"Codex: The Dark Portal Wars - First War
The Dark Portal Wars were a series of wars that occurred after the opening of the Dark Portal on the Continent of Azeroth in the south of the Eastern Kingdoms. Subsequently, several military conflicts occurred all over Azeroth.
The First War started the Wars of the Dark Portal. It was a conflict between the Orcish Clans of Draenor and the forces of the Kingdom of Stormwind and the Phoenix Kingdom. Although the results of the First War were better than many expected, it was still a significant loss for the nations of Azeroth.
The Phoenix Kingdom lost large parts of their colonies to the Orcish Horde, even though they made Orcs pay for every square meter that they occupied in blood and iron. From initially large parts of territories that were conquered by the Gurubashi Trolls, only smaller parts of the colonies remained that were protected by the Great Wall.
Yet, from all of this, the gains of the Phoenix Kingdom was the allegiance of the Dark Iron Clan, which was attacked by the Orcs and their Warlocks; after the death of the Ragnaros, the Dark Iron Clan joined the Phoenix Kingdom and became one of the strongholds that resisted the onslaught of the Horde at the Azeroth.
The Kingdom of Stormwind didn't fare any better; from once the glorious Kingdom that was regarded as the strongest military powerhouse after the Phoenix Kingdom, only a small part remained, mainly in their fortified cities that were upgraded by the combined efforts of the Dwarves of Ironforge and Engineers of the Fire Nation and the usage of the Orbal Technology that was being developed jointly by the Dwarven, High Elves, and Fire Nation to combine perfectly technology and Magic.
The Horde, albeit a primitive opponent, had the numbers and brute strength that was unmatched among the people of the Azeroth, and hundreds of thousands of the greenskins crossed over through the Dark Portal from the dying world of Draenor to the Azeroth.
The Horde was merciless as they were slaughtering everything in their path, and anyone who was not Orc was either killed or made a slave. Backed by their darkest Magic, they became a threat to every living and sentient race on Azeroth, and even despite its power, neither the combined forces of the Stormwind nor the Fire Nation were enough to defeat the Horde, mainly due to their sheer numbers.
Fortunately enough, Anduin Lothar, High Lord of the Kingdom of Stormwind and Marhsall of their Armies, managed to rally up the human kingdoms of Lordaeron into the Alliance of Lordaeron, which was later on joined by the other factions, such as the Fire Nation, Quel'Thalas, Ironforge, and Wildhammer Dwarves or Gnomeregan.
Together, the greatest and most widespread military alliance was created to resist, defeat, and exterminate the Horde from the face of Azeroth. The establishment of the Alliance of Lordaeron also marked the start of preparations for the Second War, which would see the counter-offensive against the forces of the Horde and relief of the besieged cities of Stormwind, Ironforge, Shadowforge, and Great Bastion.
- Excerpts from the Wars of the Dark Portal and Beyond"
***
Imperial Capital Wei-Jin, Fire Nation, Fire Islands, Several Days Later
Entertaining the dignitaries from the different nations was never Aenarion's expertise, and thus, he swiftly dropped this kind of responsibility that nobody wanted to have anything to do with onto Azula's uncle, Iroh.
He was still the Grand Chancellor of the Fire Nation and a member of the Royal Family, not to mention he was more pantheon than anyone else in their bunch, so it was only suitable that he would be leading the guests through the important places across the Fire Nation.
Aenarion, meanwhile, went to examine the results of the work of the several Royal Blacksmiths and Royal Engineers who were working on some very important projects for the Fire Nation, and were of crucial importance.
The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research were working on some really nice projects that Aenarion went to check on and decide on the future directions because it seemed that the "Great Shift" has right now complicated things a little bit.
It seemed that the concept of electricity that they were developing at his orders was now basically being scrapped. Apparently, nothing, not even the prototypes that had previously worked, were now working and had become pieces of scrap waiting to be recycled.
