Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Pet Idea: Gurubashi Loa Bijous


A "bijou" is a trinket or jewel, and is used in WoW for Troll rituals to certain Loa, or to perform certain powers (specifically Jungle Troll).  The most famous use of a bijou was Min'loth, and players would obtain Hakkari Bijous in vanilla Zul'Gurub for reputation.  But, what if bijous were items that would grant you pets?  Here are some examples of Loa statues that could make perfect pets - Gurubashi edition.

Shirvallah Bijou

Shirvallah is the Gurubashi Loa of Tigers.  More people have become aware of the Tiger God because of the new level 100 talent in WoD: Claws of Shirvallah.  It will grant players the ability to become a cat-man, much like High Priest Thekal used to do in old ZG.  Except, the talent will transform people into Saberon, which is basically an updated version of the old ZG transformation.  The pet, however, could use the old model to still show it off and be relevant.  It is, after all, unique!

The Shirvallah Bijou could be a humanoid pet.  It would be an idol found in the outside version of ZG in the general area where Thekal used to stand.  Looting the bijou would grant you the pet at a 100% drop rate.  The bijou would contain a small essence of Shirvallah's power, making the trinket seem alive.  Even though it could be a humanoid pet, it could have mostly beast moves.  The Panther Cub has many abilities that would fit, and are quite balanced for the typical type of moves pets would have in battle.

Outside of battle, the Shirvallah Bijou could randomly roar, causing nearby critters to flee in fear.

Shadra Bijou

One of my personal favorite characters, ever, in WoW is High Priestess Mar'li, the chosen champion of Shadra, the Spider Loa.  Shadra is revered by most (if not all) Troll tribes and empires.  I hope to see more of Mar'li in the future, perhaps joining the Darkspear after surviving death again due to Shadra's blessing.  But I digress...

The Shadra Bijou could be found in the outside version of ZG, where Shadra's place of worship once was.  Alternatively, it could be found anywhere in the top tier of Jintha'Alor, where they are shown to revere the Venom Queen as well.  The model itself could be the same model as Shadra as shown in the Hinterlands, or Mar'li's model from old ZG when she transforms with Shadra's power.  Either would be perfectly suitable.

The Shadra Bijou could be a critter or humanoid pet (depending on model).  The abilities of the pet could be similar to any spider pet already in-game, such as the Giant Bone Spider from Naxxramas.  Outside of battle, the pet itself could trap nearby critters in webs for a short amount of time, much like the hunter talent Narrow Escape.

Hethiss Bijou
Hethiss is the Gurubashi Snake Loa.  In-game, High Priest Venoxis has been the champion of the Snake Loa since vanilla, and he was resurrected in Cataclysm.  He transforms in the fight into a snake-man, harnessing the power of Hethiss.  Since we have no pet with the snake-man model, it would be much more unique and fun for people than an Emerald Boa, which is presumably what Hethiss would look like in his chosen form.

The Hethiss Bijou could be a beast type, thus having moves like BiteHiss, and Vicious Fang like most snake pets.  Other such snake pet moves would be suiting as well.  The bijous itself could be found near Venoxis' area in the outside version of ZG, where you fight in a quest, and defeat him in the instance.

Outside of battle the pet could summon forth a Pool of Acrid Tears on nearby critters, much like Venoxis does in the ZG instance.

Hir'eek Bijou
Hir'eek is the Gurubashi Loa of bats.  Troll druids use his power for their Swift Flight Form, and Hir'eek is called upon in Stranglethorn Vale to help adventurers fly around and observe the happenings in Zul'Gurub.  In vanilla, High Priestess Jeklik was the champion of the Bat God, and used Hir'eek's power to transform into a unique model, which was based off the gargoyle models.  To date, it is still unique, and hasn't been used for anything else.  That model would be perfect (since we also do not have a gargoyle pet).

The Hir'eek Bijou would be looted from the outside version of ZG, in the place where Jek'lik once fought adventurers in the original raid.  In the revamped dungeon, that area is blocked off.  The pet would drop 100% of the time from a small bat totem.

The pet would be a flying type, having mostly bat moves, similar to the Tirisfal Batling.  Outside of battle, the pet could screech periodically, causing nearby players to be startled (like the Darkmoon Whistle).

Bethekk Bijou
Bethekk is the Gurubashi Loa of panthers.  The pet's model could use either a generic panther, or the humanoid transformation used by both Arlokk and Kilnara in ZG (I wanted to post that picture, but it's glitched in WoWhead at the moment).  Fitting with the theme of most other bijous, I'd suggest the female "Tigon" model.  Like the others, as well, the bijou could be looted from a small totem or statue in the Temple of Bethekk in the outside version of ZG.

The pet could be a beast type, using most of the same moves as the Panther Cub, like the Shirvallah Bijou at the top of the post.  Outside of battle, the pet could periodically stealth and pounce on a nearby critter.

Hakkar Bijou

Hakkar the Soulflayer is somewhat questionable as a Loa.  He is a "Blood God" that may be related to the Old Gods, and is related somehow to the Nightmare in the Emerald Dream.  It is because of Hakkar that the Zandalari decided to have adventurers raid Zul'Gurub in vanilla.  Adventurers also put an end to the Atal'ai_tribe in the Temple of Atal'Hakkar, and try to stop Hakkar from being resurrected there.  However, he already has bijous that were obtained in the original Zul'Gurub raid, used for Zandalar reputation.  One such bijou could yield a pet with a small model of him, obtained in a new way of course.

The pet could be looted from a statue of Hakkar, or a totem.  The totem/statue would be located in the outside version of ZG, at the central temple.  Alternatively, it could be looted in or near the Sunken Temple, since there are plenty of places inside and outside the instance for the statue to stand.  

It would be either an undead or magic pet, and could have several abilities related to blood.  Some abilities that come to mind are Plagued BloodDrain Blood, and Bloodfang.  Other moves that would fit into Hakkar's lore would be acidic or undead moves that leech life.  He could even have a new move based on the famous Corrupted Blood indicent, where other pets in the battle could get the debuff dot as well.  Outside of battle, Hakkar could randomly summon a tiny Son of Hakkar that would fly around for a few minutes and disappear.

I'll cover other Loa in future posts.  Let me know what you think on Twitter!

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