It was decided that the anti-Demon coalition would gather to discuss their next course of action at a spot in between all the centers of power. An island outside the Barrens which would serve as a convenient gathering spot for all of them to come to. Jaina after having gone back home to her city of Theramore, Thrall after having roused his peoples fighting spirits anew, Vol'jin after having gone to see how things were going at the Echo Islands and informing them of the new threat, and Cairne after having convened the various Tauren leaders, and having his own discussion with them on the coming crisis.

The island of Thrall-Lure was not a particularly impressive one.

In another time and place, it would have become known as Fray Island, as after the Orcs(Who without the benefits of serving as a stopping point between Orgrim's Hold and Durotar and the Echo Islands, would have abandoned it for Durotar's shores) it would be taken over by an adventurer known as Klannoc Macleod, who would turn it into a gathering spot for warriors of all races, stripes, and colors.

As it was though, Thrall-Lure was now a very important city simply due to geographics. The Horde would never abandon it, regardless of whatever setbacks or tragedies that would befall it in the future.

However, despite the importance of trade and control over the coast, in the future, it would generally only be known for two things.

The events that would happen there during the Kul Tiras invasion… And the fact that the Island would go on to produce the single greatest and brightest shining star, in the sea of the heroes and warriors of the new Horde.

But that was for another time.

I


The Island of Thrall-Lure was… A regular fishing community.

It had completely taken her by surprise the first time she'd seen it. It shouldn't have though.

Orcs and humans had very different preferences when it came to farming and hunting, as she'd seen for herself as she'd traveled back towards her Island of Theramore.

Humans preferred to let their farmers decide their crops themselves. Orcs worked with very clear-cut crops where every bit of farmland produced very specific crops. Humans had a two-crop rotation system. Orcs used a more complex one that put a lot of emphasis on both producing crops for animals, while also making the earth more fertile through an understanding of nature that dwarfed humanity's understanding of the earth.

Their hunting methods were also very different, as Orcs could outrun a lot of prey that humans could never do, and so rather than ambush-style tactics, they would instead make chase on foot, even without the speedy increase that a mount would bring to the table.

She wasn't sure how trolls and Tauren procured food, but if she had to guess, it would be similarly alien to her.

Fishing though… Orcs and Humans fished the same as the other one did.

No physical differences on the fisherman's part would make a net more likely to catch their future meals, and no fishing thread or line would become more durable just because the man or woman holding it had stronger muscles.

Even so, the ships poured in and out of the harbor of the little city that shared the name as their island, had the same kind of skill and enthusiasm that she had seen in countless smaller fishing villages and ports in both Kul Tiras and the continent of Lordaeron.

In fact, it was astonishing how much it reminded her of home.

The people were a different race, and their style in both buildings and clothing was very different, but even so, it was incredible just how much it resembled the fishing villages she'd stopped at all the time she had traveled with her father on his journeys.

The same energy, the same workdays, the same smells.

The life of a fisherman on Thrall-Lure, and across the sea was not much different.

They woke up at the same time in the morning, they went out to fish at the same time while wishing their loved ones goodbye for the day, and they came back in the evening with a bounty and a hearty meal over a fire.

The scholar in her wanted to explore it while she awaited the coming of the other leader of the current military alliance.

The thought of just… Going out and recording, studying, and comparing the lives of these Orcs to the life of her own people was strong. Far, far stronger than any of her men knew, she was certain.

But at that point, she had been forced to yield.

For there was one thing that was very, very different now, compared to her youth.

In her old life, the appearance of a royal princess, no matter where she went, was a guarantee of a warm welcome.

Here, she had met a very different reception.

The Horde soldiers might get along… Decently well with her and her troops.

The feelings of the common people of the Horde were a different story.

The Orcs of Thrall-Lure did not like having her, nor her soldiers there. At all.

So far, neither she nor her men had suffered an attack of any kind… But there was no mistaking the mood on the island.

They had been given their own tents and been allowed to set up camp unmolested… But NOT inside the city itself, instead beside it, by a water well, they had made to catch rainwater.

On Thrall's orders, water, food, and shelter had been given without complaints, but that was about it.

