Just as Khadgar guessed, there was indeed a reason why Sarlayan put down a lot of things after the war and followed Khadgar to the Deadwind Pass to deal with Karazhan.
Part of it was like Khadgar said.
Whether Sharlayan himself is wandering away for the time being and not returning home, or deliberately slowing down the return of the high elf army, it is all to further embolden the coward Ner'zhul and let him invest more cards in the attack on Lordaeron. .
Today's Sharlayan is no longer the little-known half-elf warrior he was 10 years ago. As his layout ability gradually spreads throughout the Eastern Kingdom, Ner'zhul naturally also pays close attention to the rapidly rising Duke of Quel'Thalas. The alert was heightened.
Because Valeera and Jaina have always adopted a low-key policy, and Kel'Thuzad, the mole, helped cover it up without leaving a trace, Ner'zhul still doesn't know that Sharlayan has already arranged for people to secretly intervene between the Scourge and the Scourge. The War in Lordaeron.
In the early stages of this war, which was launched in the rear of Lordaeron, the progress was as rapid as Ner'zhul expected.
Relying on the banner of "bringing order to chaos" launched by Prince Arthas of Lordaeron, a large number of hardline lords who were deeply dissatisfied with Calia's soft diplomatic strategy successively attached themselves to Arthas...or the Scourge.
With the first round of the civil war over, peace had returned to the East Weald.
After Baron Rivendell, the lord of Stratholme who had been personally received and commended by Queen Calia, took the lead in raising the rebellion flag, within just half a month, the effect of the flag ignited war in East Weald again.
With the exception of the Light's Hope Chapel, Cowlin's Crossing, and Tyr's Hand, which were controlled by the Knights of the Silver Hand, most of East Weald quickly fell under the iron heel of Arthas.
Quel'Thalas, who was well prepared, immediately closed the Thralas gate on the border after the war broke out. Foreign Minister Calpurnia also quickly conveyed the bad news to Queen Calia in the Royal City of Lordaeron. .
After learning that Arthas had once again raised the flag of rebellion with the support of Stratholme, Calia's mind went blank for a moment. She had no idea why Arthas and Baron Rivendell would do such a thing that was not beneficial to the country. .
Not to mention Baron Rivendell, who is a foreign minister, in Calia's understanding, although she and Arthas have serious differences in the philosophy of governing the country, the starting point of both parties is to strengthen Lordaeron.
Not long after the civil war ended, Lordaeron, whose national power had been declining for many years, was still in dire straits.
The smug Calia was about to take advantage of the huge reputation gained by rebuilding the alliance to make a big splash in the country. However, at this juncture, her closest family members were stabbed from behind with a heart-wrenching sword.
The ministers of Lordaeron were also frightened and angry. Some nobles who wanted to weaken the royal power took the opportunity to attack, accusing Calia of being too kind to Arthas, which led to this second conflict that might cause serious damage to Lordaeron. turmoil.
Fortunately, Calia's prestige during the recent period was high, and after she stabilized her mind, she quickly stabilized the political situation with the help of some ministers who fully supported her.
Even though she still had doubts about Alsace's motive for raising the army, at the moment when he clearly raised his flag of rebellion, the pressing situation left Calia no time to care about the relationship between sister and brother.
The top priority is that Lordaeron must quickly suppress the rebellion launched by Arthas and the hardline lords.
If time goes on for too long, the land of Lordaeron is likely to be split into two. This is something Calia, who is determined to revitalize Lordaeron, absolutely does not want to see.
However, the subsequent development of the situation did not follow Calia's wishes.
Alexandros Mograine took many soldiers to the Cursed Land to fight against the Burning Legion, and the number of troops Calia could still control was greatly reduced.
In addition to the armies of various hardline lords, Arthas also had the undead army of the Scourge that Ner'zhul had run for many years.
In terms of the total number of troops, at least at this point in time, the rebels are far ahead of the official Lordaeron army.
Fortunately, Lordaeron's ace army, the Knights of the Silver Hand, happened to stay in the country to wipe out the remaining demonic forces.
After receiving the counter-insurgency order issued by Queen Calia suppressing her personal emotions, the Lightbringer Uther, the Dinghai Shenzhen who has been stationed in the royal city, led the Silver Hand elite to the front line with a serious look on his face, heading straight to the Sodorir River. And go.
Thanks to the timely intelligence from Quel'Thalas, Calia issued the order uncharacteristically and decisively.
When Uther met with Tirion Fordring who came from Hearthglen for reinforcements, the human and undead coalition led by Arthas had just initially suppressed the resistance within East Wilder and advanced the military line to the shores of Lake Daronmere. near Geron Farm.
Determined to clear the door, Uther led the elite of the Silver Hand to rush in and blocked the rebels on the banks of the Sodoril River for a fierce battle.
Valeera and Jaina, who foresaw the development of the situation in advance, set off early and arrived at Keldaron Island in the center of Lake Darrowmere.
The vast Lake Darrowmere is the buffer zone between Lordaeron and Alterac. The island of Caer Darrow, located in the middle of the lake, is undoubtedly the best place to observe changes in the war situation.
