In Memory of Cros Treewind

[Stinkum]

Who was Cros Treewind?

My favorite NPC in all of Norrath. Cros Treewind was a Karana-worshipping, level 30 Half-Elf Druid known to inhabit the Qeynos Hills.

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Cros took animal rights to the extreme. He would patrol across the entire zone of QH. If he caught you attacking any wolves or bears, even rabid ones, he'd open up a can o' whoop ass on you. He would even attack you if you healed or buffed a player who was attacking an animal.

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In nearly every case, Cross would simply one-shot you with a 2HB pimp smack. Think you can run away? Good luck, 'cause Cros always had SoW on, and his favorite spell was Root.

Cros was part of the challenge that classic EQ presented. He was a pain in the ass, but watching out for him kept you on your toes. It made the game chaotic and harder to play.

Also, one of the most satisfying things I did on live was go back to QH to kill Cros in revenge. If you successfully killed him, he'd drop this Karana-only 2HB:

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What happened to him?

In October 2000 (6 months after Kunark, and 2 months before Velious), Cros was permanently removed from the game due to complaints from players about being terrorized while hunting in Qeynos Hills.

'Tragically, Cros Treewind was attacked by one of the sacred bears which was maddened by its illness. In his weakened state Cros was unable to defend himself and was killed by this defiled grizzly, one of the very creatures he was sworn to protect.'

Cros was replaced with the same creature which killed him, a rare spawn known as a "Defiled Grizzly." The grizzly was gigantic in size, and would attack any PC or NPC in sight, including Qeynos guards and NPCs. The "Defiled Grizzly" also dropped Cross Treewind's Staff.

A funeral and GM event was created across all servers to mark Cros Treewind's retirement.

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Sadly, the "Defiled Grizzly" was also removed from the game just a short 3 months later.