Trial by Fire
(The Real World)
"Hold on, time out; everything stop right here" Lynn suddenly exclaimed, "first off...what's this 'blood of the mountain' the Dwarf King's talking about and how does this involve us?" For a brief moment, everyone (except for the other Sisters) felt rather annoyed of Lynn's disruptive inquiries. But they soon remembered she was still relatively new to the game, in spite being this far into their campaign.
So, in the end, they chose to answer her questions as appropriately as they could. "It's really quite simple, noble Barbarian" Clyde said matter-of-factly, "being so deeply connected with their underground dwellings, Dwarves consider what we call lava or molten rock to be like the 'blood' of the earth." Soon after this, Lincoln added that dwarves used the lava as a natural furnace for their forges; proclaiming it to be hotter than coal.
"That...is actually a thorough explanation, dear Brother; I'm rather impressed" Lisa said proudly, "however, how does this connect with Karuk's earlier words?" In response to this, Haiku gave a smile and asked the Sisters if they were familiar with the phrase "Trial by Fire." Within seconds, nearly half of them responded with a hearty "yes" (with the exceptions of Leni, Lana and Lily of course.)
"Well, dearies...in games such as hours, the phrase takes on a different meaning" Mrs. Johnson chuckled in her Agathe voice, "in here, your characters are about to literally take a Trial by Fire at the forge!" Lori's group gasped loudly with alarm, feeling more confused than they were frightened. It was here that Clyde (while in-character as Beris Stormclaw) offered to give a deeper explanation.
"Much like Leni's character, I am also a Cleric" he said stoically, "which means I have the power to enchant items, weapons and anything else in-between with holy energy." He went on to explain how Beris planned on infusing the forge with his magic, which would also give the lava stored within the same enchantment.
To conclude, Clyde said that a cleric's holy power would never harm an innocent or kind soul. But should any weapon, item or anything else bearing such enchantments come in contact with evil fiends...well, it would certainly do more than hurt them. "GASP! I knew this all sounded familiar" Lucy exclaimed, "it's almost exactly like the effect Holy Water has on vampires!"
Clyde smiled broadly, revealing that he may have learned "a few things" from Vampires of Melancholia before tonight. This seemed to make not only Lucy smile but Haiku as well. Meanwhile, Lori and the others were desperately trying to process everything they've just been told. As if sensing their confusion, Albert decided to cut straight to the point.
"Once Beris has enchanted the lava, each of you is gonna take turns holding your hands out and touching it" he explained carefully, "if it doesn't hurt you, Karuk/me will know you can be trusted but if ya get even a little singed, there will be trouble." With these short yet simple words, everything started to finally come together for Lori and the girls. At the same time, they came to another realization; none of them had that strong of an Armor Class...except for Lynn.
"NO FAIR! Velra's body is like a thick leather coat" Lola whined, "the rest of us will burn to a crisp, once the lava touches us!" Mere seconds after this was said, Luan interjected; reminding her baby sister that her character had some thick skin as well. But the Council quickly reminded her that compared to a Loxodon's own body, a Tortle's scales were thick...but not by a lot.
Clyde called for everyone's attention, soon after and reminded the girls that none of them would be at risk of Burn Damage or Fire Damage; not if their hearts were pure. "That being said, word of advice" Clyde stated, "hope you'll get high numbers in Constitution when it's your turn to roll." Although they were still relatively unfamiliar with the terminology of the game, something about what the bearded boy said sent chills through each of the Loud Sisters.
(Line Break)
Five minutes later, the moment arrived for Lori's group to undergo their Trial by Fire and the whole room was silent with anticipation. The first to go was Lori, whose character didn't have any armor on but had a strong Dexterity stat. After a quick browse through the handbook and her character sheet, Lori learned that she would need to add her 2 Dex to whatever number she would earn on her dice roll.
"Let's get this over with" she muttered, "I've literally got a monster of a headache from all this math." With that said; she picked up the dice, shook it vigorously and tossed it along the table. Once it stopped inches away from Paige's line of sight, she glanced down and shouted the number "sixteen" for all to hear. "That's pretty good, honey" Rita said proudly, "and with the plus two, it makes eighteen."
