The full armies of the Anti-Demon coalition were gathering. Tens of Thousands of Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves had come to the Crossroads, preparing to march north out of the Barrens as the Night Elves were currently occupied with trying to throw back the Demon advance in Azshara.
While they were doing so, the Coalition's gathered host would march on through their territory, relatively unchallenged.
The dwarves were the only part currently moving out, while all the rest gathered, intent on closing the passes off from northern aggression through good old Dwarven construction work.
They certainly were not good enough for anything else, given how every single one of the ones who had come who were Veterans had mental breakdowns upon seeing the Death Knights again.
Other than that though, Theramore and the Hordes armies were getting along relatively well.
And nowhere else was that more obvious than at the top, where to the surprise of a lot of people, Thrall and Lady Proudmoore had taken to interacting a lot.
It made some sense… They were the two highest-ranking people here, leaders of their respective forces, but it still brought a lot of talks on both sides.
Had they been less popular leaders, it would probably have been far less well received.
The scandalous kind of talks that they were actually starting to become lovers, as was usual when two unmarried, noble leaders interacted, was nowhere to be found though.
Both sides found the idea far, far too ridiculous to even consider.
The only one who did… Was an old woman, with far too much knowledge on her hands, and an old man, who had seen another relationship between the young lady and another royal young man crash and burn.
"I didn't think you used plate, Cairne."
The old Tauren, currently letting himself be measured by Fremde, shook his head.
"I prefer the kind of mobility light armor provides… But recent events have forced me to accept that I'm getting old. I need to change up my fighting style to something that is less… Risky."
Fremde looked at him incredulously.
"And it took you a century before old age made you change your fighting style? Damn, you Tauren age gracefully."
Cairne smiled.
"Most Tauren my age aren't quite as nimble I must admit. I was always a cut above the rest, even when I was young. And that has not changed much."
"Mhmm…" She grunted as she took the measuring belt and looked it over.
"Well, be that as it may, I should have some full set of plate armor for you in two days or so. It'll have some weak spots, but it should be way, way better than most Tauren armor."
"I would rather hope so."
The old man, satisfied with her assurance, and glad they were done measuring, stretched, his joints audibly popping with every movement, before he sat down and pulled out a pipe.
Fremde frowned, as after lighting it, he offered her a second pipe, full of tobacco.
"Want some? I always keep a second pipe for a friend."
Fremde scowled.
"I would rather not. I like my lungs clean."
Cairne laughed, then took a long, powerful draught before blowing a magnificent smoke ring into the air.
"Ah, no need to worry. You're surrounded by Shamans, my friend. Even the most inexperienced of them would be able to clean your lungs with but a touch, and even if you got the crabs, other healing spells will deal with it for you."
Fremde, though, was not convinced.
"It's amazing… We can apparently heal cancer, but not impalement by lance or sword."
Cairne raised an eyebrow at that but did not comment on the discrepancy.
"It is true that smoking without healing can be dangerous without magic at hand… But it has plenty of benefits. It helps with the nerves, which you could definitely use."
"If I want to deal with my nerves through smoking, I'll go to Vol'jin, Cairne."
"Yes… He showed me some of his stuff… Now there is some GOOD stuff."
Fremde pinched her, feeling frustration pour through her. Then looked out over the army below, and could not help but notice how so many of them were smoking pipes.
Some with great enthusiasm, some reluctantly, and some just looked fascinated.
When setting up the current system of binding the realm together as one through trade, she'd thought everyone would be producing something useful, something productive.
Her own Orgrim's Hold was producing tanned leather and was currently also beginning to become a center for Dyeing(Though Tanning was far and away the dominant one).
The Echo Islands were producing woodwork of all kinds, be they chairs, tables, cards, ornaments, and weapon handles of all kinds, from guns to swords, and much more.
The various other Orc settlements were becoming centers of metalworking, either to extract or to make something out of it.
All well and good, and nice for creating what was needed for a shared economy.
She had hoped… That the Tauren and Theramore would add to that.
Instead… Instead, the Tauren had brought cart, after cart, after cart of tobacco, freshly plucked from the fertile lands of Mulgore, along all the equivalent of 3 pipes for every Tauren to smoke it in.
