On the southward voyage toward Zandalar Harbor, Andreas Moonshadow and his companions could feel eyes on them every league they traveled.
The relentless surveillance rankled Celeste, while Shandris—seasoned general—shrugged it off as standard battlefield etiquette.
Bear with it; we'll make landfall soon.
Andreas lifted his gaze to the sky where distant silhouettes wheeled against the sun—winged scouts, no doubt.
Pterodactyls?
Andreas had enjoyed the company of the jovial Wind King, but divided loyalties made spies inevitable.
Once they entered Zuldazar waters, the number of shadowing hulls tripled and the sky filled with patrols.
Until the trolls gauged the fleet's intent, the Zandalari kept their spears sheathed.
As the squadron neared port, dozens of war-canoes encircled them.
Admiral Darian bristled, yet Andreas' restraint kept every gunner's finger off the trigger.
At last a pterodactyl rider approached under flag of parley.
I speak for Prophet Talanaray, emissary of the Zanchuli Council, the rider announced.
When a Night Elf emerged from below deck the troll's eyes narrowed.
Andreas merely delivered the Cenarion Circle's invitation and dropped anchor outside the harbor.
Night Elves?
Talanaray stroked a tusk, frowning.
Invite Zandalari druids to the Circle? Hardly the whole story.
He studied the five iron warships.
A warning, then.
War-Druid Ritina asked, Do we let them berth?
Signal them in, Talanaray ordered.
He tapped his staff and turned.
Ritina, carry word to King Rastakhan. I will probe their purpose.
Safe travels, Prophet.
Under countless eyes the five ships tied up at Zuldazar docks.
The Golden Fleet ruled the seas—until today.
Andreas ignored the glares and surveyed Dazaralor.
Pyramids terraced with gardens rose like a jungle Babylon.
At the summit stood a seal against Ghuun.
The streets bustled with proud, straight-backed trolls.
Gentle sauropods hauled cargo better than any Kodo.
Shandris sized up the elite guards—better than Frost or Sandfury Trolls.
Celeste expected voodoo stench, but found only harmony.
A staff-bearing troll approached escorted by guards and voodoo puppets.
Andreas Moonshadow, envoy of the Cenarion Circle, he replied.
Talanaray blinked.
You are Andreas Moonshadow, leader of the Night Elf Republic?
On holiday, Andreas smiled.
I answer the Loa of Kings Rezan's invitation.
Rezan?
A deep laugh echoed as Rezan strode into view.
Welcome, Loa of Kings Rezan greeted.
Even immortals forget mortal names.
Talanaray sighed.
King Samir awaits in the Golden Throne.
Unlike the Elves, Trolls do not possess long lifespans, so Zandalar replaces its God-King and Prophet every so often, the timing of which fluctuates slightly depending on the stability of the current situation.
Although the Zandalari Trolls possess a large island, their true core controlled area is only Zuldazar, while the neighboring Nazmir and Vol'dun are not under their control.
Unlike the peaceful Vol'dun Jungle, the Blood Trolls are inherently brutal and launch attacks against Zuldazar every so often. Multiple generations of God-Kings have sought to wipe out this savage kin in one fell swoop, thereby reclaiming Nazmir, the ancestral home of the Trolls.
Yes, the ancestral home of the Trolls.
The first Troll city, Zul'Nazman, was once located in Nazmir, expanded around the Titan ruin Uldir, just as Dazaralor is now built upon the Third Seal, Zuldazar.
Modeling their cities after the shape of Uldir and the three seal structures, the Trolls constructed their cities in the shape of pyramids. Zul'Nazman was no exception, and remnants of this ancient city can still be seen in Nazmir today.
For a long time, the Trolls residing in Zul'Nazman, who called themselves Nazmani, did not have a supreme Monarch.
The three largest tribes endured a prolonged civil war, finally uniting, though heavily scarred, to form the Tribal Council and jointly govern the Nazmani people.
From then on, the Nazmani entered a period of relatively peaceful and rapid development, which Troll history refers to as the Age of the Tribal Council.
The story Rezan told greatly interested Andreas and the two others, and Andreas likely guessed how the Nazmani declined.
