Miscommunication

I logged off a little irritated last night because of strange misunderstandings that spun out of control and caused a guild member to abandon a raid and leave the guild entirely. Honestly, I was stunned and confused as to what was happening. What was even worse was discovering that I had unwittingly played a part in causing this falling out.

Our guild has two pretty solid 10 man raiding teams. Both these teams were successful in Burning Crusade. We’re still waiting on some folks to get to level 80 or get some gear and hope to start up the teams again in the New Year. Until then the guild has been hosting some 25 man BC raiding events as well as some 10 man Naxxramus runs that include a little from both teams.

I did sign up for the Naxx runs but opted out of the first because of the overload of interest. I was lucky enough to attend the second run when someone had to work. From what I understand, these raids didn’t cause the problems.

The problems stemmed from the lack of participation in the 25 man raids that were scheduled. Specifically lack of participation from the raiding team of which I am a member. I know a couple from my raiding team had signed up but the majority of us didn’t for varied reasons. Most of the reasons I think stem from it being the holidays and a rather busy time of year.

For my part, I had declined the invitation from the get go to let the raid leader know not to expect me. I generally do not enjoy 25 man raids. Since they were doing older dungeons, I assumed it was just a guild run for fun to look in some of the dungeons we had missed. I personally wasn’t interested in it and would rather spend my evening working on random tasks or running a heroic or two. It was a personal choice and one I thought I was free to make.

This is where the misunderstanding came in. Because so many from my team had declined to attend these 25 man raids, the belief started that members of this team were rather snobbish in that we wouldn’t run raids with the other team. I don’t know why one would jump to that conclusion but that’s where it went. The claim that one raid team doesn’t like the other raid team is complete false.

I believe Keste and I compounded the problem because we declined the invite and then would be online doing other things while they raided. It was probably viewed that “we could be with you guys but would rather do anything else”, which honestly wasn’t the case. Keste and I like to do things together and he chose to hang out with me. Had he wanted to raid he would have been free to do so.

Misunderstandings just get worse when the offended person refuses to speak up to the people doing them harm. I had not heard a peep from anyone that my behavior was adding to this vibe. I say adding as I’m just one piece of the 10 people he was accusing of this activity. Had I been asked why I’m declining 25 man raids when I am online and available I would have explained. As things were I didn’t see a reason to explain as to why I didn’t want to attend a level 70 “for fun” run which is what I believed them to be.

Instead the poor guild leader got horrible accounts of the villains who weren’t playing nicely with others. Luckily, our guild leader was willing to listen to the other side and agreed that folks like me had a right to opt out of the raiding runs. Our refusal wasn’t out of competition, anger, spite or dislike for the other team. In fact, I didn’t view the runs as the “other team”. I thought it a guild run and open to anyone within dungeon level. It never crossed my mind that not attending would spark such feelings.

I sent everyone on the other raiding team a rose and a letter letting them know that I do like them and would be willing to run any dungeon with them. Hopefully it is received in the playful manner that I sent it and clear up any doubts about my loyalties to my guildees as a whole.

For the person who left, I did apologize to the officers on the forum for my involvement in causing him to leave even if I wasn’t aware I was doing it. I also offered to speak to him directly to apologize to him for the misconception and try to explain my absences from the 25 man raids.

People just need to learn to speak up and to the proper people when they have an issue. Goodness knows people hear it from me when I have an issue! Perhaps because I am so vocal it makes miscommunications like this harder for me to grasp.

I’m a big bundle of out of control hormones these days but at the foundation I believe I am a pretty logical person. If you have a question or issue with me, please do not hesitate to talk to me about it! It is way better than assuming the worst and ending up feeling like you need to leave the guild over it.

When Elves Attack

Aratria and four of her very good friends attacked the Nexus to get us some more winter hats. Aratria refused to put back on her armor after obtaining hers and attacked as a holiday hand to hand fighter instead. Poor Aelaan did a great job keeping her alive through her silliness.

Secret Druid Revealed!

Not that I kept her super duper secret to begin with but I'm ready to give up and just play my druid with the masses. The more I played her the more of my friends discovered who I was anyway. But let's make it official.

