Chương 39: Chapter 33

Krivax released an aggravated sigh as he waited for the representative from Alterac to arrive for their meeting. After the news had reached them about the Horde's conquest of Khaz Modan, things started happening very quickly for everyone. The delegation had immediately decided to return to Capital City, only staying in Dalaran long enough to hand over control of the enclave to one of the arriving Viziers.

That hadn't left very much time for Krivax to arrange for a letter to be anonymously sent to Krasus, but he had managed in the end. He'd even had enough time left over to discreetly hire a few members of the Steamwheedle Cartel to help him in finding something important. He didn't know if they would actually succeed, but if they did, then it would give Krivax more options than he might have otherwise.

Once they actually reached the city, he learned that the Council of Seven Nations was meeting daily, and from what he could tell, Krivax expected them to announce the formation of the Alliance very soon. Despite the fact that nothing had been made official yet, armies were being prepared across the various kingdoms for the Horde's arrival, blacksmiths were working night and day to make as many weapons as possible, and generals were working tirelessly to arrange for proper logistics.

Truly, Capital City was a hive of constant activity, and every single person in the city knew that war was approaching, and they were simply waiting for the kingdom to officially issue a declaration. A part of him had expected that Azjol-Nerub's diplomatic ventures would be delayed since most of the Eastern Kingdom's diplomats would be too busy, but it seemed that he was mistaken.

Nearly as soon as they had arrived in the city, Anub'rekhan had ordered Krivax to join him in his ongoing negotiations with Alterac and taken him to a large building that had been requisitioned specifically for the Spiderlord, while the other Viziers went to meet with Antonidas. Apparently, the Spiderlord had been meeting consistently with one of the kingdom's nobles about possibly ceding some of their lands along the border they shared with Stromgarde.

On paper, such an arrangement had the potential to be of great benefit to both Alterac and Azjol-Nerub. Not only was the land itself not of great value to Alterac, but the chance to not only create a buffer between them and their enemy would be a significant boon to them. Not to mention the fact that they would have a friendly relationship with a powerful nation like Azjol-Nerub and that the nerubian settlement would likely do much for their economy through trade.

Of course, they understood that there was some risk of Azjol-Nerub gaining undue influence over them, but how was that any different than their current circumstances? Alterac was the weakest of the human kingdoms, which meant they were pretty much already subordinate to the whims of Lordaeron. And worse yet from Alterac's perspective, Lordaeron was a close ally of Stromgarde. Under those circumstances, was it any wonder why Alterac was willing to take risks with a foreign power?

Despite all of this, Krivax didn't particularly like the way things were developing. Although this deal seemed to be in the interest of both Alterac and Azjol-Nerub, Krivax had many worries. He wanted Azjol-Nerub to have a good relationship with the other nations, and this did not seem like a good way to accomplish that. In his opinion, having a settlement between Stromgarde and Alterac would place the nerubians in a position where they risked being drawn into the Eastern Kingdom's internal conflicts.

Krivax didn't want to end up in a position where the Horde was defeated only for a new war to break out immediately afterward between Alliance members. Not only that, but he also found himself biased against Alterac's ruler, King Perenolde, due to his metaknowledge. It was hard to be happy about Azjol-Nerub growing closer with a human nation when Krivax knew that their king would have, and still might, betrayed everyone else in the Alliance to the Horde.

He would have much preferred that Azjol-Nerub had instead chosen to make a deal with Stormwind and built their settlement in some isolated area in the southern part of the continent, far away from the more densely populated north. On top of everything, there was also the fact that the negotiations between Azjol-Nerub and Alterac were being kept secret from the rest of the Eastern Kingdoms. Both parties wanted to get as close to a deal as possible before informing the other nations of their intentions.

Apparently, Alterac requested that it be done this way, to avoid interference from Lordaeron or Stromgarde, and Azjol-Nerub saw no reason not to comply with the request. Krivax didn't think it was good diplomacy for them to hide their negotiations, but there was not much that he could do about it. At the end of the day, Azjol-Nerub was an old and powerful kingdom that had never needed to care what other nations thought about them.

Understanding that dwelling on the subject wouldn't accomplish anything, Krivax pushed these thoughts away and glanced at Anub'rekhan. The Spiderlord looked to be perfectly content waiting for Alterac's representative and didn't seem to be the slightest bit impatient. In fact, Krivax just realized that Anub'rekhan had spent the past half an hour silently staring at one of his scythelike arms…

"Anub'rekhan… what are you doing?" asked Krivax, suddenly dumbfounded.

"Hmph? Oh, I'm attempting to use the Light to heal an injury," said Anub'rekhan, not turning his gaze away from his arm.

