Thora´s government affairs today were not very hectic. After reviewing the few documents he had, he thought about the recent armed conflict between the cavalry regiment and the Alterac army.
The Kingdom of Alterac was small in size and population, its national strength was weak, and apart from the private armies of the nobles, the regular army of the kingdom numbered less than 10,000 people.
The ancestor of the Trollbane family, Ignaeus, came from the ancient mountain tribe of Alterac: the Alterac Tribe. He was familiar with the terrain of the Alterac and Stromgarde mountains. In military terms, Stromgarde was not inferior to Alterac at all.
The King of Alterac of this generation, Aiden Perenolde, was born into a wealthy family. He had the face of a businessman, was timid, and liked to take advantage of others. The only thing he did well was to promote the kingdom's general, Hath (T.N https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Hath), an excellent soldier and strategist, who was also the only person Thoras feared in the Kingdom of Alterac.
Since the division of the Arathor Empire, all human countries have the same origin and are under the influence of Lordaeron, the strongest human power. There have only been small-scale frictions between countries and no large-scale wars.
King Terenas of Lordaeron acted as a mediator, and Generals Thoras and Hath were both rational soldiers. Both sides were very restrained and carefully controlled the scale of the conflict between their armies.
The conflict between the two sides would not escalate too much, and this was precisely what Thoras hated the most.
He would rather fight the Alterac army with real weapons than haggle with that villain Aiden Perenolde at the negotiating table. This kind of thing was useless except for wasting breath, and it also made him sick.
When the guard reported that Prince Galen had returned, Thora´s previously furrowed brow finally relaxed.
But the next moment:
"Father, I want a piece of land."
King Thoras, who had been smiling as he watched Galen enter, couldn't control his expression when he heard these words, and the transition between the smile and astonishment was a little disjointed.
His years as king allowed him to quickly adjust his expression, and understanding his son, he did not ask why he wanted a piece of land.
"What piece of land do you want, my son?"
Faced with Thora´s question, Galen's face froze. Along the way, he had thought of countless high-sounding reasons to persuade his father to agree to give him the fief. In this situation, should he just accept directly? Had he racked his brains for five days, and now it was all useless?
"Father, do you agree?"
There were many question marks on Galen's face. Happiness came too quickly, like a tornado. He suspected he was hallucinating, so he decided to confirm again.
Before coming, Galen was confident that he could convince Thoras to agree to give him a fief.
The Kingdom of Stromgarde includes most of the human kingdoms. When the children of royalty come of age, they will be granted a fief, which can be large or small, depending on the king's mood.
When Galen's cousin Danath came of age, his father assigned him a rich mining area on the northern slopes of the Faldir Mountains as a fief, which aroused enormous envy in Galen.
Although he was a prince, Thoras had given him several small manors around Stromgarde, but that was different from a fief after all.
Galen was confident in proposing this because he and his father had been together day and night for more than ten years, and they had a deep relationship and a profound mutual understanding.
The only reason that might make his father disagree was that he was too young and afraid that he would not be able to manage the fief.
This was not a big problem. The place Galen wanted was not the leftover land within the kingdom, but Stonefist Hall south of Deadwood Village. It was once a mining area and royal property, but it was later abandoned for various reasons.
The fact that no one lived there meant that there was no need to worry about governing the people, and even if there were people, administrative officials could be recruited to manage them.
Then the problem arose again. The area was unsafe and too close to the territory of the Deadwood Tribe.
Then he could state his ultimate goal, which was to ask Thoras for permission to establish an army to protect his fief.
To this end, Galen specially preserved the heads of the trolls in the troll camp and brought them back to prove that he had the ability to defeat the trolls.
The reason why he was so well-thought-out and interconnected was because Galen came from the modern world.
After the French revolution, feudal fiefdoms were abolished , and the era of centralization began. Military power has always been a very sensitive topic. Which King would not see this as a taboo?
Like Louis XI of France placating powerful nobles with favors, knowing that once their immediate threat subsided, his long-term aim was to diminish their influence, or like Cesare Borgia, who dispensed with his brutal enforcers after they had served to consolidate his power, leaving them exposed to his future ambitions.
Galen was also afraid. If he hadn't time-traveled, the original Prince Galen would have killed his father and usurped the throne twenty years later.
Oh no, what if I mention forming an army and offend my father, and he shows his deep father-son love and kills me in advance? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?
The above is a real tragedy fabricated by Galen himself, with fratricide, palace tragedy, usurpation of the throne, and mutiny. If Galen had offspring, it would be the Azeroth version of Shakespeare's opera, and it could be considered for inclusion in the Karazhan Opera House.
But Galen still underestimated his father's feelings and expectations for him. Revitalizing Stromgarde has been Thoras's lifelong ambition. Now the kingdom's national strength has recovered, the army is strong, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The only remaining problem in the Highlands is the troll tribe in the southeast.
At this time, Galen was born, and from childhood he showed extraordinary talent. He was precocious and disciplined. Thoras had high expectations for him.
No ambitious king would say no to an outstanding heir.
When Galen was ten years old, in addition to trying to teach him martial arts, he also allowed him to learn government affairs. However, Galen turned a deaf ear to the world and only focused on practicing killing skills.
This almost made Thora´s hair turn gray with worry. He once regretted teaching his son martial arts, which had caused him to waste his brain.
What did he hear today?
His son, who had only loved martial arts since childhood, actually said he wanted a fief. Solas also felt that happiness had come too quickly, so he exclaimed, "My son, what piece of land do you want?"
One wants to ask carefully because they are afraid of not giving it, while the other has long wanted to give it but is afraid of not accepting it, so communication is very important.
"Father, I want the abandoned mining area in the southeast. Is that okay with you?"
Three years ago, the people there moved to Goshek Farm because they couldn't stand the constant harassment of the trolls. What are they going to do with a territory without people and without production?
Here it comes, this is completely according to his own script. Galen immediately replied, "Father, I want to form a knight order to protect the mining area and then recruit workers to restore the mine's production."
"Galen, you will face trolls there, The forest troll that has already attacked us. You know the importance of Trollbane. Are you ready to face the troll?"
Thoras asked Galen with a serious face. His son wanted a fief, and he had no intention of refusing. But he didn't expect that the fief Galen wanted was outside the border, far from the army's defense line.
What happened next exceeded his expectations: Galen wanted to form an army to fight the trolls. He didn't mind his son having military power. He was his only heir, and he would hand over the entire kingdom to him in the future. However, he wondered if his son was ready to face the troll.