is it getting hot in here?

This episode of “why is there not a /swoon emote?” brought to you by the updated Male Tauren model.

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but… my *wings*…!

Apparently, the thing which most stood out to me from the 6.0 patch notes was “Avenging Wrath will now be Retribution-only”.

Despite the fact that I already have a Retribution Paladin, and that she is still nine levels short of getting Avenging Wrath herself because I haven’t played her in ages because the Ret playstyle didn’t really click with me, here I have rolled a second Tauren Paladin to be Ret and have wings…

And because that gave me two of every Tauren class except Priest, here is a second Tauren Priest.

And despite my long-held distaste of the notion of a Tauren Shadow Priest, and the shudder I continue to experience whenever I see a Tauren Priest in shadowform, I seem to have an even greater distaste for having two characters of the same race, class, and specializations — though mini-Kam started out as a Resto/Elemental clone of Kamalia, she has since changed her DPS spec to Enhancement in part to not be a clone anymore — and thus this new Priest is, indeed, Shadow. I have rationalized it with myself in the same way that I initially rationalized creating a Tauren Death Knight: she is Grimtotem, one of the fraction of the tribe who chose to forsake Magatha and swear allegiance to Baine at the end of The Shattering. If Blizz ever introduces Grimtotem warpaint as a customization option for Tauren characters, my DK will probably not take it — but this Shadow Priest will.

And then, before I even got this post to press, the WoW Insider interview with Celestalon and Zharym went up, and they said:

…feedback to [changing Avenging Wrath to Ret-only] was “I want my wings.” The [Guardian of Ancient Kings] angel is more recent, but the wings are more iconic and have been there forever. Not an announcement, but we’re currently strongly considering merging Divine Favor into Avenging Wrath, so Holy get wings, and when Prot pulls out the Guardian of Ancient Kings they might get their wings while it’s out.

So maybe I won’t have to be a Ret Paladin to have wings, after all. I think these two new characters will be sticking around anyway.

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Tauren, Taunka, Yaungol

What would a Taunka woman look like if she had the same facial structure as a Taunka man?
What does a Yaungol woman look like?

Perhaps something like this:

The Tauren is wearing the Lunar/Twilight/Raincaller set. The Taunka’s clothing is that worn by the guards at Camps Winterhoof and Oneqwah. The Yaungol’s outfit combines the clothing of Yaungol melee combatants with the chestpiece worn by Yaungol casters.

Figuring out the relative scale of the three races turned out to be trickier than I’d thought. I initially had the notion that Taunka were about a head taller than Tauren and Yaungol about a head taller than Taunka, as I’ve shown them in this picture — my initial sketches may make that more obvious.

Based on my extensive study of Taunka and Yaungol NPCs, however, it’s probably more accurate to say that the Taunka and Yaungol shown in my picture represent the low-to-middle range of a size distribution common to both subspecies.

Taunka men are pretty consistently head-and-shoulders taller than Tauren. My player character Tauren woman’s shoulder comes to the armpit of most Taunka men, or to the elbow of the larger size used for Chieftains and the male guards at some of the Taunka villages in Northrend. A few Taunka men, generally vendors, are a bit shorter, but still about a head taller than my character. The size of Taunka women varies quite widely. In Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord, and Grizzly Hills, some of the Taunka women are the same size as the men and some of them are only half-a-head taller than my character. Female Taunka NPCs who are very old or very young women, such as Greatmother Ankha and Nokoma Snowseer at Camp Winterhoof, tend to be about the same size as my character or even a little smaller. At Camp Tunka’lo in the Storm Peaks, however, all of the Taunka women are the same size as my character — I think the developers simply forgot to add the scaling factor!

