Do I get a yellow ! for this?

I've got a few ideas for post topics that I really want to get into, but with the zeppelins inbound from Northrend and all of the changes that they're bringing with them, I'll be postponing those for a bit. That's all fine and dandy, but I still need something to talk about in the meantime. Today I lucked out. I was reading this post from BRK and it reminded me of a story, so I'll be sharing that with you today.

Now for a little bit of setup: the Azeroth I call home is probably a bit different from the one you might be familiar with. I asked our resident engineers about it and they started rambling about parallel worlds and portals and some guy named Mallory; my head started to hurt after a while, so I forget the rest. Anyways, around here people sometimes do this "role playing" thing. Seems fine to me in concept - I like making up stories as much as the next guy (though the ones that hang out in the Ironforge tram are an odd lot). We don't see a whole lot of those guys because most of them tend to hide (both Horde and Alliance are a little triggerhappy around here), but occasionally they come out. We do however see our fair share of beggars, and for some reason they just love this warrior buddy of mine.

He'd get so many requests for his money that he decided to make this blanket response, just a card or something he could hand the beggar instead of talking to each of them. When he was working on this, he had a brainstorm: why just tell them to go away when I could have a little fun with them instead? He decided to his reply should be written like it was a quest. It went something like this: "The bears of the Hillsbrad Foothills have been a thorn in our side for far too long. Bring me ten Rotting Bear Carcasses as proof of their demise and I shall reward you with ten gold." It was brilliant! It would confuse beggars and serve to amuse my warrior friend. The real fun though came after someone actually brought back the bodies.

I believe this druid was in his 30s or so when he came back with the bodies. He said, "I've returned with the proof you asked for. May I have my reward?" The warrior thought for a moment, then decided to what he thought was one last bit of fun: "Okay, you can either have the gold or what's in the box." The druid took the gold and we thought that was the end. However, the next day the druid asked what was in the box. He was dying to know and even offered to return the gold, but the warrior said that the box was now beyond his power to open. The druid kept asking though, so the warrior turned to myself and a few of our other friends and said, "What do I do now?" We said that if he wants a quest that bad, then let's give him one.

The warrior told the druid that while he was unable to open the lock, there might still be a way. He spoke of a guild of thieves that may have the skill necessary to pick the lock, but that he would have to earn their trust. The druid was directed to one of our priest friends who said, "I can put you in contact with one of their best rogues, but you will need an offering. They're not fond of the Syndicate, so that should work. Acquire twenty Marks of the Syndicate, then I'll set up the meeting." The druid proceeded to go out to Arathi and brought back every single Mark we requested. A rogue friend of ours was brought in for the next quest. I think he picked a lockbox he had lying around for effect, then said to the druid, "Alas this lock has become jammed and cannot be picked open. Looks like you'll have to try a less delicate approach." The rogue directed the druid back to the warrior that started the whole thing, who decided to let me join in all the fun. The next quest: "If you want to break this box open, you'll need the right tool and the right hands to use it. The warrior Ragar possesses the strength you'll need to crack the lock, but you'll have to provide the means. Travel to the Hinterlands and acquire the Mallet of Zul'Farrak. With the mallet in hand, Ragar will be able to smash through the lock in no time and retrieve your prize."

True to his word, the druid came back and showed me the mallet. We decided he'd been a good sport in playing along with us for so long, so I rewarded him. I gift-wrapped a couple of blue-quality items I'd found while traveling through Outland (a ring and some leather piece, I think) and told him that was what was in the box. Everything worked out in the end - he got some shiny new toys and some experience, and we got some entertainment. Apparently he must have enjoyed the quests too, since he was asking us for more. We'll have to do that again; it was fun, not to mention a good way to find homes for some of the random stuff I accumulate in my bank.