A group of RPG fans

"You find yourself in a large cavern. The light from your torches casts long shadows in front of you, but does not stretch far enough to see the other side. You hear nothing but the sound of your own breathing." Daniel's voice was firm and powerful, as always, as he described the scene in front of them.

"I cast light." Florence said with confidence.

"You raise your hand and cast the magic spell. Light blossoms from your hand, spreading out to fill the entire cavern. About 20 meters in front of you you see a creature, curled up in a ball. An eye opens, larger than a person and sickly yellow. The eyeball turns to gaze upon you. The ground shakes as the creature stirs, opening the other eye and slowly rising to its feet. It unfurls its wing and roars. Roll for resistance."

"12." Noah said immediately.

"19." Evelyn chimes in.

"Fuuuck. Nat 1." Mateo said.

Florence rolls her own dice, "15." She said with a grin.

"Klenzor drops his hammer on his toes and takes 5 points of damage. Then he runs out of the cavern as fast as he can. Paranyx is overcome with supernatural fear and is unable to act. Lady Nightbringer and Mistress Morningstar are unaffected by the creature's roar."

"Damn it Mateo..." Evelyn sighs, "There's no way we can take this thing down, is there?" Daniel didn't answer. She hadn't expected him too, "We gotta run. How big is the creature? It's a dragon, right? Obviously. Even if our party hasn't fought a dragon before, we must recognize it."

"You estimate the creature, likely a dragon, is 20 meters tall and 10 meters wide." Daniel says.

"The passageway we just came through was only 3 meters across. However the dragon came here, it wasn't that way," Evelyn says, "I make a run for it."

"What about Paranyx?" Florence asked. She shakes her head. Evelyn wasn't about to risk her character for Noah's. "I cast remove fear."

"The dragon's jaws glow red, heat flooding the cavern."

"Remove Fear," Florence says, "Fourteen."

"Paranyx comes to his senses." Daniel said.

"I run too." Noah said.

"So do I. We all flee." Florence said.

"The dragon launches its breath towards the tunnel entrance. Klenzor is far enough away to avoid taking any damage. Mistress Morningstar takes 5 points of damage. Paranyx and Lady Nightbringer are too close and become engulfed in flame. Lady Nightbringer receives the goddess blessing. Roll for faith."

Florence frantically rolls, "20! It's 20!"

"The Goddess rewards you for your pious belief. The flames pass by you but you feel no heat, and take no damage. Paranyx has minor fire resistance, but it barely diminishes the effect of the flames. Paranyx takes..." There is a pause as Daniel rolls some dice, "47 points of damage."

"Wow, skin of my teeth..." Noah says, "3 HP left."

"Roll for concentration. The pain of your injuries threatens your consciousness."

"It's....11?" Noah said hopefully.

"You manage to stay on your feet and continue to run. You hear the creature rushing forward. It slams into the tunnel, but it is too large to continue pursuit. The fear wears off Klenzor and he stops running."

"Wow, I was useless," Mateo complains, "Daniel, what the hell man? Our party can't fight a dragon yet."

"There's no such thing as an unwinnable campaign." Daniel said with a faint grin.

"We need to regroup. Maybe level up more first, or look for an alternate path. Either way, we're too injured. Let's head back to town." Florence suggested.

"Agreed. And it's nearly 11. Maybe we should end the session here. I have to get to bed." Noah suggests.

"Ya, I guess so," Daniel says, "Wait, don't you get summers off?"

"I do," Noah admits, "But this is the last week of school. I do still have a job to do." Noah sighed. Sometimes it was hard being in a gaming group as the oldest one, and the only one with a stable 9-5. But still, he loved playing with these guys.

"Actually...aren't you the only one?" Mateo asked. Mateo wasn't trying to tease Noah. He respected him and wished he'd had teachers like him back in high school. In fact he'd kill for a professor anything like Noah. Most of his professors showed up, droned on for an hour, then left. He was doing alright at University, but it was hard to stay motivated at times. He winked at the image of Evelyn on his screen.

