A Nerubian's Journey - Chapter 54

In a conference room that had been prepared by the Kirin Tor, some of the most powerful individuals in Azeroth had gathered to decide what should be done with nearly a million sapient beings. The representatives from each relevant nation or organization sat around a massive circular table. The general mood was solemn as they waited for the delegation from Gnomeregan to arrive. All of them knew that the upcoming discussion would be a contentious one, and would have a significant effect on the political landscape.

Krivax couldn’t help but note that this wasn’t his first time being at the center of an event that would be written about by historians.

Only a few weeks ago, he received an interview request from one of Dalaran’s scholars to talk about his first meeting with the Explorers’ League in Moa'ki Harbor. Krivax had also been a part of the nerubian delegation’s first meeting with the Council of Seven Nations, another event that people would be talking about for a long time to come. That meeting had set the stage for Azjol-Nerub’s future relations with the Eastern Kingdoms.

Krivax believed that the ongoing political summit could be just as influential on Azeroth’s future as either of those examples. Alexstrasza’s presence had already removed any possibility that the orcs would be wholesale slaughtered, but Krivax knew that how they were dealt with would have enormous consequences.

In the original timeline, the orcs were sectioned away into internment camps and left to rot as they suffered the effects of Fel withdrawal. They became increasingly aloof and lethargic, and the Alliance had gladly used their docile behavior to keep the orcs contained. The security around the internment camps inevitably grew lax, which eventually led to an event that would ensure the reformation of the Horde under a new Warchief.

Thrall, the first orc to reconnect with his people’s shamanist roots since Gul’dan corruption of the Horde, would use his new abilities to free the orcs of their lethargy and break them out of the internment camps. He would lead his people across the sea to Kalimdor, forge alliances with several other races, and reform the Horde as a power that could face off against the Alliance on equal footing. Of course, there were many more important details to that story, but that was essentially what had happened in the original timeline.

It was also a future that Krivax intended to do everything he could to prevent.

While conflict might make Azeroth strong, Krivax had to believe that there was a better way of preparing the world than dooming it to a state of constant war. Given the animosities already formed, it was extremely unlikely that the Alliance and a newly formed Horde would be able to coexist in peace. If Krivax wanted to successfully prevent that kind of future, there were several different things that he could do.

The most straightforward plan was to rescue Thrall from his slave owner and ensure he never grew to be the Warchief of the Horde. With only a few bags of gold, Krivax had been able to find a goblin sneaky enough to confirm that Thrall was currently in the custody of Aedelas Blackmoore. It would be a relatively simple matter for him to rescue the young orc, but he decided to wait until after the Alliance decided what to do with the remainder of the Horde.

Still, even if Thrall wasn’t the one to free the Horde, there was no doubt that just leaving the orcs in the internment camps was a disaster waiting to happen.

Krivax’s ultimate goal was to rehabilitate the Horde into people who could live peacefully with the rest of the world and help protect Azeroth, but that was easier said than done. Regardless of his goals, the people of the Eastern Kingdoms didn’t intend to forgive the Horde for the many atrocities they committed during their invasion. Fortunately, Krivax had a few prospective allies in his goal of turning the Horde from monsters into responsible denizens of Azeroth.

Krivax glanced to the side and studied the figure of High King Anub’arak, who was currently away from Northrend for the first time in his centuries of life. Alexstrasza had paid for the cooperation of Azjol-Nerub with a map of Kalimdor, but the High King truly didn’t care what happened to the Horde. It didn’t matter to him if Horde was killed, enslaved, or welcomed with open arms. As long as they weren’t serving the Old Gods, threatening Azjol-Nerub, or settling on Northrend, the Horde simply wasn’t their problem. The only reason that the High King was even attending this summit was due to diplomatic necessity, and because it gave him the chance to evaluate his fellow rulers.

Krivax suspected that King Anasterian Sunstrider, ruler of the high elves of Quel’thalas, was also here for similar reasons. When he had first seen the high elf, Krivax was surprised that the man actually showed signs of aging, which was not something he was used to seeing from perennially ageless beings. Despite this, the ancient king seemed to move with supernatural grace and his gaze reminded Krivax of the many other timeworn beings that he had met so far.

Beings such as Alexstrasza, who was simultaneously the most powerful person in the room and also the most unpopular. Everyone understood that the Dragon Queen would be pushing for leniency toward the Horde, and nobody liked her for it.

