Ashfall

Winter has had the Mitten firmly in its grip since Thanksgiving. Usually the clouds dominate, keeping the sky pale or gray, but not on the morning below!

Star Stable is not so eager to launch into winter. The snowy decor and the Winter Village won't be arriving until the second Wednesday of December, the 10th. We find this a bit puzzling, since part of the event has historically been daily gifts under the big Yule Tree all Dec. long. Why not a 12/3 start date? 

At any rate, it's fine with us not to be extra busy with special SSO activities just yet. We've spent lots of quality time with our newest pony, Seaglass. We haven't seen many others like her, at least not since the Welshie came to the bazaar and we started paying close attention. Here's one, though, a pony names Jinx who stood in that spot for quite some time.

It's always fun for us to see what other players chose to name the doppelgängers of our horses. We haven't yet come across any with the exact same name as ours, but it is bound to happen eventually...

Glassy's gotten very familiar with the Medieval area in the Forgotten Fields, since we like its activities, music, and proximity to the starting area of the Goldenhills championship.

The only thing we've noticed that Glassy (and our 3 other pony-sized equines) can't do as well as the bigger horses is allow Clara to hit all the targets with the lance on the jousting field. On certain targets, no matter how carefully aimed, the lance is just too low. We pass the challenge anyway, just never with a perfect score. 

We continue to swing by and visit Maya when we're out in the area too: to race her and Elli, to go on picnics, and to bring back wandering sheep. =)

Contrary to the activity name, and also contrary to the sheep near Starshine Ranch, these sheep follow rather than having to be herded. Good thing, since herding 7 would take ages!

Glassy about to start a one-pony Goldenhills championship. Great practice for us, and a surefire win!

In questing news, no sooner did Clara close the crack in Goldenhills than more cracks cropped up in Silverglade Village, releasing more Shadow Seekers. 

The trusty Shadow Seeker vacuum came in handy again.

This was serious enough that we were instructed to meet with Fripp again...

...and received training in using Lightning magic. New skills and same vacuum in tow, they returned to Silverglade and successfully closed all the cracks.

New cracks are cropping up elsewhere now, but as they are not causing immediate chaos (no townspeople fleeing from rampaging Shadow Seekers), we are letting them be for a bit and switched gears to find and rescue Herman.

We got to see inside the observatory near New Hillcrest and met the mysterious Mrs. X at last.

More CHILL members arrived on the scene. We'd already met Jupiter and now were formally introduced to Syntax the hacker and Silencia the spy.

Clara met up with Silencia later in Jarlaheim to covertly observe a meeting between Ms. Drake and the evil Darko.

Yeah, sorry, not the greatest wardrobe choice on our part for this mission. They hid inside big crate boxes, though, while Glassy stood nonchalantly off to the side, so it was all good.

They proceeded to discuss a working relationship in which Ms. Drake's GED team would assist them with mining for Drakonium in exchange for a cut of the profits. Additionally, Ms. Drake was to hand over Herman. Herman would have to be transported, the perfect opportunity for a rescue mission!

Silencia borrowed a GED uniform under the pretext of needing it for a theatrical performance. This rather dim GED guard, also a theater enthusiast, was happy to help.

They took him up on his offer for props too and set up a fake construction barricade on the bridge. 

When the van transporting Herman pulled up, Silencia distracted the driver while Clara freed Herman. I love how the Wolf Hall Inn people just stood there observing and did not react in any way. XD

Then they were discovered, and it was a mad dash for escape, riding double on the mighty little Seaglass.

Once they'd lost the pursuing van, they had a short open-air meeting with the rest of the rescue party before everybody went their separate ways.

As you might have noticed, partway through all this questing, Clara finally reached level 22! (We were stuck at 21 for so long!) Good thing horses level up so much faster. Glassy's final level up sparkle came after she'd won The Baroness's Championship.

The final week of November, Star Stable offered another bazaar! This one featured the Morgan, the Pintabian, the Friesian, and the Arabian!

In order of increasing price, first up are the Arabian and Pintabian. The only difference in Star Stable is - obviously - that the Pintabians are pintos. 

Wow, that's a great deal! If we ever were to get a duplicate of a model we already have, good chance it would be one of these. But we're not; for now Des will remain our one and only horse in the Arabian model.

Ah, the somewhat bug-eyed SSO Morgan. We've passed them over at previous bazaars for that reason, but as time's gone on, we've gotten rather desensitized to it.

Ooh, the beautiful Friesian. From what we've gathered, they have been much better received by the SSO community than their predecessor, the Jorvik Friesian. We're not surprised: what is not to like? We've long admired them and been waiting for them to go on sale.

Here's the before screenshot of that Baroness's championship we rode Glassy to victory in. Two newly-purchased Morgans with silver dapple coats (and their riders) entered with us. So, so pretty!

It wasn't easy, but I managed to talk my sisters out of buying both a Friesian and a Morgan. Getting a Morgan now made mores sense, since they were both on a better sale and cheaper overall. This being the Friesian's first time ever on sale and as popular as it seem to be, the odds are very good that they'll appear in another bazaar before too long, with an even larger discount.

So, off we headed to Firgrove for an up close look at the various color options. Behold our top 4:

black silver dapple

flaxen liver chestnut

bay

black rabicano

The first two are so striking, but we think they'd have been even more striking with facial markings. We love the bay and its gorgeous star. But in the end, the black rabicano, with its ashy belly, bold splashy markings, and two-tone tail, who won our hearts. 

We named him Ashfall, both because of his ashy middle and because Mom slipped and fell the day before we got him. (Mom's ok, just was hobbling around with a bruised foot for awhile after.)

Aww! <3

The first ride! 

