Monday, December 31, 2012

Rheugan: Lost

Pitch was worried, he could tell. Rheugan might have been worried too, if he could just spare the energy to care. Everything he had, however, was currently going towards fending off the attacks from the Thing, which he now knew was a Sha.

Every time he set foot in Kun-Lai - hells, every time he went near the gates - he could feel it waiting for him. And each time it prodded at him, filling his mind with suggestions and urges that he had to fight back, before he lost control of himself. It was exhausting him.

He was able to avoid it by either staying in the Vale or taking a kite back to Halfhill, but Pitch seemed oblivious to his problem and often suggested they go hunting, usually in Kun-Lai. Not wanting his friend and mentor to worry, Rheugan invariably agreed.

Their hunting trips had become an ordeal, one that could only be eased by tracking down and eliminating every Sha-spawn he could find, with a single-mindedness that bordered on obsession. He kept hoping if he killed enough of them, the Sha would weaken or tire, and he would be left in peace. That plan hadn’t worked yet.

Rheugan found himself withdrawing, much like he had when he’d been brought back from the wild in Gilneas. His sleep was full of nightmares, and he began losing weight - not that he had much to spare to begin with. Pitch fussed over him, but Rheugan managed to put him off with half-hearted assurances that even he didn’t believe. It was enough to get Pitch to leave him alone, at least.

The cat was on edge. It wanted to help him, but this was beyond its experience, and all it could do was fret along with him.

It all finally got to be too much for him. He was only dimly aware of leaving the Summit behind, crossing back into blissfully familiar rain forest. When he came back to himself, he was standing before the Tian Monastery’s gates.

He had to ask one of the students for help, though fortunately the young pandaren was happy to comply. Laoden was overseeing a training session, but he left it immediately when he saw Rheugan. He came over and studied the druid, then reached toward him. Rheugan tried not to flinch as Laoden put a finger under his chin and tilted his face up. The pandaren stared into his eyes for a long moment, then released him with a sigh. Without a word, he turned and started off, gesturing for the Gilnean to follow.

Rheugan was only too happy to see his old quarters near the library. He fell onto the bed without bothering to undress. His sleep was still restless, but if he had any dreams they were forgotten by the time he awoke.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Rheugan: Road to the Vale

Halfhill was bustling long before the sun came up. Rheugan sat and watched the Pandaren move about, preparing to open shops or head out to their own farms.

Pitch had said he would be there to escort Rheugan to the Vale, but he hadn’t specified a time. Rheugan had thought he would simply wait for the druid to show up, but as the approaching dawn began to pink the sky, he and the cat both began feeling a bit of wanderlust. The first farmer he approached was able to give him directions, and soon Rheugan was loping up the incline toward the path cut into the mountainside.

He ignored the small voice that told him he’d be better off waiting for Pitch. He’d been wandering alone out here for days and nothing bad had happened. What could go wrong?

* * * * *

The tunnels gave him pause, but not for long. The saurok were everywhere, yes, but there were plenty of shadows along the cavern walls, and with the cat’s guidance Rheugan had no trouble slipping by unseen. The lizardmen never even knew he was there.

* * * * *

Kun-Lai was impressive - Rheugan thought it would have been even without the giant mountain peaks in the distance. It was quiet, as well, but Rheugan wasn’t fooled; here and there he could see smoke rising from what he assumed were the yaungol’s war camps. He skirted the mountains separating the plains from the Vale, giving any possible combat zones a wide berth. He judged he was nearly halfway to the gates when he felt the disturbance.

The corruption was still fairly new; to his druidic senses it felt like a hole in the earth. Despite his own misgivings and the cat’s reluctance, he found himself changing his route to pass near enough for a look.

He’d never seen anything like this. Rheugan had been careful to avoid Serpent’s Heart, but this looked the same as Pitch’s descriptions. Blackness boiled up out of the ground, while strange creatures idled about inside. It repulsed him, even as it resonated with something inside him that he’d thought long-buried. He stood frozen, suddenly unable to decide what to do next, until one of the creatures noticed him and headed toward him with a snarl.

Rheugan felt a flash of alarm from the cat, quickly followed by revulsion, and he found himself lunging to meet it with an answering snarl. The cat danced around the Sha-spawn, unwilling to get close enough to use its fangs. Claws worked well enough, however, and before too long the creature collapsed in on itself, becoming a shapeless blob on the grass. The cat watched it long enough to ensure it was dead, then lifted its head to stare out over the plain.

The other creatures were still oblivious to his presence, squabbling amongst themselves. Farther off, too distant to pinpoint a location, Something seemed to awaken, as though just becoming aware of him. It... called to him; Rheugan could feel it stirring up the anger he’d buried within, before he stamped it back down firmly. The cat suddenly shuddered, then abruptly it released control, and Rheugan found himself back in charge of his own body.

The distant thing called to him again. Rheugan turned and fled.

The gates were a more than welcome sight. Rheugan paused to study them for a moment, then passed through at a trot.

