Work Text:
"Hey, wanna play D&D?"
That was the question Ethan had dropped on them a couple weeks ago, just after Lex had gotten her GED. Her first response was "What's D&D?" which was clearly not the right answer. After a not-so-brief explanation, Lex was ready to argue that they didn't have time, but Ethan clearly knew the excuse was coming.
"It's one night out of the week, and you'll be working less now! GED, better job, more money, less hours, fuck ToyZone, and it'll be fun! Will you just give it a shot? Just one try?"
"It sounds like this is more of a dedication than just one try."
"I'll run something short then! To test the waters. And I can make the characters, so we don't have to waste time with all that." He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes, begging. It was something that only Hannah could get away with, and even that was becoming more infrequent now that she was getting older and Lex was getting bitterer.
Lex crossed her arms. "Do you even know what you're doing? You made it sound like a lot of work."
"It is," he shrugged, "but I played in a club back in high school, I think I can figure out how to DM."
"How to what?"
"DM. Dungeon Master, it's the person who runs everything, controls everything thats not the PCs — the player characters." He gestured to himself with a smile. "I've played before, I can do it. And there are books and things—"
"We don't have money for that."
"—that I have already obtained , babe, don't worry about it. C'mon, you're not a capitalist, right? You know how pirating works. And also libraries. I've got it all handled! I just need some players, and Hannah already said she was down."
That made Lex pause, and she looked over to Hannah's room. She could see spots of shadow underneath the door where she was surely standing and listening to the conversation.
After a moment, she sighed. "Fine." Ethan whooped, and she held out a hand to pause him. " But, let's wait until after I get a new job, okay? There's no way I'll have time for this now."
Ethan gave an exaggerated nod. "Completely understandable, and hey! Gives me time to prepare, and also find another player."
"What do you mean, another player? You've already got me and Hannah."
"Well, yeah, but that's only two. Typically you need at least three to play."
"You're forgetting to count yourself, babe."
"No," he laughed, "three players, plus the DM. So four total." He hummed, fixing his hair. "Maybe one of Hannah's friends'll be interested."
The sour part of Lex's mind wanted to say that Hannah didn't have any friends, but she bottled up the bitterness and shrugged instead. "Maybe. I guess just let me know." She grabbed her jacket and keys and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go see who else is hiring."
For a couple days, that was the last she heard of it. There were a couple points of Ethan and Hannah talking about something fantasy-oriented, which she assumed was related, but she didn't listen in much. It was the fourth day, as Lex was preparing for an interview at the Birdhouse, when Ethan slid into their room. "You remember Duke Keane?"
"The social worker?" She didn't look over, continuing to make herself look presentable with dollar-store make-up. "He's not mad at us now, is he?"
"No," Ethan shook his head and came closer, leaning against the bed. "Hannah still talks to him sometimes, I guess he's at the high school a lot."
"Go figure."
"She wants to ask him to join our party."
"Our what?"
"Our D&D group, it's usually called a party."
Lex turned around, make-up only half done. Ethan smirked. "Lookin' hot, babe."
She rolled her eyes. "So your player three is going to be our old social worker?" She turned back to the mirror with a shake of her head. "That's just asking for an awkward few hours."
"I don't think so, he and his girlfriend helped us out pretty good."
"I don't think they're dating."
"You get my point. He likes us, he's a good guy. I told Hannah she could go ahead and ask him when she sees him next, and if he's down, then we're good to go when you are."
Lex was not sure if she wanted to see Duke again, ever. Ethan was right, he was a good guy, and he helped them out a lot, but he made her nervous. What if there was something wrong with the house and she didn't know, and he took Hannah away? What if she lost her temper and snapped and he thought she was unsafe and took Hannah away? What if he took Hannah away?
"Lex," Ethan's arms were around her, and the shitty eyeliner she had bought had made a shaky line down her cheek. She took a deep breath and wiped it off with the back of her hand, the other one coming up and holding Ethan's arm. They stood together for a few moments.
"If you're really not okay with it," his voice was quiet, "it's not too late to tell her not to ask him. We'll find someone else. Or I'll make a DMPC, and we'll make it work with just us."
Lex hummed a laugh. "This game and its abbreviations."
"DMPC isn't that hard to figure out, c'mon," his hands went lower, to her sides, and tickled. She jumped away, laughing, holding out the eyeliner as if it were a sword.
"Alright, alright," she waved him off, and he returned to his seat on the bed. "I'll be fine, if he comes. We just… gotta make sure the house looks nice."
"Only natural, when you have guests over." She saw him grinning at her in the mirror. He was excited to do this, clearly, and Hannah was too. She didn't want to ruin it for them. But part of her still hoped that Duke would be too busy to come.
When she picked Hannah up from school the next day, she was abuzz with energy, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Duke wants to bring Miss Holloway to D&D."
Lex didn't know all that much about Duke, he was mostly around when she and Ethan were in jail, but she knew even less about Miss Holloway. The woman just had an energy about her, an ambience, that was intimidating. To her knowledge, she wasn't even a social worker, or related to the field at all — she was just a friend of Duke's that was good with kids, or something. And now she'd be coming to Lex's apartment to play a tabletop RPG. Great.
Hannah, on the other hand, loved Miss Holloway. She wouldn't say exactly why, but she gave more credit to her for getting Lex and Ethan out of jail (and Pamela in it) than Duke. Lex couldn't come up with a better excuse than not knowing her well — to which Hannah argued that this would help them get to know each other — and so Hannah won the day and Miss Holloway was added to the party. Ethan was ecstatic to have four players, and pulled out a bent and beat-up notebook to figure out what kind of character he should make to be the final party member.
Now they just had to wait on Lex. Duke had given Hannah his business card, which she kept in her room, ready to call the number on it once they had a set date. Lex worried that one day she'd make a wrong step and she'd use it for something else. When had she become so pessimistic? That was a stupid question. A better one was had she ever been optimistic.
But, the day came. The Birdhouse called her back; she had the job. $13 an hour plus tips, to start, could go up to $15 later down the line if she sticks with it and does well. The hourly wage alone was an entire three dollars more than what ToyZone paid her — damn Frank and his absolute-minimum-wage bullshit — and the shifts were shorter. It was almost too good to be true. Lex waited until after her first shift at the bar before quitting ToyZone. She hoped to never walk through those doors again in her life.
And with that, D&D was scheduled for the next week, on one of the nights Lex was off. Hannah called Duke, who presumably told Holloway, and Ethan started collecting loose change and buttons and other small things. There was a lot of paper — "Printing at the library is free, babe, don't worry about it," — and Lex started to wonder if she hadn't gotten in over her head.
