Early the next morning, Mikaela and her party, who were awakened by the orc guards, finally got back on the road.
The landscape of the Barrens is much the same as that of coastal Durotar. The environment here is more similar to the African grasslands. You can often see giraffes, lions, kodos and other animals on the roadside. The air is also cooler than Durotar. It was much dry, which made Michaela miss the Eversong Forest where the birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant.
However, Marlenia felt good. She curiously looked at the strange scenery around her along the way. No matter in her past life or in this life, it was the first time for Marlenia to experience this exotic customs.
As time went by, Mikaela came to a crossroads, which is an important hub town in the middle of the Barrens. It leads to the port city of Jinggang City in the east, and to the south through the tauren's Taurajo camp. Thousand Needles leads directly to the Stonetalon Mountains to the west, and to the north is Mikaela's next stop, Ashenvale.
It is precisely because this place connects the four directions of east, west, north and south that the crossroads got its name.
etc!
So from what direction did Michaela come here?
The answer is a fork in the north. After all, Durotar is located northeast of the Barrens.
So Torina asked: "Michaela, why don't you just go all the way north into the Ashen Valley, why do you have to go to the crossroads?"
Michaela asked back: "Are you stupid? How many days will it take to travel to Ashen Valley? Why don't you stop at the crossroads first and replenish food and water?"
After being rebuffed by the first question, Torina immediately asked the second question: "There are bird spots in the game. If you can fly, why don't you?"
The so-called bird spot actually refers to the flights between different towns in the "World of Warcraft" game. Generally, the flight administrator rents trained flying mounts. Different factions have different flying mounts. For example, the humans have griffins, the night elves have hippogryphs, the orcs have bipedal dragons also called windriders, and the Forgotten have giant bats.
As for the blood elves, theoretically it should be the dragon eagle, but until Mikaela left Silvermoon City, Mikaela did not see any settings like bird points.
In this case, is there a point at the crossroads where I can rent an orc wyvern and go directly to Azshara?
The answer is: No!
Mikaela walked around the intersection, and there was no flight controller at all. The reason was very simple. Azeroth was not a modern earth. Flying mounts were mostly used for military purposes and rarely for civilian use.
So the facts tell us that being lazy is not okay.
In addition, as the central hub of the Barrens, Crossroads has a much larger population than Razor Ridge. There are not only orcs, but also many tauren and trolls, and even the Forsaken.
Of course, there are still only two blood elves, Michaela and Malenia. This is understandable, after all, the blood elves have just joined the tribe a few days ago.
According to the plan, Michaela took Marlenia to the hotel and booked a room, then replenished water and food on the spot to prepare for the next day's trip.
Since the barren land is rich in chocobos, Michaela specially prepared some stewed chocobo meat to try out.
By the way, the chocobos in Silvermoon City were brought over from Karimdor when the high elves migrated back then, so they are rare in number and are generally used as mounts and not on the dining table. But in Kalimdor, chocobos are native animals and can be found everywhere, so diners are not polite.
The most important thing when traveling is to have fun, see exotic locales, and taste exotic food. At least Michaela has done the above two things.
Of course, there were also a lot of troubles locally. For example, in the restaurant, Michaela heard the tauren druid at the next table discussing the issue of the Wailing Cave, and it seemed that there was some kind of evil influence inside.
Michaela knew that its origin was the result of the Emerald Dream being influenced by the Nightmare King Xavius, and that more serious things would happen in the future.
In addition to the Wailing Cave, Mikayla also heard hotel guests mention the quilboar people located at the southern end of the Barrens. This group of pig heads seemed to be in cahoots with some evil force and had been causing trouble recently.
Michaela knew that the force the pigheads were hooking up with was the Scourge, and there was even a lich who came to the quilboar territory.
In addition, the goblin city Jingtooth City in the east has also been harassed by pirates in the South China Sea. The pirates have never failed to find treasures, and Jingtooth City controls a golden trade channel leading to the treasure bay in the southern part of the eastern continent. The pirates cannot go there. There will be ghosts if you look for them.
Unfortunately, the above incident had nothing to do with Michaela. He just wanted to have a good night's rest, and then quickly set off to Ashvale to complete the debt collection mission of the evil god, and by the way, ask the evil god about Tessa.
The elusive female orc Tessa is indeed too evil.
Mikaela and Marlenia also discussed this. According to Torina, Tessa initially met Marlenia on the streets of Orgrimmar, and later met Mikaela.
However, both Michaela and Marlenia only had a vague image of the above situation. They only knew that they met a person, but they had no idea who the person was. This included the subsequent battle with humans in Tiragarde Castle in Durotar. Mikaela only knew that she was persuaded by someone to go to Tiragarde Castle to fight humans, but she had forgotten who the person was. All clean.
Fortunately, Michaela still has Torina, an important assistant, in her mind. She remembers Tessa and everything else, otherwise...
