Capítulo 211: Chapter 211: The Puppet Master
Duke still had a mountain of tasks to attend to.
A scout brought news: the banner of the Horde Warchief now bore a black hammer, and the Dark Portal had opened once again.
This meant that Orgrim Doomhammer had assumed the role of Warchief, just as he had in history. Duke felt a twinge of regret; he had tried to sabotage Orgrim's rise to power, but the orc had still managed to prevail.
It was unclear whether this was due to the inertia of history or the fact that true heroes would shine under any circumstances.
Duke's primary concern was his own butterfly effect. The Horde had captured Stormwind City, expending more resources than anticipated. Without the aid of Medivh, who was no longer under Sargeras's control, the transportation capabilities of the Dark Portal were significantly reduced, operating at only a third of their previous capacity.
The Horde could still bring orc warriors from Draenor without interruption. However, Duke knew that the quality of the warriors coming through now paled in comparison to the initial hundreds of thousands. The first wave had either been veterans of the war against the Draenei or warriors who had proven their strength in brutal hunts.
If the strength of the initial orc forces was rated as a 10, the following waves would only be around a 7. Moreover, Duke had inflicted significant damage on the Blackrock clan, which made Orgrim's command over the Horde more likely to face obstacles.
It was easy to imagine that the cunning and powerful warlock Gul'dan would, in order to save his own skin, provide Orgrim with even more powerful warriors...
While the Horde continued its historical course of action, negotiations between the human kingdoms had reached a stalemate.
Duke was well aware that only the combined forces of the seven human kingdoms, along with the dwarves, gnomes, and high elves, could form the first iteration of the renowned Alliance of Azeroth.
The problem was that the formation of the Alliance was currently at a standstill.
Based on information from Lothar, Duke knew the reason for this impasse.
At this point, many kings and high-ranking nobles, including King Terenas of Lordaeron, considered King Llane to be an 'incompetent who couldn't even defend his own kingdom from trolls.'
In truth, the issue stemmed from Duke's own interference as the 'butterfly.' In history, Llane had perished, and Lothar had arrived in Lordaeron with a pitiful number of guards and the young prince. Lothar had been seen as a tragic hero.
Why had the other six human kingdoms been willing to elect Lothar as the supreme commander of the Alliance?
Firstly, it was due to the tangible threat posed by the Horde.
Secondly, Lothar's noble lineage played a role, and in history, Lothar had acknowledged the kings' authority in exchange for political unity under the name of the last descendant of Emperor Thoradin.
Lastly, the historical Kingdom of Stormwind had no military power to speak of, so other kingdoms felt safe entrusting their soldiers to Lothar.
At the moment, only the southern kingdoms of Stormwind and Ironforge on the Eastern Continent were under attack. The northern kingdoms remained peaceful and untroubled.
Lothar had not played the Thoradin descendant card.
The most pressing issue was that Llane commanded 50,000 elite troops, and determining who would have authority within the Alliance had become a significant problem. After all, the fall of the Arathor Empire had been due to differing ideologies and a refusal to submit to one another.
Duke was growing impatient.
As a time-traveler, he was absolutely certain of the two cards the Horde would play next.
The first card was the trolls! These tall, slender humanoid creatures with elongated tusks were native to Azeroth. Over fourteen thousand years ago, trolls ruled the world. They established numerous great kingdoms, among which Amani and Gurubashi empires had the largest territories. Both empires were under the rule of the Zandalari tribe, hence the name Zandalari Empire.
Even the renowned Night Elves evolved from a group of dark trolls that migrated to the Well of Eternity and were influenced by the arcane energies of the well's waters.
Over a thousand years ago, the rise of humanity drove the fragmented troll tribes from their fertile lands to the barren mountains. Trolls harbored a deep hatred for humans and high elves, and their resentment was off the charts.
Upon the arrival of the orcish Horde, a strong alliance would certainly be formed.
The second card was the terrifying and forbidden existence - Death Knights.
The mere thought of the power and horror of the Death Knights sent chills down Duke's spine.
After much deliberation, Duke decided to personally promote the formation of the Alliance.
On September 25th, the day after King Terenas of Lordaeron called for a meeting with representatives from various nations, the endless squabbling and sarcastic remarks continued.
Among the nine leaders present, besides King Llane and Terenas, the other five human kingdoms sent dukes or similar nobles, the dwarves sent a brigadier general, and the high elves sent a mere substitute councilor.
It was these individuals, whose status was inferior to Llane's, who dared to berate him.
"Hmph! What orcish onslaught? They're nothing more than beasts like trolls. I didn't expect the descendant of the legendary King Thoradin, who drove away the trolls and allowed humanity to rise, to be unable to defeat a group of troll-like creatures and flee halfway across the sea in disgrace," sneered a duke from the kingdom of Gilneas.
"You…" If not for the severe international dispute that would ensue from striking this man, Lothar would have almost thrown a white glove in his face.
"After all, isn't this whole mess the result of your Guardian Medivh's actions? If it weren't for Medivh's betrayal and the opening of the Dark Portal, would the orcs have invaded? Would we have so many problems? Why should the entire human world clean up the mess you created?" added a representative from the kingdom of Alterac.
"Enough! Don't you dare insult Medivh! It was clearly the scheme of the demon lord Sargeras! If you continue to insult him, I won't hesitate to challenge you to a duel as Medivh's close friend!" This time, even King Llane couldn't help but intervene.
As Llane and Lothar's childhood friend, Medivh's own character was truly noble. After learning the truth, Lothar tirelessly defended his childhood friend's reputation for decades, even after Medivh's death.
Now that this man was publicly attacking Medivh's name, wasn't he also attacking Llane?
With Llane's firm stance, the man finally fell silent.
But the meeting still made no progress.
At that moment, a mysterious smile appeared on the face of a young mage who had just appeared beside Llane that day and was not yet taken seriously by the representatives of various nations...
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