Part 1: "The Pig and Whistle"

Smitten takes a sip from her cup of tea and stares into the fire. Zones out for a minute, then shakes her head and continues to cook. "I feel like no matter how much food i cook, it doesn't get any better!" She angrily thinks to herself. "The wolf-kabob tastes just like yesterday, and the day before. Not any worse god forbid, but not any better either."

She cleans up her trusty tools, and ventures to the back of the noisy tavern "the Pig and Whistle" located in the Old Town in stormwind City, to once more talk to her good friend the cook. Smitten is not the brightest of gnomes, so names are not something that sticks well in her head. She had always called him noting but "cook" and that was how it was going to be in the future aswell.

"Hello dear Smitten!" He always greets her warmly like that. If she had been as tall as a human, she would have gotten a hug and kiss on the cheeks she thinks to herself. The kindness is the main reason why she likes coming to this particular cook to learn more. "How may I help you today?" He asks, while eagerly stirring in a big bowl of stew. "Dear Cook, I feel my cooking skills won't improve no matter how hard I try!" She tells him, the frustration in her voice is hard to miss. "You have learned me many of my recipies, but my eager to learn more has once again caught up with me. Please kind cook, teach me more." She pleas. The busy cook stops for a while, and looks through his cookbook. "It seems like you know all of my recipies already little friend, there is nothing more i can teach you."

The answer chocked Smitten. Could she already be on par with her mentor? Surely there must be other cooks in the world who knew of more advanced recipes. When asked this question, Smitten is given a comforting answer. "Throughout the years of my cooking, I have heard tales of a special book. A book which contains various tricks to help improve the readers cooking. The book I am thinking of should be in the far west though, this is the only reason why I haven't gotten any better myself. There is too much to do here, too many mouths to feed. MY STEW!"

Caught up in conversation, the kind cook had forgotten all about the stew that had been boiling on the fire. "Damnit!" He says to himself. Smitten knows when it is time to leave another cook's kitchen, and with a bow and a "Thank you" she leaves the cook to his craft.

Ashenvale was the place the cook had been talking of, but it was far away, and Smitten had still not been outside of the Eastern Kingdoms. The journey would surely take her to new and dangerous places.