400 Days in Quel'thalas 章 2
"Quel'thalas is a totalitarian regime that is enslaving its population and arming itself with weapons of mass destruction. Kingdoms like these pose an ultimate evil. They threaten to destroy the peace-loving nations of Azeroth. The grand Alliance will not permit Azeroth's most dangerous regime to endanger us with their warlike agression and destructive weapons!" - King Wrynn III, at the A-14 summit, Stormwind.
We're Going in!
Dalaran
We tried to get in, but we couldn't. Everyone we talked to who had connections with Blood Elves was like, "Forget it. Don't even talk about it. Go away!"
We tried the Alliance consulate, the Horde House, the Sha'tar consulate, the Silver Covenant and Kirin Tor offices, and they all said no. Okay, we would have asked the Blood Elves ourselves, but there are two things preventing that:
First, is the Blood Elves only come out and use their office out here three times a year, usually when there's holiday events going on over in Quel'thalas.
Second, is that it's against the law to even say 'hello' to a blood elf without a permit from the Silver Covenant. You are required by law to get a permit saying you can talk to Blood Elves, and the Silver Covenant won't just hand them out. If you're caught by the guards talking to a blood elf without a permit, they will arrest you and throw you in the slammer. The Silver Covenant is in charge of overseeing any interaction between blood elves and everyone else, and they will allow not even a wave, gesture or eye contact being made. If a guard so much as sees you staring at a blood elf, they'll arrest you.
If you get busted, the penalty for first-time offence is five days in jail, and you have to pay a 50g fine. If you get caught a second time, it's two weeks behind bars and a 500g fine. If you get caught a third time, you are jailed for a whole month, slapped with a 5000g fine, and you get banned from Dalaran for a year. If you're a foreigner, it's a lifetime ban from Azeroth. That's how dead serious the high elves of the Silver Covenant are about not wanting anyone to interact with blood elves. Refugees and defectors who fled Quel'thalas must wear a tag at all times so as not to be mistaken as the enemy. You are allowed to speak to them as you would be with anyone else.
The Silver Covenant
The Silver Covenant is the militant wing of the Kirin Tor. They are responsible for security and law enforcement on the Dalaran Islands and all other territories occupied by the Kirin Tor. They write and enforce the laws that ensure peace and safety here. The KT do have a force of their own, but because the Silver Covenant is better equipped, the KT's forces act mainly as bodyguards for their leaders. The Silver Covenant is one of two independent faction of high elves that broke away from Quel'thalas during the third war over disagreements on methods of energy consumption. The other being the Scryers in Shattrath. All the way up to the end of the 4th war, the 'Covenant sided with the Alliance, and opposed the presence of the Sunreavers, especially after the revolution in Quel'thalas. During the 5th war, the Silver Covenant fought the Sunreavers, and demolished their sanctuary and drove them back all the way to the northern tip of Dalaran Island. Just before they could take out the remainind blood elves, the war ended, and they grudgingly signed the ceasefire and set up the Rouje Front border zone and MarienSkworn checkpoint. They grudgingly let the Sunreavers return to the Capital Fortress- that's the original old city, and rebuild their sanctuary. Now Sunreaver and Covenant soldiers stand on rooftops 24/7 staring eachother down.
The Covenant's relation with the Horde is neutral, they treat Horde civilians as anyone else, and authorize Horde military presence and put them on possible battlefields should the Blood Elves engage again. They also patrol Alliance cities and key points, and train their troops and, well anyone who wants to train at some form of fighting. Pretty much the most important thing anyone should know about the Silver Covenant is they will not tolerate any bullshit from anyone. Whatever you do in Dalaran, don't fuck with the Silver Covenant.
Eventide District, Capital Fortress
"Okay, we just had a meeting with the Covenant officers. We got busted last night for talking to some blood elves. Because we're not even from Azeroth, they sat us down for three hours and gave us a crash course indoctrination on politics, diplomacy and why they don't want anyone talking to blood elves. Um, I tried to convince the officer to give us permits, and he said no, so we'll try tomorrow. The KT sentinels are watching, he said, because they are to keep Blood Elves from luring people over to the Sunreavers' Sanctuary. It's to prevent kidnapping and such. We got lucky, only a night in jail, no fine, they let us off with a warning. The officer said we're being watched and if we're caught again, we'll be deported. I think we're gonna take it easy and let this blow over for a bit."
