It’s Dungeons and Dragons time! Here’s the latest installment of the epic journey of our heroines, Danaeryzard and Alaria! (If you’re new here, check out the entire saga in order by reading the chapters organized on the D&D tab of this site!)

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J. F. Rost howled and screeched with excitement as he watched his three evil Snowmen roll towards Danaeryzard, Alaria and Ezra in the frozen throne room.

Dany felt confident that her fire magic would prove to be useful in this battle, and so she was eager to start with a Firebolt cantrip attack. She aimed right at the first Snowman’s face and his coal eyes lit up with fire as a puddle began to form underneath. Alaria dashed to the side of the room and attacked the third Snowman with her rapier, but the Snowman proved to be a fast and evasive roller. Using it’s bottom snowball, the Snowman instead speedily rolled over to Dany and swiped at her with it’s branch arms. However, her thick Dragonborn scales were stronger than the Snowman’s efforts and she shrugged it off.

“You’re not being nice!” JFR was yelling from his throne. He stood up and cast a magic ice beam spell at Dany, causing her to be covered in a light coating of frost which slowed her motion and did some light damage. The second Snowman rolled to Ezra and swiped at her with it’s twiggy branch arms, scraping at her arm and drawing blood. 

The first Snowman made an attempt to attack the still-frozen Dany, but the ice and her thick scales were stronger than the branch arm attack. The Snowman screeched in frustration. Ezra then pulled out her longbow and shot the second Snowman in the head. The Snowman suddenly toppled apart, with it’s snowballs rolling away and melting. After a moment, all that was left of it was the top hat and a puddle. 

“Oh, this fight will be easy!” Dany thought to herself as her body was thawing out and she watched the second Snowman fall from Ezra’s shot. Lifting her crystal orb, Dany manifested three Magic Missile bolts and shot the two remaining Snowmen in their middle snowball ‘chests’ and the third at JFR. While that spell never misses, it only did slight damage to JFR’s arm and it only enraged him more. Alaria crept up to his throne and tried to slice him with her rapier, but she slipped on the icy floor and missed. She dashed off to hide in the corner, feeling a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t yet landed a hit in this battle. 

The third Snowman, which had attacked Dany earlier, turned to where Alaria was hiding. Sensing that it was about to roll away, Dany seized the opportunity and smashed at it with her quarterstaff. After taking the hit, the third Snowman rolled to Alaria and slashed at her, but also took damage from her new spiky armor. The third Snowman tumbled apart at Alaria’s feet, once again leaving nothing but a hat and a puddle. JFR attempted to cast a spell that formed the shape of an icy hand, but he was so angry that he lost his concentration and it fell apart and did no damage. 

Just then, with the sound of a *POP* the second Snowman suddenly reformed into it’s fully formed and evil self once again! It turned to roll towards Ezra, but once again was leaving an opportunity for Dany to smash at it with her quarterstaff. She did some damage, but so did the Snowman by clawing at Ezra with it’s sharp branches. 

The first Snowman, still remaining near Dany, tried a third time to attack her but once again caused no damage. Ezra shot at her attacker, the second Snowman, and it again tumbled into a hat sitting in a puddle. 

“How do we actually kill these things?” Ezra cried out in wonder. 

The battle continued with more Magic Missiles shot by Dany at JFR, and Alaria attempting to attack him but slipped once again, falling prone right at his feet. The third Snowman reformed it’s body and attacked Ezra. Things were getting to be chaotic!

JFR, seeing Alaria on her back at the bottom of his throne, began to laugh hysterically with shrill shrieks. “Maybe now you’ll be good!” he cried, reaching out and touching her and freezing her solid. Alaria couldn’t move at all! 

Dany continued to fight off two Snowmen at once, while Ezra continued to shoot the third from a distance.

“These guys don’t quit!” Ezra said, aiming her longbow. One of her shots hit the third Snowman in it’s top hat, and there was another loud *POP* sound as the third Snowman disintegrated into nothingness. “Target the hats!”

Dany used her Firebolt cantrip and aimed for the first Snowman’s top hat. The Snowman’s body erupted in a poof of misty snow and smoke. Alaria, still laying by the throne, was starting to feel her toes again as she desperately tried to get up and move to a safer place. 

JFR realized that they had figured out the trick to defeating his Snowmen and was becoming even more angry. He screamed out with rage and held his hands up in the air. The entire throne room began to shake as he conjured a cylinder of ice and wind and hurled the ice storm at Dany and the second Snowman’s direction. The cold attack chilled Dany down to her core. 

“Finish off that Snowman,” Ezra cried to Dany as she aimed her longbow at JFR. “I’ll handle this guy!” She took a shot, but it missed and the arrow whizzed by his head. 

Dany channeled the Necromantic power of her quarterstaff as she raised it overhead and slammed the second Snowman from the top down, crunching it’s top hat. She gained a small bit of HP from the hit and the Snowman was defeated for good. Now they had to focus on the crazed J. F. Rost!

Alaria was finally mobile. She crept around the back of the throne and tried to stab JFR with her rapier but was furious as she slipped once again and went crashing into the wall. 

“Someone didn’t learn their lesson!” JFR laughed, sending an ear-splitting Shatter attack at Alaria. She buckled over in pain and covered her ears. JFR nodded smugly to himself and walked back to his throne. As he took a seat, Ezra shot him in the shoulder with her longbow. “YOU ARE ALL BEING NAUGHTY!” He blasted out a Magic Missile spell of his own, attacking Dany and doing some serious damage. She decided to use her False Life spell and use her Necromantic power to regain more health. 

Alaria planted her feet firmly on the ground and this time shot at JFR with her crossbow. She hit him directly in the middle of his chest, and he began to cough up blue sparkly blood. He staggered to his feet and tried to cast a spell, but he was too weak to concentrate. Ezra lodged another arrow into him and he stumbled back onto his throne.

