Annals of the Homestarmy - WoW

Josla (denouement)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:16:00 -0700

Ragefur led me stealthily home where we found an inconsolable Hedy being rocked slowly by Mother. I ran and hugged Hedy.

I told her, "We're going to run away to Northshire tonight. It's not safe here anymore. Those men are criminally insane."

Hedy replied, "I can't."

I was taken aback. "Wha-what do you mean?"

"I have to stay. I'm going to burn this village to the ground and make sure every last one of those self-righteous, sheep kissing bastards dies just like my mom did."
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Josla (Part 5)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:56:00 -0700

When he saw them, he grabbed me. I could see the fear in his eyes. He remembered now. I tried to pull him along but he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. "NO!"

I don't know which of us screamed that. Maybe both of us did for different reasons. It was pretty obvious to me what had happened. Hillman stopped at the Watering Hole at the end of day when all the men were drinking. He told them about his encounter at my house and as they got more drunk, they became more angry at the "arrogance" of John and all his household and how now it was affecting my mother. Of course they decided to march over there and see what was so special about this priest that was too good for our little village.

Hedy told me later that her mother came over hoping to brainstorm with my mother about how best to sneak Ryatka out of town. She apologized profusely both to Mother and Ryatka. I knew that Harika had studied with the warlocks in Stormwind. What I didn't know was that they walked out in the open with their demons, so a Draenei wouldn't cause more than a mild ripple of interest in the streets there. So of course Harika didn't think twice about sending the first available priest to our village, even though she was from the Exodar. Apparently, Marlee didn't know about it either nor did she know about Hedy sending to Harika for help. But she was determined to help. They decided to smuggle Ryatka out of town as soon as dark fell.
Continue reading "Josla (Part 5)"

Josla (Part 4)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 08:55:00 -0700

I wandered all over the forest trying to find him. On any other day, I'd have run into him without meaning to, but he was nowhere to be found. I searched near bear caves and foxholes for hours, but he wasn't in any of the places I'd normally see him. It was beginning to get dark so I decided to head back when I found him. He was sleeping up in an old oak tree. I called to him but he just kept on sleeping. Hedy had told me some of her father's stories of the old Druids going into "hibernation states" for long periods of time and I was worried that he wouldn't wake up at all, so I picked up some fallen acorns and began throwing them at him. What can I say, I was getting desperate. One of them hit him in the head and that seemed to have the desired effect. I'm not sure how he didn't fall out of the tree, but he started blinking and rubbing at his head where the acorn had impacted.

"Wha's all this?" he sleepily inquired.

"I need your help Ragefur! There's a Draenei in the village and I'm worried what the Mayor will do if he finds her. Don't you remember when he caught you shifting into your bear shape?!" I was panicking at this point. The sun had gone down and there was definitely going to be trouble.
Continue reading "Josla (Part 4)"

Josla (Part 3)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:04:34 -0700

The knock came early in the morning. Far earlier than I would have liked, but I heard Hedy hissing my name, so I got up to see what she was doing at that ungodly hour. I peeked out a window and saw her standing next to an extremely tall, cloaked figure. It was even taller than the Druids, and they were all taller than any man I'd ever seen. As soon as I let them in, Hedy started saying something about "scaring the living daylights out of Mom" when the figure started to take off its hood and I started to scream. Hedy tackled me and put a hand over my mouth.

"It's ok. This is Ryatka. Allyriel pulled some strings for Harika and had her sent here. She's a priest."

In my defense, she looked exactly the opposite of a priest. There she was. Taller than any person I'd ever seen. I looked her up and down, taking in the dainty hooves, the satyr-looking legs, the traveling leathers, and finally the great horns rising up out of her forehead. If ever a demon I'd seen, she was it. I mean, she could have been taken straight out of one of Friar Lynn's books.