Aenarion knew that it was mainly because of the extremely dense Magic in the environment of Azeroth. He knew that in many of the High-Fantasy worlds like Azeroth, things like electricity wouldn't be working because it was interfering with the Magic.
This was rather a huge setback for the Fire Nation because the things that they were developing in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research were crucial for establishing the dominance of the Fire Nation.
Not to mention, because Azula wanted to avoid entertaining the dignitaries from the Ironforge and Quel'Thalas, she joined him in the inspection duties. Something that she had heavily avoided till now.
She wasn't really a fan of inspecting such things because, for her, it was very boring and felt like something that one must do, and there was no thrill to it. But alas, it was way better than entertaining the dignitaries from the other nations, and this time, even Esdeath was going to join them in the inspection of the projects of the Ministry of War.
"Are we going already? You have been adjusting your clothes for one hour already."
Aenarion knocked on Azula's door impatiently because she had already been picking up her address for one hour, making her makeup, or whatever. Unfortunately for him, the moment the doors opened, he was met with a blue fireball straight to his face.
Azula wasn't the person to be commanded, and even though she was thought of as a warrior princess, she was still a woman, and she looked pretty. So it still took her some time to finish her things as he waited in front of her door, this time without any remarks because he didn't wish to be hit by another fireball.
Since the arrival of the Fire Nation to Azeroth, every single Bender has had tremendous power up to their base power, sometimes with staggering growth. That was mainly related to the strength of the world itself because this world had more Life Force, though according to the Grand Magister Belo'vir Salonar, since the "Great Shift", flora and fauna on Azeroth also evolved a bit.
When she was finally finished, Aenarion almost wanted to say that there was barely any difference compared to her previous state sans the clothes, but he held his tongue, and instead, he complimented her appearance and how beautiful she looked.
"Hmp... we can go..."
As she said that, they were going to meet with Esdeath, who had returned from the headquarters of the Hunter Brigade. She was rather eager to go and check on the latest development of the weapons in the Fire Nation.
Contrary to Azula, who wasn't really that interested in technological innovations, Esdeath was an entirely different case overall. She was a weapons enthusiast who hadn't seen one for a long time, and she was eager about technological innovations, especially when they could lead to making new and more powerful engines of war.
In the Fire Nation, she actually supported a lot of researchers and scientists who wanted to obtain financing for their projects. While some of them attempted to scam her because, well... it seemed that even in a different world, scammers were a thing, but those were immediately frozen and thrown into the dungeon for a prolonged time of torture.
She was very eager about technological innovation, and most of the pocket money that she was "given" was spent on sponsoring scientists and researchers who wanted someone to finance their projects and research.
***
The Khaos Brigade was created from the best of the best among the Hunters of the Partas Tribe, who had been fighting against the Northern Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom for many decades.
In the hostile lands of the frozen north, the Partas Tribe was hunting some of the most dangerous fauna that called the north their home, and they were one of the strongest factions out there.
If not for the constant suppression of the Northern Water Tribes, then it would be the Partas Tribe that would be in charge of the entire area and be the leader of all other Water Tribes...
When the Fire Nation invaded the North Water, it was actually the Partas Tribe that allied with forces of the Fire Nation that were led by the now Fire Lord Aenarion Septim and the Khaos Brigade that he led.
The Partas Tribe was in rather poor straits, because they were having shortages of food and their numbers were falling down slowly. With the Northern Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom trying to starve them out, the fate of the Partas Tribe was rather bleak.
Obviously, the main reason was the continual resistance towards the rule of the Northern Water Tribe over all the tribes in the north, something that the Partas Tribe was opposed to with extreme prejudice.
To anyone, it was far more than clear that the Northern Water Tribes wanted to drive the Partas Tribe to slow extinction through the combination of starvation, lack of other supplies, and constantly lowering their numbers.
