Westfall Ablaze! January 7, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Blizzard, entertainment, World of Warcraft.Tags: Cataclysm, Phasing
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It was Saturday night and after our previous interview with the King in Stormwind, (Varian Wrynn, not Elvis) it was about time to head back to Sentinel Hill in Westfall.
But to avoid revealing any spoilers I will put what happened after a break. If you want Westfall to remain a mystery until you see it for yourself, go no further.
Well, I want to hide spoilers plus the fact that we didn’t actually do anything as a group in Westfall last Saturday night. It was New Years Day and the instance group was scattered about.
Still, I thought I would fly out and see how things were going for Gryan Stoutmantle, Marshall of the Westfall Brigade.
He was there, waiting for us, question mark over his head.
Does The Marshal has a Mission?
Well, there would be a question mark if I had not turned off the UI. Still makes me wonder why Blizz couldn’t have killed the punctuation over Thrall in that cut scene. *grumble grumble*
And that question mark, which I assure you was there, was no doubt related to things at Sentinel Hill were coming unglued. I was reminded of a book my dad had when I was kid about the 1906 earthquake called “The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned.” That was mostly because of the colorize photo on the cover which showed an orange sky very much like this one over Westfall, or at least it was orange in my current memory.
Anyway, the sky was orange in a burning way. It was a very dramatic change and really set a different mood, one of doom and disaster.
The Sky Burns Over Sentinel Hill
Okay, there wasn’t a tornado in the book. Things were bad enough in SF without one back in 1906.
But like SF, Sentinel Hill seemed to be suffering from fire as much as from anything.
The Place is a Constant Blaze
And, instead of looters, the place was crawling with Defias!
The Red Mask Attack is Back!
Sentinel Hill was ablaze and under direct assault. The Defias were again unmasked… figuratively speaking… and openly opposing the rule of Stormwind.
However, since I hadn’t picked up a new quest yet, that was all still none of my business. I was busy looking at the way the colors in the sky changed everything.
Trees Before an Ominous Orange Sky
And then I took a step too far in the wrong direction.
Whoops, Where Did All That Color Go?
Phased again. I looked back and Sentinel Hill was still there, but no longer on fire. And rather than Defias there were gnolls and homeless people lurking about the edges of the encampment. There was not a Defias to be seen.
I Left an Angry Mod Around Here Somehwere
So I walked back until I found the line. The sky turned orange, the gnolls went away, the Defias showed back up, and everything was on fire again. So I stepped back. Gnolls. I stepped forward. Defias. And like a 6 year old on a border or Homer Simpson in a hospital bed, I went back and forth, amusing myself greatly.
I even managed to capture a screen shot in which you can see both gnolls and Defias.
One Invading Force at a Time Please
When I was finally done amusing myself, I headed back to the tower where the inn keeper and all the class trainers (except the druid train, since there is no druid trainer… that will keep the night elves out!) were now hiding from the gnolls… or the Defias… or who ever was attacking. That was serving as the inn for the time being.
Meanwhile, the old inn was in trouble.
The Roof! We Just Got That Fixed!
Looks like they might have to fix more than the roof this time.
Anyway, we’ll be getting stuck into the Defias soon I hope. I’m sure they aren’t scattered all over the compound just for show.
Phasing really adds to the immersion. So awesome.
Hey, I was totally at fault, having dared to step off of the linear quest path. Damn explorer gene.
The colors were really cool though. They set the mood very effectively.