Jake Jacobsen

by

Just Living The Life…


January 8th

Dear Journal,

By the Light!! It has been a long time since I last wrote anything down in my journal and I think that it’s probably because I’ve been rather busy just earning a living.  It isn’t every day that I can just sit around and do nothing, it seems.

Peiling and I have both been busy trying to make a living with our hunting skills and it seems to be working out rather well.  We’re still living in Stormwind and it just seems like we’re comfortable with the way that things are going currently.  I know that our little house is working out nicely for the two of us and I’m still enjoying the cooking.  One thing I have found out about my roomie is that he definitely knows how to cook.   I know that I am really going to have to make myself take some time off though because I can speak for myself with the fact that I haven’t really had any real time off for months.

We had a great time during Winter Veil and I will admit that I did take a day off there.  No sense in working when everyone else is taking the time to enjoy the festivities of the season.  The actual trip to Iron Forge for the gifts was rather uneventful, however, I think that Peiling and I both drank way more than we intended while we were standing around and socializing with some of the people.   If you’re going to get drunk, might as well do it with a nice dwarven stout, right?  The do make some good liquor.  Of course, I know that my roommate thinks that his people are far superior with their brewing, however, we’re not able to get that much in the way of Pandaren brew on a regular basis.

I have to confess that I have run into some rather lovely ladies that were visiting here in Stormwind and would have liked to have been able to spend more time with them, however, with the contracts that Peiling and I have taken on lately from Magdamia, it hasn’t left us much time for personal lives even if they have made us some good money.  I think that even Magdamia would admit that she would like to have more out of life than making a buck.  I keep telling Peiling that money isn’t everything and we ought to “slow down” and enjoy some of the finer things, like getting to socialize with some of the other people here in town.  I know, I know, he’s saving up his money so that he can go home and visit his family in Pandaria.

I’m sitting here looking at my contracts and it looks like I am going to be spending some time in Stranglethorne again.  It’s not like I don’t like the place, it’s the getting there that makes me more tired when I think about it.  At least the hunting will be good and my profits will definitely be better than they have been during the last month.  If I see one more ogre backside at this point, I think that I’ll be physically ill.

Well, enough rambling. I need to go find out where Peiling is going today and maybe we can partner up for a while.

Jake

 

 

 

by

Starting Off The New Year…


January 27th

Dear Journal,

Peiling and I were sitting by the fire night before last and we both started laughing. We’ve been in Stormwind for a whole year.  Yep!! Been a whole year and I think that we have done rather well considering that when we got here, we both had empty purses and not as much skill as we thought we had where we came from.  It’s been a long haul, however, it’s been a learning thing and it has been fun.

I know that I am just sitting here this morning and kind of taking it easy a bit.  Oh, Peiling is out at the market to see if he can scrounge up some of his beloved tea from his homeland and in hopes of seeing that little girl panda again, I’m sure.  He met her a couple of months ago and they have become very close friends although I don’t think that there is a romantic interest there so, however, I’m no expert on Panda’s and their mating rituals.  I just know that Peiling keeps telling me that he is taking his time getting to know her and learning more about her family.  It sounds like they didn’t live that far apart in Pandaria but had never met.

Me, well, I have seen a few young ladies that have caught my eye, however, I think they were more interested in the size of my purse than me.  Luckily, I don’t carry a whole lot of money with me when I go out wandering the city.  I’ve already learned the hard way that these cutpurses are very quick and you never even know you’ve had yours taken until you go to pay for something. I hope they enjoyed the gold that I had in my pouch when they acquired it because I can tell you that it was damned little – that was shortly after my arrival in the city.

I’m not one for drinking, thank the Light, however, I do like to socialize now and again.  I had started going to the Blue Recluse for a while because it was fairly close to the Inn and it also seemed to be fairly friendly for the most part.  I met a few people there and enjoyed sitting there drinking my mead and listening to the conversations that were going.  It’s mostly mages that hang out there and there is good reason for that with the Tower being right outside and it’s a quick place to grab a bite to eat as well as a good place to grab a drink to go with it.  I did notice that the crowd started changing a couple of months back and decided that I would find a new watering hole.  A rougher crowd than what I was used too and I noticed that a lot of the younger mages were not coming in very often either.  I wonder what might be going on there and if the guards are keeping an eye out on things.

