Duke Falconcrest of the Syndicate appeared at Refuge Pointe of his own accord and knelt respectfully before Galen Trollbane, with Lord Aiden Perenolde's insignia laid beside him.
"Great king, please accept my allegiance. I have sincerely recognized my mistakes, and I am willing to lead every member of the Syndicate in service to the Kingdom of Stromgarde." Duke Falconcrest knelt on the ground with utter humility. Nothing in his words or bearing resembled that of a duke or a ninth-rank Grand Rogue.
Galen Trollbane sat on his temporary throne, watching Duke Falconcrest kneel before him. He had originally intended to launch another war against Alterac once the Kingdom of Stromgarde recovered its strength, wiping out the Syndicate for good.
Even he had not expected Duke Falconcrest to kill Lord Aiden Perenolde outright and offer his death as proof of his commitment to surrender.
Duke Falconcrest's behavior made it clear that he had no loyalty to speak of. The moment his life was threatened, he would betray Galen without a shred of restraint.
Yet Duke Falconcrest and the Syndicate were precisely the intelligence service Galen Trollbane needed. Once the Syndicate's peripheral members were weeded out, its remaining elite would be enough to rival the Kingdom of Stormwind's SI:7.
Galen Trollbane now faced a choice. If he accepted Duke Falconcrest, the Kingdom of Stromgarde would gain direct control over the Syndicate, along with most of the Hillsbrad Foothills.
If he refused Duke Falconcrest, the Kingdom of Stromgarde would have to build its intelligence service from scratch, without a ninth-rank Grand Rogue at its helm. The remaining Syndicate members would also fear for their lives and dare not defect to the Kingdom of Stromgarde, making the lands of the Hillsbrad Foothills harder to occupy.
His knuckles tapped steadily against the temporary throne. Every tap made Duke Falconcrest tremble. He dared not move a muscle and could only wait for Galen Trollbane to decide his future: whether he would live to become the head of the Kingdom of Stromgarde's intelligence service or die right there.
In the end, Galen Trollbane chose to accept the allegiance of Duke Falconcrest and the Syndicate, because that choice offered greater benefits to the Kingdom of Stromgarde.
Galen Trollbane was now the leader of the Kingdom of Stromgarde and its future king. To restore the kingdom to its former glory, he had to learn to make decisions with its interests as his starting point.
"From this day forward, the Syndicate will serve as the Kingdom of Stromgarde's intelligence service. It will owe allegiance only to the kingdom's royal family and answer directly to its leader." Galen Trollbane rose and walked over to Duke Falconcrest. He brought the formidable presence of a Heroic Rank Warrior to bear on the duke, then announced his decision to absorb the Syndicate.
Although Galen Trollbane's pressure as a Heroic Rank Warrior pinned the kneeling Duke Falconcrest in place, making him tremble with fear, the duke still breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would not have to die. He hurriedly said, "At your service, King Galin! From this day forward, the Syndicate will be the dagger in your hand, ready to strike your enemies a fatal blow from the shadows."
"Very good, Duke Falconcrest. Here is your first assignment: purge every elite member of the Syndicate who harbors hostility toward the Kingdom of Stromgarde. Then root out every SI:7 rogue the Kingdom of Stormwind has infiltrated into the Arathi Highlands. Tell them this is the Arathi Highlands, not Elwynn Forest. Nothing here is for Varian Wrynn to pry into." Although SI:7 had inadvertently assisted the Kingdom of Stromgarde this time by helping expose the Syndicate members early, the Kingdom of Stormwind's intelligence service had not come with good intentions either. Galen Trollbane had learned that several former members of the Stonemasons' Guild had been assassinated.
As the Kingdom of Stromgarde's leader and future king, Galen Trollbane could not tolerate SI:7 snooping freely around his territory. It was a slap in the kingdom's face. He was not as easygoing as the Horde on the eve of Battle for Azeroth, when it tacitly tolerated large numbers of SI:7 agents in Orgrimmar.
Duke Falconcrest naturally knew SI:7's reputation. After all, its history stretched back far further than the Syndicate's. Upon hearing Galen Trollbane's orders, he felt no fear whatsoever. Instead, he was delighted. The more valuable he proved himself and the more assignments he received, the more favor he could earn from Galen Trollbane.
The Syndicate was finished. Of the human kingdoms, only the Kingdom of Stromgarde, the Kingdom of Gilneas, the Kingdom of Stormwind, and the Kingdom of Kul Tiras remained.
If he wanted to survive without spending the rest of his life hiding and running, he had to join one of them.
The Kingdom of Gilneas was fiercely xenophobic and had sealed itself off from the world. It refused even refugees and had gone so far as to abandon the lands of Pyrewood Village and Shadowfang Keep. It would never accept the Syndicate.
The Kingdom of Stormwind already had SI:7. It might accept ordinary Syndicate members, but it would never accept Duke Falconcrest. There was no room for two rivals at the top, and Stormwind City already had Master Assassin Mathias Shaw.
The Kingdom of Kul Tiras lay on distant islands overseas. Admiral Daelin Proudmoore valued only the kingdom's royal navy and had no need for the Syndicate either.
For the sake of his own survival, Duke Falconcrest could only choose the Kingdom of Stromgarde.
Besides, after witnessing Galen Trollbane's various heavy-handed measures, Duke Falconcrest had become convinced that the Kingdom of Stromgarde would inevitably rise again. If he performed well, perhaps he could once more be granted noble status within the kingdom.
With that thought in mind, Duke Falconcrest led the Syndicate's elite rogues in attacks against SI:7 rogues throughout the Arathi Highlands.
The best way to deal with rogues hiding in the shadows was to rely on another organization of rogues that knew their methods inside and out.
Before long, the Syndicate, which had deployed all its elite operatives, killed dozens of elite SI:7 members. Most of the Syndicate's elite still had crimes to atone for, and they were desperate to prove themselves.
Faced with a Syndicate backed by Galen Trollbane, the Kingdom of Stormwind's SI:7 had no choice but to withdraw from the Arathi Highlands to limit its casualties.
Stormwind City's notorious organization of sewer rats had finally met defeat in the Arathi Highlands.
When King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind City learned that SI:7 had not only failed to prevent the rebuilding of Stromgarde but had also indirectly helped the Kingdom of Stromgarde, he gave Master Assassin Mathias Shaw a vicious dressing-down.
From then on, the Kingdom of Stromgarde had its own intelligence service: the Syndicate, absorbed directly into its ranks.
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