After the Second Orc War, Quel'Thalas was one of the first countries to withdraw from the Alliance.
From Terenas's subjective point of view, Lordaeron seems to have been unlucky and everything has gone wrong since then.
Some close men of the Menethil royal family privately slandered Terenas, saying that the high elves' withdrawal from the Alliance ruined Lordaeron's plans.
Why not say it's Gilneas and Stromgarde's fault?
Because they are a kingdom founded by humans.
Those who are not of my race must have different minds, that's all.
If it was Terenas who worked hard in his youth, he would definitely not believe these nonsense.
But in recent years, Lordaeron's bad luck seems to have not gone away. Even Dalaran, which has always maintained a friendly relationship with Lordaeron, has defected from the alliance.
People often whispered that it was all Quel'Thalas' fault. Terenas, who was getting older, did not want to admit that this was his own decision-making error, and gradually began to blame others.
This person is Quel'Thalas.
After the respected Archbishop Alonsos Faol passed away at the end of his life, Terenas lost a wise mentor around him and became more self-contained and unable to listen to good advice.
Prince Arthas, who had high hopes from Terenas, suffocated in Dalaran and was frightened by the red-eyed Daelin who arrived in a hurry.
Daelin swore in public that he would never marry his daughter to a man named Menethil. Terenas was thinking nonsense.
…These are Dai Lin’s original words.
After hearing what the gloomy-looking Arthas told him, Terenas was so enraged that he fell ill in bed.
After finally getting better, news of the turmoil in Stratholme reached his ears again.
Due to delays in his illness, Quel'Thalas' reply, which had been backlogged for some time, was delivered to Terenas at exactly this time.
Several anxieties were mixed together, almost sending Terenas to the ward again.
It was only then that Terenas realized that he was no longer young and his energy was not as good as before.
The ambition he had set out in his youth seemed to be unfulfilled. Induced by the constant whispers in his ears in recent years, Terenas blamed Quel'Thalas for the failure of his dream.
Kael'thas knew nothing of Terenas's inner workings.
If he had known that someone around Terenas had been quietly slandering him, he would have reacted immediately.
These guys have an unusual origin.
Unfortunately, the situation in the palace of Lordaeron cannot be detected by the Backlight Blade.
When Sarlayan arrived in Stratholme City, Baron Rivendell was invited to the Light's Hope Chapel and met General Abedis and Captain Westwyn who held the secret order of Terenas.
"What?!"
Baron Rivendell stared at the two old lookalikes with very ugly faces with wide eyes.
"...please tell me you are kidding."
"Hmph~"
Abidis is similar in age to Rivendell, with a thick beard like a steel needle on his face. He sneered and said to Rivendell: "I also hope that the order we received is just a joke, but unfortunately... it is not. "
Abedis's sneer was not directed at Baron Rivendell. He was just tired of the content of the secret order and did not want to obey it from the bottom of his heart.
Alfred Abedis is a paladin. Although he is not personally blessed by the archbishop like the five Uthers, he is also one of the most senior paladins and has personally participated in the second war. Orc war.
Abbendis still remembers the teachings of Alonsus Faol, and is deeply opposed to Terenas's "crazy" orders.
Barry Westwin sighed: "We are soldiers, and the duty of soldiers is to obey orders."
"I am also disgusted with this incredible secret order, but...an order is an order, and as soldiers we can only choose to execute it."
"I know."
Abidis clenched his fists with a dark face: "Marco, what do you say? Are you willing to assist us?"
Baron Rivendell's expression changed for a while, and finally he shook his head: "Please forgive me for refusing."
"I am the lord of Stratholme, which is directly adjacent to Quel'Thalas."
"I must be responsible for the people of my territory and cannot let them get involved in meaningless wars."
Weswin and Abedis looked at each other, and the two looked at Baron Rivendell with a somewhat complicated look.
"We respect and understand your choice. It is your right as a local lord to refuse to execute the secret order."
Baron Rivendell rubbed his brows with a headache: "Alfred, Barry, is it really irreversible? What on earth is His Majesty the King thinking?"
Weiwei Wen shook his head: "I don't know, we haven't met His Majesty for a long time."
