In the Elwyn Forest on the southern continent of the Eastern Kingdom, this area suitable for humans and animals is not only the most important territory of the Human Stormwind Kingdom, but also the capital of the Stormwind Kingdom.

Because the Storm Kingdom itself is close to the equatorial line of the planet Azeroth, the land is between the tropics and subtropics, and the Elwyn Forest is adjacent to the endless sea to the west, under the dual influence of the marine climate environment and the Azeroth climate zone, the Alwyn Forest of the Storm Kingdom is very pleasant, the sky is often clear, and the four seasons are like spring, it is an excellent place for human beings to thrive!

Although Stormwind was destroyed by the Orcs during the First War of the Orc Invasion, in the sixth year of the Dark Gate, after the Alliance defeated the Orcs and destroyed the Dark Gate, the magnates and refugees of the Stormwind Kingdom returned to restore their homes.

They later hired a large number of workers and members of the Stonemasons' Guild to once again build an even more majestic stone fortress on the ruins of the former Stormwind City, which had been ravaged by orcs! It is precisely because of this incident that there is a matter of the Brotherhood of Defia later, and it is not because of the fact that the Stormwind Kingdom is in debt?

The Brotherhood of Stonemasons has so many mouths to eat, and they have worked hard to rebuild another majestic Stormwind City for your Stormwind Kingdom, but what is the result? After repairing, you Stormwind actually fell on the debt...... even played a procrastination trick on the hard-earned money of migrant workers, and this delay is no different from defaulting on debts.

So, can Van Cleef not riot? If you have a problem in Stormwind City, there will be no difficulty in the stonemasons' union? Besides, where is the contract written in black and white, the stonemasons completed the siege on schedule, but you Stormwind City came to the end: No money?

It is precisely because of this that the armed conflict between the two sides will continue to escalate, and it will develop more and more serious in the later period. And it is precisely because the Brotherhood has always been at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Stormwind City, for this reason, a certain black dragon girl who has an inexplicable relationship with the Brotherhood of Defia will entrust her brother who is far away in Blackstone Mountain to use the special power of the black dragon to forge a powerful two-handed sword for the Brotherhood, that is-Ashkandi, the Sword of the Brotherhood, which aims to balance the balance of power between the two sides, and has reached some kind of ulterior conspiracy of hers. That's why the Sword of the Brotherhood is so powerful, and it also has a dragon-shaped decorative hilt. (Pure speculation)

It's a pity that in the original timeline, before this powerful two-handed sword could be delivered, it was caused by a group of foot men, and there was no such thing as a brother's bullshit when the sword of the brotherhood came out......

Well, I won't go into more detail when it happened before, it was a headless public case, and under the mixture of various factors, each had its own reason, so in the end, the Brotherhood and the Stormwind Kingdom could only draw knives and talk!

And now, on the edge of the cliffs and mountains to the northeast of Stormwind, stands a huge white rock fortress, which is the heart of Stormwind - Stormwind Fortress. This castle is the crystallization of the blood and sweat of the original stonemasons union!

Perched on a cliff in the northern part of the city, this massive stone fortress not only guarded Stormwind, but also provided an ideal and safe place for the king and the rest of the city's nobles.

At this time, in the King's Hall of the main building of the Stormwind Fortress, Katrana? Countess Presto and the kingdom's high-ranking Boval? Is Duke Vortagan assisting Varian? King Ureon handles some of the military and political affairs of the Stormwind Kingdom.

Originally, Katrana? Madame Presto was not entitled to accompany the King in the administration of the country with the Duke of Boval in the King's Hall. It's just that at that time, when this beautiful and well-informed countess came to Stormwind City, she quickly won the appreciation of Duke Berval, and soon rose to the top of the political circle of Stormwind Kingdom, and by now, she has a very good influence.

For this countess, there are a lot of rumors in the aristocratic circles of the Stormwind Kingdom. Actually, many people think that it must be Bolval who has a crush on the young and beautiful Catlana? Ms. Presto, that's why she can let the other party fly up to the top of the Storm Kingdom like a rocket, this guy who is almost middle-aged must be in spring, and he wants the old cow to eat tender grass! But this is also human nature, and it's no wonder that such a tender girl, who doesn't want it without knowing the true identity of the other party?

Otherwise, how could he go to great lengths to support this countess on the throne for no reason? After all these years, he has taken less care of this lady? As long as you are not blind, anyone can see what kind of dirty thoughts this guy is thinking in his heart! This is the so-called playing with fire and self-immolation, and in the original timeline, this also faintly laid the groundwork for his later ending.

