Kazi and I had another roleplaying session with Aroqin and Radoslaw a while back that Kazi never got around to proofreading. Since I’m impatient and Kazi is sleeping after his graveyard shift at his new job, I’m going to post it without him getting a chance to edit it! Mwahahaha!

*cough* Check out our first RP session if you missed it/don’t remember it.

The setting for this one is Qin’s and Rado’s isolated camp in Arathi Basin, when they were in their mid-30s.

Settled into her sleek cat form, Aroqin studiously licks her paws clean. She is seemingly unruffled by the struggles the prone, bound man whose back she is posed on.

Nearby, Radoslaw enthusiastically takes flint and steel to a small pile of tinder, blowing gently as the first spark catches. The first glimmers of the fire shine dully off the black-dyed leather of his well-worn armor.

The captive attempts to throw the druid off, only to be rewarded by her sharp claws kneading through his leather armor and into his flesh. At this point, he stops moving and clenches his jaw grimly. “Is that fire almost ready yet, boy?” Qin calls over. “This warming pillow is rather difficult to hold still.”

“Remember, hon,” she coos to the Syndicate thief, “I could change into a bear if it suits my mood.”

Radoslaw chuckles a little as the flames take hold, piling a little more wood inexpertly on the pile. “Almost, Qin…this isn’t the driest wood out here.” The rogue takes little notice of the struggling Syndicate, entranced by the movement of the flames.

“Remember to build the wood in a pyramid shape, and put the softer wood on.” She turns back to the captive, grinning impishly as she murmurs in his ear, “The hard wood we’ll need to save for later tonight, won’t we darling?” The man growls an insult, for which Qin casually cuffs him on the side of the head. “So savage, these Syndicate,” she muses in Rado’s general direction.

Nodding absently, Radoslaw stacks the wood in what might, under special circumstances, be charitably called a pyramid, then walks softly over to the druid and her captive. “There we go, Qin, I got it going real nice now.”

So…what’re we doing with this guy, anyway?” he asks, prodding the man’s leg with a boot. “I could’ve knifed him a lot more easily than whackin’ his head like that.”

“He’s going to tell us all the little details of Stromgarde’s defences. Isn’t that right, hon?” She coos again. Another louder curse earns him a stronger cuff to the head. “It looks like we may have to teach him to play nice with us first.” She gives Rado a cat-grin.

First ensuring the man’s eyes couldn’t catch his face, Rado gives her a wink. “Aww…Qin, I just finished getting the rest of the bloodstains off of my shirt…not everyone can just jump in a river to wash it off.”

“I suppose you’ll be forced to wear your other leathers then, the ones that are already well-stained. I know the color of dried blood doesn’t not match the poison on your daggers but there’s no one here to see you.” She kneads her claws again, purring at the pained yelps the man beneath her makes. “Yes…no one to see or hear us for miles and miles around.”

Radoslaw huffs slightly theatrically, then sits cross-legged in front of their prisoner’s face. “Well, mister Syndicate, I suppose we’re gonna have to get down to business pretty soon…got anything you want to say?”

He punctuates his words by drawing one of his daggers and slowly drawing it across a whetstone, testing the edge on his thumb after every stroke.

The thief sits in stony silence for a few moments, before Aroqin steps from his back over his legs and once swiftly changing into a bear, sits down neatly on his legs. The man cries out in agony from his bones being on the verge of shattering, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!” Shifting back into her feline form, she grins triumphantly at her companion. “Good to see that my feminine wiles work on a man as tough as this one.”

Radoslaw smiles back a touch nervously, putting his weapon to work cutting chunks of dried meat apart, occasionally popping one in his mouth to chew slowly. “That they do, Qin.”

Leaning down to address the now-terrified Syndicated, Radoslaw blinks inquisitively. “All right then, mister…what’s going on in Stromgarde, then? How’s your ‘prince’ have you fellows spread out?”

The prisoner babbles out the layout of their forces, along with the times of shift changes and even where they store their weapons. “But where the prince is, I dun know,” he admits with a nervous glance over his shoulder at Qin. “I report to one of ‘is lieutenants.”

“What a pity that is,” the cat druid heaves with a sigh. She draws herself to her feet and pads over to the captive’s head, who valiantly resists flinching away. “If I see you again, darling, and if it’s for anything other than a pleasant dinner and a room at the best inn…” She eyes him appraisingly. “Well, hope that I won’t be hungry.” She smiles wide at him, long white fangs flashing in the light of the fire.

Radoslaw chuckles grimly, then pokes the man’s nose. “And she’s an honest one, mister…I’d believe her if I were you. She makes me look all sweet and tender,” he says warmly, gently tapping the captive’s head with a dagger. “You letting him off now, Qin?”

“Unless there’s anything you want to ask him.” She curls up near the fire, looking thoroughly bored at the pair of humans before her. “You’re more intimate with thieves and other shadowy characters than I am so perhaps there was something he ‘forgot’ to tell us.”

Radoslaw considers for several long moments, tapping his chin contemplatively. “Hmmm…how many agents you folks have with the League of Arathor? And don’t try to tell me you don’t have ‘em, I know you do.”

The thief hems and haws for a for moments, but a meaningfully impatient tab on Rado’s knife convinces him to open up. “Uh…I don’t know a lot, but there’s this guy we’ve been getting reports from…always contacts us by letter drop, signs it Erten. That’s all I know, I swear!”

Radoslaw nods thoughtfully, then turns to Aroqin. “All right, how’re we doing this? Just let him up?”

Aroqin yawns wide, smacking her maw together. After rising and stretching lithely, she assumes her night elf form, completely kitted out in thick leather armor. “I think I’ve found a use for that ram we stole from the Syndicate…” She steps into the trees, returning momentarily with a light gray ram in tow. “Mind lifting him up, boy?” she asks as she indicates the saddle of the creature.

