It didn't drop.
The bastard actually didn't drop it.
Wyrmthalak refused to give Gabryell what he wanted. No Gemstone of Bloodaxe. Just Beaststalker's Mantle, the Hunter T0 shoulders.
"Again."
Gabryell used General Drakkisath's Command, picked up the quest, and made the call on the spot.
They were staying in LBRS and farming another run.
This was insurance. If David's team failed to get the Gemstone of Bloodaxe too, they would have to keep farming anyway. They might as well get ahead of the problem.
For the second run, they skipped every boss they could to save time.
Highlord Omokk? Skip.
Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin? Skip.
Straight to War Master Voone.
"Voone," Gabryell said as they entered the room, "round two. You know what we're here for."
Then he answered himself in a fake terrified voice.
"Please, mighty mage, don't kill me again! I'll hand over the Gemstone of Smolderthorn!"
Carlos glanced at him. "You're doing both sides of the conversation now?"
"It's called immersion."
War Master Voone died again.
This time, he finally dropped the Gemstone of Smolderthorn.
"He learned," Hugo said.
"Too late," Gabryell replied. "He still died."
Besides the gemstone, Voone also dropped a healing ring.
Rosewine Circle
Rare
Binds when picked up
Unique
Finger
Requires Level 55
Equip: Restores 5 mana per 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells by up to 29.
Lunatori had not completed Of Love and Family yet, so she did not have Fordring's Seal. For now, Rosewine Circle was her best healing ring.
Once she finished that quest and obtained Fordring's Seal, the ring she replaced would be Songstone of Ironforge, not Rosewine Circle.
Good start.
Good sign.
"Ogabs, we're done," Susie whispered.
Then came the bad news.
"Desert's loot luck is cursed. We went zero for three. Not a single gemstone."
Zero for three meant exactly what it sounded like.
Not Spirestone.
Not Smolderthorn.
Not Bloodaxe.
Susie's team had been absolutely robbed by RNG.
"Keep farming," Gabryell replied.
As long as no team had gathered all three gemstones, nobody could stop.
Gabryell's group was halfway through the Firebrand section when David messaged him.
"Uh. We didn't get Gemstone of Bloodaxe either."
So David's team had missed the final gemstone too.
Good thing Gabryell had already started another run.
"Don't stop," he replied. "Keep farming LBRS."
They killed the Firebrand Pyromancer up ahead, and Gabryell looted the corpse almost out of habit.
"Wait," Lunatori said. "Purple drop!"
Carlos and the others reacted at once.
"Holy crap!"
Gabryell checked the loot.
It really was purple, but not gear.
It was a Tailoring pattern.
Pattern: Robe of the Archmage
Epic
Requires Tailoring 300
Use: Teaches you how to sew a Robe of the Archmage.
Robe of the Archmage
Epic
Binds when picked up
Chest
Cloth
96 Armor
+12 Intellect
Durability 100 / 100
Classes: Mage
Requires Level 57
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 40.
Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by 1%.
Use: Restores 375 to 625 mana.
5 min cooldown
Requires: 12 Bolts of Runecloth, 10 Essence of Fire, 10 Essence of Earth, 10 Essence of Air, 10 Essence of Water, 2 Rune Threads.
Robe of the Archmage was one of the strongest robes available to Mages at this stage. For many players, it was good enough to carry deep into raid progression, and some BiS-minded Mages valued it even above certain raid chests.
Its biggest drawback was the profession lock.
The robe was Bind on Pickup after being crafted and could only be used by the Tailor who made it. For Mages who did not have Tailoring, the pattern's value was simple.
Sell it.
Gabryell was a Mage, but he was not a Tailor. He had no intention of dropping a profession just for Robe of the Archmage.
"Everyone roll," he said. "We'll sell the pattern on the Auction House."
Pattern: Robe of the Archmage only dropped from Firebrand Pyromancers, but its drop rate was not impossibly low. If Gabryell really wanted it later, he could come back and solo-farm it. With average luck, half a day or a full day of farming would probably be enough.
Right now, very few groups were running Blackrock Spire.
That made this the best possible time to sell it.
The moment wealthy Tailoring Mages saw those stats, they would start throwing gold at it.
"Time to fleece the whales," Gabryell said.
Then the roll ended.
The pattern landed in his own bag.
