The Roots of Teldrassil in Harandar - Midnight Story Spotlight

Posted 2025/11/16 at 12:45 AM by Portergauge

WARNING: Midnight spoilers in this post!Harandar Main Story QuestsOrweyna says: It is not like you to avoid conflict.
Orweyna says: Have your fangs dulled since I was gone?
Hagar says: Don't test me little sprout. I know when to roar and when to wait.
Hagar says: I could have pitted my pride against Ruia, but alone what good would it do?
Orweyna says: You are as strong as any.
Hagar says: First you left, then the roots of Teldrasil burned. Now the elders barely consider me one of them.
Orweyna says: Should I not have heeded the goddess's call?
Hagar says: You did what needed to be done. I have always told you to trust your instincts.
Hagar says: All I ask is that you trust mine. We must regain their faith in you.
Hagar says: And know that I will always defend you, even if you do not see.Hagar's Side QuestlineHagar says: Thank you for joining me, champion. Here, I honor Teldrassil.

Hagar says: There are many hungry creatures that would like to feast on the exposed roots here.
Hagar says: Keeping what remains of Teldrassil safe is the priority. Who knows which roots may be able to be saved?

Hagar says: I don't want anything that may hurt the roots nearby, champion.
Hagar says: My hope is we may be able to help restore what life is in the roots.
Hagar says: Sometimes hope is all we have.
Hagar says: Thank you for helping me in this, champion.Hagar says: Go quickly, champion. There is nothing more important to me than keeping those flames at bay!
Hagar says: The flames will be back, but we must always extinguish them.Hagar says: I do not know what losses you have experienced, or what pain you carry.
Hagar says: Being Rootwarden was the proudest part of my life, my greatest joy.
Hagar says: I will always wish I had known of the threat to Teldrassil, and acted differently.
Hagar says: But I will never give up hope that, through my work, it may be restored one day.

Hagar says: Champion, I cannot know if any of this may lead to the growth I hope for--or if any part Teldrassil is still alive, or could be again.
Hagar says: But today, you've at least helped me to keep my hope alive. And that, in itself, is meaningful.
Hagar says: I remain grateful for your help, champion. I will continue my daily work here, to see what may be possible. Do you blame yourself for what happened to Teldrassil?
How could I not, champion? I was the Rootwarden. Teldrassil was mine to watch over--my responsibility.

I've told myself countless times that I couldn't be expected to know the threat above the roots--that no one knew or expected what happened. And I know that is true, in a way.

But I also, as Rootwarden, was to devote myself to Teldrassil entirely. The tree should not have burned while I still had breath.

What's been most difficult about all of this?
The silence, champion. Teldrassil did not "speak" to me. But I heard her voice, like one hears nature around them. We are speaking now, but I hear the nearby stalkers, and the rippling of the stream around us.

Teldrassil was like that, yet moreso--always woven into my thoughts. For many years, then nothing.

<Continue listening.>

But worse than the silence is the knowing. The certainty that silence is all I will ever experience.

It feels very much like being afraid. But fear is about what could happen--what you hope does not happen. Teldrassil is gone, and I shall never...

That... "knowing" is a greater burden than I can express.

Why do you refer to Teldrassil as "her?"
It may seem odd. But for years, Teldrassil was everything to me. And since the burning, I have been haunted by her loss.

When your life is dedicated to one thing--especially something as great and full of life as Teldrassil--"it" does not seem like a sufficient word.

What do you hope to achieve with these roots?
Everything possible, champion--whatever that may be.

Perhaps some of these roots can be saved. Perhaps roots can grow again into a great tree. Such a tree might retain some essence of what I dedicated my life to.

Perhaps nothing except the freedom to die one day, knowing I tried all I could.

Where were you when Teldrassil was attacked?
I was at the Den with the other Rootwardens when...

<Hagar pauses before continuing.>

Others saw smoke and sent for me. The only light at Har'mara was from the burning roots above.

They were the last to catch fire--the tree was already gone.

How do you deal with your pain?
Seeing such greatness consumed by fire... was unspeakably painful. But the pain wasn't the hardest thing. And time has dulled its edge. The hardest part for me, champion, was the loss of my life's purpose. As Rootwarden, I knew what I lived for, and what I was willing to die for.

With Teldrassil gone... the void of purpose and meaning was a more difficult thing than I could have imagined. Helping the young haranir and others at Har'mara has become a greater focus for me. That has kept me from being overwhelmed by grief.

How do you find hope each day?
There are days I feel--or even hope--Teldrassil with one day grow again, champion. They are not often. Most days, I have no way to know. No reason to hope.

My only certainty is, if I give up, Teldrassil with only exist in my fading memories and dreams. I can't...

So I work for hope, even on the days I feel none.
Haranir Allied Race QuestsWelcome, young one.

It is a grand day of most importance for you -- A coming of age where you will take your place in our society and help maintain our traditions as we follow the path of the Goddess' will.

What is this place?

This humble hut? I chose this structure, the center of Har'mara's community, to be close to the roots of the mighty Teldrassil. From its very creation, that world tree, and its roots, have been through hardships of pain and trauma. Despite this, the roots are strong and willing to live on.

