Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Are you certain this is a good idea, Krivax?

I dont see the problem, Masruk. We were able to verify that the letter genuinely came from Stormwinds leaders. The magic contained in the letters emblem was impossible to fake.

That does not mean that this is not a trap. This all seems incredibly suspicious.

Werent you the one who was complaining that Capital City suddenly became too boring after the soldiers went off to war and that you had nobody to spar with? I thought that youd be glad for the chance to fight off potential assassins.

Hmm your argument is compelling.

Krivax snorted in amusement and turned his attention back to the nondescript building that the two of them were approaching. He could feel that the building had several protective wards that would alert the occupants when someone was approaching, but the wards felt as if they had been put up fairly recently. It gave Krivax a sense that this location had been prepared just for this meeting and had not been actively used for a significant period of time.

It took quite a bit of effort for Krivax and Masruk to discreetly arrive at the meeting location specified in the letter that he had received from Stormwind, but he eventually managed to do so.

After receiving a letter that was requesting that he meet privately with a few of Stormwinds representatives to discuss an important matter that affected both them and Azjol-Nerub, Krivax had been extremely curious about what they wanted to talk about. Of course, he didnt hesitate to present the letter to Hadix, but the Vizier was too busy with his own affairs to really pay it much mind. He simply instructed Krivax to bring along someone for protection and reminded him to use his magical emergency device if he needed to call for help.

Unfortunately, trying to secretly make your way to a clandestine meeting as a giant spider person was not a simple matter, but it was nothing that sufficient amounts of magic couldnt solve. It helped a bit that the designated meeting location was in a poorer part of the city. Most of the residents went out of their way not to concern themselves with what other people were doing, which meant that the magic hiding their presence was significantly easier to maintain.

What now? asked Masruk, bringing Krivaxs attention back to the matter at hand.

I suppose we just knock on the door, Krivax said hesitantly. It wasnt like the letter had included any secret passcodes for them to use once they reached their destination.

Krivax walked through the ward and moved to do just that, only to be interrupted when the door opened up slightly before he could knock, allowing a wary half-elf man to peek through and glance between him and Masruk.

Good morning, said Krivax, keeping his tone friendly. I believe that we are expected?

Given how distinctive the two of them were, Krivax didnt feel any need to verify their identities. The man only hesitated for a moment before opening the door fully and gesturing them both inside. Krivax moved to go inside, but Masruk insisted on entering first, staring suspiciously at the half-elf the entire time and nodding to Krivax after he saw nothing out of place.

After Krivax ducked down through the doorway and skittered inside, the half-elf closed and locked the door before turning to face them.

Good morning, Vizier Krivax. My name is Devan Everdawn, said the half-elf as he began to walk off deeper into the building; Krivax moved to follow him after only a moment. I apologize for the rush, but we have a limited amount of time before our absence is noted by certain parties.

Krivax and Masruk followed the man without comment as they were led to a room that looked as if it was the office of some noble. There were only two people in the room, one who Krivax found unfamiliar and one who he recognized in an instant. The former was an old woman with a severe expression who was wearing several large gaudy rings on her fingers, and the latter was the crown prince of Stormwind himself, Varian Wrynn.

The fifteen-year-old boy was obviously doing his best to appear serious and regal while sitting behind a desk and was admittedly doing a better job than Krivax would have expected, likely as a result of his training and upbringing. The only glimpses that Krivax had previously had of the kid were when he was looking miserable, but Varian did a good job of cleaning himself up.

Welcome, Vizier Krivax. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, said Varian as they entered the room. Devan Everdawn moved to stand behind his prince while Krivax made their way to the cushions that had been prepared for him and Masruk stood to the side. Krivax was glad for the consideration, it always made him feel awkward to loom over people that were so much smaller than him. As you likely well know, I am Varian Wrynn, crown prince of Stormwind. With me are Pathonia Shaw and Devan Everdawn, two members of Stormwinds intelligence service, SI:7.

