The Great Masquerade (Stormwind Raid Event)

[MongoJerry]

Note: Other Adventures of Neriad include:

• Onyxia<>
  
• Lord Lakmaeran<>
  
• Schooling Scholomance (Note: Image links broken until December due to bandwidth restrictions)<>
  [st]
  ADVENTURES OF NERIAD: The Great Masquerade
  
  As our doomed Onyxia raid group dissolved, Rynin and I coopted the remnants of the group and encouraged them to go to Stormwind to do the Stormwind raid event. The responses were enthusiastic ("Huh?" "What's that?" "Will it take long?"), so we headed there as quickly as we could, meeting Marshal Windsor on the bridge at the entrance to Stormwind.
  
  
  
  But but we're really in the middle of a quest storyline here. Enough people have asked me about where this quest line starts (the funniest requests are from those who ask me to "share" it with them) that I'll give a brief overview of the entire quest line up to this point. This is all an Alliance-only quest line, by the way, although from glimpses of Horde-only quests listed on Thotbott, I gather that there's a similar quest line available for them.
  
  1. The True Masters The quest line starts in Marshal's Refuge in the Burning Steppes with the quest titled The True Masters. Marshal Maxwell tells you that his expedition had accumulated enormous amounts of intelligence pertaining to the Blackrock menace, information that he had hoped would finally convince Stormwind to send an army to the Burning Steppes. But when the expedition's commanding officer, Marshal Windsor, was lost in an ambush, all of that precious information was lost with him. Maxwell asks you to speak with Ragged John, one of the few survivors of the ambush to get more information. When you speak with Ragged John, he tells you that Windsor was taken alive into Blackrock Depths.
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  2. Marshal Windsor After reporting this news to Maxwell, he asks you to enter Blackrock Depths and find out what became of Marshal Windsor.
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  3. Abandoned Hope You find Marshal Windsor in a prison cell in Blackrock Depths. He tells you that all of his precious information is lost. It is here that we get the first hint of what is to come:
     
     [Bolvar, chancellor of Stormwind] is a blind buffoon. Proof stands two feet away from him and he does not see.
     
     As for my data, it's lost. Gone. Unrecoverable.
     
     Should I ever find Ironfoe and make it out of this labyrinth, my first stop will be Stormwind, to place my hammer in between that reptile's eyes.
     
     When you return to Marshal Maxwell to give him the bad news, you get an experience reward but no followup quest. To all appearances, the quest line has ended.
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  4. A Crumpled Up Note But this is an illusion, because the next time you enter Blackrock Depths "A Crumpled Up Note" will drop for you off a random mob. The note is barely legible, but there is the mention that the Dark Iron dwarfs are trying to decrypt Windsor's information. The quest that you get off the note asks you to take it to Marshal Windsor.
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  5. A Shred of Hope When you show the note to Marshal Windsor, he gets excited. The note indicates that General Angerforge and the golem lord Argelmach are heading up the Dark Iron dwarfs' decryption effort. Windsor asks you to kill these two Blackrock Depths minibosses and retrieve the information for him.
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  6. Jail Break! This is the mother of all escort quests. When you retrieve Windsor's information, he asks you to help him escape. But heading directly to the door isn't good enough for him. First, you have to help one of his buddies escape. Then, you have to help Windsor get his gear in the storage room. Then, you have to help him beat up on other prisoners for the fun of it (Windsor is a vindictive fellow). Then, after escorting him around two full loops of the prison level, you rescue one of his other buddies. Then and only then does he consider the exit door a good option. It took a group of four level 60's (admittedly not the best configuration -- 2 warriors, 1 druid, and 1 priest) more than an hour and a half to complete this quest. (Hint: Clear the whole d*** prison level before starting the escort). At the end of it, Windsor asks you to meet him back at Marshal's Refuge.
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  7. Stormwind Rendezvous (Not listed on Thotbott) But when you get there, Marshal Maxwell informs you that Windsor had just left and had left a message for you to meet him at the gates of Stormwind. And also, bring an army.<>
     [st]
     
     
     By this time, our "army" had dwindled to twelve people, and several of those people were threatening to leave. Some of our party were still on their way to Stormwind, and I had to choose whether to wait and risk people leaving or to start the escort quest immediately and hope that those who were still traveling could meet us along the way. I had heard from others that this quest needed about 25 people to win (keep in mind this was only a couple of days after the patch had been released), so at this point our group was figuring we would just do as much of the escort as we could for the sake of seeing what we were up against. None of us expected to win. I chose to start the escort and hope for the best, and just as I was clicking the "Accept" button, Marshal Windsor disappeared.
     
