The Next Game Master Pt. 01

He leaned in and whispered to her, "The other ring doubles my first level spells. My mother's ring."

She looked wide-eyed, "Wow, Did Myssara tell you?"

He smiled, "She always provides guidance. The choice to take it or not is always up to us. In this case, I took it because right now I am on the pointy end of the sword. You are closer to the hilt."

She nodded, "True. We need to get some rest."

They all nodded. Raven was asleep quickly. The goddess smiled, "They have never beaten that battle. The mage went and smacked a guy with her quarterstaff and he took her head clean off last time.

Getting her ranged was key to her survival. The dwarf rushed headlong into battle and got cut down in the first wave. The paladin held his own through a few attackers but the other knight took him down. The Rogue got backstabbed as she took the tree you did. She would get one and the other got her. Fighter fell to dwarven cleric they had. Everyone has advanced another level.

That makes you a 1-ranger and 3-wizard. The gap will start to close soon and you will all be the same level you will just level before the others after they catch you. You just went over and they are a good way to level 4. You are a great motivator. I might have to find you at that inn and reward you personally."

Raven chuckled, "MIGHT?"

She smiled, "Will. Oh, I will."

He smiled, "Looking forward to it. Bring some extra lubricant with you. I have yet to see it in the general store."

She smiled, "You can request it from the innkeeper for a modest fee. He gets it from the city. He also has fertility items but they are expensive."

Raven smiled, "Explains where the Paladin got it from. When you come for a visit you might have 2 extra nymphs with us."

She smiled, "You be sure to make that happen. Sleep and study well."

He hated to admit it but he had started to like her. Like her too much. He awoke and started studying. He finished and he kissed the 2 ladies, He brought them together, "You two are doing great. The whole party is, as you are entering 'virgin territory.'"

They looked at him and Shia smiled. Ersa looked puzzled and then she got it and smiled.

He found Marshal and he extends a hand, Raven shook it. Marshal smiled, "Thank you for last night. That fight went quite well."

Raven nodded, "Yes it did. People started embracing their role in the party. Also, how to help watch each other's backs."

He smiled, "We had two fighting forces last night because we were surrounded. The extra warning helped. Gave me time to give direction to those with me."

Raven nodded, "I did not give direction. They just embraced their strengths. I put my trust in the rogue to stab a few of them in the back for me. The mage loves her crossbow and it worked well with her spells. They watched my back and I drew the attention."

He nodded, "You pulled a good portion of the battle your way. It helped. It saved us."

Raven smiled, "We saved each other. Part of teamwork. Spread that around to all of them, dear leader. It was not just me. You all had to step up and embrace your roles. At least one got away last night." He explained about the horses and the Raven counting limit.

Marshal smiled, "You just had to remind us what those roles were. As to the one who got away it will take time for him or her to get back and then more time for them to try and get ahead of us."

Raven shrugged, "I had to assign a couple of roles like wagon driver and cook."

He chuckled, "He grumbles but I think he is finding it useful."

Raven smiled, "I need to go scout and you got a wagon with a shit load of horses to deal with."

Marshal laughed.

Raven went and saddled up the best horse they got from the new string. It was a step above what he was riding. A black and grey stallion with blue eyes. He called out, "Search the road." The bird took off. They headed down the road. An hour later and he crested a hill. "Oh shit."

He headed into the woods and then headed back toward the caravan. He caught them in about 30 minutes. He looked at Marshal and the Wagon Master as he brought everything to a halt. "I know why I am not seeing any game. When I crested the hill, I spotted a pair of drakes. We are not equipped to take on 1 let alone a mated pair. They are hunting."

Marshal yelled, "They are evil creatures we must destroy them!"

Raven looked at him. "They breath on you once and you are dead."

He sighed, "Advice?"

Raven went back to the horses. He pulled the 6 worst. He tied there bridles together so they were in a line side-by-side. He started forward, "See if we can feed them away? You have your commitment to kill evil and you have your honor in protecting the people and this caravan. Sometimes you have to choose which you can do if you cannot do both."

The Wagon Master laughed, "That might work."

Raven took the horses to the hill.

He grabbed a switch from the woods. He went to them, "Sorry fellas we need to get past and this is nature taking its course. I do not like them but I know we are outmatched."

