Riots

This would have happened last week, I believe, on Wednesday night. Brief background: There was a human named Uthas who decided that regarding Arthas, the best way to fight fire was with fire. In short, he plagued a LOT of people in an attempt to create his own undead army. He died (or was killed, not sure of the details), and came back as a death knight, then more recently he returned to Stormwind and gave himself up to the authorities. He had a trial, in which everyone was sure he would be sentenced to death. The story of the trial's conclusion can be found here.

So yea, he was released and all charges dropped. This touched off a riot in Stormwind, as all the civilians who wanted to see him dead kinda went crazy. There is a forum thread about how this has affected other people here, and now here is my contribution. Enjoy!

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Shaurria had gone to the back rooms to sleep, but Pitch felt restless. He heard the Cathedral bells toll the hour as he sat alone in the common room, then his ears perked as something else came to them. Distant shouts, screams, and then a gunshot. He stared at the door for a minute, then abruptly stood and went to the back. In the dark he could just see the furry dark huddle of a sleeping Shaur on one of the bunks. Satisfied, he grabbed his cloak and spear, and left the tavern.

* * * * * *

Shaurria woke suddenly, listening to the commotion coming from outside. A soft "mreow?" brought no answer, and she shifted out of her cat form. "Pitch?" she called as she crept out to the common room. No one was there, and she stopped to listen again. Whatever was going on, it didn't sound like it was near the Pig. Yet. She shivered, then abruptly made her decision. Changing back into cat, she snuck out of the Pig, keeping to the shadows, and followed Pitch's faint scent-trail.

She nearly panicked when she reached the Trade District and saw the rioters for the first time. Skirting the edges, staying in shadows, she managed to get away without being seen. She reached the edge of the canal and glanced toward the Cathedral, then she froze. The Cathedral was in flames.

A group of guardsmen coming around the corner startled her out of her shock, and she fled up the canal. She had lost Pitch's trail. Where was he? The Mage District had all kinds of explosions and lights flashing from it, giving her more than enough reason to stay away. Finally, and in an almost blind panic, she headed for the one spot in Stormwind besides the Pig where she felt safe: the Park.

Crossing the canal, Shaur ran across Pitch's scent and felt a rush of relief. She unshifted when she reached the entrance, so she could call for him, but froze again as a human male came out of the darkness. "Oi," he called. "What's a pretty lass doin' out 'ere on 'er own?" She moved away from his vicious, leering grin, then changed back to cat and turned to run- and came face-to-face with the wall. She was trapped. Mewling in fear, she turned back to the human, whose grin had become downright evil now that he knew he had her. He took another step toward her.... and a huge black shape leaped from the darkness, crashing into him with a savage growl and carrying him out of Shaur's sight. His scream ended abruptly in a wet gurgle, then suddenly Pitch stepped into view, eyes wild and blood dripping from his chin. Shaur squeaked, and he looked at her blankly for a moment, then his eyes cleared and he quickly trotted over to stand above her protectively.

"What are you doing here, kitty?" he asked as he began sniffing her over for injuries. She unshifted again, pushing his head away. "M'not hurt. Woke up and heard a fuss, and nobody was there," she explained. "I didn't know where you went, so I just came here." She shuddered. "Town's gone all crazy." "Well, I'm not sending you back through that mess," he said. "There's a lot of... unpleasant stuff going on here, kitty. Stay close to me and out of sight. We'll see if we can find a bolt-hole til it all blows over."

The two druid-cats headed deeper into the Park, hoping to find a safe place amid the madness.

Just a Picture...

... because it's late again and I need sleep.



It's shiny, whoooo.

A-Dragonslaying We Go

So yea, someone on Feathermoon decided to do a "dragonslaying run," meaning we go kill Malygos, Sartherion, and Onyxia. Arvoss and Windstar got to go, along with our friend's shaman Rhokk. We got enough people to go poke Maly in the eye, then finished filling the group for a Sarth+3 drakes zerg.

I had no idea what a zerg was before we started. Apparently for a zerg you have 1 tank, 1 healer, the rest dps. Then you just lay into Sarth with everything you've got and try to kill him before the drakes kill the raid. It was pretty fun, actually. Took us several tries, what with people getting hit with lava walls, void zones and the like, but in the end....


Arvoss has a title! Well, besides the "Patient" one. >.> This also means he is one Kel'Thuzad kill away from his Champion of the Frozen Wastes title, too!

After the rush from the Sarth kill, Ony was almost an anti-climax. Arvoss went from DPSing to tanking and tanked the whelps, but got killed around the middle of phase 3. Ony fell shortly after, though, so I guess it didn't really matter.

No loot dropped that Arvoss could use, but I don't care. It was still a fun night. And Pitch is halfway to 80 now, so soon I'll get to try all this with him, fun fun!

(And for any skeptics that might wonder if Arvoss just got carried for all this- I know his gear isn't that great, especially compared with some of the people I run with, but on our Sarth kill he pulled 3.9k dps. That's his highest ever. Windstar did even more, around 4.5k.)

