New Guild

I have found myself a new place to belong. Some great friends have gathered together to start our own small friendly guild. The guild is very small and casual but I think it will fit me very well for now. We decided to stick with the name we were used to calling our little group, Bananas. It may seem silly bit it really is very fitting.

We're not even certain if we will get much raiding in but we will certainly try when we can. I really don't mind as I am finding myself pretty busy anyway. The new more casual atmosphere is definately a weight off my mind.

The best part of the new guild? The guild tabbard is so adorable it makes me giggle each and every time I look at it. We picked a monkey because... duh, monkeys love bananas! It's just the silliest tabbard I've ever seen and I love it!

Business Draenei

I've been Desdarii the loner for a couple days now and last night it hit me. I don't have to save all these gems for guildees anymore... I could *gasp* sell them and become rich! Oh! And I could use my jewelcrafting tokens to buy dragons eyes to sell on the Auction House and make more money instead of collecting them to make guildees stuff. I could create titansteel and just sell it to strangers! I could try making some epics and sell them for hefty Auction House prices instead of handing them over for free.

I wonder how much it costs to rent a little space in Dalaran or perhaps purchase myself a street cart? I could easily tour the major cities in a day with my handy dandy portals.

I have a real opportunity to become fabulously wealthy and buy myself more junk for my bank that I really don't have room for! Now to figure out what I can buy once I make my millions. There's gotta be something I need.

Black Cats!

Yes, I did it. I am just silly enough to spend my hard earned gold on something as ridiculous as a polymorph: black cat tome.

I've wanted it for a while and have been very good about avoiding the temptation. I helped fund Aratria and Gabi's quick flight skill which was a lot of gold. I'm still sending Goldy regular bits of cash to help with her artisan skills. Today was the day though. I had enough staring at the tome and just decided to go for it.

Was it worth it? Oh yeah! Check it out. I ran out and specifically found a sheep to turn into a cat just so I could giggle at myself. Totally worth it.

Lunar Festival Is Coming!

The Lunar Festival is scheduled to start tomorrow, January 24th and will run until February 12th. It is the celebration held in Moonglade each year to commemorate the city’s triumph over ancient evil. All citizens of Azeroth can participate in some form of the festivities although there are pieces that are restricted to the more seasoned individual.

This year’s Lunar New Year is on January 26th so make sure you stop into Stormwind, Thunderbluff, Booty Bay or Moonglade to watch the firework show and join in the celebration! There will also be a special fireworks show on February 12th in Moonglade that marks the Chinese Festival of Lanterns.

In starter cities, such as Stormwind and Ogrimmar, you will find heralds and emissaries that will give you a quest called “The Lunar Festival” that will direct you to the Lunar Festival Harbinger in the city who will give you a quest called “Lunar Fireworks”. You just purchase some fireworks from a near by vendor to complete the quest and obtain a Lunar Festival Invitation. This invitation allows you to step into the Greater Moonlight (the big beam of light near the harbinger) and be teleported directly to Moonglade.

Tip: This quest is so easy I usually use it to get my low level alts an extra flight path with little effort.

What is there to do during the Lunar Festival?

There is only one major quest associated with the Lunar Festival and that is “Elune’s Blessing” from Valadar Starsong in Moonglade. This quest requires you to be level 40 at a minimum and is offered to both Horde and Alliance alike. The objective is to summon Omen in Moonglade and defeat him. It can be completed in a raid as well so gather all your friends at once and take care of many folks at one time!

The other activity to do is visit the elders scattered across Azeroth and obtain Coins of Ancestry. These mini quests are simple, just time consuming to travel all over the world to visit these ancestors. A complete list of all the Elders is available on WoWwiki’s Elders Page.

Tip: I recommend visiting the Elders for those going for the Ambassador title as each visit grants rep for your faction (Alliance or Horde) without having to buy more runecloth!

