The Dwarves Explore the Hinterlands

The Dwarves are Hansbrix the Hunter (and his pet bear, Fridge) and Bradanna the Priest. My husband and I have been playing these two characters together, completing parts of Azeroth zone by zone. There are things that we missed out on the first time we played (other characters) through some of the Cataclysm content.

It is kind of strange to consider that new characters start out in content that was introduced to the game during the Cataclysm expansion. Eventually, The Dwarves will run into The Burning Crusade content, which is older than the Cataclysm re-booted zones.

In this blog, I will feature the most interesting parts of The Dwarves trip through The Hinterlands. The first two screenshots you see in this blog were taken on April 20, 2015 (when The Dwarves were working through Arathi Highlands). The rest were taken on May 4, May 6, May 8, May 10, and May 25, 2015.

Why were The Dwarves traveling to The Hinterlands? The reason has to do with a quest. When The Dwarves finished Arathi Highlands, they ended up with a couple of quests that were unfinished. The quest from Captain Nials sent The Dwarves to The Hinterlands.

Captain Nials gave The Dwarves a quest called “Hero’s Call – The Hinterlands!”

Captain Nials: By order of his royal highness, King Varian Wrynn, all able-bodied citizens of the Alliance are to report to Gryphon Master Talonaxe at the aviary in Aerie Peak.

Our new brothers in the Alliance need your help to fend off the aggressive Horde offensive in their beloved homeland. Travel north from the Arathi Highlands, through the dwarven mountain pass and follow the road northwest to Aerie Peak.

For the glory and honor of the Alliance!

And so, Bradanna and Hansbrix (and Fridge) set off across Arathi Highlands in the rain…

…went through the Dwarven mountain pass, and discovered The Hinterlands!

When they got out the other side, The Dwarves were at Bogen’s Ledge.

There were friendly Razorback Gryphons around!

Local Pet Mauler: Win a pet battle in 10 different zones.

The Dwarves passed by Featherbeard’s Hovel on their way to the Aeire Peak. They were never given a specific reason to go to Featherbeard’s Hovel (but checked it out anyway later on). I cannot help but wonder if there ever was a quest that took players there.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe can be found way at the top of Aerie Peak. He is the one that Captain Nials sent The Dwarves to go see.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: Welcome to Aerie Peak, home of the Wildhammer Clan. With High Thane Falstad off in Ironforge, you’ll be dealing with me.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: Welcome to Aerie Peak, Bradanna. On behalf of High Thane Falstad, I thank ye for comin’ to help us.

As The Dwarves worked their way through The Hinterlands, it became apparent that the Wildhammer Clan speaks slightly differently than the other Dwarven Clans do. The Wildhammer use “ye” instead of “you”. They leave the g sound off the end of verbs that end in ing. They use “yer” instead of “your”. It seems to me that the Wildhammer Clan has an accent that the other Dwarven Clans lack.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe gave The Dwarves two quests.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: Our clan reveres the gryphon as a sacred animal. They’re majestic creatures of the skies, and more than just beasts; they’re intelligent and cunning.

Some say we keep them, but it’s more of a friendship. If you want to befriend the Wildhammer here, first befriend our gryphons! Take this bag o’ chow, it’s nice and fresh. Our trained razorback gryphons wander the forests to the south of the aviary. Go on and feed a few of ’em for me, aye?

The Dwarves got to run around and feed seven friendly gryphons. This is one of the most adorable quests in Azeroth. No killing required!

Turn in the Razorbeak Friends quest to Gryphon Master Talonaxe, and he has something to say.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: Treat them with respect, and they’ll treat you with it as well. Give ’em guff and you’ll be out an eye!

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: We do everything we can to protect our kin and our gryphons. That includes chasin’ off predators, whether they be from the forest or from the Horde.

I won’t ask you to save us from two-legged monsters just yet. Mangy silvermane prowl the woods to the south where our gryphons range, and they’re known to get ’em if they stray too low. Hunt a few of the silvermane and make sure they know our gryphons aren’t food.

This quest is all about killing Mangy Silvermane wolves. When you turn in the quest, Gryphon Master Talonaxe says: Much appreciated.

The thing I liked about these two quests is that it gives you a glimpse into the cultural values of the Wildhammer Clan. They highly value the gryphon, so much so that they ask visitors to feed them and to protect them from the Mangy Silvermane that are in the area. The Wildhammer Clan considers the gryphon to be their friends. That’s so different from the way gryphons are used in, say, Stormwind, where people ride them and forget about them.

The next stop was Stormfeather Outpost.

Kerr Ironsight and Dron Blastbrew had some quests for The Dwarves.

Kerr Ironsight greets the player with: Ready for a tussle, lass? I assume that she says “lad” if the character is male. I’m not quite sure if she’s asking Bradanna if she wants to fight… or make out. Either way, Bradanna declined. Both Kerr and Dorr are wearing what looks like blue warpaint. Each of them had quests for The Dwarves.

Kerr Ironsight: These Revantusk trolls think they’re special for bein’ in the Horde. Makes me laugh!

