Sunsail Anchorage was the high elves' largest port.
It was the center of Quel'Thalas's import and export trade.
Vast quantities of supplies arrived every day, and precious magical items were shipped out.
By building his factory on an offshore island, Herad had effectively seized Sunsail Anchorage by the throat.
But Sunsail Anchorage belonged to the Dawnblade family.
More precisely, the Dawnblade family owned most of the port businesses in the high elven kingdom.
That was the main reason Herad had been able to claim the island so easily.
With his family's businesses all around, naturally no one would report him to the Council.
The offshore island was not large, but it had enough room for a sprawling industrial park.
There were few gnome engineers, however, so only some of the factory buildings could be put into operation.
As for the high elf workers they had recruited, their numbers were even more pitiful!
The high elves enjoyed excellent welfare, and commoners spent their days eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves.
Only high elf commoners interested in engineering would choose to work in a factory and explore something so new.
The gnomes, who faced labor shortages themselves, had long since developed and implemented a solution.
Their automated equipment looked crude, but it worked, replacing a great deal of manual labor.
Seeing the old-fashioned computers inside the factory shattered Herad's worldview.
As far as he was concerned, computers ought to be small and compact.
If their processing power was insufficient, multiple computers could be linked into a computing cluster.
Yet the gnomes gave no thought to making them reasonably compact.
The computers they built were as big as large double-door refrigerators!
Either they made nothing, or they made the best.
What? They were too big?
They needed to be big to have powerful processing capabilities!
When Herad suggested shrinking the computers, the gnome engineers discussed it on the spot.
A computer with considerably less processing power, but which they could carry around, held great appeal for them.
It meant they could turn on a computer anywhere, anytime, to conduct research or transmit experimental data remotely.
Robots could also become more intelligent, rather than merely performing simple tasks.
But that required changes at the very foundation of computer manufacturing, and could not be accomplished overnight.
Once the factory began operating normally, its first production project was firearms and ammunition.
Herad picked up a rifle that had finished testing, turned it over for a careful inspection, then fired a few shots.
Even with a suppressor fitted, the rifle was still fairly loud.
But it no longer produced the sharp crack of an entirely unsuppressed shot.
The "crack, crack, crack" had become a duller "thump, thump, thump."
Though it sounded rather like a tractor, it was much less piercing and jarring.
Herad nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, that sound will do. It looks pretty good, too!"
With a scope and suppressor fitted, the freshly manufactured rifle looked more advanced, coming extremely close to a sniper rifle.
In truth, the requirement to accommodate both a scope and a suppressor had fixed its general design from the start.
At most, there would be some differences in the materials used.
On Earth, firearm manufacturers did everything they could to reduce weight.
Azeroth's intelligent races were stronger, so there was naturally no need to consider such things.
Apart from the diminutive gnomes and goblins, the other intelligent races were all immensely strong.
Warriors who could still run and charge while wearing a hundred kilograms of plate armor were merely the weakest novices.
Among dwarf warriors, the strongest on the continent, even novices started with two hundred kilograms of plate armor.
For a dwarf warrior, wearing plate armor two or three centimeters thick, carrying a large metal shield and battle axe, and slinging a musket comparable to a small-caliber cannon across his back was perfectly standard equipment!
Weight, therefore, was never a consideration for most races.
Some high-end firearms even used heavier thorium barrels.
Thorium was considerably heavier than steel, but far surpassed it in hardness and toughness.
Barrels made from it would last longer and withstand greater chamber pressures.
However, thorium barrels took considerable time to manufacture, making them a poor first choice for mass production.
Of course, the factory would offer custom models fitted with thorium barrels.
A few days after the factory officially began production, Sylvanas's proposal to clear out the border also passed the Council's many rounds of review.
The high elven Council was terribly inefficient.
Its members spent most of their time bickering.
The proposal had passed in just half a month because fighting trolls was politically correct.
No matter which faction they belonged to, every councilor agreed that trolls had to die.
They held a meeting every few days, discussed it a few times, and approved the proposal.
Had it been anything else, they would not have given a definite answer for six months, or even a year.
Upon learning that the proposal had passed, Herad slapped the table excitedly.
"Excellent! We can finally test the weapons in actual combat!"
His sudden movement startled the owl delivering the message.
The owl hooted twice in displeasure.
This owl was Sylvanas's pet.
It had already evolved into a magical beast, possessing considerable intelligence and combat strength, and could carry out reconnaissance and deliver messages.
Most high elf rangers therefore raised owls as pets.
Herad took out a small dried fish and fed it to the owl, then gave its large head a casual rub.
Satisfied with its dried fish, the owl flew out the window and swiftly left the brightly lit city.
Though it no longer feared bright light, a city that remained brilliantly illuminated at night was still not to its liking.
Of course, the main reason was that there were no mice in the city for it to catch.
The forest alone was its favorite place.
The mice there were big and fat.
Even a magical beast owl ate mice. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that!
At the first faint light of dawn, Herad rode his hawkstrider swiftly out of Silvermoon City, heading for the Ranger Training Camp deep in Eversong Woods.
By the time he reached the camp, Sylvanas's ranger force was already leaving.
Mounted on hawkstriders, the rangers streamed south in force, bound for the border to wipe out trolls.
The territory controlled by the high elves lay at the northernmost tip of the continent, bordering the Kingdom of Lordaeron to the south.
However, towering mountains separated the two nations, with only a narrow road allowing passage.
Humans and high elves shared a loose alliance.
Thus, a single outpost to manage the merchant caravans passing through was enough.
The region in the southeastern corner was the true flashpoint.
Zul'Aman, the Forest Troll capital, stood there, preserving the last vestige of their pride.
Fighting in this region had continued on and off for thousands of years.
Either the high elves launched an offensive, or the Forest Trolls breached the Magic Defense Barrier and started a war.
The Magic Defense Barrier drew its power from the Sunwell.
Its strength was easy to imagine!
In theory, the Forest Trolls could not breach this immense barrier that enveloped all of Quel'Thalas.
But the Forest Trolls' voodoo was exceedingly strange.
Voodoo could corrupt an area, allowing their forces to pass through the barrier.
The barrier could repair itself, and any breach would soon close again.
Entering it meant setting off on a journey of no return.
The crazed Forest Trolls did not care.
They wanted to take those pale-skinned long-ears down with them.
A layer of naturally growing moss covered the Forest Trolls' dark green skin.
It was the finest camouflage.
Just how well they could conceal themselves in the grass was easy to imagine!
The high elves had always kept watch over movements along the border.
Otherwise, they would never even know what killed them.
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