Everyone meet Aratria.
Pronunciation: ah-RAH-tree-ah
Current Level: 70
Specced: Balance (to go Resto at later date)
Professions: Herbalism & Alchemy

I've gone ahead and joined Turus Thalanaar with the rest of my toons since there's really just no better place to be. She was brought to Dalaran by none other than the amazing Firefizzle and Lord Gwydion himself gave her a tour of Dalaran and helped her get situated.

History

I do not have a story developed for Aratria at this time. She was on a PvP server for a long time and only RP'd ... well pretty much with the NPC's in town. It wouldn't stop her from trying with others but she generally got as much a response as the NPC's.

Aratria is actually the first character I had ever made in World of Warcraft and the first character I had ever gotten to level 60. As such I have a special love for this character. She was made back on launch day 2004 on Arthas (PvP) with the name "Goldy" as it is a typical name I game with. Our guild later moved to Nathrezim (PvP) and I moved her to be with them. I moved her to Blackwater Raiders sometime last month. Since I already have a Goldy on the server I of course had to rename her and I selected Aratria, which in Elvin means Golden Dancer. The name doesn't have anything with naked mailbox dancing. It's sort of an homage to a character I had in a previous game.

Aratria's roots are in old world druid healing. Back in the days when a druid who wasn't restoration was doing it wrong. She's seen the killing of Onyxia, visited with Ragnaros in Molten Core and has peeked her head inside of Black Wing Lair. This all back when these things were considered amazing feats. She quit raiding shortly after starting BWL because the 40 man raiding just wasn't for her.

I had leveled her to 60 as restoration and had never once respecced. It had been a tough road as restoration even though I was rarely alone. I decided to go with Balance for 60+ to make things quicker for my solo grind. I first tried feral but I really just don't like being that close to my enemies. Boomkin was closer to Desdarii's play style so I adapted to it much easier.

Personality

For Aratria's personality she's pretty reserved and polite until you get to know her or she has decided for you that you two are friends (which she will do sometimes). Then you'll wish she had an off switch. She lives simply and doesn't often ask for help or objects.

Being a druid Aratria is much more comfortable outdoors than in a city. She loves picking herbs just for the gathering of them even though she is a skilled alchemist. If you are out questing with her and find her missing, it's safe to assume she's found a pretty flower to collect somewhere. Either that or she's found some little corner to admire as she has a large dose of wanderlust.

She's also a bit of a softy when it comes to having to harm others which is why she prefers healing to killing. Also don't be surprised if you can't find her anywhere near you if you bite off more than you can chew. She's a runner and her drive for self preservation is strong. In time you'll come to appreciate this when she does return to revive you back to life.

So there you are, my latest project that I will be playing probably mostly on off hours or slow days when it is unlikely that Desdarii is needed. I've got her hanging out in the Fjord now as I enjoyed that zone more than the Tundra. Druids are quite fun classes and I'm enjoying playing her again even if she looks a little different with her new haircut.

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.

Prince and Netherspite Down!

Exciting news from last night's raid. My Karazhan raiding team took down Prince and Netherspite! We didn't even have any wipes which just makes me beam with pride.

We've killed Prince in the past but after some member swaps we started having problems with upper Kara and it's definately been a while since we've killed Prince. We were thrilled to see him fall.

Netherspite was a complete shock to me. The few other times we've attempted to kill Netherspite we've died pitifully. I personaly felt the fight was just too darn complex. All these portals and void zones and netherbreath and bleh. Our raid leader researched a new strategy to try. We attacked the fight in an organized fashion and killed him with ease. It was simply amazing. I couldn't be prouder of these people if I tried.

After killing Netherspite we wanted to at least see Nightbane. Unfortunately no one had his urn.

Since we had killed Prince and Netherspite in relatively quick fashion we had an hour and a half of raiding time left. We split our Kara team into two 5-mans and headed to Heroic Shattered Halls.

Thanks to Keste's heroic run for his epic flight form there were 4 of us who already had the Sethekk Hall's book and just needed to kill the first boss in Shattered Halls to get the urn.

We of course made it a competition. Which team could get the book first. I'm proud to say my team won but it wasn't by much. We also cheated a little since we had a rogue and didn't need to travel through the sewers.

