After the draenei's escape ship, Genidal, unfortunately crashed into Draenor, with the ship unable to be repaired, the prophet Velen could only lead his people to build a new home in this strange world.
Draenor does not have the planetary defense circle of Azeroth. In order to avoid high-profile actions that attract the attention of the Burning Legion, Velen has repeatedly emphasized that the Council of Bishops should try to exercise restraint when facing provocations from the indigenous people of Draenor.
From an overall perspective, Velen's approach is not wrong.
But the orcs are a race that worships the strong. Only if you show your strength will they give you respect and awe.
Velen had his own considerations, but accidentally ruled out the correct answer, and chose to give in when faced with the threat of orcs again and again.
It cannot be said that the subsequent tragedy that Delaney suffered was entirely Velen's fault, but his wrong and gentle decision-making did fuel the orcs' arrogance.
The war between the two clans was almost one-sided from the beginning. First, Osar betrayed and assassinated Archbishop Hataru, and then was taken away by a wave of orcs who drank the blood of demons.
One wrong step after another, Velen, who lost the opportunity, was constantly being plotted by Kil'jaeden, and was passively beaten throughout the process.
If the Legion of Light hadn't led the spaceship to come to the rescue at the critical moment, Velen would have fallen into the hands of Kil'jaeden long ago.
At the moment, Velen is staying safely on the spaceship thinking about the next step, but the group of Draenei refugees led by Maladar are not so at ease.
After finally escaping the pursuit of the orcs, we now have such a rare piece of pure land.
First the Bloodring Clan arrived, and then a big battle broke out as the Alliance Expeditionary Force pursued them.
Finally, when the Blood Ring Clan was annihilated and the expeditionary force left, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, another behemoth suddenly fell from the sky.
The two scouts restrained by Sarlayan and Valeera were like frightened birds, completely lacking the calmness that scouts should have.
However, given the current state of the draenei, it is strange to be able to find suitable scout candidates. After all, their ranger archbishop Nellie has disappeared.
"You... you..."
"Calm down, we don't mean any harm."
Thalayan stood up on tiptoes and patted the male Draenei scout on the shoulder, comforting him in broken orc language.
The other party's look of being so frightened that he couldn't speak left Sarlayan speechless.
The height of the draenei is similar to that of the tauren, and their appearance looks quite powerful, which is in sharp contrast to the timid demeanor they show at this time.
After the ferocious beast turned back into a charming and beautiful girl, the two scouts finally calmed down.
"We can't make the decision, we can only inform the archbishop first, this..."
"Sharlayan, my name is Sharlayan Deep Shadow."
Sarlayan still maintained a friendly smile and introduced himself to the three of them.
"I can understand your difficulties. Please help yourself. We can patiently wait here for Archbishop Maladar's reply."
The older scout breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your understanding...Larry! What are you waiting for? Go and notify the Archbishop!"
"Ah...yes!"
The young scout known as Larry quickly ran into the Auchenai crypt. He had been waiting for his colleague's words, and rushed out as soon as he received the order.
Left alone to face the three foreigners, the older Draenei scout's muscles tensed up and his expression began to become panicked again.
"Don't be nervous, relax."
Sarlayan raised his hands and took a few steps back, then found a random stone pillar in the ruins and sat down.
"Let's have a chat while your colleagues return. This will help us get to know each other better."
…
"Higher...elf?"
Deep in the Auchenai Crypt, a male Draenei with a haggard face, wearing a simple priest's robe, turned around in confusion.
He is the only Archbishop of the Draenei known to be alive at this stage, Maladar.
The so-called soul priests of the Draenei are, in Azeroth's terms, shadow priests.
Many years ago, Velen discovered the secret of the mutual transformation of light and shadow.
For Velen, who is experienced and pragmatic, light does not represent justice, and shadow does not represent evil. Each has room to develop its strengths.
Auchindoun is a sacred tomb city, originally built to house the souls of Draenei who died due to various reasons until they were taken away by the guides of the Shadow Realm.
The task of the soul priests led by Maladar is to take care of these souls who are temporarily unable to leave the ordinary world.
