Say D&D Was Real-Being a PC in the 21st Century: Ajadea's Story

[Ajadea]

Chapter 7 is up.

Mostly talking, with some considerations about what this all means.

[The Glyphstone]

Wait, now I'm confused. Who is the narrator of update 6, and is it that person or the original narrator in update 7?

[Ajadea]

It's Alexis. The member of the party who isn't unconscious, and isn't Mark.

[The Glyphstone]

Okay, then I'm more confused, because your narration has the person writing update 6 as 'Sasha'.

Maybe you should add a "cast of characters' or something.

[Ajadea]

Blargh.

I thought you were confused in chapter 7, because I don't think I ever used Alexis's name or nickname in it.

Chapter 6 is Sasha, because I didn't think any of my 4 main characters were going to be coherent enough, and chapter 4 and 5 already showcased the shock and them calming down.

I understand your confusion: I'll put narrator names at the top of each chapter and each time when I change in the midle.

[Zigg'rrauglurr]

Ajadea.
Just wanted to drop by and say that, yours is the most talented writing of the "Say D&D Was Real-Being a PC in the 21st Century" series. Excellent work and please keep posting. I'm dying to know what happens to your party.

Edit: Oh. I had no issue telling apart who the narrator was in each part, but it will be easier to read if you put the narrator name at the beginning.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Blargh.

I thought you were confused in chapter 7, because I don't think I ever used Alexis's name or nickname in it.

Chapter 6 is Sasha, because I didn't think any of my 4 main characters were going to be coherent enough, and chapter 4 and 5 already showcased the shock and them calming down.

I understand your confusion: I'll put narrator names at the top of each chapter and each time when I change in the midle.

It's confusing as it is. Rick Riordan did the same thing in the lost hero, but that wasn't entirely in first person, more of a mix between first and third person.

[Zolkabro]

It's confusing as it is. Rick Riordan did the same thing in the lost hero, but that wasn't entirely in first person, more of a mix between first and third person.

In that there was the name of the narrator in massive letters at the beginning of each chapter. Pretty easy to tell them apart when half the page is filled up by their name.

[Tychris1]

You know, normally I would start being sentimental with all this drama in the past few updates. But all I can think of is the MASSIVE damage a car would have when it hit's a few kobolds at 60 miles an hour.

Also Zigg I'm pained, hurt even by your statement (Yes I am that much of a glory hog, so sue me.).

[Ajadea]

Driving is illegal for them, and hard to do on grass.

Chapter 8 is up.

Look up Stabilization Rules before you kill me.

[Zigg'rrauglurr]

Yay! Updated just as I was browsing the forums!!
Gonna read it now.

Ty, pain is good for you, it will fuel the anger of your story. :P
Seriously,I want to see more darkness in your story before I make a comment.

I would write a story on this universe, D&D to reality has always been a pet dream for me, but my take would be too horrendous to contemplate and sligthly above the levels allowed in these forums... I tend to play Evil you know?

Edit: Yep, wonderful piece Ajadea. Keep it up!

[Ajadea]

Hit the character cap .


Chapter 9: Without Mercy [Jess]

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"I have what."

"5 Constitution damage still."

"That means, at best, two more days of sitting around doing a lot of nothing and feeling like lethargic jelly. Dad's gonna be real pleased," I groan, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah, sorry," Nica says, casting her gaze down and biting her lip. "Can't do anything about that one."

"I know." I don't get why she looks guilty, honestly. Not her fault she isn't level 3. "While we're here though, we can plan builds to work off each other...hmm. We've actually got pretty good stats for Int. focused builds." I close my eyes and visualize the point buy formula, then recall the stats we got. "Yeah, lowest total scores-that's you, Mark, is 29 point buy, and highest is Nica with 33. Overall, that's higher than the elite array."

"Why am I screwed over on stats?"

"Because you spend too much time playing MMOs and not enough doing other stuff. Also, Nica's little sister can pick you up, and she's like 7," Lex says, flopping down on the end of the bed.

Nica shrugs. "Four points isn't a huge difference."

"-1 penalty to +1 bonus isn't big?"

