Lord Auberon was born into the illustrious Pfullman family of Lordaeron. The family's glory spanned nearly as long as the Kingdom of Lordaeron itself. King Terenas's daughter, Princess Calia, even married Auberon's elder brother, the eldest son of Duke Oland. Historically, their family had many marriage alliances with the royal family.
Princess Calia had previously been deceived by Lord Prestor, who was actually Deathwing in disguise, and nearly married the black dragon. Fortunately, the conspiracy was ultimately exposed, and she was eventually able to marry into the Pfullman family.
In any case, even though Lord Auberon could not inherit the title, he was still a very esteemed person.
Baron Ashbury and Lord Walden naturally treated him with great respect.
The envoy brought the Alliance's goodwill, but required them to do something very difficult to express their sincerity.
No sooner had they seen Lord Auberon off than they welcomed Sir Herval, a confidant of King Genn.
"Who was that?" Herval asked, seeing the two eastern lords personally escorting someone with such respect, piquing his curiosity.
Ashbury and Walden exchanged a glance, then tacitly replied, "A guest."
Walden asked, "Sir Herval, what brings you here?"
"His Majesty the King will be retreating here with the survivors. He orders you to take the Stormglen soldiers to meet him and establish a defensive line at the treacherous canyon ahead to resist the Scourge's attacks."
Herval solemnly conveyed the King's order first, then revealed a confident smile, saying, "By the way, I have good news for you both. The Alliance's reinforcements will arrive soon. As long as we hold on, we can wait for the opportunity to counterattack!"
"Oh? That's wonderful!" the two lords said, feigning joy. "We will immediately gather the troops. Sir Herval, please invite His Majesty to the seaside fortress! It is 'very safe' here!"
Ashbury emphasized, but only he and Lord Walden understood the true meaning of his words.
"Very well, then I shall take my leave!" Sir Herval said happily as he departed.
Watching his figure disappear, the two revealed sarcastic expressions.
Walden said, "It seems Lord Auberon was right; the Alliance's reinforcements will arrive soon."
"But our King is still so stubborn. If it weren't for his obstinacy, how could Gilneas have suffered the Scourge!" Ashbury said indignantly. "It's all his fault!"
"Indeed, how can such a selfish person lead our country? Hmph, it's no wonder the Alliance doesn't welcome him."
"That's right. If I were King Terenas, I wouldn't accept such a fool either."
Lord Walden said in a deep voice, "Then, let's do as the envoy said! Gilneas needs an enlightened monarch. I believe Prince Liam will be more competent than his father."
Ashbury sighed, "Regardless of whether Prince Liam understands, everything we do is for Gilneas!"
"Yes, for Gilneas!"
The two lords clasped hands tightly.
The envoy Auberon had come to tell them that, as fellow humans, King Terenas was willing to do everything in his power to rescue Gilneas. However, King Genn harbored prejudice against the Alliance, and his selfishness had caused Gilneas to suffer the Scourge. The Alliance did not want the rescue operation to be disrupted by King Genn's personal will, so King Genn was not included in the rescue efforts.
Gilneas needs an enlightened leader who is friendly to the Alliance!
Baron Ashbury and Lord Walden were not ambitious people, but Lord Auberon was right: Gilneas had already suffered such a blow and could not lose its last chance of redemption because of a foolish and selfish king.
On the march, Genn was very pleased to hear Sir Herval's report.
"Liam doesn't know about this yet. Herval, go to Duskhaven and tell Liam about our deployment. Next, we will contact each other through Windbreak Village and hold the southern part of Gilneas!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Herval accepted the order and rode his swift horse westward, preparing to bring the good news to Prince Liam.
---
Aiden was invited to attend the Conclave of Six. However, Krasus had not yet returned from seeking the Essence of Life at the Red Dragon Shrine, and Kael'thas remained in Quel'Thalas, so in reality, only four people attended this meeting.
The main topic was to vote on whether to raise Dalaran into the sky.
This was a major issue. According to previous regulations, the flight arrays would only be activated when Dalaran faced a great crisis, and it required the consent of all Kirin Tor councilors to be executed.
However, all four present voted in favor.
Aiden, Antonidas, Drenden, and Modera all agreed with this action. The Scourge had broken out in the neighboring country of Gilneas, and Dalaran was directly threatened due to its geographical location. If the worst situation occurred, and hundreds of thousands of undead troops crossed the Greymane Wall, Dalaran would not be able to stop the Scourge's advance. It would be better to raise Dalaran now, perhaps it could play a role in the fight against the Scourge's flying fortress, Naxxramas.