And every time they went into the small city of clay bricks, she felt the mood there change drastically. Orcs, old and young, men and women would look happy, and joyful… Then as they noticed the humans their eyes… Would become cold. Bitter. Hateful.

The older ones at least. The children were afraid of them, and would often hide behind their parents(Who in turn would place themselves between the Humans and their offspring) or watch them in some kind of morbid fascination… The kind she'd seen of scholars studying dangerous demons.

They regarded them as the biggest threat imaginable. As if they were monsters that needed to be kept an eye on at all times, rather than as allies in war.

And it wasn't like her own troops were not the same in their own way.

They very much disliked the Orcs in their own way… Many of them extremely so… But they had fought side by side against demons and undead. There was a bond between brothers in arms.

There were many ways to bridge the gaps between former enemies… And as she was quickly discovering, fighting side by side was one of the better ones.

Which was good. Because the question of whether or not the great enmity between their peoples could be buried would be essential for her people's very survival.

Even without the existential demonic threat looming over everyone like a thundercloud, she knew exactly just how utterly and thoroughly screwed her people would be if true war ever broke out between Theramore and the Horde.

She had seen the Horde's military might in action. And she now knew just how immense the difference in troop numbers was as well. For the army that had marched out from the Stonetalon Mountains had been but a part of a much grander, and more powerful might.

There had been much and more grumbling from her men back home about this alliance. But she had ignored it.

They NEEDED this relationship with the Orcs and their allies to work out in the long term.

That was just how it was.

It was, as she was puffing a bit of tobacco, that several of her men suddenly came running up to her.

"Lady Proudmoore! There's a messenger here for you! From the Orcs."

She raised an eyebrow, as she took a long, thorough draught, before blowing out the soothing smoke in a ring.

"Did he say what he's here for?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"No my lady. The sav-Orc doesn't speak common. He simply said the word "letter" and your name."

She considered that.

From a pragmatic perspective, it would probably be better to just have him hand over the letter from the Warlord, and surely it was the Warlord who had sent it and have it be brought to her without him having to enter the camp at all.

And what good would that do? A voice inside of her asked.

You need to build bridges here, not maintain a status quo.

"Send him in. I'll accept this letter in person."

The guards hesitated, and the doubt in their eyes was clear. But she did not repeat herself. Instead, she just leveled them a stare. The kind that told someone that they should get to work.

Finally, they did so, the clinking of steel fading, before returning soon enough, with a middle-aged, lean, male Orc following after them.

If he had any fear walking into a camp filled with humans, he hit it very well, instead simply walking up to her and kneeling, before handing her a… Well, a clay tablet.

She blinked. Then felt silly. They did not have a paper industry. What else would people here write on?

She read the content in silence, the only sound in the room being the clinking of armor as her guards shuffled around, and her puffs of smoke as she took draughts.

The letter was… Far more detailed than she'd expected, and was an overly complicated request for her to come to meet certain guests in the city before Thrall arrived later that day, along with the leadership of both the Tauren and the Orcs.

It was finally time to get all of this underway.

But before that… She needed to meet the final top leader of this alliance whom she had yet to meet.

One she had only heard talks about from Thrall and Cairne.

Vol'jin of the Darkspear Tribe of Trolls.

I


As she took her full company of 200 armed soldiers with her as she began the 20-minute-long walk from their camp to the city, the runner took off and left them in the dust as he seemingly went on his way back to the city to tell everyone that they were coming.

At least… That's what she had assumed he'd said.

She really had been spoiled by how easy communication was when the people she was talking to were Shamans.

Something as simple as talking to a messenger who did not speak common was a genuine, massive problem.

Outside the city, between her camp and the actual brick buildings, huge, artificial basins had been made, where Orcs would let seawater flow into it before closing with a simple board, then let the warmth of the sun evaporate it, leaving behind plenty of salt for the Orcs' consumption.

It was brilliant. Stupidly simple and crude, but brilliant. With a bit of planning, the right environment, and understanding of nature, the Orcs produced a product that in human societies would require backbreaking work in mines or elaborate magical mechanisms to produce.

