A Hero’s Call...

Greetings traveler! We are the Council of Three: Lorekeeper Lawson, Lorekeeper Sheehy,
and Lorekeeper Gillispie. You have been selected for a very important quest that will stretch
your mental abilities and test your resolve. Not all have been chosen to undertake this journey,
but you are unique, gifted, and talented, and that is why the Council has selected you. What is
this mission, you ask? It is a journey... A Hero’s Journey.

This letter will inform you of the task ahead. It contains all you need to know about your
training and the challenges you’ll face. Read on, friend. Your path is laid out before you, and
should you choose to embark on this road, we will be here to guide and assist you.

The Road Ahead

The challenges you’ll face on the path ahead will take place in three major arenas:
● World of Warcraft - During this journey, you’ll experience the trials of a hero as you
explore the popular, online world of Azeroth. Here, you’ll choose what role you’ll play,
and how you aid the good citizens of that world, while reflecting on your experiences
there. Most of our challenges for you will take place there. You won’t face these alone,
however. Together with your fellow heroes (your classmates) and fellow adventurers
from other schools, you’ll form a player guild and support each other on this journey.
● The Hobbit - Though you’ll be experiencing the trials that heroes before you have faced,
we’ll have another hero we’ll be studying along the way. Together, we’ll read The Hobbit
and see how Bilbo Baggins faced his own challenges and how they compare to yours.
● The Real World - All of your challenges will be outlined for you in an online format. In
the online course, you’ll submit your work in each challenge we present to you. Along
the way, you’ll also draw from your experiences in the real world and see how those
compare to your experiences in Azeroth as well as Bilbo’s in The Hobbit.

Challenges and Experience Points

There are no assignments in this quest nor are there grades as you are probably familiar
with them. Rather, each week you’ll be presented with a series of challenges. These come in a
variety of forms:
● The Hero’s Journal - this is where you’ll write and reflect on your journey.
 ● Tavern Talks - these are online discussions you’ll have with your fellow heroes. Many
of your challenges will be submitted here.
● Adventures in Azeroth - these are challenges that take place entirely in World of
Warcraft.
● IRL - these are challenges that take place in the real world.
● Epic Quests - these are the big challenges that will require you to get help from your
fellow heroes.
Each challenge you undertake in this quest will be awarded with experience points. The
number of experience points you earn will depend on the quality of your work. The Lorekeepers
will inform you of how many experience points each assignment is worth and how you can earn
the greatest possible experience. As you earn experience points, your hero’s level in the course
will increase. Will you reach the highest level possible?

A Hero’s Reputation
One of the things most valued by a hero is their own reputation. Your reputation is a critical
piece of your success on this quest. All heroes must agree to the following:
● Curteous. A hero will not curse, spam, or beg. This applies to your activity in the
classroom as well as in the online course and in World of Warcraft.
● Respect. You must demonstrate this to the Lorekeepers, your fellow heroes, and to
those you meet in World of Warcraft.
● Prepared. You should arrive each day ready to embark on whatever challenges the
Lorekeepers have for you and with any previous challenges completed on time.
● Focused. Your challenges will require you to be completely focused. Straying from the
path will impede your progress.

The Path Ahead

The following is a rough outline of the journey that lies before you. The Council has forseen
the following, but the future is sometimes unclear and there may always be unknown challenges
ahead.
Week 1 - Journey’s Beginning - Orientation.
Week 2 - Choosing A Path - Choosing your role in World of Warcraft.
Week 3 - What is Your Quest? - Researching the components of quests.
Week 4 - Don’t Go It Alone - Grouping for quests and dungeons.
Week 5 - Something Bigger Than Myself - Guilds and mission statements.
Week 6 - The Will and the Skill - Specialization, talents, and MLA citation.
Week 7 - Civilization and Society - The role of civilization in the world.
Week 8 - A Leader Among Men - The qualities of leaders, guild organization.
Week 9 - One of the Elect - Guild officer speeches and elections.
Week 10 - The Hero’s Burden - Responsibility and leadership.
Week 11 - Bootstrapping - Tradeskills and earning your keep.
Week 12 - Only As Strong As My Allies - Overcoming challenges with your fellow heroes.
Week 13 - A Tale for the Bards - Poetry and storytelling.
Week 14 - In A Flash - Impacting the virtual worlds with a flash mob.
Week 15 - A Light in Chaotic Times - Researching the coming Cataclysm (game expansion).
Week 16 - Forging Ahead - Tackling challenges with a group.
Week 17 - Know Your Lore - Research a story thread from Azeroth.
Week 18 - The Mind of a Hero - Tweeting from your hero’s point-of-view.
Week 19 - Factions - Research factions in Azeroth. Create a Fakebook page for an NPC.
Week 20 - Resisting Temptation - Exploring reputation issues in game worlds.
Week 21 - Against Impossible Odds - Assisting your fellow heroes to overcome difficult trials.
Week 22 - The Hero’s Legacy - Introduction to the epic quest and machinima.
Week 23 - Villains - A study of those who oppose heroes. Profiling in-world villains.
Week 24 - The Villain Inside - Do heroes have character flaws?
Week 25 - My Enemy Is My Friend? - Exploring Horde characters and their point-of-view.
Week 26 - Rising Above - Goal setting and cooperative questing.
Week 27 - Telling the Tale - (epic quest work) - Storyboarding.
Week 28 - The Hero Speaks - (epic quest work) - Develop PechaKucha presentations of story.
Week 29 - The World Listens - (epic quest work) - Deliver PechaKucha presentations.
Week 30 - Telling the Tale II - (epic quest work) - Collaborative script writing and scene
planning.
Week 31 - The Hero’s Goal - Setting goals and reaching them in Azeroth and the real world.
Week 32 - The Prize Within Reach - Making the world better for other players.
Week 33 - The Hero’s Reward - Valued loot, course experiences, and accomplishments.
Week 34 - The Journey Home - Assisting lower-level players. Contributing to community.
Week 35 - The Epic Quest - work toward completing the epic quest.
Week 36 - The Epic Quest - share and promote your machinima project. Final reflections.

The Pact
So will you accept this call of the hero? Will you face the challenges that lie ahead, helping
your fellow heroes along the way? Will you maintain a reputation worthy of heroism? If so, sign
this agreement. Destiny awaits...

Sincerely,

The Council of Three

Lorekeeper Lorekeeper Lorekeeper
Lawson Sheehy Gillispie