c2

Harry didn't even try to hide his amusement as Luna ooohed and aaahed at everything around them, often skipping away to take a closer look or ask a random night elf a question, to the great distress of the Sentinels escorting them.

The Sisterhood of Elune was the highest social class of night elven society and, while they didn't seem to lord it over anyone, they were still afforded a great deal of respect. This was especially true for the Sentinels, who were technically the militant arm of the Sisterhood, with the High Priestess as their commander-in-chief. Luna's status left them very confused on how to deal with her, as she wasn't one of their kind but was indisputably a priestess, so they just kind of anxiously followed her around and urged her to 'please come this way, Priestess' and 'please don't ask the Ancient Protector if you can climb it, Priestess'.

Honestly, Harry hadn't expected their time in Teldrassil and Darnassus to be so hilarious.

Speaking of Teldrassil, there was something wrong with it. It was every bit as impressive in size as Nordrassil in Mount Hyjal and the sheer power and nature attunement it would have taken to grow it in a mere handful of years made his own forays into druidism look like a joke, but there was something about it that felt off. Go figure that for once the problem was that he hadn't been enough of a video game nerd, since he had no clue what it could be.

Jessir and Arko were still with them due to their Sentinel escort deciding that the High Priestess needed to hear their first-hand account of the encounter with the Shadow Council, particularly after the Dreadlord was mentioned. The two of them had spent most of the trip trying to help the Sentinels corral Luna.

Harry and Adrastia were no help at all in that endeavor, preferring to simply smirk and watch events unfold.

They eventually made it to the Temple of the Moon – in spite of Luna's curiosity threatening to derail them every two minutes – and the Sentinels visibly sighed in relief when a priestess came up to take over.

"Elune-Adore." The priestess greeted. "Come, Lady Tyrande is waiting for you."

Cute, pretending like their escort hadn't taken them the long way around just so that they would have time to prepare.

The Temple of the Moon was heavy with the goddess' presence, far more so than any temple he had previously visited and Harry sensed her gaze on him. She felt…not exactly disapproving, but more like a bit wary. Harry figured that she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt despite whatever misgivings she had. An unusual amount of nuance for a deity, which meant that she wasn't simply an amalgamation of belief, but an actual higher being.

What an interesting world.

"Oooh, so pretty." Luna said and veered off towards the fountain at the center of the temple. The centerpiece of the fountain was a nude statue of Elune holding up a basin of blessed water above her head. The water fell into the greater pool around the statue's dais in four separate streams that reflected a gentle moonlight radiance across the entire – otherwise unnaturally dark – temple.

"Elune's blessing shrouds the temple in eternal night." The priestess explained, much less perturbed by Luna's antics than the Sentinels had been.

A full reality warp from a simple blessing? How ridiculous.

Dealing with divine entities was such a hassle, but from what he'd heard of Elune so far he was tentatively optimistic. Azeroth's Moon Goddess actually seemed decent and genuinely cared about her faithful. A healer and a pacifist, but not irrationally opposed to violence, merely unable to engage in it herself. In hindsight, he really wasn't surprised that Luna immediately jumped into bed with her, metaphorically.

"It's a very accurate likeness." Luna complimented, staring up at the stone face. "Although her hair was unbound and her breasts were a little bigger when she came to talk to me."

"The goddess appeared to you?" The priestess gasped, apparently having been unaware of that.

"Yes?" Luna seemed confused about the confusion. "How else was she going to ask me if I wanted to be her priestess?"

"Then you have been shown much favor." The priestess said neutrally, but Harry spotted the faintly sour twist to her lips. Jealousy? And perhaps a little indignation that such favor had been shown to a human? "We should tarry no further, Lady Tyrande awaits us."

Harry could only be amused, feeling once again that bizarre sense of not being the most controversial figure in the room. Well, that might change soon if the plan he'd concocted during the trip panned out.

"If it is all the same to you, I think I would prefer to wait outside." Adrastia spoke up, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Normally, Harry would assume she was either out to ruin someone's life or intending to learn how to ruin someone's life, but this time she looked almost sick. Seems like the temple didn't agree with her.

"That's probably for the best." He nodded, but declined to explain despite the looks of the priestess and the Sentinels. "Stay out of trouble."

Adrastia gave him a look that practically shouted 'how stupid do you think I am?'

He had a feeling that the Black Widow had just scratched night elves off her list of safe targets, no doubt fearing divine retribution.

With their party thus reduced, the priestess led them to the upper floor of the temple.

Tyrande Whisperwind apparently preferred to hold debriefings in a more casual setting, because she was waiting for them on a large balcony overlooking Darnassus. There was a table set for them, laden with snacks and tea. A truly massive saber cat was curled up near one of the chairs, easily bigger than a horse.

The High Priestess herself turned to face them as soon as they arrived and the very first thing Harry noticed was the moonlight glow of her eyes, very much like the one Luna was currently exhibiting.

The second thing he noticed was that Dora's shapeshifting hadn't done her justice. With vibrant teal hair, light purple skin, a beautiful face accentuated by the tattoos around her glowing silver eyes and a simple white dress hugging the full figure of her seven foot form (although he had no idea what that weird metal ornament on her stomach was about) she made for a striking sight. The simplest silver diadem imaginable adorned her forehead, a crescent moon ornament hanging from it between her brows.

She was also incredibly powerful, her magical presence deeper and stronger than anything and anyone he had ever encountered, not counting Azeroth's world soul.

It would probably be a bad idea to mention that they had used her likeness for sexual roleplay.

"Oh, wow, you're very beautiful." Luna said admiringly, in utter disregard of all social etiquette. "Nymphadora really didn't do you justice."

Goddamnit, Luna! Harry groaned internally.

There was a palpable sense of amusement in the air that definitely didn't come from any of those visibly present. Well, it appeared that Elune had a sense of humor. Another point in her favor.

"Excuse me?" Tyrande questioned flatly, brows furrowed in confusion.

But Luna had already moved on, squatting in front of the huge saber cat fearlessly. "And who is this beautiful lady? Can I pet you? Pretty please?"

The saber cat – whom Harry could tell was as ancient as it was magical – regally lifted her head and granted Luna's request, who immediately began rubbing behind the huge animal's ear. A deep, rumbling purr issued forth from the massive body.

"Do something!" Jessir hissed urgently, poking him in the ribs for good measure.

"High Priestess." Harry greeted, magnificently ignoring his wife's antics. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Tyrande replied after a moment, apparently deciding to follow his lead where Luna was concerned. "Please, sit down."

XXXXX

"To think that the Shadow Council could have continued the Legion's operations in Felwood unnoticed for such a long time after the Battle of Mount Hyjal." Tyrande said to herself, clearly troubled after they had finished their report. "The kaldorei owe you a debt of gratitude for clearing out that filth, and for Arko'narin's rescue."

"We were happy to help." Luna chimed in.

Tyrande gave her a smile and a nod before turning to Arko and Jessir. "You have my sympathies for the loss of your friend. The Silver Hand paladins that came to aid us have been tireless in their efforts. Trey Lightforge will be remembered as a friend of our people."

"Thank you, High Priestess." Their response was subdued, but genuine.

"The temple is open to you if you feel the need for reflection or prayer." Tyrande continued.

Jessir and Arko apparently knew a politely-worded dismissal when they heard one and quickly made themselves scarce.

"Now that more pressing matters are out of the way, I would be most interested in learning something about my newest sister in faith."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the non-question while Luna began to happily grant the non-request for information.

"My name is Luna, I'm somewhere between six and seven hundred years old. I couldn't tell you the exact number because there was time magic involved and we kind of lost track. I was born on the 13th of February in the year 2001 in the country of Great Britain on a planet called Earth. Yes, it's a terribly dull name for a planet, I know. Yours is much better."

Tyrande looked like she wanted to ask a question, but Luna just continued without pause.

"Anyway, Harry says that our timeline was probably a splinter from the main line, but I don't really know why that matters. I like all sorts of animals, especially magical ones. I was the Goddess of the Moon, Fertility, Motherhood and femininity in general in the last dimension we were in while Harry was the God of Freedom, Light, Shadow, War, Justice, Wisdom, Craftmanship, Virility, Fatherhood and masculinity in general. Since we're married that worked perfectly."

Again, the High Priestess opened her mouth to ask a question, but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"My sexual kinks are breastfeeding, voyeurism and impregnation. My goals are to support whatever goals Harry sets for himself, help Big Sis Elune make this world a better place and then settle down for a few centuries and have lots of babies." Luna took a deep breath after that lengthy bit of self-exposition and smiled at Tyrande expectantly. "Okay, now you go."

"What?" Tyrande blinked, self-control briefly faltering due to surprise.

"She's saying it's your turn to talk about yourself." Harry helpfully provided, raising a tea cup to his lips to hide a smile, knowing full well that the High Priestess had automatically presumed a position of superiority and was being thrown off because Luna was treating her as an equal.

The ancient night elf looked between his carefully blank expression and Luna's hopeful stare before sighing almost imperceptibly and straightening in her chair. Harry almost missed it because his head swam when he took a sip of the tea. It was magical as fuck and he had a feeling that getting used to the local cuisine was going to be an experience.

