Bladewisp's Diary (Entry #4)

We quickly ran up the curving steps, mindful that time was of the essence. At the top of the steps was a huge hall with many undead Scourge kneeling in supplication. It appeared they were listening to a large Scourge leader who looked like a particularly overgrown Nerubian overseer speaking. Her words rang out clearly throughout the hall.

“Fix your eyes upon your crude hands! The sinew, the soft meat, the dark blood coursing within! It is a weakness! A crippling flaw! A joke played by the creators upon their own creations! The sooner you come to accept your condition as a defect, the sooner you will find yourselves in a position to transcend it!”

“Through our master all things are possible! His power is without limit, and his will unbending! Those who oppose him will be destroyed utterly! And those who serve, who serve wholly, unquestioningly, with utter devotion of mind and soul? Elevated! To heights beyond your ken!”

“You have found your way here, because you are among the few gifted with true vision in a world cursed with blindness! You can see through the fog that hangs over this world like a shroud and grasp where true power lies!”

Avierra’s eyes narrowed. “She’s standing right in front of that platform. See it rising? That’s our way up to the Skybreaker. We’ll have to get past this hall first. Information?”

Azmuth stared at a milky orb and it began to swirl. He appeared to listen intently for a few moments before shaking his head with a sigh. “This isn’t going to be easy. This hall is called the Oratory of the Damned, for obvious reasons. Getting through the kneeling supplicants won’t be a problem, of course. It’s the big one we have to handle with care.”

“Her name’s Lady Deathwhisper,” Azmuth explained. “She is the supreme overseer of the Cult of the Damned, which is why all those Scourge are listening to her rant. Her position enables her to call upon legions of her minions to keep us occupied. She also has a mana shield which we’ll need to break through before we can even start fighting her directly. She’s able to empower her minions, making them tougher and stronger. SI:7 operatives have noted that she rarely leaves that area of the room.”

“She summons 2 types of minions: fanatics and adherents,” Azmuth continued. “Fanatics are vulnerable to magic, but shrug off physical blows. Adherents are the opposite.”

Avierra nodded her understanding. “Let’s have Mal, Calimdan and Bladewisp on the adherents. Jizal, Azmuth, Jarvisius and myself will be on the fanatics. We’ll need to hit that mana shield of hers after her summoned minions are downed or we’ll be overwhelmed.”

“Be aware that she can empower her minions, so those have to be burned down quickly,” Azmuth reminded everyone.

“Let’s clear these supplicants first,” Mal ventured, already swinging his sword.

Avierra rolled her eyes. “Fine, let’s clear out the supplicants. Brutusk, please do not run toward Lady Deathwhisper. We don’t want a repeat of… well, you know.”

Brutusk seemed offended. “Why, I would never…”

Avierra waved his next words away even as Mal rushed forward to engage the supplicants. We made short work of them and soon, were faced with just Lady Deathwhisper. She seemed not even to notice that all her supplicants were dead. She seemed to be gazing upward adoringly, as if seeing the Lich King himself.

“I think she’s insane,” I whispered.

“Time to put her out of her misery then,” Jizal responded cheerfully.

I quickly nocked an arrow and pulled, cocking an eye at Avierra. She nodded quickly and was moving even before I released the iceblade shaft. It sped straight and true, smashing against an invisible shield that shimmered like a heat wave. My wolf Lobo rushed in to attack as well, ramming himself against the shield.

She seemed to notice us for the first time. “What is this disturbance?! You dare trespass upon this hallowed ground? This shall be your final resting place!”

Three shimmers heralded the arrival of 2 fanatics and an adherent from the alcoves on our left. Mal and Avierra rushed forward to engage, closely followed by the rest of our group. I shot a few more arrows at the shield before switching to engage an adherent.

As her minions fell, she roared in fury. “Take this blessing and show these intruders a taste of our master’s power!”

A fanatic suddenly screamed and grew larger, joints popping grotesquely. “Burn it down!” Azmuth shouted, leaping into the now-empowered fanatic’s path and delivering a powerful blow that would have decapitated a giant. The fanatic simply grinned and reached for the death knight with grasping claws. Azmuth evaded them and spun away, running toward the other side of the room. The empowered fanatic howled and shambled after him. Meanwhile, I had five arrows embedded in its flesh within the blink of an eye. Jizal and Calimdan bashed into the thing from behind. In short order, it was nothing more than a pile of smoking remains.

“On the mana shield! Now!” Avierra instructed.