See, the funny part is, it doesn’t matter if they’re part of the Horde, or some kinda troll empire, or the bloody Burning Legion for that matter. We’ve fought trolls in these lands for a few centuries now.

In fact, I’ll be kind enough to let you lend a hand, lass! Grab a weapon and head out to the battlefield and help our boys to the east.

Kerr Ironsight: As fun as it is to butt heads with these trolls, we’ve got other things to do down here. It’d be nice to get this battle over with, aye?

Their commander, Gan’dranda, sits in the ruined walls to the southeast of the battlefield. Our boys have most of their forces locked up, so I want you to slip in there and take out Gan’dranda. When they see a dwarf standin’ over the corpse of their biggest hero it should take some of the fight out of ’em!

These two quests are the start of what turned into a whole lot of troll killing quests. I had no idea that The Hinterlands had so many trolls! These two quests sent Hansbrix and Bradanna to Shaol’watha. Kerr Ironsight was right, the place is in ruins.

There are plenty of Raventusk Trolls around.

I like the design of the troll architecture. There are plenty of details in the wall carvings, the masks, and the structures.

The Dwarves had no problem killing off Gan’dranda.

The Dwarves turned in the quest to Kerr Ironsight. She /cheered and said: Not bad for a city-dwellin’ dwarf. Good show, aye!

Dron Blastbrew gave The Dwarves a couple of quests that had a little to do with trolls, and a little to do with alcohol.

Dron Blastbrew: I’d rather be brewin’ than fightin’ ! But with any luck, I can manage both, eh?

Dron Blastbrew : I’ve got plans to brew up somethin’ special for those pesky trolls. Aye, I said for them…a brew they won’t ever forget! A brew that’ll have them pickin’ their tusks out of the hillsides!

I’ve got a few ingredients steepin’ already, but I could use a hand gatherin’ more. At the bottom of the Overlook Cliffs to the east, near the shore, is a whole mess o’ snapjaws. I need fresh, whole gizzards from them for my blastbrew.

The snapjaw with the green shell is named Ironsides. He, or she, is a level 31 elite. The snapjaw with the yellow shell is named Gammerita, and he or she is a level 31 (but not an elite). Neither one of them have anything to do with the quest from Dron Blastbrew.

There aren’t any quests that send players to these two snapjaws. Both are just out there, wandering around, being a snapjaw. I think they are pretty, so I put them into this blog.

To be honest, the quest from Dron Blastbrew, that requires players to kill snapjaws, made me sad. It felt wrong for reasons I cannot even explain. I mean… they’re just pixels. I can’t explain what made me feel bad about killing these huge, lovely, creatures in-game. Anyway, that’s why this blog has these two big “turtles”, that we didn’t kill, instead of screenshots of The Dwarves killing off some peaceful snapjaws.

Turn in the Snapjaws quest, and Dron Blastbrew says: Ah, nice an’ fresh. I’ll get those going while you fetch me some more goods then…

The quest reward is Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000. If I was a new World of Warcraft player, I’d have absolutely no reason to see anything special about this fishing pole. The Dwarves have not come across anything that gives the slightest clue of who Nat Pagle is. There was a time when characters would not be able to fish until after they had equipped a fishing pole. That’s not so anymore. Would a new player keep this fishing pole?

Of course, I kept it.

Dron Blastrew: Now, I know we’ve got a little battle ragin’ and all that, but down at the overlook cliffs are some nice lookin’ bottles strewn all over the place. I don’t want good drink to fall into the hands o’ the Horde!

If you’re down that way, collect the bottles for me and bring ’em back here. I’ll pay in full for it as if you bottled ’em yourself.

The good thing about this quest is that the bottles are near the snapjaws, so you can complete both quests at the same time. The bottles glow, which makes them a little bit easier to find. The bad part about this quest is that it only counts for individual players, even if you are in a group. In other words, Bradanna had to pick up the total amount of bottles and Hansbrix had to pick up the total amount of bottles, individually.

The next group of quests from Kerr Ironsight and Dron Blastbrew sent The Dwarves to Skulk Rock.

Kerr Ironsight: Years ago, there used to be a Horde base deep within Skulk Rock. It’s been abandoned since then, but it’s still prime territory, worth takin’ for our allies!

Problem is, it’s full of dwarf-eating slimes and oozes. Those things are slightly less disgustin’ than trolls, but they’ll still give us a hassle.

With our boys tied up fightin’ the Revantusk, I need you to go to Skulk Rock and clear the place out for me.

Kerr Ironsight: I had a cousin in the second war! He used to tell me all about when they led a raid on Skulk Rock. Swept in there and drove the trolls out like rats from a nest. They chased right after ’em all the way to Alterac!

The slimes moved in right quick after that, and there’s still cratefuls of old Horde goods sittin’ in there. I say we don’t let the trolls get it back!

Bring me a few crates from Skulk Rock to the northwest.

The Skulk Rock Clean-Up quests requires players to kill 10 Jade Oozes. The Skulk Rock Supplies quest requires players to bring back 5 Ooze-Coated Supply Crates. Players can go to one location and complete both of these quests and one more:

Dron Blastbrew: Not many dwarves know this, but to get a REAL kick out of my brew I add a wee bit of the oozes around here. Aye, the giant green dwarf-eatin’ oozes, those ones.

