It's More than Just Gaming

Hi everyone, welcome.  As regulars are aware, I have been writing an ongoing account of my character, Rhyll’Zt Zau’Und in a D&D 5e game.  In the last part my character had broken off from the party to attend to some personal business.  The other characters went off to do their thing, and as my character wasn’t present he didn’t witness their stuff so I didn’t write about it.  However Pete, who plays Vuldin the Dwarf, very kindly wrote an entertaining account of his adventures from the first few sessions.

The featured image was Pete’s first attempt at showing us what Vuldin looked like, albeit with more sequins and a shield.

He then said cross the following two images and you get Vuldin.

and

So, without any further adieu or embellishment from me, I present you…

THE GRAND ADVENTURE OF VULDIN

Chapter Juan: In which our hero meets other heroes and the adventure begins!

It was a day much like any other, in so much as having a strange mage person summon me to a distant land in order to help him stop an evil former friend from destroying the world.

I tell you, there is nothing quite so evil as the betrayal of a friend. Of course I agreed, such people must be taught important lessons about the value of friendship, this is the true way of Moriachi.  I was brought before the ruler of the city, along with a black and white bird man who made the most wonderful noises, by hearing a sound merely once he was able to reproduce it almost exactly!  Not much of one for conversation, but he seemed interested in my grand tales of my homeland far to the south.

We Luchadwarves have only recently ventured beyond the desert valleys and mines of our lands in the distant reaches of the furthest deserts beyond the great wall.  But a great impression we are making indeed, why one of my closest friends, a monk who went by his masked name of ‘El Fisto’ had gained great renown by throwing a evil ghost lich-man into a suplex hold and slamming it, very confused, back into the coffin from which it had arisen, ahh the power of Moriachi has many blessings.

The Birdman – called Clatter I believe – and I were asked to wait with the city ruler while 4 other great heroes came towards us, apparently they were to join us in the Great Adventure of Teaching Friendship.  One was a small gnome with a magpies glint to her eye, I would watch this one to prevent trouble from forming as pockets might find themselves suddenly empty, another was a great golden dragon-man, he had the sense of great nobility swirling around him, also flies swirling around his armour, but barbarians can only be expected to bathe so often.  Thirdly came the strangest woman I have ever seen, she had horns, horns growing from the top of her head and a bored, detached expression as if being here was the last thing she cared to do.  I took a deep breath,  this person was in dire need of the spirit of adventure.

Lastly came a surprise.  A drow, his face hooded in a robe.  Like all dwarves my people were familiar with the black hearted and blacker skinned dark elves,  as we tunnelled deep we occasionally come across territory that they claim. They are fierce foes and have committed many, many horrible deeds across the realms.  To see one on the surface is rare, so this one would bear watching. Closely.  I am not the finest hammer in the toolkit but I know trouble when I see it.

Suddenly, we were told a nearby village was in trouble, the evil friend of our patron was coming to attack it!  This would not do, so we gathered provisions and made our way there.

It was  a drab little place, but very soon the place was ready for a siege, with spike traps at the entrances and – most importantly –  a ring in which to toss evildoers and wrestled goodness back into them at the end of a fist, all while lifting the spirits of nearby villagers.  My companions looked on with some puzzlement as I constructed the ring, but I knew they would appreciate it in the end.

Soon, the stomping of feet could be heard as the bandit forces approached.  One of the nearby villages started to whimper.  I put my hand on his shoulder and quietly said to him “Do not be afraid, my friend, for we have the strength of good on our side” then struck a dramatic pose.  He did not look especially reassured but I have no doubt the words of courage I planted in his heart will grow into a mighty tree.

At last the enemy came into view, a shambling line of men that appeared, at first, to be drunk.  Later, I would learn that their minds had been taken from them, and no amount of suplexing could restore them to health.

After a brief skirmish where several of these mindless ones were thoroughly punched and stabbed, and stabbed. I have never seen so many daggers applied so liberally in such a short space of time!  My friends almost all appear to be using weapons of cowards and thieves, perhaps this adventure will be short on heroics after all.  But no, there is hope as the giant golden dragon barbarian threw himself into the fray with much gusto, I imagine in the future they will tell many sagas of his prowess.

The battle came to a sudden halt as a towering figure appeared and easily slapped away our attacks as if he was swatting an annoying fly.  I did not see too much of what followed as I had pinned one of his henchmen in the ring and was dazzling the locals with my display of macho manliness to the glory of Moriachi, but he disappeared leaving many of his henchman lying around.  They slowly came to (apart from the thoroughly pummelled ones in my ring) and gave us what information they could, which is to say… not a lot.

Clearly they were the victim of this most foul person as much as the villagers who had been attacked.

We journeyed back to the city in relative silence, broken only by my exhortations for my companions to see the glorious story and adventure that fate had brought before them.  I could swear the drow was thinking of some way to silence me, and should he try to I was ready to communicate using non verbal methods.