"Hey! I have a job!" Evelyn said angrily.

"Drawing on your tablet whenever you feel like it isn't exactly a job." Mateo said.

"Fuck you. I work a hell of a lot harder than you do." Evelyn said.

"So....what's everyone doing for the summer anyway?" Florence said, eager to move the conversation away to something less hostile, "I actually have something good for once. My great Aunt died. Oh! That's not good. That's not what I meant. I, uh, I didn't know her at all. Never met her except when I was a baby. I don't know why exactly, but she left me her estate. Not a lot of money, but there's a house, a mansion really, in Halifax. I'm going to check it out. Clean it out and think about what to do with it."

"Wow, that's cool." Noah said.

"Wait, did you say Halifax?" Mateo asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Uh...ya..." Florence said.

"I have a great idea!" Mateo said, brimming with enthusiasm, "Rune-Con is being held in Halifax this year. I was already planning on going myself...why don't we all go? We've never actually had a meeting IRL, and we can help Florence clean out her new place while we're there."

"I love Halifax," Noah said immediately, "I could get on board."

"Ugh, sounds fun but count me out," Evelyn said, "I'd love to go but I can't afford the ticket to get into the event, let alone the plane there." She wasn't even making enough with her comics to afford rent in this crappy studio apartment. If her parents ever cut her off, she'd be totally screwed.

"What if money wasn't an issue?" Daniel asked.

"Well then duh, I'd go, but I'm not going to take money from my friends." Evelyn said seriously.

"..." Daniel sighed loudly, "Evie-"

"Evelyn!" Evelyn corrected.

"So Evie...if I bought a ticket in your name and sent it to you...you'd refuse to go?" Daneil asked.

"Well...no...I guess not, but that's crazy. You can't...huh?" Evelyn paused as she checked her email, "...No."

She double clicked on hew new email.

"...No way." On screen her face screwed up with a mix of anger and disbelief, "Daniel..."

"Yes?"

"...Did you seriously just buy me a plane ticket?" If they hadn't just been talking about it she would have assumed it was a scam, but there was just no way...he'd really done it, that bastard.

"You slick bastard," Mateo laughed, "You really just bought her flight to Halifax? How rich are you? We didn't even pick dates!"

"The date doesn't really matter. You can move it back and forth a few days if you need to. It's exchangeable, but no refunds." Daniel said, "So that takes care of her. What about you Florence? You've been quiet." He looked over at the window with the chat. Florence never had her camera on, she was clearly the most shy, but he had faith she'd come around to the idea.

Florence wasn't sure. She'd never really had friends. Not in person, real life friends. It had only been online that she'd ever felt comfortable. What if they met up and they didn't like her anymore? What if they thought she was ugly, or too shy, or too stupid IRL. But if they went to Halifax and she didn't join them, they might grow close without her. Start excluding her. She couldn't risk it.

"F-fine. T-the mansion is a 10 bedroom. You can all stay there. I'll send you details."

"Good, now I really gotta get to bed. Let's chat tomorrow and iron things out. Whoo! Halifax!" Noah cheered, then signed off.

Florence sighed, staring at her now blank computer screen in disbelief at what she'd just agreed to.

Her virtual life and real life were about to collide. The game had brought them together, she could probably even call them friends, but would they still be friends when they saw the real Florence? The one without the armour of semi-anonymity provided by her computer screen. The one who was absolutely terrified of talking to strangers. And those worries didn't even include this creepy old mansion, or attending a huge convention.

Still...she wouldn't have agreed if it was just terror she felt. There was a spark of hope inside her. She'd failed to make close friends IRL up to this point, but there was a chance, a real chance, that these people could be the real deal. A tiny hope that the convention might be just what she needed to break out of her shell. Maybe, just maybe, this was all a good thing.

Either way, by the end of this trip, her life would be different.