User blog:ATK1734/A Prelude to Adventure

Earlier today, another user was reading over my blog post (entitled: "The case of: Hawk") and became very interested not only in his tale, but that of his entire adventuring group; that is to say, the D&D group that I play with to help tell this story. He said that if we had written those stories down, to let him know because he would be interested in reading them. A very kind and flattering remark, I unfortunately had to reply to him that I had asked my group before and (given that we still didn't know each other very well) they had asked me not to post them. And out of respect to the group, I have refrained from doing so.

Over the course of these past few months, our campaign has gone on a slight haitus due to work schedules (c'est la vie). But in that time, we've taken time and gotten to know each other better as friends and not just fellow adventurers who met up once ever two weeks over Discord. This recent inquiry and interest has inspired me to ask again. And I am pleased to report that most of the group gave their blessing towards releasing the logs (under the stipulation that none of their names be used out of propriety).

Just a short bio towards our merry band:

We (perhaps unsurprisingly) are Critters who met on the Critical Role Fan Club Facebook page. One day, one of our number asked if any other critters would be interested in starting a group of our own, to follow in the Crit.Role teams footsteps for an adventure through the world of Exandria. Naturally, there were dozens of 'yeses' and likes, but only a handful of us committed to actually getting the campaign off the ground. And thus our group was formed:

The first of our group (our founder, as it were) plays as a Werewolf Barbarian named Fenrir. Though his character is a violent, mischievious, and overall rabblerouser, his player (in my humble opinion) is the heart and soul of our group. He's also the only member to not belong to the USA, being from "down under." Scheduling gets kind of tricky, but he's always a laugh and a damn reliable party member.

The next of our group is the reason we even have an adventure: our illustrious Dungeon Master, who has asked to go by the name Dragon. This man is truly a saint to have the patience to put up with all of our shenanigans and come up with new stuff to throw at us every session. He has taken several liberties with Exandria (importing several beasts from "Monster Hunter World" into our combat sessions), but we are the characters in a story he crafts...and we look forward to it EVERY time.

Next is probably the most iconic member of our band: a Tiefling Bard named Dilista. Very much an amalgamation of Mollymauk and Scanlan, Dilista brings much laughter and levity to our group; but Dilista has proven multiple times to be our chief problem solver, often coming up with comically illogical ways around problems. As the creator of the Discord Server we play on, Dilista is as much an orchestrator of our group as Fenrir and Dragon.

One of the original members of our group was: a Gnome Artificer named Luna. Very much Indiana Jones meets Scrooge McDuck, Luna quickly established herself as our Treasurer; she was also the main reason our group banded together in the first place: organizing our adventure and even initiating our first major quest. Unfortunately, Luna had some personal issues that forced her to leave our group. I keep in touch with her from time-to-time, and I still hold hope that she can return to the game one day.

The newest member of our group is an elder Elven Monk/Barbarian/Rogue named Spindeep. Though the newest member of the group, he is by no means a "noob". He's a tactician and problem solver, often causing several members of our group (namely Fenrir and I) to look bad (thought to be fair, aided by our own devices); and currently a side focus in our present adventure. Spindeep is Dilista's father IRL, and what he lacks in knowledge of 5e D&D, he more than makes up for in experience and a willingness to learn.

Finally, there's me: the former player of our resident "Edge-Lord" Half-Elf Paladin and current player of our Tabaxi Rogue/Cleric. Mainly I fill whatever role is needed, but I took it upon myself to become the groups Historian (which many of our group look forward to the following day). I also pride myself with having come up with our group name:

Thus, we are: Brazen Storm.

Given that our campaign is currently on a bit of a haitus, I will be updating the blog with our Sessions maybe once a week (with the first one coming tomorrow). I've got my fingers crossed that we'll be picking the game back up soon. But aside from all the theatrics and liberites on my part, I would like to stress yet again:

THIS IS NOT MY STORY ALONE. This is a tale we are crafting together, as a group and as friends. We have no intentions of being another Critical Role. This is just us sharing our story will all of you. But with that, I would like to say thank you all for tolerating this premable and hope that you all will enjoy "The Intrepid Tales of Brazen Storm."