"By the way, is there anything particularly important in our Storm Kingdom recently?"

King Varian? Ureon dropped a document and quill in his hand and asked the two assistants standing nearby. Dealing with these trivial chores every day, he was already very impatient. It is precisely because of this that in normal times, most of the time, inconsequential government affairs, he makes friends with the two people in front of him to deal with them, and he is happy to be idle, and only when he encounters some important events, as a king, he will ask a question.

"My Majesty, there is nothing particularly important, that is, some things related to the Brotherhood of Defia, and recently, they have ......"

Before Duke Bervar could speak, Katrana? Countess Priss smiled and stepped forward, and began to report something, of course she knew that King Varian did not like to hear about the Brotherhood of Defia, but she did not know why, and always picked the right time to report these things that upset His Majesty the most, and each time it always achieved the effect she expected.

"Alright, I get a headache when I talk about the Brotherhood of Defia! Okay, okay, I'll trouble you two for this matter first, I'll go out for a walk first, and then something like this later, you two will discuss it. ”

Sure enough, as soon as he heard Countess Katrana say the words Fidia Brotherhood, King Varian couldn't sit still any longer!

This is a thorn in his heart that can never be removed. As soon as he talked about it, his heart ached! Anyway, there is nothing big about the current Stormwind Kingdom, it's just that some nobleman is desperate for luxury or corruption, or the Brotherhood of Defia has come out to make trouble again, and so on...... He, Varian, has had enough of this!

In fact, what King Varian didn't know was that whether it was the Black Dragons and Black Stone Orcs who were making trouble in the Burning Plains, or the riots of the Stonemasons' Guild workers, or the fact that the noble officials of Stormwind City were becoming more and more corrupt, they were all inextricably linked to the Countess of Catlana, whom he regarded as an important minister of the kingdom!

"Yes, my majesty."

Countess Catlana made a ladylike salute, and when she saw the king go away, she turned to look at the Duke of Boval beside her, with a smirk.

"Your Excellency, Tell me, what should we do now about this Brotherhood of Defia? Continued repression? Or just let it go? ”

Katrana raised the roll of parchment in her hand, which was written about the recent misdeeds committed by the troublesome masons and the pleas for reinforcements.

"Alas...... Katrana, I don't really want to care about this matter, since it has been reported to you, then you can handle it in secret. ”

Bolval shook his head, he also found the matter of the Brotherhood of Defia tricky. The repression has also been suppressed, the fight has been beaten, and the talk has been discussed! After so many years, Stormwind still has no way to deal with each other!

Anyway, he Bovar has already understood that this incident of the Brotherhood was originally the fault of the Stormwind Kingdom, and it was the Kingdom that first violated the contract and owed them a large amount of gold coins, and in the end, it was the regrettable affair that contributed to the other party's armed rebellion under various karmic coincidences.

Now, the two sides can only continue to confront each other like this, anyway, there should be a day when it will subside!

Of course, there is no way to solve this problem perfectly, but unless the Storm Kingdom is willing to pay several times more compensation than the gold coins that breached the contract at the beginning, and promises not to hold anyone on the other side accountable, there may still be a slight possibility of negotiation.

But...... Stormwind City, the entire Stormwind Kingdom can't come up with this money at all!

You know, this is the wages of all the craftsmen who built the entire Stormwind City in the first place, the wages and materials for building such a main city, this amount is too large, and Duke Berval is very flustered when he thinks about it! It's no wonder that His Majesty doesn't want to care about this matter, and he doesn't want to face these things even if he is at a loss!

Now, with their Stormwind Kingdom losing a considerable part of its mines and farmland due to the Brotherhood of Defia, the kingdom's treasury is already quite tight! Where can we come up with those multiples of compensation to come out and negotiate? Not to mention several times, they can't even take out half of the arrears of wages now!

What's more, if you add to this the fact that there is widespread corruption and extravagance among the aristocratic officials at the moment, it is already very good to be able to maintain the treasury without a deficit! If it weren't for the fact that the Black Dragons and Black Stone Orcs on the other side of the Burning Plains had suddenly stopped making noise for some reason, maybe Stormwind City's financial situation would have been in deficit and facing collapse!

Therefore, the current approach of the Storm Kingdom is: since you can't pay back the money, and you can't afford to pay several times the liquidated damages, then continue to suppress it...... There will come a time when it will be completely suppressed! By then, perhaps...... You really don't have to pay back this money, right?

"Okay."

The countess nodded slightly, understanding the attitude of the king and the duke on the matter.

