Tales from Tyberiuss

To Glory

2010-11-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

You can click here for the larger version too.

Gold Cap

2010-09-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

On Sept 2nd, 2010, I hit the gold cap on my auctioneer toon, Mohrn.

Gold Cap 214,748Gold - 36Silver - 46Copper

Exhausted from counting his piles of gold and the epic (in his mind) battles waged in the Auction House, Mohrn falls into a satisfying deep sleep.

"I've Been Dead Before"

2010-05-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Could it be.....could it actually BE?

Daniel Howell returning as BRK......hints of him alpha testing Cataclysm.

OMG.......my inner Hunter is trembling. /squeeeee

/Commander Data fist pump....."YES!!!!"

My First HD Movie

2009-10-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

A gift to my raid team.

You can click here for the larger version too.

Enjoy!

My thoughts about future Undead Hunters

2009-09-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

1. Wont feign death be resisted by everything? I mean, a few seconds ago he looked EXACTLY the same.

2. What does jaw-less hunter sound like when whistling for his pet?

3. As a carrion eater, could he later cast "regurgitate food" to feed his pet? Ewwww!

4. Where did that snasage come from?

Booty Bay Classic

2009-05-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

On a server far, far away.......I did the post-race interview for a race of level 1 toons from Stormwind to Booty Bay. The guild was Titans of Glory (ToG).

When written, I only had their forum as a posting spot. I thought I would revive it for a flashback blog post here.

I had written the questions in a way to let the contestants RP their answers.

OK...here goes.

-------------------------------

Pk inyf onnty 10, yunii ghe .........

Wait, sorry. Those guys were Alliance. Let me restart that using the universal translator.

-------------------------

On Feb 1st, at 10pm, eleven level 1 contestants took their marks at the entrance of Stormwind, to the bemusement of many passing adventurers, all in an effort to win a foot race from there to BootyBay.

Rules were as follows:
#1 No use of consumables/buffs of any kind
#2 No use of the Spirit Healer at Any Graveyard
#3 High level friends may not help you along the way
#4 No Swimming! Although you MAY cross a river
#5 No use of flight master

The “Booty” for the top three was as follows:
1st - 100 gold and two 16 slot bags
2nd - 50 gold and two 16 slot bags
3rd - Two 16 slot bags

These were the top three finishers:
1st ~ Chaellys (Gnome/Female)
2nd ~ Bandaloke (Human/Male)
3rd ~ Nypplechops (Draenei/Female)

TOG catches up with the top 3 finishers, in an exclusive post race interview.

1st Place - - Interview with Chaellys - -
TOG: Though you appear to be in excellent shape, many fans were concerned about a gnome's small stride and how it would affect their performance. How did you train for the race and was your size an issue?
Chaellys: I have a small stride?! Says who?! Actually, I think my small stature was a great asset. Enemies seemed to overlook me and take out the bigger guys in front!

TOG: There are some fans that may not know this, but your husband ran in the race with you, finishing 2nd. We hear that he had a little too much Dwarven Ale at the post-race party in Iron Forge. Has his drinking been an issue in your marriage?
Chaellys: He does enjoy his Ale! Actually, I probably shouldn't say this, but it was part of my training strategy. Dragging him around in a drunken stupor was great for my legs!

TOG: In a competition like this it can be very cutthroat. Was there a particular strategy that seemed to work for you, aside from using your husband as ..... well .... a human shield?
Chaellys: Well, it wasn't just my husband. I'm not ashamed to admit I was willing to use anyone close by as a shield! With great success, obviously!

TOG: Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Chaellys: Fewer clothes. I definitely think my pants slowed me down. Too much drag!

TOG: We hear you're getting hit with endorsement offers from Tinkertown Hairspray and many other big names….any comments about that?
Chaellys: I've been told the correct response to this type of question is "no comment". But (and you didn't hear this from me), don't be surprised to find my picture soon in magazines like "The Healthy Gnome" and "Small and Sassy"!

TOG: We want to thank you for spending time with us. We know your new fame within Runetotem is taking up much of your time. In closing, how do you as a young gnome handle this kind of star dome, and what advice would you give to youngsters who have their eye set on entering future races?
Chaellys: Well of course you let it go straight to your head! I ran out and spent my winnings on all the latest fashions! And of course I just had to have that spa treatment. I was SUCH a mess after the race. And I definitely needed a new knife! But seriously kids, I'm no different than any of you! But for those hoping to follow in my footsteps, I say dream big! You can do anything with a human shield in front of you!

2nd Place - - Interview with Bandaloke - -
TOG: Thanks for speaking with us. You look surprisingly well after being carried to the tram last night. Is it true that you use Dwarven Ale Chaser to keep the hangover away, and that you have now picked up sponsorship from that company?
Bandaloke: Actually, I found some Gnomish Jet Fuel *blush*, which had a similar effect. Don't tell my sponsor.

TOG: Getting back to the race...the photo finish of you and Nypplechops made for a spectacular ending. As we watch this footage (switch to side GameCam replay) one angle appears to show the draenei horn of Nypplechops crossing the finish line slightly ahead of you. But it was the overhead view (switching to overhead GameCam replay), showing your wavy long hair crossing first, that officials used to finally make the call. What did you think of this ruling?.... and this from fan e-mail, what are your hair grooming secrets?
Bandaloke: I shouldn't keep this a secret, I can't even believe it would be a secret: Anyone that has been webbed by a spider knows exactly how to keep their hair in the, well, front of the race.

TOG: After the final ruling, angry fans watching the race on the Zul'Farrak jumbotron began rioting (switch to video of angry trolls rioting on temple steps). What do you say about these enthusiastic fans?
Bandaloke: Go trolls! Blue rules!

TOG: There was some other controversy during the race when a local beggar named Bluehunter shadowed the field continually asking for gold (switch to GameCam audio - Bluehunter: "...can I have 40 gold ... can I have 40 gold ... can I have 40 gold"). How much of a distraction was this and did it affect your concentration during the race?
Bandaloke: It provided mild entertainment at the beginning and the end. Now, I just hope that toon gets run over by the Deeprun Tram. Accidentally, of course.

TOG: One topic of conversation after the race was your sacrificial deaths (switch to GameCam - shows two STV gorillas ganking Bandaloke, with Chaellys following by two steps), as you cleared the way for you wife. Adoring women everywhere have been gushing over these selfless acts (switch to video of Horde fan in Undercity - Undead/Female: "golly, I could just eat him up"). You must really love Chaellys. Can you talk about your marriage with her?
Bandaloke: Who wouldn't die for their wife? I might have thought twice had I known it would include that much dying, but dying is a learning experience, and shouldn't get in the way of wishful thinking.

TOG: Wrapping up.... here is another fan question: could you please share one thing about yourself that fans might be surprised to learn?
Bandaloke: I like picking flowers.

3rd Place - - Interview with Nypplechops - -
TOG: We are with the third place finisher, Nypplechops. Your name has raised a few eyebrows. What can you tell us about the origin of it?
Nypplechops: Well, right up to my birth my parents could not agree on a name for me. My Mama chose the name right after a hospital accident involving my mama and the cord cutting process. I think you get the picture...(sobbing)…poor Mama. But my friends just call me Nyps.

TOG: There are rumors that you secretly used performance enhancing substances like Strider Dash or Essence of Ungoro to boost your speed. Care to comment?
Nypplechops: I saw my trainer putting some clear substance in my spring water, but I have no knowledge of what it was. (shifting eyes) That's all I have to say about that.