The Coins of Ancestry are used as currency for repeatable quests in Moonglade to buy fun roleplay items like Festive Lunar Dresses and Festive Lunar Pant Suits in a variety of colors. There are also Festival Dumplings and Elune’s Candles to be picked up with your coins.

Tailors will want to save up some of their coins to obtain the patterns for Festival Dress and Festival Suit.

Engineers can obtain the schematics to make their own Firework Launcher, Small Rockets, Large Rockets, Cluster Launcher, Large Cluster Rockets and Cluster Rockets.

Lunar Festival Achievements

New this year is the achievements for the Lunar Festival. There are 15 to complete, 11 required to obtain the new title “Elder” from To Honor One’s Elders. You will have completed all 15 trying to get the required 11 so all you completest out there do not fret!

The easiest to obtain are the 5 quests associated with the simply obtaining coins. The only one required for the title is 50 Coins of Ancestry but of course you will collect all the others trying to obtain 50!

• A Coin of Ancestry
• 5 Coins of Ancestry
• 10 Coins of Ancestry
• 25 Coins of Ancestry
• 50 Coins of Ancestry

There are other achievements you will most likely get in tandem with these coin achievements just because you will visit all these elders to collect the coins! Yes, Alliance will have to collect from the Elders of the Horde and vice versa but it’s not so bad.

• Elders of Eastern Kingdoms
• Elders of Kalimdor
• Elders of Northrend
• Elders of the Alliance
• Elders of the Dungeons
• Elders of the Horde

There are two achievements that have a time requirement with the fireworks. It doesn’t seem like they will be too difficult to obtain.

• Frenzied Firecracker
• The Rocket’s Red Glare

There are two achievements for completing quests. One is simply buying yourself some festival clothing with your coins. The other is the raid quest to defeat Omen.

• Lunar Festival Finery
• Elune’s Blessing

So remember to get out there and have some fun with these added events the world has planned for us! You should definately expect Elder Desdarii to be running around Azeroth very soon!

The Ugliest Human on Azeroth

Keste and I had a good time doing a couple heroics today and one of them was Old Stratholme.

My least favorite instances are any of the ones in Caverns of Time as I'm always turned into some tail-less pink human freak. I know I have to put on the disguise so I don't mess with time and all that but I like my horns and tail so much better.

I thought I had it pretty bad until I saw the human disguise Keste was given to wear. His hair is really what needs to be pointed out here. It's a bald guy mullet! Positively dreadful! I was laughing so hard at him I needed a pause before I was ok to start fighting. Lucky for him he spent most of his time in panther form and we didn't have to stare at him. I don't know but I would speak to someone about getting a new costume, Keste.

The exciting thing was today we were able to get the Culling of Time achievement for the first time. I passed on the bronze drake as others in there want it way more than me but congratulations to Earynn on his shiny new mount!

Awww Baby Cows!

I've told my story before of my Blood Elf Priestess who I RP'd as having an unexplainable hatred of Tauren. Well today in the mail, Ruebella from my old Horde guild emailed the following message with the attached photo.

Golds -
Can you still hate Cows after seeing the baby cow?

Honestly, no I can't. Look at that little adorable baby cow!

I haven't figured out where she found it yet but Rue found a little orphanage with 8 orphaned baby tauren and a lady walking around feeding them a bottle. I've asked her where it is so I can visit the baby cows, too. I'll report back when I find out!

It’s Going To Kill You, Stupid!

I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. I have some of the funniest friends; even if they don’t intend to be funny.

Here’s the scene.

I walk into Utgarde Pinnacle with Geearthur, Alburet, Firefizzle and Keste (in tree form). We make our way to our first boss encounter, Svala Sorrowgrave. Thanks to the Lich King, she is a very powerful Val’kyr that has a very special ability called “Ritual of the Sword.

Ritual of the Sword is where Svala places one of us randomly on an alter and calls down a large sword slowly towards the victim. You know the old Illhoof sacrifice-maneuver but with a twist. There are three of her little servants or whatever they may be channeling to keep our friend captured until the sword reaches them. Some area of effect spells easily kill the servants and free our friend. Oh and for all my mage friends, ice block does not free you!

