Dungeons and Dragons

Chapter 3- Where and What

The picture above of Ashley, give credit to the artist!

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I sat on the edge of the fountain, feeling like a feather could knock me over.  Beside me sat my three, also thoroughly confused, friends.  Holly was staring off into space with narrowed eyes, Ashley kept pinching herself every few moments, and Rose had a look of permanent surprise etched on her face.  

"Sooo... This is Dungeons and Dragons?"  Ashley finally turned to me with a completely straight face.  This was, after all, their first time playing the game.  "You know, the way you were talking about it, I thought there'd be a lot more food,"

"Not usually, it's not like this at all,"  I exclaimed, panicking slightly.  Where was my house?  My family? My parents are gonna be so worried.  "I don't even know where we are."  The fear in their eyes grew.

"What are we gonna do?!  Did someone drug us all? Is this what it feels like to do cocaine!?"  Holly gasped out, dragging her fingers through her auburn hair.  I stood up suddenly, beginning to pace in front of the fountain.  Nobody was even outside, even the little girl had disappeared.  "We need to gather info from the locals,"  She continued. "This is either the weirdest acid trip I've ever been on, or some sort of fantasy book come to life."

"Holly, none of us have ever done drugs. We're 15,"  I interjected, grinning at her humor even in the face of extreme confusion.  "and if it is a fantasy book coming to reality, we'd probably have to finish the quest.  Trust me, quests in D&D can last years." My words suddenly took a scarier turn for the worse.  "Characters normally die at least once in the quest."

Rose nodded solemnly, trying to keep the situation light.  "Where's the best place to find stuff out?  We should get our bearings."  She wondered aloud, and her eyes scanned the small, wooden townhouses.  They came to rest on what seemed to be the loudest establishment of the entire street, despite the emptiness outside.  The bar.

"I bet I could pass as 21,"  I snorted, cloaking my fear with a joke, referring to my now tall, scaled, and dragon-ish body.  

"You're lucky," Ashley laughed suddenly, seeming to break out of her shock.  "I thought I was pretty short before, now I'm literally a dwarf,"  She laughed nervously.  Rose stood up, startling us all.

"Let's go check it out,"  She suggested, beginning to walk.  Finding no better option, we followed.

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The establishment was a run-down old cabin, with grimy wooden seats and a bar which was mostly desolate except for the bartender and a few middle-aged men who conversed quietly.  I rubbed my arms nervously, it wasn't exactly how I'd imagined my first time in a drinking bar.  It was like straight out of one of those cop shows, other than the setting of course.  The bartender was shining a glass mug with a rag and giving us the stink eye as we walked in.

"Where are we?"  Rose asks, ever the one to get to the point right off the bat.  

"Havey town, about two day's ride from Kyter City."  He shot back, setting the glass down.  His mouth had settled into a thin line behind he gray-streaked beard.  "Listen, kids, unless yer paying, go back to yer mother's home to continue this play date."  

I felt the pocket in my trousers, searching for gold pieces.  In the game, we'd normally start out with enough money to buy our weapons and supplies, then have a bit left over.  I suddenly noticed I had a bag on my back, simpled cloth and buttons to keep it shut.  While the others were inspecting the bar and conversing with the men, I swung it off my back and onto the stool.  When I looked inside it, there was nothing, but as soon as I reached my hand inside, something was in my grasp.  

I gaped, my face turned pale under the scales as I looked at the erhu in my hands.  It was one of the three instruments I chose as a bard, and I bet if I looked for them I'd find a violin and kazoo.  

Yes, I chose a kazoo as one of my instruments. It was pretty funny at the time.  I gently elbowed Holly.

"Ahhh, Holly?  Have you checked your bag?"  I questioned excitedly.  

"We have bags?"  As though suddenly seeing the satchel at her hip, she jumped in surprise.  "I swear that wasn't there before."  Grabbing it, she dug her hand inside, withdrawing a dagger. "Woah,"  She giggled with eyes the size of dinner plates.  "Cool.  Ashley, Rose, you two have gotta check this out!"

Becoming aware of their packages, Rose groaned.  "Come on, you guys get a cool backpack, side satchel, and sling bag, and I'm stuck with the fannypack?"  

"To be fair, how rad would it be to draw something huge out of that tiny bag?"  Ashley chimed in as she took out a broadsword.

"Listen, if you're not gonna buy anything, leave!"  The bartender suddenly shouted.  "And don't bring out any weapons in my bar!"  He growled

"I'll have some milk, I guess,"  Ashley said as she glanced around at the other patrons, who were now looking at them curiously.  She rifled around in the bag, putting the weapon away.  "How much is it?"

"A copper piece,"  The man said grudgingly, narrowing his beady brown eyes at them.

"Got change for a gold?"  The small blonde asked as she took a shining golden coin out of her sling bag, putting it back on her back.  His eyes nearly popped out of his skull, and he snatched the coin out of her hand with greedily fast fingers.  Digging underneath the bar and returning 9 silver pieces to her hand and a large jar of milk.  Raising an eyebrow, I noted that he took one silver piece for the beverage instead of a copper piece.  According to Silas, 10 coppers went into a silver, and 10 silvers went into a gold.  There were other currencies like platinum and electrum, but I didn't remember the exact exchange rate since they came with 5th edition D&D, having only been created a few years ago.  Plus, they weren't used near as much as the normal three types of coins.

I ignored the barkeep's stinginess and leaned over the wooden bar, looking him in the eye.  Mentally, I smirked.  This newfound height came with some pretty good intimidation factors, not to mention I could use 'cone of cold', basically spitting ice anywhere within 15 feet.  It was why I chose my race as a Dragonborn in the first place, they came with some pretty cool breath weapons.

"So,"  Ashley began as she sipped her milk, giving it a cautious sniff beforehand.  "Has there been anything... strange lately?"  She asked warily.  The man glanced around at the other people at the bar, before leaning in close, his voice barely a whisper.  He smelled pretty bad, I thought as we all came closer to hear.  Normally on a quest, there wouldn't be time for showers or hot baths, I silently prayed we wouldn't get the putrid odor that clung to him.

"If anybody asks, I didn't say nuthin,"  He rasped.

"That's a double negative, but point taken,"  Rose responded quietly, to which he gave her a nasty look.

"A few kids have gone missing lately, the Garders have locked themselves up in the house.  Strange noises come from it, but nobody's been saying anythin' because it apparently 'ain't polite to speak against  one's neighbor'."  He mocked somebody, mimicking a snooty voice.  His voice suddenly went deadly.  "Somethin's always been strange about them Garders, they live at the edge of town.  Talk funny, walk funny,"  He sniffed, rubbing a snot from his nose.

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It has been SO long since I updated, I know. I'm bad at staying on one story.  I'll try to write more frequently!

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