Spritecaster Cape
Rare
Binds when picked up
Back
37 Armor
+4 Stamina
+4 Intellect
+5 Spirit
Requires Level 47
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 14.
Lunatori's lucky hands really had pulled out the Spritecaster Cape.
"Luna, roll with me."
Dire Maul was not open yet, so there was no Feral Cloak or Cloak of the Cosmos. Since even Mages did not want to grind for Archivist Cape, how could they expect healers to do it?
Gabryell rolled first.
Lunatori rolled next.
A very nice number, but unfortunately, not nice enough. The cape went to Gabryell.
He equipped it and said, "We'll be running BRD more than once. This has a pretty good drop rate, so it'll be everywhere soon enough."
That was the truth. High Interrogator Gerstahn was not difficult, and Spritecaster Cape dropped often enough. Before long, most people who wanted one would have it.
In fact, before raids opened, once players reached max level, most of what they could do was farm BRD and the big three level-60 dungeons every day until they were sick of them. Aside from a few pieces with absurdly low drop rates, most gear would become common very quickly.
"Next one's mine," Lunatori said.
She was not the type to obsess over one piece of gear. If it had been Igor, he would probably have grumbled about it for half the run.
"I got the Prison Cell Key," she added. "White item. It went straight into my bag."
"That's fine," Gabryell said. "It always drops. As long as one of us has it, we're good."
It did not matter who held the key, as long as they could open the cell doors.
"Keep moving."
After killing the Interrogator, they continued forward and reached the prison cells ahead.
"Clear the mobs first. Luna, open the door after."
Marshal Windsor was inside.
This miserable Alliance marshal had been abandoned by Stormwind's own elite. He had probably spent every day inside the Dark Iron prison cursing at the walls and calling Bolvar Fordragon an idiot.
Once the mobs were cleared, Lunatori opened the door, and the fallen marshal appeared before them.
"Bolvar Fordragon is a fool. I have been gathering evidence all this time, enough to bring that creature down for good. The proof is sitting right in front of him, piled high, and he still refuses to see it. If I can find the Ironfel and get out of this damned place, the first thing I'll do is march back to Stormwind and cut that vile monster in two."
Then he snapped, "Stay away from me, Ogabs!"
The first time they met Marshal Windsor, he showed no gratitude at all. He had no intention of leaving. In fact, he told them to get lost and stop bothering him.
"Damn," Igor said, annoyed. "Did prison break his brain or something? We came to save him, and he's telling us to piss off?"
Carlos frowned. "Sounds like he's trashing Stormwind's regent."
Hugo was confused. "He called the regent an idiot. Is this guy trying to rebel? No wonder nobody came to get him."
"He's not wrong," Gabryell said.
The others looked at him.
"Bolvar Fordragon is an idiot," he said. "He let himself get played by a dragon, and Stormwind's people paid the price."
As regent, Bolvar had spent years being manipulated by Lady Katrana Prestor, Onyxia in disguise. Under her influence, Stormwind's ruling class had rotted from the inside.
VanCleef was one of the clearest victims.
That was why Gryan Stoutmantle had to form the People's Militia of Westfall, and why Lord Ello Ebonlocke had to create the Night Watch to defend Darkshire almost on his own. With Onyxia manipulating Bolvar and the Stormwind court from within, the nobles had grown blind, decadent, and useless. Beyond the city walls, Stormwind's people were simply left to suffer.
Marshal Windsor had discovered the root of the problem. Because he had offended Onyxia, Bolvar exiled him to the Burning Steppes and left him to fight the Blackrock orcs alone.
The worst part was that he had been sent out with no real troops and no supplies. With nothing to work with, Windsor was eventually captured by the Dark Iron dwarves and reduced to his current state.
No wonder he cursed Bolvar every day.
Anyone in his position would have done the same.
"Let's go find Kharan Mighthammer first."
Instead of going straight back to Maxwell, they continued forward to find Kharan's cell. Doing the BRD princess chain at the same time was the most efficient route.
Kharan Mighthammer was not imprisoned far from Windsor. They quickly cleared their way over, Lunatori opened the door, and everyone went in to turn in the quest and hear his story.
