Children’s Week 2009 Guide

It would be cool if Blizz would do Children’s Week next year to include a Northrend orphan. Perhaps we all get taunka orphans or something? That would rule :) Little tiny tauren-cousins following you around everywhere? Gah, I’m already overwhelmed by cuteness! Ahem, but let’s focus on this year’s Children’s Week! You may notice that this article looks very similar to a post I made exactly a year ago on May 1, 2008, and it mostly is, with a few adjustments for 2009. Happy Children’s Week 2009!

I love Children’s Week! It is probably my most favourite in-game event of them all, not only because the interaction with the cute little orphan child makes you feel good since you’re doing something good to help someone in need, but also because the cool pet rewards are worth the effort, too! The whole event is very touching and definitely something I look forward to. I’ve done Children’s Week events in the past years, and this is my second year guiding Horde side. Sorry, Alliance — this walkthrough is just For the Horde!

So what is Children’s Week? Well, once a year the matrons of the orphanages at Orgrimmar and Shattrath open their doors and allow adventurers of the world to come and show an orphan around. Most of these kids have never set foot outside of the city that their orphanage is in, and so they’ve spent their days dreaming of adventures and places they’ve only heard about in stories. It would really mean a lot to the orphaned children if someone big and strong took them under their wing and could take them to some of the amazing sights that they’ve been dreaming about. This is where you come in! Children’s Week only takes a small amount of time out of your busy grinding and PvP day, and the reward of making a child’s day (plus a unique pet!) is more than worth the effort, especially when you see how attached your orphan has grown to you by the end of your travels together. It’s touching, and you may just wish you never had to take your orphan back.

Children’s Week is an in-game event that takes place between May 1 and May 7, 2009. Once you go to the matron in Orgrimmar or Shattrath and accept the responsibility of taking an orphan sightseeing, you will be given an orphan whistle. You’ll use the whistle you are given to summon and dismiss your orphan. I like to put it on an empty spot on my hotbar for easy access. To gain access to the Orgrimmar quest series, you must be level 10. To gain access to the Shattrath quest series, you must be level 60. Once you have the whistle, to get started in either Orgrimmar or Shattrath City, call out your orphan and say hello.

The idea is simple: your orphan has a list of places they’ve heard about and that they’d like to visit. You simply need to go the areas indicated in the quest description and use the whistle to summon your orphan if they’re not already out with you. Sometimes I’ve noticed that if you don’t get thecompletion message right away, dismissing and re-calling your orphan will typically do the trick. Some of the quests just require the orphan to be present when you reach the location described in the quest log, and others will initiate little interactions between your orphan and other NPCs or objects at the location, like a little mini event for you to watch before the quest completes.

NOTE for 2009: This year, there are also World Event in-game achievements as part of the new achievement system in place that go along with Children’s Week. So not only can you complete the quest series as instructed by your orphans, but you can also perform a few other achievements with your orphan to go for the title of Matron/Patron and go towards the ultimate goal of getting the violet proto-drake pet after completing all of the World Event (holiday) achievements. For more information on all of the Children’s Week achievements, check out Miyari’s Informative Post on Wowhead to get all the details.

If you are level 60+, it is possible for you to do both the Outland and the Azeroth Children’s Week quest chains, for two unique pets! How fun is that? Now, let’s get into some more detail on the quest series for each city.

Orgrimmar
Requires level 10
Seek out Orphan Matron Battlewail at 70, 25 in the Valley of Honor. She will give you the task called Children’s Week and hand you your orcish orphan whistle. Call your orphan via the whistle to say hello and meet your ward. He’ll have 3 quests initially:

Down at the Docks
This one is fairly simple: just go to the docks of Ratchet and summon your orphan.

Gateway to the Frontier
Another fairly simple one: just head north of the Barrens to the Mor’shan Rampart, on the edge of the Barrens and Ashenvale zones. If you don’t get the completion message right away after summoning your orcish orphan, be sure to walk closer to the archway that leads into Ashenvale and you should get it. You should not have to enter Ashenvale to trigger this, for you lower level PvP server folks.

Lordaeron Throne Room
More travel! Head over to the other continent and go to Undercity. You’re aiming for the ruins above the city that you pass on your way down. I got the complete message when I was mounted and running through, before I even called my orphan. I called her and was able to ‘turn in’ the quest to her.

After you’ve taken your orphan to the first three places on their list, you’ll see the ! above their head and they’ll give you the next leg of the travel quests, which includes 2 more stops:

Cairne’s Hoofprint
For this portion of the series, you need to go and see Cairne Bloodhoof in Thunder Bluff with your orphan to get an autograph. You’ll find the High Chieftain at 60, 51. This one is tricky only because having your orphan out will not trigger the completion — instead, you must speak to Cairne on your orphan’s behalf because he is shy. Initiate conversation with the High Chieftain to get the autograph for your orphan: I really enjoy hearing what Cairne has to say when asked for his autograph:

“Ah, a young warrior to be no doubt! I take it you are participating in Children’s Week, yes? It warms these weary bones to hear that you are setting the example by which others will be sure to follow.

