A Troll Among Trolls.
Vol'jin was surprised when he appeared in the middle of Sen'jin village, clearly Jaina had visited his tribe's home at some point, but he didn't have much time to relax amidst familiar surroundings as a messenger hurried up to him.
"Boss, ye timing be perfect."
"What is it, mon?" Vol'jin sighed, before he remembered the Lich's threat that all nations had been infiltrated.
"Ye been summoned to Zandalar."
The messenger handed him a scroll marked with the seal of the Zandalari Empire stamped on it, and Vol'jin quickly read it before throwing it in a nearby fire.
"It appears de king be summoning all tribes to Daz'alor for a great council," he mused. "Perhaps word has reached Rastakhan of de Legion's invasion, I should go to argue dat de all tribes should unite to fight de Legion."
"De king will be pleased." The messenger smiled, before carving a circle in the sand around Vol'jin's feet. "I was told to teleport you to him if you agreed."
"Certainly faster than getting dere by Wyvern or boat." He shrugged.
In another flash he was standing on the second highest level of the Great Pyramid of Daz'alor.
"Identify yourself!" A guard barked behind him, and he felt the tip of a spear being pressed against his spine.
"I be Vol'jin, leader of de Darkspear Tribe." He said proudly, before hunching over again. "I was summoned by de king."
"Apologies, dere is bad juju in de air and we been told to watch for odd behaviour." The guard said. "Do you need an escort, mon?"
"In a moment, I be needin' to get me guts settled after bein' teleported twice in no time at all." Vol'jin coughed, leaing on a torchpost until he didn't feel on the point of nausea. "Allright, take me to de king."
He was led up a few flights of stairs before being led into the throne chamber that overlooked the northern half of the city. King Rastakhan was seated on his oppulent throne, flanked by two brutish bodyguards, as well as representatives for six of the seven major tribes that once made up the Troll Empire.
"Apologies if I was late, ye majesty, I been busy with other matters." He bowed, before moving to join the semi-circle around the king.
"You're not late, Darkspear, though I was expecting to see Sen'jin here... Where is he?"
"Me father is dead, killed by a sea witch years ago, I be his son Vol'jin." The youngest Troll in the room said with some pride.
"A pity, your father was a great man." Rastakhan said with regret. "De Gurubashi cannot make it to dis meeting as dey are already threatened by what I summoned you here for. De Legion has come again, and we must decide where we stand."
"I already know of dere arrival, I was dere when de portal opened." Vol'jin immediately said, leaping on the opportunity to paint a picture of the threat they faced. "Dey not be messin' around neither. De Legion are invading in full force from de Dark Portal, with only de creations of de Titans holdin' them at bay right now. If we want to survive, we must unite our tribes together wit de Alliance to push dem back, or dere will be no surviving for anyone. De Legion want all life on dis world dead."
"De Alliance are no friends of ours!" Zul'jin of the Amani wheeled on Vol'jin. "Dey may show respect to you as you be saved by dem Orcs, but de Elves invaded our home and slaughtered my people, de Amani survive only tanks to my leadership. I will not fight alongside de people who butchered us without cause."
"Exactly, why should we aid de Alliance, when dey have not treated us wit any respect?" Chief Ukorz Sandscalp of the Farraki trolls asked. "If we do fight wit dem, and when we shed blood wit dem, what's to stop them turning on us once dis Legion is defeated? Dey could den wipe us all out, like dey tried to do with de Amani."
"They also attacked de Gurubashi! Now dat de Legion is invading through dat portal, dey be lucky to survive at all if we be victorious against de demons." Zul'jin added. "De Alliance may like you because ye helped dem here and dere, and you owe dem your life, but to da rest of us, we be pests to be crushed beneath dere boots."
"I heard about ye war wit de Elves and de old Alliance, and ye hand be not as clean as ye may pretend." Vol'jin said calmly.
"Da elves carved out dere shiny city wit de blood of my people!" Zul'jin snapped back, striding forward so he was nose to nose with Vol'jin. "Dey started our war by claiming land that was not deres. After de war, when we were already beaten, de elves came and slaughtered us; any dey did not slay, dey imprisoned. Dey took my eye and would have executed me, had I not cut off my arm to escape dem."
"Zul'jin! Dere will be no violence here." Rastakhan proclaimed.
"As de king commands." Zul'jin growled, returning to his place in the semi-circle.
"Do ye plan to fight with de Legion like ya did in de war?" Ukorz asked, which did not calm the irate Amani troll.
"De Orcs offered to help us get revenge on de Elves," Zul'jin corrected the chieftain. "I would gain little from allying with demon filth."
"Oh how wrong you are, Zul'jin..." a calm voice said from behind them, and the Troll leaders turned to see a grey-skinned Troll calmly approaching them.
"Prophet Khar'zul, you were not summoned, nor are you welcome at dis council." Rastakhan said, sounding irritated by the Prophet's presence. "Explain yourself at once."
"I come to offer you all a chance to survive de coming war." The Prophet said with a sly smile.