Krivax dearly hoped that Alexstrasza wouldn’t push her agenda too forcefully. It was one thing for the Alliance to reluctantly reach a particular conclusion on their own, and something else entirely when an absurdly powerful being forced it on them.

The only other group that clearly favored leniency was the Church of the Holy Light, which was pretty much obligated to push for rehabilitation by its religious ideology. Gnomeregan, Lordaeron, and Dalaran were all on the fence to various degrees, but pretty much everyone else would prefer that the Horde be exterminated. Even if that possibility was taken off the table by Alexstrasza, it would be a herculean task to convince the various kingdoms to spend the taxes of their citizens on maintaining the Horde internment camps.

This summit would be a difficult one, especially given the hardships and food crises that they were already facing. Plans had been made to cleanse the land, bolster food production, and repair the ravages of war, but all of those things would take a lot of time and effort. Unlike the original timeline, Lordaeron was certainly not in a position to heavily fund the camps themselves.

Glancing over at the hardened expression of Lord Admiral Proudmoore, Krivax knew that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Aside from the Horde, they also needed to make a decision on the Dark Portal and Draenor. Krivax had no idea whether or not Draenor was salvageable, but he was pessimistic on that front. Still, the Dragonflights would probably have a better understanding of where things stood given that they’d already had enough time to learn more about the situation. There were several important plans that Krivax had in regard to Draenor, so he hoped the Alliance would decide against immediately destroying the Dark Portal.

Krivax was pulled from his thoughts as High Tinker Mekkatorque entered the conference room with his entourage following close behind. The High Tinker looked much the same as when Krivax had first met him, an older gnome with a cleanly shaven head and a bushy gray mustache. Even while attending an important political summit, he carried a wrench around his waist and wore a pair of engineering goggles.

Although his apparel was rather strange, Krivax had long since learned to ignore the… eccentricities of Azeroth’s people.

Once the High Tinker took his seat next to King Magni, Grand Magus Antonidas stood from his seat and addressed the room. Given that Dalaran was hosting the summit, it went without saying that the Grand Magus was expected to serve as the moderator for the discussions.

Antonidas cleared his throat and began, “Esteemed leaders and representatives of Azeroth, I would like to welcome you all to Dalaran on such an important day. As we all know, the matters we discuss today will have far-reaching consequences for our world and the future of our various peoples.”

Antonidas swept his gaze through the room as they all remained silent, “We have gathered here to determine the fate of the captured members of the Horde. The… enormity of their transgressions is not something that bears repeating. We all know what they have done and all of us are still suffering the consequences of their decisions. Yet our war against them has been won and we leaders must decide on a path forward. Let us be guided by wisdom as we seek to do what is best for our respective nations.”

Krivax could already tell by the reactions of those present that some of them had very divergent ideas of what was best for their nations.

“In addition to the Horde, we must also decide what is to be done about the Dark Portal and the foreign world that lies beyond,” Antonidas continued solemnly. “The portal itself has reportedly been secured by the Dragonflights, and its magic has been examined by the leader of the Blue Dragonflight, Malygos. According to him, destroying the Dark Portal would successfully destabilize it, but a permanent link between our world and theirs will always remain. After being destroyed, the Dark Portal could be reopened on either world by any powerful enough force.”

This was another change that came about due to Krivax’s actions. Originally, the Alliance would only learn that the connection between Azeroth and Draenor still existed once the orc shaman Ner’zhul reopened it from their side years later. Thanks to Malygos having studied it, they now understood that just destroying the portal wouldn’t get rid of it permanently. The nations at today’s summit would need to develop a more comprehensive strategy to handle the link between worlds in the long-term.

“With that said, I welcome you all to share your concerns and opinions,” said Antonidas as he returned to his seat. The room was quiet for several more moments as everyone looked to see who would speak first.

“Fine. I’m sure you all already know how I feel, so I’ll say my piece first,” said Admiral Proudmoore, already glaring toward Alexstrasza as he leaned forward in his seat. “These animals came to this world and brought nothing but savagery and destruction. I have studied these orcs throughout the war and I see not a single redeeming quality within them. We have all heard by now that the orcs are under the influence of some kind of ‘blood curse,’ but were we not also told that their leaders had willingly drunk the blood of a powerful demon? These creatures ruined their own world and now you wish to give them the chance to ruin our own? How does that make any sense?!”

By the time he was done speaking, Lord Admiral Proudmoore, his face red with anger, had stood up on his prosthetic leg and was practically shouting. Krivax’s heart fell as he saw many of the other rulers nodding along to the Admiral’s speech.