So we eventually began interviewing Blood Elf refugees who lived in Dalaran, because they defected, we are free to meet with them, and asked them about how to get to Quel'thalas, and they all looked at me like I was insane, but we met a few of them who told us where to go.
"Just go to the Sin'Dorei Friendship Company, and bribe them, and then bribe the Kirin Tor, not the Covenant, and they will give you your permits while the SDFC makes arrangements with the Sunreavers to meet with you, and they will take you from there."
Sin'Dorei Friendship Company (SDFC)
The SDFC is a front that poses as a friendship organisation that is really an invisible arm of the Sunreavers. The SDFC got in at the lest second after the 5th War and authorization of their presence in Dalaran is written in article 152 section 7 of the ceasefire agreement. Under the watchful eyes and frequent checks by the Silver Covenant, the SDFC pretends to promote friendship with the Blood Elves. They exchange letters between pen pals, who are really just SDFC members. They sell a limited selection of goods from Quel'thalas from pottery to art, and they act as a travel agency promoting tourism in Quel'thalas. Overall, they attempt to lure outsiders with their tourism and letter program, and try to lure refugees and defectors with promises of a full pardon (escaping Quel'thalas is treason), and so on. Rules from the ceasefire agreement make it very tricky for the Silver Covenant to deal with the SDFC, and aside from inspecting cargo going between the SDFC's building all the way to Checkpoint Marien, their options are limited. What they can do is detain people going to the SDFC before stepping within the 40-foot radius of the office.
the SDFC's primary role is to lure people inside where they are sometimes captured and smuggled back to Quel'thalas. Covenant officers arrest people they see coming out, interrogate them and issue fines or generic restraining orders, followed by the threat of imprisonment. We ran into the officers four times and each time we were driven halfway accross Dalaran Island and left at a hostel. As the SDFC makes people curious, it's too much time and effort for them to formally arrest, charge and punish everybody, so if they see you walking near that place, its, bam, into the police car and to the next town. But we were determined, and hid out in the district, and observing their patrol patterns. Eventually we made it into their no-go zone and
*chucles* the high elf guards who nabbed us three times already were staring at us. We had big grins on our faces. One of them was like, "Wisen up and step back here! This is no laughing matter! You really have no respect for your own lives, do you?"
If they caught us, they probably would have taken us to Krasus Air Station and had us deported. And so we went inside. We got lucky...sort of.
When we got there explained that we were tourists and simply wanted to see the blood elf kingdom. In fact, right there on the spot, they gave us each the 15000g to pay the Alliance's exorbant preventative fee to get our permits to go there. The Silver Covenant will not write permits for anybody but the Alliance marshals, who forge the Silver Covenant's permits; will secretly sell you a permit for 15000g in to give someone a permit to go to Quel'Thalas. They secretly obtained the same permit cards the Covenant uses and make a crapload of money off this secret trade. 15,000 gold may be around $50,000 or more. You can go out and buy a nice car for that much money. The Silver Covenant officials weed out those who they think will be a cause for trouble or won't last long in Quel'thalas, and if you pass their psysical exam, you still have to have a damn good reason to go. But the Alliance marshals just take the fee, which the SDFC already gives you the money to pay.
When the SDFC gave us the money, they warned against walking off with it; that blood elf rogues were watching and would be following us until we bought the permits. If we attempted to leave Dalaran or walked into the Auction House the rogue would have killed us and taken back the money. We paid the officials and came back. The SDFC people- really deranged and happy-go-lucky men and women escorted us there and back. They had special passes based on the ceasefire treaty so the SC couldn't stop us, unless we suddenly bailed and ran away from them, then we all would have been arrested.
As we came back from the Alliance consulate, the SC officers checked our passes, and grudgingly let us through. After we were in their no-go zone, the blood elf rogue following us broke his stealth, startling the officers, and he gave them both the finger before ushering us inside. They looked pretty flustered, and it was actually pretty funny in a cynical way because really, the 'Covenant was looking out for us, keeping us from going into danger and we deliberately got past them. Now the 'Covenant uses rogues to stop people from getting to the SDFC. People get knocked out and wake up in the jail hospital with broken ankles or legs and officers saying to them, "That's what you get for your trespass. Let this be a good reminder never to go near that place again!"
