Friday (2 Nov) - Lost in the Wind

Friday (2 Nov) - Lost in the Wind

At last, the life story of the World of Warcraft family that began with a warrior named Neekia. Thanks for sharing.

When I started playing wow, it was all Greek to me. I have never been a video game person, did not know the lore, etc. So, when I started I sure did not know what I was doing. I started with a warrior, because warriors were tough. Who wanted a wimpy caster, or someone who became furry at whim? No, I wanted someone in plate that carried a big sword. So Neekia was born, a night elf with a long purple braid. Like I said, I did not know much about the game. Stats? Rotations? It did not even register in my system. Somehow Neekia made it to level 60. Like I said, I was out of touch. So out of touch my warrior was wearing a casting helm, at 60, "because it had more armor." My warrior was not known for her intelligence.

Almond came along next. Neekia had been a level 60 for a while and wanted to drink beer and fish for a while, so Almond, a human paladin, was born. Almond, thankfully, had intelligence, even if it was a bit single minded. She wanted to be a healer since she first entered the forests outside of Stormwind. It was rough at first, learning to read when no reading had been ever done before her, but she figured it out (the rotations and stats). By the end of the Vanilla WoW reign, she was just entering a raiding guild.

When the Burning Crusade opened up she found her way into a comfortable raiding guild and was in the A-Team. From having to scrap for a good group, she now had the best group. Five heroics in a night, even on New Years? Done, and done without a hitch. Ten man raids? She was always the one first asked. She was good and she knew it.

But as all things come, they go. Northrend appeared and it was a blow to Almond and her inflated ego. Her spells and stats changed in a way that threw her for a loop. Minor changes, but she could recover, she could adapt to this haste addition and holy shocks, right? Maybe, but the stumble cost her and she fell into a 2nd or 3rd rank healer. One that was dusty and you would only grab if you were desperate. She found her way up to level 80 by mostly solo stuff, avoiding people due to the shame of the fall.

Cataclysm came out, and at this point Almond had shucked what she once was, a healer. She turned in her gear for damage gear and became what she had always sneered at, a Retribution Paladin. Almond, with all new keys, spells, and icons, was out of her depth and in deep uncharted waters. She floundered, not making it far, only to 82, and then fell off the map.

With the coming of the Pandas in Mists of Pandaria, Almond one day crept out of her inn room and stared at the city of Stormwind. She wandered, as if a lost person, seeing the large city for the first time. She looked at her bank, having long forgotten what she had in there. The same with her bags. Her old healing gear had been long tossed, being outdated, and all that was left was the distasteful ret gear.

While she was looking through her stuff, she heard her name shouted. "Almond, it has been a long time! What are you up to?" This from Zie, an old healing druid back from Almond's BC days that she had kept vaguely in touch with.

Almond popped. She wanted to be a healer again. She was tired of this gear. She did not know what she had anymore and was too overwhelmed to even deal with it. This all came out in a long, possibly over due, rush.

"Sell it all!" Zie cried, "Don't even look at it, just vendor it. You will feel better."

Almond knows Zie is not known for thinking ahead, but apparently, in a fit of insanity, Almond did just that. She sold all of her gear, down to her jewelry.

Almond then went to bed and slept if off.

When Almond came to she realized that there was a problem. She wanted to go out and level and heal but had the small problem of only owning a tabard. Well, she thought, as she glanced down at the giant yellow ! on her chest. I guess I can go out and buy healing gear. A glance at her money purse told her she had barely 1,000 gold. She looked at the AH and about cried at the price of things. She had enough to buy clothes, but it was very tight. She then had an idea. She rushed to the mail box and sent a letter to Cerulean, her banker.

Cerulean's response was quick, coming back almost as soon as Almond had posted her letter. "Don't even think about hitting me up. Just because you had a midlife crisis does not mean I will bail out from it. Clothes have a short shelf life and are not a good investment. I don't buy things without a good return. You are on your own."

It appeared she was.

To be continued....