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Guild Raid Logs (WoL)
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Recruitment
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We currently have the following vacancies in our roster:
Please note, we ARE still accepting applications
for classes listed above as being
FULL.
Be aware though that since such classes will have
the greatest competition for raid spots, expectations
for the applicant's gear and experience will be
high.
If you are interested in applying for one of our vacancies,
please visit our
applications forum.
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Raid Progress
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Mergers & Acquisitions
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"Mergers & Acquisitions"
If you are the GM or an Officer of a guild that is
considering merging with or being acquired by another
guild, Converge is interested to talk to you.
Having existed since 2006, Converge has experience of
successfully 'acquiring' other guilds and integrating
them into our unique organisation.
Full details of our policy towards mergers and
acquisitions can be found on
our 'M&A' page.
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Realm First Achievements
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Converge has won the following realm-first
achievements during its pursuit of raiding
progress:
"I'm on a Boat (25P)"
"Many Whelps! Handle It! (25P)"
"The Traitor King (25P)"
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Upcoming Events
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A summary of forthcoming in-game events
is given below.
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For more info, see the
events page.
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Guild Twitterings
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Fiction & Creative Art
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"Fiction and Creative Art"
Discover our very own collection of fiction
and other creative artworks in the guild's
fiction and creative art curation.
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Search WoWHead
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Useful Links
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Official Silvermoon Realm Forum
- A small amount of useful information wrapped in a
thick duvet of nonsense and spam.
WoWHead
- Arguably the most popular WoW database site
with comprehensive information and useful tools.
"WoW Gem Finder"
- Handy site for determining the best gem to match
your slot colour and statistical requirements.
"Be.IMBA"
- Popular character equipment analysis tool.
"Elitist Jerks"
- Leading WoW theory-crafting site.
"RaidComp"
- Useful raid composition tool from MMOChampion that assists
in illustrating what buffs and debuffs various raid compositions
can offer.
Curse Gaming
- Home of one of the most comprehensive WoW
addon libaries."
WoW Interface
- Another great addon download site..
WoW Ace
- Wow addon site dedicated to game addons developed
using the one of the extended "Ace family" of
component frameworks.
WoW Ranked (Silvermoon-EU)
- WoW Ranking Site. Lists realms and guilds in terms
of their equipment collection visible via the Armory.
Instance Reset Calendar
- Find out when your favourite raid instance will be reset.
WoW Wiki
- A useful source of basic strategies, tactics and information
about various instances and quests.
Thottbot
- And old favourite WoW database site, home to the kids
who yell "I'd roll on that, it's a hunter weapon!"
Allakhazam
- Another WoW database site.
WarcraftRealms Character History
- Useful tool for reviewing a character's history on a
realm-specific basis.
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Other News
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WoW.com
- News, Analysis and Opinion from inside the World of Warcraft. (Was originally
known as WoW Insider)
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World of Raids
- Raiding news and blues posts from WoW.
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MMO Champion
- Leading news-breaking WoW information.
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Broliant Writes...
- Occasional musings on WoW and other things.
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Homegrown Addons
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ConvergeFu
- A simple FuBar plugin to provide useful functions
often required by guild officers.
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RecountFu
- A simple FuBar plugin to toggle the display of the
Recount damage meter window.
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Converge Website Homepage.
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Zero Advance Tactics: What it means and why it makes Converge unique!
Converge is a 25-man raiding guild that, quite uniquely,
chooses not to research the strategies and tactics published
by other guilds and websites before beating a fight by ourselves.
That way, we get to see all the cool new things each fight has
to offer with fresh eyes instead of having all the interesting
surprises spoiled for us and the satisfaction of knowing that
each new boss kill was 100% "all our own work".
Find out more details about this defining feature of the guild
on our dedicated
Zero Advance Tactics webpage.
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Latest Guild News
The most recent news articles to be published by the guild
appear below. For a list of every news story ever published
on our website, see our
news index page.
Alternatively, if you're looking for our guild fiction, you
can find that on our
fiction and creative art page.
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The Return - Part II
Saturday 14th August, 2010.
[Click image to view gallery]
-- THE RETURN - Conclusion --
Epidemic watched creatures spill from the corridor, a howling
mass of teeth and claws and hate made flesh that surged towards
him. They were too fast and too alien for him to tell what he
faced for sure, though he hazarded a guess they were some form
of lesser demon. The world slowed; he felt his breath quicken
and armour press reassuringly on a frame strengthened by
countless battles. He was immovable, a being who gloried in
his hard-won prowess. Let them come, he thought, let
them test their strength against mine. A fierce grin
spread across the death knight’s face. Epidemic tightened his
grip on his sword and roared once more in joyful defiance as
the mass of demons approached.
Broliant slid through the night on silent feet, a ripple in the
darkness. Circling the portal he watched the pack of demons
surround Epidemic. As the death knight disappeared beneath the
stinking mass of bodies, he forced himself to relax. While
Epidemic’s might lay in muscle and plate, loud even against a
battlefield’s din, Broliant’s deadly presence was only a whisper
to those he fought. He waited patiently as Epidemic’s sword
rose and fell, steadily drinking its fill, turning the
creatures’ shrieks of hunger to yelps of rage. Seconds later,
daggers held lightly in calloused hands, Broliant left the
shadows and moved towards the battle.
Zmall forced himself to stillness. Spells designed to bring
pain and destruction drifted past his mind’s eye. How easy it
would be to summon death now, set loose the dark powers that were
his to command. But first the vile creatures’ attentions had to
be firmly on Epidemic. The warlock felt his hands tighten into
fists, sweat trickled down his forehead and he dearly wished for
another watery ale from Ulf’s grubby cellar. Finally he saw
Broliant appear, dart forward and neatly eviscerate a large demon
from behind. With a smile he unclenched his hands and let the
spells come.
