In the afternoon, Jesse and Gerred met at a newly opened tavern near the gate of Stormwind City. They sorted out their travel luggage. Gerred brought a lot of things for this trip.
"My logging axe and small round shield, the Stromgarde straight sword won from that prince, cheese, a flagon of strong liquor, and a beast trap. Alright, almost everything is brought."
"Beast trap?" Jesse raised his head and looked at Gerred's hand. He saw the black iron beast trap on the table.
Gerred said, "You want to find the Claws of Evil. We can set traps in the areas where wolves appear in Duskwood and attract them with meat... Isn't this much safer than fighting those beasts head-on?"
"That's true." Jesse said, "But it might take a long time."
Gerred tied up the beast trap and put it on his back. He said, "It should be fine. I'm also an old hunter from Hinterlands. What about you? What did you bring?"
Jesse replied, "Just some regular things. Marks and diagrams that help us find herbs. This is the most important. There are also dry bread and dried meat crumbs... Of course, the dried meat crumbs are for us two to eat."
Gerred hung the strap of the small round shield on his waist and nodded. He said, "I know. In Duskwood, we can find materials locally."
Jesse forced a smile and said, "Not so good. The people buried in the Raven Hill Cemetery are all heroes from past wars."
Gerred turned his head and asked, "What does bait have to do with the cemetery?"
At this point, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Do you want to dig up corpses as bait to lure those animals? Brother, is there something wrong with your mental state? I mean catching some small animals..."
Jesse quickly said, "Ah, maybe I've heard too many horror stories told by the patrolmen. They all said that the animals over there like to eat human corpses. We were just talking about the Raven Hill Cemetery. And then you want to find materials locally..."
Gerred's expression changed and he said, "Really? If that's the case... it's not a bad idea."
"Forget it." Jesse rummaged through his bag and said, "I also brought an extra coat. If we have to go deep into the tomb, we must change our clothes after getting out. The Raven Hill Cemetery has been seriously polluted by corpse poison. Some people who rashly enter it will have aftereffects. Maybe it's because they wear dirty clothes for too long."
"Did the patrolmen tell you this too?"
"Some were told to me by immigrants from Raven Hill and Grand Hamlet." Jesse picked up his bag and said, "Let's go after packing up. If we're late, I don't know if we can reach Westfall Spring by tonight."
Because Stormwind City has expanded its urban area and built a large number of new houses, it has accommodated thousands of new citizens. But there are still many refugees building tents inside and outside the Valley of Heroes.
Among them, many are disabled people with no means of survival. Some are elders and children whose homes have been destroyed and lost their sources of income.
Some priests from the Cathedral of Light are distributing food and taking care of the sick among these shabby tents. Some workers are helping these poor people repair torn tent cloth or other necessary tools.
The little king hopes to accommodate these refugees as much as possible. Especially many of them are refugees who have fled from Duskwood or Redridge Mountains. They are all citizens of the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Previously, they could be diverted to Goldshire. Now Goldshire also has refugee camps. Perhaps the new arrivals can only consider going to farther towns like Moonbrook.
Jesse walked to the city gate and looked at the children sitting in front of the tents and staring blankly at the gate of Stormwind City. He remembered when he first came to Stormwind City. Facing the devastated urban area, he didn't know if he could have a place to live here in the future.
Now he has managed to live here. But as for the future, no one can say for sure.
The two spent ten copper coins to get a wine transportation convoy to take them to the post station near Westfall Spring. After resting for one night, they took a carriage early the next morning and hurried to Sentinel Hill.
At this time, Westfall can by no means be called desolate. The name of Westfall in Common is closer to "a large flat area in the west".
The Harvest Festival is coming soon. The endless fields, the summer wheat fields are shining with golden ears. In the distance, the green woods that divide the wheat fields form a strong contrast.
One by one, scarecrows stand突兀ly on the slightly undulating plains, staring at every traveler on the passing carriage.
By the time they arrived at Sentinel Hill, it was already dark. In the game, it only takes a few minutes to walk to this place on foot. But here, taking a carriage actually took a whole day and a half. With the dense post stations along the way guarding, the main road in Westfall is still relatively safe.
Sitting in the carriage, they could see from afar the torches burning on the tall watchtower on the hillside.
This place is still very lively at night. Miners chat and drink on the street, looking at the foreign or local carriages that enter this post station from time to time.
Although it is called a post station, in fact, Sentinel Hill is almost reaching the scale of a small town.
