Tales of the Aggronaut

A Guild Divided

December 2, 2013 by Belghast

Nostalgia Won

If I remember correctly the last time I wrote a real post before my Nano recess, I was talking about the upwelling of nostalgia brought on by playing Hearthstone. I fought valiantly to resist but before long I was staring at the account section of the battle.net page and renewing my subscription. I had put this off because really I assumed this decision would end in tears. The odd thing is so far it has not. I have been enjoying the hell out of playing, and have even resumed raiding a bit. I don’t want to jinx it by saying I am back, but so far it feels like at least a possibility.

One of the awesome things about coming back at the tail end of the expansion is that Blizzard tends to give players many different ways to catch up gear wise. I have spent a ton of time out on the Timeless Isle and have been collecting sets of level 90 heirloom gear for each of my alts I intend to level. Since coming back I have caught my Deathknight Main Belgrave and Druid Belgarou up a bit in gear, leveled my Shaman Tallow and Warrior Belghast to 90, and am within a stones throw of 90 on my paladin Exeter. There is part of me that wants to push as many toons to 90 as I can before the release of Warlords of Draenor.

I have to say despite all of the negativity flowing around it, I am really looking forward to the expansion. They said during Blizzcon that the majority of the content would work more like Timeless Isle, and that was pretty much music to my ears. I love the way the content on the isle works, and I can spend hours both there and on the Isle of Giants tearing about the mobs with Belgrave. I think my happy medium is a mix of quests to give me purpose, and then found objectives along the way to force me to stop and smell the roses. If they can strike a balance, I think the content will be just about perfect for me. Not to mention that Garrisons sound amazingly fun, like a mix between player housing and the crew skill system in SWTOR.

A Guild Divided

At the beginning of Cataclysm I got a serious case of wanderlust. I would like to think it was because Rift was so amazing, but in reality I think I just needed a break from WoW. At that point I had played it for almost eight years straight without significant pause. But the sad thing is, that while I played it for seven years, I have yet to play a single game since for more than seven months. When I wandered off so did a lot of other guild members who were feeling a similar drag on their time. The untold story however is the fact that the vast majority of the guild stayed in World of Warcraft and in spite of my recruitment to other ventures… seemingly thrived. In fact I would say that right now Stalwart WoW was experiencing a bit of a renaissance with folks coming back that have long been dormant.

You can say this is the “Blizzcon Bump” but it seems a bit different for some reason. On my server Argent Dawn, I am seeing people showing up on my friends list that had disappeared years before I left the game. Even seeing familiar names popping into channels that out of nostalgia I am still joining. As much as I wanted to deny the fact, World of Warcraft is still thriving at least in pockets of players that have kept the embers of the community burning brightly. In my absence Rylacus has done a phenomenal job of “not messing with things” as he puts it. He has always been one of my closest and most loyal friends, and as I have been gone he has simply tried to continue on with what he thought I would do. It seems to have worked, because on week nights we tend to have 20-30 or more people online and active in doing something.

The only problem is that this maintaining the status quo has only caused to further some divides that started back in Cataclysm. When I said “A Guild Divided” in the section heading, I was not referring to the nomad gamers and the wow loyalists… but instead a rift that was always there but has deepened in my time away. Essentially our guild right now is a tale of two raids, the haves and the have-nots essentially. One raid has thrived clearing content and racking up the loot, while the other has floundered struggling to fill. There has been no intended malice, but the lesser performing raid has lost a lot of its brighter members to the better performing raid as folks sought out the path of easier loot. As a result there is more than a bit of bitterness and bad blood that has developed towards the alpha team.

Cleansing the Way

In the past I had served as a bridge between the two worlds, a bit of a buffer to lower the frustrations and aggressions. Rylacus has tried hard to fill these shoes but he simply does not have the volume of playtime that I do. Now that I am back at least for a bit I am trying my best to bridge this rift and hopefully mend the way between. As a result I have started tanking for the lesser progressed raid, and it seems like I am the difference between failure and success. The first week we downed new content, and it seemed so easy that I had no idea it wasn’t already on farm. The other tank is amazing to work with, and I am adjusting rapidly to this whole new concept for me of “no main tank”.

Additionally I am trying to attend the events sponsored by the alpha team to build the social equity there. The “big kids” have been gracious enough to host an open flex raid night on Mondays and this is getting betters of both teams in the same space. It is a bit awkward at times, but so far I think it has been an overall positive experience. The flex gear will help bolster both raids. The holidays have taken a big chunk out of our schedules, but I am hoping this week we can return to normality. In a sort of serendipity… several of my blogger and twitter friends have characters on Argent Dawn or are rerolling there. Going to try and get as many of them as I can into the open raid nights.

