• Cael is 4 weeks old today and is truly the angel baby.  He only cries when he is getting his diaper changed, or hungry.  We have a bit of a “witching hour” – well – two actually before bedtime….but other than that, an angel I tell you!
• He is a nursing champ.  He got it right away! Nursing is great now, and so much easier than it was with Lachlan.  My b.oo.bs KILLED the first 8 days or so and I had some minor cracks….but now all is well in boobland.  My boy loves to nurse (big gulps/no nonsense at nighttime, and more luxury eating during the day….) and would stay on the b.oo.b all the time if I let him.
• He is growing so fast! I can already notice how much bigger he is and feel the time is FLYING by.  I have truly sucked at taking photos since Lachlan broke my point-and-shoot camera…..struggling to figure out my big camera and it’s plethora of features.  Still, I clearly need to step it up.
• Lachlan is the sweetest big brother.  Honestly.  He is so gentle with Cael and loves to come and just pat his head and give him the softest hugs.  In the beginning he was so fascinated by this teeny tiny person that he wiggled his ears and tried to pinch his nose….but no more of that.  He just kisses on him and lays beside him and smiles.  I can’t wait till Cael is older and they can play together….I think they’re going to be the best of friends…..
• Lach has been struggling with temper tantrums.  It’s challenging and drives us crazy at times, but I know it comes with the age and we’re doing our best to work through each one (screaming for 40 minutes straight because he can’t get his way for example).
• My girl-parts feel like a million bucks.  What a huge difference from postpartum last time! With Cael’s birth, I tore internally again.  We found out last time that I was allergic to the stitches, so my midwife gave me the option of using a new type of stitches or to use SEAWEED.  Yes, seaweed.  I opted for the seaweed.  Partially because I (and she!) think I would have kicked her while she did the stitches on me.  I had a really traumatic postpartum recovery with Lachlan.  I ended up having to have SEVERAL inpatient procedures done to me because of complications from the birth.  I didn’t feel back to “normal” until MONTHS (like 9!) after the birth.  I feel amazing now and if I wasn’t still bleeding, I’d never know I even had a baby 4 weeks ago.  I’m so thankful! My midwife was just amazing and the seaweed did its trick!
• Back to pre-preggo weight now (29 lbs total gained during the pregnancy) but pre-preggo jeans don’t feel the same….guess things moved…..again.
• That’s all for now….but here are a few photos (from my cellphone!):

Sanbec started the weekend sitting at something like 21% into level 76. By late Saturday afternoon, he was 78 and collecting his first frost emblems from Direbrew. He’s a few quests short of the achievement for finishing Sholazar. He did do two or three dungeons with guildies, but mostly he just quested. Not ready to learn warrior tanking just yet, I’m enjoying ripping things into shreds and watching them bleed.

Mooooooo....love my transporter malfunctions

Rags started Sunday morning at 76% of level 75. He ended the night 23% into 78.  The only quests he did were the one for Violet Hold, a couple of Gundrak quests someone shared, and then as he was flying over the Ampitheatre in Zul’drak to turn those in, a group preparing to do that invited him to join them. Otherwise, he spent the entire day chain healing dungeons.

I know I see a lot of complaining about the groups one can get from LFD but honestly … other than a couple of tanks that left my very first group for no apparent reason, it was a great day. Those two were replaced by Kronicball and his guildie Fanaris from Korialstrasz, and a good time was had by all. Such a good time, in fact, that we ran a couple more after that. I even got to DPS. 

The two DK tanks I healed later that day were a little rough around the edges and more of a challenge to heal, but really … compared to the pally, disc priest is EZ mode. PoM does most of the work for me. Keep that up, toss out shields and some renews, penance if someone gets really low despite all of that, and that’s about all there is to it. Looting? Sure! Plenty of time for that. Only thing I really had to adjust to was the need to drink and carry lots of apple juice with me. Kerick only runs out of mana if I force him to.

It wasn’t all leveling though. I took a break Saturday night, because Cael was back from vacation and the 25 man pug he runs in was looking for a DK. This group is mostly alts from the top 25 man guilds on the server and afaik they’ve downed everything other than the LK himself.  It took me a minute or two to adjust back to dpsing since I’ve been solely tanking for the last few weeks. We did heroic lootship. We did heroic rotface. We cleared out everything except Putricide and LK because we ran out of time.

The experience and raid awareness in this group was tops. We tried heroic Blood Princes and if we’d had time for a couple more attempts, probably could have downed it. Someone kept taking my balls off with AoE though … ok so maybe not everyone was tops. Blood Queen … we’ve been working on her in Apathy and from what I saw in this group, we have a LONG way to go to get her down. If anyone get mind controlled, you’re done. Heck, if one of the people that’s bitten dies, you’re done.  IMO, Sindragosa was a hell of a lot easier than BQL.

OMG that fight is not easy. We were there a couple of hours. We had some trouble getting first phase down because we tried a couple of different things from how they had done it before. Once we switched to the way most of them were used to doing it, we had no more problems with phase 1.

We only spread defile over the entire platform once. I think we only lost one person to val’kyr over the course of the night, too. I was impressed with everyone’s ability to focus. There was joking around, sure, but once we were hitting phase 2, vent cleared except for Cael calling things out.

That phase 3 … OMG, I don’t think there’s any way I could have survived this fight if I hadn’t respecced into blood. Don’t get me wrong, the healers did an awesome job … but the ability to pop vampiric blood and have 80k health to survive a Soul Reaper when the other tank is still busy with a Spirit is priceless. Somewhere in between wipes I swapped out the Glyph for the Black Heart, and wore that along with the Corroded Skeleton Key for as much health as I could get.

I got this one just as he hit 10%, before he killed everyone.

That third phase was crazy. You can see we tanks ended up with him in a corner over near the throne … I’m sure that worried the healers a little bit. I know Cael mentioned later that it freaked him out. But that was where I drug him to avoid a defile. Meh … we won. But damn … he’s tough.

I MISSED the cinematic. I was typing and somehow escaped out of it just as it was trying to start up. Oh well … there’s always the fountain in Dalaran.

Everyone put on their titles as soon as it was over, then there was some loot distribution or something  … wasn’t important. Then it was photo time.

And of course, more Kaly ‘n Chan time.

Poor Bolvar .. talk about a fate worse than death … geez.

Once we got back to town … well ….

Perhaps it was somewhat dickish, but can you really blame us? We were all so excited and proud. There were a couple of people from hardcore raiding guilds making fun of us, but we didn’t care.

You know, I’m kinda glad now that Cael and I didn’t get it in that pug we went to. It was way beyond awesome to get it with a group of people that I know … to get it with friends. And geez, Cael got it with his family there! Does it get any more awesome than that?

I play what I like to look at.

Seriously, check out how hot these two are.

There’s just something about a man in plate armor …

… although Kar is pretty sexy in his robes, too.

Now for the answer to Hart’s prompt.

Last night after the raid, Hart and Cael and I went exploring to Old Ironforge. We died plenty of times before Hart researched an alternate glitch that supposedly only works for human males. Well damn, that sounds good but … owait! We ARE human males! It took awhile because I failed at getting the angle just right and kept falling down the side of building, but we eventually got down there.

Let’s get this party started!

Yeah baby, they look just as good WITHOUT their plate armor! Rowr

Come on Hart, it’s only a mechanical yeti … although you ARE kinda overmatched in size at the moment.

So there you go, Lore. Got any more questions that you probably DON’T want to know the answer to?

Imagine I took screenshots of every achievment … ok actually I did, but I was up far too late (reasons for that coming later in the post) so I didn’t send them all over. So just picture a lineup here of those little achievement panels … about 8 of them. One for each wing, one for Fall of Naxxramas, one for the 100 Club, one for Arachnophobia, one for Momma Said Knock You Out, one for … ok maybe it was exactly 8. I got the Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris! squee!!

