Weekend Musings

General, Raiding

Been a long hectic weekend, involving more raids than any sane woman should attempt, the completion of a number of pre-patch objectives, and dragging a sickly ferret to the vet for an impromptu and frantic checkup.¹

The Last Mention of Bear Mount Runs — Promise!

Saturday was our last ever pre-Wrath of the Lich King preparation patch Zul’Aman bear mount run.  Despite a very clean and professional start, we ran into a couple of problems that made our objective — to finally get Drunken Badger guildmate and fellow blogger Jezrael of DPS: We Deliver — a little difficult.  Fortunately, despite a warlock who may have just taken it upon himself to make this final effort a little hair-raising, miss Jez managed to get her bear mount.  The screaming on Vent was nothing short of hilarious!

While this picture doesn’t depict all of us that have since acquired Amani War Bears, it does show the nine that had been with us from the very beginning and were present for Saturday’s efforts.

Afterward, we were milling around in Zul’Aman, tryng to find something to do in the forty-five minutes that remained before our final stab at completing the Trial of the Naaru: Magtheridon quest needed to acquire the Champion of the Naaru title.  Someone² thought that it would be a brilliant idea to meet up in Ironforge and join many of the other people who often loaf around there in their epics and nifty mounts.  We all agreed and made our way to the dwarven city.

We strode through Ironforge on our mounts, trailing over bridges³, making circles, and generally looking pretty silly in a mix of roleplaying outfits and a few barely-there attire.  It was a remarkable amount of fun and we were all laughing on Vent as we preened and posed for the paltry masses.

During the course of our escapades, we got various reactions from the denizens of Ironforge.  Some laughed and joined us by summoning their own bear mounts.  More than one of us were approached by people who inquired if our guild was recruiting.⁴  And more than a few commented on our personal lives and how we had no lives.

Objective complete!

You can read more about our antics in Jezrael’s post, “I can haz bear!” — including a movie called The Great Bear Preen of ‘08 made by one of our guild members, Chiaroscuro!

There’s a Reason Why I Don’t Lead Raids

I’m your lady if you want someone in the background smoothing over little flareups and organizing things.  I’ll plan, I’ll speak, I’ll describe fights⁵, and I’ll come prepared for anything and everything that people may have forgotten.  But lead a raid?  Psh!

Unfortunately, I ended up being raid leader for an impromptu and very messy Magtheridon’s Lair run.  As mentioned earlier, many Badgers recently completed the prerequisites for the Champion of the Naaru title and we were eager to slay the pit lord in the name of the Naaru.  Poor planning on my part, lots of miscommunication, and more than a few jeers from a very drunken Drunken Badger led to a number of gory wipes.  Fortunately, the naysayers left and we were able to bring in a number of fellow guild members in that final attempt to down Magtheridon.

While I’ll most likely never ever wear the title on my perky priestess, it’s a good feeling to know that I managed to accomplishment my pre-patch objective!

Oh, and hugs?  They’re a brilliant way to acquire people for raids.  At least that’s how I managed to snag people for many of the slots in our impromptu raid!

Sometimes a Little Kindness Goes a Long Way

During our horribly messy yet somehow successful raid, I stumbled into a young mageling who was recruited during our attempts.  This sweet woman was kind enough to repeatedly buff people with Arcane Brilliance over and over following every attempt when none of the other mages in the raid seemed prone to do so.  She also fortunately won a Chestguard of the Fallen Hero, allowing her to obtain her first piece of Tier 4.  I found out afterward that she was so happy that she started crying.

When this mage whispered me following our Magtheridon Run to ask for my advice in gemming her new Vestments of the Aldor, I stopped her; she had planned on using some sub-par gems on her lovely new robes, which wouldn’t stand!  So I snagged two gems using my badge collection, got them shaped, and then presented them to the now-even-happier mage.  She was so pleased that she promptly threw on her robes and strut around Darnassus like the wonderful and fearsome mage that she was.

And, when that didn’t seem like enough, I managed to get a Heroic Magisters’ Terrace group together for her, where she managed to snag a number of notable upgrades to her dungeon blues.

My Guildmates are Strange

Want proof?

Related Posts

1. Amani War Bear Spotted!
2. Have I Mentioned How Much I Miss My Guildies?
3. The Cookie That Disappeared!