TOG: Like the other top finishers, we hear you're being offered specific endorsements from local companies like Big Booty Bay Leggings, Netherweave MaxiPads; even a foreign company, D&D Sport Bras. But even with these new contracts, we hear that you used to have a steady job as a youth that prepared you for days like this. Can you tell us about that part of your life?
Nypplechops: I used to pet-sit for a whole network of Hunters. I really enjoyed that for a time, but (shifting uncomfortably) a bad experience with one household finally made me decide to move on to other endeavors.

TOG: That sounds serious. Can you elaborate?
Nypplechops: If you must know, it all happened in the home of Featherdustr and Shallesh. That ghost wolf of his was very hard for me to take care of. It was so tough to find that rascal in the house sometimes.... being kinda of invisible and all. I would finally find him when I could feel some invisible creature sniffing my crotch. Creepy! Then there was the invisible leg humping thing. I finally got fed up with it all.

TOG: You have gotten some attention about the unorthodox path you chose, deciding not to run with the pack and blazing your own trail through the mountainous parts of Westfall and Duskwood. How did this help you and what other ways did you prepare?
Nypplechops: My support team - thanks team TomTom - scouted the hills for a few days and mapped a route for me that had little or no danger. Additionally, I trained hard in my first aid skill, packed extra armor, and even worked up my defense skills by letting the bandits around Goldshire beat the crap out of me. Even though I was a good distance ahead by the 1/2 way mark, STV was the great equalizer and soon 4-5 runners began to catch up to me. After that, timing my rez to let others catch aggro was about the only tactic I had left. In the end, there is still a huge element of luck involved in a race like this. My congratulations goes out to Chaellys for her win.

TOG: And in a big scoop, witnesses have reported seeing you boarding the aircraft of Father (switch to picture TOG founder), at his private airstrip in the mountains over Iron Forge. Is this true?
Nypplechops: Yes it is. But the relationship is purely platonic. I mean, after all, I'm L2 and he's like L??..... that's ancient. Seriously though, the plane trip involved a small shoot in a music video for his new album, Father and the Exodar-Street Band.

TOG:That wraps up the post race interviews.

Lazy Evening Turns Epic

2009-04-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well..... I sat down at my desk for a lazy evening. I thought I would work on some team administration stuff, maybe do some dailies, and then work the auction house some.

That lazy evening quickly turned around when I got an instant message from JT saying...

JT - "hey, someone is asking around for you in guild chat"

Ed - (/confused) "what do they want?"

JT - "something about a drake run"

Ed - (/shifting to high gear) "I'm logging in now"

So, to explain.......I had signed up on a guild forum thread to go on a Drake Run to heroic Caverns of Time. The drake only drops from one of the last bosses if you complete the run in a certain amount of time (25min, I think). The folks who organize this run already have their own drakes, and do this run as a service to the guild. You can only qualify for a CHANCE to go if you PM the thread author with the secret word from the AIE Podcast. I never expected to win the slot to go, but I did; and I guess I expected that someone would have sent me a forum mail or something. I found out later that they sent me in-game mail only. Since I had not logged in that day, I had no idea I was selected to go. Thanks again JT for the heads up. We made it through, and I'm now the owner of a spiffy Bronze Drake. (click to enlarge)

My good luck did not end there.....and I am almost embarrassed to write about it.

As I was posing with the Drake Run group for a final picture, Dills (guildie hunter/podcaster that I occasionally correspond with) sent me a whisper to join them on a 25-man Naxx run. I said yes, wondering if I was really ready for this, and quickly got summoned to the raid.

I look at the raid composition and see that I'm the ONLY hunter there, which gets me a few nudges when I arrive.

We proceeded into the Abomination Wing, clear trash, and setup for Patchwerk.

Patchwerk was a long steady fight, and we down him.
Loot for me = the Arrowsong bow....No competition on rolls.

Grobbulus was next, and we down him too. Though I was a little confused about the mutating injection debuff.
Loot for me = Slime Stream Bands.....No competition for rolls on this wrist item.

Gluth was next, with me being the only noob who fell off the pipe during the walk in. The noob gets a summon 50 feet back up to the pipe. /face palm
Loot = the T7 chest token drops (Warrior, Shamy, Hunter)
......I passed - got 2 epics already.

Finally, on to Thaddius. He had an interesting polar charge mechanic to the fight, basically killing you if you got on the wrong side of him during the polarity shifts. Movement in the counter-clockwise circle to avoid the debuff, yet gain the damage buff, are the basics of the fight. After 3-4 wipes, the raid stopped at around 1am server.

That was an intense evening!

With dual Fang of Truth (fitted with Titanium Weapon Chains), gems, and enchants to my new gear....... I will happily be at the 263 hit cap. Woot! Thanks to Dreydak and Firfeldre for the crafting.

L80 Snuck Up On Me

2009-04-06T06:27:00.001-07:00

I knew I was getting close, but this little Oracle NPC (Jaloot) pushed me over the top. It kinda surprised me, so I was a little slow on screen pic.

Of course, Mugato had no regard for my glorious picture moment.....scratching his butt is a normal part of life.

I also recently attained 450 in Cooking, First Aid, Mining, and Enchanting. With my Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole in hand, getting 450 in Fishing will not be far behind.

Now I'm off to pursue items on my gear wish list, and pickup working on an alt toon.

Thanks to everyone who shared in my journey to L80.

Warcraft Daily Quests

2009-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt to pull together all my daily/reputation quest notes from reading blogs and listening to podcasts. Right now, it's just written for the Horde perspective, and I plan to revise this as I learn more about the quests or get feedback from any readers that may stumble upon this blog. It's mostly a means for me to keep it all organized in one spot. If someone else finds it useful too, that's great!

The Kalu'ak
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests (some may have pre-req):
L68 - Preparing for the Worst (Kaskala, Borean Tundra)
L69 - The Way to His Heart (Kamagua, Howling Fjord)
L71 - Planning for the Future (Moa'ki Harbor, Dragonblight)

Below L80
500rep + 20300xp + 5.00G
500rep + 20100xp + 7.40G
500rep + 20300xp + 5.00G
----------------------------------
1500rep + 60700xp + 17.40G

At L80
500rep + 00000xp + 4.86G
500rep + 00000xp + 0.00G
500rep + 00000xp + 4.86G
----------------------------------
1500rep + 00000xp + 9.72G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Wyrmrest Accord
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests (some may have pre-req):
L69 - Drake Hunt (Transitus Shield, Borean Tundra)
L71 - Defending Wyrmrest Temple (Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight)
L80 - Aces High! (Upper Ring Nexus, Borean Tundra)

Under L80
250rep + 20100xp + 4.70G
250rep + 20750xp + 5.60G
N/A
----------------------------------
500rep + 41850xp + 10.30G

At L80
250rep + 00000xp + 2.40G
250rep + 00000xp + 9.96G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
----------------------------------
750rep + 00000xp + 25.59G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Horde Expedition
~made up of these sub-factions:
.....The Hand of Vengeance
.....The Taunka
.....Warsong Offensive
.....The Sunreavers

Items you can get through quartermaster.
Rep items from the vendor.
All Horde Expedition (only) quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests (some may have pre-req):
L73 - Blackriver Brawl (Captain Kronn, Grizzly Hills)
..........this is a PvP quest that also gains you 10 Venture Company Coins

Under L80
250rep + 20750xp + 5.60G + 10coin

At L80
250rep + 00000xp + 9.96G + 10coin

Items you can get with Venture Coins.

