There it lies. Mumblingsages removed his gauntlet and busted me across the face with it. Its hollow clank of derision against the cobblestones echoes in my ears as my eyes struggle to regain focus. I count my teeth and come away wanting. This could not have happened. Yet, there it lies, mocking my incredulity. Now what? No one would fault me if I were pass out in shock, from the boldness of the challenge. Do I pick it up? To do so, would to embark on an epic quest that shall keep bards and minstrels employed for millenia. The Shamrock Shuffle is not to be undertaken litely. It requires those that dare to traverse 5K worth of some of the most picturesque bike paths that Eau Claire, WI has to offer. In winter. Ho! Ye Fates!!! Were that survival was all that lies before me!!! Nay! and again Nay!! Mumblingsages dares that I should outpace even him along the shores of the mighty Chippewa River. Who is this mumblingsages? Should I fear him? Lo, he remains before me. Waiting. His nostrils flare. His head cocks to the right. What is he that I should fear him? His bearing is confident. His jaw is set. Yet. The breastplate of his armour bows as if under strain. What lies beneath? Mercury stands not before me. Tis but a man. A doughy man set before a flat screen and marinated in scotch. As though a bagpipe was but half filled with the Glenlivet and st00d upon its reeds. I will bow before him. Briefly. Only to retrieve that which he has dropped. I pause and spit my dislodged t00th at his feet. My tongue probes the newly emptied socket. I taste war. Rising, I thrust the gauntlet aloft. I cry "Nike" to the Athenians. The game is on.
