After the Feast of Winter Veil ended, Azeroth entered a new year, a year that would be remembered by later generations as Year Zero of the Dark Portal.
In this year, Galen was granted the title of Duke, successfully rising to the rank of Grand Duke and gaining the right to self-governance over his territory.
Azeroth was in turmoil, the grand stage of history was about to begin, the chaotic era was unfolding, and heroes of all races were emerging.
Thre portal connecting Azeroth and the world of Draenor was completed. At its opening, the immense energy directly blasted the vast Swamp of Sorrows into two parts, leaving only a third of the swamp in the north, while the south became the barren Blasted Lands.
The Horde under the control of Gul'dan was about to send vanguard scout troops into Azeroth to establish an advance military camp in the swamp.
Durotan and his Frostwolf clan were exiled by the Horde for resisting Gul'dan's rule. Led by their chieftain, the Frostwolf clan wandered north all the way, eventually stopping in the Alterac Mountains and beginning a secluded life.
The brilliant young mage Khadgar was chosen by the Kirin Tor Council, ostensibly to become an apprentice to the Guardian Medivh, but in reality, to spy on the Guardian's magical tower, the secrets of the Tower of Karazhan.
Although the Dark Portal was about to open, this year was still a year of calm, with all the undercurrents brewing in the dark.
The nominal Warchief of the Orcish Horde was Warchief Blackhand, but in reality, it was controlled by the Shadow Council established by Gul'dan.
In this year, Gul'dan's main focus was to stabilize and maintain the Dark Portal to ensure that the Orcish army could cross the distance between the two planets and reach Azeroth.
In this year, the Kingdom of Stormwind was immersed in the dream of being the second strongest human nation, with a wise king and a powerful guardian above, and an elite legion below, while the nobles indulged in revelry and a life of drunken dreams.
Galen had previously considered whether to directly send his two legions to raid the camp built by the Horde's advance troops, annihilate the Orcish vanguard, and then have Gandalf find a way to close the Dark Portal.
In the end, he dismissed the idea. Simply put, he couldn't beat the Guardian Medivh. Medivh was the strongest human being, with strength at the demigod level. Galen couldn't understand how Lothar of the legendary tier led his Knights of the Silver Hand squad to kill the demigod mage possessed by the demon lord Sargeras?
Ultimately, Galen could only attribute it to plot armor. He didn't dare to gamble on it. If the Heart of Origin had been upgraded to a level three castle, with the trump card of summoning a king, Galen would have dared to try it.
But now, forget it, just focus on expansion and building branch offices. The battle between the Orcs and the Kingdom of Stormwind will only begin next year after the opening of the Dark Portal, and be defeated in the fourth year of the Dark Portal.
With Stormwind City blocking the way in front, the north is still relatively safe. Galen plans to continue developing peacefully for a few more years, and when Gandalf and Aragorn both grow to the legendary tier, he can take them to the south to join in the fun.
Galen observed the hand-drawn map in front of him, which Galen had Varrokal remake based on the map from the previous Warcraft game.
Galen's gaze focused on the Hinterlands in the north and the large expanse of land east of the Wetlands.
Galen wouldn't think about the Hinterlands. The forces here are complex and intertwined. To the west is Aerie Peak of the Wildhammer dwarves, to the south is Shadra'Alor, the largest stronghold of the Revantusk tribe, to the east is Jintha'Alor of the Witherbark trolls, and to the north is one of the entrances to Azeroth's unique Emerald Dream, guarded by a dragonflight.
The place is a good place, but to gain a foothold in the Hinterlands, one must eliminate one of the forces and then occupy their gathering point.
Aerie Peak of the Wildhammer dwarves and the north where the green dragonflight is located are excluded first. Everyone belongs to the lawful good camp, and will be allies in the future. They will see each other often, so they must maintain friendship.
The Revantusk tribe of Shadra'Alor has at least twenty thousand trolls. Galen said that he can't beat them now. The strength of the Witherbark tribe is even stronger than the Revantusk tribe. Jintha'Alor is a tiered city, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It's not cost-effective to fight, so it's better wait.
Galen then looked at the land separated from the Arathi Highlands by only the Thandol Span. It is located in the east of the Wetlands and is called "Northshire" by the dwarves.
It was once the location of an ancient dwarven fortress. Later, the Wildhammer dwarven city of Grim Batol was contaminated by dark magic. Some of the dwarves followed the Wildhammer clan north and established a new city in the Hinterlands. Some of the dwarves were unwilling to leave, so they established several village strongholds in the forests and plains east of the Northshire Highlands.
In recent years, in addition to letting caravans follow the kingdom's trade teams to Ironforge to do business, Galen has also transported some ale to the Wildhammer villages in the east. He is still very familiar with some of the situations in Northshire.
The logistics supervisor Harmmon has a very close relationship with Chieftain Wildhammer, after all, it is a good impression that was built up with wine.
The dwarves have settled here more than two hundred years ago, and can be regarded as the natives of this land. The forests here are lush, and the mountains of the highlands contain rich mineral deposits. What attracts Galen the most is the elementium ore in the highland mountains, a rare and precious ore. Deathwing used them to forge his full-body armor, confidently coming out of Deepholm to carry out the Cataclysm.
From a topographic point of view, the entire highlands are traversed by a huge river. This river, named Valar, originates from the mountains in the east and flows in an inverted V-shaped line to the Forbidden Sea in the east.
The dwarves' several villages are in the central and northern parts of the highlands. The only unclaimed land is the two large islands located in the northeast and southeast.
In the future, the Alliance will occupy the southwestern island and establish a military base called Fort Venture, while the Horde will have goblins build a workshop on the northwestern island to collect offshore oil fields.
In addition to these two islands, Galen also has his eye on the mouth of the Valar River, which has been eroded into a delta by the river. This is a natural harbor, which will be occupied by the Dragonmaw clan of the Orcs in the future and establish Dragonmaw Port.
Galen's idea is to occupy these three unclaimed lands, relying on each other to form a strategic posture. At the same time, radiate to the south, where there are abundant forest resources and mineral veins, and it is far away from the dwarves' sphere of activity, so there will be no territorial conflicts.
The most important point is that after the War of the Three Hammers, the Wildhammer dwarves began to live with gryphons. They treat gryphons as equals, rather than rudely treating them as animals or mounts. Gryphons are therefore extremely loyal to the Wildhammer dwarves. Under this friendship, the world-famous gryphon riders were born.
Maybe he can let Harmmon continue to use wine to brush up dwarf's favorability, and see if he can trick a gryphon instructor over. After all, their gryphon knight skills are superb, second only to the Wildhammer's Thunderbeak gryphon knights.
As long as he can fool a gryphon knight to be an instructor, no matter how well he teaches, in the future, the air overlord of the level three castle, the gryphon knight, can appear in front of the public in a legitimate way.