Journey to the Eastern Kingdoms

A month later, in the port city.

The exploration party of a thousand elves, led by Jarod, was making its final preparations.

"Come back soon. If anything goes wrong, send Snyder a signal. He'll come find you."

Maiev was adjusting Jarod's armor before his departure. For once, she wasn't hitting or scolding him as she usually did.

There was only a sister's reluctance to see her younger brother leave on a long journey.

"It'll be fine. I'll come back in one piece."

Jarod replied, his expression unusually serious.

"Oh, right, I've already found you a prospective wife. You two will meet properly when you get back."

"Uh, there's really no need to rush. I'm still young."

Maiev's words shattered the serious expression Jarod had struggled to maintain.

"No arguments. Now you should get to the port."

Maiev's usual stern expression returned as she spoke to Jarod.

Seeing how insistent his sister was, Jarod said no more and could only agree.

"Come on, let's go to the port."

Maiev spoke to Jarod. After checking his belongings, he followed her.

Aboard the exploration party's ship, Snyder was giving the vessel an elemental blessing.

Snyder guided a vast amount of elemental power, causing it to attach itself to the ship.

The ship was built of wood, but Snyder had wanted to replace the wood with steel. He hadn't tried building one that way only because their craftsmanship was a limiting factor. Then another thought occurred to him. I can enchant it with magic and the elements. That'll make the ship stronger.

Snyder checked every part of the ship. Once he was certain everything was in order, he began directing the elves of the exploration party aboard.

"You're here." As Snyder was directing the elves aboard, Maiev and Jarod arrived at the port.

"I've finished the preparations. The rest is up to you."

Snyder walked over to Jarod as he spoke.

"I'll complete my mission!" Jarod said, then boarded the exploration ship.

"Mm."

Snyder and Maiev watched Jarod board the ship. Its sails were lowered, and although there was no wind, the ship began moving toward its destination thanks to the elemental blessing.

Amid the elves' cheers, the exploration ship sailed farther and farther away until it vanished from sight.

Watching the exploration ship depart, Snyder put one of his worries to rest.

"By the way, who did you pick out for Jarod?" Snyder asked as he and Maiev headed to Faletai'an.

"What do you think of Naisha?" Naisha, who had been watching the drama unfold, was stunned by Maiev's sudden question.

Naisha: I was watching the drama, so how did I become the subject of it?

Meanwhile, on Kalimdor, Dath'Remar and his followers had run into a little trouble.

Dath'Remar's brow furrowed deeper and deeper as he read the reports from his subordinates.

The Highborne he led were desperately craving Arcane Magic and knowledge.

Things were fine for now. The Sunstrider family's reserves could sustain them for a long time yet, but Dath'Remar couldn't see a future for himself and the others if they carried on like this.

Dath'Remar watched the Highborne studying magic outside his window and understood that his mission was to lead them in creating a new home.

Elsewhere, in a Night Elf city in Ashenvale, Tyrande was at a loss over how to deal with Dath'Remar and his followers.

"Lady Tyrande, Dath'Remar and his people are ignoring the law we just enacted. They're still studying and using magic."

"We should punish them. We can't let them set a precedent for ignoring the law."

"But they're our own kind, our family. Wouldn't it be wrong to punish them? Why not call Dath'Remar over and discuss a solution with him?"

"This isn't the first time. We have to punish them and make them pay the price."

Listening to her subordinates' incessant arguing gave Tyrande a headache. Malfurion was currently studying under Cenarius, so she was the one actually in charge of the Night Elves.

Although Tyrande could handle affairs of state, dealing with them for so long, along with the thorny nature of the problems, gave her a terrible headache.

She was afraid that if she handled things poorly, it would lead to another Snyder Rain, who had led the people of three cities away from the Night Elves.

As these problems piled up, she began to miss the days when Malfurion was around and she had someone to help her come up with plans.

Unable to endure her subordinates' arguing any longer, Tyrande slapped the table.

Bang! Everyone fell silent and looked toward Tyrande. Seeing all the elves looking at her, Tyrande slowly spoke.

"We must handle the problem of Dath'Remar and his people properly. We can't let another split happen now."

At the word "split," the elves all thought of the elf who had shone during the great war. They also admired how freely he had led his people away from the Night Elves.

"Let's first send a representative to convey our position to Dath'Remar, then negotiate with him. We should do our best to avoid bloodshed."

Tyrande had no better solution and could only resort to this back-and-forth approach. Both sides were highly sensitive right now, and if things were handled badly, the resulting price would be unacceptable to anyone.

And so, on Kalimdor, the Night Elves and the Highborne remained in a state of mutual restraint.

A few days later, the exploration party sailing across the Great Sea continued toward its destination.

Jarod was looking at a map in the captain's cabin. As they drew closer to their destination, he began to grow nervous.

A few more days passed before the exploration party finally reached the continent.

Jarod was the first to set foot on the Eastern Kingdoms, then began directing the other elves off the ship.

Jarod ordered the Shamans to communicate with the elements of this land and obtain their help. The mages began locating Ley Line nodes so they could establish a foothold near one, while scouts were also sent out to investigate the surroundings.

In just a few days, an outpost was established. The scouts reported back on the various plants and animals they had found on the continent, as well as a sentient race-the Vrykul.

Jarod was curious about the Vrykul. They were a somewhat strange race: some were extremely tall, while others were considerably shorter.

Jarod sent representatives to speak with the Vrykul and proposed a meeting between their leaders.

The Vrykul agreed to Jarod's request, and the two sides arranged to meet in the Vrykul village.

When the appointed day arrived, Jarod took his guards to the Vrykul village, leaving his deputy in charge of the outpost.

Representatives of the Vrykul also came to welcome Jarod and his party.

The Vrykul were very friendly toward the newcomers. They were fascinated by everything the elves possessed and had never seen such fine-looking armor and weapons. These things were not merely decorative, either; they had seen an elven guard use his saber to kill a ferocious tiger cleanly and swiftly.

Jarod and his party were equally curious about everything concerning the Vrykul. They saw how similar the development of this race had been to that of the Night Elves, except that the Vrykul had no Well of Eternity.

"Chieftain, the honored guests are here."