Explanations and Introductions

For what felt like ages, not one of the Loud Sisters felt brave enough to speak even the smallest word and the "Council of Game Masters" was growing rather impatient with their silence. Truthfully, none of the Loud Sisters knew what say about everything that's gone on up to this point. Over the years, they've seen their folks go to many places that ranged between the normal and the embarrassing; Karaoke bars, Bangers & Mosh, sporting events...they even saw them go Line-Dancing, on one occasion.

Yet never once in any of their lives did they expect to find them in a dingy old building, dressed up in wizard cloaks, surrounded by nerds and speaking like (what Lynn considered) "Ren Faire rejects." Sure, their brother was notorious for loving nerd stuff like this...but their parents, the idea was almost laughable. As such, the girls were left in a stunned silence; unable to respond to their mother's earlier inquiry.

Then, mere seconds later; both Lynn and Lisa suddenly found themselves overcome by a sensation far greater than that of fearful anxiety...laughter. At first, they only allowed a few small yet stifled giggles pass through their lips; which only caused a few eyebrows to be raised. But after taking another look at their parents and neighbors' costumes, their laughter slowly became...a little stronger.

Upon hearing these noises, Lori let out a nervous yelp and tried her darndest to keep them both quiet. "Shut it, the both of you" she said angrily through her teeth, "we're already in deep trouble as is, the last thing I want is for your laughing to making things worse!" Alas, her warnings fell onto deaf ears; as several more chuckles began to slip past the two girls' lips.

At the same time; both of their faces appeared red from holding their breath, tear streaks were dripping down their faces and their arms were shaking violently at their sides. As the other Loud Sisters desperately tried to keep the duo calm, Lori and Luna both prayed that nothing else would happen that might set them off. Sadly, Fate appeared to be against them that night; as they soon caught sight of a...somewhat familiar figure approaching them.

It was Margo Roberts, a student at Royal Woods Middle School and one of Lynn's friends/fellow teammates on the court. She appeared to be dressed in a sort of satyr outfit; complete with slip on goat-legs, fake goat horns on her head and a pair of pointed ears she slipped over her real ones. She danced about the room merrily, astounding many people with her graceful movements and the equally beautiful music she played off her pan flute.

Of course, when Lynn happened to see what Margo was doing; her eyes very nearly popped out from her head. Not too far away; she happened to see Margo's boyfriend, Elliot sitting in a chair and sighing blissfully at her antics. The sight of all this very nearly pushed Lynn past her limit, despite her every urge to remain in control.

This, of course made her other sisters feel very worried; even more than how they did when their parents saw them earlier. "Oh, jeez; Lynn looks ready to burst here" Lana murmured worriedly, "if anything else happens, she just might explode...and we'll all be in even deeper trouble!"

(Line Break)

After a short while, Margo had finished her performance and took a most gracious bow before her audience; who soon broke out in a thunderous applause. While the crowd was clapping, the Loud Sisters saw this as a golden opportunity to make a quick escape for the exit. But before they could even take a single step; Margo approached them merrily, bowed her head in greeting and said "welcome Daughters of Eve to Castle Greyhawk" in a most melodiously regal tone.

That was it...while her parents' outfits, everyone else's costumes and all the "frilly" dialogue got only a few chuckles out of her; when Lynn heard her friend speak this way...it finally broke her. Before any one of her sisters had the chance to stop her, Lynn fell down hard to the floor and burst out into a mad fit of obnoxious laughter. "OH, MY GOSH...THIS IS...THIS IS JUST TOO MUCH" she cackled, "I DUNNO WHAT'S FUNNIER; THE WAY YOU'RE ALL TALKING, THE WAY YOU'RE DRESSED...OR THE FACT YOU'RE PLAYING A DORK'S GAME?!"

Lori gawked at her younger sister in shock, feeling utterly disappointed by her lack of restraint in their situation. Meanwhile, the crowd of people that surrounded her hysterical form simply shook their heads in silent disapproval; also feeling ashamed by her behavior. Now...see here, young lady; you will not speak such offensive slurs while in our presence" Huggins exclaimed beneath his hood, "we demand that you apologize to us immediately!"

Normally, such a statement from him would leave the younger or even some of the older Loud Girls feeling rather intimidated. But because Huggins said it in such an outlandish way, they could only laugh. The most surprising one among them was little Lisa, who was currently rolling about the floor and clutching at her sides in a sort of "joyful pain."

"No-No-Normally, I am...above the expression of absurdly uproarious contractions of the diaphragm" she said between breaths, "but...I must agree with my sibling's earlier statement, YOU ALL TRULY LOOK AND SOUND RIDICULOUS!" Soon after this was said, both she and Lynn Jr. fell to the floor and rolled around like a couple of mad hyenas; which seemed to only make the Council appear even more annoyed than they already were.

Before long, the duo suddenly put in a strong emphasis on their feelings towards everything they saw; including how their parents were dressed. "I'm afraid I must agree with them, Mother and Father" Lucy murmured with only a slight grin on her face, "Halloween is months away and it's too soon to dress up...even for someone like me." While this statement wasn't spoken out of contempt, malice or shown any sort of mocking tone behind it; both Lynn Sr. and Rita felt disappointed in seeing yet another one of their daughters join in on the "mock fest."

But while they chose to hold their tongues on the matter (for now,) the rest of the crowd didn't appear to be in a lenient mood with the girls. One of them in particular, a young lady dressed as a minotaur, bellowed out a loud roar and pointed the tip of her blade mere inches away from Lynn Jr.'s throat. "You and your sisters dare to trespass here and insult the Council in the same instance, Manling" she growled softly, "I should cut out your tongue and feed it to the rats."

For a brief moment, Lynn felt a small twinge of alarm from the threat; in spite of the current state of things. But when she saw that the "minotaur warrior's" weapon was nothing more than a wooden sword, that fear faded instantly and gave way to her usual bravado. "Oh, I am so scared" she cried mockingly, "please, noble warrior; do not strike me with your sword...I fear I might get splinters!"

Feeling understandably frustrated by Lynn's attitude and disrespectful tone, the warrior was more than ready to strike her down where she stood. But as she raised her blade high above her head, a loud thumping noise resounded throughout the room; like a battering ram slamming up against the door. Everyone turned to see that it was Rita Loud who had made the noise, which was caused by her slamming the base of his staff upon the floor.

Upon gaining the feuding duo's attention, Rita shook her head and pointed the tip of her staff (which bore a small ball made of green glass) towards the Minotaur girl in a commanding manner. "Leave her be, Warrior" she said in a most regal tone of voice, "Game Master Acheron and I shall decide what to do with her...and the rest of her kin as well." The Minotaur girl hesitated slightly, for a moment or so...then, she reluctantly sheathed her wooded blade back into its scabbard before trudging back to her fellow "beasts;) all while glowering at Lynn Jr. over her shoulder.

"Fortune smiles upon you this night, Manling" she growled softly, "but know this...the sting of my blade is a gentle release to whatever sort of judgment Game Master Acheron or any other member of the Council may deliver." With that said, she returned to her comrades on the right side of the room; leaving the Loud Sisters back in the spotlight once again. Then, just as the Council members looked ready to speak; Leni raised her hand up and asked if she could say something first.

"I speak for all of my sisters when I say...we are totes sorry for passing on your tresses or...whatever those other guys said before" she murmured apologetically, "if you can find this Acheron guy anywhere, could you pass along my message?" At first, no one offered up a reply; which made Lori assume that she made a wrong move by "speaking out of turn" (or whatever the armored warriors said earlier.) Then, a young preteen dressed as a goblin pointed his spear up towards the thrones; specifically towards the figure seated in the middle one.

This gave the girls the impression that this was the man they needed to talk to and they hoped he would take Leni's apology to heart. But for almost five minutes, the group just sat in their seats; still and silent...like a bunch of statues. Then, the figure in the middle rose up to his feet and finally decided to speak.

"Due to an...earlier mishap, there seems to be little reason to hide my face any longer" he said in a stoic voice, "within these walls, I am called Game Master Acheron...but beyond them, I am known as Lynn Loud Sr." Now, due to his accidental pratfall from earlier; this reveal wasn't all that surprising to the Loud Sisters. However; they still wondered why he, their mother and their grandfather were all together in this strange place?

That's when Leni saw her father push himself up from his seat and make his way towards them...but not before making certain he won't trip himself up again. When he finally got close enough, all ten Loud Sisters were shaking like leaves with fear; not wanting to endure another one of their dad's famous lectures again. This time, however; their lecture would be possibly spoken in "Ye Olde English" (which seemed somewhat worse by comparison.)

But much to their surprise; after he took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, Lynn only asked a simple question..."I just have two questions for you, girls...how did you find this place and how did you get here without transportation?" "Oh, uh...we got our old bikes from the garage, back at the house and literally rode them all the way here" Lori replied nervously, "as for how we found you...well, we owe that to Lisa." Upon hearing this bit of information, the Loud Parents were finally able to figure out what went down; Lisa tracked them here.