When I had come back for Pandaria the guild felt wrong to me. No one talked, no one worked together… and I really did not know how to fix it. Now coming back things are just different. Guild chat is full of lively conversation. Folks seem happy, and willing to help one another. Stalwart had survived all these years on a shared spirit, a feeling that we were all working together towards a greater good. During Cataclysm it feels that this spirit lost its way as we absorbed so many of the smaller satellite guilds that made up our non-guild-based raiding alliance. It feels though that in the midst of all of this a strong community has evolved. Here is hoping that I can be a catalyst towards solidifying this community into something truly great. If nothing else, I have been remembered and I still very much feel loved by my WoW family.

The Contest

December 1, 2013 by Belghast

Hello Self Conscious

I have officially finished my novel, and I say that in jest because really the hard part has yet to begin. The whole NaNoWriMo process was extremely draining. I almost viewed the past year of daily posts on aggronaut as training for the marathon that was Nano. The thing I was not at all prepared for however was just how draining coming home each night and writing a chapter of original material was. My blog is pretty much me just reacting or regurgitating “found material”. Nano on the other hand was me giving birth to characters, plots, settings and for all intents and purposes a big unique world of my own making.

Now that it is over it is time for me to return to the normal daily blog posts… and quite frankly I find myself a little self-conscious. For the last 29 posts I have simply dumped what I wrote the night before in private out onto the screen for you guys to read (or more than likely not read). Now I find myself sitting here having to come up with things to write that are relevant and timely. It is not that I find myself with writers block, because there are a month worth of topics backed up inside of me. I just find myself a little nervous about the entire process. I have to get back in the pattern of just dumping my innermost thoughts out onto a page for you all to pick over.

The Contest

During the month of my absence from morning posts a thing happened. Well actually if we are most truthful about it a lot of things happened. In this case two particular things happened. Firstly Trion announced the existence of Trove their new game that melds Minecraft, Cubeworld and MMOs. Secondly I somehow managed to get into the first wave of alpha invites. Thirdly when I realized that I was one of only a handful of people in the game, and that the alpha process had absolutely no NDA… I thought I should probably do something to show off the game. As a result I did a thing that I had thought about for some time… I recorded my very first lets play video.

So far I have recorded four videos in total, the first of which only being a super short test video in which I was trying to figure out the kinks of using youtube. I am completely new to this whole experience but so far the videos have been well received. An interesting thing happened however over the extended holiday weekend. I ended up getting a second alpha key. So I thought about what I should do with it, should I offer it up to my friends over twitter or g+? Then I came up with a constructive idea… hold a contest. The idea is to get people to provide feedback on features they would like to see in the game, so that I can compile this list in blog post form to present to the Trion folk.

The Rules

Since the video series is a youtube thing, I will be hosting the contest there. The basics are this… go to the Episode 3 link. Do the standard subscribe/like/comment youtube bs. In your comment describe a feature you would like to see built into Trove. The sky is the limit as far as features go since this is a melding of the traditional building game and an MMO. I will only be accepting comments that actually provide a suggestion in them, and will be ignoring all “begging for the key” and otherwise trolling posts.

I will be accepting comments through 12/3/2013 and Wednesday morning I will be pulling together a list of all of the comments and the posters name. I will be dumping this in a google doc and then using a random number generator to pick the winner. Everyone’s comments will be featured on my blog and I will cross post that on the trove reddit as well. Wednesday evening I will announce the winner over the various social platforms that I use. May the random number generator be in your favor! I just thought this would be a fun way to give away a key and hopefully provide some useful suggestions back to Trion in the process.

NaNoWriMo 29 – New Beginnings

November 30, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 29

Today was a significant day. Firstly it was the last day of my family thanksgivings for the year. Secondly I came home and wrote the final chapter to the novel. The other night when I wrote the last bit to get over the finish line, I simply was not in the right frame of mind to write the closing chapter. Today however after spending the day with family, I decided it was as good a time as any to write the “happy ending”. The novel has come to a conclusion, but the story is far from over.

If you are feeling like you want to catch up, here is the story that has gone before. I have edited nothing.