For a brief moment, Lori felt as though this meant she was safe but she wondered if this would be enough to keep her hand from burning. Thankfully, the Game Masters were able to help put her fears to rest. Through Mrs. Johnson, it was revealed that Lori's "18" granted her just the right amount of protection needed to remain unaffected by the ore.
Next, Lana stepped forward and she hoped to be just as fortunate as her older sisters. "I don't want to seem like I'm putting pressure on you, girls" Rita murmured uneasily, "but...compared to Luan and Lynn's characters, Tabaxis have no natural armor of their own." In addition to this, Lynn Sr. revealed that the Twins' characters weren't known for wearing armor at all.
Therefore, they would be among the greatest at risk of being burned. After taking a moment to let all this sink in, the Twins gulped nervously and picked up their dice; all while mentally praying for something good. The shook their dice so hard and so vigorously in their hands, it almost sounded like they were waving rattles.
Finally, they let the dice fly across the table and crossed their fingers tight for good luck. Meanwhile, everyone else leaned over the table slightly and watched the dice skip along with great anticipation.
When the two pieces of plastic finally stopped in front of where Silas sat, he looked at it closely and gasped in shock (well...gasped as loudly as Goths allowed themselves to.) "It looks as though Madame Fate is on your side, this night" he said with a light grin, "for you've both received Natural 20s." This news came as such a shock to Lana and Lola that they ended up fainting right out of their chairs.
Thankfully, their sisters were within arm's reach and managed to catch both of them before they could hit the floor. Finally, it was time for Lucy to roll and although she didn't show it on the surface; on the inside...she was rather nervous. Although the manual said her character had an AC of 13, it still felt relatively small.
This meant that if she were to survive this turn, her Constitution Check would need to be strong. "No pressure or anything, Lucy" Luan murmured uneasily, "just...maybe blow on the dice for luck or something?" Upon hearing these words, the young Goth cast a glance towards her young sister and the atmosphere suddenly became...rather tense.
While no one else could tell what sort of expression Lucy was giving Luan; her family, meanwhile had a pretty solid idea due to her tense body language. With that in mind, Luan quickly apologized to Lucy for her words and beckoned her to proceed. "Alright...you got this, Lucy" the Goth Girl whispered, "just...trust the dice."
After letting out a deep breath to calm herself, she tossed her hand out lightly and the dice bounced three times across the table. When it finally stopped in front of Lincoln, he peeked and let out a tense hiss through his lips. This gave Lucy the impression that she failed on her turn, but several players assured her otherwise.
"You didn't fail, honey" Lynn Sr. stated, "but you didn't exactly succeed either." Continuing from here, the Loud Matriarch explained that Lucy only received a "5" on her roll; which didn't seem like a lot. But Principal Huggins reminded Lucy of her character's 13 AC points. By adding the 5 from her roll to it, she would have 18 points to her Armor; just enough to protect her from burns.
"Sigh...that is such a relief" Lucy exclaimed, "I never thought I felt happy to not come close to death." The other players at the table, in spite of themselves, couldn't help but laugh lightly at the young Goth Girl's words; even Haiku and Silas chuckled a little. When the laughter finally subsided, the game was able to continue.
(The Game World)
The Party was as silent and still as the grave while the Dwarf Guard led them deeper into their domain. In time, they had reached their destination, the Forge Room. Upon entering, the Party saw something that almost made their eyes pop. Standing before them was a massive stone furnace, where all the molten lava and rock was collected from the very earth.
They watched as what looked like a stone dragon's head opened its maw, spewing forth the very substance into a grand smelter. Despite their dire situation, they could not help but marvel at this magnificent piece of craftsmanship. Then, they watched as Beris the Cleric approached the smelter and drove one of his hands deep into the lava.
This caused quite the uproar amongst the party, each of whom cried out in shock/protest in either their own tongues or in common languages. "What the devil are you doing" cried Fatima, "your libel to lose your whole hand!" Despite their cries, Beris remained focused on the task at hand and began to softly recite a series of Dwarvish words.
Alas, no one among the Party knew the Dwarf tongue as well as they should and were at a loss as to what the cleric was up to. Finally, Beris let out a deep sigh before finally pulling his hand from out the forge. Straightaway, the likes of Ursa and Fatima expected the appendage to either be ravaged with burns or melted down to the very bone.
