Chương 35: Chapter 30

Krivax huffed in frustration as he read through the letters scattered across his desk that had been sent to him from Capital City. He would much prefer it if the rest of the world would stay still while he spent his time enjoying himself in a magical city, but it seems fate was not so kind. He could tell that events were slowly beginning to accelerate, and it wouldn't be long before things started to happen very quickly.

There was some good news, such as the Weavers finishing their analysis of the Eastern Kingdom's potential trade goods and discovering that Liferoot possessed potent and valuable alchemical properties, especially for healing potions, but most of the news was much less pleasant.

"What's bothering you, Krivax?" asked Masruk, pulling his attention away from the history book he had been reading.

"Has something happened in Capital City?" With Hadix off sneaking about with his investigations and Crinis off making her final preparations together with Antonidas to create the portal that would allow the first wave of nerubians to enter Dalaran, Krivax had been left alone in their shared room. Which meant that Masruk hadn't hesitated to make himself comfortable and keep him company.

"Nothing has happened in Capital City," said Krivax.

"But the situation down south has gotten a lot worse."

"What's happening down south?" asked Masruk, closing his book after the conversation turned to a topic that interested him.

"It looks like the Horde has most likely begun their invasion of Khaz Modan," said Krivax, his expression grim.

"Trixie says that nobody is quite certain what's going on, but communication has become unreliable and the most recent messages don't leave room for optimism."

"Does that mean the humans are finally preparing for war?" Masruk asked with excitement.

"No, they aren't," said Krivax, growing frustrated as he finished reading through Trixie's letter.

"The human kingdoms are paying close attention to the invasion, but both Alterac and Gilneas are still holding out." While Krivax already knew that the Alliance wouldn't be formed until after the Horde conquered all of Khaz Modan aside from Ironforge and Gnomeregan, it was still extremely frustrating when dealing with it in real life. The war could have been over so much sooner if the human nations had confronted the Horde while the dwarves and the gnomes still had most of their strength.

The only thing that their hesitance would accomplish would be more unnecessary deaths. He could already tell that everyone would start scrambling after Khaz Modan finally fell.

"Cowards," Masruk spat disdainfully.

"The Horde has already proven themselves to be a threat, why aren't the humans fighting them?"

"I don't know for certain, but I assume it's a combination of greed and selfishness," Krivax said as he put away the depressing letter and pulled out the next one.

"Alterac is weak and has a hostile relationship with Stromgarde, if they lose too many soldiers during the war, then they risk being conquered after it's over. I imagine they want to see how well Ironforge and Gnomeregan do against the Horde before they make any commitments, hoping that they can grind them down against their defenses."

"And Gilneas?" Masruk asked after a moment of silent consideration.

"Why are they so unwilling to cooperate with the other humans?" Krivax took a moment to consider Masruk's question. If I remember correctly, the only reason given in the lore is that Greymane was just an arrogant fool who thought he didn't need help.

"I don't know," Krivax said finally after failing to come up with an explanation.

"From what we've been told, Gilneas has a fairly powerful military and defensible geography, they don't really have the same worries as Alterac. I've read they are pretty isolationist, not unlike Azjol-Nerub. Maybe they think even if the Horde comes they can fight them off without help, although I don't really understand enough about their politics to really give a good guess."

"Hmm. You should go back to Capital City and convince them," said Masruk, his tone completely serious. Krivax turned to face his friend, completely befuddled.

"What makes you think I could succeed in convincing them when Lordaeron's best diplomats have failed?" asked Krivax, curious about his friend's reasoning.

"You're Krivax. You can convince the surface races about anything," Masruk said confidently. Krivax couldn't help but simply stare at Masruk for a few moments in dumbfounded silence. Oh, I get it.

"I'm glad you have so much confidence in me, buddy, but I don't think I'd be able to do anything that Lordaeron's diplomats couldn't," said Krivax, after taking a moment to compose himself.

"The only reason I've been successful in getting people to do things is that the things I've been getting them to do were obviously in their own interest." Masruk huffed mulishly and muttered something under his breath, but didn't bother arguing with him. As Krivax read through the next letter, he wished he was actually as capable of convincing people to do what he wanted as Masruk thought he was; it would certainly make dealing with this newest issue easier.