The important town in the southwest of the kingdom - Moonbrook is the richest place in the kingdom except for the capital. This town has developed around a huge mine.
As the most important grain-producing area in the kingdom, Moonbrook at the center of this area has naturally become a major grain distribution center.
Due to the reconstruction work of the kingdom in the past two years, the demand for stone and minerals has surged. Moonbrook has quickly regained its prosperity before the orc war.
Taking advantage of this trend, Sentinel Hill, which was originally a transit station between Moonbrook and Elwynn region, has also benefited.
In addition, a new mining area has recently been discovered in the northwest of Sentinel Hill. Many miners from Moonbrook have moved here to look for new opportunities. This makes Sentinel Hill seem to have a trend of becoming a new town in Westfall.
The real scale here is much larger than in the game. It's like a town built in the wasteland next to the railway in American western movies. Only here the "railway" is the watchtower, barracks, and grain transportation route.
The damage caused by the orc war is also more intuitive than in the game. Some of the outermost houses have been burned down and have not been repaired until now.
The small church next to the lumberyard was severely damaged in the war. At this time, a group of construction workers are sleeping next to the stones and wood beside the main building of the church full of scaffolding. The miners and townspeople come and go, but it doesn't affect their sound sleep.
Jesse can see that this brand new town is still in short supply of manpower. There are recruitment notices everywhere. Whether it's miners, construction workers, or farm helpers, the prices are almost the same as those in Stormwind City.
No wonder Eden Marin was worried that he would come here to find a job. If he got used to life here or in Moonbrook, he might really not want to return to Stormwind City.
"See that slaughterhouse?" Gerred pointed to a small building at the corner ten meters away and said, "Tomorrow we can go there and buy some bone fragments or something as bait so that we won't be forced to dig up dead bodies."
"Even bone fragments are not cheap, especially in this situation of food shortage." Jesse said, "We can try hunting wild boars by the riverbank in the west and get meat or something?"
Jesse has no hunting experience. He just casually said it based on his understanding of the game.
Gerred said, "The Bloodfang wild boars in this area are notoriously violent. Even gnolls don't expect to hunt them for stable meat. Do you know why liver pies are so expensive? It's because only the livers of Bloodfang wild boars can make that taste... Hunting Bloodfang wild boars requires professional wild boar catchers."
Jesse asked, "You are from Hinterlands. Why do you know so much about wild boars in the south?"
Gerred replied, "When you live fifty more years, you will also know some useless knowledge from all corners. Jesse. But although those wild boars are quite fierce, they are much easier to deal with than the strange wolves in Duskwood."
Jesse said, "At least this way we'll die more quickly."
Gerred shook his head and said, "That's not necessarily true. For example, bears in Hinterlands don't like to kill their prey. They catch you alive and start eating from your least important part. When you can't feel pain anymore and accept your fate, they will just throw you away when you die. Just because they don't like dead things."
Jesse listened to his vivid description of how dwarves were eaten alive. He uncomfortably moved his legs and feet.
"The wolves here will bite off your throat first, right?"
Gerred said, "I guess so. Good news for a change."
As they talked, they walked into an inn and were surrounded by a strong smell of rust.
Jesse couldn't tell if this smell of rust was from the miners or the bloody smell coming from the butchers who had chopped up too many internal organs. In short, it smelled very uncomfortable.
Gerred ordered two glasses of ale. The two sat down and took out the prepared dry food and started eating.
The tavern was very noisy. At their neighboring table were several men and women in various travel outfits. They were talking very loudly.
But each of them was armed. Even if other customers felt a bit annoyed, they consciously stayed away from them.
"Some cowards, when they encounter things they've never seen before, will deliberately exaggerate what they see and hear." A strong man with a full black beard and a long-handled warhammer on his knee said, "In my opinion, there are no gnolls as tall as two people. It's just that the guards haven't had contact with gnolls for too long. So when they see them, they are so scared that they see them in nightmares."
"Do you mean there is no gnoll leader at all?" A woman with a hunting bow on her back said coldly.
The woman's voice was so rough that her gender characteristics were a bit blurred. Coupled with the fact that her originally not very clear blond hair was shaved extremely short. If you didn't look carefully, you might mistake her for a man.
If it weren't for the fact that she was both strong and had a lot of fat on her body, and her chest was bulging and the leather jacket was tightly bound by the bowstring, especially prominent, Jesse might have a hard time recognizing that she was a woman at first.
