Delayed Update

So first of all, I've been having issues with the Blogger bar on the top of my page. It keeps randomly disappearing. No idea if it's a problem with Blogger or my browser, but since it happens in both Internet Explorer and Firefox, I'm thinking it might be Blogger. Whatever is causing it, it makes it impossible to log in to make a new post, which is why it's been so long since my last one. Sorry!

On to the good news, my little leveling slump seems to be over for now.

I achievement spammed myself >.<

Jorren and Windstar have both joined my growing crew of level 90s. My slight dislike of Townlong Steppes and Dread Waste seems to be going away, too, so it shouldn't be too long (I hope) before Rynia joins them, and gives me my 5 max-level classes achievement. Further proving that I really do have no life. XD

Windstar hasn't been doing much since she dinged, other than a few days of Tiller dailies, although Kel has made her the epic chest piece and she only needs two more spirits of harmony until she can make her epic inscription staff. I'm thinking of taking her back into Dread Wastes and actually finishing the major quest lines out there, since I haven't done that on anyone yet and questing with her is pretty fun, now that she's starting to kill the mobs faster and taking less damage. Although she still seems really squishy against most rare spawns she's found. I do plan on gearing her up in heroics and doing some raid finder runs with her, but right now Jorren has been taking up most of my attention.

Death knights have become incredibly fun to play, at least for me. Jorren was able to find the 2-handed crafted axe at a fairly good deal in the AH, and he's been tearing things up during his dailies. I've been focusing mostly on Tillers and Cloud Serpents, just to get them finished and out of the way, but he's started on Golden Lotus as well. I haven't run heroics much, but I blame that mostly on the holidays keeping me busy at work, and making me less willing to take chances on LFD groups. After spending a stressful day at work around crowds of strangers being jerks and idiots, I just want to relax by myself once I'm home and in-game. Hopefully my upcoming vacation time will help that, before the Christmas rush starts. :\

I've been plugging along on my little monk, too. Sunre is currently 38, thanks to a bunch of dungeon runs with sis dual-boxing with Pitchblack and her little shaman, Laoden. We're taking a break from that to get some questing done, since we're at the level range of several zones we both like. He's been lots of fun, and I might possibly take a break from my higher-level toons and get him up to Pandaria after Ryn is done. Seeing so many other people having fun on their monks is making me very eager for that, and I'm looking forward to getting him into a bit of RP eventually.

And I think that's all the interesting stuff for now. Hopefully it won't take so long for my next post. /Waves

Second! And some catching up

Big news first-

Finally conquered my altoholicism \o/

Yes, Kal is finally 90! With maxed blacksmithing, and working on getting her cooking up, for RP purposes mostly. It was a kind of frustrating grind, since I'm not used to playing a class with limited survivability (although maybe I was just 'doin it wrong'). It didn't help that most of the instances I queued for, she would get thrown into one already in progress. Which means very little chance of gear drops, and no chance of getting the dungeon quests done (and thus no quest rewards either). Waiting 30+ minutes to get in for one boss is annoying, and a option for only fresh instances for the dungeon finder would be a nice addition in a future patch. (Hint hint, Blizz >.>)

I haven't started on dailies with her yet, and I'm not sure I will until Kel is done with at least some of her rep grinds. I really don't want to burn myself out too quickly, and besides, I never really planned on making Kal a 'main' raiding character anyways. She will be doing Tiller's dailies whenever I can stand them though, because growing her own motes of harmony is too useful to pass up. And she'll be going back to Dread Wastes to finish the Klaxxi quests for her blacksmithing patterns.

Kel has been having a bit of a break while I leveled Kal, but I've been trying to do at least her Tiller's and Cloud Serpent's dailies. She's currently revered with both, and her serpent is finally big enough to ride! And also surprised me by getting first place in the very first race I tried. Honestly, I was expecting to get last place for a few attempts, until I got the hang of it, but apparently it's easier than I thought. He's so pretty, too.

Oh, and I found that picture of her new buddy, Nightshade. I am totally in love with the Pandaria tigers. Especially their idle 'chuff' noises. Have I ever mentioned that tigers are my second favorite big cats IRL? (Next to snow leopards.)

Rajji has gotten a couple new friends, too. Continuing his little theme with having green pets, meet Jazri the crane and Mala the gem-kitty.

Jazri was a planned tame, although I did try for a white crane first. That one didn't quite click, so Raj trotted all the way to Dawn's Blossom for Jazri, and it was an almost instant bond. Mala was more of an impulse tame, and I'm not completely sure he's going to keep her, considering all his other cats which he has stronger attachments to. He still has a couple stable spaces left though, so we'll have to see.

For the rest of the gang, my altoholicism has been going a little crazy, but so far Windstar has gotten up to 87 and is starting on Kun Lai, which is becoming a favorite zone. Rynia is 86 and currently starting on Valley of Four Winds, although I may take her back to Jade Forrest and finish a few quest chains that I skipped. She also has managed to max out both her alchemy and archeology. Rajji and Bearkat are both still 85, although I have done of few of the beginning quests on both of them, and Tarren is just short of 86. Jorren is 86 as well, and in the Valley, about to start on his farm, if I can stop getting distracted and actually do the intro quests. >.<

I've also started my Panda monk, Sunre (pronounced Sun-ray), and I'm having fun with him. A few dungeon runs last night got him up to level 20, so he got to buy all his level 20 turtle mounts. While he rides around on my brewfest kodo. >.>  Hey, at least I'll be ready if they ever add another mount-collecting achievement?