The Yaungol invaders found in various locations around Kun-Lai Summit seem to be about the same size as the average male Taunka, with my player character Tauren woman’s shoulder coming to the armpit of a typical Yaungol melee combatant. The Yaungol casters found around Binan Village are somewhat smaller, perhaps only half-a-head taller than my character. The Yaungol at Deadtalker’s Plateau and Fire Camp Gai-Cho in Townlong Steppes are a bit larger; my character’s shoulder comes to the armpit of the smaller ones, to the elbow of the larger ones, and only to the waist of the “end bosses” of Master Snowdrift’s set of Shado-Pan dailies, Uruk and Cheng Bo. On the Timeless Isle, the Ordon Candlekeepers are about the same size as a Tauren player character, and Ordon Yaungol get continually larger as they get tougher going up the mountain, until one reaches Ordos, who is, of course, a Boss. On the extreme other end of the scale, the guards of the Bataari war banner located between Binan Village and the Chow Farmstead are very small indeed — smaller than my player character Tauren woman — so small that I think they must be mere youths, approximately equivalent in maturity to a twelve year-old human.

I always feel so bad about having to kill them all! And yet, it seems more merciful to do so. If you burn the banner after having only killed the pair you passed by on your way into the camp, the others yell “Ur-Bataar, Help!” and run around, panicked, until they run into the fire on the banner and catch fire and die anyway. This sad behavior reinforces my feeling that these wee little Yaungol are just children!

I can easily imagine this duty of guarding the war banner as one of the first martial opportunities a young Yaungol receives, a first step away from the chores of tending the camp and toward being a warrior who can help defend the tribe. If having enough strong healthy warriors is so important to Yaungol society and survival that even disputes of leadership are settled by non-lethal ritual combat (see “Dominance”), I cannot imagine Yaungol women being anything but warriors right alongside the men. I would guess that a Yaungol woman only rests from active warrior duties for the few weeks immediately before and after the birth of an infant, and that those who are too young for combat are mostly cared for by those who are too old or honorably disabled for combat.

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Swords and Ploughshares

Thunder Bluff Warrior of the Insurrection

Vicious Pyrium Shoulders, any sleeveless chestpiece, Shattered Hand belt, Imperial Plate Leggings, Jade Tiger Gauntlets, Grim Sabatons, Thunder Bluff cloak & tabard, Ymiron’s Blade
The Thunder Bluff Warriors who are occupying Razor Hill during the Siege of Orgrimmar wear neither gloves nor boots. If you have invisiboots, such as Griftah’s Authentic Troll Shoes or Ancient Skeletal Boots, by all means use them! Keija does not yet have any invisiboots, not having obtained any either by raiding or by grinding the necessary Kor’kron supplies during patch 5.3, but the Grim Sabatons blend in with the pants well enough to produce almost the same effect.
The NPC belt is the same style as the golden-brown Shattered Hand or blue-grey Grimscale belt, but in a warm grey color that is not available to players. I chose to use the Shattered Hand belt because I felt like the warm tones harmonized better with the tabard & cloak. The Jade Tiger gloves contain both silvery tones to coordinate with the pants and golden tones to coordinate with the belt and tabard, making them the best choice of Keija’s readily-available gloves.
The NPCs carry Ymiron’s Blade + Saltstone Shield, a brighter recolor of the Angerfang/Splinterspear/Bladestaff Hammer that is not available to players, a unique and unobtainable 2H axe, or sometimes even the giant totem that every Tauren player character dearly wishes she or he could wield.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry


Wyrmslayer Spaulders, Bloodscale chestpiece & belt, Brutish pants gloves & boots, Dire Maul, Shield of Maraudon
Oh oh oh! Oh no! I totally forgot that I had wanted to make this outfit for my secondary Warrior for Love is in the Air this year until after the holiday had come and gone. Fortunately, I had some screenshots of the holiday decor from previous years that were suitable for compositing.

Tiller with Shovel





Straw Hat, Ramshorn-Inlaid Shoulders, Armored Chestpiece of Eminient Domain, Field Plate Girdle, Antique Reinforced Legguards, Crystalvein gloves, Subservient Greatboots, Green Lumberjack Shirt, Tillers Tabard, The Shoveler
This outfit owes a great debt to Freyana’s fantastic entry for the final round of The Amazing Transmog Survivor Contest.

