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((Hey guys. Some of you might have noticed that I've been absent from the guild's everyday life lately. Actually, I haven't logged into wow for a few weeks, as my RL really turned upside down - not necessarily for the best. Anyways, I'll try to reconnect with you guys ASAP and I'm really looking forward to the new expansion, MoP. Hopefully I'll be available for playing again by then. In the meantime, have fun and bash some alliance skulls for me! Lok'Thar!))

Just a headsup: I put up the event for tomorrow (wednesday) night. Hope y'all can make it! If not, I'll try to organize another time.

If you wish to participate in this achievement (and drake)-hunt I recommend you read the following guide:

http://forums.wow-petopia.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8428

It was the best I could find. It doesn't hurt the print it either, but I'll have it on me. Hopefully we can arrange a ventrilo channel for our endeavors too.

GET TO DA VOLCANIC STONE DRAKE!

Apparently, this will be an accountbound mount in MoP, so all the more reason to get it!

More importantly, I saw our beloved Thur'ruk, His Excellence, the Magnificent Sadok Sharptongue (that's his full name, you didn't know?) put up an achievement-run in old dungeons this friday. I'll try to make it and if you can, sign up too, so we can maybe work something out and start hatching the eggs of our wondrous drakes.

That's great! So we have a tank now! Unfortunately our designated healer, Gragosh left for another server, so we're short of a healer now. I'll try to contact him and maybe he can come with us through real id.

So the group now is: Thrugar, Grogona, Mozrogg, Udron, with a Gor'Thrak and possibly Vilirok helping out if needed. Healer still wanted, unless I can somehow reach Gragosh.

Please poke me ingame to try to set up a date for this.

Well the project is kind of "on hold" now, as we couldn't find anyone to tank it.

A few drinks later, Villy turned to me, showed his million gold smile and said “Wow, you look good tonight.”

((This distortion of the facts will not go unpunished. If Villy found out about this you would have been killed! You've been warned.))

((Well first of all, your char really did hit on my char. Should I have screenshotted it, as you deny it now? Also, I'm very discouraged by these comments. It seems obvious now, that there's no place whatsoever for any kind of "author's freedom". My char cannot show off or tell the story differently in an IC letter to her cousin, because people will come here and say this or that pesky detail didn't happen like that. And now I even get an OOC (or is it IC?) death threat, too, from Vilirok even, who I considered quite friendly to Udron. Apparently that's not the case.

I have made all these stories in good faith, but I can see now, that it was a bad idea. It was fun while it lasted and I hope some of you even enjoyed them. Otherwise, the reaction to them is a huge disappointment for me and I won't continue them. I'll stick to guild-sanction rp from now on.))

I think it would be nice to have a fixed group of five for this and we should try to find a fixed day when we are going on the runs.

So far we have Grogona (rogue), Gragosh (resto shaman), Mozrogg (arms warrior) and me (mage). We also have Gor'Thrak (dps dk) to help us in times of need.

However, we still need a tank, who is interested in the mount/achievements. Any takers?

If there's none, maybe Mozrogg or Gor'Thrak would want to try an interesting new spec? 

(My former main - Udra - was a protection warrior for quite a while. It was fun, though much much more challenging, than a dps spec.)

This one is Udron's themesong. Especially from 2:12. (Make sure you wait for 3:34.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKUYAnqxjU

Greetings!

I was wondering if anyone in the guild would be interested in obtaining the Volcanic Stone Drake mount.

http://www.wowhead.com/item=62900

It's a reward for the Glory of the Cataclysm Hero achievement.

http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4845

With a guild group, I think eventually we would be able to get it, but it's far from easy, even with the gear that is available now.

So, anyone up for it with me? We need a group of five.

(( I wuv my tankard, but I never paid for it. It was a personal favor, which the mage owed me. As always, great writing. ))

Bah, those pesky details!  I should take notes, I forget everything.

You did say I should watch my elemental, and we scowled at each other. So those words are I think appropriate, if a bit overboard. As for other details, I may not remember everything correctly, so I wrote it to the best of my knowledge. It may not be 100% true to what went down. Sorry!