"Archbishop Faol has explained to me how to do so, theoretically, but I haven't had much success thus far." Krivax focused on the Spiderlord's arm and noticed a slight crack in its carapace.

"How did you get injured?" asked Krivax, failing to think of anything in Capital City that could actually hurt the massive Spiderlord.

"I ordered one of our warriors to strike me with his spear until I gained a wound to practice on. It took a number of hits before a crack formed." Krivax stared at the Spiderlord for several moments in bewilderment. Anub'rekhan ignored him, turning his complete attention back to his arm, and Krivax was surprised to see a dim glow forming over the wound. He could tell that it was barely having any effect, but he couldn't help but be amazed to see the Spiderlord channeling the Light at all.

"That's really impressive," Krivax said genuinely.

"I'm surprised you've learned how to channel the Light so quickly."

"Channeling the Light is much different from attuning yourself to arcane magic," said Anub'rekhan as the glow slowly faded.

"While there's some learning that must be done, the Light is primarily driven by conviction. Something which I do not lack. The Archbishop has assured me that my ability to channel the Light will grow with practice." Krivax knew that he was probably right, but he still felt impressed by the Spiderlord's quick progress.

"If you only need conviction, then what do you think is holding you back?" Krivax asked curiously. Anub'rekhan hummed consideringly for a few moments before answering.

"I'm not sure. The Archbishop told me that the Light only responds to those who are morally righteous, but that seems… nonsensical."

"How so?" Krivax knew from his metaknowledge that the Spiderlord was correct and that there were people who could use the Light to do immoral things, like the Scarlet Crusade for example. But, even they genuinely believed that they were doing the right thing.

"From my perspective, the concepts of morality and righteousness simply seem far too nebulous." Anub'rekhan continued.

"Whose morality? Whose righteousness? Does the Light judge what is and is not moral, or does the wielder? If it is the former, then where does its morality come from? And if it is the latter, then that means the Light could be used to do things that the Archbishop would consider to be evil." Krivax stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. He agreed with what Anub'rekhan was saying, but it was surprising to him how thoughtful the Spiderlord was.

"That makes sense," Krivax said finally.

"As long as someone has sufficient conviction in their ideal, then they would be able to use the Light regardless of what those convictions are."

"Correct. And from what I've seen from these humans, their morality likely differs greatly from our own," said Anub'rekhan. Krivax could hear a small amount of enthusiasm creeping into the Anub'rekhan's voice and knew that this was a topic that interested the Spiderlord.

"In what way?" Krivax prompted. Listening to Anub'rekhan share his perspective on morality and the Light was more interesting than he expected it to be. Not to mention that it would be useful to learn how likely it was for Azjol-Nerub to widely adopt usage of the Light. It would help them a lot in overcoming the dangers that were coming, especially when it came time to fight the Lich King and his undead.

"For example, I believe that protecting our people is always morally correct, no matter what actions I need to take to do so," Anub'rekhan said matter-of-factly.

"However, most of the bishops I've spoken to seem to believe that there are some things that should not be done, regardless of the circumstances. I disagree." Krivax could imagine some of the horrible things the Spiderlord would be willing to do to protect Azjol-Nerub, and he knew most nerubians felt the same way. If there was one thing that he had learned over the years it was that nerubians were a highly collectivist society, and were highly devoted to protecting their community to an almost fanatical degree.

They truly embodied the belief that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. Looking at it from that perspective, Krivax could see how the Light might be a good fit for them. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Anub'rekhan seemed content to continue speaking without any prompting, "It is not yet public knowledge, but Archbishop Faol has begun making arrangements for the creation of a group of warriors capable of wielding the Light in battle.

I find it foolish of the humans that they have not already created such a group, but I am excited to see if these Light-wielding warriors are as capable as I expect them to be." Krivax immediately perked up at the Spiderlord's words. He must be referring to the first organization of paladins, the Knights of the Silver Hand!

"Really? Why hasn't the Archbishop made an announcement?" asked Krivax"He wishes to do so after the human kingdoms finally officialize their alliance. He does not wish to be seen as a threat by the kingdoms, or be seen as if he is favoring one nation over another." That made sense to Krivax.

The last thing the Archbishop wanted to do during this chaotic time was to tell everyone that the Church of the Holy Light was building its own army, especially when it was headquartered in Lordaeron would mean the country would have their 'favor' in the eyes of many.

The Archbishop would likely announce his intention to create the first Paladins immediately after the formation of the Alliance and ask for each of the kingdoms to send their knights to be trained, to help maintain the Church's stance as a neutral organization and act as a uniting force.

"Do you think Azjol-Nerub will be able to do something similar?" Krivax asked curiously.

