Froggy Tea Party Presents: Dragon of Icespire Peak

SESSION 6: Chaotic Bravado

Alfonse, unable to sleep because he was anxious about finding his son, tried to sneak away. As he climbed over broken boards of the barn's wall, he made enough noise to wake Alexander and Mama. It was dark, still hours before sunrise, but because the fire had died out, neither Alexander nor Mama had trouble seeing him. The duo confronted him.

"Where are you going at this hour?" Mama asked.

"I can't wait. I have to go now and find my son. I have to know if he's ok."

"It's dangerous out there. There are many things that could happen on your way there," Alexander said.

"I can make it if I move alone. If we move as a group we'll draw attention, but I can move faster and hide better if it's just me."

"You couldn't even make it out of the barn without waking me and Mama. It could end very badly for you. You can't make sure your son is alive if you're dead."

Al let out a large sigh and looked to the clear sky above. His shoulders drooped and he knew that they were right. The two successfully persuaded Al to wait, but he was still antsy.

"Ok. But you have to promise that at first crack of light on the horizon we will set out."

"We will, you have my word," Alexander said.

Al still couldn't sleep, and sat in the dark with his knees up, elbows resting on them, and his chin resting on his hands. In solidarity, Alexander stayed up with him and Al nodded in respect. Mama returned to sleep and the rest of the night was quiet.

Al gathered the party's gear and had it ready when he woke them. Two of the party members, Perseus and Ani, seemed to be called to another plane, as they didn't wake when jostled. They had surrounding them the protection aura provided by the Stone of Tymora's Blessing. Though groggy, the other adventurers were ready shortly, and the party picked up and carried their unconscious companions.

Before heading out, Miss Coco explained that they had a peculiar companion with them. Confused, Al questioned about what kind of companion. Alexander asked how he felt about spiders.

"If I find a spider in the house, I just put it outside. If I find them anywhere else I just leave them be."

"How do you feel about big spiders?" Alexander asked.

"How big?...," he replied.

"Five feet...," Miss Coco said.

"How do you know it's friendly?"

"I can talk with animals and Goliath is a pacifist. He only hunts for food, not people. I assure you, he's friendly," Alexander said confidently.

"I...I'm not sure how I feel about giant spiders. I'll probably stay back a bit."

"Me too, Al, me too," Miss Coco said.

"...but I trust you so far as I've known you, granted which hasn't been long. But you saved me, my farm, and killed the orcs. I trust your judgement."

Now ready to go, they exited the barn to cross the pasture to where the party had left the cart with Goliath, the donkey, and the horse. As they walked across the open field, Al noted out loud that "at least the orcs didn't kill all of my livestock," walked over to pat Petunia's head, and gave her scritches behind the ear.

"We found her outside of the farm," Alexander told him.

"You did? Where?" He looked around and saw the broken fencing.

"Along a dirt path. She had found her way out there while eating grass," Miss Coco said.

"Thank you for bringing her back. At least I have one of my prized cows left. It's not much, but I have hope that I can recover. It's presumptuous of me to assume that you'll come back with me after we go to Phandalin, but if you do, I have a reward I can give you for bringing her back."