Everyone turned their attention back to Lady Deathwhisper and unleashed everything they had with steel, claw, spell, and arrow. About 3 seconds later, 3 more figures shimmered into being from the right alcoves, this time it was 2 adherents and a fanatic. I hesitated a bare moment to shoot another arrow into the mana shield before swinging my bow into alignment with an adherent. Within a bare second, I had shot arrows into its chest, throat, and forehead.

Lady Deathwhisper raised both arms. “Arise and exalt in your true form!”

The adherent that should have been downed rose once more, eyes glowing and crackling with raw energy. I shot more arrows into it, aided by Calimdan in cat form who rushed in from the side with flashing claws. Between us, the re-animated adherent went down screaming.

Lady Deathwhisper hissed as she pointed at the fanatic. “I release you from the curse of flesh!”

The fanatic roared in pain as it grew to enormous size, flesh stretching over suddenly-enlarged bones. A fey light entered its eyes as it turned its attention to Avierra. “Burn this one down!” Avierra warned as his Hammer of Righteousness spell slammed into the empowered fanatic, slamming it to the ground. It simply rose again, ponderous, and fixed it eyes on Avierra.

Jarvisius threw fel fireballs into the thing from the side while Jizal and Azmuth hewed with steel and magic. The empowered fanatic went down, but too slowly. Already, 3 more shimmers presaged the entry of another set of adherents and fanatics.

I barely had time to take 3 more shots at Lady Deathwhisper’s mana shield before engaging another adherent. We downed this group faster than the previous ones so we had more time to pound the mana shield. It appeared to be weakening under our assault, winking in and out of existence as our spells and steel slammed into it.

“Hold! We can’t take her and another set of minions at the same time!” Avierra warned.

We stopped our assault even as another 3 shimmers heralded more minions. We killed them hastily, aware that the mana shield was about to go down. “Clear! Take down that shield!”

Spells, arrows, steel, and claws smashed into the mana shield until it winked out with an incongruous pop. Lady Deathwhisper’s eyes widened in shock. “Enough! I see I must take matters into my own hands!”

Avierra and Mal rushed forward to engage, with Calimdan, Azmuth, and Jizal close on their heels. Jarvisius and I hung back, hurling spells and arrows at the now-unshielded Lady Deathwhisper. Ghostly figures materialized from the side alcoves, rushing toward us only to explode on contact. We learned to run away from them on sight. She cast deadly shadow bolts from her hands and we interrupted them with spell and arrow as best we could.

After an interminable time, she seemed to falter. “Burn her down!” Avierra screamed. “For the Light!”

Jizal took up the cry. “For the Light!” He swung his sword with all his might. Azmuth quietly declared, “Hysteria on Jizal.” The sword glowed with a blinding light that seemed to consume the undead monster upon contact.

Lady Deathwhisper crumpled to the ground, a smoking pile of pale dead flesh and torn robes.

Jizal seemed to be panting as he leaned on his sword, still smoking and crackling with holy energy. “That was fun. Do we get to do it again?”

Bladewisp's Diary (Entry #3)

We were clustered behind a wall near the massive doorway leading to the lair of Lord Marrowgar.

“Alright, listen up,” Azmuth hissed, raising a gauntleted hand. “The Highlord’s scouts and King Varian Wrynn’s SI:7 reported in with information concerning Lord Marrowgar. He’s an undead construct created from the bones of thousands of vanquished adventurers like us. He seems to absorb everyone he kills, making him larger and stronger. Notice the distinct lack of corpses or bones. Those are incorporated into his frame and absorbed.”

“But he’s huge,” Brutusk remarked. “How many people has he absorbed?”

“That’s unimportant at this point,” Adialetha replied flatly.

Azmuth nodded. “Agreed. As Adialetha mentioned before, Marrowgar makes bone spikes erupt from the ground, impaling a random person every time. The spike must be destroyed and the impaled person healed, otherwise that person is dead. He also makes cold fire erupt in a line on the ground. These can, and should, be avoided. And then there’s the whirlwind…”

“Reports vary on this ability. From what we can gather, Marrowgar turns into a whirling dervish of bone, fire, and steel, moving quickly from one end of the room to another. Every time he stops, he shoots 4 rows of cold flame in the 4 cardinal directions. He stops around 3 times, so there’s a lot of cold fire on the ground. The whirlwind lasts for a few seconds, then he goes back to using his bone spikes and occasional cold fire.”

