#mandy games

I think the night I met Sir Hightower is the night when my life started getting strange.  In fact. I know it is.

Before that night, I was just exploring.  I was off to see the world.  Just see it. I'd met adventurers who came by our village when I was growing up and I didn't want the danger they have in their lives. I've always had very real dreams about far off places. So I went in search of them to see if they are real.  And they are.  I dream about vast planes and great cliffs over violent ocean waves.  And I've visited them.   And now, I have the life I didn't want.  I think I am officially an Adventurer.  Because of this crazy paladin.

I'll tell you how it started. I found myself in the middle of nowhere when night closed in. I'd been lucky enough to find a small temple or church to take shelter in.  It was old and long abandoned.  But it was shelter enough for one night.  There was a small cemetery with this tiny church.  The graves were very old.  But it was good for just one night.

Something, I'm not exactly sure what, woke me in the middle of the night.  Then I heard noises out in the graveyard.  Carefully I went outside to see what was happening. In the graveyard, near the oldest of the graves there was a young man in dark robes chanting and gesturing at the ground.  As I watched, unsure about what he was doing, a skeletal hand broke the surface of the dirt.  A necromancer!  I knew I had to stay hidden so he wouldn't find me.  I slowly crept into the darker shadows of the church, but not far enough that I couldn't see what happened next.  The skeleton took up an ancient sword and... Struck down the necromancer.  The moment his sword struck the man the sword shone bright as the sun.  The necromancer crumpled to the ground and I froze in the shadows, unsure of what the skeletal warrior would do after the necromancer who raised it died. From behind me there was an odd hissing sound.  No, was that wheezing?  I turned slowly to find an old man doubled over, laughing. "Are... are you all right?" I asked the man who had appeared from nowhere.   He smiled brightly at me.  "You'll want to see this.  It's going to be fun."  He gestured at the skeleton.  I turned to see the skeleton was digging at the grave.   "What...?" I asked, confused.  Beyond confused.  Utterly bewildered. The old man put his hand on my shoulder and said "Aren't you going to help him?" he gave me a small shove toward the grave and the skeleton.   I couldn't help it.  I slowly went to help the skeleton dig whatever he was after out of his own grave. "Do you need help?" I asked tentatively. The skeleton looked up at me.  A bright light glowing in the eye sockets of the grinning skull.   "Ah, yes my boy! Help me get my shield out of this mire." I hesitated. "Get right in there young man, a squire should be ready for any task he's asked to do." "I'm sorry sir, I'm not..." "You're shorter than I expected. But Pelor does put us all in the right place to do the most good.  I'm sure I can teach you much in our time together."  He pulled the shield free of the dirt and dusted it off. "What is your name my boy?" he asked. "Um. J'awk. J'awk of Eastclyffe." He straightened up and gave me a formal sort of look(for a skeleton).  "I am Sir Reginald Hightower.  Knight of Pelor. I am honored to take you, Jaques of Eastclyffe under my care and tutelage." "Actually, it's J'awk sir." "Of course, of course.  Help me bury this fiend's body.  Evil though he was, he deserves a proper burial. And we have many great tasks ahead of us. Spreading Pelor's light. Vanquishing Dragons and banishing the Undead and the evils that create them.  And of course, saving damsels." I opened my mouth to ask him about that banishing part, but it dawned on me.  He didn't know.  Sir Hightower, skeletal Paladin of Pelor didn't know he had just been raised from the dead.  I didn't know how to tell him. So, I didn't. I spent the next hour digging a hole next to the skeleton's grave for the necromancer.  He is a proper knight, he did his fair share of the work, saying that any knight who would make his squire do something he himself would not do is not worth their weight. We heaved the necromancer's body into the fresh grave and gathered the things he had dropped.  I grabbed a small glass orb that had rolled away from him when he fell to toss into the grave with him.  As soon as I touched it it flared to life with the light of a thousand suns.  I dropped it.  The light went out before it even hit the ground. "Jaques," Sir Hightower exclaimed, "No one told me my squire had magic..." "Oh no," I cut him off, "I don't have magic.  There is nothing magical about me." "Oh, but you do.  A sorcerer's focus only reacts to someone who can wield it.  And the light bright as Pelor's own sun is a sign.  You must take this tool and use it to bring good to the world." "I don't know anything about magic." Sir Hightower handed me the orb.  It lit up again, not as bright, just a cloud of light in the glass.  "Do not fret my boy.  It will come to you.  This is a gift.  You will learn how to use it." I was not as confident as Sir Hightower. After we buried the body Sir Hightower looked at the still very dark sky.  "A growing boy like you needs his rest.  Sleep. I'll take the watch this night." I took the knight back to my small camp in the temple.  As he settled in to keep watch, I fell into an uneasy sleep. That night I dreamed of far off places again. This time, in ruins.  I knew I saw the end of the world.