"Then, Lord Duke, there is also an official letter from the four countries of the Northern Continent, in which they said: The Kingdom of Quel'Salas, the Kingdom of Lordaeron, the Hammer Dwarves of Eagle's Nest Mountain, and the newly emerged Flame Kingdom have officially formed an alliance two days ago, and now, the original Lordaeron Alliance no longer exists! In the future, the external affairs of the four countries will be handled by this newly established Flame Alliance...... It seems that their alliance is very closely linked! ”

Countess Katrana roughly explained the contents of Gong Han at least, and then looked at the duke, and smiled slightly, fascinating Berval for a moment.

This official letter was passed by the hands of the High Elf envoys who left yesterday, and here, only they still have such a little connection between Stormwind City and the north, and now, as soon as their envoys leave, the dwarves of the Southern Stormwind Kingdom and Ironforge Castle have temporarily lost contact with the countries of the northern continent.

"Lord Duke, what should we do about this? Do you want to try to get back to this Flame Alliance? Or...... Still waiting to report to His Majesty the King for personal handling? ”

For the flame kingdom that suddenly appeared and was composed of fire elemental beings, Katrana seemed to have heard her brother talk about it in a few words, and the strength of the other party should not be underestimated.

It seems that they are inextricably linked to Ragnaros, the Fire Demon King at the bottom of the Blackstone Mountain, who was beaten by the queen of the other party when he captured the Fire Eagle in the mountains of Lordaeron. Later, there was a fight between him and Ragnaros and both lost. This is also the reason why the Black Stone Orcs and Black Dragons who have recently burned the Plains no longer dare to make trouble and toss the Storm Kingdom, and they have all contracted their strength to guard against the Fire Demon and the Black Iron Dwarf below the Black Rock Mountain......

Katrana has been annoyed by this! It was because of her incompetent brother's chaos that her recent arrangements had been disrupted a lot, and without the containment of those black dragons and black stone orcs, the Storm Kingdom suddenly calmed down a lot! If this kingdom is allowed to develop slowly like this, it is seriously inconsistent with her original intention!

"Forget it, King Varian has already stated that we and Ironforge will refuse to recognize the Flame Kingdom of that Raushzi, and of course, they will not recognize their Flame Alliance! The matter was put on hold for the time being, neither replying nor admitting it! By the way, you can inform MI7 later, and let them start sending people to the north, set up intelligence stations, and try to collect a little more information! ”

Frowning and thinking for a while, Duke Boval quickly decided on a plan to deal with it.

In fact, he had always been very incomprehensible about this, why those people of Lordaeron would allow those fire elementals to build a country on their original land? And now they even took the initiative to form an alliance together? It's incredible! It's just that in the case of serious asymmetry of intelligence, it is not easy for him to judge the other party's thoughts, so he can only deal with it like this for the time being!

"We don't know anything about the state of affairs in the north now, and we have to rely on other people's envoys to know a little bit about it, which is ridiculous in the past! So, Katrana, this needs to be done quickly! ”

That's all they can do now, besides, the continent to the south and the north are separated by a strait and a large area of undead infested areas! The affairs of their northerners, even if they want to interfere in the Storm Kingdom, they can't get out of it!

What's more, there are still a lot of broken things in their Storm Kingdom now, just like the Brotherhood of Phidia just now, as well as the Burning Plains in the east, where is there time to take care of others when they are currently too busy to take care of themselves?

"Okay, I'll tell them to go down later, and let them prepare for this task as soon as possible."

Katrana nodded, and took all these documents into her arms, and the power was unconsciously in her hands. And the King Varian and the Duke of Bolval were still unaware, and she couldn't help but laugh a little happily, and looked at Bolvar on the other side stunned.

"Your Excellency, then, I'll go back first, and if I'm free another day, I'll invite you to lunch and see you tomorrow."

"Good...... Ok ......"

It wasn't until the shadow of Countess Catlana completely disappeared from the door that Boval barely came to his senses, and then, rubbing his chin and beard, not knowing what he was thinking, after a long while, he strode away humming a little song under the puzzled and envious eyes of the guards of Stormwind.

……

On the second day of the official establishment of the Flame Alliance, braving the cold north wind, the City of Fire once again dispatched their army of fire elements, and nearly 50,000 of them were ordered by the Grand Governor of Shane Knox to go to Quel'Thalas and Hinterland to help the High Elves and Hammer Dwarves clean up the undead who are still wandering around in the last month of winter.

And the queen of the Flame Kingdom, Her Majesty Anne, the leader of the Flame Alliance, disappeared early in the morning the day after the alliance was formed......