The day came, and as Lex was leaving for a morning shift, Ethan had Hannah helping him cover the table in papers with what looked to be maps drawn on them. She paused in the doorway, watching. "You're really going all out for this, huh?"
The two looked up, and Hannah all but jumped on the table to hide the map. "No spoilers!"
Ethan patted her head. "It's alright, Banana, that's the top one." She got up, straightening out the map, and he joined Lex, hugging her from the side. "I just want you guys to have a good time, y'know?"
"Are you going to have fun with this?" Lex looked up at him. "You're the one doing all the work."
"A little work is needed to have a good time!" He clapped her on the shoulder. "And I am definitely going to have fun. Thank you for worrying about li'l ol' me."
She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back at three."
"See you then!"
"Bye!" Hannah waved from the table. Once the door was shut, she switched her attention to Ethan. "How much left do you have to plan?"
"Ehh," Ethan shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
" You said you shouldn't wing it," she reminded.
"I'm not winging it! I have all the statblocks, I have the basic plot, I have an end goal. Here's your life lesson, Banana, and it applies to more than just D&D. If you try and plan for everything, you're just gonna stress yourself out, and you're gonna bug your players. You've gotta have some wiggle room. Make some impulse decisions! Don't tell your sister I said that."
Hannah smiled, rolling her eyes. She was getting older and taking after Lex more, but Ethan still saw that childhood spark. He hoped it never died. "Shouldn't we clean the kitchen?"
He looked over and saw the dirty dishes in the sink, and the stains on the counter from when the coffee machine exploded on him a couple days prior. The trash was also full. He bit his cheek. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Gotta look nice for the guests and all."
"You were supposed to do it yesterday," she chided, swinging her legs on the chair.
Ethan rustled her hair with the cap on her head, which she grumbled at. "And you were supposed to take out the trash, weren't you?"
"Got busy."
"Mhm, sure."
"I did!" She insisted, and he laughed, stealing her hat and then putting it back on her to fix her hair somewhat.
"I believe you. Now c'mon, the quicker we finish, the quicker I let you get first pick at the characters."
Hannah had chosen the half-orc barbarian. Ethan wasn't sure which he was expecting her to choose, but it wasn't that one. She said that she liked the idea of raging, and that she didn't want to deal with magic anymore than she already did. Ethan didn't really know what to make of that last comment.
When Lex got back, she got second pickings. She listened to Ethan explain each of the remaining three, and then asked which was the simplest, to which he said the dwarf fighter, since magic and spell slots could be difficult to grasp and dwarves didn't have a complicated racial mechanic, and that settled her decision.
Duke and Miss Holloway arrived at the apartment around five, as Hannah told them to, and they were presented with the remaining options; a dragonborn paladin, and a human wizard. After the explanation, Duke was quick to call the paladin, with a half-genuine apology to Holloway if she wanted it. The woman shook her head and said it worked out, as she wanted the wizard anyway. Neither had played D&D before, but Miss Holloway, forever retro, said she knew a little bit about it because of her passion for the era it was released in.
Ethan and Hannah had prepared some snacks already, and everyone was offered a drink — "We only have water, apple juice, or Mountain Dew," — and sat around the table. Ethan gave them all their character sheets, plus some extra cards to the spellcasters, and promised he'd explain along the way, as he believed D&D was easier to learn on your feet.
With that, the stage was set, and the session began.
A storm thunders overhead, as a lonely wagon makes its way through a winding forest path. Torrential downpour threatens to soak through its covered top completely, but for the time being the passengers inside are safe, and most importantly, warm. Packed in tight, surely tighter than is reasonable for such a small cart, the passengers, about nine in total, converse amongst each other, eat, and, perhaps, pray that the storm will let up soon. Among them, four noticeably stand out.
Arudek is a half-orc barbarian, from the Wildlands beyond the walls of civilization. Even sitting, he is nearly a head taller than the rest, with the noticeable exception of the dragonborn across from him. A braided beard tumbles down his chest, the same black as his shoulder-length mane. He wears heavy furs, leather armor, and carries with him a massive greatsword. At present, he sharpens it with a whetstone, inspecting its edge and staring, rather frighteningly, around at the rest.
Kaarjeth is a dragonborn paladin, proud scion of the dragonborn nation of Tarketh. Another titan among the party, he nearly reaches Arudek’s height, and the force of personality he carries almost makes him seem larger. He wears a flowing purple tabard over chainmail, freshly-polished at the journey’s start, but now slightly dulled from a week’s travel. Slung across his back is a circular golden shield, and resting beside him is a longsword in its sheath. At present, he converses animatedly with a few other passengers, his glowing personality helping to brighten the mood and ward off the threat of rain.
Wilhelm is a human wizard, a vagrant mage from the nearby human nation of Volwerth. The pragmatic, dark brown coat and similarly pragmatic traveler’s clothes he wears are in sharp contrast to his magically-dyed hair, a deep red in color. On his person are several books, and a set of hardy leather pouches containing inks and quills. At present, he studies his spellbook, occasionally glancing up to look at the others, then back down again.
Magram is a dwarven fighter, a gruff mercenary from the massive Dwarvenhalls, deep beneath the earth. Like the dragonborn, he wears chainmail, although his armor is rather less ostentatious in nature. Strapped at his sides are two handaxes. At present, he’s -
"...Ethan," rather than describe what her character was doing, Lex cut herself off, resting her chin on her hands. "Was the all guy characters on purpose, or did you forget that there are other genders again?"
He paused, peeking over the pair of binders he was using as a DM screen, and frowned. "Whoops." The table gave into quiet laughter, and Ethan shrugged. "I mean, you can change it if you want! And Hannah, Miss H, you too, Duke, feel free, I, uh…"
Lex patted his arm. "I don't care. I just had to mention it."
"I don't mind either," Holloway shrugged. "It could be a fun change of pace."
Hannah, meanwhile, looked more than content. She looked at the physical description Ethan wrote on the back of Arudek's character sheet, rereading it. "I get a beard," she proudly declared, then paused. Looking around the table, she asked, "Can I swear?"
Ethan's answer was an immediate yes — Lex's an immediate no.
With a chuckle, Ethan moved back his hair. "C'mon, babe. How about just in character? She's playin' a tough guy, she should get to talk like one."
