Welcome Home

(Let's keep this editor's note nice and quick, shall we? The song I've used for this chapter is by Coheed and Cambria. I would write more, but I woke up at 4am, today, and it's currently 11:15AM, by the time I'm writing this. I'm feeling a little rough. Let's fucking go!)

Hearing the dice rattle and bounce into the wood and felt trays is a sound that will never get old, to me. It brings a certain level of joy and comfort that I find hard to put into words. Same can be said for the anticipation amongst everyone in the room, as Kain takes down everyone's total Initiative rolls.

The wooden Dungeon Master screen Kain's using has four panels. One of which has dry wipe tabs, that can be pulled out and moved around with ease. Magnets. How do they work? "Top of the round… Yu'ilya, you're up first." Kain speaks up, snapping me back into reality. I look over at Yuri, who's smirking as she looks at her spell sheet.

"What I'm going to do is pull and hand back behind me and then pop out from behind my cover and throw an Ice Knife at the Bugbear leader." Yuri calls out, dramatically, making all the motions she's describing. The leader is a Chieftain, which are not just the run of the mill Bugbear. They're stronger, with more health. Getting an early hit on it will be a huge advantage, but Ice Knife has an additional effect. Regardless of whether it hits the Chieftain, or not, the knife explodes and hits everyone within five feet. Which, at the moment, is just the two Bugbears that are accompanying it. Yuri rolls the D-Twenty and smiles. "That, plus six, comes to a total of eighteen." She says, calmly.

"Eighteen hits. Roll your D-Ten for damage." Kain says. Mickey, Alisteir and me all breathe sighs of relief. Bugbear's can have high Armour Class, and Chieftain's usually wear some form of armour, like a chain shirt, to raise those even higher.

Yuri rolls her D-Ten and looks a little saddened by the result. "Ah, well… Only four points of piercing damage, but now the two other bugbears need to make dexterity Saving Throws." She explains. We all look to Kain with anticipation.

"The first roll is a total of Eleven." Kain explains. Yuri quietly shakes her head, that's a miss. Kain rolls again. "The second roll is an Eight, so he fails… And then the Chieftain…" Kain rolls again. "Rolls a total of thirteen."

Yuri smiles, and even chuckles a little bit. "My Spell Save DC is fourteen, so he fails." DC means Difficulty Class. It's a target number that a player has to either meet, or beat, in order to pass it. In this case, none of the Bugbear's beat Yuri's DC, so they all take two D-Six of cold damage. Yuri rolls this damage three times, one for each target. "That's… a further six points to the Chieftain… twelve points to Bugbear One… and… seven points to Bugbear Two." We all cheer and clap, Yuri's done a good amount of damage. Ten points to the Chieftain, is a good start. But Yuri's not done. "Next, my Wildfire Spirit is going to use its flame seed attack on Bugbear One! And… that's a Sixteen to hit?"

Kain looks at the Monster Manual and sighs, with a smile on his face. "Sixteen just hits, roll your damage." We all smile, with Mickey throws a fist into the air. Yuri deals five points of fire damage to Bugbear One. "Bugbear One is looking pretty hurt, you guys, Yuri's done the deal, but now it's the Chieftain's turn and it's going to take with his Morningstar… Darius." Kain explains. It makes sense he's going after my character, out of myself, Natsuki and Sayori. He already downed Natsuki's character, in the last session, and Sayori's a little too far down the initiative order. "That's a natural Twenty."

Uh oh, that's bad. A Natural twenty is an automatic success, and the damage dice are doubled. However, Bugbear's have an ability called Brute, which adds an extra die to the damage of melee weapons. A morning star, in the hands of a Bugbear, will, normally, deal two D-Eight damage. But a Natural Twenty will double that, making it four D-Eight damage. Kain grabs the dice and rolls them into the tray. "That's Nineteen points of damage, Darius."

"Oh hell, I'm down to nine hit points!" I let out, in a panic. Losing that much health, when your character's only level two, is harrowing. Some may think that it's only game, and you can just roll up another character at any point. And while that may be true, every player put's a little of themselves into their character. That might sound like a cliché line from a Shounen anime, but there's truth to it.

Kain looks around the group and smiles. "That added some tension, didn't it?" We all laugh at that. He's right. That attack changed the entire outlook of the battle, to the point where I can see people changing up their strategy. "Leviek, you're up." Kain adds, pointing his pen at Mickey.

"Well, Leviek was going to mop up, but someone had to get hit. So…" He tries to continue his sentence, but Alisteir, Monika and I just laugh, for a short while. "So, for his first action, Leviek is going to, loudly, clap his hands together once, to cast the Toll the Dead Cantrip. So, Bugbear one has to make a wisdom saving throw, DM." Kain smirks and then rolls a total of ten, which doesn't beat Mickey's characters DC. Toll the Dead is an interesting spell. If the target has already lost some of its hit points, the target takes one D-Twelve damage, instead of one D-eight. "The Bugbear hears a ringing in it, as the sound resonates from the Dwarves hands into his target's mind and body…" Mickie explains, in great detail, as he rolls his damage."