Seeing his look of realization, Rezan knew Andreas had guessed some of the subsequent events.
"That's right, just as you thought. Zul'Nazman was too close to Uldir, that prison, and the corrupting power that seeped out of Ghuun's seal gradually erupted."
That disaster was named the Blood Plague Crisis by the Nazmani, and thousands of Trolls lost their lives because of it.
But something even more unacceptable occurred: the buried corpses soon broke out of the ground and attacked their former brethren, further spreading the blood plague.
Just as the Nazmani were facing an extinction crisis, a large number of Titan Constructs rushed out from Uldir in the city center and from the three sealing pyramids surrounding the holy city of Zul'Nazman.
Under their ruthless and efficient extermination, the blood plague spreading throughout Zul'Nazman was finally contained.
"Since then, the Nazmani dared not practice earth burial for their deceased loved ones, fearing their corpses might once again rise and cause disaster. They cremated friends and family who died from the blood plague and stored their ashes in specialized containers, a custom that continues to this day."
Rezan turned his head, surveying the Voodoo Puppets wandering around Dazaralor, and said with a smile, "Do you see these constructs? They are the valuable legacy the Nazmani left for us."
"Through analysis and research of the damaged Titan Constructs from the Blood Plague Crisis, the Nazmani imitated and built these constructs. To prevent secondary spread of the blood plague, these Voodoo Puppets were used at the time to handle the corpses of the deceased, replacing manual labor."
It was a long journey climbing the stairs from Zandalar Port to the Golden Throne at the highest point of the city. Having nothing else to do, Shandris and Celeste also listened intently to Rezan recounting the ancient history of the Trolls.
This history was not even recorded in the Great Library of Eversong, as the Trolls had already begun their gradual decline due to a devastating war with the Old Gods' Bugs Empire around the time the Night Elves rose to power.
"The effects of the blood plague did not end there. Since then, a sinister name began to quietly circulate in Zul'Nazman."
"Blood God G'huun, the loa of loa, the God of Darkness."
Trolls have always had the custom of worshipping powerful loa. The moment Ghuun, this synthetic Old God, was treated as a loa, the fate of the Nazmani was essentially sealed.
The rapidly proliferating Blood God worshipers grew increasingly insane and alienated from their fellow Nazmani. These worshipers were the predecessors of the current Blood Trolls.
During the late period of the Tribal Council, a portion of clear-headed Trolls felt deeply uneasy about the dark customs aggressively promoted by their brethren who worshiped Ghuun.
Led by a chieftain named Daz'a, this group of Nazmani began their struggle against the Blood Trolls.
"Daz'a was a great warrior and a wise Monarch. He ventured deep into the Zuldazar Mountains to find me and signed an Eternal Covenant with me."
Rezan said with a touch of emotion, "From then on, I shared my strength and wisdom with these Nazmani, and they, in turn, would worship me for generations, elevating me as the loa of kings, a status above all other loa."
Aided by Rezan's great power and wise guidance, this faction of clear-headed Nazmani gradually realized a despairing truth during the long war.
The Blood Trolls who worshiped Ghuun could no longer be saved.
Under Rezan's direction, Daz'a led the remaining Nazmani away from the polluted Zul'Nazman, retreating into the Zuldazar Mountains to establish a new home. These people were the Zandalar'ai, the ancestors of the current Zandalari Trolls.
To commemorate Daz'a's achievement in leading his people through thick and thin to carve out a new home, the Zandalar'ai revered him as the First God-King and named the newly established city built upon the Third Seal after him—Dazaralor.
The subsequent history was also recorded by the Night Elves: the Zandalar'ai moved away from Nazmir, which was shrouded in darkness, and with the help of the loa, re-established a glorious and bright Great Troll Empire.
Meanwhile, the Blood Trolls who remained in Zul'Nazman succumbed to Ghuun's corruption, becoming savage and brutal. They abandoned their former glorious civilization and cities, transforming into beast-like beings.
As the story reached its conclusion, Andreas and the others were not far from their destination at the top of the pyramid.
"You probably guessed the rest of the story: the First Seal, Nazwatha, was assaulted by the Blood Trolls regardless of casualties and eventually ceased functioning."