* * * * *

The Vale was singing. That was his first thought. His second was that the “singing” wasn’t something he heard, but sensed. Rheugan fell in with a grummle caravan, pacing alongside a wagon while he tried to make sense of it.

It felt... familiar somehow, although he couldn’t place where he’d felt it before. He found it hard to care at the moment - it was doing a wonderful job of soothing the jagged nerves left from his encounter with the Thing in Kun-Lai. A shadow passed over him suddenly, and he looked up to see an immense dragon- wait, no, they call them cloud serpents -flying past overhead.

He paused to look around one more time. Even here he could see the signs of battle, but they were distant enough that he felt safe. Here, maybe, he could find some peace. He padded on, heading further into the Vale and toward the Shrine of Seven Stars.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Rheugan: Road to the Vale- In Pictures

I am in the process of writing this, but between the head cold I caught a couple weeks ago, the holiday stress, and now a case of writer's block, it's taking longer then I thought. A LOT longer. So, here's something to keep everyone occupied while I keep poking at my brain. Enjoy!
________________________

The saurok caves

Sha-spawn

Attracting attention...



The Vale at last

Monday, December 17, 2012

Rheugan: Scars

Ever notice that Rheugan always wears long-sleeved shirts, even when the weather is warm? Well, this is why.

The pale one on his left forearm is from the bite that originally cursed him. The long one on his other arm is from his tangle with a frostwyrm in Storm Peaks. The rest probably all have stories too, but few of them are ones Rheugan is proud of.

His missing ear is on the other side (left), plus is usually hidden by his hair anyway. And for anyone curious, there are 14 different scars visible on this side, with a few more you can't see from this angle.

Artist notes: I did find a picture for a ref for this, though I changed a couple things to make it more "Rheugan." I thought I had a scar tutorial somewhere, but I couldn't find it, so I had to wing it. I think they turned out all right, but I am open to suggestions for improvement.

This was kind of "vent art" since playing him and writing about him have put me in a mood. I'm still working on his next story, though hopefully I'll be able to polish it up and post it soon. Rheugan just isn't very happy right now, plus he's **spoilers!** going to run into Sha trouble, so the writing and playing bits haven't really been happy times. Hopefully that will change with time.

Have a couple more pictures I've been working on, which I ought to be done with soon. Wheee, arts!

Monday, December 10, 2012

And Then the World Was Right Again...


Some of the new tameable beasts introduced in 5.1 inspired me to reroll Toorambar...AGAIN... on Wyrmrest Accord. I played him with my babydruid Ranuuk to level 10 (and will probably wind up Rping them together a lot XD), then Tooram went out to find some new buddies.

Toorambar and Ranuuk with Jiminy the tallstrider.

First one I wanted was Nighthowl the ghostly worg. Ranuuk tagged along with Tooram up to his spawn point, and as luck would have it, he was up!


Next up was Plague, the ghostly blue demon dog. He was in the barn where he spawns, but dead, so I wound up logging them there for the night. Next morning I went to check, and he was there waiting.


I'm not totally sure if Toorambar will keep him, but for now I can squee about how tiny he is. XD

The new guys were fun, but Tooram was definitely missing something. Ranuuk headed off back to Thunder Bluff, while Tooram went out to the Barrens.He still needed a few levels, but with a few heirlooms mailed over, he got those quickly. Then it was off to the south to look for the Kolkar packrunners.

There were 2 right next to each other when I got there, but one decided to start running all over the place and I didn't feel like chasing. The other packrunner was just standing there, and as Toorambar watched the packhound sitting there scratching at fleas, I started getting a feeling...

The packrunner went down like nothing, then I had Tooram release the temp cat he'd grabbed and start taming the packhound. Once he was tamed, there was an immediate feeling of "right", and I had no doubts that this was his Ahanu.

/happysigh
*   *   *   *   *   *

Toorambar isn't the only one that's been getting attention. Lark and Rheugan have each gotten another level, and I'm still on Pitch a lot, just doing random things. I'm up to 430 mini-pets, too. O_o

Laoden is up to 52, though I've slowed down on him now. My plan right now is to get him to 55, then have Pitch run him and sis's monk Sunre through Blackrock Depths and avoid the dungeon-finder drama.

Lark's picked up a couple more buddies, too. This guy took awhile to name, but I finally settled on Ezro, and he's becoming one of my favorites.



This guy was a hoot when she first tamed him. Seems these mobs are bugged when first tamed, and they insist on sitting when not in motion. Sad thing is that it stops once you log, zone out anywhere, or dismiss him for any reason. But it was fun while it lasted.

/attention!

Naturally Fraps wasn't working for this. /grr

He's cute normal, too.
I think that was about it. Sis and I have mostly been doing old-school raids for the pets that drop there. I am 1 pet away from my Mr. Bigglesworth (if darn Chromaggus would just drop his pup *grumble*), and sis has a couple more for hers. Pitch and Kel tearing apart Naxx is a barrel of fun, seriously. I'll put up screenies of some of the new pets, but that'll wait til another post, I think.

