• Published 2nd Jun 2021
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Newfound Neighbors - FrostTheWolf



Having a new neighbor move in next door is one thing... that is, until you realize that neighbor is a unicorn that's too smart for her own good.

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07- All Fun and Games (Part 3)

Half an hour after we started our break and got a couple of snacks, we were both back at the table and ready to pick up where we left off. I had things transitioned to the following morning and before she went off to head towards the destination I intended, Gizmo had her character go through Lunaris’s marketplace. When I asked why, her answer was simply inventory management, which I didn’t get until after she found another NPC that sold different types of tools.

Now, for this to make sense, there’s something I need to note. The starting equipment for the artificer included two simple weapons, a light crossbow, ammunition, a choice of armor, thieves tools and a dungeoneer’s pack. Though, given the sage background she already has, her character is already in possession of a knife. Not to mention that for some of the abilities of the artificer to work properly, such as Infusion, they needed proper tools. So, Gizmo decided that instead of keeping the two simple weapons around, she bartered the weapons with a merchant in exchange for some extra tools to keep on hand. A smart move, though I’m not sure how long a simple knife was going to last for her.

Luckily, it didn’t take too long for her to reach level 2 as one of her combat encounters involved a pair of bandits that tried to ambush her while she was coming down the main road. Not only was the extra level good, but it also meant that she unlocked Infusions, with the particular ones she chose being Armor of Tools (UA), Repeating Shot, Replicate Magical Item and Returning Weapon. The first three I understood… though the last one kind of confused me. Because outside of her knife, she didn’t have any other weapons that could be considered as throwable weapons. Maybe there was something I didn’t know that she had planned. Guess it remains to be seen.

Now though was when things got interesting, “As you proceed further up the road, you do not see any signs of bandits this time. Instead, you see what looks to be a wooden carriage turned over on its side, with pieces of it broken and wood scattered everywhere you look. What do you do?”

“I approach the turned over carriage carefully so I can look for clues. This doesn’t seem normal, so perhaps something happened here.”

Well, outside of the obvious, I didn’t know that Gizmo was the investigative type. Then again, when I first met her, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about her either.

“Make a perception check.” I instructed, before she rolled the d20 again as another number came up.

“Sixteen.”

Alright, she cleared it. “As you look closely at the overturned carriage, you notice what appears to be the remains of makeshift explosives. Not to do actual damage, but enough to force the carriage onto its side. Someone had planned an ambush. You can also see that the door to the carriage was forced open.”

“I circle around the cart, being careful of where I step,” the unicorn told me, “Once I turned to the point where the top of the cart is facing me, I take a look inside to see if there’s anything in there. Perhaps a clue that could tell me who was inside,” she replied, “Do I roll for perception again?”

“Actually, no,” I said, something that caught her by surprise. “Because just as you reached it, you would spot something in the mud. A wooden box held together by a lock.”

“Can I use my tools to open it?”

I looked back at the guide briefly just to double check on how someone can use thieves tools, before I had an answer for her. Just to be on the safe side. “You can, but you’ll need to roll a dexterity check.”

Gizmo was quick to roll, before looking at her character sheet, “Eleven, but I also have a modifier of plus two, so I think I’m safe.”

If she was a little higher, maybe. Though, Eleven was not quite enough. She’ll get it open, yes. However, those tools of hers won’t be intact. “While you were able to eventually get the box open, your tools were broken in the process. Inside the box though was something you recognize. The two pendants that you had seen previously on the cards of Erric and Elynas that Ace had shown earlier as they shimmered when the light of the sun reflected on them. Not only that, but you also see the words ‘The Royal Flush’ carved onto the inside of the box under the lid.”

“‘This must’ve belonged to the two of them. Though, this doesn’t help at all with where they might be now.’” Gizmo grit her teeth as she tried to think to herself how to proceed. After a couple of minutes, I was beginning to get the impression of that one meme from Invincible. With Gizmo shouting at her character saying ‘THINK PRIMROSE, THINK!!’ because right now, it looked like she was having trouble trying to determine what exactly to do next.

Though, before my mind could wander elsewhere, the unicorn had a new question. “Would I notice anything else? Not within the vicinity of the carriage, but outside of it?”

“Roll for perception again.”

One more dice roll and the results are in. “Fourteen.”

