Krivax glanced worriedly at the Lothalor Woodlands treant that was currently staring at him silently.

The creature was not completely permeated with arcane magic—if it were then it would likely be growing crystals from its bark—but Krivax could still sense the arcane emanating from it constantly. He did not know very much about treants and where they came from, but he doubted that every woodland on Azeroth would be able to produce them. The large amounts of treants were likely a result of the dense magic that permeated the area.

While there were few things in the Lothalor Woodlands that visually marked it as influenced by the ley line beneath it—aside from the faint violet tint of its leaves—the entire area was like a beacon in the night to Krivax’s magical senses. He could only begin to imagine how overwhelmed he would be if he ever found himself in the Crystalsong Forest.

Fortunately, there was little reason for him to go to such a place, given that Azjol-Nerub had already tried and failed to harvest anything worthwhile from there. The Crystalsong Forest was just too well guarded by mad spirits and treants, and the Viziers already possessed more easily acquired alternatives to what they could gain from the forest.

The lightly infused bark of the Lothalor Woodlands was much more useful than the crystals that composed the Crystalsong trees. Not only that, but Vizier Hadix had also expressed an interest in the various flowers, fruits, and wildlife that could be found in the Woodlands. While neither Krivax nor Hadix knew for certain exactly how these arcane-inclined flora and fauna could be used, they both knew that the Viziers of the Arcane Research Division would do everything in their power to find out.

It was very rare for a society as insular and stagnant as Azjol-Nerub to be exposed to anything it had not already seen before, so this was a rare opportunity for them.

Krivax forcibly pulled his thoughts back to the present as he bent down to gather a fallen branch while watching for any sign of aggression from the treant as he did so. It was difficult to predict what he could harvest from the Lothalor Woodlands without being attacked by its guardians, but they usually gave some sign of warning before becoming aggressive, thankfully.

Krivax picked up the branch without issue and carefully stored it inside his spatial bag. Once that was done, he decided to begin heading back to Indu’le Village before his good luck ran out.

Krivax directed his flyers to follow him and watch for any hostile creatures as he began making his way back to the village.

After they had come to an agreement with the village’s leadership, Krivax and Masruk spent most of their time in Indu’le while they waited for the merchant ship from the Eastern Kingdoms to arrive.

According to Chieftain Ko’nani and his Elders, the ship should be arriving soon if they kept to their regular schedule. The tuskarr of Dragonblight had seemingly encountered both goblins and merchant ships from the Eastern Kingdoms that occasionally traveled to Northrend for the purpose of trading and transporting members of the Explorer’s League.

The tuskarr had also been willing to trade away a map of the Eastern Kingdoms and a gnomish toy, both of which Krivax had given to Hadix as quickly as possible, much to Masruk’s disappointment in the latter case until he was given a spare. After being given further proof of the existence of the lands across the ocean, the Vizier had given him orders to contact him when the foreigners arrived and began to contact him less frequently. Krivax was curious about what Hadix was doing with the evidence, but there was no real way for him to know.

However, he understood that the imminent discovery of the Eastern Kingdoms would have an immense impact on Azjol-Nerub’s leadership, and the politics that the Vizier was involved in must be… complicated.

In comparison, when the arcane regents that Indu’le Village had harvested from the Lothalor Woodlands were finally delivered to Kilah’kuk, he expected it to be lost in the noise.

Krivax’s thoughts were interrupted when he stepped out of the treeline and caught sight of Indu’le Village and approached the gate that separated the Woodlands from the village.

Built around the same lake from which it derived its name, Indu’le Village was the largest settlement of tuskarr that Krivax had seen so far. If not in population, then mostly in size, as the local tuskarr took full advantage of the lake’s nature as a font of magic and life to put up fish farms and buildings nearly all along its edges.

“Good evening, Utoq!” said Krivax, cheerfully greeting the tuskarr responsible for guarding the gate. “The treants were starting to look at me funny, so I figured I’d finish early for the day.”

"Welcome back, Krivax," said Utoq. The tuskarr quickly moved to open the gate. "I still don't understand why you're the one that's going out into the Woodlands instead of our people. We have a longer and more understanding relationship with the local tree spirits, after all."

It was an unfortunate reality that the tuskarr of Indu'le Village did not have as much experience sensing arcane magic as Krivax did. Although living on a ley line likely did give them an increased aptitude for the arcane and a minor ability to sense the magic, Krivax was still far more proficient in detecting arcane magic than they were.

