Settling Accounts
Where is Tarecgosa? This question is giving Zul'ra a headache and a little worry, because since the Battle of Ahn'Qiraj, all the dragons and their vassals have disappeared. There had been a period of confusion regarding the number of dragons on the battlefield, and these problems remain unanswered given their disappearance. What happened to the dragons? ♨🐚 🐝♗
Although Zul'ra was quite worried about Tarecgosa, he had to suppress his own feelings and comfort Anveena instead. If Sanra was worried, then Anveena was afraid. However, after learning that Tarecgosa was with her dragonkin, she seemed less afraid, though still a little worried.
In Anveena's mind, dragons were the overlords of the sky, invincible, especially a group of dragons. Of course, she might have forgotten that she had witnessed Kalecgos being shot down from the sky by Dwarves Kalecgos. Although that guy's combat strength was too weak, it could actually show the general physical strength of dragons.
Zul'ra didn't have Anveena's quick memory, but he couldn't contradict Anveena either. He could only suppress his restless heart and agree with Anveena to calm her down, promising to give her a gift when he returned. This made Valeera's eyes gleam with envy, and she scoffed at him.
"We'll see how things go later, and I'll give you one too," Zul'ra said, looking at the Sin'dorei girl whose face was patchy with black and white from the burns caused by the demonic fire.
"Get lost." The Sin'dorei girl gave a simple reply to Zul'ra's generosity.
"What gifts are you going to give us? Are they the same?" Anveena was delighted with Zul'ra's gift.
"They're similar to some extent, and this thing is very special and precious. Anyway, we'll talk about it when I get back." Zul'ra patted Anveena's cheek with his large hand. The Nodaka Crystal ornaments he planned to give to Anveena and Valeera were...
"Alright then, you must be careful. Also, could you ask someone to help you find Taelia?" Anveena was still a little worried about Tarecgosa; their sisterly bond wasn't just for show.
"Well, I'll try asking the Kaldorei later. As for other things, I remember that the dragons seem to have a headquarters in Northrend, the Blue Dragonflight's lair. I've heard Tarecgosa mention it occasionally; it's somewhere in western Northrend. I'll try my best to find it. Don't worry, she's alright, and she ended up with me in the end."
While explaining and comforting Anveena, Zul'ra turned around and led the relevant personnel directly to Theramore via teleportation. To ensure the success of the Second War of the Shifting Sands, Orgrimmar and Theramore are temporarily not allowed to teleport to each other. Jaina had already made several trips back and forth during their discussions on war preparations.
Not only was the teleportation issue resolved, but even the Horde's Foreign Minister, Lirath, remained on Theramore Island, preparing to negotiate with the King of Stormwind through Jaina. However, this plan was abruptly halted. Lirath reported this as soon as Zul'ra arrived in Theramore, speculating that something might have happened in Stormwind.
The trouble in Stormwind was something to be happy about, Zul'ra wanted to applaud and cheer, but since it was Theramore, he couldn't be too ostentatious. After making up two malicious speculations with Lirath, such as the king's disappearance or the country's division, he went to meet Jaina. His main purpose in coming this time was to collect a debt.
By the end of the war, the Horde had provided the Alliance with the following weapons: 15,000 sets of simple plate armor, 9,000 steel shields, 2,000 sets of bronze chainmail, 8,000 wooden-handled steel spears, 10,000 steel swords, 3,000 wooden-handled maces, and 1,000 steel spearheads.
Based on the previously agreed prices, a set of simple plate armor costs three gold coins, a steel shield costs one gold coin, a set of copper chainmail costs fifteen gold coins, a wooden-handled steel spear costs one gold coin, a steel sword costs one gold coin and fifty silver coins, a wooden-handled nail-headed hammer costs one gold coin and twenty silver coins, and a steel spearhead costs eighty silver coins, for a total price of 111,400 gold coins.
In addition to weapons, the Horde also provided the Allied Forces and Theramore with various kinds of food: 80,000 boxes of almond cookies, 26,000 frozen chickens, 12,000 slices of frozen pork, 16,000 catties of various kinds of meat, 40,000 bags of flour in 10-catty packs, 5 tons of soybeans for feeding horses, 67,000 cans of fruit, and 58,000 catties of potatoes.
Based on the previously agreed prices, a box of almond cookies costs 300 copper coins, a frozen chicken costs 140 copper coins, a pork carcass costs 1,500 copper coins, a pound of meat costs 20 copper coins, a 10-pound bag of flour costs 1,000 copper coins, a ton of soybeans costs 20,000 copper coins, a can of fruit costs 80 copper coins, and a pound of potatoes costs 5 copper coins, totaling 91.71 million copper coins.
Of course, the Alliance also provided the Horde with a considerable amount of goods and a deposit before the battle began, totaling the following: 100,000 gold coins, 9 million copper coins, 250,000 silver coins, and yarn and cotton worth 420,000 silver coins.
After deducting the prepaid deposits, the Alliance still had to pay the Horde 11,400 gold coins and 15,710,000 copper coins. This was agreed upon beforehand, and the food supplied by the Horde would be paid for in copper coins. However, Jaina clearly wanted to back out, and she explained the difficulties she and the Alliance faced to Zul'ra.
Aside from Gilneas, plagued by Worgen, and the already destroyed Lordaeron, Stormwind, Kul Tiras, Stromgarde, and the emerging Theramore are all copper-poor nations. The nine million copper coins currently being given to the Horde are already impacting the Alliance's currency. If this continues, the Alliance will truly descend into chaos.
Compared to the Alliance's poor copper reserves, the Horde's Durotar has extremely rich copper mines. Jaina, seeing this, not only hopes that Zul'ra will cancel the copper coin payment, but also hopes that the Horde can sell copper mines to the Alliance instead, which could ease the conflict between the two factions.
"Whether the Alliance is in chaos or not, what does that have to do with me?" Zul'ra wanted to reply directly to Jaina's complaints, but considering the impact, he politely declined Jaina's idea of having the Horde sell copper. The Horde currently does not use copper coins, has insufficient population, and its mining industry has stagnated, leaving them with no extra energy to mine copper.
If the Alliance is truly concerned, Zul'ra stated that the Horde could cancel the copper coin payment and consolidate the total bill to 1,297,100 silver coins, but would not accept gold or silver payments. The Alliance could use iron or lead ore to pay.
After some discussion, Jaina agreed to pay the Horde 20,000 tons of pig iron and 4,464 tons of lead within the next month, at a price of 47 silver coins per ton of pig iron and 80 silver coins per ton of lead. She was exceptionally generous and did not delay at all.
Jaina was quick to agree and didn't delay payment, stating that everything due would be paid within a month, because she had already spoken with Bolvar about the Alliance purchasing weapons and wireless telegraph technology from the Horde.