For Cheeva

As BlizzCon approaches, I am reminded of a story not too long ago.  This happened a couple of years ago and I will never forget it.  The following is a true story:


For Cheeva

When I first started playing WoW, I didn't have a clue about guilds and such.  Fortunately for me, I got invited to one called "Knights of Rememberance" on the Antonidas realm.  It was a good guild run by a crappy GM (later KoR became Sanctity, which I was in until I moved to Premonition).  People in this guild were very friendly and helpful.  2 people who were really helpful for me were Neuroticon (yes the master fluffer) and Cheeva.  Without these 2, I probably wouldn't have played WoW as long as I have. 

Cheeva was an older female player.  I didn't know her age but I do remember saying that she was pretty old.  I'm sure she was older than Quinnie or Alphaseven - lol.  Well anyways, Cheeva played a female warlock.  Like me, WoW was probably her first online game (alot of noobness questions were asked by me and her).  When I first started playing, I didn't realize that Antonidas was newly created realm so most of the realm hadn't reached 70 yet and most players on that server were busy levelling their characters.  I quickly realized that I was playing often and was one of the more higher level character in our guild.  There were a few that were ahead of me (like Neuroticon) but most were lower level.  But one who was mostly at the same level from me was Cheeva.  So therefore we often did quests together. 

Now when you do quests and levelling together, you often create a bond with the people that help you.  I know I really appreciate all the help people have given me to better my character.  It's something that I won't ever forget.  With Cheeva, I know she helped me get my pally mount and I also helped her get her warlock mount.  We did many instances together also.  I didn't mind helping her at all because I knew she would help me whenever I asked. 

So after KoR became Sanctity and about couple months later, our guild decided to run Kara casually at first since many weren't geared for it.  It was going good until after a while we usually had quite a few who wanted to do Kara.  I guess there some people in our guild who weren't happy that they weren't able to go do Kara so there was big fight about it.  I don't know the complete details of it because I wasn't there at that time.  I know Livi (Gene's sister-in-law) who was our GM at that time was pretty upset about it.  A bunch of people then left our guild, including Cheeva (who was standing up for one of her friends).  Cheeva, being the leader that she was, created a guild called "Unbroken". 

Well our guild Sanctity managed to survive and further progress into Kara, but unfortuanetly for Cheeva, her guild didn't become as good as ours.  I don't know what happened but most of Cheeva's guild then decides to transfer to another server (the ones who started this whole mess).  I thought Cheeva might transfer too but she didn't. 

So one day in Strattrah, I asked her how she was doing and why she hadn't transferred with the other members of her guild.  Her response was that this guild (Unbroken) was hers and that she wouldn't abandon it (I think she was peeved that I even mentioned the thought of transferring).  The one thing you have to realize about Cheeva was that she was very strong minded individual.  Anything she put her mind into, she knew she could achieve it.  I guess some people in our realm doubted that she could run a guild in the first place so it must have been real satisfying for her to prove them wrong.  She often would tell me "Juno, I am going to do this" and I would nod and say "Of course, you're Cheeva".  I have never met another person as strong minded as Cheeva. 

So after Sanctity broke up, I made the painful decision to transfer servers over to Windrunner.  It was a very difficult decision for me because I knew I would be leaving many friends back on Antonidas.  What made transferring worth it though was being in Premonition and meeting another batch of good people.  After raiding for several weeks and feeling very comfortable in Premonition, I often checked the Antonidas realm forum to see how my old server was doing. 

One day while checking the forum, I saw the thread that I dreaded the most.  Cheeva had passed away.  Cheeva's death was the definately the worst feeling I ever had while playing WoW.  Even more so, that same night we were doing a raid (I think it was Tempest Keep).  I decided to dedicate that raid to her so I macro'ed a shout everytime I hit my avenging wrath.  I would shout out "For Cheeva!!!" everytime I did my macro.  Most of the raid didn't have a clue what I was doing and I didn't bother to tell anyone.  I didn't have a mic either at that point so I didn't talk about.  Even if I did have a mic, I would have been crying too much to say anything.  The only other person who knew was Neuro so he kinda told everyone about it. 

Whenever things get tough now, I often think about Cheeva and how she would handle things.  She is one of the reasons why I won't leave Premonition.  I know that if Cheeva could do it, so could I.  Cheeva, I will always remember you and what you have taught me.  R.I.P.

"For Cheeva!!!"

Love, Juno