Radoslaw nods, hefting the slight man with only a bare grunt of effort and settling him on the saddle, lashing the man’s bindings to the saddle, then turning to grin at Qin. “Anything else you want sent with him?”

The night elf reaches down to scoop up a chunk of dried meat and secures it to the saddle. “This will help you make quick friends with those raptors out there,” she says cheerily as she pats the Syndicate’s knee affectionately. As the man’s eyes bulge, she changes once more into a cat form and lets form a boisterous roar. The ram rears, almost throwing its rider from his seat, and charges off into the night-darkened plains. Qin sits down on her haunches, happily admiring her work.

Radoslaw wanders to stand next to her, watching the ram charge off into the distance. “Went pretty well, I’d say,” he says. “Seemed like we was bein’ pretty honest, at least. Gave us some good stuff to work with.”

He kicks the grass at his feet idly. “So how much of that were you gonna follow through with if he didn’t snap?”

Qin remains silent for a long while, staring out into the dark as her tail twitches from time to time. “Rams are not helpless, you know,” she finally murmurs over the sound of crickets and birds making their last calls before they sleep. “If anything even looks at them the wrong way, they’ll aim a kick for the head. That thief will eventually untie himself and eat the meat. It’s probably the best food he’s seen in a while.” She bats away a fly attempting to land on her nose. “I knew how much pressure his legs could take from my weight. And even if they had broken by accident, I would have healed them quickly and cleanly.”

She twists her head, glowing eyes focusing soberly on the rogue beside her. “That’s what it means to be a Phoenix, Radoslaw. These quests that we take on are to train us, not to declare our allegiances. Nor do we fight over the decayed ruins of a city so it can change from being in one mortal’s hands to another’s. No, our true goal is much bigger than that.” She pauses for a brief moment. “Perhaps a better question is how far would you have gone through with it.”

Radoslaw blinks, his stance betraying his sudden uncertainty. “Uhh…” he feebly replies, fiddling with a rivet on his armor. “I…dunno, Qin. I’m not sure how much I could just hurt someone, you know? Killin’ someone, fast and clean, that’s one thing, but…cuttin’ on them to make them talk? I just…don’t know…”

He falls silent, looking at the ground.

“That’s what we’re here to figure out, boy.” Suddenly she lets out a jaw-stretching yawn and blinks with disinterest. “Plus I wouldn’t hurt such a good-looking man. I prefer…other activities with my play things.” She grins toothily and then glances over at the fire. “Now where did you put that other piece of meat? I’m starving.” She saunters back over to the camp, sniffing the air delicately for the food.

Radoslaw looks up, face quickly breaking in a cheery smile. “It’s all cut up for stew, Qin. Got the water boiling and what’s left of our potatoes and spices in with it…shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Well, come on then,” she urges with a touch of impatience. “I don’t want to start chewing on my own paw, boy.”

“All right, Qin, I’m coming,” he replies, and dumps the cut meat into the stew pot nestled in the growing coals of the fire. “Should be cooked enough to eat in a few minutes…I’m no fancy cook, but it’s better than trail food again.”

She sits down before the fire, nostrils flaring and tail lashing from side to side in anticipation. “I’m getting to the point where I’d gnaw on some leather if I could. Plus you know that all us night elves are used to eating moss and dirt anyways,” she comments with a flash of humor in her eyes.

Radoslaw looks sidewise at her for a few moments, then laughs. “I dunno about the dirt, but maybe the moss is why your hair’s so green,” he says, then looks thoughtful. “You ever eat raw meat, when you’re all fuzzy?”

She stares back at him steadily, licking her chops. “Do you really want to find out?”

Chuckling nervously, he ladles some of the thick stew into a bowl and all but throws it in his haste. “Here you Qin, no need for that!”

She gives a cat chortle and lays down to lap up the stew with her long pink tongue.

/waits for Pike to start drooling

My original thought had been a more evil-scientist-Dr.-Horrible kit but I can’t for the life of me find a lab coat outfit anywhere in WoW. If anyone knows where to find one, I’d love to hear about it.

After a series of frustrating pugs in Scarlet Monastery, one of us finally blurted out over Skype, “We could just do this damn thing all by ourselves!” There was a moment’s pause and then we began to discuss how, yes, we actually could duo the instance. With that, we ported to Undercity and booted it out to the dungeon.

Tuyok and Ghislain two-man Cathdral

Was it easier? Probably not. Was it faster? No, not really. But oh, was it ever fun. Without twitchy DPS breathing down my neck, I could get Kazi to bubble me and then pull the entire right side of the lower half of the Chapel Gardens. The pulls inside the Chapel itself were massive, with up to 20 mobs on me and runaways in every direction. We actually welcomed the additional mobs they brought back, myself especially because they only fueled my constantly depleting rage bar. I actually used my cooldowns to keep myself up.

You know what it felt like? Like for once, it was actually us against the mobs. With a pug, most of the time I’m more worried about what the rest of the group will do to screw things up, either by pulling aggro or pulling on their own. But here…I had a partner that I had complete trust in. I trusted him to keep me alive, to spam Holy Nova in the middle of a pack of mobs at the right time, to bring a mob aggroed onto him right to me so I could taunt it off, and to finish off the odd runner with Holy Fire.

Aroqin and Radoslaw take turns shanking an ogre

This sort of playing off each other has been repeated numerous times with us. Just take my kitty druid Aroqin and Kazi’s rogue Radoslaw. We’ll often position ourselves on either side of a mob, trading aggro back and forth between the two of us and using our special “shank them from behind” abilities when their back is to one of us. When we pull too many mobs, I switch into bear form and tank them while Kazi does, as he puts it, “terrible and possibly illegal things” to them. I have Healbot up for anytime I need to throw a quick Rejuv or Decurse onto one of us.

