SMOKEY HOW WE HARDLY KNEW THEE...

Greetings and salutations,

This is a tale of great bravery and sacrifice--a telling tale of a creature giving it's life for the sole purpose of saving another... yea, brothers and sisters, I speak now in memory of Smokey, my enchanted Young Kodiak.

I had often traveled through West Commons and admired the wildlife there...the wisps in spring, the howl of the shadow wolf and the cry of the fallen Cutthroat. But always I had admired and appreciated the nobility of the local bear population. My opinion was only increased when once while hunting for Deathfist Slashed Orc bets (preferably taken from their cooling corpses) I befriended a random Young Kodiak...and I named him Smokey. Smokey defended me while I was medding, slaughtered orcs that smite me, and lovingly ran them down from behind when I was too bloated with loot to make chase. Ah, yes...a SoW'd Kodiak is a sight to behold--but I digress.

When Smokey and I parted company that day in West Commons, I thought I would never see him again...though I wished it could be different...Kodiaks are just too good of experience for me to hope he could survive the harshness of the environment for long and mature into a full-grown Kodiak. So, with my head hung low, I departed West Commons and released Smokey back unto the wild and zoned to Kithicor...never to see him again...

....Or so I thought...

It was a few days later, on a somewhat foolish quest to defeat the nasty Dragoon named Gix that our mighty party entered the West Commonlands seeking the elusive dirk and the acclaim that followed Gix's death. We all suspected that we might not survive to tell the tale of our misadventure...and we made a pact to fight to the death. It was when I was medding under a depression near a hill by the inn where Gix frequents that I prepared my final thoughts, a lone figure crested the hill above me...Smokey, in full glory with the sun streaming around his powerful flanks as he cried out to the wild his mastery. He ran quickly towards me, blinked in recognition, and then joined us in our quest.

"Go, Smokey! Go!" I cried, sending my faithful companion towards the awaiting evil elf and his diabolical skeletal pet. As Smokey approached the devious creature, our party began striking out with all our arcane might at the demon as Smokey took the brunt of the Dragoon's wrath. All too soon, Smokey grew fearful and fled...only to be chased down by Gix and his loyal skeletal companion. But in the time it took the nefarious elf to track down and finish off my noble companion, both our mighty clerical friend and I had emptied our souls upon the demon and his familiar, wounding them both greatly. In a final blast of holy power, Somlin the Mighty struck down the foul pet from hell and left us with the grisly task of taking the wounded demon Gix down.

It was a difficult battle, as battles go...with the dark one striking our melee members mightily and doing great harm. But the healing touch of Pudg was available and unused and the gentle caress of Somlin's healing arts saved all from certain doom. With one final combination of the Honorable Alcar's Tomahawk and the Swift Iago's fists of fury, Gix sighed one last sigh and fell.

While the others celebrated our victory and looted the corpses...I mourned the loss of dear, loving Smokey...who never a full grown Kodiak would be. I sent his bodily remains back into the forest of his home to be reclaimed by the forest that had given him life and bid my friend farewell.

Farewell, dear Smokey...I will always remember.

Tenasi, Druid of the 16th Circle

--excerpt from Tenasi's Travel Compendium, page 374