As the crowd dispersed for the night, a Tauren stood on the street of the Crossroads outpost and grabbed his two companions.
"Do you two dare to take a trip with me?"
The two he held were McKai, a male Troll Shaman, and Bergrist, a male Undead Mage. The Tauren himself was Chief Thunder-Skin, the leader of a small Tauren clan and a hunter. These three were inseparable, cross-racial friends, but it wasn't swords or magic that brought them together—it was music.
Thunder-Skin's lifelong dream was to form his own band. He had even picked out a name: "The Tauren Chieftains." He had been a music lover since childhood. One day, after scavenging a human guitar, a drum kit, and some records from military spoils, he became completely obsessed with a never-before-seen and incredibly exciting genre: Rock and Roll!
From then on, this hunter never picked up a weapon or tamed another pet. Instead, he spent his days accompanied by instruments, treating his records like treasures. Even within the Tauren tribes, and certainly within the entire Horde, this was considered very strange behavior.
Having suffered from a lack of "kindred spirits," he later met these two, and the three of them hit it off immediately. They divided the labor: Thunder-Skin served as the band leader and drummer, McKai was the bassist, and Bergrist became the guitarist. The undead mage even commissioned a custom-made, aggressive-looking guitar in the shape of an Arcanite Reaper axe.
The problem was that the singing voices of all three belonged to the "please stop" category. Consequently, despite their instrumental skills being top-notch, the band had never truly formed. What they lacked was a perfect lead singer—someone whose voice could be either ethereal and piercing enough to reach the heavens, or heroic and powerful enough to make one's blood boil.
This was why they had come to the Crossroads. But after staying for over a month, the place offered nothing but passing adventurers and Kilhara's daily broadcast of rumors. No one was interested in music, and no one wanted to be part of a band. Occasionally they had the chance to perform, but the hurried adventurers would clap briefly before picking up their weapons and returning to the cycle of completing quests and collecting bounties.
Today, however, the combination of the words "Goldshire," "Tirion Fordring," "Eitrigg," and "Medivh" gave Thunder-Skin hope. He began to explain his plan to his two partners.
They could disguise themselves and head to Elwynn Forest. Since Goldshire was outside the city, it gave them a chance to approach the "Net Cafe" at night. As Kilhara said, since Tirion Fordring was acting on Eitrigg's request, he would surely treat the Horde kindly. Moreover, if the three of them only brought instruments and no weapons, as long as they showed no hostility, the Alliance would have no reason to target them.
Furthermore, for years their search for a lead singer had been limited to these outposts and towns in the Barrens. Thunder-Skin believed they should see the Eastern Kingdoms—whether it was Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, or even Blood Elves, they needed to look. Especially the Humans, since these instruments and rock music had originated with them. The fact that so many people gathered at this net cafe undoubtedly made their search easier.
Finally, there was Medivh. If Medivh truly had gone to the net cafe, then even if they found nothing else, getting the chance to perform a song for him would make the name of the Tauren Chieftains echo across all of Azeroth!
It had to be said, this was a very bold plan—one where even the logic behind it was flawed...
But McKai and Bergrist scratched their respective mohawks and immediately replied with one word: "Let's go!"
The shortest route to Goldshire was east from the Crossroads. About a day's journey would lead to the goblin-run city of Ratchet, where they could take a ship to Booty Bay, then head north through Duskwood. The three set out overnight and arrived in Ratchet by the following afternoon, driving their mounts. From a distance, they saw the Lady Luck, the ship that traveled between the two continents, docked at the harbor as passengers were boarding.
After a period of bustling around, they finally entered the cabin, arranged their luggage, and prepared to rest. At that moment, they heard a shrill voice cursing loudly from the room next door:
"This time at the net cafe, I'm going to make that kid bleed!" "He even dared to trick the clever Goblin Noggenfogger!" "I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
Wooden ships offered poor soundproofing, and with the voice being so sharp, the three had "ears against the wall" and heard everything clearly.
A voice that sounded like a subordinate said, "Boss, how do you plan to fix that kid?"
"How? By making him pay! He tricked me out of 500 gold; he'll have to pay back 5,000! No! 50,000!"
Bergrist pushed the massive Thunder-Skin aside and inserted his long, undead fingernail into a crack in the wooden wall, prying it slightly. Since he was already "dead," he felt nothing even as his nail strained. Through the tiny gap, he looked through. There were four goblins in the room, and the one cursing the net cafe was their leader.
Subordinate: "Boss, I heard... the net cafe has moved. It's built like a fortress now. And many big shots from the Alliance play games there every day. If we make a move... I guess..."
He saw that his words clearly annoyed the leader and didn't dare continue.
Leader: "Nonsense! The more people, the better! More witnesses to ensure that kid can't back out! Look at this, look! It simply won't open!" He took out a pair of glasses from his bag and fiddled with them.
Subordinate: "But boss... the owner... no... that kid said not to open it mid-journey..."
The leader was exasperated: "Does it make a difference?! He's a swindler! He just wanted to trick us into reaching Gadgetzan before we found out!" He paused and glared at his three goblin subordinates. "It's late November now. If any of you dare to breathe a word of this... forget about your year-end bonus!"
The three subordinates didn't dare voice their anger and repeatedly vowed to keep their mouths shut.
The leader calmed down slightly. "Hmph, anyone who dares cross me, Marin Noggenfogger, will end up bankrupt!"
Indeed, it was Marin Noggenfogger. He hadn't been able to resist opening the glasses after encountering Old Chen on the road. The result was predictable: the glasses showed nothing—not even a login screen, let alone a game. Now, he was leading six cabins' worth of subordinates, marching proudly toward Goldshire to find Wayne and settle the score.
Suddenly, he noticed something strange on the opposite wall. Looking closely, he jumped in fright!
Subordinate: "Boss! What's wrong?!"
Noggenfogger didn't dare say, because he thought he saw a skull peeking through a crack in the wall. It was nearly nightfall, and having a skeleton in the next room made even a world traveler like him feel chilled to the bone.
He led his subordinates to check next door. When they knocked, Thunder-Skin opened the door. Noggenfogger's short stature formed a sharp contrast with the Tauren, who was so tall he couldn't even stand up straight in the cabin. Noggenfogger couldn't even reach Thunder-Skin's knees if he jumped.
Thunder-Skin squatted down to look at the tiny goblin. "Friend, is there something I can help you with?"
Noggenfogger saw a troll behind the Tauren and someone else sleeping on the bed with their head covered. He immediately looked at the wooden wall facing his room and saw an axe-shaped guitar leaning against it, with a skull carved prominently on its headstock.
Noggenfogger thought to himself, So that's it... a false alarm. He gave a friendly greeting, saying he had the wrong room, and said goodbye.
After Thunder-Skin closed the door, he thought, That was close. Luckily Bergrist had quick wits, hiding himself and using the Arcanite Reaper guitar to fool them...
And so, two groups of people, carrying entirely different motives, headed toward Goldshire.