Rise of the blood elves

301【On pins and needles】

After entering the Storm Fortress, the decorations of the corridors and corridors along the way were not very luxurious, and could even be said to be a bit simple.The displays on both sides are very simple. They are either an oil painting of a sword-wielding warrior or a pair of well-maintained armors. There are few precious works of art.

This left a good first impression on Angmar and gave him a firsthand understanding of the young Varian Wrynn.

Varian Wrynn became widely known to the world after he experienced the conspiracy concocted by Onyxia, experienced a life of nine deaths in the Dire Maul Arena, and became "Lo'Gosh".

In the previous 30 years, the description of this late-blooming king was very limited, almost zero, and others naturally had no way of knowing.

These simple decorations and furnishings all reflect the preferences of Varian, the owner of the "palace".Perhaps this is not enough to judge whether he was a good king, but at least as described in the limited records, he was not corrupted by the comfort and ease of the peaceful era and became greedy for wealth and vanity.

As far as Angmar knows, no matter what excuses the nobles who were bewitched by Onyxia used to refuse to pay for the reconstruction costs, the Kingdom of Stormwind has considerable financial resources. Even though it has only been rebuilt for more than ten years, after all, the Kingdom of Stormwind still has considerable financial resources. The amount is here, and the fiscal surplus every year is very considerable.

It seems that the money was not spent where it shouldn't be.

A few years ago, Angmar was ordered by Prince Kael'thas to go to the capital of Lordaeron to deliver a magical letter to a certain royal mage of Lordaeron. As a member of the ruling class of Dalaran, the prince He often interacts with mages who are qualified enough to know the existence of the Kirin Tor Council and has been fortunate enough to enter the royal palace in the capital of Lordaeron.

The sophistication and luxury of that kingdom were almost as good as those of the Royal Court of Silver Moon City, which had accumulated wealth for 7000 years.

Of course, this doesn't mean anything.After all, Lordaeron has a profound heritage, and it is only natural to show the dignity of the royal family in this way.Angmar just felt that compared with the palace of Lordaeron, Varian Wrynn's "palace" seemed too shabby.

The same is true for the banquet hall. There is absolutely no vulgar, jeweled or expensive decoration that goes against the goal of making good use of every gold coin during the Daxing reconstruction period.Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can have a panoramic view of the busy port of Stormwind City to the northwest. When passing by the window, Angmar couldn't help but take a second look. The bustling scene at the dock made him feel the vitality of the city.

Varian was absent from company for a short while, and when he came back, he had changed into relatively loose hospitality clothes, with a relieved expression on his face. It could be seen that the luxurious robe just made him feel very uncomfortable.

Angmar discovered that the upper arms and chest of Varian's clothing were somewhat tight. Although it was too loose to accurately outline his figure, there must be strong muscles underneath that had been cultivated through years of training, and there was no trace of any irritation at all. After serving as the king, he was somewhat relaxed due to the busy government affairs.

What Angmar knew was that even after taking the throne, Varian had to conduct a lot of warrior training every day, for decades, never stopping for a day, and he was still the most advanced warrior.He entered the realm of legend early. After being split into two by Onyxia, the half of his personality representing strength and will was rescued by Rhaegar's Fury of the Earth. After joining the latter's gladiator team, he participated in doom. The battle in the Hammer Arena immediately shocked everyone with their fighting skills, and they won an impressive record of never losing a single battle just by relying on their fighting instincts.

When he was sitting down, he noticed that Katrana intentionally sat next to him. Angmar pulled out the chair for her as a symbol and gracefully made a ladies-first gesture. In fact, he was secretly thinking that the female dragon had priority.

Varian sat at the head of the long table. On his right hand was his young son, the young prince Anduin Wrynn, and on his left hand was the Grand Duke Bolvar Fordragon who was accompanying him.

After sitting down, the little prince kept looking at Angmar curiously with his big clear eyes. When he noticed Angmar's kind eyes moving towards him, he smiled shyly.

King Varian only expressed his diplomatic wishes to the blood elves, but did not explain any issues of the meeting.

Through the performance of the little prince, Angmar can at least judge a lot of things, because a child's eyes cannot deceive others.

Perhaps Varian expected to join the war and assume the corresponding responsibilities of his own body.

This is a good sign.

Breakfast is simple and exquisite.A portion of roasted wild boar ribs, paired with a small ball of black pepper mashed potatoes, and a few Angama dishes that are not well-known, but at a glance you can tell they are the accompaniments of green vegetables unique to the South, and a bowl of oatmeal porridge with minced meat , a glass of wine to accompany the meal.

The procedure is very simple, not at all as cumbersome as the dining procedures of the northern human nobles represented by the Kingdom of Lordaeron. Even breakfast takes more than an hour.

In fact, even in the eyes of the high elves, who are always known for their exquisiteness, the dining procedures of human nobles not only fail to show their nobility, but also expose the limited heritage of this race that is still in its early stages. This is too vulgar and boring.

There are even nobles of Quel'Thalas who call humans "upstarts".They have long since passed the age of using meals to show their dignity. That was thousands of years ago.Even if they have a long life and a lot of time to waste, they still have to devote it to appreciating real works of art, such as a certain piece of black art that looks like a lump of coal but is actually priceless. gem.