And they were now freely sharing all of it with their fellow Horde members… As well as the ones from Theramore.
They weren't TRYING to get them addicted to nicotine and thus set up a powerful industry, where Tauren tobacco plantations would produce and then export all across Kalimdor, but that was going to be the ultimate result of them sharing pipes with their new friends and allies.
She did not need to know just how big smoking had been on her original homeworld to understand that the Tauren had set in motion a powerful industry here.
And then there was Theramore.
She had been interested in hearing what the tropical island would export.
She had assumed sugar, which was something they desperately needed… Instead, Proudmoore intended to make their prime export Pearls, coffee, and Chocolate.
Pearls were jewelry. It was nice to have… But it was a luxury good, not something essential. While Chocolate had only one use. And that was to make sweets, the ultimate luxury good that the world could do without.
At least Coffee had some actual use in an economy, and would be a boon… But Theramore, despite being way larger than it had been in WOW, was not large enough to produce enough Coffee for the entire Horde, not even with it's other Islands under firm control. They needed more farmland to achieve that kind of capacity.
Her thoughts were interrupted, as someone called out her name. A human voice.
"Lady Fremde!"
The speaker was an older, silver-haired man, in full Paladin regalia.
"I bring some requests from lady Proudmoore."
He then walked up to her, and, unheeding her guards with drawn swords, proceeded to hand her a stack of papers.
Fremde took it and nodded, before beginning to read through them.
It was a request for more material for her men. Horseshoes, spears, boots. The usual.
She read her way through the list when suddenly the man asked her a question.
"What is your opinion on our leaders' fraternization, Lady Fremde?"
Fremde raised her eyes slowly from the list and then looked the man in the eyes, frowning.
"I… Have several feelings about it. Which I am not going to share with a random paladin. Ser."
Cairne chuckled, as the man suddenly got red cheeks.
"Do you NOT know who I am?"
"Should I?"
"I was under the impression you knew of everyone of importance. That's how Warchief Thrall described you anyway."
If he had expected her to take the bait, he was sorely mistaken.
"Thrall has an overly high opinion of me. I am but a Mortal after all. I do not know every random knight who has ever lived."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"It may be that I know your name ser, but I don't know your face if that's what you're asking."
"I see… I am Duke Richard Lionheart. Does THAT ring a bell?"
"Not in the slightest. Do you know him Cairne?"
The old man, who had seemingly found this exchange amusing, did in fact know him.
"Indeed! He is the second in command of Theramore."
She blinked.
He was? Then… Why didn't she know anything about him? Oh right. He probably died in canon before becoming important.
"All Right then, Me'lord, that explains why you speak so formally to me."
The Duke seemed… Surprised.
"You are a warlord are you not? The equivalent of a count?"
Ah… So he was regarding her as a step below in rank.
"Actually I am not. The title of Warchief is the equivalent of the Human High-King. Even your own Kings labeled the title as such. That would make the High Warlord the equivalent of a king… While I would be a Duchess."
She laughed.
"Ah, wouldn't that be something… But be that as it may, Me'lord… Don't worry too much about protocols. This isn't the Alliance. People don't fuss over protocols here."
Lionheart looked her over curiously.
"...That would answer my original question, as well."
He looked to the side where, sure enough, in the distance, she could make out Thrall and Jaina walking through Camp, clearly talking about something.
"Ah… Yes, that was totally on purpose."
The tone she used was somewhat ambiguous, leaving the truth of the statement up in the air.
Cairne was the one who spoke up then.
"I see the spirits are restless around you, young one. This clearly bothers you… But I'm afraid I cannot understand why?"
"It… I do not think your Warchief understands protocol, Lord Cairne. How this looks… He is often together with Lady Proudmoore, alone, under the same roof, even into the night, without any form of a chaperone. It… Does not give the best impression of him to our troops."
Cairne still looked confused.
"What he means… Is that humans are stuck up about a woman's virtue. He is afraid that it looks like our good Warchief is trying to seduce his beloved queen, just by being alone with her."
"I see…"
Cairne looked kinda intrigued by that as if he had not even considered that possibility before.
"Amongst us Tauren, a courtship is usually announced beforehand. And publically at that."
