Mages and Monsters and Quests... OH WOW!!!!

This entry rated HG17 by the Academy of Game Arts & Sciences for its high geek factor. You have been warned.

Burnsie, Twenty Sixth Level Mage of the Gnomeregan Exiles and member of the guild, the Legion of the Lorax, jumped excitedly on the small mound of dirt and shouted to guild leader, Profpan. “HERE! HERE! I sense the Neru fragment you seek is here!”
The last of four missing fragments of the ancient tablet had eluded their party for some time. They were tired from searching and from fighting off waves of raptors. Vicious pack lizards with razor sharp claws and mouths full of hungry fangs that could not be satiated. The creatures first appeared when the Iron Forge archeological team uncovered a large find of ancient fossils. The raptors had killed most of the archeologist and the others fled to a cave in the high hills to await rescue. Upon discovery by the Legion of the Lorax the scientists immediately asked for the Legion’s help in recovering the very important tablet pieces.

Profpan, the tall night elf druid knelt over the mound and began to dig as, Kenaustin, the night elf hunter stood by. His keen elf eyes swept the hills and pits of the archeological dig. Kenaustin’s faithful moon cat companion, Alice nervously sniffing the air for threats.
“Hurry, there are more mottled raptors and razormaws nearby,” Kenaustin said. “We’re going to have to fight our way out just as we fought our way in.” The vicious pack dinosaurs could be heard not to far off.
“And I hate to remind you,” said Burnsie, “that we still have to kill the big one and give his teeth, along with that Neru fragment, to Prospector Whelgar if we wish to claim our reward!” So much fighting had already been done. The smell of mystically burned ozone and dead dinosaur flesh was nearly overwhelming. Burnsie was beginning to think that no reward was worth this. He spit on a nearby raptor corpse.
Profpan dug a little faster and his efforts were not in vain. He pulled the Neru fragment from the soil of Azeroth and placed it securely in his backpack. “We can go… LOOK OUT!” He yelled as a razormaw suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Profpan raised his arms and magical green energy summoned forth weeds that entangled the raptor’s legs. Kenaustin loosed a volley of enchanted arrows that embedded themselves in the beast’s mottled flesh. His moon cat companion snarled and leapt upon the writhing back of the screeching lizard. The big cat bit down hard. Burnsie brought his hands forward; blue arcane energies began swirling around his clenched fists and then volley after volley of arcane missiles issued forth and impacted on the raptor’s chest. The creature let out a loud death snarl and fell dead. The sound was sure to draw more raptors to the scene.
“Up that hill. Follow me!” Yelled Burnsie and his short gnome legs propelled him as quick as they could to the nearby high ground. Profpan, Kenaustin and Alice were quick on his heels. They had a moment to breath and patch up a few cuts. Burnsie cupped his hands, held them close together and uttered a few words. A small, yet bright ball of energy appeared and from that, conjured bread and water. “Eat and drink up friends. This will restore our heath and energy for the fight ahead.”
“Nice of you to supply us sustenance my little friend,” said Profpan.
“Indeed,” said Kenaustin as he too sat and had some refreshment. But their break was not to last long. Razormaws could be heard and then seen below them. One of them was twice the size of the others.
“My friends, are we ready?” Asked Burnsie. “I can soften them up a bit with a blizzard or pillar of fire before they get to us.” And the gnome took on a grim and determined look as he assumed the stance of summoning. Kenautin grinned and gave Burnsie a wink, as he notched three arrows. Alice stood at his side, ready to pounce, her fur bristled. Profpan stepped forward, put a reassuring hand on the mage’s shoulder and said, “Burnsie, let them have it!”
The mage extended his arms to his side, looked skyward and cold mystical energies, blue in color and appearing to be full of snowflakes, coalesced around him. Dagger shaped chunks of ice fell in a large circle around the unsuspecting lizards and cut deep into their mottled flesh. Angry screeching issued forth. Kenautin let fly his arrows and Profpan summoned forth the power of the land to assault the latest threat. One of the beasts fell dead and the other three, picking up on the scent and location of the party, hissed and charged madly. Alice sprang onto one halting its assault. Propan cast a spell to entangle the feet and legs of the largest. The third, with murderous intent in its eyes, rushed on at Burnsie, as Kenaustin peppered it with arrows. Burnsie took a step back and gestured. The ravenous beast had closed to striking range and leapt into the air. Its powerful hind legs swung forward and the deadly razor claw on its feet extended. The full weight of the creature’s killing blow bore down on the gnome mage. More arrows embedded themselves in its side as it came down and landed on the very spot Burnsie had occupied just a fraction of a second ago. The little mage blinked out of existence only to appear twenty feet away. He let loose a fireball that fried his assailant to a crisp then he issued forth a loud, “WOOO HOOO!”
Kenaustin let forth a cheer, drew his knife and rushed the large raptor engaged in close combat with Profpan. Kenaustin twirled and twirled landing blow after blow with his knife. Profpan landed another mystical attack. The large raptor, the largest one of all, struck back relentlessly. It kicked out with its hind legs hitting both Kenaustin and Profpan. Its jaws snapped and it bit into Profpan’s shoulder. It’s tail whipped around and sent Kenaustin flying. Alice, having finished of her target, pounced and struck the beast with both front paws, moon tiger claws ripping into mottled raptor flesh. Burnsie raised his arms to let fly another spell and nothing happened. His mana was low. He reached back, grabbed his staff and took a defensive position while he recharged. Kenaustin sprang to his feet and buried his knife deep in the raptor’s side. Blood gushed and splattered Kenaustin’s face and chest. He twisted the knife ever deeper, past the ribs and looking for the heart of the beast. With one final thrust he found it, but the king of the raptors had energy for one last and fatal attack. With a last kick from it's hind leg it kicked Kenaustin square in the chest. Its razor claw penetrating deep before it let out a long slow hiss of death. Kenaustin reached to his chest, looked at his companions and fell dead. Burnsie stepped forward and spat on the dead monster’s face and gave it a good kick. “Mother fracker! This can not be. Kenaustin must be saved," he cried looking at the lifeless body of his friend.
Profpan knelt beside the lifeless body and said, "he will live again, Burnsie. Watch."
Profpan laid his hands over the mortal wound and prayed. Light spread from his fingers and into the opening. Kenaustin's body glowed and his chest heaved up to the sky as he convulsed and breath filled his lungs again and the wound closed. He sat up and looked around.
"I feel terrible," he said and the party let out a laugh. After a few moments and some of Burnsie's conjured bread and water, Kenaustin rose and said, “Let’s get this fellows teeth and be off."
With the beast's teeth removed Kenaustin wiped clean his blade. Alice licked her paws and brushed at her face.
“Come friends, we shall claim our reward and be off to the inn in Menethil Harbor for drink and rest,” said Profpan as he wiped his brow.
“Yes, I could go for many a fine brew... many a fine brew indeed,” said Burnsie who was looking forward to getting mightily drunk.

