Commissioner Dorah Tanglewood, Vindicator of the Coin. Her full name now is twice as long as she is tall, she dinged 60, completed her third tradeskill title and the final quest for the Court of the Coin. But there’s a lot yet left to do.
It takes 67 tradeskill writs — over four hundred combines using between 1200 and 1600 of each of four common harvests (adamantine, azurite, topaz and hanging roots for jewelers) — to gain a faction level with the Coalition of Tradesfolk. Sunday, Dorah gained the third faction with them, “warmly” — over twelve hundred combines using over ten thousand harvests — to gain the title of “Commissioner”.
It was making me crazy. I kept putting it off, only doing a half-dozen writs or so whenever the guild was about to level. But Sunday, I just started doing them… and kept on doing them… until I was done. I wrote a program to let me know how things were going. Is that pathetic? I dunno.
I had to borrow the money to buy the title (yeah, the Coalition isn’t the kind of place that gives things for free). The reason I didn’t have the money on Dorah was… well… okay, here’s how it went.
Dorah passed by the stable master’s store on her way to the Coalition headquarters in West Freeport. And she saw there a beast of such power, majesty, grace and terror — a beast torn from Hell — that she knew it had to be hers. Fifteen hands high. His hooves could trample armies. His breath reeked of sulfurous pits of torment and eternal despair. His neigh was the slam of a door behind which cowered all that was bright and good in the world.
It was love.
“Ah, I see ye’ve met old Hellespont,” grumbled the old stable master. “His dam and sire pulled tha Overlord’s battlewagon when Himself drove tha orc’s inta tha Wailing Caves. Yes ma’am. I’fact Lucan named Hellespont here. He’s a fine steed, he is. Won’t find better.”
“Huh.. Huh.. How much?” stammered Dorah. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Hellespont. Twice as tall as she was, but she’d ride him no matter what it took. In her mind she was already setting Baubbleshire aflame, gnomes running all around like screaming torches.
“Well, horse like that… can’t really call him a horse, more like a force of nature he is… hmmm… 19 platinum pieces lass, and… 46 gold if you could, and lessee… 16 silver and five copper. Yes. That be the price of such a legendary mount.”
“But I only have 19p 46g 16s and FOUR copper!” cried Dorah after she had counted out all her money.
“I think you’ll find there’s a copper stuck in tha seam of that backpack of yours. No, not that one, tha other one. That’s right. Ah, there ya go, lass.”
It was all her money, but she pushed it over the counter. To ride Hellespont… THE Hellespont… would be worth any price. But how had he known exactly how much…
“Hmmphk,” interrupted the stable master. “The boy’ll be bringing out your steed now. She’s a fine mare, just the right thing for a little lass such as yourself.”
“But… I thought… Hellespont…”
“Old Hellespont? Nay, he’s the display model, and I cannae be giving away my display model now, can I?” The stable master guided Dorah to the door with one massive hand on her shoulder. “There she be.”
The human boy holding her reigns out for Dorah towered over the pony beside him. Where Hellespont blazed, the pony flickered. Where Hellespont thundered, the pony coughed. Even Dorah seemed tall next to her.
“She be named ‘Starsparkle’. Her favorite things be frollikin’ with unicorns an’ having daisies braided inta her mane.”
The pony grunted slightly under Dorah’s weight as she mounted. “Starsparkle? I… dangit, if I didn’t have an appointment with the Coalition, I’d….”
Sighing, Dorah kicked Starsparkle into a trot and rode through the cobbled streets of West Freeport.
After that, dinging 60 was almost anticlimactic. A couple of good groups in the Courts of Innovation and the Sanctum of the Scaleborn brought her halfway through 59. The replacement tank couldn’t take that kind of damage, so we adjourned to the Breeding Grounds to hurt some drakes. You always lose people moving from one place to another, and by the time we were all there, the healers had left to join raids on their mains. We were raiding soon as well, but… 60 so close… I logged Dera in to heal until Dorah dinged.
And finally… DING! 60! New sexy Nightshade pet!
Once 60, she could (and did) pick up the final quest for the Court of the Coin, “Loyalty Pays”. Kill 15 Blades guards and 15 Truth guards, take a test and gain a title, “The Vindicator of the Coin”.
That puts her 1/3 of the way for the preliminaries to the Ring of Fate, 3/4 of the way toward the Racketeer title with the Coalition, and 6/7 of the way to being done with leveling! I foresee many more hours in front of the jeweler’s workbench…
I love that little program. I’d do the same if I had the skill. But check my blog for an idea how low my technical prowess has sunk LOLOLOL .
Grats on the title accomplishments!