In the year 2430 BDP (Before Dark Portal), the expansion of the Arathor Empire continued through the generations.
The feudal lords in various regions had largely consolidated their territories, and trade and border skirmishes between the various city-states were gradually coming to the forefront.
However, these issues had little to do with the Night Elves. Although Andreas still maintained his focus on the Eastern Kingdoms, the young human race had entered a relatively stable era after passing through the initial period of great expansion.
At this time, Andreas was at home playing with one of the fully grown Dreadblade Leopards.
Ever since the three cubs were brought home, Akumai, who was intellectually limited and adorably ugly, began to fall out of favor, and Leticia spent more time focusing on the growing Dreadblade Leopards.
The workaholic Shandris had slowed down her pace of life in recent centuries and no longer clocked in at the barracks every day.
However, this did not mean Shandris was slacking off on her core duties; the situation in all border regions of the Night Elf Republic remained under her control.
Since Aurora's Arcane studies were basically concluded, Celeste was relieved of her heavy burden and turned her attention to the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas across the sea.
She kept her promise to Lirathra, occasionally teleporting to Quel'Thalas to visit the growing young ranger, and even when she remained in Kalimdor, she maintained correspondence with Anasterian and Lirathra across the sea.
As the aftermath of the Troll Wars faded, Quel'Thalas returned to peace.
Silvermoon City had endless banquets year-round. The nobles indulged themselves, enjoying the peaceful life after the war, having perfectly copied the decadent lifestyle of the Highborne during the Night Elf Empire era.
Although Anasterian was dissatisfied with this decadent and extravagant atmosphere, everyone around him was indulging in life, and only a few maintained clear minds, leaving him no choice but to reluctantly accept this reality for the time being.
The Sun King gathered ministers who aligned with his philosophy of governance, and these individuals formed the nucleus of the Sunstrider Royal Faction, whose divergence from the aristocratic power wielded by the Silvermoon Council grew increasingly severe.
"Purrrr~"
Under Andreas' skilled petting, the Dreadblade Leopard resting on his lap let out a contented rumble from its throat.
Due to the concept of balancing work and rest introduced by Andreas, the Night Elf Republic abandoned the seven-day non-stop exploitative work model, switching instead to five days of work and two days of rest. Today was the national legal holiday.
However, just as Andreas was leisurely enjoying his holiday, the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door made his eyebrow twitch.
'This impatient pace of footsteps... Fandral?'
Sure enough, the unkempt, green-haired man appeared before Andreas the next second.
"Andreas, there's a lead on the matter you asked us to look into."
"Oh?"
Andreas straightened up, patted the lazy Dreadblade Leopard beside him, and sent it off to play by itself.
"Tell me about it."
Fandral nodded. "Let's start with the conclusion: signs of intelligent life activity have begun appearing in the snowy mountainous region in the central Eastern Kingdoms. Furthermore, it's not just a single race; two similarly short stature groups are supporting each other to survive in this cold, snowy area."
Because Andreas couldn't confirm the exact time the Dwarves and Gnomes left Uldaman, he specifically asked Fandral to arrange for Druids to be stationed in Loch Modan, near The Barrens, under the guise of ecological surveys.
There is only one path from The Barrens to the Dun Morogh snowy mountains: heading west, crossing mountains from the northern Loch Modan.
In this era, the Dwarves had not yet built tunnels. The Dwarves who had just left Uldaman instinctively chose to live in a cold mountainous region similar to Storm Peaks.
These flesh-and-blood Earthen lost most of their memories as Titan Constructs. After leaving Uldaman, they migrated aimlessly into the great snowy mountains of Dun Morogh and accidentally encountered Gnomes who had been hiding and living in some of the mountain caves for many years.
As the Mortal race resulting from the flesh-and-blood transformation of the Mechagnomes, the Gnomes left Uldaman several centuries earlier than the Dwarves, and their secret movements made their whereabouts difficult to track.
Gnomes do not possess the strong physique of Dwarves; facing the harsh environment, they could only hide and use their clever minds to manufacture tools.
With insufficient resources, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice. The lives of the Gnomes were extremely difficult, and despite Andreas sending people to Dun Morogh multiple times to search, they failed to find their hiding places.
As both Gnomes and Dwarves were descendants of the Titan Constructs, both sides felt an instinctive affinity for the other upon meeting.
Dwarves possess strong bodies and flexible hands, and they have an extraordinary intuition for the mineral resources buried within the Dun Morogh snowy mountains.
