Posts Tagged ‘friends’

RP Session 1: Where in Radoslaw asks Aroqin too many questions

// March 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Non-hunters, Roleplay

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.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

// February 17th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Random Stuff

We’ve all heard the stories about pugs, even long before they implemented the new LFG tool. I’ll admit that I had never really pugged until the tool was introduced. If I wanted to do heroics, I just asked my guild and my friends to see who wanted to come along. More often than not, it was them convincing me to do some heroics. But since they added the LFG tool, I’ve been pugging a hell of a lot more.

There have been some bad ones, as I’m sure everyone has experienced. Xerin talked about some of his in the Ten Ton Hammer WoW newsletter, The Overpull. And poor Lodur over at World of Matticus has had some doozies.

My own experiences…well, I’ve had some interesting ones. Most often, we get that one dps who’s pulling 3-digit figures in Recount. But as long as they don’t start pulling mobs ahead of the tank, I usually don’t care. I’ve had a couple bad tanks or healers, including one that asked if our druid tank (aka my guild leader) had the right gear to be def-capped. (Pssst, druid tanks get all their defense from talents, ya moron.) He seemed to be having trouble healing the druid which I thought was strange because not only had I had no problem healing him before, but at the time he was also one of our best geared characters in the guild. And this was just H-CoS.

Surprisingly, I’ve had the worst experience with pugs that are below 80. For example, my little warrior Tuyok along with Kazi’s little warrior and another guildie on his druid decided to pug SFK. Kazi was the tank and our druid offered to heal but let us know that he had never done it before. A pugged pally that joined us was specced ret but said that she would heal because “i no wat im doing”. After some discussion, our druid ended up healing anyways. And he did a pretty good job all things considered. However, the paladin…kept pulling off Kazi somehow. For the entire instance. We still managed to make it to Argul without much incident. We nearly wiped on him because of some bad coordination but managed to kill him in the end. After the paladin had left group, we checked Recount just out of curiosity. Hand of Reckoning, which is the pally single target taunt, was 30% of her dps.

Let me reiterate that. A dps paladin used her taunt as part of her rotation. Either she was completely ignorant of what it did or she was an idiot. Either way, I was completely blown away. And this was the person who said that they knew what they were doing.

Then there was the pug that, in my opinion, was good and bad. It was H-HoL, with me on Niqo, Kazi on his pally tank, and our two fury warrior friends Jorgath and Barashi. All we needed was a healer so we decided to pug one out. We get a priest who quickly switches from his dps spec and clothes into his healing set up. Soon we’re all set to go and Kazi starts pulling. We quickly figure out that something is very wrong. The priest is barely healing Kazi, nevermind the rest of us. By the time we kill the second boss, we have learned that this priest has not only not healed before but is entirely not ready for it. Sure he has a holy spec…which does not have the 51-point talent and has things like 5 points in Darkness in the Shadow tree (which increased Shadow spell damage). He is also dressed in almost all greens, including some gear that has stats like strength and agility. We all shudder.

We could have kicked him. We were sure talking about it over vent. But from the way he was talking, I could tell this guy was a new player and it had probably never occurred to him to research his class. He had most likely fumbled his way up to level 80 solo with a lot of dying and no one to help him. What can I say…I took pity on him. Barashi had a level 40-ish priest he was leveling and as such, was the only person who had any kind of expertise on priests. So we started teaching him. Barashi covered the priest specific parts while the rest of us filled in the general information of how a group operates. He took all this information to heart and with complete soberness. Never did he talk to us with disrespect because he thought we were lecturing him. In fact, he thanked us numerous times for the advice.

The next few pulls showed some noticeable improvement in his healing but it was obvious that he just didn’t have the gear or the practice to heal us through to the end. So I jumped on Saraku and switched him to Holy. We gave the priest a task: to stay in his healing gear and spec and practice healing Barashi. And I will say that he did his job. His reaction time was still a little slow but I had to throw almost no heals on Barashi except on the last boss. We finished by reminding him to clean up his Holy spec and to get gear that was meant for his class. He thanked us again, and then we went our separate ways.

The priest wasn’t even from our server, there would have been no repercussions from kicking him and getting another healer. But…I dunno, it didn’t seem right to do that. It felt good to see him improve from our advice and to know that he was lucky to have landed with us. Who else would have been patient enough with him? I can only hope that he’s out there somewhere in better gear and a proper spec, healing up a storm in heroics and the like.

With all of this said, the majority of my pug experiences have been good. A lot of them are fast and pretty quiet, speed-farming their badges just like us. We have the 15-minute H-AN down to a science now with a good group. Kazi and I met a kitty druid on our server during a pug, who was so impressed by our healer-tank duo (with me tanking on Saraku) that he told us once “I’m going to glue myself to your shoe.” He has since accompanied us on numerous random runs when we’re looking for a solid dps and has made his way onto my friend’s list. A pair in the same guild from another server joined us for a random through H-UK and were nice enough to comment at the end that it had been the smoothest heroic they had been through yet.