This brew’s gonna have a HUGE kick to it though, so we need a huge slime! There’s one lurkin’ down in Skulk Rock that’s the mother o’ them all, absolutely huge…the Direglob, we call it.

If you’ve got what it takes, head down there and take a chunk out of the Direglob for me!

Three different quests all send the player to Skulk Rock. It sounds very well planned out. The quests The Dwarves were given do fit together nicely. However, there were other things in and around Skulk Rock that not only had nothing to do with these quests, but also had no quests that included them.

There are lots of Savage Owlbeasts that, for some reason, really wanted to get in a fight with Bradanna. There aren’t any quests that give players a reason to fight them, though. There’s no quests that explain why these Savage Owlbeasts are out here, or what their culture is like, or even if they happen to be Horde or Alliance. More story, please, Blizzard!

The Jade Oozes were easy to locate. They were hanging around at Skulk Rock, just like they were supposed to be.

The Reak is a level 31 Elite. You can find this Ooze creature inside the ruins at Skulk Rock. There’s no quest connected to this big Ooze. Why is it here?

Hansbrix and Bradanna cleared Skulk Rock of all the Oozes. There was no sign of the supplies they were supposed to pick up or The Direglob. The Dwarves searched around and found a nearby cave that seemed the likely place to find what they were missing.

Bradanna: He’s right behind me, isn’t he?

The Direglob was BIG, but no match for Hansbrix (and Fridge) and Bradanna.

Turn in the Skulk Rock Clean-Up quest, and Kerr Ironsight says: It’s good to see you back…and not missin’ any limbs, either.

Kerr Ironsight: The Revantusk isn’t the only tribe of foul trolls we’re here to take care of! The Vilebranch have corrupted this land for years from their stronghold of Jintha’Alor.

We’re done sittin’ by in Aerie Peak twiddlin’ our thumbs, if you haven’t noticed. Doran Steelwing leads the charge against the Vilebranch from a camp the boys took just to the south. Speak with him and join the fight!

From this point onward, almost all the quests require players to kill Trolls. The Dwarves ended up spending a lot of time in Jintha’Alor. After they go to the next quest hub, there were given a couple of quests to complete at a time. When they turned them in, there were given more – for the same location. There’s tons of quests that take place in Jintha’Alor!

Doran Steelwing: Well met, Bradanna! We’ve got a lot of trolls to kill and only so many hands to do it with!

Doran Steelwing: The Vilebranch are a different tribe from the Revantusk, but the difference is academic. Far as we’re concerned, the only good troll is a dead troll!

But make no mistake, the Vilebranch are just as nasty even without the Horde’s chain around their neck. They’ll poison this whole land unless we take this stand and get rid of them.

You can start with their witchdoctors and headhunters on the lower tier. let me know when you’ve killed a fair share of ’em.

Doran Steelwing: Umboda Three-Heads is one o’ the biggest trolls you’ll see around. He’s a savage butcher, takin’ heads for his own collection, dwarf and troll alike! It’s time he got what he deserved.

Look for the big brute on the lower terraces, and you take his own head right back here!

The Dwarves have been given one quest to kill “a fair share” of Vilebranch Trolls – specifically, 5 headhunters and 5 witchdoctors – in Jintha’Alor. They have also been given a quest to kill Umboda Three-Heads, who has not only been collecting the heads of Dwarfs, but also the heads of his fellow trolls.

This one is definitely a bad guy. It’s one thing to kill enemies in a time of war – it’s quite another to harvest heads from the members of your own tribe. Umboda Three-Heads is one very sick troll. It’s impossible to feel bad about killing him off.

Before venturing into Jintha’Alor, The Dwarves picked up a few more quests from Fraggar Thundermantle.

Fraggar Thundermantle: The spirits o’ this land won’t tolerate this dark magic and vicious sacrifice any longer. The Vilebranch have got to go!

Fraggar Thundermantle: The Vilebranch have hung their tiki masks all across the walls of Jintha’Alor. We won’t tolerate their foul hexes and dark magic.

It’s time to send a message, and tear down their defenses, all at once! Take this torch, priest. Set fire to their tiki masks and watch ’em burn. They’ll know the Wildhammer want them gone with they see their dark idols consumed!

This quest left me with some issues. I understand that the Trolls that Hansbrix and Bradanna have been asked to kill are considered to be like part of the Horde, and that this makes them the enemy of the Alliance. The quest from Doran Steelwing makes it… unclear… whether or not these particular Trolls are aligned with the Horde.

In this situation, The Dwarves are actually invading an area that clearly belongs to the Trolls. One look at it is enough to realize that it is definitely Troll architecture. If the Vilebranch aren’t technically part of the Horde, then that makes Bradanna and Hansbrix a (small) invading force that is trying to drive a group out of an area that clearly belongs to them. This doesn’t feel so good.

