First, since I'm so unreasonably proud of myself, here's my official portrait posing with Master Enchanter Annora after soloing Uldaman's back door as a mid 40s Warlock.

A lot has been written about this particular adventure that I'm not going to repeat.

Everyone rightly recommends that you bring enough materials to raise your enchanting skills quickly from the 225 ceiling, at which you've probably been stuck for ages, to the 250 level of the last enchant Annora has to teach. Otherwise, you'll have to get in twice, which is hardly recommended.

The only thing I have to add to the material recommendation is that you not remember the dust but forget your wand! Yes, afraid that's exactly what I did. And so I did indeed have to run this gauntlet twice!

You also can find your own way through the Badlands to the back door of Uldaman. No need to worry about the creeps outside and in the tunnel to the instance entrance. Unless you want to kill them for experience or drops, just blow on by and into the instance itself.

Once inside, you can go ahead and open the big doors at the end of the safe entry chamber in which you find yourself, for a view of the Big Trouble that awaits you on the other side. Just make sure you back away after triggering the opening. You wouldn't want to step right into that huge Obsidian Sentinel standing between the two columns directly ahead.

For an overall view of the problem, take a look at the map below.

Aside from the various dangers I've indicated on the map (and a host of others I haven't), the most important thing to note is that there is actually a Safe Spot where you can stand and prepare to attack the pit full of nasty, but non-elite (34ish) scorpids that you need to clear before Annora will appear.

While you're still standing safely in the instance entrance, use that Eye of Kilrog to check out the route, the miners and beasties along the way, and get the turns and that Safe Spot destination firmly in your mind.

Here are a couple of pictures of that Safe Spot.

From the spot, looking over the edge, you can just see the red hostile label of one of the just shy of a dozen scorpids festering about there.

Looking from above and backward, you can get a better view of the Safe Spot layout as a whole and see a couple of the corridor crowd, scorpids and bats, through which you have to pass to get there. There are basillisks along the way as well, spawning in random alternation with the other corridor critters, so you won't know which or how many of each type until you get there and check it out for yourself. That's what that Eye of Kilrog is for! Warlocks hate surprises.

At this point, you have a big decision to make....

If you have faith that, once there, you could just drop some potions, power up with scrolls, wade right into the pit, sacrifice your voidwalker, and Hellfire/Rain of Fire that pit of 34ish Scorpids all in one go, you're a better Warlock than I. All you have to do is make sure your Soulstone is set and make a run for the Safe Spot with the vast mob howling at your heels. It can be done. Once you get there and get slaughtered, just ressurrect and have at those scorpids in the pit.

However, if your vanity gets the better of your judgement and you can't take out that pit in one go, you'll have a 30 minute wait before you can use another Soulstone to try again. Good way to a long, tough afternoon, since this is an instance and you'll have to respawn at the entrance.

Fortunately, there is another, though similar, way for the more judicious to get to the Safe Spot, and prepared in advance for any misadventure in taking out the Master Enchanter's scorpids.

The key is to take out the 2 Miners working in a raised section to the right of the Obsidian Sentinel along the path indicated on the map above. Once this is done, you can make the same desperate run to the Safe Spot by the Enchanter's pit, as described above. Let the howling mob kill you there, then ressurrect.

But! Instead of going right for the scorpids in the the Enchanter's pit, work your way backward through the corridor, killing everything in your path, one by one, until you reach and kill the 1 Miner marked on the map above.

Why?

Because now when you fail to kill all the scorpids in one go, you can respawn and run safely from the instance entrance all the way to the Safe Spot. Just follow the route on the map and you will not draw aggression from either the Obsidian Sentinel or the 3 linked miners working just behind him.

Now, with the pathway cleared, however many ghostly trips across the Badlands it takes, you can summon the Master Enchanter -- guaranteed -- even if you have to beat on those scorpids one by one with a stick.

