Anyways, let me start at the beginning. I began by scraping most of the requirements that I had listed previously and wrote up a simple macro to spam in General chat.

Want to raid but don’t want to leave your non-raiding guild? Tired of PUGs and want to raid at the same time every week? I’m putting together a regular raid group for people who want to have crazy fun while killing big bad bosses. PST for more info

I was actually surprised by the turn out that I got. After using it irregularly for only two weekday evenings and a Saturday, I got 7 people who were interested in the idea as well as the weekend raiding times. So I set up the first raid for that Sunday and between them and my guild, I had 16 confirmed players.

We ended up clearly all but Chimaeron and Nef in BWD on the first time. I had to sheepishly admit over Mumble that I hadn’t read the strats for half of the bosses because I didn’t want to go in with high expectations in case we failed, so I had assumed we wouldn’t get this far this fast.

Chimaeron proved to be a thorn in our side as it took us 3 raid nights to get him down. But every night everyone agreed that they wanted me to carry over the raid lockout so we could make our attempts again and again. It was a relief for everyone to finally see him die.

It was still early in the night and everyone was in high spirits so we continued onto Nef. This also took us several tries for several reasons: switching which tank goes on which boss (hey, maybe a pally would be better for Ony since she has a shadow debuff!), switching out players because my healer fell asleep mid-pull (WTF?), a tank learning that you need to constantly be moving when kiting the adds on phase 3 (oops, my bad), etc. Because of the player switches, I ended up bring Saraku to tank, which I was perfectly happy with because Niqora had already gotten the achievement anyways.

Each time we were making progress though, until he finally keeled over and gave up his dragon-flavored loot. Which was a good thing too because Kazi (who had been healing me) had died and I was out of cooldowns. I <3 Kazi’s shammy heals. Plus I think he died because I dragged us through Nef’s flame breath but THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT.

We have killed the dragon! ...Again. Was Blackwing Lair merely a setback?

So now that BWD is done and over with, we’ll be continuing to BoT this weekend and see how far we get. I suppose it’s back to reading strats for me.

Things that I’ve learned from this:

• MS/OS/Greed rolls are the way to go. If only the items that dropped were useful for anyone. (Cloth drops when we have a single mage who’s geared to the teeth. Why, RNG?)
• Generally I’m pretty open with varied strategies but sometimes I need to set my foot down. On Chimaeron, I was originally going to go with a Break tank and an offtank that takes the Double Attacks. The tanks didn’t like this idea because of all the taunting and wanted to try taking 4 breaks/switching or taking 1 break/switching. That didn’t work out so well because the tanks kept dying. >.< Eventually I insisted on my strat and it worked out. Not to say I R RAID LEADER, I IS ALWAYS RITE because lord knows 9 heads can be better than 1.
• I can’t multitask. Or at least not very well. Trying to call out when to taunt on Chimaeron, calling out when to collapse for System Failure, and dpsing at the same time does not work. I have to let others take responsibility sometimes.
• Everyone will be whispering me when it comes to raid invites. EVERYONE.
• I’m expected to know everything about every encounter, including trash. What, do I look like some sort of leader to you people? >.> Unfortunately with my poor memory, it’s impossible for me to retain all the information I just read and we will be essentially winging it the first time. Once I know how to “do by doing”, life gets a lot easier.
• I’ve never been nitpicky over talents and gear, and I will generally bring anyone who wants to fill a slot. However, I have found some limits. A death knight tanking in all PvP gear? Sorry, no. A warrior tank alt in blue gear because “this character could actually use the upgrades”? Also no. Maybe it seems callous and I shouldn’t be picky but what I’m worried about here is the fun AND success of the raid as a whole. Wiping over and over again because of bad gear is not going to get us anywhere.
• You can find some freaking awesome people this way. There’s a healer who insisted at the beginning that she wasn’t geared enough and should probably be replaced, but she has been fantastic at her job and a pleasure to play with. She has also signed up and shown up on time for every raid so far. I want to keep her forever.
• Our mage refuses to die, even when I order him to just wipe it. Except when he’s kiting adds, then he dies all the time! (Still love you, Keys.)

Things that I still need to work on:

• I may need to get better at scheduling regular breaks and making sure people know that there shouldn’t be AFKs in between. Or I at least need to get people to TELL me when they’re going AFK. Seriously, is it too hard to type “brb bio” or “brb baby”?
• WHY U NO TELL ME THAT UR SO TIRED, UR FALLING ASLEEP MID COMBAT?
• Getting some folks to sign and be on time is still a bit of a trial. :-/ Unfortunately (or fortunately), I haven’t had any people warming the bench to take their places. At least it hasn’t lead to any drama yet.
• It can be really hard at times to keep everyone’s spirits up. What can I do short of breaking out into a comical song about how we should keep trying again and again?
• I’ve had both non-guild and guild members who have signed up multiple times and not showed altogether. I should probably just not invite the non-guild people again but what about the guildies?
• I’ve got to learn a better way of absorbing strats. So far Tankspot videos have not been cutting it.

