Back to the original adventure group, the party and their Ranger allies were deciding who would be best to scout ahead.
In the end, Charlie was chosen to enter first.
Not because he lost at drawing straws or some nonsense like that, but because he was the Rogue and he could sneak, of course. Not that he was complaining, he was quite adept at evading detection. Only Palseks could rival him, but her invisibility spell did nothing to conceal the sound of her movement – or the tracks she would make in the dirt floor.
The handsome black furred wolf stepped cautiously into the ruins, paws feeling for pressure plates in the stone.
Suddenly, the air in front of his eyes shimmered and time seemed to freeze.
Through the shimmer, Finn stepped out into the tomb in front of Charlie. The dragon walked a slow circle around the wolf, pausing briefly to look at his tail. Then, with a smirk and a quiet chuckle, Finn stepped back in front of Charlie and leaned against a nearby wall.
“So, you’re entering your first official Dungeon.” Finn stated in a deep, sinister sounding voice that belied the otherwise factual message.
“Yes.” Charlie replied, wondering what the dragon was up to.
“I won’t be interfering this time.” Finn explained. “I have been rolling back time whenever you guys ended up in a TPK situation. But it’s not fulfilling, you know? Sometimes you have to deal with the consequences of your actions, right?”
“I guess, sure.” Charlie said, “But… Finn, if we die or get turned into, you know, whatever, do we get to make new characters or?”
Finn crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, as if in deep thought.
“Hmmm… good question.” Finn tapped his scaly chin with a claw. “Let’s define ‘death’. Actual death from wounds and any transformation that can’t be undone. In that case, you’ll be sent to a waiting area and work with me to create your next character.”
“Fair.”
“There’s a penalty for dying, that way people won’t abuse it to make better characters.” Finn said.
“Which is… ?”
“Up to me and it depends on how you ‘die’.” Finn said.
“Okay.” Charlie nodded.
“Hey,” Finn paused before leaving, when suddenly his voice reverted from its deep, draconic tone to something that sounded similar to his old human voice, “… can you Trim my boyfriend back sooner rather than later?”
“Jeff?”
“Yeah,” Finn turned, and for the first time, Charlie could see tears in his eyes, “I really want to see him again.”
“You could just bring him back,” Charlie pointed out.
“No, that’s not how I do things now.” Finn said.
“Right, right, we’re on our own. You really miss him?”
“I love him and this stupid draconic brain of mine interprets it as ownership,” Finn hissed, “I fucked up, Charlie! I can’t undo this transformation!” Finn took a deep breath then blew it out, a feathery wisp of flame existing his nostrils. “Just bring my boyfriend back, okay? I’ll make sure you get rewarded for it.”
“Make it a quest in the game, then,” Charlie said, crossing his arms, “You do realize he was a useless piece of shit, right?”
“Yeah, I know.” Finn sighed, “When I told him it was a fetish game, he took it to mean it wasn’t serious. But I think you’ll find that he views the situation differently now.”
“Fine. I’ll save your boyfriend,” Charlie rolled his eyes, “This evil dragon schtick is getting a bit over the top.”
“I completely understand how Jeff felt when he said he needed to create a kind of mental barrier between himself and his memories,” Finn explained. “Charlie, I’m losing it here! I need my anchor back, so…” Finn pulled out a parchment and wrote something on it before handing it to Charlie, “Here, my official quest to you as a DM.”
Charlie read it, “Finn, Ancient Red Dragon, does hereby offer reward to any adventurer who rescues Jeff from boot form. When deed is done, present the newly restored Jeff to the Curator in the Holy City library for completion.”
“Just say you accept, I have more people coming,” Finn said, sparks of impatience flaring from his nostrils.
“Alright, I accept. So when-” The wolf looked up and realized the corridor was empty.
“Great, thanks for sticking around, bro.” Charlie growled.
Time resumed.