Posthumous: A Storm On The Sea

Liam let out a gutteral howl of rage and agony.  “YOU BASTARDS!” 

He was seething through his entire core.  The two guards were laughing with sheer enjoyment at the torture the sight of the hanging dog was clearly causing their prisoner.  The one who had yanked his head back to see it in the first place had let go at this point.

“Aww, look.  He’s going to cry.  Oh wait, the dead don’t cry!”  The two laughed even more.  For a split second Liam was a teenager again in Southshore.  It was the same laughter, only this time it was Alistair and his friends.  That’s when it happened.

One of the guards had gotten too close to the cage.  In Liam’s rage his arms shot through the spacings and grabbed the guard by his shirt.  With an unknown strength he yanked the guard back towards him, the wood of the bars splintering in all directions with the force that came through them.  Liam drove his hand through the guard’s eye socket and shot to his feet in the blink of an eye. 

His other tormentor barely had time to stop laughing before Liam leapt at him, knocking him off his feet.  He clawed at the guard’s face relentlessly, ripping the flesh from his face until the man was dead, and even for moments after.  Only when he felt a sword come down across his shoulder did he turn his attention elsewhere.  One of the other guards had come down to put an end to what was going on.  Unfortunately for him, a sword was the last thing that would slow Liam at this point. 

He spun around, grabbing the man by the wrist and with a swift yank to get the rapier, discloated the man’s shoulder.  As he howled in pain, Liam turned the sword and drove it through the man’s neck.  He dropped to his knees, his good hand trying to hold himself up on Liam’s chest as he fell. 

The other guard had been much wiser.  He had run into Captain Grillsen’s quarters.  The two came out, with the captain pistol in hand.  Liam stood, arms wide, beckoning for the pirates to come at him. 

“I will send you both to hell for what you’ve done.  Not even the Dark Lady herself will be able to bring you back.”

“Blah, blah, blah” Grillsen mocked.  And then he fired the pistol.  Liam winced as the shot tore through his collarbone.  But he stood his ground, much to the surprise of the captain.  Two more rounds came as Liam stepped forward, the second one catching him in the jaw.  Still he would not relent.  With a shocked crewman beside him, the captain fired three more as Liam angrily stalked them both.  Even in his rage, Liam could count.  Grillsen was holding a revolver.  Six rounds had hit him.  Six rounds had burned him.  Six rounds hadn’t stopped him.

Grillsen cowardly tried to shove the crewman at Liam, but he just grabbed the man by his collar and threw him across the deck before continuing towards his goal.  The captain had meant to use the instance to run back to his cabin.  Liam wasn’t letting that happen and had caught Grillsen by the hair before he was even halfway up the stairs. 

There was no smirk this time.  No bravado or swagger.  The arrogance fell as the urine down the captain’s trousers.  Liam savoured the moment.  The captain pleaded for mercy and Liam just stared him down.  He wanted Grillsen to truly feel fear.  To suffer.  To know agonizing defeat as his very essence was taken from him.  So first, Liam broke his wrists. 

The captain wailed as other crewmen came upon the deck from the cabins below.  As Liam dug his nails through Grillsen’s shirt and down his chest, they seemed to have no idea what to do.  They weren’t expecting the sights they saw on the deck.  Even the Orc had woken by this point, but Liam could have cared less if his audience was the size of Stormwind.  He meant to backhand Grillsen to make him suffer more.  Instead he knocked half his teeth out and turned his head halfway around in the process.  The captain went limp and fell to the deck.  With the crew and orc watching, Liam dropped to his knees. 

He felt it stir within him.  A compulsion.  A desire.  It must be done.  And so, Liam pulled up the captain’s corpse, and began eating his flesh.  The blood was still warm as it poured down his face.  He had never eaten anything so exquisite.  His body sang out with approval and ecstasy.  The crewmen either ran below, or were vomiting.  Even the orc had turned his head at this point.

When he finished his meal, he was calmer.  Clear headed.  He had no remorse for what he had done on the deck.  But he wasn’t finished.  Grabbing the keyring from the smug bastard he had pulled through the cage, Liam freed the Orc.  He was saying something in Common, but Liam didn’t care.  He stormed down the stairs where the crewmen were waiting for him.  They were sword in hand, but the fear permiated from them in a beautiful scent.

“Listen closely.  I will not repeat myself.  Those of you who want to die, step forward.  Those who don’t need to do but three things.  Bring me the alchemist and the Tauren.  And UNTIE THAT DOG NOW!!!”

Well That’s Enticing…

So, got the chance to chat with a few friends in the last couple days.  Nice to catch up with the WoW folk now and then.  In fact, the Mrs. sent me a Scroll of Resurrection that I actually was going to use.  Don’t get me wrong, I was greedy for the 80 boost of a character.  I wasn’t planning on sticking around for much more as I wouldn’t have the time.  However, my account came up as ineligible.  Why, you ask?