“Here’s my proposal. If you all are too softhearted to do the deed yourself, I say we drive them back through the portal and allow them to live or die in the world they doomed themselves. Let them suffer the consequences of their actions. Would that be ‘mercy’ enough?” The Admiral sat back in his seat, his gaze challenging anyone to argue against him.

Archbishop Benedictus was the first to do so, “Admiral Proudmoore, I will not argue against you from a position of fate, as I know you and several others here do not share my beliefs. I will instead simply say this. What you are suggesting, whether it be done directly or not, is the wholesale slaughter of orc men, women, and children who are incapable of defending themselves. This war has already cost us all dearly. We should not allow it to take any more by setting us all on this dark path.”

“You’re asking us to do far more than spare their worthless lives,” King Greymane said gruffly, sounding just as enthusiastic about helping the Horde as Admiral Proudmoore. “You want us to feed, clothe, and shelter the beasts while we’re struggling to do the same for our own people. I say without exaggeration that my subjects would sooner overthrow me than allow that to happen.”

“If we are all willing to work together, the burden on any one nation wouldn’t be too severe,” said Krivax, hoping to move the conversation in a more positive direction. “Azjol-Nerub is perfectly willing to offer its fair share of gold and resources to contain the threat of the Horde.”

Their kingdom was probably the least economically affected by the war, as none of their territories had been damaged and they had made a sizable profit from selling war beasts to the Alliance. Azjol-Nerub also expected to further profit from the subsequent peace by selling the materials that the Eastern Kingdoms would need to rebuild. Although the kingdom had lost many soldiers once they had formally joined the war, Azjol-Nerub could rebuild their population far quicker than everyone else.

“That assumes that we are all willing to pay for this, but I see no reason to do so,” said King Trollbane

After quickly looking around the room, Krivax came to the conclusion that nobody would be persuaded by arguments of morality. The war was too recent and the scars left behind were too severe, so Krivax instead decided to try a different tactic.

“I think we are all lacking some crucial information necessary to make this decision,” said Krivax, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. “We need to first know more about the magic that is affecting the orcs, and whether or not there is any hope of freeing them from their curse. It would also be helpful to know more about the state of Draenor and Kalimdor. I’m sure many of us would feel more comfortable with the Horde if they were settled far away from our nations.”

At his words, the growing tension in the room seemed to settle down and everyone turned their attention to the Dragon Queen, who had remained quiet up to this point. Given that a lot of the animosity was directed toward her, that had probably been a good idea.

“My brother has thoroughly examined the curse, and it is extremely powerful magic,” said Alexstrasza, her voice calm and assured despite hostility in the room. “It works by establishing a sympathetic link between one of the Burning Legion’s more powerful demons and those who drank their blood. There are only two methods of breaking the curse that we are currently aware of. The first is to slay the demon sustaining the link, which is impossible given that they likely reside within the Twisting Nether. The second method is… significantly more complicated.”

The Dragon Queen took a moment to consider her words before she continued, “According to my brother, the curse functions by heightening the physical abilities and bloodlust of the orcs while in combat. If they are left deprived of combat and new sources of Fel energies, then they will begin to show symptoms of withdrawal as the curse begins to weaken its hold on their people. It should then be possible to replace the curse with another form of magic, triggering a cascading effect that would free the orcs permanently.”

Some of those gathered looked very interested in Alexstrasza’s explanation.

“What kind of symptoms?” Queen Regent Menethil asked curiously.

“Weakness, apathy, and a general lethargy that would gradually spread across their entire populations,” said Alexstrasza.

“If those are the symptoms, then why would we ever want to cure them of it?” asked Admiral Proudmoore, genuinely dumbfounded. “A weak and lethargic Horde would be far easier to contain if you truly insist on us doing so.”

“Logically speaking, should we not want the Horde to be rehabilitated?” High Tinker Mekkatorque asked thoughtfully. Krivax had not been able to stay in Gnomeregan for very long, but he had a feeling that the High Tinker was more interested in making the most rational decisions for his people. “If we leave them in that state, then they can never do anything to fix the damage they’ve done. It also means any clever warlock could pass by and create a new army. But, I agree with Vizier Krivax that we need more data before we can move forward with this discussion. Please continue, Dragon Queen.”

“Thank you, High Tinker,” said Alexstrasza, offering the gnomish leader a faint smile. “The cure for the orcs would need to be both magical and spiritual in nature. What I mean by that is the orcs would both need to be exposed to a new form of magic, and they would also need to consciously reject their old path and set out on a new one. This could be done in any number of ways, from devoting themselves to the Light or embracing Nature magic, but given their historical connection to Shamanism, I suspect that would be the most effective path.”