But how could this be possible; after the trial, Lisa was under order by Judge Snapper to remove any and all trackers from off the family (and their pets.) So, how else could she have tracked them here and where was the device put this time? "Oh, I can tell you that part" Leni stated, "way back when you stopped at the traffic light a few miles back, Lisa put the tracking device thingy on Vanzilla."

Now, with this reveal; one part of Lynn felt thankful that nobody in the family had a tracker placed on (or inside) them anywhere again. But upon hearing that the tracker was placed somewhere on his "precious" van, his worry wart side kicked in full swing and he made a beeline straight out for the parking lot. Rita could only sigh in mild frustration at her husband's behavior for her overall disappointment towards the girls had full domination over her emotional state.

"I'm not mad at the fact that you tracked us all the way here, girls" she grumbled, "what really bothers me is the fact you all left the house without permission." Not long after this, Mrs. Johnson proclaimed that this along with their trespassing made the girls dual offenders. Thinking quickly, Lori tried another frail attempt to save face before the adults; insisting that they were planning on heading home soon after she took her photo.

"Yeah, we were honestly going to head back and stay home until bedtime" Luna stated, "but Lori took a pic of Lincoln and...well, after we saw it...we started laughing!" At first, the girls appeared ready to slip into another laughing fit over the memory in question. But aside from the stern glares from their parents; when they looked around, not one of them saw any kids with natural snow white hair.

Sure, their Pop-Pop fit the bill but he was years older than Lincoln and anyone else who appeared to have white hair revealed that they were wearing wigs. Then, at that moment; everyone's heads perked up at the sounds of what the girls presumed was singing and it seemed to be coming from outside the room. But before any one of the Loud Sisters could question what was going on, the doors swung open and what looked like a group of Dwarf warriors came marching in; all of whom were singing a song (presumably) about their people.

Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone

Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home

Skin made of iron, steel in our bones

To dig and dig makes us free

Come on, Brothers; sing with me

(a drummer on the stage suddenly plays a rhythmic sound before the warriors start singing again)

I am a Dwarf and I'm digging a hole

Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole!

I am a Dwarf and I'm digging a hole

Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole!

Unsurprisingly, the warriors' song evoked a mix reaction from both the Loud Sisters and the costumed folk that surrounded them. While the latter group either laughed merrily, cheered, clapped their hands and even sung along with them; the former simply stared at them in disbelief. "Dude...how can these people like this song" Luna murmured softly, "it's just the same verse being sung twice in a row."

As the Dwarves started dancing about to their song's instrumental segment; one of them cast a slight glance at the Loud Sisters, let out a gasp of shock and suddenly tripped over himself. As a result, he ended up crashing unceremoniously against his comrades; leaving them all piled on top of each other on the floor. The poor souls lay groaning where they lay while their helmets clattered about the area around them, one of which was rolling towards the Loud Sisters.

Overcome with concern, Leni picked up the helmet and made her way towards the Dwarven warriors; all while asking if they were okay. The group all moaned in unison while one or two of them gave a thumb's up sign before they decided to get back on their feet. But when they did, their beards suddenly fell to the floor; revealing the faces of Lincoln Loud and his guy friends (Clyde, Liam, Rusty and Zach.)

As the boys went about dusting off and smoothing out their outfits, Rusty wasted no time in scolding Lincoln for tripping the group up. "Seriously, dude...we've rehearsed our butts off trying to nail that song and that pratfall just ruined it" he grumbled, "you could've at least warned us before stopping midway through the dance!" After taking a moment to get himself cleaned up, Lincoln shot back in defense by claiming his sisters' presence "threw off his groove."

"Seriously...what are you guys all doing here, Lori" Lincoln demanded fiercely, "didn't Mom and Dad tell you to stay at home?!" Upon registering the bold tone in their brother's voice, all ten Loud Sisters glared daggers at him in defiance and they argued back with equal fervor. "If anybody has a right to be angry here, Bro; it's us" Lynn growled defensively, "you told us you were going off to Clyde's for some homework assignment; instead, we learn you and our parents are in some sort of...nerd meeting!"

Upon hearing the young jock speaking in such an indignant and slanderous tone, several people in the crowd suddenly began to surround her; many of whom appeared to be armed. "How dare this child speak to our people in this manner" growled a man dressed as a grey-skinned Orc barbarian, "with the Council's permission...I shall discipline them accordingly." No sooner had he said all this, the "warrior" reached behind his back and brought out his weapon; a massive two-handed battleaxe made from hardwood.

Of course, after remembering where they were; only...a small few of the Sisters appeared unafraid of their situation. As for the latter half like Lily, Lana and even Leni; they couldn't help but whimper softly in alarm. After realizing that everyone else (except for themselves) were still in character, the Council stood up and called for immediate order. "Love the enthusiasm, Chunk; really" Lynn said as casually as possible, "but the five of us will deal with this problem ourselves."

With that said, he asked for Chunk to lower his weapon and that the girls each take a seat at the game table; which they did without a second thought. But after she got herself situated, Luna found herself at a complete loss for words. Not only were her parents, brother, grandfather and several neighbors involved with this stuff...but so was her trusted roadie, Chunk Monk.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned gent let out a defeated sigh; apparently upset that he would not have a chance to use his ax. "If that's all, could someone refill me stein" he requested, "I need a quick refresher before we all play tonight." After getting the all clear from the Loud Parents, Chunk approached Flip's bar space and asked for another refill of mead.

Of course, not that many of the Loud Sisters seemed to know what "mead" was...except for Lisa, who immediately revealed that it was a type of alcoholic beverage that was popular during the Dark and Middle Ages. She also added that it was a main staple for warrior groups like the Vikings at that time. "Hold it right there, dude...you guys drink booze here" Luna exclaimed in confusion, "you do realize there are a lot of kids here with you; right, Pop?"

After everyone took a moment to process what the young rocker had said, the whole room suddenly echoed with the sounds of jolly laughter. When everything got calm again, half a minute later; Lincoln approached his sisters and decided to offer up an explanation. "See, nobody's drinking any actual mead here" he stated, "it's just a name we gave to Root Beer in this place, we've got fantasy names for all kinds of drinks here."

Following this, Lincoln revealed several other nicknames for iconic outdoor drinks they had in this place; instead of calling Flippees what they were, the alternative name was Frost Giants Nectar. Lemonade was called Lemon Juice, Fruit Punch was called Ambrosia, soda was labeled as Fairy Ale and water was just...water. Sadly, despite however clearly he was speaking to her; all of Lincoln's words just sounded like white noise to Luna's ears.

In her head, her mind was desperately trying to make sense of everything she had seen and heard up to this point. It was one thing for her family to get roped into stuff like this...but the fact that Chunk was part of it too was just confusing. Meanwhile, Rita went about grilling the rest of her daughters; expecting a full and honest explanation out of them. "It's like we literally told you earlier, Mom; Lincoln told us he was heading out to study at Clyde's place" Lori explained, "but when we saw how stuffed his backpack was, we got suspicious!"

Not long after this, Lynn proclaimed that the backpack situation gave them the idea he might've been lying to them; so, the girls felt they "had no choice" but to follow him. After taking a moment to process the girls' testimony, Mrs. Johnson and Rita turned their attention over towards Lincoln; their eyes bearing looks of mild yet firm disapproval. "What have you to say about this, Lincoln" asked his former homeroom teacher, "is all this true...did you really lie to your sisters?"

At first, some of Lincoln's sisters (namely Lori, Lynn, Lucy, Lana and Lola) half expected to see their brother sweating bullets before deciding to come up with a lie to save his skin. However...what happened, instead was a sight so surprising that it even made Lily gasp a little in surprised shock. Lincoln took his Dwarf helmet in both hands, got down onto one knee and bowed his head low with the greatest of shame on his face.

"It's true, everyone; I did lie to my sisters" he murmured softly, "however...it was only a white lie and I did it with good reason." Following this, he brought up something about Castle Greyhawk's "list of bylaws;" which sounded just about as strange as everything else in this place was. In particular, he mentioned a rule that strictly forbade discussing or mentioning anything about their meetings to outsiders; including family members.

"Besides, even if that rule wasn't there...if I told my sisters what I was really doing, the result would be disastrously annoying" he said with a mildly snide tone, "I mean...you all saw it yourselves; when they learned what we've been gathered her for, people like Lynn or Lori just couldn't resist making fun of us!" Upon hearing both sides of the story, the Council of Game Masters looked upon one another and started chattering amongst themselves; which made the Loud Sisters all the more anxious.

Finally, after almost thirty seconds of waiting; the group ceased their whispering and turned their attention towards the Loud Sisters once more. "After much deliberation, my fellow Game Masters and I have decided that Lincoln should have been...slightly honest with you about what he was doing" Mrs. Johnson said stoically, "HOWEVER...because only lied to honor one of our group's most important of bylaws, we shall be lenient with him." In addition to this; Principal Huggins proclaimed that because Lincoln hid the truth out of risk of being teased by his sisters, the rest of the Council declared him to be "not guilty."

