Chapter 1108: The Eastern Plaguelands Quest (Second Update)
"No problem, no problem, absolutely no problem!"
Zou Zhuo agreed readily, then pulled the others away.
Flipping through the three quests, the corner of Zou Zhuo's mouth twitched slightly.
"What the hell... I was wondering why such a kind-hearted NPC would invite us to a meal. Turns out he's treating us to maggots... I wonder if they taste like chicken, crunchy and crispy?"
These three quests were: one to kill plague dogs, one to kill plague bats, and one to collect chunks of carrion worm meat. As for what carrion worms were? Everyone had seen plenty on the way over—they were big, yellow, fat maggots with mouths like chrysanthemums on their heads, constantly wriggling on the ground. The more you looked, the more disgusting they got...
The other two quests were fine, just killing monsters, but the carrion worm quest really pushed everyone's limits of acceptance...
Just imagining having to fight these creatures, getting splattered with disgusting juices, and then having to reach into their corpses to fish out meat chunks...
"Alright, when we turn in the quest, if he asks us to stay for a meal, we'd better take our leave..." Zou Zhuo muttered.
Old P looked at the magic bread in his pack: "Do you think... if I take this magic bread over and give it to him to eat now, would our quest count as complete..."
Lin Xue said it probably wouldn't work: "No matter how bad maggot meat tastes, it's still meat. You can't just fob him off with bread..."
The group bickered while doing the quests, and it was quite painful. But thankfully, many hands make light work. The only real hassle was finding the maggot meat, which took nearly half an hour from start to finish.
When Zou Zhuo handed the carrion worm meat to Fordring, the old man smiled at him: "You'll get used to the taste in time, you're playing me for a fool."
Zou Zhuo: "...I don't know how to explain this to you. I'm just a little calf."
Old Fordring chuckled, not forcing Zou Zhuo to eat with him. He simply put all the meat they'd collected into the house and said, "Well done, friends. Rest a while. If you don't mind, have a seat and listen to my introduction."
Zou Zhuo and Old P entered Fordring's house, privately surveying the furnishings around them.
The windows were broken and tattered. The fireplace wasn't burning just wood—there were also some undead bones in it. The house had a rickety table and three chairs. Everyone sat down on the chairs, but Zou Zhuo, being the largest, simply sat on the floor.
Old Fordring told them about his identity, how he had been exiled from the Alliance for treason and came here to live in seclusion, watching his son Taelan grow up, only for him to join the Scarlet Crusade and become a high-ranking commander...
He hoped they could help his son Taelan remember nobility and honor, and rekindle the faith in his heart.
...
Zou Zhuo read through the quest text while searching for the cemetery's location on the map.
"So this white-bearded old man has a story behind him, huh? He was kicked out of the Alliance for treason? And his son thinks he's dead, so he buried his most beloved toy in front of his father's grave."
Zou Zhuo and the others found the cemetery in the southern part of the Plaguelands, which was already overrun by all kinds of undead monsters. Then, beside a tombstone deep in the cemetery, they found Taelan's hammer—a small, finely crafted toy with a line of text engraved on it: "To my dearest son Taelan."
After receiving Taelan's hammer, Old Fordring was visibly moved and gave them the next quest: head to the northeastern part of the Plaguelands and find the banner representing lost glory.
Northdale was also filled with all sorts of evil creatures. The banshees there could cast fear and curses, and the river was full of polluted water elementals. The group turned Northdale upside down before finally finding the completely faded banner at the bottom of the river—it once belonged to the Order of the Silver Hand.
After handing the banner to Fordring, Zou Zhuo and the others received a new quest.
Fordring had once taken a young Taelan on vacation to Caer Darrow, where an artist named Redpath painted a picture of them strolling by the lake. Fordring wanted them to go to Caer Darrow Island and find clues about that painting.
Zou Zhuo and his team had to head south again, following the riverbank to Darrowmere Lake, then to the island in the center. The once-popular resort was now a ruin. The spirit of the painter Redpath was trapped in one of the houses, cursed to wander endlessly as a mindless ghost.
From the painter, they learned that the painting was now hanging on the wall of her studio in Stratholme, in the area currently used as a base by the Scarlet Crusade. Find a painting depicting two moons, scrape off the paint, and they would find the real painting: Love and Family.
"...Stratholme??" Zou Zhuo stared at the quest description, completely dumbfounded.
Old P said awkwardly, "We're out."
They had been enjoying the quests, but the moment they saw Stratholme, everyone immediately declined.
Stratholme was a level 60 dungeon, and even at level 60, players would get wrecked there. The monster density was insane, and one wrong move would get you swarmed by a sea of skeletons. So for now, this quest would have to sit in everyone's adventure journal, waiting until much later when they were strong enough to take on Stratholme.
"So... where do we go next?" Zou Zhuo flipped through his adventure journal.
Lin Xue checked her quest list: "Looks like there's a quest to turn in around here, actually. Little girl Pamela? Do you guys have this quest?"
Zou Zhuo: "Yeah, I do. When did I pick this up..."
Old P thought back: "Maybe when we went to Winterspring? Can't remember."
Lin Xue mounted her kodo: "Perfect, let's do this quest while we're at it."
According to the quest description, Darrowshire was in the southern part of the Eastern Plaguelands, not far from where they were. Heading east would get them there.
It was a small town, but it was utterly ruined, with no trace of any living person. According to the NPC, she had fled Lordaeron when the Scourge attacked, but she was worried that her family had all died in the Battle of Darrowshire. So she wanted Zou Zhuo and the others to go to Darrowshire and look for her family, especially her little sister Pamela.
But when they arrived at Darrowshire, a chill ran down everyone's spines.
There weren't many undead monsters here, but at the entrance of the town, two tattered Scourge banners fluttered in the wind.
In the barren farmland lay the bones of some unknown animal. At the foot of the distant mountain, they could see an abandoned meat wagon. All the houses were dilapidated, some reduced to mere ruins. By the well in the center of Darrowshire, a skeleton lay alone, clutching a clay pot, as if silently telling the story of the brutal battle that had once taken place here.
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