Monday (15 Mar) - But There's More

Monday (15 Mar) - But There's More

When last we heard from Rakta, she had made it to the city of Stormwind, in Ellwyn Forest, and liked what she saw. She could easily have settled in and stayed, but her journey wasn't yet complete. The goal was Booty Bay, and so she struck out once more, leaving the thriving city behind. She travelled light, but kept a few of her favorite pictures.

Rakta headed south, marvelling at the tilled fields, the farms, the cows. There were cows everywhere! She passed through the hamlet of Goldshire, taking the time to help clear out a warren of kobolds that harassed the citizenry there. From Goldshire she turned westward, and crossed the border into the zone of Westfall. The beautifully maintained fields of Ellwyn Forest gave way to open fields that were mostly neglected and farms that had long fallen into ruin. Rakta turned south again, always south, where Booty Bay waited at the very southern tip of the continent.

The morning turned to afternoon, and she came upon the "town" of Sentinel Hill. Sentinel Hill was a shell of a place, but it had a garrison and a flight path. Rakta and Dargh rested for a bit, but there was nothing to hold them there and they moved on. Further south Rakta began seeing the great Fleshripper birds in the wilds of Westfall. She could see why Mery had wanted one for a pet, as the birds had a deadly beauty in this all but abandoned land.

At a crossroads she had her choice of heading west again, toward the coast, or east, toward the river and the land of Duskwood. To the west was also the hostile area of Moonbrook, and area best avoided. Rakta went east. As soon as she crossed the border into Duskwood, the words "You're not in Kansas anymore," came unbidden to mind. If Ellwyn Forest was the shining jewel, and Westfall it's neglected and faded neighbor, Duskwood was even darker and more malevolent. The skies turned dark, even though the day was not done. The ground became uneven, and twisted trees began crowding the roadway. Rakta began tracking significant movement hidden in the trees and hills around her.

Rakta was tense and cautious. A nervous Dargh ranged back and forth, trying to defend Rakta on all sides but succeeding only in frustrating Rakta as she tried to keep the bird from flushing out things best left hidden. They passed a sign to Raven Hill and hurried past, continuing to the east.

Trouble came late in the day. Wolves had been tracking the pair for some time, and Rakta had had to go off road several times to avoid them. The wolves grew braver, and in one narrow section of road banked on both sides, one of the wolves attacked. The wolf was ?? to Rakta, meaning it was at least level 21 versus Rakta's level 11. Dargh would make a nice morsel, with Rakta the main course. Rakta ran while Dargh peeled off and engaged. Dargh sacrified himself to allow Rakta to get some distance on the wolf, but Rakta had to avoid other wolves stalking both sides of the road and the wolf on her tail drew close. The wolf would be on her in seconds. At her young age Rakta lacked many of the hunter's best avoidance weapons, such as traps to slow the wolf down, or Feign Death, to get them off her scent. But she did have one trick up her sleeve. In desperation Rakta turned, drawing her bow in one swift motion, and launched a Concussive shot at the wolf. At that large difference in level the odds were high that Rakta would miss and the wolf would pounce. The shot struck home, however, and did it's work, stunning and slowing down the wolf. Rakta raced away, and the wolf gave up the chase.

Once Rakta was safe, she revived Dargh and they moved on, managing to avoid the still ever present wolves until they made the relative safety of Darkshire, a mournful town in this dark wood that also bordered the blighted Deadwind Pass. She rested for the evening, and considered her options.

On the road to Darkshire Rakta had passed the southern pointing sign to Stranglethorn Vale (STV). The plan was to take that road, and to travel the long length of STV to Booty Bay at it's southern tip. However, Rakta had barely survived an encounter with level 21 or so wolves in a land mostly barren. STV was rich jungle, with a thriving mix of every kind of beast imaginable. And the denizens of that region were levels 30-45. Rakta knew her odds of surviving were not good. There must be another way.

In the end Rakta retraced her steps back to Sentinel Hill. Yes, she was twice chased by wolves, which both she and Dargh survived this time, and the extra time it cost galled her, but she had her reasons. At Sentinel Hill Rakta took the flight path back to Stormwind. And from there she took the boat to Auberdine. Auberdine is a seaport town in Darkshore. Darkshore is in Kalimdor, not the Eastern Continent. Rakta had decided that getting to Booty Bay through STV was too risky, and that her chances were better going the Kalimdor route with a goal of reaching Ratchet in the Barrens, where a boat could take her directly to Booty Bay. The level of hostile creatures she would face was more manageable, and the route had the added advantage that once she got out of Darkshore she would be in territory Wildshard had explored and therefore Rakta knew.

Darkshore proved easy enough to traverse, and Rakta soon found herself in Ashenvale. Rakta's shared memories with Wild helped her reach Astranaar, the alliance town in this zone. The city that had once tried to kill Wild was Rakta's sanctuary. She didn't stay long, though, striking out for the split in the road that led south toward The Barrens.

After the wolves of Duskwood, Rakta had no trouble with the level 20ish denizens of Ashenvale. Perhaps sensing her growing confidence, they let her be. There was a tense moment on the border between Ashenvale and the Barrens. The Barrens was horde territory, and the border was guarded by horde. Rakta found a break in the wooden stockade walls, and slipped through without incident. From there Rakta travelled undisturbed all the way to the horde hub town of The Crossroads, worked her way around it, and then headed to the coast, arriving safely at Ratchet. Rakta fished at the pier until the boat arrived, boarded, and stepped onto the pier at Booty Bay minutes later.

The journey was done.

PS - Rakta is promising pictures. Coming up in the next post.