The newest Spirit Beast, added in Patch 3.3.
Camping involved standing on a slope in Grizzly Hills with a nice view of the river. A view that got very, very old after 21 hours total. I made a friend, Nsom, another hunter who was camping with just as much dedication. The sad part was knowing that eventually the bear would spawn, but only one of us would get it. Many other hunters occasionally stopped by to camp for a while, but the two of us generally managed to hold the territory.. I figure nobody wanted to compete with those odds, and I don't blame them. Camping is exhausting... for the most part, I try to avoid going AFK or getting too involved with any other project. With that sort of competition, I need to be constantly alert so when the beast spawns, I can be the first one to tag and tame it. I don't want some other hunter ninjaing it away from me. So I patrol the area, and watch constantly, and hope.
We camped for a whole day, 12 hours straight... and then the World Server crashed. We're pretty sure this reset her spawn timer, and we had to start all over. Nsom went to bed around 11, and I passed out around 2 a.m. server time. My boyfriend stayed up all night watching for me, ready to tag the bear and call my cell phone if she spawned. I got out of bed a couple times in the middle of the night to check in. No bear.
And here's how the story goes... 6:30 a.m. server time. I'm in bed. My boyfriend is still camping the spot when Nsom logs back on. My boyfriend says he's reached his limit, he's going to bed, Nsom can have the spot. ... Just then, the bear spawns.
Nsom tames the bear. I roll out of bed and log on just as she finishes taming. I am very happy for her, but also sad, as this means my personal hell must continue. Truly though, I'm glad she got the bear. She wanted it just as bad as I did, and she camped for just as long. I'm happy she got it, and not someone else.
I'm conflicted. I've wasted an entire day of my life hunting this sparkly pixel bear. I missed out on having fun with my friends running the new 5-mans last night, because I was scared that if I left, the bear would spawn and my efforts would be wasted. I'm exhausted, because I've been getting very little sleep, and even when I do sleep, it's not restful... I toss and turn, I wonder if I'm missing the bear, and when I do fall asleep, I dream about taming the damn thing. Seriously, that first night, I had a very vivid nightmare that I was camping with 20+ other hunters, and the bear finally spawned, and was accidentally killed by hunters competing to tag it. Geeze. The whole thing starts to make me feel defeated and ill. I seriously consider giving up.
But now I know when she last spawned, and info from other tamers on the internet suggests she probably has about a 12-hour respawn timer. That means I should check back around 6:30 p.m. server time. That's good, at least I can rest a bit during the day. I go to work/school, come home. Log on, check the spot, nothing... of course, I'm not expecting her for several more hours. Plenty of time for a much-needed nap. I crawl into bed and fall asleep around 2:00 server time. I wake up at 3:00 and log back on. Still not expecting to see the bear for another 3 hours or so.
But THERE SHE IS. RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE. I panic. I attack, I tag her. I abandon my current pet, drop a frost trap, chug a Potion of Speed, and start to Tame. She's mine. I'm shaking, my heart is pounding, and of course I'm totally elated. And then relieved. And now... I'm kinda numb. But in the happy sort of way.
She's the second Spirit Bear tamed on Malfurion. I'm so happy that Nsom and I both had our dedication (stubborness? obsession?) rewarded with this beautiful pet. I now have all four Spirit Beasts: Loque'nahak, Gondria, Skoll, and Arcturis. And my fifth stable slot will forever belong to my long-time companion, Roflz the black lion.
I named the bear Lynxr. Because she's totally a druid bear, obviously. Looks like a druid, and she even Moonfires! I like to think it's the ghost of Lynxr come back to haunt me.
Thank you: Nsom, for being good company during our time of mutual waiting and torment. Thul, for coming to help me camp during my brief AFKs and for staying up all night bear watching. My guildies, for listening to me cry and whine and rant in chat, and for their encouragement. Nsom's guildies, for stopping by to provide moral support. The whole experience could have been a lot worse. :)