"While there hasn't been further action yet, I speculate it's only a matter of time before Ghuun sends the Blood Trolls to attack the Vol'dun Jungle and the Zuldazar Mountains, aiming to destroy the Second Seal, Uldaman, and the Third Seal, Zuldazar."
"Alright, that's enough of the ancient story."
Rezan's massive body stopped before the final short flight of stairs on the pyramid, his head just clearing the structure enough to look up at the Golden Throne above.
"Go on, the God-King is waiting for you. Perhaps we can chat more leisurely another time, old man that I am."
Following the stairs to the top of the pyramid, Tatan'rai, who had remained silent the entire way, finally stepped forward.
He slowly walked up to the middle-aged Troll seated upon the throne, wearing a golden crown, and respectfully bowed.
"The three of you, this is the current God-King of the Zandalar'ai, His Majesty Pharaoh Samilo."
Although Rezan seemed to have a poor memory, Andreas didn't think a loa with the power of eternal life would truly be a senile old fool.
His inability to remember the names of the current God-King and Prophet also proved from another perspective that these two current rulers of Zandalar had no achievements or outstanding abilities worthy of Rezan's remembrance.
Around God-King Pharaoh, besides Prophet Tatanalai, seven people stood in two rows to his left and right.
Two fully armed trolls stood behind Pharaoh, clearly his most trusted personal bodyguards; the remaining five were likely the members of the Zanchuli Council that Rezan had mentioned earlier.
Pharaoh nodded to Andreas, the leader of the trio. "Speaker Moonshadow of the Night Elf Republic, welcome to Dazar'alor."
'Welcome?'
Andreas sneered inwardly; he hadn't felt a single bit of a welcoming atmosphere along the way.
The attitude of the Zandalari Trolls they encountered was very cold, or even hostile.
The great troll empires, led by Zandalar, had conflicts and wars with the Night Elves as far back as the era of the Night Elf Empire. Ultimately, Queen Azshara, with the help of the Well of Eternity, crushed all trolls, including the Zandalari, into the dust.
The Night Elf Empire could be said to have risen by stepping on the heads of the troll empires, taking only a few thousand years to replace the trolls and leap forward to become the rulers of Azeroth. It would be a miracle if the proud trolls were simply willing to accept this.
Although ten thousand years had passed since that war, the lingering hatred had still not been completely eliminated. The blood feud between the two sides continued through generations, and neither side had any intention of initiating a reconciliation.
Andreas himself had no prejudice against the troll race, but it just so happened that these guys blocked the path of the Night Elves' development every single time.
The earliest Sandfury Trolls blocked the Night Elves' path into Un'Goro Crater and were wiped out.
Later, the Drakari Empire in Northrend also happened to block Suramar's expansion route, and even kicked Suramar while it was down several times.
Even without considering future development, just to win over the hearts of the people of Suramar, Andreas had to take the initiative to go to war with the Drakari Trolls.
The High Elves who migrated east were still currently trading blows with the Amani Trolls for living space. Except for the Gurubashi Trolls entrenched in the southern part of the Eastern Kingdoms whom they hadn't contacted yet, the Night Elves had offended every single vassal troll empire in the world.
But Andreas did not regret this; the development of a civilization allowed for no soft-heartedness.
I need space to develop; since you are blocking my path, don't blame me for kicking you aside.
Among the five Zanchuli Council members beside Pharaoh, three of them looked at Andreas' group with very unfriendly eyes.
After Andreas' trio politely returned the greeting, Pharaoh introduced them with a smile. "These five are the members of the Zanchuli Council who assist the God-King in governance."
"From left to right, they are High Priest of the loa Belak, Admiral Botu, General Nikolai, Hex Lord Ese, and War Druid Liti'na."
The five councilors nodded to Andreas' group one after another. Through this introduction, Andreas also identified the three people who held the deepest hostility toward him.
The hostility of the two military leaders was not outside his expectations. If the commanders standing at the military peak of a nation didn't even have this much fighting spirit, it would mean the nation was not far from death.
The last one with an unfriendly face was Hex Lord Ese; Andreas did not yet know what his hostility was for.