The plan was to go on to OS3D, Ony, and EoE. Well, OS didn’t go so well, mainly because we didn’t have a full raid. This one try though … man, I should have screenshotted myself in the ice block as the only one alive, with the entire island covered in adds and Sarth with 59k health. WTB some spriests or DKs or afflocks … moar dots dammit! We’ll go back and get him later for sure.

So the raid ends, it’s midnight or so my time. I’m an hour ahead of server. I go with a guild group to tank a random and Cael whispers me … hey, wanna come to LK? We got Kingslayer last week and we’re going to kill him again this week. Uh …. I hem and haw and look at the clock and think “I’m a responsible adult and I have to work at 9am” … and then Demon Chick on the other shoulder is like “but you could go get carried by Scrubs instead of being a scrub and finally be a KINGSLAYER” … and I cracked under the pressure and said yes.

So I hurried us faster than I normally would through PoS and got us wiped on Tyrranus. Oops. But we finished the dungeon,  I switched back to Karius, got invited, and zoned into a run that was … 9/12? Damn. I guess I don’t just get a free ride to the King after all. I gotta work for it.

Free cheeves! Hey, maybe this isn’t so bad after all. I look around the group, and see all but 3 people are wearing Kingslayer. Well ok, one of those is Cael, and he has it on his lock. He’s tanking tonight though. One of the others … yeah, I look him up on Armory and he’s had the title for a month already. The other one is … me. Pressure? Nah …. well ok, yes. And then they announce “ok, we’re going to be doing Sindragosa on heroic.” !!!!!

They did things slightly different than I’ve done it before. See, we had no hunters. So we were free to all stack up in melee, like we do on Marrowgar. Oh, and on heroic … when you have Unchained Magic and blow up? You also blow up anyone within 20 yards of you, so … yeah. That leaves room outside for the two casters who get it to be away from everyone. We had the ‘X’ go to the back left, and the square go to the back right. Easy enough. Oh, and the blasts that you have to LoS during the air phase … those one shot anyone that’s not out of LoS … even tanks. Nasty.

Third phase, the first tomb went to the dragon’s head so the tanks could clear their stacks, the second went to the rear. Melee were assigned the to head tomb, ranged to the rear tomb … people with unchained magic could stay outside in the assigned spots and still be able to LoS their stacks of Mystic Buffet. Sounds easy enough.

It’s not. Before the fight, the RL passed out Lesser Flasks of Resistance. The other mage and I put up mage armor. A pally put up Frost Resist aura. We had Gift of the Wild. We were required to have 200+ frost resist.

Some tries sucked. One try …. we got down to like, I think 3%? It was sooooooooooooo close. I could have cried. We spent two hours on it, and got *that* damn  close to downing her. They plan to spend only one hour on it tonight and then just knock her off on regular and move on to the LK. Hmm … maybe tonight I’ll even say something on vent. What? I don’t know any of them and they’re all Kingslayers! Damn straight I hid in my shell and just typed little things like ‘ok’.

Can I take a nap now? No?? Dammit.

I was invited to fill in on the main progression run in Crits this last week. Since my run was cancelled again (more on that later) I was more than happy to help them out. Sunday night we went in and two healed 8/12, leaving BQL and the two dragons for last night. Fiak swapped his tree in place of his rogue for the continuation.

BQL still took a couple of tries or so. Every time someone was supposed to bite me, I got Swarming Shadows and had to move, so they bit someone else. Which was cool, actually, because I ended up with the Once Bitten, Twice Shy achievement from it.

Dreamwalker was no problem. Moving on … Sindragosa, I hate you. Actually, the raid handled it much smoother than any of the times I’d been to her before.  It looked … well … almost exactly like the Tankspot video, as far as where to  group up and how the ice tombs were placed in Phase 2. Everyone there had killed her before other than Fiaks and me. Yes, I put my ice tomb in the wrong spot once and wiped us. Pro tip – getting an extra person entombed is almost surely a wipe … getting one of the tanks entombed is a guaranteed wipe. >.>

It took .. geez I dunno. Five tries? Really not bad considering. I’ve been waiting for this one for a looooooooooong time.

Alright, kids, we’re off to see the wi … Lich King!

Hey look! It’s my favourite paladin!

Owait … wrong screenshot … that’s just Cael. I meant this one …

Yeah so … the Lich King … I dunno. Necrotic Plague bounced around and we died in less than a minute on each of our three tries. Or maybe it was four.

They’ve gotten to phase 2.5 or something before, but not with us there. hehe. Maybe on their continuation this week they can make progress. HUGE thanks to Cael for bringing us along and letting us finally get that damn dragon down and at least get to see the Lich King. That really made my week.

Now as for Karius’ regular 10 man … it has been dissolved. So that might have been it for him. Not sure what I’m doing yet, there is talk of forming a new group, there are other groups that always need a fill in … I may just not commit to anything for now and concentrate on the guild’s 25 man, at least until after my vacation. So, thanks again to everyone I ran with, and to Lore for holding the group together through personnel changes for as long as he did. See you all tomorrow night at 25!

I’m hanging around Dalaran getting ready for my first trip to ICC…you know, making sure I have buff food, collecting the three kinds of flasks out of the mail that Karius made for me, swapping in a glyph of Holy Shock since I’m expecting to be needing it a lot. Lore logs on and he’s like, ‘Hey, do you need Cable of the Metrognome?’ I look and I’m wearing some iLevel 200 belt with crit on it that I got in HoL. ‘Uh .. yeah! That would be awesome!!’ Grab a buckle out of my bank, stick one of the gems in it that I was planning to bring along just in case, and away we  go.

So I’ve been a paladin for less than a week and I already hate the whole buffing procedure. I’m the only paladin, can’t I just give everyone kings? Well, I suppose the hunter and his pet should get might. Except, whenever I hit the pet bar on pally power to give him might, it also gives it to the warrior… who is tanking … and wants kings. Grrrr. And the two shaman, one is resto and one is enhance, so one wants kings and the other wants might. Now I understand why paladins run low on symbols of kings, even when they come with a couple hundred to start with. What a freaking PITA.

Trash was .. interesting. What happens when you pull the last room along with 3 traps? Hehe. Hey, I TOLD you guys to bring plenty of gold for repairs … although it’s not totally the healer’s fault when pulls go astray. There were a few aggro issues as well that did get worked out, but not before the hunter and mage made several donations of gold to the Ashen Verdict repair NPCs just inside the instance.

 We get to Marrowgar eventually,  and Cael decides to go holy on his priest and three heal it, since it’s my first time and all. So of course the only death in the fight was … Cael. I swear, it wasn’t on purpose! Geez you guys, come on, he crafted gear for me, drug me through raids and dungeons, and gave me a spot on his raid team. You think I’d …. ok fine, yes I would. lol. Not much I could do though when he wasn’t freed from a bone spike quick enough. Ok, but here is how awesome Cael is … he won the Sliver of Pure Ice but since he went back to shadow after that, he let me wear it for the next two hours and then I traded it back to him before the trade timer expired.

Deathwhisper was easy. Man that fight is boring without the mind control. Almost as boring as lootship. Maybe next week I’ll jump just for the hell of it. I mean really … Amber has a great flowchart for how to make the fight somewhat interesting as disc, but what do you do as a pally? Maybe Ori would have some suggestions. Well, I got rewarded for staying awake (and keeping people alive) with this super awesome Ice-Reinforced Vrykul Helm. All the shammy gear has yummy yellow sockets and lots of haste. <3

Saurfang was pretty easy. Other than the tank that’s currently tanking him, and whoever has boiling blood, no one really takes damage. Apparently there was some sloppy handling of the beasts .. I dunno, while healing I saw even less of the beasts than I do when I’m tanking. I just stood in my little corner happily spamming The Light on whoever needed it, and got rewarded with … achievement spam!