Til next time, Happy Hunting!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Updates

Work and holidays were getting me stuck in the old "too tired to do anything" rut again, but the last couple days have been blissfully quieter. So, blog post!

Laoden is up to 47. Leveling has been CRAZY. Having full heirlooms helps, I'm sure - though I do kinda wish they weren't all leather. Oh well.

Pitch has been running Lao and sis's monk Sunre through dungeons for the most part, though I've taken several breaks for questing. The only problem I've been having is that I'm playing him so much, he never has a chance to really save up rested XP.   >.>

I've still been picking at my pet collection, though there just aren't many pets left that I'm actually able to find. I did finally get a scourged whelpling - now if only the minfernals would come out of hiding. And, you know, Tanaris would have an actual sandstorm. And it'd be nice if it would actually snow in Storm Peaks....

I did manage to snag this baby from the Auction House, though I probably spent more than I should've. But he's cute, and I think it was worth it.

Nightsaber cub! Rawr!

I've started leveling him already, he's up to 14! Pitch isn't quite broke after buying him, but he does need to start saving up again. Any other new pets I get will have to be with another character.  XD

Aside from Laoden, I haven't done much leveling. Been itching to play Lark again, though, so that will probably change. I've hopped on Rheugan to do a few quests here and there, but that hasn't done much to his XP bar, either. Horde-side has me torn - I'm not sure whether to keep leveling Taurros first, or work on Booggah mainly since he can make stuff for Taurros once he levels his leatherworking. Ugh, decisions...

Arnen picked up a new buddy. Laoden found this guy while questing in Desolace, and he sat and watched him while Arnen made his way down there. I like him more than I thought I would - basilisks are very croc-like with their noises and animations, and I like crocs, so it works.


I'm starting to want to write something, so if I can find inspiration there will likely be an RP post soonish. Also still working on art stuff, I'm just taking my time with things instead of rushing to get it done. Which is actually nice; maybe part of the reason for my huge slump was simply trying to rush things. Who knows?

Patch 5.1 is supposedly dropping tomorrow, so I'm sure that'll be fun. There will be tons of new rarespawn pets, so my various hunters will be busy deciding which pets they want and then tracking them down. I am really happy that Arnen will be able to get his black mastiff sooner than 72, though he still needs a bit of leveling first.

Can't think of anything else, and I need sleep. XD  Til next time, Happy Hunting!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Catching Up!

Oh geez, where to start...

Rheugan is 86 and a half and still going. His herbalism is nearing max, though his skinning has a little farther to go, considering the worgen racial bonus. He's been a lot of fun, too- both because he seems to be killing stuff as fast as/better than Pitch did at the same level, and because he's FINALLY starting to sort stuff out in his head, which is making him a more "comfortable" character to play. Not necessarily easier, but more comfortable.


Speaking of Pitch, he's now cleared Moshu'gan Vaults and the first half of Heart of Fear in LFR, and gotten a number of drops already from both. I'm honestly surprised he's had this much luck in there, although I'm expecting Rheu to have his usual luck (i.e., none >.>) once I get him to that point.

Alaaaaaaaniiiii

He's gotten exalted with Order of the Cloud Serpent and the Tillers, though the latter was almost by accident. I hadn't even been keeping track of his Tiller rep, just did whatever dailies I felt like doing, and tried to make friends with as many NPCs as I could. (He's best friends with Jogu the Drunk, because Jogu is win. XD) He's also gotten revered with Golden Lotus, and has been trying to do his August Celestials and Shado-pan dailies faithfully.

I've avoided the daily burnout so far by only doing the dailes I want to do, when I feel like doing them. If I go a day or 2 (or 3!) without doing any, I'm not gonna stress over it. It's been working quite well so far.. although I'm not planning on doing ANY dailies with my next toon to cap until they put in the 5.1 changes.

There's also been pet battles.


I've now caught every capturable pet except the Arctic Fox Kit, Minfernal, Silithid Hatchling and the Scourged Whelpling. Note that those are all rare-spawn pets in zones that are now cross-realm, and I'm sure you can guess why I don't have them yet. I'm starting to think that besides competing against people from who-knows-how-many other servers, Blizzard screwed up battle-pet spawns as well, cause I've never seen any trace of those pets, and I've sat through 2 Tanaris sandstorms.

But anyway, I did manage to snag the shiny achievement. The pet it gives you looks... interesting?

I named it Flytrap. >.>

Now I'm just going to be leveling things and look to upgrade some of my pets- I wound up catching a lot of grey/white quality pets just to fill out my journal. I've gotten 8 so far to 25, and still have a lot to go!

My shammy Laoden is coming along nicely. Here he is, along with Zhei Ping the yak. :D


He's up to 28 already, and I want to get him to Pandaria ASAP. I blame the last Rheu-story I wrote. I'm going enhancement with him, since that's the spec I know, and he's been a blast so far.

Lark is up to 87 now, and Booggah and Taurros are both 86. Only one new pet so far, but I think he's definitely worth mentioning.


