Tol Barad

No wonder the inhabitants of this prison are hostile.

Cooped up in the dark and the damp, I suspect I wouldn’t be in the best frame of mind either.

On a slightly different topic, Matty raised an interesting question the other day. I’ve never had a character I actively disliked before, even my slightly strange damaged ones have had a side which redeemed them (at least in my eyes). However this left me wondering, could I make a character whose choices in life I found repugnant? The obvious choice to experiment with would be a Death Knight but given my track record …… that’s probably a definite no.

This week’s Shared Topic is, “What is your favorite vanity item in World of Warcraft?”

Suggested by Noahdeer.

I struggled on this one as there is just so much choice out there. Therefore I’m going to cheat slightly and pick the favourite items of a few of my favourite characters.

Up first, appropriately it’s my very first character and Dartol’s rod of Transformation.

I usually hate not finishing quest chains but in this particular case, I just couldn’t hand it in. Furbolg forever!

For Sprout, her favourite vanity items are all ones which can be put to good use in PvP, in terms of undermining your opponents.

Nothing says you just lost than a naked Gnome dancing in a clam shell over your corpse.

Other favourites include the Romantic Picnic Basket, perfect for a spot of “camping” in the countryside with a loved one, the giant golden banana (although I’m still disappointed that this doesn’t make people who walk into it, trip up) and the Scarecrow from the Tillers.

Basically, I love semi useless clutter and have bags full of the stuff.

Peacebloom

Found primarily in wide open spaces, Peacebloom looks beautiful but like many plants, hides a dark secret within. It’s roots and petals are poisonous unless correctly treated. According to the Botanists of the Kaldorai, this involves soaking in Moonwell water until all the impurities have been drawn out. Once prepared, it’s primary use is in poultices for flesh wounds although certain races also crush the leaves to make tonics to quicken the blood. Folklore has it that Peacebloom flowers more frequently on the site of old conflicts, fertilized by the blood of the fallen. It’s also come to signify seeking forgiveness for past actions and  new lovers often send fragrant bouquets of it’s heavy blossoms after petty quarrels, hoping that the blooms will bring peace to their relationship.

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It would have been easy to overlook the Night Elf, concealed as she was in the shade, still as a statue. On her lap balanced an open sketchpad and in her hand she clutched a pen. Long white hair loosely tied in a plait fell over one shoulder and her silvered eyes were narrowed in concentration. As far as she was concerned, the world began and ended with the plant in front of her, a huge clump of Peacebloom, it’s sickly sweet perfume scenting the air. On the paper, black lines took form, capturing the free flowing shape of it’s petals.

As she drew, she dreamed of the life she could have had. The botanist she could have been, had she chosen a different path. Remembering all the stories about the flora she had listened to as a girl, the tales twisted into being like plant roots, a mix of fact and fiction bringing together history and folklore. Perhaps now she’d have had some exotic plant named after her rather than being a burnt out and broken shadow of herself. “Deserter” rose on her tongue, it’s taste foul like poisonous berries only for her to dash it away, besides it implied a sense of motion, of running when in fact the opposite was true. Her sisters in the Sentinels knew exactly where to look, they just happened to be turning a blind eye. The Priestesses in the Temple had advised rest and relaxation in the short term at least, until she was patched together mentality as well as physically. The scar on her breastbone was healing nicely, knitted together by the very plant in front of her. The same however couldn’t be said for her mind.

1. Bean – My baby Hopling, named after Mr Harpy’s rogue as they share certain characteristics.

2. Euphyley –  My Cenarion Hatchling, named after Euphyley of WoW Rare Spawns fame who very kindly gifted her to me.

3. Pyewacket – My Feline Familiar. You can’t go wrong with a Cat in Hat, especially one who can fly on his very own broom.

4. Cobweb – The Giant Bone Spider

5. Ichabod – The Sinister Squashling

6. Billy – Summit Kid

7. Charming – The Swamp Croaker

8. Tattiebogle – Tiny Harvester

9. The Sea Pony –  For a period pet was beginning to be my white whale. I fished and I fished and I fished but got nothing by flotsam and jetsam. Of course when I finally reeled one in, I got another one in quick succession.

10. Mataoka – The Imperial Moth

I may have gone to 11 but I couldn’t decide who to cut in order to add Cecy, so as she’s not a battle pet, I decided she could drift happily on the end.

11. Cecy – The Darkmoon Balloon

We were also blessed with truly amazing weather as you can see from the above picture (it’s the ruins of Dunluce Castle).

I’d actually forgotten how much fun leveling is and I’m torn between enjoying the speed and wishing I could go a little slower to soak up all the atmosphere.

Most of all though, I’m enjoying the details.

For example, I’m pretty sure I’d never noticed this before. Perhaps because this is the first time I’ve ridden around on the bug for any length of time but even so.

Not sure I’d noticed that the Insane Ghoul in Duskwood carried a bunch of flowers either. Wonder if he was just a hoarder or if before his madness got the better of him, he intended to give them to Blind Mary.

In terms of WoW, the plan is to level the Monks, kill Horde, dispose of Garrosh whilst yelling “Remember Theramore” and generally “faff!” a lot. For the blog, well, I have a few long posts I’ve been writing for far too long and I’ve even got a story to justify why my Monk is a night elf. Sewing wise, well mini Gnoll has made it to pattern form but my eye has been caught by something else so will have to see what ends up being made first. Also Sprout will be getting some love, even if it’s just farming Raiding with Leashes mark 2.

