Some Random Images...

Introducing: Maigrey

I have served the Lich King for ages, spreading the fear of his name far and wide.

People have cowered before my blade, crying for mercy.

The Vulkyr Battle Maidens have stood watch over me, lending me ever more strength.

My armour is usually drenched in blood, both guilty and innocent...

Even the crows, attracted by the scent of battle, kept their distance from me.

Yet here I am today on a nice sunny day, dodging rotten fruit and spittle to deliver a letter from Lord Tirion Fordring to the King of Stormwind. Why a Knight of my status should do such a menial little errand confounds me... 

Around me, the townspeople and guards of Stormwind were abusing me soundly - Oh, bugger off already! Your families were probably killed by me, yes, but I can't undo that can I? Unless you would like me to raise them from their pitiable remains and live with a ghoulish representation of what they were in life. Besides, if they were ever in my path they brought all that pain, torture and misery upon themselves.

Ah, the Keep. Just around this corner, according to this map I have. What? Of course it's clean, I simply can't abide by dirt and stains - unless it's the blood of my opponents. Now, where was I...

The guards forced me down from my deathcharger, and I was made to trek the rest of the inclined plane to reach the King, whose disdain for me was all very clear. As I handed the letter over, he made a great show of wishing as little contact as possible. Very well, dear king, very well... After you've read the letter - no doubt it's news of Lord Fordring turning against you - I'll drag you into my death gate and have as much physical contact squeezing your life out of you as possibl-

"Indeed old friend... Blood and honor," the King sighed, staring off into the distance. After a moment, his gaze affixed upon me once more. Where is the outrage and fury I was expecting?

Varian Wrynn spoke again, "Were it not for this letter from Tirion, you would be a stain upon my floor. Only an endorsement from one of the greatest paladins to ever live could have ensured your survival."

What? I need no such endorsement from some paladin! How dare you - I should raise my blade now and make short work of you, if I weren't so curious to know what on earth that endorsement of me entails.

"We..." the King's voice trembled slightly, but he steeled himself. "We... We will work together against the Scourge. Against the Lich King!"

"GLORY TO THE ALLIANCE!"

Oh dear.

What has Highlord Darion Mograine gotten me into?

Dalaran's Fountain - 3

Date: 20 January 2009
Time: Varied - approx 4-5 hours' worth of fishing

Copper Coins:

A Footman's Copper Coin
Alonsus Faol's Copper Coin
Attumen's Copper Coin
Molok's Copper Coin
Murky's Copper Coin
Squire Rowe's Copper Coin
Stalvan's Copper Coin
Vareesa's Copper Coin

Silver Coins:

Arcanist Doan's Silver Coin
Antonidas' Silver Coin
Khadgar's Silver Coin
King Varian Wrynn's Silver Coin

Gold Coins:

Anduin Wrynn's Gold Coin
Brann Bronzebeard's Gold Coin
Chromie's Gold Coin
Kel'Thuzad's Gold Coin
Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider's Gold Coin
Tirion Fordring's Gold Coin

Dalaran's Fountain - 2.5

Date: 18 January 2009
Time: 21:00

I only got two new coins today, mainly because I didn't spend much time fishing. About 10 minutes or so, judging from my magical fishing lure's fading...

Princess Calia Menethil's Copper Coin

Lord Prestor is the aspect of the Black Flight, "Deathwing", and Princess Calia Menethil is Arthas Menethil's older sister... She was meant to have been married to Lord Prestor, but he left before it happened. After that, Calia disappeared, but some say she's changed her name and blended in with the troops at Dustwallow Marsh.

How tragic.

Lady Katrana Prestor's Gold Coin

Lady Katrana my arse - her true face is Onyxia! I should know, I've seen her while I protected Reginald Windsor as he marched to the Keep to confront her.

Bless the Fountain's twisted sentience, for she has been rightly removed from her position, no longer able to influence the King of Stormwind!

Today, a few things happened.

A) I was offered a ring as part of a quest reward. Its name is curiously similar to that of a"C-ring"... and the name of the quest is [A Delicate Touch].

B) My Mysterious Egg, bought from the Oracles of Sholazar Basin for a measly 3 gold, hatched today, giving me a new addition to my personal pet zoo - a Tickbird Hatchling! (At least I didn't get some crummy Aged Yolk...)

C) Stoutfury has been up to no good in the guild bank again, this time in the shape of "^_^".