He took the switch and smack the end horse on the ass sending into a panic and the other 5 had no choice but to follow as they ran down the hill. He peeked over the edge and watched the horses run straight into the pair of fire drakes. One breathed and they all fell.

They stopped and gorged themselves on the horses and then pick up most of the remains and flew off. He told the raven, "Tell Marshal to come. Stay with him."

Marshal rode forward, "You want your bird?"

Raven summon it to his shoulder as he stood, "They flew off far to the right along those mountains. They each ate 1 and carried 2 away. One breath and all 6 were dead. They were fire drakes. No sign of them, we should get going. Sometimes the best solution to a battle is to avoid the battle."

He nodded, "I understand. I still hate those things."

Raven smiled, "We get the right gear we can go and hunt them. We just need to quadruple our experience. Or fight them in their cave where we take there flight out of the equation. If Lirana, Gardner, and you sued bows we might have had a chance to take them on directly; but we are light on ranged combat."

He chuckled, "Alright, I get you saying we need to expand our weapon selection!"

Raven started forward, "Yes, as a leader every fighter-type should have a ranged weapon. They may prefer melee but they need to have a ranged weapon as well. Scout the road."

The raven was off and they went past the burnt carnage and continued. Raven heard someone approach from behind him and it was the barbarian who threw up as she rode past the carnage. He continued to ride along and got a couple of wild turkeys. He also dropped the hawk who tried to steal the kill. He took all the birds back to the cook.

The cook looked at Raven, "Hawk?"

Raven shrugged, "It went for one of the turkeys I dropped, so I dropped him. The feathers are great for arrows though. Make an avian stew."

He laughed, "I just might do that."

He headed up to Lirana, "How are you doing today?"

She looked at me. "I have not been able to keep anything down today."

He nodded, "Try your dry rations with water. Nibble and sip, do not gulp."

She nodded, "Will try."

He headed up to Flar's wagon upfront. Raven looked at Flar, "You watching Lirana?"

He looked at me, "What for?"

He smiled, "She is puking her guts out. I heard her when we went past the horse carnage. I just asked her about it and she has been doing it all day."

Flar looked at her as she nibbling and drank water. Raven looked at Flar, "You might want to see if she is pregnant you fool."

Flar looked at Raven. Then back at her. Then back to Raven, "Tell her to get up here."

Raven looked at him, "Be prepared to divine which of the 3 of us that nailed her is the father."

He turned white.

Raven turned his horseback, "Flar wants you to join him tie off your horse and ride with him for a bit." She nodded and went that way.

Raven headed back toward the front as the creature struck. It got the Wagon Master and his horse with a bite and 2 claws.

Jade green serpent that burrowed its way out right under the horse. Marshal and Lirana charge forward as she had yet to get to the wagon.

Raven pop an arrow into it. The barbarian struck next with a charge. The Caravan master was on the ground as his horse threw him and bolted. That broke the paladin's charge as he got blocked.

Raven headed for the barely noticeable trail in the dirt on the other side of the lead wagon. He has his sword lit and in hand.

The drake burrows down and it was headed down the road. It was chasing the horse. Raven looked at the others, "It is chasing the horse!"

He rode off with the barbarian, the fighter, and the paladin. Right along with him but slightly behind by 2 horse lengths behind was the barbarian. The fighter was behind her and the paladin pushed up the rear. Raven knew he needed to stop the chase. He got up on his saddle.

Lirana watched as he launched off the saddle, tumbled, and stab the raised ground. Raven hit further back than he wanted. He still hit the fucker and had it pinned and it's attention. Its head came up to find out who just stabbed it.

Lirana came in and cuts the creatures head off. The fighter kept going and got the runaway horses; including Raven's horse. She looked at it.

"Forest dragon?"

Raven nodded, "Wyrmling. I never heard of one coming out on the road like this. It must have got hungry with those fire drakes driving game away."

Marshal arrived, "Sometimes heavy armor has a disadvantage."

Raven nodded, "We got a few problems."

Marshal looked at Raven, "Which problems?"

Raven looked back, "The status of our Wagon Master. This burrowed up ground in the middle of the road. Getting past it, over it, or cutting down a section of forest. WHICH I AM AGAINST. Then there is Flar, Shia, Gardner and you who will have to come with me."