"Not really," I say, looking up to the ceiling. "So, the Intelligence focused classes I can think of off the top of my head are Beguiler, Duskblade, Archivist, Factotum, Wizard, Wu Jen, and Psion. And the ones that don't need high stats to function decently are one-level dips in Dragon Shaman, Warlock, Wildshape Ranger into Master of Many Forms once they get their wild shape, Inspiration and healing focused bard, maybe self-buffing Duskblade...not a shabby list."

"Bards don't need stats?" Nica asks, looking thoughtful. "Bards aren't crap?" Mark says, looking incredulous. "How can someone who sings at people be good?" "Dragon Shamans don't need stats?" Lex says a beat behind the other two.

"Inspire Courage doesn't rely on Perform checks, and buffing spells don't need high save DCs. Bards are awesome once you start looking in splatbooks, there's this nice exalted feat for them."

"Huh."

"We need direct damage, tank, skilluser, scout, face, and utility spells. Hmm..." Nica says, looking thoughtful. "Beguiler is a good scout and face, Dragon Shaman can tank, and to extend the metaphor, a warlock is a bit like a turret..." We all snicker a bit at that one.

Mark groans. "I'd love to be a warlock, but there is no freaking way I'm getting on Lex's shoulders."

"Nor would I want you to," Lex replies. "And who decided I was the tank?"

"You're over 5 foot 6. That's good enough for me."

"Jess has better Constitution."

"Why am I the one who has to become a pincushion!"

"You aren't a spellcaster."

"Maybe I should be, if it'll get me out of tanking." I think on builds for a moment. The memory of a crossbow bolt driving into my back isn't going to leave in a hurry. And I know I nearly died, in order to apply the stabilization rules. "Someone has to take at least 7 levels in druid, or find someone who is willing to," I say flatly.

Mark frowns. "Why?" I groan inwardly. Come on, my friends aren't babies, they should know...

"1 grand of oils and incense and weird balm crap is still easier to find than 5 grand of diamonds." It takes a while for Mark to process the implications of what I said. He's always been very present-oriented. He doesn't think about the ramifications of his actions for himself and especially not for others.

"Oh."

"Yeah," I say scathingly, flopping back on the pillows. "Oh. I'd have thought that you'd be aware of the risks by now."

"Look, I didn't ask the kobold to shoot you!"

"Yeah, I didn't either, but I did think the chance of the kobold getting a crit was low-which it is, as there was only a 1 in 90 chance or so of the critical getting confirmed from a first level kobold warrior. The difference is you froze, and I acted knowing the risk." I say the last to my interlaced fingers, then glance back up at their eyes.

Now they look all uncomfortable and tense again. What did I do this time? "Seriously people, this isn't a game anymore," I say, making sure to slow down and enunciate, slipping a bit into what Nica and I think of as a Vulcan voice. "We do not get 'rerolls' or 'do-overs'. We have got to make the most of what we have. Personal survival and survival of the party are our top priorities, followed by survival of other non-homicidal PCs, followed by creating and protecting a sanctuary, preserving our family and non-PC friends, keeping enough people alive to avoid a regional population bottleneck, and protecting the population at large, though the best way to do that may be to target and-and kill the people who would attack them." I feel the ghost of a dagger hilt in my hands and shudder. Stop thinking Jess, stop thinking about the people I'm going to leave with broken families, ruined homes...stop thinking about the people I'm going to have to kill to protect others, people who have names and lives and ideals and families and...stop it! Stop thinking. Stop feeling this crap. I can't afford this, not when my party members keep freezing up when I lay out perfectly logical long-term plans. Come to think of it, I think I've figured out a justification for why so many paladins are played as bat guano insane Lawful Stupid idiots. It's easier than feeling sympathy and trying to be Good. Trying to know when to show mercy and when to judge, when to make the killing blow because at this point I fear that I'm the only one here who will do such a thing intentionally and none of these wonderful genius friends of mine will be unable to check their blows when necessary. I bury my hands in my face for a moment.

My response to that rant is silence. They still seem to be processing what I said. They usually would have gotten it by now, and I'm fairly sure I wasn't babbling at 120 kph again. Dear gods they haven't been thinking about this at all have they. I slam my hands down on the bed and lunge forwards as best I can without making my back hurt again. "Oh stop looking at me like I've grown a second head! I'm not becoming an ettin! People are out there with second level spells, we've got about as much combat potency as a dire badger and two cats, and the majority of the population, government included, is more like one cat and no badgers, dire or otherwise. We can't do anything if we're dead."

