Naga

The serpentine naga are some of the most formidable villains of Azeroth. Masters of sorcery, the naga were formerly night elves, members of Queen Azshara's court in the War of the Ancients. They were transformed into naga by the Old Gods, and now haunt the seas of Azeroth building a great civilization on the ocean floor.

While the naga were created near the end of the War of the Ancients, they stayed out of major world affairs for over 10,000 years. Some of them were first called to the surface by Illidan Stormrage after the Battle of Mount Hyjal where they swore fealty to the Betrayer, forming a part of the Illidari. Many other naga clans rose up to the surface in the following years, almost always with nefarious plans in mind. They continue to serve and revere their mad queen after all these centuries.

N'Zoth appears to be the specific Old God responsible for the creation of the naga, though it is also rumored that the arcane magic of Queen Azshara warped the night elves into the naga.

History
10,000 years ago the Well of Eternity was the source of all arcane magic in the world, which at that point consisted of a single landmass called Kalimdor. The kaldorei learned to tap into the magical energies of the well, and thus their ﬁrst arcanists came to be. Arcane magic is dangerous, however, and frequent use leads to a desire for more. Eventually a great kaldorei queen, Azshara, came to prominence. Azshara was the most powerful mage in the world and had a cadre of loyal arcanists about her; Azshara was so loved by the kaldorei that their capital was rechristened in her honor at the demands of the populace. Azshara and her followers — called the Highborne — turned their society's interest in arcane magic into an obsession, grewing ever more arrogant and casting ever more powerful spells. This abuse attracted the attention of Sargeras, master of the Burning Legion; after Sargeras contacted the Highborne, they worked to summon the demons into the world and eventually, they succeeded. What followed was the War of the Ancients, a momentous time in which infernals crashed through forests, demigods clashed with demon lords, and kaldorei fought kaldorei. Finally, the young druid Malfurion Stormrage, with the help of many powerful allies, caused the Well of Eternity to implode. The resulting catastrophe was the Sundering. The land split apart to become the continents and islands as we now know them. Thousands perished, and the kaldorei lands were devastated. The Burning Legion was banished. The land around the destroyed Well of Eternity and most of Zin-Azshari blasted downward, to the bottom of the inrushing seas, to smash into the ocean ﬂoor.

The Maelstrom, a large and violent magical storm that rages over the ocean, formed above the ocean at this location. Azshara and many of her kaldorei followers sank to the seaﬂoor with their city. It was Azshara's quick thinking that saved them: she managed to make a pact with the Old Gods, swearing loyalty to them to survive. They were cursed and became the naga, serpentlike, water-breathing creatures. Their men and women diverged in appearance, physicality and mindset. Their hearts became black as the deepest ocean trenches, and hate enveloped their thoughts.

When the naga awakened, they set about building a new life for themselves on the ocean depths, and within the abyssal sea trench beneath the swirling waters of the Maelstrom they built their new city, Nazjatar. Azshara herself expanded with hate and rage, becoming a massive monstrosity, reflecting the wickedness and malice that had always hidden within her core. For 10,000 years, these elves of the abyss dwelt in a dark and powerful empire. Pagodas and balconies line the deep trenches, glimmering lights picking out the shapes of cities in the cold black. Sinuous figures drift and twist along the passageways, their elven origins difficult to discern. Over the time the naga tamed some native creatures (like snap dragons and dragon turtles to use in warfare, studied arcane magic and clashed with the sea giants and makrura, whose capital Mak'aru is in the same neighborhood. Transformed into the monstrous naga, the former night elves found they were able to survive the ocean's depths. Even so, the naga knew they had little chance of reclaiming the lands that the Highborne had once dominated. Bitterly resentful at their enforced banishment to the sea, they resolved to bide their time until they could retake their rightful place in the surface world. There in the depths of the ocean for ten thousand years the naga plotted their revenge against the night elves.

Notable Man'ari

 * Azshara
 * Vashj
 * High Warlord Naj'entus