Quests (most are PvP Daily) for Venture
Coins in Venture Bay, Grizzly Hills:
L73 - Crush Captain Brightwater! (General Khazgar)
L73 - Keep Them at Bay (Centurion Kaggrum)
L73 - Riding the Red Rocket (General Gorlok)
L73 - Smoke 'Em Out (Stone Guard Ragetotem)
L73 - Seeking Solvent [non-daily] (Gurtor)
L73 - Always Seeking Solvent [non-daily repeatable] (Gurtor)

Under L80
000rep + 20750xp + 5.60G + 10coin
000rep + 20750xp + 5.60G + 10coin
000rep + 20750xp + 5.60G + 10coin
000rep + 20750xp + 5.60G + 10coin
-------------------------------------------
000rep + 83000xp + 22.40G + 40coin

At L80
000rep + 00000xp + 9.96G + 10coin
000rep + 00000xp + 9.96G + 10coin
000rep + 00000xp + 9.96G + 10coin
000rep + 00000xp + 9.96G + 10coin
-------------------------------------------
000rep + 00000xp + 39.84G + 40coin

The Hand of Vengeance
Note - Other than gold and XP, I see no reason to pursue increasing this faction.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Taunka
Note - Other than gold and XP, I see no reason to pursue increasing this faction.
All quests that gain you rep.

Warsong Offensive
Note - Other than gold and XP, I see no reason to pursue increasing this faction.

All quests that gain you rep: Page 1 Page 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Oracles (at war with Frenzyheart Tribe)
Items you can get through quartermaster (Protodrake egg is in here).
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests in Sholazar Basin:
L76 - Appeasing the Great Rain Stone (High-Oracle Soo-say)
L76 - Mastery of the Crystals (Oracle Soo-dow)
L76 - Power of the Great Ones (Oracle Soo-dow)
L76 - Will of the Titans (Oracle Soo-dow)
L77 - A Cleansing Song (Oracle Soo-nee)
L77 - Song of Fecundity (Oracle Soo-nee)
L77 - Song of Reflection (Oracle Soo-nee)
L77 - Song of Wind and Water (Oracle Soo-nee)

Under L80
500rep + 21400xp + 6.50G
700rep + 27000xp + 13.60G
700rep + 27000xp + 13.60G
700rep + 27000xp + 13.60G
500rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
500rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
500rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
500rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
------------------------------------
4600rep + 190600xp + 76.90G

At L80
500rep + 00000xp + 12.84G
700rep + 00000xp + 16.20G
700rep + 00000xp + 16.20G
700rep + 00000xp + 16.20G
500rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
500rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
500rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
500rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
------------------------------------
4600rep + 00000xp + 114.36G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brunnhildar Village
One notable set of non-rep dailies in Storm Peaks are at Brunnhildar Village. Besides XP/Gold for these dailies, the rewarded Hyldnir Spoils have a 1% chance to contain the Reins of the White Polar Bear.
L77 - Maintaining Discipline
L77 - Back to the Pit
L77 - Defending Your Title
L77 - The Aberrations Must Die
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sons of Hodir
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests (some may have pre-req) in Storm Peaks:
L77 - Blowing Hodir's Horn (Hodir's Horn)
L77 - Feeding Arngrim (Arngrim the Insatiable)
L77 - Hot and Cold (Fjorn's Anvil)
L77 - Polishing the Helm (Hodir's Helm)
L77 - Spy Hunter (Frostworg Denmother)
L77 - Thrusting Hodir's Spear (Hodir's Spear)

Under L80
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
350rep + 00000xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
350rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
500rep + 27550xp + 14.80G
------------------------------------
1950rep + 115750xp + 51.80G

At L80
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
350rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
350rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
500rep + 00000xp + 16.53G
------------------------------------
1950rep + 00000xp + 82.68G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knights of the Ebon Blade
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests in Icecrown:
L77 - From Their Corpses, Rise! (Setaal Darkmender)
L77 - Intelligence Gathering (Aurochs Grimbane)
L77 - Leave Our Mark (Baron Sliver)
L77 - No Fly Zone (Uzo Deathcaller)
L77 - Shoot 'Em Up (The Leaper)
L77 - Vile Like Fire! (Vile)

Under L80
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
250rep + 22050xp + 3.70G
------------------------------------
1500rep + 132300xp + 40.70G

At L80
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
------------------------------------
1500rep + 00000xp + 79.38G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Argent Crusade
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

The Daily Quests in Zul'Drak:
L74 - Congratulations! (Commander Kunz)
L74 - Troll Patrol (Commander Kunz)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Can You Dig It? (Captain Brandon)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Creature Comforts (Captain Grondel)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Done to Death (Captain Rupert)
L74 - Troll Patrol: High Standards (Captain Brandon)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Something for the Pain (Captain Brandon)
L74 - Troll Patrol: The Alchemist's Apprentice (Alchemist Finklestein)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Throwing Down (Captain Rupert)
L74 - Troll Patrol: Whatdya Want, a Medal? (Captain Grondel)
L75 - Troll Patrol: Couldn't Care Less (Captain Grondel)
L77 - Slaves to Saronite (Brother Keltan, Orgrim's Hammer Airship, Icecrown)

Under L80
350rep + 26450xp + 18.60G + Patroller's Pack
350rep + 21150xp + 6.20G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
025rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
075rep + 5300xp + 1.58G
250rep + 22050xp + 7.40G
------------------------------------
1475rep + 117350xp + 46.42G

At L80
350rep + 00000xp + 19.50G + Patroller's Pack
350rep + 00000xp + 12.69G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
025rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
075rep + 00000xp + 3.18G
250rep + 00000xp + 13.23G
------------------------------------
1475rep + 00000xp + 74.04G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kirin Tor
Items you can get through quartermaster.
All quests that gain you rep.

Daily Cooking Quests in Dalaran (see Awilo Lon'gomba):
L65 - Cheese for Glowergold
L65 - Convention at the Legerdemain
L65 - Infused Mushroom Meatloaf
L65 - Mustard Dogs!
L65 - Sewer Stew

Under L80 for 5 days (depends on random quest)
750rep + 73850xp + 29.00G + 5 Cooking Awards + 5 Spice Bags

At L80 for 5 days (depends on random quest)
750rep + 00000xp + 49.65G + 5 Cooking Awards + 5 Spice Bags

Note: Spice bags can contain multiple Northern Spices and extra Cooking Awards.

Daily Jewelcrafting Quests in Dalaran:
L65 - Shipment: Blood Jade Amulet
L65 - Shipment: Bright Armor Relic
L65 - Shipment: Glowing Ivory Figurine
L65 - Shipment: Intricate Bone Figurine
L65 - Shipment: Shifting Sun Curio

Under L80 for 5 days
125rep + 63250xp + 37.00G + 5 Jewelcrafter's Tokens

At L80 for 5 days
125rep + 00000xp + 66.15G + 5 Jewelcrafter's Tokens

Daily Dungeon Quests at Dalaran (see Archmage Timear):
L78 - Timear Foresees Centrifuge Constructs in your Future! [Oculus]
L78 - Timear Foresees Infinite Agents in your Future! [Culling of Stratholme]
L78 - Timear Foresees Titanium Vanguards in your Future! [Halls of Lightning]
L78 - Timear Foresees Ymirjar Berserkers in your Future! [Utgarde Pinnacle]

Under L80 over 4 days
250rep + 59.20G + 4 Commendation Badges

At L80 over 4 days
250rep + 79.44G + 4 Commendation Badges

Note: Each commendation is worth 250 rep towards faction of your choice; Kirin Tor, Argent Crusade, Ebon Blade, Wyrmrest.

