The Missing Ang

Hi! Long time, no see eh?

Now that the craziness that was July has finished and the release date for Pandaria is closing fast, I thought it was time to get back into Warcrafty things!

So, what have I been up to lately?

Spamtastic
Firstly, I got Navispammed! I had enjoyed seeing all of Navimie's other posts about visiting all sorts of bloggy people so I was rather excited when she wanted to come visit me! My toons are kind of spread over several servers now, but she came to visit Aoifen and my lovely adopted guild, Vitare.

A new Home
I've decided to make Aefa my Horde Loremaster, or at least see the quests in zones that are very different for Horde. My Horde guild on Nagrand is pretty much deserted most of the time (come baaack!) so I made the tough decision to move Aefa and Leesah over to Saurfang, to join my sister-in-law's guild. They are still raiding and are quite active on off nights as well, although I'm back to feeling like the new kid in school. The name Leesah was taken on the new server so I had to change it - I didn't think of adding an accented character to the name until it was too late so she's now Lysah. I don't think she's too happy with the new name.

Mogginess
I've finally got Aoifen's mog set in a state I more-or-less like. If you're interested in what she's wearing now, it's:

Head: Nordrassil Headguard
Shoulders: Puregrove Spaulders
Chest: Malfurion's Robe of Conquest
Back: Netherwane Cloak
Hands: Glovelettes of Opening
Waist: Gryphon Master's Belt
Legs can't be seen with a robe!
Feet: Luring Footpads
Main hand (mace): Hammer of the Thorium Brotherhood
Off hand: Globe of Moonlight

Lysah, on the other hand, could use some Mogging love. I'd really love a full set of T5 for her - she has the head and shoulders, but I'd love the chestpiece, legs and gloves. Anyone for a go at Kael'thas? Perhaps a bit of SSC?

What's next?
I'm planning on creating new pre-raid gear lists for Mists of Pandaria before the expansion arrives, based on the PTR items. They're looking pretty nice so far - lots of Asian-inspired names at least. I haven't been part of the beta at all so I'm not sure what the new items look like!

I'm also planning to get back into updating this blog a bit more often, although that really depends on time which is rather precious at the moment! Why so little time? Well, it's mostly down to this little guy:

I hope you're all well and that your plans for Mists of Pandaria are coming together!

A Story for the Sproutling

This story was inspired by Big Bear Butt's writing challenge. Check his post for all the other offerings!

~o~

The calf gurgled and cooed as Leesah wiped the remnants of the juicy berries from around his mouth. She picked him up as she stood, kissed him on the top of his furry head and put him down on the packed earth floor of the house, smiling as he ran outside.

She walked over to the door and leaned against the wooden frame, shielding her eyes from the low sun casting its light across the Mulgore plain. A few children of the village were running around after a dog, trying to pull its tail.

Not for the first time, Leesah wished that her mate Melof could have been here to see how much their son had grown. It was already his first birthday and he was getting so tall - he would surely grow into a strong bull like his father had been. Leesah felt grief building up in her throat again. She glanced at one wall of the house where Melof's polearm hung, several charms hanging from the slender shaft, light winking on the keen blade.

She hadn't been up to Thunder Bluff in a while, but she had heard the rumours - Deathwing lay slain, the Twilight Cult scattered. She swallowed back tears and stood straighter, comforted that her mate's death at the assault on the Bastion had not been in vain, and had been avenged.

There was no use in dwelling on the past, though. Soon, she would have to leave the peace of Bloodhoof Village and rejoin her fellow Druids abroad. She could feel the urge to travel in her bones, the nature magic stirring, ready to heal and nurture the regenerating forests of Hyjal. She would have to leave her calf behind for a little while, but he would be in safe hands with the elders of the village.

As the sun dipped below the line of mountains to the west, one of the Elder bulls came around lighting the torches of the village. She nodded a greeting to him as she walked out across the grass. She called, "Come, little one!"

The calf ran over to her, reaching upwards and saying, "Num num num?"

Leesah laughed as she swung him up over her head and down again. "No, silly, you already had num nums. It's time for a bath and sleepy time." She carried him back inside their home and out to the hidden alcove that served as a bathroom.

Outside, stars began to appear in the evening sky and cast their silver light over the plains.

~o~

Yes, it's my Sproutling's first birthday today. It seems like such a long time ago that he was born, but at the same time it feels like just the other day! He's not quite at the running stage, but Tauren calves learn to walk a lot faster than human ones. He does ask me for num nums quite a lot, though.

