As the company of my new friends and I, Jersey, entered the caves, all we could see was darkness. We had to leave Dun the dwarf outside the caves, because he was "incapacitated" and would be of no use to us anyway. Warner, the dragon born, stayed with Dun to keep him safe while he recovered. We managed to create some light sources with Tim, the wizards, wand, and some flares that Darius, the gnome, had in his pack. I was filled with apprehension. After all, I am just a human ranger, who hunts game with a bow and arrow. Up until today, I didn't even know these caves were here, and I wouldn't have explored them even if I did. The game I hunt doesn't like dark, confined spaces with no light. Lately, game has been scarce in this area. So I have joined this group to see if they can help me figure out why this might be happening. Plus they seem to know quite a bit about magic, and this interests me greatly. There is one other member of our company. The man-servant of Darius, Clifton. He is a particularly sharp dressed man, very tall and thin. I am not sure what to make of either Darius or Clifton. They seem suspicious at best, and only out for their best interest at worst.
I am not accustomed to danger, but these caves seem rife with just that: danger. The four of us walk into the caves, and immediately come across a flight of stairs. As the light reaches the walls, we see and hear the scurrying of all manner of creatures. They seem to be reacting to the light sources we have with us. When we get to the top of the stairs, I can sense another presence, but I can't tell if it has ill will towards us or not. I tell the company, "There is something in this room besides us". It is just after I say this that Tim yells "Duck!" and then disappears. The next thing I know, I am hearing a crash, and what appears to be a huge piece of statue has obstructed the doorway into the next room. My heart starts to race, and I begin to panic. Clifton begins to push on the piece of statue, so I decide that this is the best action I can take and I decide to help.
"Crystal, roll a D-20. It's time for initiative." Jerry says this with a smile on his face. Any good D&D gaming session will always have an initiative at some point in the session. Jerry started running his campaign again 2 or so weeks ago, and I, Crystal, have been privileged enough to join it. I guess the guys love having a girl around, so it's really a win win situation. When I say that Jerry is running his campaign, I mean he is the DM, or Dungeon Master. He basically has built up a story of how he wants the game to go, and we as the characters work within the parameters he sets up. So the game is sorta flexibly rigid. What I just described above is how I envisioned the beginning of one of these encounters the other players and I had with a couple of "trolls" inside this cave. In reality, this was all happening inside our heads, and we were just saying to the DM what we wanted our characters to do, and then we would roll dice to see how successful we were in our actions.
Let me just say, for any of you who might think Dungeons and Dragons (for that is what I have been playing) is evil, it only is if you let it go evil places. It's just like anything in life. A car might kill you, if you drive it dangerously. You could get into all kinds of trouble on the internet. But these things are also very useful tools. There is nothing innately wrong with D&D, just like nothing is wrong with a car or the internet. It just depends on how you use it. Having said all this, let me just say I am having a great time being a geek with a bunch of like minded guys. It's too bad we can't get more girls interested in this sort of thing. To each their own I guess though. Well, I have no spiritual insight for you in this post. I just wanted to share with you all a piece of my world that I have been involved in for the past several months. I also play other D&D related games such as Where-Wolf. It pretty much follows the same pattern. You just gotta use your imagination. I think these types of games are a great way to exercise the brain. Just more thoughts from the mind of Crystal.
by: Crystal Nylander
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