Of Dice and Glen is a story being written following D&D 5th Edition rules and using Minecraft as the battle mat (and to set the scene). Each of the two writers control their own characters and share the job of Dungeon Master (controlling the environment, story, monsters and background characters). As a result, neither of us has any clue of what's going on or where this is going. So, let's have fun!
This story is split between episodes being posted on the second Monday of every month.
You can find the first episode here and the
previous episode here.
Of Dice and Glen Episode 13: Unhelpful Help
“Couldn’t miss it...” Luna muttered, crowding close to Shaddar in fear of the big building before them. “I bet the gods can see this monster from up in the sky...”
Approaching the iron-bound door, Shaddar raised a fist and knocked.
After a short pause, the door opened a crack.
“Well?” a voice said gruffly from close to ground level.
Shaddar took a startled step back from the disembodied voice. His shift brought the woman, less than half his height, into his view. He breathed easier.
“Yes, um,” he said, clearing his throat and removing his hand from his sword hilt. “We’re looking for the local authorities.”
The halfling squinted from one of the strangers to the other.
“You’ve found ‘em,” she said simply.
“You’re awfully short to be more than one authority,” Luna put in, helpfully, losing some of her fear at the sight of this harmless looking person.
The halfing frowned up at the tiefling, then looked further up at the white dragonborn.
“Is that yer pet?”
"No!" Luna was shocked, and offended. She stomped her foot and stared from the halfling to the dragonborn. "Listen here, yah little runt, he's a person, same as me. He's not a pet! You got that?"
“Calm down, Luna,” Shaddar said, aiming to place a calming hand on her shoulder but getting the top of her head instead. Then to the gnome, “Forgive my friend, she’s a bit highly strung. We encountered some goblins and kobolds not far from here. We killed them, but they were digging up an old tower and had a note suggesting there may be a greater threat - perhaps one that will put your village in danger. We wanted to warn you and hoped you might be able to help figure out how much of a threat there is."
Luna beamed as Shaddar brushed the top of her head and watched him as he spoke, looking particularly smug when he mentioned the slaughter of the evil creatures infesting her forest.
The halfling gave Luna a baleful look.
“I suppose you’d best come in then,” she said, opening the door and muttering something about housetraining.
"Thank you," she said to the halfling and bounced over the threshold.
She glanced around the room they found themselves in and was immediately disappointed by the lack of boots. Sighing heavily she grabbed up her tail and started twiddling the end.
The room was a simple square with a doorway leading off to one side. The floor was worn woodwork, with a table in the center. There were a variety of chairs, enabling peoples of various heights to sit at the table. The back wall had three doors of iron bars, held firmly in the brickwork.
Shaddar followed the overenthusiastic tiefling in, his eyes scanning around. He found a chair suited to his height and sat at the table.
The front door crashed shut and the halfling slid several heavy bolts into place before she came to the table and sat in a tall chair.
“What’s this threat of yers?”
Squinting suspiciously at the actions of the halfling, Luna inspected each chair in the room, then sat on a stool entirely too small for her, but it was the closest to Shaddar. She looked like an adult sitting at the children’s table, her knees level with her shoulders. Her tail curled beside her and flicked idly.
“So glad you asked,” she said, before her friend could speak. “Some troll-spawn is digging and invading and- and- and...” She waved her hands. “You know what I'm saying! Evil! Forest! Big trouble!”
“Someone discovered an old buried tower,” Shaddar added. “Goblins and kobolds were digging it up. We found this.”
The dragonborn pushed the note across the table.
The halfling cast Luna a disgusted look while reaching for the note. She ran her eyes across it. A flicker of worry crossed her face before returning to her usual scowl.
“So, what of it? Yer took care of ‘em, looks to me like the problem’s solved. Not a concern of ours, anyway.”
“Come, now,” Shaddar said, his tongue flicking irritably. He knew the halfling was just trying to put them off. “We both know that whoever sent those monsters will be back with more.”
“Yer right,” the halfling sighed. “I just don’t see what to do about it. We’re a small village here; we don’t have the manpower to go chasing a mystery.”
The halfling clearly was going to be a difficult bore, so Luna sprang to her feet and began wandering the room. She inspected the nearest barred room with interest. It didn't look very comfortable. There was a bucket in one corner and straw on the floor, but other than that was empty.
