D&D: You Find Yourself In an Inn

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The players find themselves in an unusual situation.

The smell was the first thing that Julian noticed. It instantly changed from the rich scent of books to the stink of human squaller. Opening his eyes, he had to blink a couple times just to ensure he wasn't hallucinating. They were in a pub, for that was the only word that could truly describe the wood and stone structure that was crowded with people and drinks. The sweet scent of home brewed beer wafted throughout the room and a mug of some honey colored substance was quickly pushed into his hands. "What-the-hell?" was all he could manage at first.

Yvette tried to turn, to take in their full surroundings... and found herself staggering as she realised her centre of gravity was about a foot and a half higher than usual. "What has happened?" she asked out loud, and clapped her hands over her mouth as the voice that came out was much more grown up and musical and with a much different accent. Looking down she found herself encased in what she had to admit was very pretty armour, all silver with etchings of leaves and stars on it. "Where are we?"

Meggan peered around in surprise, trying to take in their strange surroundings. “I don’t know. It’s…not an illusion like that one time during the play, is it? It’s real this time.” All she could tell was that it felt real…and she had dark hair, she noted with a small start of surprise. Her voice sounded a little odd, too, although she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was right then. She was soon staring down at herself to take stock of what she was now wearing, very grateful that there wasn’t a corset involved. It was a cape and a blue and purple clothes with boots, but nothing revealing.

"Hey, nice outfit Meggan," Pixie remarked. Then it dawned on her. "Ah... where are we?" Before Meggan could answer, the bartender slid her and Meggan each a mug of foaming beer. "From the guy on the end," he explained, jerking his head to his right. Megan risked a glace at the left end of the bar and caught a wink from a scruffy looking fellow.

"Ug..." She turned her back to the bar and saw the rest of her friends scattered around the pub. There was Julian and Yvette by the entrance. The place looked really old. Like from the 1200's. There were old buildings in Wales like this but she had never seen one so well... re-enacted before. Every person in here looked--and smelled--the part.

Meggan grinned at Pixie’s comment. “Thanks. It’s almost like somewhere you might see in Lord of the Rings. Only…a whole lot messier.” She moved her hand away from the edge of the bar as a rat scampered by. Yep, definitely fitting the assumed time period of the Middle Ages.

Once the rat was gone, she added, somewhat ruefully, “All I know is I’m not touching that drink.” However, she now had her first experience of being hit on by a strange man in a bar, as she had received her own wink and leer from the guy that had sent the drinks before quickly looking away.

Catseye was gagging at the stench of alcohol and unwashed bodies that permeated the room, making a face first at their surroundings, then at her attire as she doubled over and her vision was filled with the sight of the black leather boots and pants. "Ugh! IckyBad, IckyBad smells!" she crowed distastefully. She straightened up cautiously, holding out her arms in front of her to take in the tight black shirt she was encased in, the black armguards and belt from which hung two daggers and several pouches. When she tried to move her feet she felt more daggers in her boots, and when she rotated her wrists there were more daggers there too. Her head felt funny, and when she clapped a hand on it she picked a fancy hat with a feather in it off her head. The feather distracted her for a moment, but the oddity of possessing the hat brought her thoughts back to the issue at hand. "Why does Catseye have a hat with a feather and tight icky clothes and lots of knives? And why is that man looking at Catseye like he wants to eat Catseye?" she asked, catching sight of a leering tavern patron perched on a stool, giving her his full attention, holding out a SmellyBad drink towards her.

"Um." Nico was taller, and her hair...well, her hair had gone longer -way longer- but it still was black. She felt unusually agile and light, and when a hand went up to check she still looked like herself, her fingers found...pointy ears. Looking down at herself she realized she was wearing a nice set of dark robes, and equally black belt on her waist, and what seemed to be a light green cloak; she looked a lot like her own figurine. Before she could speak though, there was something else she had noticed. "Guys? The Staff of One is missing." Turning to Catseye, Nico tried to stay calm. "Just don't...drink anything. Anyone. I think we just...got sucked in the game?" Everyone there seemed to fit in their character's roles after all.

The world was suddenly a hell of a lot bigger for Artie and his shoes had vanished. He flicked his tongue in and out, quickly, tasting the smells in the air and stopped, startled, feeling it. It wasn't forked and it was short and he couldn't really smell anything. Which was probably a good thing. He tapped Doreen's arm and pointed to Nico before fingerspelling, slowly and carefully, so that maybe the others would understand without her, gone? What? How are we going to get home? He didn't try his projections, almost afraid to in case they'd changed like his tongue had.

Doreen almost missed what Artie said, his arm tap had broken her out of running around in circles. Her tail was gone! Where was her tail? How could she still walk without it? When she had first gotten it, walking had been horrible, so she figured losing it would do the same thing but she was walking around just fine.

"I... I don't know," she said, both to Artie and to Nico, "I don't know what happened. What just happened? My tail is gone! Oh my gosh, my tail!"

"WILL YOU QUITE SCAMPERING AROUND!?"

Silence on the tavern. Oh, she had such a strong voice! "Staff of One, gone. And we are in a Final Fantasy imitation. Connect the dots someone? I thought I would never ever say this but...we need to get the Staff of One back." Only then Nico noticed everyone in the pub was silent. "Anything I can help you with?", asked in a reaaaaaally creepy tone as her eyes flared with magic, and making the pub return to their usual chit chat. When Nico turned back to her friends, she looked pretty normal...considering the circumstances. "Augh, I need a drink."