Kain takes note of this and looks at Mickey. "The ringing in its head is too much for Bugbear one to take. It yells, and screams in agony, black blood slowly leaks out of its ears. The, it drops to its knees before falling flat on its face. Dead." Kain describes. Some of the description of this monster dying makes Sayori and Natsuki a little uncomfortable. Then again, to be fair to Kain, no one ever said death by magic was going to be a beautiful thing.

Mickey picks up a D-four, shaking it in his hand. "And he takes eleven points of damage! And, as a bonus action, I'm going to look in the Direction of the Ranger and say to him 'Get up and fight, you idiot!' and cast Healing Word, for… six points of healing."

That helped. Real healer salt disguised as an in-character insult aside, because it was pretty funny, getting my health back into double figures was helpful. I'm not quite up to full, yet, but I'm less worried now. "Darius, you're up." Is all I hear. It's time for some payback.

"Sword in both hands, I'm going to shout at Rios 'Get the other one!' before I strike the bugbear chieftain with my blade, and I'm going to put one of my spell slots to use one of my new abilities: the attack spell named Searing Smite!" I call out and rolling the die. Mickey and Alisteir look on with excitement, while the girls of the Literature Club look curious. The smoky blue die hits the felt in my dice tray. "Eighteen, plus five, is twenty-three, so I guess that hits?" Kain nods, and I pick up my dice. A D-Ten for my longsword, with two hands. "So, that's that, plus my strength modifier of three… Twelve points of Slashing Damage." And lastly, a D-Six for Searing Smite. "And five points of fire damage, as my sword is engulfed in fire, I bring it down and slash at the chieftain, setting him on fire, which he can't do anything about, until his turn, when he has to make a constitution saving throw. If it fails, it takes an additional D-Six damage."

The room lights up with cheers, with Monika hugging into me. That was big, we needed that. "It's Bugbear Number two's turn. And he's not happy that some human just set his boss on fire. So, he's going to attack Darius. And he has advantage on you, as he is flanking with the chieftain… for a twenty-three, that hit's, I'm assuming?" I nod, in response. He knows it hits me. I don't have great Armour Class. Thankfully, it wasn't a crit, this time. He rolls two D-Eight's and then sighs. "Two! Two, plus two, you take four points of piercing damage. The bugbear is clearly distracted, his leader is on fire… Trae, you're up."

We all burst into an uproar of laughter as Kain has a faux meltdown, for a little while, as Alisteir analyses the battlefield. "With my Hand Crossbow, I will strike at Bugbear two. DM, do I have advantage, as I'm flanking with Darius?" Kain shakes his head, indicating that he doesn't have that. Which would make sense. Alisteir rolls a Yellow D-Twenty. "Twenty-three to hit?" The Dungeon master nods and Kain rolls his damage die, which is a D-Six. He doesn't look happy with the result. "Hold on, I need to know…" Is all he says and rolls a D-Eight. "Crud! Should've gone with the melee… "Uh, I rolled a one, so, five points of piercing damage, and no sneak attack."

Kain nods, in an understanding fashion. He's been there. So have I, that sucks. Rolling a one for damage is the very worst, even if your modifier is decent, like Trae's is. "Shrk! The arrow pierces into the bugbears flesh, causing the creature to roar in pain. Rios, you're up. Moniq, you're right after her, so, start planning your next move." Kain informs the Sayori and Monika. As expected, Monika goes straight to her the handbook, to look at spells. I notice the took a level two spell, when we levelled up. Was that an accident? She won't be able to cast that, until her character level's up.

Sayori smirks, in a way I haven't seen before. "Taking the order from Darius, I charge at Bugbear number two! Attacking with my maul… And I'm going to put my Divine Smite on it!" Alister, Mickey and I yell out a cheer, as Sayori rolls for her attack. "Natural Twenty!" And the whole room roars out again. Seeing Yuri and Nastuki putting energy into this is a fantastic feeling. This attack is going to hurt this Bugbear. Normally, a maul is a two-handed weapon that does two D-Six of damage, and Divine Smite deals and extra two D-Eight. A crit doubles all the dice. Sayori rolls the weapon damage first "Fourteen points of bludgeoning damage! And…" She picks up the four D-Eights for the Divine Smite. "Eight, sixteen… Twenty-three, twenty-nine! Points! Of radiant damage! For a total of… forty-three!"

All words escape me, in this moment, escape the room. Sayori absolutely obliterated this bugbear. There's no way it survives something like that. "It… Sayori, it only had twenty hit points, normally, and Trae took five of those away, before you attacked. So, as a result, the creature is flung backwards from such a powerful blow from a glowing maul, the light transfers to its body and disintegrates it. There's nothing left, it's gone. Moniq, you're up. Natushi, you're on deck."

Monika looks up and claps her hands together, rubbing her palms. "Okay! I'm going to look into the eyes of the monster and whisper. 'Hurting my friends is punishable by death. Your life is now forfeit!' and I cast Dissonant Whispers. It has to make a wisdom saving throw against my DC of fifteen!" Kain rolls the dice and, happily, shakes his head and Monika rolls her dice. "Whoo! Alright, so that's twelve points of psychic damage, and it has to run away, as it's reaction, up its movement speed."