“We were planning to do the hunting,” Shaddar said, nodding to where Luna was no longer sitting beside him. Noticing she was absent, he cast around the room frantically until he found her. Good, she wasn’t getting into trouble yet. Just to be safe, he kept an eye on her. “Our forest is in danger. We came here to warn you and to get information on where to start our search.”
The halfling brightened considerably at this.
“What we need to know,” Shaddar said, “is if this signature, this skull crowned in flames, means anything to you.”
“Disgusting over-dweller...” Came an unfamiliar voice from the furthest cell.
Intrigued, Luna scurried over and peered through the bars. This cell was no different from the rest, except that it had an occupant, and what an occupant it was! Her skin was as dark as the shadow of a raven’s wing, and her hair the exact opposite - a luminescent white that seemed to glow in the dim light of her captivity. She was tall, her chin tilted upright, although her eyes were imperiously closed. She wore simple clothing of rough cloth, but she wore them like rich robes.
“How dare you gaze upon a daughter of Lolth!” She spat at the tiefling. “I will serve up your severed head as an offering to the spider-mother. Wretch!”
“Really?” Luna was fascinated. She rested her small chin and hands on the cross bars and gazed in fascination up at this apparition. “How? And who's Lolth? Is he nice?”
“Keep away from that drow,” the halfling called from the table. “She’s extremely dangerous. We caught her kidnapping children from a burning house.”
“Kidnapping children from a burning house?” Shaddar asked incredulously. “Sounds like she may have been rescuing them.”
“Well… yes… You’d think so,” the halfling admitted. “But if that was the case, why did she set the house on fire first?”
The tiefling barely heard the words of warning, brushing them away in favour of this newest interest.
The dark elf drew herself up to her full height and glared down at the impudent demon child.
“Lolth is not a weakling male,” she spat. “But an exalted and powerful goddess! Humble yourself before the power of the mother of spiders!”
Reaching forward, the elf grabbed for where a belt would have been, but her hand met only empty air. Her face fell and she turned away with a mortified snarl.
Waiting patiently for the power to manifest, Luna idly scuffed her tail in the dirt.
“Lolth sure is taking a long time,” she put in, conversationally.
“Come on, Luna, leave the prisoner alone,” Shaddar called. He turned back to the halfling. “So, about this symbol. Does it mean anything to you?”
As the symbol caught the light, the dark elf’s gaze happened to fall on it. Her eyes widened and she drew in a hissing breath that was clearly audible to the front of the building.
Shaddar heard the noise and spun to face the drow.
“You know this symbol? Does it have something to do with your evil people?”
He was really starting to worry now. The chaotic dark elves had a reputation for evil rivaled by few. This could be one of the worst disasters possible to befall his forest.
“Evil?!” Squeaked Luna, turning and staring at her friend. “How do you know she’s evil?”
Using the opportunity to keep silence, the dark elf turned back around and ignored the other people in stony silence.
“You’ve never heard of the drow?” The halfling asked, her face a mask of disgust. “After a huge war with the surface elves, they moved deep underground. The only time they come to the surface is to raid settlements, killing everyone except those they take as slaves. They won’t do anything unless it benefits ‘em in some way. They say that they’ll do anything for power. In their underground cities drow will kill their own mothers if it will gain them money or status.”
“If drow are invading our forest,” Shaddar concluded, “we will be lucky if the entire place isn’t burned down.”
The tiefling listened with doe-eyed amazement to this history lesson, then to her friend’s concerns. Slowly, she turned back to regard the dark elf.
“Are you evil?”
There was a sharp intake of breath from the drow and she held her silence for a moment, her mind working frantically. One hand twitched as a testament to her inner turmoil and she laughed suddenly, high-pitched and without humour.
“I do not know, little demon child,” she said, and for the first time her voice was lower, hesitating. She turned and Luna could see tears dampening her face.
“Ha!” The halfling sneered. “She’s evil, alright. She’d kill her own mother for a piece of silver. Probably did.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Shaddar said, approaching the cell. He waved the note in front of the bars, his tongue flicking anxiously. “Do you know this symbol or not?”
“Don't cry,” Luna said, too soft to be heard over the derision of the halfling and the demands of the dragonborn. She turned to look at her friend, seeing his tongue and frowning, trying to figure out if he was angry or worried.
“The affairs of the puny surface dwelling blasphemers is of no interest to me,” said the dark elf, turning her back on the dragonborn. “I know nothing of any symbols or a tower.”
“I never said anything about the tower,” Shaddar said coldly.
There was a long silence as the dark elf refused to speak.
Discover what happens next in Episode 14:
Bargains
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