I’ve actually taken to going over to the Pig and Whistle in Old Town.  That’s closer to the house that we were able to rent before Winter Veil.  As I said before, this past year has been interesting and fun for Peiling and I.  We actually have our own bedrooms and don’t have to share a bed like we were at the Inn.  Peiling is a very good friend, however, I will have to admit that a Panda can snore louder than ten men in a room and he’s not an exception. Thank goodness he knows how to cook – there are times I will be dead to the world in my deepest sleep and I will wake up to the most glorious smells emanating from our little kitchen.  I’m surprised that I don’t weigh as much as Peiling sometimes because what he can do with a few vegetables and some cheap meat is better than anything I have ever had a chance to eat before.

Things have worked out really well for us since we went to work for that Night Elf lady, Amyn Shadowmoon.  She explained everything to us and introduced us to a Draeni by the name of Magdamia something or other.  She was very nice to us, however, she did look at us like we had crawled out from under someone’s dirty carpet.  I think she has issues dealing with the furry folks that come into the warehouse, including Peiling.  He was so polite to her that I was about to kick him in the butt for trying to suck up, however, I realized that that is just his way with dealing with unpleasantness.

So, yeah, this past year has been a good year even with some of the problems we had and have been able to overcome.  At least we have our own home now and don’t have to worry about bed space being gone when we get back from a hard day’s work.

I guess I should explain why I am taking it easy this morning instead of going out and getting myself busy with some of the contracts we picked up.  Well, yesterday, I had a contract that needed to be delivered in Iron Forge.  It would have been all good except that I ran into Andrew Bitterbeer, one of the fellows that works out of Stormwind too.  Oh, we’ve chatted a few times and he was always giving Peiling a tough time about the Pandaren brews and arguing about how much better the dwarves could brew.

Well, yesterday, I got invited to the Bitterbeers’ pub and it was all over except for the shouting. Oh, nothing would do except that I had to taste each brew that they had in stock, which seemed to be quite a bit.  I was fine until I got to taste the founder’s brew which could have curled the hair on one of those kodo things in Kalimdor I’ve heard tell of.  Naturally, you can’t exactly drink and not eat, so, I ate boar ribs until I was getting a bit green about the gills.  I will have to admit that when I caught the tram back to Stormwind, I wasn’t sure that I had even arrived in the correct town.  I staggered home in a stupor and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch in front of the fire.

That’s exactly where I woke up this morning with a blanket thrown over me by Peiling, I’m sure.  Oh, my head felt like someone had been beating on it all night and we won’t even discuss my stomach.  On the kitchen table was a note from Peiling and a tankard filled with some concoction that he had made up to help me with this blasted hangover.   The stuff helped my head quite a bit, however, my stomach is definitely the thing that is keeping me at home until it settles down.  I have no desire to be running through Stormwind and throwing up on every street corner.  So, I may have to call it a “day off” and work some extra hours to make up for my stupidity.

I know that dwarves can drink quite a bit and it doesn’t seem to bother them, however, I don’t think I have had a hangover like this for a few years.  Maybe it was time for me to relearn why I don’t drink very often and why I should never drink with dwarves.

At least this year seems to be getting off to a rousing start and I think that Peiling and I will be showing a profit again.  It’s kind of doubtful that we will be moving out of our little house here for a long time because we both have friends here in town and I don’t think either one of us wants to start over in a new place for a while.

Jake Jacobsen

by

Fun At The Faire


May 14th

Dear Journal,

Well, we, Peiling and I heard about this Faire in Stormwind and we decided between the two of us that we’d go. I hadn’t been in years, not since they used to come about and park their wagons down in that place called Goldshire – should be just called Den of Iniquity now.  I can vaguely recall going there as a young boy with my parents and a group of friends.

I know, I just don’t like how the place has changed all that much, what with the stuff that goes on that Inn.  Of course, when I was there as a boy, I never went in the Inn, my parents didn’t have that kind of money to spend for us to stay in a place like that or maybe it was like it is now and my parents just didn’t want me to see it – that’s probably it.