Kain nods, impressed. "Okay, so it moves back down the hallway, from where it chased Natushi and Trae, holding its head in both pain and terror… And speaking of Natushi, it's your turn!"

Natsuki stands up, excitedly. "Oh, it's payback time. I chase the Chief down the hallway, with my unarmoured movement of forty feet, leap towards it and, BAM, Superman Punch it in the face!" She rolls her die for an attack roll and yells. "Yeah! Twenty-Six! That's a hit, so…" After rolling her two D-Four's, which I need to ask her about because Monk Punches aren't supposed to hit that hard. "So, that's nine points of damage, and then I'll spend a Ki point to use my Flurry of Blows, which gives me two more unarmed strikes. So, I'll roll my attacks first… Oh hell, that's low. Sixteen?"

Kain nods. "Sixteen is it's Armour Class, so it just hits. Do me a favour and roll your second attack, before we roll damage."

Natsuki pumps the air. "You got it, chief! And the second attack is… Twenty-four! Let's roll damage, first attack, which is a thrusting back Elbow, following the Superman Punch, deals twelve points! And the second attack, which is a leaping Sobat kick… Deals… Fourteen points!"

Kain looks up and says those seven magic words that any Dungeons and Dragons player just loves hearing, no matter how many times it's said. "How do you want to do this?"

We all burst into cheers, but none louder than Natsuki. After her character went unconscious in the first combat, this must feel like the perfect comeback. "As I lay in the kick, it cracks the skull of this evil being, and I turn to face the group, growing in a dramatic martial art pose, and then it falls to the ground, just behind me! I follow it up by saying to the group 'Route's clear. Let's see what we can find.' And then I turn around, stepping on the creature, instead of around it."

We all applaud that. And then get back into character. I choose to stay in place and keep watch, while healing myself up. Sayori stays with me and uses her Lay on Hands ability, and I use One of my Hit dice, to get the rest of my health back. Yuri found some torches on the walls and lit them using her produce flame cantrip, before heading in with the rest of the group. Leaving the two characters with the biggest Health Pools to stand watch is smart. Especially if Sayori is going hard with the Smiting of our enemies with four dice per attack. Although, she only has one of those left. Yuri and Mickey have two spell slots, as does Monika. And like Sayori, I only have one left. We need to be a little careful with using up our abilities, as well as our health, going forward.

So, once I hear they've found a statue of a dwarf with horns, holding a gem that looks like it's worth one-hundred-and-fifty gold coins, all I can think is to either leave it alone, or check for traps. There's absolutely no way something that valuable isn't trapped, in some way.

"I want to check this room for traps in this hidden room in the back, DM." Alisteir says, kind of slowly. Thank God. "Would that be a Perception check? Or another skill proficiency?" That's a good question. Generally speaking, Perception checks are used, in moments when you're using the body's senses. However, Kain shakes his head.

"No… No, that would be an Investigation check. Because you're looking for something specific." He answers. That makes sense, as well. "So, roll me an investigation check, would you kindly?" He asks Alisteir.

Alisteir rolls his D-Twenty and nods, content with the result. "Okay, because of my Expertise, I get a plus Seven to investigation checks, so that's twenty-one total." He informs us. That's huge! Alisteir and Mickey exchange a loud high five, and then shake their hands to take some of the heat off. Which is hilarious. They high fived each other so hard, they hurt each other!

"Okay!" Kain starts, looking over at the rogue. "You can tell, by looking and the horned dwarf statue that it's trapped. It's a kind or pressure system, that activates when the gem is lifted. It can be disabled, but it won't be easy."

Alisteir thinks about this, and then shrugs. "I turn to Yu'ilya and Leviek and say, 'You should back up, this could get messy.' And then I pull out my Thieves' Tools." Oh hell, this might not be good. He rolls the die; it bounces up out of the dice tray and lands back in. I can't see the result, but there's a smile on Alisteir's face. Meaning either he's got a goof result, or a comically awful one. "Twenty total. I rolled a fourteen on the die."

We all blow a collective sigh of relief. Except for Kain, who looks at Alisteir with a very serious expression. Oh no, Trae's dead. And I can tell, by looking around the table, I'm not the only person thinking this. "Nah, I'm messing with you! You made the check!" Kain responds. We all blow huge sighs of relief. "The trap is disabled, the jewel is yours, along with that new toy, just laying on the ground, with a Skeleton. It's been decapitated, so the belt with a revolver and thirty bullets are yours."

As you can expect, Alisteir took it with almost no thought at all. Along with a boat load of gems found around the area, as well as hidden in a pillar alcove filled to the brim, we've accumulated a potential for three hundred and fifty extra gold, on top of our reward for finishing this mission.

"Rios and Darius, can you both make me perception checks, please?" Kain then asks, as the group starts making their way back to meet up with us. This might not be good. We'll see. Sayori looks please with her roll. I can't say I feel too badly about mine, either.

"I got a fifteen, total, Dungeon Master." I inform him. Not great, but it could be worse.

"Nineteen total, Kain." Sayori follows that up. If my roll doesn't uncover anything, hers will. That's good for us.

