Eastern Tirisfa is directly bordered by the Forest of Yongge, and the city of Stratholme is only a mountain away from the Temple of Dessom, where the Tree of Life Sasalla is located.

Although the distance is very close, after all, it is the first time that Salian has entered this neighboring big city.

The Stratholme Region is one of the wealthiest territories in the kingdom of Lordaeron, and the lords who govern it, the House of Rivendell, have been receiving a lot of help from all over the world.

There is and not only the royal family of Minehir.

In a feudal kingdom like Lordaeron, the lord is hereditary like the king.

Unless the king orders the king to attack and forcibly reclaim the territory, no one has the right to give direct orders to the local people beyond the lord.

The king is no exception.

A sentence said by a netizen in another world that describes this phenomenon well.

A vassal of my vassals, not my vassals.

To translate, the subjects (subordinates) under the lordship of the king are not the direct subjects (subordinates) of the king.

For the kings of the nations, this is especially difficult.

Baron Rivendell's appointed subordinates would only owe allegiance to the Baron himself, and the King had no authority to order them.

This leads to a very fucked up situation.

For example, there is an amazing talent in Barony Stratholme, known to both the king and the baron.

Unless Terenus can recruit Baron Rivendell before he makes a move, the talented man will inevitably fall under the local lord, Baron Rivendell.

In order for Terenus to recruit this talent, he must obtain the advice of both Baron Rivendell and the person being recruited.

Who doesn't want this kind of capable direct subordinate?

From the Baron de Rivendell's point of view, why should I supply the king with the talents produced in my own territory? I'm going to keep it for myself, and it's kind of you pumping me.

When the king wanted to recruit talent, most of the time he was forced to look for it among the nobles under his own jurisdiction.

How many nobles could be under the direct control of the king, and how many commoners were there in the entire kingdom? Which side has a higher chance of producing talent?

Answer: Yes...... Hard.

In this feudal era, hailed as a dark period by the barrage, the education rate of the common people was appallingly low.

Even if civilians have a higher population base, it is not easy to select talents from them, and occasionally a genius with a genetic mutation will be encountered.

On the other hand, the powerful nobles with the territory generally did not follow the king at all times.

Isn't it fragrant to be powerful in your own territory? Why go to all the trouble of giving advice to the king?

So usually, the king's advisors are from small nobles, and they are only fighting for a better future, not really for the country and the people.

According to information detected by Backlight Blade, Stratholme, the far Emperor of the Mountain, has not been fully loyal to the Minethil royal family.

The Rivendell family has long been accustomed to selling at a price, and whoever pays better will go to whichever side it takes.

Just like Quel'Thalas, the kingdom of Lordaeron is not monolithic, and there are also various forces.

In times of war, Terenus was able to hold all the nobles together with a strong hand, and they were united in their appearance.

But once the war is over, the nobles will never follow the king all the time, and most of them will return to their own territory with their troops.

In the eyes of those nobles with high status, the so-called royal family is nothing more than the largest nobleman in the country, and they still have to compete with them according to the established rules, and they can't be foolish, otherwise it will lead to popular uprisings.

The people here do not refer to the commoners at the bottom of society, but to the landlords and wealthy families in the various aristocratic domains.

A territory is a small kingdom, and the lord, like the king, needs a slick and sophisticated skill to control the landlords and gentry in his territory.

The Rivendell family has been operating in Stratholme for many years and has long since integrated the entire region.

Terenus had always been jealous of Stratholme's prosperity and wealth, but he didn't dare to do anything to the Rivendells.

Once the rules are broken, he, the king, will be attacked by a large number of powerful nobles in the country.

Faced with the timely delivery of the grain from the High Elves, Baroness Annastari only thought about it for a moment, and then forgot about the consequences that might upset Terenus, and readily agreed to pay for the grain.

Kael'thas was a generous and honest man, and he didn't plan to make a fortune with this batch of grain, but he took into account the cost of transportation, and the average price of food in Stratholme increased by 20%.

This price increase is understandable and perfectly acceptable to Annastalie.