"My name is Tyrande Whisperwind, I am a few centuries shy of eleven thousand years old. I was born in the city of Suramar and joined the Sisterhood of Elune there shortly before the War of the Ancients. I rose to the rank of High Priestess during that conflict and led my people as Elune's chosen ever since."

It was a far sparser introduction, but it wasn't Luna's way to complain about such things, so she just smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you, Tyrande. We're going to be great friends, I just know it!"

"Indeed." Tyrande was polite, but distant and certainly didn't share the enthusiasm.

Fool woman, there was no escape or defense from Luna's affection.

"What of you, Harry?" The High Priestess resumed her polite information fishing.

"Well, Luna has already told you a bit about me, so I think I'll just skip ahead to my goals." He began, knowing that she didn't really care about any of his personal details, nor did he want to tell her about them. "First and foremost would be the destruction of the Lich king and the Undead Scourge. To that end, I have a request I would like to make of you."

"The destruction of the Scourge is certainly a worthy goal." Tyrande complimented. "If a request to help you along with it is within my power, I will be happy to grant it."

"Excellent." Harry smiled. "Then if you could please arrange a meeting with Sylvanas Windrunner for me, it would be greatly appreciated."

Now her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "And why would you wish to speak with the Dark Lady of the Forsaken? While it is certainly true that there is likely no one on Azeroth who hates the Lich King more than her, she will not trust a living human."

Harry's smile only widened. "I'm going to make her an offer she can't refuse."

Tyrande waited for him to elaborate and spoke up when it was clear that he wasn't going to. "You will understand if I ask for more details, seeing as the Forsaken are part of the Horde and the kaldorei are part of the Alliance."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about the Forsaken or the Horde getting any stronger." Harry assured. "If anything, this is far more likely to benefit the Alliance."

"I would prefer to judge that myself." The High Priestess insisted.

"Alright." He shrugged, figuring that it wasn't going to stay secret for long. "I plan to offer her and her people a true restoration, life once more."

The tips of Tyrande's ridiculously long eyebrows bounced from the speed at which they shot up her forehead. "You think you can bring the Forsaken back to life?"

"Mhm." He nodded resolutely.

"How do you intend to do that?" She asked skeptically. "It has been attempted before, but the taint of undeath that clings to their souls resists all attempts at safely purging it. The only thing that anyone has achieved is to destroy whichever Forsaken or Scourge it was tried on."

"I haven't attempted it before." Harry stated confidently. "I am reasonably certain that if I can examine their condition and have some time to do research, I will be able to find a way to restore them."

He usually wouldn't be so open about his plans with what was effectively a total stranger, but he knew that Tyrande could be trusted…up to a point.

"Sylvanas will be more likely to slay you on the spot in outrage for 'lying' to her if you present her with such an offer. And if she does believe you and you fail to deliver on your promise, I would rather not even speculate on what she would do to you."

"Yes, that is a concern." Harry conceded, ignoring the presumption that Sylvanas WIndrunner was so far above him in ability that she would actually be able to take him alive if it came down to a fight. He didn't want to derail the conversation just to assuage his pride. "But this is the best way to move against the Scourge. Sylvanas is one of Azeroth's most powerful individuals and many of the restored Forsaken would probably be eager to fight it with me once they're back among the living."

"It would also drastically reduce tensions between the Horde and the Alliance, as the Forsaken occupation of Stormwind's fallen sister-kingdom has always been a sticking point for the humans." Tyrande admitted. "To say nothing of that pet Dreadlord Sylvanas keeps around, who, it now occurs to me, will undoubtedly try to sabotage your efforts."

"Yes, he would, wouldn't he?" Harry mused thoughtfully. "How certain are you that Sylvanas would react violently to my offer?"

"I know her only by reputation, unfortunately, but that reputation has grown dark indeed. She and her people may be part of the Horde, but their tolerance for any of the living is extremely thin."

"That's because of the necromantic magic." Harry explained. "It sits heavy on the soul and constantly afflicts them with a jealous hatred of all life, including the mockery of it that is their own. This affliction goes beyond even instinct and is completely inescapable. If they aren't restored or destroyed, the Forsaken are doomed to become hateful monsters even if they aren't under the Lich King's control."

"You seem to know a great deal of the matter." Tyrande noted warily.

"If I'm going to be making such bold claims, then I had better." Harry grinned.

The attempt at levity failed to crack the ancient woman's stern visage. "Arko'narin and Jessir mentioned that you both use staves of bone. May I see them?"

"Okay." Luna agreed easily and produced hers, whereas Harry just gave a small shrug before doing it.

Tyrande inspected then with the most neutral expression Harry had ever seen, staring into the empty eye sockets of the skulls for a long while before returning them. "I would suggest you use these no further anymore if you do not wish for any unfortunate misunderstandings."

Harry was frustrated by the unfamiliar feeling of actually having to take someone's warnings seriously. That hadn't happened in a long, long time. He knew that the High Priestess wasn't making a threat, but the mere fact that her words had enough weight to force him to take that into consideration was annoying.

But it was also kind of refreshing. He hadn't even realized that he had forgotten what it was like to respect someone who was capable of killing him, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't buying the 'I'm not a necromancer, honest!' line that he had fed to Arko and Jessir.

Frigging Elune was probably snitching on him.

"If you are set on this course, I can contact the Banshee Queen through diplomatic channels and ask that she meet with you. I would personally not advise it, but it is the least I can do in repayment for saving Arko'narin and destroying the Jaedenar." Tyrande said.

"Well, there's always Plan B…"

"And what is Plan B?"

"Snatch up a Scourge undead, free them from the Lich King's control, run experiments on them until I have the process perfected, then kidnap a well-known Forsaken, apply it to them and use them to send a message to Sylvanas."

The High Priestess gave him a very flat expression. "There is a great deal wrong with that plan. For one thing, you speak as if freeing one of the Scourge from the Lich King's grasp will be simple."

"It will." Harry retorted so firmly that even Tyrande was taken aback. "You heard Luna mention earlier that I was the God of Freedom in our last world? Well, that had consequences. This crusade of mine against the Scourge is one result of that, as I am literally incapable of tolerating the Lich King's enslavement of all those souls. Another consequence is that I have the ability to shatter any and all bindings, no matter how strong they are. At the height of my power, I could have simply walked into an army of undead and my presence alone would have freed them, but I'm not a god here."

"I see." Tyrande's expression became more contemplative. "That is a great gift indeed."

That she just took his word on that without even a raised eyebrow made suspect that lying to her inside the temple was impossible.

"It hasn't actually been particularly useful so far." He admitted. "But for something like this it's perfect."

"Still, the part of your plan that calls for the kidnapping of a well-known member of the Forsaken seems counter-intuitive to your desire to make an ally out of their leader."

"Yes, well, I don't really have much choice in the matter. If I take some random nobody then it will be dismissed as a ploy. The bigger problem is that I don't know how much awareness the Lich King has over his low level minions. I would rather not have his attention on me just yet."

In fact, he was sorely tempted to start off with a Forsaken test subject.

"Why can't we just ask for volunteers among the Forsaken?" Luna asked with a frown.

"Because people tend to be suspicious when something sounds too good to be true."

"You could state the risks openly and offer them lots of gold." She pressed on.

"Yes, and I'm sure that would work, but the problem is still Sylvanas and Varimathras and possibly any other member of the Horde that catches wind of it. To the suspicious mind, it just looks like a ploy to lure gullible and desperate Forsaken to their deaths."

"Your kidnapping idea will look just as bad, if not worse." Tyrande pointed out.

"Yes, but it would be faster." Harry shrugged. "If your assessment of Sylvanas is correct, then there's really no way to avoid a bad first impression."

"Perhaps." the High Priestess shrugged philosophically and the conversation stalled.

"Do you have a map of Azeroth somewhere close by?" Harry abruptly changed the subject.

"I can send for one. Why?" Tyrande asked.

"Because no matter how I'm doing this – and I am doing this – then I'm going to need a base of operations first. Azeroth seems pretty crowded and I'd rather not accidentally set myself up over a dragon's nest or something equally embarrassing, so I was hoping to take advantage of your experience to help pick a spot."

"You mean you aren't going to just pick the coldest, most inhospitable place in the world like you usually do?" Luna asked, surprised.

"Not this time." And it was only partially because the Lich King was already there.

"Oh, neat."

It took a few minutes for one of the junior priestesses to fetch a map, which they spread out across the table. It was a very nice map, even having the regions colored and rendered in painstaking detail.

"This is our most detailed map of Kalimdor." Tyrande said, gesturing to it. "See if any spots in particular catch your eye and I will tell you about them."

"Ooh, can it be somewhere green?" Luna asked, giving Harry the puppy-dog eyes. "We had snow the last time."

"That would take Winterspring out of consideration." Tyrande noted, tapping the northeast of Kalimdor. "But perhaps that is for the best. While out of the way and largely uninhabited, it is also home to multiple members of the Blue Dragonflight."

"They're the ones that deal with magic, right?" Harry asked, dredging up memories of reading what the individual dragonflights were in charge of.

"Yes." The High Priestess nodded. "They suffered grievous losses when Deathwing betrayed us during the War of the Ancients and have never fully recovered. Malygos, the Aspect of Magic, has only recently regained his full strength with the destruction of the Demon Soul, but his mind is in a more precarious state. While he himself has not been seen in years, the Blue Dragonflight as a whole has grown distrustful of mortal spellcasters. It likely would not have been safe to establish yourself there."

