When Dragast was slowly gaining experience, there came the point to leave Westfall and move on into Redridge Mountains.
Redridge Mountains is a large area in the east of Elwynn Forest, forming around Lake Everstill. The low-level characters usually come into the south-west, an area named Three Corners.
Three Corners is guarded by a watch tower that is built there, strategically overseeing all travelers from Elywnn and Duskwood into the Redridge area.
Around the watch tower, Gnolls have created a couple of camps and the area will provide for the first quests. Once Dragast cleaned those out, the way to Lakeshire is free.
The red color of the surrounding mountains is what gave the area its name – in worldly terms, it reminds me of Utah – red-rock country.
Gnolls, Gnolls, and more Gnolls remain the tasks for characters like Dragast at the beginning (and actually throughout the area) – later sided by Orcs.
Coming from Three Corners, the road is winding up a low ridge and from the top, you can already see Lakeshire and the bridge leading into it.
In the early days, when Dragast was young and came here for the first time, the bridge was heavily damaged and patched up – the signs of the battles from the past were visible around and a large boulder was thrown onto the northern end of the bridge.
Like so many Alliance areas in the southern Eastern Kingdoms, humanity has gained the advantage and the Lakeshire Bridge has been restored.
While the first quests start in Lakeshire and Dragast was quite busy back then, the story line moved us outside the town next, to the canyons in the north.
The Redridge Canyon area is Gnoll country. They have plenty of camps up their, including one of their in-game elite bosses, Yowler.
While the average gnoll of the area come around level 15 to 16 with about 300 to 350 health points, Yowler is an elite opponent that – at level 16+ – comes with 750 health points.
Today, that is not much – the average level 20 character has about 500 HP (Health Points) but three years back, it was an opponent you might wanted a friend to go with you for.
Amongst so many other tings, “making it easy” has really removed any need to team up – contacts I had once made because you simply had not been able “to do the task alone” are not required any longer these days – and that is a bit sad.
Leaving Lakeshire to the north, the road climbs up the ridge. When Dragast was prowling the area here, the road forking for Alther’s Mill always had a couple of Orcs waiting for him – at first, the two accounted for many of Dragast’s deaths – later-on, they turned into old friends being smashed on the way back to the lake. As of Cataclysm, the two of them are gone for good and Dragast can no longer involve in a brawl up here – I think, he might just be missing his old foes.
Following the dirt road eastbound, Dragast used to end up in Alther’s Mill – today a large camp of resting worgs.
Before Cataclysm, the plains around the old mill had been inhabited by giant spiders – they are gone and I think, this is the only good thing the worgs had done up here.
Behind Alther’s Mill, on the eastern exit of the plain, you can find two Orc officers, Murdunk and Homurk, slaying which is part of a quest to free a bunch of fighters from the past. Both are looking formidable but are easy prey, especially when in the quest you come with a couple of friends.
High above Lave Everstill sits the castle and watch tower of Stonewatch. Orc territory these days.
The old fortress is mostly empty and deserted – a quest usually takes a quest to get in for a rather large battle.
Before Cataclysm, the southern exit was leading to a bridge spanning a deep gorge: here it is where Dragast received one of his world achievements: Going down. But only on second try 😉
Today, the bridge is gone and you may succeed jumping into the water directly – but hey, there are other places to fall off, too.
Unknown to many, there is a small Alliance outpost in the extreme south-eastern corner of Redridge Mountains – Shalewind Canyon.
The camp does not seem to hold a quest giver – when Dragast was there, only a skinning trainer and a blacksmith had been present at all. But it makes for a nice rest and repair stop in the south-eastern corner and takes away the need to travel all the way back to Lakeshire to repair and sell items collected along the way.
An additional find in the area that Dragast came across when traveling for this story it a rare mob named Seeker Aqualon. He is hiding in a pond just to the south off the Tower of Ilgalar.
As Dragast is somewhat of an addict when it comes to rare mobs, the Seeker is now seeking for eternal peace in the world thereafter (at least until it re-spawns) and Dragast is a BoE (Bind-on-Equip) item richer (although it is a low-level item not really counting at level 85.
The southern banks of Crystal Lake are seeing many small Murloc and Gnoll camps, the road winding along between the lake and the mountains.
Two more rare enemies can be found here if you are lucky – a level 20 shark (looks somewhat like a Great White) named Ol’ Gummers is roaming the lake and a level 17 dragon – Snarlflare –Â is sitting stationary above a hill in the south-western edge of the lake.
And this is basically it – once Dragast had reached level 20, Redridge Mountains didn’t have any more quests he could benefit from and the young warlock advanced to Duskwood.