Mirage of the Mangal

[Ziarre]

Now and again, one encounters a rare that persistently eludes them. Regardless of intense hunt, casual check, or giving up, it remains as elusive as a myth. For me, Aotona was that rare. At first I had no interest in her--she wasn't tamable yet! Even when she was, I simply didn't have room between Griever, Kizuu, Rakesh, Vihar, and Anima. Then 4.1 arrived, and I began to muse over a strange fact. I like Sholazar. I level every alt through Sholazar. I tend to quest Sholazar dry, unless I skip the Avatar of Freya's quests (and who does that anymore when it's such a convenient travel tool?).

I had never seen Aotona in the wild, whether alive or dead. I'd found and lost TLPD (twice), but Aotona was more evasive than a mirage.

A week ago, my luck changed. I flew into Dwarven District only to spot Aotona at a hunter's side, sporting the name Bird of Prey. On a hunch, I asked if she was a fresh tame, and the hunter kindly informed me that he'd tamed her only ten minutes before, while searching for Loque. Everything changed with that piece of information. I now had a time...the question was whether I would use it. Not expecting it to come to anything, I parked out at one of Aotona's spawn points before going out of town to spend a few days with the boyfriend.

Yesterday I returned, and spent a long day dungeoning and cursing Jin'do for refusing to drop my mage's staff AGAIN. Exhausted I logged out, only to realize I should check one last time before restart. Fired up WoW to make a quick round of the Wildgrowth Mangal. Nothing, nothing, nothing...BLAAAAAARGADRUM OHSHITNOWAYSHE'STHERESHE'SALIVE! I dropped like a stone to start taming...only to be sent flying with a Wing Buffet as Aotona smacked me for an arrogant fool. I get the hint, I drop a trap.

And now the mirage of the Mangal is mine, while I decide what to name her.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Grats Ziarre! She's super pretty. ^_^

[Azunara]

Mirage, of course.

[Cerele]

yea i had mine... dumped it a while ago.. i might ticket her back blizzard willing...

[TygerDarkstorm]

Mirage, of course.

Oh yeah, I do believe Mirage is the perfect name for her as well.

[Rhyela]

Congrats!!! I agree, I think Mirage is a perfect name for her.

[Ziarre]

I ended up naming her Mirare, after the Latin root of mirage.

[irenedadler]

Grats on the tame! I camped her for just over 8 hours straight, I think, with 2 other toons parked at the two farthest-out spots and doing a constant 3-point loop around the lake. And then I go to level my other hunter and find her north of Rainspeaker Canopy in the middle of questing, just sitting there. Ah well, I'm not gonna complain too much about two Aotonas for the price of one

[bunni12]

Yes she is such a pretty bird- she was my first ever rare- I keep getting her out to use but the wing flapping annoys me after a while- but she is so beautiful- mine is called Pollie