Oh Hai!

Neglected blog is neglected. Oops.

I have been having a serious case of altitis lately, so a bit of a recap is probably the first thing in order. So, where to start...



Taurros has gotten a few upgrades. I'm mostly just running heroics on my days off until I get bored, which means I might run 20 of them, or just 2 or 3. He's getting badges slowly, but right now I'm fine with that.

Zuuluu has been shelved until further notice, except for disenchanting all the stuff that Taurros/Taurron/my sister's alts pick up. I am seriously considering selling off his enchanting mats for cash and just using Zuu for a banker, since I still have no desire whatsoever to play him.

I've been logging on Taurron the warrior when I first get on and running through a few quests before moving on to Feathermoon. He is leveling very slowly this way, but he is leveling. I WILL have a max-level warrior someday!

My shammy Rajast will be leveled eventually as well, he's still only 40 though, so he's not a priority right now. I'm debating moving him to Gilneas with Taurros/Taurron, or maybe Wyrmrest Accord. He'll probably be the last toon I move, though, so I have plenty of time to decide. I went ahead and bought a Cold Weather Flying book for him and mailed it, so now I really don't have anything to spend money on with my Horde guys. It's.... a nice feeling.

Arvoss is getting badges about as slowly as Taurros right now, since I've been mainly playing Pitch and Shaurria, but he's started getting upgrades for his dps set. He just got his T9 dps helm, and next he'll get the chestpiece. His frost badges I'm saving for the dps cloak, he's halfway there already. He also got another accomplishment out of the way... Meet Lazridormu.


Thanks to Loreli for the name! :)

He got into a 10-man ToC run with my Feathermoon buddies. It was a very nice, clean run, no wipes and only a couple of deaths. It was pretty awesome, since I've never even gotten Beasts down with my raiding guilds, so I finally got to see the whole thing. And the raid leader was great at explaining all the fights, so I knew what to do. :)

Pitch is up to 78, almost 79. Once he hits 80 he'll be following the same road Taurros is (dpsing heroics til he gets geared). I've been more-or-less-faithfully running the daily random dungeons for the badges, so he'll have some saved up already. Yay.

I've been playing Quae a bit here and there too. She's at 68 now and has her cold weather flying, though she's going to finish up the Kurenai quests before she heads to Northrend. I've been thinking up a story for that, but I haven't written it out yet.

My secret baby pally/mage alts have finally hit level 10 and have talent points. I'm aiming for 15 now, so I can start randoming with them. That will probably be how they level mostly when I'm not in the mood for duoing.

Speaking of duoing, Kaled and Khaotic are 64 now, they dinged yesterday. Earlier today I tried doing a random dungeon on each of them, but ran into a problem with that- Kaled got into Mana-Tombs, where he did 2 quests and got a lot of xp from the mobs. Khaotic got Underbog- slightly lower-level mobs means less xp, and she had no quests for it. So now she's 10% of her level behind Kaled, which means I'll have to take her out solo and grind to catch her up. >.<

Been thinking of taking her and retaming her ghost saber, Gulhalrathn. Main reason being that although Toorambar has him now, I can easily think of a reason for him to give the cat back. And Tooram may be part of the purge I'm going to be doing (more on that at the bottom of the post). Also she still has an empty stable slot, and I have no plans for filling it so far, so she has space. Only bad thing is she'd have 2 cats.

I've been doing a lot of thinking, and will be going through my alts soonish and weeding some out. The only one I really don't want to delete is my warlock, just because he's level 35 and I don't want to level another one up from scratch. But I still don't really want to play him, and don't want to pay to move him. So if I do start wanting to run around dotting things, I guess I'll have to buck up and roll a new one.

I've been really happy on Feathermoon, and still have my friends on Gilneas, so once Cataclysm arrives, I'd like to have all my main toons on those servers. I'll still have Andrano on Silver Hand, and Khlar and recently-remade Gwynifar on Wyrmrest Accord, but that's it as far as different servers go. (Khlar isn't actually on Wyrmrest yet, he's still on Moon Guard, but I will be moving him sometime this weekend hopefully.) I'm hoping it will make things alot easier as far as leveling and gearing everyone up then. Can't think of anything else to add. RP has been happening but nothing I can really write about. But Pitch and Shaur may be getting involved in a Stormwind riot soon! (Long story.) So til next time, Happy Hunting!

Om nom nom....

Pitch and Shaur Talk

Last night at the Pig & Whistle.
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The Pig was full but not crowded, with comfortingly familiar people. Shaurria was trying to divide her time between everyone equally, until she was distracted by Pitch getting into a discussion with Arrens, one that seemed to involve a lot of big words. Finally Pitch turned away, and came over to her. "Kitty?" he asked her. "Umm, come here for a second, kay?" She looked at him curiously, then got up and followed as he went back to the corner under the stairs.

