A History of Hardcore Turtles

The history of hardcore on Turtle WoW can be divided into the following epochs:

* **The Legendary Era: March2021 - May2023**. Players would lock their experience at level 59 to experience the endgame as mortal. Because they could not partner with level 60s, this was the era where the game's difficulty was its highest. Hard Chores was formed around a month after the start of hardcore mode.
* **The Inferno Era: June 2023-November? 2023**, the Inferno questline was introduced, allowing players to hit level 60 while remaining mortal. In this time period, Hard Chores was ruled by three dragons: Chadu, Onlyfans, and Motoquasi. During this era, Hard Chores accomplished the server's first hardcore Ragnaros and Hakkar kills, after considerable effort and time expense. At the end of this period, Chadu resigned unexpectedly, dashing hopes for continued progression.
* **The Restoration: November 2023 - present**. The loss of Chadu resulted in the loss of several reputation-related production capabilities in blacksmithing and leatherworking, resulting in the need for a new guild farm for Thorium Brotherhood and Cenarion Circle reputation. There were also some impacts to the overall staffing within the guild, as many progressives saw the loss of Chadu as a setback to their ambitions. In this era, new leadership emerged in order to restore the guild to its former capabilities. Coincidentally, "Still Alive" switched from being a default guild for hardcore players, to a title - changing the implications of what a guild is.

In this article we retell some of the old legends and stories from the long and interesting history of hardcore and Hard Chores.

# The Legendary Era

## The Tale of Peryn and Cyberbeep

(Transcribed by EvelynShadow, from the oral retelling by Galachad)

In the olden days, Peryn faced off against Cyberbeep in the Gurubashi arena, in a duel to the death.

For months those two had been pestering one another in the Still Alive chat, when Tswift ruled along with Greasebag. Until both of them reached level 50, and could stand the sight of each other no longer. Peryn was the anti-hero, the self-proclaimed "best paladin in the realm", who challenged Cyberbeep to a duel. Cyberbeep was hesistant, after all, paladins are known for their duelling prowess. But, Cyberbeep was a mighty fine warrior himself.

The duel took place in the Gurubashi arena. Such a duel had not previously taken place, and great was the excitement and curiosity, for the arena spectators swelled that day. After all, there would be no reconciliation between these two gladiators, and no second chances.

Some suspected that Peryn would use the dread technique of bubble-hearth if he were driven to a corner, to ensure a loss-less victory. But indeed, Peryn believed he had it in the bag, and so used his Blessing of Protection to attempt a mighty offensive. From this point forward, there could only be one survivor.

As more blood was spilled, the duel drew to its nail-biting conclusion. At last, Cyberbeep delivered a fatal blow to Peryn, disproving Peryn's boast, or perhaps settling that warriors are the stronger class.

We are not sure what happened to Cyberbeep afterwards. Perhaps slaying that annoying high elf paladin gave him all the satisfaction he needed. He was never much of a talker to begin with, and shortly after his victory, he sailed into the sunset, never to be seen again.

# The Inferno Era

## The Tale of Solski's Last Stand

Solski was a paladin, and one of the first Infernos. After level 60, he wanted to don the Red Dragonscale armor, but no one wanted to go there with him. At last, a young hunter, Krystantiek, volunteered.

Solski was full of confidence as he took the hunter under his wing. He told Krystantiek that they would be fine with just two, and so the two went, with the pet tanking, Solski healing, and Krystantiek dealing damage. The two proceeded to Grim Batol, without Discord.

Now at this time, Krystantiek did not have as much experience, nor his mighty Rhok'Delar. On the first dragon pull, outside of Grim Batol, Krystantiek out-threated his own pet, and so Solski put Blessing of Protection onto the young hunter, so that the dragon would resume attacking the pet. Krystantiek noticed this, and asked Solski if he was sure that he wanted to go in, since it had been such a close call. But Solski, who always possessed confidence, told him that it would be fine, and so Krystantiek, believing in his leader, followed him inside the great citadel of dragons.

For those unfamiliar with Grim Batol, know that there are two sets of dragons. The lower-level ones have 8.3-8.6K HP and do 361-467 damage each hit; the mid-level ones have 8.8K-9.15K HP and do 528-681 damage per hit. As a geared hunter you can solo them, but a fresh high level? Scary, to say the least, especially if one has to enter into a damage race.

Now, having gotten to the first gate, they pulled the second dragon. At first, the pet held its threat, but once again, the young hunter out-threated his pet. Solski proceeded to bless the hunter with protection, ensuring that the dragon went after the pet once more. But the situation would not play out the same as before. Perhaps Solski himself did not have enough healing gear, or perhaps of critical strikes - but the pet died under the fury of the dragon. With the pet dead and his damage output falling short, Krystantiek wing-clipped the dragon to create distance, either to win or escape with their lives; in any case, he did not have the mana for anything else.

But Solski, ever the confident paladin, believed that the fight was winnable, continued to smack on the dragon. Krystantiek managed to regen the mana for a 2nd wing clip, which he did. Solski continued to eke out the fight, believing beyond all odds that the fight could be won, but Kris ran, knowing that it could not. In the end, Kris was right - and Solski perished.