Chapter 9 The Barov Family

The Violet Citadel?

Arthas pondered for a moment. Would Tichondrius choose this place, which seemed the most difficult to infiltrate, as his target?

The Violet Citadel was populated entirely by the most elite archmages of Dalaran. If Tichondrius or any of his dreadlords were truly hiding within, they would undoubtedly be taking a massive risk.

Yet such a risk also yielded the greatest reward. If a dreadlord were genuinely to usurp the body of an archmage, the entirety of Dalaran would hold no secrets from him.

The probability of this was slim, but not entirely non-existent. Furthermore, even as the prince of Lordaeron, he had no effective means to investigate an archmage; these individuals existed above the mortal tier.

Unless he possessed explicit evidence, let alone searching an archmage, he would likely receive the cold shoulder from Dalaran, just as he was experiencing now.

Perhaps the best course of action was to coordinate with the Secret Intelligence Service of the Privy Council, take the [Book of Medivh], and then draw the snake out of its hole...

Wandering circuitously through the city for the better part of the day, led by Rommath and Sylvanas, the two paladins Arthas and Mograine practically stepped across the thresholds of numerous private intelligence agencies.

However, contrary to Arthas's expectations, let alone a dreadlord, not even a bizarre incident akin to Camp Thirteen had occurred.

Yet the paladin would not easily be discouraged. Arthas merely said, "Very well, at least we know today that Dalaran's information brokers are as numerous as the hairs on an ox."

"Heh, this is the neutral kingdom closest to humanity's most prosperous metropolis, Lordaeron, and a city that champions magic and freedom. It is hardly surprising that it possesses such a specialized network," Sylvanas smiled as she explained. Sometimes, even the ranger forces could not obtain news that these well-connected information brokers managed to acquire.

Just a short while ago, an information merchant had even claimed that some dark power might be lurking within Stormwind, their aristocratic class being manipulated like marionettes by some powerful entity.

However, because that fellow had just finished drinking and was entirely incoherent, he started a brawl in a tavern with another merchant over the dispute of "whose intelligence was more accurate and offered a better discount."

The outcome for both of them was obvious: they were hauled away by the Kirin Tor's law enforcement guards into the general prisoner ward of the Violet Hold to be detained. Only after serving three days or paying a fine would they be released.

Arthas nodded slightly. He was already aware of the situation regarding the Violet Citadel, buried the notion of taking the [Book of Medivh] deep in his heart, and said, "Now, returning to the main issue, the whereabouts of the dreadlord remain a mystery. Yet as long as the Burning Legion seeks to descend, they cannot bypass two necessary conditions."

Rommath calmly supplemented, "Namely, the astral coordinates, and an energy source capable of sustaining the completion of the summoning ritual."

"Clearly, the only two places throughout the Eastern Kingdoms that meet these two conditions are Dalaran and Quel'Thalas—"

Hearing the name of her homeland, Sylvanas slightly knitted her brows and asked, "You mean... they are likely to target the Sunwell?"

"Indeed. But I imagine that compared to Quel'Thalas, the motley and mixed population of Dalaran will make it far easier for the demons to succeed."

Sylvanas's blue eyes flickered with a hint of worry, "But if they truly capture the Sunwell..."

Arthas's expression instantly turned solemn, "Then we shall inevitably face a catastrophe as immense as the War of the Ancients."

"However, there is no need to worry excessively. The security of the Sunwell is certainly far stricter than the vaults of Dalaran. Moreover, I have already spoken of this matter with Kael'thas. For now, since the dreadlord remains in hiding, we can only minimize the risks to the best of our ability."

Having heard Arthas's explanation, Sylvanas nodded as well. When the enemy was in the shadows and they were in the light, this was the only way to minimize the losses brought by sudden contingencies to the greatest extent possible.

...

"Is this Dalaran?"

The dense arcane energy made Onyxia feel thoroughly uncomfortable. Her illusion magic was not flawless; aside from specific ancient dragon-script incantations, powerful detection spells could also pierce through her disguise.