1. Getting my sticky Alliance paws on <the Hordebreaker> title. Given the number of Horde I’ve managed to annoy, actively afk and cover my character’s in Troll spit over the years, this is a given.
2. Reach 200 mounts. This will take time, patience (something I’m not particularly known for) and large quantities of gold.
3. Brawler’s Guild. I had such intentions which never reached fruition before so now it’s time to see if I can brawl with the best of them.
4. PvP pet battles. I’ve always hated people killing my pets when I played a Hunter… so this should be fun.
5. Get a Tidestalker pet. I used to rather like killing this guy’s big brother in Serpentshrine Cavern.
6. Fox Kit!!! I still don’t have one so it’s either a case of Auction House raiding or farming Tol Barad quests.
7. Expand my little Hunter’s stable. It’s time to indulge my fascination with demonic looking dogs. I think I still need to tick the white and the red versions off my list. I wish they’d introduce a mini pet version of these puppies. I’ve been drawn to them ever since Vanilla when my Warlock used to hang out in the Plaguelands using enslave demon on them.
8. Level a Horde character to 90 so I can see things from both sides.

My other issue comes with rolling a character I “like”. I need a hook, some suggestion of a back story which draws me in and spawns my imagination. Usually it’s not an issue, with characters being born in my head long before I hit the character creation screen, however with Monks I find it harder. I can’t even decide what race to play with Draenei and Night Elf tussling in my head. Why would either of those races, both with their own strong religious beliefs suddenly decide to embrace the way of the Monk? (somebody so needs to do an in-depth post(s) about WoW and the different races and their approach to religion). I mean I never quite got my head around what God Sprout worshiped, other than the fact that most of the time her prayers were answered and the bad men went splat. Time for some proper research I suspect.

Currently distracting myself by trying to link up as many towns as possible whilst playing OpenTTD. There is something very therapeutic about building bus routes and watching your mini cities grow.  It’s one of those games you suddenly get the urge to dig out and immerse yourself in and it doesn’t matter if you can spare 5 minutes or five hours. Of course, I start playing, planning my future moves and then Mr Harpy spots what I’m up to and promptly joins and builds a massive rail network across the middle of my map. Railway hogs aside, I do love the multi-player aspect of it especially as you can both play cooperatively  for the same Transport company.

I’ve pretty much given  up on SW:Tor because it’s lacking something for me and Dragon Age: Origins always begins to pall once I hit Ostagar. That said I did drive through a place called Cullen yesterday and found myself secretly smirking. As it happens, it has a rather pretty beach.

Candy Crush is still stuck on my phone, it’s tremendously annoying but has almost cured me of chocolate completely. I’m beginning to hate the encroaching horrible stuff.

This weekend we’re off to Ireland for a few days and then I suspect on our return, we might be returning to WoW. The plan is to roll two new characters on a new for us server and to see if we can rediscover that feeling of “WoW!!!” as we wander around. Of course my desire for the <HordeBreaker> title has played no part in this decision any more than my need for shiny things such as baby Val’kyr and mini Hydras. I mean I’m not that easily swayed. Honest!

Firstly I love the conversation choices and wish all games came with them. Even without having them influence the story too much, it allows personality  to shine through which in games like WoW where you might play through quests as many as 50 times (if you’re a true altaholic) would be wonderful. If you’re feeling snarky because you’ve just been presented with your 10th poop quest in as many days, why can’t we reflect that in the way we talk to NPCs. Although given how I’d treat daily quest givers… maybe it’s no surprise that feature hasn’t been added.

Secondly, space ships don’t really do it for me. I want gothic architecture or verdant forests full of cute critters.

I suppose that’s a round about way of saying I miss WoW which as a matter of fact I do. I’m planning on coming back to grab a Qiraji Guardling just because….. whether or not I’ll stay will depend on a few things. The new pvp changes have me tossing and turning. Equality in terms of pvp gear doesn’t bother me in the slightest, my blue geared alts have taken on plenty of purpled up characters and won. No my issue is that of progression. I like to tick boxes and seeing your stats rise is a massive part of WoW, at least it always has been for me. Without that, I’m not sure the game will still have it’s draw. Sure, there is the raid finder but I’ve got a enough sources of stress and negativity without adding a voluntary one to the mix. A casual guild might work but given the sort of work I’m going to be doing, there will be some nights when all I want to do is crawl into a ball and others when it’s a case of sod killing pixels, I want to take my rage out on other players in battlegrounds. We will just have to see.

That said, if I return to WoW in any serious sense, I don’t think it will be as a healer.

Picture borrowed from Pat Fish

It’s been bugging me ever since that post, dancing just out of reach, twisting away every time I reached for it. Then with blinding clarity it came to me when I was reading your last post on muses, those most fickle mistresses. It wasn’t the tattoo I recognized but the stone carving along side it. My in-laws live around eight minutes away from the museum which houses the original. Sometimes the world seems so tiny, it makes Azeroth look huge.

Finding a Melusine on a Pictish stone stood out, although not enough clearly. Coupled with the fact that the comb and the mirror are common symbols on these stones, it makes you wonder if they knew something we didn’t.