Iason leads Killua into hidden ruins, forcing them to stumble across the others in the group.

A shadowed figure dropped into the room below, a dimly lit light flickering in the otherwise dark room. Someone had been here recently, at least, that's what anyone would think…

You already know the story, why anyone would come to these decrepit old ruins. There's a treasure hidden somewhere deep, in these forgotten lands… still yet to be plundered. A magical tool that could be used to help reclaim what was once lost to you… or so the rumours have been spread.

Nobody knows for certain what the magic item does… just that it's rare and still hidden within the ruins.

But… if the rumours are true, then you need to claim it for yourself.

There were murmurs amongst the group, Iason now smiling "For the moment, we'll start with Killua's character. I'll slowly introduce one at a time… just so we aren't bombarded with five characters at the start. It's more to help Killua get used to the mechanics."

Meleoron groaned, "Leaving us on the back bench I see…"

"I will curse your character and drop him back to level one."

"You wouldn't dare…" The man glared.

"Maybe I'll drop him into a pit" His expression shifted, smiling cheekily "and kill him… instantly."

"It's fine if you introduce them sooner, rather than later." Killua interrupted; their demeanour was calm, unusual. It was quite the opposite of everyone else in the room. It wasn't that they were uninterested in the story, it's quite the opposite. It's just they're used to being apathetic "Daniel ran me through a mock story, a basic introduction to how the game is played via a tavern story."

"Awesome, see Meleoron… you will get to come in sooner, rather than later."

"Great…" The man sarcastically replied, arms now crossed as he pouted.

"Since Daniel introduced you, I'll continue as normal." Clearing his throat, Iason smiled.

One door on the side has been cracked open, the lock having been bashed in ages ago. Will you stay to check your surroundings, or venture fourth straight into the unknown?

"Seeing as you mentioned a dimly lit light, I'll rather search the room for items and clues. Don't want to have a run-in with aggressive strangers."

"Great! Roll for initiative… the 1d10."

Killua rolled the dice "I got… four."

"All right…" Iason checks notes. He rolls his dice twice "Six and four. Alright…"

In the room, you find there're scratch marks from a small, possibly medium-sized creature… a kobold… possibly even a goblin. Smaller creatures may have found their way into this place, making it their home. Also in this room, you find a dusty draw. Opening it up nets you one copper piece, it's not much, but you put it in your Belt Pouch. Having searched the room, you exit through the broken latch door, taking note of the lock that had been punched in.

Iason nods in Knuckle's direction. The man responds by looking down at his Character sheet, checking to see what gears he had.

The left leads to a dead end, while the right leads down a long hallway. Several doors are slightly ajar, with the last door on the end leading into a room, the door wide open.

"I peek into the rooms with the ajar doorways, I will rather be safe than sorry as the room at the end left wide open could be a trap."

"Playing it safe… nice." Ikalgo smirked, "A cautious being won't wind up dead if he's being safe, I mean err they are being safe."

The doors lead to a single room, the area long ransacked. One room even leads to a cave-in, whatever was in there, is now lost to time. You peek in the large room at the end, a figure nosing about, seemingly scratching their head in confusion… they seem lost.

"I sneak up to them, to hold them at knifepoint. I want to know who they are…"

"Here we go, Knuckle and Killua, roll for initiative. 1d20, highest wins."

Knuckle and Killua roll, Killua beating Knuckle by a narrow margin "Shit…" Knuckle frowns.

Having successfully snuck up to the figure, Kairakas holds…

"Ehh… which weapon do you want to use as your main? Dual-wield two Short Swords, a Short Sword and Dagger, or two Daggers?"

"Short Sword and dagger…"

Kairakas holds Korarall, a short sword around his chest and a dagger pointed directly at his jugular.

Knuckle waves his hands, "Hold on! I'm not an enemy! Why am I being held in a dangerous situation?"

"I don't know that…" Killua spoke calmly, "We've never met…"

Knuckle sighed "Alright, I plead for my life. Vouching to prove my innocence on the matter."

"Roll…"

Knuckle rolled, "I got a… eight."

Iason checked his notes, he rolls a four-sided dice.

Three goblins stumble into the room from your loud voice, startling the both of you. One has a dagger, the other two have a club.

Switching the music to more battle orientated theme, the man controlled the layout of the game "Both, roll!" As Killua and Knuckle roll, so does Iason. "Knuckle first, Killua second, I go last."

"Pushing the unknown entity away, I use cleave on the three goblins."

"Roll."

Knuckle rolls "I got an eleven. So, eleven plus five from strength… sixteen."

Iason smiled, "Before I go ahead, I'll explain the process to Killua. Unless… Daniel already mentioned this part?"

"Briefly…"

"Okay, so the initial difficulty in this fight is easy, so you need to roll a ten to get a clear hit. Since Knuckle is trying to hit all three, the level jumps up two levels of difficulty, one per extra goblin. He'd have needed to get twenty and above to hit all three. So, given the dice roll, he'll be able to hit only two. Do you understand the process?"

Killua gave a nod, "Yup, I understand the process."

"Good."

