Avatar Blue, Dilly Dilly…

Art of Role-Play

Art of Role-Play

One of the more interesting things in recent months that I look forward to has been talking and bantering with the cast of Hearthstone Tavern RP podcast. Even though I MC the show, I find the casts’ knowledge and creativity an inspiration. I learn so many things from all of them that I can hardly get through editing without wanting to run out and RP right then and there! The cast members have many more years of experience in role-playing than I do and their contributions and love for the art of role-play is something I try to aspire toward.

Yes, I do think it should be called the “art of role-play.” When I  listen through what Mox, Michael, Ria, Matt, Richard, Harper, and Brent say through writings, discussions, and interviews as well as others of you who blog, I  can’t help but see how truly ‘artful’ it is. There is an art to being able to see and feel a character and bring it to life through interactions with other characters in a MMORPG. There is an art to developing/managing character histories and multiple storylines with others. …And there is an art to playing a gracious hostess or portraying a villain (and still remain friends IRL.)

Looking up just a quick definition, Wikipedia states, “Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. ”  Through the art of role-play, the players are arranging story elements and characters. This also includes the wide array of activities and expression that are encompassed in story-arcs and biographical backgrounds. Another quick source states that an “art form” is, “The medium or field in which an artist works.”  In a sense, the very nature of portraying a fictional character and writing it (since we use text) makes role-play an art form.

The level of detail that some players go into in order to ensure their character has a rich history and current saga is amazing. There are some truly exceptional writer/RPers out there that can make role-playing appear as graceful as a dance and can do so with the ease of inhaling a breath. The characters they create and play are so well-done the roles are fluid and consistent and you could swear they really were that person. A quick chat “off-stage” later and you know they aren’t, but damn, that was a great RP scene they did! There are times I just stay in the background and watch the events unfold like a drama or stage play. I stand in awe of you.

For the rest of us who are still trying to figure it all out and who aren’t necessarily great writers, we will keep being inspired by you!

Steampunk Greymane for Halloween!

Oh dear! I saw this at the World of Warcraft website and had to say, “No, I am NOT prepared.”  I really don’t have any words for these masks other than, “Why???” I am happy to say that the introduction of new races in the Cataclysm expansion (specifically the inhabitants of Greymane City) stirred my creativity for a Halloween costume in a different direction.

In Episode 6 of the Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast we talked about this new race, the Worgens. They will in available in the Cataclysm Expansion. Finally, the doors to Greymane City in the land of Gilneas will be open. These doors were once referred to as the Greymane Wall and stood in dead silence separating Gilneas from the rest of the world for many long years. Behind the doors contained a dire secret that the people there wanted to keep hidden from the rest of the world. The humanoid inhabitants of the once isolated city are inflicted with the taint of worgen blood. Taint or blessing? That remains to be seen.  While the Worgen will be joining the Alliance, that is fine by me. I plan to be taking up residence in their awesome Jules-Vern-Victorian-esque city. Which brings me to why this city is very intriguing– in a word, Steampunk.

If you are not familiar with Steampunk, let me refresh your memory. It is a sub-culture of science-fiction fantasy that denotes a time-period, era, or world where steam-power inventions are widely used and has a Victorian England flair or Gaslight district. (See Steampunk at Wikipedia for more information. ) With the addition of goblin and gnomish engineering, I can see how the Victorian Gothic Gilneas and inhabitants fall under the spectrum of “Steampunk.”  I enjoy the gaslight ambience very much. Thank you, Blizzard!

I have been creating my Steampunk outfit for a while now. Because it crosses over various genres, I can wear it to various cons, from Comicon to Dragoncon.

I will be able to wear it to Blizzcon as it will fit in with the non-transformed human Greymane city dwellers.

Yay!

What are you wearing for Halloween (and beyond)?

