Chương 26: Chapter 25

[Your Crafting attribute has increased from 9 to 10! Crafting perk point gained.] [Your Magical Crafting skill has increased from 9 to 10! Magical Crafting perk point gained.] [Your Bonesinging skill has increased from 9 to 10! Bonesinging perk point gained.] Well, unsurprisingly, as her crafting abilities reached level 10, the information she received was mostly related to giving her creations the same kind of existence reinforcing effects she herself required to go beyond level 10 in attributes and skills related to her own body. The interesting part was the varied list of methods to achieve that. While creations and artifacts did require their existence to be reinforced, due to their non-living nature the methods were also different.

The important thing about creations was that it was the world, magic itself, and the people both in the form of the creator and those knowing about the creation that gave them meaning and power. Thus, the things that gave items power could be slightly abstract as well. The simplest method came from the materials. Using high quality materials reinforced an item's existence even without any fancy tricks.

The interesting part was that the materials used could affect the product in ways that were not obvious just by physics or science. For instance, using the scales of a dragon gave armor a lot of meaning, even if the dragon scales physically might be weaker than properly treated, tempered, and forged thorium. It was because the scales came from a dragon, and dragon scales were widely accepted to be strong, that gave the process extra meaning.

Similarly, something like Mooncloth, which derived its name from being imbued with the power of the Kaldorei Moonwells was considered one of purest materials available, and thus innately magical, even if the Moonwells didn't, by the laws of physics or even common sense, make the material any stronger. That's just how magic worked, and if that didn't give Selessa a headache by the sheer absurdity of it all, then nothing did.

Just imagining that sprinkling fairy dust on an item made it more powerful, even if it really, really shouldn't made her forehead throb with annoyance. Second really important factor was the maker. If the creator was widely accepted by the general public, and perhaps even the world and magic, to be a great craftsman, then anything they created would benefit from that recognition.

Anything enchanted by Ron'vith was stronger, just because Ron'vith was the one doing it, all aside from the fact that the man was a genius and an artist. The third factor was if a certain item was identified with a certain powerful individual, a concept, or even a nation. Anasterian's sword Felo'melorn symbolized the Sunstrider dynasty. The item wasn't powerful just due to its creation, but also its association with the ruling house of the Quel'dorei. In that sense, an item could grow in power after creation.

That effect usually only applied to a single item per person. You couldn't have your entire equipment be iconically associated with your legend. That usually meant a magister's staff, a warriors primary weapon, or a ranger's bow. Fourth were the circumstances of creation. For instance, creating items in the vicinity of the Sunwell conferred on them some power of existence. Or if some famous crafter or person created an item with the specific purpose of defeating a legendary foe.

Or something forged in the heart of a volcano, or the den of dragons. Item created in the frozen tundra of Northrend and using the heart of a huge ice giant would have great powers of ice and frost just by the process of creation and the materials, no matter what other materials of magic were used. Combining any and all of these effects of course made items even more powerful. And very interestingly, it allowed the creator to confer on them effects that would not normally be possible.

For instance, something like an item being indestructible by anyone from a certain species, which scientifically made no sense, but the concept could be forged into the item if it had enough power of existence. Such concepts often allowed truly magnificent creations to become more than the sum of their parts. This all flashed through Selessa's mind as she got up from her bed in Luminarion, the city forming in the center of Alah'thalas.

In recent years, she'd focused on managing the area, and improving the lot of those that moved in. Luminarion in particular had grown quickly, partially because it was where the power from both Starwells overlapped and because it was the spiritual center of the new area. The fact that her presence in the city was a major reason for it becoming a spiritual center was a thought better left alone.

In any case, the city had become a major crossroads where goods from all the other new cities in Alah'thalas gathered, and it was the heartland of farming food and many magical crops. Fruit gardens and fields of various crops surrounded the city on all sides, except the lake of course. It was also where the Church of Light had made its home, which alone made it a popular destination for the Quel'dorei.

The Light had become the major religion of the Quel'dorei, and now a good 70% of the population were rather fervent believers. Even the most cynical of the rest couldn't deny the efficacy and the results provided. Luminarion now had almost three hundred thousand inhabitants, and provided opportunities for countless new aspiring artisans. Emberforge in the northwest rivaled Luminarion in smiths and miners, but other than that anomaly, the Luminarion had the most and the best of everything in Alah'thalas.

The city was built on the northern shore of a large lake getting its waters from Darrowmere lake and the nearby mountains. The southern side of the lake was home to many quarries. The stone from the quarries was a major source of income, as it was moved with boats along the rivers to all three of the new cities, all of which were hungry for construction materials as the number of settlers increased.

Lumber was bought mostly from Lower Quel'thalas, which was another source of stone as well, though there was enough market for multiple sources. Lumber in particular was in high demand all over the kingdom, as the Fortress of Dawn and even Silvermoon's shipyards were busy churning out more warships. As the mandatory ten-year military training affected an increasing number of Quel'dorei, more and more of them signed up to become professional soldiers.

Marines were in constant demand by the new ships, and Admiral Goldleaf was constantly requesting more Sin'dorei to serve on his ships to fill in for the marine positions he couldn't fill. The new cities and towns also needed guards, both to keep out any dangers and to keep law and order. Rangers roamed both the elven lands and those of their neighbors, keeping out any wildlife and locating any budding dangers.

Sin'dorei and the paladins also saw a constant influx of recruits as the young, and even a bit older, Quel'dorei saw the respect they got, and the focused purpose they all seemed to have in their life. Martial pursuits really were reaching similar levels of respect as magisters, though skilled magisters still held the most esteemed positions due to the ubiquity of magic in the daily life of their people.

As soon as she was dressed and out of her temporary room at the inn, one of the Sin'dorei guarding her door pointed towards the stairs, where a very particular elf was waiting.

"He does not give up easily, does he?" Selessa whispered, causing the guards to chuckle in both sympathy and amusement.

"Elorien." She nodded at the man, a magical engineer of rather prodigious skill.

"What is it this time?"