But to their surprise, while some of the molten liquid clung to his fingers; Beris' hand appeared relatively unharmed. Finally, he gave his hand a quick shake and all that remained of the molten ore splattered off to the floor. "There...it is done, my Lord" Beris said to the king, "you may begin the test."
Just as Karuk was about to command the Party to step forward, Ursa turned suddenly and demanded answers; specifically, in regards to how Beris could place his hand within molten rock and not receive any harm. But the dwarf king was undeterred by her words, choosing only to urge her forward with a light shove of his boot. Naturally, Ursa was rather put off by such rude behavior and was prepared to Karuk this.
"NO, SISTER...Please, mind your temper" Ezra urged with mild terror in his voice, "we're already in enough trouble as is, must you risk making things worse?" While she knew her brother spoke the truth, she still felt bitter by the show of rudeness from their brief time in the Colosseum not so long ago. After that, she swore to never suffer further indignities from others.
"That may be true, my friend" murmured Shadow through her circlet, "but we must show some level of decorum, even while under scrutiny." Upon saying this, she eased her clawed hand up slightly; awkwardly gesturing for Ursa to move forward. Alas, for a moment or so, she remained fixed on the spot; as if still debating with herself.
It took only a glimpse at the other dwarves brandishing their weapons for the young rogue to finally come to her decision. With a trembling sigh; Ursa approached the forge, raised her paw high and eased it down ever so slowly to the molten ore. Every breath she took afterwards was shaky and frantic, as if she were running a marathon.
Then, she gave a soft whimper as her paw finally touched the molten ore and then...nothing. Although she could feel the heat of the forge radiating up against her face, Ursa felt no such sensation on the surface of her paw. "I'm afraid to look" she grumbled mentally, "and yet...I must do it!" With a whimper, Ursa eased her gaze down into the forge; hoping with all her might that even the tiniest bit of fur remained unharmed.
Upon opening her eyes, she was utterly astonished to see that the molten ore didn't so much as singe her palm. In truth, she didn't catch sight of even the briefest glimpse of steam emanating from her paw. This filled Ursa with an odd combination of fear, confusion and a small glimmer of relief.
Unsurprisingly, her confusion outweighed all other senses of thought and she demanded for some sort of explanation. "I will be more than happy to explain, stranger" Beris said calmly, "earlier on, while my own fist was submerged within the molten liquid, I recited a prayer in Dwarvish. This prayer would place an enchantment upon the ore, one that would only harm those with evil hearts." Despite however cryptic the cleric's words seemed, Ursa's mind felt...slightly at ease, mostly for the fact she had passed his mysterious test.
However, she realized that her brother and comrades had yet to dip their appendages into the forge themselves. If one of them felt even the slightest twinge of heat upon their palm, fingers or claws; all would be lost.
(The Real World)
"WOO-HOO! Lola passed the test, you guys" Lana cried out with pride, "that just leaves the rest of us and we're home free!" While she too shared in her little sister's excitement, Lori reminded everyone that they weren't out of the woods yet. Their group still had a way's to go to make it through the Trial by Fire and at this point, they couldn't afford to feel even a little cocky.
This reveal, while true, filled the girls with such anxiety; it felt as though their stomachs were eating themselves. Upon sensing that tension was bubbling up within the girls, Lincoln quickly stepped in; reminding them of the enchantment. "Remember...a Cleric's power only harms evil beings" he hinted with a smile, "and none of your characters are evil, right?" At first, the girls felt bothered by Lincoln for even suggesting such an idea.
But after giving his advice some thought, they realized he made a good point. With that in mind, the time had come for another member in the Party to come forward and it was decided that Leni should be the one to go next. Surprisingly, the young lady in question didn't seem quite so eager to go next due to the game's current situation.
But as she looked around the table, she saw several people giving breathing gestures; as if they were telling her to calm down. For a moment or two, she took in a few calming breaths until the tension in her belly shrank to what she called "Gassy Level." "Okay, this should totes be easy for me" she stated, "I mean...since I'm a Cleric thingy, too; that spell on the molten stuff shouldn't hurt me, right?"
At first, the young lady hoped for at least some murmur of assurance from the people around her. But nope, everyone either gave Leni uneasy looks or simply muttered to themselves with mild uncertainty. It wasn't until the Council of Game Masters called for order that Leni was finally given her answer.