Lex's eyes flicked over to Duke and Holloway, her fears of messing up in front of the social worker now rekindled. But he didn't seem to care, idly watching Holloway as they waited to get back into the game.
With a sigh, she gave in. "Alright. But—" she pointed to Hannah before she could celebrate too much, "— only in-character. And don't go abusing this."
Hannah nodded with a grin that told Lex she'd live to regret her decision.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” says Arudek, glaring at Magram.
Lex laid her head on the table as the rest of the party giggled like schoolchildren.
Magram sighs. “I - nothing. I’m looking at nothing. Look, can we just get a move on already? We’ve been in this car for, like - ”
“Don’t be afraid to do voices, babe!” Ethan grinned at her. Lex just stared at him.
“What? Like, like the guy from Lord of the Rings?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
She frowned. She’d have to bullshit her way through this. “Uh. Okay, lemme just—”
“We’ve been in this here cart fer over a day an’ a half now! It gets borin’, y’know? Might as well, uh. Stare at someone. Starts a conversation.” To the rest, this seemed a hasty excuse.
“Yeah?” Arudek says. “Really? ‘Cuz I’m thinking that maybe I don’t fuckin’ like being stared at. Maybe I’ll come over there and kick your shit in.”
“Whoah, hey, now,” Kaarjeth interjects. The other passengers he’d been talking to shift uncomfortably in their seats at the current argument. “Now is not the time or the place for these kinds of arguments. We’re all friends here, right?”
“Shut up, old man!” Arudek glares at him. They hold the gaze intensely for a few moments before Arudek finally huffs, leans back, crosses his arms. “Fine. But the next fight we get into, I’m chopping someone’s head off.”
“Do you like to start fights with people you’ve only just met?” Wilhelm finally speaks up.
“Pfft. Nah. I - ” he looks over to Kaarjeth, hesitantly, for a moment, before shaking his head, continuing. “I like startin’ fights with people who look at me funny.” He’s begun to glare again.
Wilhelm smirks, raises his eyebrows. “Really? And am I looking at you funny right now?”
“Hang on, don’t provoke - him!” Kaarjeth insists.
“Come now. It’s just a bit of fun. He’s not going to truly harm me.”
“Fuckin’ try me.” Arudek’s hand goes to his greatsword.
“Perhaps I will! I doubt those big useless muscles of yours actually could do anything against me.”
Arudek snarls, though he seems to decide not to attack the wizard - not with his sword. Instead, he brings a fist swinging forward -
“Okay, uh. Hannah. Roll to hit.”
"Roll?" Lex looked over at Ethan. "What do you mean roll?"
"Yeah," chimed Holloway, "they’ve still got dice in….5th edition, right?"
"There’s dice?" Duke, who seemed to be finally getting the hang of roleplay-vs-reality, was now plunged back into confusion.
Ethan, meanwhile, was sinking down behind his makeshift DM screen. One by one, all the players turned to look at him. He gave a nervous, apologetic chuckle.
"Haha… I knew there was something I forgot!"
Lex sighed, and Hannah laughed, shaking her head. Ethan stood back upright. "It's okay! I have dice still," he showed a handful of dice to the table, all of them having, in Lex's opinion, far too many sides and numbers. "And, uh. There's a dice roller online! Here, take out your phones and just Google "dice roller" and it comes right up."
Lex did so, putting her phone between her and Hannah so they could share, as the younger girl didn't have her own. Duke did the same with Holloway, who did not have a modern phone. With the dice all pulled up, they were ready to resume the game.
– and is met with a shield of pure arcane force, made of softly-glowing runes circling
around each other. Faintly, Arudek can make out arcane arcs crossing Wilhelm’s body, almost resembling armor. Wilhelm’s smirk grows. “Are you quite done?”
“Not till I’ve punched that smile off your stupid face. Come on, I’ll - ”
Kaarjeth whistles, and physically steps between the two. He puts a hand on each of their shoulders. “Come on, this….caravan, it’s our only protection from the storm. So let’s just be cool with each other, alright? I don’t want to keep reiterating myself here.”
“What is your damn problem, old man? I’m not even gonna kill him. I’m just gonna beat the shit outta him. Not even that badly! Maybe just a bloody nose. Y’know?” He stands, glares down at the Kaarjeth.
“My problem is that you’re really going to shoot yourself in the foot by ‘beating up’ another passenger. It’s like if you were on a….” He pauses a moment, “....On a boat , right? And you stabbed someone - ”
“I’m not gonna stab him. Probably.”
“Apples and oranges. But if you stabbed someone on a boat they’d throw you off.”
Arudek looks to the side, clearly annoyed, though perhaps coming to terms with
Kaarjeth’s point. “I don’t like the ocean.”
“Yes, and I’m sure you wouldn’t like standing outside in the rain because you couldn’t keep your temper, huh?”
“....No,” he finally admits. “Fine - I already said that. I already said I wouldn’t. But fine. You’re just makin’ me angrier, I guess I’ll save it for later."
“Hmph.” Wilhelm sits back, seemingly satisfied.
“You’re - ” Arudek shoots him a look, but before he can say anything remotely inflammatory, the sound of lightning and thunder reverberates through the cart. Shortly thereafter, from outside comes a massive crash, and the cart abruptly jolts to a stop, sending its occupants tumbling to the floor. The sounds of disgruntled pack animals ring out just below the patter of the rain, and all is still for just a moment.
Kaarjeth is the first to rise. Though not the fastest, he’s a steady sort, and fell the least hard. Looking around to make sure the other passengers are alright, he says, “What….was that?”
A hardy-looking man with mutton chops pulls himself back into his feet. “Tree, I reckon. Big ‘un. Hope it didn’t crush any oxen.”
Kaarjeth nods. “Okay, uh….you guys.” He points to Arudek and Magram. “You look pretty strong. You want to help me get this tree out of the way?”
Arudek scoffs. “Are they gonna pay me?”
“Maybe.”
Magram looks taken aback. “Really? A fuckin’ tree?”
Kaarjeth shrugs. “It seems like it. That guy with the mutton chops thinks so.”
“Well, uh.” Magram pauses a second. “Yeah, sure. I’ll go help.” As the three depart, they swing around the side of the caravan to find….exactly what the man had said. Oxen stir restlessly, and a team of caravaneers works from both sides of a massive fallen trunk to lift the obstruction. They heave and lift to no avail, as the trunk seems just slightly too heavy to be moved without outside help. Kaarjeth strides forward, beckoning the others to follow.