Again, barely made the threshold. Any lower and that roll might not have been successful. Though, now might be the time to keep things going. “You notice that heading north, there are a series of footprints-”

“What’s a footprint? Is it like a hoofprint?”

Okay, that’s the first I’ve heard of that… though, since they sounded similar, I’ll just roll with it. “Pretty much, though it matches the size of the creature's feet. In this case, you see a lot of what looked to be medium sized prints. Yet, the ones that stood out to you were twice the size of that and took the form of claws. However, before you could be able to determine what kind of prints they were, a loud feral roar was heard in the same direction the footprints were headed, loud enough to have birds immediately fly away as you hear the sound of a nearby tree crash to the ground. What do you do now?”

“I head towards the noise, but approach cautiously. After all, for all I know, it could be a monster.”

Oh, it was going to be a monster alright. Just not the kind that she would be expecting. Hopefully, with enough effort, I can pull this off. “As you follow the noise, you would soon find the forms of several lifeless goblins on the ground. Their bodies are twisted and broken, but that isn’t what stands out. What does catch your attention is the sight of a blue dragonborn that is around seven feet tall. It’s axe was on the ground and it’s hand was around the neck of a struggling goblin. But you can tell right away that this is the same barbarian that Ace spoke to you of… and it was not happy. For even though the goblin tried to plead that it knew nothing, the barbarian’s only answer was to slam it to the ground as the impact snapped its neck. By that point though, he would now have noticed you.”

“O-oh horseapples.”

… Seriously, what was it with ponies and their swear words? Is everything something pony related? I’m beginning to think that their world is the kind of one where someone saying peeved off is treated like a cardinal sin.

Anyways, small rant aside and putting my unfinished miniature on the table, let’s keep going. “At first, the barbarian did not say anything as it started at you. Though, when it did speak, it only said one thing to you in a deep and rough voice. ‘WHO. ARE. YOU?’”

Gizmo’s fur was now standing up on end as I watched her try to process everything. I wasn’t sure if she was going to slip out of her chair or what, but I think I left too much of an impression on her. “What do you-”

“IshowthecardandtrytosaythatI’mheretohelp!!”

Okay, too much of an impression. “Uh… could you repeat that?”

Gizmo blinked, before realizing her mistake, “S-sorry, force of habit,” she cleared her throat to calm herself down, “I show the card Ace gave me and try to say that I’m only here to help him.”

Alright, now we’re back on track. “The Dragonborn would narrow his eyes, before getting closer. Yet, he isn’t looking at you directly, but at the card instead. After a moment or so, he looked away and began to speak to himself. Yet, his voice is very thick and what he is saying doesn’t sound like words at all.”

“Well, that’s a bummer,” Gizmo replied. “You sure there isn’t any way that I could try and understand him? Like something with my character’s language?”

I shook my head at that. “Not unless you want to roll at a disadvantage.”

Kobalt was the dragonborn character that I had been working on for some time. A dragonborn barbarian with an outlander background and a lightning breath weapon to compliment his draconic ancestry. The catch with him though was that he was only fluent in draconic and knew very little common tongue. That and his rather thick accent would make it difficult for others to either understand what he’s trying to say or get the wrong impression. That and since most of his problem solving abilities involved brute force, he was almost a complete opposite of Gizmo’s character. Even though he wants to do good things, how he does them makes people question his motives.

As for Gizmo, she was trying to take this slowly. Though, a few low rolls in perception didn’t help her in trying to understand Kobalt any better. If anything, he came off as a draconic enigma to her. Slowly, but surely though, things were beginning to slide into place and her character even had a party member to help. Now though, it was only a matter of-

“Uh, Sam? Why can I hear your garage door opening?”

… You bring up a valid point, why is my garage door opening?

“Sam, I’m home!”

Oh shit! Oh shit!! OH SHIT!! What is he doing back home now of all times!?

“Sam, who’s that-?” Before Gizmo could even finish, we both saw a man that was just a few feet taller than I was with a shaved head and a grey goatee pulling a suitcase with one arm and holding a backpack with the other. Ironically, he was wearing a Critical Role hoodie with a pair of darkened jeans and black sneakers.

At that moment, I could only get myself to say two words. “H-hi dad.”


Author's Note:

This is the second to last part and I have a reason for going this particular route because of what part 4 is going to cover. For now though, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had fun writing it.
-Frost