I'm not sure if using a dead necromancer's Orb to help harness the magic I can feel flowing in me is the best idea.  What if the evil of the former user rubs off.  Sir Hightower assures me that Pelor will not let that happen.  That the fact that the orb glows like a small sun means that it is a tool of good. We are heading to Greenest.  It feels like the best way to go based on my dreams of disaster, but I can't say why.  Sir Hightower agrees that we should follow my feelings on this.  He is eager to help save the world again.

Adventuring is much harder than Sir Hightower made it sound.  When we arrived in Greenest the town was under siege. Kobolds and cultists surrounded the keep.  A large blue dragon was circling above the keep.  Sir Hightower rushed right in, sword shining in the sunlight.  I was barely any help.  I was knocked off of a roof by one of the kobolds and out of the fight until it was over. It hurt. A lot.  But. Sir Hightower was able to heal me.  With encouraging words and a soft touch.  He seems so brash and bold so often, but he has a kind heart and I do think he genuinely wants to teach me how to help people with this new magic of mine.  Even if he doesn't know the first thing about magic. We met Rhuu in the fight. She's a nice girl. Her feathers are grey, she's not nearly as bright as the girls back home, but she doesn't seem to notice how dull her colors are.  She does play lovely tunes though.  She showed us the way to a tunnel that led to the keep so we could ask the town's leaders what we can do to help.

In the keep we spoke to Governor Nighthill.  He... I think he thinks I'm a necromancer and that Sir Hightower is my minion. I think I shall have to find a way to deflect these accusations without letting Sir Hightower know.   The Governor asked us to help. We were able to speak to one of the mercenaries that was captured.  He told us that he had been hired bu the Cult of the Dragon to attack and rob the towns in the area. Sir Hightower then convinced this hardened warrior only driven by greed to accept Pelor.  My Master the Knight is a terror in battle and a gentle soul when helping anyone.

When we went to tell the Governor what we learned, we were diverted to the sally port of the keep.  It was under attack.  We were able to help the guards push the invading kobolds out and secure the gate.

It looked to be a long night and we slept while we could. Though, we were awoken in the night to find a Dragonborn challenging the keep.  They brought prisoners and would return them if the strongest warrior could defeat him in battle.  I knew the second the challenge was made that nothing would stop Sir Hightower from saving the town in single combat.  The Governor didn't even have time to ask if anyone would step forth to defend Greenest before Sir Hightower was crossing the field between the keep and the dragonborn.

My Master the Knight of Pelor stepped boldly out into the night. His armor and sword shining as if in the brightest light.  He squared up to his foe, raised his sword high... and was promptly cut in half by the giant blue dragonborn's sword.  The dragonborn thought it was so funny he gathered his invaders and left.

Sam (Played by Abby). A Sneaky Sneak.  Sam is the sneaky rogue.  Her previous game was a d20 Modern game.  She has dreams of lazers and doesn't understand them in the scope of our general fantasy middle ages. She has had dreams from a young age about finding a gem to be the key to  something important. Sam carries a Warhammer.... I don't know why.

Gehron (Played by Daniel) A defender. Gehron was a guard to a princess who was a great player in the history of that world. She did not have feelings for him, so he never showed her his. Now he is the blacksmith's apprentice.  The Strongest of us.

Salestra (Played by Subi)  The Guard.  I'm not sure if she was ever played on tabletop rpg. She is one of Subi's digital rpg characters. She was orphaned by a fire at her family's house.  She's the one who survived.  She works as a guard, though they won't let her use both of her blades on the job.  She's probably the reason our thieves only spend a night in jail if they get caught.

Irosa (Played by Jade) Jade's the DM, so technically she's an NPC, but treated as a PC.  I don't know Irosa's past game life.  She is the only one of us who was not raised in the orphanage.  She'sa ranged fighter and scary at it so far.  She was a slave in the capital city in the shadow of the white obelesk. Which is one of the few places in the world where the land is fertle and nothing is sick.

Brussel Rand (Played by Meghan) The Charasmatic Rogue.  (Warlock is his magic class) He's the only one who wasn't played in any other game.  But he has a backstory of being a rogue warlock in his past life.  He made his deal to keep his love safe... It didn't go well. He's the Rogue who can and will swindle you out of your pants.

Grace (Played by Me) She's the healer.  Her classes are Figeter & Oracle.   She was my Tiefling SpellSlinger.  She doesn't know why she refuses to wear shoes.  But it's because she couldn't as a tiefling in her past life. Because of what her Oracle curses are, they affect her before magic returns.  She's haunted... by the deaths of the kingdom her magic will come from... this makes her claustrophobic. And her other Curse is Tongues.  So she speaks in another language when she's stressed and fighting.  Her other language, the she totally understands, is common from her old world.  It's not the common language in this world.