     What the...? I don't quite understand how it works, but I understand that he only appears at the bridge for about a minute. You then have to wait some amount of time for him to appear again. (5 mins? 10 mins?) I looked around, left the area, came back, left the area again, and then someone yelled that Windsor had come back. In some ways this was a good thing for our group, since it allowed those who were still traveling to arrive. We started the escort quest right away this time.
     
     
     
     After we escorted Marshal Windsor a few paces, General Marcus Jonathan, who keeps vigil at the Stormwind city entrance, dismounted from his horse and brought forward a line of guards. I hadn't expected this. I had heard about there being a fight in Stormwind Keep, but I hadn't heard about a fight at the bridge. Our tiny crew would be no match in a fight against General Marcus Jonathan and six Stormwind guards simultaneously -- along with more guards both behind and in front of us who might aggro against us as well. We then witnessed this conversation:
     
     General Marcus Jonathan says: Reginald, you know that I can't let you pass.
     Reginald Windsor says: You must do what you think is right, Marcus. We served together under Turalyon. He made us both the men that we are today. Did he err with me? Do you truly believe my intent is to cause harm to our alliance? Would I shame our heroes?
     Reginald Windsor says: Holding me here is not the right decision, Marcus.
     General Marcus Jonathan appears lost in contemplation.
     General Marcus Jonathan says: I am ashamed, old friend. I know not what I do anymore. It is not you that would dare bring shame to the heroes of legend -- it is I. It is I and the rest of these corrupt politicians. They fill our lives with empty promises, unending lies.
     General Marcus Jonathan says: We shame our ancestors. We shame those lost to us... forgive me, Reginald.
     Reginald Windsor says: Dear friend, you honor them with your vigilant watch. You are steadfast in your allegiance. I do not doubt for a moment that you would not give as great a sacrifice for your people as any of the heroes you stand under.
     Reginald Windsor says: Now, it is time to bring her reign to an end, Marcus. Stand down, friend.
     General Marcus Jonathan says: Stand down! Can you not see that heroes walk among us?
     
     
     
     Lady Katrana Prestor yells: Seize him! Seize the worthless criminal and his allies!
     General Marcus Jonathan says: Move aside! Let them pass!
     General Marcus Jonathan yells: Reginald Windsor is not to be harmed! He shall pass through untouched!
     
     The guards on each side of General Marcus Jonathan moved to the side of the road and bowed.
     
     
     
     General Marcus Jonathan says: Go, Reginald. May the light guide your hand.
     Reginald Windsor says: Thank you, old friend. You have done the right thing.
     Reginald Windsor says: Follow me, friends. To Stormwind Keep!
     
     Marshal Reginald Windsor then led a procession into the city of Stormwind.
     
     
     
     We got many curious looks from the other mostly low level players in the area. We posted on the general chat channel messages asking if any high-level players wanted to join the raid, but only medium to low level players responded. A couple of players in their low 40's were really enthusiastic about joining the raid, even though they had no clue what it was about. I figured, why not let them in? We were just checking out the event to find out what happens. The more the merrier, I say.
     
     
     
     Marshal Windsor paused at the door of Stormwind Keep.
     
     Reginald Windsor says: Be brave, friends. The reptile will thrash wildly. It is an act of desperation. When you are ready, give me the word.
     
     He waited there for someone to talk to him. This is a nice touch on the part of the developers to give a party a chance to finish gathering, buffing, and medding.
     
     
     
     We gave Windsor the word, and he and our small party proceeded up the sloping entrance hall to the receiving room where the boy king, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, and Lady Katrana Prestor a.k.a. Onyxia, the dragon, awaited us.
     
     UP NEXT: Lady Onyxia unveiled!

[MongoJerry]

ADVENTURES OF NERIAD: The Great Masquerade, part II

Marshal Windsor confronted Lady Katrana Prestor.

Reginald Windsor says: Bolvar, have the King escorted away from here.
Reginald Windsor says: The masquerade is over, Lady Prestor. Or should I call you by your true name... Onyxia...
Lady Katrana Prestor laughs.
Lady Katrana Prestor says: You will be incarcerated and tried for treason, Windsor. I shall watch with glee as they hand down a guilty verdict and sentence you to death by hanging...
Lady Katrana Prestor says: And as your limp body dangles from the rafters, I shall take pleasure in knowing that a mad man has been put to death. After all, what proof do you have? Did you expect to come in here and point your fingers at royalty and leave unscathed?
Reginald Windsor says: You will not escape your fate, Onyxia. It has been prophesied -- a vision resonating from the great halls of Kharazan. It ends now...



