"Will this plan of yours work?"
Commander Vanessa stood with her hands on her slender waist, watching Robbie write on a piece of luxurious fur. Hogger was helping at his side, mainly by using his large teeth to cut it, which worked much better than scissors.
Robbie was full of confidence. "Absolutely. I went to the tavern last night and found that hunters outnumbered every other class."
"That only proves hunters are strong in this version." Vanessa raised her shapely eyebrows.
"Hunters are strong, but that's not the point. I heard that a lot of their pets couldn't adapt to the local climate and fell ill. Without their pets, the hunters don't dare go out, so they can only drink their troubles away in the tavern."
"So that works too." Vanessa picked up the notice Robbie had written:
Top-quality rare pets for sale: Lunarfall Ravens, 10G each. For 30G, we'll help you catch one. Limited supply, preorder now.
"Aren't there lots of wolves around here?" Vanessa was still worried.
"Wolves are everywhere. You can find them in the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Northrend, and Pandaria. They're too ordinary. Lunarfall Ravens are much cooler."
Hogger grumbled unhappily. Come to think of it, were Gnolls related to wolves?
Eight out of ten hunters were pet fanatics. They brought either spirit beasts or lava fiends, and would be embarrassed to go out with a wolf. Unfortunately, those rare pets were delicate, so it was perfectly normal for them to have trouble adapting to the climate.
"That's a good idea. Choosing you really was the right decision." Vanessa voiced her support, adding a zero to the price.
As expected of a commander, she knew the market price of pets like the back of her hand.
The results were even better than expected. In less than three days, several hundred Lunarfall Ravens were sold out, nests and all.
Lunarfall had three hundred commanders, tens of times as many followers, and countless adventurers. Add to that soldiers from the five major races and Acherus: The Ebon Hold, the wardens from Starfall Outpost, and others, and demand for pets was enormous. Of course, quite a few rich people just wanted to taste Lunarfall Raven, so their eggs sold for a good price too.
Once again, Robbie saw the gap between himself and the commander. The little girl had divided the Lunarfall Ravens into several grades, selling the ordinary ones for a hundred gold and raising the price on the spot for the larger ones.
And sure enough, the hunters fell for it.
The rare elite in particular, the Lunarfall Raven matriarch, the only one in the nest, had quite vivid plumage and a magnificent build. Vanessa even put her up for auction, and a veteran hunter carrying a replica epic bow bought her for the steep price of fifteen hundred gold.
Now that was a business opportunity. Back when they had first fought their way into Lunarfall, everyone had been busy building their garrisons and had wiped out the Lunarfall Ravens along the way. Who could have guessed that hunters' pets would soon have trouble adapting to the climate?
As for Robbie himself, he also received a reward from the commander. Vanessa used a small portion of the proceeds to buy him a replica Cursed Torch from the auction house. Although it was only blue quality, ordinary adventurers would still consider it powerful equipment.
"There's only one last task before we can build the garrison," Vanessa told her three followers. "We need to eliminate a stone giant called Shockfist. Robbie, read everyone the information on him."
Robbie cleared his throat and read, "Shockfist. Race: stone giant. Height: approximately ten meters. Skills: unknown. Social connections: unknown. Strength: unknown."
The hateful stone giant threatened the safety of all Lunarfall. Unfortunately, he was closest to Vanessa's garrison site, close enough for them to hear him snoring at night. The other commanders were all watching for a laugh.
There was no choice. The task fell to Robbie and the others again.
"He's just a stone giant. Leave him to me!" Hogger volunteered, eyeing Robbie's Cursed Torch with envy.
He had always wanted to buy the Lava Fury fist weapons from Mount Hyjal.
"We don't know enough about the creatures of Draenor yet..." Vanessa reminded him kindly.
"Creatures in the wild with unique names are never ordinary in strength," Robbie pointed out as well.
"No problem. Assign me the task."
Half an hour later, Hogger returned, covered in wounds.
"I failed." With that, Hogger collapsed and did not get up.
Vanessa cast a few healing spells. Hogger's injuries were nothing serious, just flesh wounds. He really did seem to have regenerative abilities.
"A tremendously powerful stone giant. I fought him for three hundred rounds..."
Vanessa glared at him.
"All right, I only lasted three minutes," Hogger said timidly.
Vanessa narrowed her beautiful eyes, which glinted with icy light. The temperature around them rapidly dropped.
Hogger ducked his head. "Wait, I'll tell the truth. I took one look from a distance and saw that the difference in our sizes was too great, so I ran away, but I was still hurt by Shockwave. I tested some of its strength. This guy is definitely epic-tier."
There were differences even among epic-tier beings. With Shockfist's enormous size and the natural defenses of a stone giant, he couldn't be treated like an ordinary epic-tier creature.
Vanessa smiled faintly, not looking worried in the least. "All of you, think of something too. As long as Shockfist remains, we can't build our garrison."
That was right. A creature as powerful as Shockfist would never allow a garrison to be built near his lair.
