Accessorising to your strengths

Not long ago I found myself storming the horde Undercity. Yes, it's a very long story that I won't go into here as I am but one of many involved and others have told the tale far better than I ever could. Suffice to say that things took a turn for the worse and I think it was only Aggrion's respect for the discipline of hierarchy that kept him, and thus me, there.

We were all given standards to carry as we charged into the city (extremely unwieldy. I would not recommend them for future attacks). Having noted a while ago that gnomes seem to be given larger mounts than other races I was quite nervous about being given a banner that would be too long to carry!

Imagine how pleased I was when it became clear that the organisers of this dash into horde territory had been thoughtful enough to stock a supply of smaller standards for the shorter recruits...

Heroic Flop

Whilst exploring the Grizzly Hills a few weeks ago we were passing an abandoned tower when Aggrion stopped, almost imperceptibly cocking his head to one side, listening. He reminded me momentarily of a hunting dog, all senses alert, poised and attentive, then the image was gone as he turned and stared at the tower (perhaps a side effect of our recent time as wolves?). I stopped watching him and heard a high-pitched voice, female, whispering urgently. Aggrion motioned for me to follow and we began to make our way towards the tower. At the base of the stairs that lead to the doorway I heard a giggle from inside. I glanced at Aggrion raising an eyebrow quizzically, he merely shrugged and unsheathed his sword, quietly climbing the steps.

The whispering grew louder and I clearly heard the words "Mr Floppy". I readied a shadowbolt as Aggrion forced open the door (heroes don't knock). A gasp came from the far corner as the door slammed into the wall and one of the largest rabbits I have ever seen hopped towards us.

"Oh! I'm so glad you're here Mr Warrior!" said a small girl as she scooped up the rabbit. "We went exploring but got lost and the wolves chased us in here and we're getting awfully hungry!"

Aggrion sheathed his sword and mumbled something, shuffling his feet slightly. The look he gave me was so full of desperation I couldn't help but giggle. Aggrion is not good with children. I stepped around him and smiled at the girl.

"Hi! I'm Ary, this," I tapped Aggrion on the knee. "Is Aggrion. Who are you?"
"My name is Emily, and this is Mr Floppy." She held the rabbit out its hind legs dangling mere millimetres from the floor. He glared at me. I glared back. I am not good with animals.

“Can you take us home?” asked Emily.

Turned out that home was the Westfall Brigade Encampment and of course, Aggrion, never one to leave a damsel in distress, nodded an agreement, took up his sword and lead the way from the tower.

We strolled through the pleasant woodland, the dappled sun warming my face, Mr Floppy pausing occasionally to nibble a blade of grass and Emily skipping at Aggrion's side chattering incessantly. The warrior's discomfort was palpable; I couldn't recall a situation that had made him so unsure and was considering rescuing him when a giant black wolf appeared as if from no-where, and launched itself at Mr Floppy.

"Eeeeek!" screamed Emily. "He's going for Mr Floppy!"

Aggrion spun and sliced at the wolf deftly. I muttered a few words under my breath and pointed at the wolf, a bolt of pure shadow energy left my fingers and smashed into its side. Seconds after the bolt hit Aggrion laid a mortal blow and the creature fell to the floor.

Emily hugged Mr Floppy who glared at me over her shoulder.

"We need to keep moving." Said Aggrion, his eyes sweeping the woods for signs of more wolves.

The pace was frustratingly slow, Emily still insisted on skipping and Mr Floppy hopped, too heavy for her to carry and unwilling to be carried by Aggrion. Finally we were within sight of the encampment when another, larger, wolf burst from the undergrowth going straight for the rabbit.

"There's a big meanie attacking Mr Floppy! Help!" Emily cried.

Aggrion was on the wolf again in seconds, but it already had the defenseless Mr Floppy in it's jaws.

"He's gonna eat Mr. Floppy! You gotta help Mr. Floppy! You just gotta!" Sobbed Emily.

I cast a curse of agony hoping the wolf would drop the rabbit in its pain, but it had locked its jaw and nothing short of the wolf's demise would release Mr Floppy. Aggrion growled in frustration, he had to take care not to hurt the rabbit as he sliced at the wolf.