However, because her status was insufficient to directly pass through the portal from Stormwind to Lordaeron, she had no choice but to first reach the neutral magical kingdom for a transfer, and then take a ship from Dalaran to the Tirisfal Glades, where the capital city of Lordaeron was located.

Fortunately, once she crossed Lake Lordamere between Dalaran and the capital of Lordaeron and went ashore, a carriage ride of no great length would bring her to the bustling royal capital.

Yet, due to the ambiguity of the intelligence, Onyxia did not know where Queen Tifen and the young Prince Anduyn had gone to "vacation," nor what kind of defensive measures they possessed. Therefore, she intended to first send someone to Dalaran to try their luck and see if they could gather some useful information.

After her servant strolled through the market for a round, he returned to the inn where the countess was staying, "Mistress, the information brokers here say that Stormwind's carriage convoy traveled north by land, reached Westfall, and then went to Lake Kelpthar."

"Kelpthar?" The countess mused for a moment. She had originally assumed that Queen Tifen and Prince Anduyn would choose to reside somewhere closer to the capital, as that would obviously be much safer.

The center of Lake Kelpthar belonged to the territory of the Barov family. And this family was the wealthiest nobility among the seven human nations; many of Lordaeron's most fertile lands were their private property.

However, due to the betrayal of the Kingdom of Alterac, the Barov family, belonging to the Alterac nobility, had also suffered a major blow. The King of Lordaeron declared the confiscation of the title deeds to their most prosperous regions.

From then on, the Barov family declined, able only to guard their ancestral land of Kelpthar and manage the remaining family estates there.

In truth, however, the Barov family had never betrayed the Alliance. On the contrary, when the Alliance was on the verge of being successfully ambushed by orcs due to Alterac's betrayal, they stood firmly on the side of the Alliance.

They united with the high elven fleet to blockade the waters of Kelpthar, and handed over all those refugees who were the true "traitors"—the remnants of the noble factions—to the Alliance.

Yet the Barov family was simply too wealthy, wealthy to the point that even the king grew envious. Terenas ruthlessly stripped them of their wealth, using it as landed property to support several crucial fortresses in Hillsbrad.

The cunning countess instantly realized that perhaps she could utilize the Barov family's hatred toward Lordaeron to accomplish something; they might gladly lend her a hand.

Yet, owing to the family's decline, in recent years the current head of the Barov family, Alex Barov, and his wife, Janet Barov, were rarely seen attending high-society banquets.

Their two sons had also seemingly vanished, never to appear again. On the contrary, it was their daughter, Illucia Barov, who still occasionally made an appearance in Dalaran's social circles.

"A typical style of fallen nobility," the countess evaluated, holding the intelligence.

Humanity in itself was far too fragile. Once their wealth and power were stripped away, lacking powerful strength to rely upon, they easily lost their dignity as human beings amidst the massive sense of disparity.

"Let us go. We, too, shall head to Kelpthar. I hear the scenery there is quite pleasant; perhaps we might encounter the king's lover and son there."

At this moment, far beneath the Barov family castle in Kelpthar County, lay a massive family crypt. This had originally been a subterranean palace constructed by the ancestors of the Barov family to evade the flames of war and store their wealth.

In order to restore the family's glory, Alex Barov had struck a deal with the fallen archmage, Kel'Thuzad, converting this place into an academy for necromancers to study necromantic lore.

Amidst the gloomy cluster of tombs and underground palaces, the Scholomance was thus born.

Lately, however, the person in charge here, the Darkmaster Gandling, felt he had encountered a major turning point in his life.

Not long ago, his superior—Kel'Thuzad—had been eliminated by someone. And just a few days later, he abruptly discovered that his superior's superior seemed to have changed as well!

Any necromancer belonging to the Scourge could perceive the anomaly when the Lich King fell, and the newly ascended Lich King almost instantly locked onto the positions of many high-ranking undead within the Scourge.

The Lich King's very first words at the time were, "Obey, or suffer utter destruction."