One of our most amazing quests was in STV. The quest was red to us and we didn’t even notice that it was until we were halfway into a deep cave, surrounded by mobs that were orange to us. Using a combination of stealth, distractions, and deadly attacks, we finally made it to the very back of the cave where the quest mob, also a red level, was waiting for us with his cronies. I turned into a bear and we pulled his buddies carefully when they had walked away from the quest mob. Then, we pulled the quest mob and he went down smoothly, even if it wasn’t quickly.

On the way back out, we decided to slip past all the orange-level mobs unnoticed. As a cat, Qin is stealthed better than Rado but she does not have his big bag of tricks. He distracted and sapped our way out of there, only fighting a couple of mobs when we absolutely had to. We would watch the way they were patting and would dash across through an opening as soon as we had the chance. We laughed and grinned at each other when we made it out and Kazi declared that it was the most fun he’s had on WoW in months. Why? Because it was just the two of us using our skills and experience to get something done.

Nalifi and Hyarima on the Zoram's Strand

We could be on any two characters and feel like we’re a real team, one that just knows what the other is doing and how best to act in conjunction with that. I mean, who would have thought that Kazi’s troll shaman Hyarima could have tanked most of a Deadmines pug at level, with my disc priest Nalifi bubbling and healing everyone? I’m not saying that we never make a mistake but we’re not the sort to never try anything beyond the ordinary. That trust that we have is what makes us work so well together and live through things by the skin of our teeth.

All of this brings something else to question. Why do we have to have a group of 5 for instances, with a tank, healer, and 3 dps? As much as I will preach how great the LFG tool can be, why must it be harder and less rewarding to get a mishmashed group of friends together to take on an instance? I distinctly remember completing Wailing Caverns with nothing but 3 hunters with tanking pets. Not to mention that I’ve pet-tanked heroic ToC without much difficulty. And I know that I’m not the only person that has brought this sort of issue to light.

Dear Blizzard, could we have a “queue with current party only” button? I mean really, who would we be hurting other than ourselves? We know what we would be getting ourselves into.

Two enter the Molten Core: a dragonling protection paladin and a amazing enhancement/restoration shaman.

These two…are OP.

We’ve managed a partial and two full clears of this 40-man raid. The partial was only because we were looking for Saraku’s T1 pieces and weren’t concerned with actually finishing the instance. The next time we went in, we decided to see if we could clear the place out. Kazi was enhance for all of it but the annoying naga boss who puts a curse on you that reduces healing taken by a whooping 75%. The other naga boss who has 4 healer buddies? Yeah, Kazi popped all his cooldowns and we sliced the first healer into tiny bite-sized treats. After you get the first one down, it just gets easier from there.

The tie for most annoying boss is between Ragnaros himself and the big fire elemental who explodes you and sends you flying into the air. The fall actually deals us more damage than the explosion itself. And Ragnaros can die…in his own fire? That knockback ability is damned irritating and it took us a few tries figuring out the best place to position ourselves so we don’t end up in the lava.

But all and all, it can make for a fun distraction. Saraku is just missing his tier chest piece for his knight-in-shining-armor RP set and Kazi now wants to get the lengendary mace made for himself. Not to mention the sheer amount of gold we get…I netted in about 140g before putting BoE epics on the AH. Ragnaros alone dropped 75g each for us. It’s a nice alternative to say running some dailies, wouldn’t you say?

Anyways, the reason I couldn’t think of a title is because this is an update on all my characters and stuff. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet so I don’t bore you all.

My troll shaman Zulrea hit level 80 oh…a couple months ago now. >.>Yes, I’m that bad at making these updates. Regardless, this makes her third level 80 and although she’s fun to play, I haven’t been gearing her as aggressively as I did Niqo and Saraku. I blame it on heroics burnout. But I did get her the Noble title and completed all of the other Noblegarden achievements in 2 days. Not bad for a casual. I enjoy healing on her the most so the couple of T9 pieces I have been getting her have been for that spec. Her elemental set…languishes greatly.

Raiding recently has been awesome for Niqora. The other weekend Bloodriver took on OS, EoE, and Onyxia all in one night and didn’t have too much trouble smashing them all into the ground. Malygos and Onyxia had given us problems before so they took a few tries. Niqo can now proudly boast her Champion of the Frozen Wastes title.

Then last weekend we entered TotC-10…and completed the entire dungeon in a single night. I personally had never seen beyond the spiky worm beasts and apparently the furthest some of them had gotten before were the Faction Champs. So it was quite a thrill to make it through all of it in the first night, even if we had wipes. We just bulldozed through it like we always do. As my guildmate Cedd commented to me: “Bloodriver: we hit our heads against the wall until we make a hole.” We are tenacious if nothing else.

Yesterday I got it into my head that I wanted Ashen Verdict rep with Saraku so he could make Niqo the epic arrows she’s come to love. It was surprisingly easy to get enough people to come with me for trash runs. We had to switch out people a couple times (RL comes first after all) but we killed enough trash so that people who had been there since the beginning went from completely neutral to friendly by the end. They all seemed pretty happy to get their rings, happy enough to even want to come back tonight for some more.

Niqora’s little sis Anuniaq is now level 60 and in the Outlands, having been reunited with her childhood friend Halruum (Kazi’s tauren warrior).  She’s been sitting at level 40-ish for a long time and it’s good to get to level a hunter again (but oh how I missed Steadyshot).

Tuyok the warrior, and Niqora’s adopted son, has gone from fury to prot since I discovered that I liked tanking with him the best. Figuring out how to stance-dance was a huge factor in making that decision. >.> He’s in his early 30s now and has made friends with a Forsaken priest called Ghislan (Kazi has discovered a love for discipline priests). Together they make quite the odd couple…a frail-looking undead man next to a hulking tauren bull.

