Things were nowhere near as bad as they had imagined. After the combined forces entered the Sun Sanctum's territory, they found large numbers of refugees wandering along the outskirts of the forest.
Ellen systematically counted the refugees rescued along the way and found that five thousand civilians had been safely escorted back to the Moon Temple.
The Amani Trolls had not launched a large-scale campaign to hunt down and kill Stratholme's civilians. Zul'jin's objectives in this war matched Rowan's predictions exactly.
The conflict between the Amani Trolls and the High Elves was the heart of this war. Zul'jin could not afford to waste resources on Stratholme's civilians.
Besides, the refugees were not completely under the Amani Trolls' control. They were still fleeing through the forest.
Moreover, conversations with the rescued refugees revealed that the two paladin lords, Mograine and Dathrohan, were still leading small forces to protect civilians in the Sun Sanctum region.
With those guerrilla forces still active, Zul'jin was even less inclined to provoke Lordaeron's people.
Perhaps Zul'jin was also waiting for a way to back down gracefully.
And Stratholme's civilians were precisely the bargaining chip he could use in negotiations with the Alliance.
Sylvanas followed the knightly order through the Sun Sanctum's territory. Her expression was grim, as though she had once again remembered her fallen brothers and sisters.
Since Zul'jin had not attacked Stratholme's civilians, Sylvanas gradually came to understand Rowan's strategy of trading attacks on each other's home territory.
Exchange the civilians and sign an armistice. The Amani Trolls would then have their hands free to concentrate their forces on attacking Tranquillien, or even the Northern Eversong Woods.
*When this war ends, Lordaeron will have rescued Stratholme's civilians, and Zul'jin will have destroyed the Sun Sanctum. Every faction will have achieved its goals, while I,