I still need to think of a name, it's being difficult. Boo loves him to pieces. Also, I am now 2/2 with Pandaria rares, as far as finding them when I start looking for them. Boo's tracking was a good bit more interesting than Lark's tracking Savage, since Patrannache's tracks are much harder to see, and his path is a lot longer. I lost the trail a few times, and was waylaid by mobs more times than I could count. But he got him!

And finally, I got inspired to start artsing again. This was kind of "mood art," which generally helps me feel better when I'm not feeling that great. Rheugan, because he's becoming my "therapy cat". This was also one of the quickest pictures I've ever done - sketch took about 15 minutes, and the inking/coloring/finishing touches took maybe a little over an hour.


That's all I can think of for now, anything else I remember is gonna have to wait for the next post. Til next time, Happy Hunting!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Rheugan: Decision

Yay more writings!

I've been having a bit of trouble with Rheugan lately, trying to keep him from stalling out like he has before. Now that Pitch isn't demanding so much of my in-game time, I'm going to be working more seriously on leveling Rheu (and Lark >.>), so this is his reason for being out in the world again.

Also, have an introduction to my Pandaren shammy, Laoden. Enjoy!
____________________________

Rheugan lay still as Laoden snipped the last stitch free. “There,” said the pandaren. “Good as new. And be thankful that the hozen’s aim wasn’t too far off, or you would have had to say goodbye to any chance of future children.” He laughed as he sat back and began gathering up his tools, placing them neatly in his healer’s kit.

Rheugan just rumbled as he gingerly stretched his hind leg. The newly-healed muscles where the crossbow bolt had hit him still pulled a bit, but he knew that would improve with exercise. Laoden sobered a bit as he watched the druid. “How’s the shoulder?” he asked after a moment. Rheugan gave an experimental shrug. “Healed,” he rumbled. “It feels fine, no pain.” The healer nodded. “Well then,” he announced. “This seems as good a time as any to decide what you are doing here.”

Rheugan gave him a guarded look as he sat up, which the pandaren answered with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we are not throwing you out. But you have been here for.. how long now? There must be something you should be doing besides studying our archives.” He paused, giving the druid a piercing look. “So I must ask you, Rheugan - why are you here?”

Rheugan remained silent a minute before answering. “I need to learrn about the Sha, and yourrs is one of the biggerr monasterries herre. Yourr librarry has most of the inforrmation I needed.” Laoden nodded. “But you have gone through everything we have about the Sha, and still you look for more. Tell me, why is this so important to you?” Rheugan gave him a look, and the pandaren raised one paw-like hand, palm up. “Yes, I believe I know your reason,” he told Rheugan gently. “But I would like to hear it from you.”

Rheugan looked away, shifting in place restlessly. Finally, “Because the best way to prrotect yourrself frrom something is to know it.” Laoden nodded again. “I think I can see why you wish protection from the Sha, but hiding here is accomplishing nothing. And you are hiding, my boy.”

Rheugan had no reply to that. He stared at his front paws as the pandaren studied him curiously. But to Rheugan’s surprise, it was he who finally broke the silence.

“I-... I am afrraid.” He glanced at Laoden briefly, resisting the urge to flinch away from those piercing eyes. “What if I can’t contrrol myself out therre?” The pandaren blinked at him, head tilting slightly to the side. “This, coming from the one who challenged our weaponmaster to try and make him angry?” He chuckled as Rheugan’s ear flattened at the memory. Laoden quickly sobered again, though the gaze he now turned to the worgen held a touch of fondness. “I do not think you have as much to worry about as you think you do. But consider... how will you know if you never try?” He reached over to pat Rheugan’s shoulder, then hefted himself to his feet. He paused to look at the druid one more time.

“Go. Find whatever it is that brought you here. We will not force you out; it must be your decision to leave. But you will not find whatever it is you are seeking within these walls, Rheugan.” With that, he picked up his kit and left.

Rheugan turned to climb onto his bed and lay down. After a moment he turned human, then pulled the covers up over himself. He lay alone in the dark for a long time, thinking.
_____________

P.S. Gotten a lot of stuff done in-game, too. I will try and have a catching-up post within the next day or 2, I promise.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

First, Finest and Last: Rillian

Oh hey, remember these? I must have been channeling Rill at work today, and I finally finished his version. So here it is, enjoy!

P.S. Rill isn't a very nice person. :P

P.P.S. In case anyone wants to go back and reread them, here are the ones for Pitch, Rheugan and Alanon.

I still haven't finished Lark's. :P Don't know why it's being so difficult to write, but I will keep picking at it. Also, my enormous epic writer's block seems to be gone! Wheee! \o/

____________________________

His first had cost him five coppers, enough to feed himself for almost a week back then. But compared to his friends’ constant ribbing, he’d considered it worth the price. She’d laughed at him when he asked for her name, and when they were finished she’d called him a man. The only thing he could think of at the time was to wonder why he didn’t feel any different.