As Auchindoun was captured by the orcs, the mausoleum city lost its original role and was temporarily transformed into a refuge fortress by Maladar.
If the original history had continued, the Auchindoun Labyrinth would have been severely damaged when Draenor was torn apart by space turbulence, and would no longer be able to defend itself against external invaders.
By then, the great Auchindoun will be divided between the Auchenai priests, the exiled arakkoa, the Shadow Council and the Ethereal, each occupying a part of the area. Archbishop Maladar will also gradually fall into madness in despair of being unable to protect the people.
.
At this point in time, nothing has happened yet, and there is still room for redemption.
After returning to Auchindoun, Maladar has been very busy in this ruined city, and only arranged two unqualified scouts to look out.
This cannot be blamed on Maladar. The tasks he shoulders are too heavy and there is a serious shortage of manpower. It is impossible to take care of all aspects.
The outer layer of Auchindoun has relatively reliable maze protection. After it was confirmed that the Bleeding Circle clan was annihilated and the Alliance expeditionary force left, Maladar stopped paying attention to changes in the outside world and concentrated on taking care of internal affairs.
The food gap is the top priority problem that he must solve at the moment. If he cannot find enough food, the refugees hiding in Oakington will eventually starve to death.
Maladar had no contact with people from Azeroth, and had never heard of the high elves before.
"Why do these... high elves know my name and position? Why do they know that we are hiding in Auchindoun?"
Due to insufficient information, Maladar could not analyze the reason.
"Forget it...there's no point in making random guesses here."
After calming down, Maladar waved to a female Draenei not far away who was also too busy to touch the ground.
"Tulani, come here."
"Yes, please wait."
The female Delaney with dark circles on her face smiled apologetically at the two people in front of her, then strode toward Maradar with her recurved hooves.
"Wow!"
Due to not sleeping for many days, the woman named Turani overestimated her physical condition. After running a few steps, her feet became weak and she fell forward awkwardly while waving her hands wildly.
"Hey~"
Maladar stepped forward and supported his assistant: "Tulani, it's time for you to rest."
"Hehe~"
Turani scratched her head in embarrassment: "Archbishop, haven't you rested yet? I can still hold on."
There was bitterness in Maladar's eyes: "Forget it, I really don't have the position to tell you..."
"Back to the subject, I have to go outside for something, and I will leave Oakington to your management for the time being. Can you do that?"
"certainly!"
Turani puffed up her chest and said confidently: "Hope will always be with us, and we will never give up until the last moment."
Maladar sighed silently: "Then I'll leave it to you. I hope my outing this time can solve some of the problems we are currently facing."
…
"So that's it."
The scout who stayed outside to "monitor" the three of Sarlayan was called Samion. This guy was not a full-time scout, but a temporary employee selected from the refugees.
The selection rules are simple. Those who still have the courage to stand up and take responsibility are selected.
Since he had never received professional training, Samien was obviously unqualified as a scout. He provided part of his own intelligence to Sarlayan and his party without determining whether the other party was friend or foe.
Sarlayan learned from Samion that Auchindoun had been in a food crisis more than a month ago, which happened to be the time when the Bleeding Circle clan was camped outside the maze.
In order to avoid further persecution by the orcs, the hunting team did not dare to go out at all, and could only sit in Auchindoun and eat nothing.
Living without food for more than a month has greatly reduced the efficiency of the hunting team. The food crisis that was already emerging has intensified, giving Maradar a headache.
Samien himself insisted on completing the scouting mission while hungry, in order to keep this dangerous job so that he could obtain a larger share of food rations for his wife and children.
"It's not easy for you either."
Sarlayan patted Samien on the shoulder with emotion, and the barrage stopped complaining about his unprofessionalism.
We are all in dire straits. It would be great if someone is willing to work up the courage to serve as a scout. What else is needed is a bicycle.
"Tuk~Tuk~"
The rhythmic knocking sound of objects came from inside Auchindoun. Samion, who was complaining to Sarlayan and others, stood up excitedly, trying hard to puff out his chest and look like he was dedicated to his duty.
Sarlayan also stood up from the stone pillar in the ruins and looked into the cave with bright eyes.