The young lad in question couldn't help but smile and sigh with relief, apparently pleased the Council decided to put this little "issue" behind them. With that taken care of, the time had finally come to decide what was to be done about the Loud Sisters; who were the true guilty party of the evening. After all, not only did they decide to leave home without parental consent; they also used a tracker on their family's van to follow them all the way here.

That in itself was, in Lynn and Rita's opinion, a far bigger crime than telling a white lie. "Before we come to a decision on your punishment, girls; tell us one thing" Mrs. Loud said firmly, "have you anything to say for yourselves or what you've done?" In spite of the shame they felt for their actions, the Loud Sisters still tried their best to appear confident and defiant to the very end. After taking in a deep breath for luck, Lynn approached her parents and gave them a most remorseful look.

"Mom, Dad, Lincoln...we really are sorry for leaving home and tailing you the way we did" she murmured, "but we just wanna know one thing before you do anything else." After a brief moment of consideration and taking note of the sincerity in her daughter's voice, Rita granted her permission to ask her something. "Okay, to start with...what is this place" she asked, "on the outside; it looks like any other old, dingy castle...but we didn't even know there were any in Michigan, let alone Royal Woods."

In response, everyone either smiled softly or chuckled merrily amongst themselves; which almost made Lynn feel a tad offended. But then, her father shook his head and explained that this building wasn't actually a castle; just one designed to resemble a castle for special events. "Right, Lisa said the same thing when we arrived here" Lana stated, "certainly had all of us fooled; especially the hallway outside and the building's paintjob." Huggins chuckled softly with pride and proclaimed that he had...a small hand of involvement with such touches...mostly in terms of the hallway.

"See, this place looks like a medieval castle/fortress on the outside" Albert/Pop-Pop explained, "but on the inside, we've got all the 21st Century comforts you love." No sooner had he said this, he picked up his...extremely authentic bejeweled drinking cup and drank down a swig of "Fairy Ale;" letting out a satisfied sigh afterwards. In terms of everything else, in terms of décor; the Council claimed it was all made possible by their group's highly skilled decorating team.

"I think Mandee and Haiku did a rather excellent job with the cobwebs out in the hallway" Rita said proudly, "er...my mistake, I meant Miss Ebony Oakwood and Saleek of the Aarakocra." Upon hearing her mother mention the name "Mandee," Leni wasted no time in searching the crowd for signs of her beloved posse. When she finally spotted them; to say the least, she was both excited...yet slightly baffled.

Mandee (or Ebony Oakwood, as she was known in this place) was dressed in a form of medieval clothing known as a kirtle; which was sort of like a medieval smock or a petticoat. The bodice of the kirtle was a light blue color (the same as her usual turtleneck top) and the skirt was a dark green with a white underskirt beneath it. Although, according to the history books, such garments were usually worn by castle servants; the one Mandee was wearing looked rather stylish to Leni.

After that, she went about searching through the crowd for signs of her other friends; Jackie, Fiona and Miguel. When she finally caught sight of them, she was so overcome with joy that she didn't care about where she was or what was happening. Over by the drink bar, Jackie was seen pouring beverages for some people and she looked cute doing it.

Jackie was dressed as something the Ren Fair called a serving wench; she had on a white peasant gown, a brown leather corset cinch over the top with an olive green skirt attached to it. She also sported a pair of gorgeous black high-heeled shows on her feet and a floral crown around her head decorated with white and pink roses. When Leni took a moment to study her work friends, she was in for another surprise.

Miguel appeared to be dressed in a relatively plain dark-blue tunic, brown pantaloons, matching brown shoes, sported a green cap with a red feather upon his head and wore a white smock that covered up his whole torso. Lastly, Fiona appeared to be wearing the same outfit Mandy had on; which Leni almost thought was a bad thing. But upon taking a closer look, she noticed just how different this one was from the other.

The color of Fiona's bodice, for starters was red instead of blue and the attached skirt was a more maroon color with a golden hem. Her hair was also changed up a little with her usual poofy ponytail being braided into something longer and tied together with her favorite gold ribbon. In spite of herself, Leni couldn't help but beam with excitement before she made an immediate beeline straight for her friends.

"OM GOSH! You guys all look so adorable in these outfits and the new hairdo suits you, Fiona" she said gleefully, "do you think there's anything here in my size?" Rather than answer her, the teen foursome simply chose to glare at her firmly before following up with a collective "harrumph." Understandably so, Leni felt shocked by the fact that all her friends were giving her the cold shoulder...again.

This led her to fear she may have done something wrong by accident and she wasted no time in crying out several apologies. When none of them offered up a reply and walked away, Leni was so beside herself that she appeared on the verge of tears. Upon seeing his sister in such a distressful state, Lincoln quickly went to her side and offered up a handkerchief to her.

"Please...do not weep, fair one" he said tenderly while speaking Olde English, "it pains my heart to see a beautiful jewel such as you lose her luster by shedding tears." While Lincoln's use of dialogue did ultimately confuse her, at first; Leni still smiled sweetly, accepted the handkerchief and dried her tears away with it. "Thanks so much for cheering me up, Linky" she said while hugging her brother tenderly, "I love your costume, by the way; especially the beard."

Lincoln let out a bashful chuckle at his sister's compliment, gave a little twirl and posed himself like a model on a magazine; making sure to show off every part of his look. "My clothing is the handiwork of one Madame Spindleshanks and her assistant, Miss Brandybuck" he stated, "as for the beard, I owe this to Master Lawrence Pipping or as you commonly know him, Miguel; he is our finest stylist." As if on cue; Miguel (A.K.A. Lawrence Pipping) waved hello to Leni at the wig/beard fitting area while Fiona (Miss Spindleshanks) and Jackie (Miss Brandybuck) did the same from their work spaces.

Leni could only watch in awe, as Miguel's fast fingers went about trimming every inch of a fake Viking beard. He did so with such speed and skill that she couldn't even see him, truth be told. As for the rest of the Loud Sisters; while none of them much cared for makeovers as much as she or Lori did, they couldn't help but feel impressed by the skills Leni's friends displayed. A moment later, Lana raised her hand up as high as she could and her mother asked what she wanted to know.

"Okay, Mom...Sorry if I seem real dumb for asking this" murmured the wee mechanic, "but...what's with all the weird names everyone has here?" Not long after this, Lori and Luna went about asking the same thing; hoping that someone would give an answer that made sense. "Seriously, dudes... Lawrence Pipping, Madame Spindleshanks, Bojan" Luna listed off in confusion, "why don't you all just call each other by your real names?"

The Council looked at one another for a moment in silence and then, they decided to try and explain things to the girls as best as they could. "You see, ladies; all the names you've just mentioned...those are but a few of the character names we use here" Huggins stated, "as for your parents, your grandfather, Mrs. Johnson and myself; we have different names as well." Following this, each member of the Council started each of the character names they went by; Lynn Sr. was called Game Master Acheron, Rita was Game Mistress Eliana, Albert's name was Game Master Karuk, Mrs. Johnson's was Game Mistress Agathe and Huggins called himself Game Master Fastred.

"Okay, I think I'm starting to understand this a little more" Lucy murmured, "but what's with everyone bowing and kneeling before you...and why are you called 'game masters?'" The other Louds (with the exception of Lily) started asking the same question, some of whom even went as far to ask if the Council were like the kings and queens of the place. After having a big of a laugh (mostly because they found their suggestion to be adorable,) the Game Masters shook their heads and said they weren't really royalty.

"It's all part of our game, girls; see" Albert stated, "here...we are known as the Council of Game Masters, the creators of our humble tabletop world of adventure!" With this declaration, he quickly made a sweeping gesture towards the game table Lynn saw earlier; which appeared to be covered with what Lily believed to be toys. Meanwhile, her older sisters appeared to be even more confused than they already were earlier on.

As if sensing their confusion, Rita decided to continue on with her fellow Council Members earlier story; hoping she would get her point across. "As Game Masters, we control the story our tabletop game world takes place in" she stated, "we provide the challenges, story elements and scenarios and it's up to the players to figure out how to best approach them all." Not long after this, Rita approached the table and collected what looked like a small pouch from it; which appeared to be full of small objects covered with numbers.

"Those are some of the weird dice pieces Lynn saw earlier" Lola said matter-of-factly, "but what's with all the numbers, what are they for...and why are there so many sides to some of them?" Before answering the question, Rita reached into the pouch and pulled out one of the die; one that seemed to have at least twenty or so sides to it. Naturally, Lola had never heard of such a thing before and was more than willing to bring it up to her parents.

"You see, girls; throughout the game, us Game Masters and the players each take turns rolling dice like this during certain points in the story" Rita explained, "some of the high numbers, depending on the situation, could be either good or bad for the player." When the girls decided to ask what dice determined what thing, Clyde volunteered to help continue the "tutorial;" hoping that they might understand him. "Let's say that...your characters battling against a wizard and you want to create a shield to protect you" he stated, "if you roll this dice and end up getting say...a 20, they'll be safe."

