The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games Part 5

Throughout this book, I have argued that TRPGs defy certain binary oppositions. They are neither wholly games nor wholly narratives but use structures of both games and narratives. They are neither wholly immersive nor wholly interactive but, rather, both immersive and interactive. They both involve consumerism (buying rule books, etc) and rebellion against it (creating stories with no physical form). They complicate our understanding of the relationship between authors and audiences, and our definitions of these terms. Furthermore, the study of the TRPG challenges our disciplinary boundaries as such work does not clearly fall under the purview of any one disciplinary framework. I thus offer some suggestions for different disciplines based on the implications of my study.

For genre and media studies, I suggest further inquiry into the way that stories are formed across media. Jenkins has been a primary voice within media studies on fandom and its impact on culture. He joins with Janice Radway in criticizing athe tendency of academics to regard audiences as const.i.tuted by a particular text or genre rather than as afree-floatinga agents who afashion narratives, stories, objects and practices from myriad bits and pieces of prior cultural productionsaa (as cited in Jenkins, 1992, p. 36). While stories may be shaped by media, audiences exist outside of media and create their view of texts from experiences in multiple media. As we have seen in chapter 3 with The Temple of Elemental Evil, the same story is often re-envisioned in multiple forms, from a tabletop module to a videogame to a novel. The story does change based on the affordance of the medium, but rather than bringing this story to a new audience each time, it is often the same audience that engages with these multiple versions. It is fans who are most likely to seek out multiple version of a text and who are most likely to build their own version. Future studies should focus more on how these texts work together to form the experience of a fan rather than how they work against each other.

For those in narrative studies, my study suggests the need to look at narrative as an experience rather than a form. As the study of narrative continues to expand beyond its structuralist origins, it is important to look at narrative not just as a cognitive framework, but as a social one. Rather than asking if a certain text is a narrative, we might shift the question to ask if a certain text offers the audience a narrative experience. And we might go on to define what such an experience might look like. In this case, I have shown that the structure of the TRPG incorporates multiple levels, which have varying degrees of narrativity. However, the immersion that players feel in the TRPG provides them with a narrative experience. When I hear players talk about their gaming sessions, I rarely hear them recounting the off-record speech and the conversation they had about the latest movie coming out. Instead, they tell tales of what happened in the gaming sessiona"how they beat the monsters, how they found the clue they needed, how they saved the world from evil. The actual text of the TRPG session is ephemeral. It exists in the moment of face-to-face interaction and then vanishes. Yet what is preserved are storiesa"write-ups like the Blaze Arrow narrative that show no signs of the complex interaction involved in creating it. While we could study these narratives that exist after the fact as we would any other story, I believe there is something to be gained by also studying the experience of collaboratively creating that narrative through game play.

Likewise, I believe game studies, as an emerging discipline, has much to gain by focusing on the experiences of the players rather than the structure of the game. A perspective that focuses on audience experience rather than formal characteristics will allow game studies scholars to bring in important theory from narrative studies and other disciplines while continuing to form a discipline of their own. It is possible to claim a unique status for games while still acknowledging their narrative characteristics. My study on the TRPG shows that they exist as their own genre, with their own form, but that they do not exist in a vacuum. TRPGs emerged from both a literary tradition and a game tradition and both draw from and influence fantasy literature as well as other types of games. Thus, I feel it is needlessly limiting for ludologists to study only videogames. This perspective does not fully account for the historical progression of games or for the many games that exist outside of computer-mediate environments. While videogames may represent the most mainstream form of gaming, TRPGs as well as LARPing, board games, card games, and miniature wargaming all continue to be popular.