“Come on - I think they need our help,” he says. With a sigh and a shrug, Arudek heads after him, followed closely by the other two. As they approach the tree, a dwarven man, unusually tall for his kind, turns away, massaging his hands against each other, a grimace on his face - evidently, the effort of moving the tree has injured his muscles in some way. The assembled group recognizes him immediately as Dwerrok, the caravan master.
“Evening, Kaarjeth.”
“Eve - isn’t it night?”
“Turn of phrase. Wasn’t really looking forward to asking you passengers to help us out, but we’re in a bit of a bind. Damn thing is too slippery, and we ain’t as strong as adventurer types typically are.”
“Oh, well - that’s good, because that’s exactly what we’ve come to do.”
“Well. Except me,” Wilhelm speaks up. “I’m not much use here. Unless you want me to try and lift it with magic.”
“Mm. You’re a mage?” He shrugs. “Wouldn’t have placed you as one. Too few robes. In any case. Anythin’ that helps, helps. Feel free to use your magic however you please.”
Wilhelm stretches, rolls up his sleeves. A quick incantation, a few somatic gestures later, and a translucent hand, runed, and faintly glowing blue whirls into existence just a few feet in front of him. “Now, mind you - I can’t lift much with this Mage Hand of mine. Only about….ten pounds.”
Dwerrok waves a hand, turns back to the log. “Like I said. Anythin’ that helps, helps.”
The rain pounds ceaselessly, as Kaarjeth brings his armored bulk to bear, shifting his hands as best he can beneath the tree stump. Beside him, Dwerrok assumes a similar position. From a few steps back, Wilhelm guides his mage hand behind the tree, poised to roll it forward even as the other two lift. They lift, muscles and mind straining, and slowly, but surely, the tree begins to move, groaning and creaking as the rain soaks them to the bone.
And then it crashes to the ground. The mage hand dodges out of the way, returning to Wilhelm’s side as he frowns. From the sidelines, leaning against another of the carts, Arudek laughs. “Havin’ trouble there, boys? Hey, Dwerrok, I’ll help for….a silver.”
Dwerrok shoots a glance at him, then back at the tree, then back at him. “Alright. No offense, but yer a bit of, uh. A jackass, ain’t ye?”
“You want the fuckin’ help or nah?”
Dwerrok sighs. “I want the fuckin’ help.” He digs into his pocket, fishes out a silver, and tosses it to Arudek, who catches it in one hand. A moment later, he’s standing astride the tree alongside the rest. Again, they lift, but this time, the added benefit of Arudek’s massive strength wins out. The tree, though heavy as though made from pure gold, gives, and with a heave, it is shoved to the side, where it rolls down the short incline leading off the road, and comes to a rest at the treeline, with a crash.
“Phew. Thanks fer the help.” Dwerrok wipes his brow. “Back to the road, now, I imagine.”
As the four head back to their cart, lightning crackles in the distance.
It’s silent in the cart for the next few minutes. The lightning grows more and more intense, until abruptly, the side of their cart closest to Magram’s head is ripped open, burnt apart by a bolt of lightning, thin but but deadly. Though they all manage to avoid it, the cart is not so lucky, and as the fire spreads, the four, spurred on by Kaarjeth, manage to wrangle the other passengers and get them outside.
The caravan comes to a stop, and as the burning cart is slowly put out by the rain, Magram spots something in the treeline. A figure, in armor, it’s skin - or, at least, Magram thinks it’s skin - glowing blue. It heads into the treeline and disappears.
“There!” He shouts! “Somethin’ in the trees! C’mon!”
The next ten minutes are long, and difficult. The rain soaks them to the bone and makes the ground soft and mushy, and the tree cover makes most things hard to spot, even for those like Magram and Arudek, who can see in the dark.
Eventually, they break into a clearing, closer to the mountain than they’d expected - and the sight that meets them isn’t one they’re likely to forget. A massive stone slab, hovering, runs down a line of carved gold tracks, crackling with energy. Two armored figures stand guard at the bottom of the tracks, which the group can now easily tell aren’t really people at all, but beings of pure lightning contained in suits of carved metal armor.
“It’s….an elevator?” Kaarjeth says.
Wilhelm nods. “Appears so.”
At that moment, the lightning brings notice them, immediately draw their weapons. As the elevator descends, two more leap off it, their weapons also drawn.
“Well, Arudek,” Magram says, “Looks like you’re gettin’ that fight y’wanted.”
Arudek’s eyes spark with bloodlust. “Finally.”
"Okay, hang on," Ethan interrupted again. "Let's… This just isn't right, I'm sorry."
"What's wrong?" Duke asked politely. “I thought it was going pretty well. You’re a good actor.”
"I forgot to tell you to get dice, and now we don't have any besides my set, and this just— It just doesn't feel right. This isn't how it's supposed to work."
"We have the like, Google thing, babe," Lex held up her phone to show it again. "Not a big deal."
"It is a big deal, there's just. A sound missing, the sound of dice, and all that."
Lex bit back a sigh. On one hand, if this was such a big deal, then maybe they could end early and never pick it up again. On the other, she was just starting to get maybe a little interested. Probably because of everyone else getting so into it.
"This is you guys' first time playing," Ethan continued his ramble, "and it needs to be good, alright? No missing pieces, you need that—that tactile feeling, you know?"
Lex raised an eyebrow. "You know the word tactile?"
"Yes," he was pulling out his phone behind the DM screen to double check, drawing out the word. "Aha! Yes! Of or connected with the sense of touch. Tactile. Boom."
"Great job."
"So," Holloway cut in, "we can't continue then?"
Ethan puts his head in his hands. "I— We could but. No, no, we can't. I'm sorry guys."
Hannah slumps on the table. "Can't we just get some?"
"If there are any game stores, maybe?"
"How much are they?"
"Like two bucks per set. So that's, what, twenty bucks?"
"Eight bucks," Lex corrected. "But they're more than two dollars."
The table looked at her. "How do you know?" asked Ethan.
She looked away. "We. Uh. ToyZone sells them."
His and Hannah's eyes lit up. "Perfect!" He grinned, jumping up. "That's not far, we can take a break, rush over there, and come back to keep going!"
Lex shook her head, standing with him. "Dude, Frank hates me. He'll jack up the prices the second he sees us."
"I'm pretty sure that's illegal."
"Do you think he cares?"
"Hey, hey," Duke stood, his professional voice from earlier back on. "I'll go get them. If it's such a big deal, and you really think he'll do that, then I'll go."