High Priest Belak was an elderly troll wearing a simple robe. He was smiling and showed no clues, at least not revealing his true emotions on his face.
On the contrary, War Druid Liti'na was quite friendly toward Andreas. The dense Nature Power naturally radiating from her body also made Andreas subconsciously feel goodwill toward her.
After some rather awkward pleasantries, Andreas did not intend to continue wasting words with God-King Pharaoh, who kept beating around the bush.
"God-King Pharaoh, I have not come here today on behalf of the entire Night Elf race, but to convey an invitation for my mentor, the leader of the Cenarion Circle, Archdruid Malfurion."
Andreas turned to Liti'na and said warmly, "The Cenarion Circle is a global organization dedicated to maintaining the balance of nature. Many races, including the Tauren, Bearmen, Treants, and Dryads, have joined it."
"Archdruid Malfurion hopes to invite the Zandalari Druids to join the Cenarion Circle, so that both sides can learn from each other's strengths and work together to safeguard the safety of Azeroth and the balance of nature."
Liti'na, who was draped in a large number of gold ornaments, did not answer directly. Instead, she politely turned her head first to signal Pharaoh with her eyes.
Seeing the God-King nod in approval, Liti'na then replied with a smile, "Speaking for myself, joining the Cenarion Circle is not something difficult to accept. Our compatriots traveling the continent have also mentioned this neutral organization to me."
Since Zandalar developed a navy, they had sent many scouts to the several continents they had explored in order to understand the current world situation.
As blood rivals and powerful enemies, the Night Elves naturally became the top priority of their reconnaissance and surveillance.
Although they were very unwilling to admit it, the currently vast Night Elf Republic was indeed not something that Zandalar, confined to its island, could confront head-on; the national power of the two sides was no longer on the same level.
With the destruction of the Sandfury Trolls, the continent of Kalimdor had become almost like a single block of iron, and Zandalar turned its gaze more toward the Eastern Kingdoms and Northrend.
The conversation with Liti'na went relatively smoothly. Although this middle-aged female troll looked ferocious, her temperament was very gentle under the long-term nourishment of Nature Power.
Although the other Zanchuli Council members had some complaints about Zandalari Trolls joining an organization led by Night Elves, they were not professionals in this field after all, and could only express their objections to Pharaoh.
Although the Zanchuli Council had the right to advise, the final decision-maker was still God-King Pharaoh. With his approval, this invitation, which did not involve the political stances of either side, was finally passed... After finishing the discussion, Pharaoh warmly expressed his desire for Andreas' trio to stay, hoping they could remain temporarily to experience the local customs of Zandalar.
But as the saying goes, a wise man does not stand next to a crumbling wall; Andreas did not intend to stay in a city full of hostility toward Night Elves.
Watching Andreas' trio head back toward the harbor under Rezan's guidance, General Nikolai grinned and asked with a look of displeasure, "God-King, why did you agree to their request so easily?"
Admiral Botu also said with dissatisfaction, "Although it's called a neutral organization, this Cenarion Circle was after all established under the leadership of the Night Elves. What is the point of us joining in only now?"
Prophet Tatanalai and High Priest Belak looked at each other and smiled without saying a word; clearly, they had already seen through the God-King's intentions.
Hex Lord Ese laughed sinisterly, "You two brainless fools, the God-King's move is to use the Cenarion Circle to obtain more intelligence on the Night Elves and the various races of the continent."
Pharaoh nodded approvingly. "Correct. Regardless of what the Night Elves' intentions are in inviting us, joining this neutral global organization they promote will indeed help us gain a deeper understanding of the situation on the continent."
Looking up at the clear blue sky above the Zuldazar mountains, Pharaoh sighed softly. "The world is changing too fast. We who are confined to this island cannot be completely disconnected from the continent... Liti'na."
"I am here."
"The choice of personnel to be stationed at the Cenarion Circle headquarters is for you to decide. Try to pick some capable people; I need them to provide me with enough intelligence."
"Yes."
"Ese."
The Hex Lord bowed and replied, "Awaiting your command."
A meaningful look appeared in Pharaoh's eyes. "Have the Amani agreed to our suggestion?"