"Fast as a fox!" And the vagrant ran off into the woods.......again. *cough cough* - Tomah of Thamara had been dealing with this cough every since he first met this vagrant. It was persistent, so say the least. Just one of the dangers of interacting with the local wild crazy and unkempt denizens of the deep forest, he guessed. "AN EX POR", this could be heard echoing through out the deep woods by many voices as soon as that wild man began to run off. Flash back a few days ago.... Tomah was on a walkabout in the woods of Yew, his travels took him to a remote peninsula, and this is where he first saw the vagrant. An unkempt man, fishing with nothing but a minning pick (and.....not doing well). As Tomah watched him for a few minutes, he made his way to the man and put his lantern down near his feet. The man, not startled at all, just continued fishing; throwing his pick into the river and dragging it back with the rope attached to the handle. Nothing was ever on the end of the pick, as you might imagine. "Drat! I need me some steak!", the vagrant muttered as he handed the pick over to Tomah and changed hats. Tomah, who handnt said anything up to this point, took the makeshift fishing rod and tossed it into the river. Maybe something would happen this time? *cough* Over the next few hours the vagrant told Tomah many things, most of which were pure absurdity, but one piece of information caught Tomah's ear. Something about a city of Sosaria on the verge of being invaded, or attacked, or at least have rocks thrown at it. Something stirred in Tomah. If there was peril to one of our fair cities, he needed to know. Leaving the vagrant, Tomah made his way back to Paws in order to call together some who might be feeling better to question the wild man more. Tomah barely made it back through his own gate before the cough became too much for him. He needed to rest for a few hours, and then, yes, then he would call forth for aid. Aid, as it always did, came in force and in purpose, to Tomah's invitation. Tomah explained the situation and the adventurers all agreed this was something to look into. The vagrant was last seen at the Trappers Huts. They had a place for him to stay, it seemed. Tomah, who was very much under the weather, asked who would be willing to lead them out? Phaedral took up the point position. They took a gate over to the Shrine of Sacrifice. After assembling, Tomah made it clear that this man they were to meet was unhinged, and he might attack all of them. It was important that they did not kill him, but merely suppress him. After all consented to that, they rode on. Arriving at the Trappers Huts, they group spread out to find the vagrant. They found him wandering in the woods near by. He ran. The next few hours were filled with, hmm...... a smattering of tasks and counterplay in order to satisfy the mans hunger, all for the sake of getting him to speak about what he knew of the imminent attack on a city here in Sosaria. Logs, deer meat, fish, new gloves, a cooking pot......a skull inside the cooking pot....diamonds.... MANY things where gathered. And finally, the vagrant explained himself. He had been walking around the woods looking for food or a place to spend the night, when he found himself in a wonderful city! Beautiful and fascinating. Large buildings and shops to tempt one's pocket book! But alas, He saw a spider. A spider was more than what he could handle, so he got out of there......fast as a fox, he did!! The vagrant saw more spiders and even lizards! Can you believe it? But something was strange about these creatures. They were are mechanical! Metal! Little robots running around causing mischief. Wait? Mechanical spiders and lizards? That doesnt sound right... More questions were put to him, the most urgent was, of course, what city was this in! They must find this infestation and deal with it. "Oh, I think it was.....a city called... *the vagrant said through sips of stew*....a city called the Village of Paws. Yes, yes, thats what it was. I wont ever be there again!" Paws?! Everyone looked at each other in skepticism and concern. They implored the vagrant to return with them to Paws.....which they had just come from....They said they would keep him safe. "HA! I will be coming with ya, but none are safe against the metal spiders!!" So the group returned back to Paws. And this is what they encountered upon their return.... "YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THEY WERE HUGE!!" "All spiders are huge!! Dont you know that!! I DID!! HahahahHAAhahAA", was the vagrants response. Much mechanical death was seen that day! The warriors fought and dispatched the robotic infestation until the last metal bastard was just a pile of gears on the ground. The two monsterous and final mechanoterrors that appeared were formitable indeed! But they too, were taken care of by the brave citizens of the land, and thus, Paws was saved. -------------------------------------------- THANK YOU ALL for coming to this one! Very very special Thanks to Telamon for really going out of his way for this and making it happen in a very short amount of time for what was asked for him. I feel spoiled! ALSO, if any of you who were here are willing to tell any tales about your interactions with The Vagrant, please do! I know I just skimmed the surface of how that whole thing went down!
