Blackrock Mountain, Shadowforge City Royal Palace.
Moira Thaurissan, the Dark Iron Queen, tossed and turned in her sleep, her face contorted in pain, as if besieged by nightmares!
As a descendant of the dwarven royal bloodline, Moira, blessed with superior lineage, often experienced prophetic dreams and visions.
These dream portents were gifts from the elements.
About a year ago, she began having strange dreams, but those dreams were quickly forgotten upon waking.
Now, Moira's dreams had steadily worsened, sleep bringing her not rest or rejuvenation, but terror.
This had left her haggard, much to the distress of the Dark Iron King, Dagran!
Tonight, Moira was once again trapped in a nightmare!
In her dream, she stood alone on a mountaintop, the sun appearing unnaturally close, staining the sea at the foot of the mountain blood red.
She faintly heard a sound…
A distant, low rumble that made her teeth chatter and skin prickle; she had never heard such a sound, but given her strong connection to the elements, she knew these signs were a terrifying omen.
Moments later, the sea began to churn, unleashing raging waves at the mountain's base.
The waves leaped thousands of feet high, ravenous, as if some dark, horrifying entity stirred beneath their collapsing surface.
Even on the mountain, Moira knew she was not safe; nothing was safe anymore. She felt the once-solid rock beneath her feet begin to tremble.
She gripped the Scepter of Thanatos tightly in her hand, a weapon given to her by her husband, Dagran, a weapon that once belonged to the previous Dark Iron King, Emperor Thaurissan.
Only by clutching the scepter could Moira find some solace in the face of the churning sea and collapsing mountain.
Then, disaster struck without warning.
A fissure snaked across the land beneath her feet. Moira quickly transformed into a ghost wolf, leaping and bounding away, but the fissure seemed to chase her, its gaping maw eager to devour her.
Eventually, Moira was overtaken, losing her footing and falling. Buffeted by the wind, she reverted to her dwarven form, desperately clinging to a jutting rock!
The ocean's monstrous waves relentlessly crashed against the cliffs, sending spray soaring to unimaginable heights!
Through her affinity with the elements, Moira heard their echoing screams, terrified, tormented, and pleading for help.
The rumbling of the earthquake grew stronger and stronger. In horror, she watched as a massive chunk of earth and stone punched through the red sea, rising, endlessly rising, becoming the mountain itself, becoming the continent, then the land collapsed again!
Moira despaired, sinking into the undulating earth, her spirit tormented!
"Wake up! My dear, wake up!"
A voice reached Moira's ears, followed by an even more violent shaking!
The next moment, Moira sat bolt upright in bed, her body convulsing, drenched in sweat, her hands clawing at the air!
"It's alright, it's alright! My dear, it was just a dream."
Dagran gently stroked Moira's smooth back, his voice soft and soothing as he reassured his wife.
The next morning, the Dark Iron family began their breakfast. Dagran noticed that his wife still seemed dazed, so he comforted her again, "My dear, don't dwell on it. The Alliance is strong now, and the High King is incredibly powerful. Even if enemies emerge, we will crush them!"
Moira slowed her racing heart, calmed herself, and replied, "No, my dear, I know this is a vision given to me by the elements! The earth will weep, and the world will crumble!"
"Although the Alliance is strong, if we can foresee disaster and prepare for it, our losses will be minimized, and the people of the Alliance will suffer less!"
Dagran's eyes flashed!
Of course, he understood this principle. Although he had been in a state of neglect since his birth, he had always been the core hero of the Heart of Origin, so naturally he knew what would happen later, and the Crusade had already prepared, waiting for the enemy to jump out.
"My dear, I must speak with the other shamans in our clan."
Moira pondered for a moment and said, "And the Earthen Ring. Perhaps others have seen what I have seen… If not, I must tell them!"
"Also, you should immediately inform Galen of what has happened to me; it is crucial."
"No problem, my dear! Will the High King… know about this?"
