Badlands isn't Bad, and Blasted Lands isn't a Blast

Two zones, both similar in apellation

In Eastern Kingdoms where we lay our scene

Heroes battle for for the land's salvation

Where evil blood makes civil hands unclean

It amazes me how two zones, so similar sounding, in that they both start with "B" and end in "Lands", can be poles apart, in my opinion, in regards to quests and enjoyment.

Badlands had some of the best quests in the game.  The series of quests that lead you Down to the Scar to meet Theldurin, Lucien Tosselwrench and Martek the Exiled are the ones everyone seems to agree are some of the best of Cataclysm.

Lucien starts off with The Day that Deathwing Came.

And so, Theldurin got to punch Deathwing in the face.  At least we can see Deathwing in Human form!

Then Lucien piped up, and started telling his tale: The Day That Deathwing Came: The Real Story

 

I walked Lucien over to New Kargath to compare his size.  We looked in the clouds for Deathwing.

 

Martel wasn't going to be shown up.  Oh no.  He started to tell us his story with The Day that Deathwing Came: What really happened.

These two have no idea how to tell a story. Theldurin's story was too short, and Lucien's tale was a little too tall, if you catch my drift. Also, neither of their stories had hot babes in them.  Sit back, Navimie. I'll tell you what really happened that day.

 

How can you NOT laugh when there is a blood elf male there when he is talking about hot babes?  I had to pick a hordie, but there is no way I am picking that pretty boy.

Well, Theldurin and Lucien kept interrupting the story.  So I missed that awesome knife fight.  Oh well, at least I got to see Deathwing's human form again at least.

So as a cool momento of that quest line, I took Tosselwrench's Shrinker, which makes you bigger.  There was another quest line that was really good too, about the red dragonflight, trying to purify one of the black dragonflight eggs. I thought Rhea, who was Rheastrasza, was pretty cool because she chose a goblin female rather than a tall statuesque scantily clad humanoid. 

This quest gives you the background of the legendary quest chain for Fangs of the Father.  Now I know how the red dragonflight got that purified dragon egg.  I had to get a Black Dragon Eggs, Scalding Whelp Corpses and eggs from a captured, hidden black dragonflight female.

I had to help the good Doctor Blam blast a few Troggs and collect a titan relic to get his cooperation and that was fun.  And I got to play little games with statues too.

I love those mini puzzles in the game.  Anyway, once the dragon egg was free from corruption, I took it back to Rhea who asked me to hire these Bad Dogs, a bunch of rough looking orcs who were to accompany me whilst I got rid of a whole heap of high ranking Black dragonflight.  Then Rhea was sneaking the egg around.  I found her at the Hidden Clutch, and then in Rheastrasza's Gift she went to get the egg.  Then there was a cutscene...

And Deathwing bathes her in flame.  The whole cave, Rhea, the egg... destroyed.  In Devastation, I was searching the rubble for her, and I found this note... now how could this piece of paper survive that flame is beyond me....

Heroes:  If you are reading this, then my suspicions were correct.  Deathwing has found us.  The egg is destroyed, as am I.  This was, actually, the plan from the beginning.  You see... the egg that Deathwing destroyed was not the egg he sought.  It was mine.

It was so sad.  Dr Hieronymus Blam appeared again, and in The Egg lives on, told me that he had moved the real egg far away from the Badlands, and Rheastrasza's final wish was for me to have Rhea's Last Egg.  An awesome trinket that summons a little Red whelp!

So that was the end of the Badlands.  Such an awesome zone in terms of lore.  Oh, and I also got that silly goat achievement too!

Now Blasted Lands... such a let down after Badlands.  There are so many quests in caves.  And my sense of direction is so poor, I keep getting lost going around and around in caves trying to find Not Just Any Body, and I'm sure it took me 5 times as long as it was supposed to because of my poor sense of direction.  I did laugh at this hiding in a box quest (one of the places I was lost for ages trying to find anything)...

Oh and of course, those body parts put back together make a nice looking demon hunter.  Rawr!  Another demon hunter pic to add to my collection!

Being put back together... looks better than it sounds

And so that was the end of Blasted Lands.  Thank goodness for that.