"It's true, dear...normally, a Cleric's holy power is harmless to one of their own" Mrs. Johnson stated, "however, that same holy power looks within the hearts of others; should it find even a sliver of evil, unfaithfulness or dishonesty...well, you know." For the first time since she first started playing, Leni felt a genuine chill run through her. She hadn't even felt this scared during the Gladiator portion of the campaign.
But before she let this feeling overwhelm her, she suddenly heard her father's voice calling for her attention. Once he got it, Lynn Sr. urged Leni to take a peek at her character sheet; specifically, down in her Spells list. It was here that she caught sight of something labelled Divine Intervention, which meant Clerics and Druids could call upon their protecting deity to offer them protection.
"However...there is a catch, I'm afraid" Lynn Sr. said in his Acheron voice, "you must make a Saving Throw afterwards, should you fail to call upon your god's aid." In that moment, Leni was simply swirling with raw emotions. On one hand, she was trying her best to make sense of what her father just said.
On the other, the little bit she actually could understand filled her with so many butterflies that she almost felt queasy. Meanwhile, Lori was starting to feel a bit impatient; thinking that her sister should've taken her turn by now. She was moments away from telling Leni exactly that but when she saw the uneasy look on her face, Lori hesitated.
In the end, she pushed down her pride a bit and gave her shoulder a light pat; all while whispering "it's okay...remember, we're here to have fun." After saying this, Lori picked up the dice and offered them up to Leni; which she happily accepted. "Okay...don't worry too much about this, Leni" she thought to herself, "just take a deep breath...and let the dice roll."
Everyone watched in silence, as Leni took in a deep inhale through her nose and slowly blowing out a whistle. Afterwards, she gave her wrist a light bounce and the dice rolled lightly along the table. I bounced three times along the game map before finally stopping in front of some of the Gal Pals.
"I'm too nervous to look, you guys" Leni murmured while covering her eyes, "what number did I get?" Feeling just as anxious as she was, Kat eased her head over the table and looked down at the dice. Sadly, she couldn't quite read the number very well because some palm sweat had clung onto it.
This news created a bit of a mixed reaction from everyone at the table. Some players cried out in disgust; the Game Masters urged the children to swipe off their hands before rolling in the future. As for Leni, she felt utterly embarrassed to have allowed her palms to get that sweaty.
"OM GOSH! Are you serious" Leni cried, "I am sooo sorry about that...how embarrassing!" Thinking quickly, two other players rushed over and did their best to keep the young lady from slipping into despair; namely Lincoln and Chaz. The latter helped by picking up the hem of his barbarian cloak and offering to help wipe Leni's hands off with it.
This gesture, while somewhat romantic, almost disturbed the young teen; mainly because she didn't want to risk ruining Chaz's cloak. "Aww! Don't worry, babe; a lil' sweat stain don't bother Chaz" the lad assured, "I just don't want to see ya freakin' out over messin' up your dice roll." As if on cue, Lincoln added his own two cents to these words of comfort; revealing he had his own moments where sweaty palms almost wrecked things for him.
"All we gotta do is give your dice a wipe and they'll be all clean" he stated, "easy-peasy." Upon taking these words to heart, Leni's usual bright smile returned in full force and she gave each of the boys a loving hug in thanks. Meanwhile, Kat (albeit a tad grossed out at first) picked the dice up off the table and was swiftly given a napkin to clear away the sweat.
Once it was clean, she finally got a look at the number Leni got on her roll and her jaw fell near to the table. "Oh, no...I do not like that look" whimpered the young lady in question, "is it really that bad?" When Kat finally snapped back to reality, she gave Leni a hearty giggle and proclaimed "congrats, girl...YOU GOT A 25!"
Upon hearing this reveal, several players cried out in shock; all while murmuring the number "25" under their collective breath. Lynn Sr, in particular seemed rather pleased with his daughter's roll. Meanwhile, the other Loud Sisters could only stare in utter bewilderment; mouths all agape. As for Leni, she was filled with such joy over this turn of events that she let out a squeal; one that almost shattered every piece of glass in the building.
Upon noticing what she almost did, Leni blushed shyly and murmured "sorry...my bad" with a giggle.
