Random Pet Challenge [v4.0]

[Funk]

Striped Orange Saber Cat

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Okay, so I had this really cute story in my head about Zaphod taming Shango and going out in search of dragon friends for Shango, but it became super awkward trying to get screenshots to work out since Zaphod can't 'mog Hati yet. Ah, well. Failing at my original plan, I'm pretty much just going to share screenshots with brief descriptions and include a conclusion at the end.




I kept the name 'Shango'. Also, I forgot about Hati. Apparently Hati is coming on this adventure too.



Apparently Shango leaves no pawprints? I'm honestly not sure if other cats w/ the same model don't as well. I never noticed. I might check later.










Hati kept getting stoked about Titan machinery.


This was a really nice view.

At this point I decided that Shango needed a buddy to play with, and what better than a dragon? Time to go to Un'Goro!

Failing to remember how to get that Titan waygate working, I hearthed back to new Dalaran and took the portal to Caverns of Time.




Action shots!




I found a 'dragon' friend for Shango:

He's not attacking, he's dancing, okay?

Then I remembered that Zaphod is only level 100 and cant 'mog over Hati yet... woops. So much for having Shango and his new dragon pal out together.

Anyways, here's more of Shango in Un'Goro's lighting:

His eyes are beautiful here.


Close up!

We headed to Netherstorm to grab another 'dragon', failing to find the black one in Un'Goro.


Those shoulders. Dang.


Found one!

A couple more Shango shots in Netherstorm:


Oh... That's quite the mouth.

Overall, I love the saber cat model, but it's really boxy. The fighting animations are fine - pretty much the same as any other cat model (unless I'm forgetting some). Still, I recommend people to try out the old saber cat model if they haven't already. The orange skin (only available on Shango) is really gorgeous and detailed and has aged well. I actually like it a bit more than the higher-res Pandaria tiger, since I love the saber fangs and big paws. Cats also come with a stealth as their bonus ability, which admittedly I don't use much, but is worth noting. Zaphod will probably keep Shango in his stables as he doesn't really have any specific theme to him, and I like the model despite its age. I might eventually change the name to something other than 'Shango' though.

[Rhyela]

I think I'd like to do another on Rhyela. Unfortunately, I more or less quit playing Dansen, who I was previously doing the reports on. I've dusted off Rhyela and have started farting around on her, so I wouldn't mind another roll for something to do!

Name: Rhyela
Level: 110
Spec: BM (yep, finally decided to suck it up and go BM again)
Exotics: Yes
Restrictions: It seems like I've gotten a lot of spiders lately, so no spiders I guess. Rhyela also does not have the Feathermane and Mechanical tomes, so I can't tame those families.

Thankee!

[TygerDarkstorm]

Sorry, I've had this open and forgot to post your roll. I'm tired and not feeling real hot; I'll get it up for you tomorrow night.

[Rhyela]

No worries! I don't play as much during the week because my new job exhausts me.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Rhyela:
Tan Mushan

[Rhyela]

Oo, I haven't tried one of these on Rhyela yet. Should be fun!

[Funk]

Probably delaying the rest of my challenges until the weekend (depending on how productive I am tomorrow) as it's midterm week and my brain is a little fried.

I haven't forgotten, though c:

[TygerDarkstorm]

No worries! I understand that midterms is a tough time to get anything outside of school done. You've got a lot of challenges on your plate, and I'd feel bad if you weren't focused on school.

[Rhyela]

Rhyela got her mushan and named him Stomphrey. Adventure awaits!

[Funk]

Not to mention with heirlooms being upgraded I've leveled my troll hunter and am spending time on her

[Funk]

Tasha sifted through a disorganized jumble of old (and incomplete) notes on the fauna of Kalimdor. She sighed heavily and massaged her temples with her knuckles. She looked through small window. Dawn. She blew out the candle near her, tilted her head slightly towards the roof, and closed her eyes. All of her muscles were tense. She breathed slowly, relaxing.

After a few moments, her awareness returned to the pile of deteriorating paper in front of her, and then her hands. A dusty residue from the paper had coated her fingertips. She gathered the mess of documents together and took them to the terrace.

