Monday (3 Jan) - Sista, Maiy, and Missing Kire

Monday (3 Jan) - Sista, Maiy, and Missing Kire

There was a flurry of correspondence between the three grand families of WoW (that would be the Wild, DER, and Sis clans) on Monday to arrange our weekly Monday night foray. When it was over I'm pretty sure we all had completely different ideas about what we would be doing or not doing on Monday night.

I got all my chores done earlier than expected, and in the early evening Monday night Sista made her debut. Sista is an alliance worgen druid. Worgens are a new character race, introduced in Cata. The worgen have their own starting zone and a simple but rich history that is introduced and expanded on throughout the starting zone quests. What are worgens, exactly? Well, we'll get to that.

Sista began her life in Gilneas City. The town was near over-run by wolf-like creatures and the townsfolk were terrified, but there was still the remnants of a city guard, and Sista was drafted to help them combat the menace. The city was isolated by the sea, a range of mountains, and the Greymane Wall, built to protect the city.

Sista with the captain of the guard

The town was dark even during the day, and an eery sounding wind blew through the echoing streets. Sista worked through the early quests in and around the spot where she started. She discovered a mailbox, and opening it revealed the three heirlooms Wild had left for her - chest, shoulder, and dagger. The stats on the gear combined both spell casting and feral stats so Sista could make use of both while leveling. Wild learned through Hap, a troll druid recently added to the family, that a young druid with cat form is a pretty deadly killer. Sista could not shift into cat form yet, so she would have to rely on her spell casting.

Sista with her Heirlooms

It didn't take long for Sista to tangle one too many times with the creatures that were pouring into the city. She was bitten badly, and was poisoned. She survived, but Sista was not unscathed. She had become what she fought - a wolf-like creature that stood on two feet. Sista had become a werewolf.

Sista the Werewolf

The worgen are humans who were afflicted by an ancient druidic curse. The people of Gilneas City realized what was happening to them, but how to eliminate the curse or control it eluded them. By experimentation, Gilneas alchemists discovered a way for humans afflicted with the curse to remain sane and cogent even when transformed. Sista was captured and placed in a stockade, and then forced to drink the experimental concoction. It worked.

Sista is released from the stockade

The druid curse was not the only problem the Gilneas people faced. The Forsaken were on the march, led by Lady Sylvanas, and had breached the Greymane Wall. There were a series of conflicts, but the Forsaken triumphed in every battle and kept pushing back the Gilneas people. For the first few retreats class trainers were available so that new spells could be trained. Somewhere along the way, though, not only did the class trainers disappear, there were no vendors, either. Sista was glad that Lost had the foresight to send Sista some extra bags. Those bags were small, though (8 slots), and Sista started to run out of room with no one to sell the stuff to.

Sista also found herself left behind any number of times. In most cases she would eventually be granted a horse, flying mount, or even a carriage to get her back to where the retreating army had decided to make yet another stand. Of course, sometimes even that posed dangers.



Sista's wolf nature sometimes got the better of her, too. A "borrowed" mount was none too happy with Sista riding "bareback."

Sista astride a stead

The Look on his face!

There was also no where to stop! After every battle and every retreat, Sista looked for a safe haven to call it a night. Not a single spot offered a place where rested xp could be earned. And once arrived at the new location there was no going back. The past was gone, obliterated by the phasing of events.

Ultimately, Sista arrived at the outskirts of Gilneas City. The Forsaken had chased and harried us all the way from the Greymane Wall back to the city itself. There was a great surprise waiting for her, though. Maiy, a young worgen priest and part of the Sis family, had battled her way to this same point. Maiy had fought against the constraints that kept us marching ever backward from the Forsaken. Maiy had looked for a way out - by sea, by air, over the mountains, through the Wall, and into the tunnels. But there was no way out. We had to see this to it's end, no matter what. In that way the worgen starting zone was very much like the death knight starting zone. DKs started at level 55, and could not leave the starting zone until all quests were completed at level 58. But the DKs had a town/camp to return to whenever a break was needed, and a floating fortress available with trainers and vendors. None of that was available to the worgen. Just one example - Sista set her hearthstone in one of the early towns that had both vendors and trainers. After a couple of battles and retreats she was relocated to a huge mansion with a great telescope. Tired and needing to see a trainer, Sista hearthed back to the town - but wound up right back at the mansion. Her hearthstone was moving with her. The mansion had no trainers or vendors.

With the Forsaken advancing there was nothing left for the Gilneas people to do but storm their own city and try to take it back.

Storming Gilneas City

The battle for the city was great fun, and took considerable time. The Gilneas people won their city back from the worgen, but could not hold it against Sylvanas and her Forsaken army. Not only did they take the city, Sylvanas killed the hero of the Gilneas people.

Laid To Rest

The remnants of the Gilneas people, along with Sista, and all of them afflicted with the curse, fled to the shoreline. There was another battle. We managed to get away by boat, and sailed to Rutheran Village on the island of Tedrassil.

At last, civilization again! The forced march was over, and Sista was free to go where she willed. Sista's "will" landed her at the Inn/bar in the nearby city of Darnassus, where she planned to drink until stupified, sleep for a week, and then find some young adventurers to hook up with and seek out our fortunes. That Maiy fellow looked promising. Sista is level 15.

I like that Hat