Continue reading "Josla (Part 3)"

Josla (Part 2 of 5?)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:41:00 -0700

The days after our village's adventurers were carted off to Northshire weren't all that different from the normal routine. There were still chores to take care of and classes to attend. Commerce in the town square continued as usual, but it seemed as though the world had been tipped on its side to me. Hedy was a whirlwind. She seemed determined to double her normal number of scrapes and to drag me along as a surrogate for her sister. Her fights with Friar Lynn seemed more impassioned than usual, but it was hard to tell, because when she wasn't having it out in class, she was prepping herself with me as a stand-in - this while we hiked all over the nearby forest. I would have asked her why she chose me to fill in for Harika, but I was having too much fun to question my good fortune.

It must have been just eight or nine days after the recruits' departure that the first letter arrived. Hedy and I were racing from the schoolhouse back to her place when we burst through the front door and saw her mother quietly rocking in the front room, an unrolled parchment in one hand, with a slightly bemused expression on her face. She extended the parchment to my companion and said, "She's doing great, Hedy. Here, read it."

Hedy carefully took the paper over to the window to read. Her eyes quickly scanned the brief few lines before she returned it and turned to me. "Come on, Josla. Let's go! Mom, we'll be back for supper." And back out the door she raced. This time we visited a bear cave (which was fortunately empty) and followed some strange tracks around for an hour before catching up with a young (well, they all seem ageless actually) druid. Her name was Lyla, and she showed us the properties of an herb she was collecting. We enjoyed our conversation with her so much that we nearly missed the evening meal entirely.

Continue reading "Josla (Part 2 of 5?)"

Josla (Part 1 of 3)

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:49:00 -0700

Author's Note: Upon further review, this will likely extend beyond three parts.

I remember the day that the military wagon rolled into town. They were looking for volunteers to help with the kobold infestation in Northshire Abbey. The Stormwind Army had been called off to fight an unknown foe no one knows where, and the few soldiers left to defend the kingdom from inner threats needed help. A dozen or so of the older boys and girls (still learning how to properly swing a sword or cast a spell without causing more damage to themselves than their target) gladly signaled their willingness to join the cause. There was one pair that caught my attention.

Of course, this pair had always been the center of attention in our town. Their whole family was always standing out in the most wonderful and awkward way. Their father was the closest our village had to a Noble. Oh, he wasn't the Mayor (that was the butcher just off Turner Lane) but he was a traveling merchant, which always seemed just as good to me. Once every month or so he'd roll into town with the most fascinating load of wares. Many times, he'd have handfuls of sweets that he'd laughingly pass out to all the kids. I remember joining the throng crowding up to him with hands outstretched, screaming as loud as we could, "John! Welcome back! John! John!" all the time hoping to be the first recipient of dwarven rock candy or Lordaeron licorice. It didn't take long for the crowd to disperse as each of us ran off with our cherished prize, savoring the sweet gift like a long lost love returned.
Continue reading "Josla (Part 1 of 3)"

Where to begin?

nospam@example.com (Iggy (Captain Jack Sparrow)) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:42:36 -0700

I'm setting myself up here, I know it, but um, I'm jealous of the goings on in other worlds that I am as yet not apart of. In other words, in regards to WoW, I want in.

Where do I start? Should I start? I really know nothing of the SMUORPG universe. And why is William Shatner on the commercials?

Sad Face Goes Here

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:49:26 -0600

I know most of you who once played are playing no longer and the rest of you have always been puzzled by how absorbing the game is, but I was irritated by this news and am posting it to the blog even though it's about World of Warcraft.

We're happy to announce that through the wonders of modern gnomish engineering, you are now able to change your characters' names. Finally, you can turn the moniker that seemed like a good idea at the time into something more befitting your true standing in World of Warcraft.

Visit Account Management to begin the paid character-name-change process. The fee is $10 per name change. As with our recent addition of voice chat to the game, this feature is being rolled out across all realms in several phases.

