It was Ancient Greece, and the Greeks were all doing things that were very interesting. They had powerful leaders and powerful people running around in the streets. People with rich lives and great pasts. People with stories.

The spider was drawn here for that reason, for all the stories floating around in the air. He was planning on spinning a vast web and catching all the stories that he could manage, steal them and take them home. Of course, Anansi didn't really see it as stealing, since he was the King of All Stories. They belonged to him already, he just had yet to hear them. The problem was, really, where was he to start? And how would he go about getting these people to tell him the stories that he'd missed by not being here earlier? Mortals liked to talk when they were drunk, so there was the option of getting Athens and Sparta soused and listening in, but that left the worry of partial stories and half lies.

Anansi moved on eight small legs, several other similar creatures fanning out to hide in the cracks and crevices of the buildings and homes. To dangle above heads and spin their webs by beds. All of them his little spies, ready to catch what they needed, or direct him to where he would most want to be. He could see through all of them, as much as he could see through his own eyes. His many little children.

He was looking for somebody truly interesting, inspiring, to begin this quest.

The village was small, he would have missed it if he hadn't been looking in it's direction when he was walking. It was quiet, but busy. Everybody had their tasks and everybody was doing what they should be before the evening. Anansi watched them for a while before approaching. They did not wear the same things as the people from his area did, and their houses were different as well. Were they warriors or farmers? Were they friendly or did they attack on sight? Perhaps they were even cannibals.

After a bit, Anansi decided that they seemed peaceful. He still approached slowly. But when they smiled, he smiled. A woman met him and walked with him. He understood her, but her accent was strange. She inquired if he needed a place to rest, and Anansi decided that he did and told her so. He could easily get back home in no time, but why, if they were going to feed him and give him a mat for the night?

Perhaps if they were kind enough, he would bestow some fortune on them. Perhaps he could even adopt them.

He stood taller than most of them, even their men, but they weren't amazingly short. He decided that these were not the pygmies that he had heard about. They weren't a bad looking people, either. Clearly they had some system of matchmaking here so that the pretty girls ended up with the best men. He approved, mostly because he appreciated pretty girls quite a bit. They were nice to look at and often fun to play with as well.

Anansi was taken to a fire and given a seat. The people were shy about him at first, but when his smile didn't go away, began to open up and tell him stories. Stories. Oh, how he loved stories.