Keldaron Island has been the territory of the Barov family since more than 2,000 years ago.
Because of Sharlayan's help to the Barov family during the Battle of Alterac, the current head of the Barov family, Alex Barov, was very enthusiastic about the arrival of Valeera and Jaina.
There is undoubtedly hatred between the Barov family and Lordaeron. This is a historical problem caused by Terenas.
With the rebuilding of the Alliance, for the sake of the overall situation, the Barov family could only temporarily put aside their hatred and rebuild trade routes with Lordaeron.
This time the civil war in Lordaeron has no direct relationship with Barov... or even Alterac as a whole. The Alex family can safely and boldly sit in the prime viewing position and eat happily.
Like Lordaeron, most of Alterac's domestic troops were sent to the front lines of the Cursed Land under the joint decision of the Alliance's top brass.
It had only been a few years since Alterac was restored, and the security conditions in the country were still not very good. They had to leave enough troops to deter Xiaoxiao. Even if they wanted to send troops to reinforce Lordaeron, they were powerless.
Quel'Thalas, who had already prepared the plan, also gave the same reason. Kel'Thuzad also cooperated and sent an undead army to station directly opposite the gate of Salas. However, there was no real relationship between the two sides from the beginning to the end. Got into a fight.
The backlash from Sarlayan's deliberate attempt to spare the armies of the alliance countries finally came.
At least until the army of the Burning Legion goes to the Blasted Lands to fight back, Lordaeron can only rely on the few existing troops in the country to prevent the rebels from further expansion.
Counterattack? Go to sleep, there is everything in your dreams.
Even if Uther can really defeat a thousand people with one horse, it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Before leaving Nethergarde, Sharlayan specifically contacted Valeera and Jaina.
After making sure that the situation would not change drastically for the time being, he followed Khadgar to Karazhan with confidence, dropped the fishhook and waited for the big fish to come.
Time is a resource that is in short supply for Ner'zhul.
In order to use the population of Lordaeron as much as possible to expand the Scourge, he must achieve enough results before the main force of the Alliance rushes back, so that he can snowball and further expand the Scourge's sphere of influence.
Sharlayan took advantage of Ner'zhul's gambler's mentality that he had forced out of him.
According to the recent intelligence coming back from the Northrend branch of the Backlight Blade, which has been closely monitoring the movements of Icecrown Glacier, Ner'zhul is obviously determined to make a fortune.
According to the information obtained by the nerubians' underground surveillance, the Scourge has recently been launching large numbers of water through the underground passages dug by the undead nerubians.
The undead know neither heat nor cold, nor do they need to breathe. They can sneak all the way from the extremely cold seabed of Northrend to land in East Weald, becoming the last straw to overwhelm the defenders of Lordaeron.
As for the other half’s intentions that Khadgar didn’t guess...
Kael'thas has prepared highly concentrated Sunwell water in advance.
Not many people in Quel'Thalas knew about Yinasi's assassination of Dar'Kan, and Lordaeron knew nothing about it.
Under the secret cooperation of Kel'Thuzad, the mole, and Quel'Thalas.
Darkan Drasil, the former Speaker of the Silver Moon Parliament, has long been dissatisfied with the Sun King who has monopolized power.
News of his attempt to cooperate with the Scourge to overthrow the Sunstrider royal family quickly spread within the Scourge.
As long as the time is right, Kael'thas will secretly smuggle the water from the Sunwell to Kel'Thuzad in the name of the long-dead Dar'kan.
Eight years ago, Sharlayan complied with Khadgar's last request before closing the door, returning only the Violet Eye to Dalaran among the three artifacts stolen by Ner'zhul, and intercepting the Book of Medivh for preservation. In the treasury of the Sunstrider royal family.
Anyway, Khadgar took the initiative to take the blame. Although Dalaran was dissatisfied with this, he did not hold on to it.
When "Darkhan" gave the Sunwell water to Kel'Thuzad, the Book of Medivh would also be given away. This assisting teammate could be regarded as the most benevolent person.
At this point, the preliminary preparations for the plan to summon Archimonde without harming Quel'Thalas are completely completed.
Solas's escape was also an unexpected factor for Sarlayan, but his actions had little impact on the overall situation. At most, he needed to fine-tune his plan.
After completely dealing with Ner'zhul and the two fools he used as containers, Sharlayan planned to convene Alonsos Faol, Kel'Thuzad and Thoras for a three-party meeting to discuss who should inherit Ner'zhul. The seat of the Lich King vacated after the death of A'zul.
Perhaps in other words, who should become the new owner of the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne, and continue to coexist with the "helpers" of the Shadow Realm.
As Khadgar continued to explore the catacombs of Karazhan, Sharlayan had been patiently waiting for the latest news from Valeera and Jaina from the war front.
'Lich King Ner'zhul, continue to use your remaining value. There is not much time left for you to perform. '
'Rest assured, the legacy you left will not be in vain, and "your" undead army will continue to shine in protecting Azeroth and Draenor. '