"However, last time we returned to the royal city to attend the funeral of Archbishop Fao, we heard some disturbing information from Princess Calia."
"What information?"
Abidis said in a deep voice: "There are people around His Majesty who have been fanning the flames, blaming the high elves for all the troubles Lordaeron has encountered in recent years."
"Hiss~"
Baron Rivendell felt a little chill all over his body.
If this secret order is not handled well, there is a high probability that the proud high elf will be completely offended.
Once the angry high elves send troops, the Stratholme region will definitely bear the brunt.
"no!"
Baron Rivendell stood up suddenly: "I can't stay here any longer. My people are still waiting for me to deliver food back."
Abbendis nodded understandingly: "Go ahead, remember, let the content of the secret order rot in your heart, and you must not let the high elves know the 'content' of the secret order."
"Um?"
Baron Rivendell felt that there seemed to be something in Abidis' words.
But before he could continue to think deeply, Abbendis and Westwin stood up at the same time, walked out of the chapel first, and returned to the direction of Tyr's Hand without looking back.
"The high elves cannot be allowed to know the contents of the secret order..."
On the way back, Baron Rivendell was still wondering what Abbendis meant.
"In other words, can you give Quel'Thalas a warning in advance without mentioning specific personnel?"
For Abidis, a paladin, Terenas's despicable order was difficult for him to accept. He could only alleviate his guilt in this way and minimize the harm to the civilians of Quel'Thalas. casualties.
"Hey~"
Baron Rivendell looked at the gloomy sky in confusion: "It has only been peaceful for a few years. Is the war about to ignite again?"
…
Sarlayan, who was far away in Stratholme City, knew nothing about the secret conversations at the Light's Hope Chapel.
This time, the high elves used a blitzkrieg method to send troops, firstly to recapture the "miners" that should belong to Quel'Thalas, and secondly, to improve relations with their neighbors.
Don't get me wrong, the neighbor mentioned here is not the entire Kingdom of Lordaeron, but the Stratholme region, which is the Rivendell family.
In recent years, as the relationship between Quel'Thalas and Lordaeron has become worse and worse, the commercial exchanges between the two countries have inevitably been affected.
The caravans that have the most contact with Quel'Thalas come from the Stratholme region. The Holy Light's Hope Chapel on the other side has not had caravans pass through for a long time.
Compared to those of his own race who are arrogant and look down on humans, Kael'thas, who has lived in Dalaran for a long time, has a gentler personality, but this does not mean that he will use his hot face to stick to others' cold buttocks.
Terenas doesn't want to blatantly trade with the high elves?
Okay, then we will only have good relations with Stratholme who is willing to maintain trade relations.
Stratholme is far away from the core area of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, but it is a wealthy place second only to the Royal City of Lordaeron.
The Rivendell family that rules this territory has always been tactful and has a style that does not offend any party.
This time, if the contemporary Baron Rivendell causes such a big mess, Terenas will definitely take advantage of the situation, install his confidants in Stratholme, and take Stratholme into his own step by step.
Will Baron Rivendell watch Terenas do something small?
Obviously not.
By chance, Sarlayan received an unexpected piece of news through the backlight blade's intelligence channel.
Baron Rivendell and Kel'Thuzad were old friends for many years.
Before setting off from Quel'Thalas, Sharlayan specifically asked Stellagosa to help convey the message and secretly communicated with Kel'Thuzad.
Through Kel'Thuzad's information, Sharlayan learned a little more about Baron Rivendell.
This Baron, who is nominally affiliated with the Kingdom of Lordaeron, has no sense of belonging to the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the royal family of Menethil because the sky is high and the emperor is far away. Stratholme is more like a city under the name of Lordaeron. independent city-state.
In this case, the operable space has been enlarged a lot.
Referring to the future intelligence provided by the barrage, Baron Rivendell will take the lead in betraying Lordaeron and accept Kel'Thuzad's invitation without hesitation to join the Curse Cult and join the Lich King.
Sarlayan had some ideas about this, and did not leave Stratholme City immediately after completing the grain trade. He stayed temporarily under the warm hospitality of the Baroness, and patiently waited for the return of Baron Rivendell from the expedition.