D) I (belatedly) found a web-comic. It's called "Looking For Group", and so far (Page 29 of Vol 1) it has been a fun read!

E) Read the Common/Orcish dictionary in Dalaran today...


F) I wonder how I can make this blog's colours to be such that all item qualities from poor (grey) to legendary (orange) can be seen nicely without strain... Hmmm...

Dalaran's Fountain - 2

Date: 9 January 2009
Time: 20:40

More coins today, from the Fountain.

Ansirem's Copper Coin

Archmage Ansirem Runeweaver of the Kirin Tor. He was once their leader, but has since been replaced by Rhonin. I rememeber doing some little errand for him when he was in the Alterac Mountains, where Dalaran was just a huge sphere in the ground... wonder if he'd moved to this new, sparkling Dalaran? After all, the Runeweaver Square must be named after him... Anyways, that errand had led me to Catelyn the Blade.
Who was, surprisingly, his daughter -- she'd ran off and joined the Blackwater Raiders at Booty Bay.
Looking at the coin now, I wonder if Catelyn ever knew her father worried so much about her...

Danath's Copper Coin

Such hatred! This must be Force Commander Danath Trollbane. Some say Dungalion is his true last name, but I suppose we'll never really know... He is master of Honor Hold now, but he was Lord of Stromgarde before, in the Arathi Highlands before he was called to duty to reinforce Nethergarde Keep when the Horde reopened The Dark Portal. I seem to recall a proliferation of troll villages in the region...

Eitrigg's Copper Coin

Interestingly,Eitrigg is an Orc Shaman. Why a member of the Horde should be wishing Tirion Fordring luck is a little out of usual. Some friends of mine mentioned that Eitrigg is now in Zul'Drak, an area I haven't yet gone to... time for a trip I think!

Elling Trias' Copper Coin

I'd dealt with Elling Trias several times on a particular mission, and it was quite a surprise when I found out that the owner of a cheese shop in the Trade District of Stormwind City was a rogue. (I can say it now, right? After all, he's about made it public with his wishing coin...) I'd thought all along that the cheese shop was but a cover for his "real" passion - being a secretive rogue. Guess I was wrong!

Genn's Copper Coin

Gilneas? I'd never heard of that place! So, of course I asked around and it turns out that it's apparently, ::cough::, a nation. And this man is Genn Greymane, ruler of that nation.
How revealing his wish is of his foreign policies - if there're any...

Krasus' Copper Coin

I know I've heard that name Krasus around somewhere. He is consort of the dragon queen Alexstrasza, where they reside atop Wyrmrest Temple in the Dragonblight. Such a beautiful, calm man - that's all I remember of him.

Kryll's Copper Coin

Kryll? Whoever this is, it must be someone obsessed with explosives...

Private Marcus Jonathan's Copper Coin

Private? Wow! This must've been quite some time ago, seeing as he is now General Marcus Jonathan. Also, I happily took extra notice that he'd gotten his wish granted!

Salandria's Shiny Copper Coin

I've never met this Salandria person, but a close friend tells me that she's a Blood Elven Orphan. My friend'd met her during Children's Week, but I was away on holiday in Moonglade...
Children. Such dreamers...

Alleria's Silver Coin

Ranger-Captain Alleria Windrunner is no stranger to us Night Elves, for sure. She and Turalyon had a child - a half-elf son I heard. Which pricks my curiosity about that Arator chap in Honor Hold...

King Anasterian Sunstrider's Silver Coin

King Sunstrider, what would you say if I told you that the last I saw of your son was of him hiding in the back of an elaborate structure...?

King Terenas Menethil's Silver Coin

Here lies King Terenas Menethil II -- Last True King of Lordaeron.

Great were his deeds -- long was his reign -- unthinkable was his death.

"May the Father lie blameless for the deeds of the son.
May the bloodied crown stay lost and forgotten."

Medivh's Silver Coin

.. I have absolutely no idea what this dinging and donging is all about...

Archimonde's Gold Coin

The most amusing coin I've found yet. I think Archimonde had destroyed most of Dalaran, but somehow missed this fountain... One rumour has it that it is a second Eternity Well created by the Titans, and is sentient!

Arthas' Gold Coin

Arthas himself! Now, this wish of his... I wonder if a mispronounciation of the word "scone" led to his "frozen throne", or possibly it's the other way around...