And it was working rather well, truth to be told, because, within a few years, the strength of the Partas Tribe dropped considerably. The leadership of the Northern Water Tribes knew that the Partas Tribe was too strong on its own and any direct assault would cost the Northern Water Tribes a lot of their manpower, so they decided on a different approach.
She could still remember the first time she was sent on a mission to establish a relationship with the Fire Nation by her father. For many, it would be considered utter madness to even think about negotiating with the Fire Nation. However, for the Partas Tribe, the alliance with the Fire Nation was the only way to survive and avoid a slow and painful death.
To the surprise of everyone present, the Fire Nation was open to negotiations after she met with the leader of the expedition in the north. Much to her surprise, it was someone from the Royal Family of the Fire Nation and after one hell of a fight, Aenarion and Esdeath have met.
To the surprise of the Partas Tribe and especially to the hook of the Northern Water Tribe, Prince Aenarion agreed to all conditions of the Partas Tribe, and soon enough, the Fire Nation started transporting staggering amounts of resources, food, and medicinal supplies, but also weapons and other things to the Partas Tribe.
In turn, the Partas Tribe was helping the Fire Nation to move in the frozen and snowy north while also training the soldiers of the Khaos Brigade to survive and thrive in this environment.
Just a few months later, Aenarion of the Fire Nation won the loyalty of the Partas Tribe to the degree that the Partas Tribe seriously considered relocating to the Fire Islands upon receiving the invitation from the Aenarion, and the Partas Tribe later one, became one of the greatest backers of the Aenarion during the resistance against the Fire Lord Ozai.
Nowadays, the Partas Tribe, or rather the Partas House, was one of the most prominent Great Houses of the Fire Nation, or at least what had remained from the nobility after the Onmitsukidō destroyed the last remaining members of the nobility because they were a liability.
Esdeath herself was waiting for her husband Aenarion and her sister-wife Azula near the entrance hall of the Royal Palace, from which they would be heading towards the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research, which was researching an important project together with the Ministry of War.
She was rather eager, but before the "Great Shift", the Ministry of War was researching something called Tank, a grand machine of war that would change methods of waging war for the Fire Nation.
Not only that, but there were also ideas for the new battleships for the Navy, new Airships for the Air Force, or more advanced versions of the armor, and many other things. Some ideas were outright outlandish, and she knew that because, well... she was the one who gave them money.
While June was spending money on various things, most especially rather expensive pieces of jewelry, and Azula was saving the money in the bank,... which would have thought that the Princess of the Fire Nation was rather conservative with money, Esdeath was patronizing many aspiring researchers and scientists.
Not only the ones with the military applications of the technology, but also the ones for civilian usage.
Soon enough, she saw both her husband and fellow sister-wife, and after exchanging greetings, which consisted of Esdeath and Aenarion kissing passionately, as they had been apart for two weeks, they went to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research under the protection of the Phoenix Guards.
***
The Ministry of Research, Science, and Research was located rather far from the Royal Palace, in different districts of the city. It took them around half an hour to reach their destination by carriage.
Imperial Capital Wei-Jin was a very large city, albeit it wasn't on the level of Ba Sing Se; it was still continuously expanding and rebuilding because the Fire Islands were rather large, and the surroundings of the city were rather suitable for further expansion.
Fortunately enough, soon enough, they arrived at the building where the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research was stationed. Among the governmental agencies, both the Ministry of War and this one were being guarded by the soldiers from the Phoenix Guard, Imperial Benders, and some elites from the Imperial Army.
The research conducted here and in the Ministry of War was too sensitive, and nobody wanted to consider the possibility of theft. It was a top-secret research facility that contained their most precious research that could turn around the face of war as everyone knows it.
The things that were researched there were supposed to win them the Great War in their old world because it was the plan for the Fire Nation to gather their strength and upgrade their technology, and after some time, they would use these advantages to break through the stalemate of the Great War.
"So here we are..."
