Meet Jorren (and bonus pic)

Meet my newest level 85 character, and the proof that I really can focus on one character when I really want to.

Little bit of a story behind this guy. My brother wanted to make alts on a pvp server, and apparently he knew someone on the Arthas server. So me, him, and sis each made a toon over there, got them in a guild, and even got them all up a few levels. I had a tauren priest, sis a troll hunter, and brother soon had his typical small army of different alts. Getting to the point- our toons all reached the level where they got their first glyph slots, but the AH prices were ridiculous (the fun part of starting fresh on an older, well-populated server). So I decided to make a death knight, and power level inscription with him. Well, in the process of getting through the starting area, then the massive amounts of farming to skill his professions up, I wound up getting attached to the little guy. My little alts became neglected, and eventually I got tired of being broke all the time and dropped inscription for mining. After making sure he learned all the DK glyphs he could make, of course. >.>

Well, he's now 85 (obviously), and I'm having a ton of fun with him. I think this proves my little theory of needing to 'click' with a character to be able to enjoy playing it. (My 'lock Rynia is another example. I'd started and deleted at least 2 other warlocks before I created her.) The only real problem I have with him is the server, and it's more of a small annoyance than a problem. Apparently most of the Alliance on Arthas are jerks, who like to gank afk/lagging/stuck-at-the-loading-screen Hordies, especially if said Hordie is at least 2 levels below them. Getting ganked by epic-geared 85s in Northrend was a bit mind-boggling. (Do you people really have nothing better to do?) So, sometime soon-ish, he's gonna be switching over to another server, and my baby alts on Arthas will probably go bye-bye, although I may remake my undead hunter. Not sure where yet, but I'm leaning mostly towards Nesingwary, so Shadepaw can have a level 85 around to spoil her.

And now the next thing. This right here, this is what happens when my druid girls get stuck in my head. I wind up drawing the two of them in cute, affectionate, and/or cuddly poses. I'm trying to do a sketch of them both stalking something, but they refuse to cooperate with that. And yet I can do something like this one in less than a day. Argh, what am I gonna do with them...

...Obviously, love them and continue drawing cute, cuddly pictures of them. -.-
This is really making me wish I had the nerve to try drawing them in their elf forms.

I'm happy with the fact that I got their size proportions right this time. Windstar is a big kitty. Also, taking my sketchbook to work makes me return from my breaks late. :\ But getting compliments from my coworkers was a nice ego-boost. Which is something I've been needing lately.

And now I need to go try to sleep, so I can get through my work day tomorrow and be awake enough after to run Jorren in another heroic or two. And finish skilling his cooking up. :P /Waves

I don't even have words...

So, you know how I mentioned looking for Skoll last night, when I had those two surprise tames? Apparently, he heard me. Or something. Because my sis found him waiting when she was out leveling her worgen druid. I am still completely boggled by this, so I'll just let the screenshots tell what just happened.





Just to give some idea of how I feel right now, I have been camping for Skoll off and on ever since patch 4.0 brought the new stable space. Since that was what, almost a year ago? I am just... wow. I think this actually beats my Loque'nahak camp, which was the longest and most frustrating camp that I have ever had. It still hasn't completely sunk in that he's finally Kel's.

The funny thing is, I don't even really like the Northrend worg models. They're way too skinny, they have a very awkward run, and the sounds kind of annoy me. I had started looking for Skoll just to get Kel all the current spirit beasts, just for the fun of it. I never really expected her to use him much whenever she did find him. But now that I finally have him, all that has changed. Just one look at that face totally makes up for any so-called 'problems' with that model. I seriously love this guy, and he's not going to be seeing the stables for a long, long time.

And one last thing- Thank you, sis, for finding Kel's three newest friends, and telling me so I could come tame them. And for being willing to share your computer yesterday, instead of making me wait for mine to start up. I <3 you. :)

Like Potato Chips...

...You can never stop at one. Or three.

So Kel has two new spirit beasts, and neither one is the one I thought I wanted. I had been checking the cats' spawn/patrol route whenever I did Kel's Firelands dailies, hoping for Magria. I hadn't seen a whisker of any of the new spirit beasts, though I had heard of one Ankha tame that happened about 5 minutes after I left. So last night, after I had gotten home from work/grocery shopping, I was getting ready for a quick shower when sis asks me if I had anyone that wanted to tame Ankha. At first I was thinking, no, not Ankha, I want the blue kitty. Then I stopped and really thought about it. Coming to see Ankha wandering around on sis's computer convinced me. Fortunately, Kel had been logged in Aviana's shrine, so it was a short flight down, and there she was.


