1. Do you celebrate Winter Veil at all? If so, is it a new tradition for you, or one you've been doing for as long as you can remember?
2. How do you feel about the more commercial aspects of Winter Veil? Do the Smokywood Pastures vendors bother you at all?
3. What sort of food do you like to have around Winter Veil time? Are you a fan of Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake?
4. What sort of decorations do you put up for Winter Veil, and when do they go up?
5. If you could get anything at all from Greatfather Winter this year, what would it be?

Ovistine
1. Do you celebrate Winter Veil at all? If so, is it a new tradition for you, or one you've been doing for as long as you can remember?
Oh, all me life. I'm a dwarf, after all. An' yes, of course I celebrate — it's one of the best times of the year. I go back home to Stormwind, spend some time at the Cathedral to bring myself closer to the Li–

–I–this year I'll probably go back to Ironforge, maybe see how Grandmum an' Grandda are doing, hang out at the forge. I'll look around an' see what wishes are around for the orphans, if anybody wants wee steam tonks or mechanical yeti, an' build a few if there's a need. Of course, Da always makes a fine Winter Veil breakfast an' me an' Da an' Mum open our presents together, an' then we go to the Ironhammers' an' see Uncle Brandur. Grandda is already bugging me to bring the elf. After Pilgrim's Bounty… we'll see. I'll ask him…

2. How do you feel about the more commercial aspects of Winter Veil? Do the Smokywood Pastures vendors bother you at all?
Nah. I figure goblins celebrate in their own way, an' if that involves turning a profit, a'right. They're good for presents for people you don't quite know what to get, anyhow, an' Light knows I've always got some of those!

3. What sort of food do you like to have around Winter Veil time? Are you a fan of Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake?
Oo! Fruitcake! Well, it's got to be soaked in rum, of course. But aye! It's one of my favorites. I'm also fond of the candy you find this time of year–peppermint sticks, chocolate bark, chewy nougat, and any sort of chocolate. Da's usual Christmas turkey is always nice, too. An' I'm hoping Valinar will bring some more of those sweet potatoes. I mean, if he comes for Winter Veil. Light knows with my family being how it is, he might rather not…

4. What sort of decorations do you put up for Winter Veil, and when do they go up?
At me own place in Stormwind, I have a teensy mechanical tree. Built it meself two years back with some help from Da. It lights up and spins around! There's a stocking I knit meself, but as Mum pointed out, what with it sort of having two toes, it might be a good axe cozy. I need to look up Tiforis an' see if I can try it on that fromping great axe of his, the one like Valinar's, so as to see if it'll fit. An' then I suppose I'll need a new stocking…

5. If you could get anything at all from Greatfather Winter this year, what would it be?
*braids droop* I… I don't think Greatfather Winter's in the business of granting what I want most for Winter Veil. At least, last I checked, he didn't do much about dead snake gods an' restoring someone's spirit to the Light…

Teuthida
1. Do you celebrate Winter Veil at all? If so, is it a new tradition for you, or one you've been doing for as long as you can remember?
Eeeeee! Winter Veil! It is the most wondermous time of the year! For sparklies! For presents! For happiness! Even the goblins are cheerful! It is such fun! Yes, yes, it is a new tradition. I first heard about Winter Veil on my buzzbox. Then I asked Miss Twirlybraids about it. And oh! Such wonderfulness! She even made me a set of Red Winter Clothes, with a convenient hole for my tail! It does not cover much, but that is all right. Valyrie approves. Clearly she is equally fond of festiveness! This is why I put battleproof tinsel on her horns.

2. How do you feel about the more commercial aspects of Winter Veil? Do the Smokywood Pastures vendors bother you at all?
No no no no no! I buy many presents from Smokywood Pastures! Cheese wheels and bean brews! Candy canes! Fruitcake! Meat pie! Meatcake! So useful!

3. What sort of food do you like to have around Winter Veil time? Are you a fan of Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake?
Yes yes! Oh, fruitcake! Very delicious! Though I am told only the rum-soaked kind is useful, and tastes better too. But I did not know this at first, and so I put the fruitcake in a bowl and submersed it in a whole bottle of rum. Valyrie would not even taste it. Fortunately, I traded it to Miss Twirlybraids for a lightly soaked cake. All worked out!

4. What sort of decorations do you put up for Winter Veil, and when do they go up?
Yes yes yes yes! All sorts! Trees! Lights! Little train sets! Battleproof tinsel! This goes on everything. Best places are trees, including druids, and horns, and sometimes on particular swords. There were swords Valinar was given from the Ebon Blade. They were just like little Winter Veil trees! I put much tinsel on them! Now he has axes instead. I have not yet caught up to him to put tinsel on.