I fired my full repertoire of curses at the creature, knowing they would only hit their intended target, but they are slow to take effect and the wolf shook Mr Floppy horribly. Then my curses took effect and the wolf yelped and fell to the ground twitching in agony. The rabbit dropped from his jaws and lay motionless to one side.

"Don't go toward the light, Mr. Floppy!" Emily wailed.

I watched sadly as Aggrion examined Mr Floppy (through the tangle of Emily’s arms) he looked at me and shook his head then hesitantly patted Emily's shoulder. She hugged her dead rabbit all the more tightly its weight shifting slightly in her arms and to my utter horror Emily took this as a sign of life.

"Mr. Floppy, you're ok!" She looked at Aggrion with wide innocent eyes. "Thank you so much for saving Mr. Floppy!"

Aggrion and I stared at one another in stunned silence.

"Emily..." I began. "I think Mr Floppy has gone to bunny heaven."
"No! He's fine, thank you!" She smiled at me.
Aggrion, kneeling at her side, took her chin gently in his rough hands and turned her face so she was looking at him. "No. Emily. Mr Floppy has gone." The words were firm, but said with a tenderness I'd never seen him exhibit.

"No! You're wrong!" cried Emily, placing Mr Floppy on the ground where he lay motionless. "He's just sleeping!"

We tried for an hour to convince her he was hopping in a meadow free of wolves and full of other rabbits with all the dandelion leaves he could eat. But she would not listen, neither would she accompany us to the Encampment, saying she had to wait for Mr Floppy to wake first. Eventually we had no choice but to leave her and inform her brother, Squire Walter of her situation.

Not our finest moment.

We did however make it up to her by finding her later, in the same tower of all places, and escorting her and Mr Floppy (the 2nd) safely home.

Flying visit

Aggrion and I were taking a brief break in Silverbrook in the Grizzly Hills when the gentle hum of daily life was shattered by a noise falling somewhere between a shout and a scream "TAAAAAADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!".

Aggrion was on his feet instantly, a cleaning rag in one hand, a dagger in the other. For someone who's so....laid back about personal hygiene, he sure spends a lot of time cleaning his weapons! I guess a spotless sword does more damage? A shiny shield reflects more hits? Definitely doesn't work on wands. The one time I cleaned my wand it stopped working entirely and I had to leave it out in the sun for a whole day to dry and even then it would occasionally spit water and soap bubbles instead of shadow bolts. More clown than Warlock.

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts and I turned to see Lithurius, healer recently turned shadow priest, standing behind me.

"Hi! What did you think!?" He enthused at me.
"Of what?" I replied "And hey."

Content there was no immediate threat Aggrion had begun to examine his shield. He glanced at Lithurius for the briefest of seconds then looked away disinterested.

"You didn't see?" Asked Lithurius.

When I shook my head he frowned, a second later he was grinning like a lunatic and jumping on his flying rug. As he zoomed upwards I heard the words.

"Look up!"

I looked up, feeling slightly dizzy. Funny how when you tilt your head right back and look up into the sky you feel that you may fall over backwards at any moment. I concentrated on keeping my feet flat on the ground and focussed on the bottom of the receding rug. I became aware that Aggrion was also looking skyward. The rug became a dot, then even that disappeared.

I was just about to glance away when a smudge appeared, growing rapidly in size, I soon realised it must be Lithurius, falling to his death! Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared, a cloud perhaps? Whatever it was, it was slowing Lithurius's decent. As he glided to the ground his yell of "Taaaaaadaaaaaaaa!" echoed through the woodland and he landed without a sound a few feet in front of me, bowing with a flourish.

I applauded enthusiastically. Aggrion stood, adjusted his shining weaponry, looked over at me, inclined his head slightly and walked away to talk with one of the townsfolk.

I smiled at Lithurius.

"Looks like it's time to go! Thanks for dropping in."
"He always like that?" Asked Lithurius, looking over at Aggrion.
"Yeah, he's not big on chatting." I answered.
"Hmmm, you should hang out with me more then." Lithurius, winked with a grin and hopping nimbly onto his rug said. "I could take you to new heights!"

