The Battle of Darrowshire played a bit like one of those Warcraft III custom defense maps. The Scourge came from every direction, and as long as the NPC in the center of the village survived, the event could be cleared.
Gabryell had thought there was a real chance they would fail. Then, just as the quest began, help walked right into Darrowshire.
Dreamshade had shown up, and he was not alone. A Hunter was with him.
That was free manpower, and Gabryell was not letting it go.
"Dreamshade, help with this."
He tried to invite him, only to get a system prompt saying Dreamshade was already in a party.
"Drop group and take my invite."
"Haha, small world," Dreamshade said. He clearly had not expected to run into them here either. "Invite me and SmokeDemon too."
Gabryell invited both of them. With a level 57 Rogue and a level 56 Hunter added to the party, the event suddenly looked much more manageable.
"Adds are spawning. Kill anything that gets through."
There was no time for a full explanation.
"Got it," Dreamshade said. "We came here after picking up Pamela's chain in Andorhal. You're on it too?"
The mobs had already spawned, so Gabryell attacked while typing.
"Final step."
"Of course," Dreamshade said. "Even your quest progress is ahead of ours."
SmokeDemon said, "I've been meaning to meet the server's first 60. Guess today's the day."
Gabryell naturally knew who SmokeDemon was.
He was the guild master of Hallelujah, a Night Elf Hunter. In Gabryell's previous life, he had been the first Hunter on Tichondrius to successfully kite Teremus the Devourer, the elite dragon from the Blasted Lands, all the way to Stormwind.
SmokeDemon's skill was on a completely different level from Igor's. His kiting was excellent, he had real PvE raid-leading talent, and in PvP, he had reached Grand Marshal.
Unfortunately, Hallelujah had always been full of guild drama. In the end, they stalled out at the Four Horsemen in Naxxramas. During The Burning Crusade era, things got even worse: the guild master was forced out of his own guild, and Hallelujah eventually fell apart into history.
If Gabryell had to describe it, SmokeDemon's story was the kind of old MMO guild drama where the guild master had the title, but the vice-GM's inner circle slowly became the real power behind the throne.
"If the Horde hadn't crashed that duel tournament, you and I probably would've had our match."
During the previous tournament, SmokeDemon had not even made it onto the stage before the Horde showed up and ruined everything. As a result, Tichondrius's first duel tournament ended without a champion.
"There'll be other chances," SmokeDemon said. "No rush."
A mob slipped through and went straight for Davil Lightfire.
"Keep Davil alive. If he lives, we win."
SmokeDemon used Feign Death at one of the roads and dropped a Frost Trap. His movements were clean and practiced, worthy of a high-end Hunter used to kiting boss mobs.
"I'll lock down this path."
SmokeDemon guarded one route while Gabryell moved between the others, reacting wherever pressure built up.
Dreamshade smiled helplessly. "Must be nice playing ranged. I'm melee with no healer. I'm not holding a lane by myself."
"Then don't tank it. Let the NPCs take the hits. As long as we kill fast enough, they won't die."
The NPCs were not as fragile as people imagined. Unless they were completely surrounded, they would not collapse immediately.
"Three guild masters in one party," Coldhands said, refusing to be left out. "And then there's me, a humble little Mage. Should I /bow or start charging admission?"
Dreamshade had already noticed him. A level 56 player at this stage was not ordinary, no matter how ridiculous he sounded.
"Humble?" Gabryell said. "Weren't you calling yourself the forbidden three-school Mage build five minutes ago?"
Coldhands immediately cast Cone of Cold, Flamestrike, and Arcane Explosion.
"Frost, Fire, Arcane—the forbidden triple spec has entered its final form! Scourge trash, line up and receive your death!"
Dreamshade watched him and quietly formed the wrong impression.
Maybe this guy really was good and just talked like a forum idiot. Fearless had more weirdos than it looked like.
If Gabryell knew what he was thinking, he would laugh himself to death.
Coldhands was no hidden expert.
He was just a pure-blooded clown.
With two more people helping, the quest went much more smoothly than expected.
"When you reach the final step of this chain, it'll be this event: The Battle of Darrowshire," Gabryell said once it was over. "After the battle ends, Joseph Redpath's spirit appears. As long as he's still there, anyone nearby with the quest can turn it in."
Since they had helped, he had no reason to hide the trick from them.
"You don't even need to be in the group?" Dreamshade asked.
"Nope. Even if the Horde finishes the event and Joseph's spirit spawns, you can run over and hand it in."
SmokeDemon looked at him with new understanding. "You really do know things the rest of us don't. Makes sense how you hit 60 first."
Gabryell smiled and reused the same excuse he had given Dreamshade before.
"My uncle works at Blizzard."
SmokeDemon actually believed him. After all, this was the first level 60 on Tichondrius and the guild master of Fearless.
"Figures," he said. "Connections are a stat too."
At that moment, he finally understood where Hallelujah had lost.
They had lost because they did not have an uncle at Blizzard.
For the final hand-in of the Darrowshire chain, they had to find Pamela Redpath and receive Joseph's Key. Gabryell brought Dreamshade and SmokeDemon along to see her.
They handed the Relic Bundle to Pamela.
Pamela said, "The battle is over! I heard Daddy talking to me. He scared all the ghosts away, and he said he's on his way home! I'm so happy!"
"He also said that if you came to our house, I should welcome you properly, so I made tea!"
"I hope you like tea with lots and lots of sugar!"
Tea with Sugar (Uncommon)
Binds when picked up
Requires Level 50
Use: Restores 1050 to 1751 health and mana.
It was only a green-quality food item, with no real use at this stage.
But it was also the warmest memory Pamela gave to the player.
In Pamela's heart, tea with lots of sugar was the best thing in the world.
Gabryell had no intention of using it. He planned to put it in the bank and keep it as a memento.
After receiving Tea with Sugar, he also obtained Joseph's Key from Pamela.
Joseph's Key opened Joseph's Chest, which contained three blue-quality rewards.
Ring of Protection (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Finger
150 Armor
+9 Stamina
Archlight Talisman (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Neck
+10 Intellect
+10 Spirit
+8 Stamina
Magebane Scion (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Held In Off-hand
+10 Fire Resistance
+10 Frost Resistance
+10 Arcane Resistance
The rewards were not outstanding, but they were useful enough.
The ring could be kept for solo farming. The necklace had 2 more Stamina than the Gemshard Heart from Princess, so Gabryell could equip it directly. As for the off-hand, it could go into the bank and come out whenever resistance gear was needed.
Not amazing, but better than nothing.
"We're going to look for Pamela's doll," Dreamshade said after accepting the next quest. "Where are you headed?"
A favor deserved a favor in return.
"When you reach The Battle of Darrowshire, message us. We'll come help."
Dreamshade laughed. "Good. I'm absolutely dragging a level 60 Mage back here for that."
"Same," SmokeDemon said without hesitation.
Gabryell then whispered Coldhands.
"Keep questing in Eastern Plaguelands."
"Where are you going?"
"Leveling an alt. Once you guys hit 60, we'll start running the big three endgame dungeons."
There was no point doing Molten Core attunement or the Onyxia attunement questline right now. One person could not solo a 40-player raid anyway, so it was better to wait until Carlos and the others reached level 60 and do everything together.
The BRD princess run was the same. It could be done alongside the Onyxia attunement steps.
For now, Gabryell planned to level an alt.
By the time Coldhands reached 60, he could borrow Coldhands's account and run two-Mage Stratholme farms to powerlevel Carlos and the others to 60.