A couple more hints:

(1) Use the Eye of Kilrog to spot and light up the pair of miners to the right of the Sentinel, one by one. Then send in your imp, around the corner, to make just one hit before you recall him to you. The imp won't aggro the Sentinel and will draw one miner at a time through the door to you. One by one, they are easy kills.

If you don't want to try the inside-out technique describe above, you can run now to the raised work area those two miners used to inhabit and, from there, try to kill the solitary miner in the beginning of the corridor and then work your way through, killing critters one by one, to the Safe Spot.

(2) Do not mess with the Useless Scorpid Pit along the way. You can and should pass right on by. If you could easily kill that many scorpids just for fun, you wouldn't still be reading this How-To.

(3) Do not use your Big Blue Oaf, the Voidwalker, in the corridor to the Safe Spot. He is a blunt instrument and should never be used for precision work. That's imp work. Using the Voidwalker in or near the corridor will only draw the scorpids from the useless pit down on you in one big frenzied mass, along with nearly every other creature lurking up and down in branches to the side of the path to the Enchanter.

Afterwards, you too can "rest on your laurels" outside Master Enchanter Annora's tent, an accomplished instance soloist!

Qia: "Can I show you my wares?"

The key to shopping Everlook, in remote, forbidding Winterspring, is to do it early and often. Yes, that means, as in other Goblin towns where vendors stock occassional, more glamorous goods as well as their steady wares, that getting there "first" or hanging about is the name of the game.

But it also means finding your way to Everlook your first time as early in virtual life as possible. You can't take advantage of Everlook's or much of the world's shopping and marketing opportunities, if you're afraid to reach for them before you reach the so-called appropriate level.

The easiest way to get to Everlook your first time is to depend upon the kindness of strangers - bribes help! - or sympathetic guild members already in Everlook in proximity to a friendly or, again, bribable warlock with a spare moment and a spare shard. You can be summoned, pick up the flight path, get there earlier in you career and avoid the manhem and terror of legging it through Felwood as a highly squishable scrap of a mere 20-30 something.

But as a Warlock, I say to you, "Honestly, have you ever known a Warlock, friendly or not, to have a spare shard?" Shards, yes. Spare shards, no. Maybe you know a very few, but I guarantee they resent and regard you with suspicion ever after.

Therefore, better, and better the experience, to get there yourself....

To do it, it's only necessary to be ready and willing to die. Most players will go to elaborate lengths to prevent their characters from dying; to safeguard them from harm by avoiding tasks and journeys until levels when danger and likely death have long since fallen away.

But where's Death's sting for we Undead? Charge ahead.

The first time run -- and I do mean "run" because this can and should be done before you get a mount -- leads from Ashenvale up and all the way through the length of Felwood. Consult any map. Yes, Felwood is a scary place, where the creatures lining and sometimes intruding upon the road will all be deadly "skulls" to your poor weak self.

But your lowliness is also the key to your larger safety. Whatever the bears and beasts might do nipping at your heels, your worthless corpse can bring no Honor to anyone you're likely to meet along the way! Numerous times, on such runs, my pathetic Undead hide has actually been rescued by high level Alliance travelling through, amused and moved to pity such a little one upon such a dangerous journey.

Finally, at the northern most border of Felwood, you reach the Timbermaw Furbolg tunnel which leads to both Moonglade and Winterspring. To travel this tunnel safely, you need sufficient reputation with the Timbermaw Furbolg, which you are not likely to get until you are sufficiently powerful to kill their adversaries and perform other high level quests.

So here is where being ready to die pays off. Forget the warnings, just start running. The Timbermaw who attack you are relatively slow and positioned in pairs and groups at intervals in the tunnels. You'll be able to blow by a good number before the howling pack trailing at your heels drags you down and savages your bones. Then all you have to do is ghost run back and ressurrect at the furthest point from your corpse in the direction you wish to travel.

One or two deaths and evermore you will be flying into Everlook.

Flying into Everlook.

