I was leveling my priest earlier. I struggled a bit with finding a decent rotation using a Shadow spec but once I did I started to actually have fun. It was my first time leveling in the Barrens post-Shattering and I eventually stumbled into Camp Taurajo. What’s left of it anyway.
The Alliance apparently attacked the camp. I was looking at the results. To add insult to injury the ruins are now populated by looters.
I was given a quest called Honoring the Dead. It involves finding the bodies of four Taurens in the camp and giving them their final rites. It sounded simple enough. I thought nothing of it until I got to the bodies themselves.
Their names were Krulmoo, Dranh, Yonada and Omusa. As I gave them their final rites, each of them rose as a spirit and said something.
Krulmoo’s Spirit: I ran to wake up the others when the attack hit. Were they able to escape? I tried to fight off the soldiers with a skinning knife…
Dranh’s Spirit: I can feel the embrace now of all living things, the Earthmother’s eternal peace. Thank you.
Yonada’s Spirit: Alliance – they’ve surrounded the camp! What are they doing here? Why are they attacking Taurajo? Get the children – run! RUN!
I am no stranger to getting feelings evoked by games. For example, I said a silent “Hell yeah!” when Jim Raynor finally succeeded in getting Kerrigan back in SC2. He never gave up, even when he questioned his motivations about saving someone who committed genocide. He didn’t quit on her. So when I started to feel a little heavy while I was on this quest I knew that it had gotten to me. I was laying these NPCs to rest. I was witnessing their last thoughts before they passed on.
These were my thoughts as I headed to the last body. Omusa. He was the camp’s flight master. Seeing him dead was tougher than the rest because he was a level 65 elite NPC. If anyone in the camp had a chance of surviving, it would’ve been him.
I was in a somber mood already. I just wanted to finish the quest, to get it over with and move on. Little did I know that Blizz had a surprise for me.
He stayed to defend so that others may survive. And even in death Omusa’s spirit is able to summon a wyvern to fly. If that isn’t badass I don’t know what is. His final act lifted my somber mood.
I find it comforting that I am not alone in feeling a little different about this quest. And I’m sure there’s an Alliance equivalent of this wherein the Horde is the offender. Still, it’s quests like these that make leveling not only fun but also provoking. So thanks Blizz. Whoever came up with this quest deserves recognition.