29 – New Beginnings

Bethilda stepped through the threshold of the waygate station deep below the streets of avalon. Stepping out into the platform she joined Pico and Berrol who were saying goodbye to Bemel. In the weeks after her rescue she had watched as Bemel took a shining to the young boy, much the same as Pico had apparently done not long beforehand. The boy was very special, and in him rested the hopes of better times. Bethilda had reached out to her connections in Brittagus but the news was not good at all. It seems as though shortly after her escape from the island city, Astanax was publicly beheaded as a warning to any other dissenters. With him died the access to the hidden waygate, as well as the hopes of the Order of Merlin.

Pico had confessed that she was the creator of the weapons that the humans used to attack the members of the Elfen court. There were a few shouts and harsh words back and forth, but they had all come to a point of understanding. Things were changing in the shadowlands and Bethilda felt that new and greater threats were on the rise from the forces of winter. As a result she had proposed the founding of the Summer Alliance, and with Pico representing humanity they worked through the details of a treaty. The Ward Watch, now would protect not only humanity but the forces of good in the shadowlands.

After the events leading to Pico’s rapid exit, no one was really certain where Brittagus stood on these matters. They remained as isolated and xenophobic as ever, and in the past weeks managed to close the borders to even the Valkore traders who freely entered and exited the ports before. Battle lines were being drawn, but Bethilda was not concerned. The combined forces of the Elfen, Valkore, Wildfae and Sasquatch came back from the fields of battle victorious. With the addition of the humans, she knew they were as strong as any standing alliance had ever been in the nightlands.

As Bethilda stepped forward towards the trio they turned to face her, stopping their conversation. “No need to stop on my accord.” She said with a smile on her face. “It is nothing, Bemel was just saying goodbye” Pico said reaching down and ruffling Berrol’s hair. “I do hate to see you leaving, I feel there is much we can learn from each other.” Bethilda responded reaching out her hand to the shorter human. “Commander Farragut will be wanting a debriefing, and I am sure he will scold me for entering into this agreement without his consent. I am sure after he has heard all the details, and especially after you provided me my sample of dragon bone…” she said while lifting up the metal case at her side “.. I am sure he will come to see it my way as well.”

“You are welcome in Avalon at any time, and I look forward to reading your reports.” Bethilda knelt down “You too are welcome anytime you wish to come back Berrol.” The little boy ran over and gave her a hug turning around to look at Pico “We can come back to visit Aunt Beth can’t we Pico?” Pico shook her head “I am sure we can, I will want to study their library for information about the original Order of Merlin and scour it for any information about the wards after all” she said winking at Bemel. Was it Bethilda’s imagination or were the two of them flirting? Bemel was afterall a handsome man, but had never really shown interest in a particular woman. She thought to herself that it was probably good for him after recent events.

Pico took Berrol in hands, and Bemel walked over to the wall, placing his palm on a cyan stone embedded there. There was a purple mist that formed in the center of the chamber and within seconds it had condensed into a crack. From the edges of the crack poured a bright purple light before it finally opened into a oval shape, showing the corresponding chamber in the other world. Standing there was a man who Bethilda assumed was Commander Farragut. Pico said her final goodbyes and together she stepped with Berrol through the opening. The fissure sparkled and then she was standing on the other side conversing with the man. Bemel removed his hand and the way began to close eventually sputtering out in a puff of purple mist.

“I never took you for the ambassador Bemel” she said as she winked at him. Bemel blushed brightly for a moment and then simply responded “I have no idea what you are talking about, I was just showing Pico around our fair city.” Beth nodded as she grabbed his arm and proceeded down the corridor, and back into the main palace complex. The walked through a long shaft with Elfen Pikemen posted in pairs every few feet. As they passed the pair would straighten up and bring their spear across their chest in a salute. Bethilda realized that it would be disrespectful for them to not do it, but she always found the pomp of being the Queen intolerable. She missed the times she would sneak away to visit Jace at the farm, but she realized that the danger it posed would no longer be allowed.

Similarly it was no longer safe for Jace to return to the world of the humans either. Now that it was known he was the prince, others would be trying to get to him as well… and that was something she simply could not allow. The events had brought more than a few harsh realities to bear. She was however thankful that Kayle had decided to stay with him here in Avalon. Over the weeks spent rescuing her, it seems as though their friendship had blossomed into something more. For as brutish and unrefined as Kale could be, the girl had a softness to her, especially when it came to Jace or Dimcy. As far as the firesprite was concerned they were not inseparable as Kale had a permanent resident of her shoulder.