"You hear a number of creatures, coming down the ruined settlement. Do you either of you speak Orcish?" We both shake our head. Why did I take Sylvan again? It's not likely to come up in this campaign. "Okay. That's not good. But, Rios, you can make out seven different voices, and none of them sound friendly."

"Alright, I turn to the group and say, 'I can hear seven voices, all of them sound threatening. We should set up an ambush.' And then I run and hide behind a pile of rocks, the one closest to the ruined settlement that we came through."

Following this lead, Leviek and I get up next to Rios, with Natushi and Yu'ilya behind one pile, while Moniq and Trae behind the other. "Alright. So, now your ambush is set up, something strange happens. You can hear a kind of chanting, like something's casting a spell… and then the lights go out. Everything is quiet and dark…" Kain is trying to ramp up the tension. "What would you all like to do?"

Immediately, Mickey pipes up. "I grab my holy symbol and whisper 'Guide us to victory. Grant us our salvation.' And I cast bless on Rios, Darius, and myself, which means they we'll get an extra D-Four to their attack rolls and saving throws, for up to a minute. And then I draw my axe, it's battle cleric time." Thanks Mickey, that's a big help. Each round of combat is meant to take up six seconds of in game time. So, we've got ten rounds of this. It may have left him with only one spell slot, so he needs to approach this battle differently.

"I'm going to draw the revolver and check it, see it's loaded, and prepare for the worst." Alisteir knows more about that gun, than all of us. He might have made the right call, in using it. And even if he isn't proficient with it yet, his dexterity modifier is high enough that not being proficient with it may not be all that big of a loss. Still, Seven Orcish voices is enough to be concerned about. I hope he made the right call…

Monika looks up from her character sheet, at that moment. "I notice that, with my Darkvision, and I say to him 'You've got this, Trae.' And give him Bardic inspiration, which is a D-Six that you can add to the next attack roll, saving throw or ability check you make in the next ten minutes. Once you use it, however, it's gone." She informs him. Alisteir nods, and I feel a little more relaxed. He'll know when to use that. "And the next thing I do is rub my palms together, creating a globule of light, that multiplies into four as I open my hands, casting the dancing lights cantrip, which I sent about ten feet upward and split into a square formation big enough to light as much of the courtyard as possible."

Good girl. At most, the globules are now twenty feet apart from each other, and this courtyard isn't massive. She's probably lit up most of it. Kain's face is expressionless, as the rest of us tell him we're drawing our weapons, while Yu'ilya calls forth her Wildfire Spirit. "Okay, so as the lights come back on, the first you all see is two packs of three Orcs. One pack surrounding you three, Darius, Leviek and Rios. The other three appearing behind you all, on the steps leading to the foyer. Weapons drawn and angry as hell, the one who looks like the leader let's a loud, mighty guttural roar 'GROOAAAAAAHHHR!' from behind the other two Orcs accompanying him. And they prepare to attack, roll your initiative!"

Six Orcs doesn't seem so bad. We outnumber them ant least. I pick up my die and roll it for-hold up. "Kain, did you say six Orcs? As in one less Orc than the seven voices Rios heard, earlier?" Kain nods in response. That's worrying. "Okay… Is there anything we can work out about our enemies, using passive perception? Do any of them look like a leader? Or do any of them look like magic users?"

Kain scratches his chin as he thinks about this. "Not with passive perception, no. That would be a history check, as you'd be trying to recall anything about Orc culture form anything you've read in the past. However, we are now going right into combat, as you have been ambushed and we're now in initiative. So, who rolled over twenty?"

"I got twenty-four." Natsuki says, quite quietly. I think the situation has hit her, as it all sinks in with the rest of the group: There's a seventh enemy that we can't see.

"Twenty, for me." Alisteir follows up. I let Kain know I got a total of nineteen. Sayori rolled a twelve, Mickey got a nine, followed by Yuri with a seven, and Monika's at the back with a five. Pretty spread out across the field. I just hope no one of the orcs rolled higher, especially the one we can't see. I'm not sure that's possible, though. Orcs don't have very high dexterity stats if memory serves me right. If that's the case, at Least Natsuki is going first.

"Top of the round, Natushi, you're up first, with Trae on deck. For your benefit, the nearest opponent is an Orc with a crossbow about twenty feet away from you." Kain confirms, for me. Bingo! Alisteir right after her is a good sign, too.

"Oh, that one's about to get it. I move up to its engagement and punch it in the face!" She shouts and rolls her die. "Natural Twenty!" Great start! Natsuki's been rolling two D-Four's for her melee attacks, from the start of this campaign. A crit, for the opening attack, means four D-fours. Come on, Natsuki, go for the one hit kill, we need it. The four caltrop-like dice hit the pink felt tray. "Oh, yes! That's good, I think, let's see… Four, six, eight, ten, plus five, fifteen points of bludgeoning damage, as I hit the Orc under the chin with an upper cut!"

Kain nods, his expression tells the whole story. He was not expecting that. "Yup, that sure does bludgeon him. So much so, that his body comes off the ground by about a centimetre or two, and he falls on his back, limp. He's out of the fight, good job! Trae, you're up, with Darius on deck next. Trae, there was two Orcs in your line of fire, blocking the one at the back, but Natushi took one out."