Once there, he unshifted and sat, then looked at her. "Can you elf for me?" he asked. She blinked at him, then left her cat form and sat next to him. He hesitated, then leaned closer, speaking softly enough to not be overheard. "Shaur, umm, you have a thing for me, don't you?" She blinked again, then blushed as she nodded. He continued, "I like you too, kitty. But, well, I have to tell you something, okay?" She nodded again, a sinking feeling starting somewhere in her stomach.

"Shaur, you're still very young, and I'm not sure if you're really ready for this. Do you... understand?" She bit her lip, looking at him uncertainly as he reached over and gently rubbed her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we can't be anything more than friends right now."

Shaur blinked again, then whispered back, "Is it cause y'like Sky?" Pitch blinked back at her. "Sky and I are friends, kitty. I don't know if it's ever going to be more than that." Shaur dropped her gaze and stared at her knees. Pitch rubbed at her back, gently. "I'm still your friend too, okay? I can still teach you. I just... can't do more than that right now, okay?" She gave a slight nod, still not looking up. "It's-.. it's just cause I'm little, isn't it?" "I'm sorry, kitty," he said softly. "If you were older then maybe, but, well, you still have some growing to do. And that includes up here." He gently touched her forehead.

He hesitated. "Do you want me to keep teaching you?" he asked. "If it's gonna be too hard on you..." Shaur shook her head. "No, it'll be fine. I- I don't want you to go." He nodded, slowly, then took her hand and squeezed it. Shaur suddenly looked up at him. "W- we are still friends, though. Right?" He grinned. "Course." She gave him a faint smile. "Okay."

Pitch wrapped an arm around her and gave her a brotherly hug, which she returned. "Okay," he said. "Back out there now?" She nodded, and both druids changed to their cat forms. Shaur followed Pitch out from under the stairs, then hesitated. Finally she went to lay between Aely and Arrens' chairs, and just listened while everyone talked. When the two of them got up to leave, she did too. "M'gonna go find Arvoss t'night," she said, not quite looking at Pitch. She felt his eyes on her, but all he said was, "Okay." She hugged Windstar, then changed to cat and followed the other two out the door. Once outside, she started running, and didn't stop until she reached the familiar room in the Rose, where Arvoss was reading a book by lamplight. "'Eya, kitten," he said when he saw her. "Ye gonna sleep 'ere t'nigh'?" She simply nodded, then curled up in her favorite corner. She was blessedly asleep before very long, and left her troubled thoughts behind.

Back at the Pig, Pitch just sat and let the others' conversation flow around him. He felt somewhat helpless, and hated it. First the mess with Shaur, and now it appeared that Sky could use some help, but he had no idea what to do. Elly gave him a glass of juice as she passed at some point, but it sat on the table in front of him, untouched. Finally he stood. "Gonna go sleep," he announced to the room. "Night all." Then he shifted to cat and went downstairs to the spare rooms, where he curled up in a corner and tried to forget his problems in sleep.

Pitch and Arvoss

Pitch was woken by Shaurria's paw poking him repeatedly in his side. He followed her, yawning, up to the kitchen, where they found David Langston already up. They got their breakfast, then went outside into the early morning sun.

Pitch was mildly surprised when Shaur suddenly mrrowled, then trotted forward. He looked up to see her death knight, Arvoss, standing in the street just in front of the Pig. Shaur went up to him and headbutted, then shifted out of cat. "I killed a clefthoof!" she told him, her excitement undimmed by the night's sleep. "And a mammoth! Pitch 'n Sky helped." "Tha's great, kitten," Arvoss replied. "Did ye get yer breakfast?" She nodded, shifting back to cat as she did, and he grinned at her. "A'righ', ye mind runnin' ahead a bit? Ah'd like t' talk t' th' young fella 'ere." Shaur nodded again, looking a little confused now, and headed up the street.

Pitch watched her go, then looked back to Arvoss and gave a bit of a start. The death knight's friendliness had dropped, and he was staring at Pitch like he was thinking of how to get his hide off. Pitch swallowed, hard. "A'righ' lad, ye wan' t' give me one reason t' nae 'ave ye gelded oan th' spot?" Arvoss asked him, face looking like it was carved from stone. Or ice, Pitch thought, as the temperature seemed to have dropped by a degree or two. He gulped again. "Uh, I'm not sure what you've heard, but I didn't touch her," he replied. "Not like that." Arvoss' glare didn't soften one bit. "Then wha' in th' bloody Laigh' did ye think ye were doin'?" he spat. "Nae word bout where ye were goin', jes' off by yerselves fer naeone could ken 'ow long?"

Pitch took a second to make sure he understood the death knight- some humans had the strangest accents!- then sat down and looked at him, expression slightly offended. "It was a hunt," he said. "A rite of passage, you could call it. She earned it, and it was past time for it anyway." Arvoss blinked. "A wha'?" Pitch sighed. "She's a Druid of the Claw," he patiently explained. "We hunt, fight. And one of our tests is to find the biggest opponent we can, and try to beat it in a fair fight. There are several such animals in Nagrand, and I took Shaur there to see how she would do."

