Chapter 125

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Chapter 125: The Visible Journey

Listening to Greed talk about how he arranged the house these days, packed his bags, and prepared for the journey, Jesse said after a while, "I feel like I might have forgotten something, like I might leave something behind here."

Greed took a piece of sliced toast, tore it in half, dipped it in pumpkin sauce, and put it in his mouth, saying, "Let me tell you, what you can’t remember now is not important. Just forget about it, stop worrying so much. Otherwise, you won’t feel comfortable anywhere you go."

"Okay," Jesse said, "Should we discuss how to plan our trip once we reach Southshore? I have to be in Dalaran around the 10th. How long will it take to get from Southshore to Dalaran?"

Jesse remembered that the landscape of the Lordaeron mainland was different from the game. The Alterac Mountains stretched much farther than in the game, blocking the path between Lordamere Lake and Southshore. The whole Hillsbrad Foothills area is actually a stretch of hills and plains from Alterac Mountains all the way to the coast of Southshore.

The game’s map is much simpler, with flatter terrain between key locations and fewer obstacles.

In the real world, to travel from Southshore to Dalaran, you have to take a long route, even passing through the Kingdom of Gilneas’ border. In reality, you can’t walk in a straight line like in the game from one point to the other towards north to Dalaran, you would definitely have to go through the Alterac Mountains. When Jesse traveled from the royal city to Southshore, he was on the coast near the western side of the Lordaeron mainland, at that time, that castle was called Silverlaine Keep.

On the west side of Silverpine, crossing Silverlaine Keep along Gilneas Bay, then southwest into Pyrewood Village, passing through the swamp, through another large forest, to arrive at Pyrewood Village surrounded by the forest.

Departing from Pyrewood Village to the east, crossing the vast Hillsbrad farmlands, only then you can reach the coast and finally arrive at Southshore.

Dalaran City in the east of Silverpine was never visible throughout, completely blocked by the Alterac Mountains.

Greed roughly drew a map with his fingers, which matched Jesse’s memory. He drew a line with his big finger to separate Southshore and Dalaran as the Alterac Mountains, then pointed further north and said, "This is your home, the royal city of Lordaeron."

Next, the dwarf pointed a bit north of Alterac Mountain and said, "Dalaran."

Then, he pointed towards the coast to the south, "Southshore."

The dwarf’s finger traced a circle around the mountain range and said, "This road will take about 3 days to travel, similar to the distance from Stormwind to Sentinel Hill, but the path is rough, full of hills and mountains, passing through several towns in the Kingdom of Gilneas."

Jesse felt worried about the situation in the Kingdom of Gilneas when Greed mentioned it. Among many kingdoms, Gilneas had the strongest reaction to the "Alliance Accommodation Bill."

The Kingdom of Lordaeron was much more powerful than Gilneas, leading the Alliance. Gilneas was already wary of this powerful neighbor.

Along with financial difficulties due to losses in sea battles and the need to fund the rebuilding of Stormwind and shelters, the Kingdom of Gilneas faced immense pressure, pushing it to the brink of collapse. Shortly after, it became the first human kingdom to leave the Alliance.

If the Kingdom of Gilneas harbored so much resentment towards the Alliance, crossing their land might lead to trouble.

Moreover, to prevent retaliation from other kingdoms, they started building a massive wall around their peninsula after leaving the Alliance. This wall might be under construction now, though Jesse hadn’t heard any rumors yet. At least on his way from the royal city to Southshore, there was no wall blocking the path.

If that wall was built, the safe road might become impassable, and they might have to take the smaller path through Silverpine, probably the one shown in the game.

Originally, the road could be taken before the war started, but crossing Silverpine afterwards would undoubtedly involve the danger of being hunted by Orcs.

Besides political reasons, there is also the issue of Worgen.

According to Jesse’s impression of Gilneas from a few years ago, there have been some Worgen legends appearing in Gilneas now, similar to those in Raven Hill.

However, Jesse knew that the legends in Gilneas were not just like Worgen, but actual Worgen.

It is certain that mages in Gilneas have discovered Worgen and have used magic to explore Worgen’s homeland, the Emerald Dream, which is the origin of those elusive Worgen legends.

Greed was completely unaware of this, and he continued, "Once you arrive in Dalaran, taking a boat to the royal city of Lordaeron will be much smoother. It will take less than a day to cross Lordamere Lake. I suggest that on your way back, you go from Dalaran to Alterac City, then head east to the Hinterlands. This journey will be at least three times shorter, and you won’t have to travel through snow-capped mountains and forests where Orcs have been spotted, making it safer."

"Alterac City?" Jesse asked, "I heard that Alterac was recently attacked by black dragons and Orcs. Is it safe to go there now?"

"Don’t worry, it is still the ancient capital of a kingdom," Greed reassured, "I have gathered some information, and currently Alterac City is being overseen by the forces of Trollbane. Trollbane intends to claim the city. If it has been reduced to ruins, is there any need to risk angering the entire alliance and taking over the entire area?"

Jesse had also heard similar rumors, and if Trollbane’s Stromgarde Kingdom truly desired to seize Alterac City, its complete decline might only happen after the scourge, and not due to the Orc War.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy for Stromgarde to take over Alterac. If Trollbane conquers Alterac, their strength will soon rival the Kingdom of Lordaeron.

King Terenas II of Lordaeron would never allow that to happen. He would definitely bring forth the children of the Alterac royal family, the Perenolde siblings, to choose a new king.

"In that case, everything is fine," Jesse said. "So you mean when I arrive in Lordaeron, I should first visit my parents in the royal city, and then return to Dalaran for the 10-day Orc exchange event?"

Greed replied, "Yes, it takes about a day and a night to travel from Dalaran to Alterac City. By the time you finish your business and reach Alterac City, it might already be The Feast of Winter Veil. It’s going to be tight."

Jesse furrowed his brow, remembering how long it took to travel from the royal city to Southshore when he left home. He calculated Greed’s plan and realized he might only have about 34 days at home.

But what difference would a few more days make? Besides making his parents sadder when they part, there was no other significance.

As long as he could bring his parents to the Kingdom of Stormwind, he wouldn’t need to worry about these things.

"How long does it take to travel from Alterac City to the Hinterlands?" Jesse asked.

Greed drew a line all the way to the east and said, "This road is very difficult to travel, and there aren’t many trade caravans. But you can travel with the patrolling troops. I’ve looked into it, there are many patrollers between Alterac City and Durnholde Keep, as it’s quite chaotic over there. It should take about two days."

Jesse took a deep breath. This was a long journey, crossing Palatine Bay was just the beginning.

As long as he didn’t die halfway, it could be considered a complete victory.