Xen heard Zmall whispering beside him, though his attentions were
focused on Epidemic, who stood at the heart of the deadly storm.
He summoned more healing magic and sent it flowing into the
plate-clad form he could barely see. At his command, he felt
bones close to being shattered strengthen, and torn flesh mend.
Xen knew that, seconds later, his work would begin again. If his
bark would have allowed it, the druid would have frowned. As the
others joined the fray, Xen knew things were about to become more
difficult.
Epidemic grunted as he parried the blow of a particularly large,
yellow demon, in the process shearing through claws long enough
to decapitate a grown man. The creature reared back, eyes alight
with pain and fury; the death knight smashed it in its twisted
face with a gauntleted hand, shattering jagged teeth and sending
the beast to the cobbles. Another surge of healing energy coursed
through his body, Epidemic silently thanked Xen as he crushed the
yellow demon’s skull beneath one steel-clad boot. They had been
hard-pressed to begin with, but after just a few minutes’ fighting
the creatures’ numbers were greatly thinned. From the corner of
one eye, he saw a familiar flicker of movement just before a red
demon crumpled in a shower of blood; Broliant continued his
graceful, deadly dance. To his left, a demon burst into flames
and crumpled, it’s shrieks cutting off as if someone had thrown a
switch; Zmall was clearly enjoying himself too.
Only three demons remained. Wary, they skittered away from the
glowing sword that had just claimed so many of their kind, back
towards the portal from which they had come moments before, pushing
past the hideous corpses of their kin, littered like so much fleshy
firewood. Still standing beside Xen, Zmall gestured; a ball of
black fire sped from the tips of his fingers and engulfed the
largest of the three. As it howled and collapsed, the last two
turned and fled, claws scrabbling for purchase on the blood-slicked
street. Before they could take more than a few steps, their heads
seemed to leap from their shoulders. Broliant shimmered into view
as they thunked wetly onto the cobbles. He casually flicked black
blood from his daggers before sheathing them and joining the others.
Epidemic stood in their midst, breathing hard but otherwise unharmed.
"Well," said Broliant, smiling grimly. "That was fun." Before
anyone could reply a howl thundered from deep within the corridor.
"My form has been prepared!" rumbled a deep voice.
"Form?" squeaked Zmall.
"That doesn't sound good," added Xen.
"Maybe he means immigration form," said the warlock hopefully,
glancing around.
"Zogar the Traveller returns," proclaimed the voice loudly. "The
blackest of dooms races to greet you!"
"Black’s sooo last season," said a dry voice behind them. The
group spun around as Van and Banasea emerged from a side street
accompanied by a pretty dwarf female. Van had changed into a dashing
gold and silver helm set off by a long purple feather. Being bright
red, his breastplate clashed somewhat with the overall ensemble, but
that didn’t matter to the paladin as he frequently told anyone who
would listen, red was coming back. Big time.
"Ah, gentlemen, Rosika," said Broliant by way of greeting. "Glad you
could make it. Things are about to get interesting." He quickly
filled them in on recent events. As he did so, the wind picked up,
carrying with it the stink of death and decay.
"So Zhiva’s here, eh?" snorted Bana, stringing his bow. "I know one
mage who’d love to know that." Despite recovering from a three day
drinking binge the tall hunter’s hands were steady as they worked.
"Unfortunately Professor Badlimp’s away on… a rather special errand,"
said Broliant, unsheathing his daggers once again. Another gust of
wind tugged at the group, this one stronger.
"I hunger!" roared the voice, seeming to come from everywhere.
"It’s here," whispered Xen. The wind picked up once more, powerful,
insistent as it pulled at anything not nailed to the ground. Van’s
flamboyant purple feather whipped off to disappear into the darkness.
It was quickly joined by a variety of plant pots, chunks of rubbish and
Mrs. Butterworth’s tabby cat, Cyril, who could only be described as
looking rather surprised as he shot by, narrowly missing Bana. At a
signal from Broliant the group readied itself; Epidemic strode with
some difficulty to the middle of the street once more and stood before
the pulsing gateway.
"You all know your roles," shouted Broliant over the rising noise.
Everyone nodded.
"Where is the creature?" asked Rosika, rolling up her robe’s sleeves
and moving to stand beside Xen. A particularly strong blast of wind
buffeted the group, they fought to stay upright. Blinking back tears,
Broliant was about to shout some form of encouragement, when the wind
abruptly stopped and, with a final hiss, the gateway faded from view,
leaving the way to the mansion’s courtyard open.
"That’s never good," said Bana, pulling an arrow from his quiver and
notching it in one smooth motion.
"Ooo! I know what it is," said Zmall in a slightly strangled voice.
"Do tell," whispered Xen. "We don’t have much time." As the druid
spoke, one of the demon corpses twitched and rolled over, its glazed
eyes stared blankly at the group. Seconds later, a distant severed
arm trembled and began to slide slowly across the cobbles. Suddenly
the shadowy street seemed to come alive as corpses began to slither
towards one another as if pulled by invisible hands.
"I’m not liking the look of this," said Bana.
"Zmall," said Broliant quietly. "In your own time." The tiny warlock
shuddered, unable to take his eyes from the horrifying scene playing
out in front of him.
"If I’m right," he said. "Zhiva has somehow summoned an Azerothian
Mortis Demon; very rare, very powerful, almost impossible to kill."
He pointed to the body parts that were already clustered in the middle
of the street. "They can only enter our realm if other, typically
lesser, demons prepare the way."