As a side note, I’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time ever so I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be posting here much, if at all, in the month of November. Nice to know for once that I’ll be busy ahead of time, eh?

The strangest thing of all was that I had really wanted to play my baby rogue. Yep, I came back because I wanted to play an alt. I’ve barely ended up spending any time on her since, as the rest as been filled with all sorts of other activities on other characters.

I realized how much I missed my characters. When I went on hiatus, I sort of thought of them as taking a break too, that they were world-weary like me. But then I came back and discovered that my quiet, gentle Niqora had become angry and was pacing like a caged animal. She wants to shoot things in the face, particularly Deathwing and Garrosh. Saraku’s gone to new levels of awkwardness. Aroqin is hitting on everything that’s male (okay, that’s not new but it’s happening a lot more often). Niqo’s son Tuyok is growing up, getting stronger and bolder. Here I thought they were all resting peacefully but it turns out that time as been marching by for them as well.

I’d missed the familiar sights and sounds, the music, the lore I know at least marginally well. I missed the crazy roleplaying and the silly jokes. But most of all I had missed my friends and was elated to see that they had missed me as well. It was kinda awkward coming back to the guild I had been a part of for 2 1/2 years and see a bunch of people that I didn’t know. But I think I’ve found my place in it again.

ALL HAIL THE LEADERSHIT

Yep, making immature jokes at the expense of my guildmates (especially the guild leader). But hell, that’s what ALL of our jokes are like and I love it!

So, this is letting everyone know that I’m not dead (yet) and that I’m truly enjoying my play time. And all while still playing Minecraft on the side (ghasts are the bane of my existence).

So let all know that Faeldray has returned and that my new warcry shall echo throughout the halls: FOR THE LEADERSHIT!

As of the Shattering, Kazi and I took full advantage of the new race/class combinations and rolled a bunch of alts. I now have a new tauren priest (who ICly is Anuniaq 2.0) who is being protected by Kazi’s new tauren prot paladin. I kind of scoffed originally at the tauren pallies’ racial mounts but I find now that they’re growing on me more, the level 20 ones more so than the level 40 ones. After some half-hearted grumbling, Kazi convinced me to try out smite healing on my disco priest and I have to say…I thought healing was interesting before, smite healing makes it even more fun! And more amusingly, I’m often 2nd or 3rd on the DPS meters thanks to heirlooms and spam-smiting.

I also rolled a troll rogue (after a failed troll druid who only made it to level 5) to go with Kazi’s orc mage, only to decide I want an orc warrior instead to instance tank. So the group then evolved into my warrior, Kazi’s mage, and one of our friends who we managed to convince to finally make an alt,  so he created a troll priest to heal our sorry arses.

Saraku has joined the ranks of holycows as I switched his race to tauren. There will be some RP stories to come about all of that once I go out and buy The Shattering novel and figure out what the hell happened in the year (or is it 3 years?) since the Cataclysm actually happened. I really do wish they hadn’t glossed over all of it in-game. I feel like I’ve missed whole sections of my characters’ lives, especially Niqora’s.

Once Cataclysm actually came out, I was saddened to find out that my Collector’s Edition preorder was shipped on December 7, instead of arriving on the 7th. Despite me protesting that I’d be fine without it for a couple days, Kazi bought me the digital version and I was able to play that night because of him. What a sweetheart. <3

The first thing I did was buy old world flying and archaeology so I could begin my digging frenzy. Because of Kazi’s work hours, we weren’t able to play until the weekend and we had decided beforehand to quest together on Niqora and Kazimierz. So we spent the work week leapfrogging each other in experience through archaeology/mining/cooking and fishing dailies until the weekend. Then…we quested our hearts out together.

So far we’re just shy of level 84 and have made our way through all of Vash’jir and the majority of Deepholm. The quality of the quests have just floored us and the scenery is completely and utterly amazing. Getting a free seahorse mount is epic. Being able to play as a naga both made us wish that nagas were a playable race. >.> And the cut-scenes in some of the quests are a fantastic idea! Both the zones have just been…wow. And I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the other three. All of our alts will likely be put on the backburner until we’ve at least gotten to level 85.

As a guild, we’ve managed to max out Bloodriver’s leveling every day so far, and we’re not by any means a large guild. Quite a few people are already at level 85, so Kazi and I are hoping to catch up with everyone this weekend and start running dungeons with them to gear up. I’m also really excited to start raiding come January, as we’ll be splitting our raids into casual raids that are open to everyone like before, and progression raids that are made of select members who have proven their skills and who will tackle current content. I am definitely ready to wipe over and over again in the name of progression.