He dropped a Ramaladni’s but … seeing as how my ret gear is COMPLETELY ungemmed/unechanted, I was more than happy to see the DK tank pick it up. 

We took a short break, then it was on to Festergut. A few more pains here … strange aggro/positioning problems on the first try, holy-wtf-just-hit-the-tank on the second try (newb healer yarr ok you can blame me sort of maybe … no wait, just blame Hartbane) … and then the third try was like clockwork. Bam, boss down, and lookie there … spellpower plate! Squee!! Now I can get rid of my cloth gloves with hit on them. >.>

Rotface was … one-shotted. o.O I didn’t have to cleanse, Cael took care of it. Maybe it’s because I’m such a noob but … I had absolutely no problem ignoring the cleanses showing up on my healbot. Not me? Don’t care.   No Lockjaw …. /cry. But  I got these sexy Shuffling Shoes … yes, once again, shammy gear with yellow sockets and lots of haste. Hooray!

That’s as far as we got (farther than I expected I admit) but we had a really good try on Putricide before a really bad try, and we got our bonus frost badge off the vry’kul chick. Oh yeah, I also got my friendly Ashen Verdict ring right before Festergut, so … that’s five upgrades counting the belt from Lore.

One spoiled and tired paladin

Rewind to Friday night.

Not included in the title is the first Dreamwalker rescue. Cael of course had to show off his uber HPS.

Blood Princes wasn’t exactly pretty, but the screenshots are! .. because I was dead on the floor and had plenty of time to play with camera angles. >.<

Selv collecting balls for tanking Keleseth.

Cifer

And the ‘killshot’, which I was a little late on because I was still taking screencaps with the UI turned off … but it turned into a fantastic (and somewhat scary) image of Majinx.

Apathy 25 man

Apathy got the Princes down to I think 500k last week, so we were confident that they would go down this week. We weren’t exactly expecting it to be this smooth though. One shot, 24 man, only one death (unless there was a brez that I’m forgetting, but I don’t think there was.)

That puts both raid teams at 8/12 in 25 man ICC, with just the end wing bosses and the Lich King left.

Those of you who enjoy rubbernecking at car wrecks might want to tune in tomorrow, as Kerick will be making his ICC10 debut tonight. :p

Ok, fine, so it’s already happened. Thanks to numerous members of Crits who pitched in and helped with mats (Arcanus, Billz, Bloodfrenzy, Multi, Quest … probably others I’ve left out) I received a surprise in my mailbox from Cael before I even dinged 80. I made many visits to my mailbox over the last level to caress my shiny new Sunforged chestpiece and bracers. The first thing I did after dinging on Saturday evening, of course, was to return to a mailbox and put them on.

As soon as I finished training, the guild got a group together and we went to my first heroic. Yeah, with 245 chest and bracers, it let me go straight to heroics. HToC … screw that easy stuff, let’s go right to The Black Knight and his magical AoE damage. Grom, ever ready to sacrifice himself for my benefit, got to be the first person I let die. What? Don’t look at me like that, it was either him or me … and I don’t trust his Art of War procs to keep a tank up. :p

We chain ran a few heroics, then hit up the regular ICC 5 mans. That was fun and I got some decent upgrades. Then, despite it being pretty late, Cael was like ‘regular? No way, we’re doing heroic.’ So … yeah. On the same day, heck just a couple hours after I hit 80, I’m off to heal FoS, PoS and HoR .. heroic. Nothing like trial by fire, right?  It was … not so bad. We had a mishap on the gauntlet and lost the ret pally when Cael ran out of mana, so we didn’t have the dps to finish it before the timer ran out. Cael and I were still up with like 1 second left  when the Lich King finished us off. Boo. But we got it done eventually. And went to bed. They kept me up too late!

Sunday … I spent a little time running around cleaning up loose ends (including finishing off the last two achievements Kaly needed for Glory of the Hero) and then logged on ready for heroics. Well, the guild was having none of that. I soon found myself standing inside Naxxramas for the weekly raid quest, trying to figure out how the hell pally power works. Anub’Rekhan died so fast it really almost didn’t count as my first raid healing experience, but at least I got the whole pally power/buffing crap figured out… sort of. And got new ret boots.

Heroics nao? Yeah, right … not even. Anub’Rekhan not enough of a challenge? Meet Anub’Arak. Fortunately, thanks to my newbness, we went in with 3 heals instead of only 2 (seriously, does anyone ever 3 heal ToC anymore unless they are carrying a newbie healz? Hart claims he can single heal it … and I don’t doubt it). Spellpower plate, go! Er … or mail, or leather, or cloth. I think I’m wearing all four. My heals were wayyyy below the other two (no surprise, I’m in there in dungeon gear that’s not even gemmed or enchanted) but bosses died. Anub phase 3? All I have to say is I’m glad I was the pally and didn’t have to worry about keeping the raid just alive. Beacon a tank and heal the other, no problem. Dead bug.

Ok, so we can handle snobolds, and demon lords, big bugs and val’kyr, and even the champions of the Horde. But can we handle many whelps? Time to find out … yeah, so, we’ll just pretend that first try didn’t happen ok? I wasn’t the only rookie healer I guess. The tank went in without any pre-hots and I lagged behind like I normally do on the mage and wasn’t in range of the tank in time to save him. Oops? Fortunately, Kaif was on top of things and picked her up while the main tank got brezzed but still … that one was totally and absolutely healer failure and we never recovered. I think it took us three tries altogether, although the second try kinda doesn’t count, because someone who dc’d in the first try reconnected while we were buffing for the second try … in the middle of the floor … yeah, she pulled when he appeared. We did our best to salvage it but ultimately wiped it and went for a clean pull. Third time is a charm!

Justice helm? Please?? No??? Stupid dragon. I got nothing. Well, that’s not true … I got achievements and valuable experience. Time for another run through the three ICC heroics. This time we had a wipe late in the first room, on like wave 9 I think, but we had no mishaps on the gauntlet.  Moar spam for the guild.

After that I took my emblems and bought myself a Talisman of Resurgence and a Heartmender’s Circle, then collected gems and enchants for everything, figuring I had enough pieces that weren’t going to change much before ICC now. Cael will look at my vast collection of intellect gems and smack me, but … well, I have the cut and that’s what Hartbane gems so … trust me, it’ll be fine. The belt will get  replaced tonight. I did a couple of heroics after Kaly’s ICC late last night with some of my buddies in Apathy, and they said my gearscore is 4648. (yeah I know, I hate gearscore too, but … everyone always wants to know) I’d say that’s pretty good for being 80 only a day. Now .. how to weasel my way into an ICC run …. /plots

I only died once. This big dragon did it. I’m not even sure what it was, some sort of blast wave or something … I dunno, I was too busy practicing my healer skillz (i.e. ignoring everything other than my raid frames).

We had quite a few lower levels along this time besides myself. The Cael Clan all brought their level 60-somethings, and Drakinaar was there on his 61 druid. Cael and Drak got quite a few nice class set pieces. The drop of the night though was at the end, when Nefarion dropped Ashkandi! You can read more about that over at Lajos’ blog since Nickolas is now the lucky owner of this truly epic item. (Note to self: get 9 more levels on the warrior so he can get one, too).

The best part about it though? Hartbane died for me! (awwwwwww)

No, we weren’t wiping. I wasn’t in danger of dying. He didn’t save me so I could rez people, because no one was dead other than him. lol.

P.S. I *am* in the process of downloading and testing a couple of addons to clean up my UI mess. Really. I’m not lying.

Last week I was too upset over Saturday night to post about ICC, so you got the Shadowcopter post instead. You see, for almost as long as I’ve been raiding, there’s been a joint 25 man PuG group with this other guild. It started with ToC25, and moved over to ICC once that came out and we had a couple weeks worth of 10 man gear. Recently, this other guild has grown rapidly, gaining most of the more experienced raiders from Crits as well as absorbing members from two or three other guilds who downsized/disbanded. Between that, and another guild pulling out of the 25 mans, they decided to discontinue the joint group and run a guild-only group.