Speaking of collecting, the pet battles have been a ton of fun too. I finally found a guardian cub in the AH sort-of-almost reasonably priced, and now him and my celestial dragonling are both my highest level pets, at 17. I have a few others around level 10, but for now I'm just trying to get those two leveled up enough to start catching Pandaria pets, because so many of them are so stinking cute and I would really love to have them. (Civet kittens, anyone?) I've also been catching any new uncommon-or-better quality pets I've come across, and I'm up to around 230 unique pets. Not much longer til the 250-pet achievement!

I think that's all the important news for now. Now I get to decide which toon will be the next to 90. I'm sort of torn between Windstar and Jorren. I would like to have a max-level Hordie, but I tend to miss my friends when I'm playing on Horde-side, and with Jorren on Wyrmrest Accord, not Feathermoon, it will be even worse. I do miss my little DK though, so I'll probably at least try to get a few quests done before it gets too boring/lonely.

/Wave

Have a short update

Quick update, since I am almost literally about to zonk out on my keyboard.

First, Windstar finally has a totally IC title-

I think the achievement and title should be going account-wide in Mists, so I'm skipping the Cenarian Circle rep grind on Kel. Because, ugh Silithus... >.<

And second, this took way, way too long, but Talia is finally out of Northrend.

Totally dinged on an archeology dig, because I was so very tired of Northrend questing. And then I took her to Vash'jir and got her seahorse, then got sick of the place (as usual) and went to Hyjal. The result- she's almost 81 already. And that was after I replaced her level 80 heirlooms. (She's still using the cloak, and only recently replaced the helm.)

And now I need to go pass out. I'm still rolling with Talia, so I will probably be trying to dungeon-run with her tomorrow before work. Unless my SWTOR free trial sucks me in first.  /Waves

'Short' Update...

... Because work has me all tired out again.

First, the big news. Max has finished another goal.



I'm beginning the camp for Skoll now, although at the moment it's just been logging in periodically to check his spawn points. I may attempt an all-night camp tonight, since I have tomorrow off from work.

Beta spoilers ahead!!

In other news, I got my beta invite right after sis did, and I've been poking around with it a little. My pandaren monk is 16 so far, and has been fairly fun. It seemed a little lackluster at first, but after his first dungeon run, with a few new gear peices, he's finally able to kill things relatively quickly. I'm just very happy that my 'real' monk is going to be spoiled rotten with heirlooms. >.>

As far as the other new stuff goes, I've copied most of my level-85 characters over. The hunter bugs has made it a bit frustrating to play Kel, but I've done some questiing on her and I love it so far. I keep forgetting that I don't have to be at range any more, I can pewpew things right in the face now. That is, whenever her pet lets the mob get that close. The growl change is pretty neat, and danged useful when I'm too lazy to redo my pet attack macro. :P Just having her pet on 'assist' makes sure he is after the target as soon as she starts shooting, and he usually grabs it before it comes near her.

I haven't done much on either Kal or Arien, so I can't say much about warrior/paladin changes. Rynia hasn't seen much attention, either, but I blame Blizzard for that. Destruction is ridiculous right now, mana-wise, to the point where I don't even want to try doing anything on her because she is out of mana after about 3-4 spells. She might kill one mob in 3 or 4 spells, but if she aggro's a group, I don't know what I would do. So now she's just sitting, until something gets adjusted.

Caderly, on the other hand...

I love what Blizz did with shadow priests. Cad is so much fun right now, I've been on him more often than even Kel. The shadow orb mechanic is way easier to manage, and having it under control, instead of having to wait on random procs, is so much better. The new version of his apparitions is tons of fun, too. And his survivability and mana management has gotten way better, as well. If nothing major is changed before MoP goes live, he will probably become my #2 main for the expansion.

(I'm pretty sure everyone knows that absolutely nothing will move Kel from #1. Right? :) )

I copied both Jahira and Windstar, so that I could play with both feral and balance, without having to worry about the issues with dual specs at the beginning of the beta. I have to say, I'm very happy with the new cosmetic glyphs. Moonkin form has never felt exactly right with Jahira, so it's nice to have the astral glyph so she can at least appear as herself. I know some (maybe most) people don't like it for various reasons, but it works for me.

As for Windstar, the very first thing I did was equip the stag glyph. And then run laps all over the grass next to 'their' house for several minutes. I can't even describe how excited I am, all about that one little glyph. Windstar, my druid of the Antler, is allowed to take the form of the demi-god she worships. This has so much in-character meaning for her, I have to admit I get a tiny bit choked up when I think about it. That probably sounds silly, but Windstar is a much-loved character for me, and thinking of how happy and awed this will make her... I can't even describe it.

And now I think I'm going to end on that note, before I start sounding like a total idiot. :P

Little Talia is hanging around level 66 now, and I think I'm going to try to get another one (or two) tonight. /Waves

p.s. I really did mean to keep this post short. Really.

Storytime: Giving

Slow crappy computer and lack of WoW-time has not overcome holiday writing binge. /flex
And yes, I know it's a few days late. Enjoy anyways!

