movin’ through Maldraxxus

I went through Maldraxxus quite slowly with Kaelinda; for various reasons, I averaged about one chapter in a sitting. Kaurinka burned through it in two sessions (maybe because it was the weekend?).

The second playthrough of the zone went a lot more quickly and smoothly than the first because I knew where to find the quest objectives, what I needed to do for some of the less obvious quest objectives, better ways to path through things. This is, of course, how it goes in every expansion. I found myself wondering, should I send someone else through Ardenweald first, so Kaurinka can have a smoother run? I quickly dismissed that thought — the most valuable part of the first playthrough is that the story is completely fresh and new and full of surprises, and I want to be learning the Ardenweald story fresh and new and full of surprises with Kaurinka.

To allow Kaurinka to Rest awhile before she continues her journey onward to Ardenweald, however, I’m going to spend the next few nights bringing Kalaneia, Keliora, and Kaelyla through the Maw to Oribos.

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conundrums of Maldraxxus

Maldraxxus was a monstrous landscape that Kaelinda was anxious to escape as soon she could complete her mission from the Overseers to discover the cause of the Maldraxxi invasion of Bastion.

She was unexpectedly… what was the right word? charmed, perhaps? by some of the personalities she met there. Gruff Bonesmith Heirmir. Poor mad Plague Deviser Marileth! (But would he have been quite so likeable before the fall of his House and the breaking of his mind?) Bold Secutor Mevix. Baroness Draka — and those other two high-ranking Azerothian souls. The superb voice acting was what really won me over about all of these characters.

Being in Maldraxxus made Kaelinda feel powerful, and like she came from a World that is Powerful, in a way that she didn’t feel while in Bastion. Indeed, Azeroth is a Powerful World! It was her people (with some help from the peoples of Argus and Draenor, to be sure) who stopped the Burning Legion from destroying their world and defeated Sargeras! It was her people who have turned back multiple Old Gods from claiming their world for the Void! But ah, beware the Sha of Pride! Nonetheless, being Maldraxxi isn’t quite the thing for Kaelinda — but it will definitely be the thing for Kalaneia.

I liked that Maldraxxus wasn’t as linear as Bastion. After the first two chapters, three of the remaining chapters unlocked simultaneously, and I could pursue them in any order I wished. That will make it more interesting to replay.

I was surprised — and very pleased — to discover a follow-up to the ending of the Bastion storyline; I’m not sure why that surprised me, but it did. Probably because it has been a long, long time since zone storylines were intertwined in such a way. Maybe because this particular questline seemed to be an even more thorough integration of leveling storylines between two zones than I can remember happening ever before (though of course there is much I have forgotten about the storylines of past expansions). I’d been planning to have Keliora do all of Bastion before turning on Threads of Fate; now I think I’ll take her through the first two chapters of Maldraxxus, then that specific chapter, too.

By the time I got to the fourth or fifth chapter, I was wondering what the connection between Maldraxxus and Ardenweald was going to be…

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Draka and the Necrolords; how many alts do I *really* need?

Draka is my favorite character in Warlords. Sorry, Yrel, I play Horde much, much more than Alliance — so as cool as Yrel’s story is, I spent a lot more time with Draka. After watching the new Afterlives: Maldraxxus short, I like Draka even more.

After watching that story, I find myself re-considering the Necrolords as a possible Covenant for my Human Mage. When Shadowlands was first announced and I started thinking about which characters I’d want to assign to which Covenant, I thought I’d do four Mages and tentatively assigned my yet-to-be-created Kul Tiran Mage to Necrolords because Blood Elf would be Venthyr because “duh, Kael’thas” and Void Elf would be Night Fae because blue & purple aesthetics and Human would be Kyrian because Stormwind-like aesthetics. Then the Covenant set previews came out and all my Mages said “nope nope nope” to the Maldraxxus aesthetics, and my Warlock stepped in and said “Hey that fits my style and also I can do Necrolords because I know strong and fight. I did what it took to survive after the Sunwell fell, learning how to draw on fel sources to supply my need for mana, and I’m not ashamed of it.” I still had my Human Mage tentatively assigned to Kyrian, but then my Blood Elf Priest happened. So then I thought my Human Mage might choose Night Fae or Venthyr instead, but oh no, not Necrolords. The ethos of fighting to survive and protect that Draka conveys in the Afterlives short, however, would also appeal to Kinevra, who is a survivor of Theramore and has helped the Kaldorei in their efforts to reclaim Darkshore. And due to their Afterlives short, the Kyrians would seem less appealing to Kinevra because she is not the type who would be relieved to let go of their traumatic memory of the destruction of Theramore, but would rather say “I am my scars” about it.

I wonder how the remaining Aferlives shorts will change my perspectives on the Night Fae and the Venthyr…?

~*~*~

Meanwhile, it is the beginning of the semester, which is often a time when I experience insomnia fueled by a combination of anxiety and going into creative overdrive to try to distract myself from the anxiety. I had a bout of insomnia a few nights ago because I was thinking about my Characters roster — which, after the addition of Keliora, is now 48 alts and therefore almost completely full — and cataloging how their appearances will change with the new customizations coming in Shadowlands — oh yes, I will be one of those who will spend all of the first and possibly the second nights of the pre-patch at the Barbershop just updating my characters’ appearances — and I began thinking that it might be time to dismiss some of my minor alts and convert their appearances into Alter-Egos of major alts.
* Do I really need two female Tauren Hunters? Kawneiha could easily be an Alter-Ego appearance for Ketura and still represent Kamalia (and Ketura)’s mother.
* Do I really need two female Tauren Monks? Kaobeka’s name is an anagram tribute to Akabeko of Red Cow Rise (whom I still dearly miss, after all these years), but she could continue being that as an Alter-Ego appearance of Katewatha — and I haven’t used Kaobeka’s skills as a Professions mule for some years now.
* Do I really need two female Tauren Death Knights? It’s been quite awhile now since I decided that the “Underpowered Death Knight” playstyle experiment had run its course. And if I used the “Kaumaleia” appearance as an Alter-Ego for Kregga, I could still file her clothes as “Things the Underpowered Death Knight Wears” rather than beginning to mix them in with Kregga’s outfits…
* Do I really need two female Tauren Shamans? Even if I’ve race-changed one of them to be Highmountain Tauren? Maybe I don’t really need Highmountain Tauren alts for all their available armor classes. Maybe just Kasheena the Druid will do for having a Highmountain Tauren on my roster. As much as I thought I wanted that Heritage Armor, I’ve certainly been struggling to find interest in spending playtime on leveling her…
But it’s hard to let go of alts I’ve had on my roster for a long time, and so thinking about dismissing these alts — even if I kept their appearances as new Alter-Egos of other characters — was stressful and kept me awake.

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