Is it possible for magic users like Mages to sense Fel magic or shadow magic at all? This actually just occurred to me and I'm wondering about it.

According to tLG, spells seems sluggish where demon summoning occurred. And yes, I imagine there would be some suspicious 'whats' but we can assume they'd get away with it. Warlocks seem to survive no matter what scrutiny is on them.

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Yeah especially with them walking with their demons in the Cathedral District.......>_>

I think it depends on how powerful said magic users were, but if i recall correctly, arcane/fel magic in general leaves a sort of 'signature' in the place a spell was cast. I think Khadgar says something along those lines in 'The Last Guardian'.

In the case of night elf warlocks, their magic would leave 'marks' on the natural part of Darnassus, which Malfurion and other powerful druids might detect. Of course, I guess the warlocks could just practice in a contained space, with wards and stuff like that, but I'm not sure if that would work. Then again, Blizz could just make it work but eh, I'm reticent when it comes to warlocks in Darnassus.

Fel magic in particular puts off a sort of detectable radiation; hence its tendency to corrupt its surroundings with or without the conscious desire of its user to do so.

Additionally definitely Jaina and I believe Khadgar as well both displayed signs of physical discomfort triggered by close proximity to fel energies at Dreadmist Peak and Shadowmoon Valley (respectively), so it's likely that fel magic is particularly traceable by individuals already sensitive to arcane energies if it's inciting nausea in mages just by being nearby. Plus, any spell or mechanism designed to seek and destroy demons or undead (like the Titan defenses in Sholazar) obviously must possess a means of detecting the nature of the energies present and classifying them.

Shadow magic's harder to explain, since its canonical references aren't as extensive as those of fel magic or even necromancy, and it appears as a subset of other magics as often as its own standalone school of magic. A shadow spell cast by a demon would probably be inherently fel-corrupted by the demon's own nature, while one cast by a shadow priest wouldn't be, a necromancer's shadow magics might be formed as part of the Scourge's necrotic undeath energies, and voidspawns' shadow spells in-game (as well as their demon classification) are currently in a sort of definition "limbo" given the somewhat uncertain nature of the relationship between and references to shadow and void energies.

Whether someone could detect purely shadow magic is uncertain. Could someone detect the Light's energies (aside from seeing them) for that matter? Being part of the universe's fundamental natural energies might render Light and Darkness only detectable by mundane means, i.e. tangible/visible manifestations and the lasting effects they have upon their surroundings. Or they may share a form of recognition, in which individuals attuned to Light would instinctively sense Shadow and vice-versa, but other schools of magic wouldn't necessarily be capable of as much.

Though on the other hand, arcane magic seems to interact with all other forms of magic on a basic level as pure energies, so a mage who knew how might be able to construct spells for detecting Shadow or Light magics, even without the same natural sensitivity they seem to possess toward fel energy.

Of course, shamans and druids would have the benefit of being able to commune with the local spirits and extrapolate the presence of corrupting energies from them, though that becomes complicated when such magics are expressly warping the behavior and perceptions of said spirits and driving them mad, as it did with the corruption of Teldrassil itself.

Considering the fact that there are worgen warlocks residing in Darnassus I'd say that hiding amongst Night Elves must be possible. If a worgen can do it, why shouldn't the highborne be able to do so?

I have no idea how I forgot that.

By that logic Draenei and other Night Elves could be warlocks because of them hiding in Stormwind. We all know that's a big stretch to...I would hope.

Well I for one ain't going to knock you for overlooking one of Blizzard's afterthoughts.

Someone wake me when Naga Shamans are playable.

We'll if the security is lax enough, why shouldn't certain individuals be able to take advantage? What stops night elves from becoming warlocks is not the danger of being discovered, but their lack of disposition for the profession. If that were to change I'd see no reason for preventing the inclusion of playable warlocks.

Though I hate to say it, I'm inclined to call "game mechanic" on that one. More than most classes, warlocks don't seem like the sort to actually be fielding trainers in every capital city expressly to train the up-and-coming competition out in the open. Canonically it seems more likely that a warlock has to go out of his way to travel the world seeking the places where warlocks congregate in secret - which probably wouldn't include Teldrassil - and learn what he can from each one he finds, rather than simply visiting any city or township's local warlock representative and checking in. Especially since becoming a warlock within the lore generally assumes that the individual possesses at least a moderate amount of training with some other school of magic beforehand.