"Do you know what you're looking for?" Lex asked. He had seemed bewildered by the addition of dice earlier.
He gave a shrug. "I've seen Ethan's now, I'm sure I can find 'em."
"I'll come with you," Holloway said from her seat. "I know what they look like. There's a couple sets lying around the diner somewhere."
"You just have those?"
"Part of the era," she smiled, perhaps a little too quickly, and finally stood as well. "Let's not waste any more time! I'd like to get back to Wilhelm."
With that, the two left on their most important quest to get dice. The Fosters were left sitting around the table. Lex put her head down, and Hannah found a pencil and started drawing Arudek on the back of her character sheet.
After a minute or two of quiet, Ethan tapped Lex on the head and she looked up. He was just shy of nervous, moving his hair out of his face. "So."
When he didn't continue, she raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"The game."
She shrugged. "It's, uh. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. And you're good at voices. You should've been a theater kid."
With confidence regained, Ethan smugly dusted nothing off his shoulder. "I really should've been, huh? Maybe we'll both be actors."
Lex felt a pang as her old dream was brought up. At this rate, they were never going to get to California, or even just out of Hatchetfield. She would never be an actress because she'd never get to go to college—
She forcibly ended her spiral there. She was just starting to enjoy the night, starting to see what Ethan and Hannah saw in the game. She didn't need to fling herself into a depressive spiral.
Instead, she gave Ethan a little smile. "Yeah, babe. We'll be one of those actor couples that have great chemistry or whatever."
He smiled, reaching over to squeeze her hand. A moment of soft reality amidst the fantasy of the night. He understood her troubles, and he would stay with her despite them. No matter how often she doubted that, she could rely on him.
After a moment, Lex turned to Hannah, who had crossed out a couple versions of her doodles and was whispering under her breath. "How about you, Banana?" The younger girl looked up, waking from her focus. "You liking the game?"
A large grin broke across her face. "Love it. I can't wait to fight something."
Ethan laughed. "Well, you'll get the chance. Finally see that barbarian rage in action."
Hannah pounded her fists together, growling in Arudek's voice. "Outta my way. You wanna get your ass beat?”
Lex bit back a laugh. "Since when have you wanted to be so violent?"
"I asked her the same thing," Ethan mentioned.
Hannah shrugged, rolling her pencil. "Can't do this in real life. You have to be good and nice to people, even when they aren't good to you. Arudek can just punch people if they're mean to him. It's fun to do that for once."
Ethan nodded. "Living vicariously through fiction, I feel ya."
"Are people not good to you?" Lex asked. "At school, or…" At home? She refused to voice her thought. Lex would do anything for Hannah, she tried to be as best as she could, to give her the best life she could.
Hannah looked down at her drawing, continuing to roll the pencil. "...Not really."
"What do you mean?"
"They're… not good. But they're not bad." She frowned. "Usually just… ignored." Ethan and Lex fell quiet, and Hannah continued. "It's okay. I'm friends with Mr. Houston, and I talk to a couple other people sometimes. Steph lets me eat lunch with her when she's on campus. Her boyfriend is weird, but he's nice. I don't want to punch any of them."
That got a laugh out of Ethan. "Yeah, I think not punching people is generally a good idea. But Mr. Houston's great! I'm glad he's back and doin' better and all that. His car was super fucked up, remember that? Took like a whole year to fix, and then he sold it. Smart decision, honestly—"
"Let's not talk about that," Lex interjected. "Why are you so hung up on the dice?"
Ethan frowned. "It's part of the game, the experience."
"Why are you really."
There was a pause. "I thought I was prepared," he finally admitted with a sigh, "and I forgot the most important thing in the game. So, it's like… what else did I forget? We're not even that far in and now I'm just… stressing."
He slumped in his seat, and after a second, Lex reached over and rubbed his back. "Dude, dice or no dice, you're doing great."
"You've never played before, babe."
"And I'm having fun, aren't I? Because of you, and your cool little voices and your maps and all of this. I'm sure Duke and Holloway feel the same, and Hannah too, right?"
"Right," she gave a strong nod. "It's really fun, and you're really good at it. I don't want it to be over."
Ethan nearly teared up at her response. With a sniff that was only partially staged, he smiled at the sisters. "So we'll have to play again, is what you're saying?"
Hannah gave an immediate and passionate "Yes!" at the same time as Lex gave a more hesitant, "We'll see how work and school goes."
Ethan clapped. "Good enough for me! I'll get to planning more. I just hope Duke and Miss H can make it if we play more often."
"Speaking of," Lex muttered, "I hope Frank's not harassing them too bad."
The station wagon pulled up to the mall as the first shops were beginning to close. The place had become a bit of a ghost town since its prime in the late-90s-early-2000s, and many of the shops started closing by seven. ToyZone, luckily, was usually open until nearly ten.
Duke and Holloway wasted no time getting to the store, as Holloway in particular was excited to return to the game. Duke was too, but he found her interest endearing.
"I will say," he teased as they approached the store, "I do think it's funny you ended up having a character with your same hair color."
Holloway looked at him with faux-betrayal. "Excuse you, mister, but this is all natural."
"I believe you," he grinned.
Smirking, she teased back, "It's funny you picked the character just as heroic as you are."
"I'm not heroic."
"You're a good person. That's hero enough." There was a moment between them as they slowed their walk, locking eyes. Holloway broke it by adding, "Very paladin-y, too."
Duke sighed, and laughed, and caught up with her as she entered the store. "Glad to hear I'm in-character, then. I've never been much for theater or anything. Not playing in it, at least."
"Good thing this isn't theater, then."
"Good evening," chimed the man behind the counter, the second they walked in. The name tag on his shirt read FRANK — presumably, this was Lex's former boss. "How can I help you? Shopping for your kid?"
"Ah," despite himself, Duke felt his face flush. "No, no, we aren't together—"
"We can find it ourselves, thanks," Holloway interrupted, already wandering off deeper into the store. Duke started to follow after her, but Frank had seemingly sensed weakness and was going in for the kill.
"Well, even so," he grinned, "we just got a new shipment of several lovely things. The new Cabbage Patch Dolls line, latest Disney and Marvel action figures, slime kits, anything you're looking for and more."
Duke nodded, stepping towards where Holloway had gone. "Well, we're just looking for something small, I think she knows where to find them."
"Maybe, I keep this place very well-organized," he gestured to the shelves with pride. "But even so, people can get lost. What are you in the market for? You said small, are we talking Legos, animal figures—"
"Dice. For Dungeons and Dragons. We were told you might have some here."