It was something that had surprised every single one of her men, and there was talk of how they needed to do something similar back home at Theramore.

As they began walking into the city proper, she was once again struck by the interesting contrast between technology levels in the Orc settlements.

On one hand, the buildings were made of nothing but clay bricks and mortar. On the other hand, they had also built a somewhat working sewer system, even if the openings down to those sewers were nothing but some wooden boards held in place by stones placed on the corners.

They had constructed buildings both to store fish, boats, and goods in, as well as structures to repair their ships inside of.

It was constructed with very primitive building materials… But there was a clear planned purpose and sophistication behind it all, far beyond what she would have expected just a year back.

They even had a smithy, where blacksmiths were hammering away at knives, nails, or whatever else one would need.

What they did not have though, was tanners and leather makers.

Which was strange, given the sheer quality of clothing that every single man, woman, and child possessed.

The simplistic bricks and mortar structure of every single building might give the impression of this being a poor society… But these Orcs dressed in much, much better quality clothing than an equivalent human town in Kul Tiras or Lordaeron, where a poor family generally only had a few woolen shirts for their various members.

By contrast, even the children here were running around in high-quality leather vests and pants, even if the style was far from one that she(Or her men) was comfortable with.

She'd discovered the reason for this by observing the traders who came to the small city, as they were the source of these leather garments, but that in turn raised the question of who made them? Who caught or raised the animals used for these hides? Who tanned them? Who made the stitchwork and patching to make them look as good as they did?

Because someone DID do all those things. She knew from very personal experience that to make this sort of thing happen, you had to actually build the infrastructure to make it all happen.

It was something she planned to ask Thrall about at some point.

Speaking of her meeting with the man… She had also prepared a gift for him. Well… For all the various leaders in truth, but it was for him specifically that the enchanted chest several of her men carried, was meant for.

Her first meeting though, as she made the trip into the city center, being glared at all the while, did not end with her meeting Thrall. Instead, it was a massive, blue Troll with flaming red hair who was there talking with the local Warlord.

Said Warlord, who had been laughing with the Troll, immediately soured with a glance towards the oncoming party, and quickly stepped aside and walked over down to the docks, leaving the Troll leader behind to greet them.

The Troll leader looked them over, then, nonchalantly, he raised himself up to his full, enormous height, and stretched his arms over his head, casually and without any care in the world.

It was a not-so-subtle reminder of just how much bigger and stronger said chieftain and his guards were than her and hers.

Jaina however was not intimidated, nor did she back down, for several reasons.

Firstly because every bit of research she had ever done regarding Trolls had told her that this was just normal posturing for them, usually in relation of an elder Troll meeting a younger one, to test how they'd react. The absolute worst thing she could do was show herself to be intimidated or backing down.

Secondly, however, was that said Chieftain did not carry a weapon of any kind, which meant that if this became a fight, it would be decided by magic. And whatever other doubts Jaina currently harbored in her heart, her magical capacity was not one of them.

In a duel of mana and spells, she would crush all opposition. There was only one person in the Horde who was on her level in terms of magic, and that was Thrall.

"Ah… Ya must be de lady Proudmoore, ya?"

"I am. And you are Vol'jin. Chieftain of the Darkspear Tribe. I got your letter."

"Obviously. If ya didn't, ya wouldn't be here."

The Troll snapped a couple of very strong fingers, which lead to several of them bringing forth a couple of benches, placed opposite to one another.

"Now then… Let's talk business, princess."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You… Don't want to have this talk a bit more… Private?"

She motioned to the Orcs all around them, glowering at them.

He laughed.

"Why bother? We're not gonna be talking about something nefarious after all. Just trade and politics."

The two leaders sat down on the wooden benches.

The stools were also immaculately carved, with the sides having intricate imagery of Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren cut with such precision that it would make any guild proud.

"Now then… How is Theramore taking de news? Did de news of an alliance with de Horde lead to rioting?"

Jaina, having seated herself, legs crossed, shook her head.

"No… Everyone is willing to go along with it so far. Not out of any wish to bury axes though… The simple truth is that whatever feelings my people have about the Horde, they are utterly dwarfed by the terror they felt at the news that Arthas is making his way across the sea."