He’d bought the knife cheap, though he hadn’t thought he’d need to use it so soon. But Belgren was twice his size and three times his age, and Rill’s life was hard enough without adding a bully to the mix. He’d followed his target for a full day before picking his ambush spot. The knife had slipped as it went in, though, and it had taken nearly an hour for Belgren to die of the messy gut wound. It had taken two more for Rill’s shaking to stop, and then he’d booked it out of his home village for good, before anyone found the body. He’d been all of forty years old.

His first had been the dirt paths of the small transient village where he’d been born, there in the ruins of Morlos’Aran. His mother certainly hadn’t raised him –not that he blamed her, she could barely take care of herself. No, his teachers had been the streets and the surrounding wilds, where a mistake had rarely given a second chance. Rill had learned early on that not making mistakes was the best way to go.




His finest had been Lark, even as brief as it was. She’d lit a fire in him that no one else had before or since. He still didn’t understand why she’d called it off, saying they were both better off as just friends; maybe that was why he kept finding himself following her around like a lost puppy. He told himself frequently that he needed to get over her and move on… but Rill had never been good at listening to reason.

He didn’t consider any of them his finest. He just didn’t think of them that way; killing was just something he did to put money in his pocket and food in his mouth, or to simply survive another day. It wasn’t the kind of thing he bragged about, not if he wanted to keep breathing. And Rill was awfully fond of breathing.

His finest had been the elf that plucked him from the streets of a Hyjal village. Erelas had been looking for an apprentice, and Rill had been looking for anything that would get him out of the hellhole his life had become. Erelas and his hippogryphs had given him that way out, and he’d jumped at the chance without looking back.




His last had cost him considerably more than five coppers, but he hadn’t had to worry about money for a long time. He’d stopped trying to pretend they were Lark years ago – now it was simply a release. This one had been happy enough to take his money, and if he’d left her with a few bonus bruises, well, she hadn’t complained to him.

His last had been a while ago… he supposed it had been that gnome selling flowers. She’d been nothing to him, just another mark taken care of, a job like all the others. He’d lost count of the bodies he’d left over the centuries; all that mattered to him was that they were dead and he still lived. That had to count for something, didn’t it?

He was his last, and he was determined to keep it that way. Sure, he would take orders from whichever slouch currently paid him, but that was strictly business. Outside of work, well, he’d be damned if he’d let anyone else tell him what to do again.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Family Additions

Just because I love the civets in the Vale. I even managed to snag a rare-quality of each, adult and kitten, and they're both leveled to 25 already. Enjoy the cute.
 ____________________________

"We should sit outside, you said. It's a nice day, you said." Pitch eyed Lark suspiciously. "If I didn't think I knew better, I'd say you planned this."

Lark said nothing, though she didn't bother hiding her grin. Her eyes stayed on her son, however, as she supported Loren in a sitting position in front of her. Loren's attention in turn was focused on the small golden animal that was creeping up to sniff at his toes.

The civet- not a weasel, as Pitch had thought until Lark corrected him- had shown up a day ago, although Pitch hadn't paid it much attention then. Pandarian animals seemed to be extremely friendly and trusting, if the number of critters that had taken to following him around were any indication. The little civet was just one more of those, and he'd figured it would lose interest like all the rest, and he'd never see it again.

But this one had not only been waiting for them this afternoon, it had apparently brought its parents along too. Going by scent, it was the mother civet that kept dancing around them just within view, while the father was much bolder. He'd already tried to climb up Pitch's side to get a better sniff at his face, an attempt that Pitch had ended by shaking him off and switching to his elven shape. The male civet had left him alone after that and was now curled into a ball to one side, watching his offspring interact with the baby.

Loren chortled as the baby civet's whiskers tickled his toes, followed by a  quick tongue-swipe. The little critter sneezed, then turned and capered off a little ways to roll around in the grass. Loren watched it in fascination as Lark finally turned to her mate.

"I doubt they're going to go anywhere, babe, not if they've been hanging around this long," she told him. "You might want to accept the fact that you've been adopted."

Pitch mmphed. "They might have asked first," he grumbled, drawing another broad grin from Lark. "Well, now you know how I feel sometimes," she said, nodding toward Quiloe and Komah, who were lounging in the shade nearby. Komah's eyes opened briefly as he rumbled a reply, which made her chuckle. Pitch raised an eyebrow at her. "Do I want to know what he said?"

She grinned wickedly at him. "He suggested you think up names for them." Pitch just sighed.

The male chose that moment to come up to Lark, approaching her from the side and out of Loren's reach- he'd already had his tail pulled a couple times. She reached over to pet him and he chirred, arching his back up catlike to meet her fingers. She glanced back at Pitch, growing a bit more serious.

"Look at it this way, babe. Are they bothering you in any way? Do you need to feed them or clean after them?" Pitch shook his head no. "You know the answer to that. All they do is show up and follow me around, then go off by themselves when I get back here." He waved a hand at the Shrine of Seven Stars behind them.