Lore-wise, rather than certain warlocks pretty much professionally training recruits, it seems to me more like they'd learn their craft by doing things like tracking down lone warlocks hiding in the dark corners of the world and convincing them to share knowledge, or enlisting in various demon-worshiping sects like the Burning Blade, pretending to be loyal, then leaving quietly to find a new source of knowledge once they've learned what they can from the warlocks in its ranks.

Personally, I suspect a lot of the "canonical" player-warlocks to have worked with the villainous warlock-heavy factions on-and-off, pretending to be loyal but really only stealing their secrets in anticipation of betraying them. Additionally, I'd imagine a lot of warlocks' knowledge stems from shadowy, cross-factional interaction between warlocks in the Horde, Alliance and "other", since their craft already causes most of them to lay low and avoid close scrutiny from their own factions anyway, and political allegiances would likely take a backseat to their pursuit of personal power.

I still think Night Elf and Draenei warlocks are off the lists. Besides, I think we got enough classes and races for a LONG WHILE. It would be better to do other things to do but that's another thread.

I don't care one way or another, I just wanted to point out that Darnassus might not be as dangerous for warlocks as some think. That said though, ARM is probably right and the warlock trainers are only there for gameplay purposes.

That and Broken Warlock trainers in Shattrath.

The Naaru are expressly okay with demons in Shattrath, so as long as they're not working for the Burning legion. I assume they'd think the same of warlocks.

Of course, reasonably restrictions would be in place, like not having demons out and whatever.

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Why do we even use the night elve's dislike of demons and fel magic to gauge the likelihood of night elf warlocks? Most cultures/races are adverse to the idea of practicing demon magic and jet 9 out of 13 races have warlocks. No matter how many PC warlocks you might see running around, warlocks are few and far in between, and they won't announce their career openly to anyone. Why should night elven warlocks be any different?

If Blizzard ever decides to allow the creation of night elf warlocks, the majority of the elves will probably not accept warlocks amongst their mids nor view this class favorably. Could this prevent Blizzard from creating this class-race combination? Probably not. Could the fact that some people are able to sense fel magic prevent them from doing so? Not likely, else wise most warlock coves hiding in the capitols would have been wiped out by now.

Because the argument is solid and makes sense. It makes a lot more sense then saying Tauren can't be rogues because of Hooves. The only thing close to a warlock a Night Elf COULD BE is a Demon Hunter.

It wouldn't have made sense before the return of the Highborne. Now it does. What prevents young night elven mages from being seduced by the power of fel magic? Whenever a society has mages some of them are bound to give in, and, even after 10,000 years of rejecting the arcane (which for night elves isn't as long as it would seem to us), night elves are no different. If anything their past shows that they are prone to this.

Anyways I shouldn't continue to post in favor of night elven warlocks, lest you think I actually want them to exist. It just strikes me as odd that you guys seem to be raising the bar when it comes to night elves. Why should their adversity be used as an excuse to inhibit night elven warlocks when other races, in the same situation, have playable warlocks?

It's mostly their race and how they've come off as since the beginning. If they were depicted differently I may be singing a different tune.

Ever visited the Silver Convenant district since Cataclysm? They have a Warlock trainer there now

And you can make any race/class combo possible through any bullshit means. Doesn't mean you have to. I feel race/class restrictions bring some flavor to the individual races.

So fuck Shamans and Warlocks (and Rogues and Mages and Paladins and Druids) for everyone

I'm very aware of the that fact.

The one in the basement of the Slaughtered Lamb makes sense; a basement should be the norm for warlock trainer placement.

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Technically, every member of any race can become whatever class they want.
There's no reason a night elf should not be able to become a paladin.
But certain race/class combos are less likely to be seen.
If there are no restrictions, we would have lots of Gnome Druids jumping around in Ironforge, which would feel weird.

There shouldn't be race/class restrictions at all.

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