"Why not make the palace fly?" The man asked excitedly, even without greeting her first. It was kind of refreshing actually.

"First of all, I'm not sure we want to call it a palace. The governor's mansion perhaps. Maybe even Grand Duke's mansion if we're feeling pompous, but palaces are for kings." She pointed out.

"Secondly, why make it fly? Even assuming we could do it, what possible function does that serve?"

"We already have several floating islands. I'm simply suggesting we make one bigger and float on purpose. Secondly, it could be a security feature, and it's also a rather magnificent show of power and majesty. I've been given the impression that politics and life as nobility is half theater and grand gestures anyway. Thirdly, I was also under the impression that we're creating an empire. That's what the speeches said at least. Empires consist of several kingdoms.

Clearly one would be Alah'thalas, while Quel'thalas is the other one. Both need a king or a queen. Hence a palace." Elorien argued. His words were rather eloquent and on point, but Selessa knew he only bothered making the arguments because he wanted to get to do the project. He did make some points though.

"I'll give you the palace bit, but a floating palace has a rather glaring security flaw. What if someone succeeds in turning off the flying? A floating palace is nice, but a falling one is rather lethal for everyone involved. And depending on height and mass, for the entire bloody city."

"We could install safety features." Elorien insisted defensively.

"Uh-huh. And prey tell, what would happen to those safety features if someone chucked an anti-magic field right around the palace?" She asked pointedly.

"Well, that depends. My most ambitious plans include having a third dedicated Starwell installed inside the palace. I don't think any anti-magic technique or artifact could quash an entire Starwell, and as long as the Starwell is directly tied to the floating and safety features, it should be safe. Having the Starwell would make the palace also somewhat mobile, so we could float it above the lake if you're worried." Elorien outlined his plans.

"Hold on. You said mobile" She lifted a hand, suddenly considering other possibilities.

"I think I might've gotten an idea. If we make the thing a floating fortress, we could potentially move it to other cities and use it as a mobile defensive platform, right?"

"That's not really what palaces are for. I'd recommend separate plan for that. It would probably be a better idea as a flying vessel of some kind, like one of those new ships the navy is building. If we could make one fly, would that not be much easier?" Elorien pivoted his argument.

"Yes, yes it would. We don't have extra Starwells though." She muttered, potential ideas forming. Ideas that were very basic in nature, but ideas nonetheless. Even unarmed, such a ship would provide a major benefit, allowing them to drop troops into potential conflicts. There was a reason the Aeldari used drop troops like Swooping Hawks after all.

"You know what, draw your plans for the palace. I'll see what I can do." She hadn't even considered forming a third Starwell in Alah'thalas, but it was doable. Doing it just to make a palace fly would be stupid beyond all measure, but just the kind of stupid that would impress people. Such visible symbols of power did have their place after all. She was more into the flying ship idea, though she didn't have any of the engineering knowledge to make it happen.

Her current skill in the Crafting skill Nature was about on the level of 'hammer goes bonk'. It did warrant a thought though…

"Ambassador Nallorath." Anasterian said with a tinge of pride in his voice. In addition to officially taking over as an ambassador from Selessa as her job was done, he had also become the governor of the colony in Kalimdor, now named Fortress of Dusk, partly as a joke at the Kaldorei, whose name translated into Night Elves. Yes, they named a military outpost due to a pun.

"You had some news in addition to your standard report." The full Convocation was present, including Ranger-General Alleria and Selessa as her role as the Saint. They had these meetings every month or so unless something urgent needed to be addressed. As their holdings grew, so did the need to keep up to date with everything going on. As such, the governors of each outpost were also present, although they weren't called that of course. They were all still classified as magisters, with the exception of Selessa.

"I do indeed. The Kaldorei have finally managed to track the Keeper who instigated the attack on our original embassy." Nallorath reported.

"Only took them bloody ten years." Rathuron Brightwing commented just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"In their defense, they had to request the personal participation of the Green Dragon Aspect, Ysera. Keeper Varethos hid his tracks well." Nallorath felt the need to be a bit diplomatic about it.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense. I'm sure we'd all like a bit of revenge." Lady Noraeen urged.

"The Keeper has been traced to the area holding Word Tree Shaladrassil, near where the old Kaldorei city of Suramar used to reside. It also happens to be the grove where Cenarius first taught the arts of druidism to the Kaldorei." Nallorath revealed.

"That's…wait. Isn't Suramar under the ocean?" Ron'vith asked in clear confusion.

"Apparently not the entire area is underwater. They did manage to provide approximate coordinates to where that place would be today. I worked with Admiral Goldleaf to triangulate the location, and as it would happen, we did pass some islands in the area while traveling between Quel'thalas and Kalimdor." Nallorath had done his work admirably.

"…the islands we exiled the remaining Amani to with the assistance of the Red Dragonflight?" Selessa asked with sudden realization.

"Well. That decision and combination most certainly won't come back to haunt us." Anasterian said sarcastically.

"What's the problem? We can just go in and kill this Keeper, no?" Rathuron asked as everyone else was grimacing.

"Kind of, though not really." Melevedon explained.

"Depends on if the two have joined forces. Part of our agreement with the Red Dragonflight for the rather massive endeavor of relocating so many trolls was that we wouldn't interfere with the remaining trolls if they stayed out of our way. The Reds wouldn't move them if we were just going follow them and keep killing them." The representative of House Carmine nodded at that. He personally wasn't a dragon, but Selessa's eyes told her the man was some sort of Dragonkin.

"And I would argue that the treaty holds here, since if the two have made contact, it happened after the attack, so the trolls were not party to the attack. We could petition his return. Depending on if they've made contact and what kind, the trolls might not care. And refuse just to spite us. Or they might be feeling smart and hand the Keeper over just to avoid further issues."

"I'll send some agents to feel things out and look for this Keeper." Anasterian promised, meaning that Queen Elessine would do that. Her role as the spymaster was still somewhat of a secret.

"Just keep in mind that the nature in the area will be under the Keeper's control, and any spies detected by that nature might end up captured." Selessa suggested.

