Only five minutes after his agreeing with the plan, they had begun rapidly creating plans for everything, much like a couple of exited children. In five minutes, they knew the method of transport they would take to blackrock mountain, in ten they knew who would be doing what job, and in fifteen they had decided what to take and even what kind of enhancements to put onto their weaponry. Maulbane had started grudgingly, but begun to like the plan more and more, and then he began to give his own ideas for it. By 30 minutes, the long zeppelin trip was finally concluded. With two minutes until the massive craft landed just outside Orgrimmar (the orcs' capital city, and Maulbane would have liked to have gone shopping there, or talking to the locals, had he not been on such a schedule).
Goblins were running all over the place, even climbing around the side of the ship. Ropes were being thrown around, people being stirred out of their cabins, noisy and high-pitched goblins shouting orders and less noisy goblins doing all the work. This was the part of a zeppelin ride Maulbane hated the most. You're not allowed to help, but you're always in the way or stepping on somebody's foot, or something. Sadly, it was as bad as he had always remembered it to be. Kavijin tried to walk over to his bag (which was conveniently on the other side of the deck) but accidentally stepped on goblin... Again (well, actually for the twelfth time in half a minute). It seemed the little creatures were coming out of the woodwork, and in some cases they actually were literally coming out of trapdoors in the wooden walls. Everybody's luggage was being taken out of their cabins and Maulbane was getting bored. They could now see the beach, and it was very close... A mere half a minute away at most. All the work was done, so everyone sat down on the deck, waiting for the zeppelin to land. It was a simple procedure: The zeppelin would slow down half a kilometre from the 'zeppelin tower', then slowly pull in and secure itself to one of the four large platforms, which was just happening now. The goblins weren't shouting as loud, which was good. The next thirty seconds were not eventful, unless you count a person falling over as the zeppelin pulled in an event. The zeppelin slowed down and gracefully slid next to the platform, where maybe eighteen goblins were fastening it to the tower with ropes.
Maulbane heard a conversation happening just behind him, between a large goblin (for a goblin) and a smaller goblin, who had lighter skin than the other goblins around him, and a distinctive gold earring. The larger one was standing with his back to Maulbane, and seemed to be holding something up to the second goblin, but Maulbane couldn't see what it was.
"Then how do you explain that there wasn't one single rupture on the entire trip?" The taller goblin said "Well, it wasn't with your stupid lucky doll... Charm... Thing... Whatever it is" said the shorter goblin
"You're just jealous because I got this thing for only two gold coins!"
"I say it's a rip-off, it's just a piece of... What Is it made of?"
"He said it was made out of Gorilla hair""Well, that's totally not disgusting"
"Whatever you say, I'm the one with the good luck charm!"
"Right... Well, see you" The taller goblin turned to face Maulbane and started to walk off in the opposite direction of the goblin with the earring, and Maulbane saw what they were talking about, a small (about six centimetres high) doll, shaped like a little crude human. It wasn't as interesting as Maulbane anticipated it to be, but you learn important things every day, even if they don't seem important when you first learn them. That said, it wasn't important now, if ever (though he did note how the goblin was so superstitious - Most goblins only care about two things: Money and Gadgets) so he went back to what he was doing before, which was getting ready to get off the zeppelin. Kor'La and Kavijin were already off, so he picked up as many of his possessions that he could carry (which was all of them, the really heavy ones were with Gladestomp) and disembarked, dodging other passengers and little green men. As his first foot hit the strong wooden platform, he started to feel dizzy, but that passed after a few seconds. Kor'La and Kavijin were gone, probably for a while, because part of the plan was that they would meet up at a proposed spot at a certain time, which was fine for Maulbane. He couldn't wait to get back home, to his house in thunder bluff. He walked across the platform, away from the noisy goblins and passengers embracing loved ones, or just shouting for the sake of it. He kept walking down the stairs of the tower and out into a lower platform, which was maybe three meters up from the ground, with Goretusk (as always) at his heels which was where all the passengers were collecting their cargo and trusty steeds.