Suzanna aka Stardancer/Stardancerelf stardancerelf.com Suzanna (aka Stardancer) started audio articles in the Epic Dolls Podcast in 2006. She has continued up to host Hearthstone Tavern RP Podcast with a fantastically talented and creative cast. Avid part-time gamer, musician, artist, and someone whohas been known to philosophize. Twitter me- @stardancerelf

Episode 69 – Changes

In episode 69 of Epic Dolls,  Leala says goodbye to the podcast community. While the podcast will not be continued, the Epic Dolls guild on Perenolde is going strong.

As I said in the podcast, it was an honor to share with listeners all the wonderful places in Azeroth for these years. Thank you for listening and sharing them with me.

Stardancer

68. WoW, eh?

Epic Dolls Episode 68 – Off the Beaten Path with Kelly Aarons Stardancer along with Illidarian and Ria talk with the creator  of World of Warcraft, Eh? online comic.

Join the women as they talk about everything from WoW, drawing, and comics to flight form, microwaves, “geeky stuff”, and women gamers/developers and entrepeneurs!

Enjoy!

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67. Apocalypse Boat and Trees

Text from “Off the Beaten Path” on Epic Dolls #67!

PLACES TO SEE

NORTHREND – WOLK
Apocalypse Boat

While you are traveling through the frozen wintery world of Northrend, here is a spot to visit or at least be apprised of should there be any impending catastrophes! Stationed atop a mountainous terrain just north of Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight, is a warm fire, a cabin and a… boat.  What? A boat atop a mountain?? Yes! It appears as though someone had been stashing away supplies and a boat in the event of a melt-down. This spot has been deemed the Apocalypse Boat, and with good reason!  It is fully stocked with guns, bombs, food, ammo…and a couple of books for a long journey!

If you get a chance, stop by. If you are not able to fly, there is a path winding up the moutain from Wintergarde keep.   Thanks to Jaero for telling me about this location

AZEROTH – MAIN WoW Game
The World Trees…

One of the main story-lines in Warcraft involves the “world trees.” There are three specific world trees with direct influence to the world and story, they are Nordrassil, Vordrassil and Teldrassil .

T

he World Tree known as  Nordrassil, which means “Crown of the Heavens”, was grown from a single seed of G’hanir, the original tree that belonged to the raven demigoddess Aviana. Nordrassil was planted on the summit of Mount Hyjal, blessed and proffered by the Dragon Aspects, it granted immortality to the Kaldorei while it protected the well of eternity. Nordrassil was destroyed in the Third War as was the well of eternity. Remnants of the tree can be still be seen in Mount Hyjal. The Caverns of Time instance “Battle for Mount Hyjal” deals with the battle at the summit.

Vordrassil was an attempt by the ancient druids to plant another world tree thousands of years ago. When the tree became fully grown, it had to be destroyed as the tree had become tainted. When the tree fell to the earth, it shattered into three large pieces which make up homes to the furbolgs in Grizzly Hills, Northrend. It can still be seen there and a subsequent quest exists to discover what dire power has been awakened under the ground, tainting. and destroying life.

Teldrassil (meaning Crown of the Earth) is the current world tree located off the west coast of Kalimdor. While it is not a place horde are likely to venture out to, it is the home of the Kaldorei and the capital city known as Darnassus. It can be traveled to easily by the Dranei  who can take the boat from Azyremyst, and can also be reached by the Alliance who can sail from Stormwind to Darkshore. Although Teldrassil is considered smaller by World tree standards, it is still massive. Through lore and quest lines, it becomes apparent that in order to have a successful World Tree there are components that are required such as a healthy tree acorn, grown and blessed by the dragons and a well of eternity’s fresh water to sustain it and the protectors assigned to it. Without these or one of these components, something goes terribly wrong.

Fandrel Stanghelm, the current archdruid, could not live without eternal life and together with other druids created Teldrassil. While you are discovering and exploring the beautiful land of the night elves, you will encounter  things which lurk in the shadows that should not be there… things living off of the power and slowly corrupting this world tree. You will also discover that not all the druids and elves agreed to creating this new world tree and it was done against their consent.