"Well then," she replied, "why not let them stay around? They are cute, and they might wind up being useful."

Pitch remained silent for a minute, watching the two civets with a thoughtful frown. Finally he shrugged. "I'll have to try and teach Ishnu to leave them alone. And if they do decide to move indoors, I hope you remember it was your idea." Lark just snickered.

The young one wandered over to Pitch and nuzzled under his knee, making a cozy little nest for itself. Pitch started gently scratching its back, and it wriggled around to lick at his fingers before curling up to sleep.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Quick Catchup

First is probably the biggest - I finally stopped putzing around on Pitch. He was at 68% when I logged off last night, so a dungeon run and some hardcore questing today finally saw the end.


... although actually it's probably more like the beginning, since now I get to start gearing him up, and start on all the new faction dailies. Not sure whether to cheer or go ugh right now.

Lark's seen some more questing and she's almost 86 now. I may spend a bit of time on Rheugan before I go back to her, though. I'd like to get him as close to cap as I can, while not neglecting Lark too much. We'll have to see how well I do on that.


Still want to play Taurros too, though with all these druids, I'm hoping I don't burn myself out on the class. I'm kinda glad now that I have all those other toons at 85 waiting their turns, in case I need to play with something non-druidy.


Still want to level Booggah too. WTB more time in the day?

Monks and pet battles haven't changed much since my last post, so nothing to report there. I need to head to bed anyway, but at least I have 2 days off after tomorrow. Whoo!

Til next time, Happy Hunting!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Catching up!

Pitch is 89 now, closing in on 90. I've run him through Direbrew a few times, and he now has a stamina trinket and the dodge trinket, so he may start out tanking things more than kitty-ing, at least for a bit. Couple fun bits - I'd forgotten about Predatory Swiftness until Bear mentioned it in one of his posts. So now that my memory is functioning again, having an instant free heal whenever he gets off a finishing move is really helping his questing, especially against the tougher mobs and elites. He's also picked up the habit of charming any random critter that catches his eye, so he nearly always has a little friend running along with him. Best part is, it doesn't dismiss his current mini-pet, so he can have Ishnu out running alongside his bandicoon or whatever else he's currently charmed.

But this one is the cutest. Right?


Speaking of Ishnu reminds me, pet battles are still fun. Ishnu herself is up to level 10, along with Red Ember the corehound pup, and my celestial dragonling, Varshuna, is 12. Featherdown the kaliri is 9, and I have a bunch of wild-caught ones between levels 9-12 as well. I'm still trying to decide who I want to have as my "main" team, but for now I'm focusing on only a couple, just so I have some leveled for more capturing.

Monk!Pitch is up to 23, and now that Druid!Pitch is nearly capped I've been wanting to take him on a leveling binge. I bet I can get him to 30 easily...

I've made a couple Pandarens, my shammy Laoden is now 12, on Alliance-side and guilded. I'm still deciding on his professions, thinking maybe engineering since that's the only one I don't have now on Feathermoon. My monk Beshi on Wyrmrest hasn't even gotten any playtime cause I was waiting until I got my desktop back from the shop. Now that it's back and working fine again, I'll get her going. She'll be going Horde, where sis and I just made our own guild. Yay private guild bank?

Taurros hasn't gotten much playtime since he hit 86, and now I'm debating leveling Booggah first after all, since he can make stuff for Taur with his leatherworking. I'm probably going to do that, though I think I'll wait on actually gearing Boo up til Taur is closer to cap.

Rheugan and Turron have both had turns out in Jade Forest. Rheu was just picking herbs for Alanon, but between that and a couple quests I couldn't resist doing, he's gotten almost a quarter of a level already. Turron was mostly just mining, his jewelcrafting is getting close to max already and I'm trying to get that finished ASAP.

Can't think of much else, so here! Have some screenshots! :D
























Sunday, October 7, 2012

Rheugan: Into the Fray

I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for when Rheugan ICly heads to Pandaria, but I hadn't been able to make myself sit down and write it out... until now. Writing stuff makes me happy. Also, that character development that I mentioned a few posts back but hadn't expanded on yet? Here's some of it right here. Enjoy!

____________________________

“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Yes, Alanon, I do.”

“Leave him alone, brother. I’ll watch out for him, don’t worry.”


The leather was getting worn in places, but the stitching was still sound. Rheugan set aside the piece of armor he’d been checking, then reached for the next. Shaurria’s ear twitched at the movement, though otherwise the young druid appeared asleep, curled into a grey furry ball at his side. She didn’t want him to go, he knew that. She worried about him - they all worried. Pitch and Alanon’s near-argument over whether he should be “allowed” to go was still a very vivid memory.

Lark hadn’t argued, though he’d understood the look she’d given him easily enough. Make sure he comes back home. He wasn’t sure why she trusted him when he still didn't care much whether he himself lived or died, but he would do his best, for her and Pitch both.

