Arriving in the city of Ironforge, Victor was astounded by the tall, monolithic structures the dwarves had carved inside of the mountain they were in. Massive statues of great warriors or figures heralded the entrance to the grandiose city, as Marcus guided him through.
"I've only been a few times here personally, but that should be enough to get us there." Marcus mumbled to himself as he dragged Victor behind him. "Just find the big crowd of adventurers, that shouldn't be too hard… right?"
The two had taken the Deeprun Tram built by the Gnomes to connect Stormwind and Ironforge. Victor incidentally had nearly fallen over the guardrails as the tram suddenly accelerated. Marcus did question the safety of Gnome technology a few odd times, but reassured himself by comparing it to the Goblins, and their techs tendency to explode.
Passing the massive waterfall-like flows of lava, Marcus couldn't help but notice Victor staring intently at them specifically. Sure, it was not odd to be outright astounded by the architecture of Ironforge, but he was sure there were better things to look at. Yet the look the half orc gave as he peered into the ever flowing lava, looked… somber almost?
"You alright there bud?" he rested a hand on Victor's shoulder.
"Hmm?" The half orc spun around out of his stupor. "OH! Yeah, sorry. Looking at all this stuff here just made me feel a bit… nostalgic I suppose?"
"I never knew you had much interaction with Dwarves Victor." Marcus said with curiosity.
"W- well!" he sputtered out. "I just saw another clan's city once, I never really spoke with any of them…" he began to trail off, staring out again.
Just as Marcus began to ponder the meaning of his words, the duo happened upon a massive crowd. Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, and Night Elves alike all littering the massive open space. A lot were talking with each other or even trading equipment. Marcus could also see groups of them betting over a game of lots; with a Human shouting out in frustration as a Gnome greedily shoveled an entire pile of gold into her arms. A few were even butting heads and battling against one another in duels.
"Those are adventurers alright! This is the Military Ward then." Marcus noticed a massive line for a table that had the words 'New Recruits Welcome!' plastered on the front.
Getting into the long line, the duo began to slowly notice how hot it was within Ironforge. Marcus swore the queue just stretched on longer and longer before getting to the front, and he felt his stomach rumble as about an hour had passed.
"Come one come all! Mana Biscuits and Water, just 3 gold pieces!" a shrill voice rang out.
Looking over to the sound of the voice, Marcus found a Gnome dressed in cerulean robes, with a bald head and no facial hair. The smile lining his face thinly veiled with a sense of malice. Marcus could immediately tell what that mage was doing.
"That little shit!" Marcus groaned to himself. "Upcharging that bland ass food, most mages would give out for free!"
A desperate group in line forked over a big pile of gold as the gnome passed off the bland food and water. Then, he simply waved his hands once more, and another amount of biscuits and water appeared before his stand. It wasn't long before their section of the line had reached where the Gnome was camping.
"You there good sir!" his shrill voice had targeted Marcus. "You look very parched. Would you be interested in some of the finest drinking water a mage could conjure?"
"Thanks, but I think I'll manage just fine." Marcus tried to push the offer away.
"Are you sure? The heat is getting pretty bad, you might need it!" The Gnome kept prodding.
"He just said no, didn't you catch that?" Victor's voice suddenly ran out bluntly.
Marcus looked in surprise as his friend had just spoken up. He never knew Victor to be that aggressive of a person, but certainly straightforward in his approach to conversation. He was surprised that the Gnome must have gotten under his skin. It had slightly worried him, because despite the fact that Victor never got angry often, when he did something was bound to break, and rather unexpectedly too. Marcus supposed that was just the odd mix of a being that the half orc was.
"Ah! You must be his friend." The Gnome said with a hint of disgust. "I'm duly sorry, I was just making sure he wanted my product!"
"Well, now you can see his standards are higher than that. So if you will please excuse us…" Victor motioned further down the line.
"STANDARDS?!"The Gnome began to shout. "That's rich! Especially coming from whatever gangly mess of color on your head you call hair is!"
The air between them became silent as Marcus could feel the two glaring at each other.
"Victor c'mon, the line's moving up again." Marcus tried to diffuse the situation. "It's not worth it, not with better things to do…"
The half orc conceded, and took back to moving through the line, much to Marcus's relief. The Gnome mage blew a raspberry at them, before a sudden sound had alerted him. A large stalactite on the ceiling or Ironforge had fallen, and crushed his stand with a large boom as scattered rock and wood splintered everywhere.
Marcus could hear the panicked cries of the Gnome as the line moved on, and couldn't help but notice a shadow of a smile on Victor's face. He supposed that a coincidence such as that was fine, but it was still odd to him.
"I feel as if you're way more vindictive than you know Victor." He remarked in his thoughts.
Finally after about another hour, the two had reached the front of the line. A Dwarf with a massive bushy beard was managing the front with a huge stack of papers and seals in front of him.
"Welcome to the Ironforge recruitment table." his voice sounded quite tired after taking so many recruits in. "May I ask, are you a registered adventurer, guard, or are you an unregistered potential recruit?"
"Stormwind guard." Victor replied.
"I see, not too many of you putting forth here, mostly adventurers…" The Dwarf said clearly bored. "Suppose it's a slight change of pace from this dull job. What's yer name?"
"Victor. Victor Duskscale." The half orc said as politely as humanly possible.
The Dwarf began to sift through the massive stack of papers, eventually landing on one as he began to read it. Everything seemed to be fine, until he raised his eyebrows and pulled out a small envelope within the stack. Opening it, the Dwarf began to read the paper inside.
"To Victor Duskscale, and very likely Marcus Longfellow because he is a terrible enabler." The Dwarf tried putting on a fake eloquent voice. "This is Captain O'Neal with orders for you to stand down from joining The Might of Kalimdor within Silithus. I understand your want with going Victor, but I told you why multiple times I refused to transfer you. If you wish to take it up with me, then very well you may. However, you have to prove that you are better at combat, then just meeting the dirt floor. P.S. Longfellow, I know you were the one who released that squirrel in my quarters, so I suggest you watch your step."
The Dwarf finished, and closed up the letter. Marcus could practically feel the gears turning in the half orc's head as the words went through his mind. He put a hand on Victor's shoulder as he attempted to comfort him.
"Hey man, let's just go." Marcus consoled. "It's not worth it to fight here. As O'Neal said, we need to take it up with him."
Victor took a moment as it looked like he was trying to reel his emotions in. It felt like time had stopped, and the world shook around Marcus, as Victor was processing. Then he took a deep breath, and nodded his head.
"You're right." the words came out slowly. "Let's get out of here."
The two left the halls of Ironforge, heading towards the Deeprun Tram once more. One the tram back to Stormwind, Marcus could see Victor leaning on the railing staring out into the scenery racing by as they passed. Marcus sighed as he looked on, realizing the absolute hell that was awaiting them forward.