Although Quel'Thalas lay at the northernmost edge of the Eastern Kingdoms, it was not, as people commonly imagined, the coldest place on the continent.
Quite the contrary. Thanks to magic, Quel'Thalas enjoyed spring-like weather all year round, with only three months in which one could feel even a slight chill. Even in the depths of winter, when the neighboring human kingdom of Lordaeron was already blanketed in snow, the weather here merely skipped from warm spring over summer and eased slightly into late autumn.
This land seemed forever shrouded in sunlight and vitality. Its spring lasted so long that its crops could yield three, even four harvests a year. This fully accommodated the elves' obsession with forests, allowing them to feed the nation with only a small amount of farmland and no need for prolonged deforestation—while still leaving enough room to cultivate fruits, herbs, and other cash crops.
Though sparsely populated, Quel'Thalas possessed strength far beyond that of human kingdoms with several or even dozens of times its population, thanks to its people's long lifespans and superb command of magic. It had long maintained a lofty position. For thousands of years, only the Amani Trolls entrenched in the jungles of Zul'Aman in southeastern Quel'Thalas had been able to cause the kingdom any trouble.
But now, even the Amani Trolls could no longer threaten the peace and tranquility of this paradise.
It had begun fourteen years ago, in the fourth year after the opening of the Dark Portal that changed the history of all Azeroth.
In 780, through the efforts of the High Elves and their two allies—the Wildhammer Dwarves and humans—the last of the Amani Trolls was exterminated in the jungles of Zul'Aman, and Quel'Thalas's final threat was removed.
Then the Alliance defeated the great enemy from another world—the Orcs.