Reginald Windsor reaches into his pack and pulls out the encoded tablets.
Reginald Windsor says: The Dark Iron's thought these tablets to be encoded. This is not any form of coding, it is the tongue of an ancient dragon.
Reginald Windsor says: Listen, dragon. Let the truth resonate throughout these halls.
Reginald Windsor reads from the tablets. Unknown, unheard sounds flow through your consciousness.



Lady Katrana Prestor turned into Lady Onyxia

Lady Onyxia says: Curious... Windsor, in this vision, did you survive? I only ask because one thing that I can and will assure is your death. Here and now.

My muscles tensed and my fingers twitched over the keyboard hotkeys. Battle was imminent...

And then nothing happened. We stood there staring at this scene for a couple of minutes. Lady Onyxia sat there, Marshal Windsor sat there, and no NPC moved. I walked around the room. I even went up to Bolvar and got the unrelated quest off him. I then submitted a GM petition in the vain hope that a GM would know how to get the event to continue. I was worried, because I knew that a good portion of our party wouldn't stick around for a second try if it became necessary.

(Note: After seeing the real Onyxia, I couldn't help but be disappointed by seeing this lowly dragonkin model of her. If there are any Blizzard developers reading this, could you change it so that it uses the full Onyxia instance model for this encounter? It would be far more eye-popping to see a full dragon spawn right in the middle of Stormwind.)

Then all at once, due to no apparent triggering event, Lady Onyxia called her guards.



The eight Stormwind guards in the receiving room turned out to be dragonkin in disguise. Lady Onyxia shot some kind of magic bolt at Marshal Windsor, instantly killing him.



The eight Onyxia's Elite Guards charged forward while Onyxia herself teleported away. Battle was joined!



Things didn't look good for our heroes, but the group was going to make the best of the situation. The party's two druids each slept a guard while the paladins and rogues tried to stun or daze as many of them as they could.



But there were so many guards and they hit so hard that the losses for the party were starting to mount. We had all gone into this encounter with the expectation that we were just going to see what the event was like and never really expected to win. One person commented during the battle that we really needed a 40-person party to do this and a second person agreed. I didn't concede things that far. But a 20 person party seemed necessary.

Then came the moment that changed the battle completely: I saw a feared Onyxia's Elite Guard run by me. I don't know if it was Jesica, our other priest, or Inadel, our warlock, who feared the guard, but whoever it was bloody brilliant, as the English would say. As a priest, I'm not used to using Psychic Scream in PvE situations, other than when I'm running for the hills, because of the fear that it would cause even more mobs to aggro. But we were fighting in an enclosed space with no enemy mobs nearby. I ran to the main mass of guards and hit Psychic Scream.

[MongoJerry]

Onyxia's Elite Guards flew in every direction. What's more, they aggroed normal Stormwind Guards who, in a funny twist, joined the fray on behalf of the party! I sent out the call:

Neriad: AoE fear and stun for the win.

Without needing to discuss it, Jesica and I set up a Psychic Scream rotation. Between the two priests and our warlock fearing and dotting everything, the paladins and rogues stunning anything that resisted the fears, and the druids sleeping everything else, the Onyxia's Elite Guards stood no chance.



The Psychic Scream rotation also gave us another benefit -- it gave us a chance to breathe. The fight until that point had been very panicked, and damage had been spread out over several different Onyxia's Elite Guards as people tried to just contribute anything to the battle. Once we got a chance to breathe, we were able to coordinate and focus our fire on one target at a time. One Onyxia's Elite Guard after another fell.



The king himself was no help at all.



And in a few moments, it was all over. Onyxia had teleported away, her guards were dead, and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon was no longer under Onyxia's control.

Highlord Bolvar Fordragon says: Reginald... I... I am sorry.
Reginald Windsor says: Bol... Bolvar... Seek... S... Lothar...
Reginald Windsor dies.



Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, now free of Onyxia's influence, tells adventurers to seek out Onyxia and destroy her. But to gain access to her lair, one must take a fragment of the Dragon's Eye medallion to a member of a different dragonflight who might be willing to help. It is the only way to obtain a key that would allow one access to Onyxia's lair.

That is, it's the only way other than getting one from the goblin named Elogit (note: Tigole spelled backwards) who stands in front of Onyxia's Lair handing them out for free. Ahhh... nothing like playing a beta.

[Bolty]

Truly awesome quests. My only worry is that the quest line to get up to these is too complicated. Too many links in the chain. One chain that's longer is the whole Van Cleef line that leads up to killing him and beyond, and few people actually ever get to the end of that one.

-Bolty

[MongoJerry]

Truly awesome quests.  My only worry is that the quest line to get up to these is too complicated.  Too many links in the chain.  One chain that's longer is the whole Van Cleef line that leads up to killing him and beyond, and few people actually ever get to the end of that one.

