The Arathi Plateau, a vast area of fertile grasslands with sparse hilly terrain, was the first country that nurtured human civilization 2,800 years ago, and it was the first time that all human tribes joined forces to officially push their civilization into feudalism.

In that era, the most courageous and trustworthy chieftain Soladin. Arathas, who was elected the first king of the Arathas Empire, was born in the tribal gathering where humanity built its first castle, but as with all world stories, unity never lasts long, especially after the mysterious disappearance of Soladin the Great, and the empire he built began to fall apart.

On the corpse of the vast empire, the seven nations began to join forces to rule the lands that had once been ruled by Soladin the Great, Lordaeron and Gilneth shared the northern frontier of the empire, and Kurtilas occupied the seas of the empire, and the weak Alterac only received the bitterly cold Alterac Mountains, and in compensation, the northwest of the Hillsbrad Hills was also given to Alterac.

The miniature nation of Dalaran, formed by the first generation of human mages, did not have much land, but the wise mages took away the most important and valuable knowledge of the empire, and the kingdom of Stormgard, which professed to be the legitimate blood of the Arathor Empire, occupied the best land in the empire, that is, the Arathi Heights, where Soladin the Great was born and raised.

But what is ironic is that the royal blood of the Stormgard Kingdom does not come from the great human ancestor Soladin, but from the general "Troll Killer" Ignaus under the command of Soladin the Great, and now, the general's bloodline is called the king, but the last heir of the orthodoxy of Soladin the Great, Anduin. As a young child, Lothar grew up in the kingdom of Stormwind, a group of pioneers led by the Urion family, in the southern frontier of the continent, far from the center of human civilization.

Politics is dirty in that world, even within the Alliance of Claims of Justice and Civilization.

Today, the filth of the past has dissipated in time, and the great castle built by Soladin the Great and bears all the traces of human civilization is still alive, Riptide Castle, which is a great name, and it is still being used frequently.

Observers, remember, human beings are never the masters of this world, nor do they represent justice and hope... They just live here and reproduce here.

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"Five days ago, the orcs of the Warsong Clan tried to attack the prisoner of war camp in the west, but were repulsed by General Danas neatly."

"And three days ago, in the northern part of the Arathi Heights, in the foothills of the mountains bordering Hinterland, the prisoner of war camp was breached by the Warsong Clan, 300 orcs were released, and the soldiers guarding there were all wiped out."

"Wait! My dear Grey Yop, I need the battle reports of my cousin, General Danas, and the prisoner of war camp that has been captured by the Orcs. ”

Garin. Thorbain gestured, and the leader of Stormgard's spies immediately handed two war reports to the prince, who was wearing a light suit of armor and carefully flipped through the battle reports, and on the table in front of him was a strategic map of the northern frontier of the continent, on which a lot of red X's had been played.

Garin. Torbain is Solas. The eldest son of King Torbain, and the famous Union of Danas. General Tolbaine was the king's nephew, and both had the right to succeed to the throne of Stormgard, but Garin was first in line and Danas was last, so there was no conflict of interest between the two men.

In fact, Danas was about 15 years older than the young prince, and his brilliant military exploits also made Prince Garin very envious, as well as admired, young people worship heroes, and so does the prince.

Therefore, after the orcs wandered to the Arathi Heights, Prince Garin often took some battle reports from the royal agent Gray Yopp to learn the tactics of General Danas, and he hoped that one day, he could lead the army and expand the territory for the alliance like his distant cousin.

But the problem is that he is destined to inherit the throne of the Torbain family in the future, and in the current alliance, except for the king of Kul Tiras, Dai Lin, almost no king will personally go to the battlefield, in the current thinking of the top of the alliance, the noble king should stay away from the battlefield, which makes the young and vigorous Prince Garin very uncomfortable.

And according to what he learned, he was just as dissatisfied with the little king of the distant kingdom of Stormwind, Varian. Urenn, Garin believes that they will be very good friends in the future, and maybe they can go to the battlefield together.

