the Emerald Hibernation

It had only been in the past few years that Tauren Druids had begun to feel Ysera — no, not Ysera, for the Great Dragons had spent their Aspect powers defeating Deathwing — the Emerald Dream itself calling them to walk its green shadows. Having no millennia-long tradition of Dreaming in specially-constructed Barrow Dens, as the Kaldorei Druids did, Tauren Druids who heard the call of the Dream tended to simply shift into bear form and find a snug den before entering the long slumber.

Standing at the mouth of the small cave in the mountains high above Mulgore’s golden plains, watching the gently-snoring gray bear curled into its furthest corner, Kamalia had never felt so lonely.

Kamalia and her closest-age cousin, Ronada, had been inseparable companions since childhood. They had traveled and explored the whole world — and the other world of Outland — together, growing in power and skill side-by-side. Karazhan, Zul’Aman, Serpentshrine Cavern, Naxxramas, Ulduar, the Trial of the Crusaders, the Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, the Throne of the Four Winds, the Firelands… all of these dangers to Azerzoth, they had faced together, with Ronada tanking and Kamalia healing.

That year in Northrend when the guild needed a moonkin more than another healer, so Kamalia’s sister Kerisa had raided Icecrown Citadel with Ronada instead, began the cousins’ slow drift apart. During the Cataclysm, Kamalia became so weary of the demands of constant raiding that she quit shortly after the defeat of Ultraxion and the reclamation of Wyrmrest Temple and the Dragonblight. Ronada, however, continued on to help bring down Deathwing. When Pandaria had been discovered, Kamalia and Ronada traveled together again to explore the new continent… at least until Ronada began raiding the Mogu and Mantid strongholds, and Kamalia declined to participate.

Though she no longer spent most of her time with Ronada, Kamalia hadn’t been alone. Her sisters, some Tauren friends, and her Sin’dorei friends had all eventually come to Pandaria, and they saw each other frequently. She’d also made many new friends among the Pandaren, especially in Halfhill and the surrounding farming communities.

After the Siege of Orgrimmar had dragged on for six months, Ronada, too, had wearied of raiding. The Emerald Dream was calling her. Kamalia had not felt sad or lonely when she had come to see Ronada safely off into the Dream half a year ago, but now…

When the Warchief’s Heralds had brought the news of the bizarre change in color of the Dark Portal and the invasion of a new, strangely-equipped sort of Orc, Kamalia had not gone immediately to the battlefront. She had come here, hoping to be able to rouse Ronada from the Dream, so that they could once more fight together. Kamalia had not begged or pleaded for Ronada to come back, merely told her cousin of her own excitement and anticipation. For a few moments, she had thought that Ronada might be waking. But then the bear settled back down into what seemed to be an even deeper sleep.

Sighing, Kamalia turned from the cave and began attuning her Astral Recall. Whatever strange new world now lay on the other side of the altered Dark Portal, she would be exploring it on her own.

~*~*~

In the spring, BTH decided to take a break from WoW. His guild had defeated Garrosh on normal mode a few times and was banging its head against the heroic modes — and after it had attritted enough people that even forming a 10s group became difficult, BTH decided he needed some time off from raiding, too. Plus, Elder Scrolls Online was coming out, and he’d really enjoyed Skyrim. He’s spent the past six months or so playing ESO and a variety of non-MMO games. Since D&D 5e came out a few weeks ago, he’s really been getting back into D&D.
Now, with Warlords just around the corner, BTH is not sure he even wants to come back to WoW. His guild hasn’t changed their raiding times, and the raiding times that worked well when we were in Atlantic Canada don’t work well now that we’re in the Mountain West. The guild has also decided to server transfer, and he doesn’t really want to server transfer his character. So he’d have to look for a new guild if he wanted to raid — and if he’s going to play WoW, he wants to do real (not-LFR) raiding. He’s not much interested in all the stuff that I still enjoy doing in Azeroth.
Which leaves me looking at playing through a new expansion entirely on my own for the first time… another indicator that Warlords has a fairly high probability of being my last expansion of playing WoW.

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cricket collection

Along with leveling a character of each class to the current level cap, one of my long-time WoW goals has been to raid-heal with each of the healing classes. Mists LFR has been an absolutely Golden Age for me in that regard. I have a healer of each class who has completed at least Terrace of Endless Spring from T14, all of Throne of Thunder, and Siege of Orgrimmar through the Sha of Pride.

