It's a world first for night elf priest Lyssan of Vek'linash (US), who has bypassed death, gearing, talents -- all the conveniences of modern-day Azeroth -- to hit level 90 in the player-created WoW Ironman Challenge. A report like this would normally include the winner's class specialization and gearing, but not for this player, yet the Ironman's brutal ruleset prohibits not only those basics but also death itself.

That's right: If you die during the WoW Ironman Challenge, you re-roll. Period.

Here's a look at the grim core rules of the challenge:

• No items equipped other than white or gray items.
• No heirlooms.
• No talent points -- no specialization. You may train class abilities.
• No professions, primary or secondary, other than First Aid.
• No food or water above vendor-quality white items.
• No groups -- no BGs, no instances, no raids, no quest groups. No guilds.
• No enchants, scrolls, potions, elixirs, or glyphs.
• No outside financial or equipment assistance (including gold or bags from other characters).
• The Big One: If you die, ever, you delete that character and start over at level 1.

The next closest participant in the Mists leg of this event is currently level 87. Kripparrian, the player-run hard-mode competition's former title-holder in Cataclysm at level 85, does not appear to have leveled in Mists of Pandaria.

We'll have a full interview with the triumphant Lyssan next week, after she takes a well-earned holiday rest! (And if it were me, I think I'd go out and die a few times, just for sheer relief ...)

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