"Ah yes… De prince of death and skulls. Ya… Our Spirits be warning us of him. Him and his master. Dat one be a challenger to Bwonsamdi."

Vol'jin laughed, his muscles rippling as he did so, though Jaina didn't fully understand the reasons why not having that deep an understanding of the Trolls' religious system.

"Bwonsamdi… He's your death God right?"

"Ya, he is. But don't worry. Dis ain't the first time he's been challenged for his throne. And he didn't lose de previous times either. But back to de topic. So yer people agreed to fight besides us did dey? Dat's good to hear."

"Did you expect elsewise?"

"Honestly wasn't too sure. Humans can be insane at times."

Some would have said that allying with Orcs and Trolls was some of the most insane decisions in human history… But she did not say the thought out loud.

Instead, she struck with the same kind of attack.

"And your Darkspear? They do not mind this alliance?"

"No. Ye lot at Theramore don't have Azerothians after all. Other than the bastards from Stormwind, we mostly don't have anything against humans."

"I see… Well… To be honest I-"

At that point, one of Vol'jin's guards broke in and said something to the chieftain, which Jaina did not understand, though it seemed like the guard in question was reminding him about something he forgot.

It was also wildly, wildly out of protocol, and every single rule she had ever grown up with regarding how ranks worked in diplomatic meetings.

Had a guard done something similar in a meeting back with her father he would have at best been reprimanded, at worst flogged.

Vol'jin however just listened, then nodded.

"Ah… Right. Dat not be entirely true. We DO be having some bad history with yer countrymen. De ones in green ah mean, not de one from Lordaeron."

"From… Kul Tiras? I thought you guys were from Stranglethorn?"

"Oh, we be from Stranglethorn. Den we left. To settle some islands not too far from de Maelstrom. Den a sea witch begin sinking it into de ocean… And while we be dealing with her, some humans showed up, and decided to try to colonize de islands."

"While it was sinking?"

"Aye. Dat be pretty funny actually, except de part where lots of us get killed by bullets and cannonballs."

"It would seem the only parts of our alliance that haven't been killing each other at some point is us and the Tauren."

Vol'jin's expression darkened.

"Aye… And let's be keeping it dat way. Dat actually be the main reason ah wanted to talk to ye, before Thrall comes here. Once he, Cairne and Fremde does, we gonna be talking war, war, and more ah think."

"Fremde?"

"A warlord. She's… Quite different from de rest. But Thrall likes her well enough. In any case though…"

He snapped his fingers again, and this time it was a small table, and then a map that was put in front of them.

"Tell me Princess Proudmoore… Have ye noticed something… A bit off about how Thrall-Lures Orcs dress?"

"As it happens… I have. I suppose this is where you tell me where they get all that excellent leatherwork from?"

"Good, good… But as for where?"

He pointed on the map at the Darkspear Islands.

"We be killing lots, and lots, and lots of tigers, raptors, and sea giants on de Islands. Den we skin them."

Then his finger went down from there, to Orgrim's Hold.

"Den we send all of de skins down here to de provincial capital, Orgrim's Hold. De entire city's economy is built on the process of Tanning."

"That… Sounds like it would stink something fierce."

"Sure would… But thankfully de spirits be helping de Orcs deal with that by cleansing de air. But after de tanning, de leather be sent back to de Echo Islands, where we den make it into clothing, tents, sails, bags, and boots. Can't forget about de boots."

Jaina nodded, everything falling into place.

"It's a specialization economy. By having specific places devoted to doing one step of a process very very well, you can devote another section to do another step equally well. It's the same way a shipbuilding arsenal works. You train up teams to make one part of the ship really, really well, then another to make another, and so on until you have teams and equipment specializing in building everything, then you have a final team who specializes in putting it all together."

Vol'jin made a gesture like his hand was a gun pointed at her.

"Bingo mon! Dat be pretty much it ya. And at every step, we be handing over other goods too. In exchange for tanning it, we be paying with wood, be it carved or just material for building. Once de leather is done, we give it back, and in exchange for clothing, the Orcs give us metal equipment, or for building."