However, the situation was somewhat strange. The Valorant flying squadron had been carrying out support missions for two days, but they still had not found any trace of a flying fortress in the sky.
Antonidas speculated, "Perhaps it flew to other places. We must remind our allies to be vigilant and not let the tragedy of Gilneas be repeated."
Drenden nodded, "That should be the case."
"But Dalaran should still be raised, it is a complicated task and must be prepared in advance," Modera said.
Aiden said, "Next, we will join forces with the Wildhammer gryphon riders to patrol the air and search for traces of Naxxramas. As long as it doesn't become invisible, it will eventually show its tracks. My only concern is, if its target is not the Alliance countries, then it will be troublesome."
The three Archmages were well aware of the place he was referring to—Quel'Thalas.
Like Gilneas, this high elf kingdom had refused to join the Alliance. Gilneas relied on the protection of the Greymane Wall, and did not expect the Scourge to descend from the sky. Quel'Thalas was similar, they had a magical barrier powered by the Sunwell, and were confident that they could rest easy.
But in the world, the attacking side always has the advantage, and even the strongest defense can be breached one day.
They could only pray that the high elves would not encounter the same disaster as Gilneas.
At this time, in Quel'Thalas, High Elf Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider received a magical secret letter. Ranger Adri Morningvale, who later joined the Silver Covenant volunteer army, reported in the letter the great changes in Gilneas, mentioning that the one who might be leading the Scourge at this moment was former Silvermoon City Council Speaker—Dar'Khan Drathir!
After receiving this news, Kael'thas frowned.
Since the last time Aiden entered the Sunstrider Royal Court in spirit form and defeated the High Elf King Anastarian, the king had become increasingly decadent. He locked himself in the royal forge of the palace, reforging the Sunstrider's divine sword, Felo'melorn, almost without sleep.
He forbade anyone from approaching, and would even attack anyone who did not heed his warnings. Even Kael'thas was no exception.
The last time Kael'thas saw his father from a distance, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was fiercely hammering the sword on the anvil. His hair was disheveled, and his originally handsome face was covered with black ash, making him look crazy and paranoid.
Kael'thas could only pray that he would complete the reforging soon, or collapse from exhaustion. Perhaps only then would he rest!
Anasterian completely ignored state affairs, and these matters were basically piled up on Kael'thas. Therefore, he gained a convenient opportunity, an opportunity for the high elves to try to restore friendly relations with the Alliance as much as possible.
It was at his behest that Adri Morningvale was able to bring more than a thousand high elf volunteers. Originally, this decision was opposed by the Silvermoon City Council, but after receiving Adri's report, the opposition had weakened.
Kael'thas decided to send more troops and change the banner to that of Quel'Thalas. This would show his attitude—Silvermoon City will fight the Scourge together with the Alliance!
This time, he decided to send a large army and let a hero who could adequately represent Quel'Thalas lead it—
"Sylvanas, are you willing to represent Quel'Thalas and go to support the Alliance?"
Yes, this ranger-general was one of Quel'Thalas's highest military officers, and she was definitely qualified to represent Silvermoon City.
Moreover, it seemed destined that the Windrunner family and the Alliance were connected: the eldest of the three sisters, Alleria, had represented the high elves in the Second War to support the Alliance. Later, she even led troops across the Dark Portal with the Alliance commander Turalyon and five other heroes to Draenor.
More than ten years had passed, and they all thought that the expedition heroes had sacrificed themselves. Stormwind City even built statues for them in the Valley of Heroes at the city gate, but the last time Kael'thas learned from Aiden that they might all still be alive. Turalyon had even married Alleria and had a mixed-race child named Arator. Although they had disappeared, Aiden firmly believed that they should all still be alive.
And the youngest of the Windrunner sisters, Vereesa, also represented the high elves more than ten years ago and accepted the mission of escorting the Dalaran mage Rhonin, ultimately rescuing the red dragon queen Alexstrasza who was enslaved by the orcs. After ten years of love, the two seemed to have decided to spend their lives together—but Kael'thas heard that her elders seemed to object to this.
Kael'thas himself, as an elf, didn't object. He himself still liked a human girl. Even now, he still admired Jaina Proudmoore.
And now, he had some mischievous thoughts that a prince shouldn't have: Perhaps Sylvanas could also find her other half in the Alliance?