(Line Break)
Eventually, Leni's turn came and went and she passed the dwarf king's trial with flying colors thanks to her "lucky roll" (as well as her Cleric abilities.) Next, Lucy decided to take her turn and she hoped that her roll would be just as high. Sadly, she was only able to gain a 17; which wasn't really that bad but Lucy still had some worries.
"OOOH! Cutting it a bit close there, Lu" Albert murmured while hissing through his teeth, "you end up passing the test but some of your cloak's sleeve touches the molten ore and catches fire." He went further to explain that for a split second, some of the dwarves almost mistook this accident as Shadow feeling the forge's holy fire.
That's when he asked for Clyde to make an Insight Check, which would determine whether Lucy's character actually failed the trial or not. "What'cha talkin' about, Pop-Pop...Lucy didn't fail nothing" Lynn interjected, "it was her cloak catching fire!" In response to this, everyone at the table said that they all knew the truth. The sad fact was, however that dwarves were known to be ridiculously stubborn; especially when it comes to their suspicions/beliefs.
"It can be difficult to show someone your true intentions, especially with Dwarves" Huggins stated, "so...sometimes, it takes something serious to really knock some sense into them." After giving these words some thought, Lynn suddenly had a mild epiphany; remembering how she had her own kind of "Dwarf Level Stubbornness" when it comes to her beliefs in luck. "Now...the time has come for Ezra and Mituna to be tested" Albert proclaimed in his Karuk voice, "which of you shall be the first?"
While everyone else knew the old man was saying his piece for the sake of dramatic effect, Lisa was quick to point out that Luan was set to go next; after coming second-to-last on the Initiative Roll.
(The Game World)
A hushed silence fell over the room, as Mituna slowly made her way towards the forge. After having witnessed her other comrades succeed in the trial, she hoped to be equally fortunate. But as she gazed down into the bubbling molten ore, the young bard felt a chill swell up within her massive shell.
"Calm yourself, girl" she whispered, "you never cracked under pressure while performing before an audience...you won't crack now!" With this small boost in confidence, Mituna let out a calming breath and pressed her palm lightly atop the molten ore within the forge. For a moment, she half-expected her whole arm to radiate with intense waves of fiery pain.
But much to her surprise and shock, it felt...warm. Not a searing kind of warmth one feels after touching a boiling kettle atop a stove. Rather, this was a more pleasant sensation; as if her hand were caressing a freshly baked roll taken from the oven. This feeling was so pleasant to her, everyone around Mituna could see a pleased (yet goofy) smirk forming across her face.
Finally, Mituna's mind snapped back into reality the moment she heard voices calling out her name. "Oi! Mituna...Mituna...MITUNA" one speaker shouted, "are you listening or do I need to give you a good slap to the gob?!" Upon hearing that last comment, the Tortle bard finally came out of her trance and removed her hand from the forge.
When she saw everyone staring at her with such odd expressions, Mituna soon felt even more self-conscious. "Er...So sorry, everyone" she murmured shyly, "but...touching that ooze almost felt like feeling the warm sand of my homeland just after the tide rolls in." These words, however odd they sounded, seemed to make sense to the rest of the Adventuring Party.
As for the Dwarves, they remained stoic and still as stone; eyeing them all suspiciously. Although each member of the Party had seemingly passed the Trial by Fire, many among them presumed they had cheated in some way. On the other hand, there were those among the Dwarves who claimed Master Beris' skills weren't as strong as they should be.
As a result, the entire hall resounded with the loud echos of Dwarvish slurs and cries of outrage. This carried on for nigh on two minutes until King Karuk raised his hammer high and slammed its base upon the ground. Just as it did before, the echo it created reverberated through every corner of the room and the tunnels beyond; silencing everyone.
After a while, everything was sill again and the dwarf king prepared to speak. "It would seem as though the blood of the mountain shows you and your comrades favor, Madame Elf" he stated, "however, you have still yet to answer for your trespass here." Once again, Fatima pleaded her case in saying neither she nor her comrades meant to enter their domain.
Rather, they happened upon a cave by chance while fleeing the kingdom of Cicero, after escaping from Gunari's coliseum. The instant the Party revealed this, Karuk's demeanor soon became much grimmer than he already appeared. Many other dwarves shared in their lord's disdain, which led the likes of Ventris to wonder what distressed them so.
