Fantasy Roll Initiative: A D&D Game with a Twist

"Play D&D, they said" A cloaked man donning a steel mask muttered in frustration from where they were perched atop a tree. Eyes trailing downwards from their perch, they stared at what seemed to be three undead green midgets scrabbling against the base of the tree in a futile attempt to climb up. Luckily for Jasper, they were too short to reach the first branch.

"It'll be fun, they said..." Jasper grumbled as he averted his eyes from the unholy amalgamations below him.

How did he even get here? He was looking through Reddit and eating the pizza he brought to the D&D game. He'd been pretty annoyed that he had apparently been the only one to show up, but now he thinks the other plays may have gotten sucked in to this world too. Well, that's a crappy thought. Did logic and reason just suddenly peace out in that game room or something? Or did the time space continuum just suddenly rupture and send some poor shmucks to another dimension?

For some reason, Earth's scientific name popped to mind. SOL 3, was it? More like Shit Outta Luck 3.

....

Wow, his jokes were getting pretty crappy. That, if anything, was a good indicator of how bad a situation he was in. If the undead goblins below him wasn't already an indication that was. In any case, Jasper was feeling pretty shit outta luck at the moment. What were the odds that he'd both be transported to the universe of his D&D game and be attacked by zombie goblins? Were regular goblins too mainstream or something?

Finding his thoughts interrupted by the sounds of heavy duty destruction, Jasper stared in amazement as a building a couple hundred feet away began to shine red. He'd seen enough fantasy stuff to know that that was either black magic or the work of the main characters. That was, assuming this world had main characters. He desperately hoped so, because it was going to be a cold day in hell when he fought off three undead goblins with a glorified stick and lived to tell the tale.

So, in an act of self preservation, Jasper screamed for help.

"If anyone's there and isn't some weird voodoo sorceror or something, then would you mind helping a guy out!?" Jasper yelled through the forest, really riding on the fact that someone could hear him.

The Mad Queen
Lazaro1505
Clockwork Syringe

Markus Barton



Mark threw punch after punch and launched firebolt after firebolt as he worked with the two to clear a path for the others. The building was collapsing at an alarming rate as well with the constant *rumble* *rrrrrgghhh* and *kssdoosh* with walls, ceilings and columns collapsing around them as if to call attention to the fact that they should hurry the hell up. Eventually, however, they managed to reach the top of the stairs. Just in time too as while the last of the still surviving group cleared the basement, the halfling uttered a guttural scream as he was buried by a mountain of rubble. "Crushed by his own ambition, what a way to go" Mark somberly spoke. of course, there were still goblins that needed removing, until they found one that seemed to be a bit smarter than the others. Instead of fighting and losing his life, this one decided the best play was to give them information. Still in his guardian armor, Mark walked over to the goblin and spoke in a decisive tone. "No funny business and if its true that he was only doing this deal for his children, I will think if I can do something about this." Mark paused before continuing, "Family is of importance to me and others as well."

The Mad Queen
Lazaro1505
Togy

After leaving the crumbling Brewery, Jagger just sat on the ground, breathing heavily. Reason, being is that his rage finally ran out, making him feel the effects of exhaustion again. He barely paid attention to what was happening nearby, just wanting to rest now. Apparently from what he can hear, there was a single living goblin that was willing to talk with the others, but he did not care about it.

But it seemed like fate had other plans, for he had heard a cry for help far-away, still audible. He sigh before getting off the floor, him getting some rest, and grabbing the Dane axe from the floor before heading towards the sound for help. While walking, he saw some sort of robed person on a tree with three of the undead goblins underneath, as he said out loud in German to himself “Aw shit ..... hier gehen wir wieder” (English Translation: Aw shit... here we go again) as he slowly approached the tree, the undead goblins still not noticing him yet. After getting close enough, one of the undead goblins noticed his presence but quickly got kicked in the face, being punted through the air, it landing on a tree dead. The other two looked at him, but before they can react he quickly swung his axe in a wide arc, catching one of them, cutting their head off. The other quickly took the opportunity to leap onto his leg, before plunging its claws deep into it, the needle like fingers going through his leather pants and went into his skin. He made a small grunt in pain as he used his left hand to grab the undead by the head, raising it into the air before throwing it onto the floor and slamming his foot on its head, the ‘goblin’ no longer having a head.

