The Misplaced PC
Episode 1
Sterling Douglas was an average high school nerd with the athletic capabilities of a squid and the mind of a champion. Unlike other boys his age Sterling was terrified of girls and fast cars. As a matter of fact the only thing that he even remotely became excited about other than a math-a-thon was the magical transformation he made every friday night.
Friday nights after school he and his circle of friends gathered at his house, loaded down with their bags of books and snacks, to play Dungeons&Dragons. It wasn't like you see on t.v. though, there was no dressing up or wandering around lost in some cave. They merely used a group of set rules and regulations to act out a story told by the dungeon master, James O'Neil. On those nights the timid scrawny asthmatic group of boys transformed into rough and tumble warriors battleing evil monsters and demons to save the world and win glory for themselves and each other.
Sterling knew that this seemed kind of lame to other people who didn't understand the game or what the five of them did all night long in his parents study, but he didn't care. The game was something he enjoyed and looked forward to every weekend for the past two years since he had begged his mother for the three core books to the game for his birthday. Since then he had taken it upon himself to become the best player he could possibly be so he sat up at night reading the three books cover to cover until he knew the game inside and out. He had become so good at the game he even began to use the rules to change the outcome for his character during the game.
He had played many characters over the course of two years and killed alot of them trying crazy methods to solve a problem or not thinking before he spoke, but there was only one who stuck out in his mind as "his" character. A gnome wizard named Malus Bramblebuck currently level sixteen. Hordes of goblins and orcs had been slain at the hands of the gnome and his party and countless more bodies would litter the ground of Faerune before he was finished. Sterling couldn't wait until the next time he could play, the last session he had just gained access to eighth level spells and could not wait to unleash hell on the armys of Myth Drannor and claim the treasure him and his party had been seeking for so long in the fabled crystaline tower. Unfortuantely it was only Monday and he would have to suffer through the real world until Friday came .
The bell rang for second period and Sterling stood up from his desk in the front of the class and hurried towards the classroom door. He was quickly cut off by Dirk Johnson, captian of the football team and Sterling's long time nemisis. During Sterling's ninth and tenth grade years, Dirk had been responsible for the destruction of fourteen pairs of glasses, the reason he now opted for contact lenses not that he minded having one less nerdy stigma attatched to his name.
Dirk shoved Sterling back towards his desk tearing the smaller boy's book bag from his back. Dumping the books out on the floor he exclaimed, "You dropped something Sterling!" in the most nasal voice he could muster. Sterling's face went pale as his hated enemy picked up his weathered copy of the "Dungeon Master's Guide" and held it high in the air for everyone to see. "Well, well, well. What have we here Sterling, one of your D&D books? You're such a dork!" Dirk exclaimed as he dropped the book back on the floor and grabbed Sterling in a headlock and gave him the hardest noogie of his life. Fortunately the teacher noticed the hazing and broke them up before any more embarassment could be brought down upon him.
The teacher helped Sterling gather his things back into his bag as Dirk left the room, but as Dirk was walking out the door Sterling spotted a crumpled piece of paper in his right hand. Sterling hung his head and fought back the tears at seeing that unmistakeable piece of paper, and under his breath he quietly muttered, "Malus Bramblebuck is no more."
The rest of the day went by in a blur, Sterling couldn't help but think about how much hard work he had put into that character. There was no telling what that neanderthal would do with it, that is if he even knew what it was. To him it was a symbol of two years of hard work and planning, not just a piece of paper to be thrown away. The good times with his friends and the memories were all too well documented on that wrinkled weathered parchment. The only joy he had felt in years was just ripped from his binder and now trapped in the hands of his greatest enemy, and there was nothing he could do to get it back.
Feeling defeated and emotionaly drained Sterling wandered out to the student parking lot and climbed into his 1989 Ford Probe. He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot heading for home. Sterling stared blankly at the city as he drove until the buildings were replaced by trees and farm houses. He lived eighteen miles outside of town, on county road nineteen hundred and eleven, second house on the right. He was still in disbelief as he drove on occasionally glancing at the worn back pack in his passenger seat.
He had stared a little too long at a farm house off in the distance and when he looked back at the road a large red and blue pulsating circular object was covering the entire road. Sterling slammed on his brakes too late and his car ran into the object anyway. Sterling braced for and impact that never came. His car passed through the object as if it wasn't even there and came to a halt on top of a hill over looking a small town he had never noticed before.
At first he thought he must have ran off the road but after a short inspection of his surroundings he realized that there was no road. Confused he stepped out of his car to attempt to get his bareings. He was parked on a tall hill in what seemed to be a pasture, probably grazing land for cattle or sheep and the only landmarks he could find were unfamiliar to him. To the north were woods and a large mountain range far off in the distance and to his south a city with no paved roads or two story buildings other than the tower protruding from the center.
Sterling scratched his head as he asked aloud, "A tower?" Then he realized why the tower looked so familiar to him as he examined it for a short tiem recognizing the moon shape on its tip. His eyes widend in disbelief as he whispered to no one in particular, "Shadowdale!"
"Yes Sterling, you are much more familiar with this land than I had hoped," came a reply from the tall man standing behind him. Sterling spun to see who was speaking and was nearly knocked down in surprise whenever he saw the eavesdropper. The man was an older man with a full white beard that reached his naval, wearing a tall pointed red had and red robes. He carried a walking stick and spoke around an elaborate pipe sticking out of his mouth.
Sterling backed away in amazement as the man reached into his car and took out his backpack. He pointed at the man and said, "This can't be... you're..."
The man cut him off abruptly by saying, "I know who I am boy and what is more amazing is that you are who you are, or rather where you are. All will be explained in time," as he handed the bag to the still confused boy, " Now come along we haven't much time. Malus and the others are waiting."
Sterling nodded his head as he took the bag. Shaking his head in utter disbelief he said, "Whatever you say Elminster, this is your world, I'm just living in it."
Elminster nodded in kind and replied, "Yes young man, Faerune needs you as much as you need it.", as they both got into the Probe and drove towards Shadowdale.