------------
Stormwind was glowing, multi-colored lights chasing the evening darkness away. Windstar and Jahira were perched on the roof of their little house, silently enjoying each other's company as they admired the view. Eventually Star noticed Jahira glancing in her direction, and gave her a questioning look. The elder elf just smiled and slipped one arm around Star's waist. "Nothing, my love," she assured her. "Just enjoying the scenery." Star blushed faintly as she rested her head on her mate's shoulder.

A few minutes later, Jahira broke the silence again. "Tomorrow is Winter's Veil," she said. "Greatfather Winter is supposedly arriving in Iron Forge and handing presents out to everyone."

Star raised her head, quirking an eyebrow at her tone. "'Supposedly'?" she asked. Jahira gave a slight shrug. "After all the years I've been around humans and dwarves, some of their habits still seem a little odd." she replied. "Sometimes I think they invent holidays just for the excuse to throw a party." Star chuckled quietly. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?" Jahira smiled, giving her companion a gentle, one-armed hug. "Not at all. In fact, gift giving is one of their better customs, I think." She straightened, moving her arm from around her young mate and giving her an expectant look. "So. Ready for bed yet?"

*** *** ***
Star was woken up the next morning by the sound of voices, followed by the front door closing. She blinked sleepily up at Jahira as she came over for a good-morning kiss. "That was just Kal," the older druid said in response to the unasked question. "She needs a small favor, so I'll be a bit busy this morning. I should be done by early afternoon, though. Would a short visit to Moonglade sound good?"

Star nodded. "I can keep myself occupied until then. Would we be spending the night there? Or shall we just see how it goes?" Jahira pretended to think about it for a moment, then replied, "I think we'll see how it goes. For now, I need to go see about acquiring some silver."

*** *** ***
Two druids walked slowly around the southern shore of the lake. As they reached the first tiny inlet, near where the flight master kept her hippogryphs, Jahira stopped and turned to face Windstar. "Dearheart, remember our conversation last night? About Winter's Veil and my opinion about gift-giving?"

Star nodded, tilting her head curiously as Jahira took a tiny box from her belt pouch and handed it to her. She opened it carefully, then stared in surprise. "Jahira, I..." She slowly took out the small, silver locket inside, first admiring the tiny antler design etched into the outside, then opening it to find a miniature portrait of her and her mate inside. She finally looked up at Jahira's smiling face, her expression caught halfway between joy and tears. She reached for Jahira's hand, managing a very quiet, "But... I didn't get you anything." "Ah, love," Jahira replied. "You've given me more than you can imagine. I'm only repaying some of it."

The only response Star could manage was to pull Jahira into a hug. Which was more than enough of an answer for Jahira.

--------------
Kal tried to hide her impatience as she watched Channi pull the colorful wrapping off of the tiny box. She mentally thanked whatever gods were listening (again) that she was related to a jewel-crafter, as her lover opened the box, then, with eyes gone huge with surprise, she slowly lifted out the silver locket. The wolf's head etched on the outside glinted in the soft firelight coming from the hearth, and Kal knew she was going to owe Jahira a danged big favor for the gift.

Channi finally opened the locket, and smiled at the portrait of the two of them inside. Kal couldn't resist a smile in response, and she reached over to gently brush Channi's cheek with her fingertips. "You like it, hun?" she asked, already sure of the answer, but wanting to hear it anyways. The girl turned and threw her arms around the elf in a quick hug, followed by a much longer kiss, before she finally replied, "It's beautiful! I love it."

------------

I know Kal's part is short, but it's kind of hard to write about someone else's character (at least it is for me), especially when there has been no in-game RP between those two in months. Star and Jahira, on the other hand, have been stuck inside my head off and on ever since they 'hooked up'. It would be almost annoying if they weren't such total sweethearts with each other. :P

And in case anyone is wondering, yes, they did wind up spending the night in Moonglade. It's a semi-regular occurrence.

Anyways! Hope everyone had a good holiday. I, personally, am just glad it's mostly over. /Waves

A very delayed update

Work and games have kept me pretty busy, so this stuff all happened a few days ago. :\ Bad blogger is bad.

I was tinkering on Lord of the Rings Online last week, when my sister announced that she found a lonely-looking wolf digging through some trash in the Hinterlands.




My lil blood elf Kerrowyn decided to come take a look, and she found a new friend -



Later, I can't remember if it was that night or the next day, I was on Rajji while afk'ing to browse Petopia's forums. Rajji still has a pretty small stable, so I was trying to decide on a couple new pets for him, when I found one of the threads on the Amani dragonhawk. I really like 'hawks, even though I don't actually use them very often, so I decided to take a trip to Zul Aman before the patch made it harder to get in. Many deaths and much frustration later, Rajji had two new buddies. Raj got a couple hexing sticks from trash mobs, and used them on some frogs. Mojo hopped into Raj's bags on the second one.



Now I just gotta get Kel in there and find her a Mojo. >.> And level Max so he can go get a blue 'hawk from Sunwell Plateau.

I found another interesting option on Petopia, but I decided my cat collector, Shadepaw, would be the one to hunt this one. She took a trip to northern Stranglethorn and sat around Pogeyan's spawn area for a little over an hour, taking a couple breaks to thin out the local panther population. There were several other people that passed through, either questing or possibly camping him as well, but Shade was the one that finally spotted him. I then discovered that he leaps at you when you start the tame, and that Shade put her trap a little far away. Pogeyan is so big, however, that it caught him anyways.





