Yeah, the world is pretty breathtaking. After I got started, I mostly kept playing for the settings rather than the actual gameplay, lol.
Chapter Sixty
The difference between Ashenvale, and the region where he was now, was the difference between night and day. Darkshore, that was that first region's name. Or at least that was the name it was called by one of the users he'd passed by earlier.
Where Darkshore was a sparse forest overcast by stormy skies and darkened by somber hues of green, Ashenvale was a thick and secretive grove that seemed to reveal every hue of the rainbow within its deep blues and purples and greens. But even though the colors were so vibrant, the place felt ancient. As though the towering trees had spent long lives taking in the magic of the world around them, to eventually become the magnificent pillars that supported the thick turquoise canopy that hid this place from the world.
Cloak had to pause for a moment, and just look around in awe at the place. It reminded him of the island, at least a little. It was that same feeling of solemn tranquility. But oh, so much more so.
It was harder to see the sun here, making it harder to know which direction he was going. But he still had a good feeling which way was west, and so when the path branched, he took the path that led to his left.
There seemed to be fewer players here, although there was still a good variety of species. But, among the players he did see, the elves now seemed to overwhelm the numbers of the humans, wolves, and alien creatures. Which made sense to Cloak, once he thought about it. This forest, somehow it just felt,
elven.
As Cloaky walked, he still kept getting the imploring inquiries from the players, asking how he had managed to gain access to such a strange new species. But, though still annoying, he was getting better and better at tuning them out. Just a minor irritation, at this point. Well, other than the
particularly stubborn players that would actually turn and follow him down the path until they finally got bored of his silence and went their own way.
There were fewer landmarks to see in Ashenvale. Or perhaps it was just that it was harder to see anything through the trees. The path took Cloaky through the middle of the first town he'd seen since arriving here in the World of Warcraft, but it was an abandoned place, ornate wooden buildings home only to the few shopkeepers that were stationed there. And as he passed through, he began to feel tremors under his feet, and quickly decided he didn't really want to stay long enough to find out why the town had been abandoned in the first place.
The only other thing of note he passed by, was a stand of trees to the left of the path, that seemed to be eternally burning. But the fire never grew nor burned itself out. Not unlike the burning stand of trees he'd seen in Darkshore, but so out of place in this lush forest that Cloak almost didn't want to look at it. Even with a steep valley separating the path from the fire, Cloak doubled his speed, quickly putting the unnatural sight behind him.
After Cloak felt like he'd walked about a couple miles or so through Ashenvale, the lush forest began to thin out into a much more arid region, where yellowish grassland filled the wide gaps between scattered pine trees. There were guards stationed at the dividing line between the elven forest and the much sparser forest on the other side, and these guards, Cloak decided, must belong to the Horde. They were uglier species than what he'd seen of the Alliance, green-skinned muscular brutes with long fangs pointing upward, alongside bull-like humanoid creatures that reminded Cloak of minotaurs.
The real tip-off to the guards' faction, though, had been the ongoing fight between these creatures and a group of the elves Cloak had seen before. The way the two sides fought, neither gaining ground nor losing it, Cloak knew both sides had to be NPCs. Neither paid Cloak any mind.
Nevertheless, Cloak skirted past them, careful not to attract their attention. What had the elf called the place beyond Ashenvale? The Northern Barrens? Well, that was fitting, as the place seemed rather, indeed, barren. In particularly stark contrast to the beautiful glade just on the other side of the border.
He soon left the last few meager trees of that arid battle-ridden woodland behind, and was walking through what could easily have been an African savannah, an endless expanse of golden grassland, punctuated only by the occasional tree or bush. The scene was complete with lions, leopards, and . . . velociraptors?
He gave the dinosaurs a wide berth. He doubted such creatures would be friendly, in a place like this.
