(Warning: Possible spoilers ahead. Those of you who haven’t done the Death Knight starter quests, or haven’t done them in a long time, and would like to be surprised when you do them, feel free to skip this entry.)

Like most everyone else, I rolled a Death Knight the day after Wrath of the Lich King came out.

Like most everyone else, I finished the whole starter questchain because it was a rather captivating experience.

…and like a lot of people, my first Death Knight sits at level 58 because at the time, the Hellfire Peninsula quests were being camped so badly that it was like a foreshadowing of Noblegarden egg-hunting or something.

I always intended on making a second Death Knight sometime later, when all the initial hype and “PRESS 1 FOR HORSE” General Chat spam had died down, but I also wanted to do it when I knew I would have time to do it all in one sitting or close to it. So when I had a few hours to myself last night, I rolled up a shiny new Tauren Death Knight. Because I am an RP-geek, I wanted a name that was both Taureny and DeathKnighty, so I named her Bryonia, after an herb that causes “a profuse and uncontrollable diarrhoea, vomiting, vertigo, reduction of temperature, dilatation of the pupils, cold perspiration, extremely small pulse, colic, collapse, and death”. Sounds good, no?

Anyways the Death Knight starting quests were as wonderful the second time as they were the first, and I’d argue even more so. Ya know why? Cause now that I’ve played a good deal of Wrath of the Lich King, a lot of the references that I hadn’t noticed the first time are very potent and, in many cases, absolutely hilarious. Observe:

Oh my gosh! It’s Thassarian! You know, the guy who has a whole super long and awesome questline dedicated to him in Borean Tundra and who now flies around Icecrown! *gasp*

Show him what you’ve got!

Poor Gothik. He finally gets a vacation and he’s still got work on the brain. For the record, and The Boyfriend can probably confirm– this made me laugh harder than anything else in WoW ever has, ever. Oh, and Gothik is also responsible for coining the phrase “Vacuum Cleaner of Souls” later on in this particular questline. Snaps for you, Gothik… snaps for you.

“Noth, where is Heigan?”

I’m thinking Noth is just bitter because he can’t dance. (In other news, I’d pay good money to see Heigan hosting an episode of Mousercise).

ZOMG! Corrupted Ashbringer!

Aww, poor guy. /sniff. I gotta say though, what I wouldn’t give for a sound bite of “Loan make Patchwerk ANGRY!” to play over the phone to telemarketers.

Even in the DK starter zone he’s a tough cookie; enrages at the end and everything. Thanks, temporary invincibility buff!

Baron Rivendare was there too although I didn’t snag a screenshot, perhaps because it seems like he’s everywhere (Naxx, Stratholme, et al.) I did notice he’s actually pretty good looking though. I think it’s the hair. But yeah, good times, good times. DK quests are definitely worth a do-over if you’re someone who hasn’t visited Acherus since November; it’s better the second time.

My spec? Unholy, of course. Ghoul Frenzy is hot-keyed to my Bestial Wrath button. /grin