I tried so hard to convince Valyrie to let me keep everything up all year! So very hard! But no, she is saying; up it can go after Pilgrim's Bounty, down it must be before Lunar Festival. Sigh. Pilgrim's Bounty! It would be better if I could put it up over Hallow's End! Or even Brewfest!

5. If you could get anything at all from Greatfather Winter this year, what would it be?
Oh! Oh! Hmm… well, I am already having a dancing girl brazier. Oh! I know! A Sonic Celebration Oscillator! It would be so wonderful and sparkly!

Agness
1. Do you celebrate Winter Veil at all? If so, is it a new tradition for you, or one you've been doing for as long as you can remember?
Oh, sure. I've been celebrating Winter Veil ever since I could remember. Mostly I've always just gone to the Cathedral and helped the less fortunate, since that was what most of the priests I knew did, and of course Vaelen is always very fond of doing that sort of thing. One year we took a shift in the Trade District, ringing a bell for charity. Vaelen was very enthusiastic! The bell was… loud. I let him do that on his own these days.

2. How do you feel about the more commercial aspects of Winter Veil? Do the Smokywood Pastures vendors bother you at all?
Ugh, goblins. Yeah, I'd be happier without them, but every year it seems like somebody sends me a fruitcake. Vaelen seems to like them, though, so I guess it works out okay.

3. What sort of food do you like to have around Winter Veil time? Are you a fan of Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake?
Heh, we were just talking about that, weren't we? I'm not so crazy about fruitcake, but I do like chocolate bark and blended bean brew.

4. What sort of decorations do you put up for Winter Veil, and when do they go up?
We get a fresh tree every year. Vaelen chops it down at the tree farm, and we bring it home and decorate it. There are handknit stockings to hang on the fireplace, although I think I might make a new one for myself this year. I have been crazy about felwool lately. It's so great! Anyway, my old one is a little… white and shiny for my tastes now. Vaelen's still happy with his, I'm sure. It's bright gold and has a Stormwind crest on it.

5. If you could get anything at all from Greatfather Winter this year, what would it be?
A lifetime supply of wool-safe imp repellant, and my very own flock of felsheep.

Talents and abilities!
1. What's one thing you're particularly good at?
2. What's one thing you're particularly bad at?
3. Do you prefer it when your talents put you in the spotlight, or when you can perform them quietly from the sidelines? Or neither?
4. If you could be instantly great at any one thing, what would it be?
5. What's a talent someone else has that you particularly admire?

Ovistine Lighthammer
1. What's one thing you're particularly good at?
…I was real damn good at healing, once upon a time. I can make a mean flat of bullets nowadays.

2. What's one thing you're particularly bad at?
Heh. You ever seen my knitting? Or sewing? Mind you, it usually works out. I made this robe once that had a hole in the seat. Teuthida snapped it right up an' said it was perfect. Fit her tail just right!

3. Do you prefer it when your talents put you in the spotlight, or when you can perform them quietly from the sidelines? Or neither?
Well, neither healing nor melting faces really do their best when they're in the spotlight. I did win a contest once for "best model gyrocopter", back when I was a wee thing. (Though some folks complained that as a dwarf, I had an unreasonable advantage. Feck that. I worked as hard as anybody.)

4. If you could be instantly great at any one thing, what would it be?
Well. Right at this moment, given me options are a bit thin on the ground, I'd like to be better with Chaos. Shadow. It's not sommat I love, but it'll have to do, aye?

5. What's a talent someone else has that you particularly admire?
Mum makes pretty spectacular jewelry, when she's of a mind to. I wish I could do half as good with it, but the wee "String Your Own Beads" kit she sent me went about as well as the "Learn To Patchwork Quilt" kit I got from Agness one year. I'm still finding beads weeks later…

Agness Dea
1. What's one thing you're particularly good at?
Cooking! I love to cook, bake, and generally experiment in the kitchen. I may never live down that one time I made soup out of Murloc Fins, though…

2. What's one thing you're particularly bad at?
You know, this is going to sound weird, but for a priest, I was never much good at healing. I can still do it if I want to, though. What? I totally can, darn it. I just haven't wanted to in a while…

3. Do you prefer it when your talents put you in the spotlight, or when you can perform them quietly from the sidelines? Or neither?
I'm not too crazy about being in the spotlight. I'd rather donate baked goods for a bake sale than actually auction them off, say.

4. If you could be instantly great at any one thing, what would it be?
*mutter* I don't suppose "imp wrangling" is an option…

5. What's a talent someone else has that you particularly admire?
Vaelen can get the tops off jars every single time. It would be really, really useful if I could do that, but noooo, half the time I have to get him to do it. I swear, it was easier before we got married. Do you ever think marriage was invented so people would have someone around to open jars for them? I wonder that sometimes.