While I fully undertand your interest in receiving this promotion, the issue is that the eligibility date is to be inactive on or before March 4, 2012 with the current iteration of this promotion. So while you were inactive before March 4th, that was of 2013 and as there is no newer date/version of the Scroll of Resurrection that has a different/more recent date then 2012 your account still does not qualify.

So, yeah.  Blizzard hasn’t updated the Scroll in a year.  So if you want to bring your friends back at this point and get the nice mount…sorry about your luck.

Posthumous: Rough Waters

For the first time since he awoke dead, Liam was cursing.  Pretty much every word he learned, and even a few he seemed to be making up on the spot.  Not that anyone was listening to him. 

It had been three days since the pirates had captured them on the path to Booty Bay.  Three days since Liam got caught.  By a net, no less.  As the rain came down upon his cage Liam didn’t feel it, but he knew shame just the same.  Liam looked up at the grey clouds and wondered how he had gotten to this moment.  He had died, the circumstances of which he still had no knowledge of.  He came back, and surprisingly found Drake waiting for him.  They met Kheiro, and by met the Tauren literally saved their life as it were.  But what was the point?   To suffer? 

Looking around, he took in inventory of his surroundings.  Not much had changed from the last time.  An Orc passed out in a nearby cage, two guards holding them, two more at the top of the stairs, and Grillsen’s door was still closed.  The smug captain was so proud of himself that Liam wanted nothing more than to put an arrow up through his jawbone and watch it come out the top of his head.

“A Tauren and an undead.  Should make for a sizeable coin purse.”  Yeah, he was all smiles when the three of them were caught.  When Drake bit one of the pirates through the net Grillsen realized he had more than a simple mutt in front of him…though where the dog was now, Liam couldn’t say.  He had no idea where Kheiro was.  Actually, he didn’t even know where he was.  Somewhere on the ocean. 

Two days earlier he remembered seeing a small port from far away as the ship set sail and headed north.  Did someone mutter something about Bay?  Booty Bay, what was supposed to be the original destination of he and Kheiro?  It wasn’t as though Liam could even fathom what the place looked like or how to find it now anyway.  He could get close, since he was always pretty good with directions once he had been somewhere.

But now he was nothing more than a prisoner.  He had no idea if the friends he had in this after life were even with him anymore, though he had a strange feeling Drake was still nearby.  There was no way of knowing with Kheiro, though.  Liam saw the efforts made to keep him and the Orc captive, he imagined they’d have a setup tenfold for his Tauren friend. 

“I don’t suppose I get to know where we’re going yet?” Liam wondered aloud to the guards.

“What it matter to ya?  It’ll be there’n we get there.”  Friendly as ever, that one. 

“He’s still drying out from last night, don’t mind him.”  The other guard had a calm voice about him.  Not like Kheiro, but certainly not the kind befitting of the rest of the lot he’d seen.  “The rain here on deck doesn’t help things either.  But since we’re going to be a while yet, we’re crossing The Great Sea.”

Liam couldn’t help but shake his head.  The last time he’d been in waters connected to the Sea, and on a boat, was coming from Menethil Harbor with the dwarf.  Only this time, there was no land in sight.  “Could I ask one more question of you?”

“I’m in a good mood, why not.  What else would you have me answer, dead man?”  Now he fit in.  He had that same smirk Grillsen had.  Liam had to keep his emotions in check ever so slightly.

“I just wondered if you might tell me where my friends are.”  Liam spat as the ran came down harder.  “I’ve not heard them or mention of them since we left.”

The guard smiled at his partner.  “That big fellow, the Tauren.  He’s passed out down below.  Handy having an alchemist in the ranks to keep him that way.”

Liam looked away in disgust.  The mighty Kheiro, bested by a simple liquid.  Then again, at least he was alive.  Why was a completely different question.

“Aren’t you going to ask me about that hound of yours?”  Liam really didn’t like the tone he got from the guard.

“G’on.  Ask’m.”  The hung over one was grinning widely now and if Liam’s stomach could turn, it probably would.  He looked away from the two of them, more comfortable with the unknown than whatever they were suggesting.  

A hand reached through the cage and grabbed Liam by his hair, snapping his head back.  The rain came pouring down on his face.  “Look you undead son of a bitch.  Open your eyes and see for yourself where that filthy dog is.”

Liam’s eyes were open, but the rain was pouring in.  Slowly he focused through the rain.  Through the bars of the cage.  It still took a moment to see.  Halfway up one of the sails, on an outstretched beam.  Hanging from the beam was his truest friend in the world, completely limp.

Subtle Blizzard. Real Subtle.

 

It beckons me from everywhere!

