You might remember from last time that Zulu had just destroyed part of the portal to the evil demon place. The demon place that Chase greatly wanted us to explore. He would NOT be cheated of his story so easily as that!
Naturally, bubaos can teleport.
Naturally, they kidnap spiders.
As the portal begins to close, Bobo teleports out and takes Frank's spider.
You know, it's crazy, but I've spent the past three months telling you about a single meeting. Since it was the last one this group would have, we were stretching it out as long as possible. The plan was to go until past dark, as it was the last week of summer vacation (I know, right? This was forever ago.) But even this meeting had to end.
But not yet. It was only 3:00, and it was still going strong. Unfortunately, this was it for me. I never found out what happened to Frank's spider. I had to leave for band camp. And so I sadly bid my friends farewell, wishing I had stayed in the demon realm.
Here's the story: without Hans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank looked around. Hans had disappeared again. No big surprise. Yet something seemed off. He did a double take and realized that something else was missing.
Where was his spider? He could have sworn it had just been attacking the portal. Listening carefully, he heard a rustling in the bushes. He looked over his shoulder. His...friends...were all still gathered around Zulu. He crept forward and pulled back the leaves.
To his surprise, it looked as if something huge had fallen from the sky straight into this spot, then vanished again. Looking closer, he realized the tracks merged with those of a much lighter (and more familiar) animal.
"Can bubaos teleport?" he wondered aloud.
Dova heard him. He came over and looked over Frank's shoulder. "Yeah, I think so."
Frank shivered. It was nerve-wracking to have the dragonborn so close behind him. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if Dova wasn't seven feet tall and carrying a masterwork great axe.
If Dova noticed, he didn't show it. He seemed to be trying to remember something.
"Yeah, they can," he said at last. "But only short distances."
Suddenly Frank felt a tremendous pain in his forehead. Someone--or something--was hurting his pet.
Dova drew his axe. "What is it?" he asked.
"It's this way," Frank muttered. He stumbled forward, drawing his bow and trying to fit an arrow to it.
Dova called the others over and followed Frank into the undergrowth.
(I wasn't there, so please forgive the creative liberties.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went to Band Camp and marched for, like, three hours. There weren't as many push-ups this year, and I wanted to tell those freshmen how easy they had it. Then I had an idea. I had an hour for dinner to use as I pleased.
Three minutes later I was standing in Chase's dining room again, pulling out my character sheets.
I don't know how it happened, but here it goes. From my battling friends, I managed to glean that they were back in the demon realm. I think Chase had pulled the classic "steal and lead away" trick. They had made their way to the tower and fought their way to the top. After that, things had gone downhill (get it? cuz they were at the top?). The Wizzard (aka 'Squishy') was dead, with no chance of revival. Two or three party members were entranced by the sirens that had killed him. The cleric was unconscious. The few remainders were desperately trying to fight off a giant demon bird (and the sirens and something else I think).
In short, they needed a miracle.
And I needed an entrance.
I had a quiet talk with Chase as the others mourned their awful luck. I wanted to repair my broken temple sword to fight demons with. He told me this was impossible, but me rolling 3 perfect 20's in a row convinced him otherwise.
Pay attention, because this is the climax.
"Above the sound of battle, a bleat rings loud and clear. A cloud breaks and along the beam of light rides your friend Hans, seated firmly on a sheep. He draws his shattered temple blade, and it forms together in his hand, a newly reconstructed masterwork blade."
(Okay, so maybe Chase didn't word it quite that way, but he should have. That is what happened, I just made the language a bit more poetic; because Chase is many things, and poetic is not one of them.)
I grin appreciatively at this introduction and attack the first thing I see: namely, the bird. The sheep rears violently, proving that even herbivores can suffer bloodlust. For the next twenty minutes I basically save everyone with an incredible series of natural 20's. The sirens don't affect me on the grounds that they remind Hans too much of his sister Gretchen.
The final meeting perhaps, but an incredible conclusion.
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