We were brought back to meet with our patron in his hall in the mages quarter, the man who brought us together explained in some detail about how there were four elemental amulets and if someone put them together in a suit of armour then the world might explode, and his evil friend was looking for them, but I was only paying a small amount of attention, for truly his workshop was full of many wonders.
“What are these?” I asked, picking up one of a pile of metallic globes with a little circle of metal pinned through the top.  I tugged at it.  There was a strange sound like the opposite of an explosion and I yelped in surprise, or at least my mouth approximated the yelp, but no noise was heard.

The Drow tried to buy some of these from our patron.

Did I mention I was going to be watching him very closely?

We were told we had some time to kill, and what better way to use spare time by performing heroic deeds to inspire goodness and friendship in others?  While our barbarian friend went off to perform some great deeds of strength, the drow, the bird-man and the gnome slunk off into the less reputable part of town.

Very closely indeed.

The strange horned lady, who I had learned was something called a Tiefling, decided to brood.  I presume that meant she was going to sit in a corner and sulk, but with someone that has devil blood in them, I cannot be sure.  I noted in my journal ‘do tieflings lay eggs?’.

I was later to learn that she was used to being shunned by society due to her appearance.  The fact that her weapon of choice was a bolt of purple lightning that arced over someone until they exploded probably did not help matters.  Still, I know what it is to be feared for my appearance, there are very few societies warmly accepting of the Sequinned Pride of Moriachi.  Most dwarves here find my black and silver sparkly uniform to be unconventional.  But they will come to understand soon, once they feel the power of adventure. And friendship!

I decided to set a good example and went to see the head of the guard, who I gave a rousing speech about justice and goodness to, so he gave me a job, I was to patrol the mage quarter that evening and stop ne’er do wells.  This is something I agreed to do with much spirit!

I passed the remaining time by playing songs on my trumpet telling the tales of my lands greatest heroes, not all of the local patrons appreciated my skills and I was politely asked to leave, then more firmly, then forcibly.  I took objection to this, why, where was the love and friendship?  The bouncer made some rather insulting comments and struck me a mild blow as he lifted me up and threw me through the door into the street.  This would not stand.  I dusted myself off, made sure my arms and hands were free then charged back inside.  His back was turned from me as he was returning to the bar, so I leaped from the ground onto a chair, then a table and with a loud cry I sprang onto his head.  He staggered with the weight but stayed upright, so I raised my hands to get the attention of all then used my legs to flip myself down, throwing him to the ground in the process.

Unfortunately I miscalculated his weight and he went head first onto the stone floor, where he lay unconscious for a while, but when he came to I bought him a drink.  The patrons were much more appreciative of my tales after that, and soon the evening came.

I went to the mage quarter and was met by two guards and a chicken.  I make a point of the chicken because it was dressed as a guard.   I think the mages had been playing games, but I must not get distracted from my duty!  But I will save this guardsman from this appolloing fate.  I made a note of that pun for future use in the songs of this night.

Immediately after passing through the gate, I realised that not all was right, the landscape shifted oddly, but Vuldin is made of stern stuff.  After a few minutes I heard a ruckus down an alleyway. I sprinted down to see a man being attacked by some kind of wooden machine-man.  He was no match for my fists as I swung my fist-hammer into his fragile joints.  With a glorious shout I dispatched my opponent and turned to reassure the victim that he had no need to fear any more.  He thanked me profusely and then headed off.  I turned to leave only to be confronted by an angry shop keeper, I could not quite understand what he meant but it appears there has been a terrible misunderstanding, and the man I saved had accidentally taken some things without paying.

I took off in pursuit of the I’m-sure-it-was-an-accident man.  Soon I caught up to him and reminded him that stealing was wrong by way of a rousing speech to do the right thing.  The matter was resolved, I had done a good deed and the world was better for it.  I resumed my patrol.

Sometime later, I heard another commotion from another alleyway.  Without hesitation I plunged into the fray, but it was dark, almost magically dark, for my eyes – which could penetrate the gloom of the darkest cave – could not see a single thing.  I knew what I must do.  I reached into my heart and prayed to Moriachi, who responded with true wonder.  Suddenly the night time alley was lit up as if the dawn sun had risen directly over the Mage district.  There was a sudden shriek as the darkness vanished and 4 wisps of smoke blew away in the wind.   Lying there in the alley was a terrified man in blue robes who was clutching a heavy looking book.  He thanked me profusely before running for safety.  Another job well done!

It took me some time to get back to the entrance, but I had several new stories to weave into dramatic cautionary and inspirational tales of high adventure, perhaps tomorrow would bring even more.

When I returned to the tavern, I saw that my companions had also returned from their various labours.  Clatter was enthusiastically making the sounds of pen on parchment and seemed chirpier than normal, meanwhile Nyssa the gnome was nervously shifting and looked rather guilty. And sweaty.  Cassia the tiefling was still brooding in a corner while our barbarian friend snored, replenishing his strength after a days hard earned coin.  Only the Drow seemed to be assessing the situation as much as I was.  I suspect evil intent, he seemed very insistent that we make our way to the neighbouring city of Ursadae as soon as possible.

I sighed, this would be a problem for another day, tonight I must tell more tales and rest.