As proof that I have indeed completed my Mists expansion goal of healing in LFR with each of the healing classes — and before Patch 6.0 wreaks havoc on my action bars and addons, too! — I now present a couture collection featuring that most charming of Siege of Orgrimmar healer loot drops, the Purehearted Cricket Cage.

Waterfall Cricket

Greenweave Mantle, Waterfall Robe, Councillor’s Sash, Replica Virtuous Gloves, Rejuvenating Scepter, Purehearted Cricket Cage
This Kun-Lai Summit quest reward robe matches the tailored Windwool set, which has a tunic chestpiece instead of a robe.

Hoodoo Cricket

Self-Reflecting Mask, Runetotem’s Mantle of Conquest, Jinxed Hoodoo Skin & Kilt, Hurricane Belt, Cenarion Gloves, Miniature Winter Veil Tree, Purehearted Cricket Cage
This outfit is based on Zazzy’s grand-prize-winning final round entry for JD Kenada’s Amazing Transmog Survivor competition. Kerisa already had the shoulders, chestpiece, and kilt of Zazzy’s kit — though as a Druid, she of course could not use the same belt.

Fire-Charm Cricket

Fire-Charm Mantle, Jinxed Hoodoo Skin & Kilt, Serene Yellow Belt, Grips of Slicing Electricity, Ethereum Phase Blade, Purehearted Cricket Cage, Veridian Cloak
A variation on Zazzy’s grand-prize-winning final round entry for JD Kenada’s Amazing Transmog Survivor competition. As a Monk, Koralyra could get the chestpiece, belt, and kilt easily — but she’d have had to farm for the lookalike T9 Druid shoulders, as Zazzy had. Fortunately, the glow of the T15-LFR Monk shoulders matches the Jinxed Hoodoo items just as nicely as the crystals on the T9-Horde Druid shoulders do!

Suncrown Cricket

Bog Pauldrons, Suncrown Hauberk, Myrmidon’s Girdle, Cenarion Reservist’s Legguards*/Green Iron Leggings, Green Iron Gauntlets, Tsunami Boots, Light’s Justice, Purehearted Cricket Cage, Xing-Ho, Breath of Yu’lon
So, yeah, I decided to get the Legendary Cloak for Kamalia’s DPS spec. Hopefully, it’ll make at least the first few levels of 90 to 100 a little easier, considering that I don’t (and won’t) have a Garrosh Heirloom weapon.

Jade Cricket

Jade set with Acid-Etched Pauldrons, Qon’s Flaming Scimitar, and Purehearted Cricket Cage
I put up with the Jade set being platekini because I love its unique coloration so much. I’d be much happier if it looked on my female character the way it looks on male characters, though!

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green grow the Ancients, oh!

As usual, I’ve been participating in Thel’s ROYGBiV Transmogrification contest solely for the fun of playing. Because I wasn’t hoping to win anything anyway, I set myself an additional challenge of using a different color of a certain relatively plain striped robe style for each of my entries. I was therefore quite delighted to discover that Thel had chosen my entry as one of three winners for May! I didn’t have a Blossoming Ancient yet — what a cute addition to my battle pet menagerie!

Thank you, Thel! :D

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mini-mog post: Garden of Eden

This is all PlaidElf’s fault. Her ROYGBiV-Green set got me thinking about bare chests and how the green LFR version of the T16 Druid belt looks so very much like the proverbial fig leaf, and this happened:

Shoulders of the Roiling Inferno, Sandrene’s Invisible Vest, Dragonmaw Emergency Strap, Ceremonial Leather Loincloth, Cenarion Gloves, Darkbrand Boots
Of course, Sandrene’s Invisible Vest isn’t actually moggable for the very good reason that if it was, no leather wearers would use any other chestpiece (to be a bit hyperbolic).
Something like this would still make a pretty good “Garden of Eden” outfit —

Grizzly Jerkin, Marshseeker Gloves, Cenarion Spaulders, Staff of the Verdant Circle
— and now my Feral Druid is begging to be boosted so she can do it >.<

My Balance/Resto Druid would prefer to be a little more well-clothed —

Wall-Breaker Legguards; Nimbletoe Chestguard, Harness of Carnal Instinct, Shy Breastplate, Vest of Welcome
— though she will probably end up just wearing the Ymirjar Physician’s Robe that she already owns:

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a mediocre healer’s thoughts on the proposed healing changes

I’ll admit, I’m not that great of a healer, and really, I probably never was. Kamalia scraped through Proving Grounds Silver by the skin of her teeth and still hasn’t gone back for Gold (let alone Endless/Proven!).