QUESTS
OUTLAND – Burning Crusade

It is interesting to remember that when you venture to Outland, that the fascinating floating lands that remain are the vestiges of the world known as Draenor, the home world for the orcs. An attack was made using the Dark Portals in an effort to annihilate the orcs and it was the use of these various portals that wrenched the planet apart.

An interesting quest series called the Vision of the Dead (or What the Soul Sees for Horde), leads you to create a tincture that when completed will allow your character to see the world of the dead forever. You then begin seeing the ghosts of Ancient Orc Ancestors all over Nagrand who appear to be on their way to the Ancestral Grounds and also to the crystal of Oshu’gun.

Role Playing Tips

Role Playing offers players a creative opportunity to act out their characters as if living in the world of Warcraft. For me, it is an artistic outlet to venture into the world and be my character. I consider it an escape, like the type of thing you would encounter when playing D&D or other RPGs.

I am going to talk briefly about three things:

• Do you need to be a writer?
• What is the age of your character?
• What is your character doing currently and why?

Many players have asked if they need to be a writer to be able to role play? Although we have talked about using a RP addons to display a character description in the past, it isn’t required. Neither is being a writer. You can make simple notes about your character to remember basic background information and just in case another RPer begins asking about your character in and effort to get to know them. Even though the game mechanics don’t currently allow for this, you should have a full name for your character at the ready. My character goes by “Stardancer” but her full name is Xielie Stardancer and in certain circles an additional family is also known called, SpiritWillow. If you have a covert type of character, maybe one that workds for S7, then maybe you have just the single name.

Something that comes up in role-playing from time to time is age. What IS the age of your character? If you are playing one of the elf races, number of years is relative as they could be hundreds of years old. The War of Ancients was 10, 000 years ago and Quel’Thalas was founded 6,800 years ago. It definitely can be confusing to players when dealing with races that are long lived. What I did that helped me with my druid Stardancer was to look at the Warcraft story timeline and determined where and when I thought Star would most likely have been born. I picked her being a child somewhere after the Sundering of the Well of Eternity, somewhere around  5, 500 years ago.

The reason for knowing a general age of your character is to know where in the story of Warcraft your character belongs, what they might know about the current history, or what their knowledge would be on certain events that have been occurring or what has happened a long time ago and… how do they know this?. Do they know it personally because they have lived it? Heard it in rumors? Read it in a library? Or maybe their parents told them in stories or they are from a culture with an oral tradition? Do you need to know all the game’s lore to participate in this? No, but it is helpful to take a glance of at the timeline and read the information presented in quests.

What is your character doing currently? This is where the small talk occurs when interacting with other RPers. Jotting down a few notes and knowing a little about why your character happens to be where they are and what they are doing is important.

I figured out that this needs to be more than just, “Why thank you for asking. I have been working in Northrend to help to defeat Arthas.”  Just because your character is doing quests in an area doesn’t seem to be enough.

Since Star is a druid, explorer, and an herbalist… is she may be asked, “What brings you to Dalaran?”  She would stop to regard the inquiry and state that she is merely passing through the city. Star may relate that she was in search of a rare herb in order to create a special salve known to help cure infected wild life and plants. By following the recommendations of a learned alchemist where to find such herbs, she could state that she wound up in a crystalline wooded land and discovered the remnants of the Kirin Tor. These mages there informed her of the city hovering above, known as Dalaran and how she might be able to reach it.

That’s just one thought as to what she is doing and why. The idea is that when RPing, spark a conversation and make the reasons for a character being in a specific place have meaning. I haven’t written all that out, I just made mental notes of why she would be somewhere in case it came up in conversation.

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Written and Recorded by Stardancerelf

Background music is taken from World of Wacraft, Blizzard Inc.

66. Lannia Winterstorm

Lannia from Warpriestess.com

On Epic Dolls Podcast # 66

On this episode of  Off the Beaten Path we have a special guest Lannia on ER is a Role Player and the blogger of Warpriestess.com.