"We know of the wretch you speak of" grumbled a guard, "one of our own, Floki Ghost-Hand, narrowly escaped the confines of that very arena...but at a heavy cost. Before any of them could speak a word, the Party soon caught sight of another dwarf approaching them. Though young for his age; his eyes harbored great exhaustion, his beard was disheveled and he bore numerous scars upon his right arm.
However, the warrior's most noticeable feature was the hooded cloak he wore upon his back. It was old, had many tears and holes and from the smell, it seemed as though it had yet to be washed (to Ventris' sensitive nose, at least.) Yet, the cloak itself wasn't what caught her attention most; it was how closely the one called Floki held it over his left side.
But before she had the chance to do so herself, Ursa spoke up first; demanding for Floki to dispose of his cloak immediately. "I must refuse, lass...apologies" he murmured uneasily, "ye wouldnae like what's under me cloak." Hearing the dwarf speak such words filled the Party with feelings of great concern, particularly with Ventris.
What could anyone, much less a dwarf want to conceal from their eyes? It wasn't until the king called for attention and beckoned for Floki to speak honestly. "If there is to be trust between us, there mustn't be no secrets" he proclaimed, "'sides...if any of 'em laugh, we run 'em through." No sooner had this been said, a five Dwarven guards lightly poked their spears against the backsides of the Party; showing them the king's threat truly was real.
(The Real World)
"So...what say you, young Master Floki" inquired Mrs. Johnson in her Agathe voice, "will you share your secret with the strangers?" A great silence fell over the room, as everyone's eyes slowly shifted over in Liam's direction; wondering what he planned to do. Meanwhile, the boy in question sat still in his chair while looking down at his left hand (just like his character.)
Finally, he let out a heavy sigh and pushed his arm out to reveal...it was perfectly fine. Okay, it was "fine" in the sense that he wasn't wearing a cast. This would mean he may have broken his arm, somehow before the events of their game. Instead, he wore what looked like a gaming glove over his hand, which looked like something out of the 1980s.
"Hey! Hold on a minute...I think I know what that is" Lana exclaimed, "that's the Omega Gaming Gauntlet!" Upon hearing this, the other Loud Sisters looked at the glove for themselves and murmured lightly in realization. It truly was the Omega Gauntlet, a gaming item that was advertised as a "replacement" for typical gaming controllers. However, Lisa was quick to point out that Liam's glove was missing the aforementioned gaming controller attachments the gauntlet was said to have.
"Well...ya see, lil' miss; this here glove ain't actually mine" Liam confessed, "it belonged to Zach but the controller-muh-bobs done broke off long ago." Following this; the young farm boy revealed that when the campaign first started, he wanted to give his character a feature that would really stand out. In the end, he settled on a metal prosthetic arm; which was given a few "bells n' whistles," thanks to Zach's character.
"Okay...first of all, how'd your character lose his arm in the first place" Lynn prodded, "secondly, I know dwarves are good at building stuff...but how could they build a robotic arm?" Surprisingly, the answers to both these questions came from virtually everyone at the table; including the GMs themselves. Firstly, Carol revealed that most of what they called "modern technology" isn't out of the ordinary within the world of Dungeons & Dragons.
Depending on how the game was played; things like prosthetic limbs, flying machines, firearms and even robots are quite common among the different regions of D 's vast world. "Secondly, all of this is made possible through two equal yet slight ways" added Haiku, "through mystical know-how or through the skills of the Artificer class." Upon hearing mention of Artificers, several of the Loud Sisters proclaimed that Lisa had the word on their character sheet.
Zach gave his usual snorty nerd laugh and proclaimed that his own character was also an artificer. "To give you guys a refresher, here's the basic gist" he stated, "Artificers are spell casters who infuse items with magical energy, giving them a new purpose or function." After taking a moment to process this, as well as read up on the character class herself, Lisa asked if Artificers were some form of inventors within D .
"A very good question, young lady" Principal Huggins exclaimed proudly, "of course, Artificers utilize something we here at the table like to call 'Magitech.'" Upon hearing the term, Lisa's mind already had the perfect idea on the meaning behind it and what it was capable of. Yet somehow, a small part of her chose to ask for an explanation; claiming she wanted to "make a comparison" between them.
