Finally to the endgame.

I'm sitting here exhausted.  I'm working off of 3 hours of sleep and I really just want to crash.  But, I've got a trip to pack for and I can't put it off.  I have to be up in 6 hours to get in the car and grab Mom and Dad for a trip to San Diego.

The dishes in the sink need to go into the dishwasher, toiletries need to be lined up to go into the bag right after I use them in the morning and the trash has got to go out.

But, I took some time tonight and went into WoW.

Wednesday night isn't a usual raid night for us.  It's slated for the 10-mans I like so much to gripe about.  But, as it was, I had already accepted my invitations last week for this week's raids.

If I'm nothing, I'm like my guild.  Consistent.  But for all the hours I've put in being consistent, for me to slack off for any reason and not lend my skills to the greater good, well, that's not me.  If I accept my invitations, come hell or high water, feeling terrific or like the latest road kill, I show up.  I am not a flake when it comes to my responsibilities to my team.

When I got in tonight, I was hit by some whispers.  I got a choice as to which group I could go with...my raid leader's group with the not-so-stellar attitudes and the T.I. rap pair of "and we're suddenly full of ourselves, aren't we?" over-achievers or the ever-so-humble, never-afraid-to-fumble crew I go with most of the time.

Feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, I really didn't feel the need to go through 3 hours of content I've already worn out and chewed all the flavor out of.  Don't get me wrong, I love all of my guildies.  Sometimes they tick me off, but for the most part, they're really great people.  But tonight really wasn't a night I wanted to rehash and play around.  If I was going to do something in my extremely exhausted state, I wanted to finally hit the end game I'd been teased with so often but never finished.

When I said I was working with only 3 hours of sleep in me, one of the folks said, "You sound exhausted, why don't you go take care of yourself and get some sleep?"  I replied, "Because there is no "I" in Team".  Funny thing, the person dismissing me to get sleep was one of the "my shit don't stink" pair that I'm sure had other goals in mind when they suggested I leave.  I was having none of it.  If I say I'm going to show up, dammit, I'm showing up, I don't care how awful I feel.

Then came the discussion.  It was a toss-up.  Either start Icecrown Citadel all over again and do hard modes or just go straight to the Lich King.  Feeling like I'd been put through a blender already, I wanted nothing to do with the hard modes this evening.  I like to save hard modes for when I'm wide awake and ready for a good thrashing, good spirits and positive attitude in hand to help counter the beating hard modes inevitably lead to.  No, for me tonight, I wanted to reach a good cruising speed, heal and get through the night, enabling me to get out at a reasonable hour and still be able to pack my bags for the trip.  So I voted to go straight to the Lich King and get some much needed time in on that fight.

Ok, you could say my motives were selfish, that I only wanted my Kingslayer title.  Wrong.  I only wanted to practice the Lich King fight.  It's the one I have the least experience in and I'd like to really get the dirt under my claws and gain some traction there, if for no other reason than to get more experience and learn the fight better.  I had given up on ever seeing my Kingslayer title.  Truth told, I really didn't want it anymore because I've seen what people do with it once they have it.  Arrogance...well, y'all know, it's just not me.  I'm about leading from the bottom up, taking the worst player and helping them become better, offering encouraging words, integrating them into the team, helping them be motivated to think about the team and their place in it.   Leadership like that builds cohesion.  But sometimes, no matter what you do, some folks just don't want to get with the program.  Those not with the program end up burning out like the T.I. rap pair.  Folks with that much hubris and arrogance just don't have a place in my world. 

The vote passed, we extended the raid lockout went straight on to LK.  The first pull was a wipe.  We lost some folks early on, and it just folded.  Second attempt, we downed him.  Now I will be the first to say, the 25% buff to damage and healing went into effect on Tuesday.  It was very VERY helpful to say the least.

When we finished the fight, one of the T.I. rap pair whispered me, "Good healing.  Nice job."

I replied, "Thanks.  I'm not fail.  LOL."

I can finally say I have my Kingslayer title, but in truth, I don't want to show it off.

When we finally reached Dalaran after finishing our weekly raid quest, the other of the T.I. rap pair asked me, "Hey Sheri, when are you going to slide on your new title?" 

I replied..."I'm not."

Silence overwhelmed our voice over IP software with the shock of my statement.

I good-naturedly said, "I'm just going to stick with my Ashen Verdict title because I've seen what people do with their Kingslayer title once they have it.  I prefer "Matron" or "Ambassador", even "The Love Fool" seems oddly appropriate."

My guild leader popped up and said, "I like Flame Warden myself."  Then he added, "But you should really go with "The Patient"."

I laughed and said, "Yeah, I should, but even my patience wears thin, but only my guild master and raid leader ever see that."

Truth told, after the Lich King took his final breath, I broke into huge sobs.  I finally hit the pinnacle of where I have always aspired to go with my toon in WoW and then went the distance, only short because I died to three vile spirits who, no matter where I turned, came and got me.  But, lucky for me the team pulled it out and I got to see what I was working towards for the last two years.  The endgame.  I got to see the video and I realized one thing...

When you finally reach your goal, you can sleep well knowing you did your best; realizing that it wasn't about just you, it was about the team you were on and you did your best to serve the greater good.

That said, I'm going to go pack and pass out.  5am comes early you know.  I just might have the best short sleep in the history of man (or woman in my case).