Azmuth turned to Avierra. “Orders?”

Avierra grinned. “You’ve been doing great so far. Your call.”

Azmuth chuckled. “It’s your funeral. Jarvisius and Bladewisp, you’re on bone spikes. Your ranged capabilities give you the best shot at taking the spikes down quickly. Avierra and Mal will keep Marrowgar busy. Calimdan, Jizal, and I will stay just beneath Marrowgar, where the cold fire can’t get us. Brutusk and Hotohuri will stay with the melee and keep us alive. Adialetha will stay with the ranged.”

“Once the whirlwind starts, anyone in Marrowgar’s path will scatter. Each healer will take a third of the room and stay there, making sure everyone in that area gets healed. Everyone runs and everyone avoids the cold fire.”

“Any questions?”

Mal raised a hand. “Can I have his axe afterwards?”

Azmuth sighed. “Any relevant questions?”

Jizal was standing right by the door, clutching his sword in both hands and swaying from one foot to the other. “Jizal…” Azmuth called testily.

The young retribution paladin turned. “What? I was just… surveying the battlefield.”

“Wait for Avierra and Mal to engage Marrowgar,” Azmuth reminded him. “We don’t want a repeat of… Well, you know. Just stay behind them.”

“Pfft, I never have any fun…” Jizal moved away from the door dejectedly.

I threw my pet wolf Lobo a treat even as I chewed on more blackened dragonfin. I was addicted to the stuff. Oh, did I never mention Lobo before? Lobo is my pet wolf who I rescued from a Horde training camp when I was still a young hunter. He was supposed to be a Horde wolf mount but being the runt of the litter made that impossible. I brought him out of there and trained him. He’s been my faithful companion ever since.

I patted him on the head as he chewed on his treat. Pretty soon, he’d be chewing on Marrowgar. I unlimbered my bow and made sure my magical quiver had plenty of arrows.

“Let’s go,” Avierra said. She incanted and called on the Light for strength even as she rushed into battle, closely followed by Mal. I quickly put up a hunter’s mark on Marrowgar, outlining him in vivid red, while ordering Lobo to rush in and attack.

Marrowgar roared in anger. “This is the beginning AND the end, mortals! None may enter the master’s sanctum!”

He swung his axe at Avierra. The paladin met the axe mid-swing with his sword, stopping it cold. The monster screamed with fury. “The Scourge will wash over this world as a swarm of death and destruction!”

Jizal, Calimdan (in cat form), and Azmuth followed in Avierra and Mal’s wake, magic, steel, and claw scoring against the undead behemoth. Jarvisius and I stayed near the door, within easy reach of both our other companions and Marrowgar. As planned, Hotohuri (in tree form) and Brutusk went in with the melee while Adialetha stayed with the ranged.

I quickly fired arrow after arrow, hands blurring with the sheer speed of drawing, nocking, and releasing. Jarvisius, a few yards away, cast spell after spell, his trusty demonic companion Zignar right beside him throwing fireballs into the fray.

Abruptly, Marrowgar reared up and roared. “Bound by bone!”

A spike punched up from the ground, impaling Jizal. “Jizal impaled!” Azmuth warned.

Jarvisius and I switched targets and hit the spike with all we had. Arrows and fel fire smashed into the stone spike. In a few seconds, the spike crumbled to dust and Jizal landed on his feet, Hotohuri throwing a healing spell on him to allay any lingering effects. He went right back to swinging his sword, hardly missing a beat.

Marrowgar howled. “BONE STORM!”

“Scatter!” Azmuth shouted, even as he leaped back and ran to the room’s periphery. Everyone else followed suit. Marrowgar whirled in place, axe held outward, before swinging first to the left, then to the right. I ran, first right, then left, before disengaging and leaping backward, sailing over 2 intersecting rows of cold fire on the ground. Even as I was moving, my arrows never stopped flying, tracking Marrowgar wherever he went.

When the whirlwind ended, Avierra and Mal again rushed forward to engage, closely followed by the rest of the melee and the 2 healers. Rinse and repeat, I thought to myself.

“Stick around!” Marrowgar shouted mockingly. Another bone spike erupted, this time impaling Adialetha. Again, Jarvisius and I turned to pepper the spike with arrows and spells. In short order, the spike crumbled and Adialetha cast a healing spell on herself for good measure.

And so it continued.

The bone storm hit us twice more and both Calimdan and Jarvisius were impaled over the course of the fight. I felt the scorching cold of the cold fire on the ground to ensure Jarvisius was freed of his bone spike in time.

