Chapter 1: Birthday Season Begins

"Lucky guess," I lied.

"Anyway," Tommy continued, "Now that that's settled. Transportation arrangements: We figure it'll be easiest for you and Amy to drive up there together; and Ashley, Jaden and I will ride together from here."

"Makes sense," I replied, as if the entire arrangement weren't perfectly obvious. While Amy and I lived 45 minutes from campus, Jaden, Tommy, and Ashley all lived on campus, in dorms. Tommy and Jaden were actually roommates.

"Alright," Tommy continued as if reading off bullet points, "Meeting time and place: the gates open at nine thirty, so if we meet there at eight, we can be amongst the first to enter. Say meet near the gate at eight?"

"Okay," I laughed at the probably unintentional rhyme, "Sounds good."

"Sweet, sounds like we have a plan."

"Cool, I'll let Amy know the plans."

"Alright. I'll let Ashley and Jaden know. See ya tomorrow."

"Later," I ended the call.

I continued to work on my homework until around seven thirty when Mamma Janie called us down for dinner.

I finished up what I was working on, then went down stairs. As I entered the kitchen, Amy was just sitting down at the large round kitchen table, while both moms and Dad were already at the table. My dad had made his infamous "five-alarm chili", and Mamma Janie had made salad and garlic bread. I sat down between Amy and Mama Janie, with Amy on my left. Mamma Helen was on Amy's left and Dad was between our moms. There was a sixth empty seat that had been moved aside, in which Jenny had usually sat to my right, between Mamma Janie and me.

Mamma Janie and Dad said grace while the rest of us sat in silence. Then Dad started dishing out the chili.

"So," Dad started the nightly conversation, "Amy, how are you liking College?"

Being a freshman, Amy had been going to college for just over a month.

"It's fun," Amy said with genuine enthusiasm, "It's a lot different than high school, but in a good way. Classes are about the same, except the lectures, but I really enjoy having time between classes to just do whatever. Not to mention being able to eat lunch with Gabe." She looked over at me for just a moment with a smile.

"Have you joined any clubs?" Mamma Helen asked.

"Well, I'm officially part of the gaming guild where we play D&D." Amy's smile got bigger.

Speaking of which," I added, "I talked to Tommy more about the trip to the Renaissance Festival. He loved your cosplay idea."

"I thought you'd decided not to go this year," Dad noted.

"I changed my mind," I shrugged, "Amy and I are going a week from Saturday with our D&D group."

"He changed his mind when Amy asked him to go this morning," Mamma Janie butted in.

"No I didn't," I lied, obviously, "I... had already decided to go when Tommy told me they were all going."

"Then why did you have to ask them if it was okay if we went with them?" Amy asked, smiling at me. Or was it a smirk?

"I... had already decided, I just hadn't told them yet..." I reinforced my lie with another, "and I was waiting to see if you wanted to go, too."

"Awww," Amy teased, "that's sweet: wanting your little sister to go with you and your friends."

"Shuddup," I nudged her, laughing.

"It is good to see you kids doing things together," Dad said, "I never got along with my siblings, so I'm glad the three of you have been as close as you are."

Even though Jenny wasn't There at the moment, up until a couple months ago, the three of us had been pretty close. While Amy and I had always been the closest of us three, all three of us had ben as close as friends. During the summer, after school was out, the three of us often went to the movies together, or hung out together at game shops, particularly those that sold D&D stuff. We also played D&D with each other regularly during the summer, along with some friends from high school. Even after I'd entered college and started playing with Tommy, Ashley, and Jaden, Jenny would join us during the summer, if she had time. However, during the school year Jenny rarely had time to spend with us, as she was always studying or doing homework. She took school a LOT more seriously than Amy or I did.

The rest of the dinner conversation was more between our parents than us, asking each other about work and such. I zoned out of the conversation and began thinking about plans for this Friday's upcoming D&D game. Being the DM, I always had to be going over things in my mind and making plans whenever I could.

After dinner, Amy and I went up to our rooms while our parents cleaned up from dinner. I finished my homework and went to bed.

*

The rest of the week was back to the old routine. We'd get up, drive to school, go to our first class, meet up with friends, Amy and I would eat lunch together, go to more classes, then go home. The only difference was the conversations we had were more about what characters we'd be going to the Renaissance Festival as.

