by

Alexander Wynterstorm


Alexander Wynterstorm

August 6th

Dear Journal,

I have been out in the field so long that I have decided that I should start writing stuff down to combat the loneliness sometimes.  Sure, I have my comrades in arms, but I truly do not have that much in common with them – they have families and loved ones while I have nothing other than my pet.  I don’t think I’m a bad looking fellow nor do I think that I am drop-dead gorgeous.  I’m just a Blood Elf and a Ranger because my magical ability doesn’t rank high enough to start a simple campfire.

I’m just another Sindorei orphan kid that has grown up and moved on with my life like so many others.  There is really nothing special about me.  I’m not a hero, I’m not an officer in the corps nor am I some secret noble that is hiding his nobility.  Ah well, just being a Ranger is enough for me and I know that I will be happy if I ignore all the criteria in Silvermoon City to be one of the special people.  There are times that I truly hate going to Silvermoon because I usually stand around and just smile and nod at people.  I’m not important or impressive enough to warrant that much attention from the citizenry.

I guess that I should mention my name, it’s Alexander Wynterstorm.  I don’t know where the surname came from other than the fact that I was dropped off at the orphanage in a winter storm with a few other babies – we all got stuck with the same surname because the matron on duty was too tired to think of any others.  So, there are six of us with that name and we all arrived within one hour at the steps.  It must have been “baby drop-off day” or something because the matrons say that there are usually one or two babies dropped off most often, not a group of babies like I was with.  My thought is that the matron wasn’t paying attention to the door and we all kind of stacked up there.  I think that someone might have noticed if a wagon pulled up in front of the orphanage and the carter started plopping babies out on the steps in a group?  Wouldn’t you think so?

When I was a kid, I would hope that someone would come along and adopt me and then tell me that they were really my parents and that they hadn’t meant to leave me at the orphanage – they would then shower me with all kinds of gifts and clothes and we’d live in this big glorious house in Silvermoon with servants and stuff.  Yeah, I had a big imagination back then, at least I did think about nice things back then.  Well, let’s jus say that I wasn’t ever adopted, and I blame it on my cursed red hair – no one wants a redheaded elf, they want blondes, brunettes or even brown-haired ones – redheaded elves are just too common.

One older kid told me that he used to have red hair and he shaved his head and it all came back in as black as night.  Okay, if that’s how it’s done, it’s worth a go – so, I shaved my head.  Got my backside warmed up by the matron and was forbidden to be seen by any of the adoptive people that were visiting.  No, my hair came back in just as red as it had been, and it just seemed like there was more of it than ever.  Lesson learned “Don’t listen to older kids” about how things are done.  Yeah, I tried the dying thing too and all I got out of that was some strange orange hair with green stripes in it and a bunch of blisters on my head and…another backside warmup. 

I went through all the schooling and the only thing that I seemed to be reasonable with was skipping classes.  I did well with reading and writing and I did learn to cypher a bit, just so I could keep up with my winnings at cards.  Yes, I would have been a great candidate for Murder Row if I hadn’t had an aptitude for hunting and fighting.  I tried the magic thing and the only thing I did was to burn up a bookshelf and set the instructors robes on fire more than once.  I didn’t last long in that area nor did I last long trying to apprentice to one of the magistrates, seems my mouth was more prone to go off before my brain got in gear to control it. 

On my birthday I was given a few gifts, a bag to carry my belongings and showed the door with a note to report to the Rangers training area.  Okay, it wasn’t snowing or anything like that when I left so I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to make my way there.  So, off I went to the Row to try my hand at gambling with thoughts of amassing a large fortune and being able to support myself in a manner that would make the kids at the orphanage envious.  Let’s just say that it didn’t happen – I woke up naked, all my belongings gone and a guard poking me rudely with a blunted spear.  Yes, I got rolled and robbed my first night out of the orphanage.  The guard threw his cloak over my shoulders and escorted me to the training area – my letter was gone and I had no proof of identity, however, I was able to convince them that I was the Alexander Wynterstorm that the orphanage matrons had written about and , my letter had been stolen with everything else that I had. At least I got a recruit uniform, a place to sleep and some food – the training would start on the morrow.

Alex Wynterstorm

((obviously, to be continued))

by

Having a blast


After getting my new computer and trying to get used to all of the bells and whistles, I’m happy. I’ve spent most of my time zooming all over the place just seeing how the visuals are. Did some playing of various alts in different locations just to see how it is. I think this is going to work out nicely for an old lady.