He didn’t know what he expected to find out there. Pitch had told him of the Sha, of how they preyed on those whose doubt, fear, or anger overcame them. And yet he had no qualms about heading into their territory - he, who had spent the past two-and-a-half years and more fighting with his own rage and fear. But he had to do it. He knew that, even if he couldn’t say how he knew it. It was instinctual, the same way he knew that he loved Kyraine, or knew that he could trust the cat. Try as he might, he couldn’t explain it.

He had another reason he could explain, but he doubted the others would understand him. Theramore had only confirmed what the failed summit had already shown him - there was no peace. If he hoped at all to survive, he would have to learn to fight, whether he liked it or not. And if he was going to learn to fight, he had to put himself in the thick of things.

No more hiding where he was "safe," and no matter the cost.

He’d just finished checking over the last bit of his armor when Shaur’s head suddenly came up, and she stared into the growing dusk with ears pricked. Rheugan followed her gaze to see Pitch approaching, on two legs this time, his expression expectant. “Leaving tomorrow, Rheu. Are you all set?” Rheugan nodded as he began gathering up his armor. Pitch took most of it from him, the weight bothering the big druid not a bit, and he set out toward the Dwarven District and Arvoss’ home.

Rheugan hesitated before following, looking back at Shaur one last time. She’d unshifted, sitting in the grass and watching him with a small, sad smile. Wordlessly she held out her arms, and Rheugan turned back to give her a tight hug. “I’ll be back to visit before too long,” he murmured in her ear. Her smile grew slightly as she released him. “Know,” she said simply, then changed back to a cat and followed him as they headed toward home.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Rheugan opened his eyes as the vertigo from the mage portal faded, blinking repeatedly as he looked around. The buildings around him were strange, but he paid them little mind as the cat surged up to the front of his mind. His gaze quickly riveted to the jungle visible outside the gates, and he felt the cat’s impatience as they both waited for Pitch to come through and join them. Keyed up as he was, the familiar touch on his arm made him jump when it finally came.

Big and small, the two black cats slipped like shadows out through the village gate and disappeared into the mists.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Updates!

I had a little incident with my computer... in short, my operating system seems to have been corrupted, and it's now in the shop. So, no new pictures (cause the laptop takes lousy screenies), but at least I've got a post, right? And as for the desktop, well, it needs a full reload of the system. The guy working on it is going to try and save what he can from the hard drive, but it's entirely possible that I've lost everything on it. Cue the qq'ing.

In-game updates! Leveling is going a bit slow, because you know, laptop, but I've gotten Taurros to 86 already. Poor guy was the last to get leveled for the last 2 expansions (Wrath and Cata) so I'm trying to get him done first Horde-side. The quests are pretty much what I expected from the Horde, but it's tolerable enough for my peace-loving self. I'm not sure whether I'm going to try and gear Taurros up somewhat once he caps, or get straight to leveling Booggah, but I've got a while yet to decide.

Alliance-side has been fun. Pitch is going first, and he's at 87 now. Questing is difficult with the laptop's lag, and dungeons are a complete lagfest that make me want to pull my hair out, but he is getting there! His mining is maxed already, and enchanting is around 575 or so. I really love the way Blizzard is doing profession-leveling this time around. He's started his farm, too, so we'll see how that goes.


Lark got some time in duoing with Pitch before my desktop went on the fritz. She'll be next after Pitch, with Rheugan getting some time here and there in-between. Once Lark is capped I'll be finishing Rheu up, then likely Davoss will be next. Leveling order subject to change, of course...

I've been working on everyone's professions as much as I can- partly my reason for starting Rheu out early, so he can gather herbs for alchemy/inscription. I'm not sure yet how soon I'll be getting Alanon and Barraccus (who is still 83 anyway) out to Pandaria, but this way they can still work on their proffs.

No new tames for my hunters since my last post, although I'm reminding myself I need to go tame a grown-up Ishnu before Lark runs out of room. She has spots, though, and only 1-2 more pets I want, so it shouldn't be a problem. Boo on the other hand has attachments for even the pets he doesn't use much, so making room for him will be difficult. Darn pet-hoarder. XD

Speaking of pets, the pet battles have been fun.. and fairly relaxing, since that's something I can do even with the lag. Yay turn-based battles? I've picked out several favorites that will be leveled as my "team", and I'm trying to capture one of everything I can find to fill out my pet journal. I've been really lucky with finding rares, too, and most of my main battle pets are going to be blue-quality ones.

Monks! Pitchmonk just hit 19 earlier, I was trying to get him to 20 and his mount, but I ran out of steam. He'll get it tomorrow, no worries. I've rolled a Pandaren shaman on Feathermoon, too, and a Panda monk on Wyrmrest Accord that will be going Horde. Haven't played them much yet cause I'm kinda waiting to get the desktop back (laptop has no sound, so cutscenes are just meh right now). Pitch is the only one I'm really worried about leveling, so no big deal there.

And I think that sums it all up so far. I'll probably think of something else later, but that'll give me an excuse for another post! So, til next time Happy Hunting!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Taming Spree?