At this moment, the Dark Iron dwarf, who had been eavesdropping for a long time, finally seized the opportunity to interject, "Mother, are you going on a trip?"
"Yes, Thoras, I am going to Ironforge."
Moira replied after finishing the last bite of her breakfast and rising to leave.
"Mother, I want to go with you too! I miss Grandpa! I miss Grandpa!"
Moira heard this, thought for a moment, and agreed to her child's request, "Alright, child, you can come along!"
"Oh! Great! I can go out and play!"
The teenage Thoras jumped up happily, frolicking around the table.
Moira smiled, but she did not forget the matter at hand, "Remember to bring your elemental totem; I will need Izenrathus's help then!"
"Okay, Mother!"
Izenrathus, a fire elemental spirit from Draenor, had been forcibly bound to a contract by Galen after he rescued them from the elemental confinement in Shadowmoon Valley.
Originally, Galen had intended to package all four Draenor elemental spirits together for Thrall, but later Galen changed his mind. The Alliance also had many excellent new generations, and he should spread the love evenly, not favor Thrall alone.
Thus, the fire elemental spirit Izenrathus was given as a congratulatory gift to Thoras Thaurissan, the newborn prince of Shadowforge, and the earth elemental spirit Gorda'u was sent to Thunder Bluff as a birthday gift for Baine Bloodhoof, but Baine was a warrior who followed the path of the warrior, so Gorda'u was always enshrined in Thunder Bluff.
After Varian's child was born, the wind elemental spirit was also sent to Stormwind as a gift. Similarly, it was difficult for humans to follow the path of the shaman. Galen also knew that Anduin Wrynn would eventually follow the path of the Holy Light, and eventually the wind elemental Caradius became the guardian of the Wrynn family.
Only the last water elemental spirit, Ebrius, remained, and Galen had not sent it out because it had already been reserved for the shadowy prince of Kul Tiras.
As Galen's earliest and best buddy, he had to prepare a generous gift for Derek's child.
Although the four elemental spirits of Draenor, before losing their authority over their bodies and the world, could only be considered the weakest among the demigods, now that they had lost their authority over the world, they could only be considered legendary elemental lords.
But in Azeroth, Legendary ranks weren't cabbages growing by the roadside. They were the face of a faction. You could lack small soldiers, but you couldn't be without a capable fighter to show off!
Thanks to Durin and Moira's reminder, Galen gathered the members of this organization called the Earthen Ring in Stromgarde.
The Earthen Ring is a neutral organization that can be considered a shamanistic group. Its main goal is to maintain balance between the world and its elements. By communicating with the elemental spirits and stabilizing their emotions, they strive to maintain the elemental spirits' peace and prevent them from causing havoc in Azeroth.
An organization with such grand goals has always been mysterious and low-key. According to High Elf records, they only noticed the existence of the Earthen Ring about one hundred and fifty years ago.
Different from the elemental balance on Draenor, the elements of Azeroth have become very violent due to various influences. Although they were sealed by the Titans, the surface of Azeroth can still feel the undercurrents and chaos of the elemental planes. Therefore, the shamans who initially created the Earthen Ring were convinced that someone must prevent the elements from venting their anger and causing destruction. Otherwise, the entire world would be in great danger.
In the past years, the tauren race, attuned to the earth, was the first to feel the pain of the Earth Mother. After countless meetings and agreements, the tauren established the Earthen Ring. Later, as Galen opened the Age of Exploration, increasing contact between the Eastern and Western continents, the Earthen Ring began to accept dwarves, trolls, and draenei broken.
Although most members of the Earthen Ring are top experts from various forces, the members of this organization have no interest in political life. Therefore, they have no affiliation with the official authorities of various countries. They only regard anyone who seeks to protect the fragile balance of nature and control elemental creatures as friends.
This is very similar to Cenarius's Way of Nature.
Galen was also able to gather their core members today because he maintained good relations with various races in Azeroth.
Muen Earthfury, Tora, a Kalimdor tauren, a Highmountain tauren.