He then looked at the person on the tree and in a heavy German accent, he said “Hey.... it’s safe to come down now..... the name is Abelgard Müller. Are you also another person from the... ‘real world’.” as he waited for the person’s response

The Mad Queen Togy Clockwork Syringe

As the party surrounded the Goblin, leaving the body of the Dragonborn to one side a call in the woods caught Blair's attention.
"Anyone else hear that?"
Jessie nodded "It could be a trick."
"Maybe, but if someone's in trouble...Especially if they're in our situation. We can't leave them." Wyatt shook his head. Was the Barbarian in the same boat as them as well? He assumed that the Dragonborn was just an NPC, given his incredibly strange behaviour and so although he was saddened to see anyone die, he wasn't going to lose sleep. His focus now, had to be on anyone trapped in the game with them.

"I'll go. The rest of you try to find out what he knows." He pointed at the Goblin "If anything goes wrong, you'll hear it."With that, the Half-Elf headed into the woods, but the Barbarian moved before him, dispatching three undead Goblins. Even with their heads removed, Wyatt had his sword drawn as he expected them to get back up, just as the others back at the brewery had done and yet, they stopped moving. Poking one with the sword for good measure, it wasn't moving at all. Whatever power that was keeping them upright was gone from the world, leaving nothing more than unmoving corpses in it's wake.

Some had just taken longer than others, it seemed.

He poked the two others, just to be safe before his attention was drawn to the masked, hooded man. Wyatt was about to ask him a question. He wanted to know if he was hurt, but he especially wanted to know if he was another real person. As he was thinking of how to ask him that question, break the news delicately perhaps... The Barbarian spoke for both of them.
Whether the newcomer was another trapped person remained to be seen, but at least Wyatt could be certain that the Barbarian was with them.
"If so, we're in the same boat." Wyatt called out to the man "And we're not the only ones. We have to help each other."

Togy
Lazaro1505

The Goblin remained seated, his eyes trained on Mark.
"So we was part of a smal clan, in the hills fast 'ast of 'ere." He began "Spent lot of time being beatin' down by bigger groups. Other Goblins, taller types like you." He sized Mark up with his pupils "Then, he came. Wanted to make a deal. Give us powar so we didn't get beaten down again. Promised us riches and powar." He clenched his fists, claw-like fingers digging into his hand while his teeth gritted. "Liar." He shook his head, his eyes facing the ground "As you saw."

The ruins of the brewery, dark red light simmering from it's remains sat behind the Goblin, doing a lot of his talking for him.
"He spoke about an artefact of powar. One he could share. It wasn't only one, but he couldn't find others. His family hid them. Hid them well."
His eyes moved up to Mark "With all of dem, you could do a lot. Didn't say..." His hand unclenched, pointing back to the ruins. "If one can do dat, what would more do? If you had them all, what do?"

Blair approached him "Any idea on the others?"
"Didn't tell and he's ded now." The Goblin raised his hands once more "I know othar things. I tell, if you let me walk. Just want to go home."
He shook his head, tapping it "Wait. 'Memberin' somethin'. Said if he got all he could bend things."
"Is this dull creature talking about reshaping reality?" Monnas wondered
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Who you talkin' to?" The Goblin looked up
"A friend. Keep talking."
"Let me go home and I will."


Clockwork Syringe

After about two minutes without an answer, Jasper sat back against the tree barch, downcast. Well, go figure that nobody was around to help. The universe itself seemed to be conspiring against him if the fact that he got Jumanji'd about a half hour ago was any indication. Now, there was only one way out of this situation. Gripping his metalic staff with courage he didn't really feel, Jasper began to stand up from his perch atop the branches. Not a second later, Jasper stood stock still as he stared in amazement.

Holy shit, is that a Viking?

Whatever they were, they seemed to be pretty good at their job. Jasper watched as the guy made mince meat of the goblins in seconds flat, and gave a little wince as they watched a Goblin manage to stick him with a small scratch. Inwardly, Jasper realized that just watching the fight like he was a studio audience could look pretty douchey.

When the Viking asked if they were from the real world too, Jasper audibly sighed in relief. "You have no idea how relieved I am to not be alone in this little interdimensional shindig. I mean, I thought there'd be others, but, well, wasn't sure, you know?" He finished with a shrug. Scratching the back of his head, Jasper realized he may have been rambling. "Oh, and thanks for the assist by the way" Jasper quickly added almost forgetting.