After processing all this; Leni, Lana, Lola and even Lily all nodded silently in understanding...while the others simply backed away with either bothered or indifferent expressions on their face. Then, Leni decided to ask another question about the dice; specifically the small numbers shown on it. "What happens if one of those thingies lands on say...a 5 or a 1" she inquired, "I'm guessing the bad guy wins?"

In response to this, Lynn Sr. explained that while the bad guy wouldn't necessarily "win" in the end; such a roll would leave a character wide open for attack. "Once that happens, one of us Game Masters makes a roll" Mrs. Johnson explained, "this would determine how much damage your character receives from a strike." In addition to this bit of info, she said that any damage could mildly or drastically affect a players "health points;" which Lana deduced was similar to a health bar in a video game.

"Very good, Lans; that's exactly what it's like" Lynn Sr. said happily while hugging her, "and, just like in those games; if your health goes down to zero...your character dies and can only be brought back through some form of resurrection spell or a mystical object." While the Council went about explaining the game to their younger sisters (and Leni,) the elder Louds looked so bored that they were ready to pull their hair out. "I could literally be back at home, watching The Wingman on TV or sorting out the clothes in my closet" Lori thought bitterly, "but instead, I'm trapped in this den of dullness with a bunch of nerds and man-children."

Overtime, the eldest Loud Sibling felt as though an aura of boredom had cocooned itself around her like a tacky quilt. But just as she was about to call it quits and try and make a foolish attempt at escape, one of the other players suddenly approached Lori and greeted her with a gracious bow. "Amatúlië hiril vuin" the stranger said in a foreign tongue, "I bid thee welcome to our humble home."

At first, Lori almost felt the sudden desire to cringe at the stranger and his odd dialogue; thinking it was "too dorky for her to handle." But as the stranger stood up and looked her in the eyes, she froze; as if she were being entranced by him. Though his face was well-hidden beneath his hood, something about this boy's eyes made Lori feel...giddy inside.

However, in spite of how pleasant this feeling was; she did her absolute best to appear indifferent towards his advances. "Sorry, bub but this isn't really the kind of place I would want to mingle in" Lori said unemotionally, "you're more than welcome to try your act out on my other sisters, though." Upon hearing the suggestion, the ranger gave a light chuckle and proclaimed that he wished to look upon no one else but her; causing Lori's face to flare in a heated blush.

"Look...I can tell you might be a nice guy and I like that" she stated, "but you see, I've already got one absolutely wonderful boyfriend in my life and I wouldn't trade him for anybody." The minute he heard these words from her, the ranger chuckled softly at Lori and assured her that her feelings were more than mutual. Then, he gripped the hem of his hood and drew it back; allowing the honey blonde locks of his hair to cascade down his shoulders elegantly.

Once exposed, Lori finally got a look at the boy who had been "attempting" to flirt with her; it was her beloved Boo-Boo Bear, Roberto Alejandro Martinez-Milan Luis Santiago Jr. (better known as Bobby.) As it seemed; the lad's black hair was covered by a blonde wig. He was dressed in a suit of green faux-leather armor, matching green boots, had a quiver full of arrows over his shoulder, small fake elf ears over his real ones, a cloak that looked like it was made of leaves and a scarf that covered over the lower half of his face.

At first, the Loud Girls thought his arrows were real...until Luan pointed out the suction cups that were placed on every tip. At his hip, Bobby had what looked like a curved sword resting safely in its hilt and he also had a wooden longbow behind the right side of his back. But despite the fact that the arrows were toys and the aforementioned sword was made of wood, the latter weapon still looked quite intimidating to the girls; especially Lori and Lynn.

Furthermore, in spite of the fact that he was wearing an entirely new look; Lori could still recognize the same warm glow in Bobby's beautiful eyes anywhere. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of waiting; the young lad threw himself forward and held his girlfriend in a loving embrace. "Heya, babe; welcome to the castle" Bobby greeted casually, "what do you think, am I as hot as Legolas or more than him?"

Alas, poor Lori was unable to make any sort of reply due to her mind currently racing with so many different thoughts. On the one hand, she was utterly flabbergasted by the fact that her otherwise "cool and trendy boyfriend" would be taking part in such a dorky board game...by choice! But on the other hand, after Lori looked him over from top to bottom; she had to admit...Bobby looked really good in tights.

On top of that, the elf ears he wore really suited him and the scarf he wore around his face actually gave him a sort of air of mystery. Finally, the blonde wig he wore made him even sexier than he already was...if that was even possible to Lori. After tallying up each of these things in her head, Lori was finally able to speak but the only words that passed her lips were "buh...buh...buh."

Meanwhile, the other Loud Sisters appeared still as statues with shock at this reveal; each one of them wondering why Bobby of all people was in a place like this. "Okay, dudes...this is seriously weird" Luna croaked softly, "first we find our parents here; then our Pop-Pop, our brother, two of his teachers and now Lori's boyfriend?!" The rest of the girls could only nod slowly and silently in agreement, wondering if they would discover anymore familiar faces in this room.

Suddenly, another one of the players popped up behind Lucy; causing the young Goth to almost leap out of her shoes in alarm. After taking a moment to calm down, she took a look behind her to see just who it was that surprised her. It was a young boy about her age (possibly around eight or nine years old) with skin as black as pitch, piercing red eyes, long hair as white as the snow and a cloak bearing colors of black and silver.

His vest was a mix of dark black and green colors, had a face mask drooped around his neck, dark green boots, matching green gloves and (much like the ones Bobby wore) he wore a pair of fake elf ears; except his were painted black. Around his waist was what looked like a sort of chain weapon, which fit around him like a belt and on the right side of Silas' hip, there was a small wooden knife locked safely in its hilt. Beneath his cloak, Lucy noticed that he was wearing a pair of spiked shoulder armor of some kind and in his right hand, he held a staff with a small orb at the top that was painted violet.

In that moment; much like Lori did with Bobby, Lucy was stunned to find her second crush and fellow Goth standing alongside with a group of "normies." Just then, Silas drew back his hood and did something that no one (not even Lucy herself) expected...he greeted her with a courteous bow. "Greetings, Human and welcome to our castle" he stated, "I am Lokon Snowmane, master spy of the Elesari and master of the Arcane arts."

Upon listening to his regal dialogue and taking notice of his deliciously otherworldly attire, Lucy's otherwise calm demeanor took a drastic change (in a good way.) Not only did her breathing become shallow and her palms started to sweat but her heart started to beat as hard as a hundred war drums. When she was finally able to speak, Lucy was thankful that her bangs covered her eyes up so well; she didn't want anyone to see how nervous she looked.

"Uh...H-H-Hello, Lokon; my name i-i-is Lu-Lu-Lucy Loud" she fumbled awkwardly, "I, uh...I really like your cloak, excellent color scheme choice." Soon, the remaining seven sisters appeared edgy over what had just transpired; in the space of a few minutes, three of their sisters had suddenly fallen victim to the "nerdiness" of the room's atmosphere. In that moment, one thing was clear; they had to get out of this place right quick...even if it meant getting into deeper trouble with their parents.

"We gotta get outta here, girls before another one of us gets roped into this" urged Luna hurriedly, "let's book it towards the exit, quick!" Not needing to be told twice, the remaining Loud Sisters readied themselves to make a run for it. But before they could take so much as one step, something happened that caused both Luna and Luan to suddenly freeze in their tracks.

In the farthest part of the room, just near the thrones; the band of minstrels started to play a soothing instrumental tune. Although Luna thought such music was very, very, very old school; something about the strumming melodies of the one player's mandolin and the lute one of the others was playing sounded utterly melodious to their ears. But as beautiful as this sounded; when the duo started to vocalize together, Luna and Luan suddenly found themselves swooning like a pair of boy band fans.

But all too quickly, Luna remembered where they were and did her best to bring herself back to her senses; no matter how soothing the music sounded. Sadly, Luan (who now looked like she was becoming as limp as a wet noodle) appeared to be too far gone. "Oh, my gosh...this is the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life" she thought blissfully, "I've gotta know who those two musicians are!"

With this thought in mind, Luan found enough strength in her body to walk towards the stage like a hypnotized zombie; much to Luna's overall shock. "SIS, DON'T BE SEDUCED BY THEIR JAMS" she cried desperately, "he may sound cool...but he's still a nerd like the rest of these guys!" Alas, the rocker's pleas seemed to fall onto deaf ears; as Luan continued her march towards the stage.

When she finally got close enough, she started scoping out each member; hoping to find the mystery singer among them. When she finally did happen to find him and saw the singer's face, Luan's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and her jaw nearly fell through the floor. Standing before her, dressed in what looked like a minstrel's outfit, was her boyfriend; Benjamin "Benny" Stein.

