An Awesome Idea that Never Will Exist

Blizzard implements an item, given through a ridiculously long (perhaps repeatable) quest chain which is profession specific, which acts as an enchantment to any item of rare quality or lower. When it is applied, it turns said item into Bind on Account, scaling based upon your character's level. Totally, totally wicked awesome. Never, ever implementable. Le sigh.

Questes: Only One May Rise

Alright, I know it's been a while (I have excuses abound, I promise!) but I figured, with Cataclysm looming, I figured it was about time to wrap up this bloody series. Also, I'm just starting this last quest chain and hope to finish it before Cataclysm, as it is one of the most epic quest chains everto have existed; and most certainly the most epic pre-BC. The Quest I refer to is, of course, The Scepter of the Shifting Sands.

The Scarab Gong, courtesy of Wowwiki.com

Who can do this?

First, you need to be level 60 or above - but only a level sixty full of ambition, and an even fuller friends list of 80's, will ever get this done.

Second, you'll need time, as portions of this quest can revolve around ten-hour grinds or multiple runs of weekly lockouts. You really only need to run every particular dungeon once, but it's a lengthy grind nonetheless.

Where do I begin?

The first quest of the arching chain begins with What Tomorrow Brings..., given by one Baristolth of the Shifting Sands in Cenarion Hold, Silithus.

How does this one work?

This questis NOT simple. It requires a boatload of different interlocking, interweaving, and generally crazy quest chains that are hard to follow. As usual, Wowwiki has a wonderful guide; looking at Hoddie's comments on Wowhead are quite helpful too.

Oh, and remember - vigilance is key. If you want to obtain, well, what you see in the section below, there is no way but to persist. Good luck!

And finally, what do I get?

Well, first off, if you were the first person on your server to complete the quest (or completed it within ten hours of said person) you would get the fantastic title 'Scarab Lord' and Feat of Strength, and the unique one-of-a-kind Legendary mount Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal, which has a unique history you can go read about on Wowwiki. Unfortunately, these are no longer attainable, so if you are reading this, tough luck.

Increases in the numbers...

At the very least, Neutral with the Brood of Nodzormu +4365 reputation.

+1000 rep with Gadgetzan

+1525 Reputation with the Cenarion Circle

And a smattering of XP to be made into golds. And some more golds.

Then, the epics themselves. First you'll get whatever you pick up in your BWL, Onyxia, MC, and quite probably AQ runs. You'll get the achievements for each of those, and then the achievement for the level 60 Onyxia feat of strength too, as an added bonus.

Then, in the chain, you are awarded...

First off, the repeatables for Brood of Nozdormu rep give you Proxies of Nozdormu, which help alleviate some of the grind by allowing you to grant other players the ability to get stuff for you to turn in.

You get the choice between a Drake Tooth Necklace, a caster dps neck with Nature resist, and Drudge Boots, leather melee feet with nature resist too.

You get a choice between the Amulet of Shadow Shielding, a Stam/spirit shadow protection neck, and Onyx Embedded Leggings, shammy mail pants with some shadow resist too.

You get 3 Major Rejuvination Potions. Whoop-de-doo!

You get the one-of-a-kind, epic recipe (which is still highly coveted to this day) Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops, which is BoE if you want to sell it for a profitable sum to recipe collectors. You also get 20 of said chops, which were the best food around back in the day.

You also get the super awesome silence-limiting Gnomish Turban of Psychic Might, a cloth caster head.

You get to choose between the Band of Icy Depths, a underwater breathing ring, and Darkwater Robes, a Fire Resisting cloth chest.

You get The Scepter of Shifting Sands, a now-useless white BoE which was used to bang the gong back at the release in order to get the title and the mount, but still a cool keepsake.

Lastly you get your pick from four weapons: The Fang of Korialstrasz, a caster dps dagger; Shadowsong's Sorrow, a melee dps dagger; Runesword of the Red, a caster dps sword; and Ravencrest's Legacy, a tanking mainhand.

What did I just do?

You just completed the pinnacle of WoW Vanilla questing. You saw some of lore's most major characters come into play; you fought your way through multiple vanilla raids and world raids, events and grinds, to obtain the scepter of the shifting sands. And, if it is any indication from the cataclysm beta, you will be one of the last to do so, as in the Beta right now, the quest has been removed. Now is the time to strike, now is the time to take action and complete what may be the most grand, time intensive, satisfying and exclusive of questing accomplishments in all of the World of Warcraft!

Epic^2

Now, I was going to write another 'Questes' today, on what I think personally is the second best quest in the game. However, my excitement to do so was significantly diminished by the overwhelming power that two wonderfully epic pieces of art had on me. As such, you better go read/watch them. Within 17 minutes of your reading this. Seriously.

Lord of the Clans

Personally, I think this is the best book ever written in the world of Azeroth. Seriously, Golden really hit it this time. Of course, Thrall is in fact one of the coolest characters in the entire everness-ness, but really, go read this. You won't be disappointed. Well-versed ones among you may notice this to be a significant ripoff off of a number of different sources (not discluding one of the planet of the apes's) , but it is brilliantly done. Also, it's a great lead-in to Warcraft 3, and sets up a real backstory to the entire orc campaign. Without it, you may not ever even have heard of Drek'thar, or Grom's inner demons... even the entire clan of Forstwolf and Warsong still play into the world as we know it today. In other news, it really makes the Horde look justified in hating the humans. (Also, if you've read or will read Golden's other, more current work - Arthas: Rise of the Lich King - you'll appreciate the subtle nods she casts in its direction.)

It's based off of a never released Warcraft Adventure game, dubbed by the same name as the book, and promised to be interesting indeed (though it probably would not have done the story justice). You can pick it up for like 4-8$ from any local bookstore that sells it, or off of Amazon, and unlike Mage-lord Urom says, it is definitely worth your time.

Avatar

If you haven't heard of Avatar, then you are either from some twisted demonic realm or perhaps have just been running random heroics for about two weeks straight. Either way, sprint as fast as you can to a local cinema (or find one here). I cannot do it justice to describe its brilliance. So I will simply say, it is Epic incarnate and shall change how science fiction in portrayed in theaters for years to come. It takes a simple, understandable plot, shows it magnificently, and.. and... I really can't put it into words. Just go see it. Now. NOW.