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Conner sat down, taking in the display Tim had laid out on the table. There was a map, which took up most of the space with six small, sculpted figures on top of it, as well as some tokens.
Tim was sitting at the head of the table with some sort of folded screen obscuring everything below his chin, and the rest of the team sat around, looking just as lost as Conner felt. He'd agreed to this because Tim had asked—and asked again—had, frankly, asked enough that saying no was starting to feel a little mean.
Tim had sent an entire handbook over, with details on how to play—Conner had skimmed it at speed, but he couldn't say he understood it all, and he doubted any of the others would have bothered, either—except, maybe, Bart, who could read even faster than Kon. He'd also sent a detailed list of instructions on how to make a character, with an offer to help anyone who needed it.
Kon had almost been tempted to ask for help, just to give himself more ammunition to tease Tim about how invested he got in the rules, but ultimately decided against it when Tim shared some examples. There were pages of notes, full of huge chunks of detail. Conner frankly didn't care to do all of that—he just picked what he thought seemed cool from the book, and left it at that.
Everyone shuffled paper in front of them, similar to the page Conner had scrawled his own character's details on.
To his surprise, he was actually kind of excited to hear what kind of characters the others had made—Tim had mentioned races and classes outside of those that were described in the handbook, but Conner hadn't really looked into them much. How could there be even more rules than the ones he'd already skimmed through?
He was happy with his hastily thrown together Tiefling Bard, thank you very much.
Tim spent about twenty minutes explaining the basic gameplay which Conner had already read—he shouldn't have bothered. Of course Tim was going to explain it all anyway. When he finished, just as Conner was losing interest and beginning to daydream, Tim sat forward in his chair, expression changing as he settled into a demeanor that Conner wasn't used to seeing with his mask off. It was…intense.
And, okay, maybe a little bit hot.
Conner sat up, beginning to pay attention.
"You are all gathered in a small country inn," Tim began, starting the game. "A group of adventurers seeking fame and glory—or maybe just looking to help where they can. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"
Oh shit, he needed a name for his character. He hadn't even considered a name. Tim was looking at him, clearly waiting for him to go first.
"Okay, well I'm…Phil," he decided, biting back a laugh. Tim's fault, really, for making him go first. "Phil Latio. I'm a rock star." He grinned, and watched as Tim's eyes narrowed. Oh, this was going to be too much fun.
Bart followed in Conner's footsteps, clearly trying his best to get on Tim's nerves with a halfling sorcerer with wild magic powers.
Tim sighed. "And his name?"
"Alvin Draper," Bart declared, and the table erupted in laughter.
Tim sighed. "Please tell me the rest of you haven't decided to fuck with me?" he asked, looking to the girls.
"I made one of those cat people you sent me!" Greta said. "And she's a thief—a rogue, right? She's called Mudclaw."
Tim sighed in relief, and jotted something down, gesturing for the others to go ahead. Cassie was playing a Dragonborn Paladin she called Ruth, Anita's character was some sort of bird person Monk called Briel, and Cissie had stuck pretty close to home, describing Lyra, her half-elf ranger, as a bow-wielding retired hero who is being reluctantly brought back for one more adventure.
*
The adventurers stand in an inn, and hear a soft sob from somewhere in the back. The innkeeper emerges, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. She comes to a stop when she sees them there—strangers don't come through these parts very often.
"Welcome!" she says, voice heavy with an emotion she's trying to conceal.
"Is everything okay?" Lyra asks.
She sniffs and gestures at the bar. "Of course. What can I get you?"
Phil saunters up to the bar. "Whatever you recommend, sweetheart. Sure there's nothing weighing you down?" He winks and leans toward her.
The woman looks at him and frowns. "I recommend ordering or getting out of my inn."
Phil whistles, and orders a round of ales. "Your loss, baby."
*
"Kon, c'mon," Tim glared. "Be serious."
"I'm being in character!" Conner protested. "He's a flirty guy, it's what he does!"
"She's grieving, she's not gonna fuck you."
"It's just casual flirting, relax."
Tim huffed. "Any of you want to make any rolls to figure out what's wrong with her?"
"Ooh, I will!" Cassie reached for the big bag of dice. "How do I do that?"
*
Ruth looks around the bar, and notices some shadowy figures sitting in a booth in the corner. The innkeeper keeps looking over at them, when she thinks nobody is paying attention. She's afraid of them.
Ruth nudges the others and gestures at them. Without warning, Alvin marches over to the shadowy figures and perches himself on a nearby stool. "Howdy, fellas! What's a creepy guy like you doing in a place like this?"
One of the figures rests a hand on his sword. "I would go back to your friends if I were you," he says in a deep, throaty voice.