"He really did choose his refuge well, even if this was not a planned thing. We can still get to him, but it's going to be extremely bothersome."

"We'll focus on that later. How's the Fortress of Dusk?" Anasterian asked Nallorath.

"It's developing well. We've completed most of the city, and we have enough personnel to maintain our current state. We'll slowly increase our population, but most of our personnel are still military and their families. Our farms produce enough food, and we're even building some destroyers to patrol the sea. We're doing well. Almost self-sufficient. We could use one or two arcane crystals just to boost our ambient magic.

Ashenvale provides 95% of what we need, but since we moved further away, we could use a bit of a boost." He summarized.

"Alah'thalas?" Anasterian turned to Selessa, Melevedon, Ratthuron, and Lady Noraeen.

"Emberforge is doing great. Better than I could've hoped. House Drathir doesn't even need to support the city financially, as we produce so much wealth on our own. Our population has risen to almost seventy thousand. There's more resources we find every week, and it seems our births are higher than normal. Maybe the people are eager now that most of the danger of the new frontier has passed and there's no lack of space to expand to." Noraeen speculated.

"I concur on the latter points." Melevedon confirmed.

"The humans have created a trading town on the other side of the Thondroril river as we suspected and we're doing frequent trade. They mostly provide us with lumber, animal goods as the humans seem gifted in husbandry, and various basic goods, while we trade them magical items. I'm especially impressed with their honey. We've hit 100 thousand either in the city or in the surrounding area. Our population grows at a surprising rate."

"Nothing new in Sunspire Anchorage. The Murlocks still regularly try to attack us, but nothing comes of it, and we're becoming experts in handling their attacks. With the trolls gone, the Hinterlands seem like an untapped resource, though we have enough on our hands dealing with Alah'thalas for now. Fifty thousand people living in the city." Rathuron added his with a bored tone. His report hadn't really changed for months.

"Nothing new with Luminarion or Alah'thalas as a whole." Selessa shook her head as well.

"Things are proceeding apace." Their population was getting rather notable, and it seemed the trickle of people was turning into a flood as she'd suspected. Her perks increased fertility, and more people were moving in from Quel'thalas, especially the countryside.

"As for Fortress of the Dawn, we might want to consider making contact with the new race we've spotted before the humans do." The House Carmine representative said.

"That way we can set the narrative, instead of the humans putting any ideas into their heads. The new race is also slowly digging tunnels through the mountains to reach the marshlands north of them and south of the humans. It seems this new race is quite adept at working with stone. As our scouts have passed over their lands, we've noted they all tend to build underground and entirely out of stone." Anasterian looked towards Selessa.

"Feeling up for it?"

"Sure." She shrugged.

"I better take a Dragonhawk though." Appearing as a large golden dragon might give them the wrong impression.

Naturally she didn't go alone. To make a decent escort, she had two Sin'dorei warriors and four paladins, two from each order, along with her. Their little pack of Dragonhawks took off from the Fortress of Dawn and spent four days flying towards the lands identified belonging to this new race. They flew over parts of the marshlands just south of Strom, and a greenery filled river valley south of the marshlands.

From there, they flew west towards the highlands surrounded by mountains where they'd first seen these newcomers. These lands were rugged, and the people seemed likewise. The towns they flew over were built to last rather than to look good. It didn't take long to figure out why. In just a single flight, they saw two of the towns being attacked by Ice Trolls, though they were quickly pushed back, not needing any help from Selessa's group.

They could also see Yeti and other aggressive species like Kobolds, and simply aggressive animals like wolves and wild boars. It was rough land, but it also seemed those living there were thriving. The wide roads visible from high in the sky made finding the right direction rather easy. The newcomers had tunneled through the mountains into the river valley in the east, and from the tunnels, well made and maintained paved roads led west.

As they followed the road, they saw several towns, and once they'd crossed about halfway into this rugged land, they found the first real city. Interestingly, from that city another road led up towards the tallest mountain in the entire area, and perhaps the continent, where work crews seemed to be busy carving into the mountain.

This city seemed like the core of this new race, so Selessa directed their group to slowly descend in large looping arcs towards the city below, making sure to approach slowly enough to be noticed by those below without being too alarmed. By the time they landed, they'd definitely been noticed, as the city seemed to be rushing about, gathering some kind of response to their presence. Selessa and her squad simply stood in place outside the city, waiting.

They sent the dragonhawks up back to the sky to hunt as an attempt to make another gesture of peaceful intentions. One of the Sin'dorei could call them back with a magical whistle on a moment's notice anyway. In five minutes, a small squad of short beings slowly rode out of the city on the backs of large rams. Their appearance caused Selessa to frown.

'Not only the Mon'keigh, but the Leagues of Votann are here as well? What next? The Orks? Tyranid? Will I run into Necrons next?' What caught them all by surprise was the presence of what they had to recognize as two separate species. Both of them were short when compared to the Quel'dorei or the Mon'keigh, but one of the species was much bulkier and sturdier, while the other was significantly scrawnier. In fact, the smaller ones looked so feeble in comparison, that they would not really make for great warriors.

Their larger stouter cousins though? Well, they were almost made of stone themselves and seemed to be almost pure muscle. They might not be quick and agile, but they would be strong and sturdy. Great for holding a line. The scrawnier ones seemed to have some mechanical devices that Selessa didn't identify, and at least one of them wore some sort of monocle that she could swear was able to tell more about her than any normal scrying spell would have. They also rode out on what looked like mechanical chickens.

She had no idea how those worked, but it seemed they did. Their equipment besides those oddities seemed rather ordinary, and at least a couple of them radiated some Arcane power. The sturdier ones seemed to fall into three broad categories. The one she decided to be the standard phenotype wearing mail armor and well-crafted swords and shields. Another group that was more ashen skinned and seemed to have a bit of the Arcane about them.