He is very shiny, and Shade loves him already. His new name is Loki, which is a Norse fire god, which I thought was appropriate for a cat with the title 'the Fire Spirit'.

And the last thing to update on is what I've been doing the last several days. One of my oldest WoW friends had been getting very tired/bored with Warcraft, and had switched over to playing Rift. Well, he talked about it so much on Vent, my resistance didn't really have a chance. Honestly, I've been getting a little bored myself, with getting 3 of my characters to 85 so quick, and the steady grind of dungeons and dailies. The only thing to break the monotony was RP, and even that was starting to get... well, not exactly boring, but really, I can only take so much sitting around while everyone else has conversations and storylines going on all around me. And the (very) few people I actually had any IC contact with have been busy doing other things, like gearing up for raids (which don't even get me started on that right now) and/or leveling alts. So I've been by myself a lot lately, other than some dungeons/battlegrounds with my brother on some baby tauren alts we had made. By myself = lonely = bad, bad depression fits. :(

So anyways, I've started playing Rift. I have a couple characters at level 10+ already, and so far it's been a blast. It's hard to say though, whether this will be a regular thing yet. Everything is still 'new and shiny', rifts are fun (though sometimes annoying when they open up on top of the area you're trying to quest in), warfronts(battlegrounds) are fun, even though the Defiants lose 80-90% of the time. And the game's storylines are awesome. Oh, and Defiants rock. Guardians are just a little too fanantical for me. (Just my opinion, if anyone that plays Guardian reads this, please don't hate me. >.<)

So, if anyone has noticed me missing from Warcraft (which I sort of doubt), Rift is why. I will probably be back eventually, because I still love WoW. I just need a little break. I'll most likely be hopping on now and then to check my toons and play with my brother. Just not very often, for now.

(I hope the last part does not sound like a rant, because it's not supposed to be. And I totally did NOT mean to turn this into a Massive Wall of Text, sorry. :P)

My new favorite things

(Because some things are just way more amusing when you're sick.)






Lifegiving seed + Origami rock = fun times.

Good news and Bad news

Getting the bad news out of the way first. I have a cold. I'm a bit peeved about it, since I've gone the entire miserably cold, snowy winter without catching anything, and now that it's starting to warm up, bam I get sick. Argh.

On to the good news! First of all, I have my third level 85 character-



About time, too. I seem to be developing a habit of getting a toon to 84, then suddenly not playing them for a while. Poor Star spent almost a week at <5 bars to level. /Fail.

But at least now she's done with leveling and can start kitty-fying the instances. Which was another point I failed at. She has spent less time in instances than any of my other characters. Her gear right now kinda stinks, being mostly green quest rewards and a couple crafted things. Hooray for Kel's leatherworking. :P

Next bit of good news, Max has a new buddy.



Huge thank you to my sister for this one. I had spent the previous night camping for him (and got 3 stacks of gromsblood and 2+ stacks of golden sansam and dreamfoil in the process), but had to log with no luck. Next day I had a pretty rough day at work, and went to lie down after I got home. Sis came and woke me up to ask if I had tamed this beauty, and when I groggily told her no, she told me he was up. She then let me use her computer to log on Max to go tame him, so that I didn't have to wait for mine to start up, possibly letting someone else find Olm before I could get there. /hug sis

Max is now 54, and just needs one level to get his big black kitty. I just need to pull myself away from all my baby alts that i've been working on lately and get him that one level. :\

Last thing I can think of for now, Kel's Charcoal is 85, and is the best tank she has ever had. I've been playing with her MM spec lately, since I've gotten way out of practice with it, and he has been holding aggro on the mobs like a champ, with her critting for 30-40k at times. Even if Kel does pull aggro, Kill Command will usually take it right back. And Shell Shield is awesome. It's a great visual reminder for when I forget to use Mend Pet, when he's tanking 2-3 mobs at once (I'm looking at you, Tol Barad villagers! >:|). By the time Shell Shield expires, Charcoal is almost back to full health. I really love this guy.

And that's it for now. Hopefully this danged cold will go away soon, it's seriously interfering with my ability/desire to do much anything other than sleep. :(
/Waves

Malorne

The stormcrow glided into the shrine, landing on the column next to the newly restored statue. It looked over the white marble stag for several awestruck seconds, then, with a single flap of it's wings, it swooped down to land before it. The bird disappeared in a puff of thick smoke, a slender Kaldorei female standing in it's place after the smoke cleared.


Windstar knelt reverently before the image of her patron. So many thoughts were racing through her head, she couldn't speak for several minutes. Finally, she stood and shifted into her cat form. Slowly she crept up to the statue, and settled between the huge stone hoofs. A soft rumble began in her chest as she basked in the peaceful quiet of the shrine.


"They all still say that you're dead," Star thought to the silent presence she felt hovering over her. "And perhaps they are right. But I know your spirit is still watching over us all. And maybe... perhaps one day... Aviana may not be the only Ancient that can be reborn." She gazed upwards at the stag's proud head, so far above her own. A gentle breeze blew softly through the shrine, ruffling her fur. She smiled, feeling as if her patron was answering.