"Without a doubt," Anub'rekhan said without any hesitation.

"Although there is little chance that Light will see as much use in our kingdom as Arcane magic, there is one characteristic in which the Light is superior to other forms of magic. Its safety and accessibility." Krivax considered it for a moment before deciding that Anub'rekhan was probably correct. One of the things that he had noticed about Azeroth was that the various nations rarely explored the usage of other magics, despite knowing about them.

Dalaran was aware of pretty much every kind of magic, but despite this, the only magic that they practiced in any institutionalized fashion was Arcane magic. There were many reasons for this, but it mostly just boiled down to the magic either being too dangerous, them not knowing how to use it very well, or arcane being seen as the 'best' kind of magic due to it being something that could be studied and learned more easily when compared to more esoteric kinds of magic.

It was also likely that there was a lot of cultural influence from Quel'thalas that helped the use of arcane magic become more widespread and accepted after the Trolls Wars, as opposed to druidism or shamanism. There was also the fact that each variety of magic required different mentalities to use them, meaning that different cultures tended to gravitate to one magic or another. Azjol-Nerub was the same way.

According to what he had been told by Hadix, the nerubians were aware that Death magic existed, but its usage was both rare and highly regulated due to the dangerous mental effects it had on those who used it. They were also aware of both Shamanism and Life magic, but any effort they put into studying these kinds of magics had always had minimal results.

Light magic was different because it was incredibly easy to use and it wasn't nearly as dangerous as some of the other forms of magic, at least not directly That was likely the reason why it was the second most popular form of magic among the human kingdoms, behind arcane magic, and even then it was mostly due to how well-suited it was for healing.

After all, the average perception of wizards was that they were powerful and mysterious people who lived in isolated towers and shot lightning from their hands, while priests could be visited whenever to offer physical and spiritual comfort. Krivax was just about to ask the Spiderlord how long he felt it would take for Azjol-Nerub to widely adopt the Light when the Spiderlord interrupted him.

"The representative from Alterac is about to arrive," said Anub'rekhan, turning his gaze toward the large dining room's entrance, the room with the greatest amount of space for the Spiderlord's size and still receiving guests.

"Really? How do you know?" Krivax asked before he could stop himself.

"I've memorized the sound of his heartbeat." …I should have known. Please stop being creepy, Anub'rekhan. It didn't take long after that for the door to swing open and for Krivax to stumble over his planned greeting when he didn't see anyone walk inside. He turned to look questioningly at Anub'rekhan but received only an amused chuckle in return. Fortunately, his confusion was cleared up when the door closed on its own and a well-dressed middle-aged man faded into visibility.

"Oh dear, I apologize for my late arrival," said the man, putting away an enchanted ring that Krivax assumed to be responsible for his previous invisibility.

"This building is quite heavily monitored. I must say, it was no small feat arriving unnoticed." Now that he could actually see the man, Krivax didn't hesitate to greet him, "It's not a problem, I'm glad that you arrived safely Mr…"

"Ah, pardon my poor manners. My name is Harlan Dalton, and I am the Count who owns the land my king wishes to cede to you," said the man, offering a genial smile as he approached Krivax and held out his hand.

"You must be Vizier Krivax. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Oh, this could be awkward. Krivax didn't know much about medieval politics, but even his basic knowledge told him that most nobles lived off how much land they governed over and so rarely liked giving it up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Count Dalton," said Krivax as he bent down to shake the man's hand.

"I must confess, I'm surprised that you are so willing to part with your lands."

"I imagine you would not be nearly as surprised if you knew what that land has cost me and my House, or what I stand to gain from ceding it," Count Dalton said sardonically. The man didn't hesitate to make himself comfortable in one of the nearby seats before he began elaborating.

"For one thing that land itself is near useless to me; too rocky for peasant farming, no natural defenses to really make use of, no easy access to natural resources to harvest, and in general nothing to really work with without significant investment with little hope of seeing a return in a decent time frame. The region is also a popular location for skirmishes between my kingdom and Stromgarde so what little is built there is regularly destroyed in the fighting."

Krivax was smart enough to guess that the land was probably not particularly valuable, but he was surprised that the Count would admit as much during a negotiation.

"While I'm grateful for your candor, Count Dalton, I can't help but find it… surprising," Krivax said with uncertainty. Count Dalton snorted before waving his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"I believe we are all intelligent people here. There's no need for me to waste time pretending that the land holds any great value to me, just like there's no need for you to pretend that you don't want it. I know you nerubians are likely to make it much more productive once you dig deep enough and find the veins of resources we'd never reach unless we hired whole teams of dwarfs to dig it up for us. That's what you are paying for in the end."