Alisteir and Mickey high five Natsuki, after that, and so they should. We have at least a one-man advantage, thanks to that kill. "She sure died, so I will fire, with advantage, at the one Orc stopping me from striking the leader. That's a five and a sixteen, so that sixteen, plus four, is twenty total." Kain nods and Alisteir pulls out a D-Six for sneak attack, and two D-eights! That revolver might be a little on the strong side! "I deal Nineteen points of piercing damage, as I aim upward, because he's at the top of the stairs, and put a bullet through his chest and, hopefully, through his heart."

"Jesus, Christ, you guys…" Kain lets out, in disbelief. "Alright, yeah. The bullet goes in through his skin on his chest, and come out at the back, ricocheting off the wall and dropping to the floor. The Orc, falls and, to add insult to injury, he falls on his axe." We all laugh at that description. It's such an evocative image, in the mind. As far as a string of bad luck goes, that Orc is a little pitiful. "Darius, you're up. You're surrounded by Orc's with a spear, a battle axe, and a Light crossbow about ten feet away from Leviek. Right in front of you is the one with a spear."

"Yeah, he's not going to be standing for long. I'm going to put both hands on my long sword and swing at his neck, and I'll… Hmm, hold on." Let me think about this for a minute. I have either favoured foe, or a spell slot for searing smite. I can use favoured foe a number of times equal to my proficiency bonus, which is twice. "… Yeah, I'll use favoured foe, to add a D-Four to my damage and… Ooh, yikes…. Ten, plus a one, on the D-Four from the bless, plus five is sixteen?"

"Sixteen hits, roll the damage." Kain informs me. Thank God that hit. Now all I have to do is one shot this thing. If I can give us a lager enemy count, that'll help. Here comes the roll…

"So, a D-Ten for my sword with two hands, and a D-four for the now marked Orc. Hmm… nine, plus three, plus another three for my strength, is fifteen points of slashing damage." I can't say I'm too pleased about it, but Natsuki gives me a big thumbs up. Oh! "Oh! That's a kill!" Fifteen was the damage Natsuki did to the first Orc. I forgot, after that rather over the top description of Trae's kill. "So, after that, I start making my way towards the other Orc with the spear. Can I make it that far?" That guy needs to go, honestly. The fact that he was behind two foes has me worried.

"Yeah, that just about does it. The keenness of your blade cuts through the creature's neck, like a hot knife through already melting butter. The head flies up in the air and lands at your side, while the rest of the body falls forwards. Dead." Another uproar of cheers erupts from all seven of us, but not a long or loud one. Kain continues after that moment. "And as you walk up to the other spear wielding Orc, you don't make it all the way there, but you're ten feet away from it, you notice marking on his body, that may indicate that he's a spellcaster."

I thought so. Eye of Gruumsh. That's not good. But how was it able to put the lights out? My only guess is the dispel magic spell, which Kain must have given it. But that's a level three spell, so, what else is in store for us if that's a thing this Orc caster can do. I'll worry about that later. We've got a good upper hand. Now we just need to keep this momentum going, for whenever our seventh foe shows up. "It's the turn of Orc Number one, who just watched his buddy get murdered by Darius, but can't get out of your engagement, Rios. So, he's going to swing his battle axe at you, with two hands." He rolls the D-Twenty and "Oh, come on! I guess a total of eleven, doesn't it? Because, if not, it's your turn."

Sayori laughs, almost maniacally. I did not expect that. And judging by the surprised expressions on everyone's face, neither did they. "Nope! My AC is seventeen! And now it's time to swing the Maul of Justice across this Orc Meanies stupid, ugly head!" Bless her, she even uses adorable words, when she tries to sound aggressive. It's a little funny. "Twelve, plus six is eighteen!" Kain informs her that hits, and Sayori rolls dice and "Dammit! I rolled a five and a one for damage."

"Sayori, you took the Great weapon fighting style, when you levelled up, right?" Mickey asked her. Sayori nodded, but with a perplexed expression. "That means you can re-roll any damage roll of a one or two, but you have to keep the result of the second roll."

"Oh! Okay, let's do it!" Sayori shouts, with renewed happiness. "That's a four, plus the six, and my strength mod of four… fourteen points of bludgeoning damage?"

"Aww, it's not quite enough…" Kain, sadly, replies. "You take an almighty swing at the Orc, catching it in the chest, which not only winds it, but drops it to a knee and coughs up a lot of blood, but it still lives. I'm so sorry." Sayori doesn't seem too downtrodden. My guess is because she worked out that, if fourteen isn't enough to strike the creature down, but fifteen is, then this Orc only has one hit point left. "Leviek, it's your move."