The Minister of Science, Technology, and Research Mechanist and Minister of War Qin welcomed their little group, who were personally leading them to the depths of the building that housed the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research.
"It seems that the security here has been increased several times... all of these checkpoints are already getting pretty annoying."
Azula voiced her thoughts after they had walked for some time from one checkpoint to another because the amount of security was ridiculous in this place. She swore that it was rivaling that of the Royal Palace of the Fire Nation.
However, this was also the first time that she was here because she wouldn't really go into places like this as it was rather boring.
"Yes, Your Highness. Since the Great Shift, we have increased patrols and also the level of security to prevent any unforeseen circumstances. The measures taken at the Ministry of War are of the same level."
Minister of War Qin stated as they were approaching one of the lower levels of the Ministry and directly headed towards the workshop that belonged to the Minister Mechanist and several other inventors who were working on some of the most important projects for the Fire Nation.
As they entered the room, it was a rather huge area, but at the same time, it felt pretty cramped and filled with various things. Everything ranged from the raw and unprocessed ores to the most advanced pieces of technology that the Fire Nation had in its possession.
Many of these looked like works of artists rather than scientists or scholars.
Aenarion looked around curiously.
He was aware that in the original worldline, the world of Avatar reached a rather high technological level, so he was certainly curious to know how high the Fire Nation would reach under his guidance, especially after the Great Shift.
With the transportation of the Fire Nation into Azeroth, the future was rather uncertain, and Aenarion even doubted that the original projects would work in the environment of Azeroth because most of them were counting on the invention of electricity, which he doubted would work in this world.
"So... what are we looking at, Ministers?"
Aenarion looked at the table where several things that looked like clockwork or something that was literally taken from the steampunk or something like that were laid on the workplace.
"Then allow me to start, Your Majesty. The reason we have called you is because we have something very important to announce. As we are all aware, due to the transportation of the Fire Nation to the world of Azeroth, the Magic that is extremely dense in this world is basically rendering all of the prototypes that were working on the electricity are now just pieces of scrap metal. Apparently, the Magic is rather too overwhelming, and upon arrival in this world, everything was destroyed by the ambient Magic in the environment, which has to send the research to cold..."
Aenarion and Esdeath were aware that there were some setbacks, and Aenarion had already explained to Esdeath that there might be some further complications with the research, mainly due to the high levels of Magic in the environment that were destroying the electricity.
"But... lately, we have made some progress in very different areas for our research and managed to get a replacement for the electricity that is working as fine or perhaps even better with all of the things that we created. We are working on the finishing touches right now, but I can safely say that soon enough, we will have everything completed, and the overall affection of the main plans would delay us only by a year or two at most."
This was already a bit better than he had initially expected because he already suspected that something like this would happen after the Fire Nation was transported to Azeroth, and his suspicions that the Magic and electricity didn't really go well together were true...
"So... what exactly are we looking at?"
Both he and Esdeath looked curiously at the clockwork-looking device that was on the table, while Azula, as predicted, was bored out of her mind. Even though she understood the importance of technological development for the Fire Nation, it was still something that was rather distant for her.
"This... Your Majesty is something that we are calling Orbment. They are the devices that use Orbal Energy, which is a pure form of energy created from ambient Magic. Orbal Energy is a refined form of Magic that is gathered from the environment and then passes through the Quartz, causing a reaction between the Magic and Quartz, which in turn releases energy for virtually any use. This energy is gradually restored over time and is cleaner than energy produced by combustion engines, making it extremely efficient for virtually any purpose. Of course, we are still in a very experimental phase right now, and even though this prototype is working rather well, it would be most prudent to obtain some more advanced knowledge on the Magic and Magic Theory so we can properly finish the device."
This time, it was Minister Qin from the Ministry of War who took it from Mechanist, and the more Aenarion listened, the more excited and shocked he became. As a very powerful Bender and Chi Master, Aenarion was able to clearly sense the Magic in the environment even though he wasn't able to manipulate it.