Finally, I offer some possible directions for research in my home discipline of rhetoric and writing. Just as in games studies, I have seen a tendency here to focus on the way authorship has changed because of digital technology. I challenge us to look beyond this to texts like the TRPG which challenge views of authorship in media (like oral communication) that have always been within the purview of rhetorical studies. I do not feel that we should ignore the influence of digital environments, but too often I see us making a.s.sumptions that these are the only environments that challenge traditional views. In addition, the TRPG is a prime example of collaborative writing and although I have not dealt with it here, pedagogical applications are sure to arise from further studying of the way gamers work together and write collaboratively. As one of my survey partic.i.p.ants explained, aEventually, though, I began to want to tell a story with my characters, and as I blossomed into a writer, I found that telling a story using roleplaying media was what I most enjoyed doing.a What potential do games have for developing the writing abilities of those involved, for making them ablossoma as writers? Furthermore, the TRPG offers an interesting opportunity for both technical and creative writing scholars to connect. Game designer Monte Cook calls TRPGs an ainteresting mix of both technical writing and fiction.a Although the modules he writes are designed for players to come up with a creative story, he notes that when actually writing the modules ayou intentionally break all the rules they tell you in a creative writing cla.s.sa (personal communication, June 30, 2009). Though I touched on this connection over the course of the book, it is one that merits further exploration.

Despite the lack of attention it has historically received from scholarly audiences, the TRPG is a text that offers a wealth of possibilities for study both within disciplinary traditions and in terms of interdisciplinary research. In fact, academic work is not all that different from playing a TRPG. We each work within our own disciplinary structures, our own rule books, if you will. We have both agency within and authorship over those frameworks, as we adjust the rules to best fit the stories we wish to advance. Our individual narratives fit together to form larger stories, and it is our need to tell these stories that drives us to continue researching and theorizing. While this a.n.a.logy may take things a bit far, what I wish to convey as I close is the need for collaboration and for continued research. Mackayas (2001) study on the TRPG has been cited frequently, particularly his definition of role-playing. However, many of these later studies have appropriated Mackayas work to their own study of MMORPGs and computer games. While this potential exists, and these studies may offer important insight, they also represent the continued view that the TRPG is only valuable as a precursor to later games. Thus, the TRPG continues to occupy a marginal status within both society and academia. I have presented here one view of the TRPG as a genre and as a forum for narrative experience, but I am only one voice. What if a ludologist, a narratologist, a rhetorician, and a media specialist all came to the table to study the TRPG? What new insights would we discover on this culturally influential genre? Like the DM who presents a situation to her players and then asks for their contribution, I present to other scholars my current study, but then I turn and ask, aSo, what do you do?a Where will you take the research from here?

Roll initiative.

Appendix: The Orc Adventure at Blaze Arrow.

This is a write up I did of two gaming sessions that took place in Januarya"February 2003. I took detailed notes during the sessions, including writing some dialogue down word for word. Other dialogue and details I filled in as best I could from memory. I composed this tale and posted it on the Sorpraedor Yahoo list on 3/18/03 as a synopsis for my group members and to inform Mary, who was absent during these sessions, what she had missed. I added a few clarifying remarks and deleted a few bits of extraneous information for the present use.

How the Gang Defeated the Orc Army Through Cunning and Diplomacy.

The magistrate of Gateway had informed us that the outpost Blaze Arrow had not been heard from in over a week. A new bastion of guards had recently been sent there, but had never checked it. Considering all of the talk of attacks along the borders, the magistrate was understandably worried and sent us to investigate. Fletch, David and I headed in that direction. Maureen vowed to catch up with us as she had some apersonala business to attend to.

On our way out of Gateway, another ranger approached us. This one was an elf who called himself Cuthalion. Given my past experience, I wasnat keen on another elf, or another ranger, but Cuthalion soon proved useful as he captured some wild birds for our dinner. David returned from the hunt with bunnies, which may very well satisfy a halfling appet.i.te, but was not enough for the rest of us.

Other than a large ant snapping at us, our journey was uneventful. The main path veered to the East, but we needed to continue across the hills to Blaze Arrow. Concerned that Maureen would have trouble finding us if we went much further, we made camp and settled in to eat the feast our rangers had prepared.

