Roll Initiative!

Not only that, but his words about the fish’s new christening as a part of their suddenly-formed union are exciting and extremely appealing. Hale nods even more, trying to catch up with the other’s speech and convey her agreement to it. 

“Oh, I can teach you! OH - now he’s a spy! Do fish have ears?”

She peers into the water, her fingers curling around the basin edge, trying to catch a glimpse of the fish that had been in her palms just minutes earlier. When she sees nothing, she wipes her wet hands on her robe, rolling up her sleeves to reveal her thin arms. 

“I’m Hale!! My class is somewhere in this school! Uh, my favorite color is yellow. My favorite animal..?”

She scratches her head, blinking at Marco. Then she smiles at him and points to her own head.

“I like your hat. It reminds me of that bull mascot outside. I like your necklace too. It’s cool.”

It’s sparkly. It’s nice. Hale blinks again and averts her eyes to Marco’s face. In jest, she raises her hand to her eyes, as if shielding herself from the sun.

“Boy, you’re talllll!! Who are you, person that is the Savior of the Fish?”

“I think fish have ears. How else would they hear each other talk if hey didn’t? Kinda hard for them to use sign language with their little fins. But that’s explain how lobsters and crabs talk to each other! I never stopped to think about it before!”

Marco slowly looked over to the side, cocking his head to the side. How could he never have thought of this before? This was, like, some sort of scientific breakthrough! The two of them were one step closer to unlocking the secrets of aquatic life. This called for a celebration! Later.

“Is my hat your favorite animal? Thank you!!! And I like my necklace, too!!! It has my lucky d20 in it today. I made sure to fish it out of the bog cat fur and knickknacks before heading here! It’s not my favorite d20 but it’s my luckiest one, you know? Gotta always be prepared.”

With a grin Marco firmly planted his feet into the ground. He was about to move his arms before remembering he had the blanket. Marco took the blanket, tapped it a few times to knock any any dust that still lingered in the fabric and wrapped it around his shoulders, tying it around his neck.

“So, you want to know who I am... heheh.”

Marco flicked a few strands of hair out of his eyes, nearly missing flicking himself in the head, and places his hands on his hips. He tilted his head up and let out a short, powerful laugh.

“HAHA! I am called many things, many terrible and great things. The Bringer of Hell, The Creator of Worlds. Those who travel the land in search of adventure know me as Xaladin the Paladin. but! My most commonly used name, the one I have wished to be addressed as among the common folk, is...”

.... A pause for DRAMATIC suspense...

Hale had been exploring her newfound room. The room itself was normal - the situation surreal, but the room normal - and the plaque on the door had made her feel flush with a reactionary happiness. Hale Han. Her very own room. Her very own bed. Her own pillows, blankets, her own space that was completely, 100% hers. It’s very exciting, and she felt just a bit ashamed for feeling so. 

But only for a few seconds. After the few seconds are over, she’s the first to rush onto the bed and start jumping. Testing the springiness of the mattress, as it were. Anyways. She’s jumping on the bed when she hears the sound of trickling water. Curious, the martial-artist pokes her head out of the room to see a (man? boy? a very tall boy, she decides) at the edge of the pool, his fingers dipped into the basin of water.

Immediately she pads to the pool to see what he is doing.

“Mmm.. What are you doing? Washing your hands? Ohh, are there fish in there? You trying to catch one?”

Hale leans on the other side of the basin, looking at the boy with an open curiosity. Her face lights up as soon as she sees the wriggling fish. Giving the boy a mischievous grin, she reaches in, plunging her arm into the water til it laps at her elbow. If the boy wanted a fish, Hale could help with that. She’d seen this sort of thing on the TV all the time! She lets her arm go still, pausing in the water until the ripples cease. Her eyebrows crease with concentration.

One particular fish moves closer to Hale’s hand. She lets out a throaty laugh, tickled by the movements of the fish against her palm. She makes a quick, deft wrist flick, and -

SHE PICKS UP THE FISH! DISPLAYS IT IN THE AIR!

IT’S A TROPHY!

“Here you are! Oh, it tickles! Here - I caught you one!!!”

The fish wiggles its fins, thrashing weakly in her grasp. Obviously in a bit of distress. 

An unfamiliar voice pulls his attention from terrorizing the fish. Marco lifted his head and turned, greeted by someone smaller than him. So much smaller. They couldn’t be much younger than him, could they? Or what if they were his senior?! 

