WKM

Don't ask me to explain to you how we got there. People have filmed it, explained it, demonstrated it. Not exactly sure what it's supposed to stand for, though there are plenty of rumors. It was all Pally's idea. I was something of an innocent, curious bystander. But I also have absolutely no skill at walking through walls, like both he and Darg always somehow manage. So, hitching rides with them, on various mounts, I made it through to the other side...

Into the Building

Through the Wall

Down on the Ground, Look Around

After the initial shock of seeing Orgrimmar from inside-out, we continued our trek, in flight...

With Pally in the lead, we flew to this vault-like place that looks like some sort of shrine or memorial. Pally and Darg had already been here before, I think. But I never look for the "inside scoops", or the "hacks, loopholes and glitches", so this was all eerily new to me.

Up the Rabbit Hole (Glowing with a creepy green light.)

Moment of Silence

Banana of Honor

Raising Our Glasses in a Toast to WKM

Bubbles of Life

A Touch of Greenery (Well, maybe more than a touch...)

Silly Party Stuff (To lighten the somber mood...)

Darkmoon Gryphon —Pally waits on the Mushroom Chair

Nomi Brings Snacks

Anou's Final Farewell

As I'm not the type to go looking for these things, it really was a final farewell. I'm glad I saw it though. I was amazed at the "back end" of the game, how strange things felt, like looking through a two-way mirror. WKM is likely to remain a mystery, unless someone has concrete proof pointing to who/what it was supposed to honor. Though I feel there's more to just it than what that ticket response had to say. I can't imagine a long tunnel ending in a room with three framed letters on the wall being made by mistake...

The Lorewalkers

On one particular week in May, I was driven to find all those glowy, scrolly lore-related things scattered around Pandaria, for the achievements. I didn't realize how much work had gone into that part of the game, and to be honest, I freaking loved it. I enjoyed scouting around, making a haphazard itinerary, calling Dargeralstraz—a.k.a. Darger—"James" because he chauffeured me around as a Sandstone Drake. Whilst leveling, I'd clicked and read a lot of those glowy, scrolly things, but had never gone out of my way to find them all—leveling takes enough of my concentration as it is. Plus, eventually, I also like to get all the achievements on Anou, as she is my... my... sinfully beautiful alter ego.

So there we were, traveling across the map, clicking on bits of lore, killing rares that happened to be in the way. I managed to work on (and complete) several achievements at once:

• Legend of the Brewfathers
• I'm in Your Base, Killing Your Dudes
• Rumbles of Thunder
• The Zandalari Prophecy
• Gods and Monsters
• Zul'Again
• The Song of the Yaungol
• Ballad of Liu Lang
• Hozen in the Mist
• Fish Tales
• Between a Saurok and a Hard Place
• Restore Balance
• The Lorewalkers
• 55 Exalted Reputations
• Klaxxi
• What is Worth Fighting For

Special thanks to my GM for hanging out with me and chit chatting while I flew back and forth in a disorganized fashion (until I made the makeshift itinerary), and to Bone for unwittingly assisting with I'm in Your Base, Killing Your Dudes. (I mean, I had no idea those rares where the ones that lead to that achievement, even though every time it flashed in guild for someone who'd earned it, I was like, that is such a great achievement, everyone needs to be killing the alliance's dudes and going neener neener about it!) Ahh. Gloating over the corpses of your arch enemies. What a way to end an evening of exploration.

Anyway, all this being said, I also had no idea that Lorewalker Cho would be so excited by all her research that he'd send Anou individual... umm... cans in the mail, giving her rendez-vous to meet him at the Seat of Knowledge. Each one of those cans got her a vision of lore, complete with narrative by Cho himself, and a ton of rep to boot! I'm not usually a lore buff (as mentioned earlier, my attention span is not as evolved as other people's), so this whole stage at the Seat of Knowledge was like a bag of candy for me. (For the record, I don't really like candy.) Especially the fact that you can repeat those narratives with their visions at any time, simply by asking him! Obviously, I took screen shots of my favorite moments...

Did you know? The Jinyu evolved from Murlocs!

The Mogu were children of the Titans!

The Yaungol were once Tauren who adapted to survive.

By far, the narrative that came from Gods and Monsters was my favorite. In particular, the very first scene depicting Varian and Anduin Wrynn..

Very touching. And here's a free French lesson for all y'all: "Très émouvant."

I leave you all with a quote:

"Parents place their children on a path, but they don't always know where the road will take them." ~Lorewalker Cho

Loving Mother

Remember awhile back I'd posted about in-game Disney drive-by spottings? Well, here's a closer look at the sweet deer in the fields of Grizzly Hills.

Bambina still has her mother. <3

Wall Art

I suppose you can say that she is well-hung. Tee hee! ;)

The Prison Dog

Following up on my The Captain's Booty (Pirates of the Caribbean) and WoW: Disney Edition posts, here's another scene you'll find in game that you will most likely recognize:

Charlie, Northern Barrens

Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Walt Disney World

Hellscream's Haunchos

Intimidation at the bank in Orgrimmar.

