Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver

"Welcome, Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver, and all of you mages." Galen Trollbane received Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver of Dalaran's Kirin Court and his entourage of more than a dozen mages in Stromgarde.

Once Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver confirmed that his daughter, Caitlin the Blade, was in the Kingdom of Stromgarde, he could no longer sit still. He had heard nothing from her for a long time, and with the Scourge now ravaging the northern lands, he was deeply worried about her.

Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver went straight to the point. "It is an honor to meet you, Prince Galen Trollbane. I heard that my daughter Caitlin is in the Kingdom of Stromgarde. Is that true?"

"Yes, Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver. Caitlin is a corporal in the Kingdom of Stromgarde's navy and is currently training at Faldir's Cove. If you wish to see her, I can summon her here so the two of you can be reunited." If not for Caitlin the Blade, someone of Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver's temperament would never have come to Stromgarde. Galen Trollbane had Trade Prince Revilgaz to thank for that. Not only had he given Galen tens of millions in assets, but he had also brought Caitlin the Blade into the Kingdom of Stromgarde.

Aside from the powerful magic that had earned him the title of Archmage, Ansirem Runeweaver was just an ordinary father. He cared deeply about his daughter, and he said with great excitement, "Prince Galin, please let me see Caitlin."

"Of course. That will be no problem." Galen Trollbane readily agreed.

The Dalaran Kirin Tor mages gathered under Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver were, after all, their most elite force. Even the magical energy barrier that enveloped Dalaran in Classic had been erected by Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver.

For some unknown reason, the young Archmage Rhonin had ultimately become the leader of the rebuilt Dalaran Kirin Court's Council of Six. But that could not erase Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver's immense contributions.

Without Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver's magical energy barrier protecting Dalaran, and without the more than three thousand Dalaran Kirin Tor mages under his leadership, Dalaran could never have been rebuilt or risen again.

Naturally, Galen Trollbane also coveted the more than three thousand Dalaran Kirin Tor mages gathered under Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver.

In the Eastern Kingdoms, the strongest mages were naturally the elves of the mysterious Kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Only Dalaran's Kirin Tor could rival them.

Human mages, however, had a glaring flaw: greed and selfishness.

Nourished by the Sunwell, the elves possessed an unparalleled affinity for arcane power that humans lacked. Thus, in their pursuit of more powerful magic, human mages often strayed down the wrong path.

Dalaran had been founded because the human mages who had acquired magic refused to accept restrictions. Wanting greater freedom to cast and research magic, they left Stromgarde and established Dalaran, the second human city.

Having never experienced the disasters magic could bring, the greedy, selfish human mages began acting without restraint in Dalaran.

Dalaran's human mages used magic recklessly within the city, even drawing energy from the ley lines of the Hillsbrad Foothills for their own use.

As a result, the barriers between dimensions in the Hillsbrad Foothills became incredibly fragile. Rifts formed, and large numbers of demons slipped through them into Azeroth.

Only when Dalaran discovered that it could not resolve this threat did its mages turn for help to the elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, the teachers who had taught humanity magic.

The elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas earnestly warned Dalaran's human mages of the danger of abusing arcane power: it would attract the demons of the Burning Legion.

Yet even the Burning Legion's fearsome reputation did not make Dalaran's mages stop, or so much as slightly reduce their use of arcane magic.

Dalaran established the Council of Tirisfal to create a powerful Guardian who could help it resolve this problem. Under the Guardian's protection, Dalaran passed more than two thousand years in peace.

But an even greater crisis emerged. An avatar of Sargeras, the fallen titan who had founded the Burning Legion, entered Azeroth through a rift in the Hillsbrad Foothills and nearly destroyed the world.

Although the fallen titan Sargeras's avatar was eventually defeated by the Guardian Aegwynn, the matter did not end there. The human mages of Dalaran who had founded the Council of Tirisfal were greedy and selfish, and this had made Aegwynn, the female Guardian, equally greedy and selfish.

Rather than relinquishing her power upon death as modern Guardians did, Aegwynn used the Guardian's immense power to forcibly extend her lifespan. This also caused the Council of Tirisfal and Dalaran to lose control over the Guardian.

Ultimately, Aegwynn gave birth to Medivh, the last Guardian, leading to the two Orcish Wars that followed.

At its root, this tragedy had been wrought by Dalaran's greedy, selfish human mages.

No matter how much Galen Trollbane coveted the human mages under Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver, he had to put safeguards in place first. He could not allow the tragedy to repeat itself. The Dalaran Kirin Tor mages had to be brought back under restrictions; they could no longer be allowed to use arcane magic without restraint.

Afterward, Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver was successfully reunited with his daughter, Caitlin the Blade. Caitlin the Blade said she was willing to serve the Kingdom of Stromgarde. Here, she had found her worth.

Caitlin the Blade also hoped that her father, Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver, would come to the Kingdom of Stromgarde. After all, Dalaran had already been destroyed, and the three thousand Dalaran Kirin Tor mages under Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver could not even reclaim its ruins from the Scourge.

When Galen Trollbane brought out the vast quantity of magical crystals he had purchased from Booty Bay and expressed his willingness to set aside a district within Stromgarde and build mage towers for the Dalaran Kirin Tor mages who joined the Kingdom of Stromgarde, Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver began to waver.

In particular, after the mages accompanying Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver saw the benefits of joining the Kingdom of Stromgarde and received the incentives Galen Trollbane privately offered them, they too began urging the Archmage to accept.

Accustomed to luxurious lives, the mages naturally preferred Stromgarde to the bitter cold of the Alterac Mountains. Besides, the terms Galen Trollbane offered were undeniably generous.

In the end, however, none of these reasons was what convinced Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver to join the Kingdom of Stromgarde. Rather, he too supported Galen Trollbane's measures to restrict human mages' use of arcane magic.

Perhaps this was also why Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver, despite all his hard work and great achievements, had not become the leader of the rebuilt Dalaran's Council of Six. Archmage Rhonin had agreed to let Dalaran continue researching arcane magic without restraint, thereby winning the support of the vast majority of its greedy, selfish human mages.