With Dwarves mining and processing ore, Gnomes meticulously designing blueprints, and Dwarves then manufacturing the items, the foundation of a magnificent mountain city began to rise within the highest peaks of the Dun Morogh snowy mountains.
"So they finally appeared..."
Andreas nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. For now, let the Dwarves and Gnomes develop on their own; do not interfere with their actions."
"I will be traveling to Tirisfal Glades soon. It might take me a few years to return, so the Council is temporarily entrusted to you."
...Tirisfal Glades, Hild Village.
Onyxia looked with some surprise at the drastically changed lakeside settlement.
A long time ago, the Black Dragon Princess had visited here. At that time, this settlement belonged to the High Elves, but now the architecture of Hild Village barely shows any High Elf style.
Busy with the education of Ebysian, Onyxia had spent most of her time in recent years residing in the Obsidian Sanctum in Dragonblight.
However, after staying for a long time in the middle of nowhere, Onyxia gradually began to feel uncomfortable and impatient.
Once her three minutes of enthusiasm passed, Onyxia decisively handed the task of teaching Ebysian over to Nefarian and her mother, Sinestra.
The Obsidian Sanctum was no longer the miserable sight it once was, housing only two or three Black Dragons. After Deathwing was besieged and disappeared, Sinestra issued a call to all Black Dragons across Azeroth in the name of the Black Dragon Queen.
Any Black Dragon confirmed not to have been corrupted by Deathwing's insane bloodline after an inspection could voluntarily choose to return to Dragonblight and rejoin the Aspects.
Even excluding the lazy Onyxia, the Black Dragonflight still had two princes, Nefarian and Ebysian, holding the fort. Sinestra's supervision over her daughter was not as strict as over her two sons, and Onyxia's request was quickly approved.
The Black Dragon Princess, returning to Kalimdor, happened to run into Andreas planning to travel to the Eastern Kingdoms, and immediately scampered to join his team, ready to go watch the fun.
Since he needed to interact with the Titan Keepers this time, Andreas did not bring too many strangers. Besides his beloved, knowledge-hungry daughter Aurora, the only other person was the Black Dragon Princess, who stuck to him like glue.
Brunhilde had already received word from Priscilla. When Andreas arrived, she was waiting in the village, wearing a light gauze dress that was distinctly different from the attire of her other tribe members.
"Andreas, you've arrived at the perfect time."
Brunhilde, whose face usually held a hint of worry, was now wearing a bright smile.
"Lord Thorim is about to awaken. Please come and witness it with me."
In the temple on the small island in the center of Lake Tir, Thorim, who was half-kneeling, was slowly swaying.
The fossilized layer covering his body from long periods of squatting began to crack. Under the excited gaze of Brunhilde and the Hild villagers, Thorim, who had been dormant for many years, finally stood up again in the temple.
The Frost Vrykul who had followed Thorim to settle in Tirisfal Glades had long since degenerated and passed away. Now, these humans were their descendants from countless generations.
Even though Thorim had never responded to their prayers, Hild Village, guided by the immortal Brunhilde, still maintained a devout faith in the king of storms.
Thorim, who had just woken up, was still a bit disoriented. Among the group of humans kneeling on the ground, the three standing alone were particularly conspicuous.
"You are... Andreas?"
Thorim roughly patted his head, seemingly wanting to fully awaken from his deep slumber as quickly as possible.
"Yes," Andreas said with a smile. "Congratulations, Thorim, your long slumber has finally ended."
"Long, you say..."
Thorim said with a bitter smile, shaking his head, "To me, it felt like an ordinary sleep. What time is it now?"
"According to the Night Elf Republic's records, it is currently 7570 in the New Kaldorei Era. You have been asleep for about 2000 years."
Thorim shook his head and curiously looked at the group of strangers gathered around him.
"Who are these people? Humans? Where are my followers?"
Thorim had seen primitive humans when he first migrated near Tirs Tomb, but he hadn't expected to awaken from his slumber surrounded by a group of humans.
Brunhilde stood up, looked up at Thorim, and said, "Respected king of storms, these people who are now paying their respects to you are the descendants of the followers you left behind back then."
"The flesh curse of the Old Gods affected us, and after 2000 years of evolution, we gradually transformed into our current appearance."
Thorim's head was spinning. He looked at Brunhilde's familiar yet strange appearance and hesitantly asked, "You are... Brunhilde? What exactly happened during these 2000 years?"
Brunhilde spent a considerable amount of time explaining the degeneration of the Frost Vrykul to Thorim. With the Iron Vrykul descendants, whom Tir had brought to Tirisfal Glades, as a reference, Thorim quickly accepted this fact.