This had to be some sort of bad dream. Maybe the result of crossing sweets with pizza or something of the sort. Klara made an effort to stay silent and not draw any attention to herself, noting that her clothing had suddenly changed to reflect what her model had been painted up in. Everyone else had changed too...a dream. That had to be it.

*****

Tok,tok,tok. Nico had been banging her head on the bar for a while now, trying to think. She had lost the Staff of One. Well, she hadn't really lost anything; the girl could feel the link her soul had with it still present, but that was all. One would think the staff could guide her towards it, but no. And she was sure the only way to return was through it. But she had lost the stupid staff, and they were stranded in a fantasy world. Awesome, just awesome.

Tok, tok, tok.

"Do that too long," a gilded voice began, "the barkeeps gunna charge you for damaging his property- hero or no." A middle-aged man approached her, a wooden cane in hand which he used to sweep the floor from side-to-side, searching for obstacles in his way. This behavior was instantly explained by the blindfold he wore with his otherwise impressive black, leather outfit. "What's wrong bunny?"

A blind person? That was so ridiculously cliche- but so the world they had fallen into. Alright Nico, this is just like in those cheap fantastic adventure movies; the hero is on a quest, and somehow he or she gets help from some shady character. So now she needed to ask the right things to this guy. "Well, I have a problem, you see?", started as she turned to him. "Not something I can simply complain about." She gave the man another inquisitive look, searching for a signal she shouldn't trust him, but there was no such thing. "I'm looking for some weird magical artifact. A staff."

The blind man nodded, holding his cane to his chest, "And what's this staff of yer's look like?"

Why the hell do you want to know how it looks like!? She wasn't about to yell that at the man though, so Nico sighed. "It's about five feet long, with a golden circle on the top. Supposedly very powerful, and yet simple in design." She tried to find other details, but the Staff of One really looked pretty simple. "And supposedly shines with a cold light, as if it were incredibly polished." There, that's what she remembered of the stupid staff.

"Oh that!" The older man smiled a toothless grin and took a seat at the bar. "I've seen something like that, back when I could see that is. See, I was one of the adventurers who went after the dragon last time...didn't work out too well," he pointed to his eyes. "But before the dragon blinded me, I caught a glimpse of that staff of yer's."

Nico needed some seconds to pull herself together. Okay, alright, think. In this whateverthisis world the Staff of One is...something else. Or not really. For them, it is. And it has been around for a while. Yes, I can accept that. Nico had to appreciate the fact she was fast to pick on things, because otherwise she would be suffering from massive migraines half the time. "A dragon, then?", asked out loud as she cursed internally; Doreen had said something about dragons, and she knew it hadn't been a praise to their socializing skills. Something related to eating people as fun sized snickers. "And is this dragon still alive and guarding the staff?" The sort of hoped not, so they could just take it from whoever had it now. Never mind that if someone killed a dragon it probably is ridiculously strong...

"Yes-indeed!" the elder exclaimed as a drink was set in front of him. "Actually, unless I'm mistaken, it's the very same dragon you and your friends just agreed to go slay."

"Why ye- and how do you know that?!" They were lucky, alright, but the fact she was being told by a total stranger about their quest was a bit worrying. Were they that famous?

"It's a small town," he said with a smirk while picking up his ale and getting off the stool. "Word travels quickly."

*****

"...So that's the deal." Yeah, go and tell your friends the stupid staff that had gotten them captured in a fantasy world was being guarded by a dragon. "I'm...really sorry guys, but apparently we've got no choice. Maybe not everyone has to come?"

Julian was inspecting his sword and seemed a little out of the conversation before saying, "So we go slay the dragon and we go home, right?

"Umm, I guess we could stay here?" Pixie said sarcastically, glancing back at the tavern where they'd just come from. A bouncer was in the process of tossing out an especially inebriated patron out into the muddy street and loud hoots of drunken laughter spilled out before the door was slammed shut. "Or we could fight stuff and win the staff back. I don't know if I can use this..." she glanced at her sword "...but our chances are probably better if we all go together."

"We are heroes, yes?" Yvette suggested bravely, despite the fact she felt anything but. Being trapped in a fantasy world might be the dream of many of her more-imaginative classmates, but not for her. "We cannot expect anyone else to be doing this for us. I say we should go and fight the dragon. We still have our powers and our own training, plus whatever else our characters might have learned."

Nick was down on all fours, taking his place next to Yvette. "Finally someones making sense here." As he stood up, the boy shook his fist in the air. "You hear that dragon! The heroes are coming for you!" The boy furrowed his own eyebrows together. "Wow, I think this place is messing with my psyche too."

Doreen couldn't help but to giggle a bit, "Don't worry, dragons are totally my preferred enemy. That means I get a hit bonus. I'll call an eye shot if he wakes up because that will totally take him down to zero right away," she said, "Besides, it's how the story always goes. Ragtag band of heroes versus the hideous fire breathing monster. I mean, this isn't the way I was going to tell the story, but this really is a lot cooler."

Klara fidgeted uncomfortably. She was afraid. Anyone sane would be at least nervous. But she thought of things she'd faced already, and remembered that not only did she have her own powers, she also had the abilities this...strange game had given her.

"If the dragon is a danger to everyone...I say we give this fight our best effort. I will heal anyone who needs it."