As they walked together through the corridor she turned to look at Bemel. “I will not be joining you in the audience chamber, I am stopping off at the infirmary first.” Bemel looked at Bethilda and nodded. “I assumed you might, do you want me to come with you?” He said grasping his sisters arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “No I will be fine” Bemel shoot her a look of incredulity for a moment but Bethilda shook her head. “No really, I will be fine… I just need to see him.” Bemel nodded again letting go of her arm. They passed through an archway, and to the left the path split, and Bethilda turned down it. Bemel continued on towards the audience chamber hoping she would find some peace.

Bethilda walked down a dim corridor, there were no guards along this one, and she was actually thankful for the quiet. It seemed as though almost everyone was doing better after the events at Fort Kraken, but there was one glaring exception. While she had been rushed out of the Fort in an attempt to protect her and her son, the Summer Alliance crawled over the keep leaving no stone unturned. Deep within the basement they found a chamber filled with a myriad of cruel instruments, all designed to torture both the body and the mind. It was within this chamber that they found him, half dead, slumping against the chains that bound him to the wall. The best healers the court had to offer tried their best to bring him back. Even the Sasquatch shaman healer Torklah failed to improve his condition.

Bethilda had ordered a room for him here in the infirmary, and she tried to make it as comfortable as she could. As she stood at the doorway to the chamber she looked at the once proud man now laying broken on the bed. She felt a tear sliding down her cheek as walked through through the doorway. She took a seat on the bed beside him as he lie there perfectly still other than the slow labored breaths. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it tight. “Benj my love, I am here… can you hear me?” she pleaded as she peered down into his glassy stare. She began to weep softly as she waited as always for a response, only to hear nothing but his ragged breaths.

She laid down across his chest, wrapping her arms around him. “Please come back to me…” she said softly. She had always regretted their decision, and never did more than now. She wanted to protect her son, and she felt the only way to do this was to disguise who he was. While she would work to repair the relationship between them, she could never buy back the days she lost with her beloved. “You just have to come back… I need you” she wept into his chest. She laid there like this for a good amount of time sobbing when she felt something she did not expect. She looked down to her side to see Benj’s hand had moved up slightly to rest upon her, with his fingertips spread out grasping her.

She exclaimed “You are still in there aren’t you!” She reached down grasping the hand and slowly his fingers grasped around hers. He was recovering slowly, she was certain of it. Benj had always been resilient, and he was trying desperately to come back to her. She looked up at his face and his eyes were closed with his mouth fixed in an expression of determination. “I will wait however long it takes” she said softly as his expression relaxed a bit and his hand fell loose at his side. She lay there listening to his heart beat with renewed strength. She would wait for eternity for him to be back at her side. They could be a real family this time, like she had always wanted them to be. Even if it meant war, she would do anything to protect them and keep him safe.

NaNoWriMo 28 – The Puppeteer

November 29, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 28

I am so thankful that I pushed on forward and finished up before yesterday. After coming home from the holiday madness I was not in any state to write. I still have one more chapter to finish, so hopefully today I will find some peace of mind to do just that. This is the next to last chapter and I still have yet to write the one that ties the pieces up and talks about what the folks are doing after the events. As always nothing has been edited, and I plan on sitting down to do that after the new year. Here is a rundown of the story so far.

28 – The Puppeteer

The night sky looked angry, it was as though it knew what was in his mind. He reached into the folds of his thick red and gold robe, retrieving a small circle. Numbers flashed across its surface swirling in and out of view. The hour was getting late and there was still no sign of the assassin. It was unlike Shandor to not be punctual, and this was a trait he had come to expect from him. The master would not tolerate such a delay, so why should he. As the indignant rage built up inside of him he heard a noise behind him. The assassin had slipped into the room without opening the door or breaching the window. Betweeners as their accursed sidestepping he thought as he turned to meet the man.

“Do you have it” the robed man asked impatiently looking at the pack on the back of the assassin. The other slowly took the pack down producing a pouch handing it to the robed man. Slowly he opened the pouch and the room was filled with the soft glow of orange abbreviated by brief flashes of blue. The stormfire crystal was complete and as he held it in his hands he could feel the power coursing from it. With such power came great temptation with a mere touch of his fingers and a short incantation… all of that power could be his. He quickly closed the bag, knowing the master would flay him for even thinking such thoughts.

He placed the pouch in a pocket buried within the folds of his robe. No that distinct honor would be that of the Master, and he would never know of the moment of weakness just felt. He slightly to face the assassin looking him directly in the eyes “Do you have the other?”. The assassin walked over to a table, placing down his pack and lifting out a great brass cylinder. The construction was delicate of ancient dwarven make. The assassin removed a clip from the top of the container pulling up on it, removing the brass shroud.

