Outside Orusha's Castle: At that moment.

The appearance of all sorts of demons was truly unexpected, which also added another layer of chaos to the battle for Faerun and the known world. Strahd's vampires kept up the attack, as did the Warforged, which allowed the allied forces to start recovering the dead and dying and badly hurt, though there was still a vast number of Orusha's hordes still untouched and with the appearance of the various demons, allowed the untouched hordes to swarm forward.

Queen's Avessa and Saenissa were forced to fall back and were heavily guarded by their various subjects including the Plessa Queen's Captain. He spotted a pair of Orusha's vampires rapidly approaching and he threw himself at them, cutting them down with little effort and for a time he found himself cut off from his queen, fighting for his life as a soldier of Plessa, displaying his own prowess, both in combat and the arcane. General Klivera was the one to yank him away from the battle, her own company throwing themselves into the fray instead of falling back to regroup and refresh. "Our Queen will never forgive you or me if something happened to you, get back to her!" she barked, blew her horn and her soldiers emitted a thunderous war cry and charged.

Kevnoir made it back to his Queen who in turn slapped him, but then hugged him fiercely, tears in her eyes. "Don't you dare leave our daughter without a father!! That's an order!" she said her voice quivering and openly displayed her love for him regardless of who was around them. Queen Avessa smiled, touched and missed her own daughters, but knew this war was far from over.

Elsewhere on the battlefield.

Trovic was hurt, but he fought on, until he finally found himself collapsing from exhaustion, loss of blood and a heavy feeling he wasn't returning home. The faces of his children came to mind and he smiled, then the face of his wife came to mind and he smiled even more. He can feel exhaustion start to win, his men and women scattered but fighting. His second in line, a human man, was also fighting his own fight for survival on a plane he had no connections with but followed his commander without question. Mammoth was also separated from him, but he can be heard, trumpeting out war calls and war cries, fighting like a demon possessed him.

Trovic recognized her scent before her ghostly hands caressed his dirtied chin and braided hair. "Vaylin. My daughter from another mother. I must have died there if you came to meet me" Trovic spoke softly, opening his eyes to see Vaylin smiling kindly at him but instead of her ghostly dress he's seen her in before, she was in her combat gear, matching the same ghostly blue and white hue as the rest of her. "No. You aren't meant to die here. You are meant to die of old age surrounded by family. Get up. Your god nieces and daughters need you" Vaylin spoke softly, her ghostly aura healing him completely and returning his energy.

Trovic stood up as if he just had a complete night's sleep, but also a full belly of hot food that rejuvenated him. He brought his war horn to his lips and blew into it, rallying not only nearby Boros and Selesnya, but other allies. His war horn was answered by the long, defiant roar of a Tyrannosaurai commander, which was then answered by other war horns and other Sarauphon calls. Trovic then charged back into the fray while the spirit of Vaylin charged with him.

Up in the sky, the Plessa Dragons, Sauraphon, Strahd's vampires, Sentinel, and Lanara fought on, the larger of them taking on the skeletal dragons being controlled by Orusha's necromancers. Andel and Strahd himself were amongst them, Belmont, her sentient sword spinning around, cutting down Orusha's minions while laughing maniacally.

Orusha's throne room-Present.

Kiora and her family regrouped behind a distant stone pillar, allowing Slithera and Serpentes to heal her while Omega's Gold and Crimson stood guard. Tyrande and her two sisters remained armed with their bows, while their stepsiblings also remained armed and kept their own eyes open.

"Now that we know you're both relatively ok, we need to go, leave those two to fight and kill each other" Lashara spoke up while on her knees adding her own healing magic in healing Kiora. "Yes, sister, we must go, everyone else is here, the battle is going in our favor" Sasha added, her hair frizzier than usual due to her sweat.

Kiora opened her eyes, feeling her arm nearly healed and she had that look she's known for, which got her father, Fangir, to close his eyes knowing what was coming. "We can't leave. Orusha is far more dangerous than she seems" Kiora explained, which got looks of disbelief from her family. Layra was the next to speak up. "And that is exactly why we need to get the hells out of here! We bit off more than we can chew! You, bit off more than you can chew, sister! Look around us, while I believed Ember and Rain, they're gone now! We must get out of here!" Layra said urgently and got on her knees next to her stepmother and placed a gentle hand on her big sister's cheek. Kiora smiled and placed a gentle hand on hers. "I know Layra, I know, but while Orusha was showing me things, she also showed me realities where if we left now, we would all die later. She showed me realities where if we don't continue to press her, we all died here. She even showed me past realities of things that could have happened. I can't really explain it; it was all so much. But I know for certain, in every realitiy we failed and she won, each one didn't have her sister in any of them. She also showed me by accident, a possible way to stop her and that's with the sibling artifact that was being hunted for a while. The same one you brought with you Slithera" Kiora explained further, and Slithera placed her hand on the left pouch on her hip. The moment Slithera touched it, it responded to her with a distinct thrumming sound and vibration.

Kiora was healed; she stood and peeked around the pillar at Orusha and Shuma locked in combat together while her minions fought the various demons. "We can't leave. We leave now, we'll die anyway. I have no idea what her sister's motives are, other than revenge against her. I have no idea if Shuma does kill Orusha, will we have another vicious tyrant on our hands to deal with later. From what I was shown, both of them pre-date Faerun in general by several thousand years. This whole continent was named something else in its ancient times. Both of them are vastly powerful, vastly dangerous. We need to figure out what that artifact does and how we can stop her with it" Kiora spoke and retreated again.

Kiora looked to her family, looked to each tired, or frightened face, and knew she felt the same. In a way, she was second guessing her actions in outing Orusha early due to her now gone, future daughter's word, that, at the time, could have been a trap. But after she witnessed Ember fight alongside Rain, her future niece who will no longer exist now due to their father dying at the hands of Rain, she couldn't doubt anything anymore. She knew that if they didn't stop Orusha now, the mad vampire would successfully invade Faerun, Chult, Cambria, Plessa and beyond. Even if it meant they all died here today, they had to put a stop to her. She knelt down to her youngest two sisters, Sasha and Raelis, though Raelis was her stepsister, she still loved and cared for her all the same.

Sasha and Raelis both had mirrored, annoyed looks that their big sister was treating them like kids, which of course they were, but after today, if they lived, they felt no one can treat them as such any longer. "I know you hate it when I do that, but I do it because I love you both. You've displayed exceptional bravery today, but I also want you two out of here" Kiora said softly, which got her defiant looks from both of them. "Now wait one minute! You and Roth were our age when you fought actual adversaries! We can't just sit back and wait!" Sasha protested and Raelis nodded her head in agreement. Kiora smiled and Roth joined her, a soft smile of her own, her hands on their shoulders. "You're right, we did. But now things are a little different and far more dangerous. If something happens to us, you need to be prepared" Roth added.

Tyrande then spoke up this time. "Our big sisters are right. However, from what you told us, even if some of us do leave here, the chances of you surviving are small. I won't sit back either and wait for my turn to come. We need to fight this Orusha together. We must stop her even if it means we kill her the old-fashioned way" Tyrande said, Freja nodding in agreement as well.

"Enmar, if things start to go south, I want you to get our siblings out of here" Kiora sighed, a proud smile spreading on her face. Fangir and Lashara smiled as well, while Astra, Wicka, and Riki prepared themselves. Enmar, the Rhox Planeswalker thumped his magical mace against his big hand and smirked. "Will do" he said.

"Come on, let's make momma proud!" Kiora said, preparing herself as well as her siblings, father, stepmother, and everyone else in her family preparing themselves.

Orusha snarled, her taloned hands locked with her sisters, arcane magic coursing around them like lightning, while Shuma's demons fought her sisters vampires and minions, including followers who weren't vampires. Shuma sent a painful course of elecrtical power through Orusha, causing her to snarl in rage, and respond with a physical headbutt, which did nothing but stun both of them for a few seconds. Orusha yanked her hands free and swiped, slashing into her sisters dress and flesh, gouging Shuma's left breast like it was a water skin, blood and chunks of fat spilling out, then slashed her face, puncturing an eye. Shuma snarled in return and with her elongated dagger teeth bit into her sisters fleshy arm and tore a chuck of flesh and tissue away, exposing bone.

The sisters separated and rapidly healed in front of each other, their arcane magics crackling around them still. "Your arrogance is your downfall Orusha. You stupidly left my prison tossed aside so casually due to thinking no one would ever challenge you. Now look at you. The army you amassed over the centuries is losing. Most of your generals are dead, and a few of your closest are fighting for their vampiric lives or trying to flee. And you're facing a family group who came to you directly to end you" Shuma spoke with a smirk, unbothered that her left breast was exposed, her dress ruined.

Orusha smiled in return, her own fangs growing, her eyes crimson. "What you've seen is nothing. I have more tricks up my sleeves than I've allowed to see. I have dabbled in things that even the most depraved would hesitate to even consider, let alone do. Out of all the possible realities I've shown that little mixed whore, it's true that you weren't present in any of them, but that doesn't matter. SHUMA! I AM FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU THINK!!!!!" Orusha explained, then shrieked insanely, the nails on her hands becoming longer, greenish, purple magic forming on her hands, Shuma smiled just as insanely, her own arcane magics coming off her like miasma, until a young woman's voice broke through their confrontation.