Kel already had an equipment setup to strip for the tame, which went smoothly. Ankha didn't even hurt Kel much, which should've been my first hint.

About 10 minutes later, sis called me again. Ban'thalos was up, which she thought was odd since he's supposed to share a timer with the kitties. Another hunter was there, but when sis whispered him, he said he already had Ban, so sis let me have her computer again to log on Kel. She had to get Kel onto the tree, and remind me to place my trap, and once again it was a perfect tame. Banny didn't even get off any moonfire spam.

It took forever to come up with a name for this guy, but finally 'Arrow' just sort of popped into my head. Being that this is a spirit beast, and the only bird-form one at that, I wanted it a little more 'special' for him, hence the funky letter. :P

Winter has bonded with Kel already. I would still love to get Magria, but I'm happy with her. Ærrow is getting along well too, but I'm not sure how much active time he'll get. But I am planning on taming Banny on Max, so I'm not worried about it.

Not long after this, sis's troll Booggah got a couple new buddies, which she tells all about here.

So, now Kel's ambition to tame every spirit beast in the game (except Ghostcrawler, sorry but I'm just not into crabs. Even shiny spirit ones) has been rekindled. The only thing that kept me from running to Northrend to check Skoll last night, was how tired out I was. And the shock of the two unexpected tames in such a short time. Kel is going back to camping him again soon, though.

So besides all the huntery stuff, I have had my druid pair stuck in my head a lot lately, and I have a new sketch of them done, and working on finishing another. I'll be posting them soon, along with a small RP update. And my soon-to-be newly 85 alt that has been taking up all of my game time. >.>
/Waves

Story = Art Inspiration?

After that last story I did, I had a sudden urge to draw Rathiel. So, well, here ya go.



He's not a very pretty kitty. But then again, he's not supposed to be.

I've been continuing the story, but I'm not sure whether anything more will be posted or not. *shrug*

Well, that's it for now. Probably gonna have another WoW update soon-ish. Most likely to show off my newest level 85 character.

What? I've accepted the fact that I have no life. :P
Anyways... /waves

Storytime: "How long?"

Random story inspiration FTW?

Little bit of backstory for this one- Jahira was the mother of twin boys, who both grew up to become druids. In the War of Shifting Sands, one of them was killed. The surviving twin went a little berserk, and when the war was over, he disappeared. Jahira thought he was dead as well for a few years, then she began hearing tales of a very intelligent cat, hunting the remaining Qiraji. She finally found her son, but he had gone completely feral, and it took days for him to even let her approach. Over the years, she has kept an ear out, and will periodically seek him out, to check on him and try to make sure he's doing alright. He roams over various places in Kalimdor, hunting not only the Qiraji, but anything he considers a threat to his people. This story is current in-game, after Jahira heard rumors of something killing orcs, which led her to Ashenvale.

++ ++ ++

Ashenvale, east of Silverwind Refuge

The white panther entered the clearing slowly, dragging her offering by the neck. Setting her burden down in the center of the glade, she looked carefully around, sniffing the evening air. After making a complete circle around the dead stag, she gave up and settled down next to it, waiting.

The cat woke to the predawn darkness, instinct holding her perfectly still until she could identify what had disturbed her. It took a few seconds for her to make out the darker shape sitting among the trees at the edge of the tiny clearing. Slowly, carefully, she sat up, unsure of his mood, but grew hopeful when he didn't turn and run. A moment later, the cat shifted into a female Kaldorei, long white hair shining faintly in the darkness. "Hello, Rath."

The shadowy shape didn't move for the first minute, then slowly stood and approached, revealing another cat. His dark, ash-grey fur blended almost perfectly in the darkness, the white-ish Elune markings across his shoulders barely visible. Other pale lines criss-crossed his coat, marking far too many scars. Jahira felt her heart clench at the sight of him. He was starting to grow his winter coat already, and that plus the darkness made it hard to see how thin he was. He was also favoring his right hind leg. Jahira bit her lip as he came up to her, sitting just out of arm's reach.

Jahira gestured at the dead stag. "I don't know if you're hungry or not, but.." she offered. Rath looked at her for a moment longer, then turned his head to inspect the deer. After a sniffing the carcass over, he began picking bites off of his favorite parts, pausing every so often to glance back at the druid. She simply sat still, watching him.

