Lost In Arkhasia: Section II

Chapter One: Part II

The group was packing up; it was only around eleven in the evening, but they had been playing since dinnertime and everyone was eager for a rest. Eric was standing with Max at the head of the table, asking questions.
“So I’ve been looking at the Leadership feats,” Eric said. “And I think I can get a pretty decent following if I take them.”
“Really?” Max sounded curious but unsurprised at Eric’s idea. “Where are you finding all these feats?”
“Well,” Eric said, looking a bit sheepish. “I’m finding most of them in Dragon Magazine.”
“Ah,” Max nodded. “That would be why I’ve never heard of most of them before.”
“You’ll want to take a better look at them then?” Eric asked as Max unplugged his laptop.
“Just send me the files over instant messenger later,” Max said, winding his power cable into a neat clump. “I trust you Eric, but I still want to take a look.”
“Hey, you’re the DM,” Eric said, lifting his backpack up onto his shoulders. “No problems there.”
“Oh,” Max called out to the rest of the group, some of whom were heading for the front door. “We need to find another place to play next Friday. My place isn’t going to be free.”
“Aww,” Faith said, pouting. “Why not?”
“My new roommate is moving in,” Max said. “He’ll need almost constant quiet.”
“Then where are we supposed to play?” Jess asked, her expression becoming one full of near panic. “I can’t wait more than one week to play Ariana Max, you know I can’t!”
“All right, stop freaking out Jess,” Eric said, looking exasperated. “Max’ll find another place for us, and he’ll let us know before Friday, right?” he looked over at Max as he spoke.
“No problem,” Max nodded.
“Actually…” Keith spoke up. “I might know a place.”
“Where?” Max asked.
“I found it while I was working in the basement of Stonebridge,” Keith said.
“What were you doing in a dorm basement?” Dave asked.
“He works as a janitor,” Faith said, looking mildly disgusted as she did so.
“Sounds like a pretty shitty job,” Dave said.
Keith nodded emphatically. “You have no idea.”
“So what did you find?” Max asked.
“It’s an old storage room they use to store old bed linen and stuff,” Keith said. “It’s pretty much abandoned; I’ve never seen anyone go in there besides me.”
“Huh,” Max nodded, intrigued. “Might be worth investigating. What do you guys think?”
“Whatever works for you dude,” Eric said, heading for the front door down the hallway. “Just call when you guys know for sure where the next session is gonna be.”
“Yeah, same here,” Dave said. “Thanks for the session Max!”
“See you guys later!” Max called down the hallway. “You guys headed out too?” he asked Faith and Jess, who had gathered up their books and were also heading for the door.
“Yep,” Faith nodded. “Gotta get some sleep.”
“Me too,” Jess said. “I’m going to be working on Ariana’s genealogy this weekend Max, do you mind if I message you online for more information on elven society?”
“Sure,” Max nodded. “Go right ahead, I’ll be online all Saturday.”
“Awesome!” Faith said as she headed for the door, Keith and Jess just in front of her. “I’ll probably message you too Max, I want to know how much money we’re getting from the prince.”
Keith and Jess looked at each other and snickered.
“What?” Faith asked, her smile fading slightly.
“Nothing,” Jess reassured her, waving back at Keith and Max. “See you guys later!”
“Bye!” Max called back as they left the apartment and headed for the street.
“Thanks for the game man,” Keith said, slapping Max on the back. “Great session.”
“Glad you guys had fun,” Max said. “You need a ride back to the dorm?”
“Nah,” Keith shook his head. “Pretty sure Eric’s walking back too; I’ll catch up with him. See you on Monday dude. Maybe we can meet up and I can show you the storage room.”
“Sounds good to me,” Max said as Keith headed out the door. “Call me whenever you’re free for that.”
“Will do,” Keith nodded, putting on his jacket. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” Max waved as him as he headed towards the street. “Bye!”
As his friends departed, Max shut the door and locked the deadbolt with a solid ‘click’ and headed back down the hallway towards the main room. He went into the kitchen and found the coffeepot among the piles of dirty dishes. As he flicked it on, he reached down towards a stool next to him and picked up a tan-colored Siamese kitten, who purred contentedly as he gently stroked her fur. “That’s a good kitty,” he murmured as his coffee began to brew. “That’s a good Arwen, not disrupting my session.”
Arwen mewed softly and squirmed in his arms to be let down; he deposited her on the kitchen tile and waited for his coffee to finish brewing, which didn’t take long. Pouring the fresh coffee into a blue mug, he carried it into the hallway that led out of the kitchen towards a closed door adjacent to the bathroom. A hand-drawn sign tacked onto it read “The Lair of Max – Here Be Dragons.” Max opened the door and entered the small room, walking past the small unmade bed in the corner towards the desk that sat up against the window. It was crammed full of items, including a large stack of gaming books, a cup full of dice, and his desktop computer. The books clearly came from a bookshelf directly opposite the desk, which held mostly sourcebooks.
Max sat down in the comfy rolling chair in front of the desk and opened his sourcebooks, flipping through to find specific references. Arwen wandered in and jumped onto the foot of the bed, where she curled up and stared intently at Max, who was muttering to himself.
“And so, the adventurers complete another epic quest,” he said. “Now, what should I throw at them next?”

***

More on Monday!

NOTE: D&D is the property of Wizards of the Coast; everything else is copyright © Lora Hibbard 2009.