Not long after we drifted off to sleep, we were disturbed by a caltrop being thrown into our camp. We readied our weapons and called out into the darkness, but there was no response. As David and the wolf crept out into the woods to check it out, Fletch was struck by a tickle. We heard the familiar giggle of Maureen.

aMaureen!a I exclaimed, aDonat scare us like that!a Maureen sighed. aWould you all like some almonds? David?a David grumbled, aYou take the second watch. Now.a He returned to his bedroll.

Maureen shrugged her shoulders and agreed to watch camp. So, we all snuggled back into bed, only to be awakened once more. Maureen had spied three figures in black robes approaching us. As David readied his sling, two arrows whizzed past Maureen and Cuthalion. The figure in the rear hurled a sack into the camp, which landed at my feet. I immediately began to investigate by poking it with my rapier. The sack seemed to be made from a fine cloak and was closed by gold-woven cord. I cut it open and two heads rolled out. I jumped back in shock ... it was the half-elven twins, Mirador and Mardowin! In addition to the heads were two hands tied to a long black arrow, and a scroll tube with the markings of Erbin, the G.o.d worshiped by those evil religious zealots we had encountered in Gateway. I wondered immediately what Maureen might be up to and grabbed the scroll tube and stuck it in my cloak. My thought was to see what it said before she did.

I found that Maureen had charged one of the a.s.sailants with her rapier, and he appeared to have fallen. By this time, Maureen and the others were chasing one of the other attackers, and I saw my opportunity to get some information without the others finding out. But Maureen must have had the same thought because she returned to the body as well. The guy was unconscious, so I sacrificed one of my healing potions in hopes of getting some useful information from him.

As he came through I challenged him, aWho sent you?a He spat at me. Without hesitating, Maureen cut off his ear and asked again, aWho sent you?a The prisoner glared at us, aYou know who sent mea"the one who will be your death.a Maureen went for his other ear, but I stopped her. After all, we needed him to be able to hear us. She cut off his finger instead and asked, aWhy were you sent?a aTo deliver a warning. Had they wanted you dead, you would be dead.a aDid Thaddeus send you?a I asked, trying to make my connection between the mysterious man I encountered in Travensburg and the Obsidian Brotherhood, the underground group that we fought in Gateway.

He scowled, aThaddeus is not my master.a aBut you know him?a I prodded.

aOf course, I know him.a aSo, who is your master?a Maureen proceeded.

aSoren. He will come for you.a At which point the prisoner faded into unconsciousness. We decided to end his suffering, so I gave Maureen my dagger to slit his throat. Much to my shock, she also carved her initial in his chest.

We returned to camp to find Fletch still there. The rangers were still in pursuit of the enemy, and knowing what a powerful enemy it was, I decided it would best to warn them and sent Poe, my raven familiar, to tell them to come back to camp. Meanwhile, Maureen offered us a much-needed drink.

The rangers returned to camp and asked about the attacker we had pursued. We hadnat thought much about how the party would respond to our interrogation of him, so we quickly said that he had been taken care of. They asked if we had searched the body, and I admitted that we hadnat.

David immediately wanted to check it out. At which point, Maureen and I stood in his way and tried to convince him it was of little importance. But this only piqued his and Cuthalionas curiosity, and they seemed in none too good a mood to begin with. So, they went and searched the body and were quite unhappy to find him with an aMa carved into his chest.

They returned to camp and demanded to know who these attackers were, who the heads were, and what was going on. At this point I had no choice but to trust my new party members. Maureen and I explained who the Obsidian Brotherhood were and our various dealings with them. Maureen even showed the group her tattoo.

Cuthalion thought that perhaps the tattoo was a tracking device that had allowed the Obsidian Brotherhood to find us so easily. I recalled the snake tattoo that was on one of the members of the Brotherhood we had captured back in Gateway and how the tattoo had come alive and strangled him when we began questioning him. I decided to detect magic on the mark. The brand did indeed radiate magic for a second and then faded. As I detected the magic, the magic amulet I wear grew warm and throbbed but the sensation faded as the magic faded.

aItas definitely magic!a I exclaimed as I looked suspiciously at Maureen, aHow do we know youare not a spy?a For that she did not have a very satisfying answer.

