Back on the adventurers' trek through the Starchasm Forest to the Spire, Sage gently tugs on the left sleeve of Orianna's white robe. When the tiefling wizard's black eyes meet the druid's, the latter points over to a leafy green herb growing just a few feet away.

"Hey guys?" Orianna calls out. "Sage needs to stop for a second."

Adam sighs reflexively, but gestures for everyone to stop and let Sage harvest her herb. The druid girl bounds toward her desired plant in an instant, like an energetic dog that just escaped its leash. Kohl starts tapping her foot against the forest floor, eager to progress on their journey.

"Again? We're never gonna reach the Spire today at this rate," Seamus grits his teeth in annoyance. "What does she even need all these plants for anyway?"

Sage easily ignores the conversation and starts digging up the earth, eager to get to the root of her target. Upon passing an 'Herblore' check with ease, she receives the following notification:

~ Three 'Ginseng roots' added to inventory. ~

Satisfied, Sage dusts the dirt off of her hands and rejoins the party.

Orianna smiles at the elf girl, welcoming her return from her short excursion. She then raises an eyebrow, curiosity overcoming her features. "What exactly are you gathering herbs for, Sage?"

Wordlessly, the druid clicks through various 'Herblore' and 'Medicine' checks on her character screen. With most of the necessary crafting tools already in her possession, Sage passes each step of her secret process with ease. In less than a minute of real world time, she mixes together two healing potions. The elf girl passes her concoctions to Orianna, who then tosses one to Seamus and hands the other over to Kohl. The  tiefling wizard then ruffles the druid's long hair, a look of pride upon her face.

"Holy crap, Sage, this is amazing! You can make healing potions?" The half-elf pirate gratefully adds the medicinal drink to her inventory.

"She's worth her weight in gold literally and figuratively now." Adam beams at the druid staring intently at a blade of grass. "So happy to have you on board with us."

"You and I should start a business together, Sage. We could make so much gold selling these." Seamus thrusts the vial into the air, watching the virtual sunlight brighten the red liquid inside. His fantasy of becoming the tyrannical king of this world suddenly doesn't seem so far-fetched.

Sage shakes her head, not interested in the slightest. 

Kohl cackles at the druid's blunt, nonverbal refusal as the group resumes travelling. The pirate places a hand on Seamus's small shoulder and feigns sympathy. "Aw, you poor thing. Does rejection get any easier? You're the expert, right?"

Seamus simply smirks. "Gotta ask for what you want to have a shot at getting it. Some of us don't want to be forever alone at sixteen."

Kohl's hands move to rest on her hips, contrasting with the relaxed expression she strains to wear. "Staying single sounds preferable to me over having been dumped ten times."

"I know it does." Seamus glances over at the pirate walking a few feet away from him, his voice dropping dramatically in volume. "And that's part of the problem."

"Hey guys?" Again, the group focuses their attention on Orianna, waiting to hear whatever message Sage wants to pass on through proxy. "Sage wants to know if we want her to start scouting out ahead. She says the surrounding areas of the Spire can be dangerous."

"Oh yeah, then that'd be great. It'd be nice to have some warning next time we're about to head into combat." Adam says, once again grateful for Sage's contribution to the team.

The elf druid's body melds into that of a bird, its feathers that of a vibrant teal. Her aviary form takes flight, soaring up dozens of feet into the sky and zooming a couple hundred feet ahead. 

With Sage leading the way and watching for potential enemies, Adam visibly relaxes. Navigation is a burden he's more than happy to be rid of. Starchasm Forest seems more peaceful now that the paladin is less worried about being overwhelmed with monster attacks.

Kohl whips out her bow and arrow, eager to start hunting again now that she knows Sage will be able to aid her in prepping her kills for consumption. The four friends enjoy listening to the calming background music and ambient animal sounds around them as they stroll through the forest.

"Sage's great to have around, isn't she?" Adam says.

A small pang goes through Orianna's heart, but it then warms as she thinks of her druid friend. "Yeah, she's adorable. And super amazing at the game, it seems like."

"Totally!" A malevolent twinkle appears in Seamus's eye. "We're gonna completely obliterate enemies now that we have her. Sage conjuring all those snakes and squeezing those goblins' guts out was so freaking iconic."

Kohl grins, eager to see more blood spill herself. "Killing a powerful wizard doesn't seem so tough now. I bet we can handle him no problem. Quest reward, here we come!"

"What are you guys going to spend your gold on?" Orianna asks, unsure of the spending power that one gold apiece will have.

"I'll love some plate armor, but we should probably save it all to put towards some magical gear. Enchanted weapons and armor can have some really powerful bonuses." Adam says.

"That sounds cool!" Orianna pauses for a moment. "I don't use a weapon or wear armor though, right? Is there anything awesome that I can get?"

"Absolutely!" Adam replies, pleased to see Orianna taking an increasing interest in the Towers & Tieflings universe. "Spellcasting gear can still be enchanted, so there's special staves and wands. Scrolls with rare spells are an amazing find, as well as enchanted jewelry that boost your character's stats."

