Entry 27: The Burning Steppes

6th Day of Summer

    The road into the Burning Steppes was...not what I expected. I had assumed that there would be a road heading south around the mountain, but instead it passed through it.
   I had assumed that the heat of the Archduke was as hot as things could get, but I was proven wrong. I was excited to see Blackrock Mountain, and to pass through it, but I didn't enjoy the journey. I had to cast a minor spell over my water to keep it from evaporating from the heat. The warm air, hotter than I've ever felt, rose up from the lava as I followed the circular road along the inner wall of the volcano, and it created its own wind. Black dragons rode the airways and circled around the top a mile or so above me - far too close for comfort. But if they saw me, they payed me no heed.
   I was slowed as I passed through the mountain, the heat was excrutiating, and several times Styric and I had to stop for a rest, but when we finally reached the enormous steel doors at the far end, we both found our energy and picked up the pace.
   Though the outside is hot, in comparison it's as cool as the ocean, but it's still bone dry.

   The Burning Steppes appears to be more hostile than the Searing Gorge. I managed to pass through the latter without encountering any Dark Iron Dwarves who weren't a part of the Thorium Brotherhood, which sped up my passage through, but down here, the Orcs from the Blackrock clan are all over the place, and I'm really quite afraid. I think I've grown too adjusted to having others around me, what with the journey into Uldaman and then subsequent teaming up with the Thorium Brotherhood, because the thought of passing through this land alone is daunting, but that may be mostly due to the nature of these Orcs. They are not a part of the Horde.
   There's a camp near the bottom of this road that leads down from the mountain, and, perhaps I'm being a little too hopeful, there appears to be an Orc of dark skin, and two Dark Iron Dwarves. I may find shelter there, if two such beings can get along with one another. Either way, I'll approach cautiously.
   For now, however, I find myself stumbling down this road, and hoping to avoid the gaze of any would-be attackers. I feel very exposed out here, and I see red wolves and overgrown scorpions beneath that would surely snap me up in a second. Judging from the land, I would be the first thing they'd have eaten for quite some time.
   It is still an interesting place to be, however. The ruins of the city of Thaurissan are to the northern part of this land, and I'd very much like to see it, if I can get close enough. The Dark Iron Dwarves, under the command of Emperor Thaurissan, summoned the Fire Lord, Ragnaros, in this area, and his summoning immolated the land and destroyed the city, including the Emperor himself, and created the Blackrock Mountain volcano. The mountain has been home to countless ill-doers over time, the most deadly of which was Nefarian, son of Deathwing, the Betrayer.
   Even the Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes themselves never existed before this event; they simply made up the great mountain chain of Redridge, though they have since thinned significantly due to Ragnaros' fury.
   I'd like to see the inside of the mountain, but I don't consider my fighting ability great enough to just walk into the stronghold of both Dwarf and Orc, especially of clans as vicious and cruel as those. I'll settle for the city's ruins for now, and head back some time during the Cold Season.

-- Atherya Sunleaf