Cuthalion instructed us in ways of interrogating prisoners less violently and as he spoke, the nature of Maureenas actions began to disturb me, and I trusted her less and less.

I felt more uncomfortable with Maureen around. I figured she probably wasnat a willing spy but that the tattoo could very well be a scrying device and that she might inadvertently be allowing the enemy to hear or see us. So, I suggested privately to her that she return to town and seek out my magician friend, Ingie, to attempt to remove or deactivate the tattoo. She agreed. I sent Poe with her, instructing him to take her to Ingie and if anything went wrong to find Ingie or return to me.

In the morning, the rest of the party proceeded to Blaze Arrow. Now that Maureen and her possible spying device were gone, I relayed the rest of my adventures to my new friends. Then, as a show of honesty and good will, I whipped out the scroll tube and opened it in front of them for all to see. Unfortunately that didnat turn out to be such a good idea.

The scroll tube opened with a hiss. Inside, I found a sc.r.a.p of very old parchment that crackled with age as I unrolled it. As soon as I looked at it, a flash of light came from the paper and struck each of us, and we heard the following words: A curse upon you all in the name of ERBIN! For your meddling, you have now been marked so that any follower of the great G.o.d will know you for what you are. When we find you, your death will be most exquisite. You will be dragged to our new temple when it is completed, and you will be punished in the name of ERBIN. We will find you when we are ready for your death, but if we find you or any of your party here in Gateway again, you will not live to regret it. So sayeth the high priest of ERBIN!

The voice and glow faded and both the scroll and the tube crumbled to powder.

Well, the party was not real happy that I had shared thatbit of information with them, and there was a bit of bickering back and forth. I detected magic on us, and found that there had indeed been some sort of magic cast upon us, though it seemed of a more clerical nature than arcane. We decided there was not much to be done about it at that point and proceeded to Blaze Arrow.

We were nearly there when we came up a hill to see a bunch of orcs hiding in a grove of trees. I put two of them to sleep with a spell, and Cuthalion shot arrows at them. Fletch also started attacking and killed several. David killed one. We noticed that the orcs had a symbol on their shields that looked like a b.l.o.o.d.y hand and Fletch identified them as a local tribe called aThe Blood Fist Tribe.a David rode over the hill to find many more orcs and smoke coming over out of the Blaze Arrow tower. The halfling thought quickly, knowing he would be no match for so many large orcs, and used his spell power to entangle the lot of them.

Luckily, Cuthalion speaks orc and could communicate with them. First he insulted them, aYou sylvan unicorns, what are you doing here?a An orc responded, aTrying to get rid of Skullbash.a Fletch recognized this as the name of one of the other local orc tribes.

aWhy are you taking out Skullbash? And why at this time?a aSmatter was destroyed. We go for vengeance.a Fletch told us that Smatter was an orc village off to the west, about a week away.

aHow do you know it was Skullbash that took it out?a The elf continued his questioning.

aWe saw them.a aWhoas in the tower?a aUs.a aWho told you to take the tower?a aChief Grumbach.a Fletch informed us that Grumbach was the leader of the Blood Fist tribe and that he was an ogre who had decided to take up farming.

Cuthalion proceeded, aHow long ago did you take the tower?a aThis morning. He told us take tower. Donat want to raise alarm on way to Skullbash.a aWhere is Skullbash?a aOver mountains.a Fletch confirmed that this is where he had heard the Skullbash tribe lived, up in a series of rugged mountains that most traders avoided because stone giants lived there.

aWhy would humans tell Skullbash you were coming?a Cuthalion continued.

aHumans no like us.a aIs Chief Grumbach in the tower?a The orc shook his head ano.a aWhere is Chief Grumbach?a aMe tell, you no kill?a We agreed. aOrders were take forts, meet chief in Barrenstone.a aWhat about Black Tower?a Cuthalion inquired about the other outpost.

aOther group there.a We discussed amongst ourselves the political repercussions of the situation and decided that if at all possible it would be best for humans to stay out of this orcish war.