Seamus chimes in, saying, "I want a 'Bag of Holding'! Where can we get one of those?" 

Kohl's brow furrows in both confusion and concentration, an arrow notched in her bow. She releases it, impaling a rabbit mid-hop. Its body disintegrates, reduced to being a simple inventory item. "What's so cool about a bag? An upgraded weapon sounds way better to me."

"Adam was telling me about them as we walked to class the other day, they're basically a small hole into another dimension. You can store an infinite amount of goods inside and then retrieve any of it instantaneously. Think of all the stuff I could stea--" Seamus glances over at Adam, who patiently waits for the halfling rogue to finish his sentence. "I mean, all the stuff we could lawfully accumulate as a group, without ever having to worry about inventory limitations."

"Nicely said, my friend. And to answer your question, any kind of magical item or gear is pretty hard to find. Our best bet is to travel to a large city and search for a magic shop or an enchanter. The one back in the village was too small to have anything cool. Other than that, we can use the 'Investigate' skill in dungeons and castles and hope it helps us find cool stuff." Adam explains, impressing everyone with his game knowledge yet again.

"A city sounds so fun!" Kohl's eyes light up with excitement. "All I've seen are tiny villages. Can we visit one after this quest?"

Adam lifts up the limp bag of party treasure, now containing a single golden coin. "Sure, provided we find some sellable loot on this quest. The gold we're getting from the bartender isn't going to cut it if we're after special gear, so let's hope there's valuables in the wizard's tower."

"We need more money, by any means necessary? Did I hear that right?" Seamus looks to Kohl for confirmation, who readily gives it. The rogue then cracks his knuckles. "Challenge accepted."

Orianna takes a sip from her waterskin while walking, mildly interested in watching this play out.

Adam appears distraught that his words could be so misconstrued. "What? That's not what I sai--"

Suddenly, Kohl slings her arm around the holy paladin's shoulder, pausing her pursuit of animal prey. "So Adam, how're things with your girlfriend?"

Orianna thanks her lucky stars this conversation starter was said in virtual reality. In the real world, she guesses she'd have done a spit take with the water she'd just drank.

"Uh ... good." Adam's gaze flickers between Seamus and Kohl. He sighs before choosing to focus on the latter. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it must be tough, going from the same high school to living an hour away. You guys do a lot of video calling?" 

Seamus snickers, and Adam juts his thumb out toward the rogue. "We try, but this guy doesn't make it easy. One of the downsides to being friends with your roommate is you're usually in and out of the dorm room at the same times."

The roommate in question clasps his hands together and bats his eyelashes. "Oh, Adam, I miss sitting next to you in Chemistry. I miss our chemistry. You're still coming back to take me to the Homecoming dance, right?"

"You know man, if you didn't accidentally borrow my earbuds and then somehow sit on them and break them during Calculus, you wouldn't have to hear her talk."

"I'd still be hearing your side of the conversation." Seamus puffs out his chest and deepens his voice. "Oh baby, I know you miss me, but I can't come home this weekend cause I got a ton of studying to do. Yes, I promise to see you at Homecoming. No, I'm not just going to play video games with my roommate instead of studying. I really do have midterms coming up. College is hard. No, I'm not saying high school isn't challen--"

Orianna clears her throat loudly, having heard more than enough about Adam's love life. "We get the picture, Seamus. Why don't you just go study somewhere else sometime and let Adam and his girlfriend talk privately?"

Seamus throws his hands up in the air. "I do! But I have no other options when Adam and her call each other after the stupid school curfew AMS has. I've tried putting in earplugs and going to sleep but Adam says I snore so loud he can't hear his girlfriend speak."

"Lovely." Kohl grimaces as the image of a sleeping, snoring Seamus permeates her thoughts. "I pity the girl who ends up stuck with you."

Before anything more can be spoken, a familiar teal bird starts soaring straight for the four friends. In a blink of an eye, wings become arms and talons turn to toes; Sage touches the ground as her elf self.

"Orcs ... up ahead ... at the Spire." The druid takes a minute to catch her breath, winded from her frenzied flight back. "There's a dwarf with them. Doesn't look good."

"You think the dwarf is in danger?" Concern is written all over Adam's face. He knows this is the sort of situation his lawful good god demands he intervene in.

The druid nods solemnly, the paladin's worry mirrored in her own expression.

All five adventurers exchange looks, three of them determined to save this poor dwarf's life. The other two, Kohl and Seamus, care more about slaughtering enemies while doing the bare minimum needed to assuage their more moral teammates. Regardless, the group races forward in the direction Sage just returned from, weapons and spells at the ready.

A fight to the death is afoot.

~~~

Word count: 1910

Total word count: 13993

T&T Handbook:

Dwarf - a friendly, humanoid race known for their relative shortness to humans (though quite a bit taller than halflings), fondness for drinking, and skill at craftsmanship/blacksmithing 

Anything I miss? Let me know and I'll add it in!