As ordered by the regime, the SDFC members always film humans coming and going and staying here. The videos are used by their propaganda department to either make us look like monsters, or tamable animals.
Into the hands of the Blood Elves
"Okay we're halfway through a lengthy meeting, um the guy talking to us is in the Sunreavers, he's going over the itinerary of the trip, and local laws, customs, traditions, oh, and he said that we're not just going on a dime tour, no, we're actually going to be there for 90 days!
"That's three whole months, no less. He said the reason why that is because they are sick of people coming, gawking at them for a week, pretending to be nice, then going home. People change- they are affected by different surroundings if there long enough, and that's what they want us to get out of it.
"He also said that we are required to learn and speak Thalassian, and not just speak it, but fluently. On top of that, we might have to take up their religion and worship the Sun, and all that. It's going to be fun sitting in a Blood Elf church...not. I'm actually having second thoughts about this; I mean before now, I thought we'd only be there for like two weeks, but now, 12 weeks... I guess we'll see when we get there."
The SDFC took our passports and our money, and all of our other stuff we were told to leave it in lockers here at the office. After attending an endless party with the SDFC members- these really messed up humans, all of who had aqua-green colored hair, and either yellow or dark blue eyes, who just went on and on with big glazed smiles about how great Quel'thalas is and that we were headed 'for a paradise better than Heaven. They kept playing karaoke videos and music from Quel'thalas and showing us indoctrinal videos about how blood elves are opressed by the arrogant Silver Covenant and all that.' Then they go on as if they're high on ecstasy about how great their leader, Telkar Sin'scothar is and they went on preaching about their religion. The food we were served was not food at all. Just tofu. Dried, flavorless, textureless, inedible tofu. And while they're going nutz on stage, you're sitting there, eating your tofu, thinking, 'Ok, I've come to the mad house!'
After the party, wewent to bed thinking they would get us at 9am the next day. We also learned later that the blood elf rogues were watching us from their positions while stealthed- you couldn't see them, and they were a secret police or something like that.
At around 1 AM, there's a sharp knock on the door and then blood elves, not humans, came barging in, saying, 'Get up! Time to go!' Still half asleep we were taken up to the roof where there was a landing pad and a shiny red pod-like aircraft waiting for us. We were pushed on board and it was a ten minute flight to the Sunreavers' Sanctuary. They would have wanted to fly to Ilos- their own floating island, but that direct flight path was forbidden.
Halfway through the flight, we stopped at this tiny miniature floating island the size of a gas station. This is a small mobile checkpoint island that functions more like an aircraft as it has built in magic-powered hover motors. Since no Silver Covenant and Sunreaver member can be in the same place, these little checkpoint islands floating high above the rest of the floating islands are the only way the Silver Covenant can inspect transports flying between the SDFC building, and the Sunreaver Sanctuary. As the armistice rules dictate, only two adult blood elves and three children can be at the SDFC office at any given time, and the Silver Covenant ensures this by screening Blood Elves at the miniature checkpoint island.
The Silver Covenant owns and operates these checkstation islands, and will order anyone, including their own officers to pull over and land to be inspected. If you refuse to land or even respond, they WILL shoot you down. They don't give a fuck. You are instantly marked as hostile if you don't respond and obey their orders. First is a verbal warning, then they fire a warning shot from the cannon mounted to the islet, after that, you're done like dinner. That's how strict the Silver Covenant forces are if you are operating an aircraft around the Dalaran Islands, and if you fly towards blood elf airspace, they'll shoot you down before the Sunreavers will. They keep things good and tight. Even the Alliance and Kirin tor aircraft pilots won't dick around.
They looked at our permits and passports that the Sunreaver officer had, and I wondered if they'd still arrest us for deeking them earlier or if they'd tell the permits were fake and nab us, but they kept a stern face, stepped back, and waved the pod craft through.
Once we got to Sunreavers' Sanctuary via their own landing pad, We were forced to strip off our clothes and wear this green robe. It's got Thalassian letters stitched on the breast and side legs of the robes. In English it means 'extra-national' if I got my translating right. Second, we all had to drink this- Turbo Lax diarrhea potion. I never had to shit so hard in my whole life. They said they made us drink that was they didn't want us shitting out stools of human food into their toilets and stinking up the whole place.