I mean, good grief. Couldn't they just put a limit of one name change per account per month/one change per character per six months or something? They've already set the game up so "friend" and "ignore" lists persist through GM-enforced name changes, it's not like this should be that big of an infrastructure change. Maybe I'm just irritated because I've always hated that extraneous "n" on my Paladin's name (Gwydionn), but I don't feel like donating $10 to the Blizzard ROFL-room just to change it.

So, exactly how excited ARE you?

nospam@example.com (Ancient of Days) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:39:57 -0600

Pardon me if I'm the last one to this little party, but World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has been announced.

Coolest stuff:

"Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path."

"Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft's first Hero class."

I'm not sure how I haven't heard Daboo gushing about that one yet...

Kethel

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:39:02 -0600

This is a work in progress.

The inviting sounds of activity occurring outside in Camp Mojache slowly drifted into Rija's dreams, awakening her from the deep slumber only an adventurer on hiatus can know. She sat up and stretched, looking down at the straw pallet the old Tauren innkeeper had provided her.

"Another week of sleepin' on beds like dis and I'll be turnin' into a human girl, always asking for a fedder bed," she thought to herself with a small chuckle. The low ceiling had a pleasant woodsmoke smell that no doubt came from the fireplace in the kitchen below and though the inn was built in the time since the Battle of Mount Hyjal, her small room had a comforting sense of age that could most likely be attributed to the steady nature of its Tauren architects. "Dey build t'ings to last a long time," Rija mused.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them as she gazed out the window dreamily and watched a small contingent of Orcs and Taurens run through some military drills. "Maybe I will go today and teach dem some more. De orcs don' learn dat fast, but I be impressed by a couple of de Tauren warriors." As she contemplated this idea, she heard shouts from the stable area and remembered that she hadn't taken her raptor mount out for several days. "De ol' girl be gettin' fat and lazy if I don' be takin' her out soon. Zjolnir be none too happy wit' me if I haf to buy a new one, because dis one won't let me ride her no more."

Spurred at the thought of losing her raptor to sloth, Rija began gathering her belongings back into the magic packs scattered near her pallet. She enjoyed the slight, tingling sensation in her fingers as she slid an assortment of knick knacks and old trophies into the void that made it possible to carry so much in such small bags. Rija then tied them in place on her large back pack and secured the axe and bow she carried in their battle-ready scabbards. She made her way down the log ramp to the common room and settled her account with the innkeeper, who seemed distracted by the noises from the stables, but unwilling to leave and investigate while the matter of gold exchanging hands was still being arranged.

Perhaps seeing that his heavily-armed client was headed to the stables anyway, he led the way to the backdoor and opened it to the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle. One of the inn's guards was beating a second with a large beam, while a small, blond elf sat in a pile of hay with a look of concentration on his face. "Dere be somet'in' about dis elf dat seems familiar," Rija thought as she considered intervening in the fray.

The elf let out a cry of delight and jumped up, just as the guard with the beam stopped dead in his tracks and began to look around in bewilderment. "Lady Rija! I had hoped to find you here! I've traveled a long ways to rescue you!"

I don't even have all my enchants yet.

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:42:41 -0600

Character Portraits

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:23:41 -0700

Not something entirely new for me, but I thought I'd share them. Feel free to be critical in the comments. . .since you will whether I give you permission or not.

Waruk

The culture of my people has always been one of change and adaptation. My nephew believes that our growing number of allies indicates an Age of Prosperity for the Horde, though he has never been that eloquent. I believe that Shamanism is far better than being led about by demons, and I was quick to learn from Thrall when he offered to teach our people. I also believe that losing the ogres as allies in exchange for gaining the Tauren was the best thing Thrall has done since leading us here to Kalimdor. However, like many of my people, I questioned the alliance with the Forsaken and stand aghast at the Blood Elves walking the streets of Orgrimmar.
Continue reading "Character Portraits"

WoW Roster

nospam@example.com (Sideshow) — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:41:26 -0700

I saw something awhile back from Giggler about all his current and past chars in WoW and it made me think about mine.

So I figured I'd try as best I can to list my roster (not counting bankalts).