The above is a partial account of the time that Michael M., Mike H. and I spent playing World of Warcraft on Tuesday night. World of Warcraft, AKA WoW is a massively multiplayer on-line role playing game, AKA MMORPG that has swepth the world from the United States to Europe and to the Far East. There are over five million players worldwide who play as Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, Undead, Orcs and Trolls to name a few. Apart from their race, the players also take on a class of character such as mage, hunter, druid, priest, paladin and warriors, also to name a few. I have been playing as Burnsie, Gnome Mage of the Gnomeregan Exiles, member of the guild the Legion of the Lorax, avidly now for a little over a month now. I haven't been this addicted to a computer game since my Mechwarrior and X-Wing versus Tie Fighter Days of the mid nineteen nineties. If you've been wondering why content on my web page has been down a bit lately, well wonder no more. I am busy role playing, adventuring and building my character in the fantasy world of Azeroth. Ninety five percent of the other characters I encounter in WoW are real people. The other five percent are computer controlled non-player characters, or NPCs. On a regular basis I team up with other players and we work together to complete quests. Working with others is a HUGE part of WoW and is required to complete a large percentage of the quests. That's not to say that you can't solo if you want and spend some time adventuring on your own. When I tire of fighting razormaw raptors, ogres, murlocs and brown and bubbly oozes, I can go off and mine for minerals, precious metals and stones magically enchant items. You see, one of Burnsie's skills is mining enchanting. I changed careers on Wednesday night! I can also go to a forge and smelt these metals so I can use them to make useful gadgets. Another of Burnsie's professions is in engineering tailoring. I can make clothes, gloves, belts, robes, pouches and bags, and some other items. I can also enchant some of them. You see, we Gnomes are an industrious and creative bunch. I can also fish, make first aid supplies and cook. I can then sell, auction or trade the items I make and the food I cook to acquire supplies and better equipment. Sometimes I just log on, find a nice lake, river or shoreline and fish for a while. The funny thing about that is that in real life I hate fishing. Back to the game's social aspects. As the story indicated Michael, Mike and I have our own guild and we recruit others. With these people we have a cooperative social group trading, questing, raids, battlegrounds and dungeon crawls. We can also duel each other to test our skills and build comaradiere. I am personal friends with seven people who play and I see them both on-line and in the real world on a regular basis. We've been having a wow time in WoW. I must say that each time I log on I find something else in the game that really impresses me and I have only explored, maybe, five percent of the game world. It's huge to be sure, but not overwhelming. That's another thing that you, as a player can do solo, you can explore. You can reveal more of the map. Find new inns, towns, cities, and ports. You can make new friends along the way or join a quick pick-up group and help another player with a quest. They in turn, will help you. At it's heart, WoW is all about being social and team work, but in a fantasy world where you are the heroic paladin, the brave warrior, the cunning hunter or the mystical mage and all from the comfort and safety of your own home. I will surely write more about WoW and I will also have screen shots for you soon, so you can see Burnsie, his companions and the World of Warcraft.

Should you decide after reading this that you want to try WoW, please let me know before you sign up and start a character. You will want to play on the Greymane server and on the Alliance side, should you want to adventure along side us. I would be happy to help you get started with mages and monsters and quests... OH WOW!

For more information see The World of Warcraft and the World of Warcraft Insider.
The Newbie (NOOB) guide to character class selection.

Playable Races
Alliance (the good guys): Gnomes*, Humans, Night Elves and Dwarves.
Horde: Orc, Troll, Tauren and Undead

Character Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage*, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior.

Professions: Herbalism, Fishing*, Mining*, Skinning, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Cooking*, Engineering*, Leatherworking, Tailoring, Enchanting, First Aid*.

*Burnsie.