When my friends and I encountered this part of the fight Gee was repeatedly chosen as the sacrifice. While he stood there watching the sword drop he couldn’t help but wonder what happens when it reaches you. A large gash that could possibly be healed? Is it a big splat slicing you in two? Some other sort of magnificent death? Inquiring minds had to know!

I had to admit the curiosity of this Draenei was contagious as I started encouraging him to find out what the outcome of the sword reaching you was. On his last sacrifice, Svala was almost dead and Gee decided to stay in the hot seat just to see what happens. I’m safely on the sidelines telling him to go for it.

The other two casters killed the servants anyway but Gee refused to move wanting to have the sword hit him. Alburet feared for our brave Paladin and yelled for Gee to move.

“I want to see what happens!” Gee explained.

Alburet then exclaims, “It’s going to kill you, stupid!”

I was absolutely in stitches from the entire event. It’s funny how everyone thinks differently. Gee was certain it probably was going to kill him, he just wanted to see how it was going to kill him. Al was just concerned with the fact that it was going to kill him! The bluntness of Al’s reply just cracked me up. I was laughing for quite a while. I think I was still giggling when we got to the second boss.

Since the servants were dead the sword did not damage Gee at all when it reached him and shortly afterwards Svala was no more. No harm was done. We may have to try it again just to experiment.

Thanks to the Kalu'ak

I have earned the trust of the noble Kalu'ak (you know, the walrus people) and it has paid off nicely. I now have Pengu as a new companion and the Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole. Both are picture here.

Pengu is a very cute little bugger. His red eyes are a tad disturbing but he's got a very sweet temperament. I think I will adjust to his eye color with time. Until then I think I may be keeping an extra eye on him.

The fishing pole is superbly crafted. I was able to maximize my fishing skill thanks to its help. It will come in most handy for my off time. I'm still trying for that sewer rat so hopefully this two will give me a bit of luck!

Evil Costly Things

I believe that some things Blizzard put in the game just to keep my gold funds down. I know it sounds a little paranoid but talking about silly little things that most people will not purchase. They're seen as roleplay items or to some folks as just junk. However a person like me is likely to spend all of their cash just to have it. It seems like Wrath is just full of these little goofy extras that just make my eyes widen and my pocketbook empty automatically.

A perfect example of this silliness would be the opening of the barbershops. I'm sure that when they arrived many people went and tried it out just to see what it's all about. I'm also fairly certain that the majority of those folks have not returned. I've changed my hair on Desdarii no less than three times already and every so often I stop in to try on new horns but I haven't made the leap yet. I sort of like the horns I currently have.

That's not to mention the toy trains, fetch balls, chocolate celebration cake or other million little items you can purchase just for the fun of having them. These little things are added seemingly for my enjoyment and make me very happy. I'm more than willing to throw gold at any (OK all) of these play items. I think it makes things fun!

Mages have their own special set of cosmetic enhancements that I am currently fighting with myself about emptying my coffers for. They are just for looks and will not enhance my abilities in the least which will make most mages skip them. Somehow I can't help but really want them! The problem I'm facing is that buying them will make me dead broke. I blame my lack of funds on the "stinker" project.

Because I was uncertain of the cost of my spells and level limitations I have so far avoided these temptations. Now that I am 80 I am finding very little reason not to just go for broke (so to speak) and get them just to have them.

The items in question:

• Tome of Dalaran Intellect - 475 gold
  Changes the icon of the arcane intellect spell (you know the blue lightening bolt eye thing) into a symbol of the Kirin Tor.
• Tome of Dalaran Brilliance - 500 gold
  Changes the icon of the arcane brilliance spell into a symbol of the Kirin Tor.
• Tome of Polymorph Black Cat - 2500 gold
  Allows me one additional critter to turn my foes into.

