The benefit was a portal calibration point, something like the hallmark of a great capital city. Across all of Azeroth, only the capitals of powerful kingdoms had such a thing. Money alone could not build one; it also required exceptional technical expertise. Without that expertise, all you could do was look on, no matter how rich you were.
Likewise, even with the expertise, you still needed money. It was like Quel'Danil's public face or calling card. With it, Quel'Danil might well grow into a major city like the capitals of the various nations.
Although its significance was purely political for the moment, the Quel'Danil Council would support it without hesitation for the sake of that future growth. After all, the City Lord was still footing most of the bill.
With support coming from all sides, the old charlatan Sorens had been positively glowing lately, happily leading the band of charlatans he had conned into joining him as they worked away. Meanwhile, watching the gold coins in his treasury dwindle at a rate visible to the naked eye hurt Yu Lin Bloodhawk so much that he no longer dared to look.
He marveled inwardly at his good fortune: fortunately, this was wartime; fortunately, he had developed so many farming villages; fortunately, grain prices were extraordinarily high; and fortunately, the harvests over the past few years had been fairly good. Otherwise, he really would not have managed. Even selling everything he owned would not have brought in enough gold coins to satisfy that old charlatan!
If a single portal calibration point cost this much, how much would a Permanent Portal cost? Yu Lin Bloodhawk dared not think about it. Thinking would do no good anyway, since he had no way to raise enough money to buy materials for the old charlatan. Magical