Dawnish

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The Dawnish are a sub race of Thalassian elves that are native to the province of Quel'damor.

Foundation
During the Troll War's ending, Dakaire the Great and Stala the Mighty led a sizable army against the Amani that held the mountain-border of Quel'thalas and the outside world. While Dakaire attacked from Quel'thalas, Stala led an offensive within the eastern border of what would become Lordaeron. The two commanders managed to trap the trolls in-between their great armies and subsequently had a swift, decisive victory within the coming month.

When the war came to a conclusion, Dakaire and Stala decided to build a new city within Quel'damor together to protect both Quel'thalas and Lordaeron from troll invasion of either side. They named the city: 'Dalamore' after Dakaire.

From this union came many human and Quel'dorei relations, leading to an influx of half elf children. Although the humans were outlived, some of their genes remained within the half elves and over time the newly born quarter humans. Among these relationships were Dakaire and Stala's, resulting in the creation of House Dawnsinger.

To mark the house's creation, the human and elven mages worked together in forging a family blade, 'Oathkeeper.'

The Gnoll War
By the time of the Gnoll War, the half elves and humans in Quel'damor were bred out of existence, however some of their genes persisted within the Dawnish. The most recognizable retained characteristic was jet black hair, which often marked a Dawnish elf among their Thalassian kin. Due to their incredibly prolific behavior in comparison to most Quel'dorei, the Dawnish numbers were estimated around 7,000-8,000 standing. Of those, only 1,000 were entirely pureblood elves.

The Dawnish people also established a connection with the elements, which caused them to depict a new deity, Deralor. In their belief, Deralor was the master of the mountains and controlled the frigid air, the snow and the fresh water within Quel'damor.

House Dawnsinger grew into a considerable power within the Kingdom of Quel'thalas, which resulted in Teran Dawnsinger's invitation to Dalaran as an envoy of the Dawnish. For the first time in history, a Dawnsinger was born outside of Quel'thalas. Because of his newly born daughter, Teran decided to remain in Dalaran as a citizen. Kiraun (the mother of Serana) demmanded him to never tell Serana about the Dawnish, out of fear that Serana would one day travel to their dangerously frigid land.

Dakaire and the majority of his descendants traveled to Stormwind in aid against the Gnoll forces. However, none of them returned from the conflict. Because there were no bodies found, some Dawnish still theorize that their forefather is alive. A candle is lit every night for the lost Dawnsingers.

After the Gnoll War, the Dawnish celebrated a remembrance day every year for the fallen soldiers of any war.

The Second War
In the Second War the Dawnish pledged their full strength to the newly formed Alliance of Lordaeron. Under leadership of Elric Dawnsinger, the Dawnish forces managed to dispatch several warlock and ogre magi parties as they advanced through Quel'thalas. But in the middle of an attack, Elric was slain and replaced by his cowardly brother, Kelar. Kelar retracted the Dawnish from the war in hopes of squandering his personal strength, but the majority of the Dawnish disputed the idea. Quel'damor afterwards fell into a state of civil war between the Alliance loyal and self-interested Dawnish. Eventually Arla Dawnsinger and Berwyn Lightstrider ended the civil war in the Alliance's favor, and together the two came to rule Quel'damor. They decided to rename the province's capital after Arla's brother who fell defending Silvermoon during the conflict. Berwyn's presence in Quel'damor was the first human-elf union seen in a long time, granted he was only able to remain in the province for only a few years.

The Third War
Very few events on Azeroth matched the horror of the Third War, and the Dawnish understood this just as well as any other Lordaeranian or Thalassian. Their warlike and selfless code led to the Dawnish's great downfall, as when the Scourge advanced through the border of Quel'thalas the Dawnish were among the first to rush into battle. While they could have remained hidden, they refused to abandon the mainlander Quel'dorei in their time of need. The vast majority of them were swept under the encroaching Scourge tide, and a similar fate befell the battalion that was sent to help Lordaeron. Eventually the Dawnish were forced to retreat back to their home of Teran's Vigil, but they were soon overwhelmed by several scourge drakes and an army of undead. Although Arla did her best dispatching the scourge forces, the vast majority of her people were wiped from existence. What once was a strong 8,000 became a measly 50 survivors. Among the casualties was the entire Dawnsinger bloodline in Quel'damor except for Arla and Aela. Aela in panic abandoned Quel'damor and stole the Dawnsinger family blade, 'Oathkeeper.' Arla was infuriated by the betrayal, and made an oath to deliver her traitor sister justice.

Once the war was over, Arla set out to find allies, wherever they may be. In her desperation she pledged the Dawnish forces to the Scarlet Crusade in return for supplies and reinforcement. Because of circumstance, the Dawnish were forced into resorting to self interest before the good of the outside world. Although Arla was remorseful to the many others affected by the Scourge's rampage, her people had to come first and foremost.

To this day there is a sizable amount of undead that wander Quel'damor, looking for any prey that strays too far from the rest of the Dawnish.

Decline of the Scarlet Crusade
When the Scarlet Crusade began to falter under the weight of the many enemies they made, the Dawnish people were forced into another difficult situation. They had to choose between besmirching their reputation as loyal followers, or remaining in a collapsing faction. When Arla went missing after the Scarlet Renegade movement, the leaderless Dawnish's choice was clear. Most of the Dawnish abandoned the Scarlet Crusade and pledged themselves to the Grand Alliance, and were surprised by how well the Alliance had recovered since the last time they interacted. By the end of the Sundering, the Dawnish numbers doubled from their surviving count of the Third War.

The Alliance-Horde War
To prove their loyalty to the Alliance, a dozen Dawnish shaman participated in the Alliance Panderia campaign. They managed to save many lives over the year long conflict, one of their ranks was given an Alliance Legion of Valor for their service. However, the Dawnish did not participate in the Siege of Orgrimmar.

The Legion's Third Invasion
During the Legion's Third Invasion of Azeroth, the Dawnish Quel'dorei pledged 50 of their strength to the Silver Covenant to help liberate Surumar. But other than that, their influence on the war was non-existent.

When Berwyn Lightstrider returned from Azeroth and found Arla Dawnsinger's location, around 30 of the remaining Dawnish soldiers joined his ranks to siege Valamore and rescue Arla from her abusive husband. When Arla was killed amidst the chaos and the siege was over the Dawnish soldiers returned home.

The Blood War
The Blood War marked a significant time period for the Dawnish. Their numbers tripled over the past few years and were now back to a somewhat healthy 300, although they were about to experience another tragedy. Aela Dawnsinger along with a large Horde force laid siege to the heavily outnumbered Dawnish forces. Although usually their defenses would've proved to even the odds, Aela knew the land well enough to get her armies into the capital swiftly and effectively. The Alliance loyal survivors are in hiding while the supporters of Aela fight for the Horde.

After the Horde's occupation of Quel'damor a new group of Dawnish came into existence (Dawnish Sin'dorei).

In a risky maneuver one Dawnish Quel'dorei scout was sent to seek the aid of the eldest Alliance Dawnsinger, Serana Dawnsinger.

The Arrival of Serana Dawnsinger
Coming soon