You’ve already seen Aroqin the night elf druid featured here in some RP sessions that Kazi and I have been having. She’s also in her early 30s and she is happily bounding about as a kitty. As happily as a grumpy sarcastic elf can be that is. I’ve discovered that I also like tanking with her on the side (kitty is her first love, bear comes second). Apparently I’m fairly good at it, if the pug person who told me that I’m the best low level tank he’s ever seen is any indication.

I really have developed this gravitation to tanking, haven’t I? >.>

In all of these, some characters have gotten deleted, namely my bank character Valraen who never got past level 10 and my draenei hunter Brighit who I never could find the perfect pet for. In my defense for deleting Brighit, I intend to have at least a goblin hunter once Cataclysm comes out, possibly a worgen depending on what forms the worgen druids will get. A hunter for a hunter is okay, right? >.> I swear I’m still a petoholic!

And last but not least, a shameless plug for my guild. Bloodriver on Wyrmrest Accord-H is now recruiting. We invite anyone of any level or class who wants to join our wonderful family. We do light roleplaying, raid casually, play lots and lots of alts, run random heroics, and hang out in guild chat. Sometimes we even break out into song on vent.

For you Alliance folks, our sister guild Obsidian Phoenix is also growing and is a military style light-medium RP guild who is focused on the whisperings of the coming Cataclysm, ignoring the petty squabbles between the Alliance and the Horde. Players who don’t roleplay are also welcome. And check out the cool website that I’m making for them.

If you’re interested or want to ask questions, just comment on this post or find me on any one of my characters on Wyrmrest (they are listed on My Characters page).

Edit: I forgot to mention that I managed to sell my Battered Hilt for a nice chunk of gold. Here’s to endless possibilities!

Kazimierz and I decided to roll two Alliance characters a little while back to join Bloodriver’s up-and-coming Alliance sister guild, Obsidian Phoenix. My character Aroqin is a night elf druid and his character Radoslaw is a human rogue. One night we ended up role-playing a little between them and discovered they have some interesting personalities. Then one day we decided to start role-playing with them outside of the game, using Gtalk. It worked out so well that I’m posting it here for all to enjoy.

The setting is an evening at the Lakeshire inn in the Redridge Mountains.

With her back to the warm stove in the corner of the inn, Aroqin is stretched out in her cat form across the floor. Her eyes are shut and her limbs are loose and relaxed. Only the occasional twitching of her tail gives away that she may not be completely asleep.

Radoslaw takes his ease in a…less sedate manner, draped oddly over the side of a chair and playing intricate spinning games with one of his daggers. He’s almost hypnotized by the whirling emerald glow, and a silly grin is spreading slowly across his face.

The occasional muttered ‘ouch!’ can be heard, accompanied by the thud of the knife hitting the table.

The druid lazily opens a single glowing eye after one of these mutterings, fixing it on the human. “You must want to make your already short life span shorter, boy,” she mutters with a low rumble in her throat. “And one of these days I’ll decide that it’s not worth it to heal you.”

Radoslaw looks up, his guileless face lacking its customary red bandanna. “It’s only little cuts, Qin, I’m not gettin’ hurt too bad. And it’s fun!”

He snickers a little. “I guess you wouldn’t know much about that, though.”

Qin gives Radoslaw a standard cat-like withering glance, rolling over to face the stove now. “‘Fun’ is a warm fire and some peace and quiet. At least I can get one out of two.”

Totally missing the barely-veiled bard and taking the glare as a matter of course, Radoslaw continues cheerily. “That’s not fun, Qin. That’s comfy-like…although I guess old folks like doing that sort of thing too. How old are ya, anyway?”

She holds up a paw in front of the stove grate, admiring her fully-extended claws in the orange light. “Older than you can count, boy. And what exactly is your idea of ‘fun’ then, other than making yourself bleed?”

Radoslaw sits up a little straighter, adding the other knife to his flipping and twirling. “Well…sneakin’ about’s fun, ‘specially when the worst you’ll get is a broom and some shoutin’ if you’re caught. Playing dice or cards, wrestling with your buddies, swimming in the river and the lake…lots of stuff.” He flips the daggers in the air and misses them both spectacularly, the twin thunks of their landing point-first in the table echoing in the quiet of the inn. “Mostly just doing stuff because it feels good and you like it, instead of some ‘sacred duty’ or because you gotta do it to make a living.”

A wryly smile flashes briefly across Qin’s maw, quickly replaced by boredom. She lets out a large yawn that reveals her brilliant white fangs, her legs stretching out in the air and extending all of her claws. “Sure, I’ll wrestle with you,” she mumbles with disinterest.

Radoslaw finally notices the claws and blinks, worry flashing briefly over his face. “Not all catlike, you aren’t! That’s no fair at all.”

“No?” She queries innocently, ears perking up as she gazes up at him. “Would a bear be more fitting then?”

Actual fear tinges Rado’s eyes, and he stiffens, his hands suddenly still. “No. No bears!”

Her brow creases with worry and regret for a microsecond before she rolls back toward the fire, muscles exuding boredom. “Now who is no fun?” she murmurs.

A moment’s pause, and the young rogue is all cheer again, enthusiastically picking over the black-dyed armor he favors and lovingly repairing any cuts or loose threads. “So Qin…what happen to your armor when you go all fuzzy and catlike?”

She lets out a long loud sigh. “You see, when I’m a night elf and training as a druid, they put all of my animal forms inside me using magic. Then, when I want to shift, I trade my humanoid form for one of the animal ones and my armor goes with it.” She shifts a little, tail twitching. “It’s a little uncomfortable to have leather armor in you at first but you get used to it.”

Radoslaw stares wide-eyed, tilting his head. “But…where does that neat hammer-thing fit in you? It’s all big, and the gear on it moves all the time!”

