Varian, Lothar, and the others looked at Niana in surprise; they hadn't expected the ambassador, who had always been quite low-key, to have such an impressive background.
"The Speaker's apprentice? It seems I'll have to re-evaluate this ambassador's influence from now on."
The Kingdom of Stormwind and the Night Republic across the sea had very little contact before. Since the Kingdom of Stormwind was established later than other human city-states and had always been quite isolationist, the two sides had never even established trade relations. Niana's current mission was the first official diplomatic exchange between the two nations.
The past few years, with the Orc invasion of the Kingdom of Stormwind, had given King Varian a deeper understanding of the phrase "the warmth and coldness of human nature."
Of the distress signals sent to the human kingdoms in the north, only Kul Tiras responded positively. The Kingdom of Silvermoon was willing but unable, and other countries didn't even make a symbolic gesture of support.
They believed the Kingdom of Stormwind's descriptions of the Orcs were merely alarmist, and deep down, they weren't without the thought of watching a spectacle and a joke unfold.
After all, it wasn't their own country suffering.
Compared to these kinsmen, the Night Republic, despite having its own troubles yet to be resolved, had its Speaker personally lead a fleet to reinforce them. This attitude deeply moved Varian.
Just as Andreas had told Niana before, "A timely help in adversity is worth more than a hundred favors in prosperity."
If the Night Republic had waited until the refugees from the Kingdom of Stormwind were settled with aid from the northern kingdoms before offering help, Varian's goodwill towards the Night Republic would never have surpassed that for his own people. After all, the distinction between close and distant is unavoidable for any intelligent creature.
When Andreas landed on the flagship of the numerous Dreadlords, most of the senior personnel on the warship, named "Daelin's Pride," came to the deck to greet him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, King Varian."
Andreas smiled and bowed slightly to Varian, "I am Andreas, representing the Night Republic to offer assistance for the Kingdom of Stormwind's journey north. I apologize for not being able to arrive sooner."
Varian returned the greeting heartily, "Speaker, you speak too modestly. The Kingdom of Stormwind is already immensely grateful that the Night Republic could spare a fleet from its busy schedule to escort us."
Lothar had quietly informed Varian about the difficulties the Night Republic had faced in recent years. As a wise monarch, Varian had no complaints about the Night Republic's belated assistance.
After all, among the seven northern human kingdoms that should have shown some support, only the chivalrous Daelin, representing Kul Tiras, had demonstrated sincerity.
As for the other countries… Hmph, let's not even mention them… With the protection of the Night Republic's fleet, the subsequent northward voyage was uneventful. The Naga weren't foolish; they wouldn't blindly attack again when heavily protected. Previously, they had only wanted to take advantage of the Kingdom of Stormwind's weak naval defense to launch a surprise attack and gain merit.
Initially, Varian, lacking naval defense, had intended to hastily land at Southshore, but with the Night Republic's navy escorting them, Varian changed his mind.
The cold attitudes of Alterac, Lordaeron, Gilneas, and Stromgarde deeply disheartened him. After discussing with Lothar and others, the fleet continued northward.
Passing through the island of Tol Barad, controlled by Kul Tiras, Varian, still resentful, ignored Gilneas' false goodwill and continued northward along the Silverpine Forest coastline, only docking once they reached the territory of the Kingdom of Silvermoon.
Brunhilde personally came to the port to welcome the Kingdom of Stormwind and apologetically explained why she couldn't send reinforcements.
Varian was well aware of the more than 2,000-year-long feud between Silvermoon and Lordaeron. He held no resentment towards Silvermoon for not being able to send aid, at most a subtle dissatisfaction.
Under Brunhilde's sincere apology, Varian's slight resentment quickly dissipated. The refugees were temporarily settled in the seaside town of Silverstream, hosted by the Kingdom of Silvermoon.
King Terenas Menethil of Lordaeron was quite displeased upon learning that the Kingdom of Stormwind, after arriving at Tirisfal Glades, had proceeded directly to the Kingdom of Silvermoon's port to dock.
The long-standing feud between Silvermoon and Lordaeron was somewhat known to the people of the Eastern Kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Stormwind's attitude created some friction in the ambitious Terenas, who saw himself as the elder brother of humanity.
However, Terenas in his prime certainly possessed the qualities of a wise monarch; he quickly suppressed his displeasure.
The immediate priority was to gather intelligence about the Orcs from the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Including Terenas, the northern kingdoms had never expected that the Kingdom of Stormwind, which ranked second in overall strength among human kingdoms, would be so easily brought to the brink of annihilation by the Orcs. The dire situation of Stormwind finally raised their vigilance and concern about the Orcs.
However, Terenas played a small trick when inviting King Varian to Lordaeron.
Perhaps fearing that the powerful Night Republic's participation in the meeting would overshadow him and disrupt some of his plans, the King of Lordaeron only invited the Kingdom of Silvermoon, also a member of humanity, and did not extend an invitation to Andreas, who was temporarily docked at Silverstream.