I’d be delighted to oblige you and the young lad. Hrmm… what advice should I give to him? Listen to the spirits, yes… maybe something about eating all of his vegetables too…”

What a wise and witty High Chieftain! Now take a flight back to Orgrimmar. Trust me.

You Scream, I Scream…
After a long day of travels, your orphan wants a sweet treat of strawberry ice cream, specifically Tigule and Foror’s Strawberry flavour. While you can travel out to the Shimmering Flats to purchase this from Brivelthwerp the Ice Cream Vendor at the raceway (coordinates 77, 77), it’s easier to just buy from the goblin Alowicious Czervik next to the bank in Orgrimmar standing around 52, 69. This also makes it the ideal last place to stop since you’ll need to return your orphan to the matron in Orgrimmar anyway. Lower levels (especially on a PvP server, I highly recommend skipping the travel to Shimmering Flats and just buy your ice cream in Orgrimmar.

After you’ve completed the last of the travel quests, you’ll get one final quest from your orphan: A Warden of the Horde. Now you are to take your orcish orphan back to the matron in Orgrimmar. You also will be able to choose your reward:

Piglet’s Collar
Rat Cage
Turtle Box
Curmudgeon’s Payoff (5g)

Congratulations! You have made a difference in the life of an Orgrimmar orphan! Now doesn’t that feel good?

Shattrath City
Requires level 60
Seek out Orphan Matron Mercy in Lower City of Shattrath at 75, 48. She will give you the task also called Children’s Week and hand you your blood elf orphan whistle. Call your orphan via the whistle to say hello and meet your ward. She’ll have 3 quests initially:

A Trip to the Dark Portal
This is the simplest one: go to the top of the Stairway of Destiny at the Dark Portal and call your orphan out to see the sights.

Hch’uu and the Mushroom People
This one is cute. Your orphan spent time with another orphan named Hch’uu at the orphanage before Hch’uu was adopted and taken to live in Sporeggar with her people. Head out to Zangarmarsh and search out the little Sporeggarling at 19, 51, a quick run from the Zabra’jin flight path. Call your orphan next to Hch’uu and watch the emotional reunion of these two friends. It’s cute little interactions like this that make me love Children’s Week!

Visit the Throne of the Elements
Now it’s time to head out to Nagrand. This is an easy next step if you’ve got your flight path to Zabra’jin — just take the road south into Nagrand if you don’t already have the flight path for Garadar. The Throne of the Elements is just northish of Garadar, and you’re looking for Elementalist Sharvak at 60, 22. Call out your orphan and speak to Elementalist Sharvak to complete the quest. Don’t forget to admire the beautiful scenery of Nagrand! :)

After you’ve taken your orphan to the first three places on their list, you’ll see the ! above their head and they’ll give you the next leg of the travel quests, which includes 2 more stops in Azeroth:

Now, When I Grow Up…
Your orphan wants to meet Sig Nicious the rock star! The easiest way to do this is to fly back to Shattrath and take the portal to Silvermoon so you don’t blow any hearthstone cooldowns. Sig Nicious of The Tauren Chieftains can be found around 75, 79 in the Walk of Elders near the southern entrance to Silvermoon City. This one was tricky — stand under the balcony and summon your orphan and let her initiate the event. She’ll try to impress them with her own rocking out, which is adorable. You may need to wait for another player to finish their portion before you can successfully start yours. You also may need to resummon your orphan a few times to get it to start.

Time to Visit the Caverns
Now you need to head out to Gadgetzan in Tanaris and run down southeast to the Caverns of Time, nestled in some mountains on the eastern coast. Run way down into the Caverns, and on your way to seek out the giant yellow dragon Zaladormu at 60, 57, stop and see Alurmi the Keepers of Time Quartermaster at 63, 57 and purchase a Toy Dragon. Now summon your orphan and head over to Zaladormu. Stand back and let the short event take place where some guards will charge at your orphan at first, until Zaladormu shouts at them to stop with an interesting line: “WAIT! This girl has done nothing, and will not be held accountable for what she might do, or fail to do, in the future.” This child you’ve been escorting around all day sure must have an interesting future ahead of them!

When you’re done with the last of the travel quests, you’ll get one last quest from your orphan: Back to the Orphanage. Use your hearthstone and take her back to Shattrath and the matron and you’ll also be able to choose your reward:

Egbert’s Egg
Elekk Training Collar
Sleepy Willy

Congratulations! You have made a difference in the life of a Shattrath orphan! Now doesn’t that feel good? :) Even more congratulations are in order to you if you completed both city series quests — your kindness and generosity to the children in need is greatly appreciated and has not gone unnoticed. Thank you. Now go load up your alts and do it all over again! :) Enjoy, and happy Children’s Week 2009!

Articles may not be republished elsewhere in whole or in part without permission. Feel free to link directly to this post. ©2005-2009 by Lesley Karpiuk (Toque of pinktoque.com)