"Otherwise, we would still be kept in the dark!"
Mikaela said to Malenia who was eating stewed chocobo meat: "What on earth is going on with Tessa."
As soon as he spoke, a familiar voice came from the table behind Michaela: "Hey, Michaela, are you here too?"
Michaela and Marlenia heard the sound and looked around, and it turned out to be Tessa, the female orc who suddenly disappeared, and she was also eating in this hotel!
Such a coincidence?
Having had previous experience, Michaela was more thoughtful and said: "Tessa, what a coincidence, you are here too?"
Tessa opened her mouth and said: "The crossroads is my home, I should have mentioned it to you."
The second time, when Tessa appeared in front of Mikaela, the previously vague memories became clear instantly.
Torina also reminded: "Michaela, in your memory, Tessa appears again."
In order to prevent Tessa from getting involved in inexplicable things and delaying the formation, Michaela simply spoke first:
"Tessa, I'm glad to see you again, but we are preparing to go to Ashenvale and will set off tomorrow. I'm afraid we won't have much time to catch up with you. Right, Malenia."
While speaking, Michaela also deliberately turned her face to her sister, who immediately nodded obediently and said: "Yes, Tessa, we are on our way. Let's talk again if we have the chance."
Logically speaking, with such an obvious polite refusal, the other party should not be entangled, but Tessa still refused:
"No, no, no, no, no, Michaela, I believe you can still spare some time to help, right?"
It's like this again, Tessa's voice seems to have some kind of magic, and neither Michaela nor Marlenia can refuse!
"Brother, we won't leave until tomorrow. It's only noon now and there's still time." Marlenia was the first to give in.
Michaela also felt her head shaking slightly, and then she followed her sister and said, "It seems that we can indeed spare some time. What do we need to do?"
"Michaela, what's wrong with you?"
This time, Torina was no longer calm: "Didn't you say there was something wrong with Tessa before?"
Michaela didn't answer, still waiting for Tessa's words.
"Well, I believe you will definitely help me."
Tessa grinned, showing a hearty smile, and said: "As for me, I received a job in Jingtooth City. The human soldiers in the Northern Castle have been shelling the waterways of Jingtooth City, so Sharo there Captain Sass wants to hire a group of people to take down the castle and shut down the cannons there forever."
Having said this, Tessa sat down on Michaela's table with a wooden wine glass in hand, and murmured to her "old friend":
"Michaela, I have seen what you two brothers and sisters are capable of. This job belongs to you."
Although Torina in her mind kept reminding Michaela to ignore Tessa, Michaela seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit and nodded in agreement:
"Okay, Tessa, without further ado, let's set off immediately and take down the Northern Castle."
Marlenia on the side also said: "Okay, let's leave quickly and get it done early. We still have to hurry."
"Michaela, what's going on with you?"
Torina in the spiritual world couldn't understand at all: "Have you really fallen in love with a female orc? Are you willing to do everything for her?"
"Torina, stop talking nonsense. How could I like a female orc whose arms are thicker than my thighs?"
Michaela explained this: "I just think that we have enough time to help our old friends. Relying on the invincible power of the players, I can also get kickback rewards. Why not?"
When it came to system rewards, Torina really couldn't refute, so she could only nod.
"Oh, right."
Michaela remembered something and asked: "What is my reputation in the tribe now? After taking down Tiragarde Castle, my reputation should have increased a lot, right?"
"No!"
Torina said angrily: "Orgrimmar, the reputations of Thunder Bluff and Darkspear Trolls are still neutral. Keep working hard."
O_o?
Why doesn't my reputation increase when I take down a human castle?
Torina: "I'm just a system elf, I don't know about this kind of thing."
"Is it because I haven't done enough?"
Suspicious, Michaela followed Tessa out of the hotel.
Here is a brief introduction to the Northern Castle. If the position of the entire Barrens from north to south is placed on a clock dial, the crossroads is equivalent to the center of the clock dial, and the Northern Castle is at the five o'clock position.
I believe many people will find it strange that the Northern Castle is not located in the north of the Barrens, so why is it called the Northern Castle?
That's because the north here actually refers to the north of Theramore!
The Northern Castle is located at the junction of the northern part of the Mud Swamp and the Barrens. It guards the coastal passage and is the northern outpost of Theramore. Its strategic position is very important. Such an important strategic position could be controlled by Theramore. It was obvious that Jaina had done a lot of work behind the scenes to get Warchief Thrall to make concessions.
But today, the northern castle is doomed because the evil star has arrived.
"did you see it?"
Tessa pointed to the castle ahead and said: "That's the Northern Castle. Captain Sarothas wants us to destroy the cannon and get the Theramore emblem as proof, so go ahead."
Tessa reached out and patted Michaela and Marlenia on the backs, and then she disappeared on the spot.
Michaela immediately said to Torina: "It's time to get to work, summon the players!"
"good!"
Torina then "striked":
"The summoning begins!"