As Hale made her way to the water Marco tilted his head to the side, looking at her uniform. that was some sort of fighting uniform, right? Karate! HIGH CHOP! A valuable asset to have in any adventure party. Marco wondered if she would like to team up with him to explore the area, find some monsters to fight, level up a bit, then take on the boss battle Slag-

“Whoa!”

Before his eyes a fish was snapped out of the water. How she managed to do it Marco can’t quite understand. All he could do for a few moments was stare at her in awe and admiration.

“That... was... AMAZING!!! You gotta teach me to do that!!!”

But he had no use for a fish right now. He didn’t even have an aquarium!!! He doubted the fish wanted to live in his hat full of water. Beyond that he wouldn’t have anything to put it in! So, before the fish could become too distraught, he carefully took the flailing fish from Hale’s hands and tossed it back into the water.

“GO FORTH, AND BE VICTORIOUS! He will now be our eyes and ears in the water below. Should we ever need guidance or need to speak to the Sahuagin we need not venture farther than this very courtyard.”

Marco nodded his head slowly, clicking his tongue in thought as he pulled himself to his feet. Whatever he was talking about before he didn’t bother to explain, shifting the topic of conversation onto his new friend.

[LOCATION: LODGINGS]

Three-hundred and sixty was a good number. Not the best, but a good number. If he spun exactly 360 degrees on one foot he would be exactly where he started. that is, if he managed to stay balanced on one foot. Nine times out of ten he did! And this time was in the 90%.

Marco held his recently acquired blanket to his chest as he slowly looked around the courtyard. This place was so beautiful! He could see himself spending a lot of time in this area. There was even a pond! With fish!!! How could you top that?!

He turned his back towards the entrance in exchange for crouching down at the edge of the pond, watching the fish swim around aimlessly. Keeping a hold of the blanket with one arm he used his other hand to reach out and brushed his fingertips against the water’s edge. The ripples he summoned sent the fish darting away to seek haven on the other side of the pond.

Slagathor was a pretty nice guy, even if he was a Minotaur.

After asking their new Overseer some very important questions Marco carefully made his way from the crowd and beast. Never once did he turn his back to the Minotaur- instead, awkwardly side stepping until he was well out of harm’s way.

This place was so big. Marco couldn’t wait to explore every single area, learn every crack in the walls and every chip on the floor. If he tried really, really hard he’d have this place mapped out by nightfall. Assuming, like, this was morning. He tilted his head up, placing a hand on his hat, and saw only dark, grey clouds slowly crawling by. It was probably better to assume it was sometime in the afternoon since that’s when he usually woke up!

Marco brought his gaze back to eye level to see where exactly had gone to. Standing before him was a building with a latch on the door. A latch could only mean one thing- there were secrets inside! With a skip in his step Marco opened the door and stepped on into the building.

[LOCATION: STORAGE]

TREASURE! Inside the building on every wall were shelves upon shelves of goodies. More stuff than Marco could ever carry in one go! Not that he had anywhere to carry all this stuff to, anyway. Still he reached out and pawed through everything in his reach, pushing aside one thing to look at another, only to move it to the other side to look at something else.

Marco’s hands were covered in dusty and who-knew-what-else by the time he was done. After all of his searching he decided that there was only one thing he wanted to take right now. Carefully he reached up to the highest shelf he could reach on his tipie-toes and grabbed a blanket. As he pulled it down the boy summoned a small dust cloud.

“Uh-oh”

Quickly he covered his face with the blanket and reached a hand out to grab at the door. Critical Hit! Retreat, retreat!

To Marco’s surprise he couldn’t feel the door. Carefully he moved the blanket away from his face to see the room much brighter than it was before. Standing in the doorway was an unfamiliar face. Had this person been behind him when they woke up? Whoever he was, Marco offered a sheepish grin and a soft wave of his hand.

“ It matters not. Slagathor…. Overseer…. words are words. “

‘Slagathor’ snorted and it’s ears wiggled, scattering a few bugs.

“ …….. They are inadequate. “

Was he talking about the horns?

“ I have not yet been given a name, most likely because I am an overseer. “

Today, like every day, was gonna be a good day.

The headache wouldn’t last long. They never did. Marco had too much to do to let a little brain pain get the best of him. A sunny attitude was the best cure for a headache! Or was that for a stomach ache? Toothache?