It seems that the High King's order to discreetly evaluate how the kingdoms would react to the creation of a nerubian settlement was starting to show results. Diplomats from both Alterac and Stormwind had approached Anub'rekhan privately and expressed interest in perhaps ceding some of their lands for a certain price. Normally this was the kind of development that Krivax would be more than happy to see… if it weren't for the fact that Alterac's deal was by far superior to Stormwinds.

The problem was that the current ruler of Alterac was Aiden Perenolde, a cowardly and opportunistic king who was only noteworthy in the lore for betraying the Alliance to the Horde, believing it was the best way to save his own kingdom. Krivax really didn't want to know what such a person could end up doing if he managed to secure an alliance with a nation as powerful as Azjol-Nerub.

While Stormwind was offering more land than Alterac, they were also asking that Azjol-Nerub involve itself directly in the war, something Krivax knew the High King would not find appealing. Alterac, on the other hand, was willing to cede a portion of its lands for a certain amount of treasure and diplomatic guarantees that Azjol-Nerub not attack Alterac, or allow Stromgarde to pass through their territory.

Their mountains would make prime nest-city locations, likely had resources that could be mined out easily by nerubians hands that Alterac would be the first to benefit from, and having a powerful empire sitting in front of the kingdom would seriously discourage Stromgarde's usual skirmishes with them if not outright stop them.

It didn't help that Alterac was situated in a location that could very well become a crossroads for trade between the various kingdoms if properly exploited Krivax wished that he had a way to convince the leadership to go with Stormwind, but he knew that there was little he could do. Although he was the one responsible for leading the nerubians to the Eastern Kingdoms, Krivax was starting to feel more and more like he was caught up in a tide of events that he couldn't control.

It really made him once again hope that everyone would just stop doing things and allow him to enjoy his time in Dalaran. As if to emphasize the foolishness of that hope, the sudden sound of someone knocking loudly on the door caused Krivax to let out an exasperated sigh. Ever since the duel, there had been random mages trying to meet up with Hadix for one reason or another.

Normally, Hadix just sent them running with a threatening display of his magic, but he wasn't here right now so Krivax would have to be the one to deal with it. With a short glance at Masruk, the two of them silently made their way to the door and opened it, revealing an elvish woman waiting on the other side. Krivax stepped out into the courtyard outside their lodgings, forcing the woman back, and closed the door behind him as soon as Masruk stepped out.

Krivax didn't know who the woman was, but he couldn't allow anyone outside of the delegation to notice that Hadix wasn't where he was supposed to be.

"Can I help you?" Krivax asked the woman, who was sputtering in outrage after being pushed out of the way. The woman seemed to take a moment to compose herself before speaking, "Yes, I suppose you can. Are you Vizier Hadix?"

"No, I am Vizier Kirvax, student of Vizier Hadix. He is very busy right now and has asked that nothing disturb him short of the Council of Six themselves," Krivax said while making a show of looking the elf over.

"And you are not one of them."

"I'll have you know I am Mirveda Summerfall, apprentice to Magistrix Landra Dawnstrider, and I come on important business!" said the elf, puffing herself up in anger at the slight.

"Are you here as a representative of Quel'thalas?" Krivax asked tiredly, already knowing the answer.

"Well… no. I here represe—""Then I'm afraid, apprentice, that Vizier Hadix is not very interested in speaking with you at this time," Krivax said firmly, already turning away to head back inside. He had enough experience dealing with situations like this by now that he knew politeness would not get him very far. Unfortunately, Apprentice Summerfall was a little braver than most and didn't hesitate to grab onto his robe to stop him from leaving.

Krivax noticed Masruk bristle and reach for his weapon, but he quickly called off his friend with a gesture"This is a matter of the utmost importance!" Krivax relented and listened to what the elf had to say, and was unsurprised to find that it was not actually a matter of the utmost importance. Apparently, Magistrix Dawnstrider had been so impressed by Hadix's magic that she was offering to pay the Vizier if he taught her what he knew.

However, after listening for a few moments, Krivax knew that nothing that the Magistrix had to offer was worth Hadix's time. It was just about when the Apprentice was starting to tell him about how much of an 'opportunity' this was for them to receive the backing of someone as important as Magistrix Dawnstrider that Krivax had enough.

"As I said before, Vizier Hadix does not wish to be disturbed," said Krivax, removing the elf's grip from his robes.

