The Rivendell family has been guarding the border for the Kingdom of Lordaeron since the long past, and built the majestic border city of Stratholme on the land of East Wilder.
Thanks to the developed local agriculture and animal husbandry, Stratholme became more and more prosperous in the more than 2,000 years after the end of the Troll War, and gradually became the food production base of the entire Kingdom of Lordaeron.
According to the barrage, the reason why the Kingdom of Lordaeron in original history was so easily infiltrated by natural disasters was because of the plague grains transported from the Stratholme region to various parts of Lordaeron.
In order to better control the future direction, Sarlayan needs to find out in advance the position of the newly appointed Baron Rivendell.
According to the information provided by the thief of Backlight Blade, the contemporary Baron Rivendell is the second son of the previous old baron. His brother unfortunately died when he was only a few years old, so he was raised as the family heir since he was a child.
Maybe it's because the sky is high and the emperor is far away, or maybe it's because of simple differences in philosophy.
The old barons of the previous generation were very dissatisfied with Terenas and Arthas' policy of treating Quel'Thalas as their imaginary enemy. They wrote many times asking the king to change his mind, but they never received a positive response.
As a neighbor of Quel'Thalas, the Stratholme region has very frequent trade exchanges with Quel'Thalas.
It is no exaggeration to say that after Quel'Thalas lifted its isolation policy and opened up to the outside world, at least half of the generous commercial taxes received by the Stratholme region every year were related to Quel'Thalas.
It was related to family interests, so it was no wonder that the old Baron Rivendell tried his best to maintain a good relationship with Quel'Thalas and spurned the "wrong" policies set by the central government of Lordaeron.
This is the norm in the era of feudal aristocracy. It is unrealistic to expect all powerful aristocrats who own territories to put national interests first. Human qualities have not yet evolved to such a selfless level.
For the hard-liners in Quel'Thalas, led by Terenas and Arthas, the old Baron Rivendell's stance made them very angry, but they couldn't do anything about him.
Stratholme Region provides a considerable amount of tax revenue to the kingdom every year. Even Terenas does not dare to rashly turn against Quel'Thalas completely, and only dares to make some small moves secretly.
Humans do not live as long as the high elves, and they change lords every once in a while.
The old baron is 63 years old this year. In the human kingdom where living conditions are generally relatively backward, this age is considered a long life.
After confirming that the heir had grown enough to support the entire territory, he gave up the position of lord freely and retired peacefully to take care of himself.
During the time when the old Baron Rivendell was in power, the Duchy of Deep Shadow and the Stratholme region had maintained good relations.
There is a saying that once the emperor has one court, the same is true for aristocratic territories that are completely autonomous by their lords.
Since he had been busy traveling around the world, Sarlayan had not yet had time to confirm the position of the new Baron Rivendell.
However, in the past few months since he succeeded to the throne, Stratholme has still maintained normal contacts with Quel'Thalas as always, which at least means that the new baron does not intend to radically change the basic policies previously formulated by his father.
Considering that in the original history, Baron Rivendell had defected to the Cursed Sect early on, in order to take precautions, Sarlayan planned to meet with him in person to confirm.
During the Troll War, the then-Legion Commander of the Flame Eagle Legion fell in love with a young human woman from the Arathor Empire.
Although this relationship ended without any problems due to various reasons, the love that sprouted during the war quickly brought the relationship between the two families closer, and it has remained the same even after thousands of years.
The human woman who fell in love with the high elf was a member of the Rivendell family. It was precisely because of their outstanding performance in the troll war that the Rivendell family received the territory rewarded by Emperor Thoradin, which continues to this day.
For the "young" human civilization, the Rivendell family, with a history of more than 2,700 years, has deep qualifications.
Because there were always ideological differences with central Lordaeron, the title of the Rivendell family, which was disliked by the Menethil royal family, began to decline from marquis to the lowest baron.
However, this did not affect the influence and territory size of the Rivendell family.
