I woke up in Dun Morogh with my hair still a mess and far too much caffeine in my pockets, which felt very promising. The valley smelled of pine and the occasional suspiciously loud boar. I cheerfully chased down The Boar Hunter and managed to come home with a few more stories and a slightly flatter ego — and then, to my own delight, I hit level 3 and then level 4 in the same whirlwind of mistakes and successes. Level 4, hooray! I celebrated by almost tripping over a troll cave and then actually clearing it. Trolls are loud, but they’re so much less intimidating when you give them ridiculous nicknames while they’re grumpy.
Between rescuing mail and delivering Mornbrew, I learned to read rocks and poke plants: I picked up Mining and Herbalism in Anvilmar, learned Smelting and how to Find Minerals, and even learned to Smelt Copper. My fingers are now suspiciously smudged with ore dust, and my satchel smells faintly of wilted peacebloom and stunted silverleaf — excellent for dramatic entrances. I also accepted a stack of new errands in Anvilmar, including Bring Back the Mug (mission completed, obviously) and a few curious-sounding tasks I’m dying to poke. I’m ready to see what explodes next — figuratively, of course.