That left quite a few people out in the cold, including the members of Crits who stayed in the guild as well as several of us from Apathy. Cael, bless his heart, took it upon himself to carry on with the group, so he and Lore and Hart talked it over and built an invite list out of the people that had been involved in the former group as well as members of our two guilds who hadn’t gotten to be in it.

We went in and pwned face in the Lower Spire. We had tanks who didn’t know each other and hadn’t worked together, DPS who had never even seen some of the fights, and yet we went in and had a great time and downed bosses. I think the most trouble we had was on Stinky … they pulled her very shortly after downing Princess, and all my stuff was on CD. So I ended up like this …

It almost looks like Karius and Lore are trying to hold hands. Hehe.

We got to Festergut, and before one of the attempts, I got disconnected. When I came back, I had the naked bug. Fiak, did you change your hairstyle again?

Looks like Lore has been working out.  ^.^

We didn’t get Fester down, but we had a lot of people learning the fight. We got close a couple times. Next week he’ll go down for sure.

ICC 10

Sunday we continued our ICC from Wednesday night. We had downed both Festergut AND Rotface on Wednesday, so we had an entire block of raid time devoted to bosses we hadn’t downed yet. Rather than work on Valithria, who we had spent some time on previously, we decided to go check out the Blood Princes. Everyone had been instructed to study the fight beforehand.

The trash on the way there is … challenging. It kinda reminded me of Magister’s Terrace….with some liches thrown in for good measure. Oh, and the lich here? He has an ability called, I kid you not .. “Lich Slap”. Seriously.

We worked on the princes for a bit with our warlock tanking Keleseth, but then his internet crapped out and he couldn’t come back. So our DK put on his tank set and we 3-tanked it. The hunter and I were having issues targeting the Kinetic Bombs to keep them from exploding. Eventually we found a macro (/targetexact Kinetic Bomb) that worked, and I also realized they were the big kinda white balls that float from the top, not the orange balls that are shot at people. (Duh, fail.) But we got that figured out, and Terra was doing so great at it, that I switched over to just doing dps and only helping out on them when he really needed it.

We got everything down to where we hit the enrage timer with something like a million health left on them, and figured if we had that last DPS spot filled, we could get them. Fortunately, another warlock who had run with us when we got Rotface down for the first time, was online and not saved, so he came in … and that’s about the time the trash respawned. LOL!

We were determined, though, so we re-cleared the trash and got ready to go at it again. It took about two or three more tries, but …

They even dropped the wand that I want!  The lock rolled 23 … I rolled 12. Hehe! Nice little prize for coming in and helping, because we weren’t going to down them without him, so I’m glad he won it. Now that we’ve downed them, I know I’ll have plenty of chances to get it myself.

Edit: Ooh! I almost forgot … check out the buffs in that screenshot. Notice there is NO ‘Strength of Wrynn’ there. Someone, we still aren’t sure who, apparently talked to Wrynn and  cancelled out the buff. So we beat them without it.

Now, maybe next week we can actually heal that dragon …

Zarrah is seated near the doorway to her den, quietly grooming her face and whiskers.

Cael burst out of Kaetlen’s den and jumps in the snow.

Zarrah pauses her washing, letting her paw down and swivelling her ears toward the squirrel with vague interest.

Cael spins around and faces the big cat.

Zarrah says, her tone laced with faint irony, “Good evening.”

Cael bounds up to her, “Hello big kitty.”

Zarrah pins her ears back irritably at this and resumes her grooming.

Cael watches her for a moment, then looks to the leopard’s tail and then back.

Zarrah says, without looking at him, “Don’t even think about it.”

Cael asks, “Think about what?”

Zarrah fixes him with a green-eyed stare for a moment, then returns her attention to the state of her ears and whiskers. The tip of her tail twitches.

Cael’s eyes flick back to the tail.

Zarrah ignores him.

Cael crouches down, intently watching the tail.

Zarrah’s tail seems inextricably attached to her emotions and therefore continues to twitch with further annoyance.

Cael moves an inch closer, still watching the tail.

Zarrah continues to thoroughly ignore him, only the twitching tail at all indicating that she is aware of his presence.

Cael tenses then suddently pounces on the leopard’s tail.

Zarrah’s reaction is instantaneous. She whirls on the smaller creature, dealing him a swift blow with one massive paw. Her claws are, however, velveted, and she is careful to hold herself back to avoid actually injuring him. But he might have the breath knocked out of him.

Cael whimpers and quickly tries to scurry off.

Zarrah traps his tail under a paw rather larger than he is. Her expression is quite calm, which might be more frightening than if she had snarled. “Going somewhere?” she inquires silkily.

Cael whines, “Let me go!”

Zarrah flicks one ear backward, as if considering.

Cael yells, “Kaetlen!!”

Zarrah says, “I believe your…” she pauses, then selects the word with a slightly-distasteful emphasis, “/mother/ is hunting at the moment.” She shifts the paw slightly, and it might be noted that she is being very careful to not pain him. “You ought not to antagonize larger creatures than yourself without being prepared to accept the consequences.”

Cael exclaims, “I wasn’t antagonzing!!”

Zarrah replies calmly, “You attacked my tail when I warned you not to.”

Cael exclaims, “No you didn’t! You just told me not think about something.”

Zarrah’s ears swivel backward. “You understood what I meant,” she says severely.

Cael asks, “I did?”

Zarrah says, “Yes. You did.”

Cael asks, “How do you know?”

Zarrah asks, “Do you deny it?”

Cael says, “No, but I didn’t say yes.”

Zarrah smirks faintly, something almost approving in the expression. “Have we learned something?” she asks, deliberately patronizing.

Cael grins, “No!”

Zarrah hmms and resettles herself more comfortably, keeping Cael’s tail firmly pinned.

Cael wiggles to get free, “Let me go!”

Zarrah asks, maddeningly serene, “Have you learned not to attack tails belonging to other people?”

Cael smile mischievously, “No…”

Zarrah says, “Well then.”

Cael exclaims, “Let me go!”

Zarrah’s tail flicks in an unruffled manner.

Cael grins, “Please??”

Zarrah considers him for a moment. With an expression that makes it clear that it’s more because she’s bored with this than because he asked, she lifts her paw and releases him.

Cael makes a dash for it, heading straight for Kaetlen’s den.
Cael enters Kaetlen’s den.

Kaetlen comes out of Kaetlen’s den.

Zarrah is lounging across her den door, looking distinctly smug. There are a few odd scuffles in the dirt and snow in front of her, as well as some fleeing Cael-tracks.

Kaetlen comes out of the den, looking around for the culprit who sent the screaming squirrel in to wake her from her nap.

Zarrah closes her eyes lazily, her paws tucked in front of her.

Kaetlen eyes the leopard. “What did he do now?”

Zarrah replies indifferently, “Decided to play predator with my tail as his prey.”

Kaetlen ahas, sitting outside of her den. “Thanks for chasing him. He needs the stupid scared out of him.”

Zarrah opens her eyes. “I did not chase him.” She sounds mildly affronted, as if the suggestion that she would waste energy on Cael is insulting.

Kaetlen chuckles. “Well, whatever you did.”

Zarrah closes her eyes again, looking quite pleased with herself – in a sleepy, unconcerned way.

Kaetlen says, “Well… keep it up.”

Zarrah inclines her head slightly. She calmly dispatches a mute squirrel, gives it a good shake, and trots into her den.

Kaetlen snickers.

Borka was the very first toon from the guild that I met ‘face to face’ … way back when Kaly was a fresh (female draenei) DK just out of Acherus. It’s about time he caught up to me! I think he’s Trout’s fifth 80 … *counts on fingers* … yeah.