Harry hummed in acknowledgement. If this was Earth or Planetos, he would not fear mere dragons, but the ones on Azeroth were an entirely different kettle of fish. They were not the kind of beings you casually picked a fight with.

"What about this place? It looks pretty." Luna asked, tapping one of the greenest areas.

"Ashenvale, a region sacred to the kaldorei. It has seen much strife in recent years and pockets of demons that we have been unable to completely root out continue to linger in certain areas." Tyrande answered, briefly looking…crafty. "The forests there could use a caring hand after the harm done to it by the demons and orcs."

"We love forests!" Luna chirped.

Harry said nothing and just stared at the map, then looked a little to the southeast. Though the map had nothing on it, he was almost positive that that's where the orcish capital of Orgrimmar was located. Must be an old map.

More importantly, didn't the fight between Grom Hellscream and Cenarius kick off because the Warsong Clan started a logging operation in Ashenvale, a logging operation that was probably ongoing?

Son of a bitch, Tyrande was trying to use him as a way to get rid of the orcs in her backyard.

He wasn't even mad, because that was a perfectly fair trade. With the numbers disparity and the closeness of the orcish capital, the night elves were likely having significant trouble pushing the orcs out of their ancestral forest. Putting it in terms of a feudal society, she was offering him a lordship in the area if he took care of the problem for her.

And her terms were more than reasonable. There had been no mentions of fealty oaths or tribute, which no ruler could risk leaving unsaid if they wanted them. The land would still be night elf territory on paper, but in practice it was obvious that they couldn't hold it, so he wouldn't be answering to Tyrande as his overlord. A gentleman's agreement; you scratch my back and I scratch yours, and we both politely ignore the political side of things.

Unfortunately, that kind of unspoken agreement would require more trust between them than Harry could extend even if he knew that Tyrande Whisperwind wasn't the backstabbing type. She was already showing a politician's cunning with such an implied offer.

"Would those lands be under my governance, then?" He asked.

Tyrande's expression subtly hardened. "Ashenvale belongs only to the beasts and nature's ways."

Harry considered that response carefully. She wasn't saying that it belonged to the night elves, but to nature itself. Combined with her earlier statement that it was sacred to them and the druidic bent of their culture, he could infer that she didn't want him actually making any claims on the land.

"I see." He said thoughtfully, briefly closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "So if I understand you correctly, you are asking me to respect the forests if we decide to settle there, or else we will have trouble with the Sentinels?"

"That is all we ask of anyone who passes through or makes their home in Ashenvale. Cenarius and our people spent more than ten thousand years caring for that forest and we will not allow it to be defiled as long as we have any strength left."

"I see." Harry repeated, now smiling. This was actually even better than his previous assumption of Tyrande offering him a pseudo-lordship. If Ashenvale wasn't technically night elf territory, then living there wouldn't look like he was affiliated with them. "Would you like me to create a field of impaled orc corpses across Ashenvale's borders with Horde territory if we choose to settle there? You know, as a warning to keep out?"

In his opinion, invaders forfeited all moral protections when they launched unprovoked incursions into the territory of another people – or a land within their guardianship in this case. Giving them the Romanian treatment was well within acceptable.

Tyrande was visibly taken aback, but composed herself quickly. "That will not be necessary. I am not even asking you to fight the orcs."

"If you say so." Harry struggled to keep down a bark of laughter. 'Not asking him to fight the orcs' his shiny metal ass. As if having a powerful human sorcerer build a tower right next to their military encampments wouldn't provoke a response. He hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't explicitly said not to do it either.

Having Tyrande Whisperwind of all people act as slippery as a veteran politician did more to crack the illusion of this being a video game world than anything else so far had done.

Harry was grateful for the unintended reality check and assigned himself a minor debt to her in his mental ledger. This could have really bitten him in the ass if it had happened in a more dangerous situation.

"What about this place?" He asked, tapping the region just east of Ashenvale. Exploring other options was always good.

"The seaside is nice, too." Luna chimed in with her own opinion.

"Azshara, named for the Highborne queen that first drew the Burning Legion to Azeroth." Tyrande said with a pinched look. "Though beautiful, it is a land of much sorrow. Few dwell there save the restless spirits of Highborne elves that died during the Sundering."

"I might be able to put them to rest." Harry interjected thoughtfully.

Most necromancers may use their knowledge to raise the dead, bind spirits and be general douchebags, but it was also possible to do the opposite.

"That would be a great kindness." Tyrande finally cracked a genuine smile, although it quickly disappeared when she continued. "But the shores are also menaced by naga and the mighty blue wyrm, Azuregos, has laired around the ruins of Eldarath for many centuries. Though he is known to have a sense of humor, I cannot guarantee that he would welcome your presence there."

"Sheesh, I was just joking about accidentally setting myself up over a dragon's nest." Harry grumbled.

"I doubt he would attack you if you simply went to talk to him." Once again, the smile on Tyrande's face quickly disappeared. "We will need to speak to him soon regardless, as he holds one part of the Scepter of Shifting Sands. With the qiraji stirring in Silithus" She tapped the south-westernmost region on the map. "and somehow finding ways past the Scarab Wall, there is no choice but to take the fight to them before they can break free on their own."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Harry admitted. Whatever it was, it must have been something he'd missed in his haphazard reading of the lore.

"Your knowledge of our world is strangely fragmented." Tyrande commented with a slight frown before shaking her head. "The qiraji are a race of insect creatures-"

"Like the nerubians?" Harry interrupted. Those he had read a little about.

That got him another strange look. "Yes, like the nerubians. Given their similarities they likely share a common origin. In any case, we night elves defeated and locked away the qiraji inside their city of Ahn'Qiraj long ago, but now they are breaking free. The Horde and Alliance have agreed to work together to defeat them once and for all. Should you be willing, the war effort could use you."

"We'll think about it." Harry said, having no intention of doing anything of the sort. "But we've strayed from the topic. Are there any other viable locations where we could settle down in?"

"As you have already stated a desire to help purify the Felwood, you could always return there." Tyrande went along with the return to the original subject of discussion. "The druids would certainly appreciate the help. The Stonetalon Mountains are also a possibility. You would have to deal with the harpies native to the area and the wretched goblins have almost completely destroyed the natural beauty of the Windshear Crag with their greed."

Harry's eyebrow twitched at the G-word as the ancient night elf tapped the mentioned region on the map.

Fucking…GOBLINS!

He had completely forgotten that they were a thing in Azeroth. Worst of all, he knew that they were nearly identical in disposition to the vicious little bastards he remembered from Earth. It had been so long since he'd eradicated that loathsome species and he was not pleased at the reminder that he'd have to deal with a bunch of short-sighted greedy midgets again.

Was Harry aware that his hatred for goblins had grown past the point of rationality? Yes, yes he was, he just didn't care. If given even a sliver of an excuse, he was going to wipe them off the face of Azeroth as a preventative measure. There was simply not enough room on any world for both him and even a single goblin. Plus, he had no doubt in his mind that they would inevitably do something deserving of genocide anyway, if they hadn't already.

"That one seems promising." He said calmly.

"Harry, you shouldn't favor a spot just because you want to kill goblins." Luna chided.

"I'm not." Harry lied.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Are too."

"Am not." Luna realized she had been had and pouted. "Nutbunnies."

Tyrande cleared her throat, eyes glowing with amusement. "Another location that fits your criteria is Feralas. There is not much there except dense jungle, especially after the Horde raided Dire Maul a few months ago. My adopted daughter, Shandris Feathermoon, leads the Sentinel forces in the area from Feathermoon Stronghold on the island here." She tapped the map gain. "They are frequently harassed by naga rising from the sea and the mainland is infested by the Gordunni ogres, but other than that there are few notable threats in the region."

"Sounds a bit too moist for me." Harry shook his head. Forests he liked, rainforests not so much.

"Then Un'Goro Crater and Dustwallow Marsh will also not appeal to you." Tyrande indicated where those places were on the map.

"What about locations in the Eastern Kingdoms?" Harry asked.

"I am less familiar with those lands." Tyrande admitted. "If you wish to know of them, then you would be better off travelling to Stormwind or Ironforge and speaking to a human or dwarf cartographer."

"Fair enough. Thank you for indulging my questions, it was most helpful." He said sincerely.

"Think nothing of it." She dismissed, standing up. "I do not think you have been properly welcomed to Azeroth by anyone yet, so allow me to be the first to do so." She said, giving them a small smile and an even smaller bow. "May Elune watch over you."

"Thanks, Tyrande!" Luna chirped happily and, completely disregarding the formal nature of the High Priestess' welcome, went to glomp her. "I'm sure we'll love it here. Even Harry is being less of a sourpuss than he usually is, so I know he already likes it."

"I'm standing right here." Harry frowned.

"You could have joined in the hug." Luna completely missed the point, as well as Tyrande's polite attempts to extricate herself.

The massive saber cat lounging on the ground looked far more amused than an animal should be capable of expressing.

"That will not be necessary." Tyrande quickly assured, finally managing to get free. "Feel free to stay in Darnassus for as long as you wish before making a decision on your next move."