These items are tied to the Kirin Tor faction so if I wait until I get better reputation I will get a discount on them. The problem is that I'm horrible at waiting. It's a dilemma for me but one that most mages could care less about. I am honored so far and I want to buy at least one of them now. But which!? UGH!

The only downside I can see for possessing the Dalaran flavored buffs rather than the plain ol' arcane buffs is the slight learning process that will annoy you. There's always that person shouting "I DON'T HAVE MY INTELLECT BUFF!" anyway and having the icon change on them could just further confuse them. Training the populace on your special different looking buff from the majority of the mages in the world could be tiring. Maybe I can convince other Blackwater Raider mages to hop on board the Dalaran buff movement? What about it Mae? /giggle

Apart from that one downside I will suspect I will purchase it anyway and just get used to explaining the different icon. Maybe I'll make a macro explaining it. That could work.

Assault on the Wrath Gate

Warning: This post contains spoilers for those who have not yet completed the Wrath Gate quests in Dragonblight. Please continue reading and viewing the video below only if you wish. I'm not too detailed but the video is a large spoiler if you have not yet seen it and I highly recommend doing this quest chain yourself!

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Angrathar the Wrath Gate is located in northwest Dragonblight. Keste and I participated in a truly epic battle following Highlord Bolvar Fordragon into calling out the Lich King himself. The outcome was just too horrible to mention. I'm still terribly upset by the events that unfolded when the dust settled on the battlefield.

I'll speak of it no further.

After all was over I was sent to see King Varian Wrynn in Stormwind. I was surprised to see one of my personal heroes there as well, Jaina Proudmoore. King Varian sent Jaina and I to Ogrimmar to speak with Horde leaders about what transpired in the assault on the Wrath Gate. I have to say it was very unsettling to be in Ogrimmar. I tried very hard to not visibly shake seeing Thrall himself face to face.

When we returned to Stormwind King Varian instructed me to meet up with others outside of Undercity sewers and follow him on a mission. Fighting beside the King of Stormwind and Lady Proudmoore both was such an honor! I hope I did not make too big a fool of myself.

Now that it is all over I need to take some time to reflect on all these events and what it will mean for the alliance going forward. The outcome of the assault on the Wrath Gate will have a deep impact on the Alliance. King Varian certainly dislikes the Horde a great deal and does not trust them one bit.

Stinker!

I've been stuck at 49 noncombat pets since receiving Bananas and it was really bothering me. However, it was not bothering me enough to spend the ridiculous sum of 2,500 gold to purchase one of the whelplings I do not own from the auction house. My choices were limited. I still am unsuccessful in obtaining the rat from the Dalaran sewers. I resigned to the fact that I would have to wait until I could obtain pengu.

Keste once again jumped to my rescue and contacted our good friend Dumadin to use his engineering skills to build me a tranquil mechanical yeti. Keste helped gather all the materials and Dumie built it for me. Keste delivered the yeti to me this afternoon.

Immediately upon training the yeti I had a rather smelly package in the mailbox from none other than Breanni. I was also recognized for another achievement.

Breanni had sent me my very own pet skunk named "Stinker"! I had Keste pose in the picture with me since he was such an instrumental part of this victory of mine. Isn't stinker so cute? You get used to the smell after a while.

With so many pets now it's really difficult to choose which one I want to tag along behind me. I was joking how I wish I could have all 51 of my companions chase after me everywhere I went. Keste wasn't too keen on the idea.

Fun Times with Nyriell and Desdarii

If you ever need lessons on how to not level, Nyriell and I are your perfect teachers. To be fair we did first finish a dungeon run of Azjol-Nerub so we weren't complete slackers. I can't say I enjoyed that bug infested dungeon much.

Afterwards we decided we needed a little relaxation time. I had heard about Spicy Tuna and his taming of all the crazy cat ladies' pets so we thought that was perfect.

