Preparing for War

"As the Night Elf Empire continued to grow, Queen Azshara's dogmatic faith in 'racial purity' seeped into the souls of the Night Elves. The Kaldorei used all manner of magic to thrash the Trolls who openly showed them hostility. The queen considered the Trolls nothing but a bunch of jesters and saw little point in conquering them. In the end, she reached a reconciliation with the Zandalari Tribe, which stood above all other Trolls. Azshara granted the Trolls a generous amnesty and agreed to leave the Zandalar Mountains to the Zandalari clans. The Trolls knew they had no chance of winning and had no choice but to agree. This humiliating reconciliation ultimately bred a hatred of the Night Elves that would endure for generations." — History of the Night Empire, by Saruman

History was written by the victors. What had really happened? Let us look back at the battle that had become the focal point of it all. This war established Kaldorei rule, and Prince Azar had given it a fitting name: "The Handover of the Scepter."

Queen Azshara had spent a long time preparing for this war. Yet just as it was about to begin, she paused. She didn't mind preparing a little more. She unleashed her patience for one simple purpose: victory. She rebuked Dath'Remar, the captain of the guard, for slandering Prince Azar and Princess Sophia in the Council Hall, then demoted him to road construction. Of course, the roads were being built for the war, and the laborers were Gurubashi Troll prisoners. At that moment, her doctrine of "racial purity" was given perfect expression: everyone but the Kaldorei was inferior, fit to be spent. One could imagine how many of these defeated warriors would still be alive once the road network to the south was complete. Why was the queen building roads? Only her personal maid, Vashj, knew some of the reason. The queen was waiting for a reply from Eldre'Thalas—or, to be precise, a reply from the prince. Just as she had expected, Prince Azar agreed to send troops, but in his letter he asked for time to prepare. So the queen had busied herself with road construction.

"War is a matter of vital importance to the state, a domain of life and death, a path to survival or ruin. It must be examined with the utmost care." Azar was now instructing his daughter and subordinates.

"This is a great war that will determine the rise or fall of the Kaldorei. Our opponent is the Zandalari, the former rulers! We are overthrowing the monarchy! So no amount of caution is too great."

"Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated."

"We must not only understand our own situation but also learn about our opponent. How many troops do the Zandalari have? Do they have any secret forces? How strong are they in battle? We need to find out. We must also know what the terrain is like deep inside enemy territory, where to choose for the decisive battle, and where the enemy might ambush us. We need to have a clear idea of all these things. That damn woman thinks she's invincible just because she beat the Gurubashi? Does she not know the Zandalari can use magic too? The Mogu are even more adept at magic than we are!"

Your Highness, we're happy to learn from everything you said before that. But could we pretend we didn't hear that last part? No one spoke for a moment. To break the awkward silence, Princess Sophia, whose position made her the natural choice, spoke up. "All right, Father. I'll establish contact with Mother. Stop grumbling. Everyone's waiting for your orders."

"Maiev, listen up!"

"Here!"

"Send out every Sentinel! You have a month to find out everything I need to know!"

"Yes!"

"Afanti!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Two tasks. First, gather information on all the merchants' goods and analyze it for anything useful. Second, stop weapons and medicine from getting out. Can you come up with a reason?"

"Don't worry. I'm good at this!"

"Sophia!"

"Yes, Father."

"Take care of logistics: weapons, equipment, food, and medicine. Most importantly, establish contact with your mother. In battle, opportunities vanish in an instant. A breakdown in communication could cause major problems."

"I'll arrange it right away!"

"Daphne, get the troops ready. The Mage Legion won't take part this time; we'll only send an observation squad. Assemble all the Elf Hunters and equip them with the latest weapons."

"Do we need to assemble the Warrior Legion?"

"How many legions have been equipped with mounts?"

"Five."

"Bring them all!"

"Should we pull some troops out of the Great Wall Legion to defend Eldre'Thalas? The fifteen legions are all the conventional forces we have right now."

"No need. Three Warrior Legions and six Mage Legions will be enough to defend it."

The meeting ended, and the entire war machine of Eldre'Thalas sprang into action.

Zin-Azshari, the queen's bedchamber.

"See? He's even more invested than I am!" Azshara joked with Vashj beside her as she read the report on Eldre'Thalas's preparations for war. The contents of the letter had clearly pleased her.

"You are the queen, the Light of Lights of the Sin'dorei! Every Sin'dorei must heed your voice!"

"How are our forces being arranged?" Azshara ignored Vashj's flattery and turned to Xavius, who stood before her.

"The Mage Legion has finished assembling. We've prepared six Mage Legions, and the Warrior Legion has also assembled. This time, we'll send fifteen Warrior Legions and three Elf Hunter Legions. We also have twenty thousand priests and Sentinels."

"Add another Mage Legion and two more Elf Hunter Legions! Azar is bringing one hundred and fifty thousand troops, so I'll bring three hundred thousand. I have to bring more than he does!"

"I'll make the arrangements at once."

He mechanically acknowledged the order, automatically ignoring the second half of her words. Everyone had grown accustomed to turning a blind eye to the queen's occasional caprices, especially close attendants like Xavius, who had to deal with her often.

"Send an edict to Dath'Remar: finish the roads within three months. Three months from now, the whole army marches! No one will be able to stop the rise of the Sin'dorei this time!"