Special Presentation

Due to an overwhelming amount of e-mails and some pestering friends, I decided to do something a little bit out of the ordinary and hopefully answer some of the questions people have had.  As such, I present to you “JD’s interview…with himself.”

(ego much?)

Let’s get straight to it.  You left WoW about a month ago without notice to anyone, even the Mrs.  Why?
There were a couple of ways to look at it.  My time and how I use it has changed a fair bit lately, and that resulted in less World of Warcraft.  Even since I stopped playing I haven’t even really fired up Guild Wars 2.  It’s just not in my schedule right now.  But getting back to WoW, I think for some time when I posted about things I wanted to do…I don’t know necessarily if it was “want” or “excuse.”

But you left without saying a word to anyone until after the fact.  Why?
I love my friends.  I know them well enough that many would have tried to talk me out of it had I discussed it beforehand.  Some would go so far as to offer to pay for my subscription (again).  That they were awesome enough to give me the Mists expansion told me that deep down, they wouldn’t let me leave necessarily.  I think it would have been “here, it’s there for whenever you are.”  But I knew I wouldn’t be around and to me that’s a waste of money, whether their choice or not.

Is there anything you miss?
Honestly, I just saw the post on WoWInsider about the Thunderhoof Clan.  The all-Tauren guild would have been fun.  Though, I think I would’ve lost out on my “vache” based names.  In terms of the game itself, so far I don’t miss WoW in the slightest though.  I saw Patch 5.2 and really didn’t care for it.  The only thing I really miss is the people I experienced the game with.  That’s honestly all.

Are you going to continue writing Posthumous even though you aren’t playing the game anymore?
I’ve said that I will continue it.  I haven’t written anything because I honestly feel a bit of a disconnection at the moment.  Part of it could be the time of year, or just that my attention is elsewhere, but when I look at it I’m just not “feeling it” and if that’s the case the writing isn’t what I want it to be and I won’t release something half-assed just so that it’s out there.

What about the Laid Back Raids page?  It hasn’t updated in a bit.
Well, Repgrind and Healblade are definitely still carrying on the legacy so to speak.  I gather that attendance has been hit and miss and wasn’t sure if they wanted me to keep posting it or if they’re just going to take it week by week.  Truth be told, I personally felt like LBR had served its purpose.  I liked it alot, but there was only ever a handful of folks attending.  Prior to Mists, people were coming out of the woodwork to go.  It was to the point where I could rarely schedule 10-man events.  But, as a credit to Blizzard and all the things the current expansion offers, I think people just had too many other things to do in-game.  Some were raiding, some were pet battling, some I honestly have no idea…they simply stopped even messaging me.  So what I consider “in the end,” there was a small contingency of us that headed out week in and week out.  But even then the numbers were low.  Of course, if Rep and HB ask me to schedule more dungeons I will be happy to (even though I failed to post one when HB last asked).

You mentioned the WoWInsider article.  Are you still keeping up with WoW blogs?
A few, but even then it’s somewhat sporadic.  I don’t click every link like I used to, but I do try to check in here and there just to see what my friends are up to.  At the same time, it’s a bit difficult to read the content sometimes not because of sentmentality or anything like that, just that I’m literally disconnected from the content.

Since you’ve been without World of Warcraft for a month now, what have you been up to?
Other hobbies when my time allows.  I’ve just started a new pencil and paper RPG campaign with some folks, so I’ve been working on that as best I can.  All the scatterbrain ideas I have are finally coming to life.  I’ve even brought the Tauren with me, lol.  I’m being a dad more than ever, and because it’s the spring I feel like I have a giant box (as in, the whole house) of stuff to go through and clean up.  I’d love to offer up something more exciting (okay, I did go see P!nk in Toronto, and that was Illidan level awesome), but such isn’t really the case.

I guess the last question people might want to know is have you quit for good?
Never say never.  I mean, in the last week I actually joined Facebook.  I swore I would never do that, and part of me still has no idea why I did, lol.  I can honestly say that I would probably come back at least once to clean up my banks and give some pets to friends (they’ll get more use than I will obviously).  Also, I can see my account being activated for the purpose of a Scroll of Resurrection for someone.

Well, I suppose that covers all the pertinent stuff that people have asked me about in the past few weeks.  I know leaving the way I did had a lot of folks wondering just exactly what was going on or what happened and it certainly wasn’t the kindest way to treat any of you.  But I hope you understand that I had to do it that way for myself.  I do miss all of you, but I feel great about stepping away.

Le Fin.

Never say never, but for now the Amateur’s time on Azeroth has quietly come to its conclusion.

Posthumous will continue, and I’ll keep hosting the LBR schedule as long as there’s interest.

Posthumous: Crossing Paths

As they came upon what was once the Great Arena of the Guru’bashi Empire (so said Kheiro, yet again), Liam stood in awe for a moment.  He had not seen a gladiatorial staging area before, though he had heard stories of them when he was younger.  He couldn’t help but imagine the arena full of frothing spectators and noble warriors. 