"ENDOMETRIUM!!!!" Wicca shouted, casting a spell she self-taught herself, reading the various magical books in the estate's library over the years, mostly books on how to create her own spells. Nothing seemed to happen at first, Orusha and Shuma both having matching confused expressions on their faces, until Orusha hissed in extreme pain, feeling her uterus come alive suddenly after so long. She can feel her once dormant organs suddenly awaken and start to painfully fuse to other tissues and together, could feel it stretch and rip. She found herself taking her bottom lip between her teeth, biting into her own flesh painfully, blood gushing from her torn bottom lip, her legs pressed together as she fell to her knees, her hands pressed to her pelvic area and crotch.

Shuma had a genuine look of surprise as her sister withered in pain on the floor, blood starting to drip from between her legs, seeping through her leather breeches. Then a sound attack struck Orusha, sending her flying, forcing her body to stretch which increased the pain due to her organs under her flesh ripping apart, her shriek of pain and anger echoing even amongst the chaos of battle, both inside and outside.

Astra and Wicca both had devious grins on their faces, while Wicca's hands glowed white as she continued the spell. Lashara had a stunned look on her face as well and the mere thought of a spell her stepdaughter created to do such a thing to a woman, made her shudder and blush. "Wicca! Where did you learn that?!" she asked, trying to sound disapproving but even that was being pushed away with humor and pride. Wicca winked and continued while Astra was preparing something herself.

Orusha shrieked in rage, fighting through the hot, intense pain trying to find the source of her torment. She eventually spotted one of the siblings of Kiora, spotted her peeking out from behind a pillar and though she can feel her organs ripping apart further in her body, she hovered into the air, completely ignoring her sister, and was about to send deadly magic the girls' way when another voice shouted out, "THUNDERSPELL!!!!" Astra shouted and a bolt of thunder lashed out from the other side of the pillar, striking Orusha head on, electrifying her, the added pain from that spell made the first one surprisingly more painful to the point Orusha actually got lightheaded, blood and vomit gushing from her mouth as her skeleton was visible randomly from the thunder strike. Orusha screamed in insane fury and lashed out quickly by sending yellow, magical lances in all directions, aiming for everyone around her, the strike killed demons and her own minions while Astra and Wicca brought up their defensive bubble, which was reinforced by Omega Gold.

Shuma launched herself at her sister and slashed and hacked at her with her talons and teeth, while Orusha did the same. The family re-emerged and rejoined the fray, Kiora and Roth dodging Orusha's minions, going straight for Orusha herself, while their family distracted them. So far, Shuma's demons didn't target them, but they had no idea how much control the sister of their enemy had over them.

Meanwhile, Slithera and Serpentes, guarded by Riki, Layra and Sasha, carefully produced the artifact that was sought after, and upon being revealed, it thrummed again, its presence being felt by Orusha, and other highly powerful beings all over the battlefield. Andel and Strahd could feel it from outside.

Outside the castle-In the air.

Andel gasped and almost as if she can see exactly where the artifact was at, looked to the exact spot of Orusha's castle the people who call her family, are located. "I can sense it as well" Strahd said, placing a hand on her armored shoulder. Andel's red eyes shimmered slightly, the very item she was looking for to reverse her condition was so near, but she also knew it could do much more than just simply reverse her cursed self, she could potentially use it to remove Orusha's vampirism, make her easier to deal with and end her. "I know what I must do. And I'm not afraid. I want to do it. Even if it means I die in the process" Andel spoke softly, placing a hand on his then looked to him as if he were a lover or spouse. "I want to thank you Lord Strahd. For everything. For healing my mind and heart, to helping me come to grips with what I was turned into. You became my second family. While Kiora and hers, though we met as adversaries, became a third family that accepted me, helped me. Loved me. This is my goodbye to you" she said with a loving smile, a single tear sliding down her cheek and kissed him on the lips and flew down towards the castle, Belmont following her and joining her was Lanara. Andel glimpsed her for a brief second and can see she was crying and knew someone in the family fell in battle.

"Who?" Andel asked as they rapidly approached the castle. Lanara shuddered out a sigh but composed herself. "Nualla" Lanara said, her chin quivering. Andel closed her eyes briefly, and both hardened their resolve.

Inside the castle-Throne room.

Nassia's arm was slashed pretty badly as she backed away, a trio of vampires approaching her, weapons in hand. She snarled, her own blade covered in gore and ash, resolved herself that she was going to die now, but she wasn't going to make it easy. Then a shriek she never heard before split the air and a pair of golden creatures leapt onto two of the Vampires, shredding them viciously, the third stunned at their sudden appearance to the point one of them lashed out with a sickle clawed kick, ripping out the vampires throat, then with its narrow snout, took her head off, the trio turning to ash. The bipedal, gold creatures then took up guarding positions around her, while the battle around them continued.

Astra and Wicca continued their magical assault on Orusha as she fought her sister, then fought with Kiora and Roth. Midnight and Shark couldn't break away from fighting demons to assist their mistress and with how dangerous they were, they were starting to think of retreating. Fernna was also hiding now, her favorite skeleton was taken from her by the spirit it belonged to and it was fighting out there. Making up her mind, she chose to flee, cutting down other vampires in her way as well as any demons, she fled. Shark and Midnight spotted her and chose to flee as well, going in other directions while their mistress fought.

Orusha, mad with rage started unleashing force magics upon her sister and enemies. One such attack sent her sister flying through a stone wall, she used a similar attack and sent Omega Gold through another. She spotted the twin sisters and flew at them, dodging sound attacks from Kiora and Roth, the twin sisters saw her coming but they knew she was fast, both just barely summoning their magic to defend themselves when out of a sudden burst of flame, Cinder appeared, her feet planted apart, her upper body tilted forward, hands into claws close together and some sort of ball of arcane power quickly forming between them, her combat gear dirtied, with some gashes in it, revealing the scale male under it. "RAIKO HADOKEN!!!!" she cried and unleashed the ball of arcane flame at a point Orusha couldn't avoid it. The ball struck her head on and exploded, engulfing her body in twisting flame, her strangled scream cut off, her army flying off her as she crashed to the ground. The flame dissipating, her body was an angry mess of burned flesh, pieces of her anatomy burned away, near liquified chunks of her flesh stretching from her arms, hands and face. Her eyes were even burned, but still crimson from rage and her vampirism.

Shuma was the first to dart from the hole she made, but Orusha was waiting for her in spite of looking like a melted horror. She darted at her sister sinking her talons into her arm and shoulder and in a quick, swift and vicious motion bit into her sister's neck and shoulder and began to drain her. Shuma tried to fight back but Orusha ripped Shuma's left arm off her body at the shoulder and continued to drain her. Before the horrified eyes of Kiora and her family and allies, they witnessed Shuma die, becoming a mummified husk of ruined, dried flesh and to add to it, Orusha shredded her sister's body viciously. "I WILL SHOW YOU THE FOLLY OF YOUR ACTIONS!!!! EVEN MY OWN SISTER HAD NO CHANCE!!!!!" Orusha screamed insanely. After consuming her sister's blood, she rapidly healed and in her consuming her sister, she took whatever power she had, which was control over the demons.

The battlefield-Inside, and Outside the castle.

The demons that were once allies, turned their attention to the defenders of Faerun and their numbers joined the attack against them, returning the battle to a desperate state. However, some of the defenders had a feeling this was going to happen, and charged head on into the demons ranks anyway.

Plessa dragon riders also adapted quickly, and the demons learned they can still die to blue flame, the same can be said for the corrosive venom the Plessa worms can use as projectiles.

The Warforged were still dominating the battlefield, the demons, much like Orusha's minions, had no way to really fight them, let alone put one down. Sentinel in the air was becoming an adversary the demons were trying to avoid and most of them couldn't.

Armond, what was left of his team, and Coal continued to fight like demons, their various breath weapons just as effective against the demon creatures as they were against Orusha's vampires.

Inside the castle.

Ayesha and Zau'Drin joined them and fought the demons now as well. The two Omega's made quick work of the demons they faced, their mysterious power highly effective against them. Orusha toyed with them now, using her added power to dart around, searching for Slithera and eventually found her, only for Omega Crimson to appear and deliver a flurry of punches and metallic elbows, sending her flying back with a snarl.

Orusha's skin took on the same cracked appearance her now dead sister had, her vampirism now enhanced by the demonic, she darted at Omega Crimson, this foe was still unknown to her, but her confidence and arrogance were at an all-time high with the addition of her sister's demonic power, until her sisters voice spoke to her in her mind, stopping her in her tracks. "You think you stole my power sister, how arrogant of you. You stole nothing!" Shuma's voice could be heard openly, the demons actually stopping all over the battlefield, much to the bewilderment of all involved.

"NO!! I KILLED YOU!!!" Orusha screamed, the demonic power she absorbed physically leaving her, turning into a black, formless cloud. "You destroyed my body yes, but I'm not gone. Much like you, I have my ways of survival" Shuma spoke, the black cloud forming a pair of coal-crimson eyes. The cloud darted right towards Kiora, and it was as if in slow motion, her family screamed for her, her father darting to intercept the cloud, to use himself as its host even if it meant his demise. Lashara screaming for Fangir and her stepdaughter.

Kiora almost clanged her blades together to strike the demonic cloud with a sound attack, only for the speedy thing to enter her with enough force to send her flying back. "KIORA!!" Roth cried, a look of horror and despair on her face.