After Kharan finished, they received the next quest: The Bad News. They had to bring his story back to Magni Bronzebeard in Ironforge.
"Back to Ironforge to turn this in, then we go to the Burning Steppes."
Gabryell opened a portal on the spot, and the group returned to Ironforge.
After arriving, he did not forget to whisper David and Susie, reminding them to finish both quests before coming back. Otherwise, they would have to make an extra trip.
They went straight to The High Seat, found Bronzebeard, and delivered the bad news.
"It seems my old rival, Dagran Thaurissan, has placed both me and Ironforge within his grasp. You may be my last hope. You must save my dear daughter, Moira!"
"There is only one way to break the spell Thaurissan has cast on Moira, and that is to kill him."
"And do not harm Moira! Remember, she is under Thaurissan's control. Everything she does and says is the result of his evil spell!"
Bronzebeard's words were extremely important. Players who did not read the quest text carefully would almost certainly fall into the trap and kill Moira first because she healed Thaurissan.
But if Moira died, how could they still save her?
The quest would naturally fail.
On top of that, Blizzard had designed the encounter in an especially frustrating way. If a player had not completed the princess chain, killing Moira would not even drop gear. Killing her would be completely pointless.
"I think Magni is an idiot too," Hugo said.
"Why?" Carlos asked.
"Look at his health bar," Hugo said matter-of-factly. "He could rescue her himself."
Gabryell immediately shut that down. "He's the king of Ironforge. If he personally walks into BRD to save his daughter and gets ambushed, captured by a black dragon, or grabbed by Ragnaros, then what? Ironforge loses its king too?"
Stormwind's King Varian Wrynn had just been kidnapped and gone missing. As long as Bronzebeard had any sense, he would not leave Ironforge and risk mysteriously disappearing the same way.
Hugo thought about it for a moment.
All right.
Maybe he was the stupid one this time.
After accepting the next step of the princess chain, they could continue Marshal Windsor's rescue questline.
"Now go to the Burning Steppes and find Maxwell."
They flew back, found Marshal Maxwell, and told him Windsor was still alive.
"Clearly, he has gone mad."
Maxwell lowered his head sadly. "A warrior who was once so honorable and noble has now become a rambling fool. I suppose we've reached a dead end...
"In any case, I must reward you for your efforts."
Clearly, Windsor was not the one who had gone mad.
Stormwind's entire ruling class had lost its mind, and Bolvar was sitting at the center of it with his head full of rocks.
Gabryell suddenly had a wicked thought.
Had Bolvar ever slept with Onyxia?
If she wanted to seduce and control Stormwind's regent, surely she had done more than whisper in his ear. Maybe she had wrapped him around her finger in every possible way and left him completely bewitched.
For all he knew, half of Stormwind's nobles had been "favored" by the Black Dragon Princess.
Onyxia really was a dragon among dragons. One woman had played Stormwind's entire elite like toys.
Old legends had men falling for monsters in beautiful disguises.
Azeroth had Stormwind's finest getting played by a dragon in human skin.
"Wait, where's the follow-up?" Carlos asked.
Maxwell gave no new quest, leaving the others stunned.
It made no sense. How could the chain just stop here?
"That's it?" Carlos linked the reward he had chosen, a pair of green plate boots. "The quest ends here and all we get is this junk?"
When Marshal Windsor's chain reached this point, new players doing it for the first time would all be confused. Most of them would assume the quest had ended there, then start cursing Blizzard for designing such a half-finished mess.
Only when those players returned to Blackrock Depths later and looted A Crumpled Up Note would they suddenly realize the chain actually continued.
Holy crap.
So that was the follow-up?
What a scam.
Only players who kept going would eventually uncover the truth behind the Onyxia attunement questline.
If Gabryell had not been reborn, he would have cursed Blizzard just like everyone else for making such an incomplete-looking quest just to trick players.
"Back to BRD."
The mobs in the Detention Block would not have respawned that quickly. If they went back now and cleared the ring of mobs around the arena, everyone should be able to get A Crumpled Up Note and continue to the next step.