While the Rangers learned to operate the Arcane War Machines, the report of the sweeping victory in the border cleanup campaign half a month earlier had already undergone several rounds of discussion in the Silvermoon City Council.
The Silvermoon City Council attached great importance to the border cleanup campaign.
As soon as the report reached the Council, its members put it on the agenda.
The various factions then debated it, until the proceedings devolved into a tedious round of bickering.
But the final outcome had long since been a foregone conclusion.
The councilors simply struggled to reach a consensus.
As one round of bickering after another ended, more and more councilors made their positions clear and stood on the right side of the issue.
Once the tide could no longer be turned, an overwhelming vote followed.
King Anasterian Sunstrider formally announced the final result.
Then he praised the practicality of firearms.
"These engineering creations look crude, but they can unleash tremendous power outside the Magic Defense Barrier."
"This is an opportunity! A chance to destroy Zul'Aman completely and leave our names in history!"
Most of the councilors present voiced their agreement, believing the king had made a very good point this time.
Zul'Aman's greatest "backers" were five powerful Animal Loa.
If their own experts could hold those Animal Loa in check while they swiftly crushed the Forest Trolls, the gods would flee.
As long as they did not insist on fighting those Animal Loa to the bitter end, the High Elves could easily bear the risks of all-out war.
And so the Silvermoon City Council's discussions shifted to whether they should launch an all-out war against Zul'Aman, and when to begin.
Although the timing remained uncertain, the signs of war were already obvious.
The councilors were all shrewd operators, and naturally recognized that their side held a considerable advantage.
An all-out war, certainly no small one, could break out at any moment.
Chromie, the Bronze Dragon responsible for the subcontinent of Lordaeron, watched the somewhat peculiar situation in Quel'Thalas and gradually began to feel uneasy.
No matter how she looked at it, the changes in Quel'Thalas seemed perfectly reasonable.
It was perfectly reasonable for the High Elves to buy some weapons from the Gnomes.
It was also perfectly reasonable for the two sides to set up factories together afterward.
But these High Elves were already on the verge of launching an all-out war against Zul'Aman!
In the normal timeline, Zul'Aman had remained standing even after Silvermoon City was destroyed by the Undead army.
What was going on now?
The High Elves were preparing to launch an all-out war against Zul'Aman at the height of their power!
Chromie had a vague premonition.
Zul'Aman would probably be wiped off the map by the High Elves.
Did this count as disrupting the timeline?
Feeling that events were taking a troubling turn, Chromie quickly made her decision.
Before this all-out war between the High Elves and Zul'Aman actually broke out, she needed to escape the maelstrom.
She decided to return to the Caverns of Time to report in, then stall for as long as possible.
As long as she stayed clear of the trouble, whatever happened afterward would have nothing to do with her.
Of course, the best option would be to trick some fool into taking over.
How could the great and wise Chromie allow a stain on her record?
With her mind made up, Chromie's body grew increasingly indistinct until she vanished from the skies above Quel'Thalas.
Before long, she reappeared in a region covered in yellow sand.
This was the Tanaris Desert, on the distant western continent of Kalimdor.
Bronze Dragons were highly skilled at manipulating the power of time.
The comparatively simpler power of space was naturally something Bronze Dragons handled even better.
Time and space together formed the concept of spacetime.
So it was only reasonable that Bronze Dragons were so proficient in spatial magic!
After traveling thousands of miles home, Chromie was delighted to see the yellow sand stretching everywhere.
She happily plunged into the sand and rolled around a few times before taking to the sky again.
Golden grains of sand flowed over her, polishing her golden scales.
There was no better way to bathe!
In the game, Bronze Dragons were drab, yellowish-brown dragons that looked like country bumpkins.
In reality, however, they were magnificent golden dragons, gleaming all over like the extravagantly wealthy.
After her sand bath, Chromie flew toward the Caverns of Time deep within the Tanaris Desert.
Spatial wards surrounded the Caverns of Time, preventing anyone from teleporting there through spatial magic.
Teleporting nearby and then flying the rest of the way was the only way to reach the Caverns of Time.
But only Bronze Dragons could arrive so smoothly.
Dragonkin and Drakes raised by the Bronze Dragons lurked within the seemingly lifeless desert.
The dragonkin and Drakes were immensely numerous!
They were highly capable in both intelligence gathering and combat.
Against the mortal races, they could crush their opponents utterly.
The harsh desert environment, combined with these powerful servants guarding their home, kept intruders away.
The Bronze Dragons lived carefree lives here, undisturbed by the mortal races.
As Chromie flew overhead, she occasionally saw dragonkin escorting young dragons on outings.
Those tall, burly dragonkin guarded the young dragons with great care, terrified that anything might happen to them.
The Caverns of Time were not far from the spot where Chromie had teleported.
After only a few minutes of flying, she arrived at an enormous cavern set into a mountainside.
This was the Caverns of Time.
Unlike an ordinary cavern, the Caverns of Time were a temporal nexus where countless stretches of spacetime overlapped.
All manner of bizarre sights and phenomena were commonplace here.
As Chromie descended, the scenery on the ground kept changing.
One moment it was a barren rocky desert, the next the shattered ruins of a city.
These were temporal projections that truly existed, yet could not be touched.
They could serve as an illusion formation.
An ordinary person coming here would not even be able to find the entrance to the Caverns of Time.
They would also very likely remain trapped in the illusion formation until they died.
The illusions created by temporal projections had no effect on Bronze Dragons, the favored children of time.
Chromie landed and transformed into a little Gnome who looked utterly harmless.
Ignoring the constantly shifting scenery before her, she headed toward the cavern entrance invisible to the naked eye.
After she passed through the layers of illusions on the perimeter, an enormous cavern more than a hundred meters across appeared before her.
The dragonkin standing guard at the entrance instantly recognized the little Gnome strolling toward them.
Anyone who could assume a mortal's appearance and size was unquestionably an adult Bronze Dragon!
The dragonkin, most of whom stood four or five meters tall, all saluted the little Gnome who did not even reach their knees.
Chromie was well liked, and she greeted the dragonkin warmly.
Nor did Chromie discriminate against the somewhat less intelligent Drakes.
Although the dragonkin and Drakes were servants, the Bronze Dragons treated them as equals rather than putting on airs of superiority.
As a result, intelligent beings from the mortal world were eager to join the Bronze Dragons' faction and be transformed into bronze dragonkin and Drakes.
As Chromie made her way through the enormous cavern, she encountered countless dragonkin and Drakes.
The Bronze Dragons' only flaw was that they placed too much importance on the secrets of time, hiding them away and refusing to share them.
Then they stood by and watched their allies march toward destruction along their predetermined paths.
The Titans had told them to remain impartial and ensure that history could not be changed.
The Bronze Dragons followed the Titans' instructions to the letter.
Apart from being overly devoted to their duties, the Bronze Dragons had quite pleasant personalities.
Deep within the Caverns of Time stood an enormous hourglass.
This was the throne of Nozdormu, the Bronze Dragon Aspect.
However, the Aspect was deep within the timeways, searching for the last chance to save Azeroth.
For now, this place served as the Bronze Dragons' headquarters.
Reporting in, taking leave, and accepting new assignments were all handled here.
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