Very true, but if one is required to do this to get to Onyxia (Elogit, the goblin, is only for beta), then there will be a lot of impetus to do these other steps. Also, keep in mind that these are very high level quests -- mid-50's to level 60 -- so it's not unreasonable to expect people to go into an instance like Blackrock Depths multiple times. In fact, many quest series for all the high level instances seem to assume that you will go into them several times.

[Lissa]

Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, now free of Onyxia's influence, tells adventurers to seek out Onyxia and destroy her.&nbsp; But to gain access to her lair, one must take a fragment of the Dragon's Eye medallion to a member of a different dragonflight who might be willing to help.&nbsp; It is the only way to obtain a key that would allow one access to Onyxia's lair.

That is, it's the only way other than getting one from the goblin named Elogit (note: Tigole spelled backwards) who stands in front of Onyxia's Lair handing them out for free.&nbsp; Ahhh... nothing like playing a beta.
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My bet is the other dragonflight that will help is the blues in Azshara (why else would they be there...seems silly they would only be there for the dragon leather master series).

[MongoJerry]

My bet is the other dragonflight that will help is the blues in Azshara (why else would they be there...seems silly they would only be there for the dragon leather master series).

If you meant the blues in Winterspring, you are correct. They also come in to play with a little crying whelp in Blackrock Spire.

[BEEFMOTRTON]

Awesome write up as always.

Have you done the tirion fordring quest line yet? If not I highly recommend it.

He's at a house at the north of the river seperating the questlines. It starts off slow with 3 easy collection quests, but gets really cool and has a great finale that involves you transforming into a member of the scarlet crusade. Not as impressive this one you just wrote about, but cool nonetheless. Also after you complete the final part, you get a choice of 5 very nice rewards, and I'm sure you'll like at least one of the rewards.

[MongoJerry]

He's at a house at the north of the river seperating the questlines.

You mean seperating the plaguelands? Is the house on the actual river? I admit I need to do more of the plaguelands quests, but I've been playing my hunter a lot lately when not doing raid groups with Neriad. Maybe when Pandarus is big enough, I'll do plaguelands quests with him to see what they're like.

[DoubleNeg]

You mean seperating the plaguelands?&nbsp; Is the house on the actual river?&nbsp; I admit I need to do more of the plaguelands quests, but I've been playing my hunter a lot lately when not doing raid groups with Neriad.&nbsp; Maybe when Pandarus is big enough, I'll do plaguelands quests with him to see what they're like.
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Its actually on the river, you follow the river up north, it is right next to a tunnel that goes to Plaugewood. In the tunnel is another quest, one for a speical vendor in it. He only sells Fungus though, I hope that changes since its a streach to find him in there.

If you visit Tirlon, I suggest you hang around until he attacks something, his battle cry is "say hello to my little freind"

[Lissa]

If you meant the blues in Winterspring, you are correct.&nbsp; They also come in to play with a little crying whelp in Blackrock Spire.
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Well, yes and no. I forgot about the blues in Winterspring, but there are blues in Azshara too in the south central part of the map. It's where the Master Dragon Leatherworking guy is.

Also, I just remembered, there may be a red group too that might be willing given the situation in eastern Wetlands (which should eventually turn into an Instance or possibly a Raid area).

[Lissa]

Awesome write up as always.

Have you done the tirion fordring quest line yet? If not I highly recommend it.

He's at a house at the north of the river seperating the questlines. It starts off slow with 3 easy collection quests, but gets really cool and has a great finale that involves you transforming into a member of the scarlet crusade. Not as impressive this one you just wrote about, but cool nonetheless. Also after you complete the final part, you get a choice of 5 very nice rewards, and I'm sure you'll like at least one of the rewards.
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Not sure I would ever want to join the Scarlet Crusade after seeing who's running them. I actually have more sympathy for the Forsaken after witnessing the power behind the throne in the Crusade (and if you want to find out, you need to run Stratlhome cause I'm not saying... :P ).

[Ruvanal]

Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, now free of Onyxia's influence, tells adventurers to seek out Onyxia and destroy her.&nbsp; But to gain access to her lair, one must take a fragment of the Dragon's Eye medallion to a member of a different dragonflight who might be willing to help.&nbsp; It is the only way to obtain a key that would allow one access to Onyxia's lair.

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Looking at this part of the quest description:

"Where to find other flights willing to help? Sadly, I do not know... They are said to exist. Some may even work and live among us, disguised as one of the humanoid races. I wish you luck."