"Okay!" Luna agreed happily, grabbing onto Harry's wrist. "Come on, Harry, let's go find Adrastia and explore a bit."

"Luna, slow down." Harry complained as his wife tugged him along. "We're not going to miss anything."

"But I'm excited." She protested, not slowing down at all. Then she turned back to Tyrande. "I'll come visit again soon. We can have a sleepover, give each other foot rubs and exchange sex techniques."

"What?" Tyrande blinked in shock.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to her." Harry assured as he let himself be tugged along, finishing with a murmur that he was sure she would be able to hear with those big ears. "You won't have a choice."

XXXXX

To Harry and Luna's slight surprise, it wasn't just Adrastia waiting for them, but Jessir and Arko as well.

"We thought you might like someone to show you around." Arko explained upon being questioned.

"And you could stay with us at my home if you need to." Jessir added, drawing a look from her friend.

Harry could make a guess that the huntress wanted Luna around for her friend's sake, while Arko was playing it tough. Heh, I guess night elves aren't so different from humans where pride is concerned.

"That would be great." Luna accepted immediately, smiling brightly. "Lead the way, I want to see everything!"

And so they ended up playing tourist, just walking around Darnassus for a while. Luna was by far the most animated, as well as the most attention-grabbing. Many a night elf stopped and stared for a moment before offering a respectful – if slightly confused – greeting.

It was a beautiful city, but very small to be called such. By human standards, even medieval ones, it had a population closer to that of a large village, maybe a small town if you stretched it. The streets were almost bare of traffic and the buildings had plenty of space between them, clearly not a settlement meant to house a burgeoning population.

The bane of all long-lived species – low natality.

It didn't help that short-lived races tended to be more aggressive. Wisdom and patience were not necessarily good survival traits when applied on a large scale. Little wonder the night elves had so much trouble with the orcs.

Harry's musings were disrupted when he heard a familiar sound a short time after they arrived in what Arko said was the Craftsman's Terrace – the clang of hammer on anvil. That reminded him, Azeroth had alchemists and blacksmiths and enchanters, didn't it?

"Would it be possible to observe some of the craftsmen at work?" He interjected into the conversation he hadn't been paying much attention to.

"It would be unusual, but I suppose you could make a commission and then ask to watch it be completed." Jessir answered with a puzzled frown. "Why would you want to, though?"

"Harry is a craftsman, too." Luna said proudly. "He probably wants to see what he could learn."

"Oh?" Jessir perked up with interest. "What kind of crafts do you know?"

"I am primarily an alchemist, but I also consider myself a master of blacksmithing and enchanting. I'm not a bad stonemason, woodcarver, leatherworker or tailor either."

"I'm better with cloth than he is, though." Luna snickered. "Having to sit down to work annoys him for some reason."

"Don't forget the jewelry." Adrastia interjected. "He sometimes makes that as well."

Arko and Jessir looked stunned. "But…how? How did you manage to learn so many skills. Just being an archmage should have consumed all your focus." The huntress asked with some frustration.

"He gets bored easily and doesn't handle it well." The Black Widow drolled.

"Oi, you're only a few centuries younger than me. The fact that you're so uninteresting outside the bedroom speaks volumes about how lazy you are." Harry retorted mercilessly, prompting a fake wounded look from her. He turned towards the night elves without acknowledging it. "You've already heard that I'm around nine hundred years old. That might not be much for a night elf, but for a human it's a very long time. I would have gone crazy if I didn't learn things."

"Trey also always seemed to be in a rush." Arko murmured.

The mood plummeted rapidly and was quick to speak up with a tone of forced strength. "It's getting pretty late. Perhaps we should retire for the day?"

It was actually an hour or two from noon, but the night elves were obviously – as their name implied – nocturnal. For them that really was late and the few hours of sleep Arko had snagged at the Emerald Sanctuary was probably just barely enough to keep her functional.

"Okay." Luna agreed, splitting off from Harry and wedging herself between the two night elves so that she could hold both their hands. "I can't wait to see your home."

XXXXX

Jessir's home somewhat predictably turned out to be a treehouse. It was a very nice treehouse, spacious and cozy, but still a treehouse. The interior was also quite open, with little in the way of doors or walls, meaning little in the way of privacy, too.

Not that any of them were terribly bothered. For the two night elves it was their culture and for the three dimensional travelers, age had long since stripped them of such trivial embarrassments, if they'd ever had them.

Luna was quick to strip naked and pull a weakly protesting Arko into a cuddle. They were asleep in moments.

Given that there was only a single bed, although a fairly large one, sharing a sleeping space was another thing that night elves didn't mind doing. Harry wondered how they would react to someone having sex right next to them, because he certainly wasn't intending to go celibate for however long they were staying as guests here.

But that was for another time. Right now, he was sitting on the edge of the 'porch' and staring down at the ground, which was another tree.

There was something meme-worthy about trees growing on top of bigger trees.

He half-expected Adrastia to come join him and probe for their next course of action, but it was Jessir who sat down to his right. She had changed from her leather and chainmail armor into a simple white dress that left her arms bare.

"So, have you made any plans for what you wish to do in the future?" She asked.

"Nothing too specific, aside from fighting the Scourge and the Legion." Harry half-lied. He did have the vague outline of a plan already formed.

"A noble cause." Jessir complimented. "But why would you choose to do such a thing? This is not your world."

"It's a bit of a long story, but the gist of it that we came here looking for a little adventure."

"Adventure…" She sighed. "Arko and I went out looking for an adventure, too. We wanted to help our people."

Your people are going extinct. Find yourself a man and pop out a dozen kids. Two dozen if you can manage it. Harry thought, but didn't say. Whether it was a remnant from the worship of people who believed him to be an icon of virility or just something he'd picked up over time, he had a vague dislike of seeing fertile females throwing their lives away in martial pursuits instead of having families. However, It was not his place to tell Jessir how to live her life, and given the typical night elven lifespan she, along with most of her kind, probably hadn't even realized how bad their situation was.

"The impulsiveness of youth." He said instead, grinning.

"I am more than a thousand years older than you." She retorted, an amused smile pulling at her lips.

"What is age but years of repetition?" Harry countered pompously. "It's experience that matters."

"Would you be willing to share some of your vaunted experience, then?" Jessir asked challengingly. "I still want to keep adventuring and I'm sure that Arko will, too. What do you say to taking us with you and Luna?"

With her silver hair flowing in the breeze, beautiful face with its exotic tattoos and bright eyes shining at him, a younger Harry would have been hard pressed to reject the demands of his libido.

But he was old and had more sense than that. Jessir's bare arms showed a symmetrical musculature that an archer should not have, meaning that Azeroth ran enough on wishful thinking that her gender wasn't an issue, but their experience together in the Shadow Hold told him enough.

"I don't think you could keep up with us, Jessir. You would end up being dead weight." He said, not unkindly but not really doing anything to soften the rejection either. "Plus, I am not exactly a nice man. It's almost a certainty that I am going to end up doing things you aren't comfortable with."

That was one of the reasons that he had his eye on Sylvanas Windrunner. After all that the woman had been through, she was unlikely to ever regain the moral compunctions she had before being raised as an undead, even after he purged the necromantic magic poisoning her soul.

…He should probably warn Luna to not mention Dora shapeshifting into her. Unlike Tyrande, Sylvanas might actually try to kill them for it.

Jessir looked disappointed, but not terribly surprised as she gave a bitter little chuckle. "I suppose I really didn't do much back there. If it wasn't for you and Luna, I would never have been able to save Arko."

"You got in over your head. Shit happens." Harry shrugged.

"What an odd saying." The night elf snorted out a laugh.

"Thank you, my homeworld specialized in odd sayings. Another way of phrasing what happened to you would be that you 'went up shit creek without a paddle.'"

Jessir laughed outright this time. "Did that ever happen to you?" She asked after the humor subsided.

"You could say that I was born into a shitty situation." Harry grinned slightly , amused at what she found funny. "Crazy wizard heard a prophecy about how I was going to be his end, so he came to kill me when I was a baby to stop it from happening. He got my parents, but they set a trap for him that got him off my back for a while. That left me with the choice of either getting strong really fast or dying, so I chose to get strong fast."

The huntress was perceptive enough to notice that he neither needed nor wanted sympathy. "Would you accept Arko and me into your party if we became stronger, then?"

Harry still thought that they could do more good for their people by breeding like bunnies, but far be it from him to discourage anyone from getting stronger. "You're just going to ignore that part about me not being a nice man, huh? Fine, I'll think about it if you get strong enough. Come see us once I build my tower and I'll even outfit you with a full set of gear to help you along."

"Is there something wrong with our current weapons and armor?" Jessir asked with a frown.

"It's mediocre at best." Harry replied blandly with his customary brutal honesty.

XXXXX

Arko drifted in a half-conscious haze, dragged out of deeper slumber by a rhythmic movement. Eyes opening laboriously, the still exhausted night elf stared confusedly at the human woman in front of her.

Why was Luna rocking on the bed and making that rapturous face?

Several more seconds passed before Arko noticed that a very male arm was holding up Luna's leg and that there was a quiet wet squelch accompanying every movement. A glance downwards confirmed her suspicion when she saw the peach-colored male member plunging into the priestess.

