Magpie Emporium; Friday [07/15].

[pun_king]

Nervous? Graham wasn't nervous, don't be silly! What did he have to be nervous about? All this last minute pouring over materials and rearranging things to distract himself and, on occasion, just sort of standing there, wringing his hands while just sort of expecting (maybe hoping for?) the store to fall down around him or something, that was all totally normal! He definitely wasn't worried that no one would show up or that he was going to be really terrible at it or that he was in over his head or...

Graham stopped for a moment, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath. "It's just a game. It's supposed to be fun. As long as it's fun, then that's all that matters. You got this, Graham! You're going to do great."

The mantra worked....for a little while. And then he went right back to worrying about what if his dice were cursed? What if everyone hated it? What if the massive collection of notes he'd put together wasn't enough and he ran out of ideas? What if there weren't enough snacks?!?

Stop. Breathe. Self-encouragement. Crippling self-doubt and hand-wringing....Lather, rinse, repeat.

But he wasn't nervous! How dare...

The Magpie Emporium is open!

Comments

Browse on your Own - 07/15.

[pun_king]

Go about your game store business and let the poor boy fret all on his own.

Shop with Graham - 07/15.

[pun_king]

Or come on in and distract the knight-to-be by putting him to work or chatting him up.

The Game Lounge - 07/15.

[pun_king]

Where there will be games and there will be sub-threads! Come join Graham on his epic quest, or be That Guy who starts his own competing game at a different table. Which you know...valid, buuuut....

Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

Okay, this was it! With his work done for the day, Graham had no choice but to head on up to the game lounge and get things prepared for his very first D&D game! He'd been going through everything to make sure he was all set multiple times throughout the day, but there was one last nervous shuffle and recounting of everything as he spread things out on the table, set down all the snacks he'd brought (especially the almonds!) and then recounted everything again.

He knew today would mostly be just everyone getting settled and finalizing their characters....they might not even get to the main game yet today! But he hoped they could squeeze at least a bit of it in before they called it a night.

And hopefully a successful one!

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[furrybluefreak]

And guess who was also a bundle of excited energy? That would the island's own resident Fuzzy Blue Elf!

"Hey Graham, how's it going?" Kurt asked as he showed up a bit early. He couldn't wait any longer cuz he was excited about this as well.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

"Kurt!" Early was good! Early meant far less time for Graham to mildly panic and distress! "Hey! You made it!"

The fact that he sounded genuinely, albeit pleasantly, surprised by this fact spoke volumes for the depths of his confidence about all of this, but he'd been trying hard not to let it take over, especially with the new grin blossoming on his face. He held up a finger toward Kurt.

"Are you ready to embark on an exciting adventure filled with magic and wonder and mystery?"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo had felt bad that he hadn’t stopped by as he normally did after class but he had been cooking as much as he could, so he hoped Graham didn’t mind that he hadn’t stopped by earlier. He decided to not try any of the new recipes that he had gotten when he went to Morocco, deciding it was probably better to get Dr. Lecter’s help with those but he did still decide to stay with the his Mexican theme and had made quite a few options.

So he had made fresh batches of churros, cheesy beef empanadas and for the first session he also had made some enchiladas.

He hoped he had made enough snacks.

He was nervous and excited about the game and getting to play a vampire for it, so he arrived a little bit early, “hey,” he said with a smile as he arrived carrying his many containers of food.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

Graham liked to think that his particularly good sense for excellent food clued him in to Guillermo's arrival before Guillermo even showed up, and when his suspicions were confirmed, he beamed eagerly. "Guillermo! Hi! You made it!"

Graham? Still surprised that people who said they would actually did show up? Yes. Shhh. This was all new to him. Not even the Dungeons and Dragons stuff, but the whole...having friends who weren't woodland creatures or inanimate objects stuff, too.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[furrybluefreak]

"Hey roomie, long time no see" Kurt said with a laugh. "Need any help with those?"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[outofthequiver]

At least the DM wasn't the only one who was pretty much new to the whole 'friends who weren't siblings or animals' thing, although Libby's nervousness about this whole thing probably paled in comparison to Graham's. Either way, she found her way to the game shop and cautiously peeked her head into the game lounge with an uncertainty that cleared up pretty quickly when she saw who was already there.

"Oh, good," she said. "This is the right place."

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

"Libby!" That was three people now who'd shown interest actually showing up! Graham felt so lucky, he should go play the lottery or something! And then he laughed. "And it is the right place, but only if you're looking for fun and adventure and snacks!"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[furrybluefreak]

"Libby! Glad you could make it!" Kurt said with a big smile and a wave when he saw her.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[onlyajones]

Jo and now with the right thread had seen the flyers in town and Graham was her little sibling, she wanted to support him and had felt bad that she hadn't been checking in on him lately, even if she had actually no idea what was happening and was trying to not feel so awkward.

She did have with her some unopened boxes of chocolate her father had sent through recently, she figured that was a good way to share them.

"Um ... er...hi?" she said as she arrived, feeling very self conscious all of a sudden.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

The three people he'd talked to most about the game (other than Steph, of course!) were already present and accounted for, so to hear another voice definitely caught Graham off-guard a little. But it was a good kind of pleasantly surprised off-guard!

"Oh!" The pleasantness of the surprise grew even more when he saw who it was. "Jo! Hi! Did....did you want to join in on the game, too?"

She could have just gotten lost! She could have been coming by to make fun of them! She could be a figment of his imagination! He didn't know!

