The wind blew ceaselessly across the Hillsbrad Foothills.
Southshore, a town ravaged by war, had now sprung back to life. The wealthy merchants and landowners who had fled had all returned safely.
Pedestrians strolled through the orderly streets of Southshore, while the harbor teemed with people. Laborers loaded and unloaded ships, muscles bulging beneath their bare torsos, beads of sweat streaming down their foreheads. As the Southshore Mayor looked out at the thriving town, a smile spread across his face.
War had left Southshore in decline, but now that it was over, the town had come alive again. As a port town, Southshore had a bright future. With time, it would gradually expand, slowly growing into Southsea City, one of Lordaeron's major ports, the Southshore Mayor thought to himself.
Yet even the Southshore Mayor could never have imagined that Southshore of the future would be utterly destroyed, reduced to ruins haunted by restless spirits, while flourishing Lordaeron would become scorched earth, steeped in the curse of the plague. In this life, however, Rex's arrival had destined Southshore's future to change. Lordaeron's fate remained uncertain.
The battle ten days earlier had ended, but its repercussions still hung over Southshore and even the Hillsbrad Foothills. Throughout this time, people in Dalaran, Southshore, and elsewhere had been discussing that fierce battle.
Among the six human kingdoms, Gilneas was a secluded, mysterious realm. Its military might had made only a fleeting appearance during the Second War. Afterward, Gilneas had cut off contact with the outside world, and few people paid it much attention anymore, for doing so was pointless. As for the reinforcements sent to Southshore this time, Dalaran had believed that the Gilnean forces would have fulfilled their duty simply by holding out until the main army returned to relieve them.
But in