The Luck

"The Luck", and Having It.

Shadus O'Yardle stumbled into the tavern in the early afternoon as normal. He shouted his ritual daily greeting to the tavern as he walked under the arch of the doorway, and sat down at his usual table. However, it was not his usual tavern, and most definitely not his usual table, by the small size of it. Shadus looked around, closing one eye so the world was a bit clearer, and proceeded to get up slowly and shuffle his way over to the bartender.

"Say, *hic* barkeep...Imma bit disorientated if ya know what I mean. Could ye be so kind as to *hic* tell a lad where in Norrath he is. This is definitely not tha Smiling Serpent."

The bartender hopped off his stool and disappeared behind the bar, totally mystifying Shadus. He didn't know that anything besides rats and bats could be so small! Muffled sounds came from under the bar and then the little guy crawled back up on his stool with a pair of pants. "Yer pants, sir."

He looked down, and sure enough, he was missing his favorite knickers. He had felt a bit of a breeze, but thought nothing of it. All the bar patrons began to cackle at him, and the bartender almost fell off his stool, pointing and laughing at the barbarian lad.

Shadus was relieved. "Ah, so I was here last night. Felt a bit funny not knowin' what had happened to me, usually I have some sort of *hic* recollection. Might ya tell me why me knickers are in yer possession there?"

"Well, let's see...after you had what you said was your normal 3 pints of whiskey, you asked me if I had anything special. I gave you a mug of our special green beer, and it made you rowdier than a gnome in a junkyard. When you were out of tunar, you traded your pants for one last green ale, which you spilled all over the tavern owner, knocked over about 10,000 tunar worth of alcohol, and kissed a dwarvish man. Or woman. But whatever it was, it had a righteous beard on it."

"Aye, must have had a bit much last eve....wait a moment! Green ale? I must have some. I've never heard of *hic* such an amazing thing. Green is my favorite color, it's the color of luck. I've always had the luck, because I always *hic* wear something green." Shadus winked at the bartender.

The Halfling frowned. "Laddie, you had enough last night to run the tavern out of the special ingredient used to make it. No shamrocks, no green ale. There are some other taverns around Norrath that have green ale, but they're all a far walk from here."

"Oh *hic* well, how far can it be? I'll get ta walkin' now and be there soon. Thanks ya, little one."

He laughed. "Farewell Shadus, and may you always have the luck on your side."

Shadus got a bit down the road, almost to the gates of the town, and sat down to rest...perhaps tripped and fell would be a more accurate description in his condition. Walking great lengths was certainly not going to work out, so he had to come up with another plan. He saw a young human lad walking by and got divine, intoxicated inspiration.

"Hey, you...you look like you need the luck. Ya know, something to make yer adventures even more profitable. If yer interested, I could tell ya more." Shadus winked at him.

The young lad looked around and then confided in the barbarian. "The name is Monrov, and indeed, I am down on my luck. I would very much be interested in obtaining this luck."

Shadus was amazed that Monrov had agreed. "Pleasure ta make yer acquaintance, Monrov. I can get ya the luck, I just need ya to do me a favor. If you'd be wanting to help me, buy me one of those "green ales"." He started towards the town's tavern. "Lad, that's tha trouble. This tavern is out, I need ya to travel to the other taverns to find it for me. Ya look like ya need to see tha world anyway..."

"You're right Shadus. I do need to see the world, and I most definitely need the luck. I'll be back when I have the ales for you."

Shadus thanked Monrov and waved goodbye. If one such traveler would help him, maybe more would...and he could have more green beer! Hopefully, "The Luck" would serve them as well as it had helped him so far.

Additionally, our next update will include our first experimental "forum game." Due to popular demand we have implemented a secret quest. It is up to you, good adventurer, to discover what this secret quest is. The first adventurer to post *here* what the quest is will receive a special forum title, will have access to two quest specific forum avacons (the icons that go under your forum name) as well as the usual in game treasures.

Your hint:

The ancient trees that have shaded the gateway valley between the Serpent Spine Mountains and the Commonlands echo a cry for help.