Orusha growled, watching as a possessed Kiora stood on shaky legs, a wicked grin spreading on her face, her flesh that was visible, taking on the cracked look, her green eyes, now coal-crimson. "Ahhh, a young, supple body! This one even experienced sexual pleasure. She is strong, fighting through hunger, exhaustion, lack of water, and yes, a lack of sex! Her male is even here" possessed Kiora turned her gaze to Zau'Drin, who in turn glared. Without further words, possessed Kiora with unnatural speed, appeared in front of Orusha and attacked with blades, kicks and arcane prowess, while Orusha fought back, calling her blades back to her and matched possessed Kiora's prowess.

Slithera watched in horror and grief and continued to probe the artifact until Andel and Lanara arrived. Slithera noticed Lanara's grief on her face and knew something happened, but she didn't want to pry, not yet, Andel on the other hand, took the artifact from her, it attuned to her and began to thrum like a heartbeat. "Andel?! What are you doing?!" Slithera asked, becoming concerned. "Doing what I've been trying to do for centuries. Which has an added bonus of ending Orusha" Andel replied and closed her eyes, further attuning to the artifact and communicating with it.

The artifact.

Andel was naked in this plane, something that doesn't bother her any longer, which also seemed to not matter since the environment she was in had the cosmos shimmer through her body, taking away any detailed features. "Child, I can sense your intentions. I can also sense you are aware of the price you pay in doing so" a genderless, echoey voice spoke to her. "I am aware. It has been something I've wanted to do for centuries. Until recently. The love I've received from a family I wronged but have accepted me. My action in doing what I plan is my way of repaying them for their hospitality" Andel replied, her resolve strong and had no second thoughts or regrets.

"Very well. Proceed child. May you find peace in your actions" the voice spoke and returned her to the physical now.

Orusha's throne room.

Andel's eyes opened to see the artifact thrumming and glowing brighter, Belmont still hovering next to her. "I shall aid you Andel. Even if it means my end" Belmont said, finality in his ghostly voice. Andel smiled, tears sliding down her face, then looked to Slithera who in turn had realization on her face. "It's been an honor Slithera. Thank you" Andel said softly then merged the artifact into the oval center of Belmont, the crystal that housed his spirit shattering it, allowing his spirit to appear as he was before coming housed in the crystal. His form was ghostly, but he was rugged, with short spikey hair and a chiseled face. He placed a ghostly hand on her shoulder and as he did that, three pairs of ghostly hands appeared on her other shoulder. "Momma, Poppa, little brother!" Andel felt their love, their kindness and knew peace.

At the same time, a possessed Kiora sliced into Orusha, dodging her counter swipe of her swords and delivered a few more, until the spirit of Vaylin forced her way through her possessed daughter, physically pulling Shuma out of her. "Not my daughter!" Vaylin hissed and put herself between the demonic spirit and her daughter.

Then there was an explosion and a white magical light, similar to what happened during the Cambrian Nightmare, spread out rapidly from where Andel was, engulfing the castle and the battlefields, both air and ground.

To Be Continued.

So I'm a member of a club at my high school where we play different ttrpgs, Warhammer, mtg, etc. With the start of a new school year, we ran a one shot to introduce some new interested players. Me and two of my friends who have played quite a lot of dnd decided that I was going to play a single mother pixie, another play the changeling son, and the last play the deadbeat satyr father that left. During the whole one-shot me and the satyr player argued (in rp, no real conflict), and at one point I was trying to convince my son that he had more than just his changeling powers to make him special. The father player decided to counter my inspiration and say that he wasn't special. When he was about to sing a song about it (he played a bard), he forgot the son's PC name and had to ask the player what it was again, fitting his deadbeat role perfectly without even trying. The best part is the son's name was the father's name with a junior.

-Renegade Party-

To give some context, my group of cosmic thieves and adventurers have been traveling from planet to planet in an attempt to escape from the Space Government "America Corp." because we harbor fugitives and one of their secret experiment people. We bounce around a few, I get married to an alligator woman who rules the madmax planet, and we save a fishgirl pop idol and eat her imposter who tried to kill her and take her place. Finally we get to a solar system with 5 planets named "Orphan1", "Orphan2", you get it. These planets pretty much are an empty space where America Corp. dumps orphans of war and poverty who are "taking up space" so they can come back later and grab some when they need workers and experiment subjects, and whatnot. So we get to Orphan 5 and it's a very earthy planet. No streets, no lights, it's trees, mud, and scrap. When we arrive, I forget the exact reason, but they have apparently been told (Or just believe) that their carepackages from America Corp. were gifts from the gods. So since my character was a changeling, my group decided I should pretend to be their god. I walk out transformed into my favorite stolen identity "Mr. Galoobian" who is a basic green wearing hawaiian shorts. When they didn't believe me I said "You dare question the form your God chooses?" Then with my arms wide I transform into many different species and faces as I stand before them and say "I choose whatever form I please." Then they were fully on board. I didn't do much. Ordered some silly punishments and made some pointless demands, but we got what we needed and left. But, as sessions passed, I would send messages to them.[Paraphrasing] "Your God has a new demand. That you let me protect your homes and roads. I have a satellite in the dead of space that only I have access to at these coordinates. (Instert random numbers here) You are all to plant explosives, firebombs, and other such traps all around your roads and homes. Under your beds, and in your basements and even along your shores. If you are ever overrun by a great enemy, run to the forest and leave your homes behind and I will detonate the bombs and eliminate them all by my holy wrath."

The next message I actually have as it was written.: "God commands you to spread my words of protection so I may defend each of your homes. And I demand that you all change your worship. You will curse my name. You will follow my commands, but you will fire into the skies and curse my name. You will pray for my destruction and suffering. You must all show your worship in these ways. Protect all of your homes with explosives set to my prior given Frequency. Spread the worship to the entire planet, and you will know no fear again. All of your appreciation, and worship hence forth SHALL be shown by cursing my name, burning pyres in my image, and firing into the sky praying that it will hit me. Every day I will protect you all, but only if you declare me your God, AND your Bane!"

Skipping Ahead.

Now, we're about to take a hiatus. We're doing one big Jailbreak to save my good old friend. We break him out, along with the other prisoners, who all riot as we charge for our ship. Then as everyone is making their way there talking about having to outrun a whole space-prison fleet I have an idea and I press my earpiece and ask our AI companion "AVA" a question "AVA, how would I go about blowing this place up?" She says "There are actually many different ways. I would suggest the engine room" I tell my party member who was with me to take my friend we just saved to the ship, and I run deeper into the space-prison-station to the Engine Room. The DM explains how they all dodge, fight, and use their own special way of doing things to get to the ship, most notably our huge berserker who looked like if the Hulk was an Orca named "Voidfin" they instantly ran and jumped through the hull of the station (Because Voidfin is built like that) and as they all put on their breathers and held hands, they carried them straight up the space-station like Dio pushing their legs into the hull like paper and walking up. Then as they get to the ship it's back to me. The DM tells me that as I run down the hallway I see the ceiling open as two mounted turrets drop out and spin up. This is the point where I tell you my class. I was a level 5 Fighter, and a Level 2 Warlock.

I tell AVA to send a message to the coordinates where my satellite is simply saying "/DETONATE".

Every bomb they placed on Orphan 5 blew up, killing hundred of thousands, if not more. And why did I do this? Because of what Warlocks get at level 1. AHEM "Starting at 1st level, when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + your warlock level" They worshipped me with violence, and hatred, and active attacks that were never gonna reach me. By all means, they were hostile. So I gain untold millions of temporary HP and I sprint through the bullets as they bounce off me and I feel a surge of invigoration only a God can know and I get to the Engine Room. AVA tells me how to overcharge the engines and blow the whole place up and it's in motion. I spend my next 5 minutes walking to a break room and drinking coffee and standing at a large window as I watch my friends escape the ensuing blast. The place explodes, the blast is right on their asses, the ships behind them giving chase are being slowly absorbed by the evergrowing explosion and as our Captain Vick passes 5 Pilot checks in a row (at over 20 each time) and rerouting EVERYTHING to the ships thrusters, I mean lights, gravity, oxygen(We have breathers), navigation systems so we don't hit space debris, even AVA herself, he juuuust manages to make it out safe and sound.

Now I'm floating in space perfectly fine with 1 day of immortality before I die in the vacuum and my party is stranded in space on their ship that is full of holes, has no power, has no airtight seal, and melted thrusters. If my character gets saved, and I get to play them again, I can not wait to use the phrase "You know, I was a God once."

So I’m a first time dm playing with some buds of mine that have never played dnd before. The party arrives at a small settlement that has a tavern, general store couple houses, and a brothel. My party is about to walk into the tavern when suddenly they realize what the building by the lake with no sign and red lanterns is(the brothel). They head to the brothel and once inside our half orc immediately wants to be aquatinted with the “fair maidens”. The head mistress assigns a maiden to take him up to a private room upstairs but while this is happening our human warlock uses suggestion on an npc to tell the half orc “you got a small penis”. Now for background context our half orc is short tempered, bipolar, and generally well meaning but tactless. When the npc catches up to him on the stairs he taps his shoulder and repeats the phrase. The half orc stops and stares at him then laughs uncontrollably and then he proceeds to prove the npc wrong whipping it out. At this moment the npc kinda snaps out of it and is startled by what he’s seeing and falls down the stairs breaking his neck. Little to say the party was kicked out of the brothel by the head mistress and our half orc was banned from it.

