Marriage, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.

For years there has been bad press about games and how they take over your lives or drive people to crime and WoW itself is an addictive game and can easily become the most important thing in your life if you let it. (not that my husband and I have that problem!) With this in mind my husband decided we would spend Saturday evening doing what 'normal' couples do, and he decided to take me to a quaint little pub at the seaside and have a romantic drink, just the two of us....

“On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined”

Well the powers to be have finally decided on the female Worgen dance for Cataclysm and whilst a number of people aren't keen...I love it!

It's based on Lady Gaga...okay, so it's not the exact dance moves, but none of the dances the WoW characters do are the exact steps to their corresponding dance - so no more hate, take it for what it is meant to be - lighthearted, and learn to love!

Here it is:



In fact I think all the dances for the new races are great.

The male Worgen dance:


Here is the male Goblin dance:


Here is the female Goblin dance:



I do think the female Goblin and the male Worgen are my favourites!

"Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was"

Despite the lack of WoW time I've had this weekend i feel like I've utilised my time well and earned a few achievements:

1. Rotten Hallow - I died 3 times in the process but it was worth it!

2. Check Your Head - I hung around Booty Bay and Gadgetzan alot:

3. Shave and a Haircut - A new hairstyle thanks to the barber in Undercity:

4. Duel-icious - I beat my husband's Warrior in a duel, he'll tell you he let me win...it's lies I tell you!

5. 5 Daily Quests Completed - I love the Hallow's End event:

6. Master Cook - I bought a lot of recipes which meant I got:

7. Lunch Lady - 25 recipes in fact:

8. Artisan In First Aid - I can't get master until I get to level 50, but I've bought and looted a lot of cloth!

Weekend Round-Up

Its been a hectic weekend both in WoW and real life. In real life one of my Guinea Pig's gave birth to 3 gorgeously cute babies and my husband and I went out on Sunday evening to watch Al Murray (the comedian) live.

In WoW I dinged 40 and got my new faster mount, I love the flaming hooves that the undead war horses have. I got challenged to a duel by a level 80 Mage...needless to say I didn't think it would be a fair fight even when the character took off all his clothes, so I politely refused the naked Mage's request - I wish I had got a decent screenshot, the only one I have is absolutely terrible but I'll post it anyway! ;)

I also managed to do the Halloween quests in Southshore - Rotten Eggs and Stinking up Southshore, even though I got my husband to log in with his level 80 character I still died 3 times! But i did it! I had pondered whether or not getting my husband to log in his character would make me a cheat...however, this fear was laid to rest by a friend on twitter who told me that "it's war against the Alliance and everything is allowed," and to be honest, I don't feel like I cheated because my husband let me die 3 times...and he is a holy priest, I think he let me die deliberately because I invited my parents round Saturday evening!

We also asked a friend from our guild to boost us round all the instances in the Scarlet Monastery so we could achieve the Into the Scarlet Monastery quest faster, and so we could loot what we wanted without having to roll for it. It was the fastest dungeon I have ever, and probably will ever do...although I felt like I missed out on the action which is a shame...but I got a new head item (Whitemane's Chapeau) which made up for it!

I also finally replaced my garden hoe staff with the 'illusionary rod' doesn't look wonderful but definitely an improvement.

My armory is here: Churel's Armory

Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order.

I recently discovered that all the races in WoW do a dance...this excites me because I'm an ex-dancer. I competed in Ballroom and Latin Dancing competitions and danced at the Irish Dancing World Championships. (I have huge love for the female dwarf dance)

After doing a bit of research I discovered that the first dance I did with my husband at our wedding (which was slightly unusual) included the Dwarf female dance, the male and female Human dance, the male Night Elf dance (and a little of the female dance) and the new Goblin race female dance was our finale...considering the majority of the dances are Alliance...maybe I should have started an Alliance character instead of a Horde one?

For those of you who are interested...here is the evidence!

I know I'm becoming addicted to WoW when...

I'm slowly turning WoW mad...the other morning whilst I was still asleep I asked my husband if he was ok, he said he was and asked why I thought he was ill. I replied that he had suffered 'damage over time' and I was checking he was better!

I don't remember any of that conversation but apparently it's true...oh dear, is there any hope for me?

call the fashion police?

Now I know that WoW is a role playing strategy game but seriously...what is up with the clothes?

I couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles when I saw the upgraded trousers that my husband's character has just received...they look like scaly cycling shorts and they are a pinky/lilac colour!

and it's no secret that I hate my current Staff...

but I'm excited because I just got a Staff upgrade in the Scarlet Monastery...trouble is, I can't use it for another two levels yet, but nothing can be worse than the current staff...surely?

As my addiction to WoW has begun to grow, I have found myself becoming more and more nerdy and obsessive about my race and class and keeping everyone alive, I've been reading forums and I stumbled across the Tier 11 priest gear...I don't even know what Tier 11 stands for but I know it has something to do with cataclysm and it is just awesome...

Libraries: The medicine chest of the soul.

I'm in love with the Library in the Scarlet Monastery dungeon.

I love it because so far it has been the best instance I have done. It went really smoothly, and despite being the lowest level for the instance I kept everyone alive despite two sets of mobs being pulled at once...Result!

Random thought of the week...

I have decided that just because I have a husband who has played the game since the very beginning, doesn't mean I should trust his judgement (all the time)

After finally getting into WoW last night we decided questing was the order of the day, and we were sent to Dun Garok in the Hillsbrad Foothills to do the quest 'Battle of Hillsbrad.'

Anyway, to cut a long story short when we arrived we discovered that Captain Ironhill had been killed, and since we had completed the rest of the quest we decided to wait for him to respawn.

we waited...

and waited:

and waited:

 and finally after asking hubby if this was definitely the place, and him assuring me that it was...we checked google. He has three places he re-spawns from...GRRR!!

