"As for the rogues and hunters you lent me—I've already dispatched them deep into the forest to search and track the fleeing Trolls, to prevent them from coming out to attack civilians."
"Let's go, let's see what we can pry out of that beast's mouth."
They walked together to the innermost cell.
Zarjin was chained to the wall, heavy shackles binding his hands and feet.
He hung his head, his armor already removed, revealing his green body covered in war paint and scars.
Hearing footsteps, Zarjin slowly raised his head, his crimson eyes filled with hatred and defiance.
Kovak walked up to him, his voice cold: "Troll, why did you attack us? Where are the messengers we sent?"
Zarjin spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, sneering: "Messengers? Those lizardmen with ridiculous gifts and mouths full of lies?"
"Their skulls should already be decorating our chieftain's throne!"
"The Amani do not need the 'friendship' of outsiders!"
It's worth noting that since they both understood Trollish, their communication didn't require a translator.
"Why?" Kael couldn't help but press, "We came with friendly intentions, just for trade—"
"Trade my ass!" Zarjin abruptly interrupted him, struggling and making the chains clatter, "Do you think we don't know that what you really want to do is spread your evil foreign god's faith!"
"We saw them! Those smooth-skinned, short-tusked traitors!"
"They willingly accepted this curse, betrayed the Troll form, betrayed the Loa, and defected to your damned winged lizard god!"
"This is a desecration of the Troll race! It is a plague that must be eradicated!"
He panted heavily, his eyes gleaming with fanatical ferocity: "The chieftains and priests of Zul'Aman have made their decision!"
"Not only will we remove this small abscess on your island, but we will also occupy this entire large island!"
"We will completely wipe out you heretics and your evil god's faith from this land!"
"This is Amani land, sacred territory bestowed upon us by the Zandalar Empire!"
"This is just the vanguard, next time—"
Zarjin let out a threatening chuckle.
Kovak's fists clenched, his scales rubbing together, making a faint sound.
Kael's heart also sank.
Although this Troll leader seemed not very bright, they had spilled all the information themselves without being prompted.
But the situation was worse than imagined.
This attack was not a misunderstanding, or a "rogue" raid by some small tribe, but a holy war by the Amani Trollss involving their fundamental beliefs and racial identity.
After asking a few more detailed questions, Kael and Kovak silently returned to the wooden hut that also served as an office.
As they left, Kael saw Kovak make a throat-slitting gesture to the guard.
The crude map was still spread out on the table.
"Seeking aid from Northrend is inevitable," Kovak spoke first, his finger heavily tapping the areas representing the Drakkari Kingdom and the Dragonborn Empire.
"The strength of New Voljin struggled so much to even resist their vanguard; it is simply incapable of confronting the entire Zul'Aman Trolls."
"We must request the homeland to send troops, real troops."
"But the journey is too far," Kael looked at the vast Forbidden Sea on the map, his brows furrowed.
"Even if messengers depart immediately and the journey is smooth, reinforcements will not arrive for several months at the earliest."
"We cannot wait that long. New Voljin's fragile defenses might not even withstand the next medium-scale attack."
Kovak nodded, then shook his head, "You are right, but don't look at it that way."
"According to the intelligence we gathered earlier, the Amani Trollss seem to lack the ability for large-scale sea transport."
"Their ships are rudimentary, and the number of troops they can transport at one time is limited."
"Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just two hundred people this time, but two thousand, or even more."
This was perhaps the only good news.
"So, we are temporarily safe?" Kael stroked his chin, lost in thought, "No, even so, we absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait for reinforcements to arrive without doing anything."
His gaze became firm, "We must find a way to stall the Amani Trollss before reinforcements arrive."
"At least we need to prevent them from easily landing on New Voljin, to buy us time for rebuilding and defending."
"You are right." Kovak looked at Kael, waiting for his ideas, "But how do we stall them?"
After last night's battle, he no longer saw this young Red Dragonkin merely as an apprentice priest who needed looking after.
Kael's finger moved across the map, from Kul Tiras across the ocean, pointing to the northern region of the Eastern Kingdoms continent—
That red area marked as the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas.
Then he looked at the dots representing humans.
"The enemy of our enemy is a potential friend," Kael's voice became clear, "The Amani Trollss are not only our enemies,
They are also constantly encroaching upon the Elves in the north and the Humans in the south."
"There is a possibility of an alliance between us and them."
He looked up at Kovak: "We should immediately send new envoys, no longer for friendly visits or seeking trade, but to..."
"Reveal the great threat of the Amani to them, and propose a joint effort to contain the Trolls."
"Even if a joint army cannot be formed immediately, as long as the Elves and Humans exert enough pressure on land, it will force the Amani to commit more troops to defending their inland, thus making them unable to organize large-scale naval expeditions to attack us."
Kovak looked at the map, pondered for a moment, and slowly nodded: ".Vertical and horizontal alliances. This is a bold but feasible strategy."
"We don't need them to trust us immediately, only to tie up the Trolls' energy."
He looked into Kael's eyes, a hint of approval flashing in them, "Let's do it this way. I will immediately select the most astute and reliable envoys,
And with our sincerity, send them separately to Quel'Thalas and the largest human tribe."
"Kael, I'll leave the preparation of documents and tokens to you—"
"No." Kael interrupted Kovak.
"I want to go to that continent myself."
Kovak's brows immediately furrowed, staring at Kael for a long time before slowly speaking:
"Kael, do you understand what you're saying? This isn't going to negotiate with some village, but crossing the sea to deal with human and elven kingdoms."
"I'm not doubting your ability, it's just—"
"I am the best candidate." Kael did not back down. He extended a hand and placed it on Kovak's shoulder, "With so many adventurers helping me, nothing will go wrong."
He really couldn't bring himself to say cheesy things like 'realizing dreams' or 'traveling the world', so he just made up some excuses.
"This plan was proposed by me, so it's only right that I execute it."
"Besides, I am a Dragonkin who has received complete priest training, so how to fool—I mean, how to persuade people, I have also systematically studied."
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