Cuthalion once again spoke to the entangled orcs, aSend this message to Chief Grumbacha"tell him to find a way not to involve humans in this conflict. If you do, we will kill both tribes. Get your people out of both towers. One of you go ... the rest stay.a David released the entanglement and six orcs stayed, sitting and glaring at us, while the one we had been speaking with went to the tower.

Eight orcs came out of the tower and seven started to the east. The leader returned. aOk, we go tell Grumbach,a he said, aMeet other orcs and tell message.a Cuthalion smiled, aTell Grumbach you made a wise choice.a The orc nodded and headed off with his comrades.

We ventured into the now empty tower to find several piles of bodies. It appeared as if some orc bodies had undergone ritual cremation while 12 humans lay about haphazardly. One ballista was in pieces, the other loaded and pointed at the gate while its operator lay among the dead. The smell of burning orc profaned the air, reminding us of the battle that took place only a few hours before. The gate was broken, but the tower was intact.

Cuthalion closed the remaining working gate as we entered and headed for the top of the tower; Fletch accompanied him. David and I looked for the message box the magistrate had told me about. We found it on the second floor and the key I had been given fit perfectly. The box opened and inside were three tubes: one labeled aGateway,a one labeled aBlack Tower,a and one that was unlabeled. Next to the tubes there were paper and ink for writing messages.

I immediately sent a warning off through the Black Tower tube. aAbout 40 orcs are headed your way. Weave sent seven to tell them to turn back.a I slide the message down the tube and a whooshing sound carried it away. I then composed a message to Gateway, aOrcs took Blaze Arrow, 12 dead. Orcs after Skullbash group in the mountains near Barrenstone. We told them to leave humans alone. So far they have complied.a As I dropped this message in the tube it made a sputtering sound like it had gotten stuck.

I looked at David. We decided to send a atesta message to the Black Tower tube asking them to confirm receipt. About three minutes later a note arrived back saying the message was received. I replied that the tube to Gateway seemed not to be working and asked them to forward my message and ask the magistrate to reply directly to me.

While we were waiting for a response, David began examining the machine. He discovered that the label for Gateway was loose. aPerhaps it has been switched,a he suggested.

We decided to try a test message through the third unmarked tube.

Almost immediately we received a letter back, aMessage received. What status?a I repeated the story once again and told them the tube had been mislabeled. The operator on the other end replied that they had been attempting to connect the tubes to Barrenstone but so far had been unsuccessful.

Well, we were of course suspicious as to why the labels had been changeda"that someone was purposely trying to screw up communication. David decided to ask about the guard rotation, aWhen was the last rotation? When can the next rotation come?a The response came, aA day or two ago. They didnat report in when they got there.a We wondered if they had arrived and if not who the dead men in the tower were. aHow many were in the rotation. Could we get a roster to identify the bodies?a a10a"12 people.a That matched the number dead. aWe are sending new people now. Will take one week. How bad is damage?a aOne ballista and one gate destroyed,a we reported.

aWhat is the status of the second outpost? When will the orcs arrive there?a Gateway questioned.

We discussed the possible timetable. aAbout an hour. Warn Barrenstone too. Weare on our way to Black Tower.a We decided to send a message to Black Tower as well as Gateway to tell them we were on our way. However we added that we might not make it in time due to our injuries. We didnat have any injuries, but David and I thought we might need more time to solve the mystery of the switched labels.

However, no more evidence presented itself and the group agreed to head off for Black Tower. We figured we would have to work it out carefully so that we could defend the tower if needed, but not make the orcs that were going to call for peace think we didnat trust them. David volunteered to sneak ahead and find the orcs. He returned shortly explaining that there were orcs ahead in the trees having an argument that he could not understand. The argument appeared to be between the orcs we had sent and the orcs we had not yet encountered.