Qia carries the full line of trade goods, but her most important are the specialty and occasional:

Even if you don't need or can't yet use these goods, they often resell for a decent markup on the Orgrimmar Auction House. The best, because safest speculative goods, of course, are ones you can't yet but soon will be able to use: Little risk in attempting a resale, when one can use failure oneself.

For added shopping convenience, Qia is located in the same building with Everlook's long-time Banker and more recent Auctioneer Grizzlin.

"Time is money, friend."

Auctioneer Grizzlin and the Goblin Auctioneers in Gadgetzan and Booty Bay are the folks to see if you are in the market for Alliance-only goods, such as Cats and Horned Owl pets, or if you want to try your hand at selling the numerous Horde-only goods to the other side.

Auctioneer Grizzlin -- the silent type.

Before leaving Everlook, don't forget to drop in on the town Alchemist Shop, where Superior Healing Potion and Superior Mana Potion are frequently available at vendor prices well below what Alchemists usually make at auction. Available quantities are small, but even one picked up helps defray the price of a trip to Everlook.

The Silvermoon Sisterhood is built upon the premise that its current Undead female members and its future Blood Elf female members, reunited, compose some yet to be specified elite corps of most trusted female guards and advisors who, once High Elves themselves, served directly under Sylvanas Windrunner, long, long ago when she was High Elf Ranger-General of Silvermoon.

To aid in the recovery of the Truth about Sylvanas Windrunner and the Undead and Blood Elf females of The Silvermoon Sisterhood, I have posted, below, some bits of backstory from the Game Manual and from Wikipedia's summary of the World of Warcraft books series. When in the course of Time, the Truth shall be revealed, it will be published here in place of these poor, misleading approximations.

Sylvanas Windrunner - Before the coming of the plague, Sylvanas Windrunner was the brave Ranger-General of Silvermoon. During the Third War, Prince Arthas invaded the elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Sylvanas led her forces in a desperate struggle against the undead Scourge, but Arthas eventually defeated the high elves and transformed Sylvanas into one of his banshee slaves. Cursed to mindless undeath, Sylvanas only regained her will when the Lich King's powers waned. Eventually she outwitted the Scourge and broke away with her rebel faction, which she came to be known as the Forsaken. Now she rules over the Forsaken from the Undercity of Lordaeron. Her goal is to take vengeance upon Arthas one day and find lasting freedom for her cursed people.

World of Warcraft Game Manual (Copyright ©2004 by Blizzard Entertainment.)

Backstory from Wikipedia.org

Sylvanas was a dedicated and loyal Ranger General of the High Elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas but was tragically transformed into a Banshee by the Death Knight Arthas and is now known as the Dark Lady, Queen of the Forsaken.

Sylvanas led the High Elf Ranger Corps in defending the borderlands of Quel'Thalas from the invading Undead Scourge while simultaneously attempting to summon reinforcements from the elf capital city of Silvermoon during the Third War. Though Sylvanas mocked him from the outset, Arthas crushed her initial defense at the Outer Elfgate, driving her further into Quel'Thalas. After destroying a bridge on the only route deeper into elvish territory and taunting Arthas further, Sylvanas moved deeper into Elvish territory to obtain more reinforcements. However, Arthas was able to bypass this problem by using goblin transports to fly over the river, where he obtained the pieces of the Key of the Three Moons, which he used to open the Inner Elfgate after defeating the resistance that stood in the way. Sylvanas then retreated back further to her main base near the elvish capital of Silvermoon. Again, she taunted Arthas and continued to attack him while sending messangers directly to Silvermoon to get reinforcements. Arthas, who had become a Death Knight in service to the Lich King Ner'zhul, stopped the messengers and defeated her small group of resistance before moving on to crush Silvermoon and the High Elf civilization. When her base was leveled and all of her forces slain, Sylvanas stood alone against Arthas. Even when she knew she was beaten, she mocked Arthas by saying "Finish it; I deserve...a clean death." However, Arthas was already enraged by Sylvanas' persistant taunts and her stubborn refusal to surrender. He retorted "After all you've put me through woman, the last thing I'll give you is the peace of death." Then Sylvanas realized that her doom was sealed and proclaimed "No, you wouldn't dare!" Arthas killed Sylvanas on the spot and using his dark magics granted by the Lich King, prevented her soul from escaping and raised her from the dead as a Banshee. Now a mindless killer in the service of the Lich King, he used her to aid in the destruction of the civilization she once protected. For the remainder of Warcraft III, the Lich King used Sylvanas to help destroy Lordaeron and claim it for the Scourge. Around the time of Archimonde's defeat, the Lich King rewarded Sylvanas by pulling up her corpse from the earth and allowing her to inhabit her dead and rotting body.