Given your distance, you're able to cleave only two, narrowly missing the third.

"Roll for damage."

"Six… shit."

You do six damage, three to each creature.

"If he had been successful, I would've divided the damage by three, not two. However, if he had only hit one, the single creature would've taken the full brunt of his attack. This is how I use Cleave in my games; I also limit it to only two-handed weapons, not all. Your character won't be able to learn cleave, but they can hit twice, once with each weapon, hence why I'll make you roll two dice, not one like Knuckle…"

"Interesting…"

"Another note to remember is Knuckle can do between one and twelve damage, whereas you can do between two to ten damage. This is because the lowest number you can roll between each attack is one. But your max damage would be four plus six. If you used two short swords it'll have been six plus six."

"Can I switch between weapons?"

"You can, but during battle, it'll count towards your action this round. You can only attack, or perform a task. It's also to limit the person from guzzling Health potions until they have max hit points in a single round."

"That sounds fair…"

"With that being said…" Iason checks his notes.

Both are almost dead. Killua, your turn. Do you want to change weapons, leave the stranger to fight on their own, or join to deal with the goblins?

"Given he has his back turned to me, I join the fray… aiming for the third one he missed."

"So, during battles, you roll the 1d20. For Knuckle, seeing as he's a barbarian it's 1d20 plus Strength modifier. For you, it'll be 1d20 plus Dexterity modifier, the smaller box under the main box. Your modifier is five, so it'll be roll plus five. Anything higher than ten in this instance will be a successful hit in this fight. If you roll an exact twenty on your dice roll, it'll be counted as critical. If you get ten or higher, roll your 1d6 and 1d4 dice, this will count towards your overall damage."

Killua rolled the larger dice first, scoring a twelve "So, seventeen?"

"Yes."

They followed the process, rolling both dice "I got a five and two."

Kairakas does seven damage, killing the goblin instantly. One of the goblins with a club is defeated, leaving the one with the dagger and the other with the club remaining, both badly hurt.

Iason rolls the dice twice, seventeen and fifteen.

The goblin with the knife charges Kairakas he does…

Iason rolled the four-sided dice.

Two damage.

"Ikalgo, can you help show Killua how to do the hit points modification."

Ikalgo leaned over, pointing at the small box "Since you lost two hit points, you'd do max minus two, making it eleven for you. Any further damage you take, you modify it from your current hit points."

"Got it…"

Iason rolls again. Korarall takes one damage.

"Knuckle, your turn."

"I swing at the Goblin that attacked me."

"Roll."

"Eighteen, so twenty-three and…" The man rolls again "Nice, eleven."

Iason smirked, "talk about overkill…"

Korarall's strike was successful, cleaving the goblin in two.

"Your turn Killua."

"I lunge with my blades towards the goblin's throat."

"Roll."

Killua rolled their dice "Six… so eleven. I roll the two dices again?"

"Correct…"

The alien rolled the two dice "Five in total."

Kairakas' blades strike true, severing the goblin's head from its neck.

Iason flicked the music back to the main theme, the music representing a mysterious location. Perfect, given that the two characters know nothing about each other.

With the enemies dead, the two of you are now partially exhausted from the fight, the uneasiness once more settles between you two. More goblins may be on their way after the noise of the fight. Do you bar the door where the others came from, or spend some time searching the goblins?

Knuckle Smirks "I, Korarall offer the loot from the goblins to the stranger as a thank you for not backstabbing me during the fight."

"I'm suspicious… given that I did hold them, him at dagger and sword point."

Knuckle laughed, "I guess that is true." Knuckle looked at his sheet, "Alright." He turned to Iason, "Given my personality, I laugh heartily from the situation. I'm quick to forgive them, proving that I don't plan to swing at them by moving away from the two goblins. I instead focus on barricading the door, in case my laughter had brought the wrath of other goblins."

"I tell the other my name before leaning over to loot the goblins, an eye still on the guy. While my character tends to have a calm demeanour, they are still a cautious being."

"That's fine…" Iason smiled, "Roll the dice again, let's see how lucky you are."

"Three… dang."

Besides the dagger and two clubs, you find nothing on the goblins.

"I take the one dagger. I can use it for later."

"Is there anything else you want to ask about the process before I continue?"

"Can my character do anything similar to Knuckle's character, something like his cleave?"

"Sort of… Sneak attack, you can perform another attack, per round. It'll be… due to your level a 1d6, attack. You can only do this if you have the advantage. If the creature is distracted, or you have an ally within five feet of you. You can roll for that extra attack. You didn't have the advantage during this battle, but if you do, I'll let you know so you can use a Sneak attack. It'll bump up your max damage to eighteen, per round if you use the two short swords. Sixteen if you continue to use the dagger."

"Can I use switch weapons now, without it costing an action point?"

"Certainly, but remember, Korarall is in your presence, so drawing weapons may count as a threat if Knuckle perceives it to be that way. This is a social game, so your actions affect those around you, as do theirs affect yours. You can banter, flirt and whatnot between characters, but I won't allow insults between the players themselves."