Qin twists her head around to gaze at him under half-closed eyelids. “Oh, you caught me. Really, all of it goes into the Emerald Dream and I’m completely naked right now.”

Radoslaw drops his knives, eyes wide and jaw slack as he looks over the resting druid with shocked revelation.

An edge of laughter can be heard in her voice as she says, “Try not to stare too much. It will make you go blind.” Her shoulders shake in a silent chuckle as she turns back toward the stove.

He blushes brightly, but doesn’t move to pick up anything for several long moments, still watching with awe. “And you fight in the…the altogether?”

“Real cats and bears do, don’t they?” she says dryly.

“But you’re…a person! Doesn’t that feel strange?” he stammers, fiddling blindly with the needle and heavy thread in front of him.

Shifting to put her back to the fire again, she raises a furry eyebrow at him. “I’m a night elf. We always go running around just as Elune made us.”

Radoslaw stammers and blushes even more, staring with complete shock and visibly bending the needle between his fingers.

“Boy…how long have we been adventuring together and you still have not learnt what the word ‘sarcasm’ means?” She points a single claw to the needle in his hand. “You’re going to stick yourself again.”

Radoslaw looks down and drops the needle quickly, snorting indignantly. “You’re makin’ fun of me again, aren’t you? Just ’cause I’ve never been over the border and don’t know what foreign folks are like, you try to fool me.”

“It’s not my fault that you can’t tell one tone from another and naively assume everyone is telling you the truth,” she hisses with narrowed eyes. “You’re a rogue, lies and deceptions should be your forte. And did you really believe that I would walk around naked in front of you of all people, regardless of what form I’m in?”

He shrugs and fiddles with his knives. “I’m good at hidin’ and sticking knives in things…never said I was good with people. Why’d you think I got so good at sneakin’ around? And I dunno about the second part…my ma always said you people didn’t do things the same way we did.” He pauses, and adds: “‘Course, she said that about a lot of people what seemed pretty normal to me, so maybe there’s not too much to it.”

Qin snorts and lays her head down on the floor. “So now I also have to teach you how to recognize lies. And the lack of armor is just a part of druid magic, boy. Leather is made of skins like ours so it becomes part of our hides, bolstering our natural resilience.” She closes her eyes again, her brow slightly crinkled as she mumbles something about teenage boys and wandering minds.

Rado nods slightly, leaning back into his chair until it balances on two legs, his feet propped on the table. “Well…if it needs fixin’, I’m not a bad hand at patching and needlework.” He eyes the smooth fur of Aroqin’s form critically. “Does it still make it hurt less when it’s in your skin like that? Seems kinda silly to run around fightin’ without some sort of protection.”

The cat druid physically bites back a sarcastic retort, her eyes still closed. “It does dull the pain. It’s just like a layer of leather armor. Just don’t try to mend it while it’s on me or you’re liable to find an angry bear before you.”

Radoslaw nods soberly. “Course I wouldn’t try that, I’m not stupid. Just not all caught up with your…druidy stuff. We don’t have them around here.” The rogue scratches his chin, staring into the fire. “So why’d you come here? Whole world has problems right now, and I’d think you’d want to deal with your own instead of helping us.”

“…You’re not going to let me rest in peace, are you?” Not waiting for a response, she adds, “Like I said, there’s more of us shifters in Teldrassil than you can shake a tree druid at. There are few here…so it seemed like a good idea to go some place where I would be of more use.” She lifts her head up and gives him a toothy grin. “Besides, not many of them appreciate my sense of humor.”

Radoslaw looks back blankly. “I can’t imagine why,” he says, winking exaggeratedly a moment afterward. “I’m not totally in the dark about that sarcasm thing, see?”

She widens her eyes in feigned surprised. “By the white light of Elune, the boy does know how to learn!” She places a paw to her chest. “I…am completely floored.”

Radoslaw snorts, hiding a smile of his own by quickly drawing and throwing both his knives at a knot in the inn’s walls, both striking point-first within inches of the mark. “I learn more than you might think.”

“Oh do tell,” she breathes enthusiastically, perking her darkish ears straight up in the air.

He grins a little, walking to pry the knives out of the wood. “Well…I know you didn’t get that kit you wear from anyone in the Alliance.”

The druid raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “And what makes you think that?”

“Threadwork on it’s all wrong, and the materials are too…kodohide and sinew for the base of the armor, and judging from the smell it gets when it’s wet, the dye is Mulgore blackroot. No mark of craft on it, either, so it’s not from a marketplace that would have access to those kinds of stuff.”

He smiles slightly. “I haven’t been past the borders, but I do know my leatherwork.”

Qin idly watches a beetle scurry between them on the floorboards. “Perhaps I found it on the corpse of a tauren. Or maybe it was in an old chest in a hidden attic, hailing back from the times when the Horde and the Alliance worked together.” She glances up at the human.”Or maybe I won it in a game of strip poker from an old, lonely troll.”

Radoslaw shakes his head. “Not ‘less that dead tauren or troll was your twin…that armor’s tailored, special-like. Someone who could get that stuff made it for you, and no goblin merchant would put out a cuirass without a trade-mark someplace visible.”

The druid glances around nervously, eyeing the innkeeper measuredly until she decided that he’s paying them no attention. Then she sits up, giving a wide-mawed yawn. Padding over casually to the rogue’s chair, she stretches her neck up until she can whisper in his ear. “Don’t tell anyone,” she hissed quietly, “but I’m really an orc in disguise.”  With that, she curls back her lips, bearing her teeth. “See, fangs,” nodding assuredly.

Radoslaw stares for a few long moments, narrowing his eyes, then laughs a little. “You’re fooling with me again, aren’t you?”