Part of the reason why Fraggar Thundermantle asked The Dwarves to attack the Vilebranch Trolls sort of has to do with religious differences. The Wildhammer Dwarves may or may not have a religion – but they do treat the gryphon as though they are somewhat sacred. The Vilebranch Trolls are using “foul hexes and dark magic”, which might not technically be a religion, either, but seems to be a big part of their lifestyle. This is uncomfortable.

Fraggar Thundermantle: There’s somethin’ I’ve noticed up there… Jintha’Alor’s full of spiders. Small ones, about as big as yer hand. Not an unusual sight for the Hinterlands, but somethin’s amiss.

To be honest, I don’t trust the trolls to keep pets. They’re up to somethin’. I need you to bring me some of those spiders. Keep ’em alive if you can, and we’ll see what the spirits tell me…

Jintha’Alor wasn’t too far away. The Dwarves “discovered” it before they got close enough to climb the stairs.

It didn’t take long to realize that these quests were going to involve killing more trolls than required. The one in the screenshot above is a Vilebranch Warrior. Hansbrix (and Fridge) and Bradanna didn’t need to kill this Troll… until he attacked them. Up the stairs, there were some Vilebranch Berserkers that The Dwarves didn’t need, either. There isn’t any way to easily avoid the “extra” Trolls.

Many of the Vilebranch Witchdoctors can be found near the big tiki masks that are hanging on the wall. The tiki masks are very big, and I think they look cool. It seemed a shame to burn them.

There were a few different varieties of tiki mask. I like that they weren’t all identical. It made the area more visually interesting to run around in.

In the above screenshot, The Dwarves are killing a Vilebranch Headhunter.

Look! It’s the giant green skull, with a gem for an eye, that I’ve seen in Hearthstone! It turns out that it came from Jintha’Alor in The Hinterlands.

The Dwarves ran into a glitch. See that Vilebranch Berserker? She’s not really there (or so it seemed). Neither Bradanna, nor Hansbrix, could target her. She stood perfectly still and somehow was able to “evade” all attacks.

The Dwarves had not completed all of the quests they had been given, but they did manage to complete two of them. They killed the required amount of Vilebranch Headhunters and Vilebranch Witchdoctors, and they burned the tiki masks that were on the walls. Their bags were now full, so it was time to head back to the most recent quest hub.

How were they going to get back there? The easiest way was to run through a cave (that looks like it should have spiders in it, but lacks them).

Instead of spiders, the end of the cave had some Wildhammer Sentries and a gryphon named Sharpbeak (who was a level 35 elite). Why would Wildhammer Dwarves be hanging around here, at the end of a cave that connects to Jintha’ Alor? The reason has to do with game mechanics.

Sharpbeak has two destinations: the top of Jintha’Alor, and the most recent quest hub. If you play with someone else, you will see more than one Sharpbeak flying through the air when you use him. Sharpbeak doubles, just like Brisket the Ram did in The Wetlands. Hanxbrix is on the first one, and Bradanna is on the second one.

The Dwarves turned in the Vilebranch Scum quest, and the Faces of Evil quest. They had yet to find the spiders or Umboda Three-Heads. The main reason they returned to the quest hub was that their bags were full.

This was when we noticed that this quest hub is missing two very important components. There are no vendors here! Hansbrix and Bradanna needed to sell stuff in order to make room in their bags for the new stuff they would undoubtedly pick up as they did more quests. Why can’t they sell stuff here? Blizzard, this area desperately needs a vendor!

The Dwarves were going to have to travel somewhere else in order to sell stuff and free up some bag space. Typically, they would do that by getting on a Gryphon and flying to the nearest place that had a vendor. The only Gryphon here is Sharpbeak, who has an extremely limited selection of flight paths.

This was annoying! At this point, The Dwarves had yet to complete two quests that take place in Jintha’Alor. They were seeing signs that more quests were coming. There’s no way to sell stuff here. This puts players in the annoying pattern of having to leave Jintha’Alor, and then travel away from this quest hub, in order to sell stuff – repeatedly. This tedious and time-consuming problem could have been alleviated with the placement of just one non-player character (NPC) that could buy and sell stuff.

The nearest vendor was located at Stormfeather Outpost.

When The Dwarves returned to the quest hub they were working on, Doran Steelwing gave them another quest.

Doran Steelwing: We’re makin’ good progress. Keep pressing on, and don’t falter!

The Vilebranch berserkers fight like savage animals, whipped into a blood frenzy. Their shadowcasters summon foul spirits from beyond this world! This is why we’re getting rid of these depraved creatures, Bradanna, never forget that.

Head to the middle tier and kill the berserkers and shadowcasters!

Here is another “kill the required amount of trolls” quest. It doesn’t appear until after the previous one has been completed and turned in. So, all the berserkers and shadowcasters that The Dwarves already killed while they were in Jintha’Alor don’t count for this quest at all.

Umboda Three-Heads: Ya head’s gonna make a nice bag!

The fight against Umboda Three-Heads wasn’t difficult. What made it more intense was the knowledge that this Troll has been collecting heads, and that he plans to make a bag out of your character’s head. He’s seriously messed up!

Umboda’s Head – Quest Item – “Picked at random.”