What he wasn’t about to deal with was an uncomfortable bed. With a soft groan Marco shifted from his back to his side and reached his hand out, pawing around for his missing blanket. It was warm as all heck in this room but so drafty! Maybe his mom had come in and opened the window while he was asleep. That, or it had been none other than Doctor Mauers- House cat by day, nyafarious scientist by night. Only he could manage to maneuver through Marco’s room unharmed and reach the window. Now it was only a matter of time before he would hop onto the bed and attempt his daily assassination attempt by laying on Marco’s face. NOT TODAY, DOCTOR MAUERS… Marco was awake and prepared for battle!

There was no blanket to be found. The boy’s hand brushed against hard, warm earth, picking up dust underneath his nails and on his fingertips. Another stretch of his hand revealed that something familiar laid next to him. In a flash Marco’s eyes were open, staring wide-eyed at a slightly dusted plastic viking helmet.

Two things became very apparent over the next several seconds:

This place was not his room.

He had been drooling in his sleep. Whoops.

One hand moved to grab the plastic headgear while the other moved to wipe away any lingering spit from the corner of his mouth. Marco had his priorities straight as he sat up and placed the helmet on his head, adjusted it accordingly, then wondered where he was. He scanned the area,, going so far as to twist his body around to look behind him, and only blinked at everything he saw. When he moved to stand up Marco collapsed right back to the ground, knees banging against the floor as he slumped into a kneeling position. Well, okay! He could sit here for a bit and look at all the unfamiliar faces. Maybe someone here knew what was going on more than he did (which was absolutely nothing. He couldn’t even remember what he had been doing before sleeping on the floor!)

How could he have missed it? Or, maybe, it hadn’t been there until now. Anything was possible at this point, Marco decided. Standing before them in all its glory was a creature from legend. White as ivory, black as obsidian, with an eye red as the blood of all those who who had dare challenge it only to be beaten down by an ax or horn (despite the lack of blood on either. Maybe this was a clean Minotaur?). Armor class of 14, speed of 30ft, base attack/grapple of +6/+14, hit dice 6d8+12-

When he realized what exactly was standing in front of their group Marco immediately straightened his posture and placed his hands on his thighs, tightly gripping his jeans. He was now fully alert and doing the darned best he could to keep himself from trembling. With no weapons or armour to protect himself fighting would prove futile. If he stayed there on the ground at least he could have one of the greatest deaths a sixteen-year old kid could have.

Death did not come calling today. Instead the great beast spoke, informing them of their location, their new home, and that none of them would have to fear for their well being. Marco’s mind began to race, chaining a wild string of thoughts in a matter of seconds. Ablisse. That’s where he was before he woke up here. It was a faint memory but a memory nonetheless. How could this be the same place? Had he missed a wordly disaster while he was fast asleep? No, he had gone back in time instead, from the looks of things.

“…. He… hehehee…”

Marco couldn’t help but smile. His lips split into a toothy grin almost to the point of hurting. Soft giggles bubbled in his chest that he couldn’t hold back even if he wanted to. A normal reaction would include concern, confusion, and shouting (which someone nearby was doing a great job at). Smiling, and laughing of all things was inappropriate. Would someone tell him off? He couldn’t help it! This, all of this, whatever this was, was amazing. If this was some sort of prank then kudos to whoever set it up! If this was real… could it even be possible?

No use sitting around on the floor doing nothing. His legs were as bad as the first time he tried to stand up, asleep from his own weight, but he managed to stay standing up this time around. Marco took a moment to brush off some dust from his shirt and hoped he looked presentable enough. First impressions were important!

The Game Room part 1:

Went to my local game shop today and bought an extra large d20 for the express purpose of turning it into a door knob. Turns out, it was incredibly easy (as long as you have the right equipment). Thank goodness my girlfriend’s father was here visiting, for he had such equipment, which he has now gifted us. Very stoked and very thankful to have this cool doorknob that lets everyone know in a subtle way that once you’re through that door, you’re in for so,etching special!

I have some other rad stuff coming my way to take my game room to the next level, so when it happens, I’m sure I’ll post update photos and progress pics so stay tuned!

second part of my shitposting

Akemi Kuro shslfacecards

Who hasn’t had this situation?

Player: I’m going to put on the barrel as armor. GM: I’m sorry. There are no rules for wearing a barrel as armor. Player: Oh cruel fate! Is my character doomed to wander forever un-barreled?