Now, Luan already knew that Benny was a gifted performer...but she never once guessed he had musical skills under his belt. "His voice is just gorgeous" she thought with a swooning voice, "and as for the tights...well, he was already a handsome Romeo; this just kicked things up a few more notches!" As the young comedienne stood frozen in place, blissfully savoring her beau's performance; Luna had finally caught up with her...only to find she was too late.

But in spite of that, she was determined to get her sister as far away from the group as possible; even if she had to drag her by her clown shoes. "C'mon, brah; we've gotta get outta here" pleaded the pixie cut rocker, "stop makin' goo-goo eyes at these blokes and help me get the rest of the family or I...I...I..." As Luna's eyes slowly drifted towards the band, her ravings slowly faded away into unintelligible whispers when she took notice of the music they were playing.

Although she considered it to be old school; something about the way these minstrels were playing sounded enchanting to her ears, for some reason. But as much as that got her attention, Luna appeared to be more interested in one of the female members of the band. At first glance; she looked like some sort of demon girl with dark, brick red skin, dark blue hair that reached down to her shoulder blades, pointed ears, eyes as wide and lustrous as golden orbs and thick, red lips.

She wore a blue vest with a golden hem, sported a white undershirt beneath it, blue faux leather boots, white sleeves over her forearms and blue pants that appeared smooth as silk (which, in Luna's eyes, helped show off the girl's hips "in all the right ways.") But perhaps, the two most astonishing features this girl had were the horns and tail she wore. The bases of said horns hovered just inches above her eyes, exactly right smack upon her forehead; they appeared pretty thick, had a slight curve (like a ram's horns) and she had a golden band placed over the tips.

As for the tail, it appeared to be so long that it could hold up the hem of her cloak just enough away from the ground. It measured up exactly five feet long, appeared rather thick (not to mention sturdy) and had a sharp point at the end of it. Yet despite the fact that this female's appearance seemed rather demonic, Luna couldn't help but feel rather enchanted at the sight of her.

In time, the band's musical performance came to an end and the whole room erupted in a thunderous applause. As the apparent leader of the group started bowing to the crowd, he soon caught sight of Luan and almost fell over himself (not to mention the stage.) Thankfully, the demon girl was able to save him after grabbing hold of his cloak and gently pulling him back upright.

After taking a moment to calm his nerves and smooth out his costume, Benny greeted Luan with a rather timid bow and smiled. "Uh...Hey, honey; fancy meeting you here" he murmured softly with a blush, "w-w-what brings you and your sister to Castle Greyhawk?" Not long after this was asked, the demon leapt off the stage and confessed that she was eager to know the same thing. Afterwards, she soon started walking towards Luna in a most seductive way; which wasn't quite that easy (due to her tail.)

As expected, this display started to make Luna feel rather hot under the collar; which only made the "demon" feel even slyer. "Ooh! Look at the way she's blushing at me" she thought to herself giddily "I'll just play with her a bit more before I decide to reveal myself." With that thought in mind, the demon girl performed a little hip shimmy walk around Luna for a few seconds before finally deciding to speak.

"Greetings, Manling" she said in a most deliciously sultry voice, "I saw how you were looking at me from the stage, I trust that my skills have...entertained you?" As the demon girl continued with her walk-around, Luna simply couldn't take her eyes off of her; especially the way her tail moved when she swung her hips just so. When the rest of her sisters saw her looking star-struck, Lola growled in annoyance and gave a whistle; snapping Luna back to her senses.

"OH! Uh...yeah, brah; you're tunes actually were pretty cool" she chuckled timidly, "w-w-where's you learn to play like that...if ya don't mind my asking?" Upon hearing this inquiry, the demon girl ceased her strut and decided to be straight with her; regaling the pixie-cut rocker with stories of how she would practice something she called "bardcore" in her leisure time. "One of my fondest memories, however occurred in another life" she stated, "where I would play alongside a small group of human musicians...one of whom I took a great interest in."

From here; she went on to describe a young lady with unique rocker clothes, purple boats, an "adorable" plaid skirt, freckles upon her cheeks and paperclip earrings. "All this coupled with her beauty captivated me from the very beginning" the demon girl said with a sort of swooning sigh, "she has haunted my dreams every night, since then." At first, Luna said nothing; her mind still enchanted by what the strange girl had just told her.

But after taking a moment to process everything, she noticed something...eerily familiar about her description of the human girl she met. "Hold on a minute, brah...it sounds like you're talking about me" Luna exclaimed, "but I've never even met you before tonight, just who the..." Just as she was about to finish, the demon girl took action; she grabbed Luna lightly by the collar of her shirt, pulled her forward and planted one of the most passionate of kisses on her lips.

When the duo finally broke away from each other; poor Luna could only stumble about dizzily in place with a squiggly grin plastered on her face. Then, after she walked about the room like a drunk on New Year's; the rocker snapped back to her senses and gawked at the demon in utter shock. "That...was...amazing, the most wild kiss I've ever had" she thought blissfully, "but...there's only been one person I know who could kiss me like that and leave me breathless."

With this thought in mind, she cast a rather suspicious look over at the demon girl; who was now bursting out in a fit of laughter and hugging at her sides. When this stranger was finally able to talk, she could only get out a few short statements between breaths. "BOY, OH BOY; LUNES...you should see the look on your face right now" the girl guffawed loudly, "I haven't seen that look on your face after we've kissed for a long time! HA!"

Upon hearing the girl address her by name (or nickname, rather) Luna finally put the pieces together and deduced who she was. But to make absolutely sure her hunch was correct, she decided to take a closer look and approached the demon. That's when she saw something sticking out from underneath the bangs of her wig, two strands of blonde hair and one smaller strand that was blue.

That's when she was fully certain of who was standing before her, despite however much Luna doubted her own eyes. "It can't be...Samurai, is that...you" she gasped, "please tell me this isn't a dream and that I'm not going bonkers!" After giggling softly at her GF's adorable confusion; the demon girl (now revealed to be Sam Sharp) took Luna in her arms and nuzzled her cheek up against hers before the duo suddenly fell to the floor, about four seconds later.

When they finally stopped giggling, Luna and Sam stared dreamily in each other's eyes before the latter girl got back up and helped the former up off the ground. "I never thought you'd guess it was me, hon" Sam giggled, "what was it that gave me away...was it the kiss?" Luna smiled tenderly at her sweetheart and gave her forehead a light tap, prompting Sam to take notice of the small bits of her real hair that stuck out.

"The wig's a nice look for you, Sammy" she stated, "but...if you're gonna disguise yourself, best keep all your hair tucked in underneath." After letting out a surprised yet embarrassed gasp, Sam turned herself away from Luna's view and did her best to tuck away the stray locks of her hair. When she turned back around, Sam scratched her neck bashfully and made a small joke about Luna's shock in finding her in a place like "Castle Greyhawk."

Without hesitation, the young rocker revealed that she truly was surprised to find Sam here...but mostly for the fact she never thought they'd meet each other in such a place. "I know, it's weird...but you know me, I do have other interests outside the band" Sam said matter-of-factly, "you can thank my lil' bro, Simon for getting me on the bandwagon." After this; she went on to explained how back in her old neighborhood, her brother would often "drag her along" with some other kids for a few LARPing (Live-Action Role-Playing) sessions whenever she babysat him.

"So...what did you think about that stuff, after a while" Luna asked, "I mean...the costumes, the fake weapons, the weird languages; doesn't all that seem...kind of weird or lame?" At first, she half-expected her girlfriend to answer with an immediate no until she saw the light blush creeping over Sam's dimples. With a shy chuckle; Sam confessed that at first, a small part of her did fear she might hate playing "make-believe."

But then, with the greatest of passion and enthusiasm, she confessed how role-playing helped unlock a whole new side of herself. "Each and every one of us came to gatherings like this for different reasons, in the past" Sam explained, "but after a while, we all agreed that playing D&D or taking part in LARPing sessions helped bring out our inner selves." Naturally, Luna felt confused about how a game could help unlock someone's "inner self" and she made this point known to Sam.

In response to this, the blonde rocker in demon's clothing explained how dressing up as game characters allowed everyone in the room to express themselves in ways that otherwise wouldn't be "socially acceptable" on the outside. "Plus, where else can you dress up in outfits that make you look this good" Sam inquired naughtily, "don't think I didn't see you looking at my walk earlier, Luna." Upon hearing such a haughty yet playful comment from her, Luna quickly turned away; not wanting her girlfriend to see her bashful features.

Then, before she had the chance to think; Luna suddenly felt something slightly wrap around at her waist. She glanced down slightly and saw Sam's demon tail, coiled about her waist like a vaudeville Shepard's hook. As Luna attempted to ask what was going on, Sam shifted her hips off to the side; causing her tail to pull her forward into her open arms. The two young ladies stared deeply into each others eyes for but a few seconds and then, their band mates (Ruth and George) cleared their throats loudly; prompting them to look away.