Brian, the youngest of the three Copperbeard Dwarf brothers? Brass beard, he and his second brother Muradin? Copperbeard is a very active member of the Explorers' Guild, and at the same time, Brian? Copperbeard is also one of the founders of the Explorers' Guild.

Originally, Brian and Samur? Together, the two of them established the explorer's organization. Their mission is to search every corner of the world of Azeroth, searching for the treasures left behind by the Titans of Creation, and at the same time gathering information about the history, people, and culture of the world of Azeroth into the world's largest library.

As one of the founders and chief members of this organization, Brian has vowed to personally travel to every corner of the world of Azeroth and discover all the secrets of Azeroth.

In Brian's original plan, he planned to set off in another year or two, but when he saw the raging undead on the northern continent, he couldn't sit still any longer, and he decided to explore the eastern continent in advance, maybe when would he use the geographic information he explored?

So, he Brian? Copperbeard had set out from Ironforge a long time ago, passing through the Elwyn Forest and the Wild West, and then to the south in the Valley of Thorns, where he had come into danger for the first time after compiling and sending back his last report on the misty forest!

Because, he discovers the ruins of an ancient city hidden in the deepest part of the Valley of Thorns, but he is also surrounded by a horde of savage forest troll headhunters, and he almost dies.

Eventually, however, he managed to escape, because he met a strange little girl mage, who had beaten away the horrible ogre trolls who were said to be very fond of eating intelligent creatures.

"Thank you so much for your help! Little Mage, Brian? Copperbeard will always remember your help. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be here to confess! ”

After hacking to death a troll headhunter who still intends to resist with an axe, Brian? Brass sat down on the ground and gasped for breath, and at the same time turned his head to thank the little girl who had just helped him a lot.

"That's right! How did you end up in this place? ”

Brian was very curious about such a little girl appearing in this inaccessible place where trolls were sadistic, wasn't she afraid that the trolls would take her back and cook her?

"I'm not a little mage! People have names, you can call me Annie! The reason why I helped you just now was just a chance encounter when I was passing by! So why are you here? Bearded dwarfs? ”

Little Anne has been a bit bored lately, she has been playing a lot of places, originally, she has been playing there in the northern continent. It's just that the northern continent is now in the cold winter season, and there is ice and snow everywhere, which is cold and not fun, and she doesn't like it very much.

Therefore, this time she came to a long-distance teleportation in one breath and went directly to the south here, but she didn't want to meet such a bearded dwarf who was besieged by man-eating monsters here. At first, she thought that this was the same as the group of dwarves who had just come to her castle and eaten and drank in the sea, so she helped him a little.

"Okay, Honorable Master Anne, let me introduce you formally, my name is Brian? Copperbeard, is a Copperbeard dwarf from Ironforge Castle. At the same time, I am also an adventure enthusiast and I came here to continue my adventure! ”

Brian begins to formally introduce himself as an explorer who has long been determined to travel the world of Azeroth, and coming to this valley of thorns is just the first stop on his adventure.

On the contrary, it is this little human girl who looks clean, and her appearance here seems to be abnormal, right? He Brian never remembered that there would be signs of human activity here to the south.

"Huh? Explorer? Sounds so powerful, is there anything else going on here? ”

When she first came here, Anne didn't like the climate and environment of this forest very much, she walked around a little, and it seemed that there was nothing good to eat or play here, and if she hadn't happened to meet such a dwarf just now, she would have been ready to teleport away.

"Fun? It doesn't seem like anything, right? I just got word from the troll's carving that there is a shrine to the east of them, and I'm going to head east to continue my expedition in the troll's ruined shrine. ”

This news was an important piece of information he had discovered from a carving on a stone tablet of their trolls when he had just explored the ruins of the trolls, and it seemed that it was the ruins of a city in the ancient troll empire, and now the sacred place of their trolls. For this, he Brian said that he should study it well, this is one of the important topics of his expedition, and it must not be missed.

"Huh? Shrine? Explore? Sounds like fun...... So, I'll go with you for a few days! ”

Anne thought about it seriously, it seemed that the adventure or something, it sounded quite interesting, and she decided, let's just play here for a few days! On the side of the Flame Kingdom, there is nothing to think about, and even if there is, she will not bother to care about the fun things that she will encounter!

"Do you live nearby? Don't you need to go home? ”

Seeing this little girl planning to go on an adventure with herself, Brian? Copperbeard was a little surprised. She's supposed to be a human, right? Her family is so relieved that she comes out to play like this? Although I just looked at the other party's spell casting methods, I think I can be regarded as a relatively powerful mage, but after all, she is still a little girl, right? What should I do if I run into a powerful enemy?