Relying on the Stratholme region as a well-known grain production base in Lordaeron, Terenas did not dare to completely ignore the opinions of the Rivendell family even in the heyday of Lordaeron.
"Rivendell?"
After hearing Sarlayan's request, Matis was stunned for a moment, and then showed a look of surprise.
"It's just a bridge to set up a line. It's a small problem, but..."
Mattis hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to express his concerns.
"Duke of Deep Shadow..."
Salayan waved his hand and interrupted him: "Don't be so polite. We are the same age after all. Just call me Salayan."
Matis, who had received strict etiquette education from his family since childhood, was still a little unaccustomed to Sarlayan's informality.
"Okay, Sarlayan."
Since the other party intends to rewrite the minor conflicts in the past, Mattis will certainly not stupidly refuse the olive branch offered by Sarlayan.
After shaking his head and laughing, Mattis's expression became serious again.
"Let me remind you, this should be information that even the Backlight Blade has not been able to collect."
"You also know that the Flame Eagle family and the Rivendell family have always maintained close contact. We have received some uncertain news through special channels."
"This newly appointed Baron Rivendell... seems to have close ties with a strange sect of unknown origin."
Sarlayan's eyes flashed, and he asked well prepared: "Is it the Curse Sect? Or to use their own name... the Eternal Sect?"
Mattis had a look of astonishment on his face: "You already know? Then I won't say anything more."
"I sent people to investigate this mysterious sect that suddenly emerged across Lordaeron. The advice given by my family elders was...not to have any contact with them."
The concept of immortality is particularly attractive to short-lived species like humans. High elves with a life span of 3,000 years don't care so much.
To take a step back, even if the high elves want to obtain a longer lifespan, why should they turn to such a strange organization of unknown origin? It is better to further study the arcana on their own, and perhaps come up with some more reliable results.
This is the inherent thinking mode of most high elves, and it is the arrogance of the elves alone.
Sarlayan smiled confidently and thanked Mattis for his kind reminder: "I have been paying attention to the Curse Sect for a long time, and they can't deceive me."
"What I care more about is..."
Sarlayan touched his chin thoughtfully: "Why is the new Rivendell closely associated with the Cursed Sect? He must be still very young. What does he want to get from the Cursed Sect?"
Mattis spread his hands and said: "This depends on your definition of youth. The new Baron Rivendell is 35 years old this year. Even by human standards, he is not considered old. There is indeed no need to start planning for eternal life so early. .”
"I will use the communication channel between the Flame Eagle family and the Rivendell family to notify Titus. If he responds, I will send the news to you as soon as possible."
Titus Rivendell is the full name of the contemporary Baron Rivendell.
Sharlayan: "Then I'll beg you. If you need help, you can always send someone to Unicorn City to find me, or you can contact Valeera and Stellagosa."
Watching Sarlayan swing his cloak and turn around to leave, Matis sighed softly.
"A descendant of the dragon clan? No wonder the two generations of Sun Kings tried their best to win over him. Fortunately, they didn't turn against him because of some conflicts back then."
"in addition……"
Mattis Yanying frowned and looked to the south of Silver Moon City: "Eternal life... no, the cursed sect."
"It actually allows Sarlayan Deep Shadow, a man with a world in mind, to follow up and investigate in advance. What is the origin of this mysterious organization? What is their purpose?"
"Is it possible that this little cult might threaten the security of Azeroth?"
…
Mattis really kept his promise. Not long after Sarlayan returned to his lord's palace, the Flame Eagle family gave a response from Baron Rivendell.
The other party readily agreed to Sarlayan's request for a meeting. According to him, he had long wanted to find an opportunity to meet and chat with the legendary Duke of Deep Shadow. Unfortunately, because Sarlayan was traveling outside for a long time, Always on the same side.
"Have you wanted to see me for a long time?"
Sarlayan smiled noncommittally: "In that case, let's set the meeting place at the capital of the territory of the leader of the Yanying family."
Stella Gosa raised her eyebrows slightly: "In other words, Qingfeng Village?"
