D&T's Birthday Post

Well, let it be known that Gremkarc of Orgrimmar, Chieftain of Dagger and Totem, is MR SILLY. Two days ago, a wonderful thing happened. D&T turned one year old, and we celebrated by completely forgetting about it. To be fair, the guild has only been really active since November of last year, and most of the members now were not even around to see that. As a guild, we've changed a lot in the last year, to a state where we're unrecognisable. Wrath of the Lich King was very kind to us.
 
Dagger and Totem started out as a two-person social guild. Myself and Guak had no real aspirations for it, and originally, we just wanted to share a tabard, speak to each other quickly without relying on whispers or party chat, and abuse the Guild Message of the Day, member ranks, and other such features. The name came about because well, Dagger (Rogue) and Totem (Shaman). We thought it was nice, effective, and I'm a sucker for guilds with "and" in the title. 
Our previous guilds had otherwise become incompatible, or inactive. Ordo Imperialus was the one I left, and Guak left the Flying Daggers. Back then, orc RP on this realm was much smaller than what it is now, and so Guak's name on my friends' list was accompanied by a "The only orc I know" note. It still is, actually. Though it should also be mentioned that on the guild's first night, myself, Svodni, Silverclaw and Fearn were all online at the same time. That has to count for something. 
So Guak and I would just RP all the time. ICly this guild was just a means of officiating our partnership, and make it easier to fight alongside each other. But really, we didn't make a big thing about it. Heroes' Society was very much my focus, and D&T was just a place to hang out with the person I talked to most. I can't even remember if we used the guild bank, though I suspect we didn't. 
After a while, we noticed that a few friends of ours were lacking guilds. The Dawn Guard, for example, had broken up, and Ciite was guildless. Awqe had always been guildless because talking to Awqe is like having your life slowly made less meaningful and fun. But he helped me get through the 40s and 50s as Gremkarc so I took pity on him. As you can imagine guild chat quickly turned into futile attempts to arrange heroic instances, which then devolved into me getting called names for using attack-power equipment to heal. And for talents, or something. Soraya also joined the guild for a while, although he left soon after to start up his own with a friend (That took you a while, Sora). We didn't really do much RP then, and the RP we did do wasn't clan-based, really. Occasionally we'd go to Razor Hill to set up a campfire. Then we'd pick up members who wouldn't ever log in again. Or ones that never spoke. Or ones which mysteriously vanished for 6 months and came back with aplomb (Hello, Darzog!). 
During the Blasted War, the clan was a bit more active, in terms of "OK guys, let's sometimes line up and look all smashing and cool. We need to make the Serpentfangs look less good." Though it was nothing like how it was during the Warsong Defensive, when we took a policing role. Right Hand and Left Hand of the Overlord, and all that. Blasted War Horde Side wasn't really an archetypal Horde faction anyway, I didn't even call myself the Overlord. Just the Commander, I think. 
So things went on and D&T remained quiet. Guild meetings were often missed. And I was still tossing my time between Horde and Alliance. It wasn't really until October/November that we started to kick off. Junka joined the guild, and we used to spam the Headless Horsemen for stuff that he ultimately wasn't game to drop. Though I believe Junks got the helmet, so that was cool. And then, of course, ol' man Horseman got a bit upstaged, and probably a bit peeved off for it, when the Second Scourge Invasion started. Man oh man, did activity start to boost when that happened. D&T would regularly go to the danger points, to kick Scourge bottom, and we would often call others to join us, to boost our numbers. It was the first real time the clan, and it was becoming more of a clan now, had fought together, and that was really quite nice. 
By the time the Pre-Wrath event started, we were pumped, as our forum thread testifies: 
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6790729700&sid=1 
I remember the utter shock, frenzied shock at that, at first seeing what was happening at Orgrimmar. Once again the guild responded, and once again we fought back the Scourge. We were certainly becoming more of an IC presence around the realm, despite our small size. 
And then Wrath came. 
It took until December, really, to properly kick off. I levelled Chingo with Rensvind first (in what was the best ten roleplayed levels I've ever came across), and was playing a bit with my Death Knight. But when Big Chingo hit 80, I came to Horde, to focus on Gremkarc. And boom! The 2nd of December saw the big boost in our numbers, with Salax, Kalarn, Vitanisus and Hare joining. The forum thread I linked to will show how enthusiastic I was, especially after Niblit killed me at Wintergrasp. The Wednesday we held our guild meeting was absolutely bloody brilliant, because it was so flowing, so Hordey, and so what I wanted to achieve with the guild. I was amongst good friends, having a good time, and seeing a bright future ahead. 
So we had members like Beansidh, Raalkir/Talmarisa, Edanna, Gulgrim, Zave, Dishka, Kergo, Razuli, Mulaji and Yokh join. Alts turned into mains, for a few of them, and in the case of Talmarisa, the Sha'tar became home. We carried with us a freshness which came out both in our active OOC chat, and our IC activities. It was incredible how much everyone was enjoying themselves, and I was convinced I had somehow stumbled upon leading the best guild ever. I was having so much fun. CAPS LOCK HUMOUR began to develop, and so did our frenzied heroics (once I hit 80). We'd team up with Leena for them, and sometimes others. Despite me saying I was gonna calm recruitment down, we ended up having Aethalus, Tritha, Zalinjia, Kroden, Kiel and Wry, and others. But recruitment, throughout all of it, was tight. And it still is. It's a case of "will this person fit in?" More often than not, it's "no. We're too loud, obnoxious, and laidback." 
Since then, we've done a lot. Best memories? Hmm. Warsong Defensive's recruitment nights. Man oh man, were we a united force, then. Guards on the doorway, recruiters inside, and people explaining exactly what signing up to war would mean. Our second night, in Brill, was absolutely hilarious. Throughout all the jokes in our guild chat, we were a professional force RP-wise. There was that time also, that I was really condescending towards Gorik and Kergo's tent in the Warsong Defensive. That was hilarious. Or our first Halls of Stone Heroic run. WHAT'S THE GOOD NEWS. Maybe when Awqe didn't realize he was in a clan, too. Or the Supplies to Astranaar event, where were were a checkpoint which poor old Nahue had to go through. Or Junka's burial. Or THAT Zul'Aman run. Or going into exile. 
I dunno. Best memories, rather than best memory, I feel. 
I think that period of enthusiasm and the feeling of "Oh my god, is it really THIS good?" has past now, as a result of a few things. Some of it related to time, some of it related to a few silly decisions I made, and some of it down to Gremkarc's exile, a few weeks back. It's great to see guilds like Stonetusk Tribe (Razuli and Tritha), Storm and Ruin (Nazthril and Rawa), and The Invisible College (Edanna and Brian) spawn from D&T. We did have a bit of a monopoly, I feel. A guild becoming less successful is never an easy think for a guild master to deal with, though I'm by no means accepting my lot. I've loved the past year, and being the leader of D&T. I have a lot of people to thank for that. To Guak mostly, for agreeing to form it with me, to Ciite, Awqe and Makraz for staying with us for so long, and to the guilds who have supported us throughout our time, too. Like Ashwing, Dragon Slayers, Remnants, Fist of Acherus, Fen Witch, Skychasers, and Feet of Clay. 
Bappy Hirthday, Dagger and Totem. Sorry for being two days late. I AM MR SILLY