Alvin looked over at the group, locking eyes with Mudclaw. He jumps up on the stool and calls to Phil. "How about a song, buddy?" he asks. "cheer these bozos up a little!"
A blur of dark fur swishes past, unnoticed as Phil jumps onto the bar and whips out an electric lyre. He starts to shred on it, making bedroom eyes with one of the shadowy figures
*
"Electric lyres are not a thing, Conner," Tim protested. "And you're really trying to flirt with this dude?"
Conner pouted. "Spoilsport."
*
Mudclaw shows the book she pilfered from the robes to the innkeeper. "This is what has upset you, isn't it?" she asks.
In it are details of transactions—money owed, money paid. The inn owes a lot more than it has paid, and the price for an unpaid debt is steep.
"Hey, that's mine!"
The figure draws a sword, and the music screeches to a halt.
*
"Okay," Tim interrupted the flow. "We're going into combat now, so I'll talk you through it as we go. It's going to be the six of you against all of these robed figures—twelve in total."
"Love when you talk me thr—"
"Shut up, Kon."
Conner snorted and mimed zipping his lips.
The fight mechanics were confusing, but Conner found himself getting into it, referencing his list of abilities against the enemies left standing on the board until finally, the group stood nursing injuries in the middle of fallen enemies.
Bart had to roll to check if his wild magic kicked in twice after casting spells during the fight, but nothing happened. Conner managed to hit every target he aimed at, figuring out pretty quickly he could use his TTK to manipulate the rolls. He saw Tim suck on his teeth every time he did it, so Conner kept it up, delighting in the waves of irritation coming towards him.
*
"What did you do that for?" The innkeeper demands. "They'll kill them! My children!" She collapses, sobbing hysterically. Mudclaw shows the notebook to the others. For the money owed, the Company have taken her two teenage children hostage.
"We'll get them back," Briel vows. "Tell us everything you know, and we will find them before any harm comes to them."
The innkeeper doesn't smile, but there's gratitude in her eyes. She hands Briel a map, showing the headquarters of the Company, where she believes her children are being held.
The team journey onwards, following the directions on the map. There are security guards at every entrance, on the look out for anyone approaching.
*
"Ooh, I have a spell that means I can disguise myself as anyone! Can I make myself look like a guard?" Bart asked.
"Go for it, but don't forget—"
He didn't give Tim a chance to finish his warning before rolling, and Conner took the opportunity to choose chaos, landing the roll on a one and triggering a surge of wild magic. Everyone cheered—they'd been waiting for this.
Tim closed his eyes for a moment. "Fine. Bart, go ahead and roll to see what happens. Kon, hands off the table, no interfering."
Kon winked at Tim and and raised his hands as Bart rolled.
"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," Tim deadpanned.
*
Alvin casts disguise self and makes himself look like a security guard, but as he does so, he feels a surge of magic flare up inside of him and explode outward in a magic missile, taking out each of the guards simultaneously and leaving the main entrance wide open for the team to make their entrance.
They fight their way through, the path much easier than it might have been until they reach a central room with two teenagers tied up in the middle. There is a final guard standing over them, a being with a multitude of eyes.
"Well, hey there," Phil steps forward, drawing attention to himself. "You know what they say," Phil declares, sauntering into the room. "Beauty is in the eye of the—"
The Beholder looms, eye stalks locked on Phil. It prepares to strike, but Briel surges forwards, closely followed by Ruth. Both of them strike true, hurting it enough that it lashes out carelessly, allowing the rest of the party to attack.
Mudclaw picks the lock of the children's cage and ushers them to safety as the lifeless body of the beholder falls to the ground.
*
"Is that it?" Cassie asked. "We did it?"
"You did it!" Tim confirmed. "You guys take the kids back to the inn and return them to their mom. Everyone's happy and crying, and she's so grateful she gives you a bag of coins."
"You're saying she had money all along but wouldn't use it to save her kids from the big evil company?" Cissie asked.
"That's kind of fucked up, actually." Anita pursed her lips. "Maybe these kids are better off without her."
"Can we kidnap the kids back?" Cassie held up her 20 sided die. "What would that be, an attack roll? Or is it stealth?"
Tim looked down at his notes. "Uh… it'd depend on how you wanna do it, but...maybe that could wait for a second session, if that's something you guys would like?"
"I think it could be fun to play more!" Greta admitted. The others echoed her, but Conner stayed quiet.
"Kon?" Tim prompted.
Conner locked eyes with him. "Depends," he said with a shrug. "Will you let Phil actually seduce someone next time?"
Tim snorted, gesturing to the bag of dice. "If you're lucky."
Conner took one and rolled it, making it land on a natural 20. "I like my chances."
Tim's nostrils flared, and Conner grinned. This game was more fun than he'd expected.