In a fluid motion, she shifts back into her humanoid form, standing tall beside him. “What? You don’t believe that I’m a burly orc woman, green skin and all?” She flexes an arm and points at it. “Can’t you see the corded muscles in it?”

Rado chuckles, inspecting the proffered arm and darting wandering glances elsewhere. “Hah, real funny, Qin.”

She sighs softly as she notices his wandering eyes. “You’re not my type, boy. I like them big, furry, and with hooves. There’s a reason this armor is dyed with a root native to Mulgore.” She winks at him slyly.

Radoslaw blushes, then his jaw drops lightly as he tilts his head. “…how…?”

“I have one word for you…’druids’. I think your twisted imagination can figure out the rest on its own.” She flops down in the chair across the table from him, arms and legs thrown over the back and arms of the chair in a distinctly feline manner.

Almost sputtering, Rado avoids her gaze, fiddling distractedly with his knives.

She glances over at the fumbling young human. “For Elune’s sake, Rado, I haven’t bedded with a tauren. They’re nice people and all but…just no, hasn’t happened.”

Radoslaw nods with relief, then pauses for a moment. “Wait…how do you know tauren? We’re at war with the Horde…”

She leans back and rests her head on the table, her short bright green hair brushing against the wood. “I’m a druid, a member of the Cenarion Circle. And so are some of the taurens. And just because some–” She seems to recall where she is with a glance around and bites back her remark. “…Some king thinks that we should go to war with them does not mean that all of us have to participate. I’m a druid first, any alliances come second.”

Propping his head up with an arm, Radoslaw frowns slightly. “What’s this Cenarion Circle group do, then? I’ve never heard a thing about ‘em.”

Qin pauses for a moment and then twists around to look wide-eyed at him as she breathes out, “Secret druid stuff. And things.”

Rado sighs and shakes his head, looking at Aroqin with his head titled. “You ever talk straight with people, or is this you all the time?”

“Hey, when you’re centuries old, you find that there are only a few things in life that entertain you throughout the years. This is one of them.” She quickly twists around so that she’s crouched on the chair, her chin resting on her hands gripping the table. “Don’t take away my one source of happiness!” she pleads melodramatically.

Blinking, Radoslaw leans back, chuckling lightly. “All right, Qin, you win.”

In a bat of an eye, she’s relaxed and bored once again. “Of course I win. I’m female,” she states matter-a-factly. “Anyways, the Cenarion Circle is a group of druids dedicated to protecting nature and repairing the damage caused by evil forces. Any war between the Alliance and Horde is meaningless to us, except when we have to come in and clean up after you folks.”

Radoslaw nods slowly, taking in the information and not so much as batting an eyelid at the druid’s apparent mood shifts. “So…I take it you have a lot of people in Lordaeron, then?”

She pauses again for a long moment. “I wouldn’t be here if we did, boy,” she says in a low voice.

Rado blinks and edges a little away. “Something…happen to you up in the Plaguelands?”

“You don’t have to talk about it if it bothers you, ma’am, but it sounds like something’s up, and sometimes sharing helps,” he offers quietly.

She blinks earnestly at him. “What makes you think I had anything to do with the Plaguelands?”

“You…said if the Circle had lots of folk up in Lordaeron, you wouldn’t be here…”

“The people still living in Lordaeron…well, as living as they can be there…don’t quite like an Alliance, regardless of whether they’re a druid or not. They only just tolerate the tauren druids. They seem to like being as they are.” She sighs softly. “Which is a shame. It was quite the city.”

Radoslaw nods quietly, staring down at the table. “It was a grand place, they said…”

She claps her hands together loudly, sitting up straight “What’s done is done and no one wants a clean-up crew. So…here I am.” She glances at Radoslaw, adding dryly, “Spending my evening with a teenage boy. How far I have come in this life.”

Grinning, Rado gives her a thumbs-up. “Damn straight you’ve come far. You must be happy I found you!”

The night elf stares deadpanned at him. “Completely. Thrilled. Barkeep, can I have a drink? Something really strong…something dwarven.” She flips a coin to the barkeeper and watches him rummage around behind the counter.

Completely missing the sarcasm, Radoslaw likewise waves for the bartender, gulping down local ale with obvious relish. “You like dwarven stuff, huh? I thought elves were supposed to go for wine and mead and dewdrops, that sort of thing,” he asks after downing his third mug, slurring slightly over his normal drawl.

“Oooooh, the dwarven stock has taken a special place in my heart lately,” she mutters over her half-full second mug, nursing this one whereas she downed the first. “Besides dewdrops are overrated. After about the twelfth one, it tastes like you’ve eaten a whole haystack.”

Radoslaw nods, only slightly unsteady. “You should try cutting and baling hay…why do you think this stuff tastes so strong? Nothing else gets the taste of twelve hours’ worth of dust and chaff out of your mouth…”

She eyes the empty glasses sitting next to his elbow. “Except drinking until you can’t taste or feel anything any more?”

“Mmm-hmmm…nothing quite like it…” Rado mumbles, setting the fourth mug next to the others. “I think I’ll have another one…we’re rich in the service to king and country, after all,” he adds, swaying gently in his chair.

“If you have too many of those and I have to drag you to your room, I’m doing it as a bear and I can’t guarantee I’ll be gentle with you.” She takes a long sip from her mug and adds nonchalantly, “Or that you’ll be in one piece when you get there. Bears are clumsy, you know.”

Radoslaw weighs the words carefully, finally nodding and putting the coins back in his pack. “I…guess I’ve had enough, then…don’t want a headache in the morning.” He yawns sleepily and brushes a hand over his eyes. “Mmm…what’re we doing tomorrow, anyway?”

“I think you mean tonight, boy.” She rises and takes a step forward, smoothly transitioning into her lithe cat form before her other foot touches the ground. “There are Blackrock orcs up in that fortress and if we want to sneak in to kill their leader, we had best do it under the dark of night.”

