Page 27 of Eternal Devotion

Poet gave a short history—lore, Ensley called it—detailing the perilous quest for the evening, something about acquiring a stolen treasure hidden somewhere in a dangerous fortress.

Once he finished the preliminaries, the gaming began.

It involved odd dice and manuals. Strategies and risks. They battled creatures with strange names and even stranger abilities. They found treasures, cast spells, and grew loud and rambunctious, shouting at one another good-naturedly as they decided on the best course of action.

Ensley’s character was a priest. The health and well-being of the group was in his hands, and he seemed to take that responsibility to heart.

After a time, they paused to fill their plates, refresh their drinks, and use the facilities.

“What do you think?” Ensley asked.

I thought it was utterly ridiculous, but didn’t say so, figuring too much honesty might hurt his feelings.

“The storyline is engaging. The details… Did Poet create the entire history of these creatures, this lore, simply for a game?”

Ensley glanced at Poet, who scribbled on the notepad he’d been referencing all evening. “The lore for the Forgotten Realm, which is where this campaign setting is based, is already established.” Ensley motioned to the stack of manuals piled on the couch. “The multiverse mythology and the histories are pre-written. What Poet does is write his own modules into the already existing storyline.”

“So, he made this quest up?”

“In essence. There are preexisting locations and quests in each realm, but sometimes we like to create our own.”

“We?” Poet shifted his attention from the notepad.

Ziggy chuckled.

“Correction,” Ensley said. “Poet likes to create his own.”

“He’s writing his own DnD universe. Someday, we might get to explore it,” Ziggy said.

Poet tsked and sighed. “Zig sorely misunderstands what I’m doing.” But he did not elaborate and resumed jotting notes.

Mars returned from the kitchen with a fresh beer and sat. “I have an idea for your next project. How about a full questline that takes place at Branvilla Estate? Mordecai will let us visit his ghosts, won’t you?”

“There are no ghosts.” My protest got me nowhere.

“Lies,” Mars said. “I’ve seen them.”

“I swear I saw something weird in the bathroom when I was giving you a tour,” Ensley said.

Ziggy sat upright, eyes brightening. “Oh hell. You guys. Halloween is a Saturday this year. We should play DnD at Mordecai’s. I’m thinking Death House from the Curse of Strahd campaign.”

“House of Lament,” Mars shouted, slapping his thigh. “Séances and everything. We should do it.”

Ensley met my gaze and shrugged. “How about we give Mordecai tonight to decide if he’s interested in DnD.”

I shyly smiled, not agreeing or disagreeing and certainly not announcing that the only supernatural being in the mansion was me. Besides, I didn’t know if I was the only one. Perhaps I shared my dwelling with Caspian after all. Before my change, I hadn’t believed in the undead or paranormal phenomena either, but if one cursed being could exist, why not others?

The game resumed, and although I followed along, Poet allowed me to browse his game guides. The thick manuals were adventure modules, he explained. Pre-written scenarios with full narrative frameworks any Dungeon Master could use to run his team through quests.

The depth of the game astounded me. As I read and listened to them play, an idea germinated and grew. It was silly, but would it work?

I set the book aside and considered the make-believe worlds and all their intricacies. Ensley’s passion for fantasy. I thought of why I’d been sent across an ocean against my will and what I had to accomplish in order to go home.

I would make it work. I had to. This was my quest:

Find and free Iulian while avoiding Valerius’s hunters. Bring him to Romania so he could restore order before the usurper king destroyed us all.

I needed an Owen Sound local, familiar with the area. Someone willing to dig into the city’s history and provide me with clues about where I might search for Iulian. I needed a way to ask unusual questions without drawing attention to my task.