Flin Stonehearth, a member of the Ironforge Dwarf's Mountaineer Legion, was a skilled and powerful ram rider.
He participated in countless wars, big and small, resisting Orc invasions in Kaz Modan and combating Frost Troll incursions, earning countless medals and honors through his extensive experience.
Just now, he received a direct order from King Magni, instructing him to rush to Gnomeregan as quickly as possible.
This mission had no specific requirements, only that Flin carry a bulky communication device and use it to contact Ironforge immediately if he encountered any special circumstances after arriving near Gnomeregan.
Without much thought, the loyal Dwarf knight took his warhammer, shouldered the heavy instrument, hung a small barrel of strong liquor on his ram, and, donning his bearskin coat, charged out of Ironforge, heading to Gnomeregan through a world of ice and snow.
Ironforge's well-trained war rams could easily carry a heavily armored Dwarf rider and were capable of sustained travel in icy, snowy conditions; their endurance and temperament made these rams one of the Dwarves' most loyal companions.
Flin's mount was named "Carrot" because the ram particularly loved carrots, so Flin gave him that name.
Most Dwarves are terrible at naming things, rarely straying from names of food, household items, and various types of alcohol.
Carrot was already a relatively refined name.
Riding his war ram through the snow, Flin pulled out a small flask from his pocket, twisted open the cap, and took a sip. Dwarves have good tolerance for cold, but a small sip of warm liquor made Flin feel a rush of comfort through his limbs.
From Ironforge to Gnomeregan, if traveling light, it would take at most half a day to see Gnomeregan's metal gate embedded in the mountain.
Remember in one second m.
However, Flin was now carrying a somewhat heavy communication device, so his speed would certainly be slower, but he calculated that even if he let his ram rest for a while on the way and made a fire to cook, he could still arrive by midnight at the latest.
Since King Magni issued an urgent order, Flin would naturally arrive safely at Gnomeregan as quickly as possible. Carrying this heavy machine instinctively made the experienced Dwarf realize that the problem might be quite serious.
Thinking of this, Flin took another gulp of liquor, and the ram beneath him also quickened his pace.
The sun slowly descended from the center of the sky, and its dazzling but not warm sunlight gradually turned dim yellow.
It wasn't until the golden celestial body disappeared behind Kaz Modan's snow-capped peaks that the clear and cool Lady White and Boy Blue rose from the other end of the sky.
Under the stars and moon, Flin galloped along the main road of Dun Morogh; he could already see the scattered lights on the other side of the mountain range, that glimmering place was where Gnomeregan was located.
Drinking the last drop of liquor, Flin burst out of the dark forest and arrived at the town in front of Gnomeregan, but as soon as the sight of the town entered Flin's eyes, he froze.
"By Bronzebeard's beard! What happened here?!"
Flin pulled on the ram's reins, and the well-trained ram slowed his four hooves, leaving a trail in the snow, and stopped in the middle of the road.
The Dwarf knight stared blankly at the brightly lit and overcrowded town, even forgetting to put the cap back on his water bottle.
If his memory served him right, although the town outside Gnomeregan was also very prosperous, with many novel technological products, it would never look like this.
The artisan town outside Gnomeregan was filled with portable tents and shacks, and the streets were covered with blankets laid out by Gnome refugees, who were trying to spend the cold Dun Morogh night with such thin coverings.
And those who lived in houses were not unwilling to let their compatriots into the warm indoors, but there was clearly no room for them in the houses either.
Flin even saw many pieces of furniture discarded outside, clearly to make space for the gnomes.
He quickly jumped off his ram, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, and wiped it on his face, instantly clearing his somewhat drowsy mind.
Flin quickly threw the communication device on the ground, rapidly assembled it, and connected to Ironforge.
"Quick! Quickly relay the message to His Majesty Magni, the gnomes are in trouble, and it's big trouble!"
...