I asked Lannia to talk about why she chose the name *warpriestess*?  WAR-priestess? Not usually two words you see together in WoW

She also talked about  being  gamer and role-player from a very young age, and how much this influenced her into being a writer and involved in other creative endeavors. Lannia spoke with us about what it is like to role-play in Warcraft and what it is like to find other Rpers on Twitter and more.

Since this is “Off the Beaten Path,” we wrapped up the interview with what she considered one of her favorite and amazing places in the World of Warcraft. So, I stayed up late that morning to watch this rare moment and see it for myself.

Enjoy~
Star

65. Titans Galore!

Listen to the following by the author on Epic Dolls Podcast #65

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PLACES TO SEE

AZEROTH – Main Game
Uldaman
In recent weeks, we have discovered yet another Titan holding, the one in Nothrend known as Ulduar. But during our journyes through Azeroth, we have encountered various other Titan locations. Khaz Modan refers to the home of the Ironforge Dwarves in Eastern Kingdoms, and is often called Loch Modan now. The dwarves were paying homage by naming the location after the rock shaper Titan known as Kahz’Goroth. In the center of this area, though, is a dry rocky region known as the Badlands. Ironforge prospectors came to search the desolate terrain for Titan artifacts and accidentally unearthed the opening of Uldaman, one of the first of three major Titan areas.

Uldaman happens to be a Titan Vault which has been laid buried since the creation of the world. However, when the dwarves unearthed the forgotten vault, the troggs, were released. These twisted humanoid creatures were one of the first failed Titan creations when trying to mold living stone into what we now know as the earthen or dwarves.

If you are fascinated by the Titans, you might be interested in the other locations involving the Titans such as Uldum in South Tanaris, Terramok located inside Mauradon, and the area that lies under Bael Modan, not to mention the remnants located in Un’Goro.

NORTHREND – WOLK
The Grand Scale -Thunderfall

While flying through the frozen lands of Storm Peaks, and dodging around the heads of Ice Giants, the land North of Frostfield Lake opens out into a stunning frozen scene. In the silence of the snow is a battle scene completely frozen, stilled by time but also rendered immobile by ice. Thorim, one of the Guardians of Ulduar who sits on the throne in Temple of Storms, in a fit of rage and ire tossed his enchanted hammer into the midst of the ensuing war and brought it to an abrupt end.

King Jokkum says,

“As the great explosion filled the region, my father cast a rune on the great hammer that it might not be had by our enemies. It was his final act… “

Much of the story of this area and Thorim is uncovered in the quests involving the Sons of Hodir. I know that there are SO many quests in Northrend, that some times its easy to get distracted by other quest series that lead you in a different direction. The area of Thunderfall and the story involving the area is worth seeing.

Outlands – Burning Crusade
Scenic Zangarmarsh
If you are looking for an otherworldly get away, you may want to spend some time in the tranquil marsh lands of Zangarmarsh, Outlands. While you may feel like Alice stepping out from a Wonderland and engulfed by the sheer size of the mushrooms, the serenity of the zone is beautiful. According to Warcraft, this area is largely devoid of the demonic invasion, and is the location where Velen and his Draenei followers hid after the massive orcish genocide in Rise of the Horde.

It is said that the western edge of the zone was a coastline…which makes me imagine what a Draenor type ocean would have looked like back when the world was intact.

QUESTS

NORTHREND – WOLK
Fun with Critters

Even with all the amazing dungeons such as Ulduar and the immense grandeur of Northrend, I have to say that one of the most bizarre fun times that I have had in-game is with critter bites. This is a recipe that you can pick up at your cooking supplier in Dalaran. This recipe makes treats that you can throw at a critter to control it. Critters are small non combatant creatures like rats and turkeys. So, maybe you tossed one at the local squirrel or rabbit, or a few turkeys in Howling Fjord. What I did was fly to the ice bergs in the southern coast of Borean Tundra and found one with the most penguins. After tossing two stacks (40) of the bites as fast as I could, I had a throng of 30 or 40 tuxedoed penguins following me around. It was amazing! Yeah, maybe this is silly, but you could throw to all the rats in a sewer or subway and take a screen shot of your character as the pier piper, or have all the deer in Grizzly Hills gathered around your character like Snow White just for fun.