Teron's Gold Coin

The "Eye" he referred to was probably the Eye of Dalaran, a magical artifact which he stole during the Second War... What a miser! A gold coin for that artifact!

Guild Bank Amusements.

As Guildkeeper for , I get the enviable task of sorting out the guild bank. By "sorting" I really mean clearing the useless items out, shifting items into their appropriate tabs, and doing it regularly.

My worst time being in my position, is when Northrend was discovered.

Suddenly the items from the Outlands dropped in value and use, while the relics of Azeroth became even more cumbersome paperweights. Space had to be made for new discoveries and little gewgaws from the North, and I had to enlist the help of my guild member Bloodwitch. He tried to auction off what he could, to salvage as much of their value as possible, but eventually a large majority went to the rich vendors.

I wonder how these commoners get their money pouches filled.

A frequent contributer to the guild is Stoutfury, and of recent he has been dropping gems into the guild bank.

In the morning, I logged on to see this:

But, Stout being Stout, he failed to see my annoyance at his little artwork. After all, I was the one who had to shift every gem, piece by piece, into the right tab. Not him. Having warned him, I went on my day, thinking his promise of "adding eyebrows" to be just a little joke.

After all, who had such time to waste? Not me.

In the evening, I learnt that one should never assume such.

Dalaran's Fountain - 1

Date: 8 January 2009
Time: 00:22

I've heard rumours of a wishing fountain in Dalaran occasionally giving up the secrets of former wishers to persistent fishers, and I've resisted the temptation to pry. After all, these persons had thought the Fountain incapable of revealing their deepest desires to any one else (being an inanimate object), so who am I to butt in and cast my line where it doesn't belong?

But of course, my curiosity won over at last - after having denied it for nearly three months.

Tonight, I stood by the Fountain with another Wish-Hunter like myself, and pulled up my first coin.

It was a silver coin, slightly tarnished. Small wordings were imprinted on the coins which squinting and careful angling revealed - "High Tinker Mekkatorque's Silver Coin".

High Tinker Mekkatorque! The King of Gnomes who resides in Tinkertown, Ironforge! He tapped the Brewfest keg during the Festivals every morning and evening, but is notorious for his disdain of Winter Veil celebrations.

"How does this fountain even work? I wonder if I could make one."

There wasn't an ounce of doubt that the squeaky whisper I heard was from the High Tinker himself, though it sounded as if it came from far away. I held the coin up to my ear and rubbed it a little, and sure enough the sentence was repeated, louder this time.

The High Tinker's wish coin sparked in me an insatiable quest for hunting wishes of the past now, and I cast my line again and again, every now and then coming up with a foreboding Bent Fishing Hook. 

Other coins followed, and I've listed them in alphabetical order within coin type.

Copper
Dornaa's Shiny Copper Coin
Falstad Wildhammer's Copper Coin
Inigo's Copper Coin
Landro Longshot's Copper Coin
Vargoth's Copper Coin - this, I got twice... Vargoth must be wishing very hard, that poor alcohol-denied man.

Silver
A Peasant's Silver Coin
Aegwynn's Silver Coin
Fandral Staghelm's Silver Coin
Maiev Shadowsong's Silver Coin
Muradin Bronzebeard's Silver Coin
Prince Magni Bronzebeard's Silver Coin

But then, there was something... more.

Gold coins, my first of which glittered achingly against the night sky, as if calling out to someone. It was the Lady Jaina Proudmoore's Gold Coin. I wasn't sure if I should listen to her wish, since I held her in such high esteem. But her soft voice came unbidden to me, and I heard the old, quiet undertones of emotions below. 

"Arthas, my love, please come back to me."

I quickly tucked the coin into my pouch, and continued fishing.

And more Gold Coins came, over time.

Arugal's Gold Coin
Sylvanas Windrunner's Gold Coin
Thrall's Gold Coin
Uther Lightbringer's Gold Coin

Within my short period of fishing up wishes, two have already mentioned Arthas. 

Arthas, who is now the Lich King.

A chill ran down my spine as I packed my fishing gear away, pondering upon the Lich King. Of him I knew little, except that he was once - simply explained to me as I was a child, then - "good". Then he crossed to the evil.

I must visit the Dalaran mages' libraries. After all, if Aegwynn, mother of Medivh resented the mages' preoccupation with... books, then there must be something in the Libraries about Arthas.

Some of the simplest wishes came from widely known persons. Food for thought, I believe.