Weekend (23 Dec) - Wildshard Goes for a Stroll

Weekend (23 Dec) - Wildshard Goes for a Stroll

It appears that Wild might be starting to get bored with his hammock. He went to the trouble of straightening out his user interface so that he could at least defend himself in moonkin spec and addded access to a few healing spells. Wild had been accumulating windsong cloth and was well along with his Tailoring profession, but was frustrated that he couldn't make the high end cloth, imperial silk. Only one piece can be made per day. Wild had the recipe, but imperial silk can only be made in the Silken Fields of the Valley of the Four Moons.

For want of any better idea, Wild decided he would go to the Silken Fields without bothering to level up first. Phfft! he said, when it was brought to his attention that it was a crazy idea. Wild wondered briefly when he'd started saying Phfft! Hmm, Wild thought Lao might be the culprit. Anyway, Wild brushed aside all the worry warts and entered the portal from Org to Honeydew Village in the Jade forest.

From Honeydew Village, Wild knew he needed to go south for awhile, a path previously trod by only Fist in the Wild Family. Wild had one advantage over Fist - at least Wild remembered he could use a ground mount to get around. Wild still snickers when he thinks about Fist wandering the Jade Forest on foot. The woodland track Wild would have to follow was thick with hostile mobs, but they were only levels 85-86 and even Wild's modest gear should be enough to handle them. He did handle them, for the most part. The problem came when Wild approached the first collection of hostiles at the helicopter landing area. Wild wasn't doing the quests, and the landing area was occupied by the hostile Alliance. Had he done the quests, the landing area would have been cleared and safe. Wild managed to finesse his way around that obstacle, killing a few hostiles on the fringes, and moved on.

Wild was feeling pretty smug about his progress - that is, until he started getting into the area near Grookin Hill. This large village was another place that is friendly to the horde only after a series of quests to befriend the people there. They were nastily hostile to Wild, and he had to make his way literally through a war zone. Wild managed to reach the outskirts of the village, but he was in combat almost full time, and stealth wasn't very effective as the hostiles were too numerous. Hemmed in by hostiles and the terrain, Wild couldn't see a way around the village, and decided to rush it head on. Bad decision. All Wild succeeded in doing was getting to the center of the crowded village and then dying there. It took two suicide runs to find a safe spot where Wild could regain his health.

Wild had gone into the river south of Grookin Hill to escape pursuit, and that gave Wild an idea. The river source near Grookin Hill wound southeast to the sea, but a tributary off that river turned south and then west into the Valley of the Four Moons. Could Wild swim it in fish form?

The answer was yes. Wild got to see a view of the land few bother with - the bottom of the river. The river was deep enough that only twice was Wild forced out of fish form, and then only for a short walk. The few hostiles in the water paid Wild no mind. The river has a series of waterfalls, a couple of them quite magnificent, and it was great fun leaping from those high peaks and splashing into the ponds far below.

Just before the river turned directly west toward the Stormstout Brewery and then to the sea, a very small stream peeled of to the north. The stream was narrow and shallow, but still had enough depth for Wild to remain in fish form, but not deep enough for him to stay fully submerged in some parts. Wild has the glyph which gives his fish form an "orca" look and it was cool seeing the black and white orca skimming up the river with his dorsal fin above the water. As Wild closed in on his destination, he did have to get out of the water once. It was another waterfall, only this time Wild was at the bottom of the falls, not at the top. Wild had to kill some hostile birds to get to the top of the falls, and then in was a matter calling his raven lord mount and riding up the road to the town of Halfhill.

Wild had reached his destination. Wild also located the nearby Silken Fields and crafted his first imperial silk. Despite the odd looks Wild gets from the level 90 crowd that hangs out there, Wild likes it at Halfhill, and just might stay on at the inn for awhile. Wild wonders where he might find a hammock.