Damarion: the Draconic Diversion

 
I feel as though I'm cheating somehow by writing this entry, but it can't be helped...I finally have a mount that I've been after for years! He's so special to me, in fact, that he has the honor of being the first mount I've ever named...he's even developing his own personality. Since I'm treating him as one of my pets, I figure he can nudge in here and share a bit of the spotlight. ;)

This actually happened many weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to posting about it now. My eternal gratitude goes to the wonderful Petopian guildies who participated in the mount run. With my atrocious RNG luck I never would have imagined winning the roll, but somehow there I was staring at the Reins of the Black Drake sitting in my bag.

I've always loved the history of the Black Dragonflight, and I secretly longed to have a black dragon as a companion early in Vanilla WoW. I managed to obtain the Dark Whelpling minipet which mostly satiated that desire, however when flying mounts came into existence I slipped back into daydreaming. Lo and behold, a black dragon mount arrives in Wrath of the Lich King and I knew that one day I'd have to get it. :D

*huggles her dragon*

While pondering a name for him, I considered the standard conventions used by the black flight. Males often end in -on, so that gave me something to work with. And then Damion popped into my head and it just felt right. Further contemplation reminded me that dragons often abbreviate their full names, so I added a syllable in the middle to make his full name Damarion, with Damion being the casual form. It worked perfectly.

And now...screenie spam! ^_^

 

 

Along Came a Spider

Hi everyone! Sorry about the mini-hiatus there. I have a small surprise today, one that I'd like to introduce you to. This is Stitch, and he's the newest addition to my stables. :)

 

Go ahead Stitch, say hello!

...

Rawr! Oh come on, it's alright. Introduce yourself to the nice people. *prods*

Honestly, he's really quite affectionate. Don't let his shyness offend you. He's very excited to meet you!

...I think we scared him off.

Erm, let's try this again shall we.

I'm sure some of you may be wondering where this random tarantula came from. To be honest, I've always felt like Vephriel should have a spider, but I could never settle on a particular one. I adore spiders in real life, and Veph is a character who is closely mirrored to me. The lack of an arachnid always nettled at the back of my mind, but none ever seemed to click with her. 

I hadn't considered the tarantula model though. I was always looking at the sleek, thin spiders. Zarakh came close, I adore the spiky models, but it's such a shame that they shrink down so much. The tiny size kills it for me, they practically look like a minipet after taming, and you can't see all the lovely details.

Zomg, brief intermission of tarantula swim since I just love the new animation Blizzard created for them! <3

*cough* Back to business...

After the recent swell of tarantula love (see Kalli's blog entry for the news!), I was once again reminded at how wonderful the creatures are and how much I wanted a special one for Veph. Although I had created an undead hunter named Spiders in order to grab one of each spider model in the game, I still had that longing for a single one on Vephriel.

I was not expecting a tarantula to suit her, for some reason her character seemed more fitting to a thin graceful spider. I was driven to try though, and after some consideration over colours I decided on the green. Not only did it match the blood elf eyes, but a green tarantula was actually the first pet I ever tamed in WoW. Back when I first began playing the game I had started with a night elf hunter. I was immediately drawn to the green tarantulas, one of the initial mobs you see in Teldrassil, and knew I wanted one when I could tame one. That spider was the first pet I really felt attached to, I thought the bright toxic colours were just fantastic looking.

So, with that memory in mind, Vephriel headed to Teldrassil specifically to tame Githyiss the Vile. Not only for the nostalgia factor, but also because I enjoy seeking individual beasts that are named or rare. They seem to have more personality, more of a presence. When the tame completed I could tell right away that there was a connection.

Another sign that this tame was meant to be was the fact that a name popped into my head almost instantly. Stitch was just there in my mind, waiting to be applied to my furry new friend. It could be reasoned that a spider stitches things up with its thread of webbing, but overall there's no meaning to the name. It just...worked. :)

Stitch has really warmed up to Veph, and I finally have that contented feeling of knowing a pet is truly a match. Now, I did have to let someone go in order to tame him. It may come as a bit of a shock, but I no longer have Syntax the blue wasp. As excited as I was about that colour, I once again found myself struggling to bond with the wasp. Just as Hypnotik lost his appeal in the past, I couldn't help feeling distant from Syntax. My love of the models and colours always spurned me to tame one, but I think they just weren't meant for Vephriel. I now know that a tarantula is what really suits her in the 'insect department', and I'm perfectly pleased to discover that.

Mini Update

Things have been a little quiet here, haven't they? xD

My apologies, I went on vacation for over 2 weeks, so in that time I wasn't writing any posts. This blog definitely isn't dead, I just need some time to get back into the usual routine and then more pet entries will be on the way. ^_^

EDIT: Also...Pokemon...I may be distracted longer than first expected. ;)

Toxicity

This year the Love is in the Air holiday has been good to me!

Not only did I finally get my Toxic Wasteling minipet, but I was floored to find the Vile Fumigator's Mask when I opened my Heart-Shaped Box the other day.

