Shalzaru was a level 15 high-ranking mage. In Naga terms, of course, he was a Naga Sea Witch.
As king of the Hatecrest Naga, he commanded the three thousand Hatecrest Naga on the Isle of Dread and had waged a long campaign of harassment against the Sentinels of Feathermoon Stronghold.
Although his strength fell far short of Shandris Feathermoon's, he was a Naga and an excellent swimmer. On the Isle of Dread, surrounded by the sea, even Shandris Feathermoon had trouble finding and killing him. For years, he had remained Feathermoon Stronghold's number one enemy.
He took pride in that.
Shalzaru was not among the first Naga.
Compared with those predecessors who had followed Queen Azshara and become the first Naga under an irresistible curse, he was merely a junior. Yet even among the Naga, whose ranks teemed with powerful individuals, Shalzaru could be counted among the strong. After all, master-level professionals were not easy to come by.
Shalzaru was gifted, clever, and highly ambitious, but also an extremist. He had led a large group of equally extreme Naga out of the deep sea beneath the Maelstrom and come to the Isle of Dread.
He hoped to prove his abilities and one day catch the eye of the high-ranking woman he admired and worshipped, so that he could remain by her side like that damned Murloc Guard, Slardar.
Like all Naga, he naturally held their one and only queen, Azshara, the "Light of Lights," in profound reverence. But even the noblest Naga had no right to court Queen Azshara. They could only look up to her.
Thus, the woman Shalzaru cherished was not Queen Azshara, but her handmaiden, the most favored woman who always attended her: Lady Vashj.
Like Shalzaru, Lady Vashj was a Naga Sea Witch. Unlike him, however,