Teuthida of Shattrath
1. What's one thing you're particularly good at?
Setting things on fire! …usually, even on purpose. Ahem.

2. What's one thing you're particularly bad at?
*sigh* It is not surprising to anyone, I think, and so I am going to say "languages". You would think after four or five years among the Alliance, I would be better at Common. But it is so complicated! So many words that mean the same thing! Such silly structure for putting words together! It is easier to just concentrate on blastings or healings and assume people will know what I mean, yes?

3. Do you prefer it when your talents put you in the spotlight, or when you can perform them quietly from the sidelines? Or neither?
There are certain dwarves who are very, very insistent that if there is a spotlight, or a puddle, or a blizzard, or a rune, I am NOT to stand in it. I must move quickly quickly quickly. Yetis are also not for standing in. So no, I am not liking the spotlights a bit. Unless it is Flame Wreath. Then I am not to move. Or things blow up.

4. If you could be instantly great at any one thing, what would it be?
It would be nice if I could learn to conjure pies, instead of only breads and cinnamon rolls… I am very very fond of pies! Also sandwiches, but I have learned recently to conjure those. \o/!

5. What's a talent someone else has that you particularly admire?
Have you seen the little dwarf? Ovistine? She shares my buzzbox frequency. She has braids that go TWIRL TWIRL TWIRL TWIRL TWIRL!!! So cute! Many dwarves can twirl their braids this way! My pigtails, they occasionally bounce and that is all. I would like to learn this twirling thing! Perhaps if my hair grows long enough…

Romance seems to be the driving plot behind a lot of characters — or if not the driving one, certainly one that lasts through other major plot elements. I think it might actually be more unusual for characters in my circle to be single than attached.

Which makes me wonder, and inspired a set of five questions to be posed to any characters interested in answering them:

1. If you're attached, how did it happen? (If not, are you interested in dating?)
2. Have you been "lucky in love" in the past?
3. What's the number-one thing you need from a potential mate?
4. Is there friction in your relationship? Big, small, none at all?  (If you're not in a relationship, how much friction would you like?)
5. Do your friends and family like the person you're dating?  (If you're not dating anyone, how important is your friends' and family's approval?)

Of my four "major" characters — Ovistine, Teuthida, Nancie, and Agness — two are in relationships and two are, um, uh, HEY LOOK A MURLOC KILL IT KILL IT!

Ovistine

1. If you're attached, how did it happen? (If not, are you interested in dating?)
   I'm, uh… I mean, I wouldn't… well, if someone asked me out for a drink, see, I'd… I mean, only if it were a drink an' that's it. Right? It's not that I'm not interested, I just… I wouldn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. By which I mean someone twice my height, with pink skin an' purple hair, who carries fromping big axes. Not that I know if he'd be upset, but best not to chance it, aye? (Cf. fromping big axes.)
    
2. Have you been "lucky in love" in the past?
   I've not ever brought a lad home for the holidays, so I think that answers that. Um, unless you count last Pilgrim's Bounty. But that would be the first, so!
    
3. What's the number-one thing you need from a potential mate?
   A nice, bushy beard, preferably with braids in it. Oh, um, or someone patient an' kind an' thoughtful. With nice ears.
    
4. Is there friction in your relationship? Big, small, none at all? (If you're not in a relationship, how much friction would you like?)
   *grumbling* Not the kind I'd like. *pause* Assuming that's even… I mean, how would you… *blushes deep fuschia* Let's just say "no" an' leave it there.
    
5. Do your friends and family like the person you're dating? (If you're not dating anyone, how important is your friends' and family's approval?)
   Well, it's important, aye! An' everyone likes Valinar. I mean, theoretically, if… they seem to like… what research facility is this survey with, again?

Teuthida

1. If you're attached, how did it happen? (If not, are you interested in dating?)
   Valyrie has been my closest friend since we were tiny! Since before our horns grew in! How did we… "hook up"? Um… I am having a fishing pole, yes? And Valyrie sometimes gives me shiny baubles for the fishes… and for me…
    
2. Has your character been "lucky in love" in the past?
   Oh, I am very lucky all the time!
    
3. What's the number-one thing you need from a potential mate?
   Well. Good bonking skills, and perhaps willingness to head-butt me if I am pouting? Or, no, no, wait! A sense of ADVENTURE! Yes yes! Also willingness to eat pies for three weeks if I am beset with an urge to bake.
    
4. Is there friction in your relationship? Big, small, none at all? (If you're not in a relationship, how much friction would you like?)
   Friction? This is… oh, fightings! Well, so long as they do not hurt themselves by head-butting giant fire elementals. …too often. I suppose it is friction when I am head-butted for pouting, yes? That is fine too.
    