There within a glass tube filled with a slightly glowing greenish ichor sat the head of Baigan Derrow, traitor to the courts of Avalon. “Are you quite certain it is fresh?” the robed man asked looking over the face of the fallen shade. “Yes, I slipped it into the casing moments after removing it. The flesh was still quite warm as I flooded the chamber with the conductive liquid.” The assassin replied stepping back from the container. The master would be pleased, he knew that he would want to read the thoughts of the traitor to determine if there was anything he kept hidden away in that brain.

“Sir there is the matter of my payment.” The assassin spoke up making a gesture with his hands to indicate the expected currency. Shandor was a loyal contractor and could be trusted to execute all instructions to the letter. This was a hard thing to find, and of course was worth quite a lot. The robed man crossed to his desk pulling out a fat sack that jingled as he crossed the room again, placing it in the hands of the assassin. “I am certain you will find this more than you requested. Just think of it as a bonus for the length of time spent in the company of that fool.” The assassin took the coins placing it down in the bottom of his pack and slinging the satchel across his back once more.

“Just as you had said, the Elfen and the human showed up moments after I had taken the head.” Shandor remarked while walking towards the door. “If there is nothing else, I will be going.” The robed man shook his head slowly “No that will be all, you are as always a faithful and honorable assassin. Should we need your services again, I know how to reach you.” The other nodded as he disappeared from sight silently in a puff of purple smoke. No matter how many times he saw a betweener shift like that, he could never really get used to the sight. Things had gone according to the masters plan.

He moved to the table, picking the brass shroud up and sliding it back down over the glass chamber. Taking the pin he refastened it and lifted the entire apparatus from the table. Slowly and carefully he walked holding the container out beside him as though afraid it would somehow taint him through its mere presence. He moved down the carved stone hallway entering a small room on the left with a dim green glow. There were a series of containers just like the one he carried in his hand. Each one sat down on a shaft with a series of cables leading up from it into the ceiling. He sat down the container and it seated in the slot making a distinct click as it finally locked into place.

The robed man unfastened to pins on either side of the container and the front panel of the brass shroud slid away revealing the face of Baigan once more. Reaching up he took a bundle of cables down from the ceiling, fastening each clamp onto one of the bolts sticking out from the top of the brass tube. After each clamp had been fastened the liquid in the container began to churn making bubbling noises as he sloshed and swished about the head. Baigan took a permanent place in the machine as the heads eyes began to open and mouth move in slight motions. The master would not be able to access his every thought and desire.

He looked to the container to the left,. to the head of Astanax the traitor to the Order. The robed man was giddy thinking about the secrets he must have told the master. The Order of Merlin hiding right under their noses and the library of knowledge that was now theirs to plunder. There was still one thing that did not make sense to him. Why had the master bid for him to help the girl escape. Would it not have been better to dispose of her and the son of Astanax? “it is not my place to question the master. The master is all knowing, all seeing. The master will lead the way.” He chanted the mantra pushing away the thoughts from his head, letting the rhythm of the words purify him.

He turned away from the containers and the moving faces contained within them, to a desk set into the far wall. Sitting down at it he drew towards him a large crystal on a pedestal. Placing his hands on the base he closed his eyes reaching out through the crystal to someplace else, someplace dark and powerful. The crystal flickered to life and within its many facets there displayed was a shadow shrouded figure seated on on a throne. “Is it complete Karrek?” the voice in the crystal demanded. “Yes master, the traitor Baigan has been connected to your machine. The assassin has also delivered to me the stormfire crystal.” Karrek smiled broadly as he delivered the good news.

“You are as always my faithful servant Karrek. Keep the crystal safe until I come for it.” The crystal dimmed and with it vanished the image of the master. Karrek had pleased him, and this meant he would be rewarded. Still he could not shake the feeling that there was more to the plan of the master than he could ever understand. The human girl, Pico, had to play some key role in his greater symphony. There were so many questions running through his head, but as he pushed them away he convinced himself that the time of the master was near. The threads of fate were being stitched together one by one.

He left the small room and moved back out into the main chamber, crossing it to stand upon the balcony once again. Karrek looked out upon Brittagus, the colony trapped in time, exiled from humanity. The exile of the wizards was soon to end. The Wards would fall and with them the Master would claim his place as the ruler of the new world. Karrek his loyal servant would be rewarded at his right hand. All of the death and pain would be worth it when the new glorious world rose like a phoenix from the ashes of this hollow one. Karrek raised his hand to his cheek as a small tear of joy dripped down it and onto his hand.