Ahh, so another Azerothian festival has come and gone. I must say though that the Midsummer Fire Festival is one of my favorites, if not my very favorite.
That being said, I was a bit disappointed this year. But we'll get to that in a moment.**
The achievements for earning the title Flame Keeper (or Warden for Alliance) are not overly difficult. There is some level limitation, since the stolen flames can only begin a quest for those level 55 and up (if I remember correctly – unless it was changed this year…). Syrana had most of the requirements completed already from last year…. before there were achievements to track which fires I'd honored, stolen, or desecrated.
Syrana
This year, Syrana only had to extinguish (read: wee on) Teldrassil's fire outside Dolanaar to successfully check off desecrating all the Alliance fires on Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, and in Outland. So, Syrana just needed to juggle in Dalaran, get the shoes and shoulders for the pole dance attire, and melt Ahune's face off.
And so it went that Syrana accomplished all of these tasks. First, Syrana went around Northrend to honor and extinguish the bonfires there as well. Syrana also sucked it up and learned how to juggle flaming torches. She practiced (nearly, but not quite so much) daily by tossing and catching lighted torches. Eventually she had enough petals to purchase shoes, shoulders, additional torches, and a pet.
Syrana already had the summer dress from last year, so she strapped on the dancing shoes and shoulders and gave the pole her all (she also managed to obtain Bread Winner during this festival… coincidence?).
After that, she decided to forever capture the spirit of summer. Last year, she was mesmerized by the dancing draenei flame.
Syrana returned to Dalaran and found a quiet piece of green grass behind the Inn to further practice her juggling skills. There was no way she could successfully catch the torches 40 times in 15 seconds when she was only juggling 5 lit torches. She spared the petals to purchase an additional 5. It took some work, but she eventually was successful.
The only thing left standing between her and the title now was that overgrown ice cube: Ahune.
Syrana, Sideshow, Rain, Stone, and Hasi went into the Slave Pens and melted him down to nothingness. (Thanks again!)
Alynedarra
Alynedarra felt the call of the fire too. However, she did not feel worthy of holding such a title as Syrana. Instead, Aly was content to honor and desecrate the flames around Outland, Kalimdor, and Eastern Kingdoms. Aly stole the flame of Darnassus, but only because it was “on the way” to the bonfire outside Dolanaar.
During Aly's committment to the flames, she managed to reach her 80th season. She did not let this sidetrack her though. She vowed to complete as many of the title requirements as she could, without burdening anyone else. Thus, she worked to aquire numerous petals and purchased the entire flame dancer outfit and hit the pole. While working to earn the required number of petals, Aly had gotten quite familiar with juggling lit torches. She made off to Dalaran to show off her skills. However, she was a bit smarter and carried 15 torches with her. That made the feat much easier than Syrana's measly 10.
Zuranisha
Then, on the night of the fireworks spectacular, Zuranisha's cold heart longed to be warm. But try as she might… no amount of honored (or desecrated) flames could do the trick. She slogged across the entire continent of the Eastern Kingdoms to visit every bonfire (except those of the capital cities). It felt so long, and only added to the emptiness she felt within her chest cavity. Upon reaching her 62nd season, she hearthed home, hanging her head in shame and unable to complete the bonfire circuit.
**(On second thought, I think my review of what disappointed me this year shall wait for another post as this one has gotten longer than originally intended!)
For the 2nd part go here!
I put this off and put it off until FINALLY the wife wanted me to go along with one of her alts to grab/extinguish the fires for money. It turned out to be easier than expected and I grabbed all of the achievements but one (to douse the major city fires) so I didn’t get my title. I fail Q_Q
@Abi – Oh no! Yeah, the non-capital fire circuit isn’t that bad at all. If I would have allotted myself more playing time during the festival, a few more toons would have completed at least partial circuits. The fire pole buff is nice too for the xp bonus. Slap that on with some heirloom items that have bonus xp and that can make some levels fly by quick!
That’s exactly why I was so busy lol. I used the fire festival buff and the BoA shoulders to get from 72 to 76 on my Druid =D.
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