"Uh...Your costumes got a lot of...awesome features, Sammy" Luna murmured shyly, "but what are you supposed to be, exactly...a devil woman of some kind?" Upon hearing this inquiry, a light blush creeped out from beneath Sam's makeup and explained that her character wasn't...exactly a devil, per say. "See, in Dungeons & Dragons; my character is something known as a 'Tiefling'" she stated, "which are a kind of humanoid race/species of creature that has...just a pinch of demonic blood in their heritage."

Admittedly, almost nothing Sam said made the slightest lick of sense to Luna's ears and yet...from the way she looked to the music she played mere moments ago; it was like she was looking at an entirely different version of her girlfriend. "Maybe it's that makeup she has on or the color of her eyes...or the clothes she's wearing" Luna thought to herself, "either way, she actually looks hotter than usual...but I should probably keep that to myself." Meanwhile, Luan appeared to be experience the same feelings of euphoria around Benny; who was currently adjusting the tune in his lute.

When she finally allowed herself to speak, she asked her beau if he came to this place the same way Sam did. "In a way...yes but it's only half the story for me" Benny explained, "see, I got into the game after a group of my fellow theater kids talked me into playing a few sessions." From this point, he revealed that when the time came to create his character; Benny went along with the class that seemed more like him...namely a bard.

"A bard...you mean those dorks from the Ren Faire that dress up in tights, play music and dance around like sissies" Lynn chortled, "why would something like that be a type of character someone would choose to play...even for a fantasy game?" Upon hearing these criticisms from her; Lincoln turned towards his sister, gave her a coy grin and proclaimed that in the realm of D&D, bards were not to be underestimated. "There's so much stuff they can do in the game" he stated, "they can lull people to sleep, use a spell that makes everybody break out into laughter and if you've rolled high enough, you could even hypnotize someone with a love ballad.

As Lincoln went about listing a bard's other capabilities; Luan's mind appeared to be elsewhere, at the moment. Although she still had her doubts about this strange game, the idea of Benny using his music and singing voice to enchant people seemed enticing; due to her own kind of blissful state. Meanwhile, Lori looked about the crowd with a disinterested expression on her face; one that seemed to harbor slight disdain over what had just transpired.

"Great...I've already lost two of my sisters to the 'Dork Side'" she grumbled mentally, "I better go before things get any weirder than they already are." With that thought in mind, Lori silently backed herself away from the crowd and made her way towards the main door. But just as she was a mere two feet away from freedom, a familiar voice echoed through Lori's ears; causing her to stop.

Lori...Lori Loud, is that really you" it asked eagerly, "OMG, I never thought I would see you here!" As Lori stood there, frozen in place with her fingertips atop the door ring, her mind started racing after hearing the voice. It didn't take long for her to deduce who the "mystery speaker" was but all the same, she couldn't help but feel nervous about facing her. But then, without warning, Lori suddenly found herself being squeezed by some hooded stranger and lifted two feet off the ground in a bear hug.

After she spun her "captive" around for about ten seconds, the stranger suddenly realized what they were doing and set Lori back down on her feet. "So sorry about that, girlfriend" the stranger said with a female voice, "I just...I never would've expected to see you or your sisters here and I got a little excited." After she recovered from her earlier dizzy spell, Lori glared angrily at the hooded woman and demanded to know why she jumped her.

This caused the stranger to feel slightly self-conscious and she quickly apologized while bowing her head low. "Probably should've pulled my hood down before I greeted you, huh" she giggled with embarrassment, "totally forgot I still had this thing on." With that said, the stranger slowly drew back her hood; allowing her long blonde hair to cascade slightly behind her neck and shoulders.

Upon seeing this, Lori suddenly became so gripped with shock that she almost fell backwards (before her siblings quickly caught her.) Upon getting back on her feet, Lori almost felt yet another fainting spell overcome her...for standing in front of her was none other than her former rival and newly established friend, Carol Pingrey. But while the girl's hair and headband remained the same, Lori felt her current choice of outfit made her completely unrecognizable.

She was dressed in a hooded, violet covered robe with images of doves sewn onto the back. Her hood showed off numerous stars, she had a golden "V" design sewn on the neck area of the cloak and the hem of its arm sleeves and the leg area bore a stunning shade of green. Upon seeing Carol, a fellow former High Schooler, dressed this way; Lori suddenly felt rather conflicted.

One part of her felt like laughing at the irony of seeing her in such a place but another part couldn't help but admire how stylish her cloak looked. Either way, there was still one important question that needed answering...what exactly was Carol doing here and why was she dressed this way? When Carol saw the confused look on Lori's face, seconds later; she finally decided to give her some much needed explanations.

"To make a long story short, Lor; I've been playing this game ever since I was little" she stated, "uh...better make that we have been playing since we were little." Upon hearing the word "we" in her words, Lori asked who else was playing along with her? Then, from out the corner of her eye, Lori swore she spotted a gaggle of familiar faces on the other side of the room.

The first among them was Whitney, who appeared to be dressed up as some sort of assassin. Her skin, meanwhile was painted a rather odd yet strangely exquisite shade of purple. Her eyes looked like white orbs, she wore a suit of form-fitting leather body armor with mixes of red and blue colors, faux iron arm bands, purple boots and a robe that was such a dark shade of black that she almost blended in with the shadows. The most astonishing aspect of Whitney's look, however was her hair.

Instead of her usual poofy ponytail; it had, miraculously been smoothed out (to some degree.) This was so they could fit a wig of long silver hair over-top her head...but with some difficulty. Standing next to Whitney was yet another familiar face, Becky; who appeared to be dressed up as some sort of a...what was the word, hobbit. She wore long black boots over her feet, white pants, a leather vest over her light brown bodice, a red cloak, leather gloves and a pair of fake pointed ears slightly over her real ones.

There was something else about her friend's new look that Lori couldn't help but notice. Upon studying Becky's look for a second time, she couldn't help but think she resembled some sort of Medieval MMA fighter. "No way...Becky, a fighter; that's a bit of a reach" Lori mentally chuckled mentally, "she's never been a fighter...unless there's a limited time sale at the mall."

The moment this thought popped into her head, however; Lori snapped back to her senses and slapped herself across the face. "Snap out of it, Loud" she growled under her breath, "they may all look like your friends but they've all been twisted by the Dark Side...the GEEKY SIDE!" The moment she heard her friend say these things, Carol proceeded to question Lori on why she hated the game so strongly.

In response, Lori proclaimed that D&D was a game meant "specifically" for the uncool people of society; nerds, geeks...and younger siblings who were into such things. Naturally, Lincoln assumed the comment was being directed at him and was prepared to voice his complaints to Lori. But Carol quickly called for him to stand down before deciding to speak on his behalf.

"Look...There was once a time where I used to be just like you, Lors" she stated, "as I started getting older, I started to wonder if this game was 'too immature' for me." Before continuing, Carol took a quick glance around the room; taking in all of the familiar faces in costume with dice in their hands. This sight made her feel all the braver to get her next point across. "By the time I started High School, though...I soon came to learn that I wasn't alone" she explained while sweeping her hand around the room, "I learned that Dungeons & Dragons had suddenly become mainstream and soon, almost everybody was playing it."

To help get her point across, Carol said that D&D was no longer a game meant "specifically" for the uncool to get involved in. Today, all kinds of people were playing the game; regardless of age, race, religion or social class. But even with all of this brought onto the table, the Loud Sisters still remained unconvinced.

While she couldn't deny that her bestie showed a lot of enthusiasm about the game, Lori still questioned its appeal; as did the rest of her siblings. It was one thing for their parents, their grandfather and even Lincoln to be a part of this...but to see their classmates, teachers and even romantic partners as part of it all was far too much. "I mean...all these books, all this math to remember and stuff" questioned Lana indignantly, "it sounds more like homework than a board game."

Upon sensing the girls' growing skepticism, Lincoln and his crew decided to try and help them understand the game better. "With all due respect, girls; there's actually a bit more to the game than just that" Clyde stated, "sure, there IS math involve but the game also requires players to take risks and have a strong imagination to boot." Upon hearing mention of risks being involved with the game, Lynn couldn't help but scoff lightly at such talk.

Surprisingly, even Lisa couldn't help but question the risk factor with the game; proclaiming that she saw no such thing with throwing icosahedrons (or twenty-sided die) across the table. Upon taking these words into consideration, Lynn Sr. and his fellow Game Masters decided to throw their two cents in on the matter. "You see, girls; using D20s in our game presents the same kind of risk throwing regular dice in other games does" he explained, "when you're hoping for success, you need to take a risk and roll for a rather high number to win.""

Rita nodded in full agreement with her husband's words and said that games like Craps or Japan's Cho-han game had near similar attributes (mostly where high numbered rolls were concerned.) But even with all of these examples, the Loud Sisters remained undeterred; Lynn Jr. especially. "How about I explain things to you with a story" Rita offered, "a story of one of my first times playing D&D with your father and a few of our friends." With these few simple words, the Loud Sisters' earlier boredom faded slightly and they urged for their mother to tell her tale.