The third group was just as pale as the standard type, but they wore little to no armor, and their skin bore blue tattoos. Some of them carried crossbows, while two of them seemed to have some kind of natural power, which Selessa classified as some sort of shamanism. She had no deep knowledge on the subject, but her high Magic attribute did provide some of the basics. The front warrior of the sturdier group spoke in a rough language that sounded like he was chewing on rocks, and Selessa naturally didn't understand.

She gestured for the man to keep talking, though one of the scrawnier ones suddenly seemed to get an idea and cast what she recognized as a basic translation spell.

"You understand now?" The squeaky voice of the tiny being asked, showing the spell wasn't quite at a high level.

"Keep talking. I learn quick." She responded simply, and the tiny one seemed to understand and repeated the message to the leading sturdy one, who grunted and just kept talking for a few minutes, until Selessa picked up enough.

"You can stop now." Selessa prompted, though her voice didn't have the same stony tone despite speaking their language, which seemed to raise some eyebrows.

"I learned your language." That caused the leading figure to grunt in acceptance. Her voice wasn't quite suited for the deep sounds they spoke, but she could approximate. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Then perhaps you can explain what you're doing here." The man all but demanded, before hopping off the back of his ram and walking closer.

"Perhaps we should start with some introductions. I am Autarch Selessa, and these are my subordinates. Some of your furthest scouts and digs in the north are starting to enter areas connected to ours, so we thought it time for a meeting. Perhaps establish relations." She said simply. She waved to the others in her group and they all removed their helmets.

"We represent the Quel'dorei, or High Elves in your language." Their appearance, especially hers, caused some reactions from the short races, though they seemed slightly less affected by her than many had been before. As she studied those that had come to meet them, she noted that her appearance was quite different from their females, so her high Charisma probably didn't have the same effect.

"King Rathus Anvilmar, of the Dwarfs." He then gestured towards the leader of the gnomes, who did not look very impressive as a first impression.

"High Tinker Ignus Rustbolt, the leader of the Gnomes. I suppose I should say welcome to Dun Morogh, and the city of Kharanos." Ok, so not Votann.

"What's an Autarch? That word is foreign to us?" He asked curiously.

"Ah. You could say I'm the war leader of my kind. During peacetime my role is reduced, and during wars my voice is absolute." She explained curtly.

"It's not the only title I go by, but the easiest to explain." She smiled a bit in amusement. To her surprise the dwarf laughed at that.

"Ye, titles do tend to gather once you get the first one. This ruling business is rather new to me as well, I must admit, so for some reason I tend to gather titles as well. Judging by your presence here, yer not at war at the moment, are ye?" His accent was starting to come through.

"No, though it hasn't been too long since we had to deal with trolls. We did notice during our flight here that you have a bit of an infestation as well." She commented.

"Agh, ye." A tattooed dwarf grunted and spat to the side.

"Good sport killing 'em trolls. Bit tedious though. Good training for the young lads." Now it was her turn to laugh.

"I said the same thing. After we won the war, we kept some of the troll tribes around just so our warriors could bloody themselves."

"This one's alright Rathus." The tattooed dwarf nodded happily.

"Now all we need to see is if she can hold her drink."

"Yes, well, we would prefer the threat be dealt with, but I suppose I see your point." The leader of the gnomes voiced his opinion, speaking the dwarven language, though his squeaky voice didn't do him any favors, and raised the same issue Selessa had while speaking the dwarven language.

"Those armors. They're not actually gold or silver, are they?" One of the ashen-skinned dwarves suddenly asked.

"Oh no. Of course not. Gold and silver don't make for good armor." Selessa waved her hand.

"They're made of Thorium and just colored with a simple spell. Paladins draw attention to themselves on purpose. It's a tactic." She didn't go into more detail, but got approving nods.

"Thorium, eh? That's a good metal. And ye can work it pretty well. Not perfect metalwork, but I can see ye have an eye for detailed work." The king spoke.

"Their enchantments are beyond what we can produce as well." The gnomish leader added.

"What's a paladin?"

"Yes, the working of the Arcane is our specialty. Metallurgy is something we're still improving on." She grinned.

"As for paladins, they're warriors trained in the use of the Light. I cannot sense any among you."

"Aye. I'm guessing Light is something like the Arcane, yeah?" The king asked.

"It is one of the fundamental forces of the universe along with the Arcane, yes. The applications are a little different, but that's a conversation for another time. For now, I think we should exchange some basic information, some history, maybe some maps to outline what our territories are, potential common enemies. That sort of thing." She suggested. That got immediate approval.

"How's yer ability to hold your booze?" The king asked.

"These kinds of things always go better with a bit of lubrication."

"I don't usually partake, but I can hold my own." She was immune to poisons, and that included alcohol.

Selessa stretched her neck to both sides, causing a cracking sound, as she exited the large stone building they'd been using as a mead hall for most of the evening and night. Fresh air was quite enjoyable after being stuck inside with sweaty Dwarves for several hours. At the same time she allowed the Light to cleanse any and all traces of alcohol from her system as she looked at the stars.

"I did not expect you to outdrink all of them." The high-pitched voice of the High Tinker interrupted her thoughts, speaking in gnomish. Something she'd learned during the evening. The Gnome had been sitting on a stone bench outside the mead hall. She'd of course noticed him but had decided not to make a number about it. She chuckled.

"One of the benefits of Light is that after reaching a certain level of connection with it, we become all but immune to poisons." Ignus understood immediately.

"And that includes alcohol." He nodded.

"You're a pretty decent actor then."

"Well, I wasn't entirely acting. I can suppress the cleansing effect for a time, but that requires focus. And if you become drunk enough, you can no longer maintain that focus, automatically clearing the alcohol off." She explained in more detail, mostly because she didn't want to give off the impression of trying to fool the two new races.

"I noticed your people were not so eager to participate." Some of the Gnomes had also drunk, but they'd mostly kept to one or two mugs. This time it was Ignus' turn to chuckle.

"We do like to indulge somewhat, but we generally like to keep a clear mind. A bit of drink can be good for ideas and sudden inspiration, but too much and you're likely to do something stupid." He looked towards the mead hall.

"Like pass out during the first contact with a new race."