"At least now we know these Orcs, at least, have fifteen hit points, Sayori. That's good to know." Yuri informs the group Sayori nods, quickly, like the adorable doofus she is. Something tells me she didn't quite work that out, afterall. More fool me, I suppose. I quickly look back at Yuri, as she turns to Mickey. "Sorry, Mickey, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Don't worry about, it. I was just going to move up to the Orc Rios just destroyed and put an end to it's suffering. I walk up to it and place the blade of my battle axe at it's throat and say 'Your life is forfeit. Rest in peace.' And then I just cut it's throat!" That's… Brutal. Almost as brutal as my one hit decapitation, earlier. "I guess seventeen hits, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'm not even going to make you roll damage, it has one hit point. You slice it's throat open, and it bleeds out on the floor, like a pig." For a Cleric from a relatively peaceful domain, that was heartless. I may need to have an in-character conversation with Leviek about that. In any case, there's only two more Orc's left, that we can see. Kain claps his hands together. "The Orc with the Spear, at this moment, chants something in Orcish. And runs his hands along the length of his spear and casts Spiritual Weapon, forming a spear of light, five feet away from you, Yu'ilya, as you've been left alone, and unguarded. That's a Natural Twenty…"

Oh hell. We left Yuri unguarded. "Don't worry, this isn't a super strong spell, even with a critical hit, I'm sure I'll survive this turn." She says, confidently. She makes a good point. Two-D-Eight damage isn't the worst thing her character could go through at this point. Kain looks up with an expression that suddenly has me worried.

"Yeah, you take maximum damage, which is seventeen points of force damage, as the spiritual spear pierces your skin, but leaves no mark, nor cause you to bleed." He explains to Yuri.

Yuri nods, suddenly not feeling so confident. "I scream in agony and drop to one knee." I see her changing her hit points down to a single figure. That doesn't look good.

"I almost don't want to do what I have in mind next…" Kain starts, looking remorseful. That makes it even worse. There's an awkward silence that falls over the table.

"Do it." Yuri says, sadly. We all look at her in shock. Which, quite rightly, she responds to by shaking her head. "We can't keep pounding the DM with good luck. Plus, if what could happen does happen, it'll make for some great storytelling." Yuri follows up with that, in a slightly happier tone. I can't deny her that. She's right, on both accounts. Kain's bound to get sick of our high rolls and our tale of hero's going just a little too well. And it's not like Yuri can't just make another character. That said, I think we all really like Yu'ilya. She's been amazing in combat, and her atrocious charisma has been a treat, in the comedy department. "Do it, Kain."

Kain nods, with a very serious look on his face. "The Orc, that just attacked you with his spiritual weapon, screams at you, in Orcish… Do you understand that language?" Yuri nods. "Okay, what you hear is 'Your death, in the halls of this devil's worshipping grounds, will be made all the better, knowing that no one will remember you, or your comrades.'"

Yuri looks up, with a single tear in her right eye. "I cough once and respond, bitterly, in its own language 'If it's to hell I shall go... then my friends shall live on and be my legacy. And I shall see you down there, cretin!'"

Kain nods. "The Orc laughs, loudly, and then says, in common 'Not with him as your Executioner. Not with him as THEIR Executioner!' And at which point, behind you, a much larger Orc, in both height and build, covered in battle-worn chain mail, steps out from being invisible…" We all shout, some of us angrier than others. "And he brings down this massive great axe into the spine of your kneeling body and… That's another Natural Twenty." He adds, solemnly. This sucks. "Okay, so damage is doubled, here. So that's two D-Twelve. However, this Orc War Chief also a skill that adds a D-Eight, to the damage of any melee attack, so that get's doubled." He rolls the dice and does not look happy with what he got, either he didn't high enough to kill her outright, or he rolled too high. You take thirty-two points of slashing damage, which takes you way over your hit point threshold."

The girls all look to us with mixed expressions of confusion and dejection. They're new to the game, and I hoped it wouldn't be this soon that I would have to explain this rule. But here we go. "When your hit points reach zero, your character normally has to make Death Saves. However, they can still take damage, up to their hit point maximum. Which, in your case, Yuri, was twenty-two…"

Yuri nods. "I think I understand. Because I still had five hit points left, to kill me outright, the War Chief would have had to do twenty-seven points of damage, minimum?" I nod back at her. "Which he succeeded in. Did anyone see it?"

Kain nods "Everyone that isn't Rios and Leviek. If you want to leave the table, Yuri, you can. No one would stop you, right?" We all agree to that. Yuri stands up and, perhaps not too surprisingly, she grabs her dice and a spare handbook, as well as another book that I didn't get a good enough look at, along with a spare set of character sheets, and heads up to her room. "I guess she has something in mind?" All we can shake our heads and or shrug. Kain shrugs back and says "The War Chief isn't done. He uses his bonus action to roar, proudly, and use its aggressive feature, to move up to thirty feet towards another opponent, which is you, Darius, and uses his multi-attack to take his second swing at you for… A natural one."

A huge sigh of relief is blown, there, from everyone in the room. He couldn't outright kill Darius in one shot, even with max damage on a crit. But good grief, could he ever come close! Kain's thinking. That can't be too good, either. "You know what, Darius? Because he rolled an automatic failure, I'm going to let you take an opportunity attack against the War Chief. But, at disadvantage, because he came at you with a speed very unbecoming of an Orc. So, it caught you off guard. Added on to that with the sudden death of a friend, you're probably not in the best frame of mind, right now."

