Category: Zul’jin

Stranger in a Strange Land

I’ve mentioned before that I’m playing on a PvE server as well as my usual haunts – especially after some drama with my RP community, hey, I need a break – and, you know what? It really is different.

Overall, the people are nice. There are some people that are jerks (Noumena, launching newbies into the Great Forge? Not cool), but those are outnumbered by the good folks.

Right now I’m working on leveling Bellonah when I’m not trying to get Taashti’s professions caught up to her level (making her goggles and flying machine? That’s gonna suck) and I’m finding that, holy shit, paladin tanking is amazing.

For example, as per my voice post, I had a tree that didn’t take kindly to me deciding when I would pull and he dropped as I engaged the glowy blue dudes in Nexus (at the bottom of that ramp leading to Anomalous). I didn’t die. Between my AoE aggro and good Holy Light timing, I was able to heal myself through it while the rest of the party DPS’d things down. A minute later, our new healer joined the instance and much fun was had.

I have no idea what heroic groups are like in Zul’jin’s battle group, but I’m sure I’ll find out when Bellonah hits 80. She’s 72 now, so there’s still quite a ways to go.

It’s really hard to adjust to a complete lack of Roleplayers, though. There’s no chance of random in-character chatter, the only character development I can get has to be with my own stories, that sort of thing. It’s a little lonely, to be honest, and I’m surprised I’ve lasted this long.

… But I still stay in-character as much as I possibly can. >.>

Tool of the Day: Koonaki, The Strong, Silent Type

Ladies and gentlemen (and not-so-gentle-men), today, Matojo lets you all hear her tell you who’s the fucking tool. Put your hands together, put your headphones on, and pardon the sound quality of the first ever Troll Bouquet Tool of the Day Voice Post.

Matojo vs. The Healer That Tried to Kill Her

Hey look, a mixed bag.

I’m on vacation from Thorium Brotherhood for a little while and enjoying the (relatively) quiet time on Zul’jin. It’s… a little lonely without some chatter, but I think I’ve needed it.

I’ve had a lot of fun in the random dungeon groups, at least most of the fail has been in the low levels (when I’ve been the tank, sadly enough, and the fail wasn’t on my part), including healing a group with a bear that liked to pull with Wrath in RFC. Healing as a lowbie priest is interesting and makes me appreciate my shaman a bit more.

I may be interested in joining a guild on that server, so if folks have any recommendations, I’m all ears.

Overall, I’m pretty behind on everything and I do have a couple articles cooking. One’s inspired by the idiot commenters at wow.com and the others are mostly story-like, with one snarktastic thing about setting up RP events.

I recently re-did my UI, too! The only issue? Tiny fonts in the character window, and I don’t want to have to adjust the UI scale too much – I’d love to be able to read my menus and everything, har. I’ll figure it out eventually. I do recommend FujiUI, it’s beautiful and smooth and I can actually SEE what I’m doing.

I’m working on getting Taashti’s Leatherworking and Engineering leveled, then I’ll be working her and Bellonah toward 80. If you’re in the Ruin battle group and you see either of them, say hi!

[Journal][Taashti] Travelogue of a Techno-Shaman

[ Taashti's writing is a terrible mess. The occasional rude doodle graces the pages - Commanders, general folks from inns, auctioneers - complete with nasty commentary that's at least on-par with rebellious teenager talk. Pages containing engineering schematics are the complete opposite of everything else in the book: neat, tidy and detailed. After at least fifteen pages bitching about Hellfire Peninsula, idiot Death Knights, the smell of burning Tauren, the smell of wet gnomes, the general appearance of gnomes, the sensation of Fel Orc under one's hooves and all sorts of other nonsense, we get to the following: ]

NORTHREND

Northrend is where all current Alliance forces reside. It’s where everybody is and I’m not. It’s where all the good, meaningful, interesting work is and it’s not hot and maybe the spirits don’t scream there. That’s where I want to be.

I’m so, so, so, so, so, so, so sick of Hellfire and Outland and I ran away from here and it’s hopeless and trying to take it back is fucking idiotic.

My trainers said something about how if I want to progress I have to ~*let go of my paaast*~ and be more for ~*helping others*~ and ~*stop smoking*~ … and drinking… and swearing. Fuck that. And none of them believe that what I’m doing is right either, like technology is something we have to avoid at all costs or just I don’t know, it is evil and ew horrible don’t touch. It’s like … they have something amazing but they want to exclude all other amazing things, I don’t get it? And if I let go of my past I forget who I am and if I do that I forget mom and I forget Kishanti. I can’t forget Kishanti.

I can’t get her face out of my head either and it’s not like it’s her smile or anything it’s that last

[ A mass of scribbling graces the page immediately below the sentence, taking up approximately one paragraph worth of space. Frustrated scribbles. ]
And I don’t have a dad to forget.

I wonder if he’s in Northrend though, if maybe he lived through everything. If he’s not a big bad hunter like I failed at being maybe he’s a paladin or a kick-ass warrior or a shaman like me. Imagine that though, if he was like… if he electrocuted Scourge for a living, or if he commanded a legion of ghostly wolves and cool shit like that.

Maybe I’ll sneak on a boat and try to see it all for myself.

