There were two lively spots in Ironforge: the open space between the bank and the Auction House, and the area outside the main gate.
The first was convenient for trading.
The second was where people went to duel.
As for why no one dueled outside Stormwind, that was about as awkward as asking why no one dueled outside Undercity. It mostly came down to where players gathered. Ironforge and Orgrimmar had the largest crowds, so once people started dueling outside those two capitals, the habit stuck.
The area outside Ironforge was not as wide open as the space outside Orgrimmar. The terrain and duel boundaries were tighter, which made positioning more important and tested players more.
"Ladies and gentlemen, class is now in session."
Skybro had bought recording software specifically for this tournament and officially begun his career as a PvP movie maker.
"Today, your favorite top-tier Warrior is going to show Ironforge what real PvP looks like."
"As the Alliance's number one professional Warrior, I will demonstrate the true strength of my class. Skill, discipline, confidence. That's all you need."
"A Warlock? Please. A true pro does not fear Warlocks. They have demons. I have talent. Sounds fair to me."
This duel tournament was player-run, not an official event, so they could not organize it with proper groups, points, brackets, and elimination rounds.
Instead, they settled on a king-of-the-hill format.
One player would hold the field. Challengers would step up one after another. If the challenger won, they became the new player to beat. If they lost, they were out. Once all fifty participants had taken their shot, whoever was still standing at the end would be the champion.
The format was not perfectly fair. Whoever went first had the hardest job. But it was fast, easy to understand, and efficient enough to let Tichondrius's first Ironforge duel tournament finish in one night.
If someone wanted to prove they were the best, they could step up first and hold the field.
If they actually ran the table, the whole server would remember their name.
"I'll start."
The first player to step up was a Warlock named Dirtbag.
Warlocks had a huge advantage in this kind of format. A strong Warlock could tear through a long line of challengers, especially in Vanilla, where dueling them was miserable for almost every class.
That was not exaggerating. In many duel tournaments, Warlocks were the class everyone hated running into. Sometimes the finals might as well have been renamed "which Warlock wins today."
In Vanilla duels, the thing most likely to beat a Warlock was another Warlock.
"Hah. Dirtbag."
Skybro heard the name and immediately decided to challenge him first. "That name is obviously a direct insult to professional players everywhere. I cannot let this stand."
He walked up and challenged Dirtbag to a duel.
Gabryell smiled when he saw it.
Warrior vs. Warlock.
The result was obvious, especially when the Warrior was Skybro.
"Desert, get ready to go after him," Gabryell whispered.
DesertWanderer asked, "After Skybro?"
Gabryell laughed. "Why would you think Skybro is winning this?"
"Isn't he a top-tier pro?" DesertWanderer asked. "A pro should be able to beat normal players like us, right?"
"No matter how professional he is, Warrior vs. Warlock is still a miserable matchup. Get ready. When Dirtbag beats him, go clean it up."
Skybro was absolutely about to embarrass himself. Gabryell wanted DesertWanderer to go next so Fearless could recover some face. He did not want people thinking their guild's PvP was so bad they looked like free honor.
"Dirtbag," Skybro typed in /say, "/forfeit now and I'll let you keep your dignity."
Dirtbag replied, "You first. I don't usually bully Warriors."
Skybro was offended.
"You dare provoke a professional player? Bold choice. Terrible choice, but bold."
Dirtbag accepted the duel.
Three seconds later, the match began.
"Step one," Skybro said into his recording, "establish moral superiority. A true pro gives his opponent a chance to surrender."
He did not attack immediately.
Instead, he kept talking for the video.
"Professional players have standards. We're already too strong. If we swing first, ordinary players don't get to learn anything."
Then Dirtbag cast Fear.
Skybro's Warrior immediately started running all over the place.
"Okay," Skybro said, still dead serious, "diplomacy failed. He chose violence."
Dirtbag began loading him with DoTs.
"Now I'm mad. And when a top-tier pro gets mad, people get deleted."
Berserker Rage.
Skybro broke Fear, swapped momentum with Intercept, and stunned Dirtbag for three seconds.
"Textbook. Clip that."
The Warlock was stunned, and Skybro had plenty of options.
He chose the strangest one.
"Since he's stunned, that means my raw presence has shaken him to his core. So now we use the Warrior's strongest technique and force him to surrender through pure intimidation."
Then he used Whirlwind.
That's right.
Whirlwind.
Happy spinning.
"Whirlwind," Skybro declared, "the ancient Warrior art of spinning until the problem goes away. Back in Gadgetzan, I once used this move to chase down a hundred Horde players by myself. They were so scared they refused to leave the graveyard."
As long as it was funny, it was worth it.
Skybro was not actually stupid. He knew his first PvP video needed material if he wanted people to pass it around. Winning would be nice, but being memorable mattered more.
"Ogabs..."
Ava Summer was only level 10, so she could only watch from the side. After witnessing Skybro's performance, she could not help whispering Gabryell.
"How many people like Skybro are in this guild?"
"Ahem."
Gabryell replied with polite seriousness, "Just one."
"Good," Ava said. "For a second I thought I'd joined the wrong guild."
She had rerolled from Horde on another server to Tichondrius Alliance mostly because of Fearless's reputation. If everyone in Fearless was like Skybro, her future would look very dark.
"Starting tomorrow, the open world is going to be a mess," Gabryell told her. "For the next few days, you can come by the company and record the warning lines first. Once the Honor chaos settles down a little, you can level."
Once Honor went live, contested zones would no longer be places where people could quest normally. They would turn into natural battlefields.
"Sounds good," Ava replied.
Leveling was not urgent anyway. The level cap was still 45.
"I'm up."
DesertWanderer whispered him at that moment.
Gabryell turned his attention back to the match.
Skybro had barely finished his Whirlwind before Dirtbag Feared him again and let the DoTs do the rest.
As for Intimidating Shout?
A true professional did not press practical buttons.
Skybro had to stand there, swing hard, and lose honorably.