within hours of consuming a mana crystal, the gnawing hunger for arcane magic would return. Furthermore, some desperate blood elves took the process too far, overusing the technique. Overindulging in arcane sources to the point of deformity and insanity, they became obsessed with obtaining and devouring magic. This gave birth to the Wretched, a group of disheveled, violent addicts willing to do anything for another arcane meal. They are a danger to both themselves and others and are usually too violent to surrender. Though considered more of a pest than a true threat in blood elf society, the Wretched represent a failure to reach the equilibrium between deficiency and overindulgence that all blood elves strive to maintain, and serve as an important reminder of the dangers that overindulging in magic can present.

Fel corruption

In his report on Silvermoon City, Mathias Shaw reported that blood elves were addicted to both, arcane and fel magic. However, this is nothing but a misconception. Although fel magic was used in Quel'Thalas, it was not for the purpose of sustenance. Demonic power was enslaved in crystals, which the Magisters used to empower the kingdom's structures; many buildings had fallen apart without the Sunwell's power to hold them together. This information was not disclosed to the blood elf public, as the Magisters were aware that its citizens would not embrace fel magic as their desperate brethren on Outland had. Notably, fel was dismissed as an alternative to arcane magic by Magister Duskwither, whose attempts to purify it for consumption ended in failure. Simply living around this fel magic is how most of the blood elves developed their fel-green eyes.

Nonetheless, blood or high elves can still succumb to fel magic's lure; Kael'thas Sunstrider and his most zealous followers did so while on Outland. Dissatisfied with the limits of arcane magic, they began consuming fel energy to acquire even greater power. A blood elf who consumes enough fel magic will be warped into a demonic hybrid, known as a felblood elf, essentially their race's equivalent of a fel orc. In the end, Kael'thas's addiction to fel magic was the very reason his brethren in Silvermoon turned against him.

The Sunwell restored

At the end of the Battle for Quel'Danas, Prophet Velen used the essence of the naaru M'uru to purify the Sunwell, transforming it into a fount of both arcane and holy energies. From that moment, the blood elves have entered into a shining new era in their ancient race's history. With this inspiring turn of events, the elven addiction has - for the most part - begun to come back under control, as it was before the well's loss. Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron has since encouraged his people to turn to the Sunwell, and specified that as its energies are now different, it may take time for some to adjust.

As the leader of the Blood Knights, Lady Liadrin believes that the Sunwell will give the sin'dorei the strength to restore their kingdom to greatness and break free from their addiction. From that point, rather than siphoning the power of a naaru in captivity, the Blood Knights now channel their holy power directly from the Sunwell—a far less damaging and far more harmonious relationship than their previous method of gaining power. It is a harmonious relationship, free of the pain and discord of their previous method, and they no longer suffer from its associated negative effects. Although possible to "steal" the Light from the Sunwell in the same way they did from M'uru, Lady Liadrin has moved the blood knights away from that type of abuse.

With the ability to sate their addiction conveniently via the Sunwell, and the plight of the Reliquary to free the elves of what remains of their addiction for good, the blood elves are on a far more efficient (and less dangerous) path to be free of their bane. Although some elves remain hesitant to abandon their dependence on arcane magic, others have embraced change for the betterment of their nation. The blood elves no longer required draining magic to keep in good health, and their crippling addiction is sated once more, if not conquered completely. Reinvigorated, they fight to protect Quel'Thalas, conquer their magical addiction, and help redeem the soul of their ancient people.

With the reigniting of the Sunwell, the pangs of magic addiction are being eased and even the high elves are no longer tempted to succumb to it.

Nightborne

The Nightwell within the Nighthold.

Ten thousand years ago, following the War of the Ancients, the residents of Suramar living under a mystical barrier began to use one of the Pillars of Creation, the Eye of Aman'Thul, to create their own font of arcane power: the Nightwell. Cut off from the rest of the world, these elves began to feed on the Nightwell itself, consuming arcane magic in the form of arcwine. While it sustained them, it also mutated them over time into a race known as the shal'dorei, or nightborne. It also cursed them with a far more debilitating addiction to arcane magic, as the addiction became combined with hunger. Failing to sate this addiction led to a nightborne quickly becoming emaciated, a state known as 'nightfallen', with their hunger becoming stronger and stronger, and having clear effects on their behavior such as paranoia and delirium. Nightfallen that have not entered the withered stage can fully recover back to nightborne if they regain access to arcwine.

If the addiction remained unsated, a nightborne would eventually be transformed into a feral, enraged creature known as a withered. Tormented by crazed and confused memories, no longer possessing higher brain functions, and driven purely by hunger, becoming a withered is considered a fate worse than death and irreversible. The descent into withered is not immediate, and can take up to 50 days. When hungering, nightfallen stand with a hunched posture, clutching at themselves at they uncontrollably tremble from withdrawal. They also have a habit of scratching their jawline. One of the final symptoms just before turning is that the nightfallen will lose their eyesight. Though they are physically similar to the wretched blood elves, they are fundamentally different. The transformation into wretched is due to over-indulgence and reckless abuse of arcane magic, whereas withered are a result of withdrawal from the energies of the Nightwell.