Our friendly attitude might have been part of it on that last run. I squeed with glee in party chat as I always do when Kazi hexes the rider off his drake on the way to the last boss. And I proceeded to tell them how I make him do that every time we’re in there, which they chuckled at. What can I say? I’m easily amused sometimes. >.>

All in all, it’s been my experience that there has been more Good than Bad and Ugly when it comes to pugs. The LFG tool has certainly made it a lot easier for me to get emblems. And the teleport to dungeon feature is absolutely divine. Even if no one says a word the entire time, all I want is to get the bosses down in a efficient and timely manner. Meeting some cool people far overshadows the few idiots I’ve come across. Then again…maybe I’m just lucky. ;)

Lame update title because I can’t think of anything funny

// February 2nd, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Hunters and Pets, Non-hunters, Random Stuff

My updates have been a little…lacking, so here’s a summary of all the things that have been happening.

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. :P 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. >.>

In Memory: Vinny

// January 29th, 2010 // 5 Comments » // Random Stuff

On Sunday night, I got a whisper from Myst giving me some awful, awful news. Our long-time guild mate, Vinny (aka Solarion aka Ebonwind) had passed away just a couple hours before. Everyone was in a complete shock. He was so young and vibrant that we had never suspected a thing. We had just raided with him the night before, and someone had even talked to him that afternoon. It was just so sudden.

Here it is a few days later and I still don’t think I’ve come to terms with it. A part of me is still expecting him to log on and yell “Surprise!” in guild chat. He was almost always  in vent, even if he wasn’t on WoW. It’s so very quiet without him.

There are so many things I remember about him. How he would sing that corn nuts song over vent or yell “Kungaloooooosh!” at random. One of my favorite stories about him was when he was wandering through Orgrimmar with his lowbie tauren warrior Ebonwind and suddenly a level 80 Alliance death knight raced past him, trying to get away from the guards and the other players. He attacked…and landed the killing blow on the DK. For about a month, he would randomly assume his deep Ebonwind voice and say “Poomf! …Fucking death knight.” It always made me laugh.

What I remember the most clearly though was just how he was always there for everyone. He would run alts through dungeons, provide services to guildies without payment, make suggestions for events and such, and greeted and talked to everyone. Whenever he would notice that I was down, he would whisper me and let me know that I could talk and rant to him whenever he wanted. Even when he quit WoW for a while, he would still talk to me over Xfire, even trying to convince me to join him in City of Heroes. When he came back to the game, he said that the reason he did so was because he missed us.

His funeral is today and being in another country and without a passport or the money, I can’t be there. But that doesn’t mean I can’t honor who he was. He was brash and crazy…but we all loved him for it. My characters are proudly going to wear the guild tabard he designed. And I am going to hope that Bloodriver and our new Alliance sister guild Obsidian Phoenix do him proud.

One day, Vinny, we’ll meet again on the other side. I promise to play City of Heroes with you then.

Lok’vadnod for Niqora Wildstride

// January 15th, 2010 // 6 Comments » // Hunters and Pets, Random Stuff

No, Pookii, I have not been kidnapped. ;)

So…the truth is that the reason I have not been posting here for a while is because I’ve been spending just about every spare moment during the last two months with the most incredible man on the planet (and I know he will blush violently when he reads those words). You all know him as Kazimierz. I won’t go into lots of mushy details because I don’t want everyone reading this to die from a sweetness overload. >.>

However, I would like to share one of the things he gave to me for my birthday, a poem he wrote about my very favorite character, Niqora. He’s so wonderfully eloquent. I hope you all enjoy it (although I can’t imagine everyone squeeing over it like I did).

Harken, spirits, and heed my calling
That I may speak with sageful truth
Of the tranquil towering hunter
Of the mighty Wildstride

Born to warring plains and peoples
‘Twixt hateful hooves and twisting thorns
Dwelled her kind in cruel-edged battle
Dwelled the staid Shu’halo

In bitter strife did Wildstride strengthen
Sharp of wit and bright of soul
With her aim she warded elders
With the land she made her bond

Battered from the battles many
Bleeding stood the Shu’halo
Defiant through their doomed resistance
Defiant through their people’s night

Roamed Wildstride the barren badlands
Seeking shelter for her tribe
Ever stalking safer havens
Ever charting unknown lands

And as the Horde made hasty landfall
Wildstride wandered wide and long
To the woodland deep and looming
To the depths of Feralas

There, beneath the boughs of emerald
Found Wildstride a wolf of worth
Her hide of sable hue and luster
Her eyes of brilliant topaz gleam

Patient as the peaks above her
Stalked the woods did Wildstride
With skillful eyes she tracked the wolfling
With silent stillness she bode her time

And as the wolf loped lightly near her
Near the trap the tauren set
Readied her the rhyme of ancients
Readied her to sinter souls