Gandling had been stunned for a moment. It was only when that bone-chilling soul fluctuation swept through his entire body that he realized, even though the master was no longer that master, the Lich King was still the Lich King!

His new majesty still held absolute control over the Scourge!

What was there to ponder, then? Although Gandling was a deeply skilled master of necromancy, he did not believe he could cross swords with the fellow who had slain the Lich King and taken his place.

Even with everyone in the Scholomance added together, they were still far from matching the Lich King's mighty power. Therefore, the astute Gandling immediately decided upon his stance: to obey the Lich King's will unto death.

Yet, the Lich King's very first command regarding the Scholomance was that the Barov family must leave behind one living person, and preferably keep the others in possession of normal sanity.

This put Gandling in a difficult position. Both Alex Barov, the head of the Barov family, and his wife Janet had already accepted the blessing of "eternal life," while their two sons had discovered the family's upheaval and fled in secret, leaving only their daughter Illucia unconverted into undead.

To restore those two to their sanity... resulted in this scenario.

"Gandling! You monster, how dare you treat the Barov family thus! We forged a pact with Kel'Thuzad back then!"

Alex roared from within his cage, his eyes split with rage. In truth, however, his heart was filled with nothing but regret and bitter reluctance, while his wife leaned against her husband with a face full of sorrow, knowing that everything was beyond redemption.

The cooperation with Kel'Thuzad had also been a matter of last resort. With the family going from bad to worse and Kelpthar on the verge of being swallowed up by Lordaeron, Alex had been forced to make a difficult decision.

Although he knew he might be closely watched by some special agency of Lordaeron, in order to make the world understand that the Barov family had never betrayed the Alliance, and also to reclaim the property belonging to the Barov family, Alex took a desperate gamble and allied with the undead.

"Alex, can those scraps of paper devoid of magical power truly be called a pact?" Gandling smiled contemptuously. Alex had been hoodwinked by Kel'Thuzad; the contract they signed possessed no magical efficacy whatsoever.

In other words, from the very beginning, Kel'Thuzad had never intended to conduct a truly fair transaction with the Barov family.

The Barov family was merely fish upon the chopping block, ready to be carved up at will. The greatest mercy of the Scourge was to grant them a dignified death.

However, those were the policies of the previous boss. Gandling understood that his current superior seemingly did not intend to expand the forces of the undead; instead, he had begun consolidating the power of the undead, seemingly wishing to forge even more formidable undead creations.

This actually played right into Gandling's hands. He was a master of dark magic who had long since been obsessed with the research of various dark creations, and his lifelong dream was to witness higher sceneries along this path.

Yet Ner'zhul merely wanted a Scourge capable of sweeping across the continent; vast hordes of ghouls and skeletons were sufficient to resolve problems, and there was no need whatsoever to delve into more profound matters.

Gandling had long grown sick of those low-level creations made of bone and flesh. Arthas's actions made Gandling feel that he might soon attain a better position within the Scourge, rather than teaching a bunch of good-for-nothing students in this crypt-turned-academy.

"I beg you... I beg you to spare my daughter!" Janet sobbed uncontrollably, utterly unable to imagine Illucia's fate.

Her two sons had already gone missing and were highly likely to have been slain by the minions of the undead. Only Illucia remained—in order to manage the Barov family's estates, she was still a normal living person.

Janet did not wish for her daughter to become a monster like her husband and herself.

"Enough. I am not here to listen to your insolence or your weeping. As for Illucia, that girl is truly unfortunate; His Majesty the Lich King has temporarily abandoned the opportunity to grant her eternal life."

Gandling waved his hand with extreme impatience, but his words only made the couple's already pale complexions turn even whiter—they knew what kind of existence the Lich King was, and they also knew that abandoning the bestowal of eternal life upon Illucia did not mean she was simply let off the hook.

This might instead foreshadow an even more terrifying end...

Janet and Alex recalled the various horrifying scenes from their time as undead. The chill welling up from the depths of their souls turned all their angry reprimands and weeping into numbness, while endless regret filled hearts that no longer beat—

The Barov family had walked a path of no return...