The rude individuals had to have been true to some extent BECAUSE the first weapon i ever remember having was this on my cleric.
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=97
apparently they only dropped from those guys during the 2 week event or however long it lasted, making the item super rare later on. I always wanted to find another one once my original was lost to time but I never could : (
*i remember a quest for this ring too
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=1636