The trolls Yenusa'kre and Jin'tahr.
The Wildhammer dwarves Mylla, Ian Flamebeard, and Mackay Flamebeard.
The last few are Broken from Azshara, they are Prophet Nobundo, Stonemother Erunak.
Among them, Muen Earthfury is the leader of the Earthen Ring. He bypassed the numerous members and came to Galen: "Respected Lord of the Alliance, I have brought the members of the Earthen Ring as promised. I wonder what you have called us here for?"
Muen had a good impression of Galen, not only because Galen was the savior of the tauren race.
Well, in fact, he also agreed to come for this reason. Otherwise, the recent frequent elemental riots have already aroused the Earthen Ring's vigilance, and their members have become busy, so they would not agree to meet with the leader of a certain force.
However, Muen felt that this meeting was very worthwhile, because Galen had a strong elemental affinity!
Very strong, very strong!
This was something Muen had never seen before!
However, Muen was wrong about this. This was not a natural elemental affinity. That thing did not exist on Galen. The real name should be elemental licking...
The licking from the second generation elemental throne of Draenor...
Of course, if licking is also a kind of affinity, then Muen's induction is fine.
"I heard that the elements of Azeroth have been rioting recently. I wonder what Muen and the high priests think about this?"
As soon as these words came out, the shamans of the Earthen Ring looked at each other and nodded to each other.
"Your Majesty Galen, the elements of Azeroth have indeed been very active recently, and they have been rioting frequently. I suspect that the barrier between the elemental realm and Azeroth has been weakened!"
Azeroth is a very large world with a rather complex interior. In addition to the main plane, there is also the Emerald Dream, an auxiliary world, as well as the auxiliary planes that seal the four elemental lords: the Firelands, the Skywall, Deepholm, and the Abyssal Maw.
There are Titan-left seals between these four elemental realms and the current world of Azeroth, making it difficult for the elemental lords to break through this seal and come to Azeroth.
This seal is the elemental barrier that Muen mentioned. The last time there was a problem with this elemental barrier was during the War of the Three Hammers of the dwarves, when Emperor Thaurissan used a special ritual to summon Ragnaros the Firelord to Blackrock Mountain, directly burning a province of the Eastern Kingdoms into a world of flames.
"The newly built Holy Fire Village in Mulgore has had one-third of its buildings burned down due to frequent fire elemental riots."
Speaking of this, Muen looked helpless. Recently, because of this incident, he has led a group of shamans back and forth to Stonebull Lake countless times!
The wild tauren relatives that Baine brought back are fine.
First of all, these distant relatives have the tradition that only the strongest, bravest, and most tenacious wild tauren can become the leader of the tribe. These are the most respected qualities in wild tauren society, and the wild tauren believe that their leaders must possess them.
When a conflict breaks out between two wild tauren, a war flag will be erected among them, and then they will be allowed to duel with blunt weapons until one side admits defeat or faints.
Similarly, the new leader is also selected through ritual combat—the wild tauren who hopes to inherit the chieftain's position must plant his family's war flag on the ground and fight to the death with anyone who challenges his authority.
In order to integrate the tauren and wild tauren of their own race as soon as possible, the tauren high-level officials have held the Stonebull Lake Games many times.
Coincidentally, Cairne Bloodhoof is old and strong, and Baine is even more young and strong. This father and son have become the winning generals of the arena, which makes the wild tauren convinced and live peacefully on the grasslands of Mulgore.
But what makes people uncomfortable is another tradition of the wild tauren, they like to use fuel!
This is the main combat method of the wild tauren. When fighting against the mantid and pandaren, this weapon is even more deadly than magic.
This burning substance will leave the enemy covered in wounds, the earth scarred, and the trees used to protect the enemy will be burned to ashes, even the terrible mantid invasion can be resolved.
In this peaceful era, although they don't fight wars anymore, they like to light huge bonfires at night!
In this environment where the fire is soaring to the sky, the fire element riots can be imagined!