After moments that seemed to last lifetimes, Lord Marrowgar crumbled into a horrendous pile of smoking bones, his axe buried under the rubble. At the last, he simply whispered, “I see… only… darkness…”

“I hate this guy,” Mal observed, panting. “He can keep his damned axe.”

Bladewisp's Diary (Entry #2)

Highlord Tirion Fordring’s words echoed down the cold stone halls.

“This is our final stand. What happens here will echo through the ages. Regardless of outcome, they will know that we fought with honor; that we fought for the freedom and safety of our people. Remember heroes, fear is your greatest enemy in these befouled halls. Steel your heart and your soul will shine brighter than a thousand suns! The enemy will falter at the sight of you and will fall as the might of righteousness envelops them. Our march on Icecrown Citadel begins now!”

“The old man talks too much,” Calimdan remarked in cat form as we sprinted down the hallway. “So much for the element of surprise.” Facing us at the first portal were 3 undead guardians.

Avierra signaled Mal and he peeled off to the right and engaged 2 guardians at the same time. Hotohuri shapeshifted into tree form and already cast her first healing spell on the warrior even before he had rushed forward. Avierra’s spell smashed into the third guardian who stood on our left. The rest of us knew what to do.

Jizal, Calimdan, and Azmuth rushed forward in Avierra’s wake, moving to stand behind the undead guardian and attacking it with steel, spell and claw. Jarvisius and I halted a few yards away. He began to cast his usual array of spells while I let fly with shaft after shaft of deadly arrows. Adialetha and Brutusk stood nearby, making sure everyone that got hurt was quickly healed.

In short order, the guardian was felled and Avierra calmly pulled a guardian off of Mal. The rest of us quickly switched and, before long, all 3 guardians were smoldering corpses at our feet.

“That was easy,” Jarvisius noted cheerfully.

Azmuth shook his head. “From your perspective, perhaps,” he replied, in a deep resonant voice that seemed to come from beyond the grave. “Those guardians were far stronger and tougher than the mere doormen they appeared to be.”

“Azmuth’s right,” Avierra agreed. “Be on your guard. The Highlord’s scouts informed us that there are 2 sets of guards further down. We’ll be taking the left side first, followed by the right. It’s likely Arthas left us a few surprises along the way.”

Just as Avierra had mentioned, there were 2 sets of guards which we dispatched in quick fashion. I chewed on some blackened dragonfin as we continued down the corridor. Suddenly, a huge roar sounded from the right side of the hallway, directly behind some pillars. Out of the darkness a skeletal warrior easily twenty feet in height stepped out and smashed a gargantuan sword on our party.

We scattered, even as Avierra and Mal leaped back before rushing forward to engage the giant skeleton. Azmuth, Jizal, and Calimdan were a step behind. Jarvisius and I leaped to our feet and instantly got to work. Sizzling fireballs and screaming arrows went up in a barrage to savage the mindless undead sentinel. Brutusk, Adialetha, and Hotohuri had their hands full keeping everyone alive.

My right hand was a blur as it drew arrows from the quiver at my back, nocked them in place, pulled, and released, all in one smooth motion. I was picking targets seemingly by instinct, aiming for exposed joints and flickers of the unholy magic that bound the thing together. After seemingly endless moments, the skeletal giant began to falter. We renewed our efforts and soon, all that was left was a smoking pile of giant bones.

“Let’s try to avoid those, if possible,” I commented between gulps of tea.

“Seems we set off a trap,” Brutusk observed. “I saw a sigil flash over there before the skeleton came to life. It’s likely there are other traps throughout this corridor.”

“A rogue would come in handy to find and remove those traps,” Azmuth noted. “I know this highly qualified gnome…”

Avierra shook her head. “No time. You heard Muradin. We need to get to the Skybreaker through the platform and gain entry to the Upper Spire quickly. We’ll just have to be cautious, but quick.”

“Time to move out,” Mal warned. “We’ve little time.”

We encountered 3 more groups of regular undead guards and 2 trap-activated giant skeleton warriors along the corridor before it terminated in a massive room flanked by 2 upward sloping spiral staircases, one of each side. In the middle of the room floated a massive skeleton warrior, half again the size of the trap-activated ones. It had 3 heads where its single head should have been and chill blue fire ringed all 3 heads. In its hands was an enormous 2-handed axe that glowed with the same chill blue flames. It appeared to float, having no discernible legs or feet.

