Furbolgs are one of the original species of Azeroth, followers of the Great Bear Ancients, the twin brothers Ursol and Ursoc.
Compared to the scattered Furbolg clans across the continent of Kalimdor, the Grizzly Hills—the birthplace of the Great Bear Ancients—is considered the holy land for all Furbolgs in Azeroth.
As the largest power in Kalimdor, the expansion of the Night Elves inevitably squeezed the living space of other races. Thus, the cold attitude of the Kalimdor Furbolgs toward the Night Elves was not entirely incomprehensible.
However, the Furbolgs of the Grizzly Hills were different. Since they did not directly border Shandaral, there was no reason for them to be so indifferent to the envoys sent by Roddick.
"You should have sent scouts to investigate the situation in the Grizzly Hills recently. Did they find anything?"
Roddick thought for a moment before answering, "There is indeed one strange thing. In previous years, the northern part of the Grizzly Hills, bordering Zul'Drak, was frequently invaded by the Drakkari Trolls."
"In the past, the Furbolgs would mobilize large armies every few years to drive the trolls out. But in recent years, they seem to have become much more low-profile, allowing the trolls to expand their territory in the northern hills."
"However, this situation is only concentrated near Drak'Tharon Keep in the west. At the old den of the Great Bear Ancients on the eastern border, they have instead strengthened their guard. The trolls launched several attacks in recent years, but they were all repelled by the Furbolgs using concentrated superior forces."
"A den? Superior forces?"
A flash of inspiration struck Andreas. "A feint? A diversion?"
Roddick shook his head. "I'm not sure. I can only say it's a possibility."
Is that so... Andreas narrowed his eyes in contemplation as he stared at the massive map of Northrend hanging before him. "I have a general guess about their intentions."
"I'll return to Kalimdor first. Roddick, convey my orders to Nawaz. Have him keep the troops inside the city for now and stay on standby. Do not alert the enemy prematurely."
"Understood!"
...
"The souls of Ursoc and Ursol?"
In Un'Goro Crater, Archdruid Malfurion looked at Andreas with confusion.
"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Did something happen?"
"It's a bit complicated to explain."
Andreas kept it brief. "I suspect that the Furbolgs of the Grizzly Hills are trying to find a way to resurrect the Great Bear Ancient brothers they worship."
Malfurion's brow furrowed. He pondered for a moment before speaking. "I won't say it's completely impossible, but accelerating the resurrection of a demigod is undoubtedly extremely difficult."
"The demigods who fell during the War of the Ancients lost their bodies in the physical world. Before they can be resurrected, their bodies must first be reshaped."
"There is a very clear boundary between the Emerald Dream and the physical world. Reshaping a body and bridging the gap between their souls and a new physical form is a process that is almost impossible for mortal races to achieve."
A sharp light glinted in Andreas's eyes. "Then, what if it's accelerated by sacrificing the soul of a Loa?"
"A Loa?"
Malfurion was stunned, his expression gradually becoming solemn.
"Loa is the general term trolls use for the spirits of the wild; they have a long-standing tradition of worshipping them."
"If the Furbolgs truly found a living Loa to sacrifice, they might indeed be able to quickly bridge the gap between a demigod's soul and the physical world. However..."
Andreas finished the thought, understanding the implication. "The proud demigods would absolutely never accept such a method of resurrection, as it is a path of pure evil."
"Not only that, but a demigod resurrected through such heterodox methods would likely suffer issues due to a mismatch between the soul and the body."
"Phew—"
Malfurion let out a long breath and spoke gravely to Andreas. "I understand what you mean. I will enter the Emerald Dream immediately to call upon Cenarius... I hope the situation hasn't worsened to that degree."
...
After Andreas established his presence in Shandaral to begin operations on the Northrend continent, he first dispatched his most capable scout team to collect intelligence and draw detailed maps of various locations.
Prissem did not disappoint him. In just five years, she led her elite team of rogues across all of Andreas's target locations and accurately mapped those regions.
The old den of Ursoc and Ursol was located in the northeast of the Grizzly Hills, directly bordering Zul'Drak to the north.
Coincidentally, not far north of the demigods' den was the altar of Akali, the Rhino God—or rather, the altar of Har'koa, the Snow Leopard Loa worshipped by the Drakkari Trolls.
The Furbolgs had almost completely abandoned their territory near the western defense line, concentrating their superior forces in the east. This abnormal behavior had aroused the suspicion of the Drakkari Trolls.
In recent years, the point of contention between the two sides had shifted to the area near the Altar of Mam'toth and the gates leading to Zul'Drak.
This was the only entrance to Zul'Drak from the eastern Grizzly Hills; all other directions were firmly blocked by the defensive walls the Drakkari Trolls had spent thousands of years building.
Although the trolls were also very confused by the Furbolgs concentrating their forces in the east, they had not yet suspected that the Furbolgs were plotting against their own Loa.
The reason Andreas thought of this was actually due to the influence of certain quest plots from the game.
Though many years had passed, Andreas still vividly remembered a certain scene and its related lore because he had failed the final step of a very long quest chain in the Grizzly Hills multiple times.
The first half mainly dealt with the felled World Tree, Andrassil. This World Tree, known as the "Crown of the Snow," had been severely corrupted by Yogg-Saron, starting from its roots.
After multiple investigations, the Cenarion Circle eventually made the painful decision to cut it down.
The main questline of the Grizzly Hills revolved around this giant tree, which was later named Vordrassil (The Broken Crown).
The Furbolgs wanted to resurrect the demigod Ursoc, but they used the wrong materials and the wrong methods to construct his body.
In the end, this resurrected body was corrupted by Yogg-Saron, and the "player" had to personally help release Ursoc, whose soul was trapped within the corrupted flesh.
Although the current time was thousands of years before those quests would take place, considering the importance of the demigods to their followers, the idea of the Furbolgs wanting to resurrect the twin brothers was not hard to understand.
The problem lay in their methods.
...
More than a month later, Malfurion woke from his slumber.
Ignoring the soul fatigue accumulated from traveling through the Emerald Dream, the Druid immediately convened the senior members of the Cenarion Circle.
"Ursol's soul has entered a strange state of deep sleep."
Malfurion rubbed his temples, trying to alleviate the exhaustion originating from his soul.
"Cenarius, Ursoc, and I tried many ways to wake him, but none were successful."
Malfurion's expression was extremely grim as he looked around at the senior druids, who also shared his dark expression.
"I suspect that Ursol's soul may have accidentally consumed some kind of 'tainted' offering provided to him by the Furbolgs."
"To resurrect Ursoc, the Furbolgs of the Grizzly Hills are likely planning to go behind the backs of the Great Bear brothers and do something they would find unacceptable."
"Sacrifice."