And the same thing could be said about many people with heightened Spiritual Awareness in the Fire Nation, so he wasn't really surprised that they figured out the existence of Magic in the environment, even though, some weeks ago, they were still calling it "That Weird Energy".
"And what are the possible usages after we finish the developments?"
Esdeath asked with glee because while she didn't understand most of it, she understood that this was something heaven-breaking. Really an invention of the century, perhaps even millennia, but Aenarion, on the other hand, understood it very clearly.
The Orbment represented the endless, clean, magic-based energy.
And because the Magic was everywhere in Azeroth, there was practically no fear that they would run out of it, and due to the construction of the Orbment, only part of the Orbal Energy was created from the Magic itself, while the rest was a result of the reaction between various elements.
"Practically everything, Your Majesty. Initially, before the Great Shift, we planned to implement electricity as the main source of power for our technology, but that is now null and void. However, with the addition of the Orbments, we can, technically speaking, achieve much more. You see... even the electricity that we were working on was rather a wondrous thing; there were several very severe side effects to it."
The Minister of Science, Technology and Research explained as he said to Esdeath Partas.
"The greatest disadvantage of electrical-based technology is the fact that we would need to construct a large-scale industrial base that generates electricity for our use and largely destroys the environment through pollution and other means."
Aenarion knew what he meant because he had seen how much the technological development of his past life destroyed the nature and beauty of Earth. Everything was polluted or outright destroyed by the industrial machinery of the 21st Century.
Which rather sucked.
If he could do it, he would rather prevent such a fate for his own nation.
It was very depressing to see once vibrant green landscapes and valleys become empty husks of themselves.
The Orbments and Orbal Technology showed a relatively safe way out. There was almost zero to no pollution from the Orbal, as it appeared, because everything was working on the refined Magic from the environment, so no additional things needed to be done.
"But the Orbments are providing a theoretically limitless supply of clean energy. Obviously, we would need more testing and, ideally, someone who is very experienced in local technology, if they have something like that, and also in Magic."
Minister Mechanist stated that Aenarion knew that they were rather in luck because the two factions in Azeroth that were best suited for this kind of thing were actually right now, as they were speaking, attempting to create diplomatic relations with the Fire Nation.
He knew that the addition of the insights from the Ironforge and Quel'Thalas would be invaluable, and they could create something that was really extraordinary even by the standards of Azeroth.
"Then we are perhaps in luck... right now we are in negotiations with the Kingdom of Ironforge, a dwarven nation that is technically most advanced in the world, and the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, the High Elven Kingdom that, on the other hand, has unrivaled mastery and knowledge over the Magic. Depending on the deals we can strike with them, we can involve them in the Orbal Project. While we would be giving a part of our secrets in exchange, if we depend on ourselves than obtaining functioning technology would take us whole decades."
Aenarion made a rather hard decision because even though he was aware that the researchers of the Fire Nation managed to create a prototype for the real prototype, it was mainly due to the combination of luck and other factors.
Creating a completely functioning technological tree for the Orbal Technology was something that would require complete access to the Magical Theory that was developed on Azeroth, access to their Artificers, Blacksmiths, and Engineers, which wasn't something that the Fire Nation had.
The best method would be to develop the Orbal Technology in cooperation with Ironforge and Quel'Thalas, perhaps even with the addition of the Gnomeregan.
Another reason was that he wanted to prepare for the advent of the Dark Portal. He knew that the Dark Portal wars were devastating for Azeroth, and something in the back of his mind was telling him that the addition of the Fire Nation into the equation would only make things even more complicated than before.
The Dark Portal would reshape the face of the Azeroth and start the chain of unstoppable events with the invasion of the Azeroth by the Horde, followed by the events of the Second War, the appearance of the Scourge that would ravage half of the world and rise of the Lich King and then the Third War would happen that would clusterfuck everyone across the Eastern Kingdoms, Northern and Kalimdor.