In spite of herself, Rita couldn't help but laugh at their excitement and hoped her story would make them feel equally excited to play afterwards.

(Flashback to Years Earlier)

The place was Lynn Sr.'s childhood school and inside the cafeteria, Lynn was taking part in a Dungeons & Dragons session with a group of friends. Among them were people like Kotaro, Howard McBride and a younger (yet not quite as messy looking) Flip. During their session, there came a point where Flip found himself confronted by a fearsome Manticore.

"I fly into an epic barbarian rage and swing at the beast with my sword" young Flip said in a puberty voice that was a mix of high-pitched and deep, "ain't no way I can lose against this critter." Lynn, the team's Game Master stared firmly at his friend and urged him to not get too cocky before the battle had begun. "This manticore is incredibly strong, dude" he said cautiously, "you'll need to roll a perfect 24 to beat him."

This didn't seem to make Flip feel all that worried, much to Lynn's surprise. "I'm tellin' youse guys, I can do this" he said confidently while shaking the dice in his hand, "all it takes is a good shake and a well-timed flick of the wrist." With that said, Flip picked up the 24-sided die and started to shake it vigorously between his hands. After a while, he finally sent the die rolling and the scene suddenly went into slow-motion; as if it were a moment from an action movie.

Then, as it finally came to a stop, it looked as though Lady Luck had blessed Flip with a perfect 24 dice roll. But then, at the very last moment, the dice suddenly tipped over; revealing the number "12" instead. The other three gents at the table gawked astounded at the die, while Flip found himself sweating profusely with fear; fearing what might happen next. Finally, Lynn broke the silence with a disappointed click of his tongue; which meant only one thing...total failure.

"Sorry, Flip but I'm afraid that's not enough to save you" he said sullenly, "while your blade did pierce through the griffin's side, the blow felt as small as a flea bite to the beastie." In the end, Flip's character met an untimely end at the hands (or claws) of the griffin; resulting in him being eaten alive and thus removing him from the game. As a result of this turn of events, Flip fell into a real barbarian rage and ripped his shirt in half in the process.

Upon doing so, several students cried out in disgust while the teacher who kept watch over the lunch room called Flip out for disrupting everyone's meal time. As a result, he was swiftly sent off to the Principal's office for his behavior (for presumably, the sixth time that week.)

(Back to the Present)

By the end of the story, Lynn (and almost all of her sisters) had some understanding about the "risk factors" in D&D. At the same time, some of them had trouble getting the image of Flip ripping off his shirt out of their heads. After a while; they came back to their senses, once again voiced their skepticism about D&D. "Don't get me wrong, everybody; I LOVE what you've done with your costumes" Leni said with praise, "but...how can you have fun with this game, if the story's just in your heads?"

Upon hearing these words, both Lana and Lola gasped at their elder sister in shock; as if she had said the biggest swear known to man. "We use our imaginations all the time, when Lana and I play together" Lola stated, "I guess when you get older, creativity just dies out." Much to everyone's shock, this comment not only offended Leni but the other elder sisters as well. Lynn in particular was the most offended by Lola's words and was prepared to give her an earful for them...until Clyde intervened.

"Everybody has some form of an imagination, girls" he explained, "it doesn't matter what age you are or how old you get...all you need is some concentration and focus." Almost immediately, Lincoln thanked Clyde for his explanation and decided to add a bit more to it. To do this, he asked every one of his sisters to take in a breath and close their eyes. But before they decided to do either, there was some hesitancy among them (specifically Luan.)

"You're not planning on pranking us, if we close our eyes...are you, Lincoln" she inquired, "because that was my thing." Lincoln couldn't help but feel a little proud of his sister's words, thinking that all her summer classes in self-control with pranking have really paid off. After that, he insisted that there was nothing to fear and asked the girls to close their eyes.

Reluctantly, the girls agreed to their brother's request and slowly closed their eyes. After that, each of them took in a slow yet even breath; which Lincoln claimed would help move things along. "Okay, girls...now, I want you to picture the following images in your head" Lincoln explained, "you are by yourselves, trapped in a dark room; the rank stench of mildew emanates from the wet stone walls around you."

While still keeping their eyes shut, the Loud Sisters suddenly found themselves sniffing at the air around them instinctively. Yet, whenever they did happen to smell something bad; they debated on whether it was actually the smell of wet stonework, the food from the buffet table...or possibly Lily's training pants. "Okay, so...now what" questioned Lori, "does something attack us from somewhere, do we fight it?"

Instead of answering directly, Lincoln gave a soft chuckle and asked "how do you plan on fighting anything...if you're wrists are chained to the wall behind you?" This sudden reveal caused the girls to suddenly gasp in alarm/fright before they started moving their arms oddly behind themselves. It wasn't until they heard some of the other players snickering at them when the Loud Sisters finally calmed down.

After that, Lori glanced behind her shoulder and saw that there were no cuffs to be seen on her wrists; much to her relief. The other sisters felt just as relieved that they were also imagining the chains. But their relief quickly shifted to annoyance and they all cast vicious glances at the other players, who were desperately trying not to laugh at them. "That wasn't very funny, you guys" grumbled Luan, "we actually thought somebody chained us up!"

After taking a moment longer to giggle in good fun, the Council called for silence and everybody swiftly apologized to the Loud Sisters for the inadvertent scare. "Seriously, dudes...that wasn't cool" Luna said firmly with her arms crossed tight, "why'd you have to go and spook us like that?" Thinking quickly, Sam approached her sweetheart and gave her the biggest hug possible; all while apologizing for the scare.

"You gotta admit, though...that was pretty thrilling" Mandee stated, "wasn't it, girls?" Following this, Lincoln and his guy friends added that the only reason his sisters got scared was due to the fact their imaginations responded strongly with the dark room description. "Yeah, you girls only thought you were chained up in a wet dark room" Bobby said matter-of-factually, "but it was actually just all in your heads."

Upon taking a moment to let the words sink in properly, Lori and her sisters suddenly felt a wave of realization strike at them like a lightning strike. They (or rather, most of them) could not believe their own subconscious minds would trick them so easily, in spite of the fact they hardly ever role-played. With this realization, the Loud Sisters suddenly felt their faces flaring slightly in embarrassment.

"Okay...so, maybe you were all right about the 'power of imagination' thing" Lynn confessed begrudgingly, "but what are we supposed to do, play the whole game with our eyes closed?" Lincoln and his parents softly chuckled at the young jock's suggestion and were prepared to present the next aspect of the game. But then, at that moment; Mrs. Bernardo (who was dressed up as a sort of medieval crier) entered the room and blew three notes through her long horn.

Afterwards, she raised her head slightly and proclaimed "the hour is now 9:50, ten minutes until Ten of the Clock!" Much to the Loud Sisters' overall confusion, this proclamation caused everyone around them to grumble and/or moan in disapproval. After that, they saw Mr. Grouse (who was dressed as some sort of Human/Dragon hybrid creature) glare at their dad in disapproval. "Nice going, Loud" he grumbled, "because of your girls' snoopin' around, we missed out on tonight's game!"

Not long after this, several other players sounded off their disapproval for the Loud Sisters' intrusion as well; adding that they have yet to receive their punishment for it. With the matter back on the table once more, Lynn Sr. and Co. knew the Loud Sisters had to face judgement before the night was through. So, they slipped their hoods back up over their heads and reassumed their roles as the Council of Game Masters.

"Lords and Ladies of Castle Greyhawk, hear us" Lynn/Game Master Acheron exclaimed, causing everyone to turn towards him; "we, the Game Masters Council, shall now convene and reach a verdict." After that, the group suddenly huddled up and started murmuring amongst themselves; reminding Lynn Jr. of all the team huddles she would take part in. Then, almost a minute and a half later, they quickly dispersed and called for the attention of all players. "After much deliberation; we, the Council of Game Masters have reached a unanimous verdict" the council members said in unison, "for their crimes of trespassing, leaving their home without proper consent and placing a tracker upon their family coach; we find the Loud Sisters...GUILTY!"

The crowd cheered wildly with joy, upon hearing this decision; while the Loud Sisters lowered their heads in shame. "Whatever their verdict is; it won't even compare to what I'll do to you for putting trackers on us, Lisa...again" she growled softly, "I thought the court told you to stop doing that!" With a nervous smile upon her face, Lisa's only response to her eldest sibling's words were the cliched "old habits die hard" statement people often used.

Following this, Lola proceeded to ask her sister if she saw everyone as animal test subjects rather than family. Of course, Lisa chose to remain silent; fearing she might slip into her other "old habits." Specifically, she once believed that those who did not "measure up" with her (intellectually speaking) were no better than animals; much less the ones she would test her research or inventions on.

But before the Sisters could bicker further on the subject, the room suddenly echoed with a loud "THUMP." After covering their ears painfully, the girls looked over and saw that the noise came from their parents; who were slamming the bases of their staves upon the floor. Each of them could also see the fierce glare of disapproval in their mother's eyes, a look they were more than familiar with over the years.