What he says makes sense. Okay, I'll do it! "I side step the swing of the axe and, with vengeance in my mind, I grab the sword with both hands and bring the blade down across his back! 'You BASTARD!' I yell at it and…" I grab two D-Twenty's and roll them, happy enough with the result. "So, I rolled a nineteen and a twelve. So that's twelve, plus five, is seventeen. Oh! And I'm going to put Searing Smite on this!"

"Seventeen hits! Your blade glowing and then setting alight before it comes down. Roll your damage." Kain's words are a blessing. I might be getting just a little too into the role-playing aspect of the game, but that's what Dungeons and Dragons is supposed to be! I inform Kain that this murderous prick takes thirteen points of slashing damage, and three points of fire damage, and is now on fire. "Okay, so, at the start of the War Chief's next turn, he has to make a constitution saving throw and take one D-Six more fire damage if he fails, cool. Moniq, you're up.

Monika looks furious! I thought I was a little too into the role-playing aspect of DnD. "With my rage and fury, I look the War Chief and say, 'You are the one no will remember, you prick!' and with that, I cast vicious mockery. Make a wisdom saving throw, please Kain?"

Kain rolls a D-Twenty and isn't too surprised by the result. "I got a ten. It has a zero mod for wisdom. Roll your damage, and his next attack is made at disadvantage."

Monika, forgetting this spell is only a single D-Four for damage, then chuckles. "Of course, the damage is low… It's three points, in fact." This gets a much louder cheer than it deserves. Though, most of it is made in a sarcastic matter, going by the laughter that follows, from everyone in the room. That brought our spirits back up.

"It's the Crossbow Orc's turn, and it fires at Leviek, after how brutally he murdered his buddy. Seventeen to hit, Leviek?" Kain asks. Leviek laughs and shakes his head. "Awesome! Natushi, top of round, back to you. I should point out that the Orc mage, next to you, is openly laughing and, at a guess, because you can't speak Orcish, mocking you. What do you do?"

"'Shut. Up.' I say, tightly, before I punch him in his stupid face with my right hand! Twenty-two to hit?" Kain nods. "Eleven points of damage, and then I say, 'You don't get to laugh' and then I use one of my ki points, because I got one back after that short rest, for flurry of blows… Twenty to hit, with a left-handed punch?" Kain nods and Natsuki rolls again. "Another eleven points, and before my final attack, I say, 'You don't even deserve to live!' and that's a Natural Twenty… for a final thirteen points of damage, as I catch him with a spinning roundhouse kick from my right heel. 'Your time on this realm is at an end! This is for Yu'ilya!' I yell, and that's my turn."

"Wow! Like I can follow that up." Alisteir says, remembering he's next in line. Natsuki dealing that much damage in three goes is huge, though. She has every right to laugh, the way she's doing so. "Okay, I aim down my sights at the Orc Mage and shoot, with advantage. Twenty-two! That seems to be a magic number for us!" He's right. That number seemed to come up a lot, at this session. "Oh, and Kain, that's twenty-four points of damage, as I shoot this fucker in the head. I then point my gun towards the War chief, while he barrel's still smoking, and shout 'NO FUCKING MERCY!' at him."

"Yeah, you do! The bullet pierces its head but doesn't come out this time. It just lodges itself into the brain. The mage flies back from the impact and lands on his neck and shoulder area. Darius, you're up, Rios, you're on deck." Kain explains, being quick, brief, and blunt with the description. I think, like us, he wants to take a break to process everything that just happened.

As for me, I know exactly what to do. "Same as the last turn favoured foe mark, on top of my sword, two hands, I yell at the top of my lungs, as I bring the blade upwards, across the War Chief's chest, for a hit of… twenty-five!" That feels good. "And that's fourteen points of slashing damage!"

I can see Kain taking down the hit, subtracting the damage. "Shing, the blade cuts through the armour the flesh of the war chief, who yells out in pain, and then laughs at you, indicating it's still got some life force to spare." The added sound effects, along with the embellishment through physical motions, is a nice touch. I could get used to that. "Rios, you're up, Leviek, you're next."

Sayori claps her hands together, looking at her sheet. "I'll to turn to Leviek, point to the one Orc with the crossbow, and say, 'Take care of that guy! I've got revenge to serve!' and then I'll bolt off to the War Chief and Swing with my maul, and I'll spend my last spell slot to use my divine smite! Oh, my god, that's a Natural Twenty!" Sayori screams, loudly and happily. Oh, this guy is toast. Eight Dice. And from my vantage point, she hasn't rolled anything below a four. I can see her counting up and then losing count. "Sorry, I got this… Ten… Twenty-four points of bludgeoning damage… And thirteen… Twenty-three points of radiant damage!"

That's a total of fifty points! If it's not dead, after that assault, it's gotta be close. Kain nods, a lot, with a big smile on his face. "You can hear bones creak, as you bring the might of your divine maul down across the back of the War Chief. It's still standing, and still chuckling, out of pure stubbornness. But he is hurt, and hurt really bad after Rios, damn near crippled it. That was a great shot!" We all high five and hug Sayori, one after the other. Her first crit, and she got exactly what we needed. "Leviek, you're turn."