"I can relate somewhat. It is also better for me to maintain clarity and control." She admitted.

"May I ask why?" Ignus' voice got a bit gentle, as he could sense a sore subject. She was quiet for a moment.

"Did you know, I've left explicit instructions to not wake me from sleep while being in the same room with me. Even my tent is only guarded from the outside, and not just to allow me privacy. If I'm roused and can sense someone's presence before I've regained clarity of mind, there's a good chance I'd kill them before I realize what I've done."

"Ah." He could read between the lines.

"Trauma response?"

"Trauma response. So, as you can imagine, getting so drunk that I lose sense of what's real and who everyone is might be bad as well." She admitted.

"I'm sorry." He said simply.

"Still not great for them to just pass out." He added to bring back a bit of levity.

"Perhaps not the best way to handle things." She grinned in response.

"Did make things more interesting though, and at least they seemed honest."

"That they are. Dwarves generally tend to be." Ignus nodded in agreement.

"They are generally honorable, rambunctious, and like a bit of scrap, while loving work with metal and stone."

"And the Gnomes?" She asked.

"We are more into tinkering with stuff. At least, that's what we've found so far." His tone got more wistful.

"I noticed that even while under influence, the Dwarves didn't really talk about their past." She pointed out.

"A little odd that. Also, rather obvious when someone is paying attention." He nodded in response.

"Yes, I suppose it would be. It's not that they don't want to talk about it, but that there's not much to talk about. Neither of our races have been around for more than a hundred years. At least, that we know of. Us Gnomes came first. We woke up in some kind of facility and made our way outside, finally ending up here in Dun Morogh. Dwarves came soon after. From what we can tell, they woke up in the same facility and ended up following in our footsteps."

"Were you kept prisoner?" She asked, slightly alarmed.

"We don't know. We don't think so. We were too curious about the outside to really study the facility in detail, but it didn't seem like a prison. Getting out wasn't that difficult. You'd think it would be at least slightly challenging if we were supposed to be kept inside. We simply don't know what came before." Ignus explained with an expression that was a mix of frustration and curiosity.

"Now we're just making the best of things. Since we have so much in common with the Dwarves, and our skills somewhat compliment each other, we decided that living together was better than going separate ways. And if one of us learns something of the past, we can share. We're still building separate cities for ourselves, just to have our own place."

"You said you like to tinker with things." She prompted.

"Yes. It seems to be in our blood. Hand any Gnome an object they don't recognize, and our first instinct is to take it apart to see how it works and then put it together better than before. Or different, just to see how we can change it. For the Dwarves, it's the same with working the stone and metal. Drop a dwarf in a near a hill, and he can tell you what kind of stone it is straight away, all the best ways to dig into it, and what kind of minerals might be hiding inside.

They also have instinctive understanding of metal. Just seeing your armor and weapons has given them enough ideas to keep them busy for years." Ignus was being rather open, so she decided to respond.

"For us, it's magic. Originally it was Arcane. It became the defining feature of our people, so much so that magisters were elevated above all others. Then came Light, and our war with trolls. Light has inspired the previously stagnant imagination of my people, while the war against the trolls created a new fascination with the martial pursuits." She revealed in turn.

"I suppose you could say we seek perfection in all things."

"You did mention a war against them. How did that go, if I may ask. Not too badly I assume?" Ignus probed.

"We wiped out the Amani Empire." She responded simply, causing Ignus to look at her sharply.

"Well, most of it, to a point where they surrendered and the Red Dragonflight took the survivors to some islands to the west."

"Ah. We have no coastline, so I suppose we don't have to worry about them." Ignus responded, not sure how to respond to her declaration.

"Just north of here are some marshes with coastline, and just north of that are the lands of the…humans." She had been about to say Mon'keigh, but decided against it.

"They fought with us against the trolls."

"Good to know. We'll be running into them eventually. Know anything about the south?" Ignus asked.

"The southern portion of your continent is controlled by the Gurubashi troll empire, though you don't have to worry about them for a long time. Plenty of room between you and them and they don't seem keen on expanding too heavily towards the North. So, if you're looking for new lands, south is a good option, as well as a bit north." She took a stick and drew a crude map on the ground. She outlined the marshes to the north and the southern portion of their continent. She pointed at the Highlands of the Dawn.

"We have a colony here mostly for harvesting lumber and building ships. I wouldn't recommend pushing in there blindly, as the passes are controlled by the Red Dragonflight."

"We've seen a couple of them. Big flying lizards. Not very aggressive." Ignus pointed out.

"True. The Reds tend to value life. But the issue is the area holds their nesting grounds, and they aren't wild about anyone approaching those. Otherwise, you shouldn't need to worry. If you can create a port in the marshes or in the south, we'll happily open trade with you." She promised.

"Or I suppose you could dig a tunnel to us, but that's a lot of mountain between us.

"It would be useful to learn more about magic." Ignus pondered, not making any requests.

"We might also benefit from your tinkering abilities. That said, we won't share the secrets of the Arcane for free. We taught the basics to the…humans, in trade for their assistance in the war." She cautioned his enthusiasm.

"We might teach you some of the basics, just so you can avoid some of the pitfalls, like attracting demons."

"Attracting what now?" Ignus asked, alarmed.

"Oh, boy. This is going to be a fun conversation." She grimaced.

In the end diplomatic ties were established and information was exchanged, but they couldn't make too many agreements when the only practical way for the Dwarves and Gnomes to have any contact with the Quel'dorei was through flight, which they didn't really have access to at the moment. It did look like some of the Dwarfs may have gotten some ideas, and Ignus was already considering possibilities of buildings some sort of contraption that would allow flight.

Still, the first contact had been successful, and they agreed in principle that both parties would be amenable to more once more regular contact could be established. At least they now knew where to find each other. The next important meeting for Selessa was with her father, as Sapphiron came to inform her of a certain possibility.

"You mentioned that you had no interest in expanding you Flight the standard way, so the other dragons thought it wise to inform you of another possibility."

"And what possibility is that?" Selessa still wasn't entirely sure what her ties to the dragons should be.

