Azshara's followers become naga beneath the sea

Full History

The night-elven empire reached its greatest splendor around the Well of Eternity, but Azshara's court became the means through which Sargeras sought entry into Azeroth. The Highborne's spells magnified the gateway, and the Burning Legion invaded while the queen remained committed to its cause. The resistance struggled to close the portal before Sargeras could cross. The battle ultimately brought disaster upon the source of power around which the empire had been built.

When the Well collapsed, the Sundering broke ancient Kalimdor and sent enormous regions beneath the water. Azshara and members of her surviving court endured the catastrophe, but were transformed into serpentine naga. Their survival below the sea established a new people whose identity remained tied to the fallen Highborne. The original account does not require a later explanation involving an explicit bargain with the Old Gods.

For ages the naga lived beyond the view of the surface kingdoms. They returned to prominence when Lady Vashj allied her followers with Illidan Stormrage during the events of The Frozen Throne. Their participation in the search for the Eye of Sargeras and the struggle in the shattered remains of Draenor revealed that the ambitions and abilities of the ancient court had consequences far beyond the War of the Ancients.

The naga therefore connect two of Azeroth's greatest upheavals: the destruction of the first Well and the conflicts that followed the Legion's defeat at Mount Hyjal. Their appearance was not an unrelated invasion by a newly discovered race, but the return of survivors whose origin lay in the ancient empire.