"Anyway, yeah, definitely. Dude from the real world here" Jasper responded, his character's middle aged and gravelly voice replacing his usual tone. Putting off how weird that felt, Jasper watched as a second man approached. This one looked to be knightly if the armor and frankly magnificent beard were any indication.

"I, uh, worked at a Baskin Robbins and everything" He said, feeling the need to give evidence to his claim. "Oh, and I'm Jasper by the way. All for teaming up and stuff, but who're you guys?" Jasper asked, beginning to climb down the tree to the pair.

The Mad Queen
Lazaro1505

Markus Barton


Mark looked at Blair and he remembered what she had said about her class so he gave her a knowing nod. He figured that she was probably talking to her patron; which opened up a whole other can of worms that they would need to deal with at some point. Mark then turned to the goblin and let his helmet recede into his armor so he could let the goblin see his face. He turned to the goblin and spoke, "I will release you, but you need to promise me two things in addition. I want you to not attempt something like this again and I would also like it if you look after Grubby Robby's kids. You said he was a good goblin and that he was doing this for his kids. So why not honor him and help his children?" Mark truly thought he had a chance to help this goblin by steering him away from this life.

The Mad Queen

Trisana awoke with a start, sitting up to be greeted by bright sunlight. That’s odd, I thought I closed the curtains--whhhaa-ha-haat the heck?

Looking around she could see that she was in….a woods? This was definitely not where she remembered being last. I thought I was just about to play that new D&D game….how did I get here? And what am I wearing? She looked down at herself and saw the leather armor, the boots, Is this a cloak?! I’ve always wanted one of those…. In her inspection, she noticed a very nice looking lute next to her in the grass. When she saw it a wave of familiarity washed over her. Without thinking she picked it up and started to lightly strum it before she realized that she wasn’t sure how she knew what to do. She’d played around with stringed instruments before, but never studied one enough to play it like this. So….odd. This looks almost like I imagined Emsin’s lute to be…….wait, why are my hands bigger……

“What the hell?” The voice that came from her was deeper than she was used to, and a different timber as well. “It’s not….possible.” She looked at the things surrounding her. Backpack, a *real* sword, lute, viol, bedroll, even the fancy hat is here. “This must be a dream…….I’m dreaming that I’m Emsin? That’s a first. What did I eat last night to cause this...?” She raised her hand to her ears and felt the slightly pointed tips beneath the braids.

At that moment Trisana heard shouting in the distance. "If anyone's there and isn't some weird voodoo sorceror or something, then would you mind helping a guy out!?" Alright then, if this is a dream I might as well check it out? This has to be a lucid dream…...right? She packed the bedroll, grabbed the sword and the rest of the items, and quickly walked in the direction of the voice. She instinctually felt the need to keep to the shadows, hiding behind trees to avoid being noticed. The voice could be a trap or something after all, and she didn't know what they were calling for help from. She stopped to peer around a tree and saw someone huge running towards another tree with what looked like goblins at the base. The huge man made quick work of them. It looked like he was speaking to someone in the tree but she was too far away to make out the words. Further ahead it looked like there were others gathered in front of what looked like a collapsed building and talking to something short, possibly another goblin? I should get closer…..but that man might squash me! But….if I’m Emsin does that mean I have all his skills too?

Curiously, she took out his lute and mentally felt for some sort of spark of magic, strumming a short melody. The notes seemed to come alive, and she felt a warmth inside that extended out through the fingers, into the instrument, and reverberated in the air. I think he could do prestidigitation? To her surprise, a shower of sparks appeared in the air in front of her. She startled back and let out a small yelp.

Well, that’s what I get for experimenting….
“Crap!”

Togy
Lazaro1505

The Goblin nodded at Mark's demands. "Course, tall one. Some one must look after his kids."
Blair smiled over at Mark, nodding before her yellow eyes turned back to face the Goblin "Now talk. What do you mean by bending things?"
"Uhaa...Said stuf about bending reality. Opening portals. Going places."
Her knowledge of D&D may have paled in comparison to other games, but Blair knew about the planes. She had chosen a Warlock after all, and that had come with some extra reading just to flesh things out. They'd been a standard in the game for a long time, although she couldn't be sure just for how long. Her beginnings came with other games and D&D, considered a gateway drug into the world of tabletop gaming by some had been a stepping stone.

