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!
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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.
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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/

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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.
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"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.