We all got our Urns and returned to Karazhan to summon Nightbane. We didn't do to badly. First try with most of us not knowing anything about the fight and we had taken out about 30% of his health. Not bad for a first try.

Our team is truely pulling together to be very successful and we are so excited to start over and try to get there again this week.

Chess is Serious Business

Alright not really but when Stropothrina came to chess prepared with a robe matching her cleric chess piece, you have to think she's taking things seriously. Either that or she just really likes being color coordinated.

Nyriell commented on having left her horse costume in the bank.

Stupid Applesoup!

Last Tuesday our Karazhan team did exceptionally well. We cleared from Attumen to Illhoof in one night. It was a first for us and we were really proud of ourselves. Of course that meant that Sunday night was to be starting with the Shade of Aran, which our team hates. We hate him a lot.

We've killed him twice before but that's it. Every other time we run into him we just die. As a result, Aran is sort of a moral killer for our team. We often try him a couple times and then give up and move on to the Chess Event. Last night we decided to just keep attacking until he died or raid time was up.

At first we were very disheartened. We kept losing healers and key fighters early leaving us unable to kill Aran. After wipe number three, we considered altering our plans and going to Chess anyway just so we would get something for the night. We voted on one more try.

We were all pretty frustrated at this point and proclaiming our hatred of this undead mage. Nyriell surprised us all when she said that Aran was "a really stupid applesoup". Now I don't know what that means but I thought it was hilarious.

This try we ran in screaming "STUPID APPLESOUP!" and everything just clicked. We were able to burn him down quickly, the elementals were controlled and killed, we lived through the pyroblast and we all stood around stunned that we not only killed him but no one had died!

We have found our missing link. A battle cry.

We were all so excited we didn't even care what treasures we found hidden in his robes. Firefizzle broke out the disco ball and we all started dancing in a circle around the corpse. A bit callous I suppose but you don't understand what this dead applesoup means to our team!

We later finished up Chess and were disappointed when we got Prince down to one percent before everyone fell. I'm hoping to get him tonight!

Jump Zone

There's a spot in Karazhan on the way to Prince where there is a big empty room with a strange little table like thing in it. One day I jumped up there to every one's amazement. Now it's a primary focus for a minute or two upon entering the room.

Everyone crowds around it and tries to land on top of it. Why? I'm not sure. There's nothing to gain from it. We'll just have to move again shortly but it's a silly game we play.

Does anyone else do this or have similar stations for random amusement? Someone pondered while we all stood around jumping if someone had placed this table here just to mess with us.

Continuing in Karazhan

Last night Keste and I continued in the upper halls of Karazhan with Geearthur and Team Banana. We were able to take care of the Curator with little problem and pushed on through the library. Those little mana eel like things that happen to be immune to all my spells proved to be quite a pain. I had to try to hit them with my staff and I'm afraid I looked most clumsy doing it.

Next we pushed on to the giant chess board for a game of wizard's chest. I was in control of a pawn and did my best but I do not think I assisted much. Luckily the Bananas were very skilled and were able to make up for my lack of skill and we completed the event.

To finish the evening we worked our way back to the Shade of Aran. We were all very tired at the point and took some time out for a quick nap at Aran's doorway. We wanted to make sure we were well rested and at our best!

Unfortunately our little break did not help us as the Shade got the better of us. We plan on taking a bit longer rest and come back on Monday. I am confident we will be victorious.

Caught an Opera Tonight

Tonight good Sir Geearthur invited me along to Karazhan again. I was more than happy to attend. Keste was able to join after the Moroes fight due to our rogue having to leave. We were both so elated to be able to be in Karazhan at the same time.

Team Banana seems to have grown together and are working together much more effectively since I last joined them. We were able to handle the Maiden without any problems this time around. I was so excited to see what was next.

I know Karazhan is old news to many of my friends but I can't help but be in awe of this dungeon. The Opera event is the most amazing thing I have seen thus far. We had Romulo and Julianne for our show and were able to bring down the house so to speak. Ok, so that's a bad pun but I cannot describe how excited I was to experience this. The entire event was a real production! The added bonus of doing it with such wonderful friends, not to mention my loving husband, made it an evening to remember. Luckily I had done my homework and advanced reading of this particular event so I was able to jump in after snapping out of my original gawking mode.