In the fragrant gardens of Lordaeron, Arthas was conversing with a beautiful and dignified woman whose face bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Arthas, the handsomeness of the Lordaeron royal family displayed fully on her.
Standing slightly behind her was a timid little girl, tugging at her luxurious ruffled skirt, looking up at the Prince Arthas with wide, fluttering eyes.
"Prince Arthas, the court mages have a magical communication, they have an urgent message from Ironforge."
A Royal Guard quickly entered the garden at this moment, knelt on one knee before Arthas, and reported the news he had just received.
Arthas nodded to the guard and said to the two "ladies," one large and one small, beside him, "Excuse me, Kael'thas, it seems something has happened, I must leave for a moment."
"I wouldn't mind such a thing, so we'll talk later, Arthas—and, promise me, don't overwork yourself, you are still young, and have plenty of time ahead of you!"
Kael'thas, the Princess of Lordaeron and Arthas's older sister, smiled and responded to Arthas, however, when she spoke her last sentence, she was slightly serious.
Her younger brother was very outstanding, but he insisted on doing many things himself, which inevitably made Kael'thas, as his elder sister, worry that he would overwork himself, because their father, the King, also showed signs of aging at this age due to overexertion.
"Don't worry, Kael'thas, I would never joke about myself. Oh, and about little Sally, we'll talk later, but I know there are several people at the Abbey of Northshire and the Silver Hand who are willing to take her as a student."
"That would be for the best. Although I am a bit reluctant to let little Sally live like an ascetic so early, her talent and abilities certainly need someone to discover them." Kael'thas stroked little Sally's head, her face full of a benevolent smile.
She was a few years older than Arthas, and as the eldest princess of the kingdom, although she did not have the first right of succession, she should at least be the queen of some country or the wife of some Grand Duke by now.
However, due to the shadow cast over Kael'thas's heart by that incident, her view of love suddenly changed.
And Terenas, feeling somewhat indebted to his daughter, no longer urged Kael'thas's marriage nor prepared to use her for a political alliance.
In short, Kael'thas's position in the Lordaeron royal family was quite special, and she was known as one of the most untouchable women in all of Lordaeron.
On one hand, her father was the King of Lordaeron, the strongest human nation, and her younger brother was a hero knight renowned throughout Azeroth, a symbol of the Alliance.
Those more or less ill-intentioned suitors dared not even think of approaching this Princess, otherwise, they might be met not by the Princess's maids, but by the assassins of the Secret Intelligence Agency.
After parting with Kael'thas, Arthas immediately rushed to the Magic Hall in the Lordaeron Royal Palace, where the court mages had already prepared a magical projection.
"Arthas! You're finally here!" Magni exclaimed somewhat excitedly when he saw Arthas, "Did that scoundrel Brann tell you more about Gnomeregan?!"
Arthas hadn't expected Ironforge to act faster than he imagined, even finding him before he was ready to notify them again.
"King Magni, have you already sent someone to Gnomeregan?"
Seeing Magni's demeanor, Arthas knew he must have already received some news, otherwise, a letter wouldn't make him so anxiously seek the truth.
"Last night, news received at midnight last night, those stubborn Dwarves in Gnomeregan, they're in this state and still unwilling to ask us for help!"
Magni's emotions were complex. After learning about the situation in Gnomeregan, he immediately understood the cause and effect.
The gnomes were absolutely unwilling to affect the Alliance's fight against the Burning Legion, which is why they only transferred most of their technical personnel and engineers from the front lines, and did not withdraw their war machines.
If Magni hadn't promptly dispatched cavalry to investigate the situation, perhaps by the time the gnomes were completely driven out of their city, the Dwarves might still have been oblivious.
However, as anxious as Magni was, the support Ironforge could currently give to Gnomeregan was very limited.
Although the Alliance's losses in the battle against the Burning Legion were not particularly heavy, they were not entirely without losses either.
At least half of Ironforge's forces were currently unusable, if not everyone being injured.
