Vector_black (as Kojima), LeadPipe (as Majorburns), Trizma (as Trizma), and I (as Pfhor) were getting our quest on in the jungle zone of Stranglethorn Vale. After LeadPipe left us, we stumbled across an interested quest which had us solving riddles and traveling back and forth across the world in search of hidden clues. The final reward, a 14-slot bag, was hidden beneath the massive waterfall on the coast of the Hinterlands. We leapt from high atop the coastal mountains and claimed our prize, but with no means of returning to the world above in sight, we decided to swim north along the coast to see what we could find.

Eventually, our goal became to try and make it inside Quel’Thalas, the Scourge-ravaged home of the high elves and unopened zone. After a little more than half an hour swimming along the coast and trying unsuccessfully to climb up the steep coastal mountain ranges, we happened across a gentle incline that lead directly into the former home of the elves. However, rather than lush forests and ancient cities, we found a strange, semi-textured land that was perfectly flat and seemed to stretch on forever.

The un-zone was filled with strangely jagged, cookie-cutter cliffs

and half-mountains.

After further exploring what little there was of Quel’Thalas (which the world map claims is a full-sized zone while in reality it’s mostly bottomless ocean), we came across a deep pit whose height was guaranteed to cause instant death for anyone unfortunate enough to take one step too many.

However, being a warlock, I had the skills at my disposal to get down there. I put a soulstone on myself, took a leap of faith (which turned out to be a leap of death), and reincarnated at the bottom of the cliff. Whereas before both our guild tab and our party information itself listed us as not actually existing, filling the ‘location’ information with a big heaping of nothing at all, the game now claimed I was in the Eastern Plaguelands. Off in the distance I could see two strange glowing circles, so naturally I headed towards them.

When I got closer, I discovered that the circles were actually instance entrances and I was standing directly behind and under Stratholme. Here you can actually see a plane of water above my head.

I continued to run in the massive Quel’Thalas/Eastern Plaguelands pit long enough to realize that I had other choice but to hearth if I wanted to get out of this strange, unfinished land. Maybe I’ll go back again some day before the zone actually opens or maybe I’ll just take the time to swim from Hammerfall to the Undercity.