Guardians and the Seven Kingdoms

Magic spread through Arathor faster than wisdom. The magi's spells thinned the walls of the world and drew the attention of demons, so the high elves and the human magi formed the Council of Tirisfal. In secret, the council chose a single Guardian to hold its combined power and hunt the agents of the Burning Legion.

The magi also built a city of their own, Dalaran, where the Kirin Tor would rule. Meanwhile Arathor's heirs moved away from Strom, and over the centuries the empire broke into seven human kingdoms: Lordaeron, Stromgarde, Gilneas, Alterac, Kul Tiras, Dalaran and, in the south, Stormwind, which was long called the kingdom of Azeroth.

The most famous Guardian was Aegwynn, who in Northrend struck down an avatar of Sargeras himself and sealed its body in a tomb beneath the sea. She never knew that the dark titan's spirit had slipped into her. When she bore a son, Medivh, the spirit passed to him, and the last Guardian came of age with a traitor hidden in his soul. From his tower of Karazhan he would one day open the door for the orcs.