In the aftermath of the Burning Legion's defeat at Mt. Hyjal, Arthas, Kel'Thuzad and Sylvanas began eliminating the last remnants of human resistance in the land of the former human kingdom of Lordaeron. Sylvanas initially remained one of the mindless Scourge, a slave to the Lich King's will; but regained her self awareness along with many of her undead comrades as the Lich King weakened during the events of the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne expansion. The Lich King's energies were escaping from his icy prison; for though Illidan Stormrage's first attempt to destroy the Lich King had failed, the Frozen Throne had been fractured in the devastation. Sylvanas held a burning hatred for Arthas as a result of the part he played in destroying Quel'Thalas and trapping her in undeath as a 'monstrosity', subjecting her to eternal agony.

The Dark Lady ambushed Arthas as he was preparing to go to the aid of his master, the Lich King. She and her Banshee sisters set a trap for the fallen prince outside the ruins of Lordaeron City, but the timely rescue of Kel'Thuzad allowed Arthas to escape and continue his trek to Northrend. She ran off, swearing she would never stop hunting Arthas.

After the unsuccessful assassination attempt, Sylvanas turned her attention back toward lordship over the Plaguelands. She had coordinated attacks against Arthas' forces along with the Dread Lords Balnazzar, Detheroc and Varimathras, but that alliance quickly fell apart after the Death Knight's escape to Northrend. She captured Varimathras and, in exchange for his life, he pledged his allegiance to Sylvanas and assisted her in eliminating the other two nathrezim. Her rule over the Tirisfal Glades cemented, Sylvanas established an undead faction known as the Forsaken and completed the tunnels under Lordaeron City started by Arthas. This realm is now called the Undercity.

Currently the Forsaken's Royal Apothecary Society is engineering a new plague that will not only wipe out the remaining humans in Lordaeron, but the Scourge in Northrend as well.

Even in undeath, Sylvanas is considered to be the best archer on Azeroth. She claims that she can easily hit a bird in midflight straight in the eye. Though her proficiency in magic is strong, even being capable of performing mind control, she is more inclined to use her bow and arrows in combat. She prefers hit-and-run tactics to all-out assaults. However, as the leader of the Forsaken, she is now very unlikely to risk her own safety by leading an army.

Sylvanas is sister to Alleria Windrunner, hero of Warcraft II: Beyond The Dark Portal; and Vereesa Windrunner, hero of Day of the Dragon. Another Windrunner is Sylvos Windrunner, a Blood Mage hero. She has also been called "The Dark Rose of the Forsaken".

Source: Wikipedia.org

In pursuit of the Truth of the Dark Lady and her order of The Silvermoon Sisterhood, it is important to note that not all clues are written. Many may be discovered by close observation of dress, expression, and behavior. For example, as any loyal subject knows, who has spent time at the feet of the normally austere Dark Lady of the Forsaken, she has a silly, impish side. If one waits patiently, every five minutes or so, after a careful look around, she may be observed breaking into a smile and jumping up and down like the elven girl she remains beneath her stern, deadly majesty.