"Oh…" Iason pointed at Meleoron, "I'll give you a heads up. Meleoron's character dislikes Tieflings, one of them killed a friend of his. So, if your character's race is revealed, depending on the situation, Meleoron can choose to be aggressive…"

"Why would you tell them that?"

"So, it doesn't come out of nowhere… how would you feel if it happened to you?"

"Alright, that makes sense…" Meleoron grinned.

"There is a key point to add, both of your characters are unaware of this, so it doesn't come into play… unless Killua's hood comes down, or a light source shows their face. Understand…?"

"Understood…"

"Crystal clear…"

"Alright, let us continue with the story."

There were no loud bands, the rushing of tiny feet headed your way. The two of you are safe… for the moment. Besides the door the goblins originally came from, there is a collapsed-in section that looks recent. Someone had fallen in the room from a higher chamber.

"Man… why you gotta do me like that. My character ain't a klutz."

"It's ancient ruins…" Iason looked at Knuckle in disbelief, "You think the area will be maintained?"

"Wait, then who kicked in that door?" Killua pointed at earlier, "I would've thought it'll have come from Knuckle's character, Korarall."

Iason tapped his head with a smile, "Very astute. But there will be no spoilers from me. Korarall didn't suffer any damage from that fall, so you're safe. He was just… split from the main party. It's to give a social interaction between characters. Next round I'll bring in another person, putting Killua in, the disadvantage, but by then… I think Korarall should be on friendly terms with Kairakas. So, let's continue."

There was another door partially caved in from the damage. A heavy kick will break the door down, but it may create some loud noises. Will you head through the door the others came through, or towards the broken door?

"Technically, the two of you can split up here, or you can work together."

"I want to work together, two are better than one…" Knuckle argued.

"Is there any incentive to stay together…" Killua hummed, "Not because I'm sceptical, but rather as a learning mechanism? We don't exactly know each other."

"Only Knuckle can break that door, so unless you can convince him to break that door, there's only one way in… and out."

"So, I'm stuck together… unless I can convince him." Killua brought a hand to their chin, "I suppose a big, buff musclier man like you couldn't break down that door for me. There may be a hidden passageway, possibly even a better path back there."

"Given my fall is what damaged the door, I could, in theory, knock it down. But bashing in the door may lead to further damaging the integrity of the structure… causing another cave-in, ultimately blocking off that pathway. I ain't a dumb barbarian…" Knuckle smirked, "I sacrificed charisma for intelligence."

Killua shrugged, "I'm stuck with the smart barbarian then." The alien gave a cheeky smile to the other.

Knuckle turned to Iason, "I opened the door I was blocking off earlier, peering into the next room."

The room is large, with several doors offering multiple pathways. The room looked to originally be a mess hall, a place where others could talk and eat. Now decrepit, silent and full of cobwebs… it hasn't been used for a while.

"Can we search the room?"

Iason looked at his list of possibilities "Yes. Both roll."

Knuckle and Killua rolled.

"Eight and… twelve…" Iason checked his notes.

The two of you searched the room, netting a total of a few measly coppers. Six. However, judging by the doors, only one was able to be opened. Two are locked, while the other is inaccessible.

"Can I pick the locks, given that I have two lockpicks on me?"

"Roll…"

"Four…"

The locks are damaged, but as you peer through the keyhole, you notice one of those rooms leads to a ransacked pantry. There doesn't seem to be anything in value. The other's keyhole is blocked, the room may have had a caved-in… there's no way to tell unless you open the door.

"I'll save my lockpicks…"

"Can I offer my findings to Kairakas?"

"Certainly…"

"I decline, taking my own, loot for myself."

Kairakas takes two coppers, Korarall keeps four for himself.

Knuckle shrugged, "If I'm using my gears, it's pointless… but suit yourself. I keep the four coppers."

The remaining door leads to a gated hallway, besides a torch helping light the way, a lever is seen next to the gate. It may operate the entrance… but it could also be a dud. Given how old the structure is, the mechanism behind the gate may be rusted.

Knuckle tapped the table a few times before speaking "Can I rip it off the hinges?"

"Is that a request or a question?"

"A question…" the man hummed.

Although the gate is old, it still holds strong. A few tugs in and you realise the gate ain't bending to your will.

"Button it is… I smack the button."

Iason smirks.

Hitting the button doesn't open the gate… but it does open a pathway below you, dropping the two further into the ruins. You're dropped into a dungeon, a single gate being the only way out.

Lucky for you, it isn't locked… but rather, wide open from neglect.

With only a single bed made from hay, there's nowhere else you could search in this room.

You progress deeper into the forgotten dungeons, walking through the jail. There are several cells, some even holding skeletons of long forgotten adventures, those who lost their lives in search of the same treasure you now seek.

You were lucky… that the gate that kept you in, was already open, else, you would've met the same fate.

Peering into the cells, you see nothing of value, they had already been picked clean earlier. Someone had already gotten this far, which means there's a long way to go before you find that treasure.

With only progression on your mind, you continued along your path, forging your way through the dungeon, a new friend in tow…

A\N: So, how did I go for an introduction…?