Naga

Ten millennia ago, the Highborne nobility of the Kaldorei Empire ruled supreme from their grand capital of Zin-Azshari. Consumed by an obsession with arcane power, Queen Azshara and her inner court tapped the Well of Eternity to draw the gaze of the Dark Titan Sargeras, inviting the catastrophic invasion known as the War of the Ancients. When the Well of Eternity collapsed into ruin, triggering the Great Sundering, the palace slipped into the crushing abyss. Facing utter annihilation, Azshara bargained with the malevolent Old Gods deep below. In exchange for survival, she and her followers were transformed into cold, scaly, serpentine beings bound to the deeps.

Submerged at the seafloor beneath the swirling fury of the Maelstrom, the survivors erected the aquatic empire of Nazjatar. Nursing a ten-thousand-year grudge against the surface world, the naga preserved their Highborne arrogance while mutating into distinct casts: hulking, brute-like warriors and multi-armed, spell-weaving sea witches. Under Azshara's unyielding gaze, they perfected their mastery over sea creatures, storm magic, and frost sorcery, slowly rebuilding their strength in wait for an opportunity to strike back against land-dwellers.

The naga broke their ten-thousand-year silence during the Third War. Thrall's Horde first encountered the sea witch Zar'jira in the Great Sea, while Lady Vashj answered the summons of Illidan Stormrage, marching naga forces across the ruins of Dalaran. Across the world today, naga encampments encroach aggressively upon coastlines in Azshara, Darkshore, Ashenvale, Desolace, Feralas, Dustwallow Marsh, Hillsbrad, Arathi, and Stranglethorn. Driven by ancient contempt and whispers of the Old Gods, they forge quiet alliances with the Twilight's Hammer and savage satyrs to claim what was once theirs.