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[outofthequiver]

Libby had been trying her best not to think about this aspect of how things had been shaping up so far, but when she saw Jo there, the relief that flooded over her was almost palpable. She knew it was kind of silly, to be concerned about being the only girl involved in this, but now maybe she wouldn't have to worry about that at all!

And the fact that she and Jo could relate to a lot of the same things made this feel particularly nice.

"Hi, Jo!" she said hopefully. "Were you thinking of playing, too?"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[furrybluefreak]

"Hey Jo, glad you decided to stop by" Kurt said with a smile and a friendly wave. He had talked to Jo here and there, but not much. And he didn't want to overwhelm her anything so he kept the greeting short and simple.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[giveittoyoursister]

Of course Vi was going to turn up, it would've been silly to make of point of highlighting Graham's posters for it, then being a no show.

Even if she was starting to realise that she maybe might like other systems more (oh noes).

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[pun_king]

There was a good chance that whatever it was that Graham was doing was going to be, at best, system-adjacent.

Like the LaCroix of 5e.

But considering that they were coworkers and shared a few classes, Graham had never really interacted that much with Vi, which was why he could only assume she had to have been here on some sort of work-related endeavor, he wasn't about to dare hope that she might actually want to join them.

"Oh, hey, Vi," he said with an uncertain kind of smile. "How's it going?"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[outofthequiver]

"Vi!" Libby's nervousness about this whole thing was starting to dissipate more and more by the second, and hers was definitely a welcome face to see show up. "Are you going to be playing tonight, too?"

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-Game Chatter - 07/15.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Shortly before the game was about to actually start, several moddable pizzas got delivered directly to Graham's table courtesy of Steph, who A) was all about encouraging this whole thing (her usual pitch when trying to get people to try out TTRPGs generally amounted to "hang out, eat snacks, and tell a cool story") and B) might think that Aabria Iyengar and Matt Mercer were amazing, yes but subscribed to the Brennan Lee Mulligan school of GMing in which constant snacking was of vital importance.

Was it also maybe a shoutout to the super early meta Critical Role days? Yes. She was that kind of nerd. Shut up.

Graham's Table: Gameplay - 07/15.

[pun_king]

With all the time it had presumably taken to get everyone finished up with their characters and ready to go, they probably didn't have much time for too much for the game proper, but hopefully enough to at least get things started and rolling for a full session next week. So Graham took a moment to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and then....he began.

"Welcome," he said, hunching over and leaning in as he went into storyteller mode, "to the quaint and charming town of Cenmich, which is considered both a traveler's waypoint, of sorts, a stop in the long stretch of plains that exists between the Magicians Academy to the west, the more populated forested Bealian coast to the east, the farms and dragon ranches under the mountains to north, and the untamed wilds to the south. A haven for travelers, as well as a novelty get-away resort for nobles, you'll find an eclectic mix of all sorts of people moving in and out of this picturesque pitstop."

Here, he paused for a big grin, gesturing toward the table as a whole.

"Case in point," he said with a chuckle. "Now, evening has fallen, but the town of Cenmich does not go to sleep so early! With a plethora of taverns and inns, there is no shortage of entertainment at everyone's hands, but the real hot spot this particular evening seems to be a tavern called the Wolf and Hawk. Rumor has it that a very well known bard from the far off reaches of the desert lands beyond the sea will be making a performance this very night, and the entire town is abuzz with excitement for the event..."

"Let us begin...." He paused a moment for a deep breath, knowing that this was the crucial moment where things would get started, and he sent his finger shooting out toward whichever random player would like to get it started. "With you! Tell us: who do we see, and what might you be attending to on this fine evening?"

Re: Graham's Table: Gameplay - 07/15.

[outofthequiver]

"Oh!" The grease on the wheels Libby startled a little as she realized that the person Graham's finger went flying toward was her, and she blinked a little, but she cleared her throat and squared her shoulders to sit up straight. "Umm, yes, well, um, I am...err, I mean, you see a young woman with some very simple armor...it actually looks like it's been maybe pieced together from different sets over time, and she has long blonde hair, but it's been done up with a lot of braids to keep it out of the way. And, um, since this is...such a big event," she nodded a little to Graham to show she was following the thread, "she's put some flowers in it, too, just to fancy herself up nicely. She's...been traveling, from up north, from her family's dragon ranch," because, um, how could she not latch onto a detail like that, "and she's a little tired, but looking forward to a nice evening of music, I guess? So she's got herself a nice drink and a quiet spot to enjoy the show."

There was a pause as she went over that and decided she liked it with a nod, and then added, "Oh! And her name is Esthrana, she's a half-elf cleric of the Life domain."

OOC - 07/15.

[pun_king]

I'm not entirely sure how I saw this going in my head, but I guess we'll find out! I'm thinking, though, that a Pre-Game Chatter thread and a Gameplay thread will be posted each time, and we'll just go from there. We'll be playing very loose and fast with basic D&D game construction, very casual and whatever, especially due to timezones and whatnot. And, seriously, if anyone's interested, just pop on in and join up and we'll see where it takes us! It's an adventure, after all! I'm just throwing it out there and seeing how it rolls!

Re: OOC - 07/15.

[drumsticksandd20s]

Hahaha, the almonds...

Re: OOC - 07/15.

[outofthequiver]

Look, that rant got me on a deep, personal level, and my one true hope in this world was that someone would pick up on that, so thank you.