It was mild. Many continued their business without even noticing in. But I… I noticed. The shifting of the land was like a roar throughout my body. I trembled and stumbled, but no one paid any mind to this drunken mage. The heat burned me into sobriety and I knew that something was coming that I couldn’t avoid this time.

“You feel it, spark. He’s coming.” The familiar voice echoing in my mind was almost comforting. Unable to pronounce the real name of the elemental that I was merged with, I called him Blaze. We had an almost symbiotic relationship that was of much academic interest, but that’s a story for another time.

“I will not bow to him.”

“You did once before.”

“You were in his control then. Will you bow?”

“I am only fire, spark. What do you expect me to do?”

I growled under my breath causing a few strange looks as I leaned against a building for support. My ebony hair lay disheveled in my face on purpose. The unsettling fire within them would cause more trouble than I wanted at this moment. “I expect you to fight, Blaze. You said you ran from him to me in order to hide. I am your master now as such. I command you to fight.”

I waited for a response, wondering if it would truly work. Blaze was more prone to destruction of the lesser beings in this world than fighting against his old master. Perhaps a bit more self-preservation that the typical fire elemental had. I could feel him weighing the odds. He would have happily burned down all of Stormwind for me without a second thought. I would have to be careful.

“We are not master and servant, spark, but we are of one mind. I wish to be free and not his. I will lend my aid, but fire does not hurt fire. Remember that.” I frowned. It was enough. For now.

My mind was muddied by another earthquake and I was grateful for the wall to my back. It was a rather sickening feeling, and I felt something beyond what Blaze mentioned. Something much more powerful that his old master. It caused both him and I to grow weak with each roar. And… it was coming for all of us. Soon.

I looked about at the people passing me. All the soldiers, villagers, adventurers who were tending to their daily fair. They were clueless to the greater power coming. Things were going to change. And I would bet my life that it wasn’t going to be a good one.

This is just a short thought on the fact that I dusted off a mostly unused character that I leveled. Up until now Serephim, my mage, hadn’t really seen an of level instance. She’s 80 and my enchanter/tailor, so I’ve been working solely on those. But… for once I was needed as DPS. Lannia is not and will never be Shadow. I don’t play her like that.

Serephim, however, is pure fiery DPS. I loved leveling her, but I knew that any group I normally went with would need Lannia, not Serephim. I kept Serephim in the background in case I really wanted to do something else. Yet, since she reached 80 several months ago, I haven’t instanced or raided with her.

Honestly, as my first DPS, I think I was afraid that I would suck as her. Then, I realized that of course I suck with her. Her measly ~1500 DPS. I hadn’t learned her fire rotations. I didn’t have great gear… let’s rephrase that… most of her gear was crud. I had a few items above 170 and that was it.

But… it was fun. A lot of fun. I didn’t have easy little click bar for the monsters. Heck, I barely knew what I was supposed to do beyond Mage Table, Buff, and hit the pretty buttons, but I can learn. However, I know that Serephim will probably be booted out of pugs if I were to try and upgrade her gear through that. So, I find myself at a dilemma.

To Pug or Not To Pug? On Lannia, I’m fairly safe as long as I’m doing a decent job. So many things affect healing including bad pulls, squishies, but I know how to handle that. I know what can go wrong. Serephim is a new side of the game. One that I’m excited to learn about, but I also don’t want random people suffering while I learn and get gear.

It’s a hard call. I really don’t know what I’ll do. And while it’s not my first priority in the game… I do want to learn to play my mage and gear her up appropriately.

Here’s to dusting off old alts. *toasts*

As a player, Arthas is a fascinating character. You feel so many emotions for him, but in the end most just feel hatred for the monster he’s become. He’s had more of a presence in the game than many other villians. He’s not just someone that sits at the end of an instance and you might never see him. He hovers behind every quest and motive you seem to run across in Northrend. Yet, to him, you’re nothing more than a pawn. Doing the dailies and being in Northrend so much recently has made me wonder, how do my characters view him?

Lannia:
This man was corrupted much like anyone else who has involved himself with the Burning Legion. He is a pawn that has gone out of control, but since he’s a distraction away from the Burning Legion, they allow it. There is very little that is left of the hero of long ago, if any. It is truly sad how vulnerable people are in the end, even me. *smiles sadly* Perhaps we can help him find peace so that he can finally rest. Free from his madness.

Serephim:
*snorts* You’re asking me about the Ice Prince of Azeroth. If you want my opinion, you must be a bit crazy yourself. I don’t really care about him. He’s just another crazy in this world. -What? Oh, of course he needs to be stopped. Oh! I see. You think that I might take some part in it. *shrugs* I dunno. Got enough problems to work out for myself, let alone trying to stop an insane prince. Geez, you act as if he can hear me. Ice Prince. There’s no way that I’m going to call him back the egotistal name. He’s lord over a freaking iceland full or dead people and bones. Doesn’t sound very kingly to me. Personally, I think he should just see how pitiful that is and just himself for us.

Araatris:
The Lich King. Sure, I’ve heard of him. He’s done terrible things. Sometimes I wonder if he thought they were truly best at the time, but what made him think that. Especially the whole thing with Stratholme. I’ve heard people tell me about how it burned with all those people inside. It’s terrible! *shudders* I only wish I could do more, but for now I’ll have to bide my time.

Jhaara:
The Lich King is a fool. Does he truly think he can unite us all under one banner? Even with his thoughts, groups were able to break free. My brother and I will see his downfall. No one is lord over us. My brother would just rage ahead, but he always was hot-headed. We shall wait until the moment when the Lich King is weakest and strike. Together he and I will stand over the body of our creator and watch his screaming deparature. You think that I am harsh perhaps? So, are the winters up here. They can drain the heat from your body until you lie dead in the snow. Only this time… I will bring even a colder winter to the Lich King than any has ever known and I will suck the life from his corpse. *the interviewer runs in terror*