"Prepare the way?" said Rosika, growing pale.
"Well, die violently. Then our new friend can fuse their corpses
into a suitable vessel."
"Vessel? Like a ship?" said Bana.
"I’m pretty sure Zmall means hideous, unstoppable killing machine,"
said Van.
"Well vessel can mean ship," sniffed Bana.
The body parts seemed to be melting, fusing together and growing.
"Let’s take it down now," said Epidemic over his shoulder as the mass
shifted and grew some more. "While it’s forming!"
"No!" said Zmall. "Attacking now would only irritate it. Only one
thing can destroy such a demon!"
"Care to enlighten us?" asked Broliant, a dangerous gleam in his eye.
He hated being kept waiting for answers, especially when death rushed
to greet them.
"I’m trying to remember!" squeaked Zmall. "I read about them ages
ago!" The gnome’s face scrunched in terrible concentration, he
jumped up and down, clearly enraged by his inability to remember this
most vital of facts. The effect would have been funny if it hadn’t
been for the towering mass of slick, purple flesh that now swayed in
front of the group. Easily twelve feet high, in the last few seconds
it had started to take on a noticeably more humanoid shape.
Bana frowned, drew back his bow and loosed an arrow. It landed in
what would soon be the demon’s head with an audible thud, snapping it
backwards. A hideous gash appeared in the rounded mass and a
high-pitched shriek split the night air.
"Bana!" snapped Broliant. "You’re not helping." The elf drew another
arrow, notched it and grinned.
"Worth a go, eh?" Before anyone could reply Zmall let out a yelp of
triumph.
"I remember!" he said, grabbing Broliant’s sleeve. Then his face fell.
"That’s nice," said the rogue waspishly as the small warlock let his
hand drop.
"A Keshian Dream Crystal," Zmall said weakly. Before them, the demon
had finished its transformation. Made of fused body parts, it was a
hideous sight to behold as it stood in the street, eyes shut, breathing
deeply. Slowly it reached up a misshapen hand, grasped the arrow still
lodged in its forehead and yanked it out.
"So," began Van, trying to keep his voice steady as he watched the
massive demon examining Bana’s arrow, which suddenly looked a lot like
a silly splinter of wood, "anyone got one of these dream crystal doodads
on them?"
"Many claim the crystals are mere myth," whispered Xen.
"They are said to have formed in the legendary Whispering Caves of Kaz,"
added Rosika. "At a time when even the Titans were young."
"Forged from the tears of the old gods, they are among the most potent
forms of pure good," finished Zmall, with a hint of distaste. For a
moment, no one spoke.
"So that’s a no then?" said Van, lowering his visor into place. "This
is going to get messy and I only just cleaned this outfit." The demon
turned to the group, cocking its massive head as if to listen to
something. Red glowing eyes squinted in a gaze of pure malevolence and
its chest rippled as if the muscles within sought release from their
new form.
"Where are the City Watch?" asked Zmall.
"They’d be as much use as a fart in a hurricane," snorted Bana, drawing
a bead on the demon again.
"They’d rouse the Dalaran mages, who might have been able to do
something about all this."
"Even without one of those fancy crystals?"
"Enough chatter," whispered Broliant. "Let’s see if we can buy ourselves
a few minutes’ thinking time. Spread out." But as they all moved to
obey, the demon spoke a word that not even Zmall understood. A feeling
of defeat swept across them all. Fleeting images of dark places flitted
through their minds, tinged with an emotion that could only be described
as pure sadness. The creature rumbled a second word and chains of ice
snapped into being around everyone’s legs, fastening them securely in
place.
"Aww, game over man!" wailed Van. The demon roared, lowered its head
and charged down the street towards them. Clawed feet spat chunks of
stone as it powered past shop fronts and brightly coloured front doors,
closing in on the group with incredible speed. It paid barely any
attention to the hasty spells and traps thrown in its path. Within
seconds it was only a few meters from a helpless Rosika, reaching for
her small form.
Suddenly a thick beam of pure white light erupted from the night sky
and struck the demon full in the chest. With a howl of pain it flew
into the side of a warehouse, missing the priest by inches, to
disappeared in a shower of bricks and dust.
"Mass dispel, Rossi," said a gruff voice above them. Shaking her head
to clear it, the dwarf priest began the short spell to free them. From
deep within the building came a roar of pure fury.
The demon sprang from the jagged hole flickering eyes searching the sky.
Its chest was almost completely torn apart, but that didn’t seem to slow
it down. It opened its mouth but before it could make a sound another an
even brighter beam of white light speared the darkness to strike the
creature again, this time in the face.
"That’s quite enough spell casting from you, ugly" said the voice. The
light grew in intensity, engulfing the demon that now writhed in silent
agony. Nearby, Rosika finished her incantation and the chains vanished.
"Part of the mortis demon’s mojo," said the voice casually. "Its spells
normally can’t be dispelled, unless it’s in the process of being destroyed
of course. That tends to rather distract it."
The huge, almost blinding figure was now kneeling in the rubble, struggling
in vain to stand. A few seconds later the beam flickered out and the demon
toppled over. When it struck the ground, it shattered into tiny shards of
light that spun off into the darkness.
"Well, that was pretty," said the voice.
"Hairy!" boomed Epidemic as they all watched a small gnome drift down and
settle gently onto the street. He was dressed in long orange robes with
gold piping that, even by his standards, looked odd. Clutched in his hand
was what looked like a tiny star that was already starting to dim. Hairy
shoved it unceremoniously into a pocket.
"Got your message, B" he said, walking over to the group.
"Impeccable timing, Professor," said Broliant, surveying the wreckage of
the street. In the distance, a few high-pitched warbles could be heard.
