The Dragon Isles
Titans' blessings dear readers, I am Torryk Ironskin, a dwarf from Ironforge, who was asked by Mister Lester to write a report of the experiences that the adventuring group of dwarves, that I am a part of, The Morodnir, gathered on our first journey through the Dragon Isles. We only saw a fraction of these lands and I would like to emphasise that it is not safe to travel there alone, as both the wildlife and the threat of the Primalists remains very real.
Our leader, Frolbar Boldbeard, decided it was time for us to experience these new lands, seek out both adventure and the opportunity to lend a hand or two in the fight against the Primalists, shortly after the attacks of these cultists on the Eastern Kingdoms had been contained. We took precautions for an expedition that would last for an, at that point, unknown amount of time and eventually gathered in the harbour of Stormwind to embark on a Kul Tiran ship. Most of the journey was rather uneventful, the captain let us know that the landing point of the main expedition forces of both the Alliance and Horde was still under constant threat from the Primalists and their Proto Drake allies, so we would make landfall at a more remote pier.
As the shores of the Isles started to become visible on the horizon, our first, very unwelcome, surprise swooped onto us in the form of a lightning storm and a very, very, hungry, and aggressive Proto Drake, infused by said storm. We did our best to stay alive, secure ropes, put out fires and occasionally fire a desperate shot at the beast. Through a fortunate turn of events, one of ours managed to deal a wound to the dragon, who decided to find easier prey somewhere else.
This however, would not be the last surprise of the day, though the second one was much more pleasant. The pier where we landed turned out to be held by beings we did not expect to meet: Tuskarr. The friendly fisher folk immediately offered us a warm soup and welcomed us to make camp near the pier until we were rested and ready to visit their village, a little more inland.
We found ourselves in a place called the “Waking Shores”, a land of many mountains, green patches of grass and deep gorges of rivers since then massively declined in size.
In the coming days, we learned quite a bit about the local flora and fauna, it would seem that nearly all animals native to these lands sport either dragon-like scales, horns or both. They range from the smallest critters like rabbits to fearsome sabre-like predators. There are even quite the number of elementals of all types and sizes. Meanwhile, some of the plants and minerals seem to be infused by the elemental powers that, according to our shamans, are in deep disarray and conflict, another example of the Primalists' evil doings. Additionally, the Isles seem to be riddled with ruined towers of some kind.
Other than the Tuskarr and the Dragons, there is also a people who were apparently far less neutral to our presence and more than eager to align themselves with the Primalists against anything influenced by the Titans: The so-called “Djaradin”, giant humanoids with control over Fire and Earth, that are bent on pillaging and destroying whatever they can find, especially the Dragons, who they hunt for sport. A mighty foe and one that is best avoided if one is not prepared for a hard battle.
We eventually made our way to a place known as the “Ruby Lifepools”, a sanctuary of the Titan-aligned Dragons, presumably in honour of Eonar the Life-Binder herself, who use the ancient magic in the waters of this place to nurture their young and cater to a lush and beautiful landscape of gardens in the near surroundings. These waters reach the pools through a truly gigantic aqueduct, that runs far up into the distant mountains, passing underneath something that we made out to be a statue of a Watcher, one of the last ones in Azeroth to remain intact, as it would seem.
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Despite the peace of this place, we ran into our fair share of trouble, as we battled several small groups of Primalists, that sought to enslave the water elementals of the surrounding lands, presumably to prepare for an attack against the Exploration forces, maybe even the pools themselves. Their leader, a Tauren, managed to flee however and so we gave chase to the south...
Our journey led us onwards to a new part of the land, a gigantic land of plains of grass, gentle hills and majestic lakes. Soon after our arrival, we also met yet another group of beings that we did not expect to see again any time soon: Centaurs.
Most if not all of us dwarves had our fair share of horse-people trample us with hooves in Kalimdor, so we were quite surprised when these ones stayed their weapons and engaged in diplomacy with us. After some negotiations and with a massive share of mistrust, we agreed to visit their Capital, a camp almost the size of a small town, called “Maruukai”. The centaurs remained true to their word and proved to be much more civil than their brutish cousins from Kalimdor.
They seem to revere a being that could potentially be another Wild God, a great eagle spirit called “Ohn'ahra”, whose blessing allows the centaurs to utilize the power of the Wind, in a way of communication that is quite similar to that of our shamans, or so I was told at least.
We learned that the centaurs had made a pact with the Green Dragons of the Plains long ago, agreeing to not kill each other and stand together against the occasional Djaradin raid.
However, this peace was disturbed, when the largest of the four centaur factions decided to join the Primalists and their war and threw all of Maruukai into a civil war.
We reached an agreement with one of the centaur elders, who agreed to have his scouts look for the Tauren we were chasing, in return we would investigate a small village that went silent. As it turned out, the centaurs there had joined the so-called Nokhud, the clan that started the war. It was another hard battle, and we were forced to retreat with our lives, a rescued draenei explorer, and the knowledge about where the allegiance of this village stands.
After we recovered, we used the time the elder's scouts needed, to explore the land a little and went on a hunt to restock our food stores. The Plains sport several of the same animals as the Shores, such as the so-called “Argali Rams” or these sabre-like predators. But also, some new surprises, like Thunder Lizards, Mammoths with moss-like fur and Striders with dragon-like scales.
Eventually, we received word that the Tauren and his Primalists had come out of hiding, conjuring a storm atop a hill in the distance, defiling ancient stones that were normally used to commune with the wind. We set out and slowly advanced through the cultist lines, eventually reaching the eye of the storm. It took all we had to overcome the storm shield of the Tauren but eventually, our combined efforts finally brought him down, the forces of the storm he sought to control turning on himself and reducing him to a pile of ash.
Exhausted, but alive and in good spirits, we returned to our camp to recover before making our way home. A brief pause from the adventures, before we will return for a land, we did not yet see... The snow-filled ranges of the co-called “Azure Span”...