"Please leave."

"Excuse me?! I won't be leaving until I spea—""You will leave, or you will be removed," said Masruk, gripping onto his spear and moving threateningly. Like most sane people, Apprentice Summerfall faltered when confronted with a giant, fully armored spiderperson, but seemed to be gathering her courage when their confrontation was interrupted by the opening of the door behind Krivax.

"You heard him, elf. Leave," said Vizier Hadix, sounding extremely annoyed with the situation.

"Vizier Hadix, I presume?" asked the elf, completely ignoring the Vizier's tone of voice. It was an impressive display of her lack of self-preservation.

"Well met, I am Mirve—""I will not repeat myself," said Hadix, the magic around him beginning to grow agitated in a display that promised violence if the elf didn't leave immediately. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. That seemed to be enough to get through to her because after a soft whimper of fear, she quickly made herself scarce.

"Leave us, Neophyte Masruk," said Hadix, turning to retreat back into the room. Krivax assumed that Hadix probably wanted to talk about the results of his investigation, so he quickly followed the Vizier after giving a short goodbye to Masruk, closing the door behind him. It didn't take long for Krivax to realize that the Vizier was agitated by more than too persistent elves.

"Vizier Hadix, is everything alright?" asked Krivax, growing increasingly concerned as he watched his mentor pace back and forth in the room.

"I have not yet found confirmation, but I'm starting to believe that the higher-ranking members of the Kirin Tor are well aware of the Void," said Hadix, continuing to pace as he explained the situation.

"I've even begun to suspect that one of their members, a mage by the name of Ur, is actively practicing Void magic in the city." Krivax wasn't particularly surprised to hear that; he was already aware from the lore that the mages of Dalaran sometimes practiced less reputable magic in secret, even if he didn't remember specific names.

"What are we going to do about it?" asked Krivax, doing his best to feign surprise. Thankfully, Hadix was too agitated to notice.

"I don't know yet," admitted Hadix, ending his rapid pacing as he took on a thoughtful expression.

"It's obvious to me that the Order will need to establish a permanent presence in the Eastern Kingdoms. We'll also need to send some of our own people to join the Kirin Tor as quickly as possible so that we can continuously monitor the city for the Void's corruption."

"Then… wouldn't it be best if you joined them yourself?" asked Krivax, suggesting the solution that seemed the most obvious to him. It made him uneasy to see his normally stoic mentor so agitated, so he was glad that the Vizier was beginning to calm down. He must really hate the Void…

"No. My time and skills are too valuable for me to be wasted on something like that," Hadix said matter-of-factly.

"Besides, the Order was wise enough to include some of its own members within the initial group coming to Dalaran. After the portal is opened and I am provided assistance from my colleagues, it won't be long before I can finish my investigation, although there are still portions of the city that I won't be able to easily access."

"Really?" Krivax asked in surprise.

"Isn't Dalaran's warding much worse than ours?" It shouldn't surprise him as much as it did that there were places in the city that Hadix couldn't access, but he had seen for himself some of the spells that the Order had developed to sneak around in the spellbook that Hadix had given him. They were very good at going places where they didn't belong and remaining unnoticed while they did so.

That coupled with Hadix's personal strength had resulted in Krivax beginning to believe that nothing could stop his mentor from going wherever he wanted.

"The wards protecting the Grand Library are connected directly to the city's leyline nexus," explained Hadix, hissing softly in frustration.

"Even if their wards are far inferior to our own, it's nearly impossible to bypass wards connected to such vast amounts of arcane energies, especially unnoticed." Krivax silently watched his mentor for several moments as the Vizier started muttering to himself, seemingly losing himself in his thoughts.

"There's no need for us to make any decisions right now, Vizier Hadix," said Krivax when it became obvious Hadix wouldn't continue the conversation without prompting.

"We still have some time before the delegation needs to return to Capital City. Our presence will be needed to help the enclave establish itself in Dalaran; there aren't very many nerubians who speak Common after all." Krivax wasn't looking forward to spending more time resolving cultural misunderstandings, but it certainly was convenient that their part of the delegation would be staying in the city for a while longer.

It meant that Krivax was confident that he would have enough time to handle his personal goals before he left. According to the schedule that Antonidas had given him, Krasus wouldn't be scheduled to teach a class for at least a few more weeks.

