Silence fell over the gathering. Duke Falconcrest's words were simply too shocking. Anyone could shout slogans, but when it came to actually carrying them out, few believed it could be done.
Even setting aside the enormous Alliance, the Kingdom of Gilneas alone was powerful enough. Those far away might not have understood its strength, but how could the Syndicate, right on its doorstep, not know?
Over the past few years, the Syndicate's influence had steadily shrunk. At its height, the organization had been able to operate throughout the Hillsbrad Foothills. But with the rise of the Kingdom of Gilneas and its establishment on the Lordaeron Subcontinent, continuing to operate there had become nothing more than a pipe dream. The Kingdom of Gilneas had dispatched powerful fighters specifically to patrol the Hillsbrad Foothills. If they encountered Syndicate rogues, there was only one response: kill them. There would be no discussion.
The Kingdom of Gilneas was formidable. Back then, the pressure of its two-hundred-thousand-strong army had left the Syndicate barely able to breathe. They had been terrified that Gilneas would march on the Alterac Mountains.
The Syndicate might have had confidence in itself, and the Alterac Mountains were an unbroken mountain range with few plains. Most of the region consisted of mountains, dense woods, and steep terrain, all unfavorable to a large army. Yet the mere mention of two hundred thousand soldiers was enough to shake them.
They had been utterly terrified, knowing they could never withstand such strength. What good would favorable terrain do?
Relying on terrain to resist an enemy only worked when the two sides were relatively evenly matched. If the gap in strength was too great, even that advantage was useless.
That was exactly the situation between the Syndicate and the Kingdom of Gilneas.
Only after discovering that