When Sargeras descended upon the eredar's homeworld, a race of sentient energy beings – the naaru – helped a small band of eredar to escape the dark titan's corruption. Soon the eredar refugees began calling themselves the draenei, or "exiled ones". Moved by the draenei's courage, the naaru blessed them with Light-given knowledge and power. Ultimately the benevolent naaru hoped to unite all who opposed the Burning Legion and forge these heroes into a single unstoppable army of the Light. In pursuit of that goal, the naaru have recently traveled to Outland in a dimensional fortress known as Tempest Keep. Most of the naaru disembarked to reconnoiter the ravaged land. In their absence, an army of blood elves led by Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider overran the keep and took its sole remaining guardian hostage. With Tempest Keep in blood elf hands, the naaru find themselves stranded in Outland, facing a precarious future.

The orcs of Outland were not the only ones to suffer the Burning Legion's demonic corruption. The Broken, led by the great Akama, fell prey to the demons' sinister influence, and just like the orcs, they too were changed by the corruption. Though they lost some of their former powers, the Broken still present a clear danger to all of Illidan's enemies throughout Outland. It almost seems like a miracle that the Broken somehow managed to preserve their shamanistic heritage, yet no one can say for sure how many of their traditions are still intact. From the safety of the fortified villages the Broken hold in Outland, they lord over their lesser cousins, the wretched Lost Ones.