"The Night Watch finally woke up then," said Van.
"They’ll blame us for all the mess," squeaked Zmall.
"We’ll have time to catch up later, let’s push on," said Broliant, eyeing
the courtyard that had, until a few moments ago, been hidden by the demonic
portal.
"Zhiva’s here," said Bana. Hairy’s eyes lit with an evil gleam.
"So the demon was her doing? Bit above her pay grade. Let’s go say hello."
They moved quickly into the courtyard, aware that the Night Watch were
moments away from arriving and were not likely to believe the destruction
wrought upon the street had been due to a rogue mortis demon. Hairy turned
back to the street, muttering and pointing to the missing gate and damaged
cobbles. The scene shimmered and suddenly a newly painted gate appeared,
looking for all the world that it had been there for years.
"That should keep their little brains occupied long enough," he said,
turning back to the group. The courtyard was large, opulent and bordered
by lush gardens that stretched off in the dim moonlight. In front of them
stood an ornate white mansion that loudly proclaimed its owner was both rich
and seriously lacking in taste. All the large windows were dark.
"Think we should, er, knock on the front door?" said Rosika.
"I’ve got a better idea," said Hairy.
"Is it in any way remotely subtle?" asked Broliant. Hairy grinned at the
rogue.
"Thought not. Move back everyone."
"Onto the grass," grunted the small mage. They did as they were instructed.
Hairy pointed to the sky, spoke a few words then pointed to the ground and
fell silent, lost in the intricacies of his spell. On the other side of
the illusionary gate a man’s voice rose, sounding confused.
"I don’t geddit, Dacker. Where’d all this smelly paint come from?!"
"Dunno, stinks like your wife’s cookin’ though, eh?!"
"Watch it, you! If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it were blood, but…" The
voice cut off as a shudder shook the street.
"Wha’ was that?!"
In the courtyard the group watched as Hairy held out his hands, palms facing
down. The cobbles around his seemed to be vibrating, loosening themselves.
Rosika waved a hand and shields popped into place around everyone but Hairy.
The gnome mage swiveled his hands so his palms face upward. At first nothing
happened, then, one by one cobble stones pulled free of the ground to float a
few feet in the air. Soon he was surrounded by hundreds of hovering square
stones. As the shuddering subsided two men dressed in Night Watch uniforms
stumbled through the gate looking thoroughly confused.
"Well I’ll be, Norris, the gate ain’t real!" the larger of the two exclaimed,
waving a rusty pike back and forth through the illusion several times.
"Who are they, Dacker?!" blurted Norris, pointing at the Broliant and the
others. Dacker turned, but before he could say anything, Hairy gestured
towards the mansion. At his silent command, the cobbles shot towards it.
windows shattered, walls were smashed and expensive-looking statues were
remodeled under in the thick hail of missiles. Several cobbles bounced off
something invisible near the top floor balcony. Hairy smiled grimly and
pointed towards the spot. A fresh hail of cobbles peppered the balcony,
smashing off the barrier. Zhiva shimmered into view, her face contorted in
a mask of concentration as she tried to maintain the shield. But seconds
later it collapsed and she fell to the ground, landing unceremoniously in a
patch of rose bushes. Hairy gestured, ending the spell as Broliant strode
towards the prone figure. As he approached, Zhiva's eyes snapped open and
she sat up, pulling twigs from her frizzy hair.
"Now, Zhiva," said Broliant in a low purr. "I do believe you mentioned
shinies."
28 Minutes Later…
The Night Watch prison cart jumped and shuddered over the Dalaran cobbles.
It was still early, but already the smell of that morning’s bread baking
slipped through the stubby window bars. Manacled in the back with the others
Broliant looked from face to face. He saw his extended family, people he had
stood beside in countless battles against impossible odds and always
prevailed. Questioning Zhiva had not gone as smoothly as anticipated, he had
not dreamed her client was the Lich King himself. Lost in thought, he didn’t
notice Rosika’s scrutiny.
"At least we know Sabi and Indil are fine," she said gently.
"If you call being on an all-you-can eat tour of the Blood Prince’s muffin
factories ‘fine’" snorted Van.
"There’s definitely something evil about that," squeaked Zmall. "I just can’t
put my finger on it."
"You couldn’t have known the whole thing was a trap…" began Bana.
"An evil trap!" interrupted Zmall.
"Whatever. Sabi, Indil, the fake club, guild messenger and big ugly demon
fella, all there just to take us down."
"Sort of a compliment really," said Xen, now back in his normal form. Bana
frowned.
"Did you believe Zhiva when she said the Lich King wanted to take us out before
we took him down?" Broliant nodded.
"I do. We were making steady progress towards ridding the land of his
presence."
"Their plan was about to work too," said Van, turning to look at Hairy who up
until this point had been sitting quietly in the corner, snoozing. "If Captain
Orange over there hadn’t miraculously shown up in the nick of time with that
crystal we’d have been demon food."
"I’ve known for a few months that someone meant to do us harm," said Broliant.
"I’m not without eyes and ears outside the guild. I sent our Hairy on a
special mission two months ago to find out more information and, if possible,
a means to counter it."
"I managed to uncover parts of the plan," continued Hairy, opening his eyes
and stretching. "But not the whole picture. I knew someone was going summon
a pretty nasty demon and set it on you. But which one?" Zmall nodded sagely.
"They’re very different," he squeaked. "Need careful handling, special
banishments."
"Exactly," said Hairy. "So I thought to myself, ‘is there something that’ll
kick any demon’s arse?’"
"And you found out about the Keshian Dream Crystals," said Broliant. "Bravo."