"The dragons have the ability to create servants from the mortal races, this includes any non-dragon races, by inserting a small part of our essence inside them. They become the Dragonkin. Dragonkin is a broad term that includes many subraces, but basically a mortal becomes part dragon in their essence in return for their loyalty." Sapphiron explained.

"What do you mean their loyalty?" She asked with a frown.

"The Dragonkin feel instinctive loyalty to the Flight that created them and gave them their power. It's not absolute control, but it is quite strong. The mortal becomes stronger, faster, and more resilient. They usually also pick up some other qualities associated with the Flight they're made by. Blue Dragonkin for instance tend to be magically gifted, while Reds tend to be larger and much harder to kill. Very effective soldiers.

They come in several broad categories like Dragonspawn that are quadrupedal with humanoid torso, much like Cenarius, and Dragonid, which are bipedal and often much larger. There are others but those two are the most common varieties. After they have been created, they can reproduce amongst themselves, and they do have Visage forms like we do. In the case of created Dragonkin, their Visage is usually the form they had before becoming what they are now." Sapphiron took on a lecturing tone.

"Hmm. I'm not sure how keen I am on enforced loyalty." Though she knew that was a little hypocritical considering her perks.

"There's also little point in turning any Quel'dorei into anything else. We're good as we are."

"Granted. However, if you come across members of other races that are worthy, this is a strong possibility. I know you dislike the humans, but surely even they have some among them that could be worthy? Or maybe we might run into another race we might not appreciate, but some of their members are worth saving. Anyway, just a possibility to keep in mind." He suggested.

"And dragons can just do this endlessly?" She asked, considering the implications. Creating endless hordes of loyal soldiers was horrifying but did have certain possibilities she had to at least consider.

"Not quite. Like I mentioned, we share a bit of our own essence to do it. We don't lose anything, not exactly, but it takes a bit to recover that essence. The older and larger a dragon is, the more we can share before it becomes an issue. Alexstrasza naturally can create the most, almost without limits, while in comparison I can only create a few a year if I really want to go all out.

We Blues utilize them heavily due to our limited numbers, although most Blue Dragonspawn are not created but born naturally for the same reason. They are not quite immortal, but they are quite long lived. Well, Bronze live almost forever due to their time magic, but that's their thing. Something to keep in mind. And a strong incentive." He patted her on the shoulder. She had no plans to create any, but at least she now knew of the possibility. And she could sense some perks focused on the subject opening up.

Of course there would be perks for this too. Why would there not be? She took a quick glance. Unsurprisingly they were under her Charisma attribute, just like all the other perks associated with people to rule over, though it did seem Discipline had some as well. One perk in particular caught her eye.

"What are Dracthyr?" Sapphiron frowned.

"I have no idea. Where did you hear that word?"

"Oh, just somewhere." She could sense there was something going on by his response. Either he knew and didn't want the information to spread, or he really didn't know, and the lack of information wasn't entirely natural. She couldn't tell which. So. Dracthyr, huh? According to the scant explanation of the perk, they were an advanced form of Dragonkin. Maybe something to keep an eye out for. And something that should not be brought up to dragons.

"We have twenty destroyers and two cruisers currently protecting Silvermoon and the Isle of Quel'Danas from the sea." Admiral Goldleaf explained, while placing small model ships on the map.

"We have more under construction, but the shipyards at the Fortress of Dawn need expanding and most of our ships are busy exploring. We also don't want to use so much of the Ironwood that it doesn't grow back in a reasonable time."

"That's a pretty decent fleet." Anasterian nodded.

"We could perhaps consider joining the marines with the Sin'dorei, your Excellency." The Admiral suggested, while looking towards Selessa. She made a non-committal sound.

"Becoming a Sin'dorei is not for all military personnel. The elites of your marines, sure, I don't mind, but we can't train all of them. They wouldn't make it through the training. It's the same reason why we don't just have every recruit doing their ten years go through the Sin'dorei training. The best, those who want to do it, sure, but not everyone." She hummed.

"That said, I don't think the marines need the same training. What they do is quite different. We could build a naval college of sorts for officers and career marines, and the Sin'dorei could help with the training. That could improve the quality of your forces without necessarily turning all of them into Sin'dorei." The Admiral nodded.

"I could work with that. We have some rather eager marines that would like to try the whole Sin'dorei training anyway, but I think you might be right for the majority. I also have some good news. The number of eager sailors and marines is growing apace with our fleet. Plenty of young Quel'dorei looking to serve Quel'thalas and the Light."

"Good. We were slightly concerned that our recruitment might not keep up with the naval buildup. Luckily, once we reach a sufficient fleet size, we can move into a slightly more contained recruitment." Anasterian seemed pleased.

"What of the harbor defenses?" He directed the question towards Ron'vith.

"We have already finished construction on a dozen new Earthfury towers. We prioritized defenses against naval and submerged threats like the Autarch suggested. We still need to build the Skyfury towers, and I thought we might work on the designs soon-ish."

Ron'vith had noted Selessa's growing talent with enchanting, and she was one of the few, along with Sapphiron, who could keep up with him, and while her skills were notably less than his, she was more practical when it came to what would actually work in real combat situation.

"I'm sure I can find-" Her response was cut short as she was contacted by a communications talisman. The emergency type.

"Autarch. An intruder attempted to sneak into the portal hub near Silvermoon harbor. The intruder approached under invisibility and was caught by the new Truesight wards." Something they hadn't advertised.

"They were carrying something our magisters simply described as 'magically explosive.' There was also an attempt to hijack one of the portals, redirecting the other end to a third locations, but the portal was shut down before it could happen."

"Which portal?" She asked urgently.

"The one from Kalimdor." The Sin'dorei captain reported. Selessa's mind suddenly worked fast. Trying to attack the portal building was obviously prelude to something bigger, either an attempt to destroy it, or to stop the defenders from reacting to the hijack. But why and where? Hijacking, or re-directing, a portal was not a minor feat of Arcane. Only someone with a skill comparable to a High Magister could do it, and only if they had access to the leylines traveling between the two ends of the portal.