There’s a debate currently going on over which loot system we should use for our progression raids. We’ve been using Suicide Kings in the past and I’ve seen very little complaints about it. However, DKP has been suggested for the progression team and it’s been met by some backlash. It seems that half the members have never been in a raid that used it and the other half that has thinks it’s a horrible idea. I personally have never seen it in use so I’d gladly welcome any comments about DKP here.

As I only plan to get even more preoccupied as the month wears on (including Kazi coming to spend Christmas/my birthday with me! GLEE!), I wouldn’t expect too many updates here. There’s just too much to do and so many things to see right now!

It’s been a long while since I’ve written any stories about Niqora and since she just had a dramatic turn in her in-character life, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to revisit her again. I’ll let the story speak for itself now.

The air was thick with moisture despite being rather cool, gathering in soft mists in basins and shallow dips in the ground. The clouds may have closed themselves up again but the droplets of rain were still filtering down through the many layers of leaves and branches that composed the canopy. One large drop slipped down a broad waxy leaf and plopped wetly onto a furred black ear. Niqora flicked her ear instinctively, not truly irritated by the dampness.

Moss and a few sprigs of hardy grass softened her hoofsteps rather gracefully, springing back into place as soon as she took her next stride. Here far below the canopy, a soft breeze wound its way between the massive tree trunks and brought with it the scent of damp soil and the fresh rain. Occasionally Blacky would pick up the scent of some beast or another and would wander off with her nose glued to the ground. As soon as she would be about to leave her hunter’s sight, she would conveniently become disinterested and trot back to the Shu’halo’s side.

Niqora’s packs bulged on her back now that they contained the many layers of fur and leather that she had been wearing underneath her armor in Northrend. Feralas was noticeably warmer than the slopes of Icecrown so the hunter had opted to wear a single layer of water-proofed hide under her mail. Her crossbow and halberd were fastened securely to her back as well as evidence that she was not worried about being ambushed in such a place. The creatures here knew well enough to keep a safe distance from the dark-furred pair as they wandered aimlessly among the trees.

The sun was still a couple of hours away from setting when they stumbled across a small stream. Evidently it was usually little more than a trickle but now the rain had fed it and the water gurgled pleasantly as it made its way towards the nearest river.

It was with automatic motions that Niqora gather dry bits of wood, built a fire, cooked a pot full of stew for herself and her beastly companion, and laid out her bedroll. And it was by habit that she kept on her armor as she sat before the small fire, staring into the flames but not truly seeing them. She saw instead her son Tuyok smashing a chair against a stone wall after she told him of Mysthowl’s death. And she saw the bold lines of anger and grief that now formed his back and shoulders as he stormed from the apartment, intent on finding something more useful to unleash his rage upon. She had not followed, for she had recognized the same look in his eyes that she knew was in her own…the need to be alone with only his thoughts, to work his own way through the pain he felt. There were no words she could think of to comfort him either, for she did not take comfort in them herself. And who was she to say she knew what he was going through anyways? She had lost her husband; he had not only spent most of his life in an orphanage, knowing that his family was dead, but now one of only two parents he had ever known was gone as well.

A twig snapping brought her out of her thoughts and caused Blacky to raise her head from where it had been resting on her paws. Both the wolf and the Shu’halo realized who their follower was so Blacky laid her head back down with a sigh while Niqora rekindled the dying fire.

“You look famished,” the hunter said to a hazelnut bush, raising the half-full stew pot to it in offering. Blue flashed over green eyes as a sheepish-looking Saraku pushed his way through the bush and accepted the food with a grateful nod. He settled on the free side of the fire in his plate armor, the three of them forming a triangle with the warm flames at its center.

The dragonling ate the stew in silence as Niqora watched him thoughtfully. His armor appeared as unkempted as her own, making it all the more apparent that he had been trailing her since she had set off from Thunderbluff many days ago. The light of the fire only highlighted the dark circles under his glowing eyes and the deep lines of strain around his usually smiling lips. The Shu’halo only shook her head as she stirred the fire; only Saraku would take her misery so hard.

Blacky’s ears pricked up and her tail thumped against the ground as she sensed the blood elf in diguise had finished eating his fill. He passed the pot to Blacky out of habit more than anything, the wolf happily licking it clean.

The two humanoids did not speak, Niqora because she was not the one to pour out her feelings in such a way, Saraku because he knew her well enough to know that sympathy and pity would ring hollow on her ears. So distant howls of wolves and hooting of gorillas were the only backdrop noises for the soft murmurings of the stream nearby and the snaps of the flames. It was in this silence that Niqora took a little bit of comfort in being with her two closest friends.