After about twenty seconds worth of near-agonizing silence, the Council called for the Loud Sisters' attention and presented them with their punishment. "Firstly, Lisa; you are to destroy all tracking devices you have at home" Rita proclaimed, "even if some of them are on our persons." Upon hearing this part, the others suddenly shivered with worry; wondering where each of their devices might be hidden (and what Lisa intended to do to get them back.)

Meanwhile, Lisa found herself gaping in horror at her mother's words before swiftly falling to her knees and begging for her to reconsider her terms. But in spite of her tears (or possible lack thereof,) Rita remained unswayed in her decision. "You gave Judge Snapper your word, long ago that you'd destroy all trackers that you might have" she said firmly, "how you managed to keep more of them secret from us is beyond me."

In spite of herself, Lisa suddenly did something she had seldom done before (least of all in public.) With her eyes narrowed and her tiny arms crossed over each other tightly, she plopped herself down and grumbled like a bratty child denied a sweet or a new toy. "I still refuse to believe there is anything 'immoral' or 'illegal' in keeping those close to us marked" she insisted, "who knows if one of us may be taken captive and you might need a swift method to find us."

No sooner having said this, Lisa proceeded to question if keeping the family's...leavings (as she chose to call them) in a collection was also "illegal?" Upon being reminded of this, the other Loud Siblings wasted no time in voicing their displeasure on the reveal (either with words or noises of disgust.) But all too quickly, their riffraff was silenced by Lynn Sr. tapping his staff on the floor once again.

"Should you refuse to comply, child; every remaining piece of your technology shall be swiftly confiscated by local authorities and donated to the Royal Woods Science Institute" he proclaimed, "and this includes your...'companion,' Master Todd." Upon hearing this final addition to her punishment, Lisa's mind suddenly flashed with images of Todd being taken out of the house; all while calling out in distress in his robotic voice. This seemed to be the final nail in the coffin towards getting the young genius to fall in line.

Of course, her mind also pictured ideas of her "retaliating" against her parents for their decision (albeit violently with possible future experiments.) But Lisa quickly pushed these thoughts aside; realizing that her pride did nothing good for her this far. However, she did insist that her methods were actually doing the family some good...but her words were unheard, in the end.

With the matter settled, the time had come to initiate the second half of the Loud Sisters' punishment for their crimes. "For trespassing on these royal grounds and for your continued mockery of our beloved game, we felt it deserved a more...ironic punishment" Mrs. Johnson chuckled in her Game Mistress Agathe voice, "therefore...we hereby sentence you to play an entire session of Dungeons & Dragons with us from start to finish." Upon hearing these words, some of the Loud Sisters felt...somewhat relieved; thinking that the Council decided to go easy on them.

"That's your idea of a punishment...playing a game" Lola chuckled, "that doesn't sound that bad at all." The rest of the Sisters sounded off in agreement with her, all while thinking things were looking up for them. But all too quickly, their friends were there to "help" bring them all back down to "reality." "Do not thank your lucky stars just yet, miladies" Bobby said in his Alexi voice, "the world of D&D is vast and fraught with many challenges; as such, most campaigns might last a rather long time.

Upon hearing this, the Loud Sisters' earlier joy slowly dampened; giving way to a...rather mild sense of dread. Then, against her better judgement, Lori proceeded to ask how long a D&D campaign might last. "'Tis difficult for any of us to say, dear Sister" Lincoln said with flair in his voice, "but many sessions I have seen last nigh on to a year in length."

With this simple yet "dramatic" reveal, the girls suddenly realized that their chances at freedom had fallen apart faster than they appeared. Then, after they fell to their knees and cried out "NOOOO" in anguish (with the exceptions of Leni and Lily,) they were soon escorted out of the gaming chamber by Mrs. Bernardo and the "guards" from moments ago. But before they left, Lynn Jr. stopped at the doorway and asked what would happen later?

"I mean...once we get our possible trackers removed, where are we supposed to go then" she asked, "it's too late to drive Vanzilla back home and we don't wanna pedal back again." In response to this, Rita smiled and told her daughters they would be staying there in the castle with everyone else...at least, until the weekend was up. After that, they'd all be driving back to their regular homes until the next weekend comes along.

"Of course...since you girls ARE just joining us, there are only a few remaining rooms left" Lynn Sr. added, "this means you'll all have to share, just like you do back home." Upon hearing this reveal, the girls' faces slowly contorted into uncomfortable smiles; while their minds were practically screaming with displeasure at the idea. It was difficult enough for them to share rooms back at the house, the Sisters seldom expected to do the same in a hotel.

But due to their current situation, they realized there was little else that could be done to change things. With that, the guards escorted the Loud Sisters out of the room and off down the hall to their new chambers. But as they were leaving, Lincoln decided to follow behind; all while still dressed in his dwarf costume. As she cast a glance over her shoulder and saw her brother following the line, Lori suddenly gave a shudder of disgust; thinking that she and the rest of her sisters will soon be dolled up in weird costumes...just like everyone else in this crazy place.

(Line Break)

Moments later, Lincoln and the girls were all standing inside one of the establishment's restrooms. While there, Lisa (despite her many objections on the matter) was forced to remove everyone's tracking devices from their persons. Lincoln was the first to be called in and once the procedure was done, he left the room with a relieved grin on his face.

"Maybe now, I'll have some form of privacy in my life" he said with a great sigh, "which means you guys can't follow me around anymore." Each of the Loud Sisters simply gave him a grumble in response but it wasn't because they were annoyed by his words. Rather, they were worried about the idea of having each of their beautiful hairdos possibly be ruined by what Lisa had planned for them.

In time, Lori was called into the bathroom and took her place on the toilet seat while Lisa prepped her hair cleaning tools. "I suppose we literally kinda deserved this, don't we" Lori said while looking at the viewer, "for shadowing our brother, my sisters and I are not only getting invasive haircuts...but we're being forced to take part in a game that could scar us all socially forever!" As these grim thoughts filled her head, Lori's mind soon backtracked to moments earlier.

Even after everything she had just seen and heard, she still couldn't believe what happened up to now. In the span of just one night; the Loud Sisters have discovered that their parents, their brother, several of their neighbors and even their partners were all taking part in a game that was mostly beloved by nerds since the 1970's. Lori couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh, cry, scream in alarm...or do some strange combination of the three. That, it seems was just how confused Lori was by this whole scenario.

At the same time, she couldn't deny that everyone looked rather happy while they were all playing earlier. Lori was especially captivated by Bobby's behavior, back when he was acting in character. To her, he was acting in a way that looked like something out of Shakespeare; which made him all the dreamier, in her eyes.

"Maybe I'm acting silly; maybe...things won't be as silly as I think, in the morning" Lori sighed while addressing the "viewer," "but even if they will be, my sisters and I are Louds and that means we're tough enough to handle anything!" The moment she said these words, Lori could hear the unmistakable buzz of a razor sounding off beside her. With a nervous gulp and her eyes wide with fear, she turned slightly to find Lisa slowly easing her tool towards her head; intent to shave but a small portion of the side (presumably.)

"Just hold still, Lori; this won't hurt at all" Lisa assured stoically, "it's the possible removal of the tracking device you should find the most worrisome." As she watched the razor's blades ease closer to her head, Lori closed her eyes and prayed her hair would grow back quick enough by morning. If she was going to play the nerd game with everyone else, she didn't want to leave any other openings for them to possibly mock her.

(First AN: And with that, the Louds have joined the party...almost. Come the morning *in the story's universe,* each of the girls will be properly suited up and brought into the game. But what will the future hold for them next?

Will the girls continue hating on the game the whole way through or will they, by some twist of Lady Fate, come to love it as much as everyone else does? Tune in next time, to find out)

(Second AN: Second AN: The song that Lincoln and his friends are singing is a song made by YOGCAST Lewis & Simon, which was originally just a simple yet silly phrase one of YOGCAST exclaimed while playing a game of Minecraft. The song was later covered by an Italian Power Metal band named Wind Rose, both of which garnered a lot of positive feedback from viewers. After hearing both versions for myself for several days, I felt compelled to put it in this chapter; especially since Lincoln and the boys are all playing Dwarf characters)

(Third AN: The phrase Bobby says means "Welcome/Blessed Arrival, My Lady" in Elvish. I felt it necessary to use that, when Bobby greeted Lori; considering the type of character he is playing.)

(Fourth AN: The Castle Farms building that the game is happening in is not only a real world venue building in Michigan. But it's also a place I've mentioned in my first ever Loud House story from years ago; Ace Savvy and the Full House Gang: Checkmate. I thought the place would be the perfect spot for their D&D session.)

(Final AN: The tracking chip thing is based on a moment from the Loud House episode Job Insecurity, where it's revealed that Lisa has each member of her family tracked...while smiling wickedly/awkwardly The tracking chip issue was also mentioned in Gal Pals, which led to Lisa being ordered by law to remove such devices from her family. But as the old saying often goes, old habits die hard)