I had promised to do a few runs of regular ToC once he hit 80, just like we did for Rossini, so late night Thursday after he dinged we gathered together a crew and headed in for some fun. We had Kaly tanking and Cael healing and Lajos pew pewing, and … yeah, with that group, you can guess how that ended up, right?

Oh, it degenerated even farther from there, of course.

This next one is not actually about Borka, but it’s still ToC, or actually HToC, so I figured it was close enough to post here. This was Saturday when we queued for a random … so afterwards, Solarios, Nickolas, Kaly, and Lajos had a(nother) naked dance party. Looks like someone needs more bag space. *points at Lajos*

Ok, Trout … you’ve caught up to me with five, and you’ve got a 71 waiting. I better get to work! Maybe I should go back to DB and finish Ditzul …. nah. Kerick only has 36 levels to go and people pressuring him to tank for them. I bet I get another one to 80 before you do. :p

Speaking of Lajos, he logged on while we were being summoned in, so I talked the guild into dragging him along. He somehow managed to evade getting in my screenshots, despite sticking close to me most of the time. Cael, on the other hand … well, I think he was making *sure* to get screenshotted. Ok hon, here’s your blog spotlight. :p

Gogo nekkidpally! He put his helm on later and was running around wearing only his helm. Such a goof.

He stepped into my screenshot of Netharion and gets himself on here twice. GG Cael. I bet you had that planned, didn’t you. Nice helm there buddy.

The suppression room or whatever it’s called? Where these pylons in the room are supposed to be stealthed to and shut down, otherwise they make you move reeeeaaaaaalllll slllllooooowwww? Yeah, we had a rogue, but meh. The slow motion race through there was way more fun. Lajos and I ran out of the instance afterwards instead of hearthing, because we wanted to do some other stuff in Blackrock, so we ran through there by ourselves going back. Slow motion arcane explosion spam ftw!

We went down to BRD to hook up with our friends who were kinda lost in there, then back up to LBRS because a couple of us hadn’t finished our pet quests from the day before. As I mentioned in Lajos’ post, I left the screenshots from the Mother’s Milk quest on the home computer, so you’ll have to wait til tomorrow for that. For now I’ll just say that we had an absolute riot, and all left with our quests completed.

The others logged off after that, so we got out our new pets and headed for Breanni’s pet store in Dalaran to fancy them up. Awww….who’s my cute widdle spidey.

So, we throw some fetch balls and debate on whether to wait around until Winterfail starts, when I check the dungeon finder and realize that I haven’t completed a daily yet. Oh noes, my frost emblems! So we queued for a dungeon instead.

Nice sexy double casting shot … FFB sure looks pretty.

We had a *really* good UP group, and even got a couple of the achievements.

Alright, stay tuned  … tomorrow I promise those other screenshots.

Zayev pauses briefly as he sees the leopard and nods in greeting with a slight grin.

Zarrah has paused to sniff at a puppy sleeping in the snow. Her tail flicks, and she backs away from it. She returns the wolf’s greeting with a nod of her own.

Zayev flicks his ear in a easy manner, “I had hoped to find you or the knight. I had wondered if you knew of any around the city that engaged in sparrs, to further their training.

Zarrah replies, “I am new to this area. I would not be the one to ask.”

Zayev nods disappointedly, “My thanks anyway.”

Zarrah inclines her head slightly and continues on her way.

Zayev gulps down a few squrriels and sniffs around, hunting for more.
Zayev trots east, heading through the trees toward Sted Cair.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Bramble Thicket
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
You stand in the heart of a huge thicket formed by branchy, brambly
undergrowth on the forest floor.  It’s tangled and thorny above, but down here
the thicket is dry and cool, even rather nice.  You can see several tramped-
down paths through the foliage leading to places where other beasts have made
their homes.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
You can go: Zarrah <1>, Deinos <2>, Ahrai <3>, Silverpaws <4>, Aristides <5>,
               Kaetlen <6>, Callida <9>, Out to the Forest Road <SW>

Kaetlen stalks out of her den, muttering to herself.

Zarrah is lounging across the doorway of her own den. She doesn’t seem surprised to see Kaetlen there, even if it was only yesterday that the fox was homeless.

Kaetlen smells the leopard and looks over at her. She stops, her bushy tail a-swishing.

Zarrah’s own tail curls up a little as she returns the look. Her ears tilt away, as if the fox is not worthy of her notice, and she closes her eyes to resume what looks like a luxurious cat-nap.

Kaetlen barges in on the nap. “Thank you. But I should warn you… yesterday doesn’t make us exactly friends…”

Zarrah answers, without opening her eyes, “If I thought that likely, I would not have risked it.”

Kaetlen says, “Oh good. At least we’re on the same page.”

Zarrah half-unlids her eyes lazily to look the fox up and down, then smirks very faintly.

Kaetlen says, “Also, I owe you an apology because I found out it wasn’t you who took my things but I don’t do apologies so…”

Zarrah replies indifferently, “I would likely not accept it if you did.”

Kaetlen nods firmly. “It seems we have reached an understanding, then.”

Zarrah says, “It would seem so.”

Kaetlen’s tail sweeps the dusting of snow behind her. “Good. Now that that is out of the way… that wolf you were with yesterday. What do you know about it?”

Zarrah’s tail twitches convulsively, the only visible sign of her irritation at the small canine critter that keeps disturbing her nap. She opens her eyes to stare unblinkingly at Kaetlen. “I do not make it my business to /know about/ every creature I happen across.”

Kaetlen asks, “Yeah, whatever. Do you at least know his name?”

Zarrah closes her eyes again and rolls her shoulders back, settling into a more comfortable lounging position, indicating without words that she would prefer to return to her nap. “I do not.”

Kaetlen looks irritated. “I’ll just have to find out from someone else then. I need to give his name when I go before one of the Royals. He is going down if I have anything to say about it.”

Zarrah opens her eyes lazily, regarding the fox with something less than complete disinterest. From her, that’s as good as a query.

Kaetlen’s tail swishes. “I found one of our things.”

Cael bounds into the thicket with a giant acron in his mouth.

Zarrah asks, faintly sardonic, “Did you?” As the squirrel enters the thicket, she draws herself up, her tail twitching irritably.

Kaetlen stops what she was saying when Cael bounds up. “Found some food, I see.”

Cael nods rather oddly with the giant nut.

A rabbit hops out to the Forest Road.

Kaetlen spies a rabbit, eying it hungrily.

Zarrah’s eyes follow the rabbit as well, both ears tilted toward the prey animal. As it makes its escape, she looks assessingly toward Kaetlen.

Cael drops the acron, “You want my acorn?” he asks Kaetlen.

Kaetlen says, “Nope, that’s your food.”
Kaetlen says, “I’m going to go get my food. Stay here.”
Kaetlen looks pointedly at Zarrah and bounds quickly away.
Kaetlen trots out to the Forest Road.

Cael watches Kaetlen run off, then he turns to the big cat, “Do you want my acorn?”

Zarrah flicks an ear as the fox departs. She glances once at Cael, then yawns cavernously, deliberately displaying a full row of white, gleaming teeth, then closes her eyes. “Do you not understand the difference between those who eat prey and those who do not?”

Cael shakes his head.

Zarrah’s eyes are closed, so she does not see it. But she does absently curl her claws into the bracken beneath her.

Kaetlen comes trotting in from the Forest Road.
Zarrah is still lounging as she was when the fox left, her eyes closed and her ears swiveled backward.

Kaetlen halfway looks surprised to see Cael still there. She licks her chops and burps unpolitely as she approaches.

Cael is now standing in front of the big cat offering her his ACORN.

Zarrah’s tail is twitching slightly, but she is doing an admirable job of ignoring the squirrel.

Cael hmmphs and picks up the acorn in his mouth.

Kaetlen licks the last of the blood off her coat and flops in the snow.

Zarrah’s ears tilt toward the noise Kaetlen makes when she flops, but she doesn’t comment either on the fox’s absence or return.