Daily Heroic Quests at Dalaran (see Archmage Lan'dalock):
L80 - Proof of Demise: Anub'arak [Azjol-Nerub]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Cyanigosa [The Violet Hold]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Gal'darah [Gundrak]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Herald Volazj [Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Ingvar the Plunderer [Utgarde Keep]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Keristrasza [The Nexus]
L80 - Proof of Demise: King Ymiron [Utgarde Pinnacle]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Ley-Guardian Eregos [The Oculus]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Loken [Halls of Lightning]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Mal'Ganis [The Culling of Stratholme]
L80 - Proof of Demise: Sjonnir The Ironshaper [Halls of Stone]
L80 - Proof of Demise: The Prophet Tharon'ja [Drak'Tharon Keep]

At L80
75rep + 26.46G + 2 Emblems of Heroism - per day

Adventure Pics

2009-03-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is not a content blog...just a collage of pictures over last few weeks. (click to enlarge)

Some Wicked Gear

Shadow Labyrinth

Karazhan

Magisters' Terrace

Utgarde Keep

The Nexus

Travel on Clanky Planes

Soaring on Dragons

Peaceful Reflection

Porkchop Goes Out To Pasture

2009-03-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

In a private moment at a beautiful, secluded location, I tearfully removed Porkchop's armor and released him to the wild. I did not feel it was fair to keep him cooped up in the stables as Mugato took over the roll of tanking pet.

Please cherish your memories of Porkchop, as he accompanied our early groups many times .... always with a feisty and loyal attitude.

But in a leap from WoW to RL, Porchop is now personified in my home. As you can see below, he still maintains his feisty attitude. In this picture he is rutting and scraping on my new Gorilladin shirt. He is still a little upset about being replaced as tanking pet by Mugato (my gorilla).
The future of boars as stronger tanking pets may be a bit brighter. Blizzard has hinted about reworking the tenacity class pets, resulting in more powerful abilities for all of them.

If that day comes, Porkchop could make a triumphant return to WoW.

/que Born Free music here.

/snif

Mohrn Gets An Upgrade

2009-02-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Tyberiuss: Hey Mohrn, what are you doing? I've been looking all over for ya.

Mohrn: (puts down book titled: How to Make Millions Selling Furry Tails) Well, Hi Tyberiuss. Thanks for finally stopping by. I've been just sitting here at the Undercity Auction House trying to make you some money.

Tyberiuss: (looks at Mohrn's book with concern) Uh...how's that going by the way.

Mohrn: Pretty good. We got enough for your flying mount, but I'm waiting on a few things to pan out on some stocked up materials we have. Just watching the market change on those before we unload em.

Tyberiuss: That's good news.

Mohrn: But that Enchanting hobby of yours is cutting in to our profits. And what happened to that flow of ore you used to send me?

Tyberiuss: Lets just say I'm saving up some karma for a motorcycle, made by an engineer I know.

Mohrn: Oh man....can I get one?

Tyberiuss: Dude, you walk from here to the upstairs ring! That's it.

Mohrn: Not true. Once in a while I cruise out to the Blackwater Auctionhouse in Stranglethorn. And by the way....the upstairs ring is called The Promenade, you noob.

Tyberiuss: Whatever! Lets go up to THE PROMINADE and get the mail. I sent you a special little gadget.

Tyberiuss: Hey...why do your clothes look just like you fell into this stuff and got slimmed.

Mohrn: Funny! Yes, I fell in it. But for the record, I did not get slimmed....the slime got Mohrn-ed.

Tyberiuss: (rolls eyes)

Tyberiuss: Ok...where is the mailbox?

Mohrn: Under that pile of Kodos.

Tyberiuss: (yell) Back up people. Your mounts are very impressive, but I can't get my mail.

Mohrn: What is this gadget you sent me?

Tyberiuss: Its called a Neural Impulse Actuator.

Mohrn: (glances around nervously) What am I supposed to do with it?

Tyberiuss: It will allow you to tap into all kinds of info, greatly improving your AH abilities.....after we install it.

Mohrn: Install it?

Tyberiuss: We need to go down to sick bay and get it fitted to you first.

Mohrn: Oh man! I hate that place. Do we have to go down there?

Tyberiuss: Look...this has all kinds of other features. Just last week Darkdoc used one of these to take the brain out of The Lurker, and then stuck it into a Sporregar. Doc can even control Zartin, his bodyguard, with it.

Mohrn: (with astonished look) Really?

Tyberiuss: (fingers crossed behind his back) Yep!

Mohrn: Fine..Fine...lets go to sickbay before I change my mind.

Tyberiuss: Cool! Lets go. I want to ride down on the turbolift.

Mohrn: (running to catch up) You can't get down there from....

Tyberiuss: Hey....what the heck is Ponfarr doing over there?

Mohrn: Uh...not sure. Lets check it out.

Tyberiuss: (raised right eyebrow at Ponfarr)

Tyberiuss: Hey Pon, I don't understand everything you rogues do, but WHAT are you doing?

Ponfarr: Isn't it obvious? I'm practicing my pickpocket skills.

Tyberiuss: Uh....I think you're doing it wrong.

Ponfarr: Hey...buzz off. Did I criticize you for your weird pet grooming methods?

~ FLASHBACK SCENE ~

Mohrn: (Smiles wryly at Tyberiuss) What's she talking about?

Tyberiuss: (Backs away slowly) Nevermind! Gee, what's her problem?

Mohrn: She's Level 21. She goes through a major mood swing every 7 levels or so.

Tyberiuss: Really? Man, she's creepy. Lets get going.

(Arive at sickbay)

Tyberiuss: Lay down here and I'll find someone to fix you up.

Mohrn: (Wakes up 20 minutes later and stares at ceiling with intense look)

Tyberiuss: How do you feel? Is it working?

Mohrn: Too .... much .... information.

Tyberiuss: (adjust big, obvious dial on side of Mohrn's headset) That any better? Tell me what's happening.

Mohrn: (blink...blink)
- Someone just bought my ridiculously over priced firecrackers
- A hunter got kicked for TALKING TOO LOUD in g-chat
- I won that bid for Wirt's Third Leg
- I can hear everything in Barrens Chat
- ...... and ...... I know Kung Fu

Tyberiuss: (rubs hands together) EXCELLENT!

Tyberiuss: Ok buddy! Just make sure you wash your hands later after handling that.... Leg.

Ding!

2009-02-04T06:31:00.001-08:00

At least this L70 didn't take me as long to get as my last one. Coincidentally though, the quest turn-in to push me over occurred in the same place as my last L70....Area 52.

I had some nice epic L70 gear I got from Kara just waiting to slide on. I know...I'll replace them soon after setting foot in Northrend. Just let me enjoy the purples for a while.

Head = Cowl of Defiance
Gloves = Gloves of Quickening
Neck = Saberclaw Talisman

Thanks to Firfeldre, I had some gems ready to go for them too.

I even got this Valanos' Longbow for a steal off the AH a while back.

Thanks to Asterien for the scope that I fitted to it.

Here is my Armory link....if anyone cares.

Not sure if I'll go off to Northrend immediately. I may poke around Quel'Danas for a little bit.

Old Things, New Again

2009-01-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is my second trip through Outlands, but this time its from the Horde prospective; and came with new friends, and renewed adventuring interest.

However, the heat and supernatural glare of Hellfire Peninsula requires a poor Orc to sometimes wear special attire......like ruby sunglasses. I never looked better! (click to enlarge)

Speaking of looking good, I picked up that spiffy new gun during my adventures. This well oiled steel beauty is not only a trusty weapon, but its intimidating looks scares off Gnomes at Broken Hill. When casting a simple gaze at it, lesser classes are forced to ask "hey, did you steal that off a dead Fel Reaver or something"?

