The perfect place for a dead man’s party is The Undercity, and who could ask for more? Hidden deep underneath the ruins of the once great Lordaeron, the Forsaken now claim the city’s catacombs as their home. Unless you are of the Undead race, The Undercity may not seem very hospitable to you. But if you are, then this is perhaps the perfect place for all your RP needs.
The Undead is my favorite race to RP, and The Undercity is my favorite city. The entire ambiance which permeates the city is right on in helping set the mood for getting into an Undead character. I don’t find that any other city does so well a job in helping a player really feel like they are roleplaying their race like The Undercity. Having said that, alas, it is yet again evident that this Horde city just didn’t get the RP TLC that was given to the Alliance homes.
Much like Ironforge, The Undercity is circular shaped, making it in my opinion easy to move around in. Unlike Ironforge, which has only one level, The Undercity has two, three if you include the Ruins of Lordaeron up above, and that is one thing I think confuses many people who find it difficult to navigate here. Another possible culprit just might be not paying attention to the colored banners corresponding to each Quarter of The Undercity’s sections.
Starting at ground level, the Ruins of Lordaeron don’t have much to offer a roleplayer except space and the aforementioned ambiance. However, I have been privy to a couple of guild events here that worked pretty well, save for some obnoxious non-RP types. Many a battle has been fought here against Alliance trying to foolishly gain entrance to the main part of the city, which could very well be an RP draw in and of itself. One definite plus the area has for it is that it’s in the direct path of character traffic between The Undercity and the Orb of Translocation which leads to Silvermoon City. Most any RP event held here will certainly attract attention, and hopefully attract the attention of those interested in RP, a boon to those looking for like minded players.
The large room where the Orb sits could also be used as the backdrop for an RP event, made more attractive if you could include the Orb and/or its use. Again, the down side is dealing with the sudden appearance of a non-RP character, but if you can control or don’t mind that, then use it.
If you follow the sewers here, you find they lead to a hallway which rests under the stairs here on both sides. It’s plain and simple, yet has enough room to work in a pinch when some small amount of secrecy is needed for an RP event.
The throne room further inside the ruins is another good RP place, especially suitable for RP events like a coronation, a graduation, or some other such imaginative courtly ceremony. The potential problem here, of course, would be controlling character traffic, being this close to the lifts linking the ruins with the main part of The Undercity. This room is also used by in-game events, like the bonfire for the Midsummer Fire Festival, so keep that in mind when looking to schedule your event here.
The map here shows the locations I’ve marked for potential RP places down in Undercity main. Like the Horde cities before in this tour, there just ain’t many at all that I would say could be put to some specific RP purpose. But this is The Undercity, and it should be noted that, while the Undead have kept some element of their former Human selves, it’s not much, as is evident in the somewhat haphazard way The Undercity operates.
The Undercity is separated into sections for ease of knowing where to go for what you may need, but where you might find that thing in that section is not always very intuitive. For example, you’ll find a roach seller tucked away under a set of stairs near the Bank, the Auctioneers just thrown onto ramps at the end of hallways exiting from the Trade Quarter, the Priest trainers over in the War Quarter, and the like. Following these examples, players looking to set up some RP for public use, like a vendor character, would not be out of place just setting up shop, well, anywhere. There are numerous stacks of crates around which could add to the background of such a character, and more than a couple of dilapidated wagons which would also do so. Basically, in The Undercity, it’s quite all right to pick any spot to hawk your wares if you so choose.
Nonetheless, there are still a couple of places open for a more orderly looking shop if so needed. In the Trade Quarter surrounding the Bank, there’s an open space underneath the other stair opposite the roach seller (yellow star on map). Hey, competition’s the name of the game, right? The red X marks an open cubbyhole well on the path of common traffic that could be used for any number of things. The two green triangles in the Rogues’ Quarter mark two unused spots there with a long stone table for possible use as a more official looking shop. And that’s it, sadly, as far as those go.
Now, let me tell you of two places I’m fond of, places I make my own RP use of. I have a couple of characters who are adept at Alchemy. Transmutation is a subset of that skill, allowing the alchemist to completely change some substances into something else. When I have them making use of the alchemy skill, I do so at a location where it looks like an alchemist would work. I do the same thing when taking on a transmutation project, that location being the Summoning Circle marked on the map by the orange circle in the Magic Quarter. Standing in the glowing runes there really adds a special RP touch to an otherwise mundane action, in my opinion, anyway. Lastly, when it comes time for a character to seek knowledge about a troublesome quest (i.e., when I need to get helpful info from outside of the game), I walk my character over to the Cartography room (purple diamond) so it looks like it is roleplaying a visit to the local library. By the way, if you have yet to figure out how much of an RP nerd I am, maybe those will help you see!
So, that’s it for this tour of The Undercity, my fellow RP nerds. As always, I’m very interested in hearing your thoughts on things I’ve missed, and what RP events you’ve had here. Next week, look for a tour of the newest ‘city’ to arrive on Azeroth – the Exodar!
