Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Krivax called on his mana and carefully pushed his intent into a strand of silk threads, desperately hoping that this time he would succeed in infusing the simple spell into the material. Custodian Kriltes had told him that if he wanted to become a Vizier, then this would be good practice.

So far, he was not having much luck.

Krivax clicked his mandibles in frustration as the spell once again failed and the silk fell to pieces. With a sigh, he started the uncomfortable process of creating a new thread with his spinnerets.

It felt extremely strange, and Krivax didnt know if hed ever get used to it.

Peer Krivax, what motivates you to put so much effort into an exercise that frustrates you?

Krivax turned his attention to the young nerubian, who was watching his actions with curiosity. It had taken some effort, but he had become fairly proficient in deciphering nerubian expressions.

You know that it is my goal to serve our people by becoming a Vizier, Peer Masruk. Why do you ask?This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

Masruk fidgeted and swayed back and forth in a motion Krivax recognized as a sign of nervousness.

We were both born in the same cluster of eggs, yet you are so certain of your future path and I am not.

Its not like I have many options if I dont want to become some kind of undead abomination, Krivax mused, with no small amount of frustration.

After learning he had been reborn as a nerubian, Krivax had put a lot of thought into how he could avoid being killed by the Lich King. He had settled on a few different ideas, depending on information he did not currently have, but all of them required him to gain the knowledge and political power of a Vizier.

Still, theres no point in getting mad at Masruk. Its a bit comforting to know that young nerubians stress out about picking their future careers as much as humans.

Krivax had been worried at first that his new people were one of those fantasy races that were cartoonishly evil, but instead, they were just isolationist xenophobes. Which wasnt great, but at least he didnt have to worry about being forced to do evil things himself.

There is no need for you to already be certain of your path, Peer Masruk. Many of our peers also remain uncertain. That is why our elders have arranged for todays demonstration.

Nerubian society was not as simple as Krivax had expected. He had assumed that they were like ants, with everyone being born into a role from the moment of their birth and answering to the Queen without question.

Krivax was glad to learn that was not the case.

The nerubians did reproduce through Queens and those Queens did hold a lot of political power, but it was not absolute.

Both the Spiderlords and the Circle of Viziers also held considerable political sway in nerubian society. In hindsight, this was not that surprising, given that the Queen spent a significant amount of time creating new nerubians, during which she was too distracted to rule.

The caste system was another thing Krivax had learned was different from his expectations. Most Spiderlords and Viziers were born and raised for their roles, but there was some room for exceptional baseline nerubians to elevate themselves.

According to Kriltes, it was possible for the Queens to reforge the bodies of those who proved themselves particularly useful to the Kingdom. That had done a lot to motivate Krivaxs fellow hatchlings, the lure of ascending to a higher caste was powerful.

Krivax did not know everything about Warcraft lore, but he was fairly confident nothing like that had existed in the franchise, a fact which made him feel both relief and apprehension.

Relief, because that meant the world he found himself in was more than a video game with contradictory lore and multiple species whose people possessed one-dimensional personalities.

Apprehension, because that meant he couldnt guarantee that his knowledge was accurate.

What if an important plot point was changed because it was too internally inconsistent to be translated into a real world? At the time that he had died, the Warcraft franchise was nearly thirty years old, after all. There were bound to be plenty of things in the lore that didnt make sense.

Krivax pushed away his negative thoughts. Ultimately, there was nothing he could do about it other than be mindful of the possibility that his knowledge might be wrong. He already wasted an entire week worrying about the possibility that the Lich King would start conquering Northrend before Krivax could make any preparations.

Eventually, he decided not to worry about things he couldnt change, which was probably good advice for someone who knew too much for his own good.

Peer Krivax, the demonstration is about to begin, said Masruk, pulling Krivax from his wandering thoughts.

Despite being told that itd be easy, Krivax was still surprised when his hands glowed with the violet color of arcane magic and the silk thread began to release a white light.

Krivax wanted to jump up and start dancing, but nerubians didnt do things like that nor was this the appropriate setting. Instead, he stopped the silk from glowing by deactivating the spell, tied it in a particular knot that would help preserve its magicsomehowand stuck it to his abdomen.

Congratulation on your success, Peer Krivax, said Masruk.

Thank you. Have any of the presentations caught your attention? Krivax cheerfully asked his fellow spiderling, feeling greatly relieved by his achievement. Succeeding in the exercise meant he was much more likely to attune to arcane magic and be assigned to the Circle of Viziers.

Yes. I wish to become a Warrior, Masruk said firmly.

Krivax tilted his head at the certainty in the voice of his friend? Acquaintance?

Are you certain, Peer Masruk? The Weavers and Viziers have not yet finished their presentations.

Yes. I am certain.

Krivax watched for him to explain, but instead, Masruk just continued to stare longingly at the group of Warriors.

With a nod, Krivax turned his attention to the Weaver, only to find that they had already finished their speech.

The tall Vizier languidly walked to the center of the amphitheater and silently swept his gaze over the audience. When the Viziers gaze reached Krivax, they seemed to pause for a moment before immediately resuming their scan of the crowd, leaving Krivax to wonder if he had imagined the moment.

After the Vizier finished looking over the crowd, they nodded once to themselves and immediately began speaking.

I am Vizier Malas. Most of you will not meet the requirements to join the Circle of Viziers, but for the few who may, I will explain to you our function in nerubian society, said the Vizier with obvious disinterest. His bored tone and his disinterested body language made it clear he did not consider this a valuable way to spend his time.

The majority of the Circles members will find themselves handling administrative work for the city. At this point in your education, your designated Custodian has already administered basic lessons on nerubian laws and history, Malas drawled. He sounded as if he was reciting a rehearsed speech he had given one too many times. If you demonstrate proficiency in these topics, you may be assigned to become a Vizier.

The rest of our organization is dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge in all of its forms. Malas still looked largely disinterested, but Krivax could hear a glimmer of passion in his voice.

Whether through the creation of new magics, the discovery of old knowledge, or the study of the lesser races, the Circle of Viziers seeks a greater understanding of the world.

I'm not really sure why, but Im getting major Sith vibes from this dude, Krivax thought with a small amount of trepidation. I hope not all the Viziers are like this guy.

If you seek knowledge and power beyond your imagining, speak to your Custodians and begin walking down the path of magic.

With a wave of his hand, Malas conjured a fire that flew through the air and circled the audience. Many of the young nerubians cowered when the flame turned into multiple streams of fire that twisted and turned through the crowd before flowing back into Malass palm.

In a display that Krivax felt was a bit theatrical, Malas crushed the ball of fire in his palm and began walking away without further comment.

With all the presentations concluded, the Custodians started making their way to their respective clusters of hatchlings.

As he followed Kriltes out of the cavern, Krivax couldnt help but feel that regardless of how theatrical the Vizier had been, Malass display of magic had definitely been highly motivational.

AN: I intend to try to stick to canon for the most part, but there are two things I intend to directly change.

1.)

KelThuzad says the nerubians are dedicated to wiping out everything who arent like themselves, but they havent been in a war since losing to the vrykul and theres literally a taunka village right over the entrance to Azjol Nerub. Regardless of what they are in canon, in this story they are xenophobic and isolationist instead of outwardly genocidal.

2.)

I also changed some stuff with how the bronze dragons work, just because I dont want half the story to be centered around Krivax dodging them or me making up implausible excuses for why they didnt smash his egg before he was born.