When he had finished negotiating with their Chieftain, it was decided that Krivax would be the one to go out into the Woodlands and collect samples of items that the Arcane Research Division might want. Once those samples reached Kilah'kuk and were analyzed, only then would the tuskarr venture out into the forest and harvest it themselves.

The Lothalor Woodlands were not without danger, after all, even beyond potentially angering its nature spirits, and all the tuskarr who were capable of defending themselves were busy fighting off wolvar. The village could not afford to send these warriors to collect goods that might not even have any value.

It made sense from a logistical point of view, but it was still a bit troublesome for Krivax. His life would be much easier if Hadix would simply take a day to fill up a bag full of samples and then teleport it to Kilah'kuk, but there was little hope of that happening any time soon. Not only was he incredibly busy, but the Vizier also did not believe in doing ‘Initiate’s work’ as he called it.

Krivax tried to explain this to Utoq.

“I understand that,” said Utoq. “It just does not feel right for us to send guests to do such dangerous work, but I guess that’s none of my business. You should go see your friend. I heard that he went out with the warriors to kill wolvar today. They should be back by now.”

Krivax thanked the guard for the information and quickly started making his way toward Masruk. While he didn’t approve of his friend constantly leaving to fight the wolvar in search of battle, he knew that doing so was Masruk’s choice. Still, that didn’t stop Krivax from worrying about him.

Moving through the village as quickly as he could without being impolite, he soon reached the northeast gateway, where Masruk could be seen speaking with one of the tuskarr warriors.

“Hey, Masruk,” said Krivax, greeting his friend as he approached. “I heard from Utoq that you just came back. How did everything go? Were the wolvar a good challenge?”

Krivax did not enjoy violence or combat like his friend did—even if he understood the necessity of it—but he would still make the effort to show an interest in his friend’s passions. After all, Masruk had been the only one to show an interest in his passion for the surface world, so it was only fair for him to return the favor, right?

“They did,” said Masruk with genuine joy in his voice. “The wolvar are ferocious warriors and despite their lack of intelligence, they possess a cunning that makes them a formidable enemy. I look forward to fighting them again tomorrow.”

“Ha! I’ve never met someone with as much bloodlust as this one,” said the large tuskarr warrior that Masruk had been speaking to. “Hold on to that passion, and you’ll grow into a truly formidable warrior one day!”

“Thank you, Edwek,” said Masruk. “I have learned much from you and your fellow warriors.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Edwek. “You’ve done a lot to help us fight off the wolvar.”

At the mention of his people’s enemy, Edwek lost his jovial smile and his expression twisted into something fearsome.

“The damned beasts have been attacking us constantly lately. They always become more aggressive during this time of the year, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”

“I wish there was more we could do to help,” Krivax said sympathetically.

He had gone out with Masruk once to fight the wolvar, and he understood why the tuskarr hated them so much. The primitive wolverine people were extremely aggressive and difficult to handle. They frequently attacked the path between Mao’ki Harbor and Indu’le Village and often killed any tuskarr unlucky enough to be caught out alone.

“You’ve already done more than most,” said Edwek. “I’ve heard that Chieftain Anogut managed to reach a deal with Chieftain Ko’nani for metal weapons made from the ore that was brought on Green Island. Once our warriors are better equipped, we’ll make the wolvar regret every last tuskarr that they’ve killed.”

The warrior's last words were said with a tone of grim promise that made it obvious he meant every word.

After a few more moments of making small talk with the warrior, Edwek said his farewells and went about his business.

“You should have joined us, Krivax,” said Masruk once they were alone. “If we are going to continue exploring the surface, then you will need to continue honing your skills in combat.”

“I know,” said Krivax. “I just prefer to avoid violence when I can. But that doesn’t mean I’m not continuing to grow stronger.”

Intent on proving his point to his friend, Krivax began casting a spell that he had only practiced in private until now.

In an instant, Krivax disappeared from his location and reappeared a few feet from his previous location.

“Look! I finally learned how to cast Blink!” Krivax said proudly. Learning spatial magic had not been nearly as intuitive an experience as learning frost magic, but Krivax eventually had gotten the hang of it.

Masruk stared at him blankly for several moments before throwing a rock at Krivax’s chest.

“Ouch,” said Krivax, more in surprise than anything else. The rock had not actually been thrown hard enough to damage his carapace. “What was that for?”