You had to know the first thing I'd do once MoP dropped is go tame new pets, right? Although technically the first thing I did was log on all my toons and train their professions up... but you know. ;)

Booggah got his turn first. I haven't really planned a lot of pets for him, although he is interested in Bloodtooth, the rare dragon turtle. That will have to wait until Boo's leveled a bit, but for now, he's keeping content with just one new buddy, a porcupine.


I really didn't expect the little bugger to shrink that much. I even had to take a screenie of him next to a wild porcupine, just for a size comparison. Wow.


I really hope they stay this small, too. He's adorable, and it kind of makes up for Blizz taking away the mini-beetle from Naxx.

Lark and Pitch went next, although I got distracted by questing for a bit. But eventually they wound up by the fish-people's village, where Lark finally had her reunion with Finnegan.


He was sitting on a rock at the water's edge right where I came up. It was just like he was waiting for her, I swear, so of course that was the one I tamed. :D

After that I just puttered around with pet battle stuff (not much, didn't even leave Stormwind) and with monk!Pitch. Then I randomly decided to go see if I might find Savage's tracks...

I really wasn't expecting to find anything. He's a brand-new rare, it's the first day of the new expansion, and plus there were people everywhere. I figured he must've been found and tamed by at least 2-3 other hunters already, so he wouldn't even be up, right? I'd just follow his patrol route, get myself familiar with it, and then probably log for the night.

There is an awesome blog post with maps for all the MoP rares right here, so I looked that up and got tracking. I'd followed it for over half-way, and had just passed a worgen hunter that was standing around flaring everywhere, when I suddenly saw... a track.

I don't even know how I got so flipping lucky. I was even at the end of his trail, because I only found 2 more tracks before I had to wait for the next to show up. A quick flare, arcane shot to tag and tame, and....



Askfdgahw I don't even know. I just hope this doesn't mean Booggah will be camping Bloodtooth for weeks, like his blue Madexx hunt. Even if he does... omygolly wow.

His name is Savage, because I really couldn't think of anything better and Tuah just didn't quite fit. And now, I think Lark is done with pet-taming until she's capped, then I'll figure out which others she might be interested in.

Tomorrow, more leveling! Til next time, Happy Hunting!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Just in Time!

I've been working on Taurros the last couple days, and when I logged off last night he was about 83% through level 84. So today after work I got back on the old boy and...


This was another of my pre-Mists goals, one that I didn't think I'd be able to get done. Needless to say, it feels really good to have finished him in time. I'm not worried about gearing him at all, he'll just pick up a set of vendor gear before he starts his Pandaria questing.

I had a bit of amusement while he was questing in the Highlands- a pvp-flagged pally found him and decided to "play"...


He was so busy trying to kill my mobs for me, I don't even know if he noticed when I flew off. >.>

I think I forgot to mention that I finally got this guy. Taurros helped- when I took him back to Nagrand to help Sis' mage with Ring of Blood, I stopped him by Garadar and bought a few more talbuks. XD


Still have a number of mounts I can grab if I decide I want a dragonhawk, though I'm still more concerned with mini-pet collecting. Kael'thas still refuses to give up his phoenix hatchling, and Pebble seems to be behaving himself in Deepholme. Hoping that I'll finally get lucky and nab them both before too much longer!

I'm getting really excited for Mists now. Only a bit over 24 hours! Tomorrow I am off work, so I'm planning to just tinker with stuff and make sure everyone is ready, then it'll be just waiting on the clock. Right now, though, I need sleep so I can focus on stuff tomorrow.

Til next time, Happy Hunting and I'll see you in Pandaria!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Adventures in Undead-Controlling...

Okay, so that's a lousy title. But anyways.

Bear had a post a few days ago about his son's adventures while playing with the DK's Control Undead spell. He had so much fun, in fact, that I got rather inspired to try this out myself. Turns out Northrend has a lot of undead (go figure, right?), and... well, here are the results of my (and Barraccus'!) little trip.


He's even smiling for the camera!

"Muahahahahahahaha!"

He comes with a mount!

The chicken-face makes him look cuter, imo.

He um, has nice axes?

This is perhaps the fugliest thing I've ever seen.

My own personal banshee! Although I like Booggah's Banshee better...

This one didn't cost any runic power!

Ok, this guy? Level 80 elite. Bring it, suckers.


Does being undead make him a Varghoul? >_>


I though this guy would be more impressive than the slayer. He wasn't-- a wet blanket hits harder.


Would this be a new form of teabagging? >_>

"Ok, I like this guy."


"Guys, I have a confession to make. I... I have a Disturbed Soul...."

I want one of these for a perma-pet so bad. Whaddaya say, Blizzard?

Or one of these. I won't be picky. >_>

"I think I rescued this guy a little too late."

My own personal banner-bearer!

Comes with bombs.

"Hey Drakuru I'm stealing one of your servants, kay?"

I think-- I think-- that I found all the controllable undead in Northrend. I may make another trip sometime to make sure, though. XD

And final note? Thrym, sadly, is immune to control. But I can still dream!