Arko's cheeks turned a darker purple in embarrassment. Night elves weren't a shy people, but having sex right next to someone else was considered a bit far even for them.

She must have made some kind of noise, because Luna opened her eyes and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Did we wake you?" She asked in a soft whisper, reaching out to grab one of Arko's hands. "Sorry, but Harry has trouble sleeping when he's pent up. We'll be done soon."

"It's alright." Arko whispered back, finding the situation a little surreal.

Still, she liked Luna and didn't want her feeling bad for taking care of her husband's needs. The human priestess of the moon had gone to great lengths to comfort her after they got out of the Shadow Hold. Priestesses usually offered advice and benedictions from Elune to those who sought them out for comfort, but Luna had gone much further than that. Sleeping in her arms had felt like being cradled by Mother Moon herself and the nightmares she had expected never materialized.

The least she could do in return was not make things awkward.

"Are you sure?" Luna asked with honest concern despite the pleasure in her expression. "We can stop if this is …mmm…making you uncomfortable. Or you could…" She shuddered and swallowed thickly. "...join in?"

Arko's blush darkened and her eyes darted southwards again, on the member repeatedly plunging into the priestess. Arousal ignited in her belly at their obvious passion and enjoyment, and she pressed her thighs together in an effort to smother it. It didn't help.

Harry rose up to loom over his wife and put his lips to her ear, never stopping his movements. "Don't pimp me out to your friends just because you want to watch me plow them." He growled softly.

"I wasn't!" Luna protested, twisting to give him a kiss before continuing. "It just feels rude to be having a good time next to someone without offering to share."

"If it was anyone else saying that, I would never believe them." He growled again and thrust forward one final time.

Luna threw her head back and shuddered, but remained silent.

Arko's excellent vision allowed her to see Harry's member and testicles pulsing as he released into her. The sight sent a tingling shudder shooting up her spine and she couldn't help wondering what it felt like. Judging by Luna's expression it was very pleasant.

Luna sighed contently and the two humans settled back down onto the bed, pulling up the edge of the covers that they had kicked off earlier.

"So, do you want a turn with Harry?" The priestess asked, smiling. "Or with me?"

Arko was about to politely refuse despite the heat between her legs when nimble night elven fingers skittered along her skin and Jessir pushed herself up on an elbow to grin down at her.

"Yes, Arko, do you want a turn?" The huntress asked teasingly.

"Jessir…" Arko groaned in dismay. "How long have you been awake?"

"Probably longer than you." The silver-haired night elf chuckled and looked towards the two humans across from her. "You two are pretty bold, huh? I got the impression that humans are usually a lot shyer than this."

"It takes most of us a century or two to loosen up." Luna admitted.

"I don't think I'm ever going to understand your species." Jessir shook her head in bemusement. "You hide your bodies as if they're something to be ashamed of, but then you sometimes have sex with people you barely know."

"Our lives are short, so everything we do looks fast to you." Harry shrugged, looming over Luna the same way that Jessir was looming over Arko. "From a human perspective, you night elves are unbearably slow about things. The nudity is a cultural difference."

"Should we really be having this discussion now?" Arko wondered. "What if we wake Adrastia?"

The woman in question was sleeping on the other side of Jessir, on the edge of the bed. They all had to squeeze together quite closely to fit on it.

"Don't worry about it, she sleeps like a log." Harry snorted quietly.

"What is she to you anyway?" Jessir asked curiously, looking over her shoulder at the other woman. "You seem both close and yet…not."

"We have an…arrangement." Harry answered evasively and proceeded to change the subject. "We should probably get some sleep. I have a long day…night ahead of me."

Ah, right, he had wanted to spend some time observing at the Craftsman's Terrace.

"We were sleeping before you woke us up with your fornicating." Jessir retorted teasingly.

"I said I was sorry." Luna pouted, then adopted a seductive expression that felt almost startling to Arko given the priestess' normal disposition. "But if you want something more, Harry and I can give you a few orgasms."

Jessir, who liked to consider herself something of a playful tease, quickly balked. "Ahaha, we night elves prefer to get to know our partners before mating with them."

"That's alright, we're both really good with our tongues." Luna assured.

"I have always wondered what a night elf would taste like." Harry admitted with a grin.

"We could compete over who brings their night elf to climax faster." The apparently rather lewd priestess of Elune suggested.

"I wonder how their anatomy differs from humans down there?" The equally lewd wizard mused.

That's a good question!" Luna exclaimed quietly and quickly scooted closer to Arko, glowing eyes pinning her with an almost pleading look. "So, would you like me to lick you? I promise you'll enjoy it."

Arko was sure that her entire body had turned a darker purple by now, and it didn't help that it was a priestess of Elune making such an offer. Luna was clearly greatly favored by the Moon Goddess. Would it be blasphemous to refuse?

No, that was ridiculous. Even if Jessir had once made a tasteless joke about Lady Whisperwind having the junior priestesses take care of her needs in Shan'do Stormrage's absence, there was no way that there could be anything wrong with refusing a sexual advance.

Arko opened her mouth to turn Luna down when Jessir squeezed her arm. She looked up at her old friend and saw the pensive, uncertain expression on her face.

"Maybe…maybe it wouldn't be so bad?" The huntress suggested, biting her lip. "It's just licking right? We've done that for each other before."

"Jessir, we've known each other since we were children!" Arko hissed incredulously. "We've only just met them less than a night ago."

Helping each other release some tension after a particularly grueling day was a completely different matter from taking up a pair of humans on their offer.

…Even if Harry and Luna had fought and killed a Dreadlord, as well as the demon's minions to save her and avenge the murder of their friend.

And Arko was back to feeling uncertain, realizing that she had not done anything to repay them. There was a good chance that she would never be able to repay them.

"I know, but…we're friends, aren't we?" Jessir said, still looking a bit uncertain.

"Of course we're friends!" Luna was quick to say, reaching out to grab Arko's hands and giving her a wide smile.

"Yeah, you're not escaping her friendship now that she's decided she likes you." Harry snorted quietly, turning to give them an amused smirk. "But don't let her soulful stares break your will. You can say no to her."

"N-no, it's alright." Arko found herself saying. "If you want to…"

"I really do." Luna nodded enthusiastically. "What about you, Jessir? Do you want Harry to take care of you while I take care of Arko, or would you prefer I do you both?"

"Hah, that wouldn't be fair, would it?" Jessir chuckled nervously, already slipping from underneath the covers. "I'll take Harry's tongue."

"You won't be disappointed, he's really good." Luna assured.

Arko could see that her friend was by no means as confident as she tried to make herself appear, her eyes fixed on the wizard's jutting erection once it was revealed. Still, she laid herself down next to Arko while the two humans positioned themselves further down the bed, at their feet.

Gentle hands slid up her legs and nudged them apart. Arko was still nervous about this whole thing, but didn't resist since she had already agreed to it. Her hand still sought out Jessir's, though, and the two of them intertwined their fingers together, the huntress clearly needing the reassurance of a friend's touch just as much as she did.

Luna had also moved upwards along with her hands and was by then at her groin. "Relax." She whispered with a smile and lowered her head.

Arko's breath caught in her throat at the first touch of lips on her pubic region.

"No hair?" Luna murmured against the smooth skin. "Do elves not grow any here?"

"No." Arko confirmed, a little unsteadily from the sensation of the priestess' lips.

Luna said no more, instead laying gentle kisses along the area and running her hands over her thighs. Arko's nervousness was starting to get replaced by arousal, then a hot tongue flicked across her nether lips and she gasped in surprise. That one lick was quickly followed be more and she soon found herself relaxing into the sensations.

Jessir squeezed her hand and Arko turned to look at her friend., seeing the same expression that she guessed was on her own face.

"They really are good at this, huh?" The huntress tried to sound wry, but it came out breathless..

Arko's eyes drifted down between her friend's legs, where a head of black hair was wedged. The sight of it was more erotic than she expected and it sent a new rush of heat coiling in her core. "Y-yeah."

Luna's tongue shifted from short flicks to long, deep strokes, with the tongue kept as flat as possible. The abrupt change had her clutching at the sheets with one hand and Jessir's hand with the other, a squeeze that her friend returned as Harry likely shifted his own technique.

The tension coiled ever tighter, approaching climax at a steady pace. Then Luna's lips moved upward slightly and clamped gently around her clitoris, rolling the sensitive bundle of nerves between her lips and teeth, flicking it this way and that with her tongue and generally playing her body like it was a tightly strung lute and she was a master musician.

Arko's breathing was quick and heavy, gasping breaths through an open mouth, her climax so near that she could taste it, but then Luna moved back done and the intensity of the sensations lowered. Without a moment's thought, her free hand shot into the head of blonde hair and pulled it back into place, desperate to achieve release.

The human priestess obliged, continuing her efforts with renewed vigor. Arko just barely remembered that she had to stay quiet, but a few gasps and whimpers still escaped her.

Finally, it became too much and her back arched, pushing her crotch further against Luna's mouth as she was sent hurtling over the edge by the other woman's skilled tongue.

When she fully came down from the haze of pleasure, she turned a bleary look towards Jessir and saw that her friend looked just as dazed as her.

"Mm, night elves are pretty tasty." Harry commented, licking his lips with a satisfied grin.