Turn in this quest to Doran Steelwing, and he says: That’s one ugly mug. Maybe he was takin’ the other heads tryin’ to find a prettier one!

How Many Heads Have The Dwarves Collected?:

* The head of Marez Cowl (Wanted! Marez Cowl quest – Arathi Highlands)
* The head of Lord Falconcrest (Wanted! Otto and Falconcrest quest – Arathi Highlands)
* The head of Otto, Falconcrest’s bodyguard (Wanted! Otto and Falconcrest quest – Arathi Highlands)
* The head of Umboda Three-Heads (Heads Up quest – The Hinterlands)

The “All That Skitters” quest proved to be more difficult than expected. No matter where The Dwarves went, they couldn’t find any spiders.

This area, that has corpses of sacrificed Trolls scattered around it, seemed like a good place to find the small spiders. There is a cave nearby that has some spider webs on it. The only thing this area was good for, at that moment, was Pet Battles.

Master Pet Hunter: Capture 100 pets in pet battle.

The Dwarves found Mith’rethis the Enchanter. He was a level 33 elite. The isn’t any quest that connects to him. He’s just… there.

The was no obvious solution that would help us to find the Skittering Spiderlings. Eventually, Shawn had to get out of game and do some searching on the internet for the answer. We learned that we weren’t the only players that had difficulty with what should have been a simple quest. Someone took the time to explain that the only way to find the Skittering Spiderlings was to turn on the Health Bars that appear over enemy characters.

We could now see the Skittering Spiderlings, but things were still problematic. They are tiny and blended in with the surrounding area. That explains why we couldn’t find any of them before. The Health Bar pointed out where the Spiderling was at, but it was still difficult to actually see the critter. The Spiderling didn’t become obvious until after a player clicked on it.

We were in a group, but the game didn’t seem to understand that. It required Bradanna to gather the required amount of Spiderlings and Hansbrix to also gather the required amount of Spiderlings. In other words, you couldn’t share the collection with the players in your group.

We also learned that spells that target more than one enemy will kill off any Spiderlings in the area. Those kills didn’t count toward the Spidering quest, though. The “All That Skitters” quest was the most annoying one in all of The Hinterlands!

Turn in the “All That Skitters” quest, and Fraggar Thundermantle says: By Kurdan’s beard…these don’t look like any spiders I’ve seen before. Dark magic’s at work here.

Fraggar Thundermantle: The Vilebranch trolls here were always worshippers of the foul god Hakkar, the loa of blood. He was a sick and twisted entity that nearly broke through to our world, but he was defeated long ago.

The Vilebranch are still stirring their dark cauldrons, ones they filled with blood years before. They’re either holding onto hope for a long-dead spirit, or they’re up to something new and just as sinister.

Get me those vessels, Bradanna. We need to examine them with the spiders and see just what’s going on here!

Doran Steelwing: Only the strongest and foulest Vilebranch are left now. The soul eaters and blood drinkers, foul worshippers of the evil god Hakkar.

Don’t forget you’re not just fighting trolls here, Bradanna. You’re fighting dark and evil forces that’ll churn this land into ash if we let them live! Show no mercy!

These two quests give players a bit more background about the religion of the Vilebranch Trolls. They do seem to be into some serious and dangerous stuff. It now becomes more clear that the Wildhammer Clan aren’t killing the Vilebranch Trolls due to a disagreement about religion. They are doing it to prevent the Trolls from… raising Hakkar, who just so happens to be an “evil god”.

Doran Steelwing: I’ve got a plan to pit troll against troll.

The Vilebranch have a big ol’ dire troll locked up in a pit with some flimsy-lookin’ chains. I’ve seen those things fight, and there’s no way those’ll hold if that big brute gets swingin’ mad!

I want you to find the dire troll and fight him, Bradanna. Don’t kill him…just smack him around til’ he ‘s seein’ red, then let him break free and get out of his way! He’ll be a big pain for the Vilebranch.

The text underneath the picture of Ongo’Longo says “Get him angry, then get out of his way!” I find it interesting that Doran Steelwing assumes that Bradanna can not only fight this huge troll, but can do it so well that Doran has to warn her not to kill Ongo’Longo. He might be overestimating her abilities, just a bit, especially considering that she is a Priest.

There stands Ongo’Longo, down in a pit. He certainly is a BIG troll!

As you can see, Ongo’Longo is much bigger than The Dwarves.

Our first attempt to fight him didn’t work. To us, it made sense to stand at the back of the pit, safely behind the large spikes, and start shooting (bullets or magic) from there. Ongo’Longo runs over and tries to fight for a while, but then suddenly stops and goes back to his starting point. The only way to make this quest work is to go around to the front of the pit, where the opening is, and fight him head on.

Ongo’Longo: NO MORE! ONGOLONGO GO HOME!

The Dwarves have successfully enraged Ongo’Longo, to the point where he has broken his chains and decided to go home.

Ongo’Longo: PUNY TROLLS NOT STOP ONGOLONGO!

He walks forward, out the nearest doorway, and disappears shortly after that. One can assume that he beat up every troll that stood in his way before leaving Jintha’Alor and going back home.