The Sentinels were still on eternal vigil, but the city was quiet - there was always a lull at this time of day. Merchants would begin their daytime operations, catering largely to foreigners, soon.

It was much easier to see the scribbles outside, in the pale gold light of dawn. It was not as favorable as pure moonlight, though, but it was too cloudy to read outside last night.

The young kaldorei huntress continued her search. Finally, at around noon, she found it: a page of details on the creature known to most as a 'tallstrider'. Her later father had no kind things to say about the thing, calling it both a 'tall chicken' and a 'graceless crane'. Now, she needed to hunt it.



A small flock was supposedly still living in the Barrens - Tasha's information was not from her father's notes, which oddly did not include habitat. The huntress made her way to central Kalimdor, detouring through Alliance camps and avoiding scouting Horde. She quickly found the oasis that the creatures supposedly live in, and the beasts themselves were easy to spot once she was nearby.

Much to Tasha's surprise, the 'tall chickens' were fascinating, beautiful creatures. After spending some time watching them, she resolved to abandon her current gig - the payment was a pittance anyways - and tame one of the creatures instead.


Note: they don't stay sparkly when tamed :c



Tasha was immediately impressed by how energetic the tallstrider was. The creature seemed almost jittery, or nervous. She decided to have it fight by her side for a while. She named the bird Ethel, after a rather anxious human she knew.

Here are some screenshots in Siege of Orgrimmar and Throne of Thunder:



I personally love the tallstrider animations, although they do seem like a mixture of sass and anxiety (which, I guess, isn't a bad thing). They look pretty fierce when they fight, and not silly at all. The purple tallstrider is one of my troll's favorite pets (tamed back when my troll was still a night elf, actually).

Here are some more screenshots of Ethel:





Despite the moderate training, the creature did not seem to calm down, although Tasha noted (and thoroughly enjoyed) its admirable amount of sass. Regardless, the huntress deemed Ethel unsuitable for the ever-gloomy campaign she was to participate in on the Broken Shore, and returned it to its oasis. Hopefully Ethel could avoid predators in the future, although its bright colours make stealth a bit... difficult.

Overall, tallstriders are really fun pets, but it feels weird having one on a night elf hunter again. This is definitely a pet I'd recommend though, as they are available at a low level, and, as just mentioned, really fun with their jittery, sassy animations. My favorite is the purple one, which is the starting pet for tauren hunters.

[Funk]

[dumping screenshots here, will edit post to include actual words probably NEXT weekend - I've been busier than I thought]







Note: I didn't find the required croc up at first, so I grabbed this ^^^ guy for a bit while I waited for respawn. Look at how big he is in the 'wild'!

[TygerDarkstorm]

I look forward to when you have time to write the stories for your lovely screenshots!

[Nhee]

Hiee!
I'm really not feeling Nhee right now. I wouldn't say it's a dead toon, but I'm just not motivated to play her right now. Each time I try, I log in and see this quest staring back at me, and it's just like... Nah. Maybe not today.
I'll get the motivation back at some point, but until then I'd like to do this on one of my other new hunters

Name: Abelon
Level: 13 (Sidenote: I hate how they changed Tame Beast to a level 13 spell)
Exotics: Nope
Restrictions: Nope

[TygerDarkstorm]

Seriously, moving tame beast to level 13 was such a stupid move.

Nhee(Abelon):
Red Raptor

[Funk]

Updated my post for the pink tallstrider c:

[TygerDarkstorm]

Ethel's story was cute. I look forward to seeing more.

[Funk]

Hehe, it ended up being more about my night elf than Ethel. I guess my nelf has a bit more backstory now...

Anyways, I'll write up Wreka's report later, but for now I'll just leave this here...

[Funk]

To be updated later:

[Nefretiti]

After a long hiatus I'm back.

Name: Serinar
Level: 104 currently.
Exotics: No
Mechanics: No
Restrictions: Dark colored pets prefered to fit with her theme.

Name: Bixy
Level: almost 59
Exotics: yes
Mechanics: yes
Restrictions: Nope