On Friday, instead of going home after our last classes, Amy and I ate a late lunch at three thirty, then ventured to the lower basement level of one of the conference halls. There were only a few people there, as we were about half an hour early. Ashley was already there, sitting at our usual D&D table, reading something on her laptop. As we approached, she looked up, "Gabe! Amy! Hi!" she beamed excitedly, "Tommy tells me you guys are joining us next weekend for the Renaissance Festival! That's so great!"

At twenty-two years old, Ashley was the oldest of our group, and the only Senior. She was about the same height as Amy, around five-foot four inches tall. However, Ashley was more filled out with wider hips, slightly larger arms and legs, and a pair of cantaloupes that filled her chest out nicely. Her caramel skin was smooth and flawless, and her raven hair was long and wavy.

When I'd first met Ashley, the first time I'd gone to the guild meeting my freshman year, I quickly developed a crush on her: a smoking hot chick that was into D&D? Yes, please!

However, I soon met Jaden, who was Tommy's best friend, and also Ashley's boyfriend, so my hopes were quickly dashed. Although that didn't stop me from telling Amy about my crush. I'd told her just about everything going on in my life. Soon after, Amy started joining us to play D&D, and we all became good friends. Amy and Ashley even became best friends, despite their three year age gap.

Ashley was also the busiest of our group, so we only got to see her on Fridays when we play D&D at the guild, or whenever we hang out outside of school, which was rare. She, Tommy, and Jaden all stayed on campus, so they hung out with each other more than the five of us did together.

"Yeah," Amy beamed, "I'm so excited!"

"Amy, your Idea to dress as our favorite D&D character was awesome!" Ashley nearly danced in her seat, "when Tommy told me I almost creamed myself."

Amy's face turned red, "Ash!"

Ashley looked perplexed, "What?"

Ashley also had the filthiest mouth of the group.

"I..." Amy began to stutter, "I mean, sheesh, y-you don't need to be so crude."

"Really?" Ashley looked at her like she was an alien, "You're no better."

She was right. While Amy kept a civil tongue most of the time, whenever she would get into character playing D&D, she often let her mouth fly off the handle.

"Aaaanyway..." Amy's face was bright red, "Have you decided which character you want to go as?"

"Well," Ashley thought for a moment, "I wasn't sure at first. Most of my characters have been male, but I don't want to try crossplay just yet, and none of them would be my favorite. The few female characters I have played have been really fun, but I think my favorite character must be..."

She paused, waiting to see Amy's reaction.

"Yes?" Amy pressured her to continue.

"Who are you going as?" Ashley asked, intentionally leaving Amy hanging.

"ASH!" Amy screamed.

Just then, Tommy and Jaden strolled in.

"Hey, guys," Tommy greeted us.

"Sup?" Jaden followed suit.

"Amy was about to tell us what character she wants to go to the Renaissance Festival as," Ashley answered.

Amy responded by narrowing her brow creating adorable wrinkles on her forehead, "Not until you finish telling us who you're going as!"

"Okay, Okay," Ashley conceded with a laugh, "I'm going as Adora."

Adora Bla'as was Ashley's Halfling Ranger. She intended for the name to mean "Adorable Lass", but we all keep joking she has an "adorable ass". Despite being over five and a half feet tall herself, her character was only about three feet tall.

"That's awesome!" Amy exclaimed, "I LOVED Adora!"

"I'll have to look up ways to make me look shorter than I am," Ashley continued, "But I'm really looking forward to it."

"So, who are you going as, Jaden?" Amy quickly asked, obviously hoping to get out of answering about her own character.

Oddly, it worked.

"I'm not sure," Jaden answered honestly, "I've played so many fun and interesting characters, I started coming up with fun ways to cosplay several of them. But I haven't made a final decision yet."

"I already know who I'm going as," Tommy boasted loudly.

"Kordek Sunbeard!" the entire group announced in unison. The look on Tommy's face of pure shock was priceless. He glared at me.

"I didn't tell them," I replied defensively.

"He didn't have to," Ashley laughed.

"We ALL know who your favorite character is," Amy added.

We all started laughing.

"Alright," I announced, "Let's get to the game."

Everybody took their usual seats. As the DM, I sat at the end of the rectangle conference table. Amy sat to my left, and Jaden sat to my right. Ashley sat next to Jaden, and Tommy sat across from Ashley, next to Amy.