Tiller with Shovel and Torch

Straw Hat, Pauldrons of the Deafening Gale, Kargal’s Breastplate, Marauder’s Belt, Togrik’s Legguards, Talhide Lined-Gloves & Boots, Wikket Wrap, Yellow Lumberjack Shirt, Shovel of Mercy, Grayson’s Torch
As it happened, it was more convenient for Kamalia to collect the low-level quest rewards than to watch for the identical Veteran’s armor to appear on the AH.
Fortunately, the Pauldrons of the Deafening Gale dropped for me on my first Trial of the Champions run. The first boss encounter is incredibly, exceedingly obnoxious to solo because the NPCs get to chain stunlock with no diminishing returns.
When I “Do the Right Thing” to get the shovel, I always rescue the humans and wish I could save the whole field of them. Poor things, they will need a lifetime of therapy to overcome the PTSD from that horrific experience.
Prior to Cataclysm, Captain Grayson offered his quests to Horde as well as Alliance, and I ran multiple characters up the coast from Grom’gol to his lighthouse in Westfall to get the torch. Nowadays, alas, though he remains neutral, Captain Grayson only offers his quests to Alliance characters. Horde characters should watch the AH for the Mistyreed Torch.

Tiller with Pitchfork

Straw Hat, Murkblood shoulders & chest, Brown Belt of Humbling Gravity, Expedition Pants, Silentleaf Gloves, Swift Cenarion Footwear, Blue Lumberjack Shirt, Nether Trident
At its core, this outfit is the same as my “Newsie” set. I’ve just switched out a few of the accessories.
Kate always wears one of her Monk class quest belts. Other characters should look for a relatively plain brown belt, such as the Belt of the Raptor.
One of the reasons why I picked this trident for Kate’s earlier Fisherman set is that it also makes a halfway-decent pitchfork for a Farmer set. The War Scythe or Grim Scythe would also be suitable weapons for a polearm-wielding class to use in a Farmer outfit.

Tiller with Staff

Straw Hat, Outlander’s Pauldrons, Blue Overalls, Willow Belt, Tangled Thread Gloves, Apprentice Boots, Red Lumberjack Shirt, Rosethorn Staff
I’ve seen several variations on the classic cloth “Farmer” look that use the Skein Woven Mantle. Indeed, I had one squirrelled away in my Transmogrification vault guild bank for Kaohana to use in a Farmer outfit. When I finally got around to making her one, however, I decided to do something a little different and use this set of shoulders that she already had soulbound, rather than adding yet another item to her overflowing wardrobe.
I thought about using a really plain “walking stick”-type staff model, such as Umbranse’s Staff, with this kit. The fancier Rosethorn Staff appealed to me more, though I’m not quite sure why it felt so appropriate for a Farmer. Warlock Farmers should of course use their Staff of the Left Hand Path/Staff of Justified Sins. WTB a Transmogrifiable Broom!

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beach babes of Azeroth

click on the images to see the full-size versions of these pictures

I began this project last summer, as a follow-up to my rather crudely-assembled racial height and build comparison.

At the time, however, the sexism-in-WoW discussion was going around again, and I felt that it would be rather gauche to post what is undeniably an objectified image: I have reduced my models to shapes to be studied.

I’d been meaning to complete it anyway, but somehow BTH always seemed to already be using the tablet to work on his comic whenever I wanted to work on it :P

With all the wonderful new model previews being released, I figured I’d better finish this up quick, even though some of the subtleties of the stances and the shapes will soon be out-of-date.

I had been thinking I’d do a further follow-up of close-up studies of the front and profile shapes of the faces, because I feel like I still don’t have a really good grasp on how to make some of the races different from my standard way of drawing human people. I’d like to do a companion set of “beach bums of Azeroth”, too, because I feel that I understand the male shapes even less than the female shapes. Maybe I should wait on that until all the new models come out in 6.0, though.