Oh yeah, there is even an achievement associated with Critter Bites.

Role Playing Tips

Just a shout out to this week’s RP tips, Arrens at Through the Eyes of Death a blog writer who plays forsaken on Cenarion Circle who wrote an article on how the Achievement systems can be used in role-play.

I found the idea of using Achievements to publicly celebrate characters through role-playing an interesting idea. For example, Arrens wrote that the first title he strove for in the achievement system was Ambassador. To accentuate this accomplishment, he had written an in-character short story which highlighted his new title with an honor bestowed upon him by the Dark Lady. Taking a cue from his story, Arrens guild and guild leader decidedly held an in-game public event and publicly appointed him a new guild title and promoted him to Ambassador.

Arrens also mentions that other achievement titles, some you wouldn’t really think about could be used to spark role-play or laughs… He writes:

“For example, the Pest Control achievement…Critter, beast, humanoid, demon or anything else, Arrens is quite happy to kill it, particularly if there’s money involved in its death. It was a rather quiet night both in-game and in-guild so I started searching hither and yon for the remaining critters left on my list. The final one was the moccasin, a hard to find critter that lies somewhere in the middle of the Swamp of Sorrows. I was RPing in guild chat with a paladin. When I finally located the moccasin, I typed in guild chat, “Arrens spots a snake slithering under the door to the commons room and deftly throws his dagger at it.”

It’s the little moments like this that can easily be overlooked that can have RP implications. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, this particular one was in jest and in search of some OOC laughs, which I got. But other, more prominent achievements can be used to give your RP that little extra bit of flavor that might be missing from the game.”

Thanks Arrens.

Language of the Elves

The primary race of the elves are the Night Elves or Keldorei. Naga, Quel’dorei (highborne), and the blood elves all descended from the Keldorei. There are three elven dialects used by the major elf species. Darnassian, Thalassian, & Nazja. Nazja (This is the dialect of the Naga. Like Darnassian and Thalassian it shares some common words and phrases.). They all three use the same alphabet which is Darnassian.

Ishnu Dal Dieb is a phrase that is common to Darnassian, Thalassian and Nazja. Its exact meaning is unknown but it is a form of greeting or salutation meant with regard or blessing.

Here are some elven words and phrases and an estimated meaning.. Those in italic are their official meaning as gathered from Warcraft novels.

DARNASSIAN

The language of the night elves. It was called Darnassian long before Darnassus was built. It may mean that the word “Darnassus” is a “capital” or “honored city.”

Here are some common phrases/words and their probable meaning:

Allah darnana dor= A formal salutation with a blessing
An’da! = Papa, daddy (a derivative of father)
Ande’thoras-ethil = May your troubles be diminished. (A farewell.)
Andu dah belore = who goes there?
Andu-falah-dor! = Let balance be restored! (A war cry.)
Annu dora= greeting for the day
Ashal thuridas = Attack! (May be “for the druids!” or “attack for the goddess”)
Ash Karath! = Do it!
Ash rela no =  salutation?
Ash thero danador = salutation, may be druidic
Bandu thoribas! = Prepare to fight! (A challenge to an enemy.)
Darani-ka= affirmative
Del Nadris = Good night or farewell
Den thai bel elune = salutation or blessing of Elune
Ellemayne = Reaver
Elune-adore = Elune be with you (a greeting used among the Sisters).
Enshu fallah na= farewell
Fandu-dath-belore? = Who goes there?
In Duli Rippa= attack!
Ishnu-alah = Good fortune to you. (a common salutation)
Ishnu-dal-dieb=  Good fortune to your family.  (a common salutation )
Kaldorei= Children of the Stars or (people of the stars, night elves)
Nordrassil = “crown of the heavens”  (name of the one of the world trees)
Quel’dorei= Highborne, children of noble birth or (children of the sun?)
Shalla’tor = “Shadow Render”
Shan’do= Honored Teacher
Sunstrider – he who walks the day
Teldrassil= “crown of the earth” (name of one of the world trees) (“drassil” means “crown”?)
Tor ilisar’thera’nal! = Let our enemies beware! (A war cry.)
Thero’Shan = Honored Student
Xaxas = elemental fury (chaos or catastrophe)
Zin-Azshari = “The glory of Azshara”

