Day 3
The night before as it was night here thought it was a bit hard to tell with all the trees blocking out the sunlight. The elves set me up with a place to sleep and a meal for the night. The next morning I was given quests to do so I did them. I thought about just heading to Darnassus and on to Darkshore, but they wouldn't let me. Too dangerous they said and the only way they would let me go would be if I proved I could handle myself. With resignation I completed the quests as quickly as I could. I kept an eye out for the changes I was making, but I didn't seem to make much of a dent. This place had a lot of problems, but I did notice what I took out stayed dead. Which got me a lot of pats on the head. I just about the same level of ease killing mobs in this area and I was getting a bit less queasy about doing the killing up close and personal. God I love stealth. Other then the quest givers I didn't understand any of the commoners. Which I guess was a good thing. I figured I was over level ten, but I couldn't be really sure there just was no golden light ding effect, it was more like a feeling that you were stronger. I could tell a piece of gear was better by the feel of it. Not that I came across much gear with stats on them. I had only seen stamina gear. Killing Ursal the Mauler was very satisfying and it was my last quest to turn in. Off to Darnassus and off this big tree.
"Hey you come on over here!" this person yelled. I took a glance over not really thinking he meant me, but seeing as one he was a gnome and two he was speaking Gnomish at least that is what it was. "Yes I was speaking to you, rogue." I thought of just going stealth and avoiding him, but he was the first of my race that I had seen.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Never seen you around and I know every single gnome there is." he boasted. "And you are a very good looking gal. Don't need any beer glasses with you."
"I assume that is your attempt at forming rapport?" I replied. "As you can tell I am a rogue there are a few places that I can go that you can't."
"I doubt that. The other fact is that I have seen nearly every inch of both continents over the last decade. I have a perfect memory, so I am positive you are new and the lowest level is held by a human female in Stormwind. She is level twenty one and you dear are only at level nine." he explained. I looked at him in total shock. I held that look until he closed my mouth at which time I jerked away from him.
"How can you tell what level I am?" I asked. "Wait you are a player?"
"Can't you see that?" he asked. "But where are my manners? My name is Fizzle Bigblast, a pleasure to meet you." I had to giggle then I frowned. "I know not the best name, but it was the best I could think of before I got put here. I finally made it to level thirty, so I came here to see a friend of mine."
"How do you see my level, Fizzle?" I asked. "I can't tell you from anyone else."
"Well it took six months before I figured it out. Here mimic my hand movement and it should bring up the interface." he said as he showed me. I copied him and after the third time the WoW interface came up and a grinned as I made changes. The one thing that was missing was nameplates, so unless I told him my name he would never know. What I did see was his level and health bar and that he was a mage. I looked around and many of the NPC's showed their health. There were many more that didn't. He explained that only certain ones showed their health and level. These others were residents, fillers, or even true residents of Azeroth. No one really knew, but he did explain that they could turn into NPC's, or even lovers, or friends. They were the workers of this world. "So how does everything look now?"
"Better, but I kinda like the realism without it." I replied. "When did you get pulled into this game?"
"I will tell you as long as I get your name." he stated. I told him. "Kit, simple yet perfect. Anyways so far as I know all of us have been in this game for over a decade. I was a beta tester before so I knew a bit, but on launch day I clicked on the icon, logged on, and woke up in a pile of Gnomes and Dwarves. Talk about a surprised quest giver and a bunch of new players freaking out. I think most of us nearly went mad. It took weeks to get out of the starting area and even longer to finally get to Ironforge. Once someone figured out how to open the interface then it got better as groups formed to share quest kills and items. No one else came through and no one has figured a way back, but you are new. This is going to get interesting fast."
"You have been stuck since Nov 23, 2004?! Why are you not level 100 by now? Is leveling that bad?" I asked.
"Level 100! No the cap is 60 and the highest player is at thirty six I believe though it has been six months since I saw them." he explained. "People just don't want to die and no one has as far as I know. Ironman rules apply here though we think you can die and come back but nobody has or if they have they haven't talked about it. What was the date that you logged in and found yourself here? Were there others?"
"I fell in this world ten days after the launch of the new expansion, bringing the level up to one hundred. I nearly died as I landed in Northshire and a mage trainer ported me here." I answered. "I have only been here three days. I wish I had just logged onto Swtor. You are the first player I have met."
"I need to bring you to Dun Morogh. This needs to be brought before the council." Fizzle said as he was thinking.
"No more portals for me. I am finished questing here and I am headed for Darkshore and then eventually Westfall." I declared.
"You wouldn't make it. If it wasn't for mages the few elves that travel would never be in Ironforge or Stormwind until level thirty." he countered. "You would never make the run at your level."
"True I nearly forgot about that." I added as I dug frantically through my pack. I grinned as I pulled it out. My hearthstone.
"Forget it. Sure it will work, but it will just take you back to the abbey." he stated.
"Gnomes gained their own starting area and still the hearthstone is set to Anvilmar." I said as I started to cast. "Race you." I saw him start to caste a portal spell as I appeared in front of Sten Stoutarm.
"Well now you are a sight for sore eyes..." he stated as he gave me my first quest for the area. I just chuckled and did what he wanted. Like Northshire what I cleared stayed cleared. I thought this odd and I needed to remember to ask Fizzle about it.
