Menrim’s Journal – Duskwood

After yesterday’s troubles in Stranglethorn, I continued up the Nazferiti River for a while until I encountered the bridge that links Duskwood and Westfall. Seeing the bridge I made my decisions and decided to continue further on foot. I tied my boat to a small tree stump under the bridge and protected it from thieves with a spell and then quickly took all my packages with me. Another man would probably be scared to go into this forest, but I’ve seen some things. I saw the Aspect of Death himself appear in the Neferset City to threaten us with his power. I’ve seen cities drowned in sand as an example for those would oppose the villain. Finally, I travelled through the South Seas recently and saw sky covered with evil energy of the Sha, I saw creations of a madman experimenting on living animals – I wasn’t going to be scared by a dark forest.

The darkness is the least troublesome quality of this Duskwood. Everything about this place is eerie. The aura, the sounds… the general feeling of dread. I had no reason to feel dread, it just occurred to me. It must be a magical effect emanating from whatever corrupts this forest. I heard many theories about what’s causing it, from something the corrupted Guardian Medivh did, to just all the pain and sorrow inflicted on this land throughout the centuries. When you walk through Duskwood you start getting twitchy, no matter how brave you think you are. And no torch can disperse this darkness.

Because my maps hardly mentioned how exactly can you approach this seeming crater where the Twilight Grove lies, I kept walking into the roads and looking on what lies there. In the first place, called Raven Hill, I encountered a group of worgen who had no idea how to approach my objective, but told me the sad story of Morgan Ladimore. The second place was overrun with feral worgen, who thankfully did not notice me. The third place was, for a change, an ogre mound full of half-wits. Thankfully, the first ogre was merely curious about my centauric posture and asked if I’m edible before trying to attack. When I escaped that place, I ran into a ruined manor full of ghosts and zombies. It is odd – the Scourge was never that far south, yet the area is crawling with undead.

Far into the zone, I finally ran into a human watchman patrolling the road. At first, the human took me for another feral worgen because of my black fur and general carnivoran features but I could quickly explain what I really am. After that, the human told me that for centuries the humans of Stormwind believed the Twilight Grove was only a myth and the mountain that hosts it was just a mountain. Recently, dragons afflicted with the Emerald Nightmare appeared out of a nearby portal and threatened the local population. Only then Stormwind was sure Twilight Grove really exists. The evil dragons have been slain since, but of course that had to be the kind of place my new employer took for his residence. If I was human, my name would surely be Jonathan Harker.

After meandering through the mountainside, I finally found traces of an ancient, beaten path leading towards the middle of the mountain. Once there, the aura of the area drastically changed. Although it was still eerie and filled with dread, it was different than the rest of Duskwood. Where the rest of the area felt like a great evil was creeping upon you, Twilight Grove feels like a dream. An odd dream that is about to turn to nightmare, but still falls a bit short of that. And there it was, within my sight, a tower guarded by an enormous gronn – a creature I only saw on pictures before.

I am now making myself comfortable here, unpacking my baggage and trying to get accustomed to the odd aura of this place. I met Verroak Krasha already and of course the first thing I heard from him was his screeching voice yelling complaints at me. I know it is a bit… unorthodox to take this kind of time to get here, but it was simply the safest way, despite all the dangers I ran into on the way. Luckily, he seemed open for still hiring me. Or perhaps unluckily – only time will tell if I will not regret working with this odd bunch, including a talking penguin in clothes.