Oh, Peiling and I just decided that it would be a change of pace and we really haven’t had much time for any fun with the way that we’ve been working our behinds off earning money for our keep.  He does like to eat and drink, so, I’m sure that his expenses are much more than mine when we aren’t able to gather the stuff  while we’re out in the field.  A fellow can only eat so much wild game before you start to twitch.  A good roast now and again is quite good and people keep telling me that variety is the spice of life, no, it’s not, it’s one way to keep the taste buds in your mouth wanting something different.

I didn’t realize how much things with the Faire had changed either.  Used to be that we would trudge down the road from Westfall and there would be this Faire – a few wagons, jugglers, fire-eaters and a few people hawking their wares.  I know that it was an exciting time for me as a boy and sometimes if the crops had been good, I’d even get a sweet if I had behaved myself. Those were amazing times for me as a lad.

Anyway, Peiling and I went to the Faire.  I think we spent the first hour there just walking around and gawking at stuff.  The thing that was amazing to me was that it’s on an island of its own now and the only way that you can get there is by mage portal.  I’m not one that likes to use portals all that much, it always makes me feel a bit jumpy when I come out on the other side miles away from where I entered.  I guess it’s that magic feeling or something. I think this was maybe the second or third time I’ve been in a portal anyway.

Peiling was a little worried about the portal when we got to Goldshire, he was more concerned about someone his size going through one of those things – he wasn’t sure that all of “him” would make it out the other side.  We made the trip okay and we landed with a thud – I guess the mage was a bit tired or something because the portals are usually kind of smooth, from what I heard tales of, and we were good three feet above the ground and landed a bit heavily.  Who knows, maybe the mage that was on duty had been sampling some of the wares.  I’m sure they use apprentices or the washed up mages, not the real professionals that sit around the mage quarter talking about magic all day.

I was really amazed at the animals at the Faire.  Peiling and I figured that one of those big beats would probably have enough in the way of skinning and meat that we’d be able to take a week or two off, at least.  There were some strange looking critters that looked like they might have stepped out of some warlocks closet – yes, I’ve heard tell of the warlocks, can’t say as I’ve ever met one though, they sound scary.  There was a bear there that was probably the size of a small farmhouse – well, at least when he stood on his hind-legs, can’t say as I’d want to run into him in the wild.

I think that Peiling would have still been sitting at the food vendor if I hadn’t of told him that there were other things to see.  Poor fellow was just amazed at all the food, he said he hadn’t seen that much food in one spot like that since he left home – they must have some big markets and places to eat in that Pandaria. I even had to admit that the food was good and cheap too.  Frog legs weren’t something that I had had a hankering for before, however, the ones at the Faire were real delicious, even got enough to bring back to snack on for a couple of days afterwards.

Oh, the games, I’ve never seen the like.  Of course, those weren’t free, however, we had enough money between the two of us that we got to try them all out at least once or twice.  I think the one that was the most fun for the both of us was the canon – it isn’t every day that you risk your neck climbing into a canon and let some little gnome fire you out of it.  I think Peiling had some trouble with the concept of how it was done, however, he did give it a try.

I know we stood there by that canon and watched people get fired out of it for a while before we built up our nerve to give it a go.  At least we both wanted to make sure that there were no fatalities from it and we didn’t hear tell of anyone getting hurt, just soaked from landing in the water. I know that Peiling was standing there with his jaws hanging open watching a huge Tauren being launched out of the canon and we waited to see if the Tauren came back too – seems that Peiling thought that maybe some of the people didn’t make it or something.  The Tauren came back laughing, dripping wet, climbed back in the canon and off he went again.  I guess that must have shot down any of the qualms that Peiling had had in regard to it.

You know, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a Pandaren fly through the air, robes flapping, arms flailing and some real strange language as they go flying across the sky.  It was like watching a canon ball going off through the air that had suddenly developed a language. It took Peiling a couple of tries before he got the target right and collected his prize.  I will admit that I was a bit smug about having gotten mine the first time I went out, however, I was real happy that we were landing in water because no one could see where I’d relieved myself in my pants from the fear.

