Finding Farahlon

As I moved around some things in my garrison, I came across a map of Draenor. I could only assume that one of the peons moved it while cleaning and forgot to put it back where it belonged. As I walked back to the town hall with the map in hand, I noticed one corner was servery damaged. It looked like it was almost cut, but the person decided that was a bad idea and tried to erase the island on it. They didn't do a great job because I was still able to make out the name "Farahlon". Now where did I hear that name before? Oh yes, a garrison mission I previously sent followers out on.

Immediately I left the town hall and questioned a few of my followers. After a bit of interrogation, they confessed to me that they never found the island and the item they brought back was a staff that was picked up by the Laughing Skull clan. Hearing those words awoke the explorer inside of me once again. I had to do it; I had to go looking for Farahlon! I couldn't convince any of the ships I had recruited to take me out there, so I decided to go alone. It was just me, my raft, and the ocean.

I first stopped by the Laughing Skull village and listened as they told me tales of the magical island lined with large crystal formations and lush environments. There were even whispers of a treasure they called the pearl of Farahlon. A pearl!? Could this be yet another connection to the importance of pearls in Azeroth? I couldn't run out of the village fast enough, but they stopped to warn me of the seas surrounding the island. They were extremely rough and stormy; it would take a skilled ship fleet to survive. That still didn't deter me since I have survived death already.  As I paddled out further and further into the sea, I noticed my skyline change from a beautiful blue to a gloomy orange.

I kept going... and going, and going. I'm sure by now you're wondering what exactly did I find out there? Well, I found fish, magical flying fish to be exact! This group of fish would jump out of the water and fly around for a bit before plopping back into the ocean. I also found a large gron-like skull that had been in the ocean for quite some time to have so many mushrooms growing from it. Perhaps both of these items marked a hidden passage to get to Farahlon, but I sadly couldn't find it.

I pushed my raft around for a while longer before I folded up my map and took my hearth back to my garrison. I can't be the only one who had sent countless followers out there to check for something, yet they all turned up empty handed. I will definitely mark this one down in the books to "try again later". Someday I do believe we will find Farahlon, but sadly today was not that day.

If you would like to see the flying fish of Farahlon (as I like to call them), you can fly over to 90,40 in Gorgrond. If you look around under water in that area, you will also find the big skull I talked about in the post. Happy hunting!

Terky Time

It is commonly known that Blizzard usually reserves their murloc mini pets for special promotions and Blizzcon. Previously the White Murloc Egg, which produced Terky, was only available through an iCoke promotion in Taiwan. You may have even gotten the quest shared to you once or twice in battlegrounds. Of course there was no way to turn it in and sadly many patches later it was completely removed from everyone's quest logs. Thanks to some lovely world explorers (you can see their names on Terky's page of WoWhead), they cracked the case on where to find Terky.

First thing is first, get to Dalaran and fly to Borean Tundra. The closest place for Horde is Warsong Hold and for the Alliance it is Valiance Keep. Next you want to fly or swim (if you prefer to make things difficult) to the Riplash Ruins. You will want to be at about 55,88 before you take a dive.

The entrance isn't all that easy to find without a group of people hanging out around the area, but this is what you're looking for. Between all that seaweed is a little cave you can swim down. Sure it will feel like you're swimming into a dead end, but trust me, it isn't!

 

Once at the end of the cave, swim up. You will now be in a little cavern. Follow the cavern to the back where you will see an altar. Behind the altar is a pile of bones with the White Murloc Egg nestled safety inside. Loot it and add it to your collection as normal.

Ohhh, another pearl altar to add to the mystery!

Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of your own little Terky! What did you think of this hidden mini pet? I personally loved it, and I'd love to see Blizzard add more hidden things like this in the future. Who knows what's already in there that we haven't discovered yet! Only time will tell what adventurers may stumble onto.

The Vashj'ir Sea Dragons and The Magical Pearl

While I love the water, I have this fear of the deep dark unknown sea with odd creatures swimming around. This started very early in my life too. I never properly learned how to swim, and to this day I hate going in water that's a bit too deep. I also cannot watch drowning scenes in movies or on TV. It makes me uneasy. This also pours over into my gaming. The first time I experience mild anxiety with water and gaming, I was playing Super Mario 64  as a child and going into the Jolly Roger Bay area. I think it was the sunken ship and the huge eel swimming around. *shivers*

Vel is more of an adventurer than I am, but she still gets a little nervous traveling in underwater areas. Vashj'ir was one of these zones that definitely made me uneasy. Lots of sea creatures, random elites swimming around, and the fact that you can't see much ahead of you regardless how high you turn your view distance up.

Note: If you plan on going see these skeletons, you will die from Fatigue. When you will release you will be ported to the the Barrens and be forced to accept a Spirit Resurrection.

Off the coast of the Abyssal Depths, there is something that has left many people scratching their heads. It's very out of the way, and unless you accidentally swam all the way out there, you probably would never see it. So indeed, thank you to the first person who found this! Anyway, there is a group of skeletons by some strange rock formations, two bigger and quite a few smaller ones. The bigger one seemed to be attacked by another creature just like it. Around the group of skeletons sits a pearl.

Closeup of the pearl

The skeletons seem to be from some Sea Dragons, a group of ancient Threshadons, or even some Kraken that lurk in the deeper oceans below. After doing the entire zone again, there is no mention of these dead creatures in any of the quest lines of Vashj'ir.

There are two quest lines in Vashj'ir involving Nespirah and L'ghorek who are labeled as "ancient ones" or Demi Gods in the Warcraft universe. Sadly, L'ghorek passes from irreversible damage caused by the Twilight Cult, but Nespirah is able to be saved. The Naga are using slaves inside of her to mine pearls. The pearls are mentioned in a quest given by Wavespeaker Tulra, but they aren't elaborated on any further after you turn it in.

Inside Nespirah

I'm sure if the Naga are working for N'zoth, then these pearls are somehow involved in his plan. They seems to contain a great power, but we really don't know anything more than that. Perhaps the Sea Dragons were bringing the pearl to their colony to use in a ritual. Perhaps they feared the death of Nespirah also and we're going to hide the pearl among the rock formations for use later on.

Odd rocks by the skeletons

We do know that pearls do play a part in more than one culture. In Dragonblight, the Kal'uak send you on a spiritual journey to use the Pearl of the Depths and communicate with the sea-goddess, Oacha'noa.

Another is in the Dread Wastes. You will find Gokk'lok, this huge ancient clam. After defeating him, the pearl inside him will magically float towards Rikkitun Village, and you will get a quest to return to the chieftain. He will give you Gokk'lok's Shell as a reward, and around the village you can see the little sprites worshiping the pearl.

All praise the pearl!

Clearly pearls in the Warcraft universe have a great connection to communicate with ancients from the sea. Perhaps if we do get that "Dark Below" expansion, we'll have some of these questions answered. If you haven't completed the Vashj'ir zone, I definitely suggest you do. It gives great lore into what the Naga are doing, and opens up a new story with Neptulon that will hopefully be finished someday. So grab your scuba gear and get to diving... who knows what treasures you will find on the sea floor!