Every kingdom went through a golden age of development in its early years. In a newly founded nation, nearly all the people felt that they had played a part in its creation. They shared a common purpose and were simple in character, rallying around their first king and working hard to build their country. More importantly, the new aristocracy was also eager to expand its influence. The whole kingdom seemed to be flourishing. Our newly founded Elf kingdom was no exception. Under the wise leadership of King Jabani, the entire nation pursued a policy of recuperation, working hard to raise families, build, and grow. From top to bottom, the kingdom was thriving. In these circumstances, Azar had to endure the pain of separation. He was ordered to travel west and build a new city in Feralas—Eldre'Thalas. As a result, he and his wife, Azshara, had to live apart, easing their longing for each other with letters. But he did not grow complacent just because he was newly married. He knew all too well that if he wanted to protect the woman he loved, he needed to be strong enough. He had no idea whether he had truly changed history; he had yet to see the Bronze Dragon described by so many otherworldly travelers. So he kept striving, uncertain of what the future held. To face the unknown, he had to keep working hard. Living alone was tedious and monotonous, even dull, but Azar knew he had to endure what ordinary people could not. He trained relentlessly in martial arts, seizing every chance to fight. He even personally led troops to put down one rebellion after another, against Trolls, Quillboar, and Centaurs. Thanks to his efforts, the newly founded kingdom enjoyed remarkable peace on every side, and everyone could live happily in safety. Without his wife, he never slept in his bed, meditating on his cushion instead. He felt the Power of Order, communicating and connecting with it as he steadily improved. Yet he could never shape that growing power as a mage did. In other words, he could not cast spells like an ordinary mage. He could not manage even the simplest, most basic spells, like Fireball or Frostbolt. Though he kept increasing his Power of Order, he was like a huge battery with nowhere to discharge its energy. This had troubled him for nearly ten years. His body had not changed in a long time. He was unlike ordinary Elves. Stranger still, it seemed that most people in this young city in the young kingdom were changing in ways that differed slightly from their kin near the Well of Eternity. Their ears were not so long, only a little more pointed than those of humans on Earth. In their kin near the Well of Eternity, it seemed that the Trolls' physical transformation had not extended to their ears. Their skin and eyes were different, too. The residents of Eldre'Thalas had fairer skin and sapphire-blue eyes, while their kin had purple skin and golden eyes. No one knew why, except Azar. "Because I don't support holding services at the Temple of the Moon in the new city, almost none of our residents worship the Moon Goddess. We rise with the sun and rest when it sets, believing we can build our future with our own hands," Azar explained in a letter to his wife. That was indeed the case. With Falco and Daphne's help, and under Azar's wise leadership, Eldre'Thalas was changing at a visibly rapid pace. They had the most forward-thinking leader in the world, so from the first day of construction, the new city was planned with its eventual use in mind. It was built on a grand scale, with a central district and six satellite cities. Viewed from above, if you connected them with straight lines, they formed the six points of a hexagram, with the largest hexagon at the center—Eldre'Thalas. Why six satellite cities? Azar had borrowed from the High Elves' future experience. He wanted to create a barrier one day to protect his kin who loved magic. He knew that although Azshara had become his wife, and it seemed no one would open the world's gates to Sargeras, there was no telling whether some nobody would take on that role instead. The force of history was powerful. No otherworldly traveler could completely change it. No one could—not even a god. It was the Way, something impossible to explain or understand. The Great Way gave rise to forty-nine paths, with one left to escape; change was permitted, but the Great Way itself could never be altered, for that would turn all that existed into nothingness. Azar's idea was simple: history could continue on its course, but he wanted to protect more people, especially the mages who studied Arcane magic. Everyone had the right to choose. They could not simply be forced into one path, as Malfurion had done. Azshara was not at fault, either. The pursuit of new knowledge was always dangerous; she had merely been unlucky enough to become a victim. "I don't want to stand apart from everyone else. I want to give my people one more path to choose," he wrote when explaining his governing philosophy to his wife.
"I don't like the capital's breathtaking architectural style. It makes me feel as though I'm in a fairyland, sapping my drive to strive. I prefer simple, unadorned buildings, so our residents can feel grounded. Everyone in Eldre'Thalas should have a distinct city spirit: as long as life endures, we keep striving." Those were Azar's words to the architects on the first day of construction. As a result, Eldre'Thalas was now a city with a rustic, town-like feel. Its buildings stood one after another, most of them only three stories tall, with exceptions for special structures such as the municipal hall and the Chapel of the Wish of Order.
The Chapel of the Wish of Order was unique to Eldre'Thalas, a place where the new faith was spread. Azar wanted to give the residents a distinctive faith, so he founded a new religion, the Source of Order, and wrote a new doctrine. It shared a common origin with the capital's Arcane faith and worship of Elune, but was not the same. He had always believed that faith was a source of power, and had long been considering how to bring his own ideas together with the original faith. It was a crucial step. Only by being politically correct could he consolidate his rule and win the support of more people. He broadened the teachings of the Temple of the Moon. "I believe that the White Lady and the Blue Child, as well as the power of Arcane, are simply different manifestations of the will of Azeroth, our homeworld. Our power should come from our faith, and our faith itself is a manifestation of Azeroth's will. I believe in her and use the concrete power she has given us—the Well of Eternity. This is just like the Temple of the Moon's worship of Elune. After all, Elune is another manifestation of Azeroth's will. As far as we know, the power of Arcane encompasses the laws of time, space, and order. The Power of Order is a form of energy belonging to the law of order, and I believe it is the most primitive and purest law within the power of Arcane." Origin of Order, by Azar Tikal.
"I believe gods do not exist; even if they do, they are not omnipotent. A god is merely the embodiment of a will. What truly manifests that god's greatness is every individual who believes in her." Origin of Order, by Azar Tikal.
Guided by these beliefs, the residents of Eldre'Thalas followed their lord, Baron Azar, through hardships and challenges, striving to reach one summit after another. We call this the Thirty Golden Years. Chronicles of Eldre'Thalas, by Plato.
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