Maulbane found Gladestomp being held by a red faced, tired-looking goblin, and relieved him of his burden, jumping onto his kodo, placing some of his smaller items he was holding (a green leather-bound canteen, among other things) into one of the large animal's saddle bags, and then placed Goretusk into a little basket he had made himself, and the boar fell into the container with a little thump. A second later his head rose out of the top of basket, and then they were ready to leave. as he they got down the last flight of stairs and onto the dusty red sand of Durotar, he pulled hard on the reins and felt the result, a sharp burst of speed. Maulbane wondered if anything had changed while he had gone. If anything had, it was not the blistering heat.
Taking the shortest route back to his destination, he began by taking the main road, straight through durotar and eventually into the Barrens. He hit the aforementioned main road a mere thirty seconds past the zeppelin tower, a large, slightly paved road with magical lights on either side of it, at least Maulbane thought they were magical. One thing he knew was that Gladestomp was loving being able to ride around in the open once more. Maulbane liked riding fast, but the red (and extremely loose) dust that was being kicked up kept getting in every conceivable place on his person and his mount, not to mention all his bags. Nonetheless, he didn't slow down, for he was much to eager to get to the Barrens, which was pretty much the half way point for the trip back to Mulgore, and it was also quite a picturesque place, much like a large savannah.
But it was also extremely dangerous, not only are there raptors, lions, crocilisks, Quilboars and wild thunderhorns (large ancestors of kodos, able to shoot small amounts of lighting out of its head), the entire region of the barrens was a war zone. There was a dangerous demon worshiping cult, named the burning blade that operated both in Durotar and in the barrens, but they are stronger in the barrens. But the biggest danger of all is from the alliance. because they send out raiding parties almost once a week or even sooner, Slaughtering as many people as they can, turning the Barrens' only horde town (the Crossroads) into a military outpost, and driving away most of the peaceful residents. Of course, quite a few adventurers never encounter these obstacles, but many , however, do. But he wasn't there yet, and that was why he was riding fast.
He passed many boar farms and scorpions, but mostly the trip was bland. He had seen durotar before, and while for the first few visits the red sandy ground, and the red hills and cliffs looked amazing and so foreign, it begins to get bland, which had happened for Maulbane. Gladestomp didn't care in the least though, almost bounding towards their first stop - Razor Hill outpost, mainly a military town, but many passers-by stop in for the inn (Maulbane would have chuckled at that pun) and its food, drink, and most importantly, its beds. Razor hill wasn't very far away at all - just a short trip through a wide canyon, which the main road ran through. As he entered said canyon, he looked annoyed. This was because of past experiences with the harpies that lived in the smaller canyons and crags that sprouted from the larger one. They were too aggressive for his taste, and their claws hurt. Though there are many different clans and types of harpy, they all have a few key similarities: They have human (Female) bodies and heads, but the ends of all of their limbs are that of birds, covered in feathers and ending in sharp talons, with wings and pale skin that was usually tinged a certain color. The color of their skin and feathers depends on what clan they are in, and for Durotar, they were the Dustwind clan, with purple feathers and light bluish skin. The clans of harpies are usually comprised of many fighters and hunters, and a few harpy witches, who had a basic control over lightning magic.
Though he didn't see any yet in their 'Usual' spot, it always pays to be alert, which he was. Gladestomp continued to 'gallop' (kodos aren't horses, they do more of a charge or a run than a gallop) his way along the dirty road, with Goretusk's head bobbing around dizzily. At the half-way point through the canyon, Something was plaguing his mind - The fact that there wasn't just a lack of harpies, he hadn't seen a single one. Growing alarmed, Maulbane made preparations for a possible harpy ambush, readying his gun which was already by side. He consoled himself with the fact that the harpies were probably had probably just been scared away by a razor hill patrol, but as always, he was ready for anything (well, not ANYTHING, but almost every possibility). At the halfway point through the canyon, his fears were realized...