Nica and Mark shrink back as one at my outburst, and I cringe internally, curling into a ball at the edge of the bed. I didn't mean to scare them...Lex puts a large, comforting, hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You," I say, pointing accusingly at my friends, "need to figure out whether or not you're all going exalted and taking a vow of nonviolence, or if you're actually going to fight and stop going all squeamish and squishy every time I mention killing something or dying." And yep, there's another flinch. Mark looks stiff as a board. "You slept through lunch...we made soup, do you want some?"

Suddenly, I remember my stomach, and am struck with a feeling of hunger. "That'd be great, thanks Mark." He runs out, and I scoot back into the pillows.

Nica sits back down on the left edge of the bed, closer to me this time. When did she get up? I didn't notice. "Jess...you aren't talking like yourself."

"I apologize. Which of my speech patterns do you prefer?"

"You're the only person I know who talks like a robot on accident, Jess."

"It's not about your 'speech patterns' it's about what you're saying! I'd have thought you'd be the first one to advocate taking up a party-wide Vow of Nonviolence, not deriding us for being, yeah, a little grossed out by the idea of killing someone. And right now, I'm afraid," Nica admits, and I note a slight furrow in her brow. "But I'm not sure if what I'm afraid of is the things out there, or what you're sounding like. You don't sound like you."

"I am not all 'sunshine and rainbows'. No one is," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, but right now you sound like a psychopath."

And that hurts. "Maybe I am. I do not believe the inside perspective is the best point of view to judge my quirks by, as I do not perceive them as quirks. I am merely trying to prioritize and be realistic. There is a high chance we will have to kill, in self-defense at least. Psions need no verbal or somatic components to use their powers. A spellcaster can take Silent and Still Spell. A wildshape ranger can shapeshift out of their bonds, a dragon shaman or a binder who binds something or another can burn them away. Only death will prevent them from hurting us. I want to be moral, but when faced with a stranger's life versus my own or that of my friends, I have to look at myself and admit that I would choose my own every time."

There is no response, and we wait in awkward, tense, silence until Mark comes back with the soup. He puts the tray on my lap and I take a grateful bite of chicken, noodles, celery, and hot peppery broth. "Ank oo."

"Didn't your dad teach you not to talk with your mouth full?" Lex asks as Mark takes a look at the room and darts out again, ostenisibly to get Lex's 3.5 books. Nica goes with him. Conflict avoidance, I guess, though I see no conflict involved in admitting that I might not be the best bard or dragon shaman candidate in the party due to my likely inability to obtain exalted feats and not-insignificant chance that I will soon lose my Good alignment entirely. Whatever. Frees me up to run a wizard.

I swallow. "Yeah. He also taught me to speak English like a Vulcan with a Mainland Chinese accent, so I'm not listening to his linguistic advice."

"Fair enough. So, about those builds, we want a buffer?"

"Only if we get a decent summoner in. It's part of why I suggested druid, a fochlucan lyrist might be actually feasible here. Even if our druid and bard are separate individuals, which they shouldn't be due to Green Whisperer progressing music, casting, and all those extra goodies, Dragonfire Greenbound Wolves are a thing to fear."

"And...I have the best stats for this, am already on my way to having evasion, and am of an alignment capable of becoming an exalted fochlucan." Lex groans. "I know it's tactically decent and all, but seriously? Singing monk summoning plant things?"

"Inspire courage works with dance, oddly enough. So more like a capoeira-using monk with a whip summoning creatures."

"Whip?"

I shrug. "You're going to be a bard. Why not?"

"Because...how exactly did I become a Neutral Good Monk in the first place?"

"Call it homebrew. Bards having to be non-lawful is stupid, and maybe this monk just has to be non-chaotic."

"Fair enough."

"Let's see now...Mark should be our scout, seeing as he has good Intelligence and Dexterity. Oh, hey Mark, can I see those books? How do you feel about being a beguiler?"

"Umm...okay...."