Of course, Kael'thas was not charitable, and there was something else he wanted to deliver this grain to Stratholme.

But there was no need to tell the Baroness in detail about these words, and even if she had a guess in her heart, Annastari would assume that she did not know.

Stratholme was too close to Quel'Thalas, and too far from the royal city of Lordaeron, so there was no need to offend the High Elves for Tyrenus's personal preferences.

Upon learning that Count Deepshadow had personally delivered food to Stratholme, Annastari was surprised and politely welcomed Saljan and the others into the Lord's Palace.

As for the grain, it was only natural that there would be a sophisticated merchant who would talk to the purchasing officer of the Stratholme side, and there would be no need for Salian to worry about it.

……

By the time Quel'Thalas's convoy arrived in Stratholme, the battle in front of the watchtower on the East Wall was nearing its end.

Due to the lack of food, the army under the command of Baron Rivendell was relatively low, and its performance in the face of the rotten moss trolls who lacked troops and armor was not satisfactory.

The two sides started a tug-of-war in the area of the east wall watchtower, and you came and went for several days in a row, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner for a while.

The rotten moss trolls are more determined, and they are not afraid to wear shoes barefoot anyway.

Baron Rivendell, however, became more and more agitated.

With the road leading to the Chapel of Light's Wish blocked by the Moss Trolls, the unsupplied Stratholme army was never able to recover.

Seeing the little food left to be consumed day by day, Baron Rivendell scratched his ears and cheeks in a hurry.

Just as he was about to give the soldiers their last full meal and desperately break through the defense line of the watchtower on the east wall, the moss troll camp where the old god was originally there suddenly rioted.

Baron Rivendell didn't know what was happening, and he ordered his soldiers to be vigilant and ready to attack.

However, to the Baron's surprise, the rotten moss troll actually left behind the results of the battle that he had finally gnawed, and left the East Wall guard tower without hesitation and hurried north.

“…… What the heck? ”

Baron Rivendell looked at the rotten moss trolls as the tide receded.

Alerted by the attendant, he shook his head vigorously, forcing himself to concentrate.

"No matter, first recapture the East Wall watchtower, let Mula go to the Chapel of the Holy Light's Wish to ask for food and grass support, hurry!"

"Yes!"

It wasn't until 2 days later that the well-fed and well-fed Courier restarted with the latest news on the city of Stratholme.

Quel'Thalas' dragon knight forces blitzed Zumashal, the stronghold of the Rotten Moss Trolls, forcing them to hand over the remnants of Amani who had fled there.

Knowing that his hometown had been attacked, the Rotten Moss Troll Chief could only give up the idea of continuing to expand his territory and led his army back to help.

"High Elf ......"

The current Baron Rivendell is a middle-aged man of extraordinary bearing, and when he learns that Quel'Salas has sent a dragon knight force to force the rotten trolls to withdraw, he can't grasp the reason behind this for a moment.

"With the arrogance of the High Elves and the confidence in their own national power, it is impossible to be frightened by the threatening words of Terenus, right?"

"So why did they send troops?"

The Chapel of the Light's Wish is an important stronghold of the Silver Hand in the Eastern Tirisfa region, where a large number of paladins who died heroically in the Second Orc War are dormant.

At the same time, the headquarters of the Knights of the Silver Hand, the Temple of Light, is hidden beneath this cathedral.

After receiving an invitation to the Chapel of the Light's Wish, Baron Rivendell did not dare to hold it up, and personally rushed to the cathedral with several attendants.

Upon arriving at his destination, Baron Rivendell unexpectedly meets two people who are not supposed to be here.

"Alfred, Barry? How did you end up here? ”

Alfred Abydis, Lord of the Hand of Tyr and one of the veteran paladins of the Knights of the Silver Hand.

Barry Westwin, Admiral Lordaeron, has his fleet docked in the harbor behind the Hand of Tyr all year round, closely monitoring the movements of the High Elf navy to the north.

Baron Rivendell's political sensitivity is not low, and the simultaneous appearance of these two people has some speculation in his mind.

"Is there any order from one of Terenus's subordinates to give me? You might as well put it bluntly. ”