Dinner with the Sunreavers' was pretty much bread, and water. The food was saturated with magic- I could taste the mana on the food, it was almost a cross between what paint thinner and melting plastic. I never knew mana could taste so bad, and we had to force down the tainted food, apparently a mage or an alchemist altered it to 'cleanse our bodies' of all that fouls smell. I had a hell of a stomach ache that night. My stomach was coated with mana, and it felt like it was full of alcohol.
Next came the make over. We were latched to these chairs in what they called a barber shop and just went nuts working on our hair and faces to make us look good for when we actually went to Silvermoon. We had to drink these potions that pretty much caused us to shed all of our body hair except the head. Leg hair, armpit hair, chest hair, nose hair, even pubik hair. My co-worker, D, was force-fed another potion- this icky green stuff that was 95% microbes. The blood elf apothecary was able to remote-control these microbes in her body and used them to make her grow her hair long. D had short hair, and they made her drink so much of that stuff until her hair went down to her elbows. That elixir looked exactly like green goose shit. She was spelled by another causing her immune system to shut down for the process, and that made D weak and tired. She almost passed out after she got up from that. They cut and dyed our hair. The stuff they used made our heads itch, and it felt like bugs were on our heads digging into our scalps and no, no bugs, it was the acid burning through our skin. A healer priest was throwing heals spells on us , and accelerated cell growth is not a pleasant feeling.
We had to bathe in these shower rooms, and instead of it being a normal shower, we were blasted with hot water that smelled like ammonia, it was a water-ammonia mix as they said, then after we were cleaned, we were blasted with nearly boiling hot water to get all the ammonia off us.
We were put up in this plain hotel, simply plain walls, plain beds, everything colored red or yellow. There were no doors just thick curtains that were welded to the walls with arcane blasts from the blood elf mages.
We tried to sleep that night, remembering the Sunreaver officer telling us at 4pm the next day it was time to head out.
5am the next morning, the curtains are de-welded from the wall, and like 10 blood elves came in. There were just 2 of us. I was woken up as they came in, but my co-worker, she was pricked and zapped with arcane sparks until she was out of bed standing with her back to the wall. Like parents or whatever, they ordered us in a loud unison voice to make the beds, and then they said the airship was ready, we were leaving NOW.
The Blood Elves don't use Krasus Landing. Instead they got their own platform on their own floating island Quel'Ilos'dris, which is chained to the city outside. From here we boarded these miniature red pod airships and were flown to the blood elves' bigger airfield on Ilos Island, and from there we passed through more scrutiny and were taken abord their giant red zepplin called the Sin'Cygan.
We got on the airship. It was packed- blood elves coming and going, and all that on all sorts of business. You're not allowed to bring anything into Quel'thalas. You can't bring ay sort of camera, no computer, no cellphone, no handphone, of course all electronics would be fried by the arcane radiation there. You can't bring writing materials, you can't bring books, or scrolls, not even a pack of poker cards. No food, no smokes, nothing. You can't even have your own jewellry! You can't even bring your own clothes, or even underwear. They make you wear their clothes instead. If you got piercings, the blood elves will take them out. If you have glasses or contact lens, they'll remove those too. To simply put it, absaolutely NOTHING will be allowed into Quel'thalas, not even what's in your digestive system. They'll force-feed you turbo-lax and make you shit and piss until your digestive system is empty from mouth to rear. That's how strict they are.
When you board the airship, you haveto write on a glass sheet and declare that you aren't bringing anything in, and if those Blood Elves find out you did bring something, God help your sorry ass.
We were flying from Dalaran to the airport outside Silvermoon in Quel'thalas, and you sit there, looking out the window, and as the zeppelin takes off, you're sitting there, peering out the window, watching Dalaran disappear behind you; it hits you: 'Oh shit. We're going to Quel'thalas!'
And we were going there for 3 whole months with the intent of finding out about them, which you're not allowed to do; with the intent of making a documentary, which you're not allowed to do; with the sole purpose to see the kingdom in a bad light, and try and find grounds to criticize them in the future, which you're not allowed to do; this was absolutely terrifying. So from the first minute we got there, I was shit-scared.