Star lost track of how long she sat there, but finally the need to continue her missions for the druids of Hyjal brought her out of her trance. She looked at the setting sun and sighed, knowing it was too late for her to return that day. She stood, turned towards the statue, and placed one paw on a massive hoof. "I'll be back," she said quietly, "I promise." Switching shape quickly from cat to stormcrow, she leaped into the air, circled once over the shrine, and then turned in the direction of Nordrassil.

* * * *
Windstar has been a follower of Malorne ever since she felt the druidic calling. Seeing his shrine restored was pretty darn emotional for her.

More info on Malorne can be found here.

"Me? A hero? Nah..."

((*Ahem* So, Windstar has been very quiet lately, but all of a sudden today, she decided that she wants to say something. She's been MIA for a while, and for anyone that doesn't know, it's because she's been trying to help in Icecrown. Since work makes it hard for me to commit to a raiding schedule (even if I could find a raid with a opening for a kitty DPS), she can't really be in ICC with her friends, so she's finding her own way to fight the Scourge. She would say that it's not much, but it's the best she can do.))


My friends are all in Icecrown, actually in the Citidel. This... actually scares me. A lot. I know they can all take care of themselves, and they'll watch each other's backs, but I still worry about them all. I mean, Bricu and Threnn have a little one, and Aely is getting married sometime soon. And Feliche... he may say he's just a big dumb warrior, but he still gives the best back-scratches.*purrs*

...I'm not a hero. I'm just a cat that wants to help. My friends are the heroes. And by Malfurion's antlers, I'm going to make sure nothing sneaks up and tries to get them from behind.



So, Riders. Go do what you do best. I'll be out here, doing my own small part. And hopefully, when it's all over, and the Bloody Prince is taken care of for good, we'll get to have our own family celebration in the Pig. That's what's important, you know. Family and friends. That's what we're fighting for.



Never again, my friends...

Boredom, meet Emeriss....

What happens when a bored druid sees a dragon yelling challenges across the Hinterlands? This does:



Atempt #1 was solo. He doesn't hit hard (not on an 80, at least), but then I discovered his sleep gas cloud, the hard way. Splat.

My sister brought her hunter Wildlark over for attempt #2. While we waited for Star's debuff to go away, Takani joined in. Tak tanked, Lark pewpewed, Star did her tree thing. We did ok for a bit, but then the gas clouds got us again. Triple splat.

Attempt #3, same setup, but we payed more attention. And guess what?



Boo yea, baby.

Besides random silliness like this, I have been working on a couple other stories. Tad's spirit beast tames, and something from Kal's past, to be exact. Writer's block fails, but I am slowly working past it. So expect more in the hopefully-not-too-distant future. >.>

/Waves

Updates 'n' stuff

Bad blogger is bad. Neglected blog is...yea.
Anyways!

Work schedule is being crazy right now, so I've been half-asleep most of the time lately. I am so NOT a morning person. -.-



I have been on a huge leveling binge with Kalenedral, my warrior. She is currently 64. She will not be 64 for long. >.> A few thoughts PVE-wise: Revenge is hax. I love warrior tanking. Death grip should be taken out of the game, or at least become a lvl 80 skill. I hate PuG fail groups. Seriously, if you jerk dps'ers think I'm going too slow, feel free to leave. AND STOP PULLING FOR ME!!!.../rant off

Where was I? Oh yea.

In between leveling, I have been RPing with her a lot too, and she seems to be making friends. She has also met Windstar, ICly, and, well, I may be posting snippets of how they're getting along soon-ish. >.> (It is also kind of frustrating, because I would love to have them together in-game, but I would need a second account, which is out of my budget right now. /sadface)

I have also been doing Noblegarden holiday stuff on Star. I did it all on Kelesaria last year, and it was pretty easy and fun. It's her in-game title, in fact. Last night I made a very important discovery....



Bunnies can ride mammoths. This is just too darn cute.(That is actually Kal, doing some holiday RP. Fun times :D)

And on that note, time to get another level or 3 on Kal. /Waves

Storytime

(Uh, think I ought to give a PG warning for this :P Also, intro is quoted from the Great Bear Spirit, in Moonglade, and is the very first lesson young druids learn, when starting their training down the feral path. It is the closest thing to a life-motto that Windstar has.)

Strength of the body is the power and swiftness of action. You must keep yourself fit at all times, both physically and mentally. The bear's girth highlights it's strength, as it is a ferocious foe in combat. The bear's girth, however, belies it's agility and sharp mind. These are surprises you will use to your advantage.
You must rely on the strength of the bear's body in order to master the way of the Claw.

Strength of the heart is what gives you the resolve to take action... action that is rooted in intents that are pure and forthright. To keep the balance is not to be complacent or banal.
You must show resolve for that which you believe in, and you must be willing to fight for it. The mother bear shows endless conviction in protecting her young, as does the elder bear protecting his den. It is this resolve, this strength of heart, which you must come to know if you are to master the way of the Claw.