"Yeah, spent three weeks dressed as a member of the Sleeping Monk Order just
so I could, er… borrow one. I got B’s message telling him where you were going
just as I was, er… exiting the Dream Temple, so I could teleport straight here
and start blasting."
"Up to that point, barring the mess, good plan," boomed Epidemic. "No one
could have known Zhiva gave us all that information to buy her enough time for
the Lich King to open a portal she could escape through."
"Or that the blast wave it made would kill that poor Night Watchman," added
Rosika. "What was his name again?"
"Norris," said Xen. "His friend, Dacker was shouting it enough after the
explosion. Don’t forget he was the one who pointed the finger at us when half
of Dalaran’s Night Watch showed up two seconds later, along with enough mages
for a magic convention."
"Yes, that was rather unfortunate timing," sighed Broliant.
"What are we going to do?" asked Rosika. "In just a few short hours we’ve
been branded criminals and discovered the Lich King himself wants us dead!"
"Not a bad night’s work in my book," said Van, trying in vain to wipe his
breastplate clean. "And don’t say ‘an evil night’s work’ Zmall," he added
absently. The gnome warlock closed his mouth, looking slightly guilty.
"Simple," said Broliant. "We’re going to break out, clear our names and take
down the stinky Lich King."
"Sounds good," said Bana as smiles spread around the group. Broliant grinned.
"I love it when a raid plan comes together."
Ten months ago, a crack guild unit was sent to prison by a Dalaran Court for
a crime they didn't commit. They promptly escaped from a maximum security
stockade to the Azerothian underground. Today, still wanted by the
authorities, they survive as raiders of fortune. If you have a problem boss,
if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...
The C-Team.
Report posted by: Álith.
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First Kill of Halion (10)!
Monday 12th July, 2010.
[Click image to view gallery]
Right after enjoying the conclusion to the FIFA World Cup
competition the previous night, our mini-team popped into the
recently opened Ruby Sanctum and tackled the singlular boss
within, Halion.
A few previous attempts had been made but this night was
the charm with a calm easy passage to a new FBK achieved
under the usual auspices of our 'ZAT' approach.
Congratulations to those in attendance for this achievement
made whilst we all had fun. Here's to the proper 25-player
version of it to come!
Report posted by: Broliant.
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Heroic Guildular Action Abounds!
Sunday 13th June, 2010.
[Click image to view gallery]
-- THE RETURN - PART 1 --
The common room of The Rusty Dagger Inn had seen better days.
Worn, cracked tables and chairs dotted the stained stone
floor, among which a bored-looking barmaid floated, deftly
avoiding clumsy attempts made by patrons to grab her sizeable
arse.
It was late and few remained to brave the watery ale and sour
glances of Ulf, the inn's owner. Said by some to be half-
kobold (a rumour he hotly denied) his ratty features seemed
set into a perpetual sneer. The Dagger had a reputation for
being a place one could conduct business as shady as Ulf was
ugly which was precisely the reason Professor Broliant sat in
a corner with several of his most trusted lieutenants. Trying
rather unsuccessfully to look inconspicuous, Epidemic shifted
his hulking form trying to get more comfortable. The tiny
stool he sat on creaked loudly.
"Did you have to wear all your top tier set?" grumbled Van,
sniffing his mug suspiciously. "There's not going to be any
trouble and frankly you stink like a steel foundry."
"An evil steel foundry," piped up Zmall, his tiny eyes
peeking over the rim of the table. The gnome belched quietly
and grinned at the four empty mugs arrayed in front of him.
Epidemic's helmet swivelled to look at the handsome paladin,
who wore an elaborate, orange velvet hose set off by black
satin breeches.
"If I'd have known you were going to take four hours getting
ready, I'd have come casual," he boomed. Van's eyes darted
around the room, nervously.
"Dude, can't you whisper?"
"I am whispering!"
Van brushed at an imaginary speck on his shoulder and tried to
look butch. Broliant raised a hand and the pair fell silent.
"Stealth, I think we can agree, is not high up our most
excellent death knight's skill set," he said, smiling slightly.
He looked intently at the door. "Now," he said, almost to
himself. "Our guest has arrived." Everyone turned to get a
better view.
"I'm waiting, B," boomed Epidemic after a few seconds.
"Yes, thank you. I'm aware of that," said Broliant quietly,
his attention elsewhere. "If my calculations are correct, our
sour-faced host will need a new door," he raised a finger and
closed his eyes. "Now."
The oak door exploded inwards in a shower of splinters and a
battered-looking goblin landed in front of the group. The bar
fell silent. Suddenly there was a commotion as the few remaining
patrons hurried out, several making loud comments about the hour.
The goblin got unsteadily to his feet, brushed himself off and
looked around, clearly desperate for a way out. Dressed in a
traditional messenger's guild uniform, he looked very much like
an oversized angry green baby. Despite his journey through The
Rusty Dagger's door, he was relatively unscathed.
"Who, or what, is that?" Epidemic boomed, standing. At his
loud clanking the goblin seemed to notice the odd group for the
first time and red, shifty eyes widened as they travelled up the
death knight's heavily armoured form.
"Gutburp," replied a quiet voice from the doorway. Xen emerged
from the gloom, he didn't look happy.
"So that's where you've been," said Van. "Getting this fella."
Xen nodded and moved to stand behind the messenger.
"Indeed, Van," replied Broliant, looking at the goblin intently.
"I asked Xen to track down the creature who delivered a package to
our guild last week."
"This got something to do with Sabi and Indil?" asked Zmall. The
pair had recently gone missing, though no one knew if they'd been
kidnapped or left of their own free will. No note had been left
and no sign of a struggle marked their passage.
