Children’s Week – Part 1

Hi everyone, it’s Sarracenia back to tell you more about my adventuring.  First let me say that I’m sorry for taking so long to get this set of stories to you all.  It took me all this time to get the Tigule and Foror’s Strawberry Ice Cream out of the chinks in my armor.  You just can’t leave that stuff in there to get all sticky and smelly.  Then you’d be running around smelling like one of them undead guys ~nods~.  (Kind of makes you wonder how undead rogues get anywhere at all, doesn’t it? – Zyrena)

I crossed paths with Zyrena’s cousin, Caius, a couple weeks ago and he had this kid tagging along with him and pulling on his tail.  I thought that was awful unusual so I asked him what was with the kid.  That’s when I found out about Children’s Week.  Caius thought it might be a good thing if I went to Orgrimmar to the orphanage there to see if there was anything I may be able to do to help out.  I thought I heard him mutter something about bein’ good for me as he rode away, but I can’t be sure of that.  So, always being up for some adsventure, I took myself off to see the Orphan Matron in Orgrimmar.

Now, if you’ve been reading my and Zy’s writings over the last while, you already know that the orphanage in Orgrimmar is in the Valley of Honor.  Orphan Matron Battlewail met me out in front of the orphanage overlooking the lake and told me about Children’s Week and let me know that there was a little orc guy that could use some company for a bit.  She gave me a whistle to use to call the little guy to me and when I blew it, he came running and introduced himself to me as Grunth.  Grunth had a bunch of places he really wanted to see…and he was none too shy about askin’ either.  But, since I had nothing else to be doing just then, I thought it might be fun to take him to some of the places he was wanting to see.  (She means she was interested in seeing those places too so she agreed. – Zy)

The first thing on Grunth’s list was to go see what was Down at the Docks in Ratchet.  I figured the fastest way to get there was to take a windrider.  I wasn’t anticipating having to try to keep Grunth from falling off to his death in the maw of an enraged crocolisk as we flew along the Southfury River.  That kid just seemed to have no sense of self preservation at all.  I’m still not sure I managed to convince him that spitting on the raptors was a good idea.  I think the WindRider Master in Ratchet having to restrain the beast when it landed may have had a bigger effect.  Apparently the windriders do not like getting their tails spat upon by their passengers.  After hauling Grunth away from the landing area, I steered him to the docks and showed him where the big ships pull in.  He thought that was pretty neat and commented on the seagulls and the pirates that were close by.

The next thing on his list was seeing the Gateway to the Frontier, Mor’shan Ramparts.  I thought it may be nice to ride to the Crossroads and then head up the Gold Road to Mor’shan Ramparts.  We could have taken a windrider to the Crossroads if I hadn’t been concerned that we’d get the same beast and it would eat Grunth before I could stop it.  The ride to the Crossroads was uneventful with Grunth sitting quietly behind me and taking in all the scenery and the wildlife…or that’s what I thought.  Just past the Crossroads I stopped at the guard tower to let Grunth down to stretch his legs and to get some water for Kar (What kind of name is that for a dreadsteed, I ask you? – Zy) (It’s short for Karpathia! – Sarra)  While we were stopped at the tower, Grunth met a boy named Erk and his dog Fang and the boys ran off some energy between fishing in the pond and bothering the guards at the tower.  That’s when I learned why Grunth had been so quiet on the ride so far.  It took me two hours to scrape all the coloured pigments off the back of my armor.  After that “rest” I got Grunth back on Kar and we set out to the north along the Gold Road to Mor’shan Ramparts.  Needless to say, Grunth was a bit more talkative on the rest of the ride.  We talked about why some striders are ornery, why raptors are so mean, what hyenas eat, why the gazells are sick and why Kar would not appreciate an adder on one of her horns no matter how cool it might look.  I think the towers at Mor’shan Ramparts were one of the prettiest sights I’ve seen in a long time.

The last item on Grunth’s list was the Lordaeron Throne Room.  So after a romp around the towers and many warnings about not running off into Ashenvale for the Ashenvale Outrunners to get him, we mounted back up (Much to Kar’s delight I’m sure. – Zy) and headed across the Barrens back towards the Southfury River and Orgrimmar.  I think that by this time, Grunth was getting tired of riding and just plain tired in general.  We had a mostly uneventful ride back to the river.  The only touchy spot in the whole trip was going through the Sludge Fen.  The Venture Co. has set up operations there and are none too pleased with anyone waltzing through uninvited.  Thankfully, Grunth was well behaved and we ghosted through there are quietly as we could with no incidents.  I think the ogres they have working for them scared him a little….heck, they scared me a little.  When we got the the Southfury, we swam across at a spot with no crocolisks and then rode back to the gates of Orgrimmar and on to the Zepplin Tower to catch the Thundercaller to Undercity and the Ruins of Lordaeron.  I think Grunth was happy to be back on his own two little feet.  He wandered the decks of the zepplin and generally stayed out of the way of the crew.  There was one crewman, Sparkfly was his name, that delighted in telling stories to Grunth for the duration of the trip.  I’m not so sure that stories about the last four times Sky-Captain Cloudkicker crashed the Thundercaller into lakes were the most appropriate stories, but Grunth seemed to like them and they kept him occupied and away from the rails.  When we pulled in at the Undercity Zepplin Tower, we disembarked and made our way into the Ruins of Lordaeron to the throne room.  I have to admit, I can understand why Grunth wanted to see that place.  It was beautiful and not a little bit spooky.  Grunth actually seemed subdued and a bit thoughtful….then he asked for icecream.

Right then…So we left the Lordaeron Throne Room and headed back to the Zepplin Tower to go back to Orgrimmar.  After herding Grunth off of the platform where the zepplin t0 Grom’gol pulls in, we managed to board the Thundercaller again.  While Grunth was exploring the decks, he found a Snack-o-matic IV that stocked Tigule and Foror’s Strawberry Ice Cream.  To get some quiet, I got some icecream for him and stood with him at the rail while he enjoyed his treat.  Next time, I’ll know not to stand downwind from someone eating icecream on the top deck of a zepplin .

While he was enjoying his treat, Grunth confided in me that he idolized Cairne Bloodhoof and would love to have a hoofprint from the Tauren Chieftan.  I thought this may be somethig that could only be a good influence on the child, so when the zepplin pulled in at Orgrimmar we made our way to the flight tower and caught a windrider to Thunder Bluff.  The first challenge when we landed was to keep Grunth from falling to a messy death from the top of the Thunder Bluff Flight Tower.  I think they really should put railings in that thing!  Cairne was on the top plateau in the doorway of his meeting tent watching the goings on.  I like to people-watch sometimes too   Cairne was flattered and had no issues at all with giving Grunth a personalized hoofprint.  He made sure to write something in the note about eating vegetables too.  Cairne is such a good influence.  Grunth was very excited about the whole thing.  But by then it was time for him to get back to the orphanage.

We went back to the Windrider Master and booked passage back to Orgrimmar and Orphan Matron Battlewail.  Before Grunth went in to get ready for bed he left me with, of all things, a pig named Mr. Wiggles to look after and remember him by.  It seems it was a good choice.  I’ve spent an awful lot of time over the last week chasing that pig out of trouble.

Until next time, Have fun and play safe… 

-Sarra

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Tags: Cairne Bloodhoof, Crossroads, Down at the Docks, Gateway to the Frontier, Gold Road, Lordaeron Throne Room, Mor'shan Ramparts, Orphan Matron Battlewail, Ratchet