Aenarion needed to prepare for all of these things and ensure the Fire Nation's prosperity above all. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop everything, and a certain part of him also didn't want to stop everything because some things would happen either way.
The plot to turn Arthas Menethil was most probably the plot of the Old Gods, and it was his destined fate to raze the Kingdom of Lordaeron to the ground and sack Quel'Thalas and Dalaran.
In fact, it was also certainly beneficial to the Fire Nation because it would weaken the bigger players on the world stage and allow the Fire Nation to grow through assimilation. Yet, at the same time, he needed to ensure that the
The technology merged with Magic would be the edge of the Fire Nation over the remaining factions in the world. He was aware that they were in rather a precarious position due to their non-existent Magical Legacy, which would take them decades to catch up even to nations like Lordaeron if something unexpected didn't happen.
The quality of their Warriors and Knights was also inferior because the natives of Azeroth were physically much stronger, but Aenarion figured that it was something that would fix itself within a decade or so.
While the Fire Nation had some heavy hitters, they had a small number of them, and the overall quality of their numbers wasn't up to the standards of this world. He was able to observe the strength of the average humans in Azeroth, and they were a few times stronger than those in their previous world.
Until the gaps were filled, their technology would be their strongest card, together with their Bending Abilities.
Thus, he was rather eager when he realized that the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research and the Ministry of War had made such staggering discoveries and advancements.
"And if the Dwarves are roped in, then the Gnomes would follow, and we could tie the Gnomes closer to the Fire Nation by introducing them to the Safety Standart Protocols that we are using in our experiments. Through this, we won't be just making technological advances on the Orbal Tech, but also making trustworthy and loyal allies of the Fire Nation."
Aenarion, as someone who had a lot of knowledge about Azeroth and its politics, knew that with his decision, he would obtain hardcore allies for the Fire Nation.
Nevertheless, sooner or later, the basics of the Orbal Tech would get out either way, and he was sure that it would require just a few Gnome Tinkers, Dwarven Blacksmiths, and some Archmages to figure out how it worked.
So, he decided to take a step forward and invite them to participate in the project. From his knowledge of the World of Warcraft canon, Aenarion knew that High Thinker Gelbin Mekkatorque and King of the Ironforge Magni Bronzebeard were trustworthy individuals.
Even though Azeroth was literally dead, Aenarion at least had some foreknowledge that immensely helped him in many aspects. He was going to utilize his foreknowledge as much as possible to obtain as many advantages as possible before things started getting troublesome.
"If you have access to all resources, how fast can you start refitting all of the current Airships, Naval Ships, and other machines of war to the Orbal?"
Esdeath asked the question, which was also coincidentally something that Aenarion was also thinking, because while the Orbal Technology would be a game changer also in the civilian sector, in the station as they were right now, the Military had the first place of priority.
"A few years at most... depending on the manpower we can mobilize and the resources that we can obtain to build everything needed. With the addition of people who could help us incorporate the local Magic System and some of their technologies into the Orbal, we can do it within two or three years."
Right now, there were apparently only a few years until the start of the Gurubashi Troll War, something that Aenarion wished to participate in, because it would be able for him to curry up favor with the Stormwind, obtain new territory in the Azeroth Continent and also cull down the Trolls that would join the Horde.
Triple kill.
"I will personally negotiate with the Dwarves and High Elves about this. I am sure that they would be keen on working with us, as this could also elevate the Fire Nation in the eyes of the High Elves."
Aenarion knew that the High Elves of Quel'Thalas were a very arrogant bunch that looked down on the humans, perhaps too much. But there was still one thing that was universally accepted, which was power.
He knew that firsthand because of the power that Aenarion wielded, which made even the Grand Magister of Quel'Thalas, Belo'vir Salonar, wary and respectful towards him and the Fire Nation as a whole.