“Mmmm, on occasion yes” said Kheiro.  “It’s just as likely the Gurubashi were serving up prisoners as a sacrificial form of entertainment.”  The Tauren surveyed the stadium before turning back toward the main road. 

Thus far the trip had been a calm one.  Rather, the trip had been pleasant once Liam had been calmed down and they indeed did not come upon (nor hear) any type of raptor after leaving Grom’gol.  They spotted a few gorillas, which if left alone would return the favour in kind.  Drake got his gruff up when they passed within relative distance of a large jungle cat.  However, the cat seemed to recognize it’s disadvantage and had simply pounced back into the brush.

“Kheiro, someone’s on the road ahead.” Liam pointed at the individual roughly one hundred yards away.  Drake closed his distance to his master quickly upon hearing the words, his own eyes taking in whomever was awaiting them on their path.

The Tauren stared as well.  “Human.  It’s a male…can’t tell much else from the shadows and this distance.”  He paused a moment, undoing the strap that held his massive axe in place.  “Never hurts to proceed…cautiously.”

As they narrowed the gap between them and the individual, Liam, Drake, and the Tauren were all on guard.  Liam had two arrows between his boney fingers, though his bow appeared loose in his arm.  Kheiro did nothing to hide his hesitation as they approached, but noticed first the man was a tattered mess at best. 

The human looked to be of middle age, though was incredibly worse for wear.  His shirt and britches were tattered and hanging from him.  He was walking at a snail’s pace and limping quite visibly.  When he saw Liam and the others, he raised a hand which shook nearly as much as his voice.  “I…I..am…unarmed…Please…I mean no trouble.”

Liam and Kheiro stared at him, and exchanged uncertain glances.  Drake continued to let out a low growl as the man approached them, now pleading as he saw their weapons still at the ready.

“I’M HARMLESS!  I HAVE NOTHING!  I wish to cause you no trouble, but if you have even the slightest water to share I would be grateful.  Otherwise, just point me to the nearest town!”  He was panting at this point, nearly down to one knee.  Liam figured it took most of his energy getting that worked up.

Kheiro lowered his axe towards the man slightly.  “What has lead you to such a destitute state of affairs?”

The man sighed.  “Shipwrecked.  Was being transported to Stormwind when it hit in an instant.  Damn boat never had a chance.”

“What do you mean you were being transported?” Kheiro’s brow furrowed slightly.  One had to look very closely to even notice.  “And where are the others from this ship?”

“I don’t know.  Many I saw were dead.  I don’t know if it was all of them…I can’t even say how I’m here.”  He caught his hands on his knees and regained himself after a few moments.  “Look, truth be told…I was a smuggler.  Not a very good one mind you, because I got caught.  Myself and some of the other passengers were being taken to Stormwind.”

Drake barked and Liam knew the dog was thinking the same thing.  One survivor seemed too good to be true.  Not that Liam was any expert on life and death given his current state of existence.  But he knew if there was still hair on the back of his neck, it would be on end right now.  Still, the man did look to be on last legs.  “I don’t believe him,” Liam said to the Tauren, “but I can’t deny he looks like some water would do him good.”

Kheiro closed his eyes a moment before nodding in agreement.  He put his axe on end and untied his canteen from his belt.  The man reached out for it, but Kheiro merely placed it on the ground in front of him.  “I do not mean to be insulting, but I feel comfort in keeping my hands on my axe the closer you get to me.  It will maintain an understanding.”

Liam was laughing in the back of his mind.  So the Tauren did have a sense of humour…even if it was an imposing one just the same.  Still, the dog wasn’t laughing or even backing down in the slightest which kept Liam equally as alert.  The situation was not sitting well, and he knew Kheiro knew it too.

He watched the man practically extend his arm out of his shoulder just to reach the water without getting too close to the Tauren.  He sat flat once the canteen was in his hands and relished the feeling as water flowed into his body.

“Thank you.  This is quite refreshing.  I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.”  It was a miracle he could get the words out with how fast he was drinking the water.  Liam shook his head as the poor fool even choked a moment from drinking it too fast. 

In that moment, Kheiro let his guard down as well and the tattered man knew he had his moment.  He kicked his heel into the ground and in a flash pushed himself forward and drove the toe blade in just below the knee of the mighty Tauren.  Liam’s giant ally dropped to one knee almost immediately, having to use the axe to catch himself. 

Instinctively Liam had the two arrows in his hand knocked and was ready to let both into his target when the net toppled him and Drake at the same time.  Before any of them could swear about what happened, they were surrounded.

“This would be the moment where laying down your weapons would be the wisest course of action.”  The tattered man in dire need of water moments ago stood over Liam and his comrades, a wide grin on his face.