Lionheart stiffened.
"I did not mean I WANT Lord Thrall to… Court her… Properly or not. But… If this had been between her and a human man… This kind of interaction would be absolutely scandalous. An unmarried maiden, and a warlord fraternizing like this…"
Fremde rolled her eyes.
"Ah yes, you humans are absolutely obsessed with maidenhood are you not? Like a woman loses all her qualities with a bit of blood… But if your great fear is that the Warchief will deflower her, I can assure you… That is not going to happen."
And it would not. After all, Jaina proudmoore had lost her virginity to Arthas Menethil.
That ship had long since sailed.
"Either way, I would recommend you get used to this kind of direct interaction between our leaders. That's how we do it in the Horde. Regardless of Gender."
"...That much is clear enough, yes. Even if you are not quite as… Well as you were during the First and Second wars, you do have a queer way of interacting with each other."
"It's alright. You can say we were monsters back then. We were. Some words aren't going to change that, unfortunate reality."
"As you say…"
He kept looking at the two monarchs in the distance with a strange look.
"He's… Strong, this Thrall. Much more so than any other King I've seen. Far more so than Doomhammer or Terenas."
"Terenas? I would not describe him as… Strong."
"Ah, yes… But there was a time when he was young. He ruled our land for 70 years. And he WAS strong in his youth. But even so… The Warchief is far more formidable."
"He is."
And so long as he didn't get a stick up the ass about becoming some transcendent world shaman, he would remain so.
"I've only met one other like him, I think."
"That so? And who was that?"
"They called him Arthas."
Silence.
Well… As silent as it could be on a stone hill overlooking a war camp.
"Hopefully, the Warchief will avoid the failures that lead our young prince to his doom."
He eyed Cairne and Fremde.
"He certainly has much better guidance. Uther, for all his might, was never a good teacher for him."
Fremde, recovering from the accusation, snorted.
"Eitrig could have told you that much."
"I have no idea who that is. But I shall take your word for it, my Lady."
At that, he gave a respectful salute to both of them before walking off.
Fremde… Wasn't entirely sure what she thought of the man.
However, it did illustrate that her preferred endgame between Theramore and the Horde would probably get some… Backlash if she managed to make it happen.
As far as she was concerned, there were two things she wanted out of Theramore.
The first was easy.
She wanted the city-state to join the Horde.
If it did, then it would not join the Alliance, the alliance would never get a strong foothold just by the Horde's heartland and the Western coast with easy landing spots, and would subsequently not be used as a staging ground by Alliance forces in any future war.
Not to mention, that having them be a part of the nation, rather than a second player, be it neutral or part of the Alliance was just better all around. It was much better to have someone pissing out of the tent, than pissing in after all.
It's production, trade, and knowledge would be put to use FOR the Horde, not against it.
Getting Jaina to sign on to join the Horde shouldn't be that hard. In fact, she had a plan to make it happen, and she had very strong arguments for getting her to join. Arguments that would hit lady Proudmoore HARD. Hard enough that she was guaranteed to buckle.
All she had to do was bide her time, and time it correctly.
The second thing she wanted out of Lady Jaina Proudmoore however, was much less certain, and she wasn't sure about how to make it happen.
Namely, she wanted Thrall and Jaina to hook up.
A part of her would admit that a large part was that she shipped the two… But the fact was that she had very pragmatic reasons for wanting the two of them to get together.
The biggest was that she wanted both of them to produce Heirs, as quickly as humanly possible.
She had no illusions that she would live longer than maybe a decade or two more. If she was to have any part in raising the next generation, Thrall needed to have an heir very very soon.
Which also bled into the other reasons. By getting Thrall and Jaina to produce an heir, she could deprive Kul Tiras from any hold in the succession of Theramore.
So long as she had at least one, the entire realm would go to Jaina's offspring… And that offspring became the next Warchief or the one following the next Warchief… Well, that would make it absolutely certain that Theramore would be intrinsically linked to the Horde forever.
How she was going to achieve that, was a different story.
Simply letting things play out would not be enough. The long history of WOW has proved that much. There would be a genuine attraction between them… But they needed a PUSH to make it happen.
The question was… How would she achieve that?