Except, the leylines between Silvermoon and Kalimdor all ran under the ocean. There was also the minor fact that no race should have mages comparable to High Magisters, except maybe the Blue Dragonflight. The purpose of such hijack could be twofold. To stop reinforcements from traveling through the portal, and to flood their own forces through. Portals and teleportation were an excellent way to deploy troops, but they could be disrupted. In fact, they were a rather obvious chink in the Quel'dorei defenses.

The Quel'dorei also recognized the danger of an enemy using portals against them, which was why one of the effects of the Ban'dinoriel was to hinder the magic of everyone not of Quel'dorei descent within the affected area. The runestones that hid the Starwells had a similar, though weaker, effect.

"Send reinforcements to the Fortress of Dusk immediately!" Anasterian exclaimed, worried about Nallorath, and rather understandably assuming this was done to stop them from reinforcing their most distant outpost.

"Wait!" Selessa called out.

"Belay that order." Something about it stunk to her. That something reminded her of the operations her old race used to pull in her previous life. The pieces they'd been handed fit together neatly, and built a rather obvious picture. One that was likely wrong. And there was a limited number of places in their burgeoning empire that could be attacked by an external force.

"What are you doing?" Anasterian demanded.

"They're not attacking Kalimdor." She stated with conviction and pulled out a communications crystal that allowed a more stable connection with the site they used for emergency deployments.

"Emergency deployment Alpha! Send two squads to the Isle of Quel'Danas right away and then start deploying everything we have to Silvermoon. Keep doing it as long as you can!"

"You think they're coming for us instead." Queen Elessine was the first to realize.

"Or the Sunwell." She had not forgotten that Selessa herself had said she'd attack just like this if she wanted to destabilize Quel'thalas. That's why they had increased the defenses. The Sunwell was the most well-defended location in all of Quel'thalas, and any potential enemy would have to fight through the entire nation to get to it. Unless it was attacked from the sea.

"We have an unnatural fog rolling in." Admiral Goldleaf called out, as he had moved to the window overlooking the sea.

"I'll work on it." Ron'vith declared, already calling for the other High Magisters and other powerful casters to join him in the harbor.

"Admiral, alert your ships, and tell them to keep an eye on underwater enemies." Selessa commanded, taking on her role as an Autarch without hesitation.

"Selessa, are you sure they are not going for Kalimdor?" Anasterian asked, concern clear in his voice.

"Certain? No. There's a decent chance they're going for both. But Nallorath has done a great job fortifying the place, and our forces there are not insignificant due to the earlier attack. The location is also very defensible, so they should be able to spot any attackers long before they're in danger. If they are splitting their forces to attack us in several places, then Nallorath should be fine. Fortress of the Dawn is right close to the nests of Red Dragons, and the place is home to House Carmine.

It would not be odd for the dragons to lend aid. The only other place they might attack is Sunspire Anchorage, and I find that highly unlikely." She responded.

"Alright. But we'll talk about this later." Anasterian acquiesced to her experience. They started moving towards the harbor to meet any enemy that might be coming, and the alarm bells were ringing in the city. Soldiers were moving towards the harbor as well, along with healers, paladins, magisters, and anyone willing to participate. That's when the fog was suddenly blown away, and they got a first look at their attackers.

"Sails in the horizon!" The Admiral called everyone's attention to the approaching danger. Dozens and dozens of single sail wooden ships were silently sailing towards them, all of them looking rather dilapidated and weathered. As they noticed secrecy was no longer on their side, their speed picked up, and at the same time the elven ships moved to intercept. Those riding the ships seemed to be ghostly versions of the Vrykul Selessa had heard about from the Dragons.

Simultaneously, something was crawling out of the water and attacking the harbor. Serpentine bodies covered in green scales. Some, males by the looks of things, were much larger, taller than the Quel'dorei and equipped with a powerful physique, two muscular arms wielding nasty looking melee weapons. Their heads actually resembled dragons just a bit. Rather bestial in appearance with maws filled with sharp teeth.

The females seemed more elvenoid, with their upper torso resembling elves or humans, except for some of them having four arms ending in taloned fingers and all of them having large fins on their heads. The females were also more slender, and there was a feeling of magic about many of them. And not insignificant magic either. Around the serpentine beings came thousands of Murlocks, all rushing to meet the Quel'dorei in battle.

Urban fighting was not the same thing as fighting on a battlefield with formations and clear lines of command. Luckily, this wasn't entirely unexpected, and preparations had been made. The defensive towers rained death on the approaching sea-dwellers, while limited battle lines and even formations were created in the harbor wherever possible. The Sin'dorei seemed almost giddy at the opportunity to slay the enemies of the nation, and this type of fighting was exactly something they had trained for.

"Anasterian, I'll have to take command of the defenses in the harbor. I need you to get to the Isle of Quel'Danas to make sure the Sunwell is safe." She ordered, and the king only nodded in agreement before summoning his phoenix friend and mount. She allowed her aura to spread over the battlefield, enemies and allies alike noticing her presence, and officers suddenly knew where to take their cues from. Buffing spells were liberally handed out by the paladins, and healers fearlessly got to work.

Spellbreakers and magisters set themselves against the female enemy casters, while the Sin'dorei dashed towards the larger males to test their mettle. She herself tested one of the new spells she'd created. A large golden spear filled with Light was hovered in the air beside her, and she put one of her new perks, Arcane Sublety to work. The effect of the perk was rather simple.

There was no longer any visible spell formula when she cast spells, unless she wanted them of course, and it was much harder to sense her casting. She still used formulas; they were simply invisible. Another benefit was that she no longer needed hand gestures, which made casting several spells simultaneously much easier. The Arcane spell she combined with the spear of Light suddenly launched the spear at one of the ragged ships that had managed to slip past the elven fleet and was closing towards the harbor.

The golden spear traversed the distance at three times the speed of a bolt shot from a ballista, and exploded on impact, cutting the enemy ship in two.