Cael lays down and munches on his acorn.

Kaetlen eyes the squirrel, and shakes her head.
Kaetlen flops her tail on top of Cael.

Zarrah opens her eyes and surveys the invaders of her naptime with an oh-you’re-still-here expression. Without a word, she stands and enters her den

Zayev turns as the leopard pads in and eyes her warily, after a moment nodding in greeting, “Hail.” He says simply.

The leopard and wolf stand faceing each other. Not in a friendly manner but not hostile either. As the Fox enters the wolf shifts some, turning slightly to face the fox as well, ears flicking and he nods in greeting. “Hail” he says.

Zarrah pads through, leaving massive pawprints in the snow. At the Wolf’s voice, she merely tilts an ear toward him and inclines her head a bit in a silent return of the greeting.

Kaetlen stalks up the road, her silvery fur bristling on every end. Her dark mood radiates from her as she grumbles  under her breath and scowls darkly at the Wolf and Leopard.

Zayev shifts his stance instantly as he catches the fox’s scowl. His ears lower some and his tail as well, obviously not likeing the challenge implied.

Zarrah’s tail flicks slightly, and something in the angle of her whiskers indicates faint amusement at the much-smaller-creature’s irritation.

Kaetlen gives each one a hard look, obviously scrutinizing and taking inventory of their possessions.

Zayev watches the fox as he is scritinised, wondering what the other will think of the deer and fox pelts draped over his pack, wary but confidant.

Zarrah arches the feline equivalent of an eyebrow and returns the look.

Kaetlen’s look of pure disdain towards the Wolf is so obvious it’s rather painful. She pointedly turns to the Leopard and dismisses him entirely. “Hey, you there.” she addresses the Leopard. “Have you been around the Inn lately?”

Zayev narrows his eyes at the insult given but remains silent for now.

Zarrah’s whiskers twitch a bit. She sits down in the snow, looming over the fox while looking casual and relaxed. “I fail to understand how my doings are any of your business.”

Kaetlen glowers, smoke practically coming out of her ears. “When I am robbed blind in my sleep everyone’s doings become my business. Were you there and if you were did you see anything?” She snaps.

Zarrah’s tail lashes. She looks down her nose at the fuming fox and takes a step forward. “Do I understand correctly,” she asks softly, “that you are accusing me of theft?”

Kaetlen huffs an irritated sigh. “I have not accused you yet. How about you answer the question and then I will decide if you are worthy of my accusations.”

Zayev takes a soft step back, granting a clear spot for the two if combat should begin. But he keeps watching the confrontation, amusement beggining to sparkle in his eyes.

Zarrah stares at the fox for a moment, then turns away from her to continue on her way, disgust clear in her mien.

Kaetlen sits, sweeping her tail in the snow in irritation. “Shall I take your silence as an admission of guilt, then?”
Kaetlen’s voice is loud enough to be heard for quite a ways.

Zarrah says indifferently, “You may take it however you like. It matters very little to me.”

Kaetlen’s fur bristles even further. “Then I shall take it that way, straight to the King if necessary!”

Zayev continues to watch quielty, eyes round, shocked at the daring of the fox.

Zarrah’s ears plaster back against her skull, though it’s clearly more growing irritation than intimidation. “Do as you please, then.” She adds more quietly something that sounds like, “Fool.”

Kaetlen snarls, spitting in anger.

Zarrah mutters, “Oh, yes, growl. I can see why they call you a /Talking/ Beast.” She continues on her way.

Kaetlen says, “You’re not much of one yourself if you don’t bother to defend yourself.”

Zarrah says archly, “Against the ravings of a lunatic?”

Kaetlen says, “It takes one to know one.”
Kaetlen’s stomach rumbles.

Zarrah pauses, sighs, and turns around. She approaches the fox, pacing slowly, looking the smaller creature in the eye. She stops when she has most definitely invaded Kaetlen’s personal space. “You have accused me without cause and you have insulted me. /Kindly/ do not try my patience further. Others will not be so forgiving.” She twitches an ear rather derisively as the fox’s stomach rumbles.

Kaetlen seems even more incensed by her empty stomach. “All I asked was a mere question, which YOU couldn’t even answer! You set yourself up for insult!” her tail twitches madly. “I have a stupid hungry squirrel to take care of and now I have no money to feed either of us or provide shelter. Now, Answer my question so I can move on!” She shouts.

Zarrah continues to loom, though she seems unperturbed by Kaetlen’s rant. “Are you then unable to hunt to feed yourself?”

Kaetlen snarls. “Not with that noisy kid following me around. Game is scarce enough in this area.”

Zarrah’s expression is unreadable. “Why, may I ask, am I the subject of your ire?”

Kaetlen curls her lip. “Because you’re the first person I came across and therefore the most convenient.”

Cael wanders in sniffling and looking about.

Zarrah backs away a bit and sits back down, regarding the fox coolly. “I admire your logic.”

Zayev watches the squirrel as he comes into the area. Remaining silent  he continues to watch the confrontation.

Kaetlen barks in irritation at the Leopard. “Nevermind, I’ll handle it MYSELF.” she turns, flaunting her tail in the Cat’s face (this fox is obviously not very smart) and heads for her crying Squirrel.

Cael sniffles, “I’m hungry.”

Kaetlen jerks her head towards the Cat. “Go tell her, she’s in a very helpful mood.” she says sarcastically.

Zayev begins to grow bored by the discourse and the fox’s rumbleing stomach reminds him of his own search he nods in farewell to the leopard and trots off to the west, entirely ignoreing the fox.

Zarrah watches the wolf go, then returns to observing the fox and the squirrel. It is difficult to tell what she is thinking.

Cael says, “I can’t find anything to eat.”

Kaetlen heaves a sigh. “I know… I’m working on it.”
Kaetlen’s stomach rumbles.

Cael whines, “But really hungry!”

Kaetlen sucks in her breath to keep from snarling at him. “Me too, Cael.” she says evenly.

Cael exclaims, “I’m hungry now!”
Cael’s stomach rumbles.

Kaetlen grits her teeth. “I know, Cael.”
Kaetlen nudges him with her nose. “Come on, let’s head back to town and try to find something.” she starts to push him down the path.

Zarrah watches them go, then turns away to continue down the path in the opposite direction, her ears still angled with irritation.

Kaetlen starts down the path, then suddenly stops. She wobbles, then falls down.
Kaetlen FAINTS!

Zarrah has her back to the fox, so she sees nothing.

Cael stops frozen, “Kaetlen? Get up! come on.”
Cael nudges Kaetlen, “Get up!” he whines.

Zarrah flicks an ear backward as the squirrel starts hollering, then turns to glance over her shoulder. She blinks, glances up and down the road, then pads back toward them, her stride a little more hasty. She bends her head to sniff at the fox.

Cael starts to cry, “Wake up.”

Zarrah orders the squirrel, rather irritably, “Quiet. Your wailing will not help her.” She looks again up and down the road, takes a few steps away, apparently searching for somebody else to deal with this, then returns to the fox. She bends her head and lifts her by the scruff of the neck like a kitten, holding her head high so that the fox’s feet don’t drag on the ground. She makes a motion with her head to indicate that the squirrel should follow.

-=-=-=-=-=-

The Satyr’s Hoof Tavern
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
You stand inside the Satyr’s Hoof Tavern, a lively and warm social gathering
place that is always patonized by many of Sted Cair’s good citizens.  The
room is brightly lit with dwarven-wrought lanterns, and the walls are adorned
with maps, ropes and other adventurer’s gear.  Tables are scattered around in
no particular fashion, and serving wenches casually stroll among them, taking
orders.  A large menu on the wall behind the bar lists the current fare.
 
There is also a long bar along the southwest wall, with crude wooden stools
set in front of it.  Behind, a tall, handsome-looking Satyr is serving
beverages to the patrons seated there.
 
