Level 13: Thursday, February 10, 2011

The next five updates reflect my long weekend trip to Disney World. While a pedometer said that I walked between 8 and 10 miles each day, I allowed myself some kind of culinary treat every day, since I was on vacation. However, I noticed that I wasn't craving soda as I usually do when I fiddle with the diet, and I also wasn't using the trip as an excuse to eat my face off. It was an ice cream bar or something similar at night, and I remained pretty good through the rest of the day. I think the balance I was able to find was well reflected in the fact that I actually managed to lose weight while on the trip. Nevertheless, I wasn't able to award myself levels due to the rules of the blog.

The ruined city of Lordaeron is where Arthas killed his own father, pretty much giving up all hope for redemption on his way to becoming the evil Lich King. If you stand in the throne room, you can hear the ghostly sounds of the betrayal and murder as echoes.

The ruins are completely deserted, but if you follow a series of sewers and tunnels, you will eventually find your way to the Forsaken capital deep underground, named, appropriately enough, The Undercity.

The Forsaken Ruler, Sylvanas Windrunner makes her home in the heart of the city.

Level 4: Saturday, January 29, 2011

We've come for your daughter, Chuck

If WoW had a strict alignment system, the Undead would be the race closest to chaotic evil. It's true that they, like every other race, are interested in preserving their own survival, but they go a little bit farther than most, including the concoction of WoW's A-Bomb; a deadly plague the effects of which are shown here:

Somebody's been usin' Brand Xxxxxxxxx

The Undead (or Forsaken, as they call themselves) are the byproduct of a corrupted Prince Arthas' descent into villainy. One of the major figures as the game began, Arthas began his time in the spotlight as an Alliance hero, and a powerful paladin. When followers of the evil Lich King infested Stratholme, one of his kingdom's cities, with plagued grain, the citizens began to turn into the undead Scourge. Arthas defied the orders of his superiors and slaughtered every citizen in the city, which began the obsession to punish those responsible, and eventually cost him his sanity. He eventually became enslaved by the cursed sword, Frostmourne, and became a full-fledged villain. One of his first items of business was to storm the city of Silvermoon, home of the high elves, in an attempt to use their mystical Sunwell to revive a powerful Lich. On his way, he slaughtered numerous enemies, one of which was Sylvanas Windrunner, a ranger, who gave Arthas such a hard time that he chose to raise her from the dead as his slave after killing her.

Eventually, she and a large gathering of her followers, found a way to break free of Arthas, and became the self-titled Forsaken. When a player begins the Undead campaign, they have just been raised from the dead, and are immediately dispatched to fight a war on two fronts; one against the mindless Scourge, and another against the zealot Scarlet Crusade who seek to wipe out every undead in existence.