As he zoomed upwards I waved at him, thinking for a moment how much fun it must be to fly across the wilds of Northrend on a magical rug. But my Gryphon was stabled in Shattrath and my sewing skills were not up to rug making.

A few hours later we were clinging to the back of a horse on a white knuckle chase through the woodland. It turned out the entire village were werewolves and having uncovered the truth we were making our escape. Aggrion slashing at anything that came close, with me facing backwards casting fireballs. As we came in sight of Amberpine Lodge we slowed and perhaps that's why we were able to hear the pitiful shouts coming from high in the treetops.

It took me a minute to realise what I was actually seeing. A giant flag on top of one of the tallest trees. A giant flag shouting "Help! I'm stuck! Get me down!". I shook my head. No, not a flag...a rug...and it wasn't the rug that was shouting it was the small priest clinging to it....

Our rider slowed to a halt and Aggrion looked up, following my gaze. A pause, one second, two seconds, three seconds and his daggers began to rattle against his armour as he began to chuckle, then to laugh, a deep, deep laugh from right down in his belly and he didn't really stop for the rest of the day

I rode with the local Gryphon Master to help untangle Lithurius.

"Told you I'd show you new heights." He grinned sheepishly as we finally loosed him.

We last saw him flying off rather unsteadily due to the large hole in the rug grumbling about the cost of Iceweb Spider Silk and Imbued frostweave.

Fool for Love

I guess its pretty obvious to most people that I am extremely fond of Aggrion. I guess its pretty obvious to everyone except Aggrion. I decided to make an effort during the recent celebrations of love. I undertook some simple errands and was rewarded with a lovely red dress. I gathered together some pretty pink petals and fireworks that burst as a pink heart, all I needed was an activity that would provide a talking point and set the tone I was hoping for. I had seen lots of love-struck couples huddled together under heart-patterned umbrellas eating from hampers packed with champagne, strawberries, chocolates... Yes, a romantic picnic was ideal for what I had in mind.

Ideal but illusive. I spent days and days trying to track down a romantic picnic basket but it was not meant to be and as the festival drew to a close all had been sold or given away, an omen perhaps? Although disappointed I was determined not to let the season pass us by unmarked. So I made do with what I had and we enjoyed a pleasant meal of dried meat and chilled wine.

Pleasant.

He admired the dress and enjoyed the petals and fireworks. He even brought along a fancy light beam, not quite candlelight but better than nothing. We laughed about how rarely we wear anything other than our armour and finished our wine, then I pulled on my robes and armour and packed away my dress and we continued to explore the Howling Fjord.

Should I take a hint? Is Aggrion really so oblivious or is he just playing at it so as not to risk hurting my feelings?

Oscar nominee?

I have a confession to make, I'm prone to the odd bit of reminiscing. Often these moments descend when I'm alone in one of the many bland tavern rooms where I seem to spend so much of my time. Of course a few glasses of the local beverage often have their part to play....

So having spent a few hours pouring over my collection of photos, I thought I might share with you some of the more memorable moments in my...uh...acting career.

My oldest disguise was during a foray into Dire Maul, where I found myself dressed as a Gordok Ogre. I particularly enjoyed the dancing, although I think my audience would have preferred less thrusting and wobbling of the belly.

I'd barely been through the portal and in Outland a few weeks before I was sticking feathers everywhere for my Arakkoa disguise. I couldn't help but cackle and rub my hands...umm claws...together but the shambling gate is deeply impractical.

Next I was posing, I uh mean undertaking serious espionage, in the guise of a Blood Elf. I must be honest, against all of my better judgement, I rather enjoyed these disguises. It's always interesting to see the world from a different viewpoint and I have a certain sympathy for the pure arrogance of the species. Plus they are very pretty, Aggrion certainly wore his disguise extremely well. It was nice to be able to look him in the eyes without needing him to sit down! However, it took weeks for my body to recover from the contortions I needed to perform in order to achieve their amazingly bad posture!

I definitely preferred the first look.

And now for my favourite disguise. This is, indeed, Aggrion and I hiding in crates. I found it incredibly cramped and smelly, and I have absolutely no idea how Aggrion managed to squeeze himself in, I do remember it taking quite some time to get him back out though! I'm still surprised our enemies didn't hear the whispering between the two innocuous little boxes that had quite suddenly appeared on the nearby wall, especially when one of them got a fit of the giggles and nearly shook herself onto the floor!