And fresh to my stables is Terok the Terrible. This exotic pet once terrified travelers of the Ungoro Crater (aka Land of the Lost), sneaking up on the innocent and stomping them into a mud hole. I saved him from this repetitious, yet rewarding, life.... allowing him the privelage of fighting along side our main tanks and dutifully saving our healers from certain deaths. He and Mugato seem to be getting along fine. (click to enlarge)

My adventures began with a visit to Hellfire Ramparts and Blood Furnace, with old friends Asterien and Fluoxx. We were also joined by new friends Paladills and Thelindael. See performance report of that 01/02/09 Blood Furnace mission here. My loot included the earlier mentioned gun.

The next trip was into Zangarmarsh, a swamp filled with fungal giants and giant mushrooms. After the long swim into the depths of the Coilfang Resevoir, we arrived at the entrance to the dungeons of Slave Pens and the Underbog. View the 01/09/09 performance of Slave Pens here, and Underbog here.

A few days later, we joined our old friend Darkdoc, who applied his healing arts on our party as we all looked for loot in a return visit to Hellfire Ramparts and Blood Furnace. Doc also brought along his new body guard, Zartin. Zartin the Deathknight performed his duties very well, as it seemed that he never left Doc's side; always staying within two feet of him. Below we are shown standing at the feet (are those feet?) of Broggok, one of our defeted foes. View the 01/10/09 performance report of Hellfire Ramparts here, and Blood Furnace here. (click to enlarge picture)

Then came another visit to Slave Pens. We were join by new friends Scynteck and Dauntless. View the 01/14/09 performance report of Slave Pens here.

Wrapping up the week, our travels into the Terrokar Forest ended as we arrived at Auchindoun, a former Draenei holy site. Within that site, the ethereal beings of the Consortium allowed us to pass into the Mana Tombs to hunt down Prince Shaffar.

There were some strange gadgets in that place. I'm not sure what this was, but I felt compelled to stand on it for some reason. (click to enlarge)

Joining us in this lastest mission was our old friend, Firfeldre. View the 01/15/09 performance report of Mana Tombs here.

All that traveling around can wear an Orc out. Its a good thing I had this speedy new mount to carry me around. I never had to wrangle this Zhevra steed, it just strangly showed up at my home one day.... ready for use. (click to enlarge)

At the end of the day, its great to kick back and maybe even have a little cook out. My new Survivalist Pike came in handy for that job. But as you can see, my weenie kept falling off into the fire....I hate it when that happens! (click to enlarge)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

A group of us ventured into the watery depths of Sunken Temple a little while back, with some of us finishing up our class quests. Here we are playing with our pets after killing one of the dragons.

My wife got to do some adventuring lately too. Here is Nahrcissa taking a break in Duskwood after becoming an expert skeleton killer there. She was fascinated by that critter in the bushes and kept trying to coax it out to make friends. It was a little shy.

Tyberiuss moved on through the Dark Portal finally! Outlands await.....

But when I get there, I find all these great gifts lying around for me ..... some on the ground, others in my mailbox.

Oh, look at this one .... a mechanical squirrel. That's cute, but why is it looking at me like that? I really need to find the directions to this thing.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Moonglade

2008-11-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

Wasn't Princess Theradras of Maraudon a real cutie pie?

~Princess Theradras Bio (from Wiki)
She is an elemental force of earth related to the Old Gods, a daughter of Therazane the Stonemother. Ages ago, Theradras and Zaetar, first son of Cenarius, began a relationship. The offspring of their time together became known to the people of Kalimdor as centaurs, who promptly slew their father for his part in their misbegotten creation. Fearful of Cenarius' wrath, the grief-stricken Theradras sequestered her dead lover's body in her secret sanctuary, the Crystal Caverns of Terramok, where she watches over him to this day. Travelers who come to Desolace have little trouble spotting Zaetar's tomb, for the blessing of nature that permeates his being transformed his resting place into a verdant paradise of flora and tranquil pools. Today, this tomb is now trodden by the hooves of Zaetar's children, who have claimed this great cavern as their sacred stronghold Maraudon. The subterranean tunnels are populated by the vicious, long-dead ghosts of the centaur Khans, as well as Theradras' own raging, elemental minions.

I managed to get to Moonglade last night to turn in the Seed of Life quest. My first attempt to drown myself so I could exploit the spirit rez didn't work so good. Just before drowning I must have tapped one of the move keys and it nudged me into the adjacent zone....I rezed in Darkshore instead. The next attempt went fine. Afterwards, I stopped in at Nighthaven to see what they had to sell. I couldn't leave without getting Mugato some peaches.

~History of Nighthaven (from Wiki)
This city once held the largest concentration of night elves anywhere on Kalimdor. Massive trees, ancients, and many forest beasts fill the surrounding woods. Nighthaven has survived for centuries despite demon and undead attacks, and the night elves protect their home fiercely. They are very cautious of whom they let enter the village. High elves are not allowed under any circumstances, and anyone smelling of arcane power is likewise turned away. Those allowed entry find Nighthaven hospitable, though a subdued and even eerie place. Night elves run the inns, taverns, and shops, and their way of life is rooted in nature. This spiritual heritage manifests in many small ways that foreigners may find unsettling - from how the buildings are constructed to mesh with the surrounding woods to a wildness that seems to lurk just beneath a quiet demeanor. While visitors may come and go as they please for the most part, they are never allowed near moon wells. In addition, any high elves seen near a moon well are attacked on sight.

Instead of hearthing out, I decided to explore some and then visit Felwood, a zone I had never been in. That plan involved traveling through the tunnel of angry Furbolgs to get out. Before leaving Moonglade I grabbed the Horde flight point very close to the tunnel entrance. Most of the way through the L53 Furbolgs went fine, with 2 and 3 pull encounters. However, things got real difficult towards the exit when Mugato had to tank 5 of them, and I had to chain-trap a 6th. We lived!....much to the surprise of two waiting Draenei, who were able to then waltz right down the tunnel without a scratch. They could have at least given Mugato a thank you banana.

Felwood is a little depressing, but after visiting Bloodvenom Post, I'm considering doing my L50s questing in that zone rather than Hinterlands. They also have three cooking recipes there that are good for progression of that skill. I'm interested in seeing what fish come out of the slimmy ponds in Felwood. Another motive for staying is that during some of my older AH research, I discovered that this zone can yield a vanity pet called a Disgusting Oozeling. Maybe I can bring one home for each of us.

Maraudon

2008-11-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

Maraudon has GOT to be the longest instance in the game. We have still not gotten all the way through it, but have hauled in some good upgrades and had lots of fun. I'm still refining my guide for this place.

Tyberiuss replaced his helmet with the Bloomsprout Headpiece (kinda looks like a hippie headband), and his pants with the Infernal Trickster Leggings.

Over both sessions, attendees were:
Tyberiuss, Asterien, Nowand, Darkdoc, Vynaron, and Fluoxx.

Here is the stat report from the second mission to Maraudon.

~Bacchus Achievement
You may remember me writing that I’m not interested in any of the achievements; if I get one, great!.if I don’t, that’s ok too.

However, before the achievement system was added, there was one "goal" I had in the game that has continued to elude me!.. winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Tournament with my alliance hunter, Bacchus.

The event is held every Sunday at 2pm (server) and I have participated many times; and at best, I come in around 5 fish short of the winner (first to 40 wins).

Last Sunday, I hoped to take advantage of the WotLK launch and win the tournament while all he L70s were in Northrend. No such luck! There were still L70s there, apparently with the same idea as me. I lost by 5 fish again......dang it.