Luna also licked her lip, smiling. "Yep. Are you girls ready for round two?"

"Round two?" Jessir asked weakly.

"Well, we did promise you a few orgasms." Harry's grin widened. "I'd hate to be called a liar."

"Right!" Luna agreed.

"Wait…!" Arko tried to protest, only for it to turn into a gasp as the lash of a hot, wet tongue set her nerves afire again.

The beleaguered night elf warrior just about managed to turn towards her friend and convey a message with her eyes that her mouth was currently incapable of expressing.

This is all your fault!

XXXXX

A few days later.

Harry walked out of the Craftsman's Terrace, stopped in front of the waiting Luna and Adrastia with a deep, disappointed sigh.

"That bad?" Luna asked sympathetically.

"They just brute force everything!" Harry complained.

He had initially been excited to learn new crafting techniques, but the suspicion he had for spellcasters apparently also applied to craftsmen. Since they had such insanely high quality materials available, they ended up using those instead of skill. They didn't even realize that they were using magic to do it, deeming only the spellslinging of mages to be magic and everything else just a fact of life. Even the enchanters and alchemists denied that they were using magic, then had the gall to look at him funny when he suggested that tossing a few flowers into a cauldron of boiling water and getting a healing potion out of it was magic!

There were healers on Earth that would have frothed at the mouth at the idea of a 'Troll's Blood Elixir' that could regenerate a whole limb in an hour. And it could be made from goddamn weeds! There wasn't even any actual troll blood in it. To get materials of even vaguely similar potency on Earth you'd have to do something ridiculous, like collect the buds of a flower that only bloomed for ten minutes every one hundred years when the light of a blood moon shined just right into its cave.

And this was just basic potion-making, which Harry didn't even consider to be proper alchemy, but the locals had a markedly less advanced understanding of the discipline than him.

The 'master craftsmen' here wouldn't be able to teach him jack shit. They weren't unskilled, but their skill was the closest thing to mundane that this world had. They made magic things because you couldn't take a piss in Azeroth without it being magical, but that felt more like a side effect than the intention. How utterly ridiculous.

He did learn one thing, though. The dragonscale combat robes he and Luna currently had might have been exceptional armor previously, but on Azeroth they were the equivalent of unenchanted studded leather. Completely unacceptable. Some of the materials he'd seen the night elven blacksmiths working with were simply insane and he had wasted no time buying samples to play with later, but he knew there was more. Azeroth's metals was actually one topic he was reasonably well versed in, if only because he'd been looking for cool names to steal early on in his life.

Though the fact that one such 'metal' was the solidified blood of some kind of Lovecraft-inspired eldritch abomination made him really wish he'd paid more attention to the lore.

"Cookie?" Luna offered, holding on the treat. It was a night elven confection, the small pastry stuffed full of various nuts and berries.

"Sure, why not." He relented, leaning forward to take a bit of it right out of her hands. Magic immediately rushed to his through his body and made his head swim briefly.

Adrastia had a cookie of her own and swayed in place for a moment before steadying herself.

"I will never get used to the magic saturation in everything here." She said, taking a deep breath to regain lucidity.

Harry had long ago noted that drinking concentrated liquid magic had an effect similar to a narcotic high for wizards and witches and had avoided indulging in it. Now they were in a world where everything was so soaked in magic that there was no choice but to do it.

The locals had no idea, but they were all hopelessly addicted to magic. If he took one of them to a more mundane dimension they would start suffering horrible withdrawal symptoms pretty much immediately. It made him glad that Fleur wasn't with them, as her veela physiology would have had quite the extreme reaction.

What that reaction would be was up in the air. Could have been anything from a permanent state of extreme arousal, multiple orgasms just from eating and bathing or even awakening her Earth-style succubus heritage. To say nothing of how susceptible she would have been to corruption. No, it was definitely for the best that she hadn't lived long enough to make it here.

"You will." He said calmly, finishing off the cookie. The accompanying headrush was slowly becoming familiar. "The normal human body takes seven years to replace every single cell. I'd estimate that ours will do the same in one."

What he didn't say was that they would likely never again be able to venture to a less magical world afterwards, at least not without carrying around canteens full of magic juice to supplement the lack of it in the environment. That was no issue for him as he wasn't overly interested in doing so, but Adrastia would be horrified, so he was going to avoid the issue by simply not telling her about it.

"If you say so." She shrugged, frowning at the crumbs on her fingers. "But for now it is a problem. Meal times are important social occasions and I cannot afford to be – for lack of a better term – stoned out of my guard every time I eat for the next year."

"The worst of the effects will dull soon." Harry assured. He was already getting a handle on it, albeit that had more to do with his mastery of the Mind Arts than any tolerance he had built up as of yet.

"I hope you are right." Adrastia said, flicking away the crumbs. "So, have you decided where we are going next?"

"You are going to Stormwind, along with Luna."

"Huh?" The other witch opened her eyes, having closed them while nibbling on her own cookie. "I thought we were going to Ashenvale together?"

After much deliberation and some scouting, Harry had decided that taking Tyrande's offer of settling in eastern Ashenvale was the best choice.

Anyone who knew him would think this very odd. Setting up shop there was pretty much a guarantee that he would be butting heads with people and seeing quite a significant bit of traffic. Being there would put him right in the thick of the action and that was something that most would say was not like him at all.

But the situation was different. Their first dimensional jump had been an accident, and it had landed them in a dull world governed mostly by mundane politics. The trip to Azeroth had been deliberate, perhaps not in precise destination, but in the search for something interesting. This time, Harry wanted to get involved, he wanted to participate in what was happening and was already invested in protecting this world and its magnificent soul.

Enforcing a sort of neutral zone between the orcs and night elves by acting the part of a cranky unaffiliated wizard was a way for him to do that without tying himself to any single faction, as it would remove a significant point of tension between the Horde and the Alliance.

The orcs would absolutely be a problem, because they needed lumber and there were no forests aside from Ashenvale in easy reach of Orgrimmar, but they would be his problem rather than the night elves' – and therefore the Alliance's – problem. Combined with what he had in mind for the Forsaken, things might just simmer down enough that diplomatic relations weren't in a constant state of 'would have long since boiled over if we didn't have analogue Satan breathing down our collective necks'.

Plus, that minor debt that he felt he owed to Tyrande was really nagging at him and he wanted to get rid of it immediately. Going a bit above and beyond would do the trick.

"Adrastia is going to need an escort and I want to get my tower up as soon as possible. Don't worry, you won't miss anything important."

"And what am I to do in Stormwind?" The Black Widow asked with a smile.

"Your primary goal will be to sniff out agents of the Burning Legion and any other problematic actors, but you will also be my representative to the Alliance as a whole once I make a big enough name for myself, so be sure to slither your way into the power structure."

"Is that ambition I hear in your voice?" Adrastia fake-gasped, clasping her cheeks in 'shock'. "Did you hit your head on the way here? What happened to the man that did his best to avoid politics for the one hundred and twenty years we spent in the last world?"

"Hilarious." Harry retorted drily. "Try to keep your cunt from devouring any souls, alright? We don't need that kind of attention."

"Are you at least going to keep me stocked with gold if you won't let me have any fun?" She sighed.

"Of course."

No matter how magical the world is, money still talked and bullshit still walked.

"What's Stormwind like?" Luna asked curiously.

"No idea." Harry shrugged. "How about you check it out and then tell me all about it when you come back?"

"Okay! When are we leaving?"

"As soon as we have everything here squared away."

XXXXX

Tyrande was currently working; reading reports, going over diplomatic correspondence, writing out orders and so on. Over the past few years, the level of effort she had to put into organization, logistics and politics had increased to the point where she was rarely able to even leave Darnassus.

Being the only member of the Alliance aside from Theramore to be based in Kalimdor put her people into a very difficult position. Even just cleaning up the leftover demons from the Burning Legion's invasion would have been a daunting task, but with the Horde having taken over much of central and southern Kalimdor, it was all they could do just to maintain the status quo.

Too many fronts, too many problems cropping up everywhere. Tyrande wanted to ride out and take care of some of them personally, but that would mean leaving Fandral Staghelm in charge and she had a growing number of concerns about Malfurion's successor as Archdruid of Darnassus. Staghelm had always been a little more brash than a druid should be, but recently she felt that he was straying into outright unwise recklessness. Growing Teldrassil against the advice of the Dragon Aspects and without their blessing was the most egregious offense that came to mind. To say nothing of his openly antagonistic stance towards both the Horde and the Alliance. Going out to slay demons wouldn't do much good if she returned to find that Staghelm had started open war with the former and severed ties with the latter.

A knock on the door startled her out of her focus, but she welcomed the distraction nonetheless. Somehow, she was not terribly surprised to find that the distraction had taken the shape of Elune's newest and most unusual priestess.

"Tyrande!" Luna beamed, stepping in without waiting for an invitation and immediately going for a hug.

"Luna." She returned the greeting and awkwardly returned the hug. The kaldorei were not averse to physical displays of affection, but Tyrande herself had long since gotten used to being aloof. Malfurion, Illidan and Shandris had been the only people she was ever close enough to for such gestures, but the first was now somehow trapped in the Emerald Dream, the second she had some extremely conflicted feelings about and the third was busy leading the Sentinels in her stead.