Aw man. Grandpa is totally gonna kill me.

I bet that’s where he is, too, chilling with the Kirin Tor and being old and trying to hook me up with dudes fifteen times my age or something.

[Storytime][Intro] Technoshaman Taashti and the Military Missive

[ Taashti is a level 62 Draenei Shaman on Zul'jin US-PvE and this is my attempt to figure out her character. She is a cigar-smoking, ale-chugging, technoshaman with a penchant for inappropriate curses and behaviour that isn't quite fitting of a Shaman. An injury in an attack when she was a child caused permanent damage to her right leg which has resulted in a limp - a problem she makes up for with her dabblings in Engineering. Much of Who She Is isn't really evident here, unfortunately, so I hope to develop her a bit more as time goes on. ]

Tap. Taptap. Taptaptap. Tippity tap.

Taashti slowly opened one eye, then the other and raised her hand in front of her face as she blinked groggily at the sudden influx of daylight. What time was it? Nether, what day was it?

Creeeeeeak. Thumpthumpthump clank clatter clank.

“What is racket?” Taashti shouted. She was sprawled across a mess of a bed that was Dwarf- not Draenei -sized and surrounded by unfinished gadgetry, explosives, barrels of gunpowder, stacks of various metal bars and the occasional pipe or small part. The young Shaman pulled herself out of bed and onto shaky hooves, then stumbled across the room to a crooked desk that sat beneath a bronze-coloured pipe that stuck down from the ceiling. The pipe ended at a ninety degree angle that had a metal cone sticking off of it, from which a tinny, female-sounding voice emanated.

“Got th’mailbox runnin’, Taash!” The Gnome cried. “An’ you gotta summons!”

Taashti scowled. She worded her response carefully to avoid slipping into Draenic as she spoke into the cone.

“Is from where? Nobody but you know of me live here, Tecci. You not tell, yes?”

“Who’d I tell?”

The young Shaman limped about her home, grumbling as she ran her fingers through her long, pale yellow hair; she had to find her goggles in the mess that was her collecting of gears and miscellanea. “Nevermind,” she shouted, so she could be heard through the communications device. “Who summon Taashti?”

Meanwhile, on the roof, Tecila Shieldwall flopped down and tore the envelope open.

“Looks ta be somebody wit’ a fancy Drainy name,” she said.

Crash!

… And she grinned at the Draenic curses that filtered through with the sound of crashing and banging that had become the usual noontime greeting.

“They’s callin’ you ta Hellfire Peninsula in Outland, Taash. Place is damn hot an’ they want ya ta do some spirit somethin’s with keepin’ up morale or somethin’ inna citadel place an’ that Zangarmarshy thinger,” the Gnome continued. “Ya gots ta report ta some hold or somethin’ that’s run by humies an’ I guess folks’ll put ya wherever you’ve gotta go.”

Inside the stone house, Taashti was struggling to get into her overalls. After an epic battle wherein a handful of whirring bronze gizmos were lost and a copper pipe or two was bent, the Draenei woman stood victorious, snapped her goggles into place on her head and staggered out into the afternoon sun of Loch Modan.

“And name is?” Taash loudly asked. She was just about to haul herself onto the roof when the Gnome suddenly appeared at her hooves, grinning.

“And why you grin so much. Little gnome is smart-ass,” the Shaman continued.

“That ain’t very spirit-nature-lovery of ya at all,” Tecila replied. She was far too chipper for Taash’s taste.

With a snort, the Draenei snatched the letter from her companion’s hands and read it aloud.

“Taashti; it has been brought to our attention that you are idle on Azeroth while on the military payroll. Please report to Honour Hold at once. Your services are required, you will be joining the ranks in the capacity of a medic and will be asked to accompany recon. teams into Hellfire Citadel and the Coilfang Reservoir when your first missions are complete. Report by the end of the week or face Court Martial. Signed, Vindicator Krivyx.”

Strangely enough, as Taashti’s face fell, Tecila’s grin grew, until the small woman’s face threatened to be consumed by it.

“So that’s how you’ve been payin’ for yer ‘speriments,” Tecila said. “Now yer actually gonna hafta work fer it!”

“Shut trap, little mouse, and help Taashti suit up. Is going to be long trip to Ironforge to get transport to hell-hole, so must be started early.”

With that, the pair disappeared back into the old stone dwelling to prepare for the Shaman’s departure.

- – -

Taashti’s love of the spirits was never obvious on the outside, and appeared to be trumped by her adoration of technology, but little did most know that, for her, the two went hand-in-hand. The gadgetry that dangled from her belt, or that she wore elsewhere, made up for her weaknesses and supplemented her magic and resolve. She was often chided for her approach, but it worked for her.

She was still alive, after all, and she was still able to walk.

The young Shaman absently toyed with one of the steel gears that she wore in her hair as she slid off the Gryphon and stepped onto the parched red soil of Hellfire Peninsula. The land, she noted, was screaming – she didn’t like it one bit.

“I am thinking is time to start the drink again,” she muttered as she made her way toward Honour Hold. “Too many dead, Taashti remembers, too many that can be heard. Is a bad, bad time to be leaving Dwarf-land. Bad time.”

Young Taashti would soon find that she had plenty of reason to be worried.

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