Prologue 3 – The Dungeon Master

Leaving the office Samantha heads to the foyer which is dominated by a large medieval stone fountain with a brass gargoyle statue in its center that spits water from its mouth. Throwing a penny into the fountain she sits down on one of the benches that circle the fountain. “Alea iacta est.” (The game is afoot) She mutters sarcastically resigning herself to a very boring birthday.

Looking out through the glass entrance door to pass the time she sees flashes of lighting far off in the night. “I hope the rain holds off for a bit.” She speaks out loud, thinking about her boss’s kids.

Her wait isn’t long, within a few minutes two cars pull up to the museum. Unlocking the door Samantha invites the six men who disembark from the cars into the museum. “Greetings and welcome to the Armory.” She says as she escorts the group in and locks the door behind them.

With one exception the group is what she thought they would be. Five of the men are ranging in age from their thirties to fifties dressed in homemade cheesy costumes. Most of them are either overweight and/or balding, though they all seem friendly. They kindly greet Samantha, thanking her for staying the night and are pleased that she will be joining the group. They all act like gentleman and not the creepy stereotype associated with a group of old guys who are still into roleplaying. Not one of them even checks her out. Though this bodes well for a friendly evening, it does depress Samantha a bit. If a college girl in leather doesn’t turn the eyes of bunch of old geeks then how plain must she really be.

While chatting with the first five men Samantha’s attention is grabbed by the last one to enter. This stranger is tall and thin with an academic yet noble face that is framed by a well-trimmed beard and deep grey eyes. His appearance is almost that of a young Basil Rathbone. Since Samantha is a fan of old black and white movies she finds this stranger quite handsome.

His costume is a black scholar’s robe, which he wears with the hood down. It looks professional made and fits him perfectly. He wears a medieval gold necklace and a single ring that would go with a Renaissance nobleman. Noticing the jewelry’s quality Samantha wonders if they are real. In his left hand he holds a very expensive looking lawyer’s briefcase.

Enchanted by this man Samantha watches him with her peripheral vision as she pretends to continue to chat with the other guesses. The elegant stranger stops and examines the fountain. He tosses in some strange coin and softly speaks a few words. To her surprise, he says something in Latin, like she just did, but she can’t make out all the words over the voices of those in front of her. She thinks it was, “tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis,” which means “the times change, and we change with them.” This is a curious thing to say to a wishing well, but Samantha’s Latin is far from perfect.

Finally, the intriguing stranger makes his way over to Samantha and introduces himself. With a slight bow he formally greets her. “Good evening Samantha; thank you for giving up your Halloween, it is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy the game tonight and do not find the company of a few old men too tasking.” His rich English accent is even more attractive than his physical appearance. The tenor of his voice is aristocratic and scholarly, as if he was educated at Oxford or Cambridge, yet there is a hint of something else.

Samantha blushes and stutters, “It’s not a problem.”

“If I may say, your costume is very well done and we have a gift for you. Happy Halloween.” The black robed man gives Samantha a small cloth bag. Inside is a complete set of black D&D dice, made out of some ivory like substance, there weight and design are of a quality Samantha hasn’t seen before.

“Um, thank you.” Samantha barely responds, being completely charmed.

“You’re welcome. If you don’t mind my friends would like take a quick walk through the museum. Since I am the dungeon master for tonight, however, we should roll up your character you will be playing.”

Samantha doesn’t respond for a second, lost in the beauty of his accent. “Oh, sure, ok.” She finally stammers. Looking back at his five friends she gives the standard speech about not touching any of the museum’s exhibits and wishing them a good time. The five D&D players wander out into the museum as the dungeon master, or DM, asks. “Shall we go to the great hall and put your new dice to use?”

Samantha leads the DM up to the third floor where the great hall is located. The director has ordered a large round table to be set up in the dimly lit hall. A single spotlight giving the necessary light on the table to play, while leaving the rest of the two story room in shadows, giving the appropriate mood for the evening.

As the two sit down at the table Samantha’s mood has greatly improved at the attention she is receiving by the mysterious dashing Englishman. Putting his briefcase on the table he takes out a few books and folders of papers. “Let’s begin; first you need the four, six sided dice from your bag.”