"My house is not here anymore, it's far away from the north! Besides, I'm a powerful mage, and no one can control me now! If I want to go back, just open the portal and swoop to go back! ”

Little Anne looked at Brian who was covered in dirt with disdain, he guessed he had been walking here on two legs, right? She won't be running around like him all the time, if she wants to go back, she can teleport back to the palace of the City of Flames at any time, the master is so awesome, if she wants to go back, just read the note and open the door!

Little Anne remembers that a few days ago, a little north, she had met a group of adventurers, who, knowing her abilities, had begged her to open a short portal for them, and had paid her a hundred gold coins after removing the treasure chests they had found.

"Well, you're still amazing!"

Brian? Copperbeard muttered quietly, the master will open the portal, and he knows about the long-distance teleportation. This kind of spell is really too convenient, especially for Brian, who likes to explore, if he knows this kind of spell, it can greatly facilitate his hobby of exploration. It's a pity that Brian can't learn this kind of high-end magic, he's an explorer now, and he's just a warrior who is not very good at fighting!

"Wait, I'll get something!"

After beckoning the bearded dwarf who was packing up her things and preparing to leave, little Anne hurriedly trotted into a jungle, seeming to rummage through it.

"You...... You put it down! That...... It was a velociraptor egg, and they were the fiercest hunters in the jungle! Once you find out you've taken their eggs, they'll follow the scent in droves, and you'll be in big trouble! ”

When Brian finished packing up his things and packages, and saw little Anne coming out of the grass, holding a huge white round egg in his left and right hands, he was so frightened that he quickly screamed and planned to step forward to stop it, and it was better to put the eggs back before the velociraptors returned, and at the same time try to remove or cover up the smell that remained on them, otherwise, it would definitely be a big deal.

Of course he knew these eggs, they were velociraptor eggs! These crazy jungle hunters are the most ferocious and the most protective of the cubs! If they find out that their eggs are gone, that's a problem! Brian, who is an explorer in his own right, knows this very well, in the wild, at any time, never steal the eggs or cubs of fierce beasts, in that case, he will definitely get himself into great trouble, this little girl is really too messy!

"Cut, aren't they velociraptors, I'm not afraid of them!"

Little Anne carefully stuffed the two eggs into her own pocket under Brian's terrified gaze, and she was going to take them back for the chefs to make them delicious for her! When the two eggs were put together with the large pile that had been put in, she patted the stain on her hand and said with a relaxed expression.

"Last time there was a huge and fierce Tyrannosaurus rex, and it was so stingy that it wouldn't give me its eggs, and then I grabbed it back to my house and asked my chefs to roast it whole and eat it! Hum! ”

If those velociraptors dare to chase after them, it would be great! Little Anne has recently eaten big dinosaurs, great white sharks, and if they dare to come, she doesn't mind changing their tastes! I just don't know, are those velociraptors delicious, and do they have a lot of meat on their bodies?

"Well, whatever you want, but I warn you! If you follow me, I won't be able to take care of you if there is danger, and when the time comes, I will definitely run away! ”

Seeing this little girl like this, Brian, who didn't know whether to live or die and had rich experience in surviving in the jungle, hurriedly warned him. If the velociraptors really chased after him, he Brian would have a lot of escape experience, and when the time came, he wouldn't care about this little girl!

"Don't worry, I will never drag you down! I'm very strong, and when it comes to escaping, you're definitely not as good as me! If I really want to escape, all I need to do is use the teleportation spell, swoop and I'll be gone! ”

If it were just this wild animal, Anne would never have thought of running away or anything! She said that if you come to one end, you will catch one end, and if you come to two ends, you will catch a pair, and if you come to a large group...... Then put a fear spell to scare them away!

Besides, they're just a bunch of velociraptors, not a bunch of dragons, so what's there to worry about? Isn't it just a matter of eating a few eggs? Dare to come to her to make trouble?

"You, you...... All right...... Count you ruthless! Let's get out of here as soon as possible! ”

These words simply left Brian speechless...... Very good! You're the Master, you run fast! But he Brian can't run fast! Is this irresponsible approach still called not dragging him down? So what is dragging?

But now is not the time to argue about this, and when the velociraptors come back, they won't be able to tell him Brian who stole their eggs! So, the most correct thing to do now is to get out of here as fast as possible, and maybe, when they reach the territory of other animals, they won't dare to chase after them, right?

Just now, at the beginning, Brian naively thought that it would be his lucky day to meet this little girl mage today, so that he would not become food in the mouth of the troll headhunter. But now it seems that he is really too naïve, and at the moment, it is nothing more than the difference between the food of the velociraptor and the food of the trolls!