When you turn in this quest to Doran Steelwing, he says: Ain’t that a hoot! Wish I could’ve seen it myself.

Here’s one of the Vilebranch Blood Drinkers that The Dwarves were asked to kill. These kills counted for both Hansbrix and Bradanna.

The Cauldrons, however, could not be “shared”. Hansbrix had to collect the required amount, and Bradanna also had to collect the required amount.

Fraggar Thundermantle: You have to go to the summit now, Bradanna. Our warriors won’t go past the final gates. They say it’s still as a tomb; not a sound, not a breath, not a hint of motion.

They think it’s a trap, but based on what you’ve brought me, I’m worried it’s something even more sinister. Go to the altar, investigate what happened…and bring me back ANY sort of mystical object or dark idol you find! Do you hear me?

At first, we thought we had to go back to Jintha’Alor, and climb up to the top, fighting trolls as we went. The Dwarves met a Pet Trainer named David Kosse. He was an Undead, but would talk to them a little bit.

David Kosse: I am studying the life of this area for…research purposes. The bunny behind him is named Subject 142.

Then, we realized that we didn’t have to climb Jintha’Alor at all. Sharpbeak could fly us right to the top.

Doran Steelwing: Sharpbeak’s the finest gryphon in Aerie Peak. He’ll get you right to the top of Jintha’Alor, and we’ll take the top terraces in no time.

Here we go again!

The Dwarves went back to the sacrificial area that they Pet Battled in before. It was not immediately obvious where to find the Spider Idols.

Eventually, we figured out that the only way to find the Spider Idols is to pick the pockets of the sacrificed Trolls. Select one that a fellow player has already clicked, and the screen says: “Your target has already had its pockets picked.” If you are playing in a group, be aware that each player will have to “loot” the correct number of Spider Idols themselves. There is no sharing in this quest.

Turn in the Spider Idol quest to Fraggar Thundermantle. He says: Dead? All of them, around the altar? And you found these spider idols on them… It’s Shadra. The Spider Loa! They’re trying to tap her power!

Fraggar Thundermantle: Shadra the spider loa…the venom queen, a spirit of darkness and death! If there’s been a sacrifice, they’re trying to bring her forth as a last-ditch effort.

If the Vilebranch are performing rituals, I’m not going to let them finish.

Check the cave behind the altar at the top of Jintha’Alor. Deep within it, one of Shadra’s keepers might still be lurking. Kill her and take whatever she carries back here so we can know what’s going on.

Shadra’s keeper is named Morta’gya the Keeper. The text under her photo says: She’ll be cowering in the back of the cave, no doubt.

Fraggar Thundermantle: If the sacrifice has already been made, Shadra’s presence is going to start creepin’ into this realm. That cave’s probably full of her spawn by now.

Don’t let them escape, Bradanna. Slay any of those vile spiders you find!

After picking up those two quests, The Dwarves had to turn around and fly right back to the top of Jintha’Alor, again. There are some interesting quests in there, but all the going back and forth between it and the quest hub, and all the going back and forth between the quest hub and the nearest vendor, got tedious.

The Dwarves had no problem killing off the spiders that were in the cave near the sacrifice area. This gave Hansbrix plenty of time to do some mining!

The Spawn of Shadra Spiders are about as big as Fridge!

All that was left to do was kill Morta’gya the Keeper.

She drops the Tablet of Shadra. The Dwarves picked it up, went back through the top level of Jintha’Alor, through the other cave, and back to Sharpbeak.

Turn in the Hunt the Keeper quest to Fraggar Thundermantle. He says: A tablet! If I can read this…this is a ritual to summon Shadra herself into this world, and a list of the idols needed.

You’ve done a good job slaying the keeper and getting ahold of this, Bradanna.

Turn in the Venomous Secrets quest, and he says: Good riddance. May those horrid things never walk these lands again.

The Dwarves have now completed their very last quest that sends them into Jintha’Alor. I don’t want to do any more Troll quests for a while. The Jintha’Alor content was interesting, and had some unique twists and turns in the story line. But the tediousness of going back and forth so many times makes it a bit draining.

Tracker Yoro is the only Draenei at this quest hub. I’m not entirely sure why he’s here, but he gave The Dwarves a quest that takes them away from this quest hub and sends them to a new one. Perfect!

Tracker Yoro: I may appear far from home to you, priest, but quite a few of my people were led here by Ambassador Rualeth. We have settled with the high elves of the Quel’Danil Lodge, to the northwest, to train in the ways of the Light and enjoy the peaceful beauty of this land.

Such peace may be short lived. We have seen the Horde moving further west from here. Could you travel to Quel’Danil and give warning to Anchorite Traska? Her cabin is just north of the main lodge.

I like that this quest text explains what a Draenai is doing at this quest hub with all the Dwarves. It answered my question about Tracker Yoro perfectly.

The Dwarves discovered the Quel’Danil Lodge.

Anchorite Traska isn’t in the Lodge. She’s in the small building behind it.

Turn in the Quel’Danil Lodge quest, and Anchorite Traska says: Yoro sends warning of the Horde? The Highvale have been cautious of an attack for some time now. In fact, we have been-

By the light…they are here!