"Heh~"
Andreas chuckled indifferently, reaching out to gently ruffle Niana's disgruntled hair in a comforting gesture.
"King Varian, there's no need to apologize. This is just a small trick by Terenas, likely to emphasize Lordaeron's absolute dominant position in the alliance meeting. However, it does allow me to see his stance and attitude towards foreign races."
Regardless of whether he had publicly stated it before, Terenas' little maneuver revealed his attitude to many. This King of Lordaeron likely harbored some human supremacist tendencies.
'Like father, like son; truly a king who could raise a Garithos.'
In fact, one could see from the treatment of Quel''Thalas, Khaz Modan, and Gnomeregan, who later joined the Alliance in history, that Lordaeron paid no attention to the interests of foreign races, and Terenas had no idea of mutual benefit or win-win situations.
To be precise, Terenas adhered to a typical "Lordaeron First" policy.
For the Menethil family's long-standing ambition of a unified humanity, he could sacrifice the interests of any ally, including even allied human nations like Gilneas and Dalaran.
History proved that Terenas failed.
As the saying goes, "A righteous cause attracts many supporters, while an unrighteous one finds few."
Terenas' various "wise" actions after the Second War caused the Alliance allies to become estranged, and it's no wonder no one genuinely helped Lordaeron when it faced the Scourge plague.
However, it's too early to say all that now. Due to Andreas' appearance, the situation in Azeroth is now very different from history, and no one can say what changes the future will bring.
Since Terenas hadn't extended an invitation, Andreas had no intention of trying to warm up to someone who was giving him the cold shoulder.
Moreover, he had never intended to join the Alliance in the first place, and fostering good relations with the Kingdom of Stormwind was only for future considerations.
The subsequent events unfolded as they did in history; King Varian's survival only changed a few details, raising the Kingdom of Stormwind's standing in the human kings' council.
After several months of wrangling, the eight human nations finally decided to unite and form an Alliance to resist the Orcish Horde. The Kingdom of Lordaeron was appointed the first leader of the Alliance, and Terenas' hidden ambition finally made initial progress.
Andreas left Niana to collect intelligence, while he himself, taking advantage of the temporary lull in warfare, traveled north alone to the Kingdom of Quel''Thalas for a "stroll."
'Those famous figures from history should all have been born by now. This is a good opportunity to go see the renowned Windrunner sisters.'
More than a millennium had passed since Andreas' last visit to Quel'Thalas. The once-ambitious Anasterian had lost his drive in his later years, and the atmosphere of the entire High Elves kingdom felt somewhat stagnant.
Using a Mental Suggestion spell to erase his presence, Andreas arrived at Silvermoon City via the mages' transport without any elf noticing his arrival.
Strolling leisurely through the luxuriously styled Silvermoon City, Andreas was quite impressed by the High Elves' standard of living.
Although it couldn't match the Night Elf Republic—with its ten-thousand-year heritage—in certain details, they had indeed, as Dath'Remar once said, recreated the splendor of the ancient Night Elf Empire to some extent.
Automatic Arcane Brooms driven by Sunwell energy were everywhere on the streets. Many times, the residents didn't even need to lift a finger, using their thoughts to control an Arcane Pen to quickly write down deliberately beautified Kaldorei script.
Oh, right.
To distinguish themselves from their Kaldorei relatives across the sea, the Quel'dorei had modified their language with some dialectal changes and renamed it Thalassian.
The dire straits in the southern part of the continent did not affect Silvermoon City; the High Elves continued their accustomed slow-paced life, lost in a dream of indulgence.
The nobles held banquets day after day, almost year-round. Under the influence of alcohol, men and women would quickly end up together. The debauched gatherings of the nobility made Andreas, who was hovering above the manor, shake his head.
Given the High Elves' good looks, seeing them wrestling together regardless of gender wasn't exactly an eyesore, but their aimless, lackadaisical attitude toward life meant Andreas couldn't find a single shred of ambition among these nobles.
Anasterian had spent over 2,000 years trying to correct his people's lifestyle habits, but it seemed that because his methods of governance were too gentle, he had achieved very little over those two millennia.
In his later years, Anasterian even gave up the struggle, simply letting things take their course as long as it didn't affect the Sunstrider Royal Family's ruling position.
With Celeste, the super Grand Princess who occasionally visited Quel'Thalas to make her presence known, the Silvermoon Council's status in Quel'Thalas was significantly lower than it would have been in the original history.
At least these councilors representing the high nobility didn't dare unite to curb the royal power; some still remembered the feeling of being slapped in the face by the Grand Princess.
The physical pain was only part of it; what they feared most was the loss of face.
After Anasterian stopped trying to change things, the nobles also simply stopped struggling, as long as the royal power didn't grow large enough to threaten their family interests.
The deep sense of stagnation throughout the city greatly displeased Andreas. These High Elves, whose lifespans were limited, were actually more passive in their attitude toward life than the immortal Night Elves.
