After completing the initial Timbermaw reputation quests in Felwood and killing enough Deadwood furbolgs, Gabryell finally raised his Timbermaw Hold reputation to Neutral.
At Neutral, he could enter and leave Timbermaw Hold freely without worrying about the furbolgs inside attacking him on sight.
Leaving Felwood behind, he passed through the hold and headed for Winterspring.
Winterspring was one of the highest-level zones in World of Warcraft. Players above level 55 could come here to quest and level. It was also a treasure zone, home to Winterfall Firewater, Mature Blue Dragon Sinew, The Eye of Shadow, and the Winterspring Frostsaber that countless Alliance players dreamed of owning.
Winterfall Firewater came from farming.
Mature Blue Dragon Sinew came down to luck.
The Eye of Shadow came down to strength.
The Winterspring Frostsaber came down to grinding until your soul left your body.
Gabryell intended to collect every mount eventually, so when he had time, he would definitely grind out the Frostsaber.
But not now.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was reaching level 60.
"Since I'm already here, I should grab the flight path first."
He made a trip to Everlook, unlocked the Winterspring flight path, and set his Hearthstone there while he was at it.
After leaving Everlook, he returned toward the Timbermaw Hold entrance, preparing to head for the Alliance leveling paradise.
"Rich Thorium Vein."
"And a Black Lotus. Of course."
Along the way, Gabryell spotted several Rich Thorium Veins and even one Black Lotus.
Pain. Pure pain.
He had been so busy farming the Zul'Farrak graveyard and leveling in Maraudon that he had not had time to level his gathering professions. His Mining was still below 275, and his Herbalism had not reached 300, so he could not mine Rich Thorium Veins or pick Black Lotus.
The greatest suffering in life was seeing treasure right in front of you and being unable to touch it.
"Goodbye, Arcane Crystals. Goodbye, Black Lotus. I'll be back for you later."
Gabryell could only leave those treasures behind for now. Once he reached level 60, he would sweep through the high-level zones and gather everything properly.
Before most players understood what Arcane Crystals and Black Lotus were used for, the high-level zones would probably still have plenty of Rich Thorium Veins and Black Lotus sitting around. The Auction House would have them too, with players treating those materials like vendor trash and listing them for cheap.
"Forget it. Time to eat, sleep, and kill trolls."
Gabryell did not enter Timbermaw Hold again. Instead, he moved to the right side of the hold, preparing to climb the mountain and farm trolls.
Eat. Sleep. Kill trolls.
For some reason, trolls in World of Warcraft were always getting dragged into trouble.
There had once been a running joke in World of Warcraft: any patch where you fought trolls was a good patch. Their beliefs were dangerous, their customs were extreme, and they were constantly stirring up trouble. Because of that, trolls kept getting turned into dungeon trash, raid bosses, quest targets, and punching bags for players.
As one of Azeroth's oldest native races, trolls had once been terrifyingly powerful. At their peak, their empires were strong enough to overwhelm the aqir through sheer numbers. Much of Azeroth had once belonged to them, but as new races rose, troll territory was gradually taken away.
Players had fought all kinds of troll tribes over the years: the Sandfury trolls of Zul'Farrak; the Vilebranch, Hakkari, and Atal'ai trolls who worshiped the Blood God Hakkar; the Amani trolls whose lands had been taken by the elves; the Drakkari trolls, beaten down by the Scourge until they were barely sane; the Zandalari trolls who allied themselves with the mogu; and many, many more.
Eat, sleep, kill trolls.
Even Horde troll players followed the patch cycle and beat up their own distant relatives.
The Alliance leveling paradise Gabryell was heading toward was Shatterspear Village, the hidden dancing troll village that had not yet been discovered.
Surely every player who had flown south from Moonglade had seen it from the air at least once: a small village full of neutral trolls dancing happily below the mountains.
In later versions of WoW, this area became Shatterspear Vale, a normal accessible zone tied to related storylines.
But in Vanilla, Shatterspear Village was still an undeveloped hidden area. At some point, no one knew exactly how, a curious player with too much free time had found a mountain-climbing route and forced their way in.
Blizzard planned for a lot of things.
They did not plan for MMO players with too much free time and a mountain to climb.
Gabryell truly admired the first player who found a way into Shatterspear Village. Whoever that was, they had talent.
Right now, no one knew the route. With his future knowledge, Gabryell could enjoy the place alone and farm there all the way to level 60.
In the later Classic era, he had visited Shatterspear Village more than once and knew the route very well. He mounted up and began his climb.
Many places in World of Warcraft had invisible walls. The route from the right side of Timbermaw Hold to Shatterspear Village relied precisely on those invisible walls, using them step by step to reach the mountaintop.
Following the path from memory, Gabryell quickly arrived above the hidden village.
There were several ways to reach Shatterspear Village: a Mage's Slow Fall, a Priest's Levitate, or an Engineering parachute. Of the three, the Mage method was the safest. After landing, a Mage could still use Ice Block to avoid a wipe if something went wrong. The other two methods were much riskier. A small mistake could send you drifting off course or falling to your death.
If you died in Shatterspear Village, it was miserable.
Your only real option was to take a Spirit Healer rez with Resurrection Sickness, then make the entire trip back again.
That was why almost no one farmed this place except Mages.
Gabryell used Slow Fall and drifted toward Shatterspear Village at the foot of the mountain. Halfway down, to avoid drifting off course, he manually canceled Slow Fall and dropped straight down.
When he was close enough to the ground, he used Ice Block, canceled it, and landed safely.
A carefree group of trolls lived in Shatterspear Village. They loved peace and would not attack players first.
Unfortunately, to Alliance players, the Shatterspear trolls appeared as neutral yellow-name targets that could be attacked. To Horde players, they appeared as friendly NPCs. That meant Horde players had no reason to come here to farm.
"These poor trolls have no idea an Alliance Mage went this far out of his way just to farm them."
They would not attack first. They could only take hits after being attacked.
The Shatterspear trolls were truly tragic. They were just minding their own business, dancing peacefully in their hidden village, and still ended up getting AoE farmed.
Gabryell looked at the village full of level 55 to 57 trolls and felt extremely comfortable.
"A troll village that hasn't been taken over by gold farmers. Now this is nice."
In later WoW Classic, this place had been occupied by gold farmers and turned into a bot farming spot.
Fortunately, ambitious Horde players would occasionally come to the village to kill bots.
"With no Horde bothering me, I can farm safely until 60."
Right now, Gabryell was the only one who knew how to get here. There was no chance of Horde players suddenly appearing to ambush him. He could farm in peace until he reached level 60.
He picked a group of dancing trolls and immediately cast Blizzard to start AoEing.
"You really are asking for it."
"These trolls must have been isolated too long. No survival instincts at all."
Only the trolls he attacked turned hostile. The others remained neutral yellow-name NPCs, still singing and dancing happily.
They kept dancing, completely ignoring the fact that their friends were being AoE'd down right beside them.
Their turn would come soon enough.