"Everything is connected. I assume the metal process works the same within the Orcs territories? One settlement mines, sends it on to another one, then they make something out of it, before it goes back, and is bought for more materials?"

"Exactly. It's all connected ya? Now in de long run, dere's gonna be money involved. But fer now, de current system works just fine. But here is de big question… How is Theramore gonna fit into dis?"

Jaina immediately understood the deeper meaning behind the question.

"You want us to join this trade network?"

"What I want… Is peace between de Horde and Theramore. We Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren are building a new nation here Lady Proudmoore. Nobody be wanting more war right now. Not us, not you. Once dis war be done with, we all want to thrive, and have at least a generation of peace to recover from everything… And it be my experiences that the more connected two parties be in coin, trade, or policies, the less likely war and conflict are."

Jaina considered that. It… Was actually very similar to something from humanity's past.

"When Humanity defeated the Amani Empire, it lead to the eventual establishment of many different kingdoms. That, not too surprisingly, lead to a lot of war and conflict between the new nations. Especially fueled by different inheritance laws."

"I thought you humans all had strict primogeniture? Where de son always comes before a daughter, but a daughter before her uncle?"

"Yeah, we do. Now. But the reason we have that is because at one point, the Kingdoms, sick to death of war and conflict, got together and hammered out a shared set of laws about inheritance, that all the kingdoms could agree upon. True, Dalaran was not amongst them, but other than the Magocracy, all the various kingdoms agreed to settle on shared laws about inheritance, and how it would work when lords intermarried between kingdoms. That conference… Was pretty much responsible for preventing 95 out of a hundred conflicts that would elsewise have broken out."

Vol'jin nodded.

"Makes sense. You get me point ya? If we want peace… We need some kind of shared agreement between Theramore and de Horde."

"What you're saying is that Theramore needs some kind of product to join this trade network you're setting up."

"Exactly! Your island needs to be making some kind of… Well, anything really. Something you can make that we be NEEDING! Something everybody be wanting so badly, that nobody wants to disrupt de trade with war."

She considered that.

On one hand… Vol'jin was right.

If they had some sort of product the Horde truly wanted, but did not want to, or couldn't produce themselves, then she had a very strong shield against future conflicts. Even better if it went both ways, and Theramore made both cash and quality products on the deal.

She could already see how Horde leather products would be welcomed by her men, who were forced to endure the blistering, tropical sun in wool.

On the other hand… What sort of product could they produce that the Horde would want which they could not get themselves?

Not fish, that much was clear. Trolls, Orcs, and humans all had access to the seas, and through it, access to fishing.

No, if she wanted to make a product, she needed it to be something they had both the knowledge of how to make, and something her islands would be more suited to, than the jungles of Echo Islands, or Thrall-Lure.

What did she, and her own Islands have to offer that the Horde would want?

Several things came to mind. Pearl plantation was an obvious one, but there was also the fact she had access to Dwarven workers. Dwarfs were good at construction… And the fact was that whatever sort of Warrior Culture the Dwarfs of Theramore might have gone on to form, it had died in the Stonetalon mountains.

As for her Elves… Well, they were also very very good at woodcrafting. A very different kind of wood-crafting style than Trolls did, but that was maybe not that bad of a thing.

As for her mages… There were definitely very valuable products that they could make, which no one else could. Chests that kept everything inside of them nice and cool for instance.

Not to mention that while Theramore was not that good a geopolitical location, the makeup of it's people gave it an advantage no Horde port of Orcs, Trolls or Goblins would have.

Alliance ports would be willing to trade with them.

Theramore had not officially joined the Alliance. Not yet anyway… But she knew that whether or not they did so, she could act as a middleman between Alliance and Horde, earning money by selling Horde goods to the Alliance and visa versa.

And though her islands were not that great for farming… There were products you could grow in tropical temperatures that you could not do elsewhere.

Her mind went to the chest she'd brought with her, with her gift for Thrall.

"Yes… I agree. Tell me Vol'jin… Are you Horde folk fond of… Chocolate?"