I made the Paladin get her own Proving Grounds Silver — it took several attempts — before I started taking her to LFR. I plan to do the same with the Priest, the Druid, and the Monk before I take them to LFR. This is not a new objective, sparked by the news that a Proving Grounds Silver will be required to random-queue for Heroic Dungeons in Warlords; rather, it is something I have planned to do with my healers ever since the Proving Grounds first came out and Ghostcrawler commented that in the future (i.e., next expansion) a Proving Grounds Silver might be required to queue for LFR.

Because Shaman have so few instant-cast heals — only Riptide and Nature’s Swiftness + [heal] when I first began raiding — I learned to be a turret. I never properly learned how to use Spiritwalker’s Grace; I’m always forgetting about it and realizing only later, “oh, that bit of the fight would have been a good time to use SWG”. I don’t always remember, the next time I do the fight, to use SWG at that particular point, either.

With my Paladin, running LFR, I forget to use Avenging Wrath, Guardian of Ancient Kings, and especially “Raidwall”, because I never can remember what the real name of that spell is. But I have learned to use my instant-cast heals on the move, tossing out Holy Shocks, Eternal Flames, and Lights of Dawn as I run out of the fire. When Patch 6.0 comes, I will have to unlearn that behavior.

Blizz is backtracking on the “smart heals”; I seem to remember that when they were first introduced they bounced randomly, and only later were changed to prefer the most-damaged player within range. The notion that ground effect and other AOE type heals should be most mana-effective when two or more players are within them, well, isn’t that how it should have been working all along? Even if I was not very good at actually choosing my targeting/placement? So, whatever. Maybe I’ll actually learn to be a better healer again in Warlords after the decay I’ve suffered since quitting regular guild-based raiding and becoming an LFR Tourist-and-Transmog raider.

To me, it seems like the most difficult part of the healing changes will be getting the DPS mindset to accept that it’s OKAY to be at less than 100% health some or even most of the time and not be continually whining for heals and blaming the healers for every wipe.

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Things My Characters are Wearing with their Shado-Pan Helmets

Shado-Pan Ninja (Monk)



Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Puncture-Binding Spaulder, Pozzik’s Vest, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Nice Shorts, Bard’s gloves & boots, Stylish Black Shirt, Monk’s Staff
This outfit is adapted from Draynee’s Black Ninja Monk kit.

Shado-Pan Domain Keeper (Monk/Druid)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Shizzle’s Muzzle Cover, Leather Tunic of Eminent Domain, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Honorary Combat Engineer’s Leather Trousers, Loramus’ Gloves, Prospector’s Boots, Spear of Xuen
The brick red and black colors of these Rogue T9-lookalike items awarded early in the Jade Forest questline just begged to be part of a Shado-Pan set. Due to the factional dimorphism of the T9 sets, this outfit is Horde-only. The Prospector’s chestpiece and leggings or the chestpiece and leggings from the same set as the shoulders & gloves could be used for a similar look.
Other leather-wearers might want to use the Burning Blade Devotee’s Cinch.

Shado-Pan Brewmaster (Monk)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Dark Warder’s Pauldrons, Vest of Welcome, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Sunroc Pants, Swashbuckler’s Gloves & Boots, Tremendous Tankard O’ Terror, Ced’s Crusher
Most of my characters are tee-totalers because, well, I am. Way back when acheivements were the new hotness, Kamalia picked up several of the Brewfest acheivements, but she hadn’t bothered to get Brew of the Month — and thus the “Brewmaster” title — because she knew she wouldn’t actually be interested tasting the brews of the month themselves.
That was before I had a Brewmaster Monk, however. This year, Koralyra wanted the “Brewmaster” title, and so it fell to Kamalia, who was only one achievement short, to get the meta for the whole family.
The keg-shaped maces are probably my favorite Mists 1H-Mace design.