Arvoss' glare returned in full, and it was all Pitch could do to keep from wilting as he started in again. "She's still young, an' ye 'ad nae righ' t' decide tha' fer 'er," he began. Pitch's temper, which was rather strained from the last several days, finally frayed. "Oh, are you a druid?" he interrupted. "Do you have the experience to make her choices for her? How long would you have her cooped up here, bored and lonely, before you decided she was strong enough for something like this? Like I said, she earned it, and she was ready. The fact that she passed proves it. She's now a full Claw." He sat back, glaring back at the human.

Arvoss blinked again, then opened his mouth. No words came out, however, and after a few seconds he shut it again. "Hrmmph," he grunted, looking at the druid with surprise and something resembling respect. "Sae she killed a cleft'oof by 'erself, eh?" Pitch grinned. "A huge one. The dominant bull of the whole area. And she did it by herself, too; I didn't even have to leave my bird-shape." He paused, and the grin faded. "I, uh, didn't have anything to do with the mammoth, though. That was Sky's idea."

Arvoss actually chuckled a bit. "Ah can believe tha', she's a bit o' a crazy one." He peered at Pitch closely; the druid shifted a bit under the scrutiny, wondering if there was something else he had done wrong. "If ye dinnae mind mah askin'," Arvoss said, still studying him. "Wha' exactly d'ye wan' wi' Shaur? She's too young yet t' be lookin' fer a fella, an' Ah dinnae 'ave t' be an elf t' ken tha' much."

Pitch blinked. "Umm, what? Oh." He thought for a bit; Arvoss waited patiently, but his arms were crossed over his chest. Finally Pitch took a deep breath. "I'm not trying to mate with her," he said firmly. "But, she needs a mentor, or something. There's no other druids around here regularly except Windstar, and she's not much older than Shaur. I may still be young myself, but I know enough to teach her." He stared back steadily as Arvoss continued to study him, then the death knight nodded. Pitch managed to hold back his sigh of relief as he said, "A'righ', then. Ah willnae tell ye t' keep away fra 'er. Jes', if ye're goin' t' do sommat like this again, tell folks wha' ye're doin' 'stead o' runnin' off, ye 'ear?" Pitch nodded, and Arvoss seemed satisfied. He nodded back and walked off after Shaurria.

Pitch watched him go, then he sighed. He thought for a bit before following. Shaur would be alright, since it seemed that Arvoss would be hanging around for a while, and he really didn't want to face the death knight any more than he had to. With a silent request for forgiveness to Shaur, he headed for the Northrend boat. There was still that worgen cult in Grizzly Hills to take care of.

Quick recap

Pitch came back to Stormwind, where he promptly had a talking-to by Skyborne's mother, Seylon. She didn't yell at him, but now he has a lot to think about.

Pitch doesn't like thinking about complicated stuff (which is what this is turning out to be), so he did what he unfortunately tends to do: he took off for the wilds, this time taking Shaurria with him. (O.o)

Now the two of them are in Nagrand, where he is helping her hunt; giving pointers and generally watching over her while she tackles bigger and tougher animals. OOCly, this means she is doing the Nesingwary quests, with a bodyguard to keep her out of trouble. The bad side is that they took off kind of suddenly, so now a few people have gotten the wrong idea about it. >.>

Shaur also forgot to tell Arvoss where she was going, so he's a little worried, especially because he doesn't know Pitch well AT ALL. So, Pitch will probably be in trouble when they get back. Good job, Pitch.
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I spent most of today on Taurros, finally running him through some heroics. He's been running as DPS, except for one run where we had 2 tanks join and leave almost right away, so the others asked me to tank. It didn't go very well, but we did finish the instance (Halls of Stone), so all is well. He's gotten several upgrades and enough badges to get his t9 gloves and a new idol, yay.

Druid tanking has been frustrating, and I don't know if it's because of his gear or what. But Pitch had the same trouble tanking normal UK with a bunch of level 70-71s, and he was 74, so he should have outgeared everyone with him. I can't hold aggro on anything, and no one wants to wait for me to GET aggro, so all I do is chase mobs down and do my best to swipe-spam. (Which I realize is not the best way to get aggro, but it's all I can do most of the time.) It's getting to be enough to make me consider giving up bear-tanking, and have all my druids be dps only. I hope it might get better when I get Taurros geared up. But I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, enough ranting. I am slowly figuring out what I'm going to do with my toons come Cataclysm, but that's almost enough for a post of its own, so I'll break it down later. Now I need sleep, it's getting late. Happy Hunting!

Pitch: The Bear God

Upon his arrival back at Amberpine, Pitch handed over the seeds and the ashes to Thayreen, who took them eagerly. "I'll take those from you," she said, adding almost apologetically, "The corruptive power of these seeds is dangerous. I must destroy them right away." Then she took the bag and dumped the ashes out into her hand. Chanting a spell over them, she smiled. "Yes! Vordrassil's magic is still present in these ashes. There might be hope for Ursoc yet." Pitch couldn't help but smile back. "So what do I need to do, Hierophant?" he asked her.