5. Do your friends and family like the person you're dating? (If you're not dating anyone, how important is your friends' and family's approval?)
   Oh, it would be very important for Valyrie to like anyone else who came to live with us! It would really not work even a little if only I were fond of them, or only Valyrie.
    

Agness

1. If you're attached, how did it happen? (If not, are you interested in dating?)
   Well, Vaelen asked a friend of his to ask me if I would go walking along the canals with him if he asked, and of course I said yes. Then we went steady, got pinned, got engaged, he gave me a pretty ring, and then there was that thing that happened over Winter Veil two years ago and we got married very, very quickly. He was kind of insistent. I just thought the Red Winter Clothes were cute…
    
2. Have you been "lucky in love" in the past?
   Vaelen is all the past there is, so I feel very, very lucky!
    
3. What's the number-one thing you need from a potential mate?
   Hmm… I can't decide between niceness, righteousness, or a desire to smite Scourge.
    
4. Is there friction in your relationship? Big, small, none at all? (If you're not in a relationship, how much friction would you like?)
    Um, well–hey! Bizpit! Felwool is not for eating!–I might have to cut this a little short. Anything else?
    
5. Do your friends and family like the person you're dating? (If you're not dating anyone, how important is your friends' and family's approval?)
   Unfortunately, both my parents were killed in the Third War, so I don't really have much family left. But Trisia likes him, and my friends like him.
    

Nancie

1. If you're attached, how did it happen? (If not, are you interested in dating?)
   Once upon a time, there was a gryphon rider who was verra earnest, but didnae fly so good. But it turned out he had a knack fer tinkerin', an so one day at th' Forge, he an' a young lass turned soldier noticed each other o'er a fiery blaze. Wasnae nearly th' hottest thing goin' on tha' day, if ye ken me meaning! *chuckle*
    
2. Have you been "lucky in love" in the past?
   A lady ne'er kisses an' tells. I suppose a few lads may 'ave carried a bit o' a torch fer me now an' again…
    
3. What's the number-one thing you need from a potential mate?
   'E jes' needs t' stand by me, an' Geoffar's done tha' fer many years now.
    
4. Is there friction in your relationship? Big, small, none at all? (If you're not in a relationship, how much friction would you like?)
   Pffft! Ain't a marriage a'tall if there's no' a row now an' then. Anyway, nowt serious ever came o' it. He loves me an' I love 'im an' thass that.
    
5. Do your friends and family like the person you're dating? (If you're not dating anyone, how important is your friends' and family's approval?)
   Mum an' Da were a bit surprised I fell fer a Wildhammer, but th' lad's perfectly keen on Ironforge as well, though we've moved about a bit. Obviously th' bit loves 'er da greatly. An' ol' Brandur kin keep 'is advice to hisself, thanks. Jes' 'cause I've 'ad months where I didnae get th' kind o' home-leave I'da liked… anyway, aye, everyone loves Geoffar.
    

Recapping the quest text for Pilgrim's Bounty:

Won't you celebrate Pilgrim's Bounty with us, <name>? It's a time for reflecting on your journeys and your good fortune, sharing plentiful food and stories with friends.

Teuthida is grateful to have such strong and generous and wonderful friends — with particular /hugs and /squees to Alishe, Alonora, Prydion, Israia, and of course Valyrie, who is a bit puzzled at the many, many pies Teu has been baking, but not so puzzled she won't eat them! The one thing that's giving Teu pause these days is that she's been feeling like her "job" — and adventuring really has become a job for her — keeps her away from Valyrie and Shattrath a lot more than she'd like. She misses spending time at home, at the orphanage, and she especially misses getting to sing and read to the tiny baby draenei. You may be hearing a loud ticking sound these days if you're standing too close to Teu, and it ain't a gyrochromaton.

Nancie finally got in touch with Ovistine and demanded requested Ovistine join her, Geoffar, Brandur, and the Ironhammer parents in Ironforge for Pilgrim's Bounty. Nancie is grateful that her family is still in one piece — her father, a retired mountaineer, still spends a lot of time fishing at Loch Modan, and her mother's still working at the forge, turning out battle hammers, blades, and making the occasional pair of mithril spurs. Her brother has a good job training paladins at the Mystic Ward. Ovistine is, more or less, safe. Nancie and Geoffar have a hard, struggling job out at Wintergarde, but they're managing. (And this is where I apologize for being slightly out of phase — ha! — with most people, because Wrathgate still hasn't happened for the Lighthammers. Sigh.)

