Unforgotten Places – The Barrens, part II

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Mor’shan Base Camp

The Mor’shan Base Camp one of the two entrances to the Warsong Gulch battleground where the Alliance tries to drive out Horde deforesters. This small camp is run by the Battlemaster Gargok and quite heavily guarded by Horde Elite warriors.
Sludge Fen
Many of you probably have run across the Venture Co in various places around Azeroth and be sure that the Barrens isn’t safe from them either. In the north between Orgrimmar and the Gold Road is a small lake that has been polluted by the Venture Companys quest for oil.




Camp Taurajo
The southern Horde settlement in the Barrens is located close to the pass that leads to the taurens homeland Mulgore. Practically this means that everyone travelling to Mulgore must either pass through this camp or travel through the Quilboar country that surrounds it. This fact can lead to a long detour for Alliance members travelling to or from Mulgore.
Just outside of Camp Taurajo is a small camp where Takar the Seer lives, he is one of the many people that Warlock students are sent out to find during their training.
Bael Modan
The largest Alliance stronghold in the Barrens is called Bael Modan and is mostly populated by dwarves and gnomes. The dwarves are quite protective of the stronghold as it is the only defence that the archaeologists at the dig site have. The dig site is probably the largest one that the dwarves have on Kalimdor at the moment and it is not so surprising as they believe that they have found one of the ruins that is left after the titans, just like Uldaman and Ulduar.
Quilboars

The boar men, as they are also called are not the friendliest race living on Kalimdor. They have been in constant battle with the orcs since the Horde first arrived on the continent. One would think that quilboars would have joined the Alliance when they first saw their homes destroyed by the Horde, but they didn't and now they attack both sides one sight. But the hostility did not really start when the Horde arrived, the quilboars have been fighting the tauren and centaurs since the great sundering.
Luckily it is easy to avoid their homes as they are surrounded by huge thorn like veins that can be seen from a long distance.
Alliance Outrunners Many times when travelling the Barrens as a member of the Alliance, you might find yourself wishing for companions that are on their way in the same direction. Stay calm, because the Alliance Outrunners may already have spotted you and come to your aid. These riders are the friendliest bunch and sharing a camp fire with them is pure joy and makes you forget that you are in an unfriendly land. I salute these brave souls.
This is it for now about the Barrens. Remember that the place is mostly controlled by the Horde, so be careful while visiting. Good luck to you all!

Until next time: Challenge yourself to do something new

Unforgotten Places - The Barrens, part I

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I’ve thought about revisiting some of my favorite places in Azeroth and Outland for a while now, and what could be a better motivation then to be able to write about all these wonderful places, so welcome to the first issue of Unforgotten Places where I return to my favorite lands .The very first time that I had to enter the Barrens was a long time ago when I was helping Velene Starstrike with a water elemental issue in Ashenvale. That time I just entered the northern regions of the land and I remember that my first thought was “How can anyone want to live here”. But at later times I’ve traversed the land forwards and backwards countless times and even though the land is as the name suggest mostly barren, there are places that fascinate me in a strange way.

In this article I will try to describe my own experiences of the Barrens, both old memories and the new things that I’ve found during my revisit.

Ratchet

Ratchet, the only really neutral town in the whole Barrens and mostly visited by young members of the Horde but also the various Alliance member passing by or gathering for an attack on Crossroads or Orgrimmar. It is also one of the ports connecting Kalimdor with the Eastern Kingdoms and from here you can take a ship over to Booty Bay.

I do like this place, and it is my favorite among the Goblin cities.

Southsea Freebooters

Along the shoreline south of Ratchet are some camps and ships that belong to the Southsea Freebooters. In many peoples eyes these pirates are criminals and the goblins of Ratchet tend to pay adventurers a copper or two to drive them away.

Fray Island

I do not know how many people actually visited this small island located just outside of the merchant coast but the chances are small that you have even heard of it if you haven’t gotten your warrior training here. The island can be seen from both Ratchet and Northwatch Hold and that is the main reason why I decided to visit the place. If I see something, I want to go there, you could say that I am notoriously curious.

Northwatch Hold

The Northwatch Hold was once built by Theramore to guard against attacks to the city from the north. It is a huge stronghold that I try to visit whenever I am travelling in the area, it is a great place to rest at and as they are mostly under attack from the Horde, they usually need an extra hand.

The Forgotten Pools, Lushwater Oasis and the Stagnant Oasis

The Barrens is, as I said before, mostly barren. But there are some waterholes as well, and now I mean literally waterholes. The three oases are great for fishing as they are the only places where you can catch Deviate Fish! You can’t call yourself a fisherman if you haven’t caught a deviate fish, it is just one of those things you have to do. Just watch out for the Kolkar.

Crossroads

The Crossroads, the main Horde town of the Barrens that at least used to be a favorite raiding target for the Alliance, today I think the main target has switched to Orgrimmar. But nevertheless, the Crossroads is located strategically in this middle of northern Barrens where the roads from Ratchet to Stonetalon intersect with the Gold Road that runs from Ashenvale in the north to Thousand Needles in the south. Be warned, the guards of this place run fast, really fast.

to be continued…

Hallow’s End Continued

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A lot of things are going on, the whole world seems to go crazy whenever there is a chance to celebrate anything. Like I said in my previous post, we took down the Headless Horseman the other day, but there is so much more to do when Hallow’s End is in town.

For example all the costumes you can try out! I’ve tried the Ninja costume and the Skeleton costume and I hope to try even more before the festivities end. And all the candy, the other day I ate so much that I puked. Some of the candy have nice side effects like when I became a floating ghost.

Trick or Treating the various innkeeper can also be rewarding, either more candy and costumes or they trick you! Last night the Innkeeper Allison tricked me in Stormwind, instead of giving me a treat bag, she turned me into a black kitten.

But as always, not everyone can enjoy the festivities. Take for example Jesper at the Stormwind Orphanage. He’s sick and can’t really party with the rest of the kids in the city, so he asked me to bring him some candy and I did. You really can’t say no to a sad child.

But as it comes to festivities, the Horde has their own. And we just can’t let them can we? Well, they do try to crash our parties as well. For example they are stink bombing Southshore as we speak and we are on our turn cleaning up the stinkies and crashing their Wickerman festival.

But lastly, the part of the festival that I enjoy the most. We get to hurl pumpkins at each other, even at the Horde. I still have to find a troll to pumpkin and then I have hit them all.

Hallow's End

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Yet again a time for celebration, this time of the day when the Forsaken split out from the scourge. So the Forsaken burn one of their wickermen outside of Under City. After a long session of prowling in Tirisfal Glades I stumbled accross the festivities a little way west of the city.

Oh yes, almost forgot. I took down the Headless Horseman last night, hopefully this will stop his terror on the smaller villages of Azeroth. But knowing him, it won’t.

Letter from Jennie

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I received this letter from Jen last night. Getting a little worried and I probably should visit her in Ironforge soon.

 

My dear Eowind.

I am truly sorry that it has been so long since I wrote to you. I just want to tell you how much your help with my little problem has helped me, either that or the fact that I do hunt and torture the Horde almost every day at the Arathi Highlands and the Basin.
I would love to meet you over a glass of wine some day, could you please send me a message the next time you decide to drop by Ironforge, I have hired your old rooms at the local inn there. So I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Jennie