Tonk driving.  Well, that was an experience that I have never had in my life.  I had no idea how to drive one and here they throw you in there and there are other people trying to shoot you too.  Well, I learned real fast, let me tell you.  One thing that my Mother always told me is that you get out of the way when people are shooting at you.  The only thing that I had ever driven before was the wagon with a couple of horses attached, can’t say as I’ve ever controlled anything mechanical before.  It was fun and I know that if we could have afforded it, I would have been on that ride for a long time.

Oh, the merry-go-round, that was a real hoot.  I know that I’ve killed a few murloc in my time, however, I have never ridden one before.  Peiling was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have a turtle mount on the ride though.  He did admit that he would have liked it a lot more if there had been a turtle, even if it did make him homesick a little bit when he saw one.

Nothing would do that we, we went back to the drink vendor and tried some of the fare there.  Naturally, the fizzy drinks make you sneeze and we won’t discuss the Darkmoon Reserve.   I think that we should have stopped at one of those, however, they are kind of tasty – that’s why we don’t even remember how we made it back to Stormwind afterwards.  I don’t know what it is about Pandaren, they can drink like there is no tomorrow and don’t seem to suffer any ill-effects, however, I was sporting one heck of a hangover – that’s why I’m sitting here writing in this journal.  I needed a day off to recover from the Faire.  

Jake

 

 

by

Making Friends…


May 7th

Dear Journal,

Remember that fellow that I wrote about before.  You know the drunk Pandaren that was sleeping next to me in the bed at the Inn?  Well, he must have been given the keys to the room or something because he has been my nightly bedmate ever since I got here. 

Seems like he is in the same boat as I am.  Yes, I finally built up enough nerve to talk to him.  His name is Peiling Windsong and as he put it, he’s a stranger in a very strange land.  I guess he was one of the more adventurous types of Pandaren and decided that he wanted to see more of the world than just the area he was from.  So, he’s pretty much alone here in Stormwind as much as I am.

Funny fellow.  Oh, we’ve decided to form kind of a partnership of sorts because we are both hunters and we both are planning on making a living with our bows. He’s damn good shot with a bow and we won’t even mention that he knows how to cook better than I do.  Some of the stuff is amazing and the amount of food that fellow can consume sometimes makes me wonder what it must be like to have a whole group of these furries descend upon a town in a feeding frenzy.

He’s told me about the place he comes from and to be honest, I don’t think that I would have ever left.  It sounds like heaven on Azeroth. Plenty of food, water and lots of farmlands.  Now, I’m not really a farmer at heart, however, it is a great way to make a living and put down roots. I don’t think that I am that much of an adventurer like he is, I’m just a fellow trying to make a living the best way he can.  He told me that the vegetables are as big as some of the farm-carts that we have here in Stormwind.  Can you imagine a turnip almost as big as a house?  I can’t.  He also told me that the vegetables that we have here in the Eastern Kingdoms would have been fed to the hogs where he came from because they are too small to make up a good meal.

We actually went back to one of the companies that I had talked with before and they had some contracts for us to fill.  Nothing real major because neither one of us has the coin to buy a decent mount yet.  We couldn’t even afford a goat cart at this point.  So, we took a few minutes to haggle with the manager of the company about the amount of stuff they wanted and how much they were willing to pay and came up with a decent price that was satisfactory for all parties concerned.

I guess the Inn in Old Town had a hankering to make up a bunch of that Westfall stew and that was one of the contracts that we got.  Shouldn’t be that much trouble to trot down the road there and gather up the ingredients for them and shouldn’t take long – or so we thought.

Peiling spent a lot of time just looking around and then he’d look at me and ask me what happened in Westfall.  Why had the land died?  I guess he had never heard of the Shattering where he came from, so, I told him about the big dragon and how he was a sentient being that went insane and tried to destroy the world, or at least a good part of it. He didn’t seem to be all that shocked at the idea of a dragon doing something like this, he just kind of nodded his head and looked around some more.

The deeper that we got into the area gathering up the items that we needed, the more Peiling looked worried.  I asked him if he was okay and he said he was fine, although he needed to meditate for a while on what he had seen.