An odd look came across Frank's face as he nodded. "I'm surprised you found someone to play with," he finally said, stepping out from behind the counter. "Come on, over here. I'm sure you'll have plenty to choose from, kids these days just don't play it as much as they used too. Or they use those online rollers, ugh. You need dice to play D&D, it's just part of the experience!"
"The tactile feel?" Duke joked as he followed him, and was met with an enthusiastic response.
"Yes, exactly that!" Frank turned and grinned at him. "You're a man of good taste. How long have you been playing?"
Duke checked his watch. "About an hour and a half."
Frank's eyes lit up. "A new player, then! In that case you need more than just dice, you'll need books, maps, I think I have some nice dice towers in stock still—"
As Frank talked, they reached the board game section, where the TTRPG stuff was located, and Holloway was already there. She was looking at one of the books Frank had just mentioned. Before he could get a word out otherwise, she looked at the back and frowned. "When did these books get so expensive?"
"I'm afraid we don't set the prices, ma'am," Frank explained. "As far as I know, they've always been a bit up there, price-wise. A lot of content and many, many hours of fun contained in these pages! And unlike those online subscriptions—"
"I don't have a computer," she cut him off, putting the book back. "Crazy we're already on fifth edition, huh?"
Frank nodded. "How time flies. It still feels like just yesterday when I played for the first time. In reality it was 1996, not long after I opened this place, some friends introduced me to it when we started selling the books."
"Second Edition?"
"Yep. Played for years, through the third edition. Just before the fourth came out I ran out of people to play with, and time to play it."
"Fourth edition was pretty shit, you didn't miss much. And they've simplified the fifth edition a lot, especially in comparison from the beginning."
Frank nodded. "How long have you been playing?"
Holloway flushed and shook her head. "Oh, I'm playing for the first time today! I just know a lot about it because I've wanted to play for a while, and the 80s is my jam, and that's when the first edition was really popular. It's like you said, just not enough time or people to ever get to actually do it."
She pulled the right heartstrings, and he nodded again. "Well. I'm glad you two have found a group." He gestured to the shelves around them. "Feel free to look around, take your pick. I'll be at the register when you're ready."
He left with a much more genuine smile than before, and once he was out of earshot, Duke looked to Holloway. "I thought you said you hadn't played before?"
"I haven't," she countered, flipping through a book titled Call of Cthulhu with a serious expression.
"You can't fool me. You knew what you were talking about, with that fourth edition thing or whatever."
"I've simply heard about it. The diner used to host a couple games on the weekend, some college kids who were real into it. Picked it up from them."
"Sure," he said, and dropped it. Holloway was secretive about even her recent past, and he respected her. But sometimes, it really, truly confused him. What was the harm in admitted she'd played before?
Instead, he busied himself looking at the dice display. As Frank had said, there were a lot of options. Just about every color of the rainbow, some mixed together, tubes and boxes of sets of seven. Holloway joined him, and the two stared in silence.
"Does it matter?" Holloway asked. "Which ones we get?"
"I mean. I imagine it'd be nice to have ones we like." With that, he reached and picked out a set of bright purple dice with gold numbering. He shook the container slightly as he smiled at Holloway. "Like his tabard, and his shield. And it looks nice."
She looked at him for a long second, and then back to the display for even longer. Finally, she picked a box of reddish-orange dice with white numbering. They sparkled under the fluorescent lights. When he caught her eye, she shrugged. "Might as well keep the red, hm?"
He nodded, smiling, and looked again at the display. "What about Hannah and Lex?"
"Maybe just their favorite colors?"
"I don't think I know that, actually."
"Sounds like you aren't a very good social worker," she teased. Then she grabbed a set of silvery, sparkling dice with black numbers. "These feel nice for Lex. She's not too flashy."
"Neither is Hannah, really," he looked between the silver set and the display. Something clicked, though he wasn't sure why, and he picked a set that was mixed in spirals of black and white, with red numbers.
He held it up to Holloway for approval. She had a tense look in her eyes for a moment before blinking it away and nodding. "Pretty. Let's… not waste anymore time."
The two hurried back to the register, where Frank rang them up. As he handed them a bag, he added, "Have fun playing for me. In exchange for the discount." He winked, and the two smiled back at him.
"Thank you," Duke said. "We will."
"Maybe we'll invite you someday. Maybe not with this group," Holloway added, "but it'd be nice to have people playing at the diner again."
Frank held a hand over his heart. "I'd be honored. Have a good night."
With their mission complete, the two raced back to the station wagon, and back to the game that awaited them in the Foster's apartment.
The dice were a smash hit. Lex had just given a simple thank you and didn't seem to care too much, but she idly rolled them and watched how the sparkles changed in the light when she thought no one was looking. Hannah laughed at the black and white scheme of her dice, not as humorous as it was unsurprised, but took great pleasure in the noises they made when they clacked together, and was the first of the table to successfully build a tower of the seven dice. Second was Duke, who was sabotaged by Holloway at least once.
"So," Ethan clapped once everyone was settled again. "Where were we?"
The next six seconds are utter chaos.
In a flash, the elemental unleashes a burst of lightning, hitting Arudek square in the chest just as he unleashes his anger in a mighty roar. He stumbles back, but a moment, before snarling and charging forward, bringing his greatsword arcing down, a mighty blow that the elemental nonetheless dodges. Arudek growls, in frenzied fury, and brings his sword to bear again, this time cutting through the elemental’s near-formless body. The armor implodes in on itself, denting and crunching as though hit by a hundred hammers, and falls tumbling to the ground.
Just beside him, nearly back to back, Kaarjeth defends himself from a crackling onslaught, the lightning in the elemental’s sword dispersing across his shield, leaving faint scorch marks in its wake. Instead of counterattacking, though, he calls upon divine power, his shield glowing for a moment. Around Magram’s head, a halo of gold appears, as he feels Kaarjath’s blessing in his very veins. Around the battlefield, Wilhelm and Arudek receive a similar blessing.
The other two elementals come in quick. Wilhelm is too far away to reasonably reach, so they go after Magram. One attack, then two, the first attack parried, but the second attack sinking deep into Magram’s side. Grunting in pain, he swings both axes in wide arcs at the elemental that wounded him, severing instantly the magic holding it together.