Shado-Pan Smoke Knight (Monk)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Righteous shoulders pants & gloves, Scouting tunic & boots, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
I originally designed this kit to go with the Ironpaw cooking accessories. Serendipitously, it also looks great with the Shado-Pan helmet!

Shado-Pan Spiritwalker (Shaman)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Pauldrons of Wild Magic, Salvager’s Hauberk, Bloodspattered Sash, Heroes’ Earthshatter Kilt (T7-10s), Seer’s Linked Gauntlets, Suen-Wo, Spire of the Falling Sun
Umlaut Paradots‘ mail contribution to These Boots Were Made For Mogging reminded me of the Salvager’s Hauberk. As I thought about what kind of set I might like to make using this chestpiece, it occurred to me that the stripe detail, especially in the back, is somewhat similar to the stripe detail on the Shado-Pan NPC uniforms. Kamalia already had plenty of dark blue in her wardrobe, but she did not have much red in her wardrobe before I created this outfit for her!

Shado-Pan Beastmaster (Hunter)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Ravager’s Mantle, Warmonger’s Chestpiece, Bloodspattered Sash, Bloodmail* Legguards gloves & boots, Cloak of Beasts, Master Builder’s Shirt, Bronze Blaster
This is something of an “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” kit. Although I only really wanted the Bloodmail Legguards, I’d collected all the rest of the set by the time the pants finally dropped. I decided to keep the whole set, “just in case”, and dumped it into Void Storage. Now I’m glad that I did!
I borrowed the combination of the Shado-Pan Helmet with the Warmonger’s chestpiece from WoW Roleplay Gear.

Shado-Pan Serpent Rider (Shaman/Hunter)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Ordon Legend-Keeper Spaulders & Greaves, Tunic of Masked Suffering, Ebonhold Girdle, Bloodmail Legguards*, Grotesque Handgrips, Big Black Mace, Bloodforged Guard, Sawbones Shirt*
Mini-Kam has been working (when I feel like it) on collecting Skyshards, but she still has a few yet to find before she can tame Milau’s momma.
The shirt just fills in the midriff and elbows; the red in the shoulders and underarms is in fact part of the chestpiece.
Suitable weapons for Hunters to use with this kit might be the Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle or Heartstriker.

Shado-Pan Runeblade (Death Knight)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Blood-Soaked Saronite Plated Spaulders, Warlord’s/Warmaul chestpiece belt gloves & boots, Legguards of the Shattered Hand, Acherus Knight’s Shroud, Runed Soulblade
I didn’t want to just plop the Shado-Pan Helmet atop one of the black-and-red outfits I’d already made for Kregga — though it would certainly work well with either of them. The red-plum-blue tones of the Warlord’s/Warmaul set evoke the palette of the navy-and-brick-red version of the Shado-Pan NPC uniforms, and I’d been wanting to use those items in a DK set for some time. The DK shoulders added just the right amount of menace to the overall appearance.

Shado-Pan Lightbearer (Paladin)


Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Runic Plate Shoulders, Alabaster Breastplate, Thorium Belt, Greaves of the Martyr, Bloodforged Gauntlets, Lavawalker Greaves, Redpine Cloak, Firestorm Hackblade, Bloodforged Guard, Stylish Black Shirt
This outfit is adapted from a striking black, white, and red ensemble originally designed by Honeypants of Mogoholic.

Shado-Pan Bulwark (Paladin/Warrior)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Shoulderguards of Empty Memory, Glory of the Defender, Ogre Beater’s Belt, Legguards of the Fallen Crusader, Grips of Arcane Imprisonment, Deathseed Crushers, Rescuer’s Cloak, Stylish Black Shirt, Firestorm Hackblade, Shield of the Void
As long as Mists remains the current expansion, items containing both red and black will always immediately suggest that they be used in a Shado-Pan Helmet kit. Mists was already well enough along when I leveled my Paladin that I saved these Cataclysm quest reward items for future use in a Shado-Pan kit. Although her first Shado-Pan kit didn’t need them, they came in handy to coordinate with this chestpiece, which dropped while I was farming the Hyjal raid for something else.