Delvar Ironfist was mature and practical. He said seriously, "We need a team. At least two powerful MTs, armor of at least superior quality, and epic-tier weapons. At least five healers and twenty damage dealers, preferably ranged..."
It was utterly unrealistic. Although Lunarfall had several thousand adventurers, most were low-tier adventurers just scraping by. The true elite guilds were still watching from the sidelines. Who knew how long it would take to put together a qualified team from those people?
Robbie remained silent, then suddenly felt Vanessa's eager gaze on him.
Robbie naturally wouldn't mistake it for a flirtatious look, but...
"Are you asking me to come up with an idea?" Robbie scratched his head and coughed. "We can't count on the adventurers in Lunarfall. The Alliance's strongest force in Draenor is in Ashran. Transfer a dozen or so elite captains here, and they could wipe out Shockfist with ease."
Vanessa tilted her head and thought for a moment. "I don't know Grand Marshal Tremblade very well. I'm afraid it won't be easy to get her to send people."
"Why ask them? We should make them come asking us." Faced with the three people's puzzled looks, Robbie explained calmly, "I spent some time unemployed in Stormshield and found that the Alliance has one huge advantage: its intelligence work is excellent. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated..."
"Speak plainly!"
"All right. On the Ashran battlefield, the mainstay of our Alliance is a big tree called Vangar, while the Horde has an earth Elemental Lord called Krol'un. The battle hasn't officially begun, but Grand Marshal Tremblade has always wanted to learn Krol'un's skills and weaknesses, so she can know herself and her enemy."
"Isn't he just the Ice Lord from Alterac Valley with a different model?" Vanessa asked.
"Who knows? Either way, it's better to find out."
"And then?" Vanessa didn't understand.
"I noticed that Shockfist and Krol'un have the same model, only Shockfist is a size smaller. They're very likely the same kind of creature."
"Interesting." Vanessa smiled, understanding at once. "I'll write to Marshal Tremblade right away. For the Holy Light's sake, she'll owe me an enormous favor this time."
The next day, a large number of gryphons flew in from Stormshield. Almost all the Alliance's elite captains in Ashran had come. They used every method and means to torment poor Shockfist. In the end, Shockfist could no longer bear the humiliation and took his own life.
As soon as Shockfist fell, the Azeroth Mineral Company gathered around and expressed interest in his corpse. This time, Vanessa didn't hold back at all. She named an astronomical price, enough to build a level-five garrison. To her surprise, they readily agreed.
Before long, word spread that the miners had extracted a rare gemstone from Shockfist's corpse. It was clear and flawless, sparkling and translucent. Once polished, it shimmered with color and was exceptionally beautiful. They named it the "Draenor Star."
When Prince Anduin heard about it, he immediately sent someone to buy it at a high price. He was just waiting for his father to die so he could set it in the crown.
This time, Robbie's reward was the latest Stormwind City elite guard set: helmet, shoulder pieces, armor, bracers, gloves, belt, trousers, and boots, all eight pieces, of superior quality.
Knowledge was power. Oh, no, knowledge was equipment! He hadn't done a thing, just talked and offered a plan, and he had received a set of superior-quality equipment. The day it arrived, Hogger's eyes went red with envy.
After all, adventurers clad in epic equipment only appeared in various works of literature. For adventurers of common birth, a set of superior-quality equipment was already about as far as they could go. If well maintained, it could even become a family heirloom, passed down to their descendants.
After a flurry of activity, construction on the garrison finally began.
Chief designer Baros Alexston watched Vanessa's fair, delicate fingers pointing here and there, dark lines covering his forehead. Robbie also thought something was wrong. The scale of this garrison was clearly over the limit, and by more than double.
"Location is important. Here, here, and here, fence it all in. As for the specifications, tearing things down and rebuilding them is too wasteful, so build it to level-three garrison standards from the start. We can upgrade it later if we get the chance. The walls must be sturdy, and leave space for gun emplacements. The towers must be tall enough, with no blind spots in the defenses. Build the council hall here. My bedroom must be well ventilated, and hot water must be available twenty-four hours a day..."
Robbie hurriedly pulled Vanessa aside. "Will this be all right?"
"What's the problem?" Vanessa declared with confidence. "Nobody wanted this land in the first place. I got rid of the ravens, and I forced Shockfist to kill himself. If anyone dares complain, I'll give them a Mind Flay."
Others wouldn't object to you claiming all the credit. After all, you were the commander.
Building a level-three garrison from the start... Robbie could choose to overlook that unimportant detail, but:
"Do you have that many garrison resources?" Robbie asked.
"So that's what you're worried about!" Vanessa smiled mysteriously. "Have you heard of drawing pay for nonexistent troops?"
"I have. Huh? What do you mean?"
Vanessa said coldly, "There are plenty of nobles' children in Lunarfall who used connections and money to get themselves commander titles. They want to build ten garrisons on land with room for only one. They put up a room the size of a toilet and call it a council hall, hire a few followers for appearances, and hole up in their garrisons all day. Some don't even assign tasks."
"Then who pays them?"