Of course, I would be involved with “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel all of this week too. I’ve always lived near the sea until I moved to Colorado and I’m totally land-locked here and I do miss the ocean. All of my oil paintings in the loft are ocean scenes, even a few with old sailing ships.

So, now it’s time to get back to my gaming a bit more in earnest. I may never finish Legion or BfA at the rate I’m going but I’m having fun and that’s what it’s all about.

See you all in Azeroth.

by

Waxing Nostalgic


Written in very cursive script denoting the maturity and education of the author

July 21st

Dear Journal,

It feels like it has been forever since I have taken the time to sit down long enough to write anything down for myself.  So much paperwork comes with command and it seems like everything needs to be posted out immediately.  Of course, I could take a step down and then I’d probably have double the workload – I do know how to delegate as well as any other Commander and I know that Rangers would much rather be things actively and not be stuck at a desk.  Oh well, I’ll do what I can.

I do thank the powers-to-be that I was able to take some time away from my duties and got to spend some time with my wife.  Oh, I do miss those days when we could slip away without much notice from our comrades.  Times change and we still must live with the prejudices that wax and wane with the political climates that are forever changing.

Oh, to be able to hold Amyn in my arms and smell her scent.  Just to feel her lithe body close to my own is like a welcomed freedom that we have never taken for granted.  Our liaison could have cost us our lives many times in the past and there are times when we have been able to share our family and our lives openly when we were living in Dalaran when it was in Northrend before the Jaina Proudmore incident.  Oh well, those were special days for us – having a home that I had spent years building and furnishing over the years. I still miss that home and the freedom that we had there.  Oh well, we have a beautiful place to live together and to have our family with us when we can arrange it.  We have always been very partial to Shattrath and that lead us to settle our family there when we were younger – being a free open city, we could live together openly.

So many years we have had to slip around like a couple of kids to find our time together – who knows, that may have added the extra spice to our lives although I don’t know that I can handle much more spice.  We have our two sons as well as we hope grandchildren to come our way in the future.  Life can be good; however, the constant strife and battling seems to be a way of life on Azeroth.

At least I know that my wife and children are safe for the moment.  I know that it is never an assured thing with all of us active in this conflict going on.   Amyn keeps an eye out for the boys and tries to make sure that they are okay without becoming a nuisance – she’s a good Mother and has always had her children’s interest to heart.  I do what I can because it would be rather difficult for me to see them all the time because they took after their Mom with their appearances – Kaldorei.  Yeah, it would be hard to explain a Sindorei chatting it up with them if we were ever caught.

I still have a few more days to enjoy being with Amyn here in Outland before I must head back to my duties.  One day I will find the peace that we both crave, and we will be able to live a normal life of some sort and I don’t care if it must be here in Nagrand either.  It has taken us years to get the house the way that we want it and it is as comfortable as the house we had Dalaran before the Purge.

Well, time for me to take off and get some things done – I think I hear Dawnglory talking and I wonder why he is here.

Fnor Morningstar

by

OOC – If Anything Else Breaks….I’m Done


July 20, 2019

Yeah, it’s been an expensive couple of months for me and my computing needs.  Got the three disasters and I hope that it really doesn’t have anymore coming my way.  Replaced a display (it died of old age and a 14 lb kitty that pancaked it a few times, Replaced a surround sound speaker system that gave up the ghost after ten years of hard use.  The next thing was heartbreaking for me, not the kitty didn’t die, and I wouldn’t replace him if he had. My CorsairOne that I bought in May of 2018 decided to give up the ghost in the most horrible way imaginable – it died from overheating – naturally, the warranty had died, and it wasn’t under warranty when it decided to croak off.  That was an expensive death. 

Thank goodness I do have a credit card and I’m sure they love me now and I’m going to hate the payments, but I will not give up my addiction to World of Warcraft and my other games.  Got everything replaced quickly and I’m back on the realms again – just getting used to things.

Setting everything up for the computer was awesome because I was somewhat intelligent and had a lot of my stuff saved to the Cloud.  So, back to Azeroth I go and back to finishing up a couple of stories that I had been diligently working on.