Krivax glanced at the old woman in surprise once he heard her name. The only Shaw that he was familiar with was Matthias Shaw, who had been the leader of SI:7 and spymaster of Stormwind for most of the canon timeline.

Is this woman his grandmother?

Devan Everdawn was someone who was completely unfamiliar to him, so Krivax assumed him to just be some kind of nameless spy.

Its a pleasure to meet you, Prince Wrynn, said Krivax, bowing slightly. I confess, Im very curious as to why youve called for this meeting. Especially when the only participants are two intelligence agents and you seem to be without a guard.

Just because you havent seen a guard, does not mean that one doesnt exist, said Pathonia Shaw, her lips curling up into a smirk. I promise you, nerubian, our crown prince is more protected than he seems.

Krivax hummed in consideration before glancing at Masruk, who nodded in affirmation. The people of this world were capable of a supernatural degree of stealth if they trained for it or used enchanted items, and Masruk had always been a tad more observant of his surroundings than Krivax.

She speaks the truth. I noticed a few of their guards as we were passing through the hallways, said Masruk.

Hmph. You have good eyes, lad. Although it's probably cheating when you have eight of them.

To answer your question, Vizier, I asked you here to discuss a matter that affects both Stormwind and Azjol-Nerub, said Prince Wrynn, continuing the conversation as if Pathonia and Masruk hadnt spoken. Specifically, I wish to make you aware of a threat to both of our kingdoms.

And what threat is that, Your Highness? asked Krivax. He had a suspicion about what Prince Wrynn was referring to, but he wanted to hear it from him first.

Apparently, there were numerous instances in which House Prestor had either bribed members of Lordaerons nobility or instances in which Daval Prestor had been seen interacting with nobles who changed their minds on some important matter shortly after meeting with him. One particular example of evidence was testimony from one of Lord Whitehalls maids, claiming that the noble suddenly became skeptical of Stormwinds pleas immediately after meeting with Prestor. A more recent example was a similar incident that occurred between Prestor and Count Dalton.

Aside from that, there were also signs that House Prestor held a long-term business relationship with House Ravenholdt, who had long been rumored to hold connections to organized crime in Alterac. SI:7 had even managed to identify Lord Prestors closest servanta goblin of all things, that went by the name of Kryllto be the one responsible for managing Prestors shady affairs.

Krivax looked through the gathered information and couldnt help but feel conflicted. He really didnt want to antagonize Deathwinghed much prefer leaving him to be dealt with by someone more qualifiedbut this was too good of an opportunity to ignore. After sending his anonymous letter to Krasus, he had already upended the sequence of events that would have led to Deathwing's defeat at the hands of the other Aspects.

That being the case, it would probably be better for Krivax to do anything he could to ensure that the Aspects found Deathwing and had the opportunity to defeat him. That wasnt something that he could do by staying uninvolved.

We are aware that Azjol-Nerub is in negotiations with Alterac, said Prince Wrynn. We hope that you reconsider that in light of this information, as well as consider the offer that we made to you.

That is not something that I can decide on my own, Krivax responded before changing the subject. How do you all expect Azjol-Nerub to help handle this matter? Also, why have you chosen not to present this to Lordaerons House of Lords?

Because we do not know how far this corruption has spread, said Prince Wrynn, slightly frustrated. And given that many of the parties that have been compromised are members of the House of Lords, we would need much more convincing evidence than what we currently have. As for what Azjol-Nerub has to offer, I was hoping you could answer that, Vizier Krivax. You are far more familiar with your kingdoms capabilities than I am.

After a moment of consideration, Krivax decided that this was probably too important for him to decide on his own, Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Prince Wrynn. Although I cant commit to anything right now, I intend to share this information with my superior as quickly as possible. I think that its likely that you will receive a favorable response.

That was probably an understatement.