Ovistine has returned from Darnassus, and this year she's incredibly grateful that, despite all the trials and tribulations the Boomsticks have been going through, they've got Homrend back and things look safer now than they have for a while. She's trying to focus on that, and not the way it feels to be cut off from the Light, because that's something she just can't deal with right now. She is also grateful for a certain elf, whom she's planning to invite to Pilgrim's Bounty with the Ironhammers. ("An' may the Light have mercy on his ears.")

Agness is grateful for her wonderful husband, her warm, comfy house in Northshire ("Kobold-Free For 13 days!"), her yarn stash, her new friends at the Shadoweave Knitting Circle, and the fact that Bizpit seems to have been too preoccupied with sulking lately to show up very often or chew on much of her yarn. She's not sure where little demons go for Pilgrim's Bounty, but hopefully he'll stay out of trouble.

When Lich King was on its way, I was really determined not to play my alts. I wanted One True Character, and I'd decided that, because I liked the shaman class so much, it was going to be Teuthida. I was tired of gearing up alts, I was tired of chasing down rep for multiple classes — I was really very, very ready to just have one character I played and not have to worry about the leveling, the gearing, the instancing, the rep grinding, and so on.

It hadn't occurred to me, really, because rep grinding is still such a pain, but the major objections I had to alting are now gone. If I want to be exalted with all the factions, it doesn't take instancing — it just takes doing dailies, so all it really takes is time. I'm not terribly interested in raiding with anybody but Teu and, you know, Ovi, because I just want to be playing Ovi, period. I just want Nancie geared up well enough to handle heroics, and crafting handles the bulk of that. I really don't care about gear for most of the rest of my alts — Agness and Lyja and Lil' Teu are more there to enjoy the leveling experience and do some crafting work for me than anything else. (Lyja is 71 and a 450 elixir master alchemist; Lil' Teu is 68 and a 405 transmute master alchemist. Agness is my scribe. I spend a lot of time on my alts herbing!)

So while I do have a list of things I'd like to do for each character, none of them have much urgency or require a big time commitment — something that really felt different back in BC.

As for RP, due to both time commitment issues and my skittishness doing major RP in-game, the RP is usually either off-the-cuff, mainly with Valinar's alts, or written — which means there's time for everybody, and certainly time for everyone to have an active life in my head. ^_^ Some alts will always get more RP time than others, but I'm amused to note that an alt who probably won't see much play time at 80 (Agness) is turning out to be one of my more active RP muses. I suspect it's the interaction between Agness and Vaelen, which amuses me to no end. (I think I also like having a drama-free couple to play with. They don't fight, they don't have angst, they aren't going to split up, and Vaelen will probably never figure out what's going on with that imp.) But beyond that, there's a bit of a parallel going on between Agness and Ovi that I had completely failed to notice before: they're both former Light-users who are both going through an uncomfortable time as they adjust to living without the Light.

I need to make more time for writing!

When Vaelen poked his head into Agness's crafting room, there was a squeak and a faint puff of smoke. He waved a hand in front of his face; brimstone. Drat. He really ought to consecrate the whole house again. "Agness?"

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Agness hopped to her feet, a few balls of yarn tumbling to the floor as she stood. She drew him out of the room and closed the door behind them. "Is something wrong?"

"Is that imp bothering you again?"

"Er–no," Agness said, eyes darting back to her crafting room's door. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"Oh! Yes. Nancie Lighthammer is on the buzzbox."

"Nancie? Really?" Agness blinked. "It's been a while since I heard from her. Or Ovi…" She stretched up on tiptoe to give Vaelen a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

Vaelen beamed at her, and as she disappeared down the stairs, he frowned at the crafting room door one more time. A nice, strong, righteous consecration; maybe that'd get rid of the imp infestation once and for all.

Downstairs, Agness picked up the buzzbox receiver and held the transmitter to her lips. "Yes, this is Agness. Nancie?"

"'Ey, lass. How's things?"

"Not too bad." Oi. If there was another paladin Agness really didn't want to talk to about her recent… troubles… it was Nancie Lighthammer. Nancie was a fine teacher, but not exactly the most understanding Light-user in the history of the Cathedral. "What's going on?"

"Well, I were wonderin' if ye'd heard frae th' wee one. Th' elf says she didnae come home a few nights ago, an'–"

"The what?" Agness coughed loudly. "The–are we talking about Valinar? He said what?"

"Ach, no' like tha'! Ol' Longears jes' went over t' her flat in th' Dwarven District, aye? T' check if she were doing a'right. She–" Nancie paused, and Agness heard a distinct harrumph in the background. "Anyway, heard she's 'ad a rough go o' it th' last week or so. Wanted t' know if ye'd heard anywhat."

