Sosaria is a very dangerous place to live and adventure in, and the during the holiday seasons it can be a particularly dangerous place. This is especially true for those who tend to play alone. This is a tale in the spirit of the holidays and hopefully will inspire some of you landlubbers to lend a helping hand to a friend that you know is in need. It all started one fine holiday morning where I, Icas Rex, was meandering about on Bald Island when I heard a strange sound coming from apparently nowhere. It was not very loud but I could hear it none the less, a faint "Athene: Claim list". I kept hearin it again and again and began following the noise. I finally discovered in a chest an old dusty communication crystal, apparently linked to a receiver somewhere out in the world. I took the crystal from the chest, dusted it off, and put it in me pack. Taking clues from what I was hearin' over the the crystal I boarded me ship and began a journey to visit every stable in the land to find out where this dusty crystal was linked. After checking all the town stables to no avail, it suddenly occured to me that there were a few more stables then those in town. At last, after hours of painstaking work and tracking, I stumbled into the Village of Paws. There I saw a stablemaster and not more then a few tiles away there was a green flashing communication crystal. AHA! I tracked for this mysterious Athene yet could not find him anywhere. I had just about given up and had walked not 2 screens away from the village when that old crystal in my pack began glowing brightly. It once again emited a faint, "Athene: Claim list". I immediately turned around and ran back to the village again only to find nobody there again....but there was a mysterious blue gate near the stablemaster. I stealthed through the gate and alas the mystery was solved, for in front of my very eyes was a noble looking man named Athene with 2 fine dragons. Being a tracker, I quickly glanced around my surroundings and surmised that I was South West of the fine city of Vesper. While I was busy looking around, Athene proceeded to enter a very large stone keep, however he locked the door behind him, leaving me out in the cold. Curious as to what this man was up to, I wandered into town and caused mischief until a town guard could hold back no longer and killed me. Now that I was in the netherworld, I had no problem slipping through the doors of Athene's great house to observe the goings on. But something was amiss.... This great man Athene sat there with his dragons in the middle of his house and did not move a muscle. A very attractive man, I found myself staring at this statue of a man for over 24 hours, with him and his dragons not moving an inch. I tried to get his attention, to see if he was alright, but he just stood there unmoving. Then, all at once, there was a great amount of commotion in the house. I looked up just in time to see Athene taking his 2 dragons into a strange red gate to Santa's Lair. Surely a man with a house this big has friends he can take with him to help on this quest of his! I pondered for a moment and decided that despite the risks to my own safety, in the spirit of the holidays, I MUST help this man. I beckoned some friends who arrived in great haste to assist Athene ironman Santa's Lair. Surely the event would be easier with my assistance? I had no idea at the time what I was getting myself into however quickly learned just how dangerous this was when Athene died on the very first pull. Seeing how quickly he died, (which could have been expected, as he wore no armor, just a loincloth), I began having second thoughts about my role in his event and decided to stay a safe distance away and provide only moral support. I continued to provide only moral support, not so much as breaking stealth for the nearly the entire event. Athene died a great many times on his quest but steadily worked his way through the dungeon. Finally after killing 9 reindeer moved, Athene moved onto Bad Santa himself. It was there I decided I deserved some spoils for all the moral support I was providing. While I stealthed back to where Santa's red chests lay, AOE damage led to me being revealed for the first time. I quickly hid again near the chests but it appears it was all moot as Athene was not able to complete the event in time and never unlocked the chests for me. Around this point I was ejected from the event however I did not arrive in the event center as expected. Instead I sat in a jail cell with a sign on the wall that instructed me to page for assistance. I decided not to page, as it was clear that the god's were unhappy with me and knew exactly where to find me. And oh was I right. No more then a few minutes had passed until a great god of a man appeared in the cell with me, sporting a fine red game masters robe. He uttered a prophesy which I will share with everyone here so they can avoid my folly: Griefing other player's events will result in you being banned from all future events. This red robed God found no argument from me, and I appreciated the warning instead of being banned on the very spot. I was able to leave the jail cell after the prophesy was given just in time to run to Stormhold to see the visiting Santa. He asked if I was good this year, to which I of course responded, "YES!!!". Santa apparently knows more then we give him credit for. That is the end of my tale. I would however like to add an apology to Russell (AKA Athene) for attempting to support him on his quest for an ironman. I hope that me staying a safe distance away and not interfering at all was not the reason you failed the ironman attempt. I am glad the god's removed the extra player counts and let you fail the event 100% on your own, as it takes a great weight off my chest. May I suggest wearing armor on your next attempt to mitigate some of the damage you will inevitably be taking, in addition, instead of fizzing 10+ times on energy vortex's, may I suggest EV scrolls? With proper preparation I have no doubts that you can do it! Lastly, I am sorry to hear about your 7 day ban from IRC. You are true paradigm of civility and tact in IRC and I am sure your presence in IRC will be severely missed by many during this holiday season. 15 minutes later: Finding his presence unwelcome in general chat, I found Russell in Tradechat MERRY CHRISTMAS UOR! HO HO HO HO HO
Kudos to Icas Rex experiencing this marvelous adventure! (And let's pray to the gods that they may be less interfering with the minor, unimportant affairs of the mortals.)
Sounds like he was unappreciative of your assistance! Your tale is inspirational, mang. You've inspired me to spin a yarn of my own.