“That… wasn’t… very… nice,” he managed to sputter out the words through coughs and gurgles of sparkly blood. Then JFR sunk down into his throne and froze completely into an ice sculpture, finally defeated. All of the lit torches behind his throne suddenly blinked out and the room became darker. The ground beneath Dany, Alaria and Erza began to shake. They could feel that the entire chamber that they were standing in was falling to the ground until it landed with a thud. 

The pile of toys that had been next to the throne was now growing and turning into a pile of actual bodies. The little box that the Hendricks figure had been stashed in was rumbling and burst out of Dany’s coat pocket. The little figure popped out and began to grow back into a full sized Hendricks once more!

All of JFR’s victims were alive and back to their normal selves. The orc brothers that they had encountered on their way up the giant tree were now reunited with their third brother, and Thazall gave them a bronze bracelet to show his thanks. Wanting to get as far away from there as possible, everyone headed for the exit. 

From outside they could see that the giant tree they had ascended earlier had completely shrunk. It was no longer emitting the aurora borealis, and was no longer holding up the throne room, which now looked like a dilapidated shack on the ground. The snow was gone and things looked like they were back to normal.

“What the hell happened? I feel weird,” Hendricks said. 

“That was the craziest thing that ever happened to me…” Ezra replied as they attempted to explain to Hendricks what had just occurred. “Well, we need to get back on track now. It’s a few days’ journey back to Castle Drachen from here. Hendricks, you need to get a jump start and reach the castle before us, so you should find a horse and get moving. I know of a safe house where I can take Dany and Alaria and lay low for a day or two.”

Hendricks nodded and took off on foot into the woods. Ezra led Alaria and Dany a different way, through farmlands on the outskirts of Drachen. They continued this way for several miles and came upon an apple orchard. Traveling through it (and scooping up an apple to snack on) they approached a farm house, and could see a woman holding a basket. When the woman noticed the three approaching them, she gasped and dropped her basket, spilling apples all over the ground.

“Havlona, it’s me!” Ezra laughed as they continued towards the farmhouse. 

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Havlona cried with an annoyed voice. Ezra stooped down to help Havlona pick up the apples that were spilled all around. She introduced Dany and Alaria to Havlona and ensured her that they meant no harm. There was an unspoken sense of awkwardness between Ezra and Havlona, but they didn’t speak of it.

“Let’s get you inside before someone spots you,” Havlona said, hurrying the party into the farmhouse. She showed them through the house and brought them to the kitchen. From there she opened a trap door in the floor, revealing stairs heading downwards. Ezra lit a torch and led the way down into the darkness. Havlona followed the group and guarded them from behind as they marched through the caves before them. 

The cave gave way to an open chamber that contained nothing but an old rusty cage. 

“Go ahead inside,” Havlona explained, smiling and trying to assure the weary Alaria and Dany that this was a safe idea. 

“We don’t really have any choice,” Alaria said, shrugging. They all stepped into the cage and felt slightly cramped. Havlona shut the door behind them and they suddenly lurched downward – it was a secret elevator to the caverns below!

The subterranean caverns were enormous, beautiful and awesome to behold. Dany and Alaria both gasped as they descended down to the glowing hues of blue and greens.

“Pretty incredible, huh?” Havlona said to them with a sense of pride.

“The Midnight Ring has been using this hideout for centuries. There is a secret path that leads into Drachen City. We’ll start heading that way tomorrow,” Ezra continued on, explaining more about the history of the caverns. 

They exited the old cage and Dany and Alaria looked up in awe. Meanwhile, Havlona and Ezra had a quiet side conversation. 

“Next time, please use the signal, Ezra,” Havlona was scolding. “And when you see her, tell Fordra not to be late for dinner.” There was a definite awkwardness between them and Dany and Alaria sensed it again when they saw the two talking. Havlona noticed that they were being watched and switched to a smiling face. “It was very nice to meet you both. I have to head back up to the farm now.” Havlona then returned to the cage, hit a lever and began ascending back up the way they had come.

Ezra was chuckling to herself as she watched Havlona leave. “Never mix business with pleasure…” she muttered, shaking her head. Dany and Alaria looked at each other and shared an eye-roll that said, “I don’t think we want to know.”

They proceeded through the beautiful caverns another mile or so until they came across an odd building that was set up in the middle of the giant cave. It looked very out of place, as though it had been picked up from the street and transplanted to this location. The building emitted a blue light from within. Ezra did not hesitate and they continued through the front door and made their way toward a hot forge with a small person standing beside it. 

The person heard the footsteps heading toward her and she spun around in surprise. 

“Oh! Ezra! What are you doing here? It’s been so long! Oh no, did I miss the signal? Did Havlona -“

Ezra cut her off, explaining and apologizing for the unannounced drop in. She introduced Dany and Alaria to this woman who was small in stature but clearly quite strong and capable. 

“I’m Fordra. I’m a blacksmith, and this is my shop! Let me show you around.”

Fordra took the visitors on a tour of the complex, which included a room filled with various types of weapons ready for use in battle, and a makeshift barracks upstairs with rows and rows of cots. 

“Fordra has been working night and day to prepare weapons for our army. The final battle is approaching. We must be prepared for anything,” Ezra said, sitting down on a cot. “Now is the time to get some rest and get ready for our return to Drachen Castle. I need you two to be on your toes. Take this time to eat, recharge, and prime yourselves. I don’t know what is coming next. We need to be ready.”

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And so ends the latest installment of our DnD adventures! Thanks for reading! I hope you like this ongoing storyline lol! If you play Dungeons and Dragons too, let’s hear about your character in the comments! 🙂