Without a doubt, Nagrand is my favorite zone. It is visually stunning, romantically isolated, and full of Consortium hotties. Ak is on a floating island, with the sublime expression of cosmic might as the backdrop.

Got any chick lit?

Akmak is getting her lore on in Sylvanaar, Blade's Edge Mountain. BEM is a tough zone. There are some long corpse runs, Gruul's lair can be a pvp nightmare, there's not a lot of profession stuff for me here--the herbs are mostly felweed and dreaming glory--and their are SO many quests.

But before I complain too much, there are some neat quest chains here. Lots of disguises quests, lots of take control of guns/robots/orbs quests, and Toshley's Station is one of the coolest sub-zones ANYWHERE. The first quest is to pick up some power converters, of course!

I didn't keep my magnoelectrical sphere but it seems like the cool kids thing to do...fyi...

Praise be to Elune! Adios, Terrokar Forest!

Akmak has dutifully finished all the quests in Terrokar Forest, with the not-so-notable exceptions of one that was bugged, one involving tons of spider slaying, and all the instances in the zone. Ok, so not doing instances seems lame, I get it. But with my internet situation being what it is...such is (in-game) life. This screenshot is from Refugee Point, one of the quest hubs. It's a neat mix of displaced lifeforms, from cute human and Draenei ninos to adult exiled Arakkoans.

Akmak has joyfully moved on to the greener pastures of Nagrand, where she has been so blissfully soaking up vitamin D in the clear sunlight and exploring the fascinating topography that she's unwilling to stop of the briefest screenshot. From what I've seen of the zone though, you'll have PLENTY to look forward too!

Shady Terrokar

Akmak has said her goodbyes to Zangarmarsh. I'm a bit behind the leveling curve now, and it was really hard to do the instances in that zone because:
1. All the players that were left were horrible people and terrible players, perfect for painful pugging.
2. There weren't lots of ppl needing the instance gear, so I saw grps looking for hours to find a healer or a tank.
3. I kept getting dc'd and I felt terrible that I would let the whole grp down due to my technical difficulties...

So, I never got to do Slave Pens. Oh well.




So here we are in Terrokar Forest, which I hate. It's full of beasts I don't like killing, like wolves and birdmen. Lots of spiders. BORING! It's a cross between Desolace and Duskwood. So--doubly depressing as hell. Luckily, it seems like there aren't many quests here so I may not stay too long.

Here's a postcard from Veil Shienor, a Arakkoa village in Terrokar. The mystic birdmen are clearly up to no good with their satanic circle and steaming pile of hoodoo.

Telredor, Zangarmarsh

I'd been dreading Zangarmarsh because I imagined it like every swamp zone in Azeroth--nasty saturated hues of green and brown, boring and annoying beasts like crocodiles and dinosaurs, and worst of all, tons of waist deep water that would constantly cause you to dismount.

Luckily, ALL my fears were unfounded. Zangarmarsh is misty, true, but beautifully blue and glowy. It's a boon if you're an alchemist--you can often pick up items off of slain mobs, a perk usually enjoyed by skinners. At the heart of the extensive quest line is a mystery--someone or something is draining the essential waters out of Zangarmarsh and slowly killing the flora and fauna. Finally, except for 4 largish, centrally located lagoons and lakes, all the rivers and creeks are easily forded by your trusty ride!

Shattrath City: Spring Break 2007!

Shattrath City is a necessary (if unfortunately named) evil. Granted, it could be that I find myself hopelessly disoriented in EVERY major city for the first 15 times or so. It could also be the alien architecture that throws my feebles synapses for a loop. But you have to shut the hell up because Shattrath gives you free ports back to Azeroth as well as...free checking. It's the only bank I've found in Outlands so far.

The neat part of Shattrath City is the social commentary of Lower City. Here, the shady and the unwashed hawk their wares or trades (the perfect place for stashing those disreputable warlock trainers...) and visitors actually suffer a periodic debuff if they stay too long. Even as world-weary and experienced as Akmak is, she almost got fleeced by the trinket vendor. While she scanned through [Soap on a Rope] and [Love Potions], her avarice was awakened by the Treasure Finder trinket. Yes, it was 50 gold, but treasure... Anyways, I waited on such a major purchase (plus who has the bag space? not me!) and I'm glad I did, because it's all a scam! Be warned: Lower City is 2 legit 2 quit.

Outlands...the final frontier...

I've been questing like whoa in Zangarmarsh, which is like Alice in Wonderland meets Teldrassil. One of the quests sent me back to Hellfire Peninsula though, and I took this screenshot on my way back to the misty blue marshes. I've been to several of the new zones now and they all rock, but Hellfire Peninsula will always be breathtaking because of the thin atmosphere that hammers into your brain "Look up, foo'! You be in SPACE!"

The Warp Fields

One of my favorite mini-locations within Hellfire Peninsula, the Warp Fields are these electric masses of pulsating ultraviolet light. As if ominous displays of negative energy displacements weren't enough, stabbing lightnings break free of the cloud and conjure up...VOIDWALKERS! Luckily, Akmak's Disc/Holy spells easily overcome these giant blue genies of doom.

Pools of Aggonar

Located in the middle northern part of Hellfire Peninsula, several quests take you into this slime-infested murk. Unfortunately, I did all the quests separately and had to take about 4 trips there, always dealing with poor Akmak being green a lot, due to some kind of poison slung by these clingy goo-bers who are always accompanied by little jelly offspring.

Pensive by the sea

Azshara is a high-lvl zone in Kalimdor, and it's perpetually autumn. It's shaped like a giant crab's claw which means it's a bear to get serious farming done. However, Akmak enjoys going there because of the desolate nature of scenery and population. One of the most interesting zones in terms of the wide variety of topography and ecology.