"I haven't, no," Agness said, cradling her face in her palm. "But… I've been busy myself, lately, to be honest. I can go check on her…"

"Aye, I'd appreciate it," Nancie said firmly. "Ye tell 'er her da an' I are thinkin' o' her, an' we'll hope t' see 'er fer Pilgrim's Bounty."

"Of course, ma'am."

The buzzbox clicked off, and Agness put the receiver away. From upstairs, there was a thud, and then a horrible screeching sound, and Agness winced as some dust shook free from the ceiling. He's consecrating again, Agness though. Bizpit is really going to hate that.

Back to the beginning, Agness thought, and so she knelt next to Anetta in the hills of Northshire, eyes closed, hands turned palms-up.

And nothing. Still.

"It should be there," Agness said, head falling forward slightly. She sighed and tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. "It's always been there, even if–"

"Even if you were called to the other side of it?" Anetta put a gentle hand on Agness's shoulder. "Try again. Find your center, and draw strength through it."

Agness nodded and closed her eyes again, face tilting up toward the sun, palms up, hands open as if to reach for the Light. It was there, just out of reach, the smoky trails of shadow just the other side of the coin, and deep inside her core, her center, the innermost depths of her being, she could feel it–the spell that would channel her truest self…

There was an acrid smell of–of brimstone?–and a soft chuckle. "Couldn't resist, could you?"

Agness opened one eye, wincing already, and Anetta made a garbled choking noise. "Agness," she hissed, "there's a–"

"I know," Agness said, covering her face in one hand and waving the succubus away with the other. "I know. I know. I know."

Anetta sighed, and after a while, Agness looked up at her, wincing as she did. Anetta did not look amused.

"You've got more problems than I can help you with out here," Anetta said. "I think you're going to need to ask for help at the Cathedral."

Teuthida: Unchanged, IC and OOC.

Agness: IC, still struggling with what to say about her shadow powers, and still avoiding thinking about the fact that she isn't as strong in the holy arts as she used to be. OOC, 76 and momentarily on hold as the Boomstick RP picks up.

Nancie: IC, still in flux as I work on the Wrathgate story. OOC, dinged 80, has an epic flappy, maxed out her mining and jewelcrafting, working on her Argent Dawn/Crusade rep (well over halfway through revered with both), and is collecting RP gear like crazy. She's got a set of "Wrynnforge" (it's Lightforge recolored in blue and gold), and I've got an eye out for a set of Moutaineer's Garb (you have to assemble it in pieces, mostly from AH drops), as well as giving a look around for the kind of armor she wears in her nightmares. Working on it! I really like the idea of being able to have visuals for the Nancie biography. (Yes, I'm working on that. No, I'm not on schedule. No, I don't care.)

Ovistine: IC and OOC: SHE'S BACK! \o/ The main of my heart has returned (and made me wish I'd registered twirlybraids.com instead, or in addition). IC, Ovistine has gotten her arse out of the library and taken on a role in the search for her good friend Homrend, recently killed by a mysterious group of Dark Irons and unable to resurrect because his spirit's been trapped by Hakkar (who always did bear a grudge). She knows there's a bargain that's going to have to be made to save him, and she knows what she's going to have to give up, but it's not going to stop her.

OOC, Ovistine is out of her rut, having pushed past 73 as well as getting one of those nice Cold Weather Flying Tomes. She's now 75 and I'm able to be very choosy with her quests, avoiding awful things with pitiful drop rates in favor of quests that are of more interest, both to me and to her.

I had actually been pondering the things brought up by this post on WTT:RP: what quests would Ovi do for real, and which am I doing because she's 75 and Disc/Holy and boy howdy I do not want to have to kill 93 bears for their asses, I'd rather just take a necklace to the dudes on the hill?

Ovistine is actually the first character in a while who's had an opinion about quests, and I think that's got a lot to do with how she got where she is. The short version: because Teu was my raiding main, she got pushed to 80 first, and that left Ovi constantly having to explain her absences. Eventually, I decided she'd taken up a research position at the Cathedral of Light and has been working on the Scourge problem as well as looking into these Ebon Blade death knights Varian Wrynn seems so determined to support. That left me with a much more thoughtful, much more curious dwarf than I'd started with — so thoughtful and curious that she's beginning to think more seriously about archaeology and where the dwarves came from. The Explorers' League holds a lot more appeal for her now than it ever used to, and she's been distracted from her main goal (find Homrend. find him now) a couple of times by information about the Titans and an old battered journal of Brann Bronzebeard's that she found in Thor Modan. Where Nancie spent the last couple of levels in Icecrown fighting Scourge, Ovistine is likely to level up in Storm Peaks looking for evidence of the Titans.