"It is time, Pitch. Take these ashes and look for the furbolg that Kodian spoke of. If he went to seek Ursoc, he will be near his den, north of Grizzlemaw. You will need his help. You won't be able to defeat Ursoc alone. Once it is done, use these ashes to purify his spirit. Only then will we know whether our efforts have been in vain or not." Pitch stared at her, speechless, for a few moments. "You mean, kill him," he finally said, voice flat. "Yes," she replied. "It is the only way, Pitch. If you want to save him, you must kill him." He looked at her for another second or two, then without a word he turned away, shifted and flew off.

He didn't let himself think, he just flew as fast as he could toward where she had said the den was. Once there, he looked for Tur Ragepaw, finding the furbolg tied up near the entrance. Pitch swooped down and landed, shifting out and quickly freeing the furbolg. As he worked, Tur began speaking quietly. "When I learned about my relatives here in the North, I came to learn more," he told Pitch as the druid worked on the knots. "What I found was warring tribes acting against our very nature. I have no hope left, night elf." He shook his head with a sigh. "Even great Ursoc has been tainted by this cursed place. I've lost all hope."



Pitch finished with the ropes and stepped back, shifting to cat as he did. "We have the purified ashes of Vordrassil," he said to the furbolg. "If we can subdue Ursoc, we might be able to heal him." Tur raised his head, looking at the druid. "Yes, I sense Vordrassil's magic... free from any perceivable taint," he said, hope slowly growing in his eyes. "Please, let me help you. Fate brought me here, perhaps I can serve a purpose yet!" Pitch eyed him up and down. "I don't suppose you know how to heal?" he asked. Tur chuckled, then transformed, into a shape Pitch was familiar with, a living tree like his brother Alanon's. "I think I can manage that," he said.

They went down the short tunnel to the den together, Pitch quickly dispatching a few unfriendly bears along the way. Once inside the actual den, he changed to his bear form as Tur called out, "Ursoc, brother of Ursol and guardian to the furbolg tribes! Show yourself!" The bear god materialized in front of them, and Pitch had to bite back a cry. Ursoc was deeply corrupted, his huge form appearing rotted and diseased. He roared menacingly at them, and Pitch looked at Tur. The furbolg druid nodded to him, and he took a deep breath. Then, with a savage roar of his own, he charged the bear god.


The battle was brutal, and Pitch held nothing back. Occasionally he would feel a surge of energy as Tur channeled his healing magic into him, but most of the fight was simply trying to dodge Ursoc's blows, as he tried to strike back with his own teeth and claws. His uncertainty fell away during the battle, leaving nothing but his desire to overcome his enemy, like every fight he had been in before. After an indeterminable time, he realized that the bear god's blows were coming slower as he weakened, and Pitch redoubled his efforts. At last, with a final cry, Ursoc fell. Pitch stood still, blowing hard, then remembered what he was supposed to do. He shifted out and fumbled the bag of ashes out of his pocket, then with a silent prayer he cast them onto the corpse. He held his breath.

At first nothing happened, then gradually a huge form started materializing over the corpse. Pitch stepped back warily, wondering if he would have another fight to go through. The shape solidified, and Pitch gasped, then dropped down to a kneeling position, staring up reverently. Ursoc's spirit looked down at the druid, then spoke, his voice echoing in Pitch's mind. "I thank you both," he said. "The druids of old were wise to tear down Vordrassil, for its roots seep deep into the dwelling of an ancient evil. You know their kind as old gods. Beware Yogg-Saron, the beast with a thousand maws. His evil extends beyond Vordrassil's roots." With that, he began fading away.



Pitch blinked, half-reaching with one hand. "Ursoc..." he started to say, but the bear god was gone. He stared at the spot Ursoc had stood for a long minute, then looked around to find that Tur had left, probably to go back to his home. Pitch stood and walked out of the den, then looked around again, thinking. Ursoc was gone, but his spirit had been saved; that was something. Pitch felt his spirits lifting, remembering the sight of the god standing there, cleansed. His mission could be counted a success. He changed to a bird, then took off into the air. He needed to report back to Thayreen, then he could go wherever he wanted. He thought of Shaurria, and the other friends he had made in Stormwind, and knew what his next destination would be.

Pitch: Vordrassil

Pitch's mind was still whirling the next morning as he flew over the snow, heading to the shrines where Ursoc's children lived. He was boggled about not knowing they existed, and hoped that they could shed some light on what was going on.

He had to change his plan when he swooped low over the Rage Fang Shrine and was immediately bombarded with spears and arrows from the hostile furbolgs. He quickly flapped out of range, then waited for them to settle before landing quietly behind a bush and switching to cat form. He snuck through the camp toward the cave in the back, and had almost made it when one of the guards suddenly turned toward him, sniffing. Pitch froze, but the furbolg roared and charged at him. He was left with no choice, and brought it down quickly.