"Alright, let's not talk about this for now."
Thorim temporarily gave up on deeper thought. "I sensed a familiar aura from my slumber. Has anything happened recently?"
Brunhilde's eyes shifted to Andreas beside her. Andreas immediately understood and took over, saying, "Indeed, some things have happened."
"The Earthen and Mechagnomes of Uldaman have left. They opened a passage to Uldaman, and I have already sent people to find the entrance."
When the Dwarves and Gnomes left, they did not exit through the fully sealed main gate, but rather through a hidden escape passage located in the central part of The Barrens.
Before the Gnomes and Dwarves left, the location of this passage was just an unremarkable rock. The mechanisms created by the Mechagnomes blocked outsiders from peering into Uldaman.
However, the Dwarves and Gnomes who left Uldaman had already lost most of their memories due to the flesh curse. They didn't know how to re-operate the mechanisms to re-seal the secret passage, so they simply made some basic cover-ups and left The Barrens, heading north.
Thorim's mount and companion, the Proto-Dragon mother Viranus, also slumbered for 2000 years alongside her master.
Thorim immediately woke her up after he awakened. Viranus and Onyxia carried Andreas and the others south along the western coastline of Silverpine Forest.
After passing Hillsbrad Foothills and The Wetlands, Andreas and his group entered Loch Modan. Guided by the Scouts sent by Prisim, they arrived in The Barrens and found the half-open escape passage.
"Hmm..."
Thorim looked at the narrow entrance to the passage with some difficulty. Left with no choice, he could only lower his body through shapeshifting, becoming about 2 meters tall, similar to Andreas.
Although the Proto-Dragon mother Viranus possessed intelligence, she could not shapeshift like Onyxia. Thorim temporarily left her to patrol the skies above The Barrens.
Led by Thorim, Aurora, seeing a Titan ruin for the first time, followed Andreas into Uldaman with eyes sparkling. Onyxia, meanwhile, looked around curiously, observing the layout of the underground palace.
At this time, Uldaman was not like Andreas remembered, with a large number of Earthen guards and Obsidian Sentinels activated.
The most recent batch of awakened Earthen had already left Uldaman. The semi-dormant Obsidian constructs only began to activate when Andreas and the others approached.
"Titan Keeper energy fluctuations detected. Initiating expulsion according to pre-programmed procedures."
Thorim's expression was displeased. "Expulsion? What are those Mechagnomes up to? Why would they write such a command when they clearly know the visitor is a Titan Keeper?"
"Heh~" Andreas was not surprised by this. "Consider it from Hodir and Eonar's perspective."
"When they left Ulduar, they believed the entire Forge of Wills had fallen completely, and the Keepers had become puppets of Loken and Yogg-Saron. It's understandable that they would order the Mechagnomes to write such defensive commands."
Thorim placed his hand on the head of this Obsidian construct, and a burst of intense electrical light flashed.
"Error, error. Program rewrite... Rewrite complete. Welcome to Uldaman, esteemed Storm Guardian Thorim."
For Titan Constructs, the authority of a Keeper was absolute.
Even Thorim, who wasn't skilled in this kind of work, could easily overwrite the commands written by the Mechagnomes, which showed that Uldaman's defenses were not as robust as Hodir and Eonar had thought.
However, it might also be that Thorim had no aura of the Old Gods on him, so the Obsidian Sentinels did not activate the final defense protocol.
In any case, with Thorim's continuous "head pats" along the way, Andreas and the others arrived in a large hall filled with numerous miniature architectural models.
An Obsidian construct, holding a key to open the door, was "tamed" by Thorim. It respectfully handed over the key and explained the method of opening the door in detail to Thorim.
"Click!"
As the scepter-shaped key was inserted into the model in the center of the Map Hall, a sealed door in the depths of the Map Hall slowly opened.
A female giant with closed eyes stood within the doorway, seemingly in a state of dormancy. The sound of the door opening did not immediately awaken her.
A flurry of external information began to flood into the female giant's slumbering chamber. Not long after, the female giant opened her blue eyes, which were full of Arcane radiance.
"Who dares to trespass into Uldaman? Guards! Guar—"
"Eonar, it's me."
Thorim looked at the female giant, who was calling out for guards like a startled bird, with a touch of emotion.
Eonar looked at the "little thing" at her feet, stunned for a moment, then said with a grim expression, "...Thorim? Have you come to destroy us on behalf of Loken?"