Travelling to the planes wasn't too difficult, at least at higher levels so why would the Halfling to to all the trouble?
There was only one way to find out.

"Do you mean the planes?"
The Goblin shook his head "Somethin' beyond that. Said me 'little brain' couldn't 'compend' it." He tapped the side of his head "But bring 'em togethar and you can go anywhere, he said."
Blair's yellow eyes widened at his statement, and a smile grew on her face "Mark, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Absolute power. I'm almost jealous." Monnas sighed
"We could use these items to get home."
"Your home?" He scoffed "That place isn't worth the effort. You'd be better off burning it down. Dragon and all."

Her Patron appeared before her, but instead of towering above Blair as he had earlier, he stood at her level.
"Circe...It's not worth it. You just watched what one of these items could do and you know the rules. I can only give you a little bit of my power. It may not be enough to save you if this sort of thing happens again."
"I...I understand." Her smile was gone as Blair faced the ground. She still had to play the Devil's game. What the woman that would've been both interesting and a benefit, a Patron that actually cared about the well-being of it's mortal servant could potentially get her killed. Monnas used Circe's name, he doted on her and although Blair had the Tiefling's body, she was by no means the urchin that a Devil had taken pity on.

She had to be careful.

Clockwork Syringe

Wyatt was relieved, to say the least that the masked man was one of them and so the first thing he did was offer him a handshake.
"Wyatt Hamon." He introduced himself with a smile "I'm actually a Vice Principal from Minnesota. I'm not so sure about everyone else, but we do have a girl stuck in a boy's body back there. Some people are taking this a bit harder than others..." He shook his head, sighing as he lowered his hand "I got lucky. My character is a Half-Elf. Not too many wild changes to deal with..."
He faced the ground "We've also lost a two today already. A boy named Trevor and a girl named Roux."

His thoughts were not on the Dragonborn NPC the group had encountered. He was part of this world, and died within it. The others had homes to go to, families and friends that would miss them. They would never know what had happened, or even know of the sacrifices made.
His looked up once more, his teeth gritted and his fists clenched "But nobody else is dying. We're all going home, together."

Wyatt's speech was cut short as his Elf ears picked up on a yelp from the forest.
"Is is just you?" He asked Jasper "Did you see anyone else when you woke up here?"

Togy
Lazaro1505
PastelMochi

Markus Barton



Mark smiled back at Blair and nodded at Blair's words before placing his chin between his thumb and index finger on his right hand as if to think. "It's entirely possible that we could in fact utilize them as such" Mark postulated. "I'm more worried about what sort of danger this could cause if others seek this power out." He then took his hand off his chin and extended it to his right in a causal manner. "Of course, we could just see where this leads by following what our "guide" had originally planned for us." Mark then had a thought, was this related to an amulet of planeswalking? He remembered one day looking up magical artefacts in D&D and he noticed it; however, Mark decided to keep this information to himself for now. Turning to the goblin "Clearly he misrepresented you in his fragile mind because frankly the fact that you wanted to negotiate instead of fighting; that shows intelligence right there. While he thought too highly of himself, look where it got him," Mark gestured to the blocked entrance. "However, yes, you can leave if you want now. I would ask you to try to dissuade others from the same path as well if you can." Turning to Blair and seeing her most likely conversing with her patron again. Clearing his throat, Mark responded. "I take it "your" guide has other ideas?"

The Mad Queen

"Huh? Oh, okay, we do handshakes here, alright" Jasper said, having stared at Wyatt's hand questioningly before realizing what they were doing. Shaking their hand, Jasper offhandedly said "Nah, didn't really see or meet anyone on the way here other then those little undead freaks of nature". Letting go of the older man's hand, he jerked his hand towards the dead-undead Goblins.

Taking notice of the Viking once more, he heard them speak in a language he couldn't even begin to recognize. He wasn't a very linguistic person, so even the simplest foreign languages were an enigma to him. For all he knew, the Viking guy was actually speaking Old Norse. He guess that could make sense, actually. They could be one of those hardcore LARP guys.

Wait no, they just said that they're German. That made a LOT more sense then the LARP idea. "Ah, cool. Nice to meet you dude. Since I'd probably butcher your name and cook it medium rare every time I say it, mind if I just call you Abel?" Jasper asked before shortly being interrupted by a yelp from somewhere in the treeline soon after.