Zombies in my Bedroom

2008-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

So, starting this post off in a personal direction, I have a funny story to tell you. When I sleep, I like to have the room totally dark.....and there is a good reason for this. Any kind of light shadows on the wall or ceiling will cause me problems when I occasionally stir, because in my groggy, dream-fading thoughts, my mind starts to play tricks on me and makes up strange reasons for what I'm seeing. This happens a lot to me, but on rare occasions I will act upon or speak out loud about what I'm perceiving....much to my wife's amusement. Also, stressful life events of the day have also caused me to partially awake and act-out remaining portions of dreams related to those stressful events. During morning breakfast I will get laugh-filled reports from my wife about these rare antics of mine.

Some of my more funny episodes include:
New Hotel Accounting Job - My wife and I awoke one Saturday morning, to see strange and expansive scribbling on my side of the bed sheet. After closely examining these marks, I discovered that some time during the night I had reached over to my nightstand, grabbed an INK PEN, and began writing room rates and accounts receivable info on the bed. I'm glad she was not too mad about that.

New Aircraft Mechanic Job - My wife was awakened when I asked her to pass me a 5/16" wrench. When she asked "what for?", I told her I was taking the engine starter off. She proceeded to play along by passing me imaginary tools as I asked for them....all while I made wrench turning motions in the air.

My newest episode can be blamed on WoW. I routinely stir and have dream-fading thoughts about WoW, but last night I spoke out about it......waking my wife in the process. Her morning report included accounts of me pointing to our bedroom ceiling fan, and referencing a zombie necropolis in the sky. I then began pointing to the light shadows on the wall, and started explaining to my wife that wherever the light beams come out of the necropolis, zombies will be there. She opted not to play along with this one, but knew exactly what I was talking about. I went back to sleep after the raid wiped them out.

Look at this. You can totally see how I could have gotten freaked out.

The zombie event was fun, but apparently I've gotten too large a dose of them.

~Zul'Farrak
This instance is one of my favorites. And fresh into my stables, Mugato made an appearance with me in his first instance. He was a little overzealous on the thunder stomps, but I finally got him calmed down. Make sure to give him a hug when you meet him. He is very anxious to meet the rest of the group, especially Nowand, since I had to explain to Mugato that there are actually boy and girl bloodelfs. He is not convinced, and still thinks all bloodelfs are girls.

The rest of our ZF crew consisted of Asterien, Darkdoc, Firfeldre, and Yrys. While almost everyone came away with the Carrot on a Stick as a quest reward, some folks also got some blues.

Firfeldre picked up Big Bad Pauldrons. Darkdoc got the Bad Mojo Mask.

I recorded the combat log that evening on a WoW Web Stat Report. Make sure to click on the toon name to get even more details. This is a great tool, and reviewing the content may help the attendees get a better idea of their performance at the micro level. Check it out soon, as the free version only maintains the report for around two weeks.

Report Snapshot

~Running of the Beef 4: The Resurrection
Some of our group did partake in this event. We all rezd on the Stormwind Cathedral steps, and proceeded to wreak havoc amongst the terrified inhabitants. Here is a pic of us all in the spirit world just before resurrecting. My toon created just for the event was named Fmundacheeze.

Halloween Thoughts

2008-10-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

"You guys look so much alike. Are you brothers?" was a common question folks would ask when seeing us brothers running around in the summer.

Not knowing if that was good or bad to look like your brother, we would begrudingly respond with "Uh....yea, we're brothers." ---> /Smack little brother on back of head

Now we play WoW together, and get the same question. See picture of us.......yes, the resemblance is uncanny. Now stop bugn us about lookn alike!

~Don't Go In There
When growing up in the desert & mountain areas of California, my youth was not filled with X-box and PC games.....rather, the outdoors was my playground and the toys made from the cool stuff I found.

My brothers and I figured out ways to entertain ourselves by catching snakes, black widows, and scorpions (future WoW Hunters in the making). We built awesome forts out of anything we could find.....car hoods, tumble weeds, and sun-bleached bones were just some of our building blocks.

When not on foot through the rough stuff, we rode our bikes with abandon. We did crazy stunts, got skinned up, and got up to do it all again..... all without helmets! We would even wreck on purpose sometimes......into each other......in front of an on-coming car ..... just to freak them out. It was a different time then.

When I think back on those times during Halloween, I consider how different the culture is today by comparison.

When we went trick-or-treating then, it was till 1AM. And the last part of that evening was not spent asking for candy, but just being mischievous. It was like a night unlike any other. Our folks let us be......we came back alive, but maybe with more fake blood on us than when we left.

My most memorable Halloween involved an occurrence that was very unusual for me. It was at a mobile home, where the inhabitants invited us in for treats (you parents reading this are probably getting the willies right now). I was thinking that there must be really good candy inside, right......there wasn't. Instead, there was a long table set up with all kinds of delicious foods. These weren't the kinds of foods you stuff in a pillow case and leave with, no. It was deliciously messy foods like cake, ice-cream, donuts, yummy sandwiches, and hot cider. This was so different! We had to sit around the table to pickup and eat what we wanted, because we couldn't carry it. In the midst of this once-in-a-lifetime buffet, was a weathered old man, seated directly at the head of the table. Is this sending up a red flag to any of you readers?

Admittedly, this was a little weird to me then, but our group stayed anyway. As we ate, the man's eyes moved to each of us one by one, and he asked us about our costumes. "Who are you dressed up as", he would dryly ask. We responded between bites with, "a ghost" .... "a devil" .... "an angel" .... "a vampire", and around the table we each revealed the mystery of our costumes.

Continuing to eat what was on our stuffed plates, the old man told us stories of his youth and the spooky things he remembered doing on Halloween. I don't remember any of those stories now, but have always remembered how he brightened up and transformed into a seemingly more youthful person as he spoke. We left there with no more candy than when we arrived, but instead I took away the memory of that event.....it has always stuck with me.

It's 30 years later now, and if I could somehow visit that old man today, I would. I have always wanted to hear his stories again, listen to the details of his youth, and remember them this time.

Razorfen Downs and more

2008-10-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

~Scarlet Monastery
The Cathedral section was the next stop in the monastery, and required carefull pulls. Use of Freeze Trap, Concussive Shot, and well-timed ranged shots helped keep the fights controlled to 3-4 mobs at a time. We did have a couple of wipes when pulls went bad, so we kept learning along the way. Here we are at the altar after killing the final boss, Commander Mograine.

~Razorfen Downs
This was a step back in difficulty level, but was extremely long for this level of dungeon. Is was great to have Vynaron along for his Shackle Undead, since the place was full of them. The crowd control of Sap (care of Zeil), Freeze Trap, and Shackle really helped when the pulls were five at a time. Here you see Tyberiuss and Porkchop standing on the massive pile of bones that served as Mordresh's throne......but our team de-throned him.

~Other News
My brother has begun playing WoW. He and I are linked under the Refer a Friend program, so expect to see us leveling together at 3x the experience points. His toon is a hunter named Wulfgahr, and I created a paladin named Retnox to hang with him. As we level up, I may dust off Ponfarr to adventure with him, and then later Tyberiuss will step in for the final stretch to L60 (when the 3x bonus stops). So put Retnox and Wulfgahr on your friends list, and pitch my bro a "hello" from the gang.

~Runetotem
Bacchus finally dropped the gold on a Swift Stormsaber. This cat is fast .... and its a real chick magnet too.

And after the guild found out one night that Bacchus was three bubbles from L70, they all teamed up to help me push through to the end. Here is Bacchus at the moment L70 glory. /cry .... I finally made it!

