A Challenge

Usually, when I am thrown randomly into Heroic Azjol-Nerub with a Paladin tank sporting 41k health points, I look forward to having fun throwing the occasional Rejuvenation while dpsing my little heart out.

But the other day, I found that even a Pally tank sporting 41k health points can test my healing skills in an Heroic instance.

I have never, in a random Heroic instance, seen a more reckless tank.  Aggro was everywhere.  Yes, he was running Righteous Fury.  Yes, he was in Protection spec.  I began to wonder if he was taking it as a personal insult that I was healing in Night Elf form, instead of going into Tree of Life form.  This would be odd, as most tanks view it a compliment that the healer trusts they will do well and not take much damage.  But there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of making me shift forms, so I stubbornly remained a Night Elf.

After the first boss, he literally jumped off the ramp and was swarmed by mobs, before most of us even entered the room.  I saw his health dropping low from the previous room, hit cat form and dashed into range to throw a Rejuvenation and Swiftmend and keep the guy from killing himself and us with him.

Somewhere along the instance, he suddenly started chatting.

"So how is Tempest doing these days?"  Oh, he's from my server.  Hadn't noticed that.  Hadn't heard of his guild, either.

"So far, so good.  :)"

Apparently that answer wasn't good enough for him.  "?/12 HM ICC25"

"6"  Simple truth.  He could have known it himself if he had taken the time to look it up on wowprogress.

"Almost everyone has that now."

There was no more chatting.  It seemed to me to be a deliberate provocation.  Part of me wanted to answer something to the effect of, "Everyone except your guild," but I knew that would be childish and unbecoming in an officer of Tempest.  Another part of me wondered if he was an alt from some elitist guild or if he was just a teenager who hadn't learned better manners.  I wondered if he had applied to Tempest and had not been offered an invitation. (He hasn't on his Pally, anyway; I looked.)

In the last analysis, I decided it just didn't matter.  I finished the Heroic with no deaths and, if I never had the time to throw more than one Moonfire, I also never went into Tree of Life form.  I thanked the group for the run, and I put the Pally tank's name on my Ignore list.  I never have to play with him again.

He wasn't that good of a tank, anyway.