(And at some point I really need to start writing and posting Wrathgate, and begging my RP crew's forgiveness for what will probably be an abrupt "WTF" moment for Ovistine; the main reason I'm not doing it right now is because the Search for Homrend/Dark Iron Chaos storyline is moving so fast that I'd really rather not put something else into the mix. Also I'm procrastinating. Again. >_>)

I have two mages, neither one of whom has ever learned Polymorph: Pig or is interested in Polymorph: Turtle, Polymorph: Penguin, or Polymorph: Black Cat, because that would mean polymorphing something into an animal that is not a sheep. (In fact, they've both gotten to the stage in the Polymorph: Pig quest where you turn naga into tons of tiny little sheep, which then wander around at high velocity, and haven't turned it in, because when I'm feeling kinda blue, seeing fifty tiny sheep zipping around my computer screen can cheer me up pretty quick.)

I have also been known to make tons of extra Explosive Sheep and just have them wander around like pets. (One of them might possibly have pulled a boss in Zul'Gurub once. Luckily, my raid was very forgiving.)

When the Elwynn Lamb was announced, I was overjoyed! A pet sheep! I figured I would never unsummon it, letting it wander around and graze at its leisure. Instead, Blizzard decided it was the one pet that should get killed in front of its owner… time after time. When I found that out, I stopped bothering with the Argent Crusade dailies. I really didn't want to put in all that effort for a pet that would break my heart by dying repeatedly.

But! I have a thought. What if the Elwynn Lambs are actually sheep that have been reclaimed from Felwood's wild flocks of woolly fel sheep, and you're keeping them around to try to rehabilitate them? What if you've been assigned a protective wolf who will keep a close eye on that fel sheep to see if the demons have truly left it? What if the wolf is only killing the sheep because it's sensed the fel energies amassing, and it knows the sheep will attack you if the wolf doesn't get it first?

Yeah, okay, it's a stretch. But I want a sheep pet, dammit. And it so happens that I have run into evidence that fel lambs exist.

Sure, they say the sound those sheep make is a "snore", but when you first hear it, it sounds like some kind of demonic bleat that requires you to get that sheep back to the Cathedral of Light for an exorcism, stat. It's simultaneously adorable and horrifying!

(Really, my image of fel sheep is that they're sheep that act exactly like regular sheep, only their wool is chartreuse or sometimes a pale red — perhaps only changing color after the sheep reach maturity — and their eyes glow with demonic fire. Otherwise, they graze and wander the meadows like any other sheep. Their wool, however, once sheared, washed, carded, and spun, knits up into incredibly soft, unusually warm blankets.)

Agness struggled out of bed and wandered downstairs to the living room. She pulled a blanket out of the cedar chest that served as their coffee table and settled in on the couch, finally coughing every bit as much as her lungs demanded.

Upstairs, there was a light snore followed by a heavier, deeper snore, and Agness sighed with relief. At least Vaelen could sleep in this way.

The fireplace was cold, although there were a few logs piled up in it. Agness glanced around the room, looked up at the ceiling, and finally sighed. "Bizpit?"

With a puff of smoke and a stench of sulphur that Agness, thankfully, could barely smell, the imp poofed into the human dimension. He danced along the back of the couch as Agness grimaced and slid over to one side, avoiding the imp's flailing arms and legs, and finally, just as Agness was sure he was going to run upstairs–oh, Light, I don't want to have to go catch him while I'm feeling this way–he plopped down on the end of the couch and said, "Yeeeeeessss?"

This was not a good idea. Agness looked hopefully over at the fire and then back at Bizpit. "Could you start a fire for me?" she croaked.

"What's the matter with your voice? Murloc in your throat?" Bizpit crossed his legs and looked at his fingernails.

"I'm sick," Agness said. "That's why I haven't been going out the last day or two."

"And I thought it was because you just loved married life and didn't want to go anywhere. Oh, Vaelen, you're so handsome! I love your ridiculous mustache! And the way you–" Bizpit's voice quit dripping imitation honey and turned into the creaky, disgusting whine it usually was as he finished. "Smite demons."

"How many times have I told you? It's nothing personal–he's a paladin, for crying out loud–"

"My ears hurt," Bizpit sulked.

"Please go start a fire? I won't let him smite you anymore."

Bizpit's ears flapped at Agness, but he didn't say anything.

"Bizpit!" Agness snapped. She pointed at the fireplace. "Fire!"

"Fine," Bizpit said. He belched out a bit of smoke and then tossed a casual little fireball into the fireplace. To Agness's relief, the logs caught fire immediately, and the room felt much warmer. Also smokier. Agness coughed again, this time not due to her illness, and waved a hand in front of her face. "Bizpit, the flue–"

"Yes, I've noticed you're sick. You want a hankie or something?"

"No, the flue–the fireplace, Bizpit, the flue, can you go open it?"

