The High Elf Realms are centred on Ulthuan. In the period presented by Warhammer: The Old World, the High Elves are close to the height of their power. Their armies draw on disciplined citizen regiments, specialist warriors and formidable magic. Reading this era as though Ulthuan were already in its final collapse distorts the setting's starting point.[1]
Ulthuan and the mainland[edit]
Elthin Arvan is the High Elves' name for the Old World. Their withdrawal after the War of the Beard did not end their presence there. Island strongholds off Bretonnia and Estalia support naval activity, trade and diplomatic influence, while High Elf advisers also operate in Marienburg.[2]
This is a different form of power from occupying a continuous mainland empire. A ship, coastal fortress or diplomatic mission can place High Elves in a story without requiring that the surrounding human territory belong to Ulthuan. The distinction helps explain encounters far from their homeland.[2]
Sea Guard and Chrace[edit]
The 2025 Arcane Journal: High Elf Realms preview describes two focused army themes. A Sea Guard Garrison represents an overseas stronghold and its maritime forces; its named commander Ishaya Vess guards the Silent Isle. A Chracian Warhost instead emphasizes the warriors and hunting traditions associated with Chrace and the White Lions.[3]
These examples show why a faction overview should not imply that every High Elf force has the same composition. An expedition or remote garrison has a purpose and location that shape its identity. The journal's restrictions on units belong to its rules context, but the distinction between naval outpost and regional host is useful for reading their background.[3]
Keeping the era clear[edit]
When researching a High Elf character or army, note the setting, the campaign date when available, and the publication being used. A familiar name or uniform does not by itself establish that two accounts describe the same moment. Begin with Ulthuan for the faction's centre, then use the overseas and regional distinctions above to place a particular story.
The references here are official 2025 introductions. They support this overview's setting and faction themes; they do not make every game rule in those articles current. Before choosing units for play, check the relevant army material and updates using the rules guide.
Units
- Dragon Princes of CaledorCavalry · Heavy CavalryThe proudest knights of Ulthuan, armoured in dragon-forged plate no flame can touch: princes whose ancestors rode dragons, and who refuse to be less.
- Ellyrian ReaversCavalry · Light CavalrySwift horse-lords of Ellyrion who scour the plains with bow and spear, striking from unexpected quarters and vanishing before the foe can answer.
- Lothern Sea GuardBattleline · InfantryCitizen-marines of Ulthuan's greatest harbour, deadly with bow and spear alike, who crew the Phoenix King's fleets and hold the sea-walls of Lothern.
- Phoenix GuardElite · InfantrySilent, white-masked temple guardians who know the hour of their own deaths and fight without fear, wielding halberds in eerie, wordless discipline.
- Repeater Bolt ThrowerArtillery · War MachineThe Eagle Claw: an elegant elven ballista that looses single shield-splitting bolts or rippling volleys of darts from walls, hilltops, and warship decks.
- Shadow WarriorsScout · InfantryGrim rangers of fallen Nagarythe who stalk the enemy from the shadows, avenging their ruined homeland one silent arrow at a time.
- Silver HelmsCavalry · Heavy CavalryNoble youth of Ulthuan's great houses in gleaming ithilmar plate, riding down the kingdoms' enemies with couched lances and immaculate discipline.
- Sisters of AvelornElite · Missile InfantryHandmaidens of the Everqueen who loose arrows kindled with the sacred flame of Isha, burning away the unnatural and the corrupt with every shot.
- Star DragonMonster · MonsterAn ancient dragon of Caledor, vast and terrible, roused from centuries of slumber to bear an elven prince to war beneath wings that blot out the sun.
- Swordmasters of HoethElite · InfantryWarrior-ascetics of the White Tower whose greatswords move quicker than the eye: scholars of the blade sworn to guard Saphery's mages and secrets.
- Tiranoc ChariotSpecial · ChariotsA swift, gleaming war-chariot of Tiranoc drawn by two steeds, sweeping across the field to loose arrows and scythe through the enemy in a single elegant pass.
- White Lions of ChraceElite · InfantryHunter-guards of the Phoenix King, cloaked in the pelts of great lions slain single-handed, whose woodsman's axes fell knight and monster alike.
Characters
- Eltharion the GrimThe GrimThe stern, brooding warden of Tor Yvresse, a masked champion who rides the griffon Stormwing and has never once failed in his duty, whatever it cost him.
- FinubarThe SeafarerEleventh Phoenix King of Ulthuan: the explorer-prince who charted the world of the young races, and now steers a fading people by the clearest eyes in it.
- Prince ImrikMaster of DragonsThe proud prince of Caledor and greatest dragon-rider of the age, descended from Caledor Dragontamer, who alone can rouse the sleeping drakes to war.
- TeclisThe Greatest Mage in the WorldThe frail, brilliant archmage whose command of magic is unmatched in the mortal world: twin to Tyrion, and the mind behind the survival of the elven realms.
- TyrionDefender of UlthuanThe greatest living warrior of the elven race: heir to Aenarion's glory and Aenarion's curse, champion of the Everqueen, and the blade Ulthuan raises against every doom.
Subfactions
- CaledorThe kingdom of the dragon princes, raised along the volcanic spine of southern Ulthuan where the great drakes sleep beneath fire-mountains. Its knights ride to war in armour forged in dragonflame, heirs of the Dragontamer who wove the Great Vortex, and their pride is the oldest and hottest in Ulthuan. Fewer dragons wake with each passing century, and no prince of Caledor will say aloud what that silence means.
- ChraceThe wild northern march of Ulthuan, a kingdom of hunters and axemen whose high passes stand between the heartlands and the raiders out of Naggaroth. Chracians are the least courtly of the asur and the first to bleed for them; since hunters of Chrace saved the second Phoenix King from assassins, the lion-cloaked axemen of this land have stood closest to every throne.
- EataineThe richest of the ten kingdoms and the heart of asur sea-power, whose capital Lothern is the greatest harbour in the world. Through the Emerald Gate pass the fleets that police ten thousand miles of ocean, and in Lothern's marble court sits the Phoenix King himself. Eataine is where Ulthuan's golden age still burns brightest, and where its merchant princes insist it is not fading at all.
- SapheryThe kingdom of magic, where the White Tower of Hoeth rises like a needle of moonlight above enchanted meadows. Here the Loremasters keep the deep arts of the asur (vortex-lore, the old wards, an age's worth of hoarded theory), and the Swordmasters guard the stairways with blades faster than thought. Saphery's power is quiet, and Ulthuan's enemies have learned to fear the quiet.
Sources & further reading
- LVO Preview 2025 – The resplendent host of Ulthuan. Warhammer Community, , The Old World era, Ulthuan and the High Elf host. Accessed .Official source checked during the 2026-10-03 assisted audit; whole-page human review pending.
- Old World Almanack – The High Elves of Elthin Arvan. Warhammer Community, , Overseas strongholds, mainland presence, trade and diplomacy. Accessed .Official source checked during the 2026-10-03 assisted audit; whole-page human review pending.
- Old World Almanack – What's in Arcane Journal: High Elf Realms?. Warhammer Community, , Sea Guard Garrison, Ishaya Vess and Chracian Warhost background. Accessed .Official source checked during the 2026-10-03 assisted audit; whole-page human review pending.
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