Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after following some goons in a tavern, to try and help a woman by the name of Nymphadora, our heroes happened upon their old enemy, the dragon Nurvureem. She was just chilling in the tavern--in her human form--with her servant Kalien at her side. Unfortunately, Aurum decided to disguise himself into non other than Kalien when he entered the tavern, and soon, the Dark Lady was out to get them.
Threatening to hurt Mary’s friends, she made Mary promise that she’d come visit her lair to ‘talk’. Then she proceeded to go back into the tavern, saying that she was going to ‘take care’ of Nymphadora. Distraught, Mary couldn’t wait for her friends to devise a plan and took things in her own hands. Or, better said, in Granny Gretel’s hands. She called upon the hag and asked to switch places with Nymphadora so that the other girl wouldn’t be a victim to Nurvureem’s tortures.
Content warning: The text below contains descriptions that might be upsetting to some readers (abuse, torture). Proceed at your own caution.
Mary felt her perspective shift. She was suddenly indoors, looking straight at the tavern hall before her. She felt pain on her face, ribs and left leg. Her heart beat in her throat and her stomach growled with hunger. Her whole body--Nymphadora’s whole body--was trembling.
Nurvureem’s sour breath brushed her ear and she realized she was sitting in the Dark Lady’s lap.
“You're going to come live with me,” her tormentor whispered, caressing her hair. “And you’ll never be lonely or weak again. I'm going to take care of you and we're going to have... so... much... fun.”
Mary was still breathing rapidly but she felt Nymphadora’s heartbeat slow down. She was certainly afraid, still, but not like Jared’s sister had to have been before her. For what she knew of the dragon, Nurvureem wasn’t going to kill her right away. Not when she could have her fun first. So, there was a chance of a rescue.
Nurvureem stopped talking. She stared at Mary attentively, like she had felt the shift in her demeanor. Mary's eyes flashed to the Dark Lady’s companion, who was playing with a small weapon. A graphite Morgantian dagger. The one that destroyed your soul if you were killed with it. He looked at his Mistress and then at Mary.
Nurvureem leaned towards her and inhaled deeply, then sat back with a blissful expression.
“Oh honey!” she said and gave out a deep growling purr.
She stroked Nymphadora’s cheeks almost tenderly, but pressed hard when her fingers reached the bruises left from Jared’s beating. Mary winced and the dragon chuckled.
Without moving her head, Mary tried to look for Agatha in the tavern hall. She was supposed to be there, somewhere, waiting for them to take action.
She couldn't see her.
She tried sending her a Message, reflexively touching her left ring finger. Then it dawned on her. She was in Nymphadora’s body and it didn’t have the copper ring. She couldn’t Message her friends not to worry. Couldn’t tell them she was sorry. Couldn’t even say ‘goodbye’ if she needed to.
She didn’t have magic anymore.
Sharp pain interrupted her spiralling thoughts. Nurvureem had dug her fingernail inside one of Nymphadora’s wounds, revelling in the yelp Mary gave out.
“Does it hurt, dear?” the dragon woman asked with a grin, but kept on burrowing and twisting her finger in the bloody slit.
After what felt like an eternity of this, Nurvureem leaned in and slowly ran her tongue over the deep wound she’d managed to make, licking the blood off. She moved Mary off of her lap and nested her on the couch beside herself, wrapping a long arm around her shoulders. Free from the immediate pain, Mary was finally able to think again. Her mind flashed towards her friends. They had to still be outside. By now they must have devised a plan of some kind. She couldn't contact them but what she could do was try and separate Kalien and Nurvureem… if she was able to.
“I…” she squeaked weakly. “I need to pee.”
With a gleeful smile, the Dark Lady leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
“You can pee right here,” she said, barely containing her joy.
Mary blinked, and tears of desperation dropped from Nymphadora’s eyes.
Suddenly, her perspective shifted again. She was sitting on the ground. Granny Gretel’s hand was moving away from her face, dirt sprinkling down from it. The faces of Аurum and Bruno stared at her from behind the hag's shoulders.
“What?” Mary gasped. “No! What have you done?!”
“We brought you back!” Bruno said sharply.
“No! Why did you do that?!” Mary screamed. “Now Nyphadora’s with her!”
“Yes, and you are here!” the dwarf screamed in response. “You are more useful in your own body! What would you have done in Nymphadora’s?!”
“I had a plan!”
“What plan?!” Bruno snapped, raising his hands above his head. “What was it?”
“That was it! Getting in, so that she doesn’t…”
“And did you TELL us your plan?!” Bruno was now shouting. “Did Aurum tell us his plan when he got in?! TO HELL WITH BOTH OF YOUR PLANS!”
Mary pressed her hands over her mouth. She’d never seen Bruno this furious. She’d never made Bruno this furious. Her lips quivered as she looked at the anger in her friend’s eyes.
A discreet knock on the tavern wall cut their argument short. Someone from the inside--maybe Agatha?--was warning them to be quiet.
“We have a new plan now,” Bruno said, regaining his composure. “One that we discussed and agreed upon. Care to listen to it?”
Brrr! That was intense! And I'm not just talking about Nurvureem. Bruno has never been so angry with Mary and Aurum! So far, he's always been 'yeah, you do stupid sh*t all the time, it's not like it's a surprise' but this time things got serious. There was a moment when we thought that his PC was angry with us for what our characters did, but we talked it out and it turned out OK. For what it's worth, it was a very good character-defining moment.
Have you had something like this on your D&D table?
See you next time when we find out what the new plan is.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.