((In this topic, I'll share with you the letters Udron writes to her cousin, Udra. In them she usually tells her cousin what adventures she goes through with the Orcs of the Red Blade. Feel free to respond OOC here or IC ingame. The first two parts of the story are in the Udron's Application thread.))

Udron's Tales - Chapter III

Udra!

Have you faced your worst nightmares? Have you been to hell and back? Well you probably have, but I had to do it myself two nights ago and I still flinch when I think of it.

It all started on Fizzle & Pozzik’s speedbarge, a huge vessel floating on the lake in the Thousand Needles. We’ve been on that damn boat for several days now, with nothing at all to do. The sun was searing, but we were not allowed to swim in the lake, because of the dangerous creatures lurking in the water. Disciplined as we are, we haven’t jumped in it once, apart from Therak’s hunt, but I’ll get to that later. There were no more fish in the lake, as we caught them all. No more birds in the sky, as we shot a few and the rest were too scared to come back. And even Rudash’s everfilling tankard was almost empty.

Have I told you about Rudash, jokingly called behind his back as “the Drunk”? He is a new blood, just like myself, but unlike me, a heavy drinker. He has this ornamented, purple metal drinking stein, filled with ale, of which he frequently sips. He sips, when we’re talking on the barge. He sips, when we’re riding through the marsh. He sips, when we’re just about to charge. He sips, when he can’t hold back the barf. If something happens, he sips. When nothing happens, he sips. Basically, he sips all the time. And the tankard never empties. “How is that possible? You never fill the tankard!” I asked him. “’s a magic tankard, full of ale all the time. Payed a fortune for ’t to an arcanist in Northrend.” he answered. It was truly a great tankard. “Fascinating!” I said “So what did the mage say, how does it work? Does it magically transfer ale from an inn somewhere or does it create ale from thin air?” He shrugged “Dunno. There’s ale in it. ‘s all I need.” What ignorance! He doesn’t care if what he drinks is an illusion or the real thing. Would you believe it?

The only time there was a bit of a change of scenery was when Therak asked a few of us to help him at his task. Not far from the barge, in an underground cave lived a colony of orc-sized bugs. He was charged to dispose of their queen. Three of us were willing to help him: Grogona Marshfang, my tutor, a young she-orc and wannabe blademaster; Marzek, this oooold, and I mean reeeeaaaally old shaman, who kept talking about how in Draenor everything was fine and dandy, unlike on this shitty continent; and me. “Respect your elders!” they say and that’s what we did with Grogs and Therak, helping the old orc undress his armor, tend to his weapons, climb over the railing, and so on. He was more a hindrance, than a help, but I’m sure he felt young again, as we swimmed down to the dark tunnels, knife in mouth.

We disposed of several bugs and fought our way inside a huge underwater hall, in the centre of which floated the queen, a huge purple barrel-shaped monstrosity of a bug. Not the type you crush under your heels! No chance of a surprise attack, she noticed us immediately and sent waves of bugs to kill us. Thank Thrall, Therak provided us with water-breathing potions before the hunt, or we surely would have drowned. The soldiers just kept on coming, while Therak and Grogs hacked at them, I sent a few balls of flame to roast them. Surprisingly, my magical flame was quite feeble against them, but the fingers of frost I used against them did the trick. The old shaman was in the back, healing us, breathing heavily, but nevertheless doing his job admirably. As the waves of bugs slowly faded, eventually we found ourselves face to face with the queen and Therak lunged in for the kill. With unfathomable quickness, the queen’s poisonous tail lashed forward and caught Therak on his hips, as he dealt the deadly blow. He sawed off the tail and we all started making our way out of the caves, meeting no resistance at all. By the time we reached the surface, Therak’s face turned white and he could hardly move. The elder wasn’t in much of a better state himself. Still, Grogs and I somehow dragged them onto the barge, where she tended Therak’s wounds, while the old orc fell to a dreamless sleep. Rudash sipped.

*  *  *

Several days have passed, the heat starting to be unbearable. Word got around, that the tribe shall gather on the side deck of the barge and we’re to be addressed. I was on the top deck, practicing directing my summoned elemental. It can be a little stubborn sometimes, so I need to show it who’s in charge every now and then. The elemental refused to obey my commands, again! I had to mentally spank it a few times.