With L70 comes a few perks. One of which is the opportunity to get your own flying mount. Bacchus painfully plunked down the 6000 gold (ty Midgetfist) for the epic fast flying mount, but giggled the rest of the evening while trying out his new Swift Red Griffon. Yes Mom, I just HAD to get the red one!

Scarlet Monastery

2008-09-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

~The Armory
We adventured through the first three instances of Scarlet Monastery a few days ago, with great success. We got some good upgrades and had no wipes, and concluded with killing Herod the Scarlet Champion in the Armory.

Pictured here is my new Chesterfall Musket (Fluoxx is afraid of it) obtained as loot from the Monastery. Also seen in picture below is a shiny new enchant to my Armor Piercer that was obtained during the AIE craft fair last Saturday (9pm-12).

~Craft Fair
Speaking of the craft fair, I dropped skinning and decided to pick up the enchanting profession. During the huge craft fair there were lots of donated enchanting dusts, and I leveled from L1 to L255 in one evening. The mats are getting expensive at this point, so I'm going to sit on it for a while and slowly collect some mats at good deals in the auction house. I have an awesome list of enchants I can do for my buds at this point, so just ask. Also during the craft fair, there were donated ores that I smelted to get my mining skill up, then returned the bars to be used by the engineers and blacksmiths. The fair was a little hectic, but was a great experience overall.

~Runetotem
Bacchus is still trudging along towards L70. I upgraded his mele weapon to the standard hunter pick for that level, the Crystalforged War Axe.

While still adventuring in Shadowmoon Valley, I stumbled upon Uvuros, a monstrous core hound. My thoughts turned towards WotLK and how core hounds can be a tamed. Uvuros would look awesome as my next pet. Notice.....I'm standing really far away from him (on hill background), using my Eagle Eye ability to take the pic.

Before going to bed at the Inn, I could not help but take this creative picture. It kinda looks like a massive new Druid helmet, but its really a wall trophy on my head. Hey....its not a lamp shade. I'll blame it on the Dwarven Ale!

~Authenticators
Have you got yours yet? I just did, and it works great! Only $6.50...that's cheap protection.

Level 70 on Horizon

2008-09-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Tyberiuss spent the week resting and waiting for his buds to come back to WoW. He sits snug at an Inn somewhere in the Arathi Highlands.....still at L33.

But this downtime for Tyberiuss led to much adventuring for Bacchus.

~Naxxramas
There was a server wide invite for a raid on Naxxramas, which Bacchus signed up for. It was organized for people to see this old world dungeon before it gets transplanted to Northrend in the future expansion. He was attuned and all ready to go, but we did not get enough people to show. The signups indicated that we had plenty of players, but the storms and high winds from hurricane Ike were later blamed for why there where so many no-shows. We (6 of us) did decide to at least go in and look around Naxx, only to have our butts handed to us on the first mob pull. The hosting guild is trying to reschedule the raid.

~Dragon Hunting
Bacchus attended a Titans of Glory event of dragon slaying, where we took on the two dragons at the portal to The Emerald Dream. Pictured here are the dragons Rothos, and Taerar (a possible spawn form the nightmare dragons). We were not able to finish off the the boss dragon due to lack of healers. So Bacchus was honored to be turned into dragon poop.

~Elemental Line-Up
During an interesting quest series that involved capturing the essence of the four basic elemental food groups (water, earth, fire, air), the quest turn-in netted this nice lineup of their forms being put to rest.

~One step from L70
While questing in Shadowmoon Valley, an early quest turn-in yielded enough XP to reach L69. He had all kinds of L69 gear stashed away (some made by my leatherworking profession) to change into, making for some nice upgrades. L70 here I come.......short lived level cap, as WotLK now has an official 2008 release date. Bacchus has all his gold ready to straight for the Epic Flying Mount, thanks to his little auction house buddy, Midgetfist.

~Meet Midgetfist
This is Midgetfist's usual spot, standing on a barrel in the auction house, trolling for good deals.

Don't feel bad for him, because he does have hobbies.....he trades and collects Darkmoon Fair Cards. Pictured here is his collection, showing him snapping up most of them. Since the fair recently came to Goldshire, he put up 3 completed decks on the AH for tidy profits.

Cooking and Enchanting

2008-09-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Tyberiuss - taking it easy this week I finished at L33, while killing jungle cats and raptors in Stranglethorne Vale. I also took time out to visit Wulan in Shadowprey Village (Desolace), achieving Expert cooking through the purchase of his cookbook. Next for cooking, I can see Dirge Quikcleave at the Gadgetzan Inn of Tanaris for the Artisan cooking quests.

Mohrn, my banker, took a little time away from the AH and spent his efforts in leveling his Enchanting skill. He is now maxed out at 150 and can provide you fine folks with all kinds of very inexpensive enchants to your gear (see pic below for options). Mention this ad and get a 100% discount on all enchants if performed within the boundries of Undercity....he hates to travel (offer cannot be combined with the Cenarion X-Plan).

Nowand will be on a one-month break soon, beginning on Sept 16. We hope to all get some great play time with him before his break.

Vynaron (our semi-regular Priest) is still picking up the loose ends due to hurrican Gustav in his home of New Orleans. We hope all is well with him and family.

Mangolore is back in action. Doing some extended playing, he achieved L30 and obtained his wolf mount. Gratz!

Asterien has been involved lately with the details of his family's first home purchase, and getting moved in. Cable hookup and sore back willing....he should have his L30 Warrior back in action soon.

Ok folks....here are some dungeons we should have our eyes on for progression. Let me know what your availability is like.

The Scarlet Monastery:Graveyard (30-32)
The Scarlet Monastery:Library (33-35)
Razorfen Downs (34-37)
The Scarlet Monastery:Armory (35-37)
The Scarlet Monastery:Cathedral (36-40)

~Runetotem
Bacchus has been doing some heavy grinding. Saying goodbye to Nagrand, he got this great pic of Durn the Hungerer, a giant who patrols the area of the Oshu'gun Spirit Fields. He had to stay far ahead of this guy for fear of getting stomped into a mud hole. Even at that distance Durn's size is impressive! Bacchus later traveled into the new site of Shadowmoon Valley for his continued adventures and also hit L68.

~Big News
> In the upcoming patch before WotLK, leveling from L60 - L70 will get easier. There will be a 30% decrease in XP required for each level, and a 20% increase in XP for mobs kills. Woot!

> For any other Hunter readers, BRK (Big Red Kitty) has an awesome new podcast out now that gives great insites about our class changes coming for WotLK. Just look up BigRedKitty in the iTunes store to find his podcast.

Porkchop's Nightmare

2008-09-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Friday’s adventures took us into Razorfen Kraul, the ancestral home of the Quilboar.

The dungeon was not that difficult, with only one death occurring when a bad alignment within three mob groups ended with us fighting all of them, and Nowand dying.

Vynaron the Bloodelf Priest made a return visit (last seen him in Shadowfang Keep) to our group this day, and took care of the healing duties and revival of Nowand.

Guest spot was filled by AIE guildie Druid named Aquen, who took the off-tank duties.

Returning heavyweight, Asterien, plowed through the mobs as our main tank, and took home a nice new shield and sword in the loot drops. Rumors of him being seen later, grazing with Aquen have been flatly denied.

Nowand and Tyberiuss supplied the DPS, with both of us hitting L31 by evening’s end. Loot for me included a sweet Armor Piercer …now that is a stat stick!

An odd quest for some of us involved letting loose our caged gophers to go hunt down some blue tuber roots in the lower parts of the dungeon. However, the poor critters kept getting into trouble as they would wander into the Quilboar dens while sniffing out the roots.