The northeast door leads out onto the square.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
You can go: Out <NE>

Kaetlen slowly wakes up.

Zarrah leads them into the tavern and carries Kaetlen straight through to the hearth. She lays the fox down near the fire, then backs away, speaking quietly to the tavernkeeper.
Zarrah directs the serving girl to set a bowl of soup down near Kaetlen, then nudges the fox with her nose to wake her.

Kaetlen grumbles as she wakes up, and even more when she sees who’s nudging her. “Never thought I’d wake up to your face…”

Cael curls up next to Kaetlen sniffling.

Zarrah’s ears tilt backward, but she nudges the soup toward the fox. “Neither is it to my preference,” she replies evenly. “Eat, and please refrain from littering public pathways with your person in the future.”

Kaetlen laps at the soup. “I’ll make sure next time all my possessions are robbed it will be more convenient for you.”

Zarrah’s tail lashes, but she makes no other reply.

Cael snuggles up next to Kaetlen.

Kaetlen pauses her gobbling to lick the top of his head. “Want some soup?”

Zarrah merely watches, sitting a little apart from the two.

Cael nods.

Kaetlen nudges the bowl towards him and lays her head on her paws, eyes glancing at the leopard.

Zarrah speaks quietly to the hovering serving-girl, who nods and bustles back off to the kitchen. She returns Kaetlen’s look evenly.

Cael licks a bit at the stew, then makes face.

Kaetlen speaks as if it brings her great pain to do so. “Thanks for your help.”

Zarrah nods curtly. The serving girl returns with a second bowl of soup, which she sets down near Cael.

Kaetlen nudges Cael. “Eat it.” She orders.

Cael makes a face, “It doesn’t taste good.”

Kaetlen mutters in his ear.
Kaetlen mumbles something incomprehensible to Cael.

Cael whines, “It doesn’t taste good.”

Kaetlen growls in his ear. “Eat the stew or go hungry.”

Zarrah sits near the hearth, facing a squirrel and fox who are both rather closer to the fire. Her expression is
impassive, and her tail twitches slightly, indicating disapproval.

Jana enters the tavern and skirts the tables, making for the bar.

Kaetlen is laying in front of the fire next to the squirrel, bowls of stew in front of both of them. She appears to be scolding the Squirrel.

Myrd has walked into the tavern in the company of the daughter of Eve. Though his fingers are twined with hers, he releases her hand as soon as they step through the door, making for a table in the far corner of the tavern.

Kaetlen’s eyes scrutinize the newcomers, coming to rest on the woman.

Cael paws at the stew while making a face at it.

Jana speaks quietly with Datillo.
Jana mumbles “… … … be … … for a … days. … know how long. … … … … …”, to Jana.

Datillo doesn’t seem particularly pleased with whatever the woman tells him, but he nods acceptance finally and waves her off to go sit back with her companion.

Myrd glowers at nobody in particular from his seat near the back. Perhaps he has overheard some of her conversation with the barman.

Jana orders something from a serving wench as she passes and goes to sit with the man, pulling her chair near to his.

Kaetlen finishes her stew, and rises to her paws, looking much stronger than a few minutes ago. “Thank you again for your help.” she says, trying to curb her terse attitude. “If you hear of anything, please let me know. It’s time to go find a different shelter for me and the squirrel. Though, I don’t know where. If we’re not safe in the inn I don’t hold out much hope for a different area.” she grumbles.

Myrd snorts quietly at the fox’s words.

Jana watches the fox silently, glancing once at her companion.

Zarrah regards Kaetlen assessingly. “Do you not have a home?”

Cael glance at the odd things sitting at the table.

Kaetlen snorts. “Yes. Lantern Waste. We came here for the winter.”

Zarrah asks bluntly, “Why?”

Cael mumbles “What are … things?”, to Kaetlen.

Myrd goes to the bar and returns to his seat with a full tankard. He sets it down and leans back in his chair. “Find something else to stare at,” he suggests to the squirrel.

Kaetlen licks her fur. “Meh. It’s cold up there. Wolves are cranky. I wanted a change of scene. Name it.” She glances at Cael, then frowns at the Man. “He’s a kid. Cut him some slack.”

Cael moves to the other side of Kaetlen to hide.

Jana says, “Looks like a runty squirrel to me.”

Kaetlen snorts. “He is. He’s also a kid.”

Myrd mutters something under his breath.
Myrd mumbles “… … ain’t going … survive … unless … … … … his … business.”, to Myrd.

Zarrah eyes the squirrel narrowly. “He is more than old enough to know better manners.”

Jana seems amused by whatever it is her companion has said.

Kaetlen frowns at the Leopard. “I’ve tried. He’s a lost cause.”

Zarrah flicks one ear and regards the squirrel with distaste.

Myrd glares at the fox, then quickly turns back to his companion. Apparently, he finds her beneath his notice.

Cael peeks from behind Kaetlen and glares at the things.

Kaetlen flicks her fluffy tail and turns back to her stew.

Jana seems to be quite all right with ignoring the beasts. She murmurs something amorous to her companion in a quiet enough tone that the others are only likely to get the gist of it.

Myrd looks faintly amused by this, though he does not make a similar reply.

The servingwench brings their drinks, stopping to chat amiably for a few moments with the woman, as if they know each other.

Zarrah watches the fox for a moment, then turns her attention to a bit of quiet grooming. “A foolish move on your part,” she remarks with the unconcerned tone of one accustomed to speaking her opinion without consequence. “Did you expect the winter to be less harsh so close to the ocean?”

Kaetlen looks irritated with the Leopard’s presumptiousness. “Yes.” she says snarkily.

Myrd takes a long swig from his tankard. “Ruddy Emperor.” He sets the tankard down forcefully and rises from his seat again.

Jana watches him, not following him up just yet.

Kaetlen’s eyebrows arch. “Little pitchers have BIG ears.” She says to the man, very pointedly.

Zarrah pauses her grooming at the son of adam’s outburst, then resumes, keeping an eye on him. She smirks slightly at the fox.

Myrd expresses his opinion of the fox’s caution with a word that is even more vulgar, then stalks towards the door.

Kaetlen’s tail stops twitching, and she looks at Cael. “You ever repeat those words and I’ll kill you.” she says sternly.

Jana releases a longsuffering breath through her nose and rises to follow her husband. She stops at the little creature’s warning and looks at it. She doesn’t really look properly afraid.

Cael nods quietly.

Myrd stands framed in the doorway, his arms crossed in clear impatience as he waits for the woman.

Jana shakes her head it what appears to me amusement though of course that’s impossible in the face of such a dangerous threat, and follows her husband out.

A son of adam with gaunt features walks out to the square.
A daughter of eve in a blue winter dress walks out to the square.

Cael stands up and heads for the door.

Zarrah watches him go, her eyes narrowed a bit, and turns back to the Fox.

Cael bounds out to the square.

Kaetlen watches the squirrel run off, and sighs with relief.

Zarrah asks without preamble, “He prevents you from hunting?”

Kaetlen says, “He follows me everywhere. And he’s just a kid… I can’t exactly bring myself to kill dumb squirrels in front of him. I did that once before…”
Kaetlen shudders.

Zarrah narrows one eye. “Then tell him to stay behind. If he refuses, you are not responsible for what he sees.”

Kaetlen snorts. “I should have you watch him for a couple hours. He never listens. And I’d rather baby him then just let him deal with what I have to do. I tried your tactic before and he practically screamed for a week. It’s not worth the trouble afterwards.”

Zarrah stares at the fox for a moment, then snorts in disgust and looks away.

Kaetlen raises an eyebrow. “You think down on me for my tactics? If you think you can do better, please, take him off my hands!”

Zarrah snorts again. “That squirrel,” she says calmly, “is not a child. He will soon be full-grown, will he not? If you choose to starve yourself to keep him from feeling uncomfortable with what is natural for those whom Aslan created to eat meat, that is your affair.”

