Run Forest! Run!

So, I gathered up the gold to train for Artisan Riding. Finally. And I embarked on my druid quest around midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. Before going to bed, I had gotten over halfway through the solo parts. This quest chain was just amazing. And somewhat a pain in the neck. Mostly because of the travel involved at the start. The first thing I had to do was

teleport to Moonglade. Now, I don’t know about other druids, but I’ve only ever used this as a shortcut to the trainer. So I never appreciated it’s lack of a cooldown. I do now! I teleport to moonglade, only to be told to go RIGHT back to Outlands and talk to this guy in Cenarion Refuge, Zangarmarsh. Fine! Hearth, fly down (glad I grabbed a swift mount when I grabbed my riding skill), and he wants me to pick some flowers from atop the mushrooms in Zang. But I must be careful, they explode violently when mishandled. Hmm…ok, I think about Nightmare Vine’s former damage over time effect and go for it. No. wrong. Try again. They throw you OFF the mushroom! For any future druids, keep your finger over flight form’s button during this quest. I didn’t. It hurt. I learned.

Turned them in along with 10 Dreaming Glory, and 10 Ancient Lichen. Then it’s BACK to Moonglade to escort some guy around a den, without letting him die to get the three relics you need. Done. Back to Zang. I went on with the chain up until the eagle spirit. That killed me. Resto is not good with a dozen birds pecking at their bark. That part, and the other two spirits waited til today. Oddly, twice today I got parts of this chain done at others’ reminding. My friend Aq called and asked if I was ready to start. So I logged in and we did the three spirits easily with his hunter.

Next up, Azshara. Again using that handy Teleport Moonglade spell. Much love for it now. I need to retrieve a moonstone near the river. Now, I’d heard this was a fun quest, so other than get the coordinates for the stone, and the overview I didn’t read any comments, tips, or ways to make it easier. I just got there grabbed my stone, and proceeded to giggle at the events that unfolded. First I get stunned by this snarky little goblin, giving her time to jump in the Southfury River and run away with my stone. I jump in, and have to swim after her (first real use I’ve had for aquatic form!). Along the way I’m dodging bombs that either frost nova me, blow me straight up out of the water (and out of swim form), and try and grab the speed boosts (like you see in BG). So, I got crafty. Well, I suppose it’s druid common sense. Every time I got frost nova’d, I used cat form to get out. Cat form tracks humanoids, so I could see where this little snot was. Eventually she got caught in her own trap, and I scared her into giving me the stone. Dire Seal Form FTW! After returning the stone to Cenarion Refuge, I was given THE quest. Defeat the Raven Lord. But, it was time to log off and only a couple hours before Kara which my priest was signed up for.

After Kara (where my priest got some sweet new holy gear for her new holy spec…yes, again.), I logged off, ran to the store, and logged back in. I got a whisper from a guildie asking if I’d gotten a group for my quest yet. This is the second time, someone else has thought of it first by the way. Very cool. I didn’t see any tanks on, except the ones who’d just finished Kara. I asked in gchat, got another whisper from our druid tank volunteering any of his toons we needed. Sweet! I whispered our Kara pally tank, and he agreed, so I called up Aq again and told him to get on, since he offered earlier. Off we went, Tree, Pally, Rogue (with jumper cables!), Hunter, Mage. We had a couple unfortunate incidents with those stupid ghosts that spawn from the mobs. They kept killing ME. The second they spawned, they came right after me and boom, dead tree. It happened so often, the common cry on vent was “Run Jess Run!”. I’m a tree, that’s so not fair. We one shotted Anzu though. We had a bit of trouble with the final boss, and after many repairs, and attempts, we called it. But I know these guys were tired, and it was late, and we’d ALL just done Kara…so it’s super awesome that they helped me with this. In the end I finished the entire swift flight quest in less than 24 hours.

I went and turned in my quest, flew around swiftly for a while Squealing, and danged near crying for joy when I cast it for the first time.  This is something I have wanted for SO long. To see my druid hit 70, see her start raiding, gearing up, seeing things I NEVER thought I’d see. That includes raiding by the way. I never pictured that happening when I created this first character.  Geting my priest to 70 was cool, so was my hunter. But Jessamyn, she is my first, and favorite. I guess I just saved the best for last. She still has a lot to do before the expansion comes out. Many badges to collect, Elixirs and Flasks to discover. Most importantly she needs to pay back the 1200g she borrowed from her unsuspecting husband’s rogue…hehe. It’s been an exciting day, that’s for sure. And maybe tomorrow will be too. Who Knows. Either way, I go to bed a happy druid.

Good Night:)