This is the story so far in pictures. What I played, what I enjoyed the most, and how things changed. It's weird to me that I have people in my guild that know me as a monk only, and are now scratching their heads wondering what this sudden change to hunter is about. And others that know me as a priest, because that's what I played (for 6 months) when I met them 7 years ago. :)
Lae is still Lae, even though her appearance changed a bit. She started with blue skin and black hair, then she put her hair in a ponytail, the skin turned purple and the hair turned white. Then her hair became brown, the skin colour a lighter purple, and her horns evolved into the big majestic kind. But she's still Lae. Cute, but deadly. And total badass.
I can't wait to get these beautiful art pieces printed and placed on the wall in my little nerd cave room!
SleepingFox is on
DeviantArt and
Twitter.
Burning Crusade
 |
| Lae and Ratchet |
It starts off with Lae and Ratchet, an Infected Nightstalker Runt from Azuremyst Isle. I was new to the game, and Ratchet was my very first tame at level 10. I knew I wanted a cat, because I love cats, and I found him right outside of Exodar in Azuremyst Isle and named him after my real-life cat (which in turn is named after Ratchet of Ratchet & Clank). I was a bit worried about him being "infected" though, as ideally I would like a healthy pet. ;) So that's the cute little story depicted; me being a noob and worrying about the health of my newly tamed friend.
After 4 months of playing quite a lot I finally became level 70, and worked my butt off in battlegrounds for the Gladiator PVP-gear she's wearing. She's also wearing Shattered Sun Offensive-tabard, as that event was the first one I fully took part of from the start with my server's fellow level 70s.
I played Beast Mastery in Burning Crusade.
Wrath of the Lich King
 |
| Lae and Wata |
In Wrath I fell in love with my hunter over again, after having played a shadow priest for the first two raid patches. Loque'nahak (I named him Wata) is a favorite to many hunters, and he has been mine for a very long time as well. I spent so many hours flying around in Sholazar Basin, heart jumping every time NPC-scan alerted me of rares. :) For this reason it was important to me that this art piece showed "the tame". Lae is wearing tier 10; as that was my favorite set from that expansion, Argent Crusader's Tabard; after all the hours I spent up at the Argent Tournament, and Avalanche from Ulduar; one of my favorite bows in the game still.
I mostly played Survival in Wrath, but fiddled a bit with both Marksmanship and Beast Mastery as well.
Cataclysm
 |
| Lae and Skarr |
The Tier 11 murloc set IS Cataclysm for me, and Skarr from Molten Front is The Cataclysm Pet as well, so here they are, in a fierce Bestial Wrath! A big thing for me that expansion, and well-documented here on the blog, was that I changed one of her professions into Engineering (The Best Profession), so of course she had to wear the Engineering goggles. :)
I played Survival when raiding in Cataclysm, and Beast Mastery in PvP.
Mists of Pandaria
 |
| Kinlai and the Celestials |
I've covered this earlier artwork by SleepingFox in another
post.
Warlords of Draenor
 |
| Lae and Ronja |
Warlords of Draenor is taking a bit of heat these days, and I will admit to having said a few words myself as well as taking the longest break I've ever taken from WoW. But I will always love it because of all the draenei lore we got to experience, all the draenei NPCs we got to meet, and all that draenei everyday life that we got to take part in! After a long break last year, I logged on, started leveling my hunter, and fell in love with her for the third time. :) The "quest" for Gara really touched me, and I named her Ronja after my dog in real life. This is a depiction of Lae trying to cheer up the oh so sad Ronja. I think there is hope though; with time and with lots of love and affection she will eventually become a happy wolf again. ;) This was The Draenei Expansion, so Lae had to have the most draeneic bow I've ever seen!
I played Beast Mastery in the last half of Warlords of Draenor, and mostly did PvP. I cleared the first two raids as Brewmaster Monk before I took my break.
Legion
 |
| Lae, Ronja and Hati |
Legion is here, and though I'm not happy with all the changes it brought, I do love being a Beast Master again, and I love running around with two pets! I think the questline for Titanstrike could have been done differently; a more emotional story would have suited us better I think. But while they try to define our class fantasy, it's our imagination that does the most important job, and I'm on board with Hati! And look how happy Gara is now, not only did she get saved by the most fantastic hunter ever, she got a new buddy as well. :)
After having placed the order with SleepingFox, I've been running around with double Mana Sabers and loving it, so I may have to try to commission more art in the future...
 |
| Lae, Katniss and Hati |
Bonus - Legendary Hunter
 |
| Lae, Wata and Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury |
This was my initial choice for the Cataclysm art, but I became very strict with myself about the weapons belonging to the expansion they released in. And since Thori'dal is from Sunwell Plateau in Burning Crusade, it didn't fit in! But it's also the most beautiful weapon in the game, and the only legendary bow, so I felt it deserved to be a part of the collection. In all fairness, I think Rhok'delar belongs here too, but this is going to be a neverending project if I keep thinking like that... Just take it!