After leaving Silvermoon City, the Arcane aura in the air thinned out slightly. The scenery of the Eversong Woods, covered in vast amounts of golden flora, was as picturesque as a painting, and walking through the beautiful forest restored much of Andreas' mood.
After stepping down from her public duties, the carefree Celeste often came to Quel'Thalas for leisure.
As Anasterian gradually became more lethargic, the person Celeste had the most contact with was that young Windrunner girl from back then—Lireesa.
The once naive young girl had long since grown up, married, and had children... daughters.
The Heroic Mother Lireesa had four children in her life: three daughters and one son. Her three daughters had grown up one after another, while only her youngest son, Lirath, was still a minor.
Due to the great achievements of their ancestor Talanas, the Windrunner Family had been granted a hereditary dukedom by the second Sun King, Dath'Nath.
Talanas was very ambitious; he had proactively requested to have his fief assigned to the Amani Forest, on the front lines near the Forest Trolls' capital, Zul'Aman.
A large area in the west of the Amani Forest near the sea was the Windrunner territory, which was much larger than the cramped lands of the nobles near Silvermoon City.
But the nobles whose fiefs were close to Silvermoon City always looked down on the Windrunner Family, believing they lacked even a shred of noble grace. To most mage nobles, staying in the forest all day 'playing in the mud' with trolls was simply an insult to the title of Duke.
'Mud-legged Dukes'—that was how the mage lords of Silvermoon City viewed the Windrunner Family. They were even ashamed to address the Windrunners as Dukes.
The Windrunner Family precepts were very strict, and they guarded the borders of Quel'Thalas for generations without complaint.
Conversely, the Rangers trained by the Windrunner Family also looked down on those nobles who only knew how to lead debauched lives in Silvermoon City. The two sides had fundamental differences in their worldviews.
Nearly 3,000 years had passed since the end of the Troll Wars. The Amani Trolls had never recovered from that war and were miserably suppressed within the Amani Forest by the High Elves, only able to hold onto a circle of territory around Zul'Aman, unable to expand outward.
When Andreas arrived at Windrunner Village, its distinct atmosphere compared to Silvermoon City refreshed his spirits.
Although the passing High Elves couldn't compare to the residents of Silvermoon City in terms of the quality of their clothing, their spirit and energy were completely beyond what those pleasure-seeking elves in the capital could match.
Although it was called a village, this was only because the High Elf population was insufficient; the standard of living here definitely far exceeded the scope of a mere village.
Clear and loud shouts came from the Ranger barracks outside the village, and the dull thud of bowstrings being pulled in unison could be clearly heard from hundreds of meters away.
"Halt!"
A valiant silver-haired female Ranger blocked Andreas' path, holding her longbow at an angle toward him with a look of vigilance.
"Who are you? Approaching the Ranger barracks without permission is forbidden."
Since Night Elves had maintained trade relations with High Elves for many years, seeing a Night Elf within High Elf territory did not surprise this exquisitely beautiful female Ranger.
However, she did not lower her guard against this seemingly harmless Night Elf; military strongholds were never open to unauthorized personnel.
As early as when he left Silvermoon City, Andreas had dispelled his mental suggestion. Most of the High Elf merchant caravans he met along the way would greet him politely, while only some mages with their noses in the air chose to ignore him.
Even in Quel'Thalas, where handsome men and beautiful women were everywhere, this charming female Ranger could be considered exceptionally beautiful. Andreas was somewhat curious about her identity.
'Could it be...'
Suppressing his guess for the moment, Andreas smiled friendly and said, "I come from Astranaar. I am here to catch up with an old friend I haven't seen in many years. Please, help me pass word."
"An old friend?"
The female Ranger's long ears twitched. Seeing that Andreas bore no ill will, she relaxed her guard slightly.
"What is your old friend's name? Is she a Ranger?"
"Yes."
Andreas smiled as he intentionally observed the female Ranger's expression and said, "Her name is Lireesa Windrunner. It's been about... 1,000 years since I last saw her."
"...Huh?"
A look of surprise and confusion appeared on the female Ranger's face. "Are you kidding me? You're looking for my mother? Over 1,000 years..."
Sizing up Andreas' appearance and temperament, the female Ranger curled her lip and remarked, "I guess that makes sense. After all, Night Elves are an immortal race."
Temporarily lowering her bow and arrow, a trace of suspicion still lingered in the female Ranger's eyes.
"I am Lireesa's third daughter, Vereesa. What is your name? I need to know before I can report to my mother."
"No problem." Andreas looked at Vereesa meaningfully and smiled. "Just say Andreas is visiting. I believe she will understand."
"Fine."
Vereesa wrinkled her small nose. "Wait here, I'll go report. Lor'themar, are you there?"
"Here."
A voice suddenly coming from beside Vereesa gave Andreas a start; he actually hadn't noticed when this fellow had appeared.
"Watch him, I'm going to find my mother."
The plain-faced Lor'themar sized up Andreas and nodded silently.
Andreas' lips twitched. 'Uh, so it's Lor'themar. No wonder his presence is so faint.'