"What? Oh, yeah, nevermind I guess. Turns out there is someone here" Jasper said, waving vaguely to the direction the yelp came from. "I met these guys like two minutes ago and they haven't tried to murder me yet, so compared to the zom-blins they're pretty cool guys!" Jasper called to the person among the foliage as they leaned against the tree they'd just climbed down.



The Mad Queen
Lazaro1505
PastelMochi

Trisana peeked around the tree to where the large man was. Another person had joined him and they were both talking to someone who had just climbed out of the tree. How many of them are there? Then she realized that they were looking in her direction. Oops. The large man walked slowly towards her with an axe in both hands. Is that a Nord? I’ve played Skyrim too much lately… She felt her heart rate spike, but before she could run she heard him say “Hey, if your someone from the..... real world..... it’s safe to come out, we won’t hurt you.” and she relaxed a bit. "I met these guys like two minutes ago and they haven't tried to murder me yet, so compared to the zom-blins they're pretty cool guys!" I guess that's a bit reassuring, aside from the goblins that is...

She carefully walked out from behind the tree, gripping the lute to prevent her hands from shaking. “That’s an odd thing for a figment to say, haha…...I thought I heard you say *real world*. That can’t be right….you see I’m just dreaming. Any moment and I’ll wake up at home...probably slept through the session……” but she trailed off at the end. She could wake up, right? Everything felt too *real*. The feel of the lute in her hands was more solid than a normal dream. She took a hand and clenched a fist so the nails dug into the flesh of her palm. It hurt more than she thought it would, and she was still there in Emsin’s body.

“This…..isn’t a dream, is it? Um…….real world?” She took a few steps away from the tree and toward the man. “It, ah, may not look like it but my real name is Trisana, you can call me Tris.” She looked down at her appearance and chuckled nervously. “Though wherever *here* is I guess it doesn’t matter what you call me, he kinda has many names.” What have I gotten myself into?

She peered over at the crumbled building, "Looks like someone's caused some trouble already."

Lazaro1505
Togy
The Mad Queen

The Goblin nodded several times, letting out a sigh of relief "Thank you tall one! I will never forget this"
He stood up and started to walk towards the hills surrounding the brewery "If we ever met 'gain, I'll be sure to repay dis." With one final wave, he was gone, and all Blair, Mark and the other survivors were left with was the ruins of the brewery before them.

"He says it's too dangerous, but I still think it's the only chance we have."
"That Goblin could've been lying to you."
"He had no reason to lie, Monnas." She shook her head "He wanted revenge on that Halfling for getting his friends killed."
"As I recall, you seemed to kill his friends."
"Because they were misled. And my friend over there..." She pointed to Mark "Basically told him to look after the children of Grubby Robby. A Goblin eaten by an idiot."
"A dead idiot." Monnas chuckled
"I get it, you're looking out for me like you always have." Playing this game, pretending to be Circe was the only way to retain help from her Patron. It had gotten her this far, and she wasn't about to give up on that power "But whatever these items are, we could use them to help you as well. Repay your years of help to me. If they are as powerful as we were told...Maybe you could gain a stronger foothold in Hell?"

Monnas rested one of his clawed hands on his chin.
"Go on..."
"I've known you for most of my life. It's a blip in time to you, but I've picked up on things. You care about me, but you also care about power. Let me get more of that for you."

There was something about being in Circe's body that made Blair feel different. There was a charm there, a sense of confidence in her spoken word. It was a different kind of power and much like the ability to cast spells or swing an axe around, it was something she'd never had the power to do before. Being in the game had a few upsides it seemed, but that was not going to deter her. The world she was in now was far more dangerous than back home.

"Very well." Monnas nodded
"He's agreed to help. He's hardly going to emerge from the realm he's in and lay down fire. He just acts through me." Blair smiled over at Mark.
"Perhaps I can help in another way. Give me some time, but I will research these items. Especially if they are going to benefit both of us."

Blair was just about to thank Monnas, when the ground on which she, Mark and the others stood started to shake. Within seconds, part of the debris from the brewery was launched into the air and emerging from the gap was a bloodied O'Marra. His fine clothes were torn, his eyes glowing with red energy and his right arm gone, leaving him with nothing but a bloodied stump.

