High Priestess Dejahna was a gentle and compassionate person. Through her near-universal care for everyone, she held immense prestige within the Sisterhood of Elune. However, her greatest flaw was her indecisiveness, which often led to a lack of resolve in critical moments.
While Maiev had long been aware of Tyrande as a rapidly rising star, the straightforward Maiev had never considered things in that direction until the hesitant Dejahna proactively revealed the truth.
Most members of the Sisterhood, including Maiev herself, had tacitly accepted the fact that she would become the next High Priestess. However, the bombshell Andreas had just dropped caused even the usually resolute Maiev to experience a momentary mental blank.
After moving past the initial shock, Maiev's competitive nature instinctively flared up with strong feelings of indignation and resistance. Yet, simultaneously, she felt a deep sense of powerlessness from within.
High Priestess Dejahna had spent years meticulously cultivating Maiev's qualities in all areas. Aside from her personality, which was difficult to change, Maiev had long possessed all the qualifications to succeed as High Priestess.
If the information Andreas revealed was true, it meant that the things she had patiently worked so hard to learn over the years were essentially meaningless. This psychological gap naturally made Maiev feel slighted.
"Handpicked by Elune? Heh..."
In her youth, Maiev was still relatively good at managing her emotions. Although her heart was in turmoil, she took several deep breaths to steady herself and quickly recovered from the initial shock.
With a self-deprecating smile, Maiev gestured for Andreas to continue. "We can discuss this topic in private later. Let's focus on the business at hand."
Andreas knew Maiev must be feeling hurt, so he followed her lead and steered the conversation back.
"To return to the point: I cannot go against the oracle issued by the Moon Goddess. Before I set out for Highmountain, I must first find a way to rescue Tyrande Whisperwind."
Jarod, Fandral, and the others nodded in agreement. "Since it is a personal entrustment from the Moon Goddess, there is no other choice. However..."
Jarod rubbed his furrowed brow. "Considering the endless reinforcements of the Burning Legion, the Resistance truly is in desperate need of support."
"Our only link to the Tauren is through the demigod Cenarius. It would be most appropriate to arrange for a high-ranking member of the Druid sect to go. If anyone else went... I worry the goal wouldn't be achieved."
The Yaungol, who had split due to differing opinions, were roughly divided into three tribes. The group that moved to central Kalimdor and renamed themselves Tauren was the most peace-loving branch.
Another branch, also unwilling to participate in the continent's conflicts, chose the frozen northern Storm Peaks as their new home and renamed themselves the Taunka.
The last branch was the most bellicose of the Yaungol tribes. They retained the ancient name "Yaungol" and continued to live in Pandaria.
Due to frequent clashes with peace-loving races like the Pandaren and Jinyu over their ideologies, the Yaungol eventually moved away from the core Vale of Eternal Blossoms region. They traveled west to inhabit the Townlong Steppes outside the Serpent's Spine.
Whenever the Mantid of Pandaria launched an invasion against the Serpent's Spine wall, the Yaungol would be the first to fight them—though this actually suited the warlike Yaungol perfectly.
Andreas rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a moment. "How about this: we can temporarily set aside the Tauren at the foot of Highmountain. Instead, we'll send another envoy to bypass Zin-Azshari and the holy mountain of Zandalar to reach Pandaria further south and seek help from the local Pandaren."
"While the Pandaren are also a peace-loving race, in the face of such a world-scale crisis, I believe they would be willing to lend a hand."
The only problem was that Andreas wasn't certain what state Pandaria was currently in.
If he remembered correctly, Pandaria at this point in time should be under the rule of its last emperor, Shaohao.
Shaohao's most famous achievement was becoming one with the mists, shrouding the entirety of Pandaria within them.
When the Great Sundering occurred, this continent protected by the mists remained intact, but because of the shroud, Pandaria lost all contact with the outside world.
The only thing Andreas recalled was that Shaohao's transformation into mist happened before the Sundering of Ancient Kalimdor, but he couldn't pin down the exact timeline.
Even though we could theoretically survive this crisis following the original history, if there's a chance, it's better to take a gamble and strive to cause even greater damage to the Burning Legion.
Although the demons of the Burning Legion could be resurrected in the Twisting Nether after death, according to the law of conservation of energy, resurrecting them couldn't possibly be without cost.
First of all, time was an indispensable resource. If they could inflict more painful damage on the Legion than in the original War of the Ancients, the demons would require more time to recover.
This would buy more time for the surviving inhabitants of Azeroth to recover and rebuild, and perhaps to some extent, it could even curb the scale of the inevitable Satyr War that followed.
Though the Pandaren looked cute and cuddly, their combat prowess was not weak at all.
The Monk class, unique to Pandaria, had not only helped the Pandaren coalition overthrow the Mogu's brutal rule, but when facing the Zandalari Troll invasion, they had unexpectedly discovered new partners while at a disadvantage, turning the tide in one stroke.
Those were the highly intelligent creatures that had been friends with the Pandaren for generations—the Cloud Serpents.
Not to mention, Pandaria also had four powerful demigods known as the Four August Celestials. If they could be persuaded to join the battle against the Burning Legion, with numerous demigods launching a coordinated assault, Andreas believed they might even have a chance to kill Archimonde, the Supreme Commander of the Legion's vanguard.
One-on-one, a demigod indeed can't beat you. But if I can persuade the demigods to launch a linked attack, I don't believe you, Archimonde, can still pull off any miracles.
"Pandaria..."
Spellblade Leader Vorta Moon-Scar nodded thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, I remember. In the past, there indeed were Pandaren from Pandaria who visited the Night Elf Empire... to travel? At least, that's what they said."
"Those Pandaren who visited Suramar and called themselves Lorewalkers possessed impressive combat skills and humble attitudes. The local people had a very good impression of them, though they didn't stay in Suramar for long before setting off on their travels again."
Andreas nodded. "The Monk is a brand-new profession founded by a brilliant Pandaren under the inspiration of the Four August Celestials—the four demigods. It is also the most mainstream combat force in Pandaria."
"If we can persuade the four demigods of Pandaria to assist us, our chances of defeating the Burning Legion will be much higher."
An expression of surprise appeared on Jarod's face. He was, after all, a commoner officer who had risen through innate military talent; his reservoir of knowledge couldn't compare to the nobles who had received elite educations from childhood.
"Four demigods? Andreas, are you sure?"
"I am sure."
Andreas turned to look at Fandral. "Fandral, you should have heard Cenarius mention them as well, right?"
"Mhm."
Fandral stroked his furry chin and added, "I remember. They seem to be called Xuen the White Tiger, Yu'lon the Jade Serpent, Chi-Ji the Red Crane, and Niuzao the Black Ox."
"However, Cenarius mentioned another point: the Four Demigods suffered very severe injuries during their battle with a powerful Mogu Emperor named Lei Shen. I don't know if they have fully recovered after all these years."
Jarod stood up from his seat and said decisively, "Then it's settled. Before requesting support from the Tauren, we will first send an envoy to Pandaria, hoping to gain the support of those four demigods and the Pandaren."