The surroundings far exceeded anything Mathis remembered. "This..." Mathis looked around in disbelief. Lordaeron had also been ravaged by the Scourge, its soil contaminated and barren for years, and that contamination might still continue. Yet now, after Patrick became Regent, he had not only eliminated the Scourge but also removed the contamination. It was simply unbelievable.
"Don't be surprised. There are plenty more things about Quel'Thalas today that will surprise you." Lor'themar Theron accompanied Mathis, familiarizing him with the kingdom's new institutions and various changes. Just as he finished speaking, a squad of rangers rode past outside on their tamed lynx companions, conducting drills. The sight left Mathis dumbfounded.
Of course, the rangers riding lynxes were not the greatest surprise. What truly left Mathis's jaw hanging open was the sight of several ogres patrolling and several more standing guard, with a few night elves nearby inscribing magic circles on energy crystals.
Looking at the kingdom's standard-issue equipment on those ogres, complete with the standard red-and-gold design, there was no doubt that they belonged to Quel'Thalas's guard forces. Mathis had never imagined that the kingdom would have ogre troops.
Seeing Mathis's surprise, Lor'themar explained beside him, "These are ogre troops newly incorporated by the Regent, assigned to defend and build the new city. Considering the enormous amount of physical labor involved in some tasks, the Eldre'Dani Council simply had the ogres do it instead. I have to say, these ogres are very obedient. There is absolutely no problem with employing ogre troops in Silvermoon City."
"What about those night elves?" Mathis was a typical warrior of the kingdom. He did not believe that Quel'Thalas could possibly live alongside night elves. The eastward crossing thousands of years ago had, in fact, been the result of the druid regime led by Tyrande and