He opened his mouth, screaming as more energy flowed from his mouth as something started to grow in it's place. Overall it took just a few seconds, but an arm composed completely of energy was held there for him.
Thankfully for the members of the party that stood before the brewery, he seemed to take little notice of them and instead flew over their heads, heading down the road they had come from.

"Child, if I am not mistaken that road leads back to the town you were in earlier today."
"He's headed for the city!" Blair cried

-
Wyatt slowly approached the newcomer, who introduced themselves as Tris with a comforting smile. Getting over the initial shock of waking up was going to be difficult, and he felt they could use a friendly face. Going by the name, they were also another person in the real world trapped in a body they would not recognise at all. Much like two of their fellow party members. It was certainly a worrying trend and he was again thankful that he wasn't in this position himself.

As he was about to introduce himself and offer whatever support he could, Tris mentioned the crumbled brewery and his smile instantly faded, his face turning glum.
"We've had a very rough day, to say the least." He shook his head "Lost two of our own to that place because some Halfling NPC was trying to become powerful with an artefact. Hired a small army of Goblins to overthrow his family so he could take their souls..."
In all this, he'd somewhat forgotten about Patrick. Just how was the older man going to take the news? Wyatt needed to have firm words with him too. After all, if he was the patriarch of the O'Marra family he had to know something about the other artefacts his son had been obsessed with.

His thoughts on Patrick were interrupted as he watched O'Marra emerge from the coffin that had once been his family's business and fly off. His eyes widened with terror. Just what was it going to take to kill him?
He turned towards the others, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible "That's him. I thought he was dead."

Interactions
Blair: Clockwork Syringe
Wyatt: Togy , Lazaro1505 , PastelMochi

"Wait, wait, hold up" Jasper said, miming a timeout symbol with his hands. "First of all, sorry to hear about your friends man, that must suck, but a hobbit hired a private army of little green midgets from hell to overthrow their family so they could take their souls?" Jasper said in disbelief, looking to Wyatt. Despite the steel mask covering any notable features of his face, Jasper still managed to convey his confusion without words.

"I-I...heard that write then? This is a thing that is happening?" He asked for confirmation, letting the knowledge sink in as he leaned against the tree.

"Holy crap, feels like I just swan dived into the rabbit hole here..." Jasper murmured. The man obviously wasn't used to this amount of absurdity.

"Well, do you have any idea how we can get hoooooooooooooo....." He trailed off, eyes pointed skyward as he stared in amazement.

"Is that a flying halfling, or am I high?" Jasper asked, pointing to the creature soaring across the skies. He'd almost call it majestic if it didn't just destroy every law of gravity and aviation simultaneously.

Fortunately, Wyatt seemed to see it too, so that ruled sudden insanity on Jasper's part. "Oooookay. This....is a lot to take in. Just gimme a sec to process that, I'll be fine" Jasper said as he sagged against the hardened bark of the tree behind him.


The Mad Queen
PastelMochi
Lazaro1505

Trisana listened to the armored man, the way he carried himself and how he was outfitted reminded her of a knight. I wonder what he can do? A halfling with a powerful artifact? Soul stealing? Goblins? This is a lot. He mentioned that they lost two….I wonder what happened to them. The other man seemed bewildered by this information as well. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell from his voice. She wondered if he had just woken up here as she had. Rabbit hole indeed.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your friends. You called him an NPC.....is this really that game, is that where we are Mr....uhhhhhhh?" But she didn't have time to think about what that meant.

She watched in horror as they were interrupted by the tiny body that burst from the rubble and flew over their heads. But how was he flying?

“That’s him. I thought he was dead.” His voice sounded pretty calm compared to the look in his eyes. She wondered how the fight had gone before to spook him this badly. She felt similarly to the other guy in the steel mask, it was a lot to take in. She nodded to him in agreement and partially out of empathy.

She looked back at the man who seemed to know a bit of what was happening, “Dead? That was him? The one who wants to take people's souls. Do you know the direction that it was going? More importantly....do we need to follow it?” She thought about what kind of spells Emsin had, wondering if any of them might be of use, but she realized she would need to be closer if that were the case. She felt a mix of emotions at the thought of pursuit. Scared because of how real and dire things were getting, but also a little excited to test the skills she had acquired. I can use magic! Thoughts of home and how to get out of this predicament could wait.....for now.