See you Azeroth.

by

OOC – When it rains…


June 15, 2019

Fun times and just life in general can be a bit of a pain in the backside.  Was playing on the potato (very old Lenovo machine) and the display died – hey, it was about eight years old and had been pancaked a few times by my rather kitty person.  I’m surprised that it lasted that long.    I did replace the display with a new AOC display, inexpensive works for me.  The next step seemed to be to go back on the gaming machine until the new display arrived (which it did).

Well, log into the gaming machine and no sound, not even a buzz.  Totally freaked out at this point and just ordered new speakers – I have a headset; however, it does seem like it just likes to annoy me more than anything.  I did like the new speakers a whole lot and decided the potato deserved some more love and got the same speakers for it.  Anyway, got the machines up and running again and I’m off to the races it seems. 

Have just started feeling like I can play a few hours in WoW without going completely blind. I have days when it’s not possible to play but it’s how it goes when you hit 70 years old officially.  Thank heavens for Kindle books because I can read a while and then switch to audio eBooks – hey, I keep my mind busy at least.

I keep myself amused with games, music and books and do most of my socializing in games because it’s too dang hot to go out and toast these old bones.

I’m starting to play a bit more and trying to get my head wrapped around my writing.  With most of my characters still not in BfA, most of them will refer to Legion era or older.  Hey, I wasn’t ready to leave Legion yet and BfA hasn’t exactly been calling my name.  Still grinding rep in Legion.

See you all in Azeroth.

by

Alive and Kicking


May 15, 2019

I’m still alive and kicking and trying to get myself to play a little bit more in WoW – it gets kind of lonely when most of the people in your guild have long since quit the game.  Ah well, it’s a game I know, and I can at least find my way around a bit.

My big thing right now is to settle down and try to get back into the story a bit more and just enjoys the game the way that I want too.  Hehe, I did get stupid and I was able to get the Collector’s Edition before it sold out, so, I do have to at least stay somewhat interested.  Since I have never purchased anything like this before, it’s my last hurrah, I suppose.

I know that I am going to be toddling around and getting some things done in the game now that the weather is a bit warmer and not so “dead” as it has been this winter.  Springtime in the Rockies is always a good time of year and one of my favorites even if it does drive my allergies up the wall.  Hey, you enjoy what you can at my age.

Just wanted to check in and let people know that I am alive and kicking, however, not as robustly. 

See you Azeroth.

by

OOC – Still Running Around Playing and having Fun


April 1st, 2019

I’m finally forcing myself to get a bit more involved in my gaming and starting to enjoy it more.  I would like to thank some of you for your words of advice in the fact that I’m not really “behind” – well, I know I’m behind but I’m enjoying what I’m doing with my alts and mains.  If there is anything that I can say about World of Warcraft is that it is time consuming which is something that I need sometimes so I don’t go completely off the rails.

I am still working my way through Legion and have rolled a couple of extra characters to get them going in BfA so I can get that going as well, might as well throw it all around so that I can get some of my monies worth out of what I have already purchased.  I don’t know that I will buy the next expansion on the pre-purchase thing again because I just haven’t gotten into it at all on BfA.  What I have seen of the stories and storylines has been entertaining, although, the actual game play seems a bit slip shod in some areas.   I’m not here to critique the game because I haven’t really played enough to the current content to give it much of a fair judgement call.

I’m literally trying my best to play a little bit more and I will admit that I have over-done it a few times and couldn’t really play much the next day.  It’s just fun to run through things on some of my lowbies and try to get my allied races going too – damn, wish we didn’t have to level them up as well, just as more salt to the wounds if you want the heritage armor.

We’re at that weird time of year where you just sort of guess at the weather because one day it is shorts weather and the next day it’s long-johns.  I am one of those people that likes to get dressed and live with it and add layers if I need too.

I have noticed that there seems to be fewer people in the game and that doesn’t surprise me with the game being as old as it is and with the changes that have been made over the last few months.  It’s rather daunting and discouraging to see the world slowly dwindling away.  I’m not going to quit just yet, I may just take a break now and then and play the way I want to play and if I get the achievements that I need to get things done – that’s awesome, if not, I’ll keep going and doing my thing.

Okay, see you all in Azeroth.

by

OOC – Still here


March 17, 2019

Well, I’m still having vision issues and I’m still trying to continue to play WoW anyway.  I’m so far behind everyone right now that it doesn’t really matter, however, I’m trying to enjoy the game as best as I can.  I have been working on some stories, but they will be based out of the old content where I am playing currently.ish me luck and I’ll see you all in Azeroth.