Speaking of the new models, I’ve liked all the ones we’ve seen glimpses of so far, and I look forward to seeing the Night Elf, the Troll, and especially the Tauren. The new female Orc makes me wish I hadn’t deleted my level 35 Orc Enhancement Shaman. I do hope the shaved head texturing makes it into the final model.

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sweets and stars

A few outfits for this year’s Love is in the Air season…

Very Berry Cream

Alabaster Plate Pauldrons, Bloodscale chest belt gloves & boots, Commander’s Leggings, War Paint Cloak, Wound Dressing, Hammer of Destiny
This outfit just wasn’t complete without this specific weapon. Fortunately, one showed up on the AH at a not-too-outrageous price just when I wanted it. I keep wanting to call it the Hammer of Density, though…

Adorable Aborigine

Forever-Lovely Rose, Feline Mantle, Aboriginal Robe, Ambermist belt & gloves, Cerulean Filigreed Shirt, Sealing Heartstaff
I wasn’t completely happy with the lower-level version of this outfit that I posted last year. This new version, with the shoulders I wanted to use then but hadn’t yet been able to acquire, is much more pleasing.
Yes, I know that the Forever-Lovely Rose is not Transmogrification-friendly. It would be awesome if it was, though — Forever-Lovely Silk Rose, Forever-Lovely Patent Leather Rose, Forever-Lovely Mithril Filigree Rose, Forever-Lovely Eternium Rose… sigh.

Falling Petals


Seaspeaker Mantle, Wrathfin chestpiece & pants, Brigade belt gloves & boots, Snowfall Shawl, Felstone Reaver
Although Kamalia Prime hasn’t managed to come up with any outfits to wear the lovely Snowfall Shawl with, I knew right away that mini-Kam would need to get it so that she could wear it with her Wrathfin & Brigade set when Love is in the Air came around again. This outfit is just that earlier set updated with the cloak and new weapons — but what a difference they make!

Fuschia Fantasy


Junior Technician 3rd Grade Goggles, Gossamer Shoulderpads, Vestments of the Shifting Sands, Arcanist Belt, Astralaan Pants, Widow’s Clutches + Silkwood Cuffs, Ruby Slippers , Cloak of Azure Lights, Formal White Shirt, Staff of Twin Worlds
After having gone to rather a great deal of effort to acquire the Ruby Slippers and matching Widow’s Clutches, Kaelinda knew exactly which robe she wanted to wear with them first. Fortunately, it only took her two resets of AQ20 to get it. This robe reads as purple to my color-sense, but I know plenty of people who consider it to be pink.
I prefer to wear a white bodysuit underneath this style of robe because I am uncomfortable with showing this much skin — feel free to leave off the shirt and use more revealing pants if you so desire.

… plus a few more recent creations that I’m rather pleased with.

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leveling ADD

Well, now that I don’t have the Legendary Cloak haunting me as unfinished business anymore, it feels like the leveling floodgates have opened. In the past few days, five alts — including a brand-new one — have gotten some serious playtime.

Kaelinda the Blood Elf Mage, who’d been sitting at about halfway through level 88 since she accomplished her goal on the Molten Front, pushed through a bit of the Townlong Steppes, some of the Dread Wastes, and a few dungeons to become my tenth level 90 character.

Kilauea the Troll Shaman went from level 22 to level 25, putting her right at-level to do Arathi Highlands and then the Hinterlands, two zones which I have not yet quested through since Cataclysm.

Kalaneia the Blood Elf Warlock went from level 55 to level 58. She might have gotten to level 60, but then I got distracted….

Tome and I took our wee Dwarf lassies, Flaminga the Warlock and Kjerstin the Shaman, to the Wetlands and played through most of the first major hub there before Tome had to sign off. Kjerstin is already overleveled for the zone, so she didn’t quite get a level out of it, but I really want to see the storyline.

