From 70 to 71: A Miscellany, part 1

Tivara earned her first level of Lich King experience last night. Color me happy! This is a real grab bag of things I've seen, done, and/or thought about along the way.

The interior of Utgarde Keep (seen in part 2 of my intro tour) is gorgeous:

Most of the inhabitants are vrykul, up to bad things on behalf of their new chosen master, the Lich King. These fellows were making powerful weapons when we came along:

But they're not alone. There are, for instance, enslaved proto-dragons—bipedal rather than quadrupedal like the dragons found on the other continents:

And the frenzied geists, which I know are going to make at least one of my readers think, "Hey, they're up on their Barker":

I haven't yet taken a character into the Nexus, the other introductory dungeon. I do have a friend who specifically hopes that he can be grouped with me when I do, to get my reactions, which makes it sound all the more intriguing. Pictures will no doubt follow.

The cold seas of Northrend turn out to be rich in life, including my favorites:

And inland and uphill, a stone giant take it all with him:

In the Warcraft universe, dryads are tangible nature spirits, and centaurs are the offspring of their seduction and corruption by elementals. Northrend has suitably arctic dryads, the frost nymphs:

Meanwhile, back at the Borean Tundra, this is the way to scout contested territory:

Down on the coast, the marauding kvaldir (mentioned here briefly earlier) are at work destroying anyone and anything along the shores. They come wrapped in a formidable magical mist:

Yes, while Tivara is in the mist, I see her field of view reduced and colors de-saturated. It's a wonderful eerie bit of scene-setting.

There are also some formidable Scourge forces in a nearby valley that's been sprayed with poisons and diseases, like the Warsong Aberration seen here:

But it's okay, because after a series of quests to gather up crucial materials for repair and upgrade, Tivara got to charge right into the middle of their ranks...in this:

I've drawn circles to help you spot Tivara in the midst of the tainted air and goblin machinery. Alas, no still picture can capture the experience. The thing chugs and trembles and belches smoke and *insert maniacal giggling*. So. Yeah. It shoots rockets and stuff, but you can also fire up the blades on the front end and just grind down the Scourge in front of you. This quest calls for grinding down a hundred of them (and also rescuing trapped soldiers whose vehicles got taken down in earlier waves of the assault and counter-assault):

I've got some other things I want to share pictures of, but for now I'll wrap up with a look at gear. This is Tivara's guildmate Nyo, mentioned from time to time already. Here she is showing new helmet and weapon, which go very nicely with the Argent Dawn tabard and undead-slaying gear she got from hunting Scourge invaders: