"I bring news of the assassins!"
"Cough, cough!" Dathrohan stepped forward alone and asked in a low voice: "A friend of the Hidden Blade?"
"Vanessa VanCleef, from the First Brigade of the Hidden Blades!" The female stealth operative, clad in blood-red tight leather armor, sheathed the dagger in her hand, her cold voice emanating from beneath her red mask.
After Dathrohan ushered Vanessa into his camp, the female Hidden Blade wasted no time, cutting straight to the purpose of her journey.
"What! Where is the target!?"
Stepping into Dathrohan's tent, Vanessa unrolled a piece of parchment from her waist pouch and spread it across the small central table. It was a hand-drawn map. From the somewhat familiar coastline, Dathrohan and the high-ranking knights gathered around him deduced it was a map of Vol'dun. The map precisely marked the Serpentine Canyon in the north, the Platform of the Devout on the western coastline, and most prominently, the Temple of Akunda in the south, which was emblazoned with a large red 'X'.
"They are here?" a high-ranking Paladin questioned, pointing at the red mark with doubt.
"No, Jorade, they couldn't be that swift," another paladin corrected the one named Jorade. "We just landed on the north shore; our target is at most a day's journey away. There are no mages among them, so it's impossible for them to reach the southernmost part of this land directly from the north shore."
"Brother Samuel is right," Dathrohan concurred, then asked Vanessa: "This shouldn't be our objective, should it?"
"That's correct, your target is not there, but judging by their trajectory, their ultimate destination is this area on the map." Vanessa's expression grew solemn as she spoke.
"The Temple of Akunda... it sounds like a temple built by trolls. What on earth happened there?" This question arose in the minds of the paladins.
"We learned from the local Tortollans that many strange occurrences plagued Vol'dun half a year ago. The Temple of Akunda was suddenly sealed off by dark forces. After more than half of the surrounding residents perished from a terrible black fog, the remaining inhabitants fled. Then, overnight, a colossal stone tower erupted from the original platform, rising like a dark peak that pierced the sky!"
"It is said that at the summit of the tower, a portal burns with flames, flickering with shadowy wings!"
As soon as Vanessa finished speaking, the paladins exchanged glances, then spoke in unison: "It's the Twilight Cult! Those evil cultists!"
Dathrohan understood everything in an instant! "After assassinating Bishop Natalie, these traitors intended to bring her tomes and weapons to the Twilight Cult's base?"
"Perhaps not merely a stronghold, but their headquarters!"
"We've caught a big fish. The crackdown on cultists in the country has never ceased. If we can eradicate their central base, we might be able to eliminate them completely!" The paladins discussed amongst themselves, drawing ever closer to the truth.
The Twilight Cult chose this location because the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor were under the firm control of the Alliance of Azeroth. Even if a Twilight Bastion were constructed, it would immediately face siege by the Alliance army. Furthermore, the Zandalari Troll Empire had recently suffered a devastating defeat, falling from its lofty status as a dominant Troll power. Its prestige was shattered. Aside from the weakest Farraki Desert Trolls who still acknowledged them, the other Frost, Forest, and Jungle Trolls had already asserted their independence.
The decline of the Zandalari prompted the Twilight Cult to shift their attention to their lands. In this desert of Vol'dun, various races coexisted: Vulpera, Tortollans, Sethrak, and the exiled Zandalari Trolls. The cycles of reproduction, disintegration, and transformation among races and factions seemed ceaseless. From a historical perspective, it had always been a hotbed of prolonged conflicts. And most importantly, the cultists had a specific reason for choosing the Vol'dun Desert as their base camp. They could feel the presence of the Ancient Gods in the very air here, and they could perceive future victory within the pervasive darkness.