To wait for the first-hand intelligence from the Druids of the Talon, Shandris remained in Moonshadow's Rest for the following period, using official business as her justification.
Although Tyrande found Andreas and his founded Moonshadow's Rest to be quite an eyesore, she was not someone who couldn't distinguish between priorities. As a veteran who had personally experienced the War of the Ancients, the anomalies in Felwood Forest gave Tyrande a sense of impending trouble, and she temporarily turned a blind eye to Shandris' "slacking."
During this time, Leticia's life was quite a struggle. She had originally thought that once Andreas returned, she could escape the heavy workload and return to her carefree, leisurely lifestyle.
She had guessed the beginning, but not the end.
As the Sentinel General, Shandris had spent the past few years training extensively in military camps. Already possessing a natural feminine heroic spirit, she now exuded even more of the majesty of a high-ranking leader. Like Andreas, Shandris had been by Leticia's side, nurturing her during her most important three years of growth.
While Andreas was occupied with administrative affairs, Shandris took over the task of disciplining Leticia. Having been in constant contact with military matters recently, Shandris had inevitably picked up a bit of a soldier's "iron and blood" style. Her strict guidance was a source of great misery for the naturally free-spirited Leticia.
Andreas was more than happy to see someone finally taming this little troublemaker, lest she remain lawless all day and eventually cause some major catastrophe.
Taking over the town's management personally, Andreas quickly settled back into his rhythm. In the development of a people's livelihood, nothing is more important than the four essentials: clothing, food, shelter, and transportation. Only after satisfying these most fundamental elements can one have the spare energy to expand into healthcare, entertainment, education, and scientific research.
First was clothing—one of the most basic material needs of the residents.
During the era of the Night Empire, the garments of the Highborne were made from finely crafted silk, which became Mageweave after being enchanted. Meanwhile, ordinary Night Elf commoners mostly wore cheap linen. Although silk was comfortable and beautiful, the yield of this fabric, which relied on silkworm weaving, was very low. As things are valued for their rarity, no one but the nobility could afford such precious fabric in the past.
After settling in Moonshadow's Rest, Andreas vigorously developed the sericulture industry. Under the cultivation of the Druids, the silk-producing capacity of improved silkworms was greatly enhanced. Now, among the residents of Moonshadow's Rest, those who were more affluent began trying to switch to silk clothing—something that previously only noble lords could wear.
In the past, these commoners could never have imagined that one day they would be able to wear such high-end fabric. The improvement in living standards significantly increased the people's sense of belonging to Moonshadow's Rest.
Even for those who temporarily couldn't afford silk, Andreas didn't let them continue wearing scratchy, coarse linen. During the early days of Moonshadow's Rest's establishment, the Druids had brought back a large number of seeds, including a plant called cotton.
It must be said that even when the Druid profession is not used for combat, it can play a very significant role in the cultivation of plants and animals. Under Andreas' arrangements, plant-specialized Druids produced cotton in large quantities. Today, the residents of Moonshadow's Rest have generally switched to comfortable and affordable cotton clothing.
Back then, Andreas had recruited a team of nearly a thousand people from Astranaar to come to the western coast of Ashenvale, including over a dozen skilled tailors. After more than two years of development, Moonshadow's Rest—which had taken in a massive number of refugees—saw its population explode. Professional craftsmen in various industries had taken on many apprentices, and various industrial chains were gradually forming.
Mentioning the Druids' breeding techniques inevitably brings up the second priority of livelihood: food.
Born in a nation of food lovers, Andreas looked down upon the culinary culture of the Night Elves. Even the food of great noble families like the Moonsongs failed to impress him. The food of the Highborne emphasized "original ecology," with staples consisting of various breads made from wheat flour, supplemented by fresh fruits and vegetables just picked from their own orchards.
Accustomed to white rice and a rich variety of side dishes, Andreas was very resistant to eating bread and gnawing on fruit every day. After Feron found rice seeds from outside, Andreas immediately arranged for people to dig canals from Lake Falathim to the south and build waterwheels to divert water, establishing a spectacular patch of rice paddies in the southern suburbs of Moonshadow's Rest.
Andreas was no great agricultural scientist and couldn't develop hybrid rice, but thanks to the blessing of Nordrassil, the spring-like Ashenvale made planting rice not difficult as long as a plentiful supply of irrigation was guaranteed—not to mention the help of Druids to accelerate the ripening process.
When he ate white rice for the first time in Moonshadow's Rest, Andreas was nearly moved to tears. The familiar taste of rice unconsciously brought back memories of his previous life before crossing over.
Now that he had rice, the side dishes couldn't be ignored. Various edible vegetables were added to the menu of Moonshadow's Rest's residents. Counting the wild boars Feron and the other Druids had brought back from the Stonetalon Mountains, and the planned capture of sheep and cattle from the Mulgore plains further south in the near future, a better life was beckoning to Andreas.
Having satisfied his appetite, the residents' housing was another unavoidable topic.
Although the Sea of Mists rarely saw massive storms, the humid air by the seaside severely eroded the wooden houses that Night Elves were accustomed to living in. Meanwhile, sturdy houses built with stone bricks were expensive. According to Andreas's past observations in Zin-Azshari, only the noble districts used stone bricks extensively as building materials; houses in the commoner districts were mostly a mix of wood and stone.
Speaking of this, one must mention the Night Elves' strange technology tree... or rather, their magic tree. During the Night Empire era, "traveler essentials" like paper and glass were all present. Although the brewing process was primitive, thanks to the existence of Arcane magic, brewing fine wine was not a difficult task.
The Night Empire was founded on Arcane magic, and with the endless energy of the Well of Eternity, it developed a brilliant magical civilization. Andreas had experienced the extravagant life of the nobility back in the Moonsong family: auto-writing pens, self-sweeping brooms, and even laundry could be completed with simple Arcane cantrips.
Additionally, there were unmanned Arcane carriages and Arcane constructs that patrolled according to intelligent programs. These products directly reflected the Night Elves' dazzling Arcane civilization.
Yet, in certain infrastructure aspects, the Night Elves appeared remarkably clumsy. Take stone bricks, for example; the stubborn Night Elves literally used large stones to chip out bricks one by one. This low-efficiency building material left Andreas truly speechless.
Thus, Andreas brought out the method of firing bricks using clay in a kiln. In just two short years, this greatly increased the coverage of brick-and-stone housing in Moonshadow's Rest.
Merchants traveling from Astranaar were astonished by Moonshadow's Rest's "luxurious" stone architectural complexes. Even Tyrande had recently begun to indirectly inquire through Shandris about how to build so many brick houses.
With the problem of shelter basically solved, the last basic livelihood issue remaining was transportation.