Fortunately, Ashfall is much more graceful than Mom! Here he is rocking our new Hufflepuff-esque tack set from the most recent Trailblazer Track. 

We're all so happy with our choice! <3

On Dec. 3, the Morgan/Pintabian/Arabian/Friesian bazaar was immediately replaced with another! The three breeds to tempt us this time: the Curly Horse, the Chincoteague Pony, and the Trakehner.

We don't own any of these breeds yet, and they're all likeable in their own ways.

This might be the Curly Horse's first time ever on sale? This would explain why they cost the most of the three. They're cute and cuddly looking at rest, but they are made in the more cartoony style, with very awkwardly-moving back legs. 

The Chincoteague Pony is another very cartoony early Gen 3 breed. So, again cute, but a very awkward mover.

The Trakehner reminds us a ton of the Jorvik Warmblood. Again, lots of cartoony charm, but not a pretty mover. 

Had we not just been on a new horse spending spree these last few weeks, we'd have had a harder time resisting these guys. But, as it is, we'll get back to saving star coins for now. As soon as we're done training Ashfall, I'm sure our other horses will be eager to finally get some riding time again!

Jumping through Fall

My goodness, has fall been flying by! Here in the Mitten, we're soaking in a few last days of partial sunshine and relative warmth before the pattern changes, as we know it will.

a Pandoria-esque sunset from last week

Thanksgiving is so late this year (11/27) that the humans put up the tree already this weekend.

Mom finally made use of an old gift card and treated herself to a couple of new ornaments this year.

We approve!

No signs of Christmas yet on Star Stable, but we've been enjoying ourselves anyway. As you may recall, we were curious about how the Gotland Pony and Welsh Pony compare size-wise. So, here they are:

Our assessment: they're very similar in height and build, but the Gotland's limbs are more dainty.

Raven has completed her training now. It took noticeably longer with her than it did with Kitekey, due to the lack of the bonus horsey experience rewards that come with special events. We did not mind. She spent the second half of said training in her non-magical cremello form, which we also love. 

They happened to visit the orchard while wearing the new apple-themed saddle pad. So, naturally, they paused for a screenshot. =)

Here are Raven and Clara sporting the second set of tack and clothing that Clara painstakingly hand-crafted in Valedale. Loving the tack, especially on Raven. Not so in love with the outfit, but it does all match nicely. (This set also includes brush boots, which Raven could not model, obviously.)

Raven's final sparkle occurred in a rather mundane place, our wash stall, and she was back in her magical form at that point:

That means Seaglass is getting Clara's undivided riding attention now. 

We've all decided we especially enjoy riding her in races with lots of small spaces and/or tight turns, like Uncle Bob's race on Paddock Island. 

She can hold her own on the new show jumping courses - based on some real-life courses - at Jorvik Stables too. 

We found it quite entertaining riding first our coldblood Raven and then little Glassy around these fancy courses with enormous jumps... while most other players were there with their warmbloods. =)

We did see one other Welshie jumping to its heart's content out there earlier this week, though.

These two, H&M All In and H&M Indiana, who are based on real-life Swedish top level jumpers, are now available for purchase near the Jorvik Stables arena. They're both great, but as we still haven't gotten over the Belgian Warmblood's air chomping idle animation, we're not especially tempted.

More exciting to us is the new breed that made its debut on Star Stable the week before, the Black Forest Horse. They come in various shades of flaxen chestnut, and they even have a (more expensive) mane/tail style with little evergreen sprigs tucked in. A+, Star Stable! <3

Other players seem to think so too. We've seen quite a few of them being ridden around in general and in recent championships. 

They are similar in stature to the Jorvik Wild Horse, but unlike the JWH and most of the other drafties on the game, they have no feathering on their legs, allowing them to wear boots and leg wraps.

Ha ha, Raven fits right in.

Now, on to some fun screenshots from our other recent adventures! 

First up: Clara assisted a family that Mr. Kembell had scammed big time, selling them a "house" that was actually nothing but some ruins out in Valedale forest. Clara worked with the family and the councilman of Firgrove to catch Mr. Kimball storing hazardous waste illegally on his Firgrove property.

While the kid distracted everybody, Clara snuck under the broken fence...

snuck past the rather oblivious Dobermans...

...and located the hazardous waste.

Mr. Kembell pulled a fast one and had moved it by the time Clara returned with backup, but Clara snuck back in and found its new hiding spot as well.

The councilman was able to evict Kembell and gave the cottage to the family. Yay for a happy ending, and for finally being able to get through that barbed wire fence!

The other extensive quest we finally saw through to the end: that one with the shadow seekers on the loose in the mountain pass near Goldenhills.

Unconventional, but if it works, we won't argue!

Fortunately, we learned our lesson well the first time and didn't waste any time getting caught by the shadow seekers or falling off cliffs this time. 

The trap worked like a charm! Clara took the whole shebang to Avalon in Valedale for advice on what to do with it.

He made a friendliness powder from some friendly ferns (procured by Clara, naturally), had Clara suck up the powder, and voila, the shadow seeker was now good!

Clara rode Raven back to mountain pass, then proceeded on foot one last time to trap and turn the remaining shadow seekers. She released them by the rift.

They closed it and returned to Pandoria as they did so...

...leaving Clara alone in a much less pink mountain pass.

We didn't think to try riding Raven into the pass to see if she'll go in there now. Next time!

On a much more relaxing note, Clara's been visiting in the Forgotten Fields from time to time to build experience with the Dew family. She's been on a few picnics with and Maya and Alex, cycling through the other optional guests.

Agreed, Linda! <3 I feel like we'd get along great in real life.

Picnicking on the beach under the stars... enjoy, Clara!