Taxi! TAXI!

Last night, I finished running Aeven around Dustwallow Marsh, completing the various quest chains there and getting halfway to 45. Well, all the quest chains except for "... and Bugs." If Morgan Stern wants crab legs from half way across the world, he's going to have to pay the import tariffs at the Theramore docks, just like everyone else. I'll go to the Swamp Of Sorrows when I'm good and ready, thank you.

I understand that Dustwallow Marsh used to be kind of a barren area, but one of the patches added in a bunch of the quests that are sprinkled across the landscape now. For all the back and forth between Tabetha's Farm, Mudsprocket, and Theramore that Aeven did, I still enjoyed the quests here. When I finished up Brogg's quest chains, with Challenge to the Black Dragon Flight, he told me:

Brogg is grateful for your help, Aeven, and he will never forget what you have done for him. Brogg will never give up his quest to bring Stonemaul back where they belong.

Which made me wonder if we'll see more of Brogg and the Stonemaul once Cataclysm rolls around. After all, Deathwing is the leader of the Black Dragon flight, the dragon flight that is responsible for the destruction of the Stonemaul. I'd be tickled pink to have the chance to hook up with an older, more experienced, more cunning Brogg and maybe follow him and a group of Stonemaul survivors as they lead a raid into Deepholme.

Dustwallow also has the quest chain that leads up to Peace at Last, which is another favorite of mine (along with the Battle of Darrowshire in the Eastern Plaguelands). The Battle is more epic and lore-driven, but there's something about Peace that really touches me - especially Captain Vimes' consideration for the dead, asking, "You didn't tell them about James, did you?" If this is a tribute to Pratchett's Samuel Vimes, then they hit the nail on the head.

After Dustwallow, I really did put Aeven on the road to Desolace. Made it there, too - Summon Charger for the win! Picked up a bunch of flight points along the way, including a side trip to grab the one in Gadgetzan for the future. Which got me thinking... there's something just inherently wrong about using a taxi service that doesn't know where it's going.

"Hello, sir! Where can Azerothian Yellow Cab take you today?"

"Stormwind, please."

"Sure! Love to! We'll get right on it! Have you ever been there before, sir?"

"No, this is my first trip, and man, I'm excited!"

"Oh. I see. Well, I'd appreciate it if you would do something for me then."

"Sure - what's that?"

"Could you, you know, if it's not too much trouble, I mean... could you, um, run to Stormwind yourself, and then come back here? Then I'd be happy to take you there."

"..."

"See, I can't just, you know, take you to Stormwind. Unless you already know how to get there. See?"

"..."

"It's got something to do with quantum, I'm told... Archmage Malin was saying..."

"WHAT THE BLOODY BLAZES ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MAN? IT'S RIGHT THERE! RIGHT OVER THAT MOUNTAIN! I CAN PRACTICALLY SEE IT FROM HERE! A BLIND SWOOP COULD FIND IT! STOP YER YAPPING AND GET ON THE BIRD AND FLY ME TO STORMWIND OR SO HELP ME..."

"Sorry! Union rules."

Grrr. Forget the magical sparkle pony. I'd pay $25 to get a BoA tome titled "The Hitchhikers Guide to Azeroth" that simply let my characters learn all the flight points so they could avoid the idiocy of having to dodge hordes of... well, Horde... just to get from one major city to another.

I finished up the evening by getting Aeven a shiny new enchantment for her new sword - Enchant Weapon: Crusader. Yeah, I could have been sporting it all along, but it's a pricey enchant... now that she's got a weapon that will have to serve her for 16+ levels, though, it seems like it's worth the price. We'll take it for a test run tonight, we will. In Desolace!