"This little fellow delivered our esteemed guildies a package last
week," said the rogue. "I asked Xen to locate him,
given our druid here can do things a little more quietly than most."
His gaze flicked to Epidemic before returning to the messenger.
"This is kidnapping," growled Gutburp, who seemed to have found his
voice. "You're all going to be in a lot of trouble when my masters
find out!"
"Big deal," said Van, handing Zmall his ale. Gutburp looked ready
to launch into an angry response when Broliant's hand blurred. There
was a loud thunk and, as if by magic, a large steel dagger appeared,
quivering between the goblin's feet. Gutburp's mouth snapped shut.
"What my well-groomed companion means to say," began Broliant, his
gaze hardening. "Is that it will be hard to complain about anything
if your head has been removed from your body."
"Painfully!? boomed Epidemic in his hollow voice.
"That goes without saying," snorted Van.
"Just thought I'd mention it," replied the death knight, sounding
faintly hurt. Gutburp gulped loudly.
"Or I could swallow his soul," squeaked Zmall, taking a swig of Van's
ale. "Much less messy." Broliant smiled coldly at the goblin.
"Now," he said softly. "Where were we?"
"I w-was about to tell you everything I know s-so you don't let
your friends remove my h-head from my shoulders," stammered Gutburp,
shifting nervously from foot to foot. "Or eat my soul," he added
weakly.
"Indeed!" beamed the Guild Master.
Ten minutes later a relieved Gutburp scuttled out the shattered front
door and left the group to ponder what they had learned.
"Think he'll talk to his masters about our little chat?" said Epidemic.
Broliant shook his head, deep in thought.
"No, he'd get in too much trouble. If we move quickly our quarry
won't know we're coming."
Van sipped daintily at a mug of tea brought over by Ulf moments before.
The landlord's nervous fury at the destruction wrought upon his front
door had been quenched by the small sack of coins Broliant had passed
over, along with assurances Xen would not frequent the bar ever again.
Zmall pushed away his fifth mug of ale and frowned.
"So we now know Sabi and Indil were sent a two-way scrying stone as
part of their Blood Prince Fan Club welcome pack," he squeaked.
"We also know it was sent by a third party," added Epidemic.
"A shadowy third party," qualified Zmall. "Scrying stones are
expensive, not part of the normal fan welcome pack."
"Our little green friend gave us an address in Dalaran," said Broliant,
standing. "We shall pay Sabi and Indil's mysterious benefactor a visit."
"As long as there'll be extreme violence involved, happy to come along,"
rumbled Epidemic.
"Before we go, Professor B," squeaked Zmall, hopping off his stool and
swaying slightly.
"Yes?" replied Broliant.
"How did you know exactly when the goblin was going to come through the
door?"
"Good question," said Van, putting down his half-finished tea.
"Simple deduction," said Broliant, looking a little smug.
"Pray, enlighten us," said Xen softly.
"Three things indicated Gutburp's arrival time and the mode of his
entrance. First, Xen needed to travel four miles to reach us from the
messenger guild barracks. I was able to estimate his arrival time to
within three minutes, allowing for the fact we would be encumbered. I
also knew he would be grumpy due to the hour."
"I'm so predictable," whispered Xen.
"Only to me," replied Broliant. "Xen's recent marriage was also a
factor."
"How?" asked Van.
"Xen's lovely new wife purchased him a new aftershave four days ago."
"Troll for Men," chipped in Epidemic, turning to look at Van again.
"By Ragnaros's almighty volcanic dung, if you think I smell bad..."
"Quite," interrupted Broliant. "Anyway, Xen's new and, ah, interesting
fragrance is sufficiently pungent to detect fifty yards away, allowing
me to sense his arrival and predict the moment he would fail to utilise
the front door's inward-swiveling capacity for our goblin friend."
"You mean I threw the creature through the door?" said Xen.
"That's what I said," replied Broliant. He turned to look at Van.
"Hearth back to the guild, sober up Banasea, then gear up and meet me at
this abode in Dalaran." He showed Van the scrap of paper Gutburp had
used to hurriedly scrawl an address. Van nodded, put his hand in his
pocket and disappeared with a pop.
* * *
The cobbled streets of Dalaran were deserted. Shop fronts that by day
hawked a bewildering assortment of colourful goods and services were, at
this hour, dark, silent places. Even the several ale houses that dotted
the street had shut hours before, forcing patrons to stagger home to
disapproving wives. A sleek black cat darted from shadow to shadow, a
sliver of movement, its luminous eyes searching hungrily for prey. It
froze suddenly, alert, wary, then let out a startled yowl and bolted when
Broliant, Zmall, Epidemic and Xen snapped into existence. They faded back
into the shadows, suspicious, alert, all business as they searched for
danger.
"That looks like the place," murmured Broliant, gesturing towards a huge
steel gate across the other side of the street. "Apparently home to a
rich merchant who just moved in," he added.
"Looks inviting," said Epidemic. Xen snorted but said nothing. At least
twelve feet high and topped with spikes of creamy bone, there was something
disturbing about the gate, but no one could quite put their finger on why.
Zmall pondered for a moment, reached into his robe and drew out a small red
pouch. He darted forward, quick and silent, reaching into it as he moved.
Seconds later, he was close enough to throw some fine, glittering powder at
the dull surface. Behind him, on the other side of the street, Xen shifted
uncomfortably.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," he said under his breath.
"What's the worst that could happen?" replied Broliant, watching the gate
intently. Xen opened his mouth to reply when a hissing sound filled the air,
loud against the silence. Zmall gave a small yelp and scuttled back across
the street to rejoin them. Together they all stared in horror as the gate
began to flex and change, becoming almost flesh-like as it darkened. A small
tear formed in its middle and began to spread upwards at an alarming rate. A
window up the street flared with light and an angry looking man poked his head
out.