Avierra stared at the thing for a while. “What do we know?”

“It’s named itself Lord Marrowgar,” Adialetha replied. “Some of the scouts returned with reports regarding this creature. Aside from the obvious danger of the big axe, Lord Marrowgar makes bone spikes erupt from the floor, shoots rows of cold fire, and has a devastating whirlwind attack.”

I sighed. “Any good news?”

“There’s one of him and 10 of us,” Adialetha replied with a grim smile.

“Fabulous,” I said, flexing muscles already sore from the previous fights.

Bladewisp's Diary (Entry #1)

With fiercely beating hearts, we entered the massive gates of Icecrown Citadel. The dark stone and iron complex appeared to brood amid the mountains of Icecrown in the northern area of the continent of Northrend. Having completed the Trials of the Argent Crusade, our band of so-called heroes had been tasked with being part of the vanguard for the attack on the Lich King Arthas Menethil. Supported by an alliance between the Knights of the Ebon Blade and the Argent Crusade, now known as the Ashen Verdict, the way was made clear for us to spearhead the thrust into the very peaks of the citadel.

The Ashen Verdict had done its part. Fighting a pitched never-ending battle, they had secured a beachhead at the gates of the citadel. With a sizable force of soldiers, Highlord Tirion Fordring and Highlord Darion Mograine punched a way into the citadel at the Lower Spire.

Thus was the outpost of Light’s Hammer created, on the blood and corpses of the Alliance’s bravest men and women.

“Look sharp, everyone,” our leader Avierra hissed. She was a human paladin from the Alliance capital city of Stormwind. Even as she cinched her plate armor into place and examined her large 2-handed sword with a critical eye, her lips were moving in a prayer to the Light. “Mal and I will take point.”

Mal was her second, a night elf warrior from the outskirts of Darnassus. He hefted his oversized 2-handed sword in hand and grinned as if this was all just a game. “Hopefully, we run into some lovely damsels that need saving on the way.”

Avierra sighed. Mal’s behavior had always been a sticking point with her but there was no doubting his skill.

Our healing team was led by Brutusk, a draenei restoration shaman, supported by Adialetha, a human holy priestess, and Hotohuri, a night elf restoration druid.

Rounding out the team was Jarvisius, a human destruction warlock, Azmuth, a formerly human unholy death knight, Calimdan, a night elf feral druid, and Jizal, a human retribution paladin.

Oh, and of course there is myself, Bladewisp, a night elf marksman hunter. I adjusted the straps of my breastplate and unlimbered my longbow, a monster of a weapon close to my height in length able to hit the eye of a bull from 100 yards away or slam an arrow down to the fletching in the pallid flesh of an undead abomination. I pulled my helm low over my eyes and leaned against a nearby pillar, awaiting the signal to deploy.

Jarvisius was busy sorting various reagents in the pouches at his belt as he approached me. “You ready for this, Wips?” He seemed excited, almost eager to be off.

I nodded. “I’ve already got an arrow reserved especially for the Lich King’s eye.”

The warlock chuckled, a hollow rattling sound from beneath his dark hood. “We’ll have to get through his minions first, hunter. They won’t go down easily.”

I shrugged. “His servant, Anub’Arak, nearly killed us at the Trial. We still kicked his ass.”

“Let’s not get overconfident, hunter,” Adialetha remarked as she approached. The priestess appeared to be limned in a holy glow. The light seemed to push the darkness of the citadel back for a moment. “I’m certain we’re not the only team of heroes to brave the challenges within, just the latest. Be on your guard. Light help us all.”

“Light help us all indeed,” another voice replied. It was Jizal, who seemed more concerned with bashing heads than praising the Light. The light in his eyes was fervent, almost maniacal in intensity. “And Light help those undead monsters within. Their end draws nigh.”

Our discussion was interrupted by Avierra bashing her sword against the cold stone of the citadel. “Listen up, soldiers of the Alliance! Highlord Tirion Fordring speaks!”

Highlord Tirion Fordring rose from his seat and faced us all. He was resplendent in plate armor that glowed with the power of the Light. “Our march upon Icecrown Citadel begins now!”

Suddenly, seeming to come from the very stones of the citadel, the voice of Arthas, the Lich King, boomed out. “You now stand upon the hallowed ground of the Scourge. The Light won’t protect you here, paladin. Nothing will protect you…”

Avierra raised her sword high and it began to glow with a radiant light. She beckoned and we gathered around her just at the mouth of the portal leading into the citadel’s Lower Spire.

