Hunter + Boredom = ...New Pet?

Boredom can make me do some really off-the-wall stuff sometimes. Like today. I had been poking on the Petopia forums, and just for kicks, I read the thread about how to tame The Beast in LBRS. I had never been a fan of core hounds, with their loud footsteps and annoying growl, but the thought of my 'uber huntress' having a pet with a 'boss' tag was very tempting.

So I'm off work today and tomorrow, and I took a day from my new LotRO addiction to tinker on WoW. The Beast was still in the back of my mind, and when I got on Kel to do a holiday Direbrew run for some easy frost badges, I decided what the heck. She has a lot of older tier gear in her bank, because I am a packrat (in-game, I'm not nearly as bad irl), so I got out anything with +haste on it, and regemmed them with haste gems. Then mailed her some worg meat for buff food, and some speed potions and elixirs. Then finally I felt like I was ready for an attempt.



After a few tries, I figured it wasn't going to work out. Her cast time for tame beast was still too long, and he kept knocking her back and interrupting it. I couldn't find the forum post to get more ideas, but I did discover that one of the PVP trinkets has a nice chunk of haste. A bunch of stone keeper shard turn-ins and a couple battlegrounds later, with the purchase of a rep belt with more haste, and a couple more gems, I decided to try again. She had over 600 haste rating by then, all buffed up, but when she got back to the Beast's room and had another go, it still wasn't enough. This was getting a bit discouraging, and I didn't know any shamen that could have come helped with heroism, so I was about to give up. I decided to have just one more try, though. And guess what?



I have no clue what happened that time, but IT WORKED!! My lil hunter has tamed a boss. /flex Now I just need to wait for Cataclysm and more stable slots, so I can start planning my King Krush hunt. >.>

The only bad part is that Kel had to let Tyran the devilsaur go. I'm going to miss him, but really, it's just a temporary separation. And he really was the only 'expendable' pet she had. He'll be one of the first she re-tames after the expansion, though. But for now, Kel has a big drooly puppy to level. Even if you can't tell because of the boss skull on his portait. /grin



/Waves

Storytime: Young Kal

Have a random Kal story. I don't think I've ever really mentioned just how close Kal and Riatha were before Riatha was killed and reborn as a Death Knight. Riatha pretty much raised Kal, acting as mother, sister, and best friend to Kal for most of her life. Even after her transformation, Ria is still always there for her 'baby sister'.


Riatha followed her ears to the source of the whimpering she heard. Sure enough, there was her sister, huddled in a corner of the small parlor, trying to stifle her tears. The young Sentinel-in-training deliberately bumped a small table just hard enough to rattle the knick-knacks sitting on it, letting Kal know she was there without startling her. The tiny elven girl looked up quickly, but then relaxed when she saw who it was. "Ria, didn't see you there, sorry," she mumbled. Riatha came over and sat on a nearby couch, looking her sister over critically. "Okay, who was it this time, babe. The boys again?" Kal sniffed as she joined Riatha on the couch, huddling on one end. "Nah, was the girls this time. They was all playing dress-up, and when I told 'em I didn't wanna join, they started callin' me names." She turned her head, trying to wipe her eyes against her shoulder.

Riatha gave a quiet grunt, and began looking inside the drawers of the table, pulling a hankerchief out of the second one. She leaned closer to her little sister, gently wiping her eyes, then handing the hanky over so Kal could blow her nose. After doing so, Kal rested her chin on her drawn-up knees, staring at the opposite wall. "Why're they all like that, Ria? All they care about is how pretty they think they are. It's so bloody boring." Riatha stifled a chuckle, and replied, "Don't say that around Mother, you know she doesn't like that language. And I don't know. I guess some people are just like that. Not everyone can be as eager about learning to fight and scout as you, you know." She reached over to ruffle Kal's hair, making her duck, grumbling. Suddenly, Kal sat up and leaned over to give Riatha a hug. "Least I got someone to talk to 'bout it. Even if we don't understand 'em, we can still complain to each other about 'em, right?" She grinned mischievously up at her sister. Riatha grinned back, and returned the hug warmly. "Right."

Distractions

So, I'm still keeping pretty busy. Lord of the Rings Online is now free-to-play, which means I got to dust off my 2 accounts and get back into the best game environment I've ever found. Yes, I have 2 accounts. I blame a mix-up with the 2 trial versions I got to tinker with before I got addicted-I mean- started playing my own 'real' account. Although I have spent most of the time on said 'real' account.

It's nice playing a game where when a question is asked, even if it's the 347th time for THE EXACT SAME QUESTION, and instead of sarcasm or even downright cruel answers, people actually give help. I think the main frustration with WoW lately has been that so many people decide to be complete jerks, mostly because of the LFD tool. Why give the effort to be nice to someone you'll likely never see again, right? Uh, wrong, for me at least. LotRO has the best community I've ever played in, which I have missed, even more than fun, addicting professions and the amazing music system. (Seriously, Blizzard, put a woodworking profession and a music-playing system in WoW and I will love you forever.)

Well, besides beating up wild animals, bandits, and orcs on LotR, work has still been seriously kicking my tail, although, if I'm careful, I don't hurt quite as much. And in addition, Kal has been poking in my head, and I've been writing a ton of stuff about her. Nearly all back-story stuff, since current RP is pretty much non-existent for now. The one or two times I have been awake enough to participate, nothing has been going on, and the times stuff actually happens, I end up hearing about it from sis after I wake up from crashing as soon as I got home from work. I really do miss my friends, though. And Kal misses 'her girl' too. *sigh*

And now I get to grab about 3 hours of sleep before my next long shift at work. *grumble,why do I keep doing this,grumble* /sleepywave

Woot!

Yay for accomplishments. His tailoring is ~440 now, too. He had his ebonweave robe and gloves and a bunch of other stuff made, all ready to wear when he dinged. Then I went and completed all but Occulus for his Northrend dungeonmaster, so he could learn the Wispcloak pattern. On a whim, I decided to try one heroic before going to bed, and guess what popped? Occulus. So he can make the cloak now, and has a spiffy achievement.

I spent today on Allods, leveling my caster-spec priest (who happens to be also named Caderrly. I'm good at names, aren't I? :P), who is now about halfway to 18.


(Why yes, he does have a funky-looking bishop hat. Feel free to laugh at it. :P)

I'll probably be back on WoW tomorrow. (Er, later today?) At least, around work and stuff. Honestly, if my bank account wasn't finally getting a little less depressing, I would be really hating my job right now. Worse than I already do, I mean. From last Friday, 9/3, til Tuesday, 9/14, I will have worked 10 of the 12 days. My joint problems are making me pretty danged miserable, and the fact that the weather is changing towards fall doesn't help. Cold nights mean waking up stiff and sore, and having to face a day at work just makes me want to hide under the covers and not come out ever again. It is nice not having to worry as much about paying my share of the rent, but sometimes I wonder if it really is worth it. /Sigh

Although, on a good note, last Thursday I got to help rescue a kitten from a car engine in the parking lot.

And with that, I must go sleep. /Waves