Act 1.2 Introducing the Party

Introducing the Party

He did not remember when he had fallen to sleep but he was brought to a rude awakening the next morning by the feeling of water on his face. He thought that it must still be raining and was confused as to why the water was warm.

He opened one eye and roared as he surged to his feet and smashed against the cage wall. On the other side the guard chuckled as he shook it off and buttoned up his trousers.

"Morning princess, time to work" sneered the guard.

More men joined the guard, these looked of a different caliber, hard and cold eyed, hungry like wolves. They were clad in well fitted armour that they wore with the look of professional soldiers, festooned with weapons. 

Spears pushed through the cell door forcing him backwards into the cell.

"Stay calm and we won't have to hurt you" threatened the original guard.

The door opened, and the guards piled on, weapons drawn and stances wary. He knew that he could not take them all so was forced to acquiesce to their request. 

Cautiously two guards came forwards and fastened thick iron manacles to his hands and chains to his feet. 

"Come with us" beckoned the guard.

He stepped outside of his cell, chains clinking around his feet, for the first time he could stand to his full height and stretch out the knots in his neck and shoulders. 

Looking to his left he could see that he was not the only prisoner who had been taken out of his cell. Nearest to him was a surly looking dwarf he was short in height but more than compensated for it in breadth, menace radiated from him in waves and even the guards gave him a wide berth as he glared at them from a solitary eye, staring out of weathered face that was all beard and scars. 

Next to him were two humans, neither of any great stature. One seemed exceedingly pale, his skin looked like smooth porcelain with dead eyes looking out upon the world, fully taking in his surroundings, noting every small detail looking for every strength of his captors, every weakness any small thing that he could use to his advantage. The other human was of a more usual complexion, colour in his cheeks and life in his eyes his hair and looks where wild and unkempt but otherwise seemed to have the slight physique of a scholar.

And furthest to his left was the most unusual of all. A woman of striking beauty despite her imprisonment and the roughness of their treatment. Her whole body seemed to be suffused with power, her skin seemed to glow, the very air around her seemed to take on a golden aura. She had the build of warrior, body perfectly toned, no inch of useless fat or skin upon her. Her long hair cascaded down her back but could not cover two stumps sticking out of her shoulders. It looked as though there was once wings on her back but they had been hacked away.

He was bought out of his observations by a sharp poke to the ribs with the reverse end of a spear.

"Lets be having you big 'un, time to earn your keep"

Act 1.1 A Meeting of Paths

A Meeting of Paths

Consciousness slowly ebbed into being bringing with it a dull ache at the back of the head. He felt cold, cold right through to his very bones as though he had been sleeping in a bath of ice. His stomach and legs felt sodden from a pool of something that he appeared to be lying in.

Slowly he opened his eyes only to be greeted by a half light of flames casting dull illumination into the night time sky, he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered he was scouting the Mountains of Heaven for Princess Freya, he thought he had heard something then a sharp blow to the back of the skull and then oblivion.

With a mighty splatter he rolled his bulky form over onto his back, splurting a cascade of mud and filth from under his body. Looking up he could see the night sky overhead although his vision was obscured by thick iron bars.

With deep sigh he pulled his mighty form upwards into a sitting position and fully took in his surroundings. He saw that he was in an iron cage, one of many such cages infact, he could see many similar cages stretching off to his left hand side as well as another row opposite him running parallel. A walkway of sawdust and hay stretched between his cage and the one opposite, brazers of coals standing intermittently along the walkway providing a low source of lighting. Over the walkway and half of his cage there was a low ceiling of thick timber, so low that he knew he would not be able to stand up without embedding his horns in the roof.

Whilst wooden beams covered the ceiling of half of his cage the other half was open to the elements, letting a deluge of rainwater to enter his holding cell as it pelted down from the night sky in thick, grim drops.

His cell floor was mere soil, turned into thick, clunky mud from exposure to the rain, lying on it the source of his cold and wetness.

He became aware of not being alone, someone was rattling a metallic object against a cell door further down the corridor and he could just make out the sound of voices, although could not make out the words.

The sounds gradually got closer and closer until the sources of the noise approached his cell, two lank greasy looking men, draped in ill fitting armour with swords hanging loosely by their sides. He took an instant dislike to the men, he knew their sort, the sort that loved to revel in the misery and pain of others because their own existence was so pitiful.

They sneered as they approached him, confident that the iron bars would hold him. One of the men chucked a bowl of slop that was supposed to be food and a gourd of water in the cell.

"Eat up, you're going to need your strength, tomorrow you earn your keep in the arena", commented one of the men.

The men chuckled to themselves as they retreated down the corridor, snuffing out the lights as they went. Soon he was plunged into darkness, unsure what tomorrow would bring, but knowing that it would not be good.

The Plan

Be More DnDThe Plan

It's pretty exciting times here at Be More, we are growing from being just one guy sharing his fitness nerd experiences to becoming a group of like minded people who support each other and hang out. We are all hugely passionate about at least one of the two things that Be More is all about - strength, fitness and healthy living AND geek culture - computer gaming, war gaming, table top gaming, LARP, movies, books & comics.

Recently we have started running a weekly Friday Night Dungeons and Dragons session taking part in a made up world and using the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Rules. We tried 4th Ed but it seems a little bit generic and simplified and we tried 2nd Ed but found it to be less intuitive and balanced than 3.5 (looking at you 2nd Ed paladin), pretty much all 3.5 books are open and allowed to be used unless it is too OP or just doesn't fit with the setting (no oriental adventures for now).

I have wanted to try my hand at writing fantasy for some time and have had great over arching plot ideas but have always struggled with filling in the bits in between the huge swathes of action, so I thought this dnd would give me the perfect opportunity to write up what happened in story format and see if anyone is entertained.

Posts will come weekly (seeing as this is when we game) and will normally appear on a Tuesdays (gives me enough time to write it up around boring real life stuff), I hope that someone at least likes it and comes to look forwards to their weekly fix of Be More Dnd.

Until next time . . .