"Hmph. You may be correct," Hadix admitted grudgingly.

"I should have enough time to conclude my investigation before we leave and present my findings to the Order. My instincts tell me that these people are hiding something important, so I'll be recommending that the Order makes investigating the Kirin Tor a priority." Oh, Vizier Hadix, you have no idea. Krivax hoped that he would be there to see Hadix's reaction once he learned about the Burning Legion, a force that was just as much of a threat as the Old Gods.

It would be nice when he wasn't the only one in the room quietly freaking out about the constant world-ending threats facing Azeroth.

"For now, we should begin making our way to Vizier Crinis," said Hadix, turning to face him for the first time since the conversation began.

"I've recently received word that they are prepared to open the portal. Our presence is necessary to translate for those who do not speak Common."

"Of course," said Krivax, nodding eagerly and already moving toward the door.

"Let's start making our way there now." Even if he knew it was going to cause him many headaches in the future, it would be nice to have more nerubians in Dalaran and to start constructing their enclave. After living in Azjol-Nerub for so long it was hard for him to get used to living back above ground. It didn't take long for the two Viziers and their Warrior escort to make their way through the streets of Dalaran and reach their destination, a heavily guarded building near the city's main guard house.

Even if it weren't for the two guardsmen wearing complete sets of enchanted armor and standing by the entrance to the building, Krivax would be able to tell that the building was important simply by the dense array of wards covering every inch of it. It wasn't a surprise to him that Dalaran was taking the security of the location so seriously, given this is where they would be opening up a portal to a powerful empire that they knew little about.

The only reason why they would even consider such a thing is because they had absolute confidence in their ability to ensure their city's safety, and the guards and the wards were a part of that. Vizier Hadix didn't seem to share his interest in the building's security and smoothly walked past the guards without any hesitation, forcing Krivax to quickly follow behind him. Obviously, there wasn't much need to show identification.

As Krivax followed Hadix through the twisting and heavily guarded hallways, it became obvious to him that this wasn't the Vizier's first time in the building. Soon enough, Krivax followed his mentor through yet another nondescript hallway only to find himself in a massive chamber positively glowing with arcane energies. Vizier Crinis could be seen standing in the chamber's center speaking with Archmage Antonidas as the two of them gestured to the arcane glyphs spread out across the floor.

Several teams of mages were busy looking over a complex series of wards that were constructed around what Krivax assumed would be the actual portal site.

"Vizier Hadix! Good, you're here," called out Vizier Crinis from across the room as soon as she caught sight of them.

"Please tell this human that this portion of the ritual is completely unnecessary. His paranoia is going to make this portal far less efficient than it could be. Why would we need to go to such excessive lengths to diffuse the portal's ambient arcane energy?"

"I understand things might be different where you come from, but this city has regulations about how much arcane energies can be legally permitted in such a small area," Antonidas said calmly.

"So you've said, but you've refused to explain the reason for the regulations, no matter how many times I've asked!" said Crinis, raising her voice in frustration.

"Then perhaps you should stop asking," said Antonidas, allowing a hint of annoyance to enter his voice.

"You do not need to understand all of our laws, you simply need to obey them. The ritual will work fine, despite these modifications." Krivax watched from the side as Hadix examined the portion of the glyphs in question before glancing at Antonidas. Krivax knew that he was probably the only one in the room who knew Hadix well enough to see the hint of suspicion in his eyes.

"This is not our city, Vizier Crinis," Hadix said finally after a long moment of silence.

"If Archmage Antonidas insists on this modification, then we will obey his wishes."

"Ugh. Very well," said Crinis, her anger seeming to deflate once she realized that her colleague would not be supporting her.

"We'll use the human's inefficient spell formula." From there everything seemed to move very quickly as the mages prepared for the opening of the portal. Krivax watched as Antonidas personally verified the functionality of each set of wards before double-checking the arcane glyph for any flaws. Feeling curious about the portal's security system, Krivax didn't hesitate to ask Hadix about it.

"There is no single security system for me to point out to you," Hadix explained patiently.

"Dalaran is using multiple layers of defense to protect the portal from being used unauthorized, and only a few of them can be seen from here. I'm sure many of their defense mechanisms are secrets known only to the upper echelons of their government."