The three world trees:
Nordrassil
Teldrassil
Vordrassil

THALASSIAN

This is the dialect of the high elves, it is very simular to Darnassian and shares some phrases and words.

Al diel shala = Safe travels.
Anar’alah = By the light
Anar’alah belore= By the light of the sun (or By the light of the day)
Anar’endal dracon = By the spirit of the dragon.
Anaria shola = Speak your business.
Ann’da = Papa
Anu belore dela’na = The sun guides us.
Andu’Fallah= salutation
Asheth Abalah Na= what?
Bal’a dash, malanore = Greetings, traveler.
Ban’dinoriel = Gatekeeper
Bash’a no falor talah! = Taste the chill of true death! (Sylvannas exclamation)
Belore = The sun
Doral ana’diel? = How fare you?
Felo’melorn = Flamestrike
Isheredu = affirmative, as you wish
Ishnu dal dieb = salutation
Kaldorei= Children of the Stars
Medivh = Keeper of Secrets
Minn’da = Mama
Quel’dorei= Highborne
Quel’Thalas = “High Kingdom” or “High Home”
Quel’Zaram = High Blade.
Quel’Danil = High Peak.
Ronae = “Peaceful” used in
Selama ashal’anore = Justice for our people
Shindu fallah na!= They’re breaking through (from rough translation of the lament of the highborne)
Shorel’aran = Farewell.
Sin’dorei = Children of the blood. This could also be interpreted as “people of the bloodline”, referring to the continuation of the line of the
Sinu a’manore = Well met.
Sunstrider = he who walks the day
Vendel’o eranu = Help me forget.

The Lament of the Highborne song…

Thalassian
Anar’alah, Anar’alah belore
Sin’dorei
Shindu fallah na
Sin’dorei
Anar’alah
Shindu Sin’dorei
Shindu fallah na
Sin’dorei
Anar’alah belore
Shindu Sin’dorei
Shindu fallah na
Sin’dorei
Anar’alah belore
Belore

Estimated Translation:
By the light, by the light of the sun
Children of the blood
Our enemies are breaking through
Children of the blood
By the light
Failing children of the blood
They are breaking through
O’ children of the blood
By the light of the sun
Failing children of the blood
They are breaking through
O’ children of the blood
By the light of the sun
The sun

Watch Blizzard’s Machinima of Lament of the Highborne.

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References:

World of Warcraft, Thalassian
WowWiki, Thalassian
World of Warcarft, Darnassian
Additional words from unknown author

63. Nymphs and Felwood, Oh my!

Listen to the following by the author on Epic Dolls Podcast #63

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Hi everyone! I got a little busy that past few weeks burning the candle at both ends (You No Take Candle!). I missed everyone and hope to see you around in game.

PLACES TO SEE

I have to say that out of all the expansions, Northrend is my favorite. The incredible expanse of the land is clearly matched by the sheer vertical height of it as well. I suffer from a slight case of acrophobia, so having to land on a flying valiance base-craft or jumping on the backs of flying dragons or reaching the tallest peak to turn in a quest… makes the game even more exciting. Haha.

Here at Off the Beaten Path on Epic Dolls, I like including places from all over the Warcraft globe from the original game in Azeroth and Burning Crusade to Northrend, Wrath of the Lich King. Also, for those of us who are in Northrend, it is not a bad idea to travel through the continents of Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms again to remind ourselves why we fell in love with Warcraft in the first place.

