/Guild Love

Something Mysthowl said last night in officer chat really got me thinking and agreeing. Bloodriver is a great place to hang out, have fun, and destroy things with good friends while laughing at or groaning over the random comments that fly off vent. Bloodriver is a guild that will drag a fresh level 80 into Naxx as a DPS, laughing at the gearing standards, and then chucking gear at the fresh 80 if it drops faster than that person can go "ooh, pretty! Ma-" [piece of incredibly awesome gear awarded to new 80]. Heck, the guild's official motto (imho) is "Shut up, and let us dress you!" We love our tanks, our healers, and our dpsers too. We're batty enough to try anything at least twice over before changing out a group -grudgingly at that- and trying the insanity again. The concept of NOT doing the insane thing never enters our brains... its "hey let's try doing x, worst that can happen is we wipe."

Bloodriver is also an online support group. A place where you can rant about how your day went, and try and figure out just why it went so badly. Or a place where half the guild at a minimum gets it when an eviction notice shows up at the door, or somebody in the family is really, really sick and that member rushes from where they live now, back to their home state to be with the person that is so ill. This guild steps in and steps up to take over responsibilities when one of the officers has to go on hiatus for one of the above listed reasons, with all guild mates wishing luck, offering advice, or just a shoulder to cry on when things seem overwhelming.

Bloodriver is also the place where you can log into a level 80 epic'd paladin tank and just fly around in circles looking for yellow dots for hours, talking to a friend about everthing under the stars, and nobody in the guild will bother you for a tank... they will just leave you alone circling Nagrand, and never wonder or at least ask what the 80 is doing there. Yet all it will take to draw a person back into the group is the offer of running something, if they want to, and only if they actually do.

Bloodriver is a place to BE. Its a physical place of friends and laughter, its a support group, and its a place of thoughtful conversations and sometimes counseling sessions just one on one, in the middle of the night on any topic imaginable over whispers if you really don't want to give voice over vent about what you are actually thinking or feeling.

And honestly? I wouldn't have this guild any other way. I'm proud to be an officer in Bloodriver. I wear the guild tabard and guild tag with pride. I'd be just as proud if I were nothing more than a lowly Tenderfoot or Kinsman in the guild with no other responsibility other than to have fun and be polite in world chatter. This guild doesn't demand much of its officers - aside from being able to think rationally and vote on occasional things that come up as affecting the entire guild, + the base responsibilities of any member. We hope it demands about the same of the membership. I had leadership of Bloodriver for a bit, barely had to do anything at all.. the guild practically runs itself, with only the occasional hiccup.

I think what I'm trying to say is simple enough : I love my guild, and my guild mates. Awesome people make for an awesome place. Thank you, as always guys. Though, I'm still wondering... how did I become an officer again? ^_^

For the Love of Character

Obligatory notice: This is a spark post off an article and comments at Aspect of the Hare. Thanks as always Pike!

I know the back stories of both my major characters (hunter and paladin) and am still learning aspects here and there. I also have some idea of lower level characters stories. I mean, my DK is a self-absorbed blonde dimwit that got tricked into or willingly gave allegiance to the Lich King in return for power at the cost of her honor. Not dead, but she's certainly not welcome in Silvermoon and tends to instead spend time with the Undead and Sylvanas in Undercity.

I'm on an RP server just because I wanted to say hi to Faeldray (Niqora) from Petoholics Anon at one point. I ended up getting sucked into her guild and staying. I'm not one to RP much either. Yet I find it interesting watching those that do, and have learned more about WoW Lore from RPers than I ever have from places like WoW Wiki and the like.

Faction Change? Never. I couldn't move Casavel or Tzia over to the alliance. Even though I know exactly how Cas would look as a human thanks to CoS, and I have an idea of what Tzia would look like as a Night Elf, I couldn't leave great guild mates behind. And so much of their stories are bound into being Horde. Tzia's battle cry is Lok'tar Ogar! Nothing else ever suits. Casavel draws steel to defend her home, her kin, and her clan. She only swears obedience to two sources: Lady Liadrin, and the Chieftain of the Bloodriver Clan. Anyone else can cheerfully go rot in a back alley of Silvermoon City as far as she is concerned.

When it comes to a racial change? There is no way I could alter Tzia from being a Troll. Her back story dictates Troll, her favorite pet (and mine) is a lavender tiger, chosen long before I knew about the book "The Greatest Race of Hunters" but it still makes me smile. I/she - because there are times when it is hard for me to tell the difference- have made choices that dictate who she is, and how far she will go for something. Tzia's full name is Huntress Tzia Bloodspeaker, Elder of the Bloodriver Clan. However, lately the last part could be changed to Head of the Council Fires, since she is taking over for Mysthowl for a bit.

Casavel carries the Blood Knight Tabard. She is a Blood Knight sworn to Lady Liadrin. Her personality started out being anti-paladin as far as I could get her... long black hair, earrings, and disregard for any form of authority. She also cold bloodedly hunts trolls for sport in her off-time, that being a bitter hold over from when the Amani hunted her people. Over time she has mellowed, she has gone from recognizing no authority to rarely giving allegiance, but committing completely when she does so. Her hair has changed from black to red, but still long, loose, and the earrings still glint from beneath the hair. She is Lady Templar Casavel Daystar, Master Knight of the Bloodriver Clan.

And They Did it all in One Night

Naxx cleared. We started about 4 pm server and I still got to bed before 2 AM my time. Nicely done Bloodriver! I managed to off tank most of the bosses, only had one issue when I tried to take Dead Side during Gothik. We wiped... sorry. But, I also noticed that my biggest issue was in heals versus mana gained.

I wasn't taking enough damage for a healer to consider healing me as the off tank, so I didn't have mana to do anything more than hack at something with my turkey carver, as Vel calls it. Seriously, I was sitting on less than 100 mana much of the time, which grays out all of my tanking abilities. Nechi was a sweetie by innervating me instead of the healers... who apparently didn't need it. But with Innervate rolling my way, I had enough mana to pick up patrols that almost killed us... still can't believe we did die to that one trash pull... overconfident much? Or just blind to the pat?

And the greatest achievement I can think of?



Yes... Casavel survived the freaking dance!! Along with the rest of the raid. How we did that... I do not know but yay! Now I just need to get Tzia through it once. We also picked up a number of other achievements, including Momma Said Knock You Out and Arachnophobia. We might have had the Thadius one, but I know I took damage at one point due to polarity. They tried to talk me into switching out of Frost Resist Aura on Sarth, but I knew better, we were taking too much damage not to have it up. I mean, we swapped out a rogue for a healer that fight.