Since the end of the Battle of Broken Ridge, Highlord Mograine of Southshore took a personal letter from Aiden and boarded a ship to Dun Morogh.
He carried the Rutherwood Crystal, which had absorbed enough Holy Light to be completely sublimated into a source of divine power, intending to follow Aiden's instructions and ask King Magni Bronzebeard of Ironforge to forge it into a holy weapon—a divine artifact to combat the Scourge!
Having witnessed the power of the Scourge, he deeply realized that once he became the owner of this divine artifact, he would undoubtedly leave an immortal name in the great cause of fighting the Scourge!
For a paladin and warrior, this would be an unimaginable honor!
Mograine's heart was filled with fervor. His ship sailed from Southshore to Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands, where he disembarked and rode to Dun Morogh. Three days later, he met his objective in Ironforge—Magni Bronzebeard, the greatest blacksmith of the age and King of the dwarves.
"Indeed, it is very pure Holy Light power," Magni said, holding the Rutherwood Crystal in his hand. The warm and gentle aura emanating from it instantly dispelled the slight fatigue he felt from not having slept enough the night before. "You mean to forge it into a weapon?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Mograine said, looking eagerly at the dwarf king. He recounted the origin of the crystal to Magni once more.
"Sounds like a legendary story. That Aiden really knows everything," Muradin said from the side. He was Magni Bronzebeard's brother and had spent the past few years in Lordaeron as the Ironforge ambassador. He was more familiar with this dwarf warrior than Mograine was. Moreover, Muradin was also Prince Arthas of Lordaeron's martial arts teacher.
Because of the Scourge's threat, Muradin had returned to Ironforge with Terenas' envoy the last time, conveying his intentions to his royal brother. When Aiden first went to the throne room of Lordaeron, Muradin had seen the legendary figure who had gained the service of angels from afar. As time went on, the predictions of the prophet Brann that Aiden spoke of were being confirmed step by step. Therefore, Muradin trusted Aiden's guidance very much and returned to Ironforge to persuade his brother to send troops.
The dwarf king was also very aware of the greater good. Magni had already replied to Terenas, telling him that the dwarves would arrive as scheduled to participate in the Northern Expedition.
When they, the dwarf brothers, heard the magical story of this crystal and learned that it was prophesied to become a key artifact against the Scourge, they felt fortunate to witness the birth of a legend.
"I bet Brann would be even more interested in the origin of this thing," Magni chuckled. Among the three brothers, he was the eldest—something he considered most unfortunate, because according to the order, he would inherit the throne. None of the three brothers liked being king. Magni loved forging, Muradin loved adventure, and Brann loved archaeology; none of them were enthusiastic about power.
But undeniably, Magni was still a competent and good king, deeply loved by the dwarves. However, he was not a good father—his relationship with his daughter, Moira Bronzebeard, was terrible. Although he loved his only daughter very much in his heart, his strict discipline severely stimulated Moira's rebellious spirit. Now, Moira had run away from home and gotten mixed up with the Dark Iron dwarves. No matter how he threatened her, his daughter had no intention of returning.
"By the way, where did Brann go? He seemed to say some time ago that he had discovered some clues in Northrend, but luckily we stopped him. Otherwise, if he went there now, he would definitely become a meal for the undead," Muradin laughed.
"That's right. After dispelling that idea, he took the expedition team to the Barrens, where he seemed to have discovered an underground city and is excavating something," Magni also smiled. They could not object to their archaeologically fanatical brother's exploration of the origins of dwarf and world history. He turned to Mograine and said, "I can forge it for you. Being able to forge a divine artifact is a great honor. I need some materials worthy of this crystal. Don't worry, you don't have to provide them; I will find them from our dwarven treasures!"
"Thank you very much for your generous assistance!" Mograine said sincerely, grateful.
Magni shrugged humorously, "If you insist on thanking me, then use the weapon I forge to kill more enemies in the future. You know, I basically have no chance to participate in the war myself. You better eliminate the Scourge that I should have killed too!"
Muradin said dissatisfied, "Hey, brother, why don't you ask me to do this kind of thing? I will give those boneheads a profound lesson with my hammer!"
"You can help Brann solve his share!" Magni reminded.
Thinking of his brother, who was devoted to adventure all his life but had very mediocre combat skills, Muradin immediately thumped his chest and said, "No problem, leave it to me!"