Kaetlen pfft. “He’s going to be acting like a child even when he’s full grown. He’s just that way. He’s stupid! He latched onto me when I least wanted him and no matter what I try he refuses to change. What do you suggest I do? My tactics now aren’t even for his own good anymore, but just to keep the peace because he makes life so miserable when the boat is rocked.”

Zarrah’s ears swivel backward. “He is well past the age at which squirrels leave their parents’ nests.”

Kaetlen looks the leopard in the eye. “I ran away to ETTINSMOOR to get him to grow up and leave me.”

Zarrah returns the look levelly, unblinking. After a moment, her tail skitters across the floor, and she stands, turning away from the fox. Every nuance of her expression indicates thorough disgust, but a small bag falls from her satchel to the floor with a more-than-audible clink, and she makes no move to retrieve it. In fact, from the lack of reaction to the sound as she heads toward the door, she isn’t surprised by it at all.

Kaetlen’s ears flick, looking thoroughly puzzled. “You dropped something…”

Zarrah turns an ear back toward Kaetlen. “Did I? How clumsy of me.” She continues toward the door.

Kaetlen blinks. “Aren’t you going to pick it up?”

Zarrah says, “I am in a terrible hurry, I’m afraid, and can’t be bothered.”

Kaetlen eyes her skeptically, and rises to take the bag in her teeth. “Here ya go.” She says.

Zarrah ignores her quite thoroughly and exits the tavern.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Sted Cair Town Square
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
You stand in the middle of Sted Cair’s Town Square, the social hub of the
township.  All around you the citizens of Sted Cair are enjoying the fine
weather as they travel through, going about their daily business.
 
The square itself is somewhat parklike, dominated in the center by a large
grey marble statue of Aslan.  The lion is seated and looks toward the east
where Cair Paravel stands and his own land lies far beyond the ocean.  His
expression, while impressive, is neither menacing nor sedate.  Instead, it
simply looks majestic.  A plaque underneath the statue simply reads, “Aslan”
 
Streets lead in all four directions out of the square. There are buildings at
each corner as well.  To the northeast is the Explorer’s shop, and the Fruit
Market sits under an impressive pavillion to the northwest.  The Satyr’s Hoof
Tavern lies to the southwest, and Grumich’s Pawnshop is southeast. 
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
You can go: Fruit Market <NW>, North <N>, Explorer’s Shop <NE>,
               Pawnbroker <SE>, Road to Cair Paravel <E>, South Road <S>,
               West Road <W>, Tavern <SW>

Kaetlen follows her out, clearly not getting it. “Oy!” she mouths around the bag.

Zarrah pauses, eying the stubborn fox with some degree of derision. “Yes?” she drawls, her tone longsuffering.

Kaetlen says, “Zis shing is heavy. I wouln’t weave i’ if I were you.”

Zarrah looks at the fox and the bag for long enough that it is quite clear she understands what Kaetlen is saying and is rather annoyed that Kaetlen doesn’t understand what /she/ is saying, and turns to follow the road.

Kaetlen looks utterly confused, standing there with the bag in her mouth. She looks down at it, then at the Leopard.

Zarrah just walks away.

Zarrah is lounging on the bank of the river, watching the water beneath her silently. The only indication that the purpose of her presence there is anything other than plain leisure is the heap of fish on the bank next to her.

Kaetlen trots along the road, being careful of the icy spots.

Zarrah makes a sudden motion, flicking one paw very briefly into the water. A carp is sent flying onto the bank, and she immediately pounces it, breaking its back and killing it. Her movements are clearly more economy than entertainment.

Kaetlen’s gaze is drawn by the movement. She pauses and sits on her haunches to watch.

Zarrah turns her eyes briefly toward the fox. There is no surprise in her demeanor; she was clearly already aware of the smaller animal’s presence but merely ignored it. “Is it your custom to sit and gawk?”

Kaetlen says, “Yup.”

Cael bounds up to the bank with a giant nut stuffed into his mouth.

Zarrah’s tail flicks briefly. She gives the fox a measured look (down her nose, naturally), and turns away. She ignores the squirrel completely.

Kaetlen’s tail ‘accidentally’ bats Cael in the face as he runs up, most likely knocking him over into a pile of crunchy frosted leaves.

Cael spits out his nut, “Hey!” he quickly strambles over to his nut.

Kaetlen looks smug. “Whoops.”

Cael coat glares.

Kaetlen tail-bats him again.
Kaetlen accidentally knocks him into the leopard. Whoopsie.

Zarrah sits upright immediately with a warning snarl at both the rough-housing pair.

Cael drop his nut and drats behind Kaetlen.

Zarrah settles back down, appeased. Her ears are pinned back against her skull, however, and her tail is twitching madly.

Kaetlen raises an eyebrow at the big kitty. “So sorry.” She says drolly.

Cael peeks out from behind Kaetlen.

Zarrah does not spare a glance in their direction. “Your apology is accepted.”

Kaetlen says, “My life has meaning again.”

Zarrah turns her head slowly to look at the pair, having reclaimed her dignity. “Does some business bring you here?” she asks levelly.

Kaetlen shrugs. “Not particularly.”

Cael smiles, “We’re on an adventure!”

Zarrah tilts her ears backward at the squirrel. “How nice.” Her tone drips sarcasm.

Kaetlen’s ears flick back a notch. “Yes, isn’t it though. Want to come along?” she asks sarcastically.

Kaetlen nudges Cael. “Run back to the inn. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Cael says, “Oh oks.”
Cael bounds north along the road toward Sted Cair.

Zarrah watches the squirrel go, her tail again lashing, and returns to her fish without a second glance at the fox.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spy Galatea sneaking in from the north.

Kaetlen starts to turn to go, flipping her bushy tail smugly. She freezes when she sees something sneaksing around.

Zarrah ignores the grey fox thoroughly, flipping another wildly-thrashing fish onto the bank. She does spare the sneaker a look.

Galatea slips through the bushes along the riverbank. That her movements are, perhaps, less stealthy than they are accustomed to be might be entered in as evidence that she desires not to remain entirely hidden. On the other hand, it could be construed as a mark that she is not as stealthy as she credits herself with being.

Kaetlen flattens herself in the grass, a gray lump on the brown. Her beady eyes watch the other Fox curiously.

Zarrah watches the second fox long enough to ensure that it is neither a threat nor something useful for chewing on, then returns to her scrutiny of the river’s surface, the angle of her ears clearly stating something to the effect of “I am surrounded by idiots”.

Galatea’s tail sweeps horizontally against the grasses in her wake as she makes her way in a serpentine pattern to where the other two are. She settles onto her haunches adjacent and begins the work of smoothing down the fur on her right ear, just at the triangulated tip.

Kaetlen snorts before she can stop herself, the sight of the well-groomed and probably pampered fox’s coat disgusting her.

Zarrah watches from the corner of her eye, though she keeps her attention fixed mostly on the piscine activity in the water. The tip of her tail continues to twitch.

Kaetlen combat crawls in the grass towards her fellow Fox.

Galatea trips as she tries to sneak north.

Kaetlen is on her belly in the grass, combat crawling like a fool.

Zarrah tilts an ear toward the red fox’s departure, looking vaguely irritated.

Cael sneaks along in the grass.

Kaetlen yawns, losing interest in pretending to be a spy.

Cael leaps out of the grass and onto Kaetlen.

Kaetlen acks.
Kaetlen starts rolling, spilling him off of her.

Cael laughs, “You’re funny.”

Kaetlen bats at him with her paw. “You’re funnier.”

Cael smiles.

Kaetlen nudges him across the grass, further away from the leopard. “Did you eat?”

Cael shakes his head.

Kaetlen says, “You need to go find some nuts.”

Cael says, “I’m not hungry.”

Kaetlen stern-glares. “Oh fine.”