“Hmmm, I haven’t been convinced that lettin’ these orcs live is the wisest thing, but Aerie Peak could send some of its shamans to help reconnect them to the land,” said Thane Kurdan Wildhammer. The Wildhammer dwarves were the only members of the Alliance who actually practiced shamanism on a large scale, so their help would be necessary.

“The Church would also be willing to lead these orcs to the Light,” said Archbishop Benedictus to nobody’s surprise. The Church would never let go of an opportunity to spread their religion, although Krivax had doubts as to whether or not they would be effective in this case.

After thanking the two leaders, Alexstrasza continued her explanation “As for your questions regarding Draenor and Kalimdor they both hold their own challenges. We were able to discover that a warlock by the name of Gul’dan had thoroughly corrupted the Draenor’s elements with Fel magic. Its environment will continue to gradually degrade, and purifying it would be a herculean endeavor. None of that even begins to take into account the orcs still living on the world and the threat of any potential traps left behind by the Burning Legion.”

At the mention of the orcs still on Draenor, the mood grew even grimmer than it already was. If the Dark Portal couldn’t be permanently destroyed, then it would always be a threat to Azeroth. The magical connection would need to be constantly watched and a garrison would have to be built around it, just in case the Horde or the Burning Legion attempted to pass through the portal.

Draenor was eventually obliterated by Ner’zhul as a side effect of his attempts to open multiple portals away from his world in the original timeline, but that was incredibly unlikely now. The magical artifacts that he would need to destroy Draenor were no longer within reach.

“As for Kalimdor, the night elves are unwilling to allow the orcs to settle on their continent so long as they remain corrupted by Fel magic. They would also be likely to come into conflict with the centaur, who have already killed much of the continent’s native tauren,” said Alexstrasza, her voice growing sad toward the end.

Admiral Proudmoore scoffed derisively before speaking, “For someone who considers themself to be the ‘guardian of life on Azeroth,’ you certainly have no problem allowing savages to kill innocent people.”

Contrary to Krivax’s expectations, Alexstrasza didn’t grow insulted or defensive at the accusation. Instead, she simply looked at Admiral Proudmoore with immeasurable weariness in her eyes. “My duty is to the living beings of Azeroth, and that includes the centaur, the trolls, or any number of people who you would consider to be ‘savage,’ Admiral Proudmoore. If not for the extraterrestrial origin of the Horde and the Burning Legion’s involvement, then I would have never intervened in a mortal war. As much as it might have pained me, I would have allowed them to continue sweeping over this continent, because I cannot allow myself to favor one race over another. From the perspective of my duties, none of your lives are any more valuable than that of a random murloc.”

The Dragon Queen’s words were enough to bring everyone up short, including Krivax. He had no idea what it must be like to look at the world from that kind of perspective, and it made it harder to predict Alexstrasza’s actions. All of the Aspects seemed a bit… warped from the weight of their responsibilities, but the Dragon Queen had always come off as the most normal and empathetic.

Perhaps she still was, but her duties compelled her to take actions that Krivax couldn’t comprehend.

“So to summarize, we can’t send the orcs to Draenor without them either dying or rejoining the rest of their kin and launching another invasion. We can’t send them to Kalimdor without angering some strange elves that I’ve never heard of, and we can’t kill the animals off because you won’t allow it,” asked Admiral Proudmoore, his voice level as he summarized the situation. “Therefore we need to clothe, feed, and shelter them while also going through the effort of rehabilitating them from their demonic corruption. Is that correct, Dragon Queen?”

“It is. I would not normally intervene in mortal affairs, but I have no intention of allowing a genocide now that I have,” said Alexstrasza, her voice firm as she made her position clear.

“Could the Horde perhaps be kept on Northrend while they undergo their… rehabilitation?” asked Queen Regent Menethil.

“No, they cannot,” said High King Anub’arak, speaking up for the first time before Krivax could respond. “The only territory capable of safely sustaining such a large population would be the Howling Fjord. Azjol-Nerub will not allow any outside power to settle that land so long as there exists a risk of them awakening the vrykul.”

The possibility of that happening was admittedly very small, but nerubians still held very strong feelings toward the vrykul even after so much time. When they learned that there was actually a significant vrykul civilization on the Broken Isles, Azjol-Nerub’s leadership had not been happy, to say the least.