Like Leesah, I've gone back to work and left Sproutling with the "elders". He's surrounded by an adoring fan club every day so I don't feel too bad about leaving him.

Don't worry, Mr Ang is still here... but he stopped playing Wow just before Sproutling was born so it fit well with the story for his Tauren to have died. I'm sure he won't mind me taking the liberty :)

IntPiPoMo: End Time

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Murozond looks over the Bronze Dragonshrine at the End Time.

And with that, my 50 pictures are done.  I hope you enjoyed IntPiPoMo as much as I did!

I'd like to say a big thank you to all the people who joined in - I didn't expect so many to get on board and post such amazing pictures! I recommend you go and check out all of these blogs and their IntPiPoMo contributions.

• Postcards from Azeroth
• The Daily Frostwolf
• Harpy's Nest
• Dwarven Battle Medic (WoW and real-world)
• The Ready Check
• Achievements Ahoy
• Wabbage's Warblings (Rift)
• World of Saz
• Bag Overflow
• ALT : ernative
• Elfi's World
• Red Cow Rise
• Zlinket @ Wowsanctum.com
• Syrco Owl
• Amerence Love Wow
• The WOW Debutante
• Gamer Girl Confessions
• Effraeti's RP
• Da Voodoo Shuffle
• Chronicles of Mia
• The Reluctant Raider
• Moonkin Journeys

Here's a bonus Sproutling pic to say thanks!

And now, I'm going on holiday :)

IntPiPoMo: The Tower Revisited

This post is part of IntPiPoMo.

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I realise I've already posted pictures of Karazhan, but I loved this shot so much that I had to share it. The soft light makes the tower look less menacing, somehow.

Here's a bonus picture of the Sproutling to make up for repeating myself.

On WoW and I

Before I start let me assure you that this is not a farewell post. I haven't stopped playing WoW and I don't intend to stop blogging either, just yet.

The nature of my play has changed dramatically, though. I also came to the realisation that I haven't written anything of any substance on the blog for at least six months - I do apologise for that.

About a month ago, I nearly wrote a farewell post for the blog and actually cancelled my subscription for a couple of weeks, but it turned out all I needed was a change of pace and circumstances to get me interested in both again.

Allow me to explain.

Effin' About
The last time I wrote about guild things I was lamenting that I was never online at the same time as my new(ish) Alliance guildies of Eff the Ineffable. Before my Sproutling was born, I envisaged being online during the day a lot more. I figured I should look around for an American-time guild to play with so that I would have some guildies to do dungeons and perhaps even raid with. The Effers are a friendly bunch - in fact they're looking for healers at the moment for their raid team.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from him but Sproutling doesn't sleep during the day on any kind of schedule or for a predictable length of time. For the last six months I've had snatches of play time during the day but usually less than an hour and certainly not enough to commit to a group of any kind. I don't use the computer at all while he's awake - I feel that's a bit unfair to the little Sprout.

After about twelve weeks the Sproutling started to go to bed at a predictable time, so I was able to play in the evening more. At 4am server time, Azuremyst is pretty deserted - even the night owls like Rhii and Fizzy are offline by that time.

I began to consider going back to Oceania and finding another Aussie guild to play with, since my Horde guild on Nagrand was still deserted. Playing by yourself is all right for a little while (there's a whole 'nother post coming about that), but my Alliance druid, Aoifen, was getting very bored with pugging heroics, and the Molten Front dailies are just... so... boring...

I was burned out. I was lonely. I didn't log in for two weeks and allowed my account to lapse. I was very close to that closing-up-shop post.

What brought me back, in the end, was Transmogrification. I wanted to run old raid content and couldn't bear the thought of trying to pug it.

No Longer Vitare (it means to avoid, don'tcha know)
I've been meeting up with Lathere in real life for a while now since her Sapling and my Sprout are about the same age. She had a break from the game since her bub arrived and was just starting to get back into playing again, so, for the first time in my whole WoW career, I transferred a character to another server. Aoifen bid goodbye to Eff the Ineffable and moved to Barthilas to join Lathere, Cassandri and Velidra in Vitare.

It was awesome to actually have some green chatter going on, even if I hardly knew anyone! Since I moved over I've run tier 1, 4, 5 and 6 raids, finally seen all of Ulduar and even run through Throne of the Four Winds and Bastion of Twilight for the first time. We haven't convinced anyone to take us to Firelands yet but I hope that will happen after 4.3 arrives.

