Journey to Southshore

Hillsbrad Foothills lay south of the Alterac Mountains and northwest of the Arathi Highlands, with the sea to its south.

The Alterac Mountains served as a natural buffer, shielding Hillsbrad from the direct onslaught of cold air from Northrend and ensuring that even its winters were not overly harsh.

In fact, it was also the favored winter refuge of nobles from the surrounding kingdoms!

Though it lay in the northern part of the continent, when snow fell everywhere else, only the northern areas near the mountains and the western areas near Silverpine Forest saw a light snowfall.

Hillsbrad was a land of verdant hills, fertile pastures, and farmland.

Abundant rainfall had created much land suitable for cultivation, while nature's generosity allowed Hillsbrad to be self-sufficient.

The southern coast of the hills was often blessed with fair winds, allowing ships to enter and leave Southshore's docks with ease.

Murlocs of the Broken Fin tribe haunted the beaches, while mountain lions, moss spiders, gray bears, and other beasts were also part of Hillsbrad's pastoral scenery.

Orendo sat in a simply furnished carriage, reading a book from Dalaran amid the gentle swaying caused by the carriage's rumbling progress.

The book was titled Fool's Guide to Runes: Arcane Edition. It came from Dalaran and sold for fifteen Lordaeron New Gold Coins, or twenty-one Alterac Kingdom gold coins, or eighteen Stromgarde gold coins.

For an ordinary farming household in Hillsbrad Foothills, a family of four working the land earned roughly fifteen to twenty Lordaeron New Gold Coins a year.

In other words, merely purchasing this introductory textbook on arcane runes would cost a farming family its entire annual income.

And this was only one of the most basic introductory textbooks from a single school among the many schools of magic.

Magic was not something just anyone could learn. Nor could just anyone become a wizard.

Inside the carriage, Orendo appeared to be reading the latest textbook with great concentration.

But in reality...

[Storing data...]

[Integrating data...]

With the help of the Eye of Truth, an introductory rune textbook that even the most gifted magic apprentice would need three days to finish and five or six days to fully comprehend—

He finished it in less than five minutes.

Ten seconds later, he had already basically mastered its contents.

Closing the magical tome he had bought not long ago, Orendo extended a slender, fair finger. A faint blue glow appeared at its tip as he swiftly traced several strokes through the air.

A simple small rune emerged in midair, radiating a mysterious power that filled ordinary people with awe—the Talar Rune.

It was a common rune used to strengthen arcane rituals. Legend had it that it was created by a High Elf named Talar. It was one of the simplest and most fundamental runes in the school of runes.

This versatile rune could be used in the vast majority of spells, but void and corruption magic would render it ineffective.

"Whew..."

With a light wave of his fingertip, Orendo dispersed the rune and put away Fool's Guide to Runes: Arcane Edition.

He no longer needed it, because the knowledge recorded within had already been firmly committed to his mind.

He could sell it secondhand. He had spent fifteen Lordaeron New Gold Coins on it. Since it was still so new, it should fetch twelve gold coins as a used magical tome, right?

Or he could pass it off as brand-new.

Rubbing his neck, Orendo climbed out of the carriage and stepped outside.

As far as the eye could see stretched a long caravan of carriages, mounted riders, and traveling merchants.

"My lord."

"My lord!"

The two humans driving the carriage immediately called out respectfully in low voices.

Orendo nodded at them.

One of the humans was young, while the other was somewhat older.

The younger one was named Jobby, the son of the butler Dobby. The older man was a coachman of the Seferosa family, responsible for driving the baron's carriage.

This carriage belonged to the Seferosa family. It was a spacious traveling carriage with four wheels, pulled by two horses.

The carriage was currently traveling with a merchant caravan along a road built by humans in Hillsbrad, heading south.

The human kingdoms had indeed enjoyed peace for thousands of years. The surrounding nonhuman races were either allies or had been driven away. Yet that did not mean there was no danger within the kingdoms themselves.

Within the human kingdoms, bandits, all manner of beasts, elementals, fae, and even some nonhuman races still appeared from time to time.

Areas near human cities were relatively safe, but many corners of the vast territories remained unsettled.

The wilderness was dangerous everywhere!

Under such circumstances, if a human wished to travel to another city or even another kingdom, they had to risk entering the wilderness.

How could they ensure their safety?

Aside from migrations and military marches organized by the human kingdoms themselves, most ordinary humans traveling from one human city or region to another generally had only one practical option—follow traveling merchants, pay a small fee, and receive the protection of the group.

Traveling merchants were a form of trade among the northern human kingdoms, mainly operating in two ways:

One was for small merchants from various human kingdoms to band together, gather into a large group at an agreed-upon time, and travel through the kingdoms together to conduct business and sell goods.

The other was for powerful wealthy merchants or large merchant companies to organize their own sizable traveling merchant caravans and conduct trade between the human kingdoms themselves.

The traveling merchant caravan Orendo was currently with belonged to the former type. It was a small regional merchant caravan formed by small merchants from central and northeastern Hillsbrad Foothills, working together as they traveled to Southshore.

These merchants had purchased large quantities of furs, herbs, grain, and other local products from central and northern Hillsbrad. They would travel south all the way to Southshore, the hills' most important trade port, where they would sell them to merchants from Kul Tiras or other nations for profit.

Some bolder merchants would even board Kul Tiras's fleets and travel to more distant kingdoms to sell their goods for even greater profits.

At the same time, the merchants would purchase goods produced elsewhere in Southshore or other countries, then transport them back to Hillsbrad Foothills from Southshore or those other countries.

There was profit to be made on both legs of the journey. It was just a little more tiring and a little more dangerous.

But for the sake of lovely little coins, what did a bit of risk matter?

Unlike merchants who stayed safely in cities or villages to run their shops, these merchants who traveled between kingdoms, earning greater profits while facing greater danger, were called traveling merchants.

Traveling merchants themselves often possessed some combat ability. They could wield blades to slay monsters and draw bows to fire arrows. When traveling through dangerous areas, they sometimes needed to hire adventurers or guards.

Powerful merchant caravans, such as those belonging to great nobles, simply used the kingdom's military as their guards.

Orendo, on his way to Southshore, had joined just such a traveling merchant caravan. It was formed by more than a dozen Hillsbrad Foothills traveling merchants, with over twenty carriages, dozens of horses, and a total of more than two hundred people.

There were actually not many dangers of either natural or supernatural origin in the hills. The elementals and dangerous fae had long since been captured or killed by Dalaran and had basically been eradicated.

Only some beasts in the mountains and forests remained dangerous.

The lack of supernatural threats did not mean there were no other dangers. Situated at the border between several kingdoms, with Dalaran looming over it like an overlord, Hillsbrad Foothills was in truth a lawless zone!

A place the various kingdoms were unwilling or unable to govern.

Thus, the greatest danger here was actually the many kinds of bandits—human bandits, some nonhuman bandits, and even bandit groups made up of humans and nonhumans together!

Without joining such a caravan, Orendo would have had no choice but to travel alone through Hillsbrad's roads in a single carriage with two servants.

If that happened, he would very likely be targeted by bandits! It would not be nearly as safe as this.