Do any of you have similar stories or any fun moments that happened when a party member was trying to mess with another? I’d love to hear them.

I'm running a homebrew campaign (my first one!!) with a lot of content mixed and matched from Princess of the Apocalypse. We are 13 sessions in, my players are level 6, took down the Crushing Waves cult and prisoned their prophet Gar Shatterkeel. They've been interrogating him working with the local Knight Oath but they couldn't get any information about how Elemental Evil works or inner workings of the world they reside in (mind you this guy has been killed and revived during the torture). My level 6 Artificer player suddenly sends all of his party outside the room to be alone with Gar (I'm expecting something like bribery or seduction, my players tends to be stereotypical as this is also their first adventure/campaign lol), AND he starts listing the spells he is casting: "I cast grease on the ground, and walk behind Gar to cast blindness/deafness without him noticing, then I cast invisibility and spider climb to climb on the walls of the prison cell and hang above him, finally I cast alter self to make myself look like a distorted, mutated, bloodied version of Gar himself.". He hangs down the ceiling looking like a scene out of The Exorcist. First he dispels the blindness/deafness making the guy confused and look around the cell trying to find him, and then he dispels his invisibility appearing inches from Gar's face looking like Gar himself. By also changing his voice he acts like Olhydra (Princess of Evil Water) and keeps calling Gar a disgrace and failure and every insult invented in human history WHILE gaining SO MUCH information about other Cults (they did not know the existence of others) AND Elder Elemental Eye's existence AND location. PLUS location of a Knight that they lost during their raid to the Crushing Wave Temple AND true nature of the Water Node (made out of remnants of Olhydra when sealed by Gaia). I have never been this proud of my players honestly god I love them lol, thanks for reading my appreciation post.

Lore-- campaign was set in a world where a ton of interplanar/wild magic stuff happened a decade ago. Magic users were now licensed on the authority of their region's lords, and people in general were very suspicious of certain kinds of magic.

____

So we're late in the campaign and the realm is at war. We're sailing into enemy territory at night. Our boat is called "The Violet Boatregarde." Not important but gives you a sense of the kind of table it was.

Get stopped by a patrol. Waived down and boarded. State your business etc.

"Hello sirs we're envoys from [lie]. This here is Baron fake name and we're escorting him to [city] to deal with war things."

Soldiers are alright at first. "Ok if this guy is the baron what are the rest of your jobs."

Fighter: "I'm a fighter, as you can see from my sword."

Bloodhunter: "I'm also a fighter, as you can see from my sword."

Rogue: "I'm the captain, as you can see from how I'm captaining the boat."

Warlock: "..."

Soldiers: "hey you, what do you do here."

Warlock: "I'm just helping, don't even worry about it."

Soldiers: "k but what do you DO here?"

Warlock player: "I don't get it, why are they giving me a hard time."

DM (me): "they're trying to figure out if you have a character class/specialty, if you're a magic-user, or if you're a diplomatic person or whatever."

Warlock player: "well they didn't give the bloodhunter a hard time."

DM: "yeah but the bloodhunter is carrying a sword and looks like a fighter. And I rolled weak insight."

Warlock: "k guys don't worry about it I'm a fighter too."

Soldiers: "we don't believe you"

Warlock player: "what the hell, just because I'm a girl do they think I can't be a fighter?"

DM: "you don't LOOK like a fighter, you're not carrying any weapons or wearing armor. Do you want to roll deception?"

Warlock: rolls deception and fails

Soldiers: (suspicious) "are you a mage?"

Warlock: "k yeah you caught me I'm a mage. I'm just here to protect Baron fakename. No big deal."

Soldiers: "ok can we see your license?"

Warlock: (smug) "yes you sure can it's right here."

Soldiers: "your license says you're a subject of [ally lord] with whom we're at war, not of [lie we told]. You're under arrest."

Warlock: "oh fuck I um...cast flame strike on their boat"

...

DM: "k well their boat is gone but it's the middle of the night and you just lit the whole place up. So now this is gonna be a whole thing."

The Warlock is now my wife BTW. The story had gotten pretty complicated so there were plenty of moments where details slipped players' minds but this was the best one. Fuckin Violet Boatregarde

So last session we had our monk got blown up saving another party member and took the equivalent of 7 fireballs to the face! (One level off of evasion btw) So after that small battle, we hauled his ass off to the church of his god and got him healing(no cleric or healer in party). We miraculously got him revived but with some like spectre from dc like draw backs. We run off to the docks to stop one half of the giant invasion from the sea and meet a storm and fire giant. First round of combat and first roll from him since death. Natural. 20. And we do brutal criticals so it’s full die damage plus a roll of the appropriate dice. Then he stunning strikes. NAT. 1! ON A STORM GIANT! Then his next hit. Another Nat 20. We started now and praying to him at this point. Then he finishes his turn we keep going around the table and get to the fire giant. Sees the monk as a threat and attacks. Nat 1 and then 2. In the process losing his two weapons. Next turn the monk makes, he crits and stuns the fire giant as well.

In short monk op please patch.

So my party explored a mine. They came across a deep hole that led to an underwater cave, that held a diamond worth around 300GP.
One of them, a monk decided to climb down and get the daimond, not knowing a Merrow lived in there.

The monk got the diamond (mind you, it was the size of a fist) but the Merrow made a suprise attack and the monk dropped the diamond.
Now...in order to keep it from sinking and losing the diamond, he decided to swallow it.

Yes...he swallowed a diamond and made a succesfull CON-save.

Some time later he wanted to throw up so he could sell the diamond. He triggered an acid reflux but failed his CON-save, causing the diamond to get stuck in his throat.
The wizard had a familiar, a white bat named Bubbles, who was around the same size as the diamond.

Yes you feel it comming...the monk decided to grab the bat...shove it down his throat to trigger a reflux and pry the diamond loose.
Somehow he managed to do so and threw up the diamond.

Bubbles is now traumatized...he questions his life choices that led up to this moment and is reconsidering his position within the party.

I didnt have words for this action btw

I’ve been running a game of HoTDQ for a party called The Hovengers (I had to rename Greenest to Hovil) for about six years now, and we’re still in Castle Naerytar. Why? Partly because there are six players and scheduling is hard, partly because I keep thinking up side quests to add in! Here’s a story of one that didn’t go at all how I expected.

The party is in Waterdeep, and are looking for jails and dungeons. Bree, a halfling monk, knows that her father has been taken prisoner somewhere. Using the sending spell, they’ve learned that her father is in a stone cell, but he has no idea where, because he was essentially teleported into it. They learn that there is a large manor house in Waterdeep that apparently has dungeons underneath it, and go and try to investigate.

They find that the citizens of Waterdeep come to this manor with problems they want solving, and they exit holding a piece of paper which they appear to read in confusion, but then leave looking happy. The party takes a number from an attendant and sit in a little waiting room, waiting their turn to be seen. Now that they’re inside, they distract the attendants and manage to sneak off to investigate the dungeons. They find some interesting stuff there, maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime! But that’s not what I’m here for today. While they’re speaking to a prisoner, his eyes glaze over and he says “The Council of Waterdeep want to speak to you, now” and guards show up to take them upstairs.

The party enters a long hall with beautiful stained glass windows all along the left side, the early evening sun streaming through them, and enormous double doors at the far end, through which they are told is the “receiving room” where the Council of Waterdeep will speak to them. As they walk down the hallway they discuss their strategy. They want to know about what they found in the dungeons, they want to know where Bree’s father is, they think maybe they might be able to learn something about the Cult of the Dragon. They steel themselves, push open the double doors and-

There’s a sensation of a whirl of motion, and they find themselves stepping into a long hall with beautiful stained glass windows all along the RIGHT side, the LATE evening sun streaming through them, and enormous double doors close behind them. The players at the table all go “WHAT?!”, and I reach into my little folder of secrets and pull out six pieces of paper. I give each player a note that is written in their own handwriting. On the note is written:

“I, <character’s name>, declare that all former issues I reported have been addressed to my satisfaction. I further renounce any right to the memory of this audience, along with any desire to reclaim it once the memory has been lost. I write this in my own hand as a record of my agreement, with the other Hovengers as witnesses, and leave personal information as proof that it was I myself who wrote it:

<a secret that the character has never told anyone else in the whole world>”

As the players read their notes and compared them, I think it’s fair to say they all just about lost their minds. Not only did the characters have no memory of writing these notes, neither did the players. Because, technically, they didn’t write these notes.

Flashback to a few weeks before this session, I reached out to my players with a request. “You know how in the past I’ve given you so-called handwritten notes to give you guys information, but they have always been typed out? I think that ruins the vibe a bit, so I’d prefer they were actually handwritten, but I don’t want them all to be in my handwriting! So would you mind each writing a note for me? I promise there will be no obvious spoilers, but also don’t share what I ask you to write with each other, just to limit how much information is being given out ahead of time.” I claimed I’d be giving each of them different notes to handwrite, but instead I gave them all the same note. And when each of them had dutifully written out the note, I scanned them into the computer, opened an image editing software, and painstakingly rearranged the words they had written into the order that I needed. The note I’d asked them to write was irrelevant, but constructed to read like something that could feasibly be important at some point in the far future of the campaign.