He looked at Lirana who was puking her guts up again. "We need to get this dragon's carcass up and see what we can salvage from it. Figure out what to do about the fucked-up road. Make sure our Wagon Master is ok and find out what he wants to do. Those kinds of problems Marshal."

Marshal looked at Raven, "Where would we be going?"

Raven looked at him, "Dragon treasure. Even this young."

Marshal looked at Raven, "What would everyone be doing?"

Raven looked at him, "We have a tunnel. We have a dwarf. I can track on the surface, Lirana possibly if she was not sick. The rogue for traps and then bodies to bring stuff back."

Marshal looked, "Let me talk with the Wagon Master."

Raven nodded and got up and mounted after tying a rope around the severed carcass. He pulled it out and drug it back to the cook's wagon, "Got a recipe for forest dragon?"

The cook looked at him, "You are kidding right?"

Raven shrugged, "It can fly. I am willing to bet it tastes like chicken."

He laughed while Raven smiled. He gutted it and stripped the hide off of it. They found a part of a digested body and pulled the rings and armor from the poor fellow. "I will take this up to the first wagon. I think I lost my appetite for eating dragon."

He nodded. Raven drug the dragon remains off the side of the road.

He headed up to Flar's wagon and spread out the hide and treated it with salt. He rode up to the dwarf, "Ready to strip into something lighter and track a tunnel for us?"

He nodded, "If they will let me. She is and Gardner is the father."

Raven nodded and saw the 2of them together. He rode over, "So momma to be. You up for tracking with me or did you want to stay back here?"

She looked at him, "He told you?"

Raven shrugged, "I told him to check and divine who the father would be. He was letting me know it was not me. That bun was in the oven the night before you took the morning ride."

She chuckled, "I will track if they let us go."

Raven rode back, "You got a shovel in that wagon?" He nodded and handed it to Raven and he looked over at Marshal and Wagon Master as they talked, "Hand me that sledgehammer."

Raven walk past those 2 as the Wagon Master and Marshal started talking loudly about not 'wanting the delay.' Raven hit the ground with the sledgehammer and watch that section of the road cave-in. He walked back over to Marshal and the Wagon Master who stared at him.

He handed the hammer to Marshal, "That is what will happen if you drive the wagons over it. If the horses don't break a leg in the process. You will fuck the wagon wheels. I would suggest you fell those 4 pines trees. Strip them down. Roll the logs into the holes and bury them.

That will take the rest of today and tomorrow morning is my guess. I will go with 3 others to see if we can locate that fucker's treasure. We found a partially eaten body in its stomach. Two rings and a set of armor that is likely magical."

The Wagon Master sighed and nodded, "Go ahead you made your point."

Raven looked at the dwarf, "Time to get naked and borrow the lubricant from Marshal."

He laughed, "You think you can handle the sight."

Raven laughed loudly, "You already walked in on me while I was naked. You were naked and I was holding an unconscious rouge who was naked. I do not think nudity is a real problem in this group. I will not be responsible if you get any ant bites or any poison ivy or oak."

Flar smiled, "I will jump into my chain."

Raven followed the raised section of the road to the edge. He started to dig off the top layer and throw the dirt into the road. The dwarf came down and Raven looked at him. "Grab your hammer or mace. You can punch holes in the surface as you go. We know where you are once you get into the woods." Raven looked at Lirana, "You collect your trophy head?"

She shook her head, "Why?"

Raven smiled, "Some communities have bounties for these pests. That is gold into your pocket. I pulled the hide as it will sell. If I had a bag of holding or a handy haversack, I would have pulled the heart, claws, and the breath weapon gland. Alchemists love those."

She nodded and rode down and grabbed the head. She brought it back to the wagon.

As the dwarf entered the tunnel, he punched a hole every 40 feet. They marked it with a sword so they knew the last location. The trail wound through for a good half mile and it came to the surface.

Lirana and Raven tracked it to another hole that went into a hill. Raven sighed, "I am attaching this rope around your waist. If you found the lair do not go in. Just give it a couple of yanks hold on with your legs and we will pull you back. Same goes if there is a collapse."

He nodded, "Fair enough."

He went in and a few minutes later he tugged on it. They pulled him back. He looked at Raven, "There was some kind of trip line. It was not well hidden."

He handed the lantern to Shia.