Saurok Amenities

Those Saurok sure like their creature comforts! Who would have thought, considering all the cockroaches and fetid piles of stuff all over the place...

Disturbia?

I took it upon myself one day, for several reasons which for now will remain untold, to level an Alliance mage. I brought a Worgen to level 23 then deleted her because I simply could not put up with the way they hobble around. A few weeks later, I tried again with a Human, and for now it's working.

A quest was given to my new 'toon to go kill James Clark, who was wanted for robbery, burglary, arson and murder. That's a hefty list of crimes. The guy was living peacefully in a quiet logging village, where no one was the wiser. Naturally, my new hero tracked him down and took him down like a heartless (yet stylish) bounty hunter.

Buh-bye James Clark

But... Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Little Kevin randomly came into the room, walked all the way around, stood at the edge of the carpet while I slaughtered James Clark, and walked casually out again. Oh, and the romantic Valentine's day wreath totally completes the picture.

Speaking of which, here's another one of those "quirk" photos I like to take, note the heart-shaped candle on the barrel...

Home Sweet Home

Afternoon Snooze

This shot evokes very smooth jazz ballads in my mind. Anou just finished putting her book down. she took off her shoes because they were wet with rain, and snuggled into a cozy bed at the inn she and Korgak were staying at. A tropical bird perches in her windowsill to avoid the downpour.

Choo Choo!

No train wreckers for this choo-choo train, please. I only just noticed this Sept. 6th of this year, can you believe? My characters used to LIVE in Dalaran for crying out loud!

Cuckoo Clock Train

What I Saw

Don't ask me where this one is from, I saw it, I loved it, I snapped it.

Random Scrollwork

This was back when our guild was running Trial of the Crusader, Twin Val'kyr.

Essence of Light

Cozy in the Dampness

Here's another screenshot, of the same variety as the bowl of apples I liked so much. Kirina would call it a quirk, I think, but there you go. ;)

Even Lyv, who likes to sleep in wooden boxes in the deepest, dankest, darkest spots, was tempted by the straw beds in this grotto in Vashj'ir.

Eat Me

Welcome to the Serpentshrine Caverns elevator boss. This elevator kills many, many players, and everyone giggles about it. After much thought, I am convinced it's because people are too busy staring at what's under their feet and thus not at where they are running.

Personally, I like to stand right in the center of the fish's mouth—makes me feel like a pipe!

Ninja Turtles

Well, I'm a noob. Despite all the times I foraged through the Dalaran sewers, looking for mushrooms or just wandering around, I had never noticed (until a few months ago—in May to be precise) the small grouping of turtles admiring a Sewer Rat. At first I thought this strange and so I mentioned it randomly in guild chat. "It's a reference to Splinter and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," said Viagra. Ha! Awesome, Blizz!

The Antechamber

Every time I see this floor mosaïque in the Ruins of Lordaeron, I can't help but stare at it. It's so pretty and symmetrical. Taking screen caps of various floor and wall mosaïques happens to be one of my "WoW quirks" (as mentioned here).

This screenshot was taken quite a long time ago--I'm talking years--while Octavien was leveling his handsome self.

Fit for a King

Killer Prairie Dog

“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.” - Heinrich Himmler

"Not another step, humanoid."

Darger brought me here. Teniah made him do it. Poor Anoukisse, she is a sensitive level-one-critter-lover. But these little monsters spent the morning threatening mice and rabbits who then mutated into axe-carrying, skull-cap-wearing critters of terror to carry out merciless revenge upon them!

WoW "Quirks"

Kirina over at Kirina's Closet (as well as all the cool people who share their screen-shot addiction within her forum), has inspired me to post a couple of recent pictures I snapped that are, let's say, beyond the norm.

For example, the mage table. Perhaps I had never gotten as close to it as I did last night, or  maybe I was just paying attention. But did you notice how adorable all the tiny food on there is? The bottles, the miniature fish feast, etc. Very, very cute.

The Mage Table

Or, how about this bowl of apples Erysi found waiting for her at Nesingwary's Basecamp in Sholazar.

Now, these next ones were taken sometime during this past winter, while Anou was farming rep in Nagrand. One ogre was trying to kill her when she noticed a fallen enemy at the top of the small rise...

First Point of View

Up Close

Frontal View

In that first picture, I could not for the life of me figure out what exactly that was. Once I got close enough, I realized it was a two-headed ogre, fallen dead on his back. In that second picture, it even looks like there's a nose in the center of the two "eyes". It almost reminds me of a Muppet, with the heavy lids and long lashes!

Dalaran at Night

Follow that Gnome!

SD's first annual Dalaran lamp-lighting race, featuring Windle Sparkshine. (LOL) We actually only did this once, but it was really funny. (Posted in SD: 9/14/2010)

No Achievement :/

I don't remember where I took this screen shot, but I found it so interesting to look at that I just had to take a picture. (Posted to SD's website: 5/7/2009)

Does this mosaïque make me look fat?

Nexus. I aggro'd a trash mob for this shot. I hope you're happy. (Posted to SD's website: 5/7/2009)