Evening office hours cancelled for the whole week; check. All level 50 characters logged in to start accruing Rest; check.
By the time I got on, the Maw and Oribos were surprisingly quiet. There were other players around, but it wasn’t at all crowded. People on my friendslist were in Bastion or Maldraxxus.
Kaurinka went first; it would have felt wrong to not lead out with a Tauren — and also Boomkins are more robust than Mages. I stopped after opening up the gateway to Bastion. Then, because it hadn’t been crowded and buggy, I logged on with Kaelinda instead of going to play with Kasheena. I got Kaelinda to the Forlorn Respite in the Maw, but by then I was starting to feel rather sleepy, so even though that’s not a Rest area, I logged out anyway and went to bed.
I’d been thinking that I’d take all six of my Shadowlands crew through to Oribos, one or two each evening, to get their Hearthstones set and their professions trained, and then just let them hang out there until I was ready to actively quest with them. After playing through the introductory Maw questline one-and-third times, though, I might just focus on Kaurinka and Kaelinda for now and leave the rest behind until the devs put in an “I’ve heard this tale before. [skip the Maw questline and begin your journey in Oribos]” option when talking to Bolvar atop Icecrown Citadel.
The Maw is, of course, unsettling and creepy. I also found Oribos to be somewhat unsettling and creepy, though part of that came from the nervous attitudes of the Attendants, all upset by the silence of the Arbiter, the sudden appearance of living mortals in their city, and the influx of Brokers (whom I found to be rather creepy all on their own) coming in and setting up shop like they own the place.
I wondered, during the finale of the Maw questline… (spoilers, if you haven’t done this yourself yet)
… if Jaina, Thrall, Anduin, and Baine are all also living mortals like myself — and much more powerful heroes — why is it me that the Waystone specifically responds to? Could it be that the Azerite in my Heart of Azeroth necklace, the lifeblood of a Titan, that small (but potent) reservoir of Anima, is what the Waystone is actually picking up on?
I know! All these high powered good guys and it responds to me? What is going on?
Such funny things happen to us PCs sometimes.
[…] Kamalia thought that the first day seemed rather quiet: “The Maw is, of course, unsettling and creepy. I also found Oribos to be somewhat unsettling and creepy, though part of that came from the nervous attitudes of the Attendants, all upset by the silence of the Arbiter, the sudden appearance of living mortals in their city, and the influx of Brokers (whom I found to be rather creepy all on their own) coming in and setting up shop like they own the place.” […]