Monday (29 Mar) - The Kids Come out to Play

Monday (29 Mar) - The Kids Come out to Play

Javajoo was bored. The once all but forgotten Alliance paladin had resurrected his career, hooked up with partner Chaitee again, took a perilous journey away from his home on Bloodmyst Isle, and resettled in the relatively big city of the Exodar. He joined a guild, enjoyed the ceremony of donning his new guild tabard, and made new friends. He spent days exploring the city. It was all so exciting and new. And then . . . nothing.

After days and days with nothing to do, Java simply walked out of the Inn where he'd been staying, trod up the the wide, winding corkscrew of the exit hallway, and found the Flight Master outside the city. He asked the Flight Master to carry him home, back to Bloodmyst Isle.

Had he given up? Was he ready to return to his old life, and obscurity? Not a chance. On Bloodmyst Isle he entered Blood Watch, a small but busy town who could well use a young Draenei willing to work hard. There were no end of challenges and tasks available there.

Java took on every task the city could throw at him. From simple clearing of the area around the town of dangerous beasts, to helping townsfolk find lost relatives, to hunting down and killing a marauding bear terrified farmers called Deathclaw, Java did it all. Java took on ever more important, dangerous missions as his reputation grew. He received a strange message in the mail that ultimately drew him to another, much smaller island, Wrymscar Island, where he met with the apparition of sea Captain Edward Hanes. His ship, along with many others, had been sunk, destroyed on Bloodcursed Reef just offshore. The spirits of many sailors lay trapped there. Java fought through the naga that had taken up residence in the waters and broken hulls, rescued the souls and gave peace to many sailors beneath those waters. Java then ended the Curse by destroying the naga shrine and slaying the naga leader.

Java had left the Exodar as a level 14. After his work at Blood Watch, Java returned to the Exodar as a level 18.

That night Java and Staar, Java's friend and level 19 hunter, entered Warsong Gulch to battle the horde. It was a hard fought match, and even though they lost, they gave it everything they had, with Staar and Java finishing #1 and #2 in kills and damage. After Staar had to leave, Java signed up for a second match so that he could continue to improve his skills in battle. It was another loss. The learning continues. But more importantly, Java is back.

The tale of the children continued with EZ. The young shaman had completely lost her way. In her teen years she was sure she would walk in JB's footsteps and become a feared melee shaman, taking the fight right into the faces of her enemy. She worked hard and built up her gear with that in mind. Her early attempts in Warsong Gulch were, well, forgettable. She discovered that her chosen set of skills, that of an enhancement shaman, were a poor choice in these matches. JB, who used her enhancement skills to quest, and who did not set foot into a match like WSG until she was far, far, older, empathized with EZ's troubles but could offer little help, knowing that EZ must find her way on her own.

EZ learned that she would need to completely change her approach, and somewhat reluctantly set aside her enhancement skills and deadly gear. She retrained herself as an elemental shaman, a ranged caster instead of a skull basher. She dutifully worked at her skills, and added a new gear set to match them. That gear was never as complete or powerful as that first set, although that wasn't the full reason that she did no better in the matches that followed the change. Her heart just wasn't in it.

She wouldn't admit that she had yet again made a mistake, however. Figuring it would get better if she herself grew stronger, she lobbied for help from her older kin and razed dungeon after dungeon. She advanced rapidly, but became obsessed with it to the point of collecting an incredible assortment of gear, much of which was either too low level or too high level for her to use. She had grown from level 19 to level 28, but she was no closer to knowing what she wanted to be.

Every now and then JB would check in on EZ. They would look over all that accumulated gear clogging every bag and bank slot, they would talk, and then they'd both throw up their hands in defeat and promise to try again later. Other members of Wild's and DER's family would occasionally try to draw EZ out. But when you are a level 28 still wearing mostly level 19 gear, and unsure who you are . . . well. EZ remained a hermit.

Come forward to today. Mery, the long time stalwart as the 30s bracket representative of the Wild family in the battlegrounds, decided it was time to move forward. Mery had delayed this decision for a long time, time she'd spent waiting for EZ to join her in that bracket. Mery could wait no longer, though, and became a level 40. That left a void. The family turned to EZ. We need you, she was told. We need you to become our 30s bracket representative. We know you can do this.

EZ woke on Monday morning at the Inn in Thunder Bluff, where she lived. Her quarters were cluttered with unkempt loot. Gear of every description. Bottles and flasks of potions from her teen days lay scattered about. Various items from incomplete tasks, piles of random junk never sorted out, and greasy uncounted coins littered her room. It had come to this.

But her family needed her. She had purpose again. She gave her room one last long look. She sighed. Time to get to work.

EZ had long known what she wanted to be, but had had to go far from that in order to find her way back again. She wanted to be what she had started out to be - an enhancement shaman. She realized that it didn't matter, at least not to EZ, that it wasn't the "best" skill set for her chosen life in battleground competition. It was what she wanted to be, and what she wanted to do.

It took a good part of the day to sort through all that junk, and with the heavy pang of a near compulsive hoarder, EZ started selling it all away. She kept the higher end gear, those items she could not yet wear. It served to remind her of what she was escaping, and also served as an incentive and a goal for growth. She took the best of the gear she could wear and gave it a frank assessment. It was awesome stuff - for a level 19. All those greasy coins, though, added up to a considerable sum of gold. For the first time in a long time, EZ went shopping, feeling something close to happiness at last. There wasn't a great deal she could afford, even with the heavy sack of gold. She got what she could, though. The set of gear she ended with was still laughably dated. But it was hers, and it would suit for now, and would get better over time.

With her room tidied up, and her new gear creaking as she moved, EZ collected the small bit of belongings she still owned and left the Thunder Bluff Inn for the Flight Master. Arriving in Orgrimmar, she visited the Shaman Trainer, and became, once again, an enhancement shaman.

EZ can now be found at Sun Rock Retreat in the Stonetalon Mountains, working on quests. She's happy and content, and she's 50% of the way to level 29.