Lord Budhach Houndmaster’s property was the center of a lot of early Fenix activity, with meetings, fight practices and even events being held in his spacious backyard, much to the amusement, if not alarm, of his neighbors in a fashionable part of Loveland. One of the reasons fighters were happy to meet at Budhach’s house was the in-ground pool.

It was after one particularly hot practice when the fighters were lounging about the pool and the topic of discussion turned to the Beowulf epic and the hero’s feat of swimming to Grendel’s grotto while wearing a full brynie of mail. The general consensus was that either the legend had been exaggerated a bit or Beowulf was truly a stud to be reckoned with.

Lord Avatar, taking all this in, quietly left the group to return a few minutes later—clad in swim trunks and chainmail. The other fighters immediately sensed what he was going to do and split into two groups: those who pronounced Avatar a fool and those who conceded the point and merely wanted to know if he was going to attempt it lengthwise or side-to-side.

The fighters took up positions around the pool. Avatar saluted his comrades and dove in. He gained some forward momentum, but lost it quickly and, predictably, sank like a rock. Several of the Fenixers started in to pull him out, but Budhach waved them off, as Avatar gamely began scraping along the bottom of the pool like an armored pot-scrubber. Eventually he reached the far end, but the effort was exhausting and he was unable to completely pull himself up. Fortunately, Budhach and Christophe were there to haul him out of the pool. Never a master tactician, Avatar had started at the shallow end and ended up in the deep. But instead of the accolades comparing him to the great Beowulf that he was expecting, Budhach kiddingly berated him for leaving a ring around his pool!