Chapter 806

Chapter 806: The Rumor of the Female Druid

The voyage of the "Moving Pandaria" was not as smooth as expected. Based on the last trip of the "Clever Trip," it should have taken about forty days to reach Tidefury Cove, and then less than a week to get to Steamwheedle Port. But now over fifty days had passed, and they still hadn’t seen the continent of Kalimdor.

This cargo ship was just as big as the "Clever Trip," and they hadn’t faced any big troubles on the way. Jesse had thought they would arrive sooner.

After nearly two weeks of worry, on the fifty-eighth morning, he finally saw a dark brown forest and cliffs far on the horizon.

Many passengers crowded the deck’s edge, shouting and cheering at the land’s shadow. Without the railing, they might have jumped in to swim ashore.

Jesse felt the same urge. He was poorly clothed and fed, suffering constant rocking, and his whole body felt wrong. He didn’t want to stay on that ship a day longer.

"Good morning."

A greeting in elven came from behind. Jesse turned to see Vereesa walking up and tugging his hood. "Did you practice our language these days?"

During the voyage, Jesse focused on Language Dwarven and the language of Kalimdor, but he also kept learning elven grammar and daily words.

By now, he could mostly understand the Sayaad Language well, without drifting off to his past life’s NPC voices.

"Not bad," he said in elven, then went on in Common. "But you know, Vereesa, these two months on the ship have been so dull. Plus, you keep testing me on elven phrases, which hurts more than classes in the Mage Quarter."

"What did you say?" Vereesa asked.

"Sayaad Language," Jesse corrected fast.

Vereesa said, "Respect for us elven people… no, respect for the Quel’dorai must be deep in our hearts. Ugh, damn it." Jesse smiled. "You’ve slipped up before…"

"Did we reach Kalimdor?" Vereesa cut in.

"Yes," Jesse pointed to the distant coast. "We should be at Steamwheedle Port within a week."

"Finally, I can bathe," Vereesa sighed. "I feel like a pickled fish now."

Jesse licked his lips without thinking. The elven woman glared, glanced at nearby passengers, and hissed, "If you say anything here… I’ll kill you."

The warlock nodded hard.

Actually, Jesse had expected a longer wait. They reached Steamwheedle Port by the third night.

The "Moving Pandaria" had sailed a bit south of the "Clever Trip’s" path, making them spend more time on The Great Sea, but it brought them closer to the Tanaris Desert when they landed.

After resting at the harbor overnight, they looked for a caravan to Gadgetzan near the station outside the port the next day.

From afar, they saw huge Kodo beasts resting lazily by the road, dozing off. The group felt excited, like they were back a year ago.

"Hey, hey, you two."

Greed nudged Vereesa’s arm and pointed to a Kodo beast, calling to Jesse at the back. "Look there, at the guy watching the Kodo!"

Jesse stepped forward through the sand, following the dwarf’s finger. He saw a Tauren sitting by the Kodo, who lifted his head warily as the strangers neared.

This was a very old Tauren, with gray fur all over. He was taller than the Tauren guard Jesse had seen in Booty Bay, sitting against the Kodo’s belly, holding a long-handled axe. His head was even a bit higher than Jesse’s, making the Kodo seem smaller.

"I want to ask…" Greed started in Common, then stopped, thinking the Tauren might not get it.

"Ask away, dwarf," the Tauren’s voice boomed, deep and heavy.

Greed nodded. "Have you heard of Mosa Woodmane?" The Tauren shook his head.

Greed frowned. Jesse comforted him. "Mosa’s family was nearly gone, Greed. How could she make her name known across all Tauren tribes in just a year?"

Vereesa asked, "Have you heard of a Druid in the Tauren tribes?"

"Druid?" The Tauren lifted his eyelids at the ranger. "Druid, yes. I heard folks say a female Druid showed up on the prairie months ago."

"That must be her," Greed said eagerly. "I knew she’d save her people…"

"Save her people? You mean us?" The old Tauren turned his head fully to stare at the dwarf, shaking off sand.

"Many like you think her coming means the tribe will reclaim its old ways… But I know many tribesmen never stopped talking to nature, outsiders, and nothing changed. So, prophecies are just empty words. Her name is Mosa Woodmane? Woodmane… I know them, a stubborn lot of forest walkers. That fits. They betrayed us, broke their vows, thinking they could survive the Centaurs without us. Hard to see how such a family raised a smart daughter."

"No one… can save us."

The Tauren spoke slow and heavy. He chuckled twice, sounding like a weak cough.

His words showed he was an outcast from the Terror Totem. Mosa had mentioned her family once worked with Terror Totem.

Greed clearly got mad, his face flushing. Vereesa thanked the Tauren and pulled Greed’s cloak, telling him to calm down.

A short way off, Greed grumbled, "What right has he to talk? His family might have ruined Mosa’s!"

"He’s powerless, Greed," Vereesa glanced back. "He’s missing a leg; didn’t you see? Don’t bother with him."

"Uh," Greed looked again. "I missed that."

"Still, he told us about a female Druid on the plains; that’s a good lead, Greed. It might be Mosa." Jesse said.