"You look tired." The overly affectionate human peered at her with concern. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Probably not, but she was hardly going to admit that. "I am well. Was there something you needed?"

"I just came to tell you that Harry decided on Ashenvale in the end."

That was…good. Normally, Tyrande would have never dreamed of giving such an arcanist her blessing to settle in Ashenvale, even her own people had only created settlements in it because it was necessary to counter the orcs, but he was Luna's husband and Elune had granted her favor to the human woman. Though she had trouble understanding, the faith she had in her goddess allowed her to put that aside and extend a hand in trust.

Regardless, having such a powerful and ruthless sorcerer there to cause trouble for the orcs would free up the Silverwing Sentinels for demon extermination duty.

"Then I had best write a letter explaining the situation that you can give to Raene Wolfrunner, the Sentinel captain of Astranaar." Tyrande said, already moving to her desk.

"Harry also said something about having some druids over to fix the damage once the orcs provoked him into kicking them out." Luna commented.

Tyrande paused in her writing to stare at her fellow priestess. She might have heavily implied that she wanted Harry and Luna to look after the eastern parts of Ashenvale, but she had honestly expected that she would need to suggest the druids herself. Even if Luna was a priestess of Elune, her experience with humans so far had told her that they were only slightly more respectful of nature than orcs. "Truly? I will be honest and say that he does not seem the type to care about the forests."

Powerful arcanists were especially notorious for the narrow range of their interests.

"He really does, actually. Although, he probably wants to watch the druids work just as much as he wants the forests fixed." Luna admitted. "He was always hungry to learn any new magics he came across."

That sounded so much like Illidan that Tyrande's stomach twisted uncomfortably, although Illidan never showed much aptitude for druidism despite being born with the amber eyes denoting his talent for it.

"In that case it may be best to speak to Keeper Ordanus." She said thoughtfully. "He is one of Cenarius' oldest sons and a powerful druid. You should be able to find him at the Raynewood Retreat in Ashenvale, from where he and his dryad sisters work to undo the damage done to Ashenvale and stem the corruption leaking down from Felwood."

"I love dryads!" Luna beamed happily. "Ooh, and I want to set up a temple to Elune at our tower, or at least a moonwell."

At that, Tyrande smiled. More moonwells in the world was always a good thing. "I can teach you the necessary rituals to gain the blessings of nature and you can take a few vials of water from here in the temple. From what Jessir and Arko'narin said, you already know how to call down Elune's light to give a moonwell its restorative and purifying properties."

"Mhm mhm." Luna nodded. "Do you think the people in Stormwind would mind if I put up a few moonwells over there, too?"

Tyrande paused in her writing for a moment to look at her fellow priestess. "You are going to Stormwind?"

"Yep, Harry is sending Adrastia over there because he thinks the Burning Legion has agents in place and wants them sniffed out. I'm just escorting her."

So the dark-skinned woman was some kind of spy? Tyrande had been wondering what her purpose was, as she was clearly not a fighter. The kaldorei did not have the inclination for that sort of subterfuge, not since the War of the Ancients when the Highborne were all either killed or exiled.

The suspicions of Luna's husband were more than valid, however, and she was relieved to hear that he was firmly siding against the Legion. Not just because it likely meant that he would help her Sentinels exterminate the rest of the demons in Ashenvale, either.

"One moonwell has already been erected in Stormwind's largest park." Tyrande said, still thinking it odd how human cities needed to specifically dedicate a place for nature to grow instead of existing with nature as would be sensible. "I doubt they would mind more."

"Then I'll do that." Luna nodded to herself firmly, pinning her with a gaze that reminded Tyrande far too much of Ash'alah when she was a kitten. "Are you going to show me how to get nature's blessing now?"

XXXXX

"Make sure you come visit us soon." Luna said, almost squeezing the life out of Jessir and Arko.

"We will." Jessir wheezed out, returning the tight hug. "Your husband did promise us a new set of gear, after all, and I need to see if there is any merit to his boasting."

"You won't be disappointed, he does good work." Luna promised, then jumped off the porch of the treehouse and onto the Nimbus Cloud. "Bye bye!"

Harry restrained himself to a simple wave as they left, wondering if those two really would make anything of themselves. Only time would tell.

They flew at maximum speed for a couple hours before stopping in Astranaar to hand over Tyrande's letter to Raene Wolfrunner. Then they continued further eastward, past the Falfaren river and past the Horde encampment of Splintertree Post until they reached the hilly area just between it and the Warsong Lumber Camp.

Harry had decided that this would make an excellent place for his tower. It overlooked the only viable road between Splintertree Post and the Warsong Lumber Camp, offered a strategic high ground, was close to the settlement of Satyrnaar and all its juicy satyr test subjects to the north and the demon-infested Felfire Hill to the south. There was even a portal to the Emerald Dream to the northeast.

A wizard could hardly ask for better. The incredibly thick forest canopy that completely blotted out the sky and nearly permanent rain weren't ideal, but the deep connection to nature the place had more than offset those little details.

"Alright, here we are." Harry declared, standing up on the Nimbus.

Luna stood up as well and gave him a hug. "I'll be with you soon, okay? Don't do anything crazy in the meanwhile."

"Me, crazy? I would never." He grinned and gave her a kiss, then threw himself off the flying cloud.

"I'll call you when we get to the Eastern Kingdoms!" She shouted down at him. "I love you!"

"Loooove youuuu tooooo!" Floated back, carried on a rush of wind.

"You two are simply sickening sometimes." Adrastia grumbled.

"Aw, come on, don't be such a sourpuss." Luna pouted, sitting back down and taking off at high speed. "It's nice seeing Harry happy for a change. I haven't seen him this animated since before his first century."

"I would be able to appreciate his happiness much better if it did not place me in mortal danger."

"But what's life without a little risk?"

"Safe!"

"Exactly, boring."

XXXXX

Four days later…

"So Adrastia went and commissioned herself a mansion in the rich district, did she?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"She said something about needing to make an impression, but I'm pretty sure she's just throwing money around to make herself feel better." Luna said, her sympathetic expression clear in the communication mirror.

"That does sounds like her." Harry snorted. "What about you? Found anything interesting?"

"I still get some weird looks from time to time and a night elf adventurer asked me for a blessing after I explained the priestess thing to him." Luna tugged on her hair thoughtfully, then her eyes widened as she remembered something. "Ooh, right, I forgot to mention. I went poking around the Trade District to see if I could get you something as a present and I found one of the blacksmiths working on something he called 'elementium'. It sounded neat and I don't think you got that in Darnassus, so I offered to buy it. He didn't want to sell at first, so I offered him a thousand gold coins for a sample and he almost threw it at me, which was actually kind of dangerous, because elementium is super heavy! That one chunk of ore must have weighed like, a hundred kilograms!"

Harry had a vague memory of snorting at the name of that metal when he first read about it and thinking that the game devs needed to work on their naming sense. "Does it have any other properties besides being heavy? Because I can't see it being very useful if that's all."

"Yeah, apparently it's completely indestructible if worked properly. The smith said that it's rare because it only naturally occurs on the Elemental Plane and almost nobody can work it, which is why he didn't want to sell at first."

The fuck was the Elemental Plane? Well, he could make some guesses based on the name, but other than that it was another thing on the ever-growing list of things he needed to get up to speed on.

The elementium suddenly had his attention, though. If he could find a way around the weight issue – and if he could get a supply going – then there were plenty of uses for an indestructible metal.

"Thanks, dear, I really appreciate you thinking of me." Harry said, glancing upward when a raven croaked at him. "Listen, I gotta go, I'm about to have guests soon."

"Aw, I wanted to be there for our first guests." Luna pouted at him. "Say hello to them for me, okay?"

"You got it."

The connection terminated and Harry looked down the slope of the hill, where the raven had warned him the party of ten orcs was approaching from. He spotted them after a few moments and knew just by their posture that they weren't coming over for tea and biscuits. The drawn weapons were also something of a clue.

Still, Harry stepped forth and put on a big, welcoming smile on his face.

"Good morning!" He called out. And it was morning. Very early morning, pre-dawn even, as Luna had been so impatient to speak to him that she'd called him practically the minute he woke up. Time zone difference.

The orcs looked briefly baffled by his friendly tone, but then they looked at the wizard's tower behind him – another copy of Orthanc, because that was his favorite design and he'd made it so many times that he could do it in his sleep now – and decided that they weren't going to reconsider their intentions.

"Lok'tar ogar!" The leader bellowed and charged with his axe raised high.

"You have chosen…poorly." Harry quoted with a dramatic sigh and waved his hand, conjuring a veritable river at the orcs.

Previously, conjuring up that much water at the drop of a hat would have been a herculean effort, but here? While not effortless, it wasn't particularly hard either. Even though he knew that his knowledge of shamanism was undoubtedly weak in comparison to what a proper one could do, he had enough skill to at least have a basic rapport with the spirits of the land and he definitely had enough skill to multiply the amount of water he was able to bring forth.

Come to think of it, maybe the existence of this 'Elemental Plane' explained why elemental magic was so easy to use here even in comparison to every other type of magic? Food for thought.