- - - - -


Windstar stood before the large stone, the pouch of powder in her hand. She took deep breath, preparing to face the powerful moonkin known as Lunaclaw. The words of the Bear Spirit ran through her mind again. Muscles tensed, as ready as she could get, Star turned the pouch upside down over the stone. The dust glittered in the perpetual dusk that shrouded the moonkins' territory, then faded as it touched the rock's surface. Everything seemed to go still for a moment, then the air rang with the bellow of an enraged moonkin. Star whirled towards the entrance of the cave, as a huge creature charged down on her. The following fight was furious and chaotic, but finally Lunaclaw fell. Star approached cautiously, to make sure it was dead, when it suddenly lunged at her with a final desperate cry. One massive claw slammed into Star's side, and the world went dark with the pain. She barely held on, and managed to call down a strike of moonfire on the beast, which finally dropped dead.

Star fell as well, but then looked up as a dim light glowed in the small cave. Lunaclaw's spirit looked down at her, almost apologetically. It stoood, waiting, as she gathered what little strength she had left, and dragged herself nearer. At the spirit's feet, she collapsed again, rested for a moment, and then somehow managed to stand. She held one hand to her side, feeling the blood running through her fingers and down her side. The spirit looked her in the eyes, and she could hear it's voice in her head, commending her on the fight. As the spirit faded, she managed somehow to focus well enough to cast the spell to teleport herself back to Moonglade.

Remulos was meditating in his grove, when two of the wardens came, half-dragging a limp, bloody Night elf. They carefully set her on the ground, then one responded to his unasked question. "Lunaclaw. She won." He waved them away, then lifted the elf's head, to look at her face. He gave a small start as he realized it was Windstar. His forehead furrowed with concern as he looked her over to find the source of the blood that covered almost her entire left side. He finally had to peel her soaked shirt away from where it was sticking to her skin, and found the long gash on her ribcage. He grimaced at the sight. The gash went from just under her shoulderblade, along one of her ribs (which was badly fractured), and finally ended directly underneath her left breast. White bone showed through the raggedly torn skin and muscles. Remulos sighed, realizing that he couldn't leave her to her heal on her own. Even if she didn't bleed to death, an injury like this would leave her semi-crippled for the rest of her life. He closed his eyes, bent over her, and began casting his healing spells.


- - - -

Star slowly regained conciousness. She managed to open her eyes, and looked around, disoriented. Eventually, she recognized the room, and realized she was still in Moonglade. She was lying on her back, in a bed in one of the inns. She began to sit up, then stopped with a strangled gasp as pain lanced through her side. She forced herself to relax and slow her breathing, and gradually the pain receded to a bearable level. Slowly, she looked around, trying to not move anything besides her head. On a table near her right side, she spotted a small note. Carefully, Star reached for it, and managed to open it one-handed. It was from Remulos.

Windstar,
I healed enough to keep you alive and prevent you from becoming crippled. The rest is up to you.

She couldn't help a small wry grin. Honestly, she was surprised he had let her be taken into Nighthaven, but she supposed he didn't want her taking up space in his beloved glade. She dropped the note back onto the table, closed her eyes, and tried to rest.

Two days later, Windstar stood in front of a mirror in her room, left arm carefully raised so she could inspect the gash on her side. Most of the torn muscles had been knitted back together, but the skin was still a mess, with a long and painful scab running along her rib, and there was an enourmous blue and purple bruise that covered her side, from armpit to just above her hipbone. Her fractured rib was mostly healed, as well, but she still had to be careful about taking deep breaths. She looked soberly at the wound for another moment, then turned away from the mirror and allowed the nearby warden to wrap a bandage around it. She then grabbed her shirt, pulled it on, and hobbled out towards Remulos' shrine.

Star paused at the archway of the shrine, waiting until the Keeper noticed her. He was meditating, as usual, so it was several minutes before he looked up at her. Remulos nodded slowly, and said, "Good to see you up again, Windstar. I supose you will be departing soon?" She nodded back. "I was heading to the wind master now. I just wanted to say thank you." Remulos waved a hand absently, but Star could see the affectionate gleam in his eyes. "It was nothing," he told her. "Although, you may want to remain at home and rest for a few weeks. Maybe find a hobby to work on. It would be a pity to reinjure yourself, after I had to put you back together." Star grinned. "I may just do that. Malorne's blessings, my friend." He waved again, smiling at her this time, and she turned and walked slowly to the flight masters.

- - -

About two weeks later, in Stormwind:
Tad winced as he examined the still-raw scar running across Star's side, careful not to touch the blue-green bruises. "You know, sometimes you make me glad I wasn't called to be a druid." he told her, jokingly. Star chuckled, pulling her shirt back down. "I don't think I'll be going anywhere for a few more weeks. I think I'm going to go visit that old scribe near the canals. It seems like an interesting proffession. At least it will keep me from going out of my mind with boredom, while I finish healing." Tad looked at her incedulously. "You have a mind?" he asked in feigned shock. She swatted his shoulder, and he laughed as Keenath barked in protest. Star laughed too, then suddenly sobered as she remembered. "Tad," she began hesitantly, "something went wrong, after Lunaclaw hit me. I couldn't heal myself. I don't know why, but I couldn't." Tad looked at her, concerned. "Uh, that is not a good thing to hear. If you can't heal yourself when you're hurt that bad, what good is being able to heal in the first place?" He winced again. "That probably didn't sound right, but you know what I mean." Star nodded. "I do, and you're right. Perhaps it's just a block I have to work through. I just need to practice enough." "Uh," Tad said worriedly. "I hope that doesn't mean you're gonna go get yourself hurt again. Can't have my sister getting more impressive scars than me, you know." He ducked, laughing, as Star swatted at him again.

