Darkshore was shrouded in mist year-round, making its waters extremely dangerous. It had once been one of the most economically developed regions of the Highborne Empire, but after the Night Elves came to power, they no longer valued it much. Moreover, the Night Elves had an order: no Highborne city was to be rebuilt.
The Night Elf population in Darkshore had not been large to begin with. Their main settlements were now Moonglade, Mount Hyjal, and Teldrassil.
Yet now every Night Elf city in Darkshore, including the fishing villages, was packed to overflowing. Every day, the western port of Auberdine received large numbers of Night Elves from Teldrassil, while Night Elves fleeing the war in Ashenvale arrived from the south.
Near the Forest of Ancient Trees in Darkshore, the Horde army encountered an Alliance force, though it was not a Night Elf army.
It was a human force from the Eastern Kingdoms.
"Cunning Horde, I knew you would never pass up this opportunity to attack our allies. Do not even think about taking this land." King Varian Wrynn stood at the front of the formation and denounced the Horde.
Two people stood beside him. One was Archbishop Turalyon of the Army of the Light. The other was a middle-aged man with red hair and an eyepatch, carrying a spear and a longsword on his back.
Rend also keenly noticed that among the human troops were units dressed differently from King Varian's Stormwind-blue forces. Their uniforms were a gloomy green, and they were heavily equipped with muskets.
Stromgarde was red, Stormwind was blue, and green... Gilneas! Rend identified the origin of the force by its colors. Among the human nations, only the Gilneans excelled at artillery.
However, this force did not bear the banner of the Kingdom of Gilneas. Genn Greymane,