Memories of Vanilla #12 - Storming the Scarlet Monastery, Part 1

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again here in 2019 for my first installment of Memories of Vanilla for the new year!

Scarlet Monastery Loading Screen

Last time, we traveled through Desolace and committed genocide against centaurs just to complete a quest. Well today, we're going to flee back to the Eastern Kingdoms (partially to evade the centaur retaliation, but mostly) to storm into the sanctuary of the Scarlets. I am, of course, talking about the first time I did the Scarlet Monastery.

Now, I actually remember a lot about this event clearly, so I think it's only fitting that I divide it into two or three parts, rather than drone on forever all at once. So today, we'll start off with what brought me to SM, as well as my journey to the instance.

So without further ado, let's get to it:

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I had just completed a pretty straightforward quest from some dude in Nijel's Point - go to the southern part of the zone and kill a crap-ton of skeletons, then return. I thought that would be the end of my interactions with this guy all dressed in red. After all, most of the quest givers that offer you these types of quests were a sort of one-and-done deal. But this time was different. This was part of a quest chain, and his follow-up tasked me with going all the way to Southshore, over in the northern part of the Eastern Kingdoms.

Well, by this point I'd seen enough of this dreary zone, so I thought it would be a nice change to head back over to Southshore - even just to turn in this quest. After all, I was level 36 or so by this point, and I was running out of things to do in this wasteland. So, I cleared my bags, ran over to the flight master, and began my journey to my next destination.

The trip was quick enough, considering how long it took to get anywhere back in those days, and I soon found myself in front of Raleigh the Devout in Southshore (yes, I had to look up his name). Thinking nothing of it, I turned in the quest and accepted the follow-up. When I checked the location label of the task at hand, however, my jaw dropped. Scarlet Monastery.

The Bosses of SM

Leika had told me of this place - of the crazed zealots in the massive cathedral who would stop at nothing to rid the world of undead. And though I'd never actually been there before, my attention was instantly focused on my new objective - slay Inquisitor Whitemane, Scarlet Commander Mograine, Herod, and Houndmaster Locksey in the Scarlet Monastery!

Time to start spamming general chat:

/1 36 priest LFG Scarlet Monastery!

After several minutes, I gave up my general chat search in Hillsbrad and decided it would probably make more sense to try my luck in trade chat. So I flew down to Ironforge and tried again. No sooner had my gryphon landed when I sent my next message:

/2 36 priest LFG Scarlet Monastery!

Immediately, I was invited to a group of 4 other adventurers, all right around my level, who had apparently been looking for a healer for some time. We exchanged greetings, got on our respective flights, and began our way back north.

Now, here's where my memory starts to get a bit fuzzy. I know that I flew to Chillwind Camp in the Western Plaguelands, as it was the closest flight point to where Leika had told me that SM was. However, I have no idea how, or when, I got this flight path. I must have headed north along the road or with the river through the Alterac Mountains, I guess. Anyway though, I arrived in Chillwind Camp and began my long journey towards Tirisfal.

My Route Through WPL

Remember, I was around level 36 at this point, so literally everything in this zone wanted me dead. I must have died at least 5 times as I ran through the forest - getting mauled to death by plagued bears, eaten by spiders, and just narrowly escaping from the Bulwark's soldiers. But I made it! With most of my equipment damaged and no hope of repairing my gear until we were done, I made it to the Tirisfal Glades.

Now, onward to the next step of the adventure: finding the dungeon.

The Destination

My group members were all still a ways away in Hillsbrad and Silverpine (the route I should have taken) except for the mage. He was already in Tirisfal Glades and was sitting still up in the northeast area of the zone. So, that's where I went.

Following a small road to the north, I was greeted with hanged bodies and elite patrols walking around a large red and white building. Seated, AFK by the meeting stone, awaiting our arrival, was our mage. I promptly joined him in wait and followed his example.

It took a while, but our party members eventually arrived, having run all the way north from Southshore, through Silverpine, and across Tirisfal on foot. Finally, we made our way inside, easily overpowering the lowly level 20-something elites guarding the entrance with our combined might.The rogue in our group ran over to the door to the right and within a few seconds it swung open.

It was time to enter, the Scarlet Monastery!

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I hope you enjoyed this first installment of my SM story. If you did, remember to follow my blog so you don't miss the rest of the story down the road. Like I said, I remember a lot from the first time I went there, so it makes sense to spread out the story, so to speak. 

Anyway, that's it for now. If you're hungry for more content, check out my other posts on my blog here, or my videos on YouTube. Follow me on Facebook, or on Twitter for updates. And until next time, take it easy!