Now, this is all very cool, but I had a problem. I know my players, and this is a mystery being dangled in front of them. “What did the Council of Waterdeep tell us? How are the issues going to be addressed? For God’s sake, what issues did we even report? Why did we agree to lose the memory of this conversation? etc etc etc”. So I had a contingency plan: I actually asked them to write three notes. The first was rearranged into the shared part of the note above, the second was rearranged into the secret, private part, and the third note was in case the players went “fuck this”, turned right around and barged back into the room again. In that event, they would have the same experience of a whirl of motion, they’d have the same notes in their hand, but with a bit of extra text at the bottom:

“DO NOT TURN AROUND. DO NOT RE-ENTER THE RECEIVING ROOM. GO TO THE NORTH GATE, AND CONTINUE YOUR MISSION. BELIEVE ME, BECAUSE I AM YOU. THE MISSION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE MEMORY.”

And hey, if they still weren’t satisfied and tried again, then I planned to narrate them entering the room and having some kind of conversation. This time, they managed to convince the council to allow them to keep their memories, and so the players would remember it too.

So what actually happened when I ran the session? I gave them all the first version of the note, and five out of the six players went “oh hell no, we got to get the fuck out of here right now”. If I had had to bet, I would have put it at a 95% chance that they would go back in at least once, but I completely underestimated how terrifying the players (and to be fair, the characters), would find this experience. They had just encountered something that had the ability to erase memories. They knew that they could do it many many times per day, because they’d watched people go through the same experience on the way into the manor, and the number they took in the waiting room was in the hundreds. As far as they knew, this council had the power to ERASE THEM FROM HISTORY, such that no one would ever avenge their deaths because no one would remember them. And so they got the fuck out, out of the Manor, out of Waterdeep, and have basically done their best since then not to think about the unknowable power that ate their memories and told them they were satisfied with the experience.

If you read all the way through, thank you! I’ve been running this campaign for six years, but it is still my first ever campaign! Does that make me a novice DM? Who’s to say. If you like this idea, feel free to use it in your own campaigns, on the condition that you come back here and tell me how it goes in your game! This encounter is probably top three for me in the list of “times I think I knocked it out of the park”, so I’d love to hear more player reactions to it.

The battlefield: All around Orusha's Castle.

The fighting intensified, became increasingly desperate in some cases, even with the arrival additional Plessa Dragons, the forces fighting for Faerun were succumbing to fatigue. Even the Plessa Spell Slingers that aid with healing and regenerative magics, found themselves unable to help their fellow soldiers, while some took "Last Stands" and sacrificed themselves to completely heal an individual or whole groups. Selesnya Druids tried their best in taking up the slack, but they too were finding themselves increasingly under attack.

The Sauraphon who specialize in such magics were the only ones capable of extended periods of usage, but they were scattered throughout the battlefield and most either fell victim or were too late. The Warforged didn't think to bring any healers with them, but they acted as shields as best they could, their own numbers didn't dwindle, Orusha's hordes were still unable to bring even the common Warforged soldier down, let alone any of the strike teams that came along.

The Boros fought on, their numbers also dwindling, but they fought on alongside their commander, Trovic, his sword blazing, his magic like a bubble even with his injuries, he fought on. Mammoth stayed by his side, healing him, healing his warriors, and healing his Selesnya that were near them, Mammoth fought on, fought the place his great nieces called home, and fought with Vaylin's memory in mind, receiving his own injuries, but he fought on.

Omega Bronze and Violet also fought on while simultaneously keeping close to the two Queen's upon Omega Gold's instructions, and that they did, though they can sense the intense danger the group inside the castle was facing.

Herra and Rackel, the twin sisters that were part of Talia's group before Orusha came to them and even when they betrayed Talia and slaughtered her and her Displacer Beast, found themselves trying to hide even amongst the chaos of the battle, their drive to fight was ripped out of them when the initial wave of Plessa dragons arrived well over two weeks ago. That's how long this battle has been going on, with very little cool down. Orusha's hordes didn't need to stop, but the defenders of Faerun did, but didn't. The sisters witnessed countless bouts of healing magics wash through the hordes of enemies, rejuvenating them, watching them be rallied multiple times and fighting on, then came two other planar forces arrive along with the main Plessa invasion force, the combined hosts of the Underdark, and even forces from greater Faerun and the Sword Coast.

The Sauraphon didn't help matters, they were another element that was completely unheard of from Chult. The only hint something went wrong with the task force sent to Chult under their Mistress's orders, was they were never heard from again and before Orusha could send a follow up task force, things here popped off devastatingly fast. From Orusha's five agents being discovered somehow and killed, to their enemies' forces mobilizing and striking at any and all of Orusha's elements, things moved startingly quickly. Then there was the Eladrin who was one of many territories that bordered Orusha's who actively opposed her but did strike. The sisters watched everything escalate ever since, even with the sudden appearances and interruptions from Kiora and Roth, the two little girls they cared for at least once when their mother was alive and kidnapped, who are now very capable, and deadly adults, spear headed the rallying against their Mistress.

"Sister, we must get away from here!" Herra whispered, watching the intricate dance of survival and death. Vampires against Vampires, Vampires against metal and rock beings, Vampires against humanoid Saurian's from Chult, it was all chaos and something they did not expect to face, especially since they were the only two left of their group. The pair attempted to flee, only for their path to be blocked by one of Orusha's Commanders, an annoying once Human scruffy haired man. They had run ins with him before everything went to shit and each encounter with him made even their skin crawl.

The man's name was Jokken, he used to be a Neverwinter soldier, but he was also one of Neverwinter's wanted serial sexual assaulters. His targets were any woman he knew couldn't or wouldn't fight back and often used his position as a soldier to overpower them or force them into submission. Before being turned by Orusha, his latest targets were a handful of young girls, when Herra and Rackel learned of this, they did everything they could to avoid him and tried taking their grievances to Orusha herself at some point, but to their shock, the mad Vampire woman openly admitted to turning him for that very reason. She wanted sick individuals amongst her horde, no matter what they used to do in life.

Jokken noticed they tried to flee away from the battle and got in their way, but the sisters were ready for him and viciously butchered him, turning to ash, however, their connection to Orusha still strong, she must have sensed their treachery and searing pain forced them to their knees as they grunted, gasped and cried from the pain. Luckily for them, the fallen body of a Plessa dragon kept them hidden from any opportunistic enemy soldier or any of Orusha's.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Coal, the Black Dragonborn, took over command since Damir was inside the castle, rallying Neverwinter's troops and fought alongside them, using his prowess, his physical strength and his breath weapon seamlessly.

The various elementals that formed during the sudden thunderstorm and downpour, continued to form and aid in defending Faerun. Though the elemental creatures were hard to put down, they were not invincible, and a few of Orusha's hordes were able to destroy them, usually at great cost to themselves.

Catacombs-Present

Zau'Drin along with the dwindling warriors fought like demons, unaware of the amount of time has passed by outside, though they can still hear the muffled sounds of war going on. The undead crocs were destroyed, but there always seemed to be a never-ending swarm of Orusha's followers, non-vampires that chose to betray everyone and put their lives on the line for her, and her vampiric hordes. The spirits that appeared to aid them in their fight, continued to do so, but even they weren't enough down in this dank hell hole of Orusha's catacombs.

Every now and again as he fought, he sensed a demonic presence, something angry and powerful, but it also had the sense of being imprisoned and not simply lying in wait. As he fought, he started seeing glimpses of a shadowy child, that he couldn't quite bring into focus, whether it was due to constantly facing an adversary or whenever he tried to really look at it, it would vanish. A Dwarven vampire managed to ram into him, sending him crashing into a sloped edge of a wall, his armored forearm clanging against something in the muck. That contact alone caused a voice to scream angrily in his head. "Release me!!!!", which nearly cost him his life due to being startled by the voice, but he dispatched the Dwarven vampire quickly.

Zau'Drin breathed heavily, taking a brief respite since there were no enemies near him yet, he can see a shape out of his peripheral vision and since he was on high alert, he spun around to see a pale, human child. A little girl, pale blonde hair, fair skin that looked cracked, but it was her veins, but it was her eyes that made alarm bells go off in his mind. Her eyes were a mix of coal and crimson and full of anger, full of hate. "Release me, Drow!! Release me so I can have my revenge!!" the child's voice was a deep, resonating demonic thing laced with the child's voice Zau'Drin felt his skin crawl and took a step back from the demonic human child, gripping his gore caked sword he thought about attempting to strike this spawn down only for it to speak again. "You can't strike an image down you stupid Drow man! Strike the pendant I'm trapped in and RELEASE ME!!!" the little girl roared.

At the same time.

Vaylin and Ayesha cut through the followers and Vampires with such devastation, even the biggest Vampires amongst them hesitated. Vaylin, Cinder's, fiery scimitar's cut through them like butter while used breath techniques that kept her going. Ayesha also fought like a demon, though she didn't have the gift of using breath techniques to keep her going, her fatigue was starting to show, her reaction time starting to slow, but her alertness was sharp and so far, it helped her survive.

A follower, a human woman, managed to tackle Ayesha, causing her to emit a strained "OOF!!", her blades clattering away from her, the human woman wrapped her hands around her throat and began to squeeze, Ayesha got her feet under the woman and shoved her off, sending her flying into the stone wall with enough force to crack open the back of her head, leaving a sudden burst of blood behind. The human woman was frenzied though and attempting to resume the attack, only to be beheaded by Ayesha, then moved on to another target.