I set up the dry-erase play-mat with a one-inch grid on the table and everyone placed their character mini on it. I pulled out my laptop, DM screen, and a set of polyhedral dice. The others put their phones away, pulled out their paper character sheets, and personal sets of dice.

While most people who play D&D these days allow their players to use a laptop to hold a digital character sheet, when our parents taught us how to play with one of the older versions of the game, we all used paper character sheets. I also found that laptops and phones can be a distraction for players, so as the DM, I employ a rule that only the DM can use a laptop, and everyone, including the DM, leaves their phones in their bag, unless they get an important call or something.

Once everybody had settled, I began the session:

"When last we left our intrepid adventurers," I declared boisterously, "they had just defeated Tarog Longtooth, the Half-Orc Lieutenant of the Ogre King, whose Brutish Armies have been decimating the nearby townships and terrorizing the kingdom. While Sylvia," I gestured toward Amy, who was playing Sylvia Holderen, the noble human fighter, "wanted to execute him immediately for his crimes, the rest of you decided to keep him alive to be interrogated."

As we continued the game, things felt more normal than the rest of the week had. Tommy's Human Monk character, Brother Tomlin, interrogated the Half-Orc Lieutenant, learning the location of the Ogre King.

The party took the Half-Orc Lieutenant to the nearest city, Haven Rock, to turn over to the King's Army (who had hired the party initially). They then informed Captain Arling, the commander of the local military battalion, of the results of the interrogation. Captain Arling had been acting as a liaison between the party (and other NPC mercenaries) and the King's Military for the past three gaming sessions.

While they waited for their next orders, Brother Tomlin went to the local monastery to meditate. Jaden's Elven Ranger, Thiso'Alava and Ashley's Elven Druid, Dania'Sylva (who were "pair bonded") sought out the local Circle of Nature (a custom organization consisting of good aligned rangers and druids) to report in, and Sylvia headed to the local tavern to get drunk.

After summarizing Brother Tomlin's routine interactions with the other members of his order, and roleplaying the interaction between the two elves and the Circle, we began the roleplaying of Sylvia's in the bar.

"As you enter the bar," I described the scene, "You examine your surroundings instinctively. There's only a few patrons in at the moment: A gnome sits at the bar, sipping on a wine of some sort. There are two off-duty human guardsmen at a table, downing ales. Finally, there is an elven warrior, dressed in mithral chain armor, sitting at a corner table. The human barkeep is cleaning glasses and listening to the gnome chatter on about something or another. What do you do?"

"I go sit at the bar," Amy announced, "not right next to the gnome, but a couple seats away."

"As you sit down, the barkeep nods at you, acknowledgingly, and finishes cleaning the glass he was working on. He comes over to you and asks, 'What can I get for you?'".

"Gi'me and ale," Amy demanded in her best 'Tired Soldier' voice, then said, "I place ten gold on the counter, 'And keep 'em coming.'"

"As the bartender pours your first of what's sure to be many mugs of ale, Captain Arling enters the bar. Rather than in his full military armor, he's wearing a simple chain shirt. His only weapon is his signature longsword sheathed on his back.

"He approaches you at the bar, waving as he nears, and says, 'Lady Holderen, mind if I join you?'"

"Not at all," Amy replied in character, "I'd be glad for the company. You off duty?"

"'Yeah, as much as I can be these days.' He replies, taking a seat at the bar next to you, 'I don't mind the fighting so much, but it's the waiting for orders that drives me insane. I know what we need to do, and even what they'll tell us to do, but I can't act until I receive orders.'"

"That's precisely why I never joined the military," Amy pretended to take a drink of ale, acting as her character, "Too many rules. As a mercenary, I can decide the best way to proceed without having to ask a superior."

"Arling nods, 'Sometimes I wish I had done the same: became a mercenary. I'm thinking of retiring when this war is over. I've served my decade, and then some.'"

Amy took another pretend gulp of her invisible ale. "I finish off my drink and wave the barkeep over, 'Can I get a refill, and whatever the Captain wants.'"

"'Ale's fine,' Arling says with a slight smile, 'but just one. I've got to be back on duty in a few hours.'"

"That's another thing," Amy continued in character, "I could never do the whole 'on-duty off-duty' thing. I prefer to be able to do what I want, when I want."