Wilhelm, spotting Kaarjeth begin to charge at the final elemental, weaves his fingers together in intricate patterns, throws a whip of pure lightning at the elemental. Though it doesn’t appear to damage it, Wilhelm doesn’t seem to care, for with a flick of his wrist, the elemental is pulled ten feet towards him, right into Kaarjeth’s path. The paladin’s sword glows bright for a moment, before he plunges it through the elemental’s breastplate, radiant light cutting through the metal like butter. Like all the others, it begins to implode, taking Kaarjeth’s sword with it, yanking it out of his hands. He stumbles back, turns to Magram. “Are you alright?”
Magram nods. “Yeah. I’ve taken worse.”
Kaarjeth nods, returns to where his sword lies stuck. With a final heave, he pulls his blade from the imploded wreckage of the last elemental’s armor. The glow slowly fades from the sword as he plants it in the ground, sits. “Phew. I’m glad that’s over. Holly - sorry, Wilhelm - what were those things?”
“Mm.” Wilhelm frowns, in thought. “Elementals, that much is obvious. But these weapons, this armor….it’s not typical of lightning elementals.”
“Meaning?” asks Kaarjeth.
Behind him, Arudek throws a ball of metal into a tree and laughs ferociously, his rage beginning to fade. “Usually, these ones are just rampaging masses of electricity.” Wilhelm looks up to the stone elevator, now stilled. “If I had to hazard a guess, it means something up there’s outfitting them. What, I can’t guess. A bit out of my field of study, you might say. I’m afraid I mostly focus on other planes. Less so, our own.”
There’s a moment of silence, finally broken by Magram. “Those are - I mean,” he clears his throat, sounding gruffer when he speaks again, “Them’s dwarven ruins, yup, right up there. Can see ‘em as clear as a bird….sees….a flower,” he finishes, hesitantly.
“What an odd phrase….” Wilhelm elbows him good-naturedly.
“Aw, shut up, I….I ain’t been to the surface before this. I dunno how well birds can see. Or how visible flowers are.”
“Very.”
“Very able t’see or very visible?”
“Both.”
“Mm. Anyway-”
Arudek butts in, physically placing his head between Wilhelm and Magram. “I don’t see shit up there, dwarf.”
“Wha - huh? Uh.” Another pause. “….Well, of course y’don’t, you’re not a dwarf. You wouldn’t recognize stone from wood if it hit you in the face.”
“….What?” said Kaarjeth.
“Uh. Old dwarven thing. Sayin’. Anyway, look, this shit’s pretty well hidden. Don’t want humans and stuff comin’ up to our castles or down into our mines, so we built it naturally into th’rock. Y’don’t start seein’ spectacle till you get inside.”
Arudek snorts, but acquiesces. “Fair enough.”
“And by the way? That lightnin’ thing is Dwarven too.”
“Neat. How do you know all this?” asks Kaarjeth.
“Dunno. Bein’ raised a dwarf. Also feel like I got this voice in my head sometimes tellin’ me what I do’n don’t know.”
This elicits a chuckle from the rest of the newly-formed party.
Even Arudek manages a genuine laugh, before pivoting around again to his usual attitude. “Look, I say we go up there and beat the shit out of whatever’s outfitting them. This was a good fight, but I need more.” He grins in an entirely unpleasant way, teeth bared.
“What about the caravan?” asks Kaarjeth, already concerned.
“That’s covered. One moment.” Wilhelm closes his eyes, murmurs a few unheard words. His voice, quiet as it is, still seems to him with arcane energy. “I’ve just told the caravan master to camp for the night, preferably somewhere on the other side of the road. We’ll deal with these elementals. Off to the elevator!”
A moment later, the four find themselves shooting diagonally up the mountain, faster than any of them, save perhaps Magram, have gone before. The landscape grows smaller below them until trees become a uniform patch of green and rivers become small dark lines. Then, and only then, does the elevator come to a stop. Ahead of them, a passageway is built into the stone, just large enough for them to fit, two and two. Kaarjeth and Arudek take the front, while Wilhelm and a still-injured Magram bring up the back. The tunnel grows dark, enough that Wilhelm reaches forward, places a runed, glowing magic orb onto Kaarjeth’s pauldron. It sinks into the metal, and all of a sudden the pauldron glows bright with blue light. All of those struggling with seeing anything in the dark, now realize that the tunnel seems to be slowly getting bigger. Eventually, the cavern’s ceiling soars above their heads, and they begin to realize that it is no longer a cavern, for caverns are typically natural. No, this is a hall. A Dwarvenhall, long abandoned. This is only confirmed when, suddenly, a massive door, dwarven runes carved in gold, appears directly before them. It’s opened, just slightly, and through it they can make out a silhouette, illuminated from above by a flickering light source. Cautiously, they enter.
The light source above is a massive crackling ball of lightning, akin to the two elementals wielding spears who flank the figure, which the party can now identify as a dwarf. He seems to be working a massive forge, although where once it held fire and magma, it now holds electricity. Dozens more suits of hovering, empty armor stand in rows haphazardly placed about the room, some rows intersecting or doubling up upon one another. Lighting slowly snakes its way into all of them.
And then, the figure turns. The dwarf is clean-shaven, his greying hair gathered into several great gold rings on his head. He wears robes that might once have been simple, had they not been adorned over and over with intricate goldwork built on top of itself. His right arm is entirely missing, in its place an appendage made of pure electricity, almost struggling to escape from the concentric golden rings that float in place, giving it form and shape. Magram recognizes him immediately.
“This….that’s Malg. He, uh, they called him the Lightning-Handed, or somethin’. Thought he died ages ago. I - ”
“You’d be wrong.” Malg speaks, in a voice silky-smooth, yet charged with static. “They couldn’t understand me. Not my progress. We dwarves are so limited. We take one look at the works of mages, this magic that bends the world to our will, and we deny it. And, yet….”
“Shut the fuck up, or - ”
“Quiet, Orc. They use these forges to craft powerful magic - magic items! The ultimate hypocrisy.”
“Careful, Arudek. He’s dangerous. Crazy.”
“Or so you’d say!” Malg spits. “Just like the rest. I’ll enjoy killing you.”
“You’ll have to get through us, first!” Kaarjeth steps up, striking a heroic stance, shield raised defensively and sword pointed out.