This starts a small series of quests that are given to the player by Anchorite Traska. The Dwarves get put into the middle of a battle. It’s exciting!

Anchorite Traska: The undead are here! The Forsaken! They’ve been moving closer and closer, but to launch an all-out attack on us… those horrid abominations!

The young draenei I was charged with have trained with the Highvale elves in combat. They are not defenseless, but they need help!

Please, Bradanna, assist them! Drive back the Forsaken!

Anchorite Traska: The Highvale have kept detailed records here for years. Deaths, births, seasons…but also vital scouting information and methods of contact with the rest of the Alliance.

The documents will be scattered in the chaos. If they fall into the hands of the Forsaken, more lives could be at risk! Please, you must retrieve the documents before they are taken by the Horde…

The Dwarves went around and killed invading Forsaken, many of whom were engaged in battle with Anchorite Traska’s young Draenei and/or some of the Highvale Elves.

They also gathered up the scattered Highvale Documents.

Turn in the quests to Anchorite Traska. She has a couple of things to say. First, about the Forsaken, and then about the Documents.

Anchorite Traska: Such aberrations in the face of the light… You are brave to face them, Bradanna.

Anchorite Traska: Thank the Light. We will not let the Forsaken have anything that can be turned against us, no matter how small.

Bradanna earned the 250 Quests Completed Achievement. I’m fairly certain that Hansbrix did to, but I don’t have a screenshot of it. Anchorite Traska has no more quests to give.

The Dwarves move on to talk with Gilda Cloudcaller, who gives them a short chain of quests that ended with what turned out to be my absolute favorite one of all of the quests in all of The Hinterlands.

Gilda Cloudcaller: Gryphon Master Talonaxe has sent me here to deal with Shadra, the Venom Queen. The conquest of Jintha’Alor isn’t enough…the trolls could regroup and summon this creature later, when we’re not expecting it.

We’ll gather the artifacts first, pull Shadra into this world on our own terms, and put our hammers to that foul creature. I’ll need you to help find the artifacts, and put a hurt on the rest of the trolls while you’re at it.

We first need the Eye of Shadra, guarded in Agol’watha to the north.

Gilda Cloudcaller: The Vilebranch broodguards to the northeast tend the eggs of Shadra’s brood. Even if we kill the Vilebranch, those eggs will still sit there, waiting to hatch and release those horrible creatures further into the wilds.

We need you to take care of this properly. Tear any eggs you see out of the egg sacks and bring them to me. Don’t try to destroy them on your own: you might let the little ones out.

When you get them back here, I’ll see that they’re properly disposed of!

Before starting those two quests, Hansbrix and Bradanna needed to run a quick errand. Hansbrix had hit Level 40, and that meant he could now visit a mount trainer and purchase the skill that enables players to use Level 40 mounts. (Journeyman Riding) The Dwarves used their Hearthstones to return to Ironforge, and then set out to visit with the mount trainer who is located at Ambersill Ranch.

Before speaking with the mount trainer, The Dwarves took the time to catch Yarlyn Amberstill. She chases a Snowshoe Rabbit around the area. If you can catch her, she will sell you a Rabbit Crate (Snowshoe) for 17 silver.

How may Dwarven Children are in WoW?
1. Grimlok Rumdnul – A Dwarf boy who is playing in a boat with two human kids in The Wetlands
2. Yarlyn Amberstill – A Dwarf girl who runs around Amberstill Ranch, chasing a rabbit.

Incidentally, if you play Diablo III, you can find two kids who chase a rabbit through the Caldeum Bazaar. They appear to be having a disagreement about which of them owns the rabbit. A guard solves the problem by killing the rabbit (and making the kids cry). I suspect that those two kids, and their rabbit, were inspired by Yarlyn Amberstill in WoW.

By the time The Dwarves left Amberstill Ranch, Hansbrix had obtained the Mekgineer’s Chopper. It was useful because it has a sidecar. The Dwarves can now travel through Azeroth together on one “mount”. Hansbrix earned the “Get to the Chopper” Achievement.

Off they go!

Back to The Hinterlands – and moving across it much faster than before!

The Shadraspawn eggs are scattered around Agol’watha. They look like little cocoons. The Dwarves had to kill the Trolls that were in the way.

The Eye of Shadra is in the chest that is inside that hut over there.

Bring the Shadraspawn eggs and the Eye of Shadra back to Gilda Cloudcaller. She asks if the tablet was right – did you find the Eye of Shadra? Give her the Shadraspawn eggs that you collected, and she has something else to say.

Gilda Cloudcaller: I’ll see these are burnt to ash right away, and scattered to the winds for good measure.

Gilda Cloudcaller: We’ll need the Fang of Shadra next. It’s kept in the Creeping Ruins to the east, guarded by Shadra’s own spawn. Hideous spiders the size of a dwarf, and twice as strong. Their venom is strong, Bradanna…don’t get careless.

Gilda Cloudcaller: The Creeping Ruin to the east is crawling with fully-grown Shadraspawn spiders. They’re large enough to drag off an entire dwarf in the night, and you’ll see evidence enough of that when you get there… bodies are cocooned all through the ruins.