"Great, now let's get building a party!" As we set to work scribbling down potential builds, I could almost believe we were setting up for a game, rather than real life. I rather want to believe that, but I shove those delusions away. We aren't kids anymore. This isn't a game anymore.

I have to lead. I have to judge.

I have to kill.

Chapter 10: Games We Play [Mark]

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After everything went horribly wrong, I kinda figured school would be closed. It isn't, for reference.

After doing things like killing kobolds, shooting green rays out of my hands, and watching Nica actually use magic, going back to school seems incredibly surreal. I guess the world wasn't going to end because of a kobold or two...

I'm a warlock now, filled my last two feat slots with Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot, cause we need the range. Jess became a factotum. Kinda scary. She described using inspiration points as being able to not only get a perfect idea, or recall something with crystal clarity, but being able to apply her ideas with only imagination and intuition. In other words, absolutely terrifying.

The bell rings and I slam my locker shut. Writing. Hooray. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and run to catch up with Jess. Due to the ways our birthdays fall, Jess and I are both in seventh grade, while the other two are in ninth grade taking a load of AP classes. Being born only a few days after the Oregon cut-off point combined with her drive and intelligence basically means she's about three or four grades below where she should be. I'd be nearly the same way, I guess, if I actually cared about my grades as much as she did, and if my birthday wasn't in May.

Jess isn't moving very fast. She still looks pale-understandable, considering she has a whopping 8 Constitution at the moment. "Excited?"

"No," Jess replies, voice flat and quiet.

"Come on, you have to admit this is pretty cool."

"No. It really isn't."

Snap out of it Jess. Seriously. Four kids save the world? This is going to be the best thing ever. A real adventure, with magic and monsters. "You love magic."

"Yeah. I'd rather not have the monsters with it. You know, a girallon is running amuck in Central Park."

"You're joking!"

"Keep your voice down!" she hisses at me. Did Jess get up on the wrong side of the bed or something? "And look, I'll show you after school. But there are pictures."

"Really puts the kobold thing in perspective."

"Yeah, you could say that."

We take our seats, but I can't pay attention. It's like one of those books that Jess liked when we were in elementary school, except instead of the kids going into the wardrobe, the things are popping out of everywhere. I doodle a few panels of me being awesome, sniping the girallon from the trees. And a few more about a closet with things pouring out of it. When the bell rings again, I slam my notebook shut and head out for lunch.

I don't care what Jess says. We've got class levels. We aren't going to die. Reincarnate is only a fourth level spell, after all. Lex is becoming some weird druid monk bard thing and Jess's dad keeps incense in the house, so we'll have access to it.

We'll survive. Genius kids like us? No way we won't make something good out of this.

This isn't a game, Nica keeps saying.

But really, it is.

A game with dice in our heads, people as figurines, and of course, the monsters to fight.

And we can lose. But I think we'll win.

Chapter 11: Adventure Time [Mark]

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Four days go by and absolutely nothing happens within three hundred miles of here. The girallon is in Central Park, the first sighting of undead happens in New Orleans, air elementals show up in Kansas, and it's my friends in Southern California who seem to reliably hit 4th level.

I slam the textbook in front of me shut and throw it on the floor. Homework has to be the most pointless, boring, thing in existence. I swear, we just did this work last week, and the week before that, and in school too. No one uses handwriting anymore, math doesn't change all that much when you change the numbers involved, and coloring is for babies. "What are they thinking?"

"I doubt that they are."

I whip around in my chair and Jess is sitting on the windowsill. Which had been closed when I began working. "Close your mouth, Marcus. We are not codfish," she says in a very formal tone. As if she is quoting something-not quite sure what.

"But-you-" I splutter. For reference? My room is on the second floor of the house, nearly eight feet away from any trees. The walls are brick, true, but...really. A calmer part of my mind notes that she seems to have gotten a haircut, and she has a claw hammer hanging off her belt.

"No one answered the door," she says casually, swinging her legs in and ducking under the window.

"Yes, I'm alone right now but how the-"

"Mouth. Close it when it is not in use," she advises, glancing outside. "As for how, I'm a factotum remember? And I've got ranks in Disable Device. Also, you left the big ladder out, which was a stupid idea."

