Everything old is new again

I was really excited to go to Kalimdor, and the warm sun of Durotar was welcome change from the gloominess of the Forsaken forest I had just left.  There was something in the orcs’ story (the whole going west for a new start in a new land) that appealed to me.  I was hoping that coming here would mean a fresh start for me, too. 

And no, the irony of a ‘fresh start’ in the lands where we originally came from is not lost on  me. 

Orgrimmar was itself was great, dirty and hot and swarming with all kinds of people – I’ve never seen anything like it. I felt short, but that’s okay.

 The best part was when Thrall actually acted impressed when he heard about what I did.  He even had a mission for me: Go down into a cave and kill a couple demons.  Conveniently, this was the same cave that I had already planned to go to, but I didn’t tell him that. 

 I didn’t waste any time, I dove right down in the cave, a place called Ragefire Chasm (and I thought Orgrimmar was hot).  The place was a steamy, lava-filled hive of troggs, giant worms, and demon-worshipping orcs.  I made it pretty far on my own, but when I saw a pack of about twelve rather nasty-looking orcs in front of me (several of them with demon minions at their side) I decided I had better turn around and either get a bigger sword or get some help.

Luck was with me, it seemed - as I returned to the entrance to the cave I was met by a troll shaman (one of the Darkspears, not the other sort), a Forsaken rogue, and another Blood Knight.  The Knight seemed awfully young to have travelled this far on his own, but when I questioned him I learned that he had, in fact, survived his First Trial.  He was not yet on his Second, but I decided not to tell him that he would need to return here again later for that.  If he knew, he might decide to postpone his trip to the Chasm altogether, and I needed all the help I could get. 

I learned that the shaman and the rogue were both on the same mission from Thrall that I was.  Thrall, evidently, did not have a whole lot of faith in my abilities to get the job done.  I probably wouldn’t have either, though, so I wasn’t about to hold it against him.

So together our ragtag band made our way through the tunnels of the Chasm – I was physically strongest and best equipped, so my role was to hold the attention of all the beasts, orcs, and demons that came across.  The shaman used his magic to heal my wounds during each fight.  The rogue would sneak behind our enemies while they were busy pounding away on my shield and cut them to bits.  The other Blood Knight did his best at whatever he could, attacking our enemies or healing one of us in a pinch.

The demons were sent in to dispatch were no trouble at all for us, and glowing in the corner of a chamber at the deepest reach of the cave was an orb on a pedestal.  Now, I had been told that I needed to collect the Blood of the Wrathful from this place.  That orb was definitely not blood, but it was exactly where I was told to look for it.  So, I grab it and toss it in my pack anyway.  I thought, Maybe it is blood, what do I know about this stuff.

Well, the pounding footsteps that echoed through the cave and sent bits of rock crumbling from the ceiling told me that someone didn’t want me to take the Blood of the Wrathful.  Actually, it wasn’t the footsteps that told me this, it was the booming voice of an enormous winged demon charging at me, yelling something like, “YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE BLOOD OF THE WRATHFUL” that told me this. 

His bark was bigger than his bite, though, and the three of us (the young Blood Knight high-tailed it out of there once he saw this guy) were able to take him down without any problems.  Once he had fallen, the orb in my hands turned a dark crimson and let off a dim light.  This, I thought, must be the Blood of the Wrathful. 

That being done, we decided to head back to the surface to claim our prizes.  I didn’t stay in the city long after that, from what I understood I had a long walk ahead of me to the shore west of Ashenvale Forest for the next leg of my mission.  I said my goodbyes, adjusted my pack, and started walking down the long dusty road through the desert.