"Hey, you don't wanna breathe smoke, that's your human failing. Me, I'm just fine like this–"

"You want to go back to live with Daisy?"

Bizpit tossed her a scornful little grimace and scurried off the couch, reaching into the fireplace to open up the flue. The smoke began to dissipate, and Agness sighed with relief.

"Don't know why you don't just heal yourself, anyway," Bizpit muttered, coming back over to the couch and flopping down in a tangle of limbs–some of which were Agness's. She winced and pulled her foot out from under him, and he grabbed part of her blanket and started gnawing on the hem.

"Bizpit…"

"Mmmmm, felwool," Bizpit said dreamily. He got in a few more chews before Agness swung a pillow at him. "Fine, fine! I'll quit! But sheesh, you're a shadow priest, honey, emphasis on priest. Why don't you just poof yourself all better? Unless you like being a sick little girl–"

"Shut up," Agness muttered, and after a moment, lower, "and anyway, I tried that already."

"Ooooooh." Bizpit leaned forward with a gleam in his eyes and a grin spread across his vile little face. "Whassa matter? Holy spells no worky?"

"Shut up." Agness coughed again, and then again, and this time the coughing didn't stop for a minute or two–by which time the snoring from upstairs had stopped, and there were soft creaks from the floorboards. "Oh, balls–you! Get out of here–"

"No!" Bizpit crossed his arms in front of his chest and sat down hard on Agness's foot. "Not going, can't make me, not going, can't make me–"

"Raga razzax," Agness whispered, snapping her fingers, and Bizpit faded away. She groaned and put her head in her hands.

"Agness?" The end of the couch sank down again, but this time instead of a small, ugly demon, it was a tall, redheaded paladin (whose mustache was not even a little bit ridiculous, Agness thought grouchily) in a plaid nightshirt and slippers, and when he rubbed at Agness's ankles, she sighed and stretched her feet out across his lap. He drew the felwool blanket down over her legs so her feet wouldn't get cold, and kept rubbing. "Are you all right?"

"I have a cold," Agness said; it came out more like I hab a code, but fortunately Vaelen understood.

"Poor sweetie. Do you want me to make you some tea?"

"Oh, Vaelen, you just got up–"

"Yes, but I'm feeling fine! I'm too Light-infused to get sick." Vaelen smiled at her and winked as he tickled the bottom of her foot. "I could try a cleanse spell–"

"I already tried that," Agness muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Didn't take."

"Oh–well, I suppose you have more experience with healing spells than I do. You are a priest, after all," Vaelen said. "I should have known learning to smite harder would weaken my healing skills–maybe I should go back to the Cathedral and take some more healing lessons."

"But you love smiting!" Agness sat forward and reached out to pet Vaelen's shoulder. "I'll be over this in no time. Really, it's no trouble."

The next outburst of hacking coughs made Agness collapse against the couch's arm in a heap, and Vaelen got up. "I'll make you some soup," he said. "Don't argue, I, ah–how do I boil water again?"

"Just go down to the Pig and Whistle," Agness said, wincing at the idea of Vaelen in the kitchen. "Ask Kabonka for some crocolisk gumbo–you can heat it up when you get back home, if it gets cold."

"I won't let it." Vaelen drew himself to his full height and put his hands on his hips. "I'll be back in just a few minutes."

"Pants?" Agness raised her eyebrows. "You'll wear pants, right?"

"…and I'll wear pants."

* * *

With a bowl of Kendor Kabonka's finest gumbo in hand, Agness was actually feeling much better; the spices were enough to clear her head out, and Vaelen had in fact managed to keep it warm on the ride home. He'd brought home a new knitting book for her, too, one all about knitting warm socks for the man in one's life. Agness had beamed up at Vaelen and promised him new socks before they went back to Northrend; he'd cheered at her and then left her alone to eat her soup while he tidied up around the house. There were, she had to admit, a few handkerchiefs strewn about the floor here and there.

"GUMBO!"

Agness shrieked and jerked her bowl back from Bizpit. "Did I say you could come back? Did I–get out of here, get out out out–"

"Give me some gumbo and I'll go."

"Fine!" Agness shoved her bowl at him. He buried himself face-first in the gumbo, making loud smacking noises, and Agness tried not to gag. "Enough. Enough, now go away–"

"Make me," Bizpit said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oohhh–why, you–raga razzax," Agness said, snapping her fingers. Bizpit had just enough time to make an even uglier face at her before vanishing.

"What was that?" Vaelen called from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Agness croaked. "I'm fine, honey."

"Oh, good! Do you want some more gumbo?"

Agness looked down at what was left of her gumbo and shuddered as she set it down on the coffee table. "No, thanks, sweetie. I think I've had enough for today."