Tag: short stories

Posted in Jax's Crystals and Musings, World of Warcraft

No Man’s Land

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

The air was acrid with Blight, burning his nose and irritating his throat. Again his chest hitched as his lungs desperately tried to cough, but he bit down on the side of his hand to suppress it. Tears sprang into his eyes, blurring his vision. He couldn’t afford to make a sound.

Jax had made this trip a dozen times in the period since Tirisfal had become uninhabitable. He’d learned the best way around the Blight Zone, along the outskirts where old farming villages had been abandoned. He’d found the easiest way to get in and get out with another month’s worth of exotic produce and a mild cough. In all the months since the dual tragedy of Teldrassil and Tirisfal, he’d never run into more than the occasional plague-mad beast.

Until today.

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Posted in Jax's Crystals and Musings, World of Warcraft

Tenth Crystal – Birds and Cages

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

The Crystal crackles to life, followed by a few moments of silence.

“Let’s go over the things I know. My name is Jaxkol Dawnsedge. I am eighteen years old. I am Sin’dorei. I live in Stormwind, with a room at the Golden Keg in the Dwarven district where I work. I also share an apartment with my… with my Pryn… In Old Town.

I am a Knight Initiate with the Argent Dawn. I am a student under Sister Anders. I am a tavern-keep at the Golden Keg. I am a hard worker… most of the time.

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Posted in Meal of the Week, World of Warcraft

Meal of the Week: Ravager Dogs

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

So two very important things: Don’t expect anything that comes with instructions from a Laughing Skull Orc to be easy. And don’t expect it to come out pretty. This week’s recipe was Ravager Dogs from a good friend of mine, Korgraath Crotchgore, and it comes all the way from Gorgrond. Don’t ask him the story behind that sirname. Just trust me.

These dogs were ugly as fel, but man did they taste good. Unfortunately Korgraath’s instructions left a lot to be desired, so hopefully I can help you learn from my mistakes for this delicious dog. Crunchy with just a little bit of spice and an interesting fresh flavor, these are definitely worth it. I hope to revisit it later with a better method once I’ve experimented a bit more.

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Posted in Meal of the Week, World of Warcraft

Meal of the Week – Zulzadar Guacamole

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

So, while Pryn and I were struggling to make money last summer, we came up with the idea to try and scavenge interesting artifacts from the newly discovered island of Zuldazar. Long story short, she has an amazing tiara that doubles as an illusion-disguise, my pale ass got a nice tan (somehow my blond hair got blonder?), and we came back with a lot of really neat but essentially useless things. With the exception of these weird green tree eggs.

Now, I have a lot of troll friends, some of the most important people in my life are trolls (Love you, Zan!) but elf throats are NOT designed to speak Zandalari. So I can’t pronounce the name of this egg for the life of me. Avokoto? Avkato? I have no idea. But! My buddy Zan’juul DID show me how to make this AMAZING green egg paste stuff. It doesn’t taste anything like you’d expect and I’m told it’s very healthy, so what a great way to start the New Year.

And it’s going to be a happy and healthy New Year! Remember you’re not alone, you are amazing and I love you.

Seriously. You, person reading this, maybe on your little mage-square avoiding your actual work — maybe in your underwear winding down for bed or maybe trying to wind up for the day — I love you. You are why I do this. And I hope when you’re feeling down, you remember that Jax loves you.

And since this got weirdly emotional, I’m also here for anyone who needs it, just leave me a comment, find me on Twitter @jaxkol, or even shoot me a private email through the Contact page. For real. Does not expire.

Moving on…
Posted in Jax's Crystals and Musings, World of Warcraft

Ninth Crystal – Anniversary

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

The crystal crackles to life, occasionally distorted by the sound of a breeze. His voice is soft and tired-sounding.

“It’s… been a long time since I’ve done one of these. I’m not even sure why I grabbed the recorder. I guess… It’s been so long since I’ve felt that feeling. This… awful feeling of impending doom. It’s still familiar, of course, but I’ve…. ya know, I’ve felt a lot of other things lately too… Love. Peace. Joy. I guess I was starting to forget.

I guess she figured it was time to jog my memory.

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Posted in Jax's Crystals and Musings, World of Warcraft

Seventh Crystal

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

The crystal crackles to life, the sound of movement around a room, simple chores and light cleaning.

“Dear You… It’s been a week. Normally I wouldn’t worry but. I dunno. It’s… This week has been weird. And I have a really weird feeling that something bad is about to happen. Or something good is going to dissolve or… I think the Human phrase is I’m waiting for the shoe to drop. It doesn’t really make much sense, it’s more like waiting for a manabomb to explode, I guess.

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Posted in Jax's Crystals and Musings, World of Warcraft

Sixth Crystal

Posted on by Action Jaxkol

The Crystal starts with frustrated growling, uncharacteristically heavy footfalls treading a line in the floor.

“I can’t breathe. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I don’t… know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been fine. I’ve been fine! I haven’t done anything wrong I –“

The sound of pacing, back and forth, back and forth, rapid, shallow breathing.

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