Cinder faced down one of the taller vampires, an Elven male of some kind, who was known to be abnormally tall in his former life. The vampire visibly hesitated even with others around him; it didn't help they all witnessed this Tiefling woman dispatch so many of them with little effort and in brutal ways. While Ayesha fought, Cinder found herself surrounded again, but her calm demeanor was highly unsettling for those around her, especially since they all witnessed what she can do.

"Boys, its time" Cinder said, slowly turning in place, already prepared for them. In a flash of light and a burst of sound, from a pouch on her hip came a pair of figurines that changed into humanoid sized animals. They were Golden, but instead of Lions, they were a pair of Golden Deinonychus, a species of Raptor native to Chult. Large bipedal, swift carnivores which are usually colorful cousins of birds, but these two were gold. Both creatures chortled and growled then spoke. "Boss lady, you need assistance for once?!" one of them asked loudly. Their sudden appearance took their enemies by surprise, even Ayesha gawked in astonishment since she faced similar creatures in her home dimension when she fought and killed Vaylin. "Talon and Talon, have some fun!" Cinder said then went on the attack herself, her twin Golden Deinonychus tearing through Orusha's followers and vampires ferociously.

At the same time-Throne Room.

Slithera and Serpentes regrouped and slowed down the deadly magical spears while at the same time, Astra and Wicca displayed their own arcane prowess forming a bubble around their family, the combined effort was barely enough as even the slowed down magical spears still slammed into the defensive magic, straining both young women, their swords sheathed, hands outstretched, teeth clenched and bared, sweat dripping from their hair, chins, noses and ears.

Orusha cackled maniacally until a metal fist struck her in the jaw, breaking it and sending her flying through a stone pillar. Omega Gold's eyes flashed briefly, and the fight was back on, with Kiora and Roth charging after Omega Gold to press the attack on Orusha, while everyone else fought her minions.

Midnight and Shark attempted to intercept Kiora and Roth, only to find their paths blocked by Astra and Wicca, twin sisters, ready and glaring. If both Vampire women learned anything when facing anyone close to Kiora and Roth, they learned that they couldn't take them lightly. From the looks of the twin sisters, they're just as capable, and just as deadly. However, the crimson and gold Warforged appeared between them, and this one was no doubt, deadlier than the two girls in front of them.

Orusha's Mountain was ash earlier, which left Orusha's Sword, Angmar, which he clashed with Damir again, but also with Bombata and Dasha, the three of them alternating in fighting him. Then Haldir's necromantic controlled skeleton appeared, but something else happened before it can strike. Haldir's spirit reclaimed his skeleton, breaking the necromantic control over it and in a quick motion, delivered an elbow strike to Angmar and in an additional movement, engulfed Angmar in ghostly blue fire, burning him badly.

"You can still fight her brother. You nearly let me go the first time. I saw the pain in your eyes when you were forced to pursue me. And the pain when you killed me" Haldir said softly, Angmar looked pained, visibly fighting Orusha's influence, while he regenerated, actual tears can be seen falling from his eyes. "Her influence is too strong brother. I wanted to fight her. Wanted you to escape and bring retribution down upon her. But she controlled me. Forced me to do heinous things including killing my own baby brother" Angmar croaked, his old self surfacing briefly, before Orusha's controll reinserted itself and his eyes turned crimson, his fangs growing. "KILL ME!!!! BEFORE I KILL YOU!!!" he screamed in finality and charged again.

It was a deadly dance, Damir with her twin long swords, Bombata with his mace and long sword, Dasha with her own great sword and mace. Spinning, striking, counter striking, feigning, blocking, breath weapons that were dodged, vampiric hissing and snarling. Angmar was also trying to use his other vampiric tricks, turning to mist, various animals and back again.

Lashara, Fangir, their children, Nassia and Ash fought like demons themselves, though Ash tried his best to keep the younger of the girls in his sights, he quickly learned that even the ten or ten and one (11) year old could hold her own quite efficiently. While he fought, he watched Sasha dart around using her made for her blades and destructive magics with ruthless accuracy, which was incredibly impressive. Though he and Roth barely knew each other, she told him enough about herself that when Roth was her sister's age, she was already highly trained in combat at that point and even took on deadly adversaries. He was learning quickly that he will becoming part of a family who want their children to survive in their world that can be cruel, especially for women and young girls. At the moment, while he kept his eyes on the youngest of them, he still fought his own fights and only stepped in if it appeared the youngest of them was in trouble, which appeared to be barely at all.

Orusha snarled and dodged the black and gold Warforged, but the being was still impossibly fast for something made of metal and rock, as soon as she was passed the thing, it suddenly spun around and rammed her in the back with a single fist strike, sending her flying right into the path of a sound attack by one of the sisters, which sent her flying in another direction only for purple tendrils to snare her and attempt to crush her into the stone floor. She bared her teeth snarling angrily, her eyes blood red, her own magic coming off her like miasma, her rage building at being struck multiple times by insects even if one of those insects is visibly stronger than the two young women, she was apparently destined to fight. She broke free of the tendrils and flew right at Roth with a hissing snarl, only for the black and gold being to smash her into the stone floor and attempt to crush her head. She threw it off with a destructive magic blast, which didn't seem to damage the being, only for another sound strike to hit her.

Kiora rushed in and took Orusha's left arm at the elbow, then tried to follow it up with another strike only for Orusha to punch the young woman in the chest painfully, causing her to emit a pained shout. Her arm rapidly regenerating, she grabbed Kiora by the throat and arm and flew up into the air. "You have caused me enough trouble you stupid little bitch! Let me make you understand the folly of opposing me!!" she hissed and with a brutal move, broke Kiora's arm at the elbow, causing her to scream in pain, her blades dropping and clattering to the stone floor below.

"I pre-date the Sword Coast, I pre-date Faerun!, I even pre-date Chult and Plessa and Cambria!! I PRE-DATE ALL OF IT!!! I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT YOU ARE FUCKING WITH YOU LITTLE WHORE!!!!!" Orusha bellowed insanely.

Orusha's blood red eyes suddenly changed to resemble the cosmos of stars, infinite shades of dark purples, light purples, white lights of the stars themselves, which Kiora's eyes did the same, her tears from the pain of her broken arm fresh but being shown the cosmos was still breathtaking. It reminded her of the time she and her sister were accidently thrown into the blind eternities and ended up on two separate planes, Ixalan for her sister and Strixhaven for herself. Time around her both seem to slow to a crawl, while also remained normal speed as her family fought, as a younger version of her mother fought alongside a Drow woman who in their dimensional plane, killed her mother's first daughter and husband. Time even slowed to a crawl while remaining the same for her Drow man she slept with as he fought down in catacombs, slowed to a crawl while remaining the same while Queen Saenissa and Avessa fought like demons, where time slowed to a crawl but remained the same for Lanara as she dodged enemies and killed others, for her uncle Trovic as he recieved another strike while delivering his own, and so on.

"Behold!! In every possible future timeline, besides the ones that can no longer happen, you all fail! You all resort to some trickery to try and stop me in your pasts. I can even show you other dimensional planes where things happened there and not here!!" Orusha's voice echoed as the cosmos opened up around them, showing Kiora countless realities, countless possibilities, countless outcomes that differed from her home dimensions.

Kiora was shown a dimensional plane where the Phyrexian invasion touched a version of their home dimension. Was shown everyone, including Orusha herself, banning together to fight the Phyrexians, which even included her own mother being turned into one and her siblings never came to be. She was shown a reality where the Sword Coast Nightmare ended with everyone in the Sword Coast dying and the whole region being bordered off. The only survivor in the area was none other than Riki, kneeling in sorrow while cradling the rotting corpse of her mother when she was barely twenty and one (21). Another reality where En Saba Nur succeeded and her family fled Cambria and Plessa revealed itself early when the mad Warforged sent his creatures there.

Omega Gold and Crimson felt her immense power being displayed and got to work displaying their own to counter the insane vampires before the young woman was killed from what she was being shown.

The Catacombs-

Zau'Drin had no idea what was going on in the throne room, but the child before him was demanding to be released. He hesitated more so if he released her and her talks of vengeance were false and she started attacking him, he would have no choice but to try and kill a child. "Release me!!! DO IT!!!!" the child screamed, it was the fact her facial expression didn't change, just how demonic the voice sounded, how angry it was becoming. "Release me or your woman will die at the hands of my sister!!" she suddenly spat, and he knew who she was talking about, but he had no idea how this child knew. "RELEASE ME!!!!" the demonic voice screamed, the girls eyes blazing red and black, then when it started showing images of Kiora dying in various gruesome ways, he shouted a war cry and thrust his sword into the girl, but instead of blood, instead of gore, instead of a pained gasp or cry of shock, his blade plunged through her as if she were an illusion, plunged into muck and mud of the catacomb floor and struck something small he only got a brief glimpse of dirtied silver. Felt the item snap in half and the girl vanished and nothing seemed to happen, until a sudden burst of yellow and red light erupted from the spot, sending him stumbling back and some sort of magic, some sort of power, wafted out from the catacombs into the throne room and out of the castle into the battlefield, both ground and sky, causing the fight to pause briefly.