"In games like this, MagiTech refers to any form of technology that possesses a...mystical or arcane source of power" Zach explained, "it could be something like the mechanical arm Liam's character has, any form of firearms to even a Warforged creation; which is what your character is, Lisa." For the second time that night, the young genius was left speechless by the oddly scientific aspects of the game.
Before taking part in this campaign, she never would've imagined discovering such things in such a "trivial" place. But before she could delve more into this lore, the Game Masters reminded everyone that they were becoming slightly distracted. This quickly brought everyone back to the earlier topic, which was how Liam's character gained his prosthetic limb.
"Right...So, like I mentioned earlier, my character had a bit of a scrap while diggin' in the mines" the farm boy explained, "had himself a run-in with a Xorn." As expected, Leni asked the Table what sort of creature a "Xorn" was and why it took off Liam's arm. In response, Clyde explained that the main diet of a Xorn was purely inorganic things; such as rocks, minerals and/or gems.
"Sadly, ol' Floki was diggin' along a Xorn's territory and happened to get his hands on its next shiny snack" Rusty chuckled, "you...can probably figure out the rest." At first, the Sisters were already creeped out by the idea of someone having their arm eaten off by a monster. But after Lana happened to find it within the Monster Manual, they took one look at the Xorn's teeth and their faces went ghostly white.
Of course, Lisa was quick to point out that if such a creature's diet consisted of inorganic substances, a Xorn couldn't possibly eat Floki's arm. "I didn't say it ate his arm off, missy...the Xorn only bit it off" Liam said matter-of-factly, "which is somethin' totally different!" Lynn Sr. fully agreed with this, reminding his children of all the times they only sampled some of his food...but never swallowed it.
With that matter settled, the time had come for the reveal of how Floki gained his mechanical arm. For this, Zach stood up from his seat and reiterated his earlier explanations behind an Artificer's skills. "Yes, yes; we all know you literally used your magical mojo to attach the arm to Li...I mean, Floki" Lori stated, briefly correcting herself, "but how did you get it to work?
Once again, Zach brought up his magical skills as an artificer; this time referring to something known as "attunement." "To put it simply, Lori; the dwarves took their time in crafting the arm" Lincoln explained, "but to get it to work, Zach or Jaspur Spirit-Forge used his magic to mystically bind the limb to Floki's body." At first; the likes of Lisa, Lynn and especially Lori openly questioned how any form of "magical hoo-ha" as they called it could achieve such a thing.
In response, their father replied in saying that it was the limb itself that bore the magic. When it was attached to the flesh of the stump where Floki's elbow once was, the energy from it coursed through his body until it was like his very life-blood. "This allowed the limb to bind itself effortlessly to Floki" he added, "though, I imagine it took the warrior much time in learning how to use it."
Liam nodded slowly while flexing the arm bearing the Gaming Gauntlet. He then went on to explain how the process was slow, at the start; moving fingers, flexing, moving the new elbow joint properly. But in due course, Floki became accustomed to his new limb and went right back to doing what he did best; fighting and mining.
"That is both weird...and yet so cool at the same time" chirped Lana gleefully, "hey, you think Ezra could get a limb like that?" With a hearty chuckle, Albert shook his head and revealed that a druid wouldn't use inorganic materials for such things. If prosthetics were needed, they'd be grown from nature itself.
"Wait...you're saying I could grow a living wooden arm for myself" inquired Lana, "that...is so...COOOOL!" The table chortled and giggled at the young lady's outburst for a brief moment and then, everyone decided to return to the quest at hand. With that in mind, the Game Masters threw up their hoods and reassumed their roles.
(The Game World)
After passing the Trial by Fire, the Party seemed to have garnered enough of the dwarves trust to put themselves at ease. Yet at the same time, King Karuk wasn't quite ready to release them of their collective binds. "You say you and your comrades fled from captivity, yes" questioned the dwarf lord, "for what reason were you made prisoners?"
Without pause, Ventris professed that she didn't have a clear nor a concise explanation for their capture; proclaiming it all happened too fast for her to register it all. "All I can recall was making camp, one late afternoon" she explained, "then...these boorish mercenaries suddenly attacked ups!" The rest of the Party was quick to make the same claims, Ursa especially; who tried to show some guards the scars she received from the scrap.