Nyriell already had several critter bites made and I used some of my cooking tokens to buy the recipe for myself. I didn't have enough to make 10 bites but Ny was nice enough to share with me. I portaled us out to Stormwind and we raced to the crazy cat lady's home.

Nyriell went first taming 7 cats, 2 cows and a deer. It was too funny I had to take a picture. They followed her around like her own little critter army. It was too much fun! Unfortunately when her timer was up the critters disappeared so we had to wait before I could take my turn.

To pass the time we ran out to the lumber mill and picked ourselves up a couple of pretty ponies. We decided we liked the slower kind better. The armor on the swifter pony's looked silly. So we ran through the forests of Elwynn having a good ol' time on our new ponies.

By the time we had returned to the crazy cat lady's home, all her cats had returned as well as the cows. I tossed out my critter bites and got 8 cats and 2 cows to follow me around earning the Critter Gitter achievement.

This is when Ny had her spark of genius and said I should take my critter army into Stormwind. Since you only have a few short minutes with your critters after using the snacks I raced towards the gates of Stormwind with my cat and cow army in tow. We were ready to make our demands for cat nip and hay and whatever else it is cow and cats want.

I did make it to the Trade District but not much farther. It was worth it though when Wilven mentioned in guild chat all the cows and cats he saw just charge into the city of Stormwind.

/laugh

Wuzzy's Arrival

Today I had a surprise in my mailbox. A small crate that made adorable growling and then squeaking noises. Inside is the most adorable little polar bear cub you have ever seen.

I am not certain who sent it or where he comes from but I'm happy to keep him. There was a small note attached that was signed Devteam. He's so soft and cuddly! I've named him Wuzzy. If I ever find out who Devteam is I will certainly give them a huge bear hug!

Greetings from Dalaran

So much to tell as I've seen so much in the last couple of days! Keste and I are working well together helping the good folks found in the Howling Fjord.

I think thus far my most memorable moment was receiving training to make it to Dalaran. This city just hums with the vibrations of magic. Add to that that the entire city is beautiful it hard to find reasons to leave. I must of spent hours running through the streets. I visited every shop and spent a lot of gold trying man little curiosities I found. The chocolate cake is delicious!

I also visited the sewers and found myself a new ghostly skull companion. Pretty spooky. I also found this odd assortment of animals in the sewer. They seem strangely familiar and made me think of my little brother. I took this picture for him.

I completed a cooking task and was given a cooking award! It was very exciting. I can turn in the awards for more recipes which is going to be most useful.

Other than all the running around I've worked hard on keeping up my fishing and cooking skills. I have spent quite a bit of time fishing and then cooking up my catches. It's working well. Jewelcrafting is not going as well. The Fjord seems a bit populated at this time so finding unused mining locations is difficult. I'll most likely will have to return to work on this skill at a later date. I was able to finish one task and received a token for jewelcrafting.

Desdarii Meets Illidan

I have finished spying upon the Netherwing and my disguise was so convincing I was introduced to Illidan himself! It was pretty frightening even if it was just a shade of the great lord.

My disguise was not good enough to fool Illidan though who struck me down and showed my true form. The orcs were ordered to murder me but I was able to fly away to safety before they had the chance.

As a reward, I've been given the reins of a netherdrake for my personal use. It's a rather large mount but it is a very pretty purple color!

It's Funny What Mages Don't Know

Keste was attempting to finish the trick or treating across Azeroth last night when he asked me something.

"How do you get to the Exodar?"

I stared blankly. I should know this right? It's where I call home. It's where I'm from. It's been a long while since I've had to travel there by any fashion other than teleport. All I had was a less than helpful, "I think there's a boat somewhere."

I guess I should of offered to teleport him but I was busy farming primals for an enchant I needed. He got there anyway so no harm done.

Anna's Friday Five - Zombies

This week's Friday Five from Anna is concerning recent events in Azeroth with the festivities and scourge invasion. Here are my answers from Desdarii.