Okay, this meditating thing is kind of weird.  I guess the Pandaren see things that bother them and they do this heavy thinking and it makes it okay in their minds.  Well, if that works for them that’s fine, however, I think it’s just a way to take a quick nap, if you ask me.

We had been kicking around in Westfall which looked just as bad as it did when I left or even worse. We had killed quite a few boars to get the meat that was required and the skinning wasn’t so bad.  He’s definitely a good hand at skinning.  I know that I was getting tired and thirsty from all of the work, so, we took a break down by the river.

That’s when Peiling announced that he needed to meditate for a while. Okay, he’s a big fellow and I am sure that the pace that we had been running all day was enough to tucker him out a bit too.  A guy that big with all of that fur must get awful hot out here in the blazing sun This dustbowl where there isn’t all that much shade to be had without having to fight something for it.  So, we headed down to the river where I knew there was some shade and a good place for us to set up a temporary camp.

We only have one tent between us and it would be fine for a couple of humans to fit in there, however, there was no way that Peiling and I were both going to fit in the damned thing. I thought that with him being a stranger in the country and all, I’d go ahead and let him have the tent since it seemed to be most hospitable thing that I could do at the moment.  He told me “no” that I should use the tent and that he would be comfortable enough to sleep under the stars near the fire.  That was fine with me, I think I had seen enough of the stars after living down here most of my life.

Well, Peiling was doing his meditation thing, I decided to go fishing for a while.  I had a real yearning for some fresh fish.  No, I didn’t want to make up a small batch of the Westfall stew because it wasn’t that much of a novelty for me.  So, I fished, he meditated – I think he was really just sitting there sleeping as far as I could tell.  I had fun just fishing and was able to get quite a few fish, I knew that in order to feed myself a decent meal how many fish I could eat, however, looking at Peiling, I decided that I had better double what I’d normally catch.

Peiling had some of that rice stuff that he had brought from his homeland with him and we added that to some water in pot and had that boiling away while I cleaned the fish.  We were sitting there talking and he told me more about his homeland.

I guess he lived in a large farming community in the middle of the country and he was telling about how much it would rain there.  Oh, what wouldn’t I have given for some of that rain when I was living here in Westfall?  I had seen so many of the crops planted and they tended just dry up and die due to the lack of water.  He also told me about the mountains near his home where these strange monkey people lived that would come down and steal their crops now and again.

He makes his country sound so beautiful and wonderful that it makes a fellow wonder why he left there.  He told me that he had a yearning to see the other lands where the other people came from and he wanted to learn the ways of those people.  He was just as curious about all the different races as we are about his people, I suppose.  

He told me about how his country had been hidden in the mists for many centuries and that’s how they were isolated from the rest of Azeroth.  I guess the sailors from here didn’t think it was such a hot idea to go into this giant fog bank, not with the monsters of the deep that might be lingering there. He was trying to explain to me about the traditions and beliefs that they held dear and it was mind boggling to me.

I go to church, pray to the Light and have faith that the Light will protect me, however, it really doesn’t stay in my mind all of the time – seems like the Pandaren do pretty much the same except that they have that feeling all of the time.  They meditate on things and try to bring “peace and harmony” to their inner being.

How does one bring peace to your inner being?  Well, the only way I’ve ever brought peace to my inner being is to drink myself into oblivion and pass out. That’s about as peaceful as it gets. He tells me that my people are driven by different things than his people in order to live.  Well, yeah, it’s called survival – you work your butt off and you get money sometimes to get the things that you need.  I guess we will have to discuss some more of this stuff for me to understand what all he has been telling me.  He told me that I should go with him to talk to some of the monks that are living in Stormwind so that I could better understand what he was trying to explain to me.

All in all, I like the fellow, even with all of his strangeness and having him along with me while I’m out working is a whole lot better than running around alone. I had to laugh at him though, we were talking about the fact that we could go further afield once we get mounts and he wants to get a turtle from his homeland.  A turtle?  Well, I hope his turtle can keep up with whatever kind of horse that I can afford.

I guess we’ll be heading back to Stormwind later tomorrow and if we play our cards right, we should get there before nightfall, providing we don’t have to stop to “meditate” some more.