The wilds of Northrend have been no less demanding of my acting skills, I found myself dressed as a Worg whilst exploring the Howling Fjord. Not quite as uncomfortable as the crates but I'm not really sure why the costume had to come complete with its own family of fleas. And boy, do Worgs stink! Or maybe that was Aggrion...

And finally, the reason for this little trip down memory lane was my latest undercover operation. Sent by Serinar to investigate the Cult of the Damned in the Obsidian Dragonshrine of Dragonblight we were given disguises that took us by surprise. Aggrion's robes suited his shapely form far better than mine....

Divided?

It's becoming apparent that Aggrion is missing Jhorlia. I use my felhound more these days and Jhorlia is rarely summoned out of her particular hell dimension. He has commented on this more than once, but I'm trying to ignore it, I was hoping my company would be enough. During our more recent excursions I have begun to wonder whether he needs my company at all. He needs little help with the general hack 'n slash of exploration and my support tends to come solely in the shape of Healthstones and Soulstones.

Truth be told, I am concerned that his experience has far outstripped mine. Prior to the discovery of Northrend we spent some time apart while I tended to various chores. Aggrion was drafted to raid areas such as Serpent Shrine Cavern and Tempest Keep. I am not sure exactly what happened on these excursions but he returned to me a changed Nightelf. His shoulders seem broader, he carries himself straighter and his combat skills are greatly improved. He learned a lot in that time, whilst I simply trod water.

I would hate to think that that time has created a divide between us. I've hinted at my concerns in off-hand comments, but he has not seemed to notice, although subtly is not his strong point! Some say that Northrend is a new beginning for us all and I will grab that chance with both hands and rip the soul from it! ;)

I'm back!

Hi!

Did you miss me? I know, I've been really bad at keeping you up to date but the past few months have been so busy I've barely had time to feed my Felsteed! Let me bring you up to date.

With Aggrion at my side (or about 30 yards in front of me) I've explored most of Outland. We battled the vicious beasts that roam Hellfire Peninsula, helped the Sporelings in Zangarmarsh, cleansed the barren wastes of Terokkar, marvelled at the beauty of Nagrand, negotiated the spikes of Blade's Edge Mountains, reunited the elements in Shadowmoon and had not long arrived in Netherstorm when rumours reached us of the discovery of a new continent....Northrend.

Aggrion, rather than excited by this news, seemed to lose interest in continuing to adventure and took himself away. I finally tracked him down to a corner of the Worlds' End tavern in Shattrath. To be honest it didn't take very long, but I decided to give him some 'alone time' (read consuming significant quantities of local red wine time). I have, on occasion, joined Aggrion on these drinking sessions, but that is another story for another time.

"Come on! There's a whole new place to explore!" I enthused, jumping up and down on the table in front of him.

"Hrumph" He grunted back to me, which I took to be his way of saying "Yes, I'd love to accompany my favourite little Gnome to investigate the new lands." He's a Nelf of few words.

I bounced of the table and started to tug at him. "Come on then! Lets go now! Hurry up!".

He sighed exaggeratedly and tried to hide a smile as he rose to his feet and let me lead him to the Stormwind Portal.

The new docks in Stormwind were breathtaking and we spent a few hours exploring before realising that we had to get a boat from Menthil Harbour in Wetlands instead...some signposts wouldn't go amiss!

Valgarde is set in a deep chasm on the Southeast coast of Northrend overlooked by the breathtaking Utgarde fortress. Within minutes of arriving in the town we were drafted to help deal with an almost constant attack from the Vrykul to the East.

I think Aggrion quite admires them, the half giants are accomplished warriors and a formidable foe. He does so enjoy any opportunity to truly test his combat skills. Personally, I think the world needs less giants. We recently met the Tuskarr who are far more to my liking being smaller and pretty cute looking...not as cute as me of course! But they do smell of fish and I'm really not a big fan of fish or water for that matter, doesn't suit my fiery nature.

But it is good to be adventuring again!