1. What is your character’s favorite holiday?
   Far and away Desdarii adores Hallow's End more than any other festival. Dressing up, getting candy, and fun little gifts are just some of her very favorite things making the current holiday her favorite.
   
   
2. Is your character playing along with Hallow’s End festivities? If so, which ones?
   Any and all of them. Desdarii is having some difficulty cleaning stink bombs in Southshore though. Just doesn't seem to get attacked when she's visiting. She will kill the headless horseman however many times it takes to get a squashling though.
   
   
3. How is your character reacting to the recent manifestations of the Plague?
   Not well. She's already terrified of undead but having friends and family members zombified before her eyes is like a living nightmare.
   
   
4. Is your character planning to go to Northrend? Why or why not?
   Yes but begrudgingly. Desdarii follows where her husband leads. The idea of a frozen wilderness doesn't appeal to her much but at least she'll have her big fuzzy bear to keep her warm.
   
   
5. If your character were a zombie… what kind of zombie would they be?
   A vengeful zombie. Desdarii would find all those people that forced her to "Hey go step 5 feet and tell this guy this" and bite them. Lazy people like that deserve to be infected.

Dazzlez's New Pony

I had to stay up waaaaay past my bedtime but some friends were kind enough to take me to Diremaul to help me get my new pony!

Isn't he so cute? I think I'm going to name him Mr. Chuckles. I haven't decided on it but I think the name suits him.

Whatever I call him I am just happy to have him. Now I can keep up with Razzlez as we trek across the outlands. That goofy gnome has himself one of those Stormpike rams.

That's all for now!

The Cipher of Damnation

I can't tell you for how long I have been walking around with a Cipher of Damnation in my bags. Keste and I had the worst time trying to complete the final part of the trials of Oronok and his sons.

We tried it just the two of us at 70 with no results. We came back months later when we were much better geared and still couldn't finish him off although we were much closer. We tried inviting strangers in the area to assist us all with no luck.

Last night that luck has changed. We were able to find a few free guild-mates who were willing to help us finish this quest. It feels good. I don't know if we'll get through the trials but just having the darn cipher out of my bag space after months and months is pretty darn satisfying.

Anna's Friday Five - Living Arrangements

This week's Friday Five from Anna is about your characters living arrangements. Here are the answers I gave for Desdarii.

1. What does your character’s living room look like? (If they don’t have a stable home, describe an inn room that he or she has rented steadily.)
   Desdarii and Keste do not have a home of their own. They stay in Thalanaar Halls with their guild mates and have a room in the halls that they share. The common room shared by the guild has a little bit of everything. There's a desk and chair, a couple sofas and comfy chairs over by the fireplace and a table where people work on different items. People tend to like to work on their engineering in particular in this room so it wouldn't be odd to find gun powder traces about.
2. Does your character have any pets?
   Ha! Desdarii and her druid husband are animal lovers and will collect any and every critter that crosses their path if they could. Most of the animals they keep are allowed to roam in the courtyard or in the stables. The only pet allowed indoors would be Oscar the worg pup. Desdarii has a fitful time sleeping without this fuzzy ball at her feet.
3. Does your character collect anything? Is that collection of any value to anyone other than them?
   Much to Keste's dismay their shared closet space is filled to capacity with outfits Desdarii finds pretty. She also loves collecting unusual articles of clothing like monocles and turbans and keeps them stored in their room. I can't imagine these items being of much interest to anyone other than Desdarii.
4. Does he or she have any “side” jobs or professions, other than their class and/or talent professions?
   Desdarii does have one job she performs every so often. At the guild tavern where parties or gatherings are held she likes to round up some beverages and tend the bar. Being a mage she can summon water for those underage or unwilling to drink and can hand out alcohol to those wishing to have a good time.
5. What would you find in his or her sofa cushions?
   What wouldn't you find would probably be a better question. With a shared sofa space who knows what Desdarii's guild mates have left in there.