Moreover, the consumption of war materials was actually more terrifying than manpower. Had the Alliance not recovered some of its vitality over the past ten years and possessed a strong foundation, they would likely have been tearing their hair out over logistics.
Now the demons had been repelled, but the result was that there weren't enough personnel or sufficient supplies to support Gnomeregan; perhaps only a fifth of their peak strength could be deployed to help.
This was probably one of the reasons why Gnomeregan had been slow to ask the Alliance for help: although they were in a difficult situation, they at least still had their city as a base, with relatively sufficient logistics and personnel, believing they could overcome this difficulty alone.
But the current facts proved that things had long since gone beyond the gnomes' control.
The information Magni had now was that if the gnomes didn't receive enough support, they would likely choose to perish together with the monsters emerging from underground.
This left Magni shocked and anxious. Although Dwarves and gnomes were different races, they always felt a sense of kinship towards each other.
The Dwarves believed the gnomes were weaker than themselves, and that they were the gnomes' 'big brothers' who protected them, so they shared the land of Dun Morogh with the Gnomes and formed an alliance more solid than any other force in the world.
And the gnomes continuously used their inventions, creations, and clever minds to help the Dwarves solve various problems they encountered.
The subway from Ironforge to Stormwind was the best representation of Gnome technology; they built this tunnel, which traversed beneath the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge, to prevent the desperate situation that occurred during the Second War when the orcs besieged but did not attack.
Now, with the gnomes in distress, yet the Dwarves unable to provide support, Magni felt heartbroken and ashamed. The gnomes were not only fighting unknown monsters alone, but they were also providing a stable rear for their fight against the Burning Legion.
"Arthas, Ironforge and Gnomeregan need support, we cannot let the gnomes bear this alone any longer!"
Magni's tone was solemn. All available personnel from Ironforge had been mobilized for war and were ready to depart at a moment's notice.
"The Alliance will not abandon any ally; the gnomes' efforts will not be in vain."
Arthas likewise made a solemn promise. He hadn't expected the trogg's awakening to come so quickly; he had originally wanted the gnomes to prevent this problem, but now they were already engaged in close combat.
The current situation was his greatest punishment and warning, but now was not the time to judge his past rights and wrongs. Gnomeregan urgently needed aid, and Arthas would provide as much help as possible.
However, just as Magni worried, the First Legion's main forces also suffered casualties in the battle against the Burning Legion and were currently recuperating.
The troops preparing to launch the Alterac offensive were indeed being assembled, but this force was not ideal for combating the trogg.
Although they possessed the ability to operate in high-altitude mountain regions and equipment and logistics adapted to snowy environments, transferring such a large force to Dun Morogh, thousands of miles away, would be extremely difficult.
Or, to put it another way, what was needed to save Gnomeregan and the gnomes within was not a particular type of force, but rather powerful transportation capabilities.
Forcibly filling the bottomless pit of the trogg with lives would be like drinking poison to quench thirst, incurring a huge cost while gaining little benefit.
Gnomeregan's terrain was extremely complex; even their own soldiers couldn't move quickly within the city, let alone Dwarves and Humans.
Humans, especially, would undoubtedly be hindered when entering this city built for Gnomes.
However, as long as a way could be found to evacuate the gnomes from the city, the gnomes, who possessed core technology, would certainly find a way to stop the trogg's advance. At the very least, the radiation tanks Arthas knew about could temporarily pacify the trogg for a period.
But now with Lordaeron's help, there was no need to use such an indirect method to destroy Gnomeregan. After careful thought, Arthas roughly figured out the next course of action.
The first was to temporarily pacify the trogg, giving the gnomes enough time to breathe or evacuate, and the second was to completely eliminate the trogg threat, otherwise, even if Gnomeregan was recaptured, these creatures would still continuously emerge from other places!
And conveniently, Arthas had solutions for both of these matters.