It is honestly one of the most badass accessories anyone could hope to own in game! :D I've been after it for a long time, and now I have the perfect outfit to match Igor.

 

 

Banter

A perplexing thing occurred last night.

It all started in Azshara, where two guildies (Aro and Kalli) were hanging out waiting for The Evalcharr to spawn. I joined the camping party enthusiastically, and for the next 6 hours or so we went through the usual silly escapades...dancing, joking, laughing at our pet emotes, killing nearby mobs. The typical Petopian camp. xD (sanity not included)

We fell into a routine of killing any mob that was within our viewing range, usually sending a pet around to clear them off. The native wildlife were stags, hippogryphs, chimaeras, and a rock giant every now and then. Our camping spot was on a little rocky cliff overlooking The Evalcharr's spawn area, and to the right of us was a taller cliff which always had a mob spawned on top. It was a stag most of the time, though occasionally it would spawn as a hippogryph instead. Then it surprised us by becoming a chimaera at one respawn. It was the first we'd seen for that exact spawn point, and we thought it could be a sign, so we threw a star raid icon on the beast and refrained from killing it.

Now, I've never been too fond of the original chimaera models. I have a slight OCD about symmetry, and they have so many opposing details on each side that it's always bothered me. Despite all that, however, I found myself surprisingly drawn to the new beige model that was being implemented in patch 4.0.6. The colours were so eye-catching and complementary that I couldn't help admiring it, even if I didn't want it as a pet

With that interest lurking in the back of my mind, I seemed to be bringing about the inevitable. I stared at our cliff dwelling friend, painfully aware that by singling him out and giving him a unique presence I'd already begun falling for him.

The hours went by, Aro eventually went to sleep, and I went to take care of some other things at some point. Kalli remained in Azshara, and later on I rejoined her. The chimaera was still there on the cliff, and still had his star. That's when I made the decision.

Without pausing to over-think the situation or allow myself to second guess things, I released Mentos the blue demon hound and tamed the freaking chimaera. Mentos had not yet developed a personality or a strong bond really, so I was able to let him go easily with the thought of retaming him after I satisfied my urge to give the chimaera a test run.

 The perfect name jumped into my head as I stood there staring at my new pet. With two heads this creature was bound to argue with itself, so he was then known as Banter.

 

So here I am with a pet I never planned on taming, a model I've never liked, and a colour scheme that is not usually to my tastes.

What have I got myself into... >_>

The 4.0.6 Additions!

I had meant to write this post earlier, but after taking forever to find a name for my wasp and then recuperating after a busy birthday weekend it completely slipped my mind!

Patch 4.0.6 was every bit as exciting as I had hoped. :D Visiting both the new additions and familiar faces of returning rares was a thrill, and Vephriel picked up the two pets I had been looking forward to the most.

First is Satak, one of the new grey wind serpents. I actually had him waiting for me in my stables as I had gone to Netherstorm prior to tame one of the changing ones. I am absolutely in love with this model! I knew I liked it from the previews, but seeing it in person is on a completely different level.

Features such as the spikes and wing membranes have an amazing blend of colours ranging from peach to orange to lavender. I find the vein details especially prominent on this model, the flesh-like hue of the wings lends itself to a very realistic appearance that the other Outland wind serpents don't seem to have. The body colour is almost a faded purple-black, and then the bright green eyes stand out vividly.

I seem to associate the Outland wind serpents with vampires (perhaps it's their fangs xD) ... not only does Shiki posess a vampiric personality and attributes, but I found myself seeing this grey model as yet another vampire. I settled on the name Satak by going through a translator tool and finding the words for 'vampire' in alternate languages. I seem to have lost my little note on which language satak comes from, but at least I'm certain of its meaning.

I took a bunch of screenshots in Silithus, a zone that Satak just happened to match perfectly, while waiting on my next pet. ^^

The camping paid off, after a few hours my NPC scan joyously blared that Rex Ashil had spawned. I rushed to locate and tame him, thus securing the final addition to my stables (for now).

I'm pleased to introduce you to Syntax, the beautiful blue wasp.

For some reason I had a heck of a time settling on a name for this bug, but luckily Syntax finally clicked for him. I was amused to notice afterwards that Satak and Syntax sound very similar by complete coincidence. xD

In any case, I'm so happy to have a wasp once more. I used to be very fond of my giant Sapphire Hive Wasp, Hypnotik, but at some point the bond just started to evaporate and I found myself struggling to stay attached. I knew I loved the concept of a wasp pet, but the faces always bothered me a bit on the large Boss models, and the smaller silithid types had no colours that interested me. (White came close, but was altogether too similar to Shiki). This dark, obsidian blue was love at first sight. ^^

Though I told myself I would keep this blog strictly related to Vephriel, I have to cheat and mention a very important tame that took place on my undead hunter. :D

After years of searching and developing a growing love (obsession?) for Rekk'tilac, he's finally come home to his proper place at Spiders' side. It was indescribably awesome to see him at his new gigantic size, traipsing proudly amidst his smaller brethren. Rekk is a special tarantula to me, I can't even tell you why exactly, but it's good to know I finally have the real him. :)