"What's all the commotion?' he shouted, rubbing his eyes and looking around,
night cap bobbing comically. "By Mimiron's clockwork balls, a man needs his
sleep!" His gaze found the gate, he blinked, stared, then disappeared back
into his house, slamming the shutters closed with a bang.
"What in the Seven Hells did you throw on that thing?" boomed Epidemic over
the hissing. Zmall shrugged.
"Powder of Revelation," he said. "Alith had a stash I, er, liberated to
experiment with." The gate by this time had split into two pulsing, fleshy
slabs. Between them stretched the mouth of a huge dark corridor that didn't
look like it belonged in the universe at all. Deep inside it, around a sharp,
shadowy bend, flickering lights appeared, along with a growing clattering sound.
"Great," growled Xen. "So you stole something you don't know much about and
used it on something you don?t know anything about?"
"You make it sound so silly," said Zmall, avoiding the tall druid's gaze.
"Hardly difficult," said Epidemic, unlimbering his huge sword. The hissing had
stopped now, the only sound coming now from inside the mysterious corridor.
"Some kind of demonic portal, I imagine," said Broliant, loosening his daggers
and shifting to the balls of his feet.
"Stating the obvious," said a woman's voice, mockingly. "You haven't changed,
Professor." Broliant's eyes narrowed.
"Zhiva," he said the name almost like a curse. "Is that you?"
Above the street a shimmering figure appeared, to hover a few feet off the
ground. Zmall started an incantation, his tiny face contorted with
concentration. Xen put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't bother," he said. "It's some kind of projection spell, she's not
really there." Zmall stopped, disappointed. Clad in purple mage's robes,
Zhiva would have been a normal looking human woman, if not for the wild shock
of brown hair that surrounded a face set in an unattractive sneer.
"I see you've visited the new barber's shop," said Broliant, mildly.
"You're just jealous!" Zhiva purred. "But down to business. I knew you'd turn
up eventually; looking for your little lost guildies, are we?"
"Where are Sabi and Indil?" asked Xen, taking a step forward. "If you've hurt
them?"
"Then what?" sneered Zhiva, floating a little closer. "You'll frown me to
death?" Broliant moved closer to the apparition, trying to ignore the growing
clamour from the tunnel.
"Zhiva, you were one of us once."
"A long time ago."
"Perhaps," Broliant said firmly. "But if you know anything about Sabi and
Indil's whereabouts, I urge you to tell us." Zhiva smirked.
"Naughty, naughty, Professor B," she chided. "You know the rules."
"Rules?" squeaked Zmall.
"Want shinies? Then down the boss!" Zhiva motioned to the tunnel. "Enjoy!" She
burst into laughter and disappeared. Broliant sighed and turned to the others.
"We're about to have company and I imagine they don't want autographs." The rogue
glanced up and down the street. "No Dalaran Nightwatch yet," he murmured. "Epi,
you take point, Xen, keep him up. Zmall and I will do what we do best." He paused,
looking at each of them in turn. "I just hope we can hold them off long enough."
Xen nodded and, as Broliant faded from view, began to shimmer. His skin hardened,
becoming bark-like, leafy branches sprouted from his head and, seconds later, he
stood in his tree form.
"We could just... leave," said Zmall to no one in particular.
"And give up on our quest to find Sabi and Indil?" said Xen, his voice a rough
whisper.
"Not to mention miss a huge, bloody and potentially hopeless fight!" said Epidemic,
straightening his helm. The massive death knight moved to take up a position
between the fleshy slabs of gate. He stretched his neck, raised his sword and
loosed a defiant roar as, from the mouth of the demonic corridor, hell erupted.
TO BE CONCLUDED!
Report posted by: Álith.
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First Kill of Blood Queen Lana'thel (25N)!
Thursday 29th April, 2010.
[Click image to view gallery]
"Thou shall not fall." Those were the words ringing in our
ears as we began the evening's raid after spending an afternoon
remembering that vampire movies used to be great, you know, before
Twilight and the new age of the 'man-love' vampire had dawned.
Thus, we sought to take our cues from the likes of the
great vampires of old; the snarl of Snipes, the menace
of Sutherland. Of course, there are great vampires about
today to inspire our thoughts: the utterly terrifying
Lina Leandersson was brilliantly scary whilst being
every bullied 8yr-old kid's fantasy 'girl next door' in "Låt den
rätte komma in." (aka: "Let the right one in.") In the
midst of such company, the one they call 'R-Pat' is
about as scary as Postman Pat and trust us, "that ain't
scary!"
And so began our Thursday evening raid with a plan to
take down Blood Queen Lana'thel. We'd come close
the night before and it seemed within our grasp. We
made a handful of attempts and then our primary raid-leader
disappeared. I mean, he was right there one minute and
suddenly, completely mid-sentence, he vanished before
our very eyes. The raid freaked. We ran from that room
like our very lives depended upon it. (Right after the
tea break of course. We're still civilised raiders and
nothing interrupts our regularly scheduled tea-breaks.
We know our "Asterix in Britain" after all!)
[Click image to view gallery]
While dealing with our loss, Xén stepped in to assert
a sense of calm and led us before Valithria Dreamwalker,
further helping the team to regain its discipline by engineering
the death of one of our two 'portal' healers. Everything
rested on the shoulders of the princess. Could he (she?)
pull us through all by himself? We murdered Blazing things
and Suppressing other-things and ultimately it all became
academic. Lung-breaking exercise for sure but more than
rewarding enough for some!