Blacky was the first to drift off, sleeping with the half-alertness that only beasts seem capable of. Saraku followed shortly after, curling up on the hard ground without caring to remove his bulky armor first. Niqora only slept in fits where she was sitting, her bedroll laying untouched beside her. Her dreams were dark and empty so it was with many starts that she opened her eyes during the night, relaxing again at the sight of the wolf’s ears twitch in her own dreams and the gentle rising and falling of the netherdrake’s chest.

The sky was just tinged with the pink of dawn’s twilight when the Shu’halo began to quietly clean up the camp. Blacky rose with her, gently bumping her head against Niqora’s hand on occassion and drawing a small smile to the hunter’s lips as she softly petted the wolf’s coal-black fur. Saraku slept through the entire process and Niqora did not mind at all, relieved to see food and sleep had softened his features and returned a little colour to his cheeks.

All her belongings slung onto her back, she looked down at the still ashes left by the fire and unbiddingly was reminded of the small apartment in Dalaran that belonged to Mysthowl and her. How the fireplace must be sitting cold and empty after she had gathered her packs and left shortly after Tuyok had. Blinking rapidly, she forced the thought from her mind and took fierce hold of her need to travel, to wander, to impress self-exile on herself once again.

She couldn’t help but pause and stoop down to lightly brush Saraku’s black hair, fully aware that he would be on her trail again as soon as he woke. She was like his own personal geas, never letting himself rest while she was so restless herself. She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head again as she straightened. Inclining her head slightly towards Blacky, the pair set off as quietly as the breezeless trees around them, leaving the sleeping dragonling to wake with the coming of the dawn.

So in lieu of a post that actually requires me to write, >.> I give you a long overdue and hopefully entertaining episode of The Adventures of Kazimierz and Saraku!

Hidden Tauren House

This first video is Kazi and Saraku’s visit to the little tauren camp that rests in the mountains between the Barrens and Mulgore. This place is of particular importance to me because when the wall-walking trick was still in-game, I discovered the way there all on my own when I was still a newbie (Niqora was level 40ish or something) and it was my very own secret spot. I was saddened when they removed wall-walking and thus removed my only way to get to “my” house. With the introduction of the zeppelin that travels between Thunder Bluff and Orgrimmar, I was able once again to visit my favorite spot in-game (although now it’s less special now that everyone else can too). Regardless, it was great fun to wander around it again with my adventuring partner, Kazi.

Jumping Off Tall Things

Everyone knows the Temple of Storms in Storm Peaks, right? It’s only one of the tallest things in that game that you can get to the top of. In the next two videos, Kazi and Saraku get a bunch of their friends together to participate in an activity that in character, Saraku calls “jumping off tall things”. In the first video, we slowfall/levitate all the way to the Emerald Dragonshire in Dragonblight. In the second one, we make it to Venture Bay in Grizzly Hills.

By “we”, I of course mean the people who were lucky enough to remain within casting range of the mage/priest. Poor Kazi.

Quirky and eternally curious, Saraku has evolved from a simple netherdrake slave into a powerful paladin following An’she’s guidance. He comes across as slightly odd but is usually friendly nonetheless. He reveres Niqora as his idol and mentor and has a very deep fondness for her and by proxy, the tauren way of life. He is also a recovering alcoholic, having sampled many drinks with shameless abandonment ever since discovering he could change into a humanoid. He has recently undergone a painful magical procedure that has transformed his humanoid form from a blood elf into that of a tauren.

Saraku is my second “main” and my serious attempt at leveling a pally since I had first tried (and gave up) near the beginning of the Burning Crusade. It was while leveling Saraku as protection that I discovered my love for tanking (second only to hunters and pets). I dual-specced him as holy to explore the healer role (which I enjoy as well). In roleplay, he is the netherdrake mount that Niqora freed from slavery, having since decided to strike out on his own and become his own person. He is resides on Wyrmrest Accord.

Crusader Saraku <Bloodriver> of Wyrmrest Accord-US Level 85 Tauren Paladin 0 / 34 / 7 7 / 2 / 32

Equipment List

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Achievements

4775 — 479/1352 (35%)

Recent Achievements

• 25 Cataclysmically Epic
  
• 10 5000 Valor Points
  
• 10 Heroic: Hour of Twilight
  
• 10 Heroic: Well of Eternity
  
• 5 I Was Promised a Pony
  

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!

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. >.>

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.

Yeah, I know Kazi did all the driving the whole way there. But I provided directions and Crusader Aura, so that makes me a good co-pilot…right? Right?

On a side note, I think Kazi should start a blog of his own and join the Bloodriver troop of bloggers (even if he isn’t technically in Bloodriver, he’s an honorary member in my eyes). Dooooo eet, Kazi.