“That can be arranged.” Malg shoves his electric arm into forge, withdrawing a ring of blades that hovers about his hand. He begins to run forward, but as the party rushes to meet him, he suddenly whips forward his left hand, and a torrent of thunder echoes through the hall. Kaarjeth and Arudek stand fast, but Wilhelm and Magram are blasted across the hall. Magram grimaces as he hits the floor, the impact threatening to reopen his wound. In lockstep with one another, the armored elementals flanking Malg step forward, one for each of the two still standing. Kaarjeth manages to deflect off his shield, and though Arudek is hit, he doesn’t seem to care. The two counterstrike, the attacks driving the elementals back into a defensive position. Arudek, enraged, then turns his sights to Malg, and charges, in the process leaving himself open to another attack from the elemental’s spear, which pierces his calf. He doesn’t seem to care, though, continuing forward without slowing.
Wilhelm, for his part, intuits that if they want to stop the dwarf, they have to stop his lackeys. A glowing portal opens just above the elementals, and slippery magical grease pours out, causing them each to fall prone to the ground. Then, he turns his attention to the dwarf.
Magram, unable to reach Malg to strike him, opts instead to move as far as he can, and throws his handaxe with impeccable precision, developed over a lifetime of fighting. Malg, distracted by Arudek, fails to notice the axe until it sinks itself into his shoulder. He curses in pain, and briefly sets his sights on Magram, before returning them to Arudek. Grinning, he lunges, moving faster than Arudek can predict. The blades around his wrist head straight for Arudek’s throat.
But before the blow can hit, perhaps striking Arudek unconscious, the sound of footsteps breaks through Arudek’s rage. He looks to his left. “….Huh?” Magram, recovered from being knocked away, runs at breakneck pace, slides to a stop in front of Arudek, tries to deflect….and fails.
The blades meet a new target: Magram’s chest. They pierce deep, wounding him critically, fatally. Malg chuckles, withdrawing the blades and staring Arudek dead in the eyes. Though surrounded, even with his minions now gone, he seems to relish the pain he’s dealt. Arudek knows that look. It’s his own look.
Wilhelm throws a hand out, and Malg, with a sudden look of fear in his eyes, stops in his tracks, locked in place by Wilhelm’s powerful magic. The two elementals converge on Kaarjeth, who fends them off with his shield even as he yet again blesses Arudek.
Pushing thoughts of self reflection to the side, Arudek roars, swings - and two more critical wounds are dealt. Malg, unable to move, is entirely unable to defend himself. Arudek’s sword swings up through the rings containing his electric arm, dissipating it, and his chest and throat are sliced deep. Arudek’s sword tastes blood for the first time since he’d gotten on the caravan. Normally, he’d relish it, but this time, it’s different. Somehow, it’s different.
As the life leaves Malg’s surprised eyes, and the blood leaves his body, Arudek drops his greatsword, rushes to Magram’s side. In the background, the elementals dissipate. “Damnit! Fuck! Why’d you do that? I fuckin’ didn’t do anything except threaten you. Now, now I - I….” he shakes his head, unable to find the words. Kaarjeth comes over to him, puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Experiencing empathy for the first time, Arudek? Regret?” Wilhelm sits beside him.
“Shut up.”
“Ah - sorry. That wasn’t a jab at you. When you’re as angry as you are, I can’t imagine much makes you feel….sad.”
Arudek sighs. “Then….yeah. Regret. Maybe….”
“….Maybe I am feelin’ that,” Hannah continued, in Arudek’s voice. She looked down at the floor, and in her own voice, said, “Sorry, Lexie. Shouldn’t have been so mean.”
Lex blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"I was mean. Arudek was, and so was I, and… And now Magram's dead."
"Dude," Lex put a hand on her shoulder. "That was awesome."
"Oh my God," Duke suddenly put his head in his hands. "I just— I just saw on my sheet. I had a thing, I could've healed you, oh no. I'm sorry, Lex—"
"All of you are over-reacting, did you see what you just did?" She pointed to the map, grinning. "You just obliterated that guy! Completely destroyed him! That was awesome! Why are you moping?"
"You died!" Hannah reminded.
"To be fair," Holloway said, tapping her chin in thought. "We did all meet, what, a week ago? Or, the characters did, rather. It is a bit of an extreme reaction."
"He was our friend," Duke insists. "Doesn't matter how long it was."
"Yeah, and it was cool. Isn't that the point?" Lex looked at Ethan, who was all but hiding behind his shabby DM screen. "That's the point of the game, right? To do cool shit with your friends? I think we did that. And you let me take that hit!"
"It's homebrew," he muttered.
"What?"
"Homebrew," he peeked up. "It's not a normal rule, I made it up. Kinda stole it from Redemption Paladins, but," he shrugged. "I thought it was something you should be able to do back in high school, and I still think it now."
"Well then you're smarter than whoever the hell made this game, babe, because that was awesome and I'm glad I did it."
She pulled him over and kissed his cheek, but he buried his head in his hands once she moved back. "Yeah, but I didn't mean for that to happen! No one was supposed to die in this, that's just the most batshit luck I've ever had — of course it happens when I'm DMing and not a player. Of course."
"Look. Guys. I don't regret dying. And you know what? I don't think Magram would regret it either. Find his ghost or something, and he'll tell you as much."
"Is there anything we can do?" Duke asked Ethan. "Like, I dunno. Find the ghost and put it back in the body or something? That's a thing, right? Or was that in a movie?"
"I have no idea, but, uh," Ethan cleared his throat. "None of you guys could do anything. But, you could keep the body, get to a town, try and see if a cleric can't revive him."
"A clerk?" Lex asked.
"Cleric, babe. It's like a church guy."
"I thought Duke was the church guy."
"There's two church guys. This kind of church guy can bring you back."
Hannah slammed a fist on the table, and in Arudek's voice proclaimed, "Then we must find a cleric! And bring back our friend!"
"Wouldn't that make him undead?" Holloway asked. "Can you play undead?"
"Yes," Ethan told her. "But that's not what will happen. There are spells that can bring people back without making them undead, but usually it has to be within a certain timeframe."
"Could we make it?"
"To a city? Yes. You were on the way to one anyhow."
"Now you just get to carry a smelly corpse with you for another week," Lex smirked.
"That is," Ethan continued, hesitant, "if anyone… wants to keep playing. This was meant to just be a one-shot, a one-off thing for fun. We don't have to keep playing if you just want to bring him back. We can just, like, declare it canon."
He was met with loud protests from the entire table.
"This was fun!" Hannah shouted. "Rage is fun! Fighting is fun! And I wanna keep playing!"
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time," Holloway smiled. "If you're willing to keep running it, I don't want to miss out any longer."
"I don't think I'm all that good at this," Duke sighed. "But I'd like to keep learning. See what else is down this road."
"Hey," Lex took his hand, smiling. "I wanna keep playing D&D."