By the time I got the assembly, it already started. I was in a hurry and didn’t have to time dismiss the water elemental and as I rushed to the gathering, it crashed face-first to an orc of the tribe: Mozrogg Doomhowl. A fearsome orc, standing an imposing seven feet tall, with muscles bulging on every inch of his body and a two-handed axe almost bigger than him, soaked to the bone like a wet dog. Eyes burning with anger, he snarled at me “Watch your elemental, new blood, while you have something to watch with!” I snarled back at him “What, you’re made of sugar now, orc? Hang yourself out on the sun, you’ll dry in no time.” The orc reached for his axe, but others — suppressing their giggles — held him back, so he wouldn’t chop me in half. Grogona beckoned me over and expressed her disapproval with a frown. Maybe I should cut back on the witty remarks.

With all the commotion I didn’t hear half of the speech a long-standing shaman of the tribe, Shazula delivered to the orcs assembled. Karak filled me in: through carefully chosen herbs and meditation, we were about to enter the domain of the dead, where we shall seek the long deceased and legendary Shaman King, who would give counsel about how the tribe should move forward. Not long after, we all climbed onto a sacred rock protruding from the lake, a short boat ride away from the barge. We were to enter the world of the dead, can you believe that Udra? Anticipating the worst, we were quite a noisy bunch, ensuring each other how we weren’t scared at all. It wasn’t true. Shazula though, she soothed us with a meditative speech, as she threw some herbs into the bonfire. One after another we slipped into a trance, where we experienced the otherworld.

It was like waking up in hell. We were on a tall cliff, the landscape vaguely resembling the Thousand Needles. No colors at all, everything was just different shades of grey. Grey waves were moving along the sky, as if it was an upside down ocean of doom. The smell was a mixture of rot and strangely, mint. The air was humid, with heat emanating from the ground. Our translucent avatars were all there, taken aback by the utterly unorclike circumstances. It was entirely different from our expectations, but nevertheless it was hell.

We weren’t alone. There were spirits everywhere, some just sitting or standing motionless, others doing everyday things: mending an invisible fish net, feeding nonexistent cattle, and so on. They seemed oblivious to our existence, if not to their own. As we gathered ourselves, we noticed a large ghost wolf, sitting idly near us, waiting. As the wolf greeted us, we could all hear a familiar voice inside our heads: it was Shazula! As a shaman, she could transform into a spirit wolf, which exists both in the real world and the otherworld. She explained to us that she will lead us on a “Spirit Walk”, where we will encounter several spirits. Maybe they’ll have a clue as to where we may find the Shaman-King. She reminded us, that being in the spirit world is different from Azeroth, our boundaries are different and we should not disturb the restless souls with questions or movement, unless they’re friendly to us. Scared shitless, we barely dared to walk, when she motioned us to follow, as she jumped off the cliff. Trusting her, we jumped. In the physical world, the fall would have been deadly, yet here we didn’t feel anything, when we landed on the surface of a large pool of water. She told us to run and we did — on the surface of the lake, mind you — twice as fast as we ever could in the real world. As if someone would have taken our chains, it was exhilarating. Us new bloods ran around like crazies, while the elders maintained their solemn stature. Not much later, we encountered the first friendly spirit. She was an orc matron, could have been about fifty or so, when she died. She told us she was kidnapped and killed by the centaurs in the Thousand Needles, and she can still hear her son as he’s looking for her. She asked us to warn her son of her death, so that she could rest in peace. We promised we would do it for her. Unfortunately, she never heard of the Shaman-King.

We walked on, the task heavy on our hearts. We arrived to a lakeshore, where the ramp upwards was a little steep. We hopped up with no trouble, except for one of us, who fell back a bit. It was the Rrosh-Tul! Bravest, proudest and strongest of us, he said something was holding him back. “As if a boulder was hanging from my waist” he said. We tried to help him, but — proud as he is — he ordered all of us to leave him and continue our journey. Then the most curious thing happened! Shazula jumped at the Rrosh-Tul and bit his head off! A travesty! Bloodmark’s spirit immediately disappeared and the ghost wolf told us he regained consciousness in the physical world. We pressed on.