After killing the poor creature, he was about to continue when he noticed something strange about the corpse. The furbolg's blood was tainted black, and bubbled and steamed when it hit the snow. Pitch stared at it until it had soaked into the ground, then he quickly turned to another nearby furbolg.

This one's blood did the same thing, and Pitch swiftly collected some of the blood in a spare vial from yesterday. It swirled and steamed, but didn't eat through the glass, to his relief. He pocketed it to take back to Thayreen, then changed back to cat and approached the cave, heart in his throat.

The shaggy white bear inside looked like any other bear except for its size, and the spark of intelligence in its eyes as it regarded Pitch. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when Orsonn spoke.


"I once roamed the Grizzly Hills, son to the great Ursoc, who ruled over this land," he said to Pitch, sounding almost wistful. "But now... now I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life in this cave." Pitch cocked his head. "I don't understand, mighty Orsonn. But can you tell me what's wrong with the furbolg here?" Orsonn shook his huge head as he tried to explain. "If I wanted to I could fight my way out of this cave. It's my father, Ursoc. He has returned from the dead-" Pitch blinked; the rumors were true! "-but he's not the same." The druid's ears and eyebrows went up incredulously as the great bear told him the story of what had been going on. When he had finished, Pitch sat still for a long minute, thinking. Finally he looked up at Ursoc's son. "I'll see what I can do," he said simply, and Orsonn nodded.

Pitch flew to the Heart's Blood Shrine as fast as he could, taking care with his approach this time. The furbolgs he saw looked as aggressive as the others, so he again dropped down into cover, then snuck out in his cat form. He was more careful this time, and reached Kodian's cave without incident.


Ursoc's daughter resembled her brother, except her fur was a rich light brown. She looked at Pitch with the same intelligent gaze as she commented, "I've not seen a stranger come here in some time." Pitch pricked his ears. "Stranger? There was one here? Who was it?" "A furbolg named Tur Ragepaw," she answered. "Not one of ours. This one came from the southern lands. He was of the Timbermaw tribe. He wanted to see Ursoc; he seemed to think that Vordrassil's taint could be purified and used to save my father." She shook her head. "It is foolish to entertain such hopes. You will agree when you see the darkness that has afflicted him like I have." Pitch lowered his head. "I will see what I can do," he said, echoing the words he had just spoken to Orsonn. Then he quickly turned and left the cave.

As he crept through the furbolg camp, he suddenly thought of something, and changed his direction toward a furbolg off by itself. Finding a good spot, he crouched, made sure of his footing, and leaped. The furbolg didn't even know what hit it.

His hunch had been right- these ones were tainted just like the others. He quickly scooped up some of the blackened, bubbling blood in his last vial, then stoppered it and took to the air again. He had to get back to Hierophant Thayreen fast.

She took the vials of tainted blood carefully. "I'll have to test this," she said. "Did you speak to Ursoc's offspring?" Pitch nodded, then proceeded to tell her everything he had learned while she did something to the blood samples, something that involved a few rather complicated-looking spells. She finished about the same time that he did, and looked up. "The corruption present in this blood is identical to that of the slime. I don't have a good feeling about this." She straightened up, frowning slightly. "Ursoc's children are wise. Their words explain much of what we've seen so far. But we're not done yet."

"The druids of old seem to have had good reasons for destroying Vordrassil. We cannot let the furbolgs regrow it," she continued. "On the other hand, saving Ursoc's spirit hinges on the magic contained by the sapling. You will find it in the middle of Grizzlemaw, inside Vordrassil's old trunk. Take a torch and burn it, then bring me Vordrassil's ashes. It is my hope that once purified by fire, we may use its magic to cleanse Ursoc's spirit of its dark taint." Pitch looked at her sharply. "Cleanse it?" he asked, and she nodded. "One other thing, if the furbolg regrew it once, they can do it again. We can't let them do that. You'll have to find the seeds. Bring them back here, I'll make sure they're disposed of properly." Pitch nodded once and set out.

The seeds were hard to find, but Pitch managed it. He was helped somewhat by the fact that the furbolgs were all fighting each other; there seemed to be a war between two factions going on inside Grizzlemaw. He finally found the seeds and hurried down to the bottom.


He took a moment to stand before the tree, head bowed out of respect. Then he set the torch to it and watched as it caught, burning down to ash surprisingly quickly. He scooped the ashes up into a small leather bag, shifted to a bird and took off again.
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And now I'm afraid I'm gonna be a tease and leave it there. I'll finish it up tomorrow, it's just getting way late and I may need help with actually fighting Ursoc, so I'll get that done tomorrow and wrap up this story. Then Pitch can finally go back to Stormwind and Shaur.

