Herad wandered through the lava-covered area near Blackrock Mountain, searching for the black lotus most likely to grow there.
Yet this extremely rare plant remained nowhere to be seen.
Xal'atath, following behind him, kept making discouraging remarks along the way.
"Give up. You won't find any here!"
"When those Orcs passed through here, they ate every last plant."
"Don't be so stubborn, young man. There definitely isn't any of the black lotus you're looking for here!"
As a remnant of an Old God's claw, Xal'atath's skill at running its mouth was beyond question.
Of course, it was certainly no match for Yogg-Saron.
He was a professional swindler who had led the Titan Keepers around by the nose through nothing but talk.
Annoying as Xal'atath's words were, they were true.
When the war with the Orcs first began, it had planned to trick the Orcs into working for free.
Naturally, Xal'atath had done a great deal of work studying this invasive species.
Understanding an invasive species' behavioral patterns and knowing what they wanted most.
These were all essential elements of manipulating minds.
It was much like a compulsive pickup artist doing preliminary research on a girl he intended to target.
So even though Xal'atath was merely tossing out a few casual remarks, it had hit the nail on the head.
The Orcs had plundered the Burning Steppes thoroughly.
Vast as the Burning Steppes were, they had stripped away every blade of grass there!
According to Xal'atath's speculation, the situation should be somewhat better in Searing Gorge, where the environment was even harsher.
That was because the environment there was harsh enough.
In the game, the monsters in Searing Gorge were lower-level than those in the Burning Steppes.
In reality, there was no such thing as monster levels.
Using them to rank