Finished my last quest in Dragonsblight, which was nothing of significance, mounted up on my trusty Swift Yellow Mechastrider and loped east to Grizzly Woods. As I made my way to the nearest outpost, I marveled at the beauty of the forest (by Warcraft standards) and the sheer lack of bears (by anyone’s standards). I was sure they’d turn up eventually. I did manage to find a crapton of wolves and hunters though. After a few minutes of exploring and nearly entering the Horde outpost by mistake, I find Amberstill Ranch, pick up the flight path, and begin badgering the locals. None of them wanted a thing to do with me.
The zone was designed for levels 73-75, but I was under the impression that was the level of the critters and would have no problems finding a few things to do to pit myself against mildly more difficult creatures. Not so. That 73 was a solid wall and quests would not be available for me until I passed it. Nuts.
Having cleared the last couple of zones, I’d have to aim low and hit the other staging zone for Northrend: The Howling Fjords. Designed (in theory) for 68-72, I expected the quests to be breathtakingly less challenging than what I had just faced. Still, a gnome’s gotta do what a gnome’s gotta do and I plowed into the thick of it.
Although by and large the quests met my expectations, the scenery was quite remarkable. One bit that stands out is a large “skybucket” type affair that ferries you down the fjords to a small island populated by the walrus guys I’ve been stealing puppies for. I improved my standing with them by performing some menial tasks and was sent to a pirate encampment on a neighboring island, which turned out to be a large quest hub. I could not have been more pleased with this portion of the zone.
If it was piratey, it was a quest. Board a ghost ship! Shake down people to pay back debts! Plunder loot from a giant after you burn him down with a giant cannon! Retrieve lost treasures! Face down perilous sharks, orcas, and a large seal (they wanted the blubber to make soap to swap the decks). Bribe a serving wench to pour some pirate really strong drink so you can pickpocket his recumbent form! The quests culminated in the assassination of the pirate leader at the bequest of his overly ambitious first mate. I’d need his spyglass as proof of my deeds, as for some reason the pirate wasn’t all that trusting of my word.
The Captain took refuge in a nearby cave and the quest was scaled for a group of three people one level lower than I, so I figured it’d be a good romp. Gamely, I entered the cave and summoned Steve to my side. The captain was alone, so I sent Steve forth and the battle was joined. Making good use of blink and my various slows, I was able to kite my opponent around without taking too much damage, then something surprising happened. When he was just about at 30% health, he decided to make a break for it and slipped and tumbled into a ravine and onto the biggest damn bear I’d ever seen. The bear gulped him down and now my proof was lodged in the ursine’s craw! Standing at the edge of the crevice in the rock, I quickly surveyed the scene. The bear looked significantly more difficult than the captain did and there was precious little room for navigation. This…would be hard.
“Steve! Attack!”, I barked as I cast Slow Fall on myself. Steve merrily wandered off. Terrific. I glided down into the waiting jaws, in time to frost nova the creature, immobilizing it briefly and blink a short distance to relative safety. Steve shows up, having taken some circuitous route and finally begins attacking. The ice shatters and bear chomps at me, inflicting a significant amount of non-cosmetic damage. I encase myself in ice to buy some for Steve to regain aggro control, when from behind the bear a sword slashes into it!
A member of the Horde, a blood elf warrior, had engaged my target and the bear was now totally focused on the new threat. With full guns blazing, the newcomer, Steve, and I made short work of the furry menace and I extracted the spyglass. Huzzah!
After finishing the pirate quests, I checked in with my walrus buddies and found a new quest had unlocked! Apparently the pirates had killed the king of the seals (to make soap to swab their decks, no less!) and now the other seals were leaving, having no reason to stay, the walrus-folk depend on the seals and…and… it was heart-wrenching. Fortunately, I could help restore the seals desire to stay by encouraging them to mate. I cannot make this up.
I was given a net to catch “tastyfish” and using the fish, kite—I mean, lure, one of the seal bulls across a narrow channel to where there were sea cows a-waiting. Once done, little hearts appear over the newfound lovers and I was informed that “I had successfully helped the sea cow find her true love.” Overall, a fun little quest and it’s repeatable daily.
Explored the zone more and found the “start point” for the area, which linked to the western continent by boat. Did enough of the quests there to hit level 73 and called it a night.
Next time: back to the Grizzly Woods!
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