Mickey takes in a deep breath and exhales it, suddenly, feeling a rush of energy he so desperately needed. "Wow. Well, taking Rios's lead, I look at the Orc with the crossbow, scowl at it and yell, 'Pick a God and pray!' as I hold my hand out towards it and cast Guiding Bolt, with my last spell slot… That's a twenty-one to hit?" Kain smirks and let's Mickey know he hit. This is four D-Six of radiant damage, coming at this one Orc. "That's fifteen points of radiant damage. The bolt of light slams into this crossbow wielding Orc, with the worst aim possible, and lights him up like a Christmas tree, wracking his body in pain. The light fades, and the corpse falls, burned by the light of nature's divine retribution."

The expression on Sayori's face tells the whole story. It's like she just worked something out. Kain nods. "Okay, well, the War Chief, who is now beaten down and on his own, recognises this is a losing battle. However, rather than beg for mercy, he simply says, while still chuckling 'Take my head. If you want to get out of here alive, you will take my head.' And then he drops his great axe and drops to his knees. He has surrendered, but you are still in combat. Moniq, your turn.

Monika, with a sad, hurt expression (damn, she's a good actress), stands up from the table leans in to Kain. "I get this close to him, pushing passed both Rios and Darius, and I say, 'Even in death, your soul will continue to suffer. It will be tortured, wracked with pain, and it's cause will be every single person you've killed.' And I cast dissonant whispers." She sits back down next to me, and I don't honestly know whether to be afraid of her, or even more attracted to her, than I already am.

Kain rolls his saving throw and shakes his head. "That's a fourteen, but I believe your Spell Save is a Fifteen, am I right?" He asks.

Monika smiles, politely. "Yep, and he takes, eleven points of psychic damage." She doesn't look happy now. In fact, she looks conflicted.

Kain, letting an uncomfortable silence fall over the room, for a about fifteen to twenty seconds, finally looks up at Monika. "How do you wanna do this?"

We all yell, cheer, chant Moniq's name, with Mickey and Natsuki leaping up from there seat and hugging each other. Sayori dances around the couch, with Kain joining to form the world's only two-person conga line. Alisteir takes cover, curling up into a ball to not trip up Sayori. And then Mickey steals a fist bump from Alisteir. It is the craziest, borderline paranormal, celebration. Way over the top. But we didn't care. "Well done, sweetheart." I whisper to Monika, putting one arm around her.

Once everybody who wasn't seated, oh so suddenly, has returned to sitting down, the whole atmosphere calms again. That's when Monika, with a big beaming smile on her face, explains it all. "As I'm talking to the War Chief, his whole body convulses, his head shakes. His eyes close in terrifying pain, as the whispers start to implant visions of what I'm describing to him, in horrifyingly graphic detail. This causes him a great ordeal of pain, until finally, his eyeballs explode, and blood pours from his eye holes, as well as his mouth, nostrils and earholes."

Wow. She really wanted to make sure that we knew this creature was dead. I am still trying to figure out whether to fear her, or not. None the less, this combat is over. We spend the next hour resting, cutting off the War Chief's head, and talking through our plan for getting home. And what to do with Yu'ilya. Eventually, after throwing the Orc head at the rest of the Orc Troupe that was waiting outside, and threatening them, literally at gun point in Trae's case. The two dwarves, Dazlyn and Norbus, came to find our party, as we were in there way long than they anticipated. As soon as they saw Yu'ilya, they understood, and lead us down the mountain Rios volunteered to carry the body of Yu'ilya down the hill. Kain asked Yuri to come downstairs for this. Which, she does.

Kain has the two dwarves lead us to a forest grove, just off the path back to Phandalin. We all say out goodbye's to Yu'ilya. Even Yuri, out of character, puts the character sheet into a folder. We won, but it doesn't feel like a victory. "Well, guys…" Kain started with a light hearted ton, trying to bring a happier end to the session. "It's time to level up! I'll be generous and say you don't have to roll, again, for this level. Just take the maximum amount possible." It's a good gesture.

We've all reached level three Which means most of us get to pick a subclass, or Archetype. The only exceptions being Yuri, for obvious reasons, and Mickey. Natsuki role plays this by going to her room, on her own, to meditate in peace. Alisteir has gone out to study his craft, whatever that means. Moniq has been described as face down in a tome on her inn room, with a bottle of wine. As for me… "Darius is going into the woods, to observe the wildlife. In the dark."

Sayori sighs and looks at her character sheet, after changing her hit point maximum. "So, in character, I'm going to turn to Leviek and say to him, 'You pray to Sylvanus, don't you? The Oak Father? I think he has been guiding me this whole time. I see an ancient looking oak tree in my dreams. It doesn't talk to me, but… I can feel it calling out. I guess, I'm trying to ask if I might join you in prayer, some time. So that I may get a clearer answer of what my path is.' And then I pass him a whisky."

Mickey smiles. "He downs the whisky in one gulp and slams the glass down. 'Okay. Why not join me now?' And I stand up and start to leave the Inn." He explains. Sayori, naturally, mentions Rios follows. Kain brings an end to the session here, and we all collapse into the back of our seats. Apart from Yuri and Natsuki, who head upstairs to their rooms. This was a long session. But with the obvious Character death aside, it was fun. I can't wait for the next one!