I left off last time when I had just quit my old guild <The Z FIghters> and joined my new guild, <Durlusk Knights>. The environment was much larger, much more mature, much more raid-savvy. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size and the chat. "LF2M Kara 800+ DPS no alts." What the fuck did this mean? I had no idea, but it sure as hell thrilled me to get those last 5 levels done. Man, those last 5 were gruelling, I had my mind on much more important things, like who was Kara and how was I to aquire 800 of these DP's?

I remember hitting 70. It was 3 weeks later, in Shadowmoon Valley. I expected to get my last XP point epically, like slaying one of those guys in the cracks of the valley itself (for the love of me I can't remember the name.) Alas, no. I got my last XP point exploring the Scryer town. You know what happened after I hit 70? I got killed by the Scryer guards. Those assholes!

Right when I hit 70, several people whispered me, asking what "spec" I was going to be. Being a total noob at that time, I was currently 21/20/20, thinking that balancing them was the best way. Everyone laughed, and the current Paladin officer at the time, Tsager, got to tell me how to spec. He told me that Holy was healing, Retribution was damage, and Protection was Tanking. Holy looked so much cooler in my eyes, so I took my 300 gold and invested a gold of that in speccing Holy. All my keybinds changed! Now, instead of keeping my damage on there, I had to fill it with healing binds. Yep, all three of them! (keep in mind there was three Holy spells that were used by the holy. Holy Light (HL), Flash of Light (FoL), and Holy Shock (HS). Tsager also explained how I should use 'downranking' and my 'blessings.' (Downranking is the practice (which no longer exists) of using a lower ranking spell which had a smaller mana cost to more effectively heal. It no longer exists because now everything is a portion of your base mana.)

Now that I got my spec ready, all I had to get was my gear! I bought an Essence Focuser for 100 gold, a Crystal Pulse Shield for 95 gold, and the rest of my gear came from normal instances. Now was time for my first Heroic (which I was attuned for at the time, I knew about quests). Heroic Steamvaults. Now that was pretty hard for me! I healed as much as I could, tried my best each time, but for ten straight times, I could not get a Mask of Penance, which I wanted before I entered Kara.

Now, even though I was slightly undergeared, I remember Zoquara asking me if I wanted to go, and I wholeheartedly said yes, but I wanted to do ONE more H-SV beforehand. I did it, and guess what fucking happens? The Mask drops! So about 30 seconds after we finish it up, I hearth to Shattrath City, and I get an invite from this guy named Nashan. Who was he, I don't know. I asked Zoquara who he was, and she said he was part of their group of raiders who played with him. He was in a seperate guild called <The Code>. I said alright, and I accepted his invite. I was summoned to Karazhan within 1 minute. (I, too, was attuned, I just didn't want to write that annoying-ass process.)

So I enter, and I see that not five, but TEN people are here. I was wondering why, and Zoquara said that this is a ten-man instance. I thought this was the epitome of the raiding spectrum, with two groups, THIS was an MMO. Boy, was I wrong. So that night, we clear through Attumen the Huntsmen easily (I got a little more confidence, because this was an easy-ass fight.) We then hit up Moroes, who was a pain in the asshole. "Cleanse this guy!" "Shackle this guy!" "Heal the tank! No, I meant the DPS!" This was, by far, the most frustuating boss in all of Karazhan for me, because as some of you guys know, before we were buffed, Holy Paladins were just spammers, we were meant to push one or two buttons throughout a fight, and to one person, really. We get past him in 4 tries, and we head up to the Maiden of Virtue. She, too, was a pain but nothing big ol' me couldn't handle. We beat her in two tries, and something strange dropped. [Shard of the Virtuous], it was purple, and I could use it! Since I was the only one who really needed it, I received it, and I was overjoyed, because after all this hard work, I finally got an epic!

We ended the raid there that night, and over the next 2 months, I raided Karazhan with them or different groups. One night, some other guild, named <Upper Echelon>'s leader Lynxz asked us if we (the guild) wanted to join them in their raid of "Gruul's Lair." Holy shit, I have never seen a shitstorm in chat as that had been. Apparently, they were the best Alliance guild on the server. They needed 15 people, and I was chosen! By that time I was getting the raiding shit down, but finally, a TWENTY-FIVE man raid with the best guild on the server (for those wondering, they were the top alliance guild until a few months ago.) We entered the raiding area, and I see this Draenei Paladin decked out in Crystal (I didn't know it then, but this was the Tier 5 set, called Crystalforge Raiment http://www.wowhead.com/?itemset=627). CRYSTAL. His name was Juanwheat, and the Class leader for the Paladins of Upper Echelon. He, too, was Holy.

We get to the first boss, but he wasn't the first boss, he was FIVE! There was a mage, a Warlock, a priest, and a shaman, and this guy in the middle, much bigger. His nameplate said, "High King Maulgar." I assumed he was the main guy. Then, this Lynxz guy told us many instructions, who was DPSing, who was Healing what, who was Tanking what, everything. In the end, I got to heal the mage who was "tanking" Krosh Firehand (which I still believe to be the hardest healing role in the raid, due to major burst.) We pulled once, and it was a bloodfest. People were dying, ogres were dying, a giant beast was summoned (I didn't know it, but this was the Warlock Ogre's pet), and we managed to finish the entire fight with 10 people, and the mage and I were two of the survivors! I did my job, perfectly! We distribute the loot, and I didn't get the piece I wanted. However, no one else wanted a shiny mace, so I took it, maybe I could use this "Hammer of the Naaru" for later.

We finally got to the big honcho of the place, "Gruul the Dragonkiller." My first thoughts were, "What is he, 12 years old? A Dragonkiller?" I was explained what to do, and the raid leader just kept saying, "Don't get near anyone." So I stayed away from people. That plan worked out until Gruul had about 75% of his remaining life left. He made me leap somewhere and I was right next to someone, and I could barely move! So I did what I always did when I was in trouble, I bubbled! It worked, and I got the fuck out of his vicinity, and all was good from then on in that fight, understanding the mechanics and whatnot. We beat Gruul with 23 of our people left, which was pretty awesome. We distribute the loot, I get nothing, and then I see this warning on my chat screen: "Recount; overall healing done." It showed seven people, with my name at fourth place! This Juanwheat, assuming that all these stats were right, nearly tripled my healing! However, I was fourth, and the lower three were also from my guild. I got first out of my guild. I was eccstatic.

Within one week, Zoquara tells us that our guild is merging with that guy Nashan's guild, <The Code>. All right, if you think this is for the best, I'll come too! I know you guys weren't there, but I assure you, it was most certainly not. The Code was basically a clique, meant for Nashan's raid group. I don't know why, or remember, but a few weeks later, Zoquara tells the rest of her old guild that she was leaving and creating another guild, and they were all welcome to join. The name of THIS guild, was <Durlusk Misfits>. This guild wasn't too bad, but it wasn't a raiding guild at all, just casual. So, for some unknown reason to me, she creates a NEW guild, named <An Ean Corr>. An ear of corn? Really? She explains to us that it means <The Misfits> in Gaelic. Uhhhh..... So this guild is a raiding guild, but not as active as I want to be, so I say my goodbyes, and leave. (As a note, this guild is (I think) still active.)

So I leave, and I never saw the inside of Gruul's Lair for a whole 2 months, when I finally decided to apply to another guild, not as hardcore as Upper Echelon, but pretty much up there. Their name was <Blood Moon Rising>. After a trial Kara run, I was accepted.

Stay tuned for the Blood Moon Rising saga, with much more!