This tale seemed to pique the dwarf king's interests and he beckoned for them to continue. "Yes, well...we certainly put up quite the fight" Ezra stated, "but those fiends soon overpowered us with Purple Lotus powder and the next thing we knew, we were on board a slave ship." The instant this reveal was made, the room echoed with the soft yet excited murmurs of the dwarves.
At first, the Party felt this may have been a sign of good fortune for them. But then, mere seconds later, Karuk gave them the same cool stare he used before. "Three seasons ago, members of this court left to barter away some of our trove with a neighboring city" he explained, "but their journey was halted by thieves, who demanded every jewel they were carrying." Naturally, this news sent a chill of dread down the Party's collective spines. But the King went on to praise the valiant effort those warriors put up to defend their goods, which his kinfolk could not help but give a hearty cheer for.
"Then, just as victory was well within our kindred's grasp, one of those dishonorable wretches blindsided them" grumbled a warrior named Graim Stone-Shield, "they reached into their cloak and threw a sort of strange powder into their eyes...the same powder that you lot were exposed to, I assume." Upon hearing all of this, Velra suddenly felt an odd sense of pity for her comrades. She didn't realize the unfortunate circumstances that led to them being brought into the Cicero Colosseum.
Meanwhile, the rest the Party expressed their sympathies to the Dwarf King; hoping that his warriors were among the lot who escaped the arena along with them. "If what you say is true, Elf...where might our kin be now" questioned Karuk, "why did they not simply follow you and your comrades during your escape?" Almost immediately, the Party replied with only three simple words; they didn't know.
During the chaos after Fatima blasted the hole through the arena wall; none of them saw what had happened to the other slaves, let alone any dwarves among them. "For all we know, Your Highness...they may still yet be fighting for their freedom out of the city" Velra stated, "I am truly sorry." These words, however grim they were, seemed to ebb away the distrust Karuk and his people felt towards the Party...at least a little.
Just then, the hall suddenly rang loudly with the echos of musical notes. At first Ventris assumed it was Mituna attempting to "ease the tension" by playing music with her Hurdy-Gurdy. "'Twas not me, my friend" the Tortle Bard assured, "the sound seems to be coming from the tunnels where we came through." After this reveal, everyone was urged to keep silent and they waited to see if another echo would come through.
"I may be wrong here" whispered Ezra, "but that sounded a bit like a horn...do you think Gunari's soldiers may have followed us here?" Ursa's fur frizzed slightly in alarm at these words but she dared not to speak a word, lest they truly were followed. As for the dwarves, they too appeared tense but not out of fear.
Instead, he reached to his side and collected a golden that hung from his belt. He unclipped it, brought it up to his lips and gave it a mighty blow; causing a deeper and more melodious sound to ring out from it. This tune carried out far into the caves, its echo bouncing off the walls as it traveled on.
After that, Karuk called for silence and everyone followed suit with bated breath; hoping someone would answer the call. "What the devil is going on here" Ursa hissed softly, "what is all this horn business about?" Ventris frowned slightly and admitted she was just as curious (if not also frustrated) as she seemed. Yet she held on to the hope that whoever was in the caves would be able to help them out of their tense situation.
(First AN: WOW! The tension is so thick in the air, you could cut it with any one of those dwarf axes. Even after passing Karuk's trial, the Party is still under scrutiny with the dwarves and the sudden arrival of this other one only makes things more on edge. Will Fatima be able to go through with her plan to help the injured warrior or will Karuk cut off her hands before she can even lay one on him?
Tune in next time, to find out)
(Second AN: PHEW! Holy crud...I never expected this chapter to take so long to write. But, I guess between attending the Ren Faire one weekend just last month and all the research I had to do on Dwarf kingdoms; it's to be expected...right? Anyway, thank you all for your patience and I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter.
I promise the next one won't take as long to create, knock on wood)
(Third AN: Among the things that took up the most time in my research for this chapter was finding out the exact skills Artificers had. When I first heard about them, I thought they used some combination of arcane/steampunk inventing skills to craft what they wanted. That's how it seemed to look with the Warforged.
If anybody has any tips or tidbits about the Artificer class I should know, kindly share them along with your reviews. Thank you in advance!)
(Final AN: I hope everything made sense with the Trial by Fire. I thought it would be a cool fantasy-style test of some kind, one that best fit with the dwarven culture)