After reading the battle report with a solemn face, Prince Garin rubbed the corners of his forehead, his fingers tapped on the table, and he whispered:

"The Warsong Clan has been operating in the eastern part of the Highlands, how could it have run to the northwest overnight? The orcs who attacked that small prisoner of war camp must not have belonged to the Warsong Clan, maybe... Maybe it's an orc from Hinterland, what's the name of the orc there? ”

When the prince asked, the royal agent immediately replied:

"That's the Thunder King clan under the command of Fenris, actually, we're looking for evidence as well, but those orcs set fire to the prisoner of war camp, leaving very few traces."

"No matter what, this news must be sent to General Dhanas immediately!"

Prince Garin said dissatisfiedly:

"He is the supreme commander of the kingdom, and deserves all the support of the royal agents, send him at once, Gray Yop, and don't let my cousin be blindfolded while fighting."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The royal agent straightened up at once, but just as he was leaving the command room, the prince asked:

"Haven't the reinforcements Lordaeron promised us come yet?"

"Well, actually, it's already here."

Gray Yopp wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned back to the wise-minded and stubborn prince, and said:

"His Majesty Terenus has sent paladins under the command of Lord Mograine, but in the current poor form of Alterac, there are not many paladins coming to help, only 1,300 people."

"1,300 people? Alas, there is no way, they are enough to guard a prisoner of war camp. ”

The prince of Stormgard sighed, his father, the old king Solas, was very old, and his health had deteriorated rapidly, and the old king had entrusted him with the responsibility of state affairs, although he had a whole court minister to assist him, but also made Prince Garin feel very stressed.

And one of these pressures is the most obvious one from the recent orc assault on the Arathi Heights, and the Warsong Clan has been defeated by their savage and powerful chieftain Grom. Hellroar, led by Hellroar, has smashed down 5 small POW camps and released nearly 2,000 orcs, which has made the recent battle in the Arathi Highlands very tense.

"What about the reinforcements of the Kingdom of Gilneth and Dalaran?"

Prince Garin asked again, and this time, Gray Jopp's face also darkened:

"One month ago, the Archmages of Dalaran were injured in a covert operation, Archmage Derlandon disappeared, and the city is very close to Alterac, and frankly, they may not be able to protect themselves, let alone support us."

"As for Gilneys, that King Greymane refused to send us reinforcements, believing that Gilneys had already contributed enough to the Alliance by taking on most of the funds for the rebuilding of Stormwind in previous years, and he also said that we were too greedy."

"Bang"

His Royal Highness the Prince slammed his fist on the table in anger, and he whispered:

"What kind of bastard is this? Didn't we pay the price for the rebuilding of Stormwind? Once the orcs break through Stormgard's defenses, they can directly threaten Gilneth by passing through the hills of Hillsbrad, and His Majesty Jean is really confused! ”

"Be careful! Your Highness! ”

Garin's complaint made Gray Jopp's expression nervous, and the future king openly expressed his displeasure with the current king of Gilneys, which definitely caused a political disaster for both countries, but fortunately, it was a secret conversation.

After Garin had calmed down, Gray Yopp sighed and, in a tone between friends, said to His Royal Highness the Prince:

"His Majesty Jean is not confused, he is sure that neither Stormgard nor Lordaeron will let the orcs enter the hills, he treats our two countries as shields, and the most unbearable thing is that we cannot resist this kind of hostage."

"Is Your Majesty Terenus just going to let things go this way?"

The prince said with difficulty:

"If it goes on like this, before the orcs hit the door, the alliance will fall apart."

"His Majesty Greymane has said more than once to the nobles of Gilneth that he wants to break away from this alliance that only has "greed and oppression"..."

Ash Jopp lowered his voice:

"Looks like he's already going to put it into action, and we need to prepare early, Your Highness."

"Bell"

While His Royal Highness was chatting with his spies, a hurried bell rang in the room, and His Royal Highness shook his head for a moment, while Gray Yopp drew two daggers and stood in front of Garin.

"It's the bell for big news, be careful, Your Highness... Not necessarily good news. ”

"Bang"

The door of the command room was pushed open the next moment, and Prince Garin, who was standing behind Gray Yop, looked at the person who came, and his eyes widened, because standing in front of him was Danas, who was supposed to be on the front line at this time. Thorbane, his distant cousin.