Whispering her heart-wish swiftly
Before the snared and snarling wolf
Niqora formed her fastest friendship
Niqora to the beast was bound

Through slogging moor and icy mountain
Wandered Wildstride again
Always seeking, ever finding
Always Blacky by her side

Across the Plagueland’s fallow fields
And through the burning Blackrock mount
There was no shoreline shunned to travel
There was no stranger she’d not aid

With canny aim and cunning prowess
They ranged to regions strange and far
None may know their deeds for number
None could call their quests in vain

And as the Horde in heated battle
Sounded summons to the fray
Ready with her wolf she answered
Ready Wildstride marched to war

Amidst the spilling soldier’s lifeblood
Skirmished swiftly Wildstride
Gentle as she mapped and scouted
Gentle as she slew her foes

Never born to blood or thunder
Still Niqora knew their ways
Without fear she served her Chieftain
Without rage she earned her due

On her war-wolf swiftly riding
With her heart-bound at her side
Feared she made her name amongst them
Feared is Wildstride by our foes

And when honor’s hold was loosened
To savage southern dusts she strode
Seeking once more sights of wonder
Seeking secrets long unheard

In the bleached and bone-strewn desert
Stirred a strange forgotten foe
Driven by the voice of madness
Driven by the Old God’s gaze

Countless came the might of mortals
To face the fearsome threat again
Many stood and fought with fury
Many died to breach the gates

Yet Wildstride would not be among them
And though the thought was naught but desperate
Went she with the band of heroes
Went she to the Old God’s lair

None know aught of all they found there
Or of the wrathful ruin wrought
By the forty fearless mortals
By those who dared defy a god

Thought the toll was cruel and costly
Stood she with those who survived
Bow your heads and give her honor
Bow to Niqora, Old God’s Bane

Not content with quiet respite
Again she dared walk distant lands
Wandered with her wolf and weapons
Wandered to a broken world

Onward through the Outland wastelands
Wildstride wandered, Blacky near
‘Cross the crumbling crust of Hellfire
‘Cross the lakes of Zangarmarsh

Through Terokkar’s tainted woodlands
Across the nascent Netherstorm
Niqora ranged with green eyes watching
Niqora to the Mag’har came

On the gale-swept ground she battled
In service to our long-sought kin
Ogre’s blood she spilled in rivers
Ogre’s fear Nagrand now knows

With honor over those in waiting
Wildstride went to serve again
To the place we formed our folly
To the blackened Shadowmoon

Through the damned of Draenor’s darkness
Niqora watched and warred and won
Stood she at the black-built temple
Stood she at the Warden’s side

Amongst the needles born of nether
Those of shackled scales she found
Abandoned by black-hearted breeders
Abandoned once, but now no more

Disdaining doomed assault and slaughter
With beguiling guise she crept
Among the slavers, sly and slinking
Among their victims, breaking bonds

And with her cunning, canny luring
A sentry’s knell Niqora knew
Free was sable-scaled Saraku
Free again to aid his kind

Made them masquerade together
Foiling fel-orcs from within
Standing steady near the slavers
Standing, soon to pounce and strike

At last, the long deception dwindled
Before Betrayer’s blinded eyes
Away they fled on flows of nether
Away, in friendship forged of flame

And through her deeds so wide and wondrous
Her chieftain’s heart had with hers held
Together with her mighty Mysthowl
Together in bliss they would dwell

Yet peace was sparse and soon abated
As the Lich-King’s languor fled
Again with gun and gentle grimness
Again went Wildstride to the fray

To Northrend went Niqora freely
Not for only honor’s sake
Fought she for the fates of many
Fought the fallen, for their souls

At Angrathar she marched with honor
With the vanguard’s vengeful charge
Watched her Saurfang’s final challenge
Watched her Putress betray us all

And when the Warchief, ever watchful
With Sylvanus purged the halls
Niqora with the Kor’kron sallied
Niqora close beside them fought

Always seeking strange new visions
Through northern wilds Niqora strode
Finding friends to aid in battle
Finding sights of beauty deep

And when her clan with calm-set faces
Marched to slay the Lich-King’s pawn
With them Wildstride was stalking
With her, they felled dark Kel’thuzad

Bathed in honor bright and shining
She was granted duty great
Ambassador, of all our peoples
Ambassador to the Crusade’s call

Rose Wildstride through all aspiring
Skilled with lance and shield and bow
Until the Crusade called her sister
Until a Champion she was named

Now new terror haunts the northlands
Sibling spawn of dread C’thun
Dauntless, Wildstride advances
Dauntless delves to Ulduar

Hunts she now the ancient evil
Leading those who call her friend
Seeking through the Titan’s prison
Seeking dreadful Yogg-Saron

All who call her captain honor
Brave and valiant Wildstride
Always with her black-furred packmate
Always patient, always strong

Harken, spirits, and heed my calling
That I may swear with solemn vows
Of the truth of all I’ve spoken
Of the tale of Wildstride