This story is part of the same homebrew campaign that I been running for about a year or so, during the earlier sessions that occurred before the crusade of Steven the Mouse Paladin and his group known as the Mouseketeers began. Specifically, this story is about one of the members of the Mouseketeers known as Alinaya, a Half Elf Bard who experienced a unpleasant encounter with a group of Goblins during their search for the Prince of Caranor.
Note – This traumatic experience that Alinaya went through was not like the horrific scenes that are shown in the Goblin Slayer series. This was more of a surprise to the character and has since then become a running gag in our group, so keep that in mind as this story progresses.
Alinaya was born on the Elven Islands of Aldor, in the realm of Zerenia, and she is known to her companions as a pure and kind-hearted soul who simply wishes to travel the world and discover herself, bringing joy to others through her music and uplifting personality as she travels the realm of Zerenia. Although the dice may not always be in her favour as she plays her music, the intent to bring happiness to others is always there and her role in the Mouseketeers has proven to be invaluable.
The player behind Alinaya's character is a close friend of mine who had convinced me to create our current D&D campaign as she wanted to get back into the game for a while. Since then our campaign has been a great experience and my group are grateful for this opportunity to play, myself included.
Back to the story however. After the Human capital of Caranor was sieged by the Hobgoblin Legion the Mouseketeers managed to escape the city and find safety in the coastal town of Elderway. Alinaya had managed to save the Human Paladin (who had failed her stealth check to sneak around a group of Hobgoblins) during their escape from Caranor, proving her worth amongst the Mouseketeers.
Once the Mouseketeers were tasked with finding the Prince of Caranor the Half Elf Warlock managed to scry his location within the town's library. The Prince of Caranor was in a small forest outside of the town of Elderway, so Alinaya and the Mouseketeers went out to aid him and bring him to safety. As they entered the forest they soon found the Prince of Caranor and his bodyguards fighting off a group of Goblins led by a Bugbear Chief. At this moment, I asked my Players to roll for initiative.
I cant remember exactly how the order of the initiative went but I remember that Alinaya's turn was before the Bugbear Chief, who was technically the first boss that the Mouseketeers had encountered. Alinaya turned to the closest enemy to her, which was a Goblin armed with a shortsword, and made her attack with her rapier. She managed to hit him with a 16 on her attack roll and I ask her to roll for the damage.
'OK, so that was 6 Piercing Damage against the… uhh… what did I just attack?' Now out of character, I learned that during my initial explanation of what was happening that Alinaya's player hadn't been paying attention, and was now embarrased that she didn't hear what I had originally said.
Before I could explain to her that she hit a Goblin, one of my players cried out 'You just attacked a small green child!'. Once this was said, my group were laughing hysterically whilst Alinaya's player was left mortified. When she tried to make sense of it all, I proceeded to explain how her 6 points of damage (leaving the Goblin at 1 hit point, by the way) managed to pierce the throat of this 'small green child' and puncture his windpipe, with blood gushing out from his neck.
He was too weak to react and failed his attack against Alinaya before he was swiftly put out of his misery. Although the suffering of this poor Goblin had ended it left our Half Elf Bard, and her player, horrified at what they had just witnsessed. Alinaya's player feeling so guilty at what had just transpired simply because she hadn't heard what she was up against, making sure that in later sessions she would pay attention to what happened in critical situations.
They managed to save the Prince of Caranor after this small skirmish and have since then battled greater foes that have mainly consisted of various Goblinoids, Goblins included. Each time the Mouseketeers face a Goblin now, my group correct me in saying 'Don't you mean a small green child?' which has our group stuck in laughter for a few minutes before we progress with the story. Alinaya is still being her bright and positive self and won't let the actions of the past bring her down, making sure that she knows what she is up against before she makes her decision to fight.
Now these jokes were not said towards Alinaya and her player in a cruel and unhealthy way, as our group consists of close friends who enjoy a bit of hilarity during our sessions. Any past, present or future jokes or funny mishaps will still be taken in a healthy and mature manner as it adds to the story of the campaign as well as creating amusing tales to tell others.
I would encourage though that if you have players who have a tendency to distract themselves, who aren't toxic players but simply players who like to talk amongst friends and have a nice conversation during a pleasant D&D campaign, to look at this story and find a healthy and hilarious way to engage them again whilst also making them regret their lack of attention to begin with.
[zombify_post]
0 Comments