Even better.
If he did not sell it now, then once more groups started farming LBRS, the price would crash. The earlier it hit the Auction House, the more it was worth.
Another unexpected bonus.
A good sign.
Surely the Gemstone of Bloodaxe would drop this time.
They pushed through the Skitterweb Tunnels and killed Mother Smolderweb. This time, she dropped Wildheart Boots.
They still did not summon Urok and went straight to Halycon.
This time, Halycon finally did not drop that ridiculous collar. Instead, he dropped Pads of the Dread Wolf, leather boots with Attack Power.
They were Feral Druid gear, and Lunatori had no interest in them, so they went to Hugo.
After Halycon died, Gizrul the Slavener appeared again.
Since he was already there, they killed him too.
No one felt like asking what exactly the relationship between Halycon and Gizrul was.
LBRS already had enough cursed lore for one day.
Bleak Howler Armguards
Rare
Leather Wrist
75 Armor
+14 Spirit
+8 Intellect
Durability 35 / 35
Requires Level 56
Equip: Increases healing done by spells by up to 15.
Good item.
Lunatori became even stronger. Her healing bonus was probably already the highest among Druid healers on Tichondrius.
In a raid with multiple Druids, her Regrowth and Rejuvenation would take priority, while the weaker healers would slowly get pushed toward backup healing and Mark of the Wild duty.
"Ogabs, is this worth anything?"
Susie, who was killing Highlord Omokk with her team, whispered him and linked an Enchanting formula.
Formula: Enchant Gloves - Greater Strength
Uncommon
Requires Enchanting 295
Use: Teaches you how to permanently enchant gloves to grant +7 Strength.
Gabryell stared at the formula.
Susie's team had finally paid back all its bad luck at once.
They could not get a single gemstone, but somehow they pulled a valuable enchant formula.
"Who won it?" he asked.
"Smooch."
Susie's team did not have an Enchanter, so everyone had rolled together, and Smooch had won.
"After we're done, have Igor buy it from her."
Gabryell smiled.
"Igor, this is as much help as I can give you."
He was absolutely not going to buy it from Smooch himself. That job belonged to Igor.
Smooch might not be as beautiful as Danielly, but she was still one of the prettiest girls in their department at university. Plenty of people chased her. If Igor wanted the formula, he could go talk to her himself.
Susie's team had finally found some luck.
Gabryell's group found even more.
"It dropped."
Quartermaster Zigris finally did not disappoint him.
Hands of Power dropped.
That saved Gabryell from having to come back to LBRS specifically to farm them later.
After equipping the gloves, he gained another 26 spell damage.
Beautiful.
"We're only missing Gemstone of Bloodaxe now," Gabryell said. "If it drops this run, this dungeon is perfect."
With their previous experience, the second Wyrmthalak fight was much easier.
To train Hugo's kiting, Gabryell still had them sheep one of the two adds Wyrmthalak called in when he screamed for help, while Hugo kited the other.
When Wyrmthalak finally fell, nobody moved.
"Don't loot yet," Gabryell said.
Igor froze in place.
"I wasn't going to."
"You especially weren't going to."
Gabryell looked at the corpse.
"Let him cool off first."
Carlos was silent for a moment.
"We're doing corpse temperature now?"
"Yes," Gabryell said seriously. "Instant-looting is cursed. Everyone knows this."
To avoid another LBRS run, Gabryell had no choice but to rely on one of the oldest powers known to MMO players.
Loot superstition.
Wait a little.
Let the boss cool down.
Then maybe RNG would stop being a bastard.
After about twenty seconds, Wyrmthalak's corpse had clearly cooled enough for science.
"Luna," Gabryell said. "Go."
Lunatori stepped forward and looted the body.
Gemstone of Bloodaxe
Uncommon
Binds when picked up
Unique
There it was.
World of Warcraft superstition had done it again.
Gabryell took the Gemstone of Bloodaxe and immediately announced a new guild policy.
"From now on, raid bosses must cool off before anyone loots them. Anyone who insta-loots gets minus fifty DKP and a one-hundred-gold fine."
Igor protested, "That rule exists because of me, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
No one even pretended otherwise.
One of World of Warcraft's eternal superstitions was simple:
Instant loot, cursed loot.
Let the corpse cool first, and maybe the drop table would remember how to behave.