It was a very fruitful evening for me as well. I walked out of the dungeon with Grasp of the Dead as well as the Boots of Foretelling. I am so pleased with how well everything has been going for me. Gee says they are continuing Karazhan on Saturday. I hope they are still in need of a mage and her furry hubby companion.

Can't Get Us! We're Safe!

Last night my guild mates Stropothrina, Keste, and Cyllinth along with our dear friend Dumadin wandered into Shattered Halls to see what we could see. Most of us had never ventured into the halls and were experiencing everything for the first time.

As it happened we had a fairly easy time making our way through the dungeon. We started slipping out of the "always on edge" reactionary fighting attitude to one of an outing with friends. Seems a little silly to think of raiding a dungeon this way but it helps me feel more at ease.

During one of the fights Dumadin was experiencing some sort of troubles. His reaction times were slowed to a crawl and he claimed to be effected with some sort of ailment called "Lag". I don't know what that is, but I hope it's not contagious! I was standing right next to him!

Because of Dumadin's difficulties I yelled to all the orcs, "TIME OUT!" Rina thought this was very funny and we started discussing how it would be great to play a game like tag with the orcs. How we could call "Time Out" if we needed it and how we could run to an object to be "Safe" so they couldn't tag us. We decided barrels inside the dungeon were considered "Safe". It proved to be a good choice as they were placed throughout the dungeon.

Before we faced the Warchief Kargath Bladefist, Cyllinth sort of faded away. We waited to see if she returned but she did not. I hope that is not an extreme case of "Lag". Again, I was standing next to her! While we waited for Cyllinth, Rina and I hopped up on the final barrel for a photo opportunity. When Cyllinth couldn't return to us, we called in Aloenus to come and assist us with fighting the Warchief.

Overall I'd say I had a very productive and fun evening!

Karazhan At Last

Last night was a very big evening. First off, I was able to travel to enough festival sites and steal enough horde flames to be able to earn myself a Brazier of Dancing Flames. I also was given the Crown of the Fire Festival for my assault on the horde towns.

I found Silvermoon City the most difficult. Those guards hit hard and the fire is so far inside the city! But I did it.

The flame in Undercity was being guarded by some brave hordies but they underestimated my patience. I found a hiding spot and lay there hidden until I saw my chance and when I did I grabbed the flame and ran. Victory!

I still have plans to pick up at least the summer robe as I've seen it in town and think it's very pretty. I haven't decided if I want the shoulders as well. But this is all just a small part of my evening.

Into Karazhan

Team Banana, lead by Geearthur, was one short for his excursion into Karazhan and invited me to come. I was very excited although I did not quite meet the standards set by our raid leaders. He assured me I would be fine. I was definately willing to give it a shot as it has been my goal to work up to be Karazhan material.

I had a great time but I was nervous I would mess up and harm the raid. As a result, I may have been over cautious with my spells but I believe I did well and hopefully they will ask me to substitute in again in the future.

We made it to the the Maiden but that was where our adventures for the evening ended. The Maiden proved just slightly too much for us ((we got her down to 1% and wiped!)) and we had to call it an evening. The Bananas try again on Friday and while I told Geearthur I would be happy to fill in again if needed, I would prefer to wait until there is enough room for Keste as well. I feel a little guilty leaving him behind.

My dice were hot last night and I was able to get a void crystal from one of Attumen's items and a Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran from Moroes. The cloak is a very large improvement over my previous cloak and is my very first epic item.

Was a grand time and I secretly hope they still need me on Friday to help bring down the Maiden. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

One Crazy Dungeon Filled Evening

The night started innocently enough. Sereg and Faraday were looking for companions to help them through Shadow Labyrinth to obtain a key fragment. Keste and I were also looking for the fragment and offered to join. Dineh was kind enough to volunteer to be our guide through the dungeon. It was a complete success ending with the slaying of the very scary (and I think he looks sort of like a monkey) Murmur. Only complaint I have is that he sure did like to make me explode!