Maelstrom
Xiphoid - 70 Undead Mage - Active
Unholyram - 61 Undead Rogue - Active
Ceriphen - 35 Orc Shaman - Temporarily Inactive
Morelia - 21 Undead Warlock - Inactive
Siscyllya - 20 Blood Elf Priest - Active
Johndowses - 10 Blood Elf Hunter - Active
Nzetta - 5 Blood Elf Paladin - Deleted

Skywall
Unholyram - 44 Undead Rogue - Inactive
Johndowses - 42 Tauren Hunter - Inactive

Silver Hand
Grynm - 31 Dwarf Paladin - Inactive
Briallen - 21 Night Elf Druid - Inactive

The Venture Co.
Delynn - 11 Draenei Warrior - Semi Active
Ryanna - 5 Gnome Warlock - Semi Active
Delynn - 11 Gnome Warrior - Deleted

Drakthul
Cerridwynn - 20 Orc Shaman - Deleted

So maybe Giggler isn't the only one with AADD (Alt Attention Deficit Disorder)

The History Behind Maleficium

nospam@example.com (The Mad Giggler) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:29:08 -0700

Due to the recent flare up in violence with the Kul Tiras Marines, it's been brought to my attention that our guild lacks a Role Playing backstory - the reason for why we do the RP events that we do. I submit this story for your approval.

Back before Arthas' betrayal, Lordaeron was a thriving city filled with humans from all walks of life. At the University of Lordaeron, the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity was widely known for housing any student more likely to be found in a brewery than a classroom. It's rumored that King Magni Bronzebeard himself once asked to join, because the dwarves of Ironforge had long held the drinking prowess of the Tri-Lambs in great esteem. Among the fraternity's members was a small, close-knit group of friends, one of which would later be known as Nikth.

Had Uther done his duty and prevented Arthas' corruption, it's likely the Tri-Lambs would have been but a footnote in the long annals of human activity, but history follows its own course.

When the Ranger-General Sylvanas led her Forsaken people deep into the Undercity to forge their new destiny, a number of the brothers from Lambda Lambda Lambda followed her. As chance would have it, Nikth and his old friends led a raid on an Alliance encampment and came away with several kegs of dwarven stout. Nikth suggested they carry their prize back to the City to reminisce about old times. As they became progressively more drunk, several of their new allies from the Horde wandered over to take advantage of the freely flowing booze.

It didn't take long for the arguments to start about who would win in a fight, and it went from there to a challenge to see who could kill the most Scourge in the Plaguelands dressed in nothing more than a tabard. The whole group staggered to their mounts and rode through Tirisfal to the Bulwark. The Argent Dawn there tried to good-naturedly persuade them from their course, but the haze over their minds was too thick. Seeing this, the guards sent word to the Undercity that a group of drunken soldiers was crossing over into the Plaguelands.

So it was, that as the soused comrades were caught between a group of Scarlet Crusade soldiers and a pack of Flesh-eating Scourge, a contingent of Forsaken regulars rounded the group of them up and left the zombies and zealots to vent their frustration on each other.

The regulars were herded down to the Apothecarium and brought before Sylvanas, who looked them over with disgust. She gave them a choice between serving as menial laborers in the Undercity or undertaking a mission into Hearthglen that was believed to be suicide. Having seen the mess the Abomination guards leave in their wake, the unanimous decision was to take the Hearthglen assignment.

Surprisingly, the majority of them survived the task, though they would never speak of it afterwards. As they returned to Sylvanas with the required prize in hand, the first whispers of Maleficium began to circulate throughout the Horde. Known as much for their raucous keggers as their bloody battles against the enemies of the Horde, the Maleficium guild is always in search of new members who share their ideals of "Friendship. Honor. Integrity."

Bagmas and the Oath of Murin

nospam@example.com (Sideshow) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:11:34 -0700

((I posted this to the WoW forums after Maleficium's Bagmas event. AoD encouraged me to post it on here and share it.))