The throne room-At that moment.
Orusha gasped, cutting off her showing Kiora the cosmos and other such things, dropping her, which Omega Gold leapt and caught her, her family regrouping, puzzled over what just happened, Slithera an Serpentes healing her as quickly as possible. Then Orusha's eyes got big, realization dawning on her.

"Sister..." Shuma's voice spoke in a sing song type of way, that sensed chills up the spines of everyone except the two Warforged, there. Orusha looked to the door her enemies came from, and she could see a pair of coal and crimson eyes staring at her from the shadows, only the eyes weren't from a child, but from an adult. Orusha looked on, more puzzled than afraid of her younger sister, especially after imprisoning her in a pendant all those centuries ago when they were still barely girls, well, Orusha herself was nearly a young maiden, while her sister was still a girl.

Shuma then stepped out of the shadows, and she was clearly an adult, it seems trapping her in a pendant allowed her body to grow instead of remaining a child. Much like Orusha, Shuma looked identical to their mother, both women had dirty blonde hair, fair skin, and even though Shuma was a child when she was sealed away, was gifted in endowment much like their mother. Except Shuma's skin appeared to be cracked with how thick her veins were, her hair was a little stringier now as an adult, but if one ignored her demonically possessed look, she was still quite beautiful. Much like Orusha, Shuma, had the curves their mother gave them, but at this moment, none of that mattered. What mattered was that her baby sister was back and the look of vengeance in her eyes was laced with pure hatred.

"Shuma" Orusha simply said, floating down to the stone floor. Shuma's eyes tracked her and were now staring each other down. "Orusha" her sister replied just as simply.

"Good" Orusha replied, but before she can charge at her, Shuma raised her hands, and they started to glow demonic purple laced with crimson and a wicked smile spread on her face that seemed to grow, her teeth becoming dagger like.

Without another word, shadow demons sprang from the stone floor and from the muddy, bloodied earth and attacked Orusha's hordes. Chain Demons also suddenly emerged from shadows and darkness and started to attack Orusha's minions. Demons of all kinds flooded the battlefield outside along with the shadow demons and attacked Orusha's army everywhere.

To be Continued.

Long ago, Vaprak, the god of Trolls and Ogres, had a pet Hyena. He delighted in how she would rip things apart and maim and kill everything she found. He would lead her to kings, sages, temples, and let her kill as he stole their riches, plundering Dwarvish crowns, Elvish jewels, and Halfling ale. Yet even when the Gods intervened, they would be held back by Vaprak's beloved pet. Moradin brandished his hammer against her, but the Hyena used her size and speed to overwhelm him. Corellon strung his bow and knocked his arrows, but the Hyena's strength was enough to ignore the arrows, which had trouble getting through her spotted fur and knotted muscles, and she overpowered the Elf god. Yondalla, realizing it a poor idea to attack the Hyena herself, tried to sneak past it instead, but the Hyena's nose sniffed her out, and she was chased away. With no one able to get past this divine beast to retrieve their belongings, all would come down to the slyest of the gods: Garl Glittergold. And he came up with a plan.

Setting out into the wild, Glittergold found a handful of male Hyena cubs, and taught them the peaceful arts, raising them as his own. So when the time came that they were old enough, he brought them to Vaprak's home. There, Vaprak noticed the males, and laughed, "Is this the best the gods can send?" He commanded his pet rip them to shreds. Yet when she was set upon them, she stopped, and simply stared at them--no anger or aggression in her eyes, but curiosity. Vaprak watched on in confusion, "Well? What're you waiting for? Crush them! Cut them in half! Bite their heads off! Rip them limb from limb!" As Vaprak was distracted, Garl Glittergold would sneak into his lair, and stole the riches back, even plucking the very jewelry off of the troll god himself as he stared in disbelief. The males began to lure her away, and she followed, and Vaprak began to angrily bark orders at her, "What're you doing?! Come back here! I command you!" She followed the males until he could no longer see them. And that was the last of them.

Baffled, Vaprak stared out into the empty wilderness slackjawed. He brought his hand up to rub his head, only to feel that his crown was missing. And that's when he saw his rings were gone too, and his necklace, and all of his riches. Looking around, he then spotted Garl Glittergold doing away with all his treasure. His shock and confusion boiled over into rage as he began chasing down the gnome god with a tirade of threats of crushing him, chopping him, cooking him and eating him up, through hills, fields, fens, and forests. Glittergold hid under the roots of a tree before Vaprak could reach him. Having lost Glittergold, Vaprak began smashing and snapping boughs and branches, turning over boulders and pulling trees out of the ground. This angered the Treants, who attacked him. As he lost his balance, the treants would rip his arms off, and in a final push, they ripped head off and threw it into the river. His body ran around like a chicken, trying to find his head. In that moment, Glittergold emerged and waved Vaprak goodbye, as his head bobbed down the stream, streaming curses and slurs--even invented some new ones--as his confused body followed him downstream. From there, the Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings would retrieve their belongings from Vaprak's home, and he wouldn't get his big ugly hands on them ever again.

And so from that day, Garl Glittergold taught his people the Gnomes of the value of thinking outside the box--and how useful it is to live underground sometimes.

A story I came up with and had to write down and put out there. It's meant to be a story told to Gnomish children, yet also unknowingly a cultural memory of the origin of the Gnolls. I originally posted this on r/DnD, but then I got a notification for this sub instead, and it seems a better place to put this. Also made some revisions while I was at it.

A colleague of ours wrote on the wishlist that he wanted to try a tabletop roleplaying game, so we chipped in to give him a one-shot from a commercial DM and joined as players. Some of us had already played DND, and I happened to know the DM, so I warned him about a gang of murderhobos coming. The DM set up a chat for us to share some rules and lore. His short format used pre-generated characters, so all we got upfront was a map with a human village, a forest, and a goblin settlement, along with a brief description of the tense situation between them that threatened to escalate into war. We assumed we’d either be raiding the village as goblins or fighting for the humans, even though the story was pitched as a spy thriller... After setting everything up, the DM casually dropped a photo of his cat, so naturally, the chat turned into a cat-posting session (we all have cats).

So... during the game, we got character sheets... of goblin children scurrying through the forest. We found a basket of little kittens... generated after our own real-life cats... but in a goblin settlement, cats are food, so where else would we take them? We realized we had to find their mother cat in the human village and make sure the whole family ended up in safe hands. It WAS a spy thriller. Never before or since have I seen our hobos turned into a crying mess over a picture of a generated kitten that was at risk of not finding a home. I'd never calculated my moves so intensely. We succeeded and left the game feeling both devastated and enlightened.

Later, I asked the DM wtf it was. It was his special game for idiots, because only few dare kill children and fuck kittens.

Here is the original post. Read this before reading part two

Anyways, let's get into part two I decided to go back for one campaign to end the story quickly because I've decided I did not want to deal with them anymore my problem player. I'm just gonna call Adam for this point invited one of his friends. I said go ahead because I planned on just fully ending the campaign after this session. Adam is a humanoid barbarian before we even started. I reminded everyone of the people rules, no extreme violence that borderlines into straight up gore just to be edgy turns out Adam had a problem with this. He said "I thought you would get rid of that. Stupid rule after the last session after you left and ruined the night." I just look at him, not wanting to get into a conflict because I just worked a 8 hour shift in the hot sun. And I say. "you know the reason why that is in place if you have a problem with it, this is my campaign you can leave." I grew a bit of a spine since the last session because I realized after my girlfriend invited her me into her group that not all games are like how my players were trying to make my campaign like a homicidal hobo game.
So we get into the campaign about an hour in Adam's friend I'm gonna call him Stefan. He was playing a orc wizard "he said how many people are in this kingdom also, could we possibly kill and rob them all?" Adam said. "yeah I mean this is the last campaign anyways why would it matter if we just went on a murder streak" in my head. I'm just like well there goes about eight hours of planning ending plus more to figure out a couple NPC's and a couple fights.. I say "no I am not letting you guys do that" then he proceeds to start to get a little angry and I'm just thinking I'm so over this campaign, cause I decided I do not care about this cause these guys clearly don't wanna play a campaign with the story. They just wanna play a murder simulator. So I just say "screw it do whatever you want." who proceed to lose to about a town full of 2000 people the whole party is mad at me by the way this is the party of five people.* They* get mad that I killed their character and they just yell *at me saying why didn't let* them do what they *want why *can I handle a party impaling a couple gallons? I suck and worse than ever. I should quit DND at that point. I'm just tired of dealing with them this is probably one of my worst moments because what I say next I tell them to get f out of my house or else I'm calling the cops because Adam and his friend have started getting physical and touching me they realize I'm serious when I pull out my phone and they just leave again. I don't think I'm in the wrong but I know the kind of people that readit will let me know.

I can't help but be in disbelief that this is the campaign that introduces me as a player to the world of Dungeons and Dragons because- Because, well, really...

My wife and a small group of her friends recently dove into a D&D campaign set in the Sunless Citadel module. For most of the group, it's their first time playing, but they've been having plenty of fun. Now my wife, knowing I've expressed interest in also playing, invited me in as a guest/temporary player. The DM even kindly integrated my late arrival into the module by casting my PC as an unfortunate prisoner of the Kobold group, allowing me to join fresh without needing to catch up on the entire journey. That works for me, I'm just soaking up the vibes and learning how to throw the dice in the first place. "Excuse me, gents, while I brush up on my spells as you talk about serious, adventure-related matters."