"First test successful." She muttered. Admiral Goldleaf gave a whistle.

"Think we could somehow get that on our ships?" She shrugged.

"Theoretically. I got the basic idea from the magisters at Zul'Aman as they accelerated the trebuchet rocks at the city walls. It should be doable. Just complicated." The Admiral nodded, mentally noting to discuss the topic with Ron'vith at the next opportunity.

"It seems most of those enemy ships seem to be stuck with our own. And they're not doing well." Indeed, the enemy vessels seemed to be designed for coastal raiding, not as warships. They were single-mast vessels with some basic harpoon launchers designed to shoo off whales and other sea creatures, maybe reel in merchant ships for boarding. Those harpoons did next to nothing against the enchanted hulls of the elven warships, especially the larger cruisers made of Ironwood.

The agile elven destroyers easily avoided any attempts at boarding, while the larger cruisers didn't care and in some cases just rammed through the much lighter enemy vessels. On the other hand, the magically reinforced bolts from the ballistae did clean work against the enemy ships, and almost half of them were already crippled after losing their lone mast, free picking for the archers and magisters aboard the elven ships. The fight in the harbor was less one-sided.

The murlocks were mostly fodder for the larger serpentine creatures, and the Quel'dorei had trained in fighting against numerically superior opponents. The large serpentine humanoids were a much bigger danger, as their strikes carried more power than most elvenoid creatures, and were not unskilled in the use of their heavy weapons.

The Sin'dorei focused on the serpentine opponents, but it sometimes took some time and more than one elven warrior to take them down, and the thick scales made them resistant to normal arrows, even lightly enchanted ones. The female casters of the serpentine people were quite skilled, and extremely dangerous. They could often send entire waves of frostbolts or similar water magic at the elves, even under the suppressing effect of the Ban'dinoriel.

Unluckily for them, the Quel'dorei were quite skilled at dealing with magic using opponents. The Spellbreakers ripped the protective spells off the casters, while the rangers filled them with enchanted arrows, usually simultaneously. And unlike their male counterparts, the female casters were not resistant to arrows when their spells were taken away.

Even though the harbor was flooded with more and more enemies, time was on the side of the elves, as more of the Silvermoon's defenders could also arrive and reinforce the lines, and there were a lot of soldiers in Silvermoon. The tide was inexorably turning. As the battle progressed, and tide turned against the attackers, Selessa noted a being she thought might be leading the attack. A serpentine female stronger in her magic than others, able to resist the several attempts on her life with relative ease.

She also stood out because she had six arms instead of four, and her head was covered in snakes instead of where elves would have hair.

"Time to get some information." She told the Admiral, before using the wings from Avenging Wrath to leap high in the air and transforming into a resplendent Golden Dragon. This form of hers might not have been the best for large scale battle at its current size, but it was perfect for what she had in mind. She used the full speed her new form could grant her and dove at the enemy she'd spotted.

As her approach wasn't exactly subtle, the serpentine witch tried to respond with magic, but that's where the second part of Selessa's plan came in. She deployed the Anti-Magic Zone right on top of the witch, momentarily causing all of the protective magic and the spell it had been casting to falter. By the time it recovered, Selessa's claws were already wrapped around its torso, pulling it out of the water and flying high above the city.

As the creature tried to resist, using its claws to attempt to hurt her, Selessa gave it a warning squeeze, before dropping behind her own forces, and slamming the witch against the ground. She could tell the witch had a much stronger existence than a normal person, so it wouldn't die from just this level of abuse. She quickly transformed back, as they were surrounded by several paladins and Spellbreakers, who knew just how to deal with the creature cursing in a language they could understand.

Interestingly it seemed to be talking in older Darnassian. Be that as it may, Selessa had a battle to run, and the Spellbreakers and Thelion could take care of it for now. She would have her information once the battle was over, whether the wretched creature wanted to answer or not.

STATUS: Level: 13 3000/13000 EXP 12 Base Points/2 Advanced Points/1 Mastery Points Mandatory Perks: Beauty Over Brawn Body: 11/15 (5 Unspent Perk Points) Athletics 10 Iron Lungs Strength of a Dragon Body of Eternal Dawn Unbreaking Stride Eternal Sunstrider Heavy Weapons 10 Cleaving Strikes Blade of the Rising Sun Unyielding Vigil Fury of the Chosen Bladestorm Durability 10 Immovable object Dragon's Fortitude Unageing Regeneration Healing Factor Reflexes: 10/15 (4 Unspent Perk Point) Light Weapons 10 (4 Unspent Perk Points) Swift Strikes Nervous System 10 Keen Eyes Keen Eye for Hidden Dragon's Perception Sentinel's Eye Danger Sense Dawn's Reflex Subtlety 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Arcane Shots Charisma: 18/18 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Politics 17 Competent Underlings Superior Subordinates Shared Vision Intelligent Improvisation Unleased Potential Unlimited Potential Above and Beyond Inspiring Loyalty Improved Resources Rare Resources Treasure Trove Fertile Land Esprit de Corps Conflux Endless Plenty Hardy Stock Social 5 (2 Unspent Perk Points) Pleasure 1 Crafting: 10/12 (2 Unspent Perk Point) Magical Crafting 10 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Master of Disassembly Superior Runework Talented Enchanter Master of Efficiency Creation 1 Nature 2 Eye for Errors Eye for Improvement Bonesinging 10 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Difference of Kind Amalgamation Amplification Grand Amplification Great Works Regeneration Stronger Than You Think Discipline: 7/12 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Commander 7 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Battlefield Awareness Ambush Expert Cavalry Tactics Squad Leader 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Sensei Soldier 6 (2 Unspent Perk Points) One With Your Steed One With Your Steed II Magic: 11/16 (4 Unspent Perk Points) Light 11 (2 Unspent Perk Points) Severe healing Baptism of Light I Baptism of Light II Draconic Magic: Light Arcane 8 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Massive Spells Master Conjurer Arcane Subtlety Spellbreaker 5 Magic Sight Anti-Magic Zone Projected AMZ