It seems like a sort of blunt way to indicate that you should be looking for the next step among the humanoid inhabitants. I would suggest that hunters that have the dragon traking ability to start scouring all the places that they can for dragon readings that are out of place. Personally, the first place I would check would be the top of Jania Proudmore's tower; something has always seemed out of charcter there with how they handled the end of the Missing Ambassador quest line and the 'lack' of realising what happened at the Shady Rest Inn.

[BEEFMOTRTON]

I miscommunicated. By "transform into a member of the scarlet crusade" I mean that you get a disguise that serves as an ILLUSION, so that you appear as a member of the scarlet crusade, for purposes I won't give away.

And yes the Stratholme bit is great :)

[Rinnhart]

And yes the Stratholme bit is great :)
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Stop baiting the open beta characters, people! I've already got alot of ground to recover once retail goes live. ;)

[LavCat]

Truly awesome quests.&nbsp; My only worry is that the quest line to get up to these is too complicated.&nbsp; Too many links in the chain.&nbsp; One chain that's longer is the whole Van Cleef line that leads up to killing him and beyond, and few people actually ever get to the end of that one.

-Bolty
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I don't think the problem is with the level of complication of the quests. While I have enjoyed a few evenings of pickup raid groups and parties, the last time I could get a guild group to finish an instance was for Van Cleef. And that was a while ago.

[Bolty]

While I&nbsp; have enjoyed a few evenings of pickup raid groups and parties, the last time I could get a guild group to finish an instance was for Van Cleef.&nbsp; And that was a while ago.
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That's also just about the only instance I saw anyone creating recruiting threads for.

If you want a guild party to hit an instance/raid, you need to advertise a time and place to meet - we have far too few people here to make pickup groups with.

-Bolty

[Tal]

That's also just about the only instance I saw anyone creating recruiting threads for.

If you want a guild party to hit an instance/raid, you need to advertise a time and place to meet - we have far too few people here to make pickup groups with.

-Bolty
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*cough* ;) Just teasing I know you said "just about" and felt like teasing you. If someone posts what they need help with and when I can see about help out. Assuming you don't mind a level 60 blowing your XP outta the water. :P

[LavCat]

Looking at this part of the quest description:

"Where to find other flights willing to help? Sadly, I do not know... They are said to exist. Some may even work and live among us, disguised as one of the humanoid races. I wish you luck."

It seems like a sort of blunt way to indicate that you should be looking for the next step among the humanoid inhabitants.&nbsp; I would suggest that hunters that have the dragon traking ability to start scouring all the places that they can for dragon readings that are out of place.&nbsp; Personally, the first place I would check would be the top of Jania Proudmore's tower; something has always seemed out of charcter there with how they handled the end of the Missing Ambassador quest line and the 'lack' of realising what happened at the Shady Rest Inn.
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Don't know if it would help, but Chromie confided to me tonight that she was really a dragon. Of course she could have been teasing.

[MongoJerry]

That's also just about the only instance I saw anyone creating recruiting threads for.

Edit: OK, so I took Bolty's post out of context. I thought he was saying *in general* rather than "guild" instance runs. Since I really don't think of the LL as a "guild," I didn't make the connection.


You have got to be kidding me. I see advertisements for Gnomeregan, Scarlet Monastery, Uldaman, Zul'Farrak, the Sunken Temple, Blackrock Depths, Blackrock Spire, Stratholme, and Scholomance instance groups in Ironforge *all the time*. Not only that, but my hunter managed to get in a group going to the rare-for-alliance-to-go Razorfen Downs. Understand that most people do not know Pandarus=Neriad, so all of these pickup groups (up to the Temple, he's only level 53 now) thought they were getting just some random hunter. I didn't pull any strings on any contacts I had made previously.

Seriously, if you want to join a pickup group going into an instance and yet no one's advertising a group, make one yourself! Start off with "LFG Scarlet Monastery (lvl 38 mage)." If no group invites you, what frequently happens to me is that someone else who's shy about creating groups themselves will message me about joining *my* group. If that happens, then I invite them and start posting, "LFM Scarlet Monstery." It usually doesn't take long to get another person that way. Then, you start messaging ungrouped people in the right level range ("/who priest 35-45") with "Hi! Want to join a Scarlet Monastery group? You'd be our (fourth or fifth)?" In nearly all cases, I've been able to form a pickup group for an instance within 15 minutes.

There are dozens of people like you out there who want to join instance runs. You just have to be willing to take the initiative to create a group if you can't find a group needing your services right away.

One last thing is that as you go on more and more of these instance runs, start adding people you liked playing with to your friend's list. Your friend's list will become a great resource for starting future instance groups together or for filling out instance groups you're already involved in.