• 

  The steps of withering: nightborne...
• 

  ...nightfallen...
• 

  ... and withered.

During the third invasion of the Burning Legion in Year 32 ADP, First Arcanist Thalyssra, an exiled noble of Suramar, united the exiles and rebels of Suramar under the Nightfallen rebellion and, more importantly, discovered a cure to the nightborne's condition: the fruit of the Arcan'dor, a creation of nature and arcane magic that restored balance to the nightborne, helping them to escape their dependence on the power source that had at once both preserved and enslaved them. Nightfallen who have eaten an arcan'dor fruit have their dependency on the Nightwell cured, and also eventually recover into healthy nightborne. However, if they crossed the withered threshold, there is no known return to sanity.

By the time of Year 42 ADP, every nightborne had been granted the chance to taste the fruit of the arcan'dor. According to Thalyssra, the undertaking required much work, relentless diplomacy, and a few well-placed threats, but no longer does any nightborne starve for arcane magic. Upon the rebellion's triumph, policy towards the withered remaining in the thickets of Suramar was to help them towards recovery or grant them a gentle death.

Naga

The naga too are addicted to magic. As former Highborne, the naga's past abuse of the Well has not been without additional consequences. The Highborne were obsessed with the Well, and the naga have been exposed to the Well's residual magics for millennia. Consequently, modern naga are addicted to magic. During the Fourth War, the Vilescale naga in Nazmir, led by Priestess Zaldraxia, drained Krag'wa's frog children of their magic in order to sate their thirst for mana, with the ultimate goal of never having to thirst for magic again.

Demons

A felhound draining the magical energies of a hapless mage.

As the universe formed, the Twisting Nether became home to an infinite number of demonic beings, most of whom sought only to destroy life and devour the energies of the living. They embraced their furious passions and indulged themselves in the highly volatile energy that pervaded the Nether. Most demons' hunger for life and magic can never be sated for long. Their innate cruelty makes a moot point of whatever temporary satisfaction they can know. As a result, destruction tends to follow these demons, whether or not they are part of the Burning Legion. If a demon cannot maintain a source of magic, they will weaken and perish.

Through deliberate choice or magical addiction, many creatures have fallen under the sway of the titan Sargeras and sworn fealty to him in return for what he offered: immortality and power beyond imagining. Entire races have joined the Legion for the sake of that compelling promise. Since demons are addicted to the magic of their dark masters, Illidan Stormrage found (or created) a way to cure them of it using the Shrine of Lost Souls, which washed away their fel taint and freed them from the Legion's yoke. It is also how he bound so many demons to his will. On the other hand, the observer demons joined the Legion to begin with in order to seek out and taste new forms of magic.

Felhounds feed on magic and are fond of draining the energies of mortal spellcasters. They use their suckered tendrils to drain their prey's power and, eventually, their life.

In the RPG

This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

All high elves, regardless of class, status, or upbringing are addicted to magic, and all have some small proficiency in it. Unlike blood elves who succumb to it, high elves actively fight their addiction and are required to meditate for at least an hour every day to maintain personal control. The high elves are not proud of this addiction and take pains to keep it a secret. Their exposure to the night elves has caused them to develop a great interest in moon wells, which they seek to find an alternative solution to their addiction. Even the presence of a hidden moon well 50 feet away is enough to replenish their mystical energies and makes meditation unnecessary. Some have found a way to block the symptoms of withdrawal by the use of Sunwell Rings.

The path by which Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider has chosen to lead the avenging blood elves is one the high elves view with utter disgust and resentment. They strive for a disassociation with the blood elves, such as by hiding their magical addictions and avoiding wearing black and red.

In exchange for the blood elves' loyal service, Illidan Stormrage 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. Illidan wanted to create another Well of Eternity on Outland to fuel his blood elves' magic addiction.

The Horde orcs, Darkspear trolls and tauren distrust the blood elves, as their addiction to magic makes the high elves look like amateurs. In particular, the orcs revile the blood elves because they see them as descending the same path toward damnation that so corrupted the orcish people — the orcs can smell the demon taint on the blood elves and know how badly it will twist them.

Trivia

• The eternal hunger that afflicts all Ebon Blade death knights overrides blood elf death knights' racial addiction to magic. The eternal hunger and its withdrawal symptoms are arguably worse than arcane withdrawal.
• Before Warcraft III was released, the Burning Legion was originally envisioned as a roaming army of mana addicts, forever cursed to consume magic in order to survive. Their lust for arcane power made them search for worlds to drain the magic of, but also to eradicate all life within them. Expanding on the  [Sargeras and the Betrayal] passage, the "Burning Legion" entry of the Warcraft Encyclopedia later said that many fell under the sway of Sargeras through magical addiction, but also that the Legion's mission was to destroy the universe and remake it without the underlying defect preventing true order, thus separating their goal from the concept of feeding their magical hunger.