Jake

 

 

 

by

A New Beginning…


May 1st

Dear Journal,

Well, everyone around these parts seems to keep a journal or sorts to help pass the time or to write everything down in case they get a good smart blow to the head and they forget things.  I think I’m opting for the latter at this point.   I still have days where my short-term memory seems to be something that I don’t have a handle on sometimes.

Let me introduce myself because that’s always a good way to start.  My name is Jacob Jacobsen and I am from Westfall.  My friends usually just call me Jake. I’m 25 years old and unmarried, so are a lot of other people.  Currently living in Stormwind, much to my surprise. I used to be a farmer back in the old days, however, it isn’t something that can be done in Westfall these days win any moderation of success or getting yourself killed.  I used to hunt for food as kind of relaxation from plowing the fields.  Now, the fields that were as far as the eye could see are nothing more than a dustbowl memory. The farm that I used to work on is just a memory. I hope the Johnson family made it out alive and I sure don’t expect that last paycheck that I didn’t get from them to be arriving anytime soon.

Well, a fellow has to survive the best way that he can.  So, with bow in hand and my trusty wolf, Ghost, at my side, I set off for Stormwind.  Can’t say that I have ever had the inclination to visit the Capital before, however, there weren’t that many options open to a fellow like me.

 Stopped by ,briefly, in Goldshire and wonder when the lightning is going to strike that Inn and burn it to the ground.  I have never seen anything like what was going on inside that building in all of my days.  I could barely make it to the bar to buy a drink.  Oh, I didn’t mind the scenery all that much, I mean I am a man, however, after bumping into naked women and few breasts shoved into my eyes, damned tall Night Elf women, and get pushed from one place to another – I finally made my destination to get that much needed drink after that trek from Westfall.  I downed that first drink pretty quickly and kept trying to avert my eyes from a lot of the stuff that was going on until this woman jumped up onto the bar and started doing all kinds of lewd things while everyone applauded and cheered.   My thoughts were that if Stormwind ended up being like this place – I would continue on my travels until I found something that I was more accustomed too.  There were even people fighting in the streets when I left that Inn, well, they might have been fighting or they might have just been making use of the time while they waited to get into the Inn to take part in the debauchery that was going on in there.

Made it to Stormwind and after Goldshire, I thought that I had entered a cathedral.  I daresay that I won’t be heading into that little village again for a very long time.  Oh yeah, I’ve seen nude women before and I’ve been around people, even in Westfall, that would do things to a fellow for a few coin, however, I have never seen that much nudity all in one place. Even the men were dancing around in their birthday suits as if it was a normal thing. I’m surprised that the guards haven’t shut that place down since it such a den of iniquity.

Oh well, in Stormwind, Ghost and I were able to find an Inn in the Trade District for the time being until we can make other arrangements or I decide to move on.  The city is huge and I would like to spend some time here just doing some exploring.   I have enough gold in my pouch to last me a few days because I tend to save my money like a bloody miser sometimes.  I’m happy that I had my miserly ways when everything just went to Hell in a hand basket so fast back home.

I’m also going to be looking for work, if I can’t find a decent paying job, I’ll make my own job.  It’s not hard to start your own business when you know how to use your skills with leatherworking and skinning. I’ve already heard tell of a few companies that are hiring people like me just to bring in skins.  I might have a look at that later today and see what there is to offer.

I know that the Innkeeper told me that I’d be sharing my room with a few others, however, I was a bit taken aback when I woke up next to one of those Pandaren snoring for all he was worth and smelling like a brewery.  Oh, I wasn’t afraid or anything if you don’t count my fear of this fellow rolling over on top of me and suffocating me – it’s doubtful that he wouldn’t have awakened until after my demise. Luckily I had seen a few of those people traveling through Westfall or I would have been scared out of my wits.

Well, I guess I can keep this book safely tucked away in my backpack while Ghost and I do some exploring.  I think I’ll spring for some of that fresh bed I hear the fellow hawking for sale outside of the Inn and find some meat for Ghost.

Time for me to get out of here and find a job so I can find another place to live.

Jake