Ansirem

"Razor's Edge" Catelyn, as it turned out, was indeed associated with pirates, but not the Blackwater ones. She had thrown in her lot with their rivals, the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

Ansirem, the object of Galen's strategic matchmaking, was a highly respected member of the Kirin Tor, renowned for his intricate rune weaving. The notion of a Grand Magus's daughter abandoning a life of arcane study for the rough-and-tumble existence of a pirate seemed ludicrous on the surface. Yet, reality often defied expectations.

Within the ethereal confines of Dalaran's Wishing Well, a humble copper coin bore silent testimony to a father's yearning: "I hope my daughter can be happier and more gregarious. She seems very uncomfortable here..." The sentiment resonated with the universal ache of parenthood.

But Catelyn, this spirited and rebellious daughter, had found the dusty tomes and the company of staid, gray-haired mages stifling. It was not the vibrant life she craved. So, she had cast off the perceived shackles of her father's expectations and embraced the freedom of a pirate's life. In a twisted fulfillment of Ansirem's wish, his daughter had indeed become quite "gregarious" – with a crew of swashbuckling buccaneers.

Speaking of pirates… the Blackwater Buccaneers had fallen upon hard times. A decade prior, they had been overshadowed by the ascendant Bloodsail Buccaneers. Fortunately for them, the Bloodsail's ambitions lay less in outright plunder and more in establishing dominance, allowing the Blackwater pirates to still eke out a living from the sea lanes. However, the recent strengthening of the Stormwind navy, coupled with the maritime might of Kul Tiras and Stromgarde, had severely crippled the Blackwater's power. Their ranks had dwindled through losses and desertions, many even joining their long-time enemies, the Bloodsail. Had the Lordaeron navy not been inexplicably decimated, creating a power vacuum in the North Sea, the Blackwater pirates might well have been entirely eradicated.

Meanwhile, Vashj, now reconnected with Galen, leveraged the authority granted to her by Queen Azshara, secretly providing him with several naga clans, including powerful naga sea witches and formidable naga brutes and royal guards. Sylvanas and Zola, ever the opportunists, had profited handsomely from this arrangement, their coffers overflowing. The two naga marveled at their initial decision to align with Galen, never anticipating his connection to the formidable Lady Vashj.

With the Bloodsail Buccaneers' growing influence, Galen now set his sights on dominating the Endless Sea, intending to absorb the weakened Blackwater pirates into his burgeoning network, effectively controlling both legitimate and illicit maritime activities. Once this goal was achieved, his next target on the high seas would be the rich territories of Zandalar.

First Mate Testees of the Bloodsail fleet swiftly located Catelyn. Galen's initial intelligence proved slightly off; the rebellious daughter had indeed become a pirate, but she sailed under the crimson banner of the Bloodsail, not the black flag of the Blackwater. This presented an unexpected opportunity. Could she be considered… half one of them?

With Catelyn's unexpected cooperation, Gandalf quickly swayed her father, and the ethereal Sky City of Dalaran gracefully shifted its position, moving from the skies above Kalimdor to hover protectively over Lake Lordamere.

In the ruins of the old Dalaran, the once-imposing purple magical barrier dissipated, revealing the battered yet meticulously cleaned remnants of the city within. Gandalf, alongside Councilors Modera and Drenden, began the intricate work of inscribing anti-gravity magic arrays onto the Violet Citadel's main structure. As Dalaran's tallest edifice and the headquarters of the influential Kirin Tor Council, it was the logical anchor for their airborne city.

According to Aegwynn's cryptic insights, a sealed alternate dimension existed at the Violet Citadel's apex, concealing the core of the ancient Council of Tirisfal: the Guardian's Sanctum. Within this Sanctum lay a treasure of immense power for the Tirisfal mages: the Guardian's Forge. This secret artifact held the key for a chosen mage to become a Guardian, or for a Guardian to pass their immense power to the next generation. Its primary function was to guide and coalesce the energy and knowledge of one mage into another. Master Alodi, the first Guardian of Tirisfal, had relied on the Guardian's Forge to unlock his potential, paving the way for human Guardians to stand against the demonic hordes. In the future, each aging Guardian would use this artifact to transfer their accumulated power to their successor. It was, in essence, a device capable of mass-producing mage experts.

Galen commanded nearly one hundred thousand mid-level warlocks. Their potential was immense, but they lacked a clear pathway to advance to the ranks of high-level mages. Perhaps a future upgrade to the Heart of Origin could unlock profession transfer, but with a population of one hundred million… even with fully operational bases in Northrend and Pandaria, that level of expansion would take well over a decade. He couldn't afford to wait.

The individual combat prowess of a high-level mage might not be immediately apparent, but a fully staffed team of skilled mages, operating with a secure output environment, could unleash destructive power far exceeding that of a conventional infantry force. The once-mighty Amani trolls had learned this lesson firsthand, their spines broken by the combined flames and ice of high elf and human mages, a crippling blow from which they had never truly recovered.

The revelation of the Guardian's Forge sparked a daring idea in Galen's mind. Even if his primary plan failed, the soul of the first Guardian, Alodi, resided within the Forge… consider it a valuable bonus.

Then there were the two banks of Dalaran. As the Dalaran Bank and the Dalaran Commercial Bank were magically lifted into the sky, the booming voice of the goblin bank manager, Baron Grutonia, echoed across the street: "You pointy-hats better be careful! That's my baby! One scratch on the wall, and you'll be paying me compensation! Ah! Compensation!"

Next came the Violet Hold, a formidable prison housing a menagerie of dangerous inmates: unruly elemental lords, Burning Legion demons, and treacherous natives of Azeroth, each capable of unleashing widespread destruction if freed.

With Dalaran's vital facilities now airborne, secured by magical chains guided by dragonhawk riders to pre-planned locations, the ground-level ruins, save for the damaged houses and shops, were truly desolate. The remaining mages of Dalaran wandered through the wreckage, lost in memories of their former city, while Galen instructed Gandalf to move the last remaining structure: the Dalaran Wishing Well.

Engraved on a tarnished coin within the well lay Azeroth's enduring enigma:

I want to know how you will survive my wrath, little fountain.

— Archimonde's Coin

The Wishing Well held too many personal memories for Galen. In moments of rare leisure, while surveying the unfolding landscape, he would often click his Dalaran Hearthstone, returning to the Dalaran of the Broken Isles to idly fish for a few gold coins and discreetly peek at the wishes cast by Azeroth's luminaries. Most of their heartfelt desires had, in some way, been fulfilled. Arthas, for instance, back in his days as crown prince, had wished for a cooler throne. His current Frozen Throne was undeniably cool, albeit with the unfortunate side effect of freezing his posterior. However, Galen had never managed to fulfill his own pre-transmigration wish, a minor regret that might well remain with him for eternity.