I grimace. Factotums are officially the most terrifying class in 3.5. "And you couldn't call me because..."

"Because I thought I should tell you face to face that there are more evil things spilling out of random places. Nixie in the river, for instance."

"What?"

"Nixie. Charms people. It's making a mess of things."

"And you needed to tell me this now because..."

"Because I'm going to go kill it and thought I'd need backup."

Homework, XP. Video games, actually battling some monster. Easy choice. "Count me in."

Jess glances around. "You are going to clean this place up when you get back, right?"

"What are you, my mother? I'm fine with the way it is. Come on, Jess. Let's get going. The normal way." We head out, and Jess closes up the ladder.

There are quite a lot of hills between here and the river, but it really is not that far away from Nica's house.

Except we don't actually stop at Nica's house. Or Lex's. "Hey, er, shouldn't we get the others?"

"Lex is at the dojo, and Nica probably wouldn't be interested. I think she might actually take a Vow of Nonviolence," Jess says, sounding rather incredulous. "Seriously, the fact that someone could consider that she qualifies for exalted feats at all is a little scary."

"Someone being good is scary?" Seriously Jess, you're supposed to be the one who corrects definitions, not messes them up.

"Good? No. Exalted? Little bit. Exalted is like celestial-levels of being good. Qualifying for any of them is seriously insane. Qualifying for Vow of Nonviolence means that she can never deal lethal damage to another humanoid, even in self-defense. Which is stupid, considering our most dangerous opponents would be other PCs, who are all going to be-you guessed it-humanoid."

"So, like, if she takes that Vow, then a guy comes after her with a gun, and she has only one round to act, what can she do?"

"Right now? A lot. But she can't kill that person, or even willingly let us kill that person for her."

"...You're kidding."

"I wish," Jess mutters. "In any case, our plan is as follows: I'll run in to attack in melee, you provide ranged backup with those eldritch blasts of yours. Stay at maximum range so the nixie can't charm you. If she tries to charm me, I'll get better saves with Inspiration, and I'll also get an AoO on her."

"Hey Jess, what feats did you get anyways?"

"Catch Off-Guard, then Font of Inspiration twice. Pretty amazing feeling."

She has 5 Inspiration points now? That's totally going to end well.

But by then we're at the river. There are already several stopped cars, all empty except one. A guy is getting out of that one, waving enthusiastically to someone we cannot see. "He's gotta be charmed," I whisper. Jess frowns. "Crud," she hisses. "There have to be at least two nixies here-see, five cars, and they can only charm thrice a day each. And they've got SR, I think, so you could have issues with blasting them."

She actually uses thrice in normal speech. That's Jess for you. "Well, how am I supposed to help?!"

"Let's draw their attention first: throw an eldritch blast now," Jess says, dropping her backpack to the ground and removing the kobold's crossbow from it. "Here, take it. It'll be more reliable even with the size issues." She draws the hammer from her belt and I realize why she'd had that with her. Not sure what Catch Off-Guard was. Maybe it was Pathfinder.

I grab the little crossbow in one hand, and nod. "On the count of three." Time to do this. "One."

"Two."

"Three!" Blast goes out and a little green scaly girl-might as well be a Martian with those antennae-pops out of the ground. Instantly Jess charges, swinging the hammer straight at the girl, into her hip, which buckles. She falls over in one hit, screaming wordlessly, tumbling like a rag doll and staining the grass with dark blue blood. Another three-two girls and a guy-pop up, shouting in a language I don't get. Jess charges them, and they scatter into the river as her hammer swings where they were a second before. The charmed guy from before blinks at us. "Hey! Kids! Get outta here!"

Like hell we will. Jess half runs, half tumbles, down the side of the bank towards the river. I follow her, feet and heart feeling like they pound in unison. There's one! I fire, and miss it by a good four inches. I curse loudly, exploding the water in front of them with my words.

Behind us, a wave of eight other humans breaks out of the river, some screaming in fear, more yelling accusations at us. "Murderers!" "Mommy, what happened?!" "Bastards!" "You killed our friends!" "Where are we?" "I'm calling the police!"