When BTH and I began leveling our Monks, I joined BTH’s guild with my Monk so that we’d have the same guild XP bonuses — my personal guild wasn’t yet leveled enough to have all of those perks. That meant, however, that my little all-Tauren guild has been missing Monk from the “Classy Tauren” achievement. My guild is now leveled enough to have all the XP perks, so I moved my Monk over to it… but that did not give me the ‘chieve. It seems that I have to actually ding 85 with the class-race combo in-guild to get the ‘chieve credit. So I rolled a new Monk. I started her as a Pandaren, so that she could have the cool Wandering Isle leather gear for RP wear, then race-changed her after she got to Kalimdor. She is going to level primarily through LFD, Archaeology, and Pet Battles.

And though I haven’t managed to give her any playtime yet, Kelisanna the Blood Elf Rogue wants to level, too. BTH gave me Mistborn for my birthday, and Keli is still too low-level even to acquire the Survivor’s Bag of Coins, let alone use it.

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an oracular cow

Oracle of the Shifting Sands

Crown of Endless Knowledge, Replica Virtuous Mantle & Gloves, Vestments of the Oracle, Apothecary’s Waistband/Captain Sanders’ Sash, Earthmender’s Bracer of Shattering, Scarlet Filigreed Doublet, Invincible Stave
Each week since she reached level 90, Kaohana has been squishing bugs in Ahn’Qiraj — Prophet Skeram, the Bug Trio, Battleguard Sartura, Fankriss the Undying, and all the trash in between — hoping that Fankriss will drop the Robes of the Guardian Saint for her. Though Fankriss has dropped those robes at least three times for my Warrior while she was farming him for the Silithid Carapace Chestguard, my Priest has yet to see them.
Meanwhile, she’s been racking up the Brood of Nozdormu rep. This past week, she finally made it to Honored, and so, with a little help from Plaid Elf for the Twin Emperors and C’thun, I accomplished one of my longtime WoW goals: I acquired one of the insect-wing robes from Ahn’Qiraj. The red & gold Priest version is the only one available to Tauren; someday, I’d like to get the blue Mage version and the lovely purple Warlock version with my Blood Elves. I wish Blizzard would change the Brood of Nozdormu rep grind to start from Neutral instead of Hated!
The Scarlet Filigreed Doublet is just the right shade of red to blend with this robe and fill in that little gap between the sleeves and the bracers. The Red Linen Shirt is too light and orangey, and the Red Workman’s Shirt is too dark.
The Invincible Stave isn’t quite Benediction, but since the latter staff is no longer obtainable, it will have to do.

Darkmoon Oracle

Duskwoven Turban, Slime-Encrusted Pads, Willow Robe, High Councillor’s Sash, Soulcloth Gloves, Crescent Wand, Aboriginal Rod, Cloak of the Darkmoon Faire, Golden Filigreed Doublet
Kaohana wore this outfit during the December Darkmoon Faire, immediately prior to finishing her Shado-Pan rep grind.
The Aboriginal Rod is one of a few off-hand frill items that looks like a staff — the Highborne Star is another — thus allowing a caster to emulate Gandalf’s sword/dagger + staff style of magical combat.
The purple Mystical Headwrap might look even better with this outfit, but I have plans for another outfit for Kaohana that will use the green turban, and I don’t have any plans for outfits using the purple one.

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the Earthmother and her children (#FFW from Erinys!)

Hi Kamalia,

It’s Erinys from the Harpy’s Nest here.

Sorry for this being slightly late but I couldn’t decide what to do. Spending hours poring over your blog changing my mind every few minutes, I finally came down to the two Ts of Transmogrification and Taurens but how to combine them? Carolling in Thunder Bluff, the answer, it turned out was right in front of me… creation myths!

There is one outfit for each gear specialization in-game. I know that transmogrification is subjective and most definitely in the eye of the beholder but I hope you like these.

~*~*~

“Before the Age of Memory, the gentle Earthmother breathed upon the golden mists of dawn. Where the amber clouds came to rest, there were endless fields of flowing wheat and barley. This was the basin of her works – the great basket of life and hope.”

Endless fields of flowing wheat and barley
This is built around one of my favourite items in-game, the conifer cone staff. In my head, the Greatmother is a Shaman so this outfit had to be mail.