"Well, what can you see from here?" Krivax asked curiously. Hadix seemed to ponder the question for a moment before pointing out a specific portion of the glyph.

"There. That portion of the spell determines where the portal opens up to. Do you notice anything different about it, Krivax?" asked Hadix in the same tone of voice he used whenever he was teaching his student. Krivax stared at the portion that Hadix pointed out for several moments before he realized what he was supposed to notice.

"It's not using the leyline as a power source," said Krivax, amazed that they were able to connect different portions of the same spell to different sources of magic.

"Correct, it's likely that the source of magic that maintains that portion of the spell is kept in a secret, heavily guarded location. If it were ever destroyed, then anyone who attempted to use the portal would find themselves in an unpredictable location, assuming they survived."

Hadix spent the next few minutes pointing out various security measures, including a ward that would allow a mage to scry a small area on the other side of the portal and a ward that would prevent anyone from passing through unless it was lowered. He would have kept going, but the Vizier ended his explanation when it looked like they were ready to begin opening the portal.

"You won't find anything, human," Crinis said smugly.

"When it comes to spatial magic, my work is impeccable."

"One can never be too sure," said Antonidas, turning his attention away from the glyph and focusing on one of his mages.

"Magus Sparklecrank, has the leyline's throughput remained steady?"

"Yes, Archmage," said an elderly male gnome.

"And the levels of atmospheric arcane energy?"

"Within acceptable parameters, Archmage."

"Very well then," said Antonidas as he approached the designated portal location.

"I will begin opening the portal. Everyone else, begin making preparations to welcome our guests." With that said, Antonidas gripped his staff tightly and didn't waste any time to begin casting the spell. Arcane magic immediately poured out of the man at levels that Krivax had never seen before; he was certain even the most magically incapable person would be able to sense the Grand Magus's magic.

It didn't take very long before the entire room was glowing brightly with violet light, and a large tear in the very fabric of space was ripping open in the center of the room. As soon as the portal finished forming, the chamber quickly became a hive of activity.

"Wards are functional!"

"Attempts to scry the other side of the portal have been successful. One individual is attempting to use the portal. Individual matches the description of Warrior Cral'ral."

"Understood. Warrior Cral'ral is on the pre-approved list. Permitting entry!" Krivax watched in satisfaction as the first nerubian stepped through a portal from Northrend to the Eastern Kingdoms. One-by-one, nerubians were evaluated via scrying and permitted entry into Dalaran. Krivax did his best to translate between the guards and the arriving nerubians as they did their best to organize everyone. It would have been nice if someone had remembered to cast a translation spell on the room.

Fortunately, it didn't take very long for them to reach the last nerubian on the list and his very large partner.

"Two individuals are attempting to use the portal! Individuals match the description of Worm Handler Crut'zok and a… jormungar."

"Understood. Worm Handler Crut'zok and his jormungar are on the pre-approved list. Permitting entry!" While the nerubian that stepped through the portal was not visibly different from any other baseline nerubian, the creature that followed behind him was enough to command the attention of every mage in the room. Slithering its way through the portal was an absolutely massive worm-like creature with rows of chisel-like teeth, a flattened, muscular body, and crystalline spines along its flanks.

The jormungar was easily larger than a Spiderlord, and Antonidas was quickly forced to expand the size of the room with magic to accommodate the creature. Every single mage in the room had stopped what they were doing to watch in astonishment as the jormungar finished passing through the portal.

"Well then," said Antonidas, sounding uncharacteristically shocked.

"I had thought that you were exaggerating the size of these creatures, but I can see now that you were not. Although I fail to see how such a massive creature will safely make its way through the building." Everyone who heard that took a moment to glance at each other awkwardly before staring pointedly at the Grand Magus. Antonidas merely let out an aggrieved sigh before pointing his staff toward the hallway and getting to work. Maybe a shrinking or polymorph spell would be easier?

Krivax couldn't help but think for a moment before quickly brushing it off. Still, if nothing else the arrival of the jormungar would help speed up construction of the nerubian enclave, and become Azjol-Nerub's first settlement outside of Northrend. It was a good start and something to be proud of. It was his own efforts that had made this possible and now all he needed to worry about were the… several other matters that he needed to deal with… I'm starting to think that what they say is true…

the only reward for work well done really is just more work… Krivax had a gut feeling that things were soon about to become very busy.