Composure regained, everyone laughed when our primary
raid leader reappeared just as suddenly as he had disappeared.
No explanation was given and none was asked. Sometimes,
when the secret love of 'R-Pat' hides within denying
hearts, it's best not to enquire too deeply about the
odd temporary disappearance. Well, that's what Indil told
us anyway!
Back we went before the Blood Queen and quickly we
resumed our efforts. We worked to master 'phase 2'
for a while to ensure we kept people alive and avoided
losing precious 'bites' from the team. Gradually, we
succeeded in that effort.
We often had to chastise the slow-to-react, most
commonly just after the heroism call when blood rushes
to those places thoughts find harder to reach and no
amount of shouting on vent can tear a rampant DPSer
off the boss to stand closer to the other two kiddies
whose brains have been 'red-linked' to his or her
own. It's like "WTF, noob, MOVE!"
[Click image to view gallery]
Soon enough, we were surviving the cycle of phases
and reaching enrage with ever smaller amounts of
the Blood Queen's health left to remove. Machinations
arose, wondering how to get the biggest DPSers bitten
first, to maximise their "pure pwny" punching power.
It was a problem easily solved.
With every duck now carefully aligned, we pressed
ahead. All too quickly the final dance was upon
us, the only thing between success and complete loss
of mind being a combination of determined DPS and
healing. Thankfully the tanks refrained from unnecessary
kiting!
Mere seconds before disaster could arrive, the Blood
Queen was successfully vanquished (that last word we
use simply to allow ourselves a smile as we imagine a
certain warlock reading this story aloud to himself!)
and the girls and boys, they got some toys.
Having originally beaten the 10-man version of this
encounter using our ZAT approach, it had ultimately
only taken a further couple of evenings to perfect
our execution for the 25-man fight, demonstrating
nicely that the fun ZAT adds to our raids does not
unduly impede our momentum.
'Sexy Sindy' is up next on the calendar of bosses
between us and a shot at the King. Now, what movies
can we watch for inspiration I wonder... Answers on
a postcard to the usual address if you have any good
ideas!
Report posted by: The Lost Boys (And Girls!)
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First Kill of The Lich King (10N)!
Tuesday 27th April, 2010.
[Click image to view gallery]
The Lich King has been defeated! It's a true story of how
an elite special forces raid team went 'From Zero to Kingslayers'
in just one evening! Do you want to know more?
According to my sources deep within the paddywagon council,
Converge despatched a team of 10 scary individuals into
the Citadel to stand in front of the Lich King and taunt
him mercilessly.
Three members of that team were tasked with healing
responsibilities but soon it became clear from the
way that Rosi and Van were playing "spot the dead possum"
that Jellie was just going to do all the healing by
himself. He girded his loins apparently. (And that's why
he's walking so funny today by the way!)
Even with this 'malarking' they beat previous records
to reduce the fractious party pooper to a mere 19% of
his health. Time for coffee said the raid leader and
runners were sent out for refreshments.
[Click image to view gallery]
A little back-peddaling followed the break, probably due
to nerves, over-eagerness and the subsequent effect of
having drunk 27 double espressos earlier in the day. Take
another break said the RL and again they paused.
First go back and suddenly the team are all
"Boom Goes the Dynamite!"
and down goes the Lich King like a big sack of spuds. Mind,
at first the team thought that... but no, I can't reveal
more details here without spoiling the very cool event
that occurs here for those that have yet to see it. We're
all about the "coolness of the surprise" so it's best
to just believe us, it's way cool!
Remember too, Converge's raiders have progressed through
Icecrown Citadel using our very special
Zero Advance Tactics
method which simply makes this achievement all the
more satisfying. Our observations, our tactics, our
execution. One Hundred Percent all Converge!
And when it comes to saying well done, one can hardly find
better words than those provided by our very own Master
Raid Leader who put it perfectly:
A word of thanks from Epidemíc:
Just a quick thank you to all the people who put in the hard work on Arthas.
It has been a very hard encounter. Made even harder when having to discover
our own tactics and learn the mechanics and the encounter.
Also a tip of the hat to all the people who had to sit out on those nights.
It's an unforgiving encounter requiring exceptional player outputs. I understand
it can be frustrating to have sat out, so i'd like to take a quick moment to
acknowledge their personal sacrifices for the good of the guild as a whole and
its progress and standing at the cost to their own personal enjoyment.
It now unlocks 10 man Hard Modes to the guild, along with better loot upgrades
and prestige to the guild.
So again well done to all that were involved, in the raids or those that sat
outside the raids waiting for a chance to help out.
We killed the freekin Lich king Baby!, Roll on 25 man!
(Epidemíc, Forums Post: Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:23 pm)
[Click image to view gallery]
Disclaimer: Special buffs used for this kill.
This kill was achieved using the "Strength of Wrynn" buff,
a buff that exists to reduce the challenge of the Icecrown
Citadel encounters over time by increasing the potency of
players within the Icecrown Citadel zone.
Upon its introduction, the buff increased various stats
by 5% and this was increased more recently to 10%. It is
expected to be increased again later this week to 15% and
potentially to 20% sometime after that.
Converge retains the ambition to achieve a "pure kill" of
the Lich King with the buff disabled (this is more tricky
to arrange because it cannot simply be "right clicked" to
remove) and will report back when and if such an achievement
is made. The 'SoW' buff exists to enable a greater number
of players to experience the thrill of killing
the Lich King which we can now report with authority is
an experience very much worth pursuing.
Details of the 'SoW' buff properties used during this kill:
Strength of Wrynn
Health increased by 10%.
Healing and absorption effects increased by 10%.
Damage dealt increased by 10%.
Report posted by: The "Good News" Guy.
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