He was quite certain he was in Horde territory now. There were none of the wolves, aliens, or even humans here. Instead, following the dusty dirt path that wound through the savannah, there were orcs and minotaurs like the ones he'd seen before, as well as gnarled but colorful tusked creatures who spoke, oddly enough, in Jamaican accents. There were still elves, though, but it didn't take long for Cloak to notice that they were very different from the Alliance elves. These elves had lighter skin, and facial features that made them seem harsh and arrogant.
Cloak rather quickly became bored of the yellow grassland, so ordinary after the ancient forest, and summoned an energy disc to speed his transit through this place. Several nearby players turned to look, and several ran after him, desperate to know what 'spell' he was using, and what class he had taken that even had access to such a spell. Fortunately, though, he easily outran them.
But then he suddenly remembered that he was actually looking for an orc player, and he slowed down a little, scanning the path for an orc that would fit the description of Bloodbane. The orc he was looking for, had a braided warrior's ponytail running down his back, stoic eyes underneath neanderthal eyebrows, but no facial hair. Those were the main things that the RAFians who had seen him remembered about him. Well, the main things that would differentiate him from other orcs, anyway. The green skin, medieval armor, and the upward-pointing canine teeth? Not really helpful here.
Cloaky looked around, veering towards the small tribal-looking village where he could see several players congregating. But he only saw one orc with a braided ponytail. "Bloodbane?" he called out, but the orc didn't respond.
"You can only fight Orbaz Bloodbane if you play as a Death Knight, mon," a random player, one of the colorful Jamaican-sounding creatures, called out. Cloak ignored him and quickly pressed on.
Still following the setting sun westward, as twilight colors began to play across the golden grass, Cloak eventually came upon a marsh-like area, which his hovering energy disk allowed him to easily cross. On the other side of the delta, the grassland gave way to true desert, parched cracked earth and reddish rock.
Durotar, Cloak thought as he pressed forward, hoping to reach the city before night fell. It wasn't far now. He could see something that looked like a huge and imposing fortress, to the northwest. That had to be it.
The energy disk threw a cloud of dust in its wake as Cloaky raced through the desert, but at least now the falling darkness helped to hide him from nosy players. It seemed, whoever had told him that this was the place to find orcs, hadn't been kidding. Orcs were the only race he saw now. Every now and then he would spot one that looked like it might be Bloodbane. But, it never was.
Cloak dispelled the energy field that had carried him, as he approached the massive gates of the city. If 'city' was even the right word. The place felt more like a war machine.
He passed the guards, who eyed him suspiciously as he walked by. A few of the creatures he passed looked ready to attack, but it was like some force was holding them at bay. Like the game itself wasn't allowing them to target Cloaky. He stood at the ready, prepared to defend himself if need be, but it soon became apparent that there was no need, and he relaxed, as his would-be attackers eventually gave up and turned away.
As he entered the city, the feeling of being inside a giant war machine intensified. Everything was black and red metal, adorned with spikes and sharp white bones like the ribs of a dragon. The place felt tribal and savage. A city built for war. Cloak shivered with distaste.
Gathered within the walls of the city, crowding the pathways, were more users than Cloaky had yet seen in one place. The air was filled with the rumble of the crowd, all those voices blurring together into a constant background noise. All of them species of the Horde, minotaurs and orcs and those colorful tusked creatures and the fierce-looking elves and a few dingy little creatures that seemed to be some kind of goblins. And, was that a panda? Yes, that was definitely a humanoid panda that had just gone by. Riding an oversized turtle. Cloaky shook his head, incredulous.
Feeling a little foolish, Cloaky nevertheless pushed his way into the midst of the throng and called out, "Bloodbane!" as loudly as he could. No response. Again and again he called out, only to be shushed by players who seemed annoyed that he was yelling for no good reason.
"Bloodbane?" someone finally said, and Cloak turned to see one of the hobbit-sized goblin-like creatures. "Orc, right? I know the guy. We used to go on raids together all the time. You're just in time, too, I was messaging him a couple minutes ago. He just got online"
"Excellent!" Cloaky said as he sighed with relief, grateful to have finally gotten a lucky break. "Message him again. Tell him that a RAFian is looking for him."
