Project Lore

Who Needs A Body? For reasons unknown I was meet with a good amount of playtime this weekend.  Rather then ponder on my good fortunes I set out to plow through level 73 (accomplished) on my priest in an effort to have her join the raiding ranks before Cataclysm is released.  With most of the quests in Dragonblight accomplished on my dagger lover I went about my business rushing through quests, burning down numerous mobs and getting ganked.  Then I ran into Orik Trueheart and his eye-catching T2 (recolored) Paladin set. Trueheart is a dwarf on a mission.  He was sent to the Forgotten Shore in Dragonblight to free the souls of those that Arthas betrayed.  In case you forgot, upon hearing that his father had ordered Arthas' troops returned to Lordaeron, the crown prince had the fleets boats burned to their frames.  The actions have been retold numerous times, most recently in the novel, so the setup isn't exactly new.  But we've always followed Arthas' journey into Frostmourne Cavern after that.  Turns out that the men Arthas stranded on the chilly shores eventually died to the Scourge around them and were cursed to defend the landing forever.  That's where Trueheart comes in. Trueheart's questline, one that offers a whopping amount of quick, easy and local experience, has players once again leave their bodies to converse with the dead.  After learning their plight, we realize that the souls have been trapped because they forgot how they came to be.  Naturally it's up to us to release them.  Upon finding a use for the unusual emblem residing in the snow we are graced with a scripted cinematic that brings numerous other names into play.  If you haven't played Warcraft III or read Arthas' novel, then the line is a good place to witness Arthas' descent into madness. This Random Emblem Caught Me Off Guard Until... Sick of reliving old lore and wishing Blizzard would introduce more original backstory?  Stop crying and do it anyways.  Upon completion of the Arthas nostalgia I was given the opportunity to crush some Scarlet Onslaught faces.  Seeing as decimating the ranks of the Scarlet followers, Crusade or otherwise, is a favored pastime of mine, I couldn't say no.  Zelig, Trueheart's "bra", and his compadres of the 7th Legion, sent me off to collect information, curb overpopulation and brush up on my reading comprehension.  How could one pass up XP and nostalgic murder?  Little did I know that my face melting would lead me back to ancient lore.  The scripted culmination with Muradin in the Frostmourne Cavern is both new, and highly interesting.  It also offers sick loot too boot. I was privy to the information given in the cinematic, I just can't believe that I missed such a long questline the first time around.  According to my buddy, the chain continues, becoming far more complex than a little Spock-style retconning.  If it stay on the same level of awesomeness then I will definitely have more for you.  Approaching a year from releases Wrath of the Lich King continues to impress me with its quest design, presentation and integration. These Alliance restricted quests make me wonder, what the heck is the Horde revisting?

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In the past few weeks here at Project Lore, we've had the pleasure of watching the crew battle their way through Naxxramas, until finally reaching the powerful "Kel' Thud." And while they've been busy up in the necropolis in the sky, I've also been busy leveling down below in Dragonblight. This zone has got to be one of my favorites in the game. The fantasy elements of WoW are a big draw for me, so a zone dedicated to the lore around dragons sucked me in. The valley wasteland known as the Great Dragonblight is a somewhat mysterious land littered with the corpses of all different kinds of dragons who have come for their final rest. But the Lich King and his Scourge legions have found use in the remaining skeletons, many which have been reanimated into undead frost wyrms such as the tragic Sindragosa and the very Sapphiron who now resides within Naxx. As for quests, the Dragonblight's offerings range from level 72 to 75 in the long grind to level 80, with a good few group quests, some giant elites to battle in the north and also several dailies. Both factions can pick up some sizable XP rewards (especially if you take advantage of rested XP when killing mobs) through questlines messing with the Scarlet Onslaught. Yes, the same baddies formerly in the Scarlet Crusade now have moved into Dragonblight in hopes of destroying the Lich King - and anyone else who stands in their way. I'm still trying to find a PUG to finish up Do Unto Others and the end of the Horde line. Another good line with some fun dragon lore lies in the Ruby Dragonshrine. And again both factions can partake, which is a plus in my book. But for me, the real fun came with visiting the holy Wyrmrest Temple, riding a dragon to the top and taking on missions from Alexstrasza, the queen of the dragons and guardian of all life on Azeroth. Plus, her character model looks really damn cool. She and Lord Afrasastrasz are involved with Horde, Alliance and neutral quests alike. And if you just can't get enough of her majesty, there's always the Defending Wyrmrest Temple daily that opens up after completing the Rifle the Bodies questline. You'll get to shoot down dragons while earning a little money, some xp and a bit of rep with the Wyrmrest Accord all at once. And as an added bonus, if you can manage to complete the quest in under two minutes, you'll earn the Rapid Defense achievement. That's my kind of quest. There's actually a ton more about Dragonblight that has really made me love this zone. I just have a couple more group quests to finish up before dinging 74 and moving on, probably to the dreaded Zul'Drak zone. I'm going to miss it. Has anyone else felt a kind of attachment to Dragonblight? How about any other zones? I'll admit it, I also still get nostalgic thinking about the many, many hours I've spent leveling in the Barrens.

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