Tirion unsheathed his fabled sword Ashbringer and pointed it at the portal. “ARTHAS! I swore that I would see you dead and the Scourge dismantled! I’m going to finish what I started at Light’s Hope.”

The Lich King laughed. “You could have been my greatest champion, Fordring. A force of darkness that would wash over this world and deliver it into a new age of strife. But that honor is no longer yours. Soon, I will have a new champion. The breaking of this one has been taxing. The atrocities that I have committed upon his soul. He has resisted for so long, but he will bow down before his king soon.”

Suddenly, a new voice rang out. “NEVER! I… I will never… serve… you!”

Muradin Bronzebeard, the Alliance representative for the dwarves, seemed to turn white as a sheet. “That was Highlord Bolvar Fordragon! I thought he’d perished at the Wrathgate. We cannot let the Lich King turn him. Prepare the Skybreaker for an aerial assault!”

The Lich King laughed again. “In the end you will all serve me.”

The dwarf spoke to Avierra. “You’ll need to find a place within from which to board the Skybreaker. There’s a platform just above the Lower Spire. You’ll need to fight your way there. Hurry, we’ll be there to transport you to the Upper Spire. Time is of the essence!”

Avierra signaled. She and Mal moved out closely followed by Jizal and Calimdan. The healers came next, flanked by Azmuth and Jarvisius. As usual, I took up the rear, arrow nocked and bow held at the ready.

Thus we entered Icecrown Citadel, stronghold of the Lich King. Light help us.

Guild Raiding Updates

Well, it's been a long time since my last post and things have moved onwards and upwards (quite literally!) for my guild. Rage On has started tackling Icecrown Citadel after patch 3.3 and progression has been the order of the day.

Our guild has managed to down all the bosses in the starting area Lower Spire, counting Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, the flying ship event, and Deathbringer Saurfang.

At the moment, we are working on the Plagueworks and having limited success. Thus far, we've downed Festergut once and have made multiple attempts on Rotface. Precious continues to prove a challenge while Stinky is fairly uncomplicated.

That's about it. Cheers!

Raid Instances

So what's Rage On been working on lately?

Well, a normal raid weekend for us starts with Trial of the Crusader (10-man) followed by either Onyxia's Lair (10-man) or Vault of Archavon (10-man), depending on who controls Wintergrasp at the conclusion of our initial raid instance. At this point, we break for lunch.

After lunch, we usually head for Ulduar (10-man) where we clear up to Auriaya. If time permits, we'll go further.

On Sunday, we'll continue with a full clear of Ulduar, time and circumstances permitting.

In my next post, I'll talk about more hunter-centric topics. :)

Progression

Rage On is a casual raiding guild with the stated aim of progressing to end-game content.

The history of our guild is a long and involved one. We used to be part of a larger guild back in the Bloodhoof-US server. A group of us, mostly Pinoys and a few Aussies, felt the need to run 10-man content on a more consistent basis. At this point, our previous guild was trying to run 25-man content with limited success. Guild leadership was spotty at best and was, mostly, nonexistent. So we started running 10-man content ourselves. Back then, this meant Naxxramas-10 runs on weekends. Our raiding expertise and gear made this content quite challenging but we powered through. Pretty soon, we were doing 10-man progression runs that the rest of our guild had never experienced.

Guild drama ensued.

Our old guild was made up primarily of people who lived in the United States, making raiding in their time zone problematic at best. Therefore, the original progression raiding team decided to transfer to a GMT+8 server which would make raiding (and recruiting) easier. While we still had raiders from the United States, they were of a mindset with us. We were all on the same page.

And so we moved to the Nagrand-AU (or US, I'm still confused about that) server which was the default GMT+8 server. We continued our Naxxramas-10 runs, graduating to Eye of Eternity and up to Sartharion-2D (we have yet to down Sarth-3D). At the moment, we've done full clears of Trial of the Crusader on 10-man normal mode. We've also cleared Ulduar-10 up to Yogg-Saron but have yet to down Algalon.

All this raiding has, I believe, been quite remarkable especially for a casual raiding guild that only raids on weekends. I'd like to think that any of our so-called "Gold Team" raiders would be at the upper tier of raid experience, skill, and gear.

And that's progression. Looking back, it's been quite a journey from when I was a level 1 Night Elf Hunter n00b on the Bloodhoof server. Here's to more raids in the future. :)