And, this week...a little something different.  Welcome to the Discerning Geeks Portal's first Dungeons & Dragons one-shot episode.  This is part 1 of a 2 (or maybe 3) part adventure that sees three heroes in a wintery dreamscape, tasked with helping otherworldly spirits change the destiny of a darkened heart (see "Note" below for context on our ongoing campaign and when this one-shot takes place).

The players & level 10 characters in this adventure are...

• Dave T. as Anical "Pit Trap" Ural, the brave & charismatic Eladrin Elf Paladin (Oath of the Ancients)
• Andruw as Ray Myriad, the sneaky & treacherous Kender (Halfling) Arcane Trickster Rogue (with a 1-level dip in Wizard)
• Todd as Dwelvrik "Alderpaw" Grünmaulkyn, the naturalistic & easily-stressed-out Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Moon)
• Dave S. as the dramatic & chaos-wrangling Dungeon Master

Grab your weapons & armor, prepare your spells, and craft your potions.  We're going...on an adventure!

...And, stay tuned for Part 2.

Note:  The characters from this one-shot are pre-existing characters from our regular D&D campaign that has been ongoing since February or March 2020 and which is set in Krynn, the world of the Dragonlance books (which is why Andruw's Halfling character is referred to as a Kender, the Krynn version of Halflings).  To provide context for what's going on...  In our 2nd-most previous session (way back in fall 2020), Anical realized we were outnumbered by evil forces and attempted a makeshift religious ritual to beckon for help from benevolent gods.  The ritual involved a wooded grove, many of our magic items, a lot of symbolism, and all three of our characters concentrating.  We were knocked unconscious.

When our characters awoke in our last session, the grove was transformed into an outdoor temple, and two of Dwelvrik's magical items had been transformed into full-size sentient creatures with individual instructions for all three characters.  This holiday themed one-shot is a dreamscape / religious experience that takes place between those last two sessions while the characters's physical bodies were unconscious in the grove

(Hopefully that made sense.  Don't me get started on the lich, the black dragon, the blue dragon, the bronze dragon, the half-ogre, the evil Elf bard, all the Kobolds, the tall folk hunting down Gnomes, the awakened trees, the townsfolk obsessed with arena fights, the hidden & now-submerged treasure room, the captured pirate ship, etc...)

Update (Friday 23 December 2022):  Our Dungeons & Dragons One-Shot Radio Play, Parts 1, 2, and 3, will reach their two-year anniversaries in January & February 2023 (yes, despite being Christmas themed, we were late to record & edit them).  But, just in time for Christmas 2022, this episode has now been re-uploaded with improved audio quality.

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