AZEROTH – Main Game
While you are out exploring the original world of Azeroth, in Kalimdor you may encounter the Timbermaw furbolgs first in Ashenvale and then more when you reach Felwood. According to WoWwiki, Felwood was tainted by the burning legion using the Skull of Gul’dan. Developing faction with Timbermaw Hold allows you to travel through their caverns and tunnels to reach the isolated lands of Moonglade and Winterspring.

Moonglade is the sacred grove and home to the druids of Cenarion circle.  A bit of trivia, it appears that the Gold Road which we know from the Barrens, once reached all the way to Moonglade, and druid town of Nighthaven. The corruption of Felwood, Moonglade became isolated with strangers no longer welcome by the furbolgs.

In the east of Moonglade are the Stormrage barrow dens. These refer to Malfurion Stormrage, the druid brother of Illidan. The den farthest east has a terrible nightmare growing in it. If you haven’t been there in a while, you may want to check it out. Could this outbreak be what is impeding Malfurion’s return from the Emerald Dream?

NORTHREND – WOLK
I really enjoy the more mystical or fae-like aspects of warcraft. If you are like me, anything that shows off the Seelie-type creatures is worth venturing out to see. In the expansion, Northrend located in Howling Fjord  you can travel North/Central slightly south between Camp Winterhoof and Fort Windervar. There you will encounter three small dryad groves. You will know that you have reached these groves when you spotted the female shaped trees gracefully arching their limbs towards the center of each.

There is a named frost nymph called Lurielle, who inhabits the far eastern grove with her sisters. If you stay long enough, you might get to watch the entire group of them break out into a massive snowball fight.  Also, Lurielle has a quest series. She needs your help to uncover the dire reasons the her sisters at the other groves are possessed in series called Quest for the Fallen Sisters. Something terrible has happened to those two western groves. The quest is available for both Horde and Alliance.

QUESTS

OUTLANDS – Burning Crusade

If you read the Warcraft series The War of Ancients, you may remember the character named Maiev Shadowsong. She was the priestess of Elune who guarded the imprisoned Illidan after it was discovered he had created another Well of Eternity in Mount Hyjal. In an effort to quell the Legion, Illidan was released recklessly by Tyrande Whisperwind which resulted in needless deaths of Maiev’s fellow guardians. This blunder set in motion a series of subsequent disasters and many long years of consequences.

Maiev Shadowsong is currently locked in the Warden’s Cage in Shadowmoon Valley and is guarded by Akama and his Ashtongue Deathsworn. You can find out more about what she has to say and a quest that is available in this underground prison.

You can reach the Warden’s Cage prison by heading due west of the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley.

Role Playing Tips

While the Role-Playing community is small, it is a creative way players extend the value and enjoyment of the game…by playing their character as the character, like an actor would for a particular role. Role-Playing tips on Off the Beaten Path is meant to help the player if you are interest in trying to role play or thinking about getting back into role-playing.

In my last segment, I mentioned a series of questions to get you thinking about various basic aspects of your characters…such as:

* 3. What’s the worst trouble he/she ever got into as a child?
* 5. What does he/she have in his/her pockets?

After reflecting on those questions with my own characters…numbers 3 and 5 (which I just mentioned above) got me interested in something I never thought through before. I never considered my character AS a child. I think most of us include the standard information in our character biographies –who, what, and when. I knew whose child she was, where she grew up, and an approximation of when. But as I began to think of her IN childhood doing child-like things, I wondered if she was the kind of child who would even get into trouble? Would she be the type of child who brings a frog home in her pocket? Or would she gather a collection shiny rocks? Did she have an imaginary friend? I am thinking that “Stardancer” Nightelf druid, would collect shells on the shore, make crowns out of flowers, and hum while she walks.

I was wondering if thinking through your character AS a child, what would he/she be like? What would you come up with? For example, if your character was a gnome child, were they the type who did experiments with their “GearFizzle’s Widget Rector Set for little Tykes” and caught the family’s drapes on fire? Or used a magnifying glass on Barrens cockroaches? It’s a fun little exercise.

by Stardancerelf