“The best course of action would be to construct camps within the Eastern Kingdom to hold the orcs while we seek to free them from their curse. Orgrim Doomhammer and the rest of the Horde leadership should be tried by a council of nations,” said Krivax, deciding that it was time to put forward a proposal now that everyone fully understood the situation. “We can choose where to resettle them after we’ve done that, whether it be on Draenor, Kalimdor, or elsewhere. In addition, it would be in all of our interests to fortify the area around the Dark Portal and also make efforts to learn more about the situation on Draenor.”

Discussions on Krivax’s proposal became intense as everyone argued over the details. Everyone easily agreed that the Alliance should construct fortifications around the Dark Portal to prevent any further invasions and was willing to contribute money and guards. However, the rulers disagreed on how to fund the internment camps and where to establish them.

Alexstrasza was not so subtly pushed to help pay for the camps herself, to which she eventually agreed. Much of that gold could be used to purchase supplies from the goblin cartels that hadn’t participated in the war, greatly alleviating the burden on everyone.

There was also a lot of disagreement over where exactly these camps would be built. Nobody dared to ask Supreme Commander Lothar if Stormwind would be willing to host the orcs, and several other kingdoms were obviously off the table.

Kul’Tiras, Stromgarde, and Gilneas hadn’t seemed to soften their positions in the slightest and Lordaeron was too damaged from the attack on Capital City to offer much help. Much to Krivax’s surprise, King Anasterian remained mostly quiet during the discussion, but the elves were also opposed to hosting the orcs near Quel’thalas.

After much discussion, Alterac eventually said that they were willing to host the internment camps in the Hillsbrad Foothills… for a significant amount of gold. That wasn’t much different from the original timeline, so Krivax wasn’t particularly surprised. Despite that particular hurdle being cleared, they still needed to decide how to provide the guards needed for the camps.

Honestly, it was all very frustrating to Krivax. Azjol-Nerub could easily field the manpower to guard the internment camps but things would be much easier if everyone was willing to pitch in. Unfortunately, many of the rulers seemed to have an ideological opposition to helping the Horde. No matter how much he tried to frame it as something that would be in their own interests they remained immovable.

Thankfully, Gnomeregan had agreed to help once everything was laid out, and Ironforge reluctantly chose to side with their ally. Aerie Peak was also swayed once their fellow dwarves agreed and Dalaran eventually came around as well, but nobody else was changing their minds. Everyone else was only willing to give a minimum amount, and it was clear to everyone that they would prefer to not contribute at all.

They didn’t really have much of a choice given the way things had progressed. Admiral Proudmoore could storm out in anger and refuse to cooperate, but that would just mean that Kul’Tiras wouldn’t have any say in the matter.

In the end, it was decided the orcs would be kept in internment camps within Hillsbrad Foothills. Unlike in the original timeline, the Alliance would separate a group of orcs into a separate camp and attempt to cure them of the blood curse. The Church of Holy Light and the Wildhammer Dwarves would be the ones primarily responsible for doing so. If they both failed, then Krivax always had the option to expose the existence of the Frostwolf Clan, as they should have a few orcish shamans of their own.

Once that separate group was successfully cured, a subsequent discussion could be had about curing the rest of the Horde and resettling them somewhere else. Krivax could already tell that such a conversation would be more than a little complicated…

“Now that a preliminary agreement has been reached on these camps, I believe there is another important matter for us to discuss,” said King Anasterian, directing his gaze toward Alexstrasza. “Quel’Thalas will endure your desire to spare the lives of the common grunts, but my people demand justice. The leaders of the Horde must answer for their decisions.”

“Trials must be arranged for the Horde leadership and any individual orc identified by the survivors of their massacres,” Krivax readily agreed. If someone was able to find the specific orc that killed their family members, then there was no reason to deny them justice.

He knew that people would need someone to point their anger toward if they were ever going to tolerate the rest of the Horde, and frankly, Krivax felt the same. Any trial would be little more than a way to document all of their crimes before executing them, but Krivax couldn’t muster the will to be concerned about treating the orc leadership fairly. Originally, Orgrim Doomhammer and many of the other chieftains had either escaped or died in battle. Krivax hoped that the public spectacle of putting them on trial and executing them would help people find closure.

The summit would last for several more days as they went over the minute details, but Krivax was fairly satisfied with how things were going. As long as a new hostile Horde wasn’t allowed to be recreated, Azeroth would truly be on the path to solving many of its future problems by the time he returned from Uldaman.

Assuming that everything went to plan, of course…