My Order is at a crossroads. This thing with Fai illustrates it magnificently. Here I’m forced to make a choice – a choice between what I know in my heart to be right, and what I’ve been told is right. Fortunately, I have plenty of company and our Leadership is doing a lot of soul searching.

I hear the archbishop of Stormwind’s brother came back as a Death Knight and is living in his cottage in Elwynn.

So I don’t have to renounce my Faith – yet.  I’m pretty sure that, should it come to that, I would do so. I cannot look at her and imagine it any other way.  She’s my little cousin, no matter how Arthas tried to twist her. And I’d as soon lay down my own life as harm a hair on her head. I’ll take up farming. See if I don’t.

She worries, she does. Not about me, now, I think, but in the back of her mind I think she still thinks she’ll turn on us.  That Arthas has a hold on her and what can be undone, can be redone. Damn him for hurting her so. Damn him.

This whole thing just got a little more personal for me.

She’s been cleaning out her room, including the sad little task of dismantling her pet’s sleeping pit. At least she’s letting go a little bit.  Old habits are hard to break and all, but she has a new … life … now. Best be on about it.

I found her on the balcony, a favorite place for our family when thinking Deep Thoughts.

“Finished with the room, are you?”

“Aye,” she sighed. Even her sighs are ominous now. “It’s more appropriate for one such as me, now.”

“I know you still miss Oberon, lass. But Grimm saw that he was doing all right now, so put it out of your mind. He’s happy and doing what big cats do.”

“Aye, I know. But it was nice having a friend out there. I have a long journey ahead of me, Uncle. It’s nice having a friend along, even a furry one that doesn’t talk. I’m just used to it, is all, and nothing has changed that fer me.”

Mew

“What was that?”

Mew

“A little something I got from a lady outside of Stormwind. I don’t know if the markings are exactly right, but it’s certainly a striking resemblance.”

Mew

“Oberon!” She reached out and grasped the little ball of fluff I had in my hands. Bounce “Uncle, I love him!”

I think she cracked one of my ribs with that hug. She’s got a grip on her, that one. She’ll do just fine.

- fin -

Warning: the following is an attempt at humor. Temerity Jane is a real person, and I did not make up her boyfriend on a dare. The internet, however, is fictional.

Aye, there’s been a kerfluffle in the Paladin-verse. If you’re not familiar with the story, WoW Insider has a good overview.

Even after the sniffing, interviewing, and research, there are still conflicting data points. Ferraro’s own “meh culpa” obfuscates more than it clarifies, WoW Insider’s IP snooping is less than comprehensive, and none of the alleged other perps have spoken up.

What, then, is going on here?

Well, I think we’re far from exhausting all the possibilities, so let me list a few that may or may not have come up so far. Print this out, and as each is eliminated, line it out. When all is said and done, you’ll have it narrowed down to one or two possibilities.

1. One person, bad lying. The most elegant theory.
2. One person, multiple personalities. Also fits the facts. In fact, Ms Townsend could be one of those personalities. I used to live with a gal that had MPD, and the differences between personalities are striking. One didn’t smoke, the rest did. One wore contacts, the rest wore glasses. I wish I was joking but it’s a real possibility.
3. Multiple persons, just as “she” said. Only one which ever visited WoW Insider, I guess.
4. She is the Dread Pirate Roberts. There will be no surviors!
5. Jagoex. “She” said “other WoW blogs.” ¹ Where better to hide than in plain sight? And traffic spikes? Well, let’s consider that WoW Insider links usually kill sites dead, and leave it at that. Also, both blogs are on Blogspot. You know how unusual that is?  Wait. What?
6. Sarah Townsend.  We’re totally through the looking glass now, peeps.
7. I’m Spartacus. No, really, it was me. The subterfuge is just too much to bear any more.  I’m also Matticus, Ratshag, and Temerity Jane. That last one is the hardest. I’ve never been able to make Phil as believable as I wanted to. I originally wanted to make him like Phil in Night Court but that caused flashbacks.

Well, as Jong said (post pulled, sorry), “lol@ Ferraro”. Content stealing is such an un-paladinish thing to do.

But it might work for “Death Knight Shmeath Knight”.

Which does not appear to be live yet.

1. ”We run other WoW blogs, as well.” – from the initial bullet list in her “meh culpa”. [↩]

The Paladin of Paladins, He Who Dances In Knightly Armor, the master of the spin, jump, and bounce, is back!

I can never get enough of Shepiwot. Mostly because he annoys the dickens out of Flora.

Now he adds vehicular brainslaughter and spinning parachutes to his resume. Well played, sir. Well played.

HOW TO PALADIN XXXI

On a hunch last night, I went through all the arms and armor I had stocked up for the future (gifts Grimm, etc.). As I feared, what I found was that at least half my gear had lost its value due to stat creep.

Here’s what happened: at the 3.0 patch, a new stats system kicked in. +Heal became +Spell Power, +Spell Hit became +Hit, and so on. In the process, the equations all drifted a bit, and some gear that I had no longer had the stats I needed.

For example, a chest piece that was a complete upgrade for me turned into one that had no health boost, and was in fact a downgrade for me in that regard.

Yarley checked hers out too and found a few (but fortunately, not as many) items  as well.

So … check your bags and make sure all the stuff you were hanging on to is still worth hanging on to.

From the day I was old enough to pick up a weapon, I have trained towards the day I could confront those that have cost me and my people so much misery.

I have dedicated myself to the Light. I have learned to be proficient with any weapon within reach. I have trained to such an extent that I single-handedly worked my way halfway through both the Dead Mines and Shadowfang Keep before I turned 25.

I am a Soldier of the Light. Nothing can stand against me when I am full of righteous fury.

And yesterday, this Soldier of the Light … was asked to serve his people by fetching milk and cookies for a bleary old corporate shill of a Dwarf on a three-day bender. He practically coughed up a hairball on my armor.

There are rare days – and this was one of them – when I consider why people actually side with Arthas against the rest of us. Things like this, bring understanding closer.

Milk and cookies.

Bah.  :: mumble mutter mumble righteous fury, my bum mutter mutter ::