Radoslaw blinks at the unpleasant realization and rises somewhat unsteadily to his feet. “Well…this isn’t gonna be fun. Why’d you let me drink that much if we were workin’ tonight?”

She sits down before him, head tilted to the side as she eyes him critically. “Well, I thought a good ol’ farm boy like you could take more than a couple a’ drinks,” she comments, mimicking his drawl.

He chuckles, visibly steadying as he buckles on his own black-dyed armor, eschewing the bandanna while still in a civilized area. “Well…you guessed right, but it’s a waste of a good buzz in any case.”

She grumbles low in her throat, spinning about and dashing out the door. “Let’s see how sober you are, boy!” she shouts over her shoulder.

Grinning, Radoslaw pulls the last strap tight and follows, sprinting with practiced vigor to follow.

On Saturday, we had our memorial for Vinny. Over 25 people showed up at the Shrine of the Fallen Warrior in the Barrens and we spent a couple hours recounting stories about him and giving a “KungalooooOOOOooooOOOooosh” salute. It was very nice.

My shammy Zulrea is level 78 as we speak, as well as Kazi’s warlock Basia. A destruction warlock and an elemental shaman are a scary combination. We keep lamenting about how we can only get 2 spells off each before a mob dies. >.> On that note, having Lava Burst always crit is awesome. Also, she dropped skinning and took up inscription…partially because I wanted a scribe and partially because Basia is a tailor/enchanter. So Kazi gets all my weapon/armor vellums.

Saraku is finally exalted with Netherwing (with much help provided by Kazi searching for eggs). So now he can transform back to his original drake form in character. Still working on Crusader dailies with him but not with much enthusiasm. He also has his complete T9 tanking set. I started getting his T9 healing set together but then I found out that I like healing on Zulrea better anyways.

Niqo has 4 pieces of T9, the Orca-Hunter’s Harpoon, the Felglacier Bolter, the Pauldrons of the Devourer,  the Crusader’s Dragonscale Bracers (a Christmas gift from Kazi), and the Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape. In short…she looks like just about every other hunter who’s done a ton of randoms. I’m quite satisfied about my 3.7-4k dps with a BM spec in heroics, with it spiking on the bosses when I pop my cooldowns and trinkets. Also, the redesigned Misdirect + Volley is sooooo nice. It really helped tanks in H-HoR before they nerfed the damage. Oh, and she got her “the Patient” title which is quite suitable for her RP-wise.

I rolled a fury warrior called Tuyok who now is level 25 and has 4 pieces of heirloom gear equipped. In character, he is Mysthowl’s and Niqora’s adoptive teenage son and his full first name is Issorartuyok. Try saying that five times fast. It’s the Inuit word for “leader dog”. He’s pretty much the character that I play solo when I’m not doing something with the people of BR.

Kazi and I have been talking about what characters we’re going to roll when Cataclysm comes out. I’m going to roll a worgen druid to be paired with his worgen hunter (with a wolf pet of course!) and a goblin hunter with his goblin priest/mage. We decided to reserve our names and because my 10 character slots on Wyrmrest Accord where already taken…I needed to clear up two spots. The first one to go was Fawnel, my tauren druid who wasn’t getting played anyway. My hope is that the worgen will have some sort of wolf-like cat form which will help me enjoy playing a druid more. Choosing the second character to delete was tough but I finally settled on Brighit, my draenei hunter. I play her even less than Fawnel and once I do start playing a little bit on Alliance side with the expansion, my focus is going to be solely on my druid. So it was hard to let her go but at least I’ll be making a goblin hunter, right? Right? >.> I’m currently debating between a raptor or a bear for her. I do love raptors and they have similar personalities to goblins. On the other hand, a giant bear with tons of explosives strapped to it does make a rather intimidating and funny image. Have I mentioned that the goblin is going to be half out of her mind?

Bloodriver as a guild is working on making our way through Ulduar and we’ve dipped our toes in TotC and Onyxia. We’ve come up to Freya on our last Ulduar run and we haven’t tried to get Ony down again since 3.3.0 came out. So I think that next time we go in there, we’ll be able to take her down. We also have a sister guild on Alliance side called Obsidian Phoenix that is slowly filling up with people who have Ally characters. That’s where our worgens will find their home.

And last but not least…I got a Logitech G11 keyboard. The blue LED lights are so very pretty and shiny. Plus the macro keys have given me a noticeable improvement in Niqo’s dps. I’d be completely pleased with it if the keys didn’t seem to randomly stop working when I switch characters (I blame the program, not the keyboard itself).

Patch 3.3.2 is all loaded up and I’m eager to get home for work and see what new things await for me. I heard there’s been a buff for elemental shamans.

Now hopefully my next update will come before Cataclysm is released. >.>

You see, I’m leveling Zulrea as elemental. From what I’ve gleaned from others, enhancement is the preferred leveling spec and probably for good reason…you can take more hits. I choose elemental because I figured this would be the closest I ever get to playing a caster and I wanted to try something other than melee after having leveled Saraku for so long. And I also knew the elemental would be a good off-healer when the situation needed it. We’ve actually discovered that this is a great combination to have with Kazi’s warlock Basi, who’s specced Affliction.

