Homer #2156: Easy as Pie, Easy to Die

[chuxton]

I really think that Patience should be enshrined as the ninth virtue. I have no excuses for getting killed. It was a tattered scroll and it led me to North Jhelom, where there was nothing more dangerous than a jaguar prior to opening the chest. Said chest was guarded by five assorted gargoyles, which could have been reasonably dangerous (more dangerous than a tattered should really be). If the gargoyles had pinned me into a corner at the North end of the island and ganged up on me to keep me frozen, they would have won fair and square, but that isn't how it happened. I followed my proven strategy of getting out of range when faced by multiple spellcasting enemies and came back to pick them off, one by one. I thought I had them all, but when I went for the chest, I found that I had overlooked one plain, unflavored gargoyle. Ugly cuss, too. There's a reason that FH is not built in gothic style. Anyway, that's when I got impatient. Rather than hanging back and draining his mana, I just waded in to finish him with a couple of good ax blows. You guessed it- I whiffed with my ax while he landed just the right combination of spells.
Okay, I was dead. I had put a little distance between myself and the decorative waterspout before dying and he was more interested in healing his considerable wounds than looting my body. Even my porcelain steed, Ghost, seemed safe for the moment. I didn't want to have to explain to certain people why I chose to call in certain people, although to tell the truth it might have been a good time to let Pinkwater bloody his shephard staff a little. The whole swap of equipment is a bit more tedious than sorting my own bag, though, so I just hopped back to South Jhelom, rezzed, picked up a backup kit at the bank and finished the cleanup myself. Freshly reminded of the ninth virtue, I had no problems. Fortunately, I was only about halfway through my maps, so I was able to do much of my combat skill rehabilitation by beating up on tattered chest guardians. A gold piece saved...