Dineh had the grand idea of continuing on our key fragment quest in the Steamvaults. I had never been there but was more than willing to continue. The key fragments together would form the Master's Key for Karazhan. I heard rumor that not everyone one needs the key but I still think it's a good idea for copies to be about.

While we were working our way to the second fragment in Steamvaults, fellow Thalanaari started emptying the halls of the Arcatraz to aid us in obtaining the final fragment. So directly after picking up the second piece, we ran out there and grabbed piece #3. This was a wonderful display of teamwork!

All that was left to do was go to the Black Morass in the Cavern's of Time and convince Medivh to enable our 3 fragments, now formed into an apprentice key. Once again it was Sereg, Faraday, Keste, Dineh and myself fighting our way through waves and waves of dragonkin. We fought them with ease and defeated Aeonus thus completing our task.

As a bonus for my efforts, I also received a Mana-Etched Crown. It's completely silly but this looks like a crown. I wear it feeling like a princess. It's amazing the silly things that make me happy. Luckily it is also very powerful because I have a feeling I would have wanted to wear it even if it wasn't greater than my previous cap.

At the end of the day, Keste gave me some of his gold and I went to Shadowmoon Valley and purchased my snow griffin mount. Oh she is so beautiful. Now I just need to think of a fitting name for her.

I have to say I had a fantastic action packed evening and hope my fellows had an equally great time.

Promotion!

I'm very proud to say that today Lord Gwydien decided my work within the guild was worthy of one of higher rank and I was promoted to rank of Taosieach. I am honored by this position and strive to prove myself worthy of such responsibilities.

Desdarii's and Keste's Graduation

It was a short ceremony. We kept it that way so as not to interrupt the other events. There really was no reason to make it long and drawn out. We were happy to receive those that came to witness our ceremony. We received our diploma and are now officially masters.

I'm obviously overjoyed at our achievements. Curious thing though, why do I feel like the bulk of the work has just begun? All our training has been leading up to what is now to come.

Trivia Challenge

Keste and I returned to Stormwind's Dwarven District to attend a "Trivia Challenge" being hosted by our guild. We ended up on opposite teams but I'm too competative to allow that to bother me.

Unfortunately, the questions were too hard for someone like myself. The topic was Medieval history. My team still did well and was able to win the challenge thanks to Shrios quick typing skills.

Lord Gwydion Brenn says that the winning team gets to select a Darkmoon Fair set of their choosing. I haven't decided yet but I think it's a very generous prize indeed!

Ring of Blood

Our good friend Dumadin was looking to complete the Ring of Blood trials in Nagrand. We offered to join him and as per usual, our very helpful Thalanaari came to our aid. Special thanks to Majanah and Tragniew!

I honestly did not know what we were getting ourselves into. I had thought it was a single fight to prove our worth and we were done. There were six challenges in all and some of them were quite difficult!

We were able to make it all the way and after defeating Mogor I was given the Battle Mage's Baton as my reward. It is a very nice looking staff and quite more powerful that my previous staff.

Naked Race Event

Today Keste and I attended the "Naked Race" event Geearthur set up for our guild to participate in. The purpose was to test our strength by taking off our armor and venturing into the Deadmines to see all the equipment we could acquire. The rules are described in the guild bulletins. We had 2 teams pitted against each other to see who could acquire the most items. It was a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again.

Learning to Fish

This past weekend I gathered my overalls, specially enchanted fishing gloves, and my pole looking for a place to fish. While preparing, I met up with Geearthur in Ironforge who was nice enough to show me a great fishing spot and share a cozy fire with me. I learned much from Gee that day and am officially hooked on fishing.

You will see me running around with my fishing pole strapped to my back a lot more often. I even found a vendor that sold stronger fishing poles than the one I was using and spent the silver for the upgrade. I'm looking forward to breaking that in at the next watering hole I find.

Wedding of Vailyn and Italiana

Keste and I attended the wedding of our guild members, Vailyn and Italiana. It was held in the gardens behind the Scarlet Monastary. It was a wonderful ceremony. I am still new to the family and learning everyone, it felt great to see everyone face to face.

We are both really looking forward to more meetings like these. Maybe even hosting some of my own.