Also, I picked up Flyleaf's new album last week, and have been listening to this song almost non-stop since. I'm not quite sure why yet, but it makes me think of Pitch and Shaurria every time I hear it. Plus I just love it. <3

Pitch: Cults and Corruption

Pitch hadn't been sure what he would find in the Grizzly Hills, but a worgen cult was not on the list. As he gave his report to Lieutenant Dumont, he could see that the human wasn't expecting it either. His orders were simple: "Go kill them."


Normally Pitch didn't care for killing humans, except for maybe Scourge cultists or Burning Legion agents, but after the first time the man he was fighting suddenly transformed, he had a much easier time of it. These were no longer humans- they were monsters, and had become so willingly; that was enough for him.

When he found nothing more living in the village he had been sent to, he returned to Amberpine and gave Dumont his report. "Well done, druid," he said. "I have nothing else for you at the moment, but if you're interested, one of your people was asking for help. Her name is Thayreen, she's right outside."


Hierophant Thayreen greeted him warmly when he went to see her, and soon filled him in on why she was there. Pitch's interest was piqued; this sounded suspiciously similar to some of the things he had heard while investigating the rumors of Ursoc. He found himself agreeing to help her, and set off to investigate the failed World Tree, Vordrassil.

* * * * * *

Pitch hated killing slimes. They were messy, hard to kill, and the gunk got all over him. He scraped up samples of the dead slimes into the vials Thayreen had given him, making sure to get some from each segment of the fallen Vordrassil. The orb she had given him was much easier to use; he simply had to find the right spot and rub it in his hands til it activated. The "right spot" was fairly obvious from the darkness that welled up from the tree's roots. It was evil, there was no other way to describe it. Pitch was profoundly glad when he was finished and could flap back to Amberpine.

Thayreen's next words threw him for a loop, however. "Ursoc's two children, Orsonn and Kodian, dwell in the Heart's Blood Shrine and the Rage Fang Shrine," she said. "South and southeast of Grizzlemaw. See if they will speak to you regarding what has happened here." Pitch simply blinked at her a few times. "His... children?" he finally managed. "Yes," she replied, sounding a bit annoyed. "You didn't know of them?" "No, I didn't," he said quietly, and she looked at him, softening a bit. He glanced up at the fast-setting sun. "Tomorrow, Hierophant?" he asked, and she nodded.

As he settled for bed inside the lodge, he was glad for Skyborne's brief distraction over the buzzbox. Tomorrow he would meet his patron's offspring. He hoped for... he didn't know what. That they would be free of the taint? That maybe their father would be also? He supposed that was close enough. He thought of Shaurria for a moment, and hoped she was doing all right. Then he laid his head down on his paws, shut his eyes, and soon fell asleep.
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Part Two coming soon!

Taurros dings 80!!

Got him from 78 to 80 in one day, whew! Then got his gear in order, crossed my fingers, and joined the heroic queue as a tank/dps. It threw me in as a tank, of course, and his first heroic was... Halls of Lightning. It did not go well. -.-

I may run him as just dps for a bit, I mostly just wanted to see if he could tank something. I'll work on it more tomorrow. I suppose I really ought to run him in the normal 80 dungeons, but.... I did that with Arvoss, and I'm impatient this go-round. I know Taurros and know what he can do pretty well, and I really want him to get some gear before too long. With reports that the rest of Icecrown will be released soon, I feel like Cataclysm isn't that far off, and I'm starting to feel rushed. I still want to try and get Pitch, Quae, and Taurron to 80 before the expansion, but I don't know if I'll make it. WTB more time?

On an aside, I have another little side project going. I made a couple alts on Feathermoon, a mage and pally, in the hope that I might actually figure out those classes and stick with them. Davoss and Evirace are not even 10 yet, since I only play them when I'm super bored. Davoss will be probably prot, so he can tank while Evi nukes. Yes, I'm duoing them. :D

I do plan on Rping them eventually, I just want to level them up some first. Davoss is Arvoss' long-lost son, who has been "hiding out" in Northshire, so he doesn't even know Arvoss is alive (sort of >.>). It will be interesting when they finally meet. And Evi is Dav's fiancee. >.>

Going to try and go to bed at a decent time, I'm back to normal work hours so gotta get up early. Will try to post Taurros' success/failure at heroic-ing tomorrow! And hopefully get back on Pitch, I want to hurry and get the quests done, even if my writer's block keeps me from doing the story right away. Til next time Happy Hunting!

I'm now afraid of Barraccus....

It's very late and I need sleep, but I wanted to brag a bit. Barraccus has been considerably easier to gear up than Arvoss, despite working on him less (the fact that he's actually raided might have helped with that), because I've always seen him as a dps'er. Yes, he has a tank off-spec and tanking gear, but those have been "just in case". He's actually only tanked twice now I think. So all his badges and stuff has gone to dps gear.