The end result in all this is that I've re-discovered what makes MMOs so awesome and that keeps me playing: Everything is more fun when you are doing it with other people.

So, I'm still playing. I still love the game - I still have things to explore and classes to level, achievements and raids to enjoy (even if they're not progression ones). The game is certainly not boring if you're willing and able to get out there and find your own fun.

On Blogging
R&R has really suffered in the last six months. Babies are exhausting - when I get to the computer I tend to want to play rather than write these days. The Mogging series was a product of that extremely bored phase where I couldn't face doing another daily.

I'm afraid it's likely to stay quiet for a little while longer, but I'll be trying to post every now and then and keep up with the Druid resources. Next year I'll be going back to work full time, which is where most of my inspiration was gathered before. I'm not sure how much time or energy I'll have for writing then, but we'll see.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all you readers for all your support over this year. I really do appreciate it! If you made it this far, you're a superstar :D

<3

The Cutest 5-man Group Ever

In other news, my Effing guildmates Nymphy and Orvillius over at D/E the Tank have brought together some of the cutest party members you'll ever see - the babies of various WoW bloggers.

My Sproutling is co-starring in this epic adventure in the making so make sure you go check it out!

Sproutling Has Arrived

I'm very pleased to announce that our Sproutling arrived early on Monday morning!

If you'd like to read more about him, head over to The Sproutling.

In the meantime, please excuse the radio silence while I put my feet up for a little while.

Happy Gaming :)

A New Venture

No, Sproutling hasn't arrived yet! But The Sproutling has - a place where I can write about baby-related things without cluttering this blog up too much.

If you haven't seen Fannon's new blog, Dear Dwarfling, I suggest you go have a read.  It's the inspiration for me to write about my Sprout - yes I totally copied the idea - but imitation is the greatest form of flattery, right?

It's still a work in progress - eventually I'll fix up the backgrounds and banners.  I just wanted to get it out there first.

Normally scheduled Wow-blogging will resume shortly!

Change of Pace

There's change in the air.  With quite a few bloggers calling it quits around the place and other seasoned players heading off to try out Rift, things are shifting slightly in the Blogosphere and Twitterverse.

Fannon of Dwarven Battle Medic is welcoming his first little Dwarfling to the family (hopefully already welcomed by now - they were at the hospital at the time of writing!), and he wrote the other day about changing priorities and managing limited play time. He still intends to raid with his guild and I wish him the very best of luck in trying to continue with his goals.

I'm on the final stretch - just five-ish weeks left before my Sproutling makes an appearance (at least I hope it will only be that long!). Unlike Fannon, I have no intentions of trying to keep up with any in-game commitments. My guild has actually fallen back to a casual guild - with too many of our old raid team taking breaks or not having time to gear up, raiding is not looking like happening any time soon.

I'm not planning to give up altogether, if the little Sprout permits me time. I've geared my Druid up to raid level more or less, but I've shifted my focus more to my other characters, and rediscovering the "new" game.  My little Priest, Angelya, just dinged 50 and has been enjoying the quest lines through the new Thousand Needles and Tanaris. Once the little one gets a bit older and I have more time again, Leesah will hopefully make a comeback.

If you're feeling burned out already or a change of pace is needed, I do recommend a new character to check out the improved zones - I am delighted so far with what I've discovered !

Sprouting A Sapling

You may have noticed things have been a bit quieter around R&R recently, or at least a lack of substantial posts. That's because my creative energies have been going into creating... something else :)

Yes, Mr Ang and I are expecting! We'll be sprouting a sapling, or hatching a moonkin egg or dropping a calf or some such thing in late March next year. The scan this morning made everything a little more real - I'm pretty sure it's a human baby and not a tauren, although it's a bit hard to tell at this stage.

I'm not planning on giving up playing or blogging, nor will this blog turn into a "mummy" blog.  In fact, apart from the occasional mention I will be trying to keep this blog baby-free if possible, but you just never know how baby-brain works, right? Worst case you'll probably find me hanging around with a silly grin on my face all the time... :)

Is there something in the water around here?  First it was Syrana (who has a gorgeous baby blog, by the way), then it was Lathere, now me... who will be next?!

Oh, if you're wondering where the cute baby Tauren is (squeeee!), there's a little place in northern Nagrand in the mountains just north of the Ring of Blood, called Challe's Home For Little Tykes.