"Arling replies, 'That's understandable. It is an inconvenience having to follow such a rigid schedule. But without structure, any army would fall apart.'"

"I suppose," Amy took another drink of her invisible ale, "tell ya' what though, if you do end up retiring after the war, perhaps you and I could adventure together, if you think you can keep up."

"'It's a deal, but first' he finishes off his drink, 'we have to win the war.'"

After finishing the roleplaying, the characters returned to the local inn and went to their rooms for the night. The next morning they received their orders to head out to the Ogre King's fortress and try to make their way inside to either capture or kill the Ogre King. Along the way there, they encountered a platoon of enemy soldiers who were easily dispatched, and we ended the session for the night after having played for a little over four hours.

The drive home was quiet. Amy sat staring off into space while I listened to my music on low volume. When we got home it was about ten o'clock, so our parents were all up and in the living room watching some Sit Com on the TV. We bade them good night and went upstairs to our individual rooms. After another couple hours of playing video games, I went to bed.

*

The next day, Amy asked me to take her to the mall to shop for "bits and bobs" for her costume. Despite my continuous inquiries, she never told me who she'd decided to go as. I wasn't sure who I should go as, mainly because I wanted it to be someone relatively easy to cosplay, but also someone fun to play. I'd played tons of characters over the years, of every class and species. I didn't really have a favorite, because I loved playing them all so much.

On Sunday, after a bit of internet searching for easy D&D cosplay ideas, I decided I'd go as a Half-Orc Barbarian that I'd played a few years back. I found a reasonably priced LARPing Greataxe, which was made of a type of foam, and with two-day shipping would arrive on Tuesday. I had some grey and green costuming paint from when I dressed as a zombie a few years back for Halloween, and found a tutorial online on how to fashion some Orc-Tusks from moldable plastic.

"You finally decided which character you're going to play?" Amy asked excitedly when I told her we would need to stop by some costuming shops after school on Monday to try to find what I needed, "Who are you going as?"

"Well," I replied, "I wanted to go as one of my Melee characters, since I figured that would be easiest to find LARPing and cosplay stuff for. I checked the Festival's rules about foam weapons, and apparently as long as they're affixed to your outfit, and unable to be removed easily, they're allowed. I found a foam Greataxe online that I figured I could tie onto my back."

"Are you going as Grogan?" Amy asked, her face slightly turning pinker than usual.

"Why not?" I asked, "He's a fun character to play, and should be relatively easy to..."

"That's a great idea!" Amy squealed excitedly, "This is going to be so much fun!"

She began jumping up and down, "I'll help you find the perfect attire for him!"

Monday after school we set out on our sibling cosplay shopping spree. With Amy's help, I found a great looking set of Faux-Leather armor, and all the things I needed to make the Orc Tusks. Amy was super excited to be helping me, although I didn't know exactly why.

On Tuesday, my Axe arrived, and Amy helped me affix it to the armor so it would stay on, even if someone tried to pull it off. She was still being tight-lipped about who she had chosen to go as, and by this time, I'd stopped asking.

Wednesday I set about designing the Orc Tusks, and after about two hours, I had them perfect.

On Thursday I tried my whole outfit on, minus the face paint, and I had to admit, it looked good.

*

When Friday came around, I was ready for the weekend. Classes went slowly, painfully so. But when they were all done, and I started heading for the hall where the guild met, I started to get excited. In all the excitement for the Renaissance Festival, I hadn't had much time to work on the week's session. But like any good DM, I had a good idea of what I wanted to happen, and was a master of improvising.

Ashley was already there, as usual, and as soon as she saw us, her face lit up.

"Amy, Gabe!," she nearly jumped out of her seat and ran to give us both a hug, "I'm so excited for tomorrow! My costume came out amazing, and I can't wait for you to see Jaden's! He put a LOT of work into it."

"What about my costume?" Tommy asked as he and Jaden entered the room, "I put a lot of work into it, too."

"Oh, please," Ashley snarked, "All you have to do is grow a beard and you're basically Kordek anyway."

Everyone laughed, even Tommy.

"What about you guys?" Jaden asked, "How did your costumes come out?"

I replied, "Pretty goo..."

"You'll just have to wait and see," Amy cut me off, physically placing her hand over my mouth.

The others gave us both awkward looks.

"Can you at least tell us who you're going as?" Ashley asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but Amy shot me a glance that told me to keep silent.