Once upon a time, a group of adventurers had just finished a magnificent fight against a mighty white dragon. There were a million different ways they might have been slaughtered, but on this day they sent the great lizard fleeing for its life!
But it wasn’t all celebrations. Two individuals that were also in the party at this moment, Karl and William, were currently disappointed. They had gone up to the dragon’s lair to be eaten immediately and, because of The Bard’s quick thinking, would now be cursed to live the rest of their lives in continued melancholy.
Why, with a rude “humph” and a refusal to delay one moment the duo prepared a teleportation circle back to the city of Clifton, giving our heroes mere moments to collect what little treasure they could carry before rushing into the portal just as it closed behind them.
Upon their return, The Bard was immediately hit with a barrage of insults and criticism for thinking on his feet. Making it home alive in the face of certain death never came up, but the group was immediately ordered by Karl to leave his home and never come back.
The Bard couldn’t understand it. They had fought a white dragon, collected great treasures, nobody had died, AND they had discovered the dragon carried a magic deck of cards that they could take the next time their paths crossed.
But the Boss saw things differently.
“You risked the lives of us and the world when you went off with your own plan!” the Boss explained, “but you don’t care about the sacrifices of others, do you? You just let everyone else bare the consequences of your actions.”
The Bard had had enough. “I don’t know about sacrifices!? I’ve made more sacrifices than anyone! Or have you forgotten our midnight meeting with the great one!”
The Boss narrowed his eyes. “Explain yourself!”
The Bard smiled coyly. “Oh, don’t remember? That’s right. You wouldn’t. You had your memory wiped. Well I’ll remind you what happened. One fateful night, months ago, the two of us were teleported to a strange dreamscape. There a great presence told us of an impending evil that threatened to destroy our world. This being was strong, but it could not enter our realm, at least not yet. It would need a proxy, a champion to begin the counterattack against the undead in its name. YOU questioned the offer…
I didn’t.
I did not take the fate of Dis and Innsmouth lightly. I knew that we are living in desperate times that require desperate measures, so I took on the offered mantle of champion. But I’m no fool. I know there could be consequences, and I’ve spent the last three months researching all I could on creatures that can walk into your dreams and turn your hair white. I know that future sacrifices will likely be needed and I believe we all should come to terms with that.”
The Boss thought on this for a moment and then slowly faced the rest of the group. “OK, show of hands, has anyone else committed themselves to something that may or may not be an evil god from another dimension?”
The monk raised his hand. “Does it count if that tabaxi from the brothel made me address her as ‘Goddess’ every time she removed the ball gag?”
But before anyone else could answer, a message shot through the ether and was delivered to The Bard: “We had an appointment. I’m disappointed that you missed it.” The Bard sighed. Reed… he was starting to hate that guy, or rather, he was starting to continue to hate that guy long-term.
“Guys,” The Bard started, “you might be right that I acted um… hastily. I don’t know if I could live with myself if something truly bad happened to that school. While I may be heroic, I can’t be the only hero. I need you all. And that’s why I am asking you to join me as I head to Academy Island to confront Reed and end his treachery once and for all.”
The group knew that The Bard, in addition to always smelling good and being a great dancer, always had good intentions at heart and agreed to return to the academy town where Reed was likely waiting.
The next day the group trekked through forest paths to locate a large tree, and there the druid cast her transportation spell, sending them all away to the outskirts of the town where they arrived around dusk. They were refreshed from their fight with the dragon and ready to take on Reed.
“Now listen,” said The Bard, “Reed is sneaky enough to lay traps and sinister enough to kill parents. We’re late getting to his meeting place which means he’s had plenty of time to come up with all sorts of nefarious plans.”
As they marched to the town the more sensitive among them could detect the scent of smoke in the air. As they approached the town square, it became obvious to all what was in the distance… fire!
Sacrificing discretion for speed, they ran the rest of the way to the middle of town. Here they were met with a grim sight. The lucky buildings in the area were charred and smoking. The unlucky ones were piles of ash. Some people were running and screaming orders, while others were laying in the street… saying nothing at all. Through the confusion they gathered that the fires had been put out, but much was lost first.
The heroes made their way to the Dragon Hearth Inn, where Reed had asked The Bard to meet him earlier. The inn still stood, and inside they found the owner. He explained the horrors that led to this disaster. It was no dragon attack or accident. Instead, an unruly mob of two dozen people — ordinary citizens from all walks of life who mere hours earlier had been enjoying the jovial entertainment of a scarred halfling bard in this very tavern — took up torches and began burning down the city. Each resisted pleas to stop and could only be pacified by death.
Though this tragic, wanton destruction seemed senseless to the innkeeper and the rest of the citizenry, the adventurers quickly surmised that there was no end to what Reed was willing to do to obtain The Bard’s mystic lute.
Countdown to the end of the world: ~10.5 days