"Is something happening at the front?"

Garin was really anxious at this moment, and he stood up, bypassed the loyal agent, walked up to his cousin, who was full of tiredness, and asked in a low voice:

"Tell me, Danas, what support do you need? I'll give it all to you! Orcs must not be allowed to crush our country! ”

"Wait, Your Highness, not bad news."

Supreme Commander Stormgard, who had galloped all the way back to Fort Riptide from the front, breathed a sigh of relief, took the water handed by the guards, drank it dry, wiped his mouth, pulled Garin's arm, and dragged him out of the command room.

"Come with me, I'll take you to meet someone... His Majesty is now receiving him. ”

"Who?"

Prince Garin, who had followed Danas briskly, took his crown and asked in a low voice:

"Who could have allowed my father to see him at this time? Father's old wounds flare-up, you know. ”

"Don't ask, Garin!"

Danas patted the prince on the shoulder and whispered:

"You just need to know that it's not bad for the Tolbane family."

The two men hurried through the court, and Prince Garin noticed that the servants of the entire court were gone, replaced by heavily armed royal guards, and something big must have happened.

And walking to the front of the king's hall, Prince Garin heard his father's hearty laughter, which surprised him a little, and the next moment, Danas himself pushed the door open, and Garin also saw the figure sitting opposite the king.

He looked very old, with a bald head on the top of his head, but he sat in a chair with his body straight, and even when he met the king, he was wearing a set of red armor, which was not ceremonial armor, but real battlefield heavy armor, and he carried a dark red heavy sword carved with a dragon's head in his left hand, and the guards did not collect their weapons!

This proves that... The identity of the person who came is definitely higher than his! Enough to be on an equal footing with his father.

"Marshal! Prince Garin has arrived! ”

The supreme commander of the entire army of the kingdom of Stormgard, Danas. Torbain, the most famous battlefield warrior in the league, was like a herald at this moment, bowing down to the old man in front of him with full respect.

And Prince Garin was completely stunned.

As far as he knew, there were only a handful of people in the entire alliance who could be called marshals, and there was only one person who could be so respected by Danas.

"Look who's coming, the next heir of House Tolbain, little Garin, I taught you how to ride a horse when you were a child."

The old man turned around, and the face full of fortitude made Garin immediately subconsciously take a few steps forward, and bowed slightly with respect:

"Long time no see! Marshal Lothar! ”

"Hmm."

Lothar shrugged, and he looked back at Solas with a sickly face, but forced himself out to meet him. Torbain, a hint of worry flashed in the old king's eyes, but the next moment, he nodded firmly.

"Garin. Torbain, my most brilliant son, the future king of the kingdom of Stormgard, he is ready! Just as thousands of years ago, my ancestors were eternally loyal to Soladin the Great, and now, whenever the blood of Arathor calls for it, the descendants of Torbairn will be the first to obey! ”

Lothar's face was also very solemn, and he stood up and said to Soras:

"Then I will also fulfill my promise, and after retrieving the sword of my ancestors, I will formally hand over the kingdom of Stormgard to the rule of the Torbane family in front of the King's Council, and the humiliation you have suffered in the past should be over, and the misunderstanding should be resolved, especially at this dangerous time."

The old king breathed a sigh of relief, and he nodded slowly, while Lothar turned his head and looked at Garin behind him. Torbain, who reached out and patted Garin on the shoulder, asked in a deep voice:

"Then Garin. Will you join me in proving your courage in a dangerous place, and with me, to retrieve the last token of my ancestor, Emperor Soladin? ”

"I..."

Prince Garin hesitated a little, he raised his head, and both his father and his cousin looked at him with a stern gaze, which made Garin understand a lot of things, he gritted his teeth and put his fist on his chest:

"I do!"

"Very good, then the Kingdom of Stormwind and the Kingdom of Stormgard are already on my side, and you will work with me in the future to rebuild the Human Empire!"

"It's time to end the era of division!"