Introductions

Amina opened her weary eyes. She was in the hold of a ship. The smell of sweat and sea salt was difficult to mistake. She was in rags, her hands bound in rusted iron shackles, and an ache in her head from where she was knocked out. It was fairly obvious that she was going to be sold into slavery. She sat up, her vision slowly cleared and she looked around her to see 5 others. There was a tall blonde man who immediately caught her eye. He was thin but toned, his figure riddled with scars, and kind eyes. There was a bald half-orc with arms the size of her head. Next to the orc was a rough blonde human with a religious look about him. There was a darker looking man with deep red hair and a mischievous manner. Then there was the last man with transparent skin --

"Wait, what?" Kyler stood from his spot behind his DM screen. "Transparent skin? You can't have transparent skin. That's ridiculous."
"Why not?" Cody asked incredulously. "I can be anything I want."
"No. You're an elf, you can be pale or paler. Choose."
Cody sighed.

--with paler skin than any Amina had ever seen. It was almost see through. 

Kyler rolled his eyes, "Fine. Are you going to introduce yourselves?"
Jesse held up his character sheets and cleared his throat.

The thin man said, "My name is Frederick Woodson. I'm a paladin of Christ." 

Scott was about to open his mouth, when he looked over at Kyler. They shared a tentative glance and then Scott went quiet. We all looked at each other; bewildered.

I broke the silence.

Amina spiraled her long black hair down one side and said, "My name is Amina. I'm a rogue from the west."

"Me too!" Jeremy said. "Well, I guess my character would probably say--"

"As am I." The red headed man corrected his rags while sitting up in the broken bed. "My name is Leonardo."

Josh finally spoke up.

"I'm Raphael. A cleric of the great God Ares."

Cody cleared his throat.

The pale elf introduced himself, "My name is Donatello."

Kyler shook his head, "Leonardo? Raphael? Donatello? You named yourselves after the Ninja Turtles? Really?"
"Ninja Turtles are the bomb!" I snapped.

"Anybody got a plan for getting out of here?" Amina looked up through the caging and up onto the deck, checking for her captors.
"Yeah." Frederick stood and grabbed his chain, gained solid footing and looked over at her. "Let's pull the chains out of the wall."
"Wait!" Amina cautioned. "They're coming!"

The First Meeting

Dungeons and Dragons is known as the original role playing game. Others say that acting was the original RPG. They would be wrong. 

My name is Andie, and I had my very first D&D game in my sophomore year of high school. There were seven of us: Josh, Jesse, Scott, Jeremy, Cody, Kyler, and -- of course-- me. Throughout the course of our games, we had several ups and downs, but we had some very real adventures; in the game and on the table. There were romances, mysteries, and friendships. Even some very real injuries. Seriously, I still have a scar. 

Whether fact or fiction, we had amazing lives.

This is a story of wild adventure no further than our own table.

Hugs are my thing. The first time I hugged Kyler we'd known each other for less than a day, he was completely bewildered. But ever since then, we've been the best of friends. One day, when the hugs were much less awkward, he invited me to come play a game at his house. After he assured me that Dungeons and Dragons was not devil worship, I came over. It was the first game we had ever played together.

For the very first session, we all sat awkwardly around the table with two sheets of paper in front of us. Kyler stood at the head of the table. As the Dungeon Master ("DM" for short, the guy who creates the world), he got the best chair and a very large screen to keep us from looking at his material. He had explained it as walking your own way through a story that he made. That was enough to intrigue me. With these two pieces of paper, some dice, and a pencil, we were expected to make a whole other person; a whole other life. As I started,  I was surprised how much of a person can be made up in one page, let alone two. After a few hours of polishing, rolling, and sketching, I had my very first level one character. Her name was Amina. Tall, slender, with long dark brown hair and blue eyes, she was a very talented thief. Well... As talented as any level one could really get.

Jeremy was a quiet guy. He had light brown hair, glasses, and a shy but warm demeanor. He was nice. He poured over his character like it was his own life. He was making a rogue like mine.

Cody was hilarious. Annoying, but hilarious. An acne-ridden teen with a foul sense of humor, he was making a ranger with a history in bow making.

Josh was making a fighter. He had silky blonde hair and was very short. His deep brown eyes could make anyone do anything, though, and his smile brought a light into the room whenever it came out.

Scott was possibly the most generic geek of them all. He was a computer nerd. Tall, with dusty blonde hair, blue eyes, and an intensely creative mind, he made a fantastic barbarian.

Jesse was a farmboy, and arguably the most attractive in the group. He was about as tall as Scott, and joined at the hip with him. He had sophisticated glasses, a prominent laugh, curling hair, and a crooked smile. His character was a smart paladin.

Kyler was leading the group. He was medium height with olive skin, wild black hair, a muscular physique with a constant need to clear his throat. He was in charge, making the world that we were about to step our characters into.

Before we knew it, it was time to start the game.

Kyler cleared his throat -- for the millionth time -- and began the epoch.