Mains, Alts, and Frost Emblems

Seriously, my characters have been fighting with each other over frost emblem purchases.

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A slim little blood elf slides into a chair with a glass of wine cupped daintily in one hand. She scatters a handful of small tokens onto the table in front of her: not money, but shining emblems glinting a silver-blue in spite of the dim, golden candle-light pervading the room.

"So," she says, sipping the sweet wine, "I'm considering what to buy first with them."

A tauren leans over from across the table to inspect the emblems. "Oooh, frost badges!" she exclaims, her eyes lighting up. She pushes aside the leather she had been knitting together from scraps. "How many are there? Primordial Saronite is 23 emblems apiece."

The elf pauses mid-sip, narrowing her emerald eyes in a sideways glare. Putting her nose disdainfully in the air, she carefully sets down her wine glass. "Oh no. No... I earned these emblems. I did. Why do you get them?"

The tauren is taken aback. "But... but I'm the main. It's for the good of the guild. The crafted boots are best-in-slot, there is no other I can get until Cataclysm's next set of dungeons!"

The blood elf sneers in disgust, wishing now that she hadn't told the young druid about her emblems. "I'm the ONLY rogue! Alt or no, I earned these badges, and you can spend your own damn badges on your precious Primordial Saronite. I feed the guild most of its saronite as it is, and titanium, too. Why do I have to give up MY badges for YOUR special saronites just to craft some dainty little healer boots?"

The druid sits back with a hurt pout. "I had to buy these gloves... this chest, these shoulders, this trinket. All to better myself, my healing, to keep everyone alive as we have faced off against Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King himself! I don't have the badges to buy the saronite needed for the boots, yet."

With a deep sigh and a roll of the eyes, the elf swirls the wine around in her glass, watching the blood-hued liquid as she ponders. "How many do you need?"

"Six," the druid winces.

The rogue shoots up in her seat, her blond hair bouncing in its ponytail. "SIX?! That's... that's 138 emblems! This is ridiculous... link me the pattern."

"I don't know the pattern yet...." The druid hunches up sheepishly. "One of the saronites is just to buy the pattern. I have the rep for it though," she adds hopefully.

The rogue looks up at the ceiling helplessly. "Lord! Okay, let me wowhead it... Pattern: Blessed Cenarion Boots?"

The druid nods.

"Five furs, too!" the rogue exclaims, looking at the pattern. "I suppose you'll be wanting me to farm those up for you, too? Sheesh."

"Well, you, ah, are the skinner..."

"Uh huh. What do I get in repayment for all of this? Eh?" the rogue asks, glaring.

It's the druid's turn to be indignant. "And just what are those bracers you're wearing? I could've kept them for my offkit, you know."

"One pair of bracers! Only cuz you might get a pair off of Miss Sindy the Undead Dargon once the feral gets his. Like I'll ever see her; I've been in what, one ICC10 pug? Ever?" The rogue scowls. "This is my life savings of emblems, and you want them all for yourself."

"You'd get a chance at loot and more badges," the druid snaps, "...if you tried to find more ICC10 pugs--" she cuts herself off suddenly, however, knowing the rogue had no personal control over her play time.

The two stare at each other in an awkward moment of silence. Finally, the rogue takes another sip of wine. "Stardance has gotten all the attention lately. VoA is the most I've seen in a long while... and all that shammy's good for is picking flowers and transmuting gems. Not that I, uh, mind her learning how to transmute Cardinal Rubies."

The druid nods knowingly. "Or making me Frostwyrm Flasks."

"She's not gotten her mastery yet, though."

"I know."

"The slacker."

Another awkward silence.

"So... erm..." the druid looks around the room uncomfortably. "What would you buy if not the saronites?"

The rogue stops as if caught in an unexpected hunter's flare. "Uhhh... well, that's what I was asking you for. Your offspec is feral, so you should have some idea of what a melee leather wearer would want, right?"

The druid sighs. "Well, I haven't exactly looked at the feral purchases, been focusing on my resto gear first. Plus, we have to consider what gear drops you have access to in PuGs... hold on, let me open up Rawr."

"Take your time," the rogue replies, leaning back in her seat and swirling her wine again.

"Ohh this is going to take some time all right," the druid answers, drumming her heavy fingers on the table. "How far do pugs get these days in ICC?"

"Er... well, I think the trade chat spam usually mentions stopping around Festergut/Rotface. I wouldn't put any bets past Saurfang though. Precious'll eat most raids. Puggers don't like wiping to trash."

The druid nods in solemn agreement, distracted as she peruses the gear lists. "So... belt you might could get in ICC... and neck... rings, one rep and one from Saurfang... how are your set bonuses? Worth getting?"

"Uhh..." the rogue responds. "We follow what, two rogue blogs? How should I know?"

"Maybe you should look into that," the tauren chides, smirking.

"Oh, come on! I'm the alt! She tried to gem me with feral armor pen before she remembered I use POISON."

Again, an awkward silence as both tauren and blood elf look quickly around the tavern, making sure the Mouse Cursor they shared wasn't around. It usually wasn't at this time of day, but there had always been exceptions.

"Okay, how about this..." the rogue suggests, "I buy the trinket for myself, and then get saronite for you with the rest?"

The druid scoffs. "That's 60 emblems... nearly 3 saronites! Half of what I need!"

"Yeah, and I earned them!"

"Why not get trinkets out of ToC25 and ICC10 pugs? Deathwhisper drops one, too..." the tauren offers.

"Have you SEEN how much that trink goes for in ToC25 GDKP runs?" the rogue counters. "Plus, they are MY emblems. It's not like they're just flowing in from raids like you get. I should be able to buy something for myself with what I earned."

The druid sighs, rolling her large eyes and playing with a braid. "I *suppose* that is fair. But... we need to look into the drops in more detail and make sure we pick out the best item you can get for the emblems... one you can't get elsewhere, you know? A big upgrade."

The rogue grins. "If only the emblem vendors sold weapons like they did on Quel'Danas. I love my daggers, but 232s are holding me back."

"Indeed," the druid agrees thoughtfully. She looks over her shoulder at the ToC staff hovering just off of her back. "Saurfang has yet to drop my staff upgrade, though if I did buy a staff, you know Saurfang's would just drop in the next instance."

The elf sighs. "My only hope for weapons is to find a half-decent ToGC10 run and get the 245 daggers. Ohh and maybe some gear tokens... and that 258 cloak. If we can do Insanity... would have to be a well-geared guild alt run for that though."

"Why don't we ask the Cursor to set one up?" the druid suggests.

The rogue's eyes lite up. "Oh... yeah, Kaalla has reached 80 now, and Immortalus. There are lots of alts who'd like some gear beyond the triumph emblems' 232 T9. Let's ask when the Cursor arrives tonight."

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Kae later wonders why there are voices in her head demanding that she organize a ToGC10 alt run.