The deluge rushed towards the orcs in the manner that hundreds of tons of water going downhill was wont to do. Credit where credit was due, though, a few of the orcs were quick enough on their feet to jump sideways and take cover behind the massive trees dotting Ashenvale. Not all of them were close enough to make it, but they tried.

Those who didn't make it or just stood there like startled deer were left to the not-so-tender mercies of the cruel mistress that was physics.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are~." Harry sing-songed, holding his hands in front of him as if holding a ball. Air rushed to fill the space within and a form took shape, a contained spherical hurricane.

The orc leader shouted something and his three remaining subordinates jumped out from their cover, apparently realizing that giving a wizard time to cast was a bad idea, but it was too late.

Harry lobbed the ball of compressed air forward and it behaved much like an actual physical ball would, being significantly heavier than the surrounding air due to the compression. When it hit the ground, the fragile magical membrane burst and all that contained force exploded outwards. The initial pressure wave of expanding air was followed by lashing hurricane winds.

Harry remained safely behind a magical shield, but the orcs got ragdolled. The effects lasted less than ten seconds, but it was enough to get the job done.

Sauntering down the hill towards the closest orc, he was happy to find him still alive. The greenskins were pretty sturdy.

Kicking him once in the (broken) ribs to get his attention, he invaded the orc's mind as soon as the downed greenskin turned red eyes to glare at him hatefully. This time he was looking for general world knowledge, their reasons for being here and the orc language.

The results were about what he expected. Scouts from Splintertree Post had spotted his tower. The camp leader – a surly bastard by the name of Mastok Wrilehiss – had taken all of thirty seconds to decide that he didn't want a new neighbor and here they were.

That suspicion confirmed, Harry shifted focus and brutally tore into the language center of the orc's mind, ransacking it and assimilating what he could before the mind collapsed. Then he moved on to the next one and repeated the process.

By the third braindead orc, Harry felt that he had a decent grasp of Orcish. This was generally not the best way to learn new languages and the headache was certainly making him cranky, but he was in a bit of a rush.

The leader of this adorable little kill squad – another surly bastard by the name of Krak Steeltooth – had survived as dictated by the rules of cosmic irony, although his right arm was broken from slamming into a tree.

Harry approached him and took a good look. He had the green skin, red eyes and powerful physique common to orcs, as well as the bald head. Really, the only thing that made him stand out were the numerous steel rings fitted around his tusks as some kind of fashion statement. That was probably where he got his name.

Harry's eyebrow briefly twitched. Why the fuck did everyone else get to give themselves cool names, but if he did it, he would end up looking like an angsty brat? He had been intending to pick his own name after the identity dissociation issue from his first foray into godhood, but then he'd ended up using 'Harry' for another seventy years for the sake of convenience and ended up back at square one.

Let it go, you are too old and mature to still be resenting your parents for giving you the most common and unwizardly name imaginable.

"I must say that you really fucked up here, Krak." Harry commented in badly accented Orcish, drawing a look of shock from greenskin at both the use of his name and language. "I was willing to coexist with you peacefully, but now you've forced my hand."

Well, he was theoretically willing to coexist peacefully. In practice, he was always going to find a way to provoke the orcs and give himself an excuse to slaughter every last one of them. They weren't worth the trouble of coexisting peacefully with.

Particularly since he'd learned from the minds of the three he'd turned into vegetables earlier that they had been cutting down more trees than they could possibly use, leaving much of the wood to rot even as they continued expanding their logging operations. The Warsong Clan was extremely warlike and many of them were just here to satisfy their battle lust by fighting against the night elves and were using the supposed need for lumber as an excuse to continually provoke them. There was nothing you could do with people like that except kill them.

"How do you know that, human?! How do you know my name and who sent me?!" Krak demanded.

"Oh, I took it from your friends' minds, just like I took your language." Harry explained. "But getting back to the important parts, I hope you realize that I am now going to have to retaliate?"

Krak glared at him in mulish silence for a long moment, before pushing himself up into a sitting position with his left arm, spitting on his boots and sneering. "Do your worst, human, but know that the Warsong Clan will have your head!"

"Oh, my worst you say?" Harry gave the downed orc a chilling smile as he stepped on his uninjured hand to pin him down, pulling a sharp knife from his hammerspace. "Your warchief is going need a report on what happened here and I'm going to need a messenger, so I'm afraid I can't do that, but let's see if I can't make you regret those words."

Krak tried to twist away, but Harry grabbed him by the chin and held him still. Orcs were a big and physically powerful species, but not as strong as a 7'2'' human using an artificially created body that functioned at 300% capacity, especially not with one arm broken. Krak could do nothing as the knife approached his tusks.

XXXXX

Omake – GAWBLINS

Goblin Slayer was taking his party on another quest, the only type of quest he ever took; goblin extermination. The greenskinned monsters had taken over yet another abandoned fort and were menacing the surrounding countryside.

"We should have run across some goblins by now, at least a single scout." High Elf Archer commented warily.

It was a concern that Goblin Slayer had as well.

"Maybe they got lazy?" Dwarf Shaman suggested.

"We should not assume that." Lizard Priest cautioned.

"What do you think, Goblin Slayer?" Priestess asked their party leader.

"Someone got here before us." Goblin Slayer declared.

"How can you tell?"

Goblin Slayer pointed at a nearby boulder, where 'I got here before you' was written in sticky goblin blood.

"Oh."

"Hey, there's more written on the other side." High Elf Archer exclaimed, embarrassed to have not been the first to see the original message. "It says 'come inside if you really hate goblins'…I can't decide if this is a trap or not."

"Too obvious?" Dwarf Shaman asked dubiously.

They all shrugged and decided to check it out, but carefully.

It wasn't long after entering the fort that they heard a disturbing sound; the high-pitched shrieks of tortured goblins.

"M-maybe we should turn back?" Priestess suggested.

But Goblin Slayer was completely unaffected by the sound. Indeed, if one looked closely they might see that he actually looked a little invigorated. The party followed behind their leader with resigned exasperation and soon came upon the source of the sound.

It was a man working at a forge, large and powerful, his long black hair shimmering from the fires. The sound of hammer on anvil was completely hidden by the fact that every blow caused the circle of crucified goblins around him to shriek in renewed agony. Clearly, a terribly dark ritual was afoot.

The sword glowed a cherry red from the heat, until the smith lifted it up for inspection and plunged it into the heart of one of the goblins. Instead of being quenched, the blade seemed to glow brighter, as if feeding on the death. One by one he plunged it into the goblins' hearts, and the blade finally cooled when the last of them died, taking on an evil sheen.

"Ah, Goblin Slayer, right on time." The blacksmith turned to face them, clearly having been aware of their presence the entire time. Bright emerald eyes blazed in an aristocratic face.

"Who are you?" Goblin Slayer demanded.

"You can call me…Wizard Smith." The man's lips twitched in some kind of private joke. "I am a dimension-travelling wizard and when I heard about a man that might hate goblins even more than me, I just knew that I had to help you on your quest."

While his party made shocked exclamations, Goblin Slayer focused on the important parts. "You want to help me kill goblins?"

"Sure do." Wizard Smith confirmed and held out the sword he had just made. "Here. All you have to do is take up this sword, forged to feed on the death and suffering of goblins, and it will absorb an echo of your hatred."

"What if a goblin gets its hands on it?" Goblin Slayer asked. That was after all one of the reasons why he didn't use any high end equipment, so that goblins could not gain much from his death.

"That's what you're worried about?!" High Elf Archer demanded. "That's extremely dark magic he's talking about! He could be lying and trying to trick you! The blade could be cursed!"

Goblin Slayer wasn't worried about that at all. He sensed a kinship with this man, a kinship that could only exist in shared hatred. It felt a bit off, but this man definitely hated goblins.

"The goblin will be possessed by the spirit of your hatred and be compelled to kill its own kind. Once there are no more goblins to kill, the sword would drain it of life." Wizard Smith assured, ignoring High Elf Archer entirely, much to her indignation.

"Then I accept." Goblin Slayer reached out to take the hilt of the blade over the worried protests of his party. As soon as his hand wrapped around it, he felt the blade pulse, a familiar rage echoing within.

"Excellent, may it serve you well." Wizard Smith smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back. If my wife finds out that I've jumped across dimensions for the sole reason of facilitating the mass slaughter of goblins, she will stare at me with a disappointed pout for about five minutes until something else distracts her."

"That was weird." Priestess muttered after Wizard Smith teleported away.

"Well, at least you've got a proper weapon now instead of that disposable piece of junk you usually carry around." High Elf Archer tried to console herself, sighing.

Goblin Slayer stared at his new weapon, already plotting how to kill more goblins with it.

XXXXX

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" High Elf Archer howled in rage.

"Nothing is wrong with me." Goblin Slayer stated calmly.

"You threw your enchanted goblin-killing sword into a goblin nest!" The aggrieved elf shouted.

Squeals of pain and shrieks of rage came from the nest in question.

"The sword is killing goblins." Goblin Slayer retorted simply.

"He's not wrong." Dwarf Shaman tugged at his beard, not entirely sure what to think of this.

"At least it's safe." Priestess added timidly.

"It does feel a bit underhanded, though." Lizard Priest admitted.

"It doesn't matter, as long as goblins are being killed." Goblin Slayer ended the discussion.