Krivax immediately thought of Hadix and the Order of Kaltut. They would not be pleased once they learned that a human noble from Alterac was using the Void to brainwash people against Azjol-Nerub.

I suppose things in Capital City arent going to get any quieter anytime soon

Daval Prestor, also known as Deathwing, listened to the mad goblin who he had taken on as a servant with annoyed exasperation from the comfort of House Prestors ancestral home. All goblins were mad, but this one was more so than most. The only reason that he put up with the creature was that Kryll was undeniably competent in his role.

Then Ravenholdt and his cutthroats have agreed to our terms? My plans for KulTiras cannot continue without the aid of their assassins and saboteurs, Kryll, said Lord Prestor, interrupting the goblin.

Of course, O prince of duplicity! Everything is going exactly according to your plans, great one!

Good, said Lord Prestor, nodding in satisfaction.

After his plans to capture Alexstrasza had failed, he had chosen to return to Capital City for a few different reasons, one of which was that there was simply little for him to do with the Horde that he couldnt do from afar. Being in Capital City allowed him the opportunity to search the minds of the human nobles for sensitive information that could be used against the Alliance.

Not only that, but being exposed meant that he could afford to take actions that were much less subtle than he had been taking previously. One of those was leveraging the nascent Void cult that was beginning to form among the KulTiran Tidesages to his advantage.

Unfortunately, there were simply not many of them and they hadnt managed to grow as much as Lord Prestor would have wished. Maybe in a decade or two, they would have been able to completely subvert the organization, but that was something that would never happen now.

As it was, Lord Prestor had been forced to hire mortal criminals to aid the cultists with the sabotage of the Alliances fleet. It was fortunate that his daughter was so fond of playing her games of deception, and that she had spent so much time gathering resources and building up the Prestor name. It made so much of what he had to do much easier.

It was a shame that the rest of his children were not quite as useful as Onyxia.

He had also gone to Capital City with hopes that he could discover how his plans had failed, but there had been little luck in that direction. Ravenholdt had been able to discover that a goblin from the Steamwheedle Cartel had been hired to deliver a letter to Krasus, also known as Korialstrasz, but not much else. Despite the fact that Lord Prestor had personally peeled the goblins mind apart in search of information, he had not managed to find anything of significance.

Oh, he was fairly certain that the nerubians were somehow involved; the whispers coming from his masters had informed him of such, but there was little that Lord Prestor could do about it in the short term. No, his revenge against the traitorous creatures would have to be a long-term endeavor. For now, hed simply have to content himself with ruining any plans that Azjol-Nerub might have of reaching an agreement with Alterac while also turning opinion against them.

Although it didnt truly matter very much.

After the Alliance and the Aspects were defeated, then there would be little that could stop him from collapsing the nerubians underground kingdom on top of their heads.

After all, the earth was his domain and nobody else's.

I see the shadow of a smile on your face. Is someone about to die a horrible, grisly, bloody death, O venomous one?

Spare me your nonsense, Kryll, Lord Prestor replied as he turned his attention back to the goblin. If you have nothing left of importance to report, then remove yourself from my sight.

Prestor tuned out the goblins nonsensical words as it left his presence. There was much that he needed to do, but there was not much time before the Horde would be launching their invasion of Hillsbrad Foothills, and Prestor wished to witness the fruits of his labor. With a flex of will, Prestor cast a scrying spell that allowed him to look through the Void and watch the events that would soon unfold.

He was curious to see the performance of the undead dragons that he had gifted to the Horde. As the Aspect of the earth, it was a trivial matter to find and retrieve long dead dragon corpses and deliver them to the Horde, but Prestor was not quite certain how well they would do when compared to a living dragon. Still, along with his other efforts, he was confident that the Horde would be able to make landfall and launch their invasion in earnest.

With a wicked smile on his face, Daval Prestor sat back in his comfortable seat and prepared to watch the always amusing sight of mortals slaughtering each other.