Memories of Vanilla #11 - Desolate Desolace

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again for the next chapter of Memories of Vanilla.

Desolace

While looking over the previous installments of this series, I noticed that until this point my stories have all been in the Eastern Kingdoms. So today, I'm going to jump over to Kalimdor where one of my next adventures took place - in the beautiful and scenic land, known as Desolace.

Before that though, remember to follow my blog for more stories in the future, as there's a lot more coming. And be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates as well.

But now, on with the story...

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I was somewhere around level 33 when I first made my way down through the Stonetalon Mountains to search for Nijel's Point in Desolace. I don't remember precisely what brought me here, but I do know it had something to do with running out of things to do at my exact level in STV - a small level gap between Nesingwary quests, perhaps. Leika had mentioned the barren zone over in Kalimdor with some questing to do, so I must have figured that was as good a place as any to play around in.

Anyway, I got to Desolace without significant issue, but quickly encountered my first obstacle: finding Nijel's Point. Now, I'm not sure how I missed the sign pointing up the hill to the left of the road, but somehow I did. Wandering around the zone aimlessly for a while, killing scorpids and basilisks if I remember correctly, I eventually picked up my old-school flip phone and called Leika to ask for directions:

Desolace Map

"Hey dude. Where is the town in Desolace? I can't find it..."

"Bro, it's just up the hill. Dead center of the northern border."

"But I don't see any...." I paused in mid-sentence, looking over and seeing a single guard walking around the hill to my right. Nijel's Point Guard. "Nevermind, I found it. Thanks."

So much for figuring stuff out on my own.

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Anyway, I began adventuring in the zone for a while, doing various quests that were honestly some of the most forgettable I've ever encountered in WoW. However, one quest really stuck out above the rest as it had a very unique objective.

Choose a Side - Gelkis or Magram?

The night elf quest-giver in the center of Nijel's Point had just offered me two quests. One asked me to achieve friendly status with the Gelkis Clan Centaur; the other, the Magram Clan Centaur. And if I remember correctly, the quest text (which I finally started reading regularly by this point) told me that I could only do one, as they were diametrically opposed to each other. So I had a choice here. Do I side with the Gelkis and kill the Magram, or do I side with the Magram and kill the Gelkis?

I distinctly remember mulling over this choice over the next day or so, not wanting to sully my reputation with the wrong side unnecessarily. I began asking around, but my school friends were no help (as none of them played WoW as of yet). Leika simply told me that it didn't matter, as I'd likely never return to Desolace anyway. And my brother was still pissy with me since I had deleted his paladin and didn't want to talk with me about anything WoW-related.

So, with little input from anyone else, I made my decision: Gelkis sounded gross for some reason, so I'd kill them and make the Magram my friends.

And so, the grind began. My priest decimated the Gelkis tribe, killing any and all centaur in their encampments all in an effort to become friendly with the Magram clan. And, I still remember to this day, that one evening, around 7PM at my friend Tanshii's house, I made it.

The Gelkis Village Massacre - Geographic Location

I'd gone over there to try and convince him and his twin brother to start playing WoW - so that we could play together. I'd let them play a bit on the account (yes, now there are 4 people using one account) and they seemed interested, but it was my turn to mess around a bit now. So I'd logged in, slayed a few centaurs, and, finally, my character dinged with a green glow - I was friendly with the Magram Clan Centaur.

Excited, I ran all the way back up to Nijel's Point (a good 10+ minute run along the road), narrowly dodging Rexxar along the path as I went. I stared at the NPC that had given me the quest.

There was no yellow question mark.

I sighed, opened my quest log and found that I had to speak to someone else after completing this chore - a centaur named Warug (yes, I looked up his name just now). I wasn't sure where he was, but the quest told me to head to southeastern Desolace. So that's what I did.

I left Nijel's Point, having stood there for all of 2 minutes, and made another ~7-8 minute run along the path down to find the correct destination...

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I hope you enjoyed my tale of Desolace. It's a zone that I honestly feel doesn't get enough attention or love, despite it having interesting content like this (yes, I know I said MOST of the quests are forgettable, but hey - this one wasn't). Thinking about it now, my overall impression is probably based on the fact that I initially quested there as a human priest, and that a Horde player may have a more immersive experience there, but that's beside the point. All in all, I enjoyed my time there, as I did in all of the vanilla zones back in the day. And I can't wait to go back next summer on my troll priest.

Anyway, in the near future I'm planning to tell the story of my first adventures in Scarlet Monastery, though there may be one or two smaller stories to tell before getting to that. If you enjoyed this story, follow my blog or subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates, and feel free to leave a comment - I read every one. 

Until next time, take it easy, guys!