Cuthalion agreed to accompany David so that he could interpret what the orcs were saying. Fletch and I waited, trying to determine how long we should stay put before thinking something had gone astray. At last, the two rangers returned, and Cuthalion announced that the majority of the orcs had been swayed to meet up with Grumbach. David suggested we bypa.s.s the tower alltogether and start heading for Barrenstone in case the orcs decided to attack there, because it was their meeting spot. But the rest of us were worried about the few dissenting orcs that were sure to attack Black Tower.

We snuck quietly toward the tower. Unfortunately, I always seem to trip when Iam trying so hard to move silently through the brush. The orcs heard me, and we took off running for the gate. We made it to the tower and explained the situation to the guards inside.

David asked the lieutenant to take us to the message box, and he did so without hesitation. The labels appeared to be in firmly in place; communication here had not been compromised. Fletch and Cuthalion reported that the orcs had retreated.

We communicated with Gateway, and Lieutenant Parros received his orders. He was to leave three men to man the ballista while he and the remaining nine followed us to Barrenstone.

As time was now quite short, we decided to run toward the town, taking only short breaks to rest. It was a tiresome journey, but we made it intact and appeared to have beaten the orcs. We immediately located the town official and informed him of the situation.

Cuthalion and David again decided to check on the situation with the orcs. Iad been practicing the art of invisibility and offered to make them both invisible. I called the energies around me, recited the words, and suddenly Cuthalion and David were gone. Fletch and I waited in town for them to return and convinced Lieutenant Parros to start evacuating the town.

After more than a bit of nervous waiting on our part, Cuthalion and David returned. They were again visible but in one piece.

aI spoke with Grumbach,a the elf explained. aI told him that the magistrate knows what heas been up to and that we have plenty of soldiers in the village to challenge him; therefore, if he attacks the village he would be greatly weakened for his battle with Skullbash. I asked him what his reason for wanting to take the village was.a aWhat did he say?a aHe said he wanted prisoners as bargaining chips and to carry goods and supplies. So hereas the deal ... heas willing to bypa.s.s the town in exchange for twenty pack animals to carry his things. Heas going to come to the gate in 12 hours for our decision.a aWell, the town is nearly evacuated now. I donat know what theyall think of this,a I explained, and added, aIt was Fletchas idea to go ahead and evacuate.a Fletch shrugged his shoulders in his easy-going manner and said, aIt needed to be done.a So, we went about the task of finding any pack animals that had been left behind and chasing after the villagers that had taken theirs and convincing them to give them back. It turned out with everyone so scared of the orcs it wasnat as difficult a task as we antic.i.p.ated. We rea.s.sured the townspeople we would have twenty-five pack animals sent from Gateway to replace their twenty, and they thought it was a fair deal. Having gathered the livestock, we settled down in a few of the abandoned houses for some rest. It had been a very long day.

We were awakened by the news that some eighty orcs were headed for the town gate. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and combed my hair and headed out to see. We brought the cattle out from the gate and met the orcs. Cuthalion greeted them in the orc language, but we did not see Grumbach.

Out of nowhere, the voice of the ogre returned the orcish greeting in our own common tongue. With a lopsided grin, Grumbachas shiny black teeth appeared, as did the ogre himself. He towered above even the tallest orcs by several feet. His light blue skin and white eyes contrasted his black hair and teeth and a pair of vestigial horns adorned his brow. I noticed his fancy club and thought that my old friend Boris would be quite jealous for it was nearly five feet in length and quite shiny. I couldnat quite tell if it was made of metal or of wood.

Cuthalion presented the livestock as our gift of peace, and Grumbach told his men to take the animals. Then he turned to us. aWhat stops me from taking the town, too?a he asked.

I exchanged a nervous glance with my friends, but Cuthalion did not waiver. He replied defiantly, aUs.a Grumbach laughed, but it was a friendly laugh. He didnat believe us, but he respected our courage. aMaybe we meet some other time,a he said.

