#bearanium

Artwork commissioned from @bearanium(commission info) as a gift for one of my fellow players in my DnD group - thank you so much, he really liked it!

HardyGal’s DnD Experiences (Roughly) Retold

Session 4: For Want of a Shadow

The following retelling focuses on the above character of course, but told from the POV of my character because, well, obviously I don’t know the exact mindset of another player’s character :}

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Fredrick stumbled slightly and leant against a nearby tree. Gossamer sat up from where he had been lying down in the grass, his relief at finally being outside again disappearing. He quickly got to his feet and met with Vyalda as the two of them stepped towards the rather ill-looking goliath.

“Hey, man,” said Gossamer, “are you alright?”

“What is wrong?” Vyalda asked.

“I’m not sure…” Fredrick shook his head, pressing a hand over his eyes. “I feel really weak for some reason… I’m also really hungry, not gonna lie.”

“Oh! I can actually help with that…!” Gossamer dropped down onto one knee and began rummaging through his pack. “I still have some bread leftover from the supplies Altova gave us.”

“Uh, that’s really not necessary,” Fredrick protested.

“No, no, it’s fine, just give me a second.”

Not finding the bread anywhere in top layer of supplies, Gossamer shoved his hand deeper into the pack. Something small and rattling fell out amid the disorganised rummaging, and he just barely caught it before it hit the grass.

“Oh, shit…!”

It was a money pouch. A bit of a surprise considering Gossamer had fully resigned himself to being broke since arriving at Kusik.

“Something wrong?” Fredrick asked, voice coming out a little tight.

“Um, uh…” Gossamer shook himself and shoved the pouch back into his pack. “It’s nothing. Not important.”

His parents must have slipped something extra into his pack before he left, but he would have to leave being grateful (and worrying about what Queenie and Vyalda’s reactions would be to him not, in fact, being broke) for later. Gossamer continued to search his pack for the bread. He continued to come up empty handed.

“Dammit,” Gossamer muttered, confusion giving way to frustration as he all but shoved his pack aside. “I can’t find it anywhere…!”

“That’s fine,” Fredrick said quickly. “I don’t need to eat anything right now.”

The goliath brought out his own pack and removed a waterskin from it, gulping down the contents as though he had just escaped from a desert.

With a sigh, Gossamer stood up straight and turned to Vyalda. “Hey, Vyalda, you know how to heal people, right?”

“Yes,” the dragonborn replied. “I suppose I could try removing whatever ails him, but…” Her stoic features furrowed as she hesitated. “I have a feeling this is more than some common ailment.”

“Hey, it’s still worth a try…!”

“I agree,” Fredrick added, before quickly returning to his water.

“All right.” Vyalda stepped forward.

A slight breeze brushed past the dragonborn as she raised her hand to place it on Fredrick’s arm. Then, she glanced downward and froze.

“Oh, shit,” she muttered.

Gossamer looked down and nearly recoiled as he immediately noticed what had startled Vyalda. “What the hell…?!”

Fredrick lowered his now empty waterskin, frowning at the two of them with a mixture of confusion and nervousness. “What? What is it?”

“Fredrick,” Vyalda said, her peculiar pronunciation of the goliath’s name coming out slowly, as though trying to calm a child. “Do not panic, but your shadow is missing.”

“What?!”