My guild on Gilneas decided to go play in ICC10 earlier, and we went in and killed a bunch of trash. It was fun, just learning the fights and getting some Ashen Verdict rep. Barraccus did his usual ~2.4-2.8k dps. Afterward we went and ran the ICC 5-man heroics, going thru just the first 2 at first. Scourgelord Tyrannus dropped his sword, which he's dropped every time Arvoss has been in there too. It's a tanking weapon, but Arvoss has been using it and doing well, so I nabbed it for Barraccus. We took a break after that so I runed the sword, then went and traded in some frost badges ("erk") so he could replace his last blue item, a ring. Then we went back in for Halls of Reflection.

Barraccus did 3.7k dps.

Three point seven thousand.

I find it hard to believe that those 2 upgrades could improve his dps by that much, but hey, I'm not gonna complain. I do realize that the fights were good for him, with lots of groups he could AOE. He had a few Howling Blast crits for 11k or over, which I'm sure helped out. Checking over his gear after the run, I also realized that he is now fully epicced, with 2 items at ilvl 200, one at 213, and the rest 219 and above. And he'll be replacing his t7 helm with t9 as soon as he gets the badges. Wow.

He got another new weapon too, after the Lich King chased us down the hallway he was nice enough to give up his mace. After I raise his weapon skill, I think I'm gonna throw him back into heroics so he can get his new helm. Poor Feathermoon may be getting a bit neglected for awhile. >.>

So that was it for now. I was going to get on Pitch for more questing, but obviously I got distracted. Planning on picking it back up tomorrow, if I feel all right after my first day back at work after vacation. Ugh.

Pitch: Chasing Rumors

"I think I'll be going away for a bit soon."

Shaurria eyed Pitch, curiosity and worry both evident on her face. "Why?" He screwed up his face, thinking. "Umm, before I went into the Emerald Dream, I heard some rumors. And I was going to go check up on them, but I was called back. I think it's time I went back to that." "How long will you be gone?" Shaur asked him. "I don't know," he said, frowning slightly. "Depends on how quickly I can find any info."

Shaur looked at him searchingly. "Info on what?" "Umm, remember when I told you about Ursoc?" he asked her, and she nodded. "The rumors I heard were that he was alive again, somewhere in the Grizzly Hills." She blinked as he looked at her earnestly. "I... I have to go see," he said. "If he's alive..." He trailed off.

After a bit Shaur asked hesitantly, "Y- you'll be back after, right?" Pitch grinned at her. "Why, are you gonna miss me?" Blushing, Shaur turned to Windstar and started scratching her ruff.

* * * * * *

The evening passed uneventfully, despite Bartleby trying to start a couple barfights. Soon it was empty except for the three druids. Shaur had moved closer and was now leaning against Pitch, when Windstar suddenly got up and headed out of the bar. "I'm gonna take a walk, or something," she said on her way out. Shaur watched her go, startled, while Pitch's expression was more thoughtful. After she left, he looked down at the little druid. "What are you up to, kitty?" he asked, and she blushed faintly. "Nothin'." He didn't press it, and after a moment he eased his arm up around her shoulders. "Better?" She nodded, blushing more.

"When I get back," he said softly. "I'm going to take you places in Outland and show you stuff." She quirked an eyebrow at him curiously. "Like what?" she asked. "Umm, don't know yet," he replied. "But I'll think about it." Shaur nodded, then leaned her head on his shoulder, yawning quietly.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Pitch realized she was falling asleep. He gently shrugged the shoulder she was leaning on. "Kitty?" "Mmmf?" was her only response. "Think it's bedtime," he said, nudging her again. "Can you make it to the back room?" She just gave another sleepy grunt, so he got up carefully, keeping her from falling over, then bent down and lifted her up. She roused enough, as he carried her to the bunkroom in the back, to climb into a bed on her own, then she curled up and was asleep again.

When she woke the next morning, he was gone.
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Woohoo for holidays, amirite? Didn't mean to neglect the blog this long, but being sick has killed any writing before it even got started, so...

Pitch has gone through the Wrathgate chain now, he is toon #5 to do it and is now level 74. I'm taking him to Grizzly Hills to do the Ursoc chain next, which will be awesome. He's doing it 100% in character, and I'll be trying to write the whole thing.

He's also been working on his epic flight form chain. Yes I know he's got the form but the questline is still awesome, and it's been a good source of xp while he went through it. He's now almost ready to face Anzu, the only thing stopping him is... the lack of an Auchindoun heroic key. See, this is why you still do the BC rep grinds. >.<

Arvoss is finally done with the entire Hodir chain, and Taurros (who is now 78!) is almost done with it, then he'll be heading to Zul'drak and Har'koa. If I don't go back to Sholazar first, he still isn't done there. Hmm, decisions...

And yea, in case you didn't get it from the story, Shaur is starting to realize that she likes Pitch. We'll see what happens as far as that goes.

That's about it. I'll be working on Pitch-stuff over the next few days, and also want to get Arvoss back into the heroic grind so he can get dps gear. Til next time, Happy Hunting!

(And last thing... Skyborne totally kissed Pitch on New Years. He liked it.)