"Hundreds of years ago, the development of navigation technology made the seven countries more closely connected. Since then, we have been influenced by northern culture, and the nobles of the country have begun to favor the cumbersome dining procedures. But the first After the Second War, I deprived myself of such fripperies as being limited to my palace, as I was not willing to waste hours on food.”

Varian seemed to notice Angmar's doubts. He swallowed the food in his mouth, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and explained softly.His breakfast was surprisingly large. Thinking about it, he couldn't maintain such a strong physique by eating too little, let alone meet the needs of exercise.

Although there is no way to study the history, most of the human navigation technology in this world, no, not only that, but also all aspects needed for development, were learned from Quel'Thalas through Dalaran.

"Your Majesty and His Highness the Prince of our clan have the same ideas. From politics to military affairs, His Highness the Prince has streamlined things, so our clan has the ability to operate efficiently in the face of disasters. I believe you will agree with Kaelsa Your Highness has a lot in common." Angmar responded, not forgetting the envoy's duties and paving the way for the next meeting between the two parties.

Varian stopped his knife and fork after hearing this and said in confusion: "I'm very curious why the leader of your country doesn't consider himself the Sun King."

"That's it." Angmar explained the reason.

Varian showed an expression of sudden realization and sighed, then raised his glass, "Stormwind City's fine grape wine, the raw materials are picked from the famous Osworth Vineyard in the North County Valley. It should be very suitable for your taste, Mr. Ambassador. Regards. Our first collaboration.”

"This is your first cooperation, Your Majesty the King."

Angmar raised his glass from a distance and drank it all in one gulp.But I'm thinking in my heart, but I don't even know anything about your country's willingness to cooperate.

"I heard that your country has formed a paladin force called the Blood Knights"

"Yes, thanks to the help of the Knights of the Silver Hand, we"

"That artifact is really as extraordinary as the legend says."

"The ancient artifact it created for the Titans was originally the weapon of the guardian Tyr. In terms of power, it is not inferior to anyone else."

"Alas, the destruction of Dalaran is truly depressing."

"Isn't it? It's unbelievable. The coalition forces of various tribes have repeatedly defeated the many with less."

Varian showed great interest in the war in the north, and Angmar was happy to answer, telling him everything he knew.

Grand Duke Bolvar did not speak often, but only occasionally chimed in with a few words.

Katrana glanced at Angmar frequently, seizing any opportunity to express her admiration to him without any concealment, as if she was completely attracted by Angmar's "charm" and launched a beauty offensive. Angmar was on pins and needles.

"Your Majesty, I am really becoming more and more interested in our envoy."

After little Prince Anduin quickly finished his portion, he said goodbye to everyone in a very well-behaved manner and left the banquet hall.

In this way, during the meal, Angmar gave Varian a full understanding of the war in the north.After the meal was over and everyone moved to the living room, the conversation finally got down to business.

Quel'Thalas has a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, and valuable antiques, but it suffers from a lack of supplies.Because when Alsace invaded, they burned all their food reserves and took away all the finely crafted armaments that could be used, but did not pay attention to these "wealths" that the Scourge Legion could not use at all.

Quel'Thalas has money, Stormwind Kingdom has supplies, and trade is a win-win situation.

Angmar is not worried about trade and the unified tax exemption for both parties, and even uses the Kingdom of Stormwind to trade with Stranglethorn Vale and Booty Bay.

What he was concerned about was how to quietly determine Katrana's control over the politics of the Kingdom of Stormwind, what the latter's status was, and whether Varian had the slightest suspicion of her.

In this way, he could come up with a foolproof strategy to persuade Varian to send his troops north to join the war.This cannot avoid the problem of Westfall in any case, because if it even turns a blind eye to the imminent crisis at home, how can Varian send troops to go abroad to fight off more distant crises.

But every time this matter was brought up, Katrana deliberately changed the subject, and Varian had no intention of delving into it at all.

This not only made Angmar suspicious, but did Varian really know nothing about the bandits in the Westfall? This was terrible. Couldn't he see the refugees gathering outside the city?

Angmar knew that there was only one answer to his question.Perhaps to some extent, Onyxia's incarnation of Katrana had evaded the king, so whether he knew about it or not, there was no need for him to delve deeper in front of Katrana.

Angmar did not dare to ask any more questions, fearing that his intentions would be too obvious and arouse Onyxia's suspicion.Once the Black Dragon Princess realizes the potential purpose of his trip, I'm afraid he won't even be able to leave Stormwind City.

"I'm very happy to hear this. When the tax exemption bill is implemented, it will also be of great benefit to my people."

Varian's answer broke Angmar's contemplation. He nodded politely, looked at the king in danger quietly, and thought to himself:

How can I make you realize Katrana's true identity? I hope you can believe my words of revealing the truth.

Thinking like this, he smiled and thanked Katrana who filled the wine glass for him, sighing secretly in his heart.

With this terrifying existence following me, I am afraid that even if I use magic to hide my whereabouts and secretly meet with Varian or someone else, I will be noticed immediately.

What a headache.