Chapter 841: The Warden from the North
"And there’s Taran," Torvald added. "That damn Pandaren drunkard, he said he’d take me to his homeland for a drink. That special wine, the one with the scent of bamboo shoots... my mouth is watering just thinking about it."
Torvald readily accepted the invitation from his friends, Brontes and Steropes.
"Taran’s in a later transport group, Brother Torvald. Come wait for him at our place first," Brontes said. "After we get some food and drink in you, I’ll take you to see the tent district in the north of the city. They say there’s a perfectly preserved lord’s tent there. I’m telling you, as a giant, you should buy some property in Blackstone City. This place is the foundation of our Stoneheart Horde. It’s a legend."
When he spoke of Blackstone City, Brontes’s voice swelled with immense pride. He and his brother had been slaves in the Thunderwood Forest, marched all the way here. They had the good fortune to rise up from the cannon fodder troops and take part in the city’s expansion. They had shed their own sweat and blood to help make Blackstone City what it was today. Now that it was a legendary city, they felt like they were part of that legend.
As the sounds of celebration grew, batch after batch of bloodline warriors emerged from Moonshadow Valley, breathing new life into Blackstone City. When news of the warriors’ return spread, the city’s populace gathered outside the Horde Hall, anxiously hoping to see their own sons and husbands walk out from its gates.
Ursa, having replaced Rendall, had been appointed by Orion as Blackstone City’s new administrator. She was a conscientious leader; seeing the growing crowd outside the Horde Hall, she thoughtfully dispatched a squad of guards to maintain order.
Not long after Brontes, Steropes, and Torvald had left, the figures of Onyx and the Pandaren Taran appeared at the mouth of the passage.
"Ah, I’ve missed this cold air," Onyx said, looking up toward the eastern side of the valley. That was the territory of his obsidian golem race, a domain Orion himself had granted them. That land belonged to them—it had in the past, it did now, and it always would. The obsidian golem race was fiercely proud of their domain.
"You old drunkard, care to come sit at my place for a while?" Onyx asked Taran. "The scenery over there is one of a kind. It’s hard to even get to without a guide."
This was true. As the Stoneheart Horde had grown stronger, the races that had submitted early and proven their merit had been rewarded handsomely. The succubi, the obsidian golems, and the buffalofolk each had their own territories within Blackstone City. Such a reward was impossible to obtain in the present-day Horde, which made these founding races special, unique, and among Orion’s most fiercely loyal followers.