A bit later, we met another orc, this time a hunter. He told us that his lifelong partner — a wolf — was stuck between the real world and the otherworld, and his bones would have to be recovered and a sacred ritual performed to let the wolf hunt on the eternal hunting grounds. Another promise was made. This spirit hasn’t heard of the Shaman-King either.

Shazula led us on, until we met Tarag, the shaman. I didn’t know him, but the others greeted him loudly. Apparently, until his death, he was a popular member of the tribe. Meeting him again after such a long time, some orcs got sentimental and it truly was a sad sight, meeting a dead friend on the other side of life. Another oath was made, this time to drink three shots of the strongest drink we could find on the barge. I’m sure we can perform this one easily. Tarag also gave us directions to the Shaman-King, who was said to be in a nearby valley. Enstrengthened by unanticipated hope, we set off for the last part of our journey.

I was feeling uneasy. I felt a stare on my back and did not know who it was. Angry spirits? Devils? I turned around and saw the ghost wolf sneering at me with a scornful gaze. I tried to hide behind Karak, but the wolf kept staring at me. “What’s that about?” I thought. Not in my familiar surroundings, I have to admit, I felt a little bit scared.

A bit while later, we arrived in the valley mentioned by the shaman. We made out a pentagram etched with strange runes — the kind that warlocks use for their rituals — in the middle of it. As we examined a pentagram, a majestic orc spirit materialized on top of it. It was the Shaman-King! He was tall and strong, dressed in tribal vestments with several shamanistic accessories — skulls, feathers, human ears, etc. — adorning his outfit. “Orcs of the Red Blade!” he bellowed “Heed my call!” He then told us, that the rune we see is of the Twilight’s Blade, the evil cult, that is trying to destroy the orcs. He told us of their wrongdoings, how they enslaved the wywerns of Highperch and others.

Then somehow my trance broke. I woke up on the sacred rock. Others were still in trance, seemingly asleep. I shooed away a badger that was biting on Karak’s feet and — lost in thought — swam out to the shore and went for a ride. Me, a traitor? An alliance spy? I was called a lot of things in my life, a weakling, a coward, a goodfornothing, a parasite even, but never anything like this. Why? Why does this happen to me? It must have been a setup, I thought. I may have enemies, maybe within the tribe. Was it Doomhowl? Or worse even, was it the Rrosh-Tul? No, those orcs are far too honorable to do such a deed. They’d challenge me and murder me in a fair fight, if push came to shove, but they’d never indulge in such sinister machinations. Seriously Udra, I have no idea what could have happened. I returned to the boat and told the chieftain about the wolf’s words. He said they’ll investigate the matter and decide on my fate later.

Naturally, after all this I had to get drunk. Karak and Vilirok, this other young orc were at my usual table in the bar on the barge. I fulfilled Tarag’s task at least three times, maybe more. As I was getting drunker, than ever, Karak surprisingly left, with a smirk on his face. A few drinks later, Villy turned to me, showed his million gold smile and said “Wow, you look good tonight.” Can you imagine? After all what happened, he hit on me! This orcs have just no sense of timing. So I burped in his face and said “You ain’t gonna score tonight, lad. Get used to it.” He laughed and made no big deal out of it.

We were drinking and talking, when I saw this bespectacled (!) she-orc reading a book (!) at a table close to ours. Spectacles, books? What, was she a gnome disguised in an orc suit? I thought she was eavesdropping and naturally, I questioned her about it. She said it was her table and I should leave her alone. “I didn’t see your name on it, sister” said I angrily, accompanied by another burp. She said she paid the goblins for the table, so I let it go. I had enough fights for one day. More than enough.


Take care, as always.

Love, Udron

((If anyone has screenshots of the spirit walk and they can be uploaded here, I'd appriciate it.))

Personally, I think that raiding would be very much possible with only members of the guild and possibly alts of the guild members. It is commonplace you don't have one of each class in a 10-man raid (and it won't be possible in MoP). Several classes share the same buffs and if we don't have one, there are other sources (warlocks and warriors can replace priest's stamina buff, monks will be able to replace druid's buff, etc.) Also, correct me, if I'm wrong, but ORB raiding wouldn't be in the race for server-first kills, in which case hardcore min-maxing of everything doesn't seem necessary. I think a bunch of good players could eventually beat all the challenges with any class.