I'm a newbie at this, I'm also posting this over at the EQOA forums- plan on making this a continuing series which eventually leads to generation 4(EQ2 Spus)- If I'm any good at it anyways. As Told by Gigzan Widgetwatcher of Ak’Anon [Grandson of SpusI, Father of SpusII] Of Spus of Klick’Anon Born to 2 unsuccessful engineering parents, Ebner and Maxi, (Them having some of the worst accident rates of the city- even by Gnomish standards. Spus’s parents continually screwed up various clockworks and contraptions they were handed responsibility of- The Gnomish elders, in an attempt to avoid further damage to the town, assigned the Senior Widgetwatcher parents to attempt to repair the bridge in front of town- Then known as the Bridge of Amazing Impracticability... They never succeeded.) Spus was the typical gnome child. He spent much of his time figuring out how things worked, however, upon disassembly, he could never put it back together right. The Widgetwatchers have some sort of curse- the two things gnomes are usually great at- Magic and Machinery, they aren’t very good with. This has never stopped them from trying. Spus’s parents would not take any other job besides engineering out of a Gnome’s pride- even if they destroyed whatever they were trying to fix further. I myself was recently banned by the Wizard’s guild after striking a clockwork with a lightning bolt and sending it on a blind rampage through the town… I was trying to cast an invisibility spell. They did not believe me, it was only the 7th time I did that. 8th maybe. Okay, Okay, it was more like 23 times, but I never intended to do it a single time. We Widgetwatchers are just horrible with the stuff. I finally swallowed my pride, and became a librarian and historian. But this story is about Spus, not myself. Anyway, Spus was enrolled in the Mechnamagical College, seeking the honorable gnomish art of Wizardry. It goes without saying, he was a horrible student. His main problem was Fire. He could never get them to land on the right object, if he could ever get it to shoot off anyway- more often than not, he just ignited his wooden staff. He somehow managed to boil a Nearby Magician’s Water Elemental once as well. The Widgetwatcher pride did not deter him from his mission to become a great Sorcerer. No, it took a flaming robe to do that. While continuing his training, Spus again tried to cast his Fire spell- he managed to not light his staff on fire- but instead lighted Professor Pansoof’s robe ablaze. “FOR THE LOVE OF BRELL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW WIDGETWATCHER?!?!†cried Pansoof as he fled off to extinguish himself. Spus realized he could be in possibly more trouble than he had ever been in before. He tossed off his robe and fled off through the city, looking for a place to hide. He hoped into a chest full of various armor, in an effort to evade Pansoof. “Watchmen! Pick up your gear out of the chest!†shouted an unfamiliar voice. Spus noticed that 4 gnomes were approaching the chest- he figured out he had run into the barracks of the Klick’Anon Watch, and the town guard was coming straight for him. In a rush of quick thinking, Spus took some of the armor and slipped out of the chest while the Watchmen weren’t watching. He hid behind the chest as the Guards dressed in there gear, and Spus dressed himself in the gear as well, donning a face obscuring Bucket style helmet. “Watchmen! Move out!†Spus slipped into the Marching line, hoping to be unnoticed. They marched around town, everything seemed to be going fine for the young Gnome, until a tattered robe wearing angry wizardry professor storms by. “Captain Buntattle! I’ve been looking for you!†The Watchman line stops. “What is it Pansoof? You want me to send one of my men out for some menial bat hunting task?†“No, no, this is much more dire, look at me!†Never being one for details…â€You get a new haircut?†“No, No, look at my robe!†“Looks raggedy. Hope you didn’t pay too much for it.†“One of my students ignited me in flames!†“And…?†“I need you to arrest them, they should be punished for this! Spus Widgetwatcher did this!†“Who’s he?†“Some Blue haired kid, I’ve already expelled him- not like he would of passed anyway.†“Okay, I’ll tell you if I find him.†Spus grew nervous- he not only had an enraged wizard at him, he had the Watch after him. Or so he thought. The Watchman line stopped. “Watchmen trainees, you are dismissed for today, report back here tomorrow morning.†Spus didn’t really know what to do at that point. He did not want to go home, for the news of “Hello Mother, I was expelled from the College and I’m wanted by the Town Guard†did not appeal to his parents. “Hey, who are you!†exclaimed a Buntattle who finally noticed there was one more trainee following him then usual. Spus figured he was caught, no use in fleeing anymore- and he was exhausted from the March. He removed his helmet. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to set Mr. Pansoof on fire, I really didn’t! Please don’t turn me in to him, he’ll transform me into a frog or something!†“Calm down. I’m not going to send you back to him- maybe. Pansoof has a short temper†“Well I did almost burn him to death…†“Never mind that… for a plain wizardry student, you handled yourself marching around in Heavy armor all day quite well. As you can see, I don’t get many new recruits. I’ll play dumb and “forget†I Pansoof ever told me to look for you- but you must join the Watch.†“I guess I don’t have much of a choice. I don’t like frogs. My parents will be angry that I flunked out of school.†“Don’t tell them then. I think you have potential to be a great Watchman of Klick’Anon. Just come here instead of the College- just avoid Pansoof. Your parents will be more proud of someone who doesn’t literally burn all the Staffs that the town has to ashes.†Spus then began his training as a Watchman, learning swordsmanship, the art of war, the gnomish running head butt, and how to defend Klick’Anon in the event of an attack. Buntattle feared the Dark Elves would try something- but the Gnomish Elders would hear none of it. Klick’Anon hoped to remain Neutral in the Elven Wars, but they obviously had more favor to the Elves of Light- and the Tier’Dal knew this. Klick allowed Dark Elves and Trolls to freely pass through the gates, as ordered by the Elders. Spus didn’t necessarily hate the Tier’Dal- viewed them as more or less complete jerks. As a Gnomish child, Dark Elves passing through town would commonly amuse themselves by stealing his glasses and tossing them to the bottom of the lake, and watching him attempt to find them, blind as a bat. Necromancers would often find amusement is sending weak skeletal dogs at Spus. Not enough to endanger, but enough to annoy him. He truly hated Trolls though- half the trolls that came through gave pursuit to him, saying they want a “Gnomeses Sammichâ€. Spus also kept dodging Pansoof pretty well, but he feared it would only be a matter of time before Pansoof would find out the Bucket headed watchman who patrolled past him was the person he sought revenge on. That was Pansoof’s favorite robe you know. He didn’t think it was an accident- the Widgetwatcher family has kept the Magic/Mechanical curse silent for the most part- would be hard to be hired to do something you are cursed to be unable to do. Anyhoo, one day Spus’s dreaded fear came true…… To be continued… -apologies for the shoddy formatting, did this on word.