'Could dis be de Lich's agent, or an advanced scout of de Legion?'
"You dare come here offering a poisoned chalice?" Rastakhan rose to his feet, and the tribe leaders immediately dropped to one knee before him. "De Legion has nothing to offer us."
"Not true, great king." Khar'zul waggled his finger. "If de Trolls ally wit de Legion, de Troll Empire will be reborn across a thousand worlds. And you, o mighty Rastakhan could rule forever."
"As a puppet of de demons!"
The tribe leaders parted so none of them were standing between the king and the upstart Prophet.
"Says de Loa's pet king."
Rastakhan closed the gap between him and the Prophet and picked up the diminutive Troll by the throat.
"I will not sully de wisdom and strength of de ancestors by accepting de Legion's offer." The King said loudly so they all could hear, while he carried the struggling Prophet toward the edge of the throne room overlooking the city. "De Troll Empire will rise again, to combat de ones who seek to invade our world and burn it to ashes."
"You're a fool, puny king..." the Prophet laughed through his constricted windpipe. "De end comes no matta how ya do against de demons, and dere's noting you can do ta stop it."
"What are you talking about?" Rastakhan demanded, but the Prophet only said with a weak smile;
"Can you hear it, mon? De thunder comes."
Without waiting for anyone to stop him, the king threw the Prophet from the top of the Pyramid and walked back to his gathered subjects, not bothering to watch the troll's body splatter on the stone far below.
"So de King commands we go to war against de demons?" Ik'nal asked as the king retook his seat.
"Dat is up to you, but if ye wish to join de Legion, you can join de Prophet." The king stated calmly, making his position quite clear.
"Afore we continue, I wanna ask de young one a question." Malakk said, breaking the silence and making Vol'jin nervous. "Last time we met, ye asked my people ta help defeat de king o' the dead. Ya said he was an agent o de demons, and I don't need ta ask if ya beat him, dat floating fortress fallin' from de sky was proof enough. I wanna know why you seem so secretive; is dere sumtin' you not tellin' us?"
Vol'jin glanced around and saw that everyone was looking at him again, but in a more critical manner that made him feel violated. He wanted to lie, but de Prophet's attempt to sway them made him hope that he had been the Lich's agent, and that in his death the Troll's were safe from further meddling.
"Aye, dere is..." he hung his head in shame as he admitted; "De Lich King confessed ta havin' spies across Azeroth, in every nation, ready to cause chaos when de demons invaded. I was worried it might be one of yous, but de Prophet's words make me tink it was him."
"Surely de Lich's agents would be more subtle..." Malakk queried, before remembering; "but dat traitor was not subtle either..."
"I hate to agree wit Zul'jin, but it looks like de Lich and de Legion view as Trolls as simple-minded, dey believe we be easily swayed to join otha people's causes." Vol'jin sighed. "I can promise ye dat de Alliance dat welcomed me have not treated us Darkspear wit disrespect, but as equals, dat is not something we will find wit de Legion."
"So you say..." Ukorz folded his arms over his chest. "De problems of our future wit de Alliance can wait until after we survive dis invasion."
"If we survive." Zul'jin muttered. "But ye have made it clear de Legion be no joke dis time, dere clearly be no question of if we fight, but how we fight dem and win."
Silence fell, as the troll representatives all pondered potential solutions to combating the demonic threat facing them.
"Would de Loa fight wit us?" Ik'nal asked. "If not directly, den surely dere blessing would give strength to our forces."
"We could not force dem if dey did not wish to fight," Vol'jin noted. "But dis be there world too, dey have as much reason as us to fight..."
"De Loa are not immortal," Rastakhan spoke up. "De emerald dragons slew Hakkar when we called him into dis world; if de othas agreed to aid us, dey would be risking dere lives as much as us."
"If we want to survive de demons, then we all must be willin' to sacrifice everytin to win." Vol'jin declared.
Despite being the youngest Troll present by a considerable margin, he's seen and experienced enough to know the true cost of victory when facing insurmountable odds.
Rastakhan stroked his chin, before rising to his feet again.
"Den we will beseach de Loa for dere aid against the Legion." He announced in a tone that silenced potential protestation. "De question be simple; will you lead your people against de Legion to defend our world, or do you plan to cower in fear until dey come for you?"
"I will fight. My people will fight. De Darkspear will not be seen as cowards." Vol'jin promised.
"De Shadowtooth stand wit de king." Ik'nal declared.
"What be left of da Drakkari will not run from dis fight, even if we be wiped out, our name will be remembered forever!"
"We Farraki are not gonna miss a fight dis big outta fear of dying, Bwonsamedi will welcome us as heroes, not cowards."
All eyes turned to Zul'jin, who was clearly angry at being forced into making his decision, but stated with utter malice;
"De Amani will fight, but for no one but de Amani. De Alliance be damned."
"Den rally your warriors and march on da Dark Portal," Rastakhan commanded. "My people will beseech the Loa for dere aid in battle. Today, de Troll Empire rises again."