I found it

Here is (one of) Windstar's theme song(s). This band is amazing btw. Metal rock ... with cellos.

Apocalyptica- Hope

"Just call me ..."

Titles can be fun. Especially when you aquire them by doing fun things with awesome people. I know Spirit Bond has already done a post on this, but here is my take on it. :)

Windstar, Arvoss, and Rhokk got to go along for a 'dragon killing' run last night. We started with Malygos, which just happened to be the last kill Star needed for her Champion of the Frozen Wastes achievement. For the record, I had never gotten past the start of phase 3 on Maly. My raiding guild that Kelesaria is in just never got it together to finish him off. I have at least one other character (Kel), maybe more, that are only a Maly kill away from their Champion title. So I was a little bit nervous and very excited at the same time, going into the Eye. We wound up taking 2 or 3 tries, but he went down in the end! :D (With me watching from below, where I had landed after dying, lol.)So now:



This will be her current displayed title for a while, until I get my lazy self going on her Guardian of Cenarius. Darn Silithus rep grind. :\

After that was Sartharion, with all 3 drakes up. Now that was exciting. I wound up having to help with showing some of the people where to stand for the lava waves, and we still wiped at least 4 times. It was still fun, though, and we got him down eventually. Then the rogue in the raid managed to vanish after he was dead, so at least 1 person was saved a bit of repairs (lol). Star didn't win the drake mount, but o well, it was still tons of fun. I love dps-race boss fights. :D
Also:



Onyxia was after that, after a bit of raid reorganizing. We one-shot her, easily. One or 2 people died in phase 3 (poor Arvoss), but it was pretty uneventful other than that. The fight is still fun, though, so that was fine with me. (I think sometimes it was a good thing that I never got into raiding in vanilla WoW, because so many of the current raids feel so new to me. Yes, even Naxx is still fun, I don't care how much 'better' the level 60, 40-man version was.) No good druid drops, but Rhokk got Ony's head, and Arvoss got the misleadingly-named gem bag. (Seriously, 'Sack of Gems' only has 1 gem in it? Come on, Blizzard, change it's name or add a couple more gems, please. :P)

The very best part of the whole thing? Windstar got to be a kitty for the entire run. I did offer to heal if we really needed it, but honestly, her feral gear is so much better than her resto set, and I think the fact that she pulled 4k dps or more for every single fight (after Maly, with the dragon-back phase and the fact that I died, I'm not sure if that counts, and she still did over 3k dps in that fight,) bears me out. I have actually been thinking about her specs lately, though I might make a whole new post on that, as it may get pretty rambly.

And now I'm off to continue my slow progress on my warrior Kalenedral. Even though my finances won't let me transfer her and Arien to Feathermoon just yet, I still want a high-level warrior to play with, dangit. Especially after that one warrior tank that was in my PuG Pit of Saron (on Jahira as the healer) yesterday. Warlike from Ragnaros, you rock.

/Waves

p.s. Btw, any rock/metal fans that don't have Breaking Benjamin's Dear Agony album: go get it now, it's amazing.

As Promised

Latest Windstar sketch -



I'm not totally happy with it, but I can't quite place what's wrong. I think it turned out okay, though.

Anyways, off to tinker on WoW til time for work.

/waves

p.s. I really need to look into a scanner or something. :P

More Updates and Thoughts

Because we need a happier post now.

First, I'm starting to think I'm getting a cold. Not sure yet though. Been having a stuffy/runny nose off and on for a while now, and today my throat is starting to hurt. It could all be weather related, though.. (I really don't like winter)

Second, I still love the new LFG tool. Windstar has 2 peices of t9, all from badges. Working on a new ring next. She is So Very Over-Hit-Capped though, argh. WTT hit rating for some expertise and ArPen. And need a new trinket. :P And then need to work on her healing gear. :\

Also, Star has done the entire new ICC trio, and it was AWESOME. Halls of Reflection especially. Running from Arthas was epic. At one point (third ice wall, I think?), we were killing the adds, and I noticed him almost right on top of us. I actually got scared for a second. Yes, I am a nerd. She got the Orca Hunter's Harpoon too, 'cause the hunter in the group had better already. It was over 100 more AP, in cat form, un- gemmed/enchanted. O.O (She had the staff from the Argent Tourney vendors.)

I need to run the entire thing with Arien. ICly if possible.. >.> With sis on Alanon, of course. I did get as far as the start of HoR with a guild group, but my friend on his shammy healer was starting to fall asleep by then, so we called it there. :P

Windstar is also getting her reputations done, which will be a first. :P My other level 80s, who I've played more than her, still haven't gotten all the WotLK reps done (although Kel is close). I'm such a slacker...

She's also almost at 300 fishing. Did I mention I'm a slacker?

I am missing my pally again, so sometime in the next day or so I might spend some time on Gilneas and just run heroics on her. And abuse her mote extractor, since it will be harder for my other toons to get eternals without Arien. Although my DK is a transmute-spec alchemist...