The best fishing is not always the safest fishing. The likelihood of being rudely interrupted while peacefully minding your own business and trying to reel in a catch is another reason, besides the skill bonus, to get your hands on a serious rod. A good pole is also a good weapon.

The Big Iron Fishing Pole delivers 19 dps in an emergency, as well as providing a +20 fishing skill boost. That makes the Big Iron Fishing Pole comparable to most staves one can wield at level 25, when you can first use the Big Iron if your fishing skill is 100 or over, and better than most one-handed swords until level 30. And unlike those other weapons, the Big Iron Fishing Pole does not soul-bind, so every bit of gold you spend getting one you're likely to get back on resale when you graduate to a better pole. Very few items in the virtual world of WoW are actually a good investment, when you get down to computing costs versus benefits, but the Big Iron Fishing Pole is indisuptably one of them.

When it comes to doing double duty as a weapon, however, both the Big Iron Fishing Pole and even the Fishing Extravaganza prize, the Arcanite Fishing Pole, pale beside Nat Pagle's Extreme Angler FC-5000, which not only delivers a +25 fishing skill boost but also a mighty whack of 38.8 dps. If you're a caster, that's better than most swords, daggers, and maces you'll ever wield, when it comes right down to it. It's crying shame you can't put a Fiery Enchant on the thing.

Whichever rod you use, some of the best and certainly the safest fishing in contested territory is right inside Camp Mojache in Feralas, at the stream that flows through town and under the bridge, before cascading down a waterfall into Wildwind Lake below.

Raw Sunscale Salmon: One of the two good reasons you came here to fish. Most plentify during the day, when the Nightfin Snapper are hiding, the Sunscale Salmon, poached, provides a modest 32.4 hps quick treat (874 health over 27 seconds) but one that keeps on healthful giving for another 10 minutes at 6 health every 5 seconds. Every visit to Feralas, I look to replenish the stack I keep always handy in my bags. The recipe for Poached Sunscale Salmon sold by Gikkix in Steamwheedle Port out on the east coast of Tanaris.

Raw Nightfin Snapper: The other good reason you came here here to fish. Most catchable at night, Raw Nightfin Snapper, souped up with some Fresh Spring Water into Nightfin Soup is a 32.4 hps meal (874 health over 27 seconds) that, more importantly, keeps the spellcasters among us fresh and trim with 8 mana every five seconds for 10 minutes more. Even if you don't need mana yourself, this dish is great to take along on instance parties and share with spellcasters who often have difficulty staying topped up while rapidly rolling from kill to kill. The recipe is also sold by Gikkix in Steamwheedle Port, Tanaris. A good out-of-the-way goblin to visit, he sells the recipes for Spotted Yellowtail and Grilled Squid, too.

Oily Blackmouth: The Dark Prince of Resale Fish. Market prices vary wildly on these fish, from times when it seems you can't even give them away, to times when they easily command as much as 4g a stack. On a good long session, where you get all the Nightfin or Salmon you came for, the Camp Mojache stream will cough up a good half stack of these sickly-looking things. I'm not an alchemist, so I happily bank them until I have a full stack and market conditions are prime. If you need more Oily Blackmouth, try the nearby coast of Feralas, where schools are often to be spotted in the Verdantis estuary as it meanders to the sea.

Lightning Eel: The great rumor fish. This fish is supposed one day to have some purpose as a reagent, but to date, desipte being a white rather than a grey item, no one's found any use for it except as pet food. Rumors that it has some special properties as big cat food haven't been borne out in casual field tests by Hunters I know.

Raw Mithril Head Trout: The least worthy fish in the stream. But you won't catch very many of them at this location, so no harm throwing them back when you do.

Fishing a bit upstream from Camp Mojache waiting for Wandering Forest Walkers to come to you is better than riding around everywhere trying to hunt down three for the Treant Muisek quest.

My name is Sue, SuzyQ

No Madonna, I'm just a virtual girl living in a virtual world....