Memories of Vanilla #17 - Saddle Up, Partner!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here again for the next installment of Memories of Vanilla.

Last time, I told about how I hit the epic milestone of level 40 by grinding out pirates and naga in STV. And while I was ecstatic to get my Shadowform, there still remained one big goal to achieve around this time.

My First Mount

That's right. Today, I'm going to tell you about how I got that wonderful first mount in World of Warcraft - my Black Stallion.

Before we begin though, I'd like to just quickly say thank you to everyone reading this. It's a lot of fun for me to reflect on these times, as well as create other Classic WoW content in my free time, but the fact that you all seem to be enjoying it always inspires me even when I'm not particularly self-motivated. I probably wouldn't still be doing this without your support, so thank you all so much!

But anyway, let's get on with the story!

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It was somewhere around mid to late January 2006 when this story took place. I remember it being a particularly cold Ohio day as well, with snow and wind that really made me want to stay inside and do nothing but play WoW. But alas, being 15, I had to go to school.

The past week and a half or so had been a blur of mob grinding and frugal spending in Azeroth. I'd recently hit level 40 (as mentioned in MoV #16), but had nowhere near the 100 gold I needed for my riding skill and first mount. My friend, Leika, had offered to help me grind when he wasn't preoccupied with his own dungeons during his time on the account, so together we'd saved up around 75 gold or so.

Need More Gold...

So while I sat in school, day-dreaming about when I'd eventually get my mount, a thought came to me - which mount should I buy? As a human priest, my options were limited to a horse, but since it was so expensive, I couldn't purchase more than one. I remember considering this question as I went to my computer science class. As I sat there half-listening to the instructions for the assignment, I decided that I'd look up the options rather than actually pay attention to whatever the teacher was droning on about.

Browsing through Thottbot, I found the different options available. If I remember correctly, there were 4 choices - Brown Horse, Pinto, Chestnut Mare, and Black Stallion. And though I don't recall seeing what any of them looked like, I knew that for a shadow priest there could be only one option - the Black Stallion. My choice was made before I ever saw it.

School ended and I headed to my job at the local pizzeria again. Those dishes weren't going to wash themselves! It was only a short shift, since 15-year-olds could only work until 7:00 or so back then due to child labor laws, so I figured I'd be able to get another solid 6 or 7 gold when I got home if Leika wasn't busy doing a dungeon or something. It was a really busy day at work that day though (maybe it was Friday), so I ended up not actually being able to leave until 8 or so (I know, I know, call the feds!). I was pretty bummed because I was really expecting to be able to grind out that last bit of gold over the next few days, and any setback was really disheartening, but still I shrugged it off as I got in the car to head home.

Just then, I got a call on my phone:

"Hey Silvite, you done at work or what?" Leika said.

"Yeah, just finished dude. Heading home now. What's up?" I answered, wondering why he sounded so excited.

"Ok cool," he replied, "Log on WoW as soon as you get home. I've got something to show you."

I pried a little at that, but he refused to say any more. So as soon as I got home, I ran to my computer in the basement, not even bothering to change my dirty-dish-water soaked clothes first. Firing it up, I wondered what Leika could have meant. Surely he hadn't bought the mount for me...

Menethil Harbor, Where My Mount Was Waiting

The character select screen came up and I noticed something odd straight away. My priest was in the Wetlands, but I knew for a fact that I had been in STV when I'd logged out. Clearly Leika had moved me. Shrugging, I logged in and noticed I was standing just inside the entrance of the inn. Everything seemed pretty normal. My gold was the same too, so I wondered what the point was. As I was about to call him back, though, I noticed something in the top-right corner of my screen.

I had mail.

I moved out and over to the mailbox just outside. Clicking it, I found that I had a single letter from Leika.

"Congrats noob! Get to 60 already!"

Attached to the letter were 25 shiny gold pieces.

He's a Bro!

He'd given me the last bit of gold I needed to purchase my riding skill and my first mount. Fumbling, I called him up to thank him:

"Dude, really?"

"Yeah, really. Go get your mount! The Black Stallion is over there in Menethil Harbor. Go buy it and start leveling again!"

"Dude. Thank you! I can't even... Thanks man!"

And so, with gold in hand and goal within reach, I ran over to that riding trainer in Menethil Harbor, learned the riding skill, and bought my first mount - the Black Stallion.

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After running around for a bit on my new mount, I called Leika again to ask how he'd gotten the gold in such a short time. Apparently he'd been doing some dungeon the night before and gotten lucky with a blue drop that sold for like 30 gold on the auction house while he was at work that day. Feeling like it was just luck, he decided to use that gold to help me out. I thanked him again and vowed to get to 60 faster now that I could travel more quickly. And though it would still be several months before I'd make it there, it felt amazing the whole time.

I hope you enjoyed this short story of how I got my first mount in classic World of Warcraft. Back then, it was so important to have friends that would be willing to help you out, and I feel like this situation I was in really reflects that. If it hadn't been for Leika, I might have been running around on foot until level 45 or so by the time I'd collected enough gold, and that's with foregoing new spells and abilities! He really was a big help to my WoW adventure.

But anyway, that's all for today. If you liked this short story, remember to follow my blog here for more stories when they come out. Also, check out my YouTube channel for video content, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when content like this is released. There's a lot more coming, so be ready! 

Thanks again for reading. And, again, take it easy!