Dungeons and Dragons

I have been playing a modern variation of Dungeons and Dragons for a few months now.

This week we tried another variation, which leads you into having some very interesting characters.  My character was a Nobleman's wayward daughter.  She is an only child called Francis, and wants to be a warrior, something that Daddy does not approve of.  Strangely, all 3 players in this game were guys playing female characters.  Still, it is Panto season, so why not!

Here is a summary of the evening's game, which was great fun...

Francis’s version of events

Another evening at the inn, sipping ale with my 2 best friends, Kiera and Celes.  Daddy, of course, was under the impression that I was in bed in his castle with a headache after another day struggling with embroidery.  My hands were still sore from repeatedly stabbing myself with the needle, but the ale was taking away the pain.

We had been discussing the recent events in the village, the disappearance of one of the farmer families – blood in the house, but no bodies or anything.  Strange business that the man folk of the watch had failed to find rhyme or reason for.  Clearly this called for the superior abilities of us girls!

We headed out to the farm by a circuitous route to avoid The Watch House, where Celes’s father worked.  If he was us out after dark he would be bound to spoil our fun and have me sent back to the castle, so it was worth the extra walking.  The only person who saw us was the mad shepherd woman that Kiera talked to sometimes, but no one cared what she saw.

Arriving at the farmhouse we entered with me leading the way, ready for action, my beautiful great sword at the ready, as my blind mentor had taught me.  The place was deserted, but we soon found the trapdoor to the cellar – something that The Watch had clearly missed.

We opened the trapdoor and I lead the way down, leaping the last few feet, landing cat-like, ready for action.  If anyone tells you that I fell over at this point, they are a lying witch!

In the cellar, we found the bodies of most of the family, only the youngest was missing.  As we checked the bodies, we found that the mother was still alive!  Kiera ran to get help, while Celes and I bandaged her up using strips torn from the dress that I carry in my pouch.  Celes seemed to panic at first, and got herself very bloody, but when the mad shepherd woman arrived she did some sort of hedge magic which made the injuries seem less threatening. While this was going on I ran to fetch The Watch.

Celes’s father eventually listened to what I was saying, stopped panicking that I was out of the castle and got his men ready to go to the farm, while I ran back.

After they had finished collecting the injured woman and the bodies of the rest of the family, I was sent back home.  Father was furious and ordered me to stay home the next day and finish my embroidery.

I tried, but it drove me mad, so I told the matron that I needed to visit the privy, fetched my equipment and sneaked out of the castle to find my friends at our meeting place behind the weavers.

We were soon back at the farmhouse, and on searching the barn we found the body of the missing child and a pentagram painted in blood.  We were about to send for The Watch again, when 8 masked and hooded men arrived, demanding Celes’s book!  These were clearly the men responsible for the massacre we had discovered, so I charged into them, swinging my sword.

My attack clearly panicked the leader, who threw himself to the ground at my feet.  One blow of my sword made sure he stayed there.

Meanwhile the girls had been working magic – grasses and roots wormed from the ground, grasping at our enemies feet and legs, while a wave of fire swept over them – and ME thinking about it!  Ah well!  Several of our enemies dropped to the ground, burning, while I laid about me with my sword, severing heads, and spilling intestines.  Soon there was only one of them left.  He tried to run, but I was on him, catching him with an upward swing that sliced him from hip to shoulder.

It was the greatest day of my life – proof that my years of training and practice had paid off.

Father scolded me, of course, but I am sure that there was a glint in his eye, a touch of pride….