Having achieved his personal goal for this trip, Mograine thought of another matter and said to Muradin, "Ambassador Muradin, I have something else to ask of you."
"Speak!"
"This letter," Mograine took out Aiden's personal letter, "This is a personal letter from General Aiden, Lord of Valoran, and he entrusted me to give it to High Tinker Mekkatorque of the gnomes."
"Do they know each other? Or do they want to get to know each other?" Muradin asked curiously.
Mograine thought of Aiden's instructions and replied, "It seems to be some warnings—warnings about the crisis in Gnomeregan."
Muradin immediately became serious. The lessons of the Scourge were right in front of them. Perhaps this letter foreshadowed that the gnomes would also encounter something bad? After all, Gnomeregan had also agreed to send troops. Aiden's seeking Mekkatorque certainly wouldn't be about that.
"Let's go, I'll take you to Gnomeregan right away. I know Mekkatorque very well!"
… …
The Kirin Tor Council finally decided on the candidates to send to the high elf kingdom: Aiden and Jaina would go as special envoys. Originally, someone in the council had suggested adding Prince Arthas, a person of noble and special status, but Aiden flatly rejected it—others didn't know, but he and Jaina were very clear that Prince Arthas of Lordaeron and Prince Kael'thas of Quel'Thalas were once rivals in love.
Kael'thas liked Jaina, but Jaina had previously been in a passionate relationship with Arthas. Aiden's internally drafted strategy for the mission was to try to win over Kael'thas as much as possible, and then persuade King Anasterian together. If Arthas went, and the two people who disliked each other caused trouble, how would the mission be accomplished?
Therefore, Aiden's suggestion was to choose a paladin with high prestige from the Silver Hand—of course, Uther was the only choice. In terms of personal influence, Uther was only higher than Arthas. Moreover, he had participated in the Second War and fought side by side with the high elves, with a camaraderie included in it. At least he would have some confidence when speaking.
After agreeing, Antonidas sent a letter to Lordaeron explaining the matter, agreeing to meet in Stratholme five days later and go to Quel'Thalas.
Aiden hurried back to Durnholde. This trip would definitely delay him for some time, a few days or even ten days or more, and some things needed to be arranged immediately.
For example, letting the fleet cross the Great Sea to Kalimdor to save the tauren.
He called Chieftain Alistair of the minotaur and Plank, the scourge of the ocean, but he did not expect that Karthus, the Death Singer, also took the initiative to join the meeting and made a surprising request:
"You mean you want to follow the fleet to explore the Tomb of Sargeras?" Aiden stared wide-eyed. Previously, Karthus had told him that after absorbing Gul'dan's skull's memory, he had obtained information about the Tomb of Sargeras. For a lich pursuing power, this was definitely an irresistible temptation.
Karthus hurriedly nodded, "Yes, Commander. If I obtain the power inside and restore my peak abilities, I alone can deal with the Lich King!"
"Sounds good," Aiden stroked his chin. "The problem is, according to what I know, there doesn't seem to be any divine power left inside, but only a divine artifact called the 'Eye of Sargeras.'"
Of course, the power of the Eye of Sargeras should not be underestimated. Illidan, casting spells from thousands of miles away with it, was enough to bring great trouble to the Lich King in Northrend. If there was enough time, the entire Northrend might sink to the bottom of the sea—this power was too exaggerated, it simply had the power to destroy half the world!
In Gul'dan's memory, there seemed to be some unusual divine power in the tomb. Gul'dan guessed that it might contain part of the Dark Titan's incomplete divinity. Absorbing it would grant the qualification to become a god. Of course, Gul'dan himself did not see it before he died; this was purely his feeling.
But in Aiden's knowledge, Illidan, who later entered there, only found the Eye of Sargeras and nothing else "divine," let alone any divinity—if he had really obtained it, Illidan would not have been hunted down so embarrassingly.
"I still want to take a look," Karthus said stubbornly. "If there is nothing I need inside, I will bring the artifact back to you!"
—The Eye of Sargeras was definitely an extremely useful thing. Aiden himself really wanted to go to the Tomb of Sargeras. As a Warcraft world enthusiast, it would be a pity not to witness a legendary thing that he had never seen in the game.
He sighed, "Alright, I agree."