It was just a normal day for good ole Wiley at the Broken Keel Tavern in Ratchet, when a battle-weary Tauren Warrior came in and had a seat. After a while, the Tauren introduced himself as Andrusin and they began talking. It was then that Andrusin revealed to Wiley the legend of Murin.

"I remember those days well," began Andrusin. "I had just left Mulgore. Being a warrior I knew that it was always wise to make friends with the Priests. The best priest I ever befriended was Murin, even if was an undead. I could always rely on Murin to be there for me, although he did like to make me sweat it out sometimes by waiting till the last possible second to help me.

"Murin and I would always be out adventuring together. One problem we always came up with though, was we never had enough room for all our stuff. Well that is, of course, except when our rogue friend unholyram would help himself to our stuff, and then only he would never have enough room for our stuff."

"Murin decided to take up tailoring to help us out by crafting bags. As we continued in our adventures, we'd always talk about the days when we were starting out. We'd reminisce about our escapes from those dreaded Sons of Arugal. But we'd also think back to how much time we had to waste going back to town to clear out space. We always felt sorry for those just starting out who had to deal with the same things."

"One day, right after Murin had just created himself a larger bag, we were heading back to Razor Hill, when we saw this fresh faced Hunter out and about. He seemed as if this was his first ever excursion outside the Valley of Trials. We walked up to him, and called out 'Hey there.' He was nervous to see the two of us approach but he returned our call"

Murin asked, "Hunter, how many bags have you got?"

"I... I have but this one," the hunter meekly replied.

"Would you like this bag?" Asked murin as he held up a bag, made of Mageweave, a little tattered but still useable.

"Yes...., but I don't have much coin on me."

Murin thought for a moment and then replied, "I'll make you a deal, I will give you this bag, and in return I ask only that you swear an oath. You swear, that when the time comes that you no longer need this bag, you come back here, and find someone, who much like yourself today, is just barely starting out on their adventures. You give them this bag, but you make them swear this very same oath. Do you promise to do this?"

"Yes, I promise, I promise," exclaimed the hunter as Murin handed him the bag.

"And thus was born the Oath of Murin." continued Andrusin, before pausing to drink from the flask Wiley and just given him.

After a few hearty swallows, Andrusin continued, "It was this way for a while. We'd give out bags randomly as we didn't need them. But one day we decided, why only do a bag here, and a bag there. We decided it was time to really help out. So with the aid of Murin's mate Morlei, and her sister Malyss, Unholyram, Murin and myself went about collecting all manner of cloth. We collected every little bit we could for weeks. When finally we decided we had enough cloth, Murin went to work. For two full days, and full nights, he worked on making bags. If he had flesh it would have been calloused."

"Finally he was finished, and it was time for our celebration which we named Bagmas. We went to Brill, and to Razor Hill, and to Sen'jin Village. We handed out bags, and made people swear to the Oath of Murin. We drank, and partied. There were fireworks. It was a wonderful celebration, as Bagmas was born."

"But after a few years, the celebrations of Bagmas began to dwindle. Not as many celebrated it, and I thought it had been forgotten"

Andrusin paused as a tear began to form in his eyes. After a moment he continued, "That is until tonight. I was checking out the lands of our new allies, the Blood Elves, when I started to hear murmuring of someone giving away bags. So I headed to Silvermoon, and was directed to Sunstrider Isle. It was there that my Tauren eyes beheld a beautiful site. <Maleficium> was there, and they were upholding the ideals of Bagmas. There was even an undead who had taken the name upon himself. As the festivities died down I talked with Raaji, and he mentioned to me that they had handed out well over 200 bags of varying sizes that night."

"It warms my heart to see the ideals that Murin started with me, way back. It's great to see such great people as those in <Maleficium> continuing a great ideal. It's good to see Bagmas, and the Oath living on, even if Murin is no longer with us."

And with that Andrusin finished his drink, and then left the tavern heading for the Wing Rider