Galen took out an exquisite package from his treasure chest. It was a gift from Thoras to him, the legendary 16-slot bag, a magical item made by the mages of Dalaran, a cloth bag with spiritual patterns.
Inside were Galen's belongings over the years, mainly the gold coins earned by the caravan, and the weapons and equipment he was accustomed to using. He took all the gold coins with him, perhaps they could be used when the base was built.
The next day, Varokar arrived to inform Galen that the caravan had assembled and was ready to depart at any time. At the castle gate, they saw Danath and his guards also ready to leave, waiting to depart the city with Galen.
After Galen arrived, Danath and his companions entered the castle together. After meeting Thoras, they prepared to set off.
Galen did not plan to use the letter that Thoras had prepared for him. After all, going to Ironforge was just an excuse to leave. He planned to separate from the caravan before the Sardor Bridge and take only a few soldiers to take a look at the mountainous area of Stonefist Hall.
The team left the main gate of Stromgarde and walked along the Path of the Call to Valor. Galen looked back at Stromgarde. The city wall stood tall, and every few dozen meters there was a defense tower on the whitish-grey wall, looking majestic and ancient.
Galen still vaguely remembered that when he was playing the game, Stromgarde in the Arathi Highlands was in ruins, with trolls and ogres rampaging, and it was a desolate scene.
No one could imagine that this ancient country, which was still thriving, would decline in just over a dozen years.
Galen and his group left the Path of the Call to Valor and headed east.
This ancient road was built during the ancient Arathor Empire. It stretches from Goshek Farm in the east to the Arathor Wall in the west. It is the most important road in the kingdom in the Arathi Highlands.
Perhaps because the southwest is close to the ocean, Galen felt that the wind in the highlands was a bit cold since leaving the city.
Along the way, they saw villages of all sizes scattered along the road, and even more extensive grasslands. Groups of velociraptors ran and galloped across the pastures. There was even a pack of wolves that tried to attack their team, and in the end, the wolf pelts became their trophies.
Fifteen days after departing, Galen separated from Danath and his group. Danath was heading east to Goshek Farm, while Galen wanted to head south.
On the third day after separating from Danath, Galen's caravan trudged along the winding road.
The head of the caravan, Harmon Kaven, approached and told Galen that there was a lake not far ahead, and the rest of the journey would basically be along the river to reach the Sardor Bridge.
"Your Highness, this lake originates from the spring in the Faldir Mountains. This spring flows down from the top of the mountain and continuously converges to form three spectacular waterfalls. We will arrive at the first one tomorrow." Harmon Kaven was selected by Galen four years ago to serve as one of the caravan leaders. He had been taking the Ironforge trade route for a long time and was very familiar with the conditions of this road. Seeing that Galen was interested in the scenery on both sides, he introduced them to the prince.
Galen knew which river Harmon was talking about. He had seen it in the game. When he headed north from the Wetlands and passed the Sardor Bridge, he could see a waterfall. Then the water from the waterfall continued to flow eastward and split into two tributaries. To the north, it formed the lake in front of them, and to the south, it flowed into the strait.
Of course, the waterfall on the game map is just a small stream of water, far less spectacular than the waterfall that appeared in front of Galen. This endless stream of water descended from the mountains, creating an enormous momentum. Listening to the rumbling sound of the falling water next to his ears, Galen sighed, thinking that the game and the real world are truly completely different.
When he arrived here, Galen already knew where he was. After opening the map in his hand to confirm again, Galen called Harmon Kaven over.
"Harmon, I am going to venture out alone with a few guards."
Harmon was surprised to hear Galen's words, "Your Highness, won't you follow us to Dun Morogh?"
In fact, there is no need to exchange the caravan's goods until they arrive in Ironforge. After reaching the Wetlands along the way, there will be dwarven ranger fortresses large and small. The caravan will exchange some daily necessities and specialties from the Highlands with them, and collect some crocodile skins from the Wetlands to sell to Stromgarde.
Sometimes, if there are no specific goods, the caravan may have to return before reaching Ironforge. This time, Harmon thought they were accompanied by a prince and their destination would be Ironforge.
"My purpose is to go on an adventure and travel. Ironforge is not necessarily my destination. You continue to trade with the dwarves. I will stay here for a while. If nothing happens, we will return to Stromgarde within a month."
Galen gave most of the guards to Harmon to protect them from wild beast attacks in the Wetlands. Only Omar, Varokar, and five soldiers remained.
Omar and Varokar were the same age, both in their early twenties, one at the peak of level seven and the other at level eight. Among them, Omar was older than Varokar and stronger. With these two people, plus Galen who was at the seventh level, the strength of this team had surpassed the caravan. That's why Harmon agreed to Galen giving him most of the soldiers.
The group of eight rested for a night under the waterfall and headed east along the river early the next morning. They walked to the end of the river and saw that it was divided into two. One flowed north into the lake that Galen and his companions had seen before, and the other flowed south, falling down a high cliff and flowing along the canyon into the distance.
Galen and his team simply made a raft, crossed the 100-meter-wide river running from north to south, and arrived at the east bank. At this point, they were very close to Galen's intended destination.
Galen chose this direction to avoid the Deadwood Trolls that might be encountered in the north. What he was going to do had to be kept secret. Even later, when he established a base, he had to find a way to avoid Omar and Varokar.
To the east and south of this area are the Alterac Mountains that separate the coast, to the north is the border of the kingdom, and part of this area is also within the sphere of influence of the Witherbark Trolls. To the west is a river with abundant water resources, where a large number of velociraptors and some giant spiders live. Occasionally, small teams of trolls come here to hunt.
The kingdom's army is mainly concentrated in Goshek Farm and the main roads along the route to protect the food supply line in the east, and will generally not travel so far from the main road to such a remote mountainous area.
As long as you are careful of the troll hunting teams, the confidentiality here is still good, which is in line with Galen's expectations. The most important thing now is to confirm whether the southernmost part of the mountainous area can lead to the Strait of Sardor, so Galen now leads his small adventure team to explore along the cliff to the south. Along the way, he hunted several highland velociraptors and killed a pack of wild wolves. It can be seen that this area is far from human habitation, and Galen is quite satisfied.
Finally, Galen saw an open area ahead. There were no longer towering mountains or dense forests, and the grassland also ended in front.
They reached the Strait of Sardor.
Looking at the steep cliff, with the cliffs on both sides separated by hundreds of meters, and a hidden slope covered with thorns on the east side leading to the bottom of the cliff, Galen breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, he decided to summon the Heart of Origin base nearby.