WoW: Dragonflight has many quests that are truly engaging. But one stands out: For the story of Veritistrasz is heartbreaking.
World of Warcraft Dragonflight is packed with quests. In fact, there are so many missions that most WoW players should be level 70 long before they reach the last or even the third area. While many of these quests are the usual “MMO standard fare,” there are also some quests that stick in your mind – but only if you are patient. I want to introduce you to one of these quests and strongly recommend that you complete it.
We are talking about the quest “Stay A While” which you can encounter quite early, around the same time you unlock dragon riding. You meet a slightly absent-minded dwarf named “Veritistrasz,” who overlooks the Dragon Isles and seems to simply enjoy the scenery.
The quest objective is quite simple – you can sit down and enjoy the view too. However, it is possible to interact with the dwarf and just listen to him as he slowly tells his story.
At first, the dwarf – a dragon in dwarven form – is still cool and talks about the “beautiful view” and that this view may look nice for us adventurers, but it reminds him of the past 20,000 years … at least it should.
The reason I am here and overlooking this landscape … is because I so longed … to finally return home.
This was my home. I never thought we would be gone for so long. After a while, I thought we would never return.
The truth is, however, that Veritistrasz no longer recognizes this place properly. He explains in detail what this sight evokes in him. And it feels a bit like he is not just talking to our character but also to the person behind it, to us.
A particularly nice detail is that Veritistrasz even refers to your respective race. He has different texts for humans than for elves or dwarves. In my case, as a draenei, he said:
Maybe you think I am overly sentimental. But try living for ten thousand years, never visiting your homeland, and when you finally can, finding it completely different. Come back and we will talk again.
Although … I have heard about Argus. Whether you were born on the planet or only after your people fled, I believe you can understand what I mean.
That was such a small and beautiful detail that I really liked. Blizzard occasionally references your character’s race in quests, but this time it simply “hit deep” and I felt as if he was truly speaking to my draenei.
But even after that, the story is far from over. For Veritistrasz continues to tell what has happened over all the years. He speaks of the betrayal of the black dragons and how that has torn friendships and romances apart. He tells of silly pranks, in which he once “covered Alexstrasza’s tail with honey.” He was in love with a black dragon and “still remembers her face and how the light reflected off her scales.”
But one thing he forgot: her name.
However, he has not forgotten that one day she stood over the corpses of his family and that he ultimately had to kill her.
For over ten thousand years he has lived with the uncertainty of whether he could have saved her if he had tried harder and confessed his feelings to her.
I remember the horror when I came home to see her standing over the corpses of my family, virtually her family as well.
I remember the deep despair as I drove my claws into her throat and I remember the hate in her eyes as the shine left them … but I cannot remember her name.
I have always wondered, if I had been a better friend, could I have prevented that? Did she not feel she could talk to me when the corruption began?
Ebyssian was redeemed, so there must be something that could have been done? But she did not come to me, so she must have thought she could not talk to me about it.
If I had been a better friend … if I had told her … Oh Titans, if I had told her what I felt … could it have ended differently? … I loved her … and I cannot remember her name.
I know. At the end of the day, it is “just text in a video game” and this quest isn’t even voiced. Yet I couldn’t help but read silently through the quest and even block out the “launch hype” for a moment. The quest goes on for quite some time and becomes more heartbreaking and sad with each sentence.
But it is worth it. Because such stories, such small yet important details, make World of Warcraft simply really, really good.
Dragonflight is colorful, but deadly serious in the right places
Of course, not everything in Dragonflight is so dark and sad – even if that occasionally comes through. Many characters have issues with their decisions over the past years and now have to live with the guilt or consequences. The fact that this is occasionally addressed – sometimes dark, sometimes amusing – is pretty good and provides nice continuity in the story of the world.
- You meet an orc of the Dragonmaw clan at the end of his life, who now, at the sight of all the peaceful dragons, regrets his decisions.
- You see a proud dragon soldier who sacrifices everything to save just one egg and ultimately even willingly goes to her death.
- You witness a lot of betrayal that I won’t spoil here.
Dragonflight is packed with quests that are memorable. For some, because they consist of “boring chatter” – for others, because they are simply well-written and show fates in an intensity and richness that is otherwise rare in World of Warcraft.
Blizzard took the time for the beautiful and important stories. And that is pretty good.
Which quest from Dragonflight has stuck in your memory? Did you discover a quest that particularly excited you?