Krivax was feeling a bit off balance from the noble's candor, but he was glad to hear it. He was much more used to people trying to gain every little benefit they could during negotiations, so this was a good sign that helped raise his opinion of the nobles of Alterac if more were like Count Dalton here.

"Besides, I doubt you could be worse neighbors than Stromgarde, and if they are foolish enough to attack you then you'll find we'll be your best friends," Count Dalton said with a cruel smirk.

"That and there are plenty of other deals we can make at a future date." Well… maybe a little less candor would be nice. I forgot that Alterac's people are a scary mix of greedy, canny, and ambitious. Plus they have a large chip on their shoulder against most of the other kingdoms. Krivax ignored Anub'rekhan's amused chuckles as he responded to the Count, "If that is the case, then I imagine we'll be able to finish these negotiations rather quickly."

Anub'rekhan had already briefed him on the High King's stance on several topics that Alterac had raised, and he knew there were only a few things left to negotiate. The rest had already been settled over the past few weeks. Krivax doubted he was actually brought here for his diplomatic talents. It was more likely that the Spiderlord had simply gotten tired of talking to humans who didn't interest him and decided to hand the rest over to him as soon as he returned to Capital City.

Krivax was sure that Anub'rekhan would rather be talking with the Archbishop or practicing with the Light more right now.

"According to what I've been told, Alterac wishes to negotiate for passage through the surface portions of our settlement, is that correct?" asked Krivax, settling himself in a comfortable position as he prepared himself for the conversation ahead.

"As you know, Azjol-Nerub is reluctant to agree to that due to the risk that your people might use our land to instigate conflict with Stromgarde."

"We hold no such intentions. If your people begin trading with the nations of the Eastern Kingdoms, the settlement has the potential to become a crossroads for economic activity. Free access for our merchants is all that we ask." Krivax and Count Dalton eased their way into an easy back and forth in which they discussed the finer points of the agreement. Most of their time was spent on the topics of merchant access and a request from Alterac that the nerubians train some of their people in Arcane magic.

Apparently, Dalaran held a powerful monopoly on the training of mages, and the only other kingdoms that were capable of domestically training their own mages consistently were Lordaeron and Stormwind, not counting Quel'thalas of course. Although it was only Lordaeron who was able to do so now, for obvious reasons.

The rest of the kingdoms had to settle for sending their people to Dalaran to become mages, meaning that their loyalties were often more divided than the kingdoms would prefer, especially if they joined Kirin Tor and ended up becoming influenced by Dalaran's politics. Azjol-Nerub had very little problem with training some of Alterac's people into mages, so long as that training was carefully regulated.

It was a perfect opportunity for them to spread their influence to their soon-to-be neighbor, and they intended to take full advantage of it. At some point, their conversation drifted to the Council of Seven Nation's ongoing negotiations, and Krivax couldn't help but ask the Count about Alterac's stance on it.

"At this point, everything has already been decided. Nobody is foolish enough to ignore the threat the Horde poses after they conquered Khaz Modan. King Perenolde is merely doing his best to gain every advantage he can for our kingdom, as he should. Honestly, even Greymane knows that he can't hold out for much longer, and that man's the most stubborn king around."

Their conversation went on for nearly an hour with Anub'rekhan occasionally interjecting, and towards the end of it Krivax was starting to feel slightly more optimistic about Azjol-Nerub's cooperation with Alterac. They had actually been so productive that Krivax wasn't even upset when they were suddenly interrupted by someone knocking urgently on the door. After shouting out to let whoever it was known they could enter, one of the nerubian guards stepped into the room and bowed deeply to Anub'rekhan.

"Spiderlord, I've received word that the Council of the Seven Nations intends to hold a meeting within the next few hours. All of the rulers, along with Archbishop Faol, will be in attendance, and there are rumors being whispered throughout the city that they intend to make an announcement."

"Well, that sounds interesting," said Count Dalton, sounding pleased.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation later. It's not every day that a man gets the chance to witness history happen in person after all."

"I agree," said Anub'rekhan, already standing up and making his way to the exit.

"This is an event worth witnessing. We must send someone to ask the human mage to expand the space of the tiny palace. I wish to be in attendance."

"I'll be sure to make the request myself," said Krivax, following closely behind. A part of him was extremely excited that he had the chance to watch an event as important for the history of Azeroth as the formation of the Alliance of Lordaeron, but another part of him was dreading what was to come. Krivax knew that it wouldn't be long after the Alliance was formed that their armies would be marching south and the Second War would soon be in full swing.

And now that he had changed events by warning Krasus about Deathwing, Krivax for the first time had no idea what was going to happen next.