Mulgore is mother earth.
S1. E3. (World of Warcraft)
The flowers flourish in this field.
Walking through Mulgore warms you just as the sun has warmed the grass you step on. And just as it has helped it grow quickly, it strengthens you the same way.
The prairie is prelapsarian. The blue of the sky doesn’t smudge to grey, the clouds are always full and white. Bird song lilts its way across the air, floating from tree to tree. The grass here comes up to your knee, and in some fields it can grow past your waist.
Pines break up the bleached grass and, closer to the hills and mountains, aspens stand up tall on the edge. The trees are few and far between, but grow strong in their place. They have no threats here, there is little to knock them down. The tauren only take what is necessary. Use them, then replant them, then use them again. A virtuous cycle repeated for decades.
Bloodhoof Village is the first stop and green pastures soon give way to quiet waters. Stonebull Lake is deceptively deep, and full of fish and stones that were skimmed into it on summer afternoons. An oxbow lake full of reeds and soft sand. Smooth pebbles stacked in the nearby flowing stream. Sit on the edge of the dock so that your legs drift off the edge and take your time to get going again.
Back on the path you see great balancing rocks at odds with gravity. Impossible feats of granite placed there by gods. Your urge is to give them a wide berth. You don’t want to disturb it. But when you walk up close you can sense there is a latent energy in the gaps of the joint where stone meets stone. As soon as it settled on there it was falling. It’s inevitable. The shadow it casts is a target. But not today.
Beyond them the plains stretch out flat, except for brief bald bumps caught at altitude. The wind is ruthless at skinning a raised rock and you have to hold your hand up to your face when it builds up to a crescendo. But otherwise you can see so far that it fades into mist. It's like you’re looking off the very edge of the world. Your eyes let you down before the horizon does.
As you walk towards the mesas from the village the sky bends to meet the earth, and you can see where the hills stop. Great jagged teeth at the edge of the plain. From a distance you think you could scale them with ease. But as you get closer, it’s clear how tall they are. The wide angles of the prairie have made molehills of these mountains.
The size is fitting considering whose home this is. For creatures so big, the tauren are not obtrusive. They blend into this grand vista. Their teepees, the windbreakers, the posts and pulleys all ease into the environment. An additional swab of paint on the tableau. There is care in each of their collisions with nature just as there is in their conversations. Thunder Bluff, their great city in the sky, is the evidence.
Only accessible by a rope elevator that runs 200 feet in the air, the bluff is teeming with activity on each of its four mesas. The air is thinner up there, which is why you think you're hallucinating this impossible elevation. Tauren stretch credulity as they cross the rope bridges, testing every equation of its engineering. Tents open up bigger on the inside through doorways as tall as the hills they are built on. You feel every layer of leather block the howling winds as you enter. You can be warm this high up, with enough effort.
Take the elevator back down and explore north of the bluff. Between here and the Barrens, there are some risks. Creatures scurry in the shadows of the capital. You need to keep your vigilance. There are boar caves with huge brambles that cover entire mountain sides and could impale you with a wrong step. Wolves, big cats, and striders cross the roads with a threatening confidence.
All the paths you walk across were worn smooth by heavy hooves. Loose stones mark the dirt tracks. Occasional fires in the mouths of carved wooden totems suggest you’re on the right path. Follow the plumes of reassuring smoke and you’ll be able to wander from camp to camp. Moving up hills which curve so gently you can only see the change in the earth once you’re at the top.
Before long you're back in the meadows. Kicking pinecones and chestnuts that have fallen onto the floor. There to be picked up and eaten. Mulgore is a place for the gatherers as well as the hunters. It provides to those that can tame just one aspect of it. For those that look out for her. The elements here are not forgiving, but they have been looked after, and as such, want to reciprocate to its guests.
It’s a pleasant walk across this prairie. But it’s good to stop and sit when you get a moment. Lean against the uneven bark of a tree. Below the branches but above the roots. Unwrap a bundle of corn bread. Take as much time as you need. There's no rush to leave. You won’t find anywhere better than here.
This is essay three in a set of six travel essays about World of Warcraft and Azeroth. To read the rest click here. For information on future seasons and games click here.