In general, our fights go something like this: We find a bunch of mobs, the more there are the better. Kazi starts dotting them up while I throw around a couple Earth Shocks and maybe some Lightning Bolts (usually on the target that’s being taunted by Kazi’s voidwalker because I’m pretty squishy despite all my mail gear). Once Kazi has them all gathered up, he uses his voidwalker bubble (the name of the spell eludes me) and starts using Hellfire. I can usually get off a Chain Lightning before his bubble wears off and he starts taking damage. Then I throw him a heal and by the time that’s done, his Hellfire has killed everything. He uses Life Tap to regain his mana and I heal him to full health again. That way he never runs out of health and mana, and the mana regen for an elemental shammy is so good that this all barely makes a dent in my mana pool (I’m fondly referred to as his mana battery ). Then off we run to our next set of victims. I believe our record for the amount of mobs we can take on at once is 12 or 13 16 or possibly more as Kazi pointed out. I can count on one hand the number of times we have died since we partnered up. Who would have thought that a shaman and a warlock would go so well together?

Hellfire + Healer is OP but I'm not gonna complain

It’s also very amusing to hear Kazi cackle manically over vent when he sucks the soul out of a particularly annoying mob. I laugh every time.

That is what my tauren said to me the first day, when we stood on a windy ledge before another netherdrake disguised as a blood elf. I would not forget the way her eyes held my gaze as she spoke, because I would see that same glint in them every morning after. She did not speak those words again but then she did not need to. My choice was my own and only my own. At a moment’s whim, I could have flown away from Netherwing Ledge, away from Shadowmoon Valley, and I would have never had to return. She would not judge, she would not argue. My life was my own now, as she said it.

At first it was confusion that made me follow her back to the Ledge. The blood-elf-drake spoke of things that would only make sense much later, and all the while he looked down his nose at me with pity and frustration. My tauren, on the other hand, had been giving me the same gentle care that she gave her wolf Blacky and without my slaver, I was at a loss for what to do. She also cooked better food than I had ever tasted in my life. Merely thinking of her feltail delight made me drool.

I stared at her for a long moment when she said those words to me, not understanding what they meant. But I knew I was not allowed to ask any questions so I simply nodded my head. The blood-elf-drake then spoke some words to her and handed her a small metallic object. As soon as it brushed her fingertips, my tauren was gone and a slaver I had never seen before stood in her place. I shied away abruptly, fearing that another slaver had finally come to beat me for losing the first one. Then the slaver dropped the object as if it was burning him and just as suddenly my tauren was back. She dashed over to me and reached up to softly hold my head in her hands as she explained very patiently how it had simply been an illusion, nothing more. Once I had calmed down and understood what was happening, she scooped up the object to transform once again. She and the blood-elf-drake worked efficiently to secure already prepared packs to my back while Blacky weaved in and out under my legs. Before she heaved herself up on my back in a rather ungraceful manner, she bent over to give her wolf a tight hug who whined mournfully in response, to which my tauren whispered something softly in the beast’s ear. The Nether stirred itself forcefully the instant I snapped open my wings and threw us over the void.

The slavers were none the wiser of who my tauren really was, but seemed content with giving her menial tasks and then dismissing her with a crude grunt. Blacky joined us on the island sometime during the night, materializing out of the shadows with a wolfish grin that made my tauren laugh heartily.

“It is this gift she has,” she explained to me with a similar grin after she had finished hugging her pet and had noticed my startled expression.

The mundane tasks my tauren did each day appeared strange to me but soon she explained that her purpose–our purpose–was to sabotage the slavers from within. My part to play was not only to be her means of flying, but also her guide and sentry when her attention was otherwise on her mission.

At the time, I did not appreciate or understand her work as she did…it was our meals that were the highlights for me. She would make a small smokeless fire and the three of us would gather around it as she passed around whatever food that a certain netherdrake-disguised-as-a-goblin had smuggled to her that day. It was never the same thing twice but every meal was as tasty as the last. These were also the times when she would explain everything she did that day, why she did it, and then she would finish up with a tale of her own experiences before coming to the Netherwing Ledge. Slowly, under her careful encouragement, I began talking as well and asking questions.

One of the first questions I asked was if she was my new slaver.

Her stone green eyes widened at my words and she waved her hands at me frantically. “No no no, Saraku. I am not your new slaver, and never again shall you be a slave. You have your freedom now just as I or Blacky does. You need not listen to anyone’s orders anymore, not a slaver’s or even my own.”

“But you do the slavers’ tasks, you listen to their orders. Which is the orders that blood elf gave you. And Blacky listens to your orders,” I pointed out around a mouthful of grilled mudfish.

“It is my choice to follow those orders, because what I want to do is to help you and the other netherdrakes. If I did not want that, then I would not listen, and I would fight them tooth and nail if they tried to force me to do them. Blacky listens to me because she is my dearest friend and she wants to protect me as I protect her. If it was what she wanted, she could try to attack me and chew on my bones as her next meal, but she does not want that.” Smiling wryly at her wolf, my tauren added, “At least I hope that she does not want to do that.” Blacky huffed indignantly and cracked the large talbuk bone she had been chewing on as if to prove a point. My tauren laughed in response.

I scratched an itch under my chin with my right foreclaw. “So Blacky is your wolf, your pet, your friend, and you are her hunter, her friend as well. Then what am I to you?”

My tauren prodded the fire with a small thin stick, stirring up the ashes and sparks that floated up high into the night sky. “You are my guide, my drake, and if I may call you so, also my friend,” she said gently, eyes drifting from the flames to meet my gaze.

This concept of having a friend…I turned it over in my mind with a facination of someone who had just discovered a strangely brilliant gem hidden among dull grey stones. “So to me,” I mumbled slowly, “you are my friend, my rider, my…tauren.”

Her face broke out in a smile and she chuckled softly, her eyes lit with humor. “If that is what you wish me to be, Saraku. I would be honored to be all of those, especially your tauren.” She bowed to me awkwardly from her seated position and I could not help but return her infectiously good mood with a smile of my own, even though I was not quite sure what the joke was. It was then that she told me her first story of how she had met the blood-elf-drake and in joining the Netherwings in their cause, came to meet me. And it was also then that I realized, without even knowing what I had been doing, I had made the right choice and made my own dearest friend.