Where does one find Eagles? Why, the Shrine of Aviana, of course!
Off I went, soaring over Mount Hyjal, revelling in the regrowth there. The druids were doing a good job.
The roost of Aviana came into view, one of the largest trees I've ever seen. My mount, Kensa, expertly navigated the branches as if she'd been born there. There were birds everywhere, of course, and if took only a few moments to choose my new companion. Proud, circling a tree as if defending a roost - though, with so many roosts around, it seemed slightly redundant.
We hovered for a moment above his head, but he didn't seem to notice. It's a special kind of bird that doesn't notice a bat-winged scorpio-lion fluttering above him. Either incredible pride, or incredible stupidity.
Who's the baddest cat in the sky, now?
Anyway, Kensa dropped me at the foot of this guy's tree, then went off to chase squirrels. I turned to my prey - he was still pretty much oblivious. Yep, pride. I threw out my arm for him to land and started speaking the Language of Beasts. He, as I expected, would rather eat my face than protect it. But he quickly changed his mind.
Taken the moment he decided to stop ripping into me. He still looks pretty pissed, though.
My impressions of this model? I like it. The Vanilla owl-birds look too highly contrasted - feathers edged in grey, no matter what colour the rest of them are. It's nothing like that in this Northrend skin. I like the more realistic feathers, and the beak and talons actually look like they could do some damage, unlike other animals (*cough* Sporebat *cough*). The wings are in proportion for a bird of prey, though as I always point out, no bird can hover indefinitely with that wing shape. It's against the laws of physics - but WoW has dinosaurs living next to a glacier, so I can't really judge.
So, next step is to name him. To be honest, I always name birds the same thing - except for my tank bird, Kalo, but he's special. It represents frivolousness, and a time-consuming activity, something with no real purpose. But this eagle fitted it better than the undead eagles I've used this name on before.
C'mon, who saw that coming?
Game lived up to his first impression - he's pretty temperamental, hot-headed, and violent. He likes things the way he likes them, and good luck trying to change that. I thought he'd make a good Tenacity at first, but he was too Slashy, and not enough Protecty. He's Ferocity all the way.
I first took him to one of my daily grinds, where he performed beautifully.
*Shudder* I'm really starting to hate this place.
He likes to attack things. He doesn't even need my help!
He also has a different attack style than my Kalo. Kalo seems more refined, somehow, than Endgame. My reasoning is that Kalo is a Druid in hiding - why, he won't tell me, but his feathers are edged in metal (hence that annoying grey over-shade) and doesn't seem to be harmed too easy, which makes me think HoT's are being used on the sly (hence his tank status). Kalo uses his beak primarily, stabbing it like a dagger, and stopping attacks with his talons. Endgame? He throws himself at the opponent, swooping over and over at the enemy's head, grabbing weapons and flesh in his talons and pulling it away. I swear, he's a bloodthirsty little bugger.
He is really, REALLY not impressed with magic of any kind. You can tell by his hunch. That's not weakness, or pain - that's him readying himself for a particularly nasty slash-and-grab move. At least you can't hear his growling.
Anyway! We made quick work of the Sethekk, and predictably he was unmoved when the mount didn't drop AGAIN. Next up? We got called into Scarlet Halls!
Again, he really likes to attack things. Even Nakae is struck by this, and she lives and breathes savagery.
See those bodies? Yeah, those are HIS bodies. Nak is glaring because she's not allowed to loot them - stupid, proud, guarding eagle.
Again, we made quick work of the place, the two of us even leading the DPS meters until the warlock pulled on her big-girl britches and doubled my numbers :-/ . And, after the final boss and most of my random groupies had left, I was struck once again by how unobservant this eagle is.
"Game, they're called 'Eyes of an Eagle' for a reason." "Nah, we'll be fine." Stupid bird.
Then, I took Endgame swimming. And, like most things, he positively hated it. I mean, Bald Eagles eat FISH. You'd think he'd be okay with water.
He tried flying. Underwater. Have I mentioned he's not the smartest bird? I know that some beasts don't have swimming animations, but I can forgive Blizz for this one. Biologically, eagles aren't meant to swim.
Somebody forgot how to Eagle.
Anyway! At least he's got his priorities straight. On the way back to the Shrine, I stopped to marvel at a nearby sleeping Mushan (Being a Zoology major IRL, I always like seeing the new beasts that Blizzard comes out with).
I was admiring the gigantic spiked beast in front of us. Endgame was watching the little Bandicoons, obviously much more important. Stupid bird.
Overall? I really like him. Like I said, I've tamed the undead eagle several times over the years, and always named them Game. But, I like this rendition. The lack of eyes and multiple bandages just never seemed to fit before - finding the living embodiment of my old friend just clicked, though. Yeah, he's a pretty stupid bird. But now he's MY stupid bird. I don't know if this version of Endgame will stay, but I'll definitely give him a chance.
I don't know about you, but this view doesn't always work - the pet usually doesn't show up in the background. That Game decided to stick around here is definitely a good sign. Welcome to the stable, buddy!
But it is indeed very interesting how sometimes it's the pets we think we hate or think are too weird or whatever that weasel their way into our stables and capture our hearts and stay there. Gondria did that to me as well. I swore to myself that I hated that cat but she put quite the pull on Rose and is now a happy member of Rose's BM team. 
) and Jet seems to show a nasty fascination with him. 
you know who to roll for too 