Togy
The Mad Queen

Markus Barton



Mark listened and watched as Blair continued to converse with Circe's patron in an attempt to get it to help with their current situation. It actually registered a look of surprise on Mark's face when Blair revealed that it would help them. A smirk then appeared on Mark's face as she mentioned how Circe's patron would not want to emerge. "A regular Faustian Bargain then huh?" Mark's humorous thoughts were rudely interrupted by a unearthly rumbling. He turned around to see that the rubble started to actually float for a brief moment before it rocketed into the air with a *Fwoosh* "What the-" Mark's sudden shock was answered by the halfling suddenly appearing and with a ghastly scream announcing his presence. A red visceral and oozing stump was once where his right arm was before with a sudden *Shwooomp* as red energy formed a brand new arm to compensate. ~Why won't you stay dead?~ Mark mentally thought. The pulsating red eyes did not heed their owner's would be killers before the halfling then raced down the road to a new destination. "He's headed for the city!" Blair cried. "Then we have no time to waste, lets go!" Mark made the armor create a helmet akin to the one he wore in the basement before turning to run down the road.

The Mad Queen

Just as many others had before them, the two newcomers weren't taking the news of being trapped in a game too well. Still, it was better than most would given the circumstances. Part of him had wanted to comfort both, but O'Marra had his full attention.
"To answer your questions rather quickly. Yes, we are inside a game." He sighed, starting to walk back towards the brewery "I have no idea how and while, I have no idea how we're going to get out our best option for survival is to stick together. Now, that Halfling is heading back on the road we came in on. My best guess is that he's going after his father, Patrick."

He sighed, shaking his head.
"Thing is, Patrick is in a city full of hundreds, maybe thousands of people right now. If his son gets there and starts killing people, he can bring them back like he did the Goblins...Like he did Trevor."
He turned back towards the newcomers "Trevor was one of us. Just a boy." His gut twisted as he remembered what had happened inside the brewery. "As much as I'd like to run and find a quiet place to lay low, O'Marra will have an army of the dead working for him. He'll be unstoppable. Nowhere will be safe."

He reached the edge of the woods "So I'm going to try. Are you in?"
-
Blair nodded at Mark, having somewhat ignored his comment about a bargain. It was never her own to make. She'd just written Warlock and a few details down on a character sheet about a week ago. If she knew any of this was going to happen, she'd have torn up the sheet and vowed never to play D&D again. Hell, she'd never play tabletop RPGs period. The fantasy of warning herself about what was coming was just that though, a total fantasy.
"I'll get the others. We need to move, now."

With that, she dashed to the entrance of the forest and came face to face with Wyatt and the others. She couldn't be sure if the two new faces were NPCs or not, but it didn't matter.
"More people? When is this nightmare going to end?" She sighed, squeezing the ridge of her nose "We don't have a lot of time, but Mark and I found something out about that artefact. It's part of a set and if we bring them all together we might be able to get home."

She pointed towards the direction the rage-filled Halfling had flown in "So we have to stop him."

Interactions Clockwork Syringe , Togy , PastelMochi

Tris followed the man towards the crumbled building and two other people, listening as he explained their situation. Inside a strange fantasy game? Check. No idea how to get home? Double-check. Possibility of dying? Confirmed and highly probable. She wondered if you died for real or just got sent back to reality, but a tiny voice in the back of her mind told her that it might be the first option.

If that halfling gets to all those people that would be catastrophic. Not to mention dangerous for us! As they reached the clearing he then asked them if they would join him. Tris looked around at the strange new world, and then at each of her newfound companions. She nodded slowly, “I mean, it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice. Teaming up looks like the best way to get out of here, not to mention increasing our chances of survival. Besides, we would have been teaming up in the first place…..in a less life-threatening way.”

They stopped short when the tiefling woman approached, seeming reasonably stressed, and started talking to the armored man. Oh good, they found out a bit more about this ‘artifact’. Then the woman mentioned that the artifact was part of a set and Tris sighed internally. She hoped that the other artifacts wouldn’t cause another situation like this, but knowing how D&D games usually go it was highly doubtful. “I’d really love to have a word with that DM, whoever they are.”

“Well, are there any horses nearby, or are we doing this on foot? Because his--or, uh, my stamina is ok but I don't know how far we're running...” She then caught herself and waved awkwardly at the two new people, "Oh, um, hello. I'm Tris by the way."

The Mad Queen
Togy
Clockwork Syringe