The skin of this group of people was very white. So white that it was even a bit dazzling. The blood vessels on it could be clearly seen. They might be from a very northern place.
A man in a white thin shirt sitting next to the woman said, "If the gnoll tribe loses its leader, it can quickly elect a new one. But if this new leader doesn't have the previous leadership, then the whole tribe will be in a slump for a while and engage in internal strife. I don't deny that the reason why gnolls are much more rampant recently is because of the emergence of a new powerful leader... But as tall as two people is too exaggerated."
"That's what I think." The black-bearded man said, "In the end, we may not be able to find any gnoll leader as tall as two people. No matter how many gnolls we kill, it will all be in vain... After all, the wanted notice requires a gnoll head twice as big."
The black-bearded man said, "Maybe little Wrynn wants to get something for nothing. Create an unattainable wanted condition. Then let us fools hunt gnolls everywhere and look for some big leader. In the end, there is nothing. They don't have to spend anything and reduce the number of gnolls in this area. But no one can claim the bounty!"
The man in white shirt said, "I don't think people with the name Wrynn would do such a despicable thing. In the end, it is their royal family's reputation that will be damaged."
The woman said, "I did some investigations in advance. Some miners and farmers did see huge gnolls. But I don't know... whether it's the same one as the one mentioned in the wanted notice."
The black-bearded man sneered and said, "The words of mercenaries can't be trusted. Let alone those cowardly miners and farmers!"
"What did you say?" A sturdy man slapped the table and stood up. The black-bearded man glanced at him sideways and just took a sip of wine.
"Daring to say such crap here. I think you're tired of living, hairy ghost!" Another miner said coldly.
Jesse slowly raised his glass and took a sip while covering his face. It seemed that a fierce fight was inevitable.
"By the Holy Light!" The man in white stood up and said to the people around, "For the sake of our common faith, everyone calm down. My friend had some conflicts with miners before. But it was a group of dwarf miners who provoked us. It's not referring to you..."
Gerred choked on his wine several times in a row when he heard this. He turned around and glared at the man. Only then did several customers nearby realize that this short and stocky strong man sitting here was actually a tall dwarf!
Jesse whispered to Gerred, "The dwarves from Aerie Peak haven't found the mine yet, right? What he said is either about the Dark Iron dwarves or the Bronzebeards from Loch Modan..."
Gerred turned back again with an expression that what you said really made sense.
"We have seen the big gnoll leader." Jesse raised his voice and said to the mercenaries there, "It's over there at Westfall Spring. If you follow the riverbank and look, I believe you will definitely find clues."
"It's not that I look down on you, kid." The black-bearded man glanced over here and said, "I don't believe that someone like you can survive after seeing such a gnoll."
"According to my rough estimate, his testicles are at least twenty times bigger than yours." Gerred said coldly, "Say one more word and see if I don't shove this glass up your backside."
At this point, Gerred shook the glass that was not much smaller than his head in front of his eyes with his left hand. His right hand was already on the table and tightly holding the hilt of the sword sticking out of the sack.
Jesse was still a bit worried that a real fight would delay the following matters. But now his mind couldn't get out of the concept of testicles twenty times bigger.
An enraged dwarf in a tavern has a considerable deterrent force in the human world. Now even the arrogant black-bearded man was a bit intimidated.
And the woman next to him had been staring at the sword in Gerred's hand. She leaned over and said something in the black-bearded man's ear. Judging from the lip movements, Jesse could tell that it should contain the word "Stromgarde".
"I just want to help, everyone." Jesse cleared his throat and said, "After all, if you can kill that giant gnoll, it will be good for the entire Kingdom of Stormwind. I sincerely hope that you can get that reward. But if you continue to be unfriendly, I think everyone here will be happy to help my friend shove his glass... up your... there."
The black-bearded man looked around and realized that he had really angered a large group of middle-aged and elderly laborers who had just climbed out of the mine.
The man in white sighed and said softly, "Clive, you should control your temper and stop causing trouble. This is not Northrend."
Northrend? So these people are from the continent of Northrend on the north shore of the Northern Sea. No wonder they have an accent that has never been heard before.
The tense atmosphere in the tavern gradually eased. The three people in the black-bearded man's group seemed to feel the unfriendliness in the inn. After whispering a few words to each other, they all went out.
After all, if they slept here and were targeted by people who sneaked into the inn room in the middle of the night and got their heads bashed in, it would be bad. The miners who have lived here for half their lives have many ways to make you die without knowing why.