"Ignore them," Jess snaps loudly, skidding into a sharp turn near the bank. I keep following. One stops and points at Jess. She blinks, exhales sharply, and shakes her head like a wet dog. I reload the crossbow and shoot it, hitting this time. It falls and sinks with an inhuman gurgling sound.

"Wha-?" "DAD!" "Excuse me, police-" "Get them!" "Honey, let's get out of here!" People flee out of cowardice, flee because the charm is broken, drag loved ones away, pursue us.

Jess charges again, leaping over and into the water, claw of the hammer breaking green flesh and bone like a light pick would, exposing brain and tearing into it. I scream a single word that rubs my throat raw, breaking a branch over the head of the last one and sending it scrambling long enough to panic it, long enough for me to explode it with a well-placed eldritch blast.

And damn, that was fun. Adrenaline courses through my system, making me dazed, almost slap-happy, keenly aware of the people around us, some in awe, some terrified, most running away. Jess paddles to shore, breathing hard, but grinning broadly. She is soaked, clothes sticking to her and making me very glad she dresses in dark colors all the time and is wearing a hooded sweatshirt now. I mean, otherwise it'd be like seeing an older sister in a wet t-shirt contest-pass the brain bleach, please!

Jess carefully sheathes the hammer. "Enjoying your first moments as a proper gestalt?"

"I..." I blink. "Seems we beat the others to it."

"There are benefits to little secrets," she says, pulling her hood up over her head-perhaps to hide her face. "Let's head back. I've got nixie blood all over me-did you really have to explode it?"

"Yeah!"

And we break into laughter. Wake up, go to school, watch some news, kill some evil fey, all in time for dinner. This is adventuring, and it is awesome.

Chapter 12: Why, Why [Nica]

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you WHAT?

killed some nixies!!1! Mark types back. Facebook has effectively blown up, so I've been watching it lately. Hence why I was using Facebook chat instead of my phone. And why I got this message from Mark over Facebook, saying that, apparently, he went out to kill some fey for...why?

you ARE aware that nixies are TN, right?

they charmed ppl @ river
looked ce to me!

they were just defrnding themselves!
*defending

u weren't there, don't speak sylvan, how do u kno?

work on your spelling. they were more or less teleported into a world that they do not understand, next to a not exactly empty road. i'd be scared.

u arnt a nixie

No, I'm not. I have the ability to empathize and sympathize with others, though. I spin in my chair and lean back. What was Mark thinking? Was he thinking at all? The things spilling into our world aren't supposed to be here, true. But they aren't just fictional monsters, not just constructs of our imagination made for XP farming. Nixies have the intelligence of a human. They are sapient, they can think, they can lead meaningful lives. I turn back to the screen, and lose a little hope for humanity.

there just sum rndm fey. why do u care?

He has to ask?

because i have MORALS.

sheesh, dont need 2 shout.

yeah, I need to shout. you aren't listening to me. just because they are little green people with antennae doesn't mean that they aren't capable of feeling and thinking like humans.

huh.
jess' idea. ask her.
she said they were evil.
shes the 1 w/the MM memrized
she wouldnt screw that up

He's right about that one. Jess wouldn't mess something like that up. Which means she deliberately lied to Mark...why? To get him to kill the nixies?

Why? She should get this, get that they've got potential. Mark's the one with the questionable morals. Not Lex, not me, and not Jess.

But then again...she's changed, rather radically, since this mess with D&D began. She murdered a kobold, had a near-death experience, gone to school with Constitution damage for the last week, and has been rather more testy than normal overall.

I guess it's hard to reinvent the mental images I've held since...well, for a decade, actually. But they don't fit anymore. Jess doesn't fit anymore.

What's changed?

Why has she changed?

I call her, and get the answering machine. Odd again. She wears pants with pockets to avoid missing calls. What's going on now?

"Jess, we need to talk. As soon as possible."

Chapter 13: Not Alone [Nica]

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I don't hear back from Jess the next day. Or the day after that. I've been everywhere looking for her-all of our houses, the little shop down the road, the bookstore, the gaming store, even the park. I call both Mark and Lex, but she hasn't chatted with them either. Mark apparently is a full gestalt though. That can't possibly be the only reason Jess lied to Mark and killed a nixie family though. It can't.