After all the waiting around, we finally found him and approached to make our attack...and at that very moment my Mum phoned! I had no choice but to stick Renew on Ian's warrior and miss all the action. I did get some gossip though so I think that makes up for it...slightly!

My favourite screenshot of all the questing done last night:

Play keeps us vital and alive. Without it, life just doesn't taste good.

What a day for WoW players, people getting stuck inside instances or like me...trying to log on and find the character not found screen and then being disconnected. I feel sorry for the IT guys over at Blizzard, they must be having a terrible evening! The WoW forums have also gone down - probably due to the high volume of traffic, and that just proves how addictive WoW can become. I am disappointed and frustrated but there is part of me that thinks it's just a game at the end of the day and the dishes still need washing and there is laundry to be done, but here I am stuck mesmerised watching the screen, hoping that any second Blade's Edge will come back online! We pay for playtime not down time...

Dungeons come, they go, they wipe!

I dinged 30 last night and have done a few dungeons since I started playing but yesterday I discovered the true effects of getting a bad group.

I joined as Healer for Gnomeregan and it was bad from start to finish! Firstly there was some sort of bug, I presume following the patch which said I was in combat all the time - even when I wasn't and as a result I couldn't drink anything to restore mana. Why are random PUG's always in a rush? I think it's quite simple...run off and leave the healer behind, start taking damage and voila you die!
Anyway, back to Gnomeregan it started with a Hunter who took it upon himself to shoot at random mobs (exasperating) and continuously heal pet even though pet was at 100% health and then a Paladin who joined as DPS but decided to tank...but run off in a different direction to the rest of us and just pull random mobs (very annoying) and finally a Warlock who got too close to the edge, fell off and then had a huge mob come from all directions and proceed to wipe the dungeon...why? because I had little mana because of the bug. I did manage to keep them all alive but then a second wave of mobs appeared and it was a hopeless situation. I would have taken a screenshot but I was just too busy.

The situation with the Paladin was probably the most annoying thing I have encountered in the game? why do it? I don't get it? The members of the group started telling me to stop healing so he would learn his lesson the hard way...but is it appropriate for me to stop healing him just because he is being a rather rubbish player? He was told a few times to stop doing what he was doing - but he didn't listen. Do I really have the power in dungeons to decide who lives and dies? A girl could get a Goddess complex! As it was I kept healing him...well whenever he was in line of sight - which wasn't very often.

I did have a rather funny moment in the first dungeon I did...Ragefire Chasm. Every single member (except myself) managed at some point to fall in the lava and die...it was the first time I had got to use my Resurrection ability so it was rather fun for me!

Anyway, last night after my ridiculous Gnomeregan experience, I queued again and got the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard and as the group knew what they were doing I did have time to take a screenshot:

Halloween has come to Azeroth

This is my first WoW World Event and I've been taking part in the daily quests and trick or treating the Inn Keepers...I was even hanging out in Falconwing Square after completing 'Let the Fires Come' when I somehow managed to get killed by the headless horseman...oops!

I'm particularly fond of my broom mount at the moment, even though it goes incredibly slow!

The twilight hour approaches...

"Soon, Deathwing the Destroyer will return to Azeroth, and his eruption from Deepholm will sunder the world, leaving a festering wound across the continents. As the Horde and Alliance race to the epicenter of the cataclysm, the kingdoms of Azeroth will witness seismic shifts in power, the kindling of a war of the elements, and the emergence of unlikely heroes who will rise up to protect their scarred and broken world from utter devastation."

I can't wait for the release its going to be amazing!

Giddy Up

At last I have my Mount...no more spending hours running around Undercity going from the Priest Trainer in the War Quarter to the First Aid trainer in the Rogue's Quarter and the Alchemy and Herbalism Trainers in the Apothecarium.

Now I'm looking forward to travelling around even faster at 40!

Bride all over again...

I have to say that this wedding had much less planning than my real life one...all of 30 minutes and was significantly cheaper...but no less important!

The setting was somewhat run down...the Chapel at Tarren Mill and I wasn't a high enough level to wear the Wedding Dress I was given but I walked down the aisle like a true bride and enjoyed the moment.

Our reception was held at Southshore...yes, the Alliance camp where I earned the achievement 'An Honorable Kill'

Finally our Wedding Breakfast was cannibalising an unfortunate Alliance Dwarf who had given us the achievement.

So on Saturday 16th October 2010, after just reaching level 20 (ding!) I became Mrs Churel

Choosing a Guild

I have to say that my first few days in WoW were tentative at best, at least the only person receiving my embarrassing questions would be my husband...I don't care if I look like a noob to him (yes I'm learning the terminology!) but I have a sense of pride when it involves anyone else...

I didn't have long to contemplate as we were both invited to a guild at level 20...the 'Undead Army,' (we play on Blade's Edge) a guild made up completely of undead characters...as the name suggests. We received a very warm welcome, so much so that once they discovered that we were married IRL (more terminology - go me!) we were going to have an in-game wedding too...

My Character

So here is my character at level 27...

I decided to call her Churel, it took a while to think of a suitable name but decided that since the name comes from folklore and is a ghost who appears with unkempt hair and sharp teeth, she drinks from young men beginning with the one she loved in life. She keeps them, and drains them of their vitality until they become premature grey haired old men...a suitable name for an Undead don't you think? Who said feminism was undead?

No doubt in screenshots and other comments Nuad will be mentioned...he is my husband's character that he started to play with me. His main is a Level 80 Priest.

The most disappointing thing about my character at the moment? My Staff - it looks like a gardening hoe!