“You need to train your reflexes,” Masruk said smugly. “Being able to teleport won’t help if you get hit before you can finish casting your spell or after you finish it.”

“That’s not fair. You just caught me by surprise. I’ve gotten pretty good at casting that spell.”

“Oh?”

This time Krivax was ready for Masruk to throw the rock at him, and he Blinked out of the way.

“Ha! See?”

Krivax hurried to dodge the next rock that Masruk threw; while he had learned how to Blink, casting the spell several times in quick succession was beyond his current abilities.

The next several minutes were spent with Krivax doing his best to dodge and Blink away from the random items that Masruk threw at him in the name of ‘training.’

“Excuse me.”

Krivax and Masruk’s impromptu game was interrupted as a young tuskarr approached the two nerubians and called for their attention.

“Chieftain Anogut has called for the two of you.”

Krivax had not spoken to the Chieftain very often since they concluded their negotiations, so he was surprised that the man was calling for the two of them. Chieftain Anogut was an extremely busy man, after all.

After signaling their understanding to the messenger, Krivax and Masruk began making their way to the Chieftain’s home.

Once they arrived, Krivax was surprised to see the Chieftain speaking to Orfus, given that the Kamaguan warrior usually spent most of his time in Mao’ki Harbor.

“Good evening, Chieftain Anogutt,” Krivax said respectfully. “I was told that you called for us?”

“Ah, you’re here! Good!” said the boisterous Chieftain. “I called because Orfus here has some news I thought you would like to hear as quickly as possible.”

“I do,” said Orfus as he turned his attention to the two nerubians. “The shamans in Moa’ki Harbor told me that the foreigners from across the sea have nearly arrived. I came to tell you as soon as I heard.”

Once Krivax finished processing what Orfus had just said, he froze in shock and was only brought back to reality by the worried prodding of Masruk.

.

He glanced at his friend in thanks before addressing Orfus. “Let’s get going. It would be best if we arrived in Moa’ki Harbor as quickly as possible so that we might have some time to prepare.”

After offering Chieftain Anogut a short but respectful farewell, their group of three exited Indu’le Village from its southeastern gate and started heading back towards Moa’ki Harbor.

The three of them were interrupted by a small group of wolvar, but fortunately, Krivax’s flyers spotted them coming and the resulting fight was short and barely affected their journey.

It took them some time to make the trip, but when they reached there, Krivax could see that the merchant ship had still not arrived yet. As soon as they walked into Moa’ki Harbor, one of the Elders immediately approached their group.

“You arrived quicker than I expected,” said Elder Si’uigo. “Come with me to the Chieftain’s home. We have made preparations for your introduction to the foreigners.”

“Why do we need to go to the Chieftain’s home?” asked Krivax, confused.

“Well… it would be best if the foreigners were warned about your appearance before they met you,” said Elder Si’uigo after only a moment of hesitation. “Much like our warriors were warned by Orfus when you first arrived on Green Island. I’m sure you have learned by now that your people’s form can be unsettling to our people without warning. I do not know for certain how the foreigners will view your appearance, but I suspect their reactions will be similar to our own.”

Krivax winced in embarrassment. That was not something that he should have forgotten. The tuskarr had all reacted in shock once seeing them, but Krivax had gotten used to it and the tuskarr adjusted very quickly once they realized that the two nerubians were not hostile.

Still, there was something he wanted to see before Elder Si’uigo escorted them to the Chieftain’s home.

“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to take a look at their ship before I go with you.”

Elder Si’uigo looked at him strangely for a moment before shrugging.

“Very well. I suppose if you have never seen one of their wooden ships before then it could be an interesting sight. I’m not much of a fan of their ships myself. Rowboats and kayaks are easier to control and turtles are much more convenient.”

Soon enough, their group had made their way to the docks and Krivax was staring at the incoming ship through a borrowed spyglass. Spotting the three-masted sailing ship in great detail, he was suddenly filled with conflicted emotions.

He had already been aware that the merchant ship was scheduled to arrive at any moment, but it felt strange to be confronted with a moment that he had been working for his entire second life.

Today would go down in history as the day that a citizen of Azjol-Nerub contacted a citizen of the Eastern Kingdoms for the first time, and Krivax could not help but feel the weight of that knowledge settle on his shoulders.

After a few moments, Krivax pushed down his tumultuous emotions and nodded to Elder Si’uigo.

As he followed the elderly tuskarr to the Chieftain’s home, he couldn’t help but look back at the incoming ship and wonder about the people who were onboard.