Wish me luck and I’ll see you in Azeroth.

by

OOC – Still here and plodding along


February 4, 2019

Well, I am going to try to get back into the habit of writing a little bit although I may be way behind everyone in BfA at this point, however, I still have my characters living their lives with the knowledge that they are at war and not called up yet to serve.  The thought of a battle or war looming in their futures has not dampened their spirits nor they’re for the adventures ahead of them with the rest of Azeroth.

My vision is still not great at this point, but the problem is getting narrowed down bit by bit and I hope that I can get something done with it soon.  I am still going to play a bit and write when I can because I can’t force myself to just give it all up and sink down in the deep abyss of depression that would welcome me with open arms at this point.  Nope, not going to give it up.  I know that I am not going to be doing a whole lot of group content because my vision is spastic sometimes and I would hate to burden other people with my issues.  Oh, my hand-eye coordination has been in the dumper for a while and that’s due to old age and arthritis, so, I’m just questing and dreaming my little dreams with my characters and trying to get their little lives back on track so that they won’t think that they have been forgotten after fourteen years of playing this silly game.

I’m finding myself in the older content more and more because I “know” where everything is there, and I don’t have to strain my eyeballs out of the sockets trying to see some of the stuff.  Besides, I was always happier in the older content and even if I am doing everything solo these days, my memories of the fun that I had when my friends were still playing keeps my mind jumping around a bit.  Sure, it gets a bit lonely, however, that’s okay too – if it gets to be too much, I log off and come back later. 

It’s kind of sand to know that some of my old friends have passed away to the great beyond but it happens to everyone.  No one gets out of this life alive and it starts going downhill from the day that we are born.  I’ll admit that there have been times when I just felt like bagging it, however, World of Warcraft is such a huge part of my life that I am not going to walk away from it just yet and I will keep paying and playing for as long as I can muster up the energy to do it.  Sure, I’m not going to be doing major progression or any of that, but I can still hide out in the lore (such as it is) and do my thing – poor characters may die a lot, but they will bounce back, and we’ll keep going.

Naturally, I have been seeing all the bad press for BfA and I still haven’t really gotten into the expansion very far at all.  I hope things pick up and people start liking the game again – it sure is depressing to hear all the negative stuff all the time.  So, wish me luck and I’ll keep plodding along.

See you all in Azeroth!!

by

OOC – Start Of The New Year


January 3rd, 2019

I will have to admit that I am not sorry to see 20118 go the way of the great white whale because it was not one of the better years for me, however, I’m still upright and kicking, so, for that, I’m thankful. Had one heck of year in RL with illnesses of my own and taking care of the family was almost overwhelming at times. Ah well, it doesn’t do to dwell on that so much because it just makes me feel very depressed.

I haven’t been playing much in the way of video games lately because my vision is not what it should be, and I don’t know if there is anything that can fix it either. Seems that cataracts are the wave of the future until I can get them taken care of. I can honestly say that getting old hasn’t been a great experience for me, however, I could deal with that, but the vision loss is really disconcerting for me when I am used to reading quite a bit as well as playing on the computer. I feel like the character in the series of Twilight Zone where the fellow wore glasses and his biggest wish was to be able to read as much as he wanted whenever he want and to heck with other people – well, long story short, he broke his glasses when his wish came true – there he sat surrounded by books and couldn’t read a lick.

My situation is much like that character in the fact that I did get my gaming computer, new screen and the whole lot – now, I can play for a bit of time before my vision bothers me too much. Oh, those dreams of getting everything caught up have crashed back to reality and I’ll play when I feel like I can see what I am doing for a bit. Let’s just say that playing solo does have it’s benefits because I know that I won’t be able to run dungeons or things that have a lot of activity for the time being.

I’m still trying to maintain a positive attitude with things being the way that they are, however, I will have to admit that there are times that I get depressed. I’ve tried to stay caught up on the news with video gaming and that is just flat out depressing for someone like myself that has dedicated most of their retirement to gaming.  I am still planning on playing for as long as I can, and I hope that things will get better for me physically so that I can enjoy it again.

I apologize for being such a downer, however, I just wanted to let people know that I may not be as active in reading and writing for a while. I am off to the doctor today to see if he will be able to direct me to a specialist that can possibly help me with the issues that I am having.

 

See you all in Azeroth.