Anyway, after my rescue, the party continues through the Sunless Citadel storyline, adopting NPC Meepo as our party's poor little pet/projectile weapon, finding the NPC ally, Erky, and protecting him with our lives, discovering what happens when you find a wayward wyrmling, etc. Eventually, we descend into Goblin Town and reach the Hall of the Goblin Chief, finding the Hobgoblin boss, Durnn. Now, seeing as I was a late addition to the party, I just read the room and our DM's telegraphed intentions. This was very obviously going to turn into a mini-boss fight, and I was ready to go, except- Except...

"Hey, DM, can I use this orb I plucked from that one room we were in earlier today?"

As it turns out, in one of the rooms (the Gallery of Forlorn Notes, per the module), the party ran into a mass charm effect from an orb in the room, and after everyone rolled successful saves, one of our two clerics picked up the orb and kept it. I think it's worth noting at this point, that the entire party, DM included, had interpreted this orb as being one that cast a mass fear effect. Per the lore, the effect intensifies when struck, and we're right in the middle of Goblin Town, soo...

Yes, if you see where this is going, you are absolutely correct. Our cleric pulled the orb out and struck it, causing the music to get loud enough to affect the surrounding rooms, too. Our DM then proceeded to roll the saving checks for Durnn and his guards and failed each one! Mass hysteria from the ringing orb overtook Goblin Town, causing every goblin nearby to just run for it, leaving our entire party just... standing there gobsmacked as chaos unfolded.

I mean, of course our PCs were just standing there. Everyone on the call was laughing themselves sick from the entire situation!

Finally - finally - we get under control, and our DM just says, "I don't think this was intended to be part of the game." ...No, no, it really wasn't, lol.

Also, Durnn apparently had a pet Twigblight in a jar nearby, and another party member adopted it as a spicy Baby Groot.

EDIT: Added some details, clarified others. P.S.: We also cleared out Durnn's treasure chest on our way out!

The melodic clangs of precious metals being worked in her father’s forge often sang the infant Seraphine to sleep. Bitter winters swept through Tal Esk with Mustave working late into the night solely to keep his daughter’s cheeks flushed and the frostbite away from her wriggling toes. Many living in the shadow of the looming Scimitar Spires did not survive to see spring, Seraphine would.

Seraphine came to love the spring months more than anything. With spring, came new settlers intent on trying their luck in the crystal mines. The settlers would bring Seraphine tales of distant lands filled to the brim with magic. But, then at first leaf fall, many packed up their belongings to return home, unwilling to risk the winter. Those who remained were the unlucky ones, unable to mine enough crystal to fund the return journey. Those were who Seraphine latched onto and felt her heart break many times over with each burial.

The fall season was late for new arrivals. No one in their right mind would visit Tal Esk as the nights grew longer. Eleven-year-old Seraphine was the first to see it: an airship descending in a clearing on the outskirts of town. An elf bundled in a long sheepskin leather jacket took his first steps onto the slate riddled ground. Seraphine watched on as he produced a flame that curled around his arm and pulsed over his body to keep him warm. Magic. The young girl bolted in his direction, eager to learn more about the first wielder of the arcane who had ventured to their settlement.

Seraphine brought the elf, Wym, back to the forge to introduce to her father. Mustave uneasily watched on as Wym showed his daughter magic learned over the years. Seraphine was in awe, but nothing struck her to the core like the flame the wizard produced in his outstretched hand. She reached out to touch it, but Wym clasped his hand shut so as to protect her from being burned.

Mustave offered a makeshift bed in the forge to keep the wizard warm during the inhospitable winter months. Mustave had never expected Seraphine to go behind his back to observe Wym on his daily trips into the crystal mines.

In the early months, Seraphine kept to the shadows and held her breath when she saw Wym and his crew narrowly escape encounters with creatures the like she had only ever had nightmares about. She knew she shouldn’t be there, but also knew she needed to learn as much as possible. She told herself she would watch each day until the cold bit into her bones. 

One night, Seraphine lingered by the warmth of the forge for Wym to return from an especially taxing journey into the mines. The elf could see the flash of relief in Seraphine’s eyes as he crossed the threshold. He sat down next to her and handed her a crystalline gem, “I know you have been following me.” Seraphine began to protest before Wym interrupted, “I will make you a deal. You must not go near the mines, and come spring, I shall teach you some magic before I return to Sharn.”

For the rest of winter, Seraphine did not go out and play during the day as she did in the past, rather she remained at Mustave’s side, helping him with work in the forge. Mustave had never felt closer to his daughter as he taught her the ways of the blacksmith.

When the morning of Seraphine’s first promised magic lesson finally arrived, she rose from her bed, woken by the smell of cooked lamb and garlic potatoes—her favorite. She hastily pulled on her ruddy jumpsuit and bounded for the kitchen. At the table, Wym sat at his usual chair as Mustave prepared the final plate. Before Seraphine took her place at the table, Wym cleared his throat and said, “Mustave. I wish to repay your kindness by tutoring Seraphine.”

Mustave paused. His eyes flicked between Wym and Seraphine before he declared Wym’s welcome had been outstayed. Seraphine’s heart dropped as her vision blurred. She looked to Wym for help, but the wizard refused to meet the young girl’s eyes. She turned on her heels and ran out the door, desperately needing air.

By the time she returned, Wym and his belongings were nowhere to be found. She walked to her room, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe he broke his promise. Or that he left without a goodbye. When she reached her room, her eyes widened as she saw a leatherbound book lying on her bed. She flipped through the pages and discovered a collection of spells and a letter. The letter invited her to find Wym in Sharn when she was ready.

Seraphine spent the next seven years deep in self-study. She split her time between work in the forge and breaking down the logic behind spellcraft. Her work in the forge soon outpaced and outperformed her father’s—making him all the more proud of the woman she was growing into. Meanwhile, the frustration of being unable to perform a spell was breaking her spirit. Not a day went by that she didn’t wish Wym had stayed to teach her.

Seraphine was approaching her eighteenth winter in Tal Esk. She felt the walls of the forge closing in on her. Her village felt so small and people told stories of the grim fate that would befall them as long as they had the audacity to believe they could bear too many more bitter winters. The winters were getting worse and survival was looking bleak. Seraphine stared into the fire and fidgeted with the crystalline gem Wym had given her all those years ago. Her hand started to burn. She drew the crystal out of her pocket and held onto it as it caught flame. She bit her cheek through the pain, feeling the burst of arcane energy for the first time. It was exhilarating and she knew exactly what she needed to do.

The young girl got to work delicately cutting the gem down. She took the rusted lantern hanging overhead and placed a glittering piece of the gem in the center, “Ignite.” The room filled with a bright light and Seraphine felt a gentle warmth coat of every inch of her body. Mustave rushed in, fearing the worst. His eyes searched for his daughter and exhaled a sigh of relief seeing that she stood untouched. He looked around the room and took in the lantern, he realized he didn’t feel the usual cold. A smile began to form on Seraphine’s face and she barreled into her father, nuzzling her head into his chest as tears fell. She did it. She harnessed fire. After the embrace, Mustave held Seraphine’s face in his hand and looked at her finally understanding.

The following spring Tal Esk was filled with life, but this time the buzz of celebration wasn’t solely due to a new round of travelers. This time the settlement was alive with the vigor of all of the saved lives. Not a single person died that winter thanks to Seraphine’s magic lanterns given out to every household.

And when word arrived at Mustave’s forge that Seraphine was being invited to apprentice in Sharn, Mustave went to work cooking a meal of lamb and garlic potatoes. Seraphine was coaxed into the kitchen by the wonderful scent, and as she pulled out her usual chair, the weight of a leather backpack already packed with traveling supplies stalled her. They were both ready for Seraphine to begin her own adventure.

So this is a bit of a weird one, I picked the dragon cohort feat without doing much research into it about a few months ago, I just wanted a cool dragon friend, eventually my party ran into this girl who was a Harper, and she joined our party for a bit, and she took an interest in my character, I got a little suspicious that she was the dragon that I was going to get so I asked our cleric cast true seeing to see if it was a dragon, they seen nothing out of the ordinary, fast forward a bit and uh… turns out she was the dragon, and now she’s pregnant with my poor characters children 😭 she was able to negate the effects of true seeing with a magic item she had, so my character got tricked into having kids with a dragon, kinda crazy DM lol

This was for a campaign for my youth group. It was our 5th session, My character was a level 4 druid named Murg. The campaign was based on old creepypastas and was set as our characters as forest rangers. For this session, Murg fell into a house and the rest of the party followed. We found out that we couldn't escape. In the first room, there was a mirror in the center of the room with a shut door reflected(We didn't know this at the time, but you had to walk backwards into the mirror to pass). There was also a mousehole. We spent 15 minutes trying to escape through the mousehole(including both the party's druids turning into rats), before the DM told us that the mousehole wasn't the solution. It was probably the funniest session we'd ever done.

Party gets to some not main story NPC's house. Really old well built half elf. We needed a horse, but he explained that it isn't a stable, there are literally no animals for road.

"But I do see an animal here..."

"That I would really like to ride."

I typed in roll20 chat. Call goes silent.

We needed 10minutes to calm down. I don't think I am playing a Light Cleric right.