And I think there was more, but I'm falling asleep over my keyboard now. Must try to catch up on sleep, especially after I let myself get suckered into going in to work a few hours on Saturday, which was a day off. :(

I will end with one more thing Star has accomplished. Screenies are worth way more than words, so here ya go:


Goodnight! /waves

Tad - Keenath

Tad trotted his saber Fog towards the Dwarven District, heading straight to the stable master. Once he arrived and dismounted, total havoc broke loose. He was suddenly fending off 600 pounds of happy bear, while Aubri fanned the air around his head, making a brisk breeze. Skan looked at his 'brothers' in amazement, then padded into the shaded area, towards the water trough. Once Treyvan finally settled, Tad was able to look around for his oldest friend. As if summoned, the big wolf slowly climbed to his feet and walked over to his master. "Keenath, how're you holding up, m'boy?" Tad crooned to him affectionately, as he recieved a thorough face-wash. Keenath whined quietly, almost as if answering his master. Tad noticed him still favoring his right hind leg, and frowned. "Ok, I'm getting Star to look at you as soon as possible," he muttered, giving his wolf a gentle, thorough scratching.

- - - -

Windstar straightened, stretching, and looked at her brother, the eagerness on his face making her heart ache. She would never lie to him, however, no matter how much he would not like to hear what she said. "I'm so sorry, Tad, but I can't find anything wrong with him. He's just getting old." Her twin frowned, forehead crinkling in worry as he looked down at his very first companion. Keenath whined and wagged his tail, as if he knew what was going on, and was trying to apologize for the trouble he was causing. Tad knelt next to the wolf, catching his head in a rough carress. Star bit her lip as she watched them, wishing her nature affinity could help, but knowing that this was something that nothing could heal. Finally she just knelt next to her brother, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. He laid one hand on top of it, and smiled up at her, though there was still worry in his eyes. "Thanks for at least trying, Star. It'll be okay. I'll be okay." He squeezed her hand, and she smiled back, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before rising and heading towards the harbor, shifting to cat form as she went.

Worry still lurked in the back of her mind, however, and Star doubted that Northrend was going to offer any sort of comfort to her. Her thoughts went back to the group of misfits she called friends, a certain few in particular, and she hoped she might run into a couple of them up North, however unlikely it might be. She could really use an ear rub and a few friendly words right about now.

- - - -
So, poor Star is worried about her brother now. Plus my very bad timing with getting into groups for instances has kept me out of RP a lot lately, so she's not socializing as much as she's accustomed to. Lonely Star is lonely.

One other minor thing, that she's just now realizing. There's a bit of romance going around with the Riders and Co., you can read about it here. Now on one hand, Star considers Aely and Arrens to be among her best friends, and she thinks they are really cute together. On the other hand, seeing people she cares about pairing up makes her realize how alone she is most of the time. And her other favorite person, Feliche, has been MIA while he levels an alt. And on top of all that, there's been a strange druid (sis's recently transfered Pitchblack) hanging around, picking arguments with her friends and taking up the attention of her 'little sister', Shaurria. So, for a while at least, Star is going to be a bit out of sorts, and a major cuddle-kitty with anyone willing to give her attention.

That's pretty much it for now. Off to run heroics till I drop. :D
/Waves

Very Quick Update

..Because I really should be sleeping. :(


Star isn't very happy. It is totally her player's fault, too. Lack of sleep makes me depressed. Long term lack of sleep makes me want to go hide in a deep hole and never come out again. Long term lack of sleep + a work shift full of massive amounts of pain = 'o someone please just shoot me now'.

So, just so I don't have to pretend that my kitty is happy, when I really want to go lay down and die (not really, but close), I'm working on a bit of story line. It makes me sad, because it involves my little hunter Tadrith and one of his best friends. To make it short, his wolf Keenath is getting old. Windstar has been trying to help, but she can't do anything about simple old age. She has her own issues as well, but I'll get into that later. So, next post will hopefully be a story about that, and sometime in the near future, Tad will have another stable slot to fill, probably with another cat. Yes, as far as hunter pets go, I think I qualify as a crazy cat lady. :P

It is slightly annoying, but I just can't keep interested in wolf pets. No idea why. Kel has tamed several, and let them all go, my Belf Kerowyn had one, my orc Treng has one, but I haven't had him out of the stable in ages. I really love wolves, in-game and irl, but I just keep getting bored with them. So, Tad will be taming a lynx, because I love the model, and my one hunter alt that has one? Hasn't been played in months.

So, that's all for now, must go pass out before my headache gets worse. Goodnight!
/waves

I draw stuff

Well, sketch might be more accurate. Mostly horses, though I have been experimenting with WoW stuff. So, here's a couple samples:

Windstar headshot-

My tauren druid Bearkat-


Totally random cat sketch, just for kicks-


And a couple of my favorite horse drawings-










I used to draw horses at my last job, whenever I was bored and had scrap paper handy. Random customers would compliment me a lot. Personally, I know I'm far from perfect, but I do enjoy it. I would totally welcome any opinions/suggestions anyone would like to make. Just be nice? I have a very small, fragile ego. :P

Also, a couple more random youtube music videos, for anyone interested. I finally found a couple versions of my favorite Red song. :D

And here's a few more of my favorites.

Yes, I do like a lot of random stuff, and most of it is metal. Also, decent music videos can be hard to find on youtube. :(

And now I've stayed up way too late again :(
Sleep time! /Waves