Crown of Flame (H)
Mantle of the Golden Forest
Khan’s chestpiece
Amber Filigreed Doublet
Bloodlust Gauntlets
Engraved Girdle
Valorous Earthshatter Kilt
De’rizu Greaves
Conifer Cone Staff

“The Earthmother, her heart heavy with her children’s plight, could not bear to watch them fall from grace. In her grief, she tore out her eyes and set them spinning across the endless, starry skies. An’she and Mu’sha, seeking to ease the other’s sorrow, could only chase each other’s faint glow across the sky. The twins still chase one another with every turning of the world.”

The Twins: An’she
I decided against going for the obvious golds and yellows, choosing to focus more on the dawning and setting sun, those delicate shades which paint the whole sky with just some subtle hints of gold to suggest the sun at its midday peak. The Sun had to be plate, whether I was influenced by those lines from Shakespeare’s Richard III,

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

or perhaps I’ve just pvped too much but it makes me think of arrogant warriors and paladins charging into battle.

Crown of Empowered Fate
Pauldrons of the Souleater
Commander’s Armour
Amber Filigreed Doublet
Gauntlets of the Righteous Champion
Belt of the Seven Seals
Triton Legplates
Gothic Sabatons
Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood

The Twins: Mu’sha
This could only be a cloth transmogrification with the mooncloth robe at its heart.

Moonsoul Crown
Aurora Mantle
Mooncloth Robe
White Tuxedo Shirt
Safeguard Gloves
Relentless Gladiator’s Cord of Salvation
Redemption

“This tale speaks of how the Earthmother gave the Shu’halo the love of the hunt. The Tauren became great hunters, but one spirit eluded them, Apa’ro, the white stag (called Malorne by the Night Elves.) The Tauren hunted Apa’ro to the ends of Azeroth, and finally the stag fled into the heavens. where his great antlers became tangled in the starts. As the moon, (Mu’sha) chased her brother across the skies, she saw the helpless stag, and immediately fell in love with him.”

The White Stag
The fact that Malorne’s a Druidic icon, so to speak, meant that this set had to be leather. We know that he is a pure white stag so the Boneshredder set seemed like the perfect starting point for this.

Crown of the Forest Lord
Boneshredder Shoulderguards
Boneshredder Jerkin
Jinxed Hoodoo Kilt
Heraldic Belt
Boneshredder Gloves
Dreamer’s Dragonstaff

The observant amongst you might notice that neither of the latter two are illustrated, that’s because I’m bad.

The full lore behind the Tauren creation myths can be found in the scrolls hanging on the walls of the Archdruid’s tent in Thunder Bluff, and it’s well worth taking the trip to read if you haven’t already. All of the quotes to illustrate my outfits are taken from there — but that’s a tiny portion of the full tale.

Happy Winter Veil

~*~*~

I love this concept of making costumes for a theatrical telling of the Tauren creation myths. All these outfits are so wonderful — the rich autumnal tones of the Greatmother herself, the rosy light of An’she peeking over the horizon at sunrise or sunset, the cool clear brilliance of Mu’sha in the night sky, the sleek elegance of Malorne! Thank you so much, Erinys!

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fancy braids

One Sunday while I was teaching Primary last year, one of the little girls came with her hair braided up fancy like this. It was so pretty I had to draw it!

I’ve often wondered whether a Tauren’s mane grows just from a relatively narrow strip along the crest of the neck, like a horse’s mane, or if the long hair grows from all over the dorsal surface of the neck, more like a lion’s mane. This hairstyle, a fusion of cornrow braiding and how a dressage horse’s tail is plaited, assumes the latter mode.

I’m looking forward to how the model renovations will affect hairstyles. I’m hopeful that the updated hairstyles will have more realistic detailing of the strands and locks, especially for styles with tails and braids. I also hope that the new models will eventually bring wider availability of current braided hairstyles and more fun braided hairstyles in general at the Barbershop. They did say at Blizzcon that they have designed styles that they haven’t yet released, didn’t they?

P.S. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could have our own personal Barbershop in our Garrison?

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