I look outside and think on our people's hardships on our journey to Harandar. They left behind many blessings/ Many of them perished on the way here. And then the madness.

Yet we are still here, strong, as our traditions are strong, giving us our identity.

As for Teldrassil, the roots will heal in time, as will the entire world.

12 3

Comment by Ony007Yaaaaaawn....Comment by sugarrush143"Don't... don't give me hope."Comment by GleemSpeaking of, I wonder if Blizz is ever gonna actually build that NE capital around Amirdrassil.Comment by loudskiesI would really like this character to address the criticism that teldrassil was an artificial world tree planted by the night elves. Her vigil, in the scope of the rest of the Haranir wasn't that long, as Teldrassil only existed for what... 20-something years?Comment by yseratheawakenedSpeaking of, I wonder if Blizz is ever gonna actually build that NE capital around Amirdrassil.Comment by RazariaI can only assume that I am lighting the fires, being a Sylvanas loyalist. (Slay queen.)Comment by CronoveySo I have to ask...what was Hagar doing when Fandral Staghelm was grafting a piece of the Nightmare Lord's tree onto Teldrassil to make the Emerald Nightmare and Xavius stronger? Is she not able to sense the corruption of the Void being put into Teldrassil at the damn roots? Seems like a bit of an oversight for someone who has dedicated their life to a tree that is like 20 years old at most.Comment by SoeroahI would really like this character to address the criticism that teldrassil was an artificial world tree planted by the night elves. Her vigil, in the scope of the rest of the Haranir wasn't that long, as Teldrassil only existed for what... 20-something years?Comment by FlanellThere lies Teldrassils problem: its roots are hanging in the air instead of gettin nutrients from the earth!Comment by RobNajjarSo we recruit the haranir by helping to start the healing process for teldressil (which for some reason is still on fire after 5 years, so i dont think they know how fire works when they write warcraft lore), in order to defend the lands of a race that played a front row seat in burning it.....Comment by FishAxeSo we recruit the haranir by helping to start the healing process for teldressil (which for some reason is still on fire after 5 years, so i dont think they know how fire works when they write warcraft lore), in order to defend the lands of a race that played a front row seat in burning it.....Comment by BrazenchaseCan we please move on from Teldrassil already. It wasn't a proper World Tree and the Night Elf Obsessees are insufferable about it.

Why are we lighting this fire again? People are going to be so annoying about it.Comment by JenramaMore interested in the other world trees and what the Haronir can tell us about their histories TBH.

Shaladrassil (Val'sharah) and its corruption (and potential cleansing after the events of Legion).
Andrassil (Grizzly Hills) and its corruption and death.
The Unnamed Tree (Emerald Nightmare Un'Goro Crater) if that was potentially a world tree.

As well as the relationship there clearly is between the Night Elves and Haronir, both races effectively being wardens of the world trees, one planting and protecting them on the surface, and the other protecting and potentially guiding the roots. I've said it since the Haronir model was datamined in the War Within alpha, they're the missing link between Dark Trolls and Night Elves.Comment by Wildshots110so many world trees not even mentioned and teldrassil wasn't it a fake tree and eventually corrupted at one point by the nightmare.... did she not know about that? isn't the tree only 20 years old? Does the people who worked on this story even look into the. history of the world trees lolComment by Calluxusso many world trees not even mentioned and teldrassil wasn't it a fake tree and eventually corrupted at one point by the nightmare.... did she not know about that? isn't the tree only 20 years old? Does the people who worked on this story even look into the. history of the world trees lolComment by BestCollectorThis change nothing?Comment by AniulSo they reinvented the Night Elves...Comment by TyrannosaurusRetIt seems strange to me that Hagar, and the haranir as a whole, are deeply affected be the razing of Teldrassil. The tree only existed for 10 years (planted in the Year 23 AtDP, burned in the Year 33 AtDP). Not to mention, that there have been other World Trees with much longer lifespans that have also been lost. Shaladrassil was grown from a sprout of the Mother Tree, G'Hanir, and planted before the Sundering - that's 10,000+ years before falling to the Emerald Nightmare. Nordrassil is nearly as old, being planted just after the Sundering, on Mount Hyjal, existing for 10,000+ years before being sacrificed to banish Archimonder at the culmination of the Third War (though has since healed). Andrassil (later known as Vordrassil) was planted around 4,500 years prior to the First War, and lasted in Northrend for several decades before the Cenarion Circle saw fit to destroy it, to spare it from corruption.

Teldrassil's destruction having a powerful effect on Hagar is fine, it's the seeming lack of acknowledgement that she wouldn't be the first Rootwarden to go through this that baffles me.Comment by FlaksThey're going out of their way to whitewash every aspect of alliance being neutral or the bad guys they possibly can.

Teldrassil was bourne out of the night elves' hubris and should not have existed. It would have made perfect sense to burn it down because it was connected directly to the nightmare but instead they had to do the whole shadowlands bs.

If anything the tree should have gone the way of all the other disasters the night elves have directly brought upon azeroth over millenia.Comment by Dragonstitchis traumatized by the horde burning a world tree. joins the horde. Sounds about right from modern blizz.

12 3