Long Vigil

The Long Vigil was the period in the night elven history 7,300 years BDP between the Great Sundering and the Third War ADP (specifically until the Invasion of Kalimdor), during which Tyrande Whisperwind and her Sentinels kept watch over the woodlands of Northern Kalimdor, while Malfurion Stormrage and the other druids slumbered in the Emerald Dream.

With the departure of their wayward cousins, the night elves turned their attention back to the safekeeping of their enchanted homeland. The druids raised a veil of mist to shroud the continent of Kalimdor from outsiders before they began their slumber.

Tyrande had become the High Priestess of Elune and was left alone (by Malfurion and the druids who were sleeping in the Emerald Dream) to protect Kalimdor from the dangers of the new world, Tyrande assembled a powerful fighting force from amongst her night elf sisters. The fearless, highly trained warrior women who pledged themselves to Kalimdor's defense became known as the Sentinels. Though they preferred to patrol the shadowy forests of Ashenvale on their own, they had many allies upon which they could call in times of urgency. The demigod Cenarius remained nearby in the Moonglades of Mount Hyjal. His sons, known as the Keepers of the Grove, kept close watch on the night elves and regularly helped the Sentinels maintain peace in the land. Even Cenarius' shy daughters, the dryads, appeared in the open with increasing frequency. The task of policing Ashenvale kept Tyrande busy. As the long centuries passed while the druids slept, her fears of a second demonic invasion grew. She could not shake the unnerving feeling that the Burning Legion might still be out there, beyond the Great Dark of the sky, plotting its revenge upon the night elves and the world of Azeroth.