Several minutes passed, then, apparently satisfied, the cat turned back to the elf, sitting a bit closer. Jahira looked him in the eyes, and slowly raised one hand, fingers glowing a faint green. His expression hardened, and he moved as if to draw away from her. Her hand went still in midair. "Please, Rathiel," she asked softly, her voice catching in the middle of his name. He froze, staring at her, then laid his ears back and inched closer. She gently rested her hand on his head, and the glow intensified. He stiffened, then drew back as it faded, rumbling softly deep in his chest. Jahira let her hand fall back into her lap, and watched him as he paced around the clearing, testing his healed leg.

Jahira finally shifted back into her cat and stretched out on the grass, next to the stag's remains. Rath stopped his pacing, and for a moment he glanced back and forth between her and the forrest. After several tense seconds, which felt like hours to Jahira, he slowly walked over to her and laid down at her side. She turned her head to gently wash his face, as he grumbled quietly, shutting his eyes. They stayed like that for almost an hour, the white cat lovingly grooming the grey, while he eventually dozed for a little while. As the eastern sky slowly brightened, he abruptly raised his head. Jahira left off her grooming with a quiet sigh, causing him to turn his head to look at her. She shifted back into her elven form and returned his gaze sadly.

"How much longer, Rath? You can't keep this up forever, can you?" she asked, her tone pleading. His expression went stone hard again, and he looked away. Jahira bit her lip again, wondering of she should have kept silent. Finally...

"Nothing will bring Fauren back, but making our enemies suffer helps the pain." His voice rasped painfully, so hoarse from disuse that she could barely understand him. She looked down at her hands, clenched together in her lap, and closed her eyes. Then something gently wiped away the single tear that had escaped to roll down her cheek. She opened her eyes to look at the dark golden ones of her son, catching his hand and holding it up to her cheek. He allowed her for a brief moment, then gently pulled away, turned, and started towards the trees, shifting back into a cat as he went. Jahira could only sit and watch him vanish into the gloom. She finally pulled her gaze away from where he had disappeared, wiping her eyes and taking a deep, ragged breath. She stood and looked up at the sky for a moment, then fumbled her hearthstone out of her belt pouch, only to put it away again. She shifted into a stormcrow and took off into the air, turning northwest, towards Lor'danel.

She wanted nothing more at that moment than for Windstar to hold and comfort her, but she needed to be alone for just a little longer.

Catching up

Work is making me feel very 'bleh' lately, but here's a few things I've been up to.

I have had 2 big dings in the last few days. First, Rynia the warlock has archeology-ed herself to 85. Then, I finally made myself get Jahira the last 5 bubbles of xp that she needed.





Both of them have run through the beginning Firelands stuff, and they have the ilvl needed for heroics. Rynia has even been in one, Shadowfang Keep, and has a pretty new robe from it. Jahira will be waiting a while though. I'm too much of a noob at boomkin'ing, so I want to look up stuff and get her some more gear before I attempt a heroic. Not to mention my other characters that have been so neglected lately. Kal especially has been begging for some attention. Ryn is definitely getting her share of play time, though. I'm amazed sometimes at how much fun warlocks are. There's just something therapeutic about setting things on fire... *evil grin*

I'm still trudging along with Maxwill as well. It's slow, with all my 'bigger' characters keeping me busy, but he is currently 64 and moving along. He also has (another) new friend. This guy is a strictly OOC pet, because, well, it would be hard to explain ICly why Max has a little patch of fire following him around...



My sis had figured out the trick to taming this guy, and bugged me to give her a hand, since it takes 2 people to make the pet explode in the taming process. And since I had to go along anyways, I figured why not get Max his own, before Blizzard decides to 'fix' the bug. It's an amusing pet, even though it has some issues with targeting (you can't click the pet, you have to click it's portrait next to it's owner's or use tab-targeting).

That's Max's brother, Arnen, played by my sis, in the screenshot. These two got seperated when Gilneas locked itself away, and haven't ICly found each other yet. I have some story ideas poking around in my head though, whenever Windstar and Jahira let them, and I might have some bits to post sometime. I need to keep pestering my sis as well. Poor Max has a couple issues, and having his brother around will help quite a bit.

And that's about it for now. Need to get some dailies done, and maybe see about getting a little worgen up a level or two. /Waves