WAR Stories - The Cave Chicken

I'm here once again to share some pictures and memories of my experiences in the now defunct Warhammer Online. I do not seem to have screenshots relating directly to the story at hand this time, which is unfortunate because it is quite an interesting tale! Just so we're clear, the pics will mostly not match the story (but should still be fun to look at).

Stinkpot The Cave Chicken

Stinkpot was an eccentric goblin shaman that enjoyed traveling far and wide, wreaking havoc and causing as much trouble as possible. In fact, a common pastime for Stinkpot was sniping away at the Order from hard to reach locations in Howling Gorge.

This time, however, Stinkpot was on an exploration mission and had forgotten to scout an essential location before leaving to the next tier.

This would normally be a mere hassle where one would turn around and go back through the entrance, waiting on the previous tier area to reload, but Stinkpot had just gained enough experience to be "overqualified" for the old tier. One had to be careful when returning to a lower-level area in WAR, as entering their RvR zones labeled you as a troublemaker/griefer, attempting to harass newer players.

Destruction HQ

You were branded as a chicken and literally turned into one when entering these spots. While a chicken, you cannot use any items, attacks or abilities, your stats are lowered to abysmal levels, and all you can do is run away. To remove this effect, you had to leave the area and wait a short time, or die (and not return to that area).

On this rare occasion, Stinkpot wasn't concerned with combat - just reaching his destination and getting out as fast as possible. It just so happened that the location in question could only be reached by entering an RvR zone. Stinkpot cautiously stopped at the border, carefully studying his map to find the quickest route to the location.

Ready to attempt this mad dash, Stinkpot raced across the land into contested territory. Shortly after, a puff of smoke appeared around him and quickly dissipated, revealing his now incredibly vulnerable form. Stinkpot could see members of the Order nearby heading in his direction, and he thought he heard someone shout "Get that chicken!". It was time to run.

I think this is a Chaos Spawn...

Stinkpot rushed towards the scouting area, his newly-acquired and useless wings flapping as he went. The goblin quickly scrawled the point on his map (likely with his beak) and fled towards the nearby river with the enemy in pursuit.

Scanning the area, Stinkpot spotted a small cave opening partially submerged by the river. It looked like the only place to hide, and was certainly better than treading water out in the open. He drifted across the river and into the hole.

Inside was a short tunnel with little breathing room, and at the end was a small raised area to get out of the water. Thankfully, there was nothing else in the cave, meaning Stinkpot wouldn't fall victim to some random animal or monster attack. Listening carefully, Stinkpot could hear the Order looking for him nearby. They seemingly missed the cave entrance and left a few moments later.

I still don't know what the heck
that thing was supposed to be.

Assured that he was no longer in immediate danger, Stinkpot slipped into the water towards the tunnel. About two-thirds of the way from the entrance, something was amiss. Perhaps the water had risen (or perhaps he found a technical bug), but Stinkpot could no longer exit the cave. The water was too shallow to drown in, but deep enough to hinder progress.

The polymorphed goblin swam to the back of the cave to think of a way out. Stinkpot's eyes lit up as he thought, "Ah ha! My teleportation scroll will get me out!"

He reached for his pockets, but quickly came to the realization that he was a chicken now and couldn't activate the magic of the scroll. Disappointed, he sulked in the back of the cave with no hopes of escape.

After what felt like ages, Stinkpot heard a trumpet in the distance. It was a war call, and anyone who answered it could be magically whisked away to the field of battle - a way out! Stinkpot cried out, answering the call to arms, and all went black. When his vision returned, Stinkpot was back to his old self amongst his Destruction teammates, ready to assault a keep.

(For those of you that need a more literal description, I was stuck in the cave as a chicken with no means of escape because I couldn't use any abilities or items. Luckily, the Call To Arms feature was recently added then, allowing me to click on it and teleport to the battle. Otherwise, I would've had to wait for another player to find and kill me, or find an admin for assistance.)