Except it could. I close my eyes and remember her angered rant a week and a half before. She sounded desperate, angry. She wanted us to fight, didn't believe that we could defend ourselves in our half-gestalted first level state. Slowly, it seems she is becoming correct. The news grows worse every day. It isn't just the creatures entering our world anymore-now things and people are changing into them.

Some changes are small-human to high elf, changeling, or illumian, for instance, or German Shepherd to blink dog, oak tree gaining a dryad. Some changes are larger-human to orc or dwarf, tiger to rakshasa, paper lantern to will'o wisps. Some are absolutely insane. We're talking about humans becoming kobolds and minotaurs, anacondas becoming naga, horses becoming hippogryphs. Even the bloody inanimate objects are getting in on the action according to the New York Times- overcoats becoming cloakers, statues in museums waking as stone golems, and even more.

I shudder to think of waking to find my form perverted in such a way, much less being awake for such a change. People have been consumed by their own beds which apparently decided to become mimics, slain and torn back into unlife by their own shadows suddenly gaining sentience, gutted while gardening by a wisteria vine turned deadly assassin.

There is no shame in admitting it-I am terrified of this. But it hasn't touched our hometown yet in any huge way. All the changes and summonings so far have mercifully been of the smallest sort. Dire rats, a few swarms of spiders, a krenshar or two, a satyr that didn't seem to have a single possession to its name. Someone became an illumian down in Roseburg-the Oregonian was all over that. And very few were touched by this...whatever it is that gives class levels.

It was a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. The longer the Willamette Valley stayed normal, the better.

Two hours later, aka right now at the mall, fate decided to let me down in the most spectacular way possible. It is the only possible explanation for the aranea that spontaneously appeared in the food court, and the three people who stood up as one and attacked it.

[Ajadea]

Chapter 10 is up. I know, it's short.

[Fiery Diamond]

Good story so far! Keep it up! (And keep up the writing in general too, you're doing a pretty decent job of it, 'specially for your age.)

I need to get on the Arts&Crafts forum more often. I didn't know there was this thing going on. I would have expected it to have ended up on the Roleplaying Games forum or at least mentioned there.

[Ajadea]

Thanks. I do enjoy writing this story, and it's good to know people like it.

This did start on the Roleplaying games forum, but people decided that the actual stories should be in Arts and Crafts.

[Mercenary Pen]

Enjoying this, have attempted to start my own 4e continuity, and would value comments, etc.

[Dragon Elite]

I like this, it's great. You have great descriptions of how the classes feel to play.

[Tychris1]

Ty, pain is good for you, it will fuel the anger of your story. :P
Seriously,I want to see more darkness in your story before I make a comment.

You have to understand that I'm forced to comply by the forums rules, and I'm not that far in the story so I can't have my character killing people willy nilly.


Plus, people aren't naturally evil, there has to be something that pushes them to it, and even if they are evil they still have a concious (Or atleast in the beginning where they aren't fully embraced in the darkness.

[Ajadea]

Back, finally.

Chapter 11.

In which Jess is a scary factotum charger, Mark makes things go boom, and assumptions that should not have been made are made.

[Zolkabro]

Chapter 11 is great, one of the best yet.

[Ajadea]

Thanks! I think the story is really kinda heating up now, what with 2/4 characters now being full gestalt and me personally speeding up the rate of monster appearances.

[Thelas]

Joining the chorus of "I like this, it is good."

[Daftendirekt]

Joining the chorus of "I like this, it is good."

I second that.

[Ajadea]

I have a chorus? Cool!

Chapter 12 is up. Speciesism is frowned on by certain members of the party.

[Ajadea]

I hate hate hate writer's block. Now that it's gone, I can get a chapter up!

[Zolkabro]

I like the new section, good cliffhanger. I am glad that at least one of us has kept going, even if the rest (including me) seem to have ground to a halt.
Keep writing, please!

[Zigg'rrauglurr]

Ajadea, just came back to say that I'm still lurking on this thread hoping for a continuation. I am truly intrigued by the plot on your story and hope you continue it.

Keep it up!

[Ajadea]

The next month is filled with summer camp, moving, and applications for school. This is one of the least important things on my to do list, so I will declare it on hiatus until further notice. Truly sorry people.