"I assume that the Dwarfs are not in fact adopting Draenei technology so much as, uh, working together in an alliance? And it's the local human polities that are adopting it? It's only been two hundred years, after all."

"Yes, the dwarfs are as slow as ever to adapt. But humans have no such issues. When the Draenei first landed and established themselves, some of the most accomplished Crystal-singers ventured across the Border Princes and sang deposits of charged Hysh crystal into whatever towns were clinging on. Many of those deposits are still being mined today to provide defenses all along the southern borderlands."

The ability to sing crystals into the ground like that sounds like something of a game changer all on its own.

"Is some particular talent needed to do that, to create deposits like that, or do you just need Hysh potential and the skill to do so?"

"It's a tradition of its own, with many years of training necessary. Anchorites are generally its practitioners. Some don't have the talent for it - as I said, I'm only mediocre at it. But yes, only skill and the ability to channel Hysh are needed."

"Quite the force multiplier, that. It needs specialized knowledge and it's still bottlenecked on Hysh and skill, but- well, if those deposits are still being mined- well. That's very good news for- eventual spread. "

"Indeed. The Empire is not so happy about large deposits of magically active materials all along their southern border, however. Their approach to magic is... more exclusive."

"A shame. And- well. Understandable, but in this particular case unwise. And certainly foolish to keep going after all this long- if it's been two hundred years and nothing's gone wrong it's likely not going to."

"They say the new emperor is more accepting in his views, but it's only been a few years under his rule. Import restrictions have been lessened a little, but as of yet there's been no invitation to any crystal-singers to visit the Empire. Crin would know the politics better."

"Every province wants to be the first to have crystals sung into it, so it's become a political fight over relative importance of provinces to the Empire."

She sighs.

"Of course it has."

"There are some on the draenei side who want to just do it and let the Empire sort it out, but cooler heads have prevailed, largely due to Hysh crystal's potential as an explosive."

"I was just thinking that cutting around the bureaucracy and doing it by surprise would be satisfying but uncomfortably destabilizing. It's good that nobody's done anything hasty. Of course, if people could arrange for the crystal to be sung into places firmly under the control of each province's Elector Count at around the same time that would be partially ameliorated, but sneaking into an Elector Count's proverbial basement and singing it full of potential explosives would be even more unwise. Amusing to imagine, though, especially if you consider doing it to an actual basement. Surprise! You're drastically wealthier but also sitting on top of a few tons of potential-explosive. It is time to take a vacation to your summer residence."

"Indeed." Ishaza smiles wryly.

"Hmm. Is anyone close to winning that fight for the first Hysh crystals, or is it all stuck in interminable limbo?"

"The new Emperor is backing Stirland to be the first to gain them due to its interminable undead problem. It's part of the reason I'm here. That and my mother."

She blinks.

"And not Reikland, his own province? Smart of him. Avoids the appearance of favouritism, gets it where it's likeliest to matter most, and ensures there's two Elector Counts behind one option, thus making it more likely the deadlock gets broken. And, um, your mother? Feel free to tell me it's private, but I'm suddenly quite curious."

"My mother is a Vindicator of the Order of Radiant Life. She fought in the war here sixty years ago, and now helps keep the southern border of the Exodar free of orcs. I grew up on stories of her campaign here."

Sixty years ago?

"Oh, I wasn't actually aware Draenei were longer-lived than humans."

"We are, yes. Our lifespan is closer to that of elves than of humans."

"I find myself quite pleased. Longevity is quite valuable, and I'm pleased both of my new friends have it, this bodes well. Unless you're both somehow secretly evil, I suppose, in which case I will launch myself out of the nearest window and flee, and afterwards conclude it actually boded neutrally. I am, however, quite certain it bodes."

She is suddenly mentally assaulted as she remembers the meme from home about wide cats captioned "bode".

It bodes, but it does not bode in that fashion, for they are not wide cats.

Probably.

"It bodes indeed." 

Crin looks over at Ishaza and smiles slightly.

Ishaza smiles back. 

"It's convenient, yes."

She's glad they both have time, even if Ishaza doesn't have forever the same way Crin does.

Wait. Ishaza is also less durable. Vampires have been known to survive being rendered unconscious for a decade or two before being revived by blood. If you're doing something as comparatively dangerous as Ishaza is, and you're not magically durable, your lifespan is more determined by your job than however long you'd live in safety. She doesn't know what that looks like, but she thinks she recalls that back on Earth absent aging life expectancy would be a few centuries? And this looks much more dangerous, probably by north of a factor of five, so almost certainly less than a century.

Well. She's here now. And if they are who she thinks they are, they'll be okay.

"Vindicator. What position is that, in the hierarchy? Is it the world's fanciest title for foot soldier, or did she have a command?"