Towers And Tieflings: ONC 2021 Longlist

10: Leap of Faith

Though the wizard's tower is just a few more in-game hours away, the six party members advance painstakingly slow. This is partly due to Sage's important, helpful herb-gathering, but more so at Turtle's insistence they all stroll at a leisurely place while he recounts epic tales and searches for hidden game secrets.

Bored by previous successes at role-playing and Towers and Tieflings lore, things start looking up for Seamus and Kohl when a small pack of hunger-crazed kobolds cross the adventurers' path.

Things start looking back down again when Turtle expertly convinces the kobolds that one of birds Kohl shot along with a few handful of Sage-scavenged berries would be arguably tastier and much less risky than attempting to kill the players as a source of food.

Kohl takes out her frustration by shooting arrows at more wildlife.

She soon runs out of arrows.

Seamus, on the other hand, now has no outlets for his aggression other than to grumble under his breath as Turtle continues to sing and speak of his sagas, with Sage hanging on his every word.

"--and that's when I said to the fairy--wait, have you ever journeyed to the fairy realm, fair Sage?" The bard cranes his neck to peer at the druid currently resting on his shoulder in bunny form. Her ears twitch in a 'no'. "It's astonishingly beautiful, you would love it! The sky is pale yellow, the foliage is turquoise, tree trunks and root are pink--"

"Looks like Turtle replaced you as Sage's favorite pretty fast, huh?" Kohl feigns jabbing Orianna in the ribs while the bard continues on, her tone light but curious.

Orianna just smiles. "I'll be here if she needs me, but I get my fill of the big sister role back at home."

The wizard then wraps her arms around Kohl, the gesture a bit awkward due to the fact they're still walking. "Besides, it just means I get more time to hang with the most decent roommate in the world."

"And how could you possibly ask for more than that?" Kohl grins.

"Man, I'm totally jealous now," Seamus says, having overheard the two girls talk. "Adam is only the second-most decent. I got screwed."

"You're better off than me." Adam tries to ruffle the halfling rogue's hair, but pulls his hand away just in time to avoid getting nicked by Seamus's knife. "I've got the worst roommate."

"Totally agree. Sucks to be you, Adam." Kohl flips back her dark hair.

"I'm not the worst! At the very least, I'm third-worst. Remember that guy who was coming the other day about how his roommate keeps watching por--"

Adam glances at Kohl and Orianna. "Okay, yeah, let's settle on third-worst."

At Kohl's raised eyebrow, Seamus says, "Oh, trust me, that story gets so much worse. Remind me to tell you later."

"What are you going to tell her later?" Turtle turns towards the rest of the group, his interest intrigued as he takes a break from story-telling to enjoy a drink of ale.

"Nothing." Seamus focuses intently on the path ahead.

"Oh, okay!" Turtle says. "Hey, are you guys planning on going to our school's Homecoming in a couple weeks?".

Kohl sighs dramatically. "I don't know, I haven't got a date. Adam's old high school's Homecoming is the same day, and it's not like we can truly go as a group when he's not gonna be there. It majorly sucks. I wanted the excuse to buy a dress I'll never wear again."

Seamus glances at Kohl a few times, and clears his throat. "I mean, if you're gonna be upset about not going, I'll take you."

The half-elf pirate makes a weird face as she considers the prospect. "I don't know, it'd be like going on a date with my cousin or something."