Journal No. 1: A Troll in an Undead Skin

At the Tavern bar, I'm a troll. Tall, chatty, tusks nicely polished. For this journal, I wanted a change of scenery without changing factions: I woke up in a crypt in Tirisfal Glades, with grey skin and a jaw held on by force of habit. Jobwow Wothag, undead mage, Horde. My regulars didn't recognise me. Neither did I.

Who wakes up alone in Deathknell?

Nobody. Barely out of the crypt, the village church looked like patch night: so many players in front of the class trainers that their names covered the NPCs'. I had to elbow my way through, which is tricky when your elbows are partly exposed.

First quests, first zombies. Rude Awakening, then The Mindless Ones: eight Mindless Zombies, eight Wretched Zombies, and just as many fireballs. One zombie shouted "Join the shadows!" at me. I was already in there, mate.

Level 2 dinged at the exact moment my mana bar hit rock bottom. The golden fanfare, and behind it, a mage unable to cast anything at all. The whole spirit of the beginner mage fits in that one image.

Why does a mage pick up leather bracers?

Because the loot in Deathknell is a car boot sale. Ringed belts, frayed shoes, patched bracers, endless linen cloth. I wear robes; I picked up mail, leather and boots of every size. Merchant Archibald Kava saw me come back three times with my arms full. The first time, my inventory gave up the very second I picked up the sixth scavenger paw for The Damned. Timing like that doesn't happen twice. It happened again in the next video.

In the middle of the forest, a window also popped up offering me four extra bag slots in exchange for securing my account. Surrounded by Duskbats, the offer had something touching about it.

Can a mage do a paladin quest?

In Deathknell, yes, and that's the surprise of the week: a paladin trainer is waiting in the church. He gave me A Light in the Darkness while politely reminding me that I wasn't a paladin. Outside, a wounded Deathguard grumbled that she had no use for the Light. Lovely atmosphere.

The rest of the second evening flew by among the ruined houses: Scavenging Deathknell for Deathguard Saltain, twelve Rattlecage Skeletons for Rattling the Rattlecages, and Marla's Last Wish, where you bring back her husband's body to bury him next to her. Level 4 arrived as I handed in the scavenged goods. On the way, a stranger invited me to his group, right in the middle of searching a ruined house. The timing of invites is an art form.

What lurks in the Night Web's Hollow?

Spiders, and Forsaken wrapped up like sausages. Night Web's Hollow asks for ten Young Night Web Spiders and eight Night Web Spiders; the paladin quest, six prisoners to free. Each leaves with their own little line: one is looking for his weapon, another wants to get back to training, a third swears he'll never disappoint the Dark Lady again. Meanwhile, the screen turned red, the mana ran dry again, and General chat launched into an English-language debate where everyone answered "orange" to everything. I still haven't worked out the question.

A small confession: my action bar is already full of shortcuts for Polymorph, Frost Nova, Blizzard and Counterspell. Spells I don't know yet. So they show up as red question marks, lined up like a wish list.

Where is Jobwow now?

Level 5, after forty-two minutes of play early one evening. A herbalist since level 3, five Refreshing Spring Waters and five Stale Breads in my pockets, and a new quest, The Scarlet Crusade, from Executor Arren. Deathknell is nearly wrapped up. What comes next will play out further into Tirisfal, with a bit more mana, I hope, and emptier bags, I doubt it.