Raven tied a rope around her waist, "I much prefer taking things off of you than putting them on."

She smiled and went into the hole. About 30 minutes go by before she returned. "That little dragon had traps everywhere. I think I got them all but we should keep it to a minimum of who goes in."

Raven pulled out his blanket and handed it to her, "Fill it, tie the rope to it and we can pull it through. Flar you can help her as you are already dirty."

Lirana handed a blanket to the dwarf. She tied a rope around him and he stuck his hand up between her legs. She just shook her head, "Later. If you behave."

Raven laughed, "So that would be never."

He chuckled, "I can behave...long enough."

He went into the hole. An hour later and they had the hole cleaned out. Raven boosted the dwarf up behind the barbarian.

Raven looked at him, "Temptations only inches away. Flar...can he behave?"

Lirana shook her head, "He is fingering my clit right now."

Raven looked at her, "Take him for a ride through the woods. He will be too busy holding on for dear life."

She cracked a wicked grin and took off. They heard the dwarf going, "OHHHH SHITTT."

They mounted up and took the gear with them to the road.

They came out by the last wagon He headed up to the first wagon, "Ersa we got work for you." They separated all the coins and dump them in the chest. She went through the treasure. She threw the non-magical stuff in the chest and sorted the magical things out and sighed, "I am not sure I can get them all."

Raven looked at her, "Get what you can and remember your focus to recall a spell."

She nodded, "Can get them all. Thanks for the reminder."

He walked away and left her to it and saw work underway. He pulled out his hand ax and rode down to one of the felled trees. He started removing branches and the Wagon Master came up. "That fucker did a number on the road and my horse. I switched out for another. Glad you found his lair."

Raven nodded, "Shia said it was trapped to the hells and back. Her and the dwarf went in and pulled the gear together. Speaking of the Dwarf. He and the barbarian finished their wild ride yet?"

He shook his head and they heard the dwarfing shouting, "OH SHIT SLOW THIS CREATURE DOOOWN."

They were still riding around in the trees for another 20 minutes.

She brought the dwarf back to the wagon. Raven looked at her, "Had fun with the dwarf I see."

She smiled, "You mean you heard."

Raven laughed, "I meant his cum sliding down your saddle."

Raven walked away as she turned red-faced, "Ranger equals observant."

He went back to Ersa, "Anything of interest for me?"

She set down a bag, "Someone said you were looking for a bag of holding."

He smiled, "Good. Will help when we are splitting up coin after selling all of this stuff."

She smiled, "I put something in it for you."

He pulled it out. Ersa smiled, "Another one of those minor displacement cloaks."

Raven nodded, "The cleric will love me not taking as many bolts."

She smiled, "That is what Marshal said."

Raven laughed and put the cloak on.

He walked down to the dragon remains and something had already drug it off. He looked at the ground. He backed away. He looked at the cook, "Keep that crossbow handy. The dragon carcass was dragged off."

He shrugged, "So?"

Raven looked at him, "The bear that took it has paws about the size of those shields."

He looked at Raven and loaded the crossbow. Raven headed back up the front of the wagon caravan.

He found the Wagon Master, "How do you feel about traveling at night?"

He shook his head, "I do not travel at night; not like that other caravan."

Raven looked at him, "We have a grizzly that drug that dragon carcass away. Its paw marks are the size of those round shields. We either track and fight it or we move at night."

He rode to the back. He looked over at Lirana, "If you are finished polishing your saddle you might want to grab your sword. The same goes for the rest of you. Last wagon."

Raven looked at the ground and pointed, Lirana looked at it, "That is a fucking monstrous bear."

He looked at her, "It found one easy snack here. What is the likelihood it will return?"

She nodded, "It will be back. This smoker and the cooking back here. Not to mention all the horse flesh. It will be back and will follow us for another meal."

Marshal looked at us, "Then we go after it first."

Raven look at them, "Leave the horses. Marshal, Gardner, and Flar with me. The rest with Lirana on the edge of the woods. I want you a good 50 feet off to the left.

Twenty feet behind where the cleric walks. We are going to follow the obvious trail. Any place he has not crashed through already should be safer."

Raven walked by a tree and looked it over. He took his hatchet and buried it in the tree. They looked at him. "Mesquite wood. Another good wood for smoking. We get this thing we will have to build those other 2 smokers."