Cuthalion responded, aAnd when will you be returning through here?a Grumbach replied, aIt should not take long to kill Skullbash. Three weeks.a aThen we will tell the humans not to disturb you on your return,a Cuthalion replied with all the diplomacy of his elven ways.

Grumbach once more flashed a blacked grin, and the orcs continued on without incident.

Giddy with the joys of success, we headed back toward Black Tower where we sent a message relaying our accomplishments to the magistrate.

The magistrate returned a note, aCongratulations. Twenty-five horses and cows seems a small price to pay for the safety of Barrenstone.a Although none of us were injured, we decided we would like a cleric to meet up with us and have a look at the curse before entering Gateway. However, due to the nature of the communication and our fears that it would somehow be compromised, we simply requested that a cleric meet us outside of Gateway to attend to our injuries. Naturally the magistrate had no problems arranging this.

As promised, a half mile outside Gateway a jolly old cleric named Celegorm met us along with four guards who spouted the diamond district emblem. We explained our situation to Celegorm, but unfortunately he was not a skilled enough cleric to help in the removing of curses. The guards insisted that we were to come straight to the magistrate upon our return, and though I was nervous about entering town with the curse still upon our heads, we had little choice but to follow.

As we walked through town, it seemed everyone was looking at us. A ragged old man stared intently and then ran off suddenly, as did a young boy. But we made it to the magistrate without incident.

Once in his chambers, I introduced my new comrades to Eldonerand, the honorable magistrate of Gateway. He was pleased to meet them and thanked all of us for overcoming the orc situation.

aI am working with the council to deal with the possible problem when the orcs return,a he told us.

David stepped up, aI was wondering, sir, did the last group of guards at Blaze Arrow report in? We found that the message array there had been mislabeled.a The magistrate looked somewhat concerned, aHmm ... we will look into that. Any ideas?a aOh, nothing specific,a David responded, aI just found it odd.a

aIndeed.a

aThere is one more thing I wish to speak with you about, magistrate,a I interjected. I proceeded to tell him my concerns about the curse that had been cast upon us. aWould it be possible to get an escort to the temple of Heironeous, where they may be able to help us?a aWhy certainly! This is most unfortunate.a aYes. I think that we should lay low for awhile, magistrate.a aYes, yes. Certainly. The council will be meeting soon, and I will put in a request that you be rewarded for your efforts.a aThank you, sir.a After finishing our pleasantries with the honorable magistrate, we were escorted to the temple of Heironeous where I was recognized and well received. We were placed in the hands of an experienced cleric by the name of Brother Timothy. After telling our story, he smudged us with incense, sprinkled us with holy water, and muttered some prayerful words.

aThere is indeed a blackness that touches you,a he said. aI have seen many curses in my time, but nothing quite like this, nothing this powerful. Yet, it does not seem to be impairing you.a aThen there is nothing you can do?a I asked mournfully.

aI am afraid this is beyond me,a he replied, still quite perplexed.

aThen, perhaps a blessing upon us, Brother Timothy?a aOf course, of course.a He blessed us but refused to accept any offering in exchange. aIt is an honor to help you,a he said with a courteous bow in my direction.

My friends insisted on stopping at the temples of their various G.o.ds since we were in the temple district. Every stop made me increasingly nervous, for everywhere we went people were staring at us. But the others seemed not to notice and accused me of being paranoid.

At last I relaxed a bit as we entered the familiar surroundings of the Topaz District and Scalamagraas Tower. The bouncy blonde-haired Ingie greeted me warmly, and once more I introduced my comrades. Poe flew from the back room and landed securely on my shoulder. aaBout time,a he squawked.

Ingie chuckled, aHeas missed you.a We inquired about Maureen. Ingie informed us that she was going to remove the tattoo, but that didnat seem to be the thing to do. She suggested that Maureen try the temple, but had not heard back from her. aI believe she was staying at the Weary Wanderer Inn,a she informed us.

aThank you, Ingie.a I led the party out of the shop and to the Weary Wanderer Inn where we were given Maureenas room number. We headed there to meet up with our friend and tell her of our most recent adventures.

end.