They don’t keep them alive for long, Bradanna, but they feed off the bodies for days. It’s too late to save the victims, but we can’t let those spiders grow fat and thrive. Make sure you get rid of those cocoons.

The Shadraspawn spiders are big. Gilda Cloudcaller wasn’t exaggerating.

Gilda Cloudcaller said the Shadraspawn spiders were big enough to drag off an entire Dwarf. I think she was underestimating them. Look at those huge bones that Bradanna is standing next to. Those spiders can carry off things that are much bigger than a Dwarf!

The Fang of Shadra can be found inside that highlighted chest over there.

Turn in the quests to Gilda Cloudcaller. She has something bleak say about the Starvation Diet quest.

Gilda Cloudcaller: A grim task for sure, Bradanna, but it’ll keep the spiders left alive from recovering. I thank you.

Hinterlands Quests: Complete 30 quests in the Hinterlands.

As I learned before in previous zones, there are more quests in a particular zone than are required for the Achievement. Gilda Cloudcaller had just given The Dwarves one that they hadn’t even had the chance to start on yet.

Hansbrix figured out that there was no need to get off the Chopper before climbing up to the altars. It will drive right up those stairs! It didn’t take long to kill off Qiaga the Keeper.

Hansbrix (and Fridge) and Bradanna fought Retherokk the Berserker. He’s a Level 33 elite. There are no quests that link to him.

Driving across The Hinterlands, in this lovely, two-person Chopper, is super fun!

Gilda Cloudcaller: Our best fighters are ready, we’ve got the idol assembled…it’s time, Bradanna.

Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’ll travel southwest to Shadra’Alor ahead of us with the idol. You’ll need to use the idol at each of the three temples, fighting through the trolls guardin’ them.

When you do that, Shadra will emerge into our world, and we’ll be right there waiting for her with fury in our hearts. Talk to my boys on the scene as soon as you’ve performed the ritual!

The Dwarves discovered Shadra’Alor.

I like how this screenshot, of The Dwarves fighting a Vilebranch Zealot, turned out.

Hansbrix used the Idol of Shadra at the Eastern Temple in Shadra’Alor.

The Chopper proved very useful here, too. Drive up the stairs – no need to dismount!

Bradanna used the Idol of Shadra at the Northwestern Temple.

Hansbrix used the Idol of Shadra at the Southwestern Temple. All done!

Wildhammer Lookout: Talonaxe and the boys are right behind. Let’s do this!

Wildhammer Lookout: No time to waste, Bradanna! She’s comin’ out of the water right now! Gryphon Master Talonaxe is comin’ right now with the boys, let’s show that bug what for!

The size of Shadra the Venom Queen is breathtaking. I actually felt somewhat shocked by how huge this spider was. Look at how much bigger she is than the Dwarves who have come to fight her! Shadra is a Level 35 elite.

To battle! All of the Dwarves who rushed to fight Shadra hand to… spider leg…. are using hammers.

Shadra spews venom and webs. She’s trapped all of the Dwarves and Fridge.

Shadra was slain. Take a close look at the Dwarves who are near Shadra. The entire group, simultaneously, did a /cheer!

They continued to do their /cheer as they ran past Bradanna and Hansbrix, on their way back to wherever they came from. It is this reaction, which I didn’t expect and couldn’t stop giggling at, that makes the “Kill Shadra” quest my absolute favorite one in all of The Hinterlands.

The Dwarves needed to turn in the “Shadra the Venom Queen” quest to Gryphon Master Talonaxe. He’s at the top of Aerie Peak. The experience of questing through The Hinterlands starts, and ends, in the same place.

On the way, The Dwarves decided to stop and check out Featherbeard’s Hovel. He was not there. They could find his pet, Old Cliff Jumper, who appeared to be eating something. For a moment, we wondered if perhaps Featherbeard had passed away and become Old Cliff Jumper’s dinner. Disturbing! (By the way, Old Cliff Jumper is a Level 30 Elite.)

The Dwarves left Gryphon Master Talonaxe on foot, and returned on a Chopper.

Gryphon Master Talonaxe: You’ve done a great thing for the Wildhammer today, Bradanna. I wish Falstad could’ve been here for that.

On behalf of the whole clan, I’d like to repay you for keeping these lands free from the foul shadow. You’ve earned this reward.

Now what? The Dwarves had run out of quests in The Hinterlands. However, they still had something to do. There was one section of the map that had not been explored (because none of the quests directed The Dwarves to that location).

They drove over the bridge and discovered Seradane.

Hansbrix (and Fridge) and Bradanna decided to take a “tourist photo” by this huge dragon skull in Seradane. There is absolutely no reason for players to go to Seradane, other than to complete the exploration of The Hinterlands. There once was a time when there were reasons to visit Seradane. It had to do with dragons – and you can find out more details in my blog post called The Dragons of Nightmare.

Hansbrix and Bradanna had a little bit of exploring left to do before leaving the Hinterlands. They went for a drive and discovered Shindigger’s Camp.