The most memorable boss was Agathelos the Raging, a collosal armoured boar. He was kept in a short tunnel guarded by several quilboar who maintained a field to keep the monstrous creature penned in. This fight kinda freaked out Porkchop. I had rescued him from this dungeon a week ago, and now asked him to go back and fight his big daddy Agathelos. Porkchop is slowly getting back to his old self. Any care packages sent to him should include Goldenbark Apples, his favorite.

Agathelos the Raging

~Other Questing
A few days later, questing brought Asterien and I back to Thousand Needles, where one quest involved piloting this remote controlled robot into Alliance territory to retrieve a sample of water from their moonwell. Shown below is picture of Asterien next to the noisy contraption.

~Back in Runetotem
My wife got the urge to play, so off we went to finish some quests in the Redridge Mountains. She advanced two levels, finishing at L25. During a trip to Stonewatch Keep, she grouped with a former ToG Priest who now hangs with the Shady Grove guild.

Being a little spooked by the next area of Duskwood, Nahrcissa cuddled up with this bear rug before falling asleep …… restlessly dreaming about future fights with giant spiders and fiendish ghouls.

My Sweet New Ride

2008-08-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Beginning last night at L29, I had ambitions of reaching L30 before bedtime.

While Nowand and I did try to group up for some quests in Thousand Needles, that ultimately did not work out. However, I did meet some more guildies while questing in Ashenvale. It seemed that some of them were just a few ticks behind me while using the Tour Guide mod (the best thing for power leveling), because just as I would finish a quest they would wander into the same spot later. So, a few quests I did twice.....it's hard to say no to AIE family.

As my night wound down I found myself 2.5 bubbles from L30, and just picked up a quest in Sunrock Retreat to kill the Bloodfury Harpy Queen. Should I go to bed, or should I go cut off her head? The urge to complete my journey to L30 and pick up my new mount prevailed (/takes sip from 3rd cup of morning coffee).

So I set off to the Charred Vale to find her, but my concern was whether or not the quest turn-in would give me enough XP to make it to L30. I find her quickly, and she is surrounded by about 10 of her loyal subjects. This is going to take a while, I thought! But after studying her patrol route, I could see a weakness in her cover. I probed for the best angle on her, waiting for the right moment when she had the least amount of guards in proximity. Seizing my moment, I layed down a Freeze Trap and fired one arrow at the Queen. Perfect!....her screams only alerted one other guard and they both began their flight towards me and away from her group. Porkchop charged in and locked up the Queen quickly; and poof!....her guard got caught in my Freeze Trap, where it took a timeout to contemplate the rest of its short little life. Porkchop and I quickly finished off the Queen, and then dispatched the frozen guard.

After hacking off the Queen's head and shoving it in my backpack, I thought...that was too easy. And my XP bar still looked a little too far from the end, even considering the XP gain I would shortly get for the quest turn-in. So, I began my return to Sunrock Retreat, killing a few Fire Elementals and Basilisks along the way, hoping to rack up some more XP before the quest turn-in. But alas! .... here came one of my AIE shadows, strolling into the Charred Vale and looking for the Bloodfury Harpy Queen. Showing him the severed head in my pack, I escorted him to the best spot to wait for the queen to respawn. Soon enough she appeared amongst her guards, and she even had a new head ... go figure. So I helped this guildie kill her, but just before she died I pulled out the severed head and pointed it at her, yelling "In Your Face". She died with a very confused look on her new face......uh, of her new head (is anyone else confused).

Back at Sunrock Retreat, the quest turn-in pushed me to L30. You have to be quick on the shutter to snap this kind of picture....you only get one chance. See me glowing in Level 30 awesomeness (/roles eyes). L1-L30 in three weeks is good for me, considering my alliance Hunter is only L67 after 20 months of play. (click on any pic to enlarge)

Rubbing the growing sleepiness from my eyes, I took the final evening trip to Orgrimmar to purchase my sweet new ride (financed by Mohrn, my banker). I opted for the Timber Wolf variety because he came with an extra cup holder on the saddle.

~Final Notes
Reading from the WotLK notes, a pre-patch will come out soon. Some of the Hunter/Pet changes are supposed to take effect then, which will nerf the boar by completely removing the Charge ability he has. So I may put Porkchop out to pasture then .... I have a great spot picked out for him in the Redridge Mountains (/wipes tear from eye). You may see me soon running with a gorilla named Mugato (only those diehard Trek fans will get that one). While the gorilla had been a weak pet in the past, these coming changes will make him one of the powerhouses.

Asterien was MIA yesterday, but his eventual move in work schedule will have him power leveling past all of us when he has 5 days off in a row each week.

Nowand probably hit L30 as I wrote this, since he was L29 last night.

Mangolore has been having some extended summer fun (have you ever seen an Orc wearing a Hawaiian shirt?). We hope to see he and his totems back soon.

I have been networking within the New Members section of the AIE forum, and hope to soon get some more regulars added to our little group. Keep an eye out for these folks to join us:
Zeil (Rogue)
Hexpot (Warlock)
Rinion (Paladin)
Shadowfreez (Rogue)

Weekend Update - Level 29

2008-08-25T07:57:00.001-07:00

Friday was a big evening for me, going from L26 to L28. Quest lines took me to the far north side of Ashenvale at Zoram'gar Outpost, and all over some deep caves of Thousand Needles. It felt strange seeing some of the old Night Elf Ashenvale stuff, but even stranger to have to kill some of them. Oh well, I dried the tear and moved on.

Back in Thousand Needles, I saw Gerp (the GM) running through one the cave passages I was questing in. I'm not sure what he was doing there....maybe farming rep or maybe ore. Anyway, he helped me kill a mob and afterwards Henry (his tiger pet) and Porkchop seemed to bond after sniffing each other.

Flipping back over to Runetotem, I tried to make some more progress on Bacchus....currently at L67. Man does that leveling go slow. Here is a shot of him flying back from the Isle of Quel'Danas after snooping around there. I don't know what this thing is, but I was worried about its airworthiness.....and I did not pack my parachute cloak. (click to enlarge any pic)

Back on Tyberiuss, Saturday saw some questing with Asterien. One of the quests invloved us killing a nasty hyena named Steele Snap. Of course, this guy comes with his own groupies, and Steele Snap did not give up his own rib bone willingly for the quest. So, we took it anyway. Ouch!

Sunday evening was filled with some questing with Nowand, where we took Steel Snap's rib again (he didn't learn his lesson the first time). Then, after stealing some eggs from those lion-bat looking things, I paused to take a wiz off this cliff. I think there was a Gnome down below.

After a dinner break and a 1.5 hour cable outage due to a local lightening strike, I got back on and dinged L29 on some final quest turn-ins.

The evening concluded with me sneaking past some L?? mobs to settle in at Camp Mojache in Feralas, grabbing flight point too.

Final Note - Hold onto your silk drops. At 150 First Aid, you can go to Brackenwall Village (just south of Ratchet) to train up and crank out some silk bandages. Also, Razorfen Kraul is still on our wish list..... so reply with your availability.

Taming My Final Boar

2008-08-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I got on about 8:30pm last night. I saw nobody on-line, so I did a little begging in the guild to get an escort into Razorfen Kraul.

My objective was to get in there to tame my final boar pet. I like this one because of the cool looking armor that his parents have fitted him with. Doesn't he look tough? (click to enlarge pic)

My escort was a L70 Mage that was popping the mobs with Fire Balls and Arcane Explosion. About six pulls in we found a pit with a few of these boars in it. We jumped down there off a suspension bridge and the taming began.

I'm lovn him so far.

Well....this is my first stab at a blog. I still want to go into Razorfen Kraul with a regular group. Let me know your availability for this next adventure.