Shado-Pan Blademaster (Warrior)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Expedition Mantle, The Exarch’s Protector, Darkcrest Belt, Legguards of the Shattered Hand, Inferno Tempered gloves & boots, Gilded Thorium Cloak, Red Martial Shirt, Sturdy Yaungol Spear
Keija tried really hard to talk me into letting her use Hellreaver for her Shado-Pan set, even though I think it’s just about as overused a weapon as Judgement is a gear set (especially since Demonology Warlocks got that glyph that lets their Felguards dual-wield the things). Then, as soon as she’d actually tested how it would look, she capitulated and agreed to use the spear that matches the NPC weapon. I’ll just have to come up with some other set for her to use Hellreaver with.

Shado-Pan Wildshaper (Druid)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Thunderheart Shoulder Pads, Robes of Summer Flame, Vicious Leather Belt, Gilt-Edged Leather Gauntlets, Tian Monastic Staff
I decided pretty much immediately that I wanted to use this robe for my Druid’s Shado-Pan kit. Figuring out all the rest of the pieces, though, took quite a bit of iteration.
I don’t remember if I was offered the +Agi staff as a reward option from that Tian Monastery quest or if I had to switch my loot spec to see it. Whatever happened, I thought that the +Agi staff would have better Transmogrification potential with the rest of my Druid’s wardrobe than any of the +Int options — and I’d surely get a better weapon from some other quest later. So I took it, and now I am quite glad that I did.

Shado-Pan Mystic (Priest)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Consortium Mantle, Amaranthine Robe, Silver-Thread Sash, Black Mageweave Gloves, Arakkoa Divining Rod, Inscribed Fan, Stylish Black Shirt
This outfit is largely inspired by the Shado-Pan Helmet set designed by WoW Roleplay Gear.

Shado-Pan Arcanist (Mage)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Nether Guards, Sparklight Robes, Girdle of Glowing Light, Black Mageweave Gloves, Unassuming Slippers, Rod of the Blazing Light
When I was originally designing this outfit in MogIt, I was struck by how well the T15-Normal Priest-lookalike Quet’zal’s Crackling Cord matched this robe. That item was well out of my solo-player reach, however, so I chose something else. Later, the rep requirements for many Shado-Pan Assault items were lowered, allowing me to gain the required reputation (Friendly) to buy the Valor Points version of the belt from a single clear of the first wing of Throne of Thunder LFR. Huzzah!

Shado-Pan Summoner (Warlock)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Mantle of the Corruptor, Simple Blouse, Fire-Cord of the Magus, Coven Britches, Black Mageweave Gloves + Wraps of the San’layn, Oilfoot Slippers, Shadow Prowler’s Cloak, Matsuba’s Breadmaker
More decadent Warlocks may prefer to use the Cournith Waterstrider’s Silken Finery.

Shado-Pan Assassin (Rogue)

Replica Shado-Pan Helment, Shoulderpads of the Silvermoon Retainer, Scouting Tunic, Ruffian Belt*, Nightslayer Pants, Bandit Gloves, Defiler’s Lizardhide Boots, Black Swashbuckler’s Shirt, Amber Slicer of Klaxxi’ves, Wind Reaver’s Dagger of Quick Strikes
The shirt is an essential component of this outfit because it fills in a gap between the sleeves and the gloves.
The Bandit Belt would be a suitable replacement for the Ruffian Belt.
Why, yes, I did do Klaxxi rep with my Rogue just so that I could have both styles of Mantid trophy dagger to use in this kit.

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Dress Up! #11: Dreamseeker

The tauren priesthood is fundamentally a divergent sect of tauren druidism. Perhaps they might best be understood as Balance druids who have gone past the balance point and out to the other extreme in an attempt to balance tauren society as a whole. Whereas many druids draw their power primarily from the moon, Mu’sha (Elune), and Balance druids attempt to maintain an equilibrium between the power they draw from the moon and that which they draw from the sun, tauren priests, or Seers, are essentially druids who draw their power primarily from the sun, An’she.

The color scheme and the names of key items in this ensemble for the eleventh Batinna’s Dress Up theme reflect the druidic roots of a tauren priest’s power.

Dreamseeker

Greenweave Mantle, Mistyreed Tunic, Councillor’s Sash, Elunarian Sarong, Hewing Gloves, Rejuvenating Scepter, Dreamseeker Dandelion, Green Linen Shirt

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