Hildric, the scruffy looking human male who claimed to be a tanner (yet was very adept at stealing into the homes of others), came across an unusual looking wall in the cellar of house they were staying in. During the course of their investigation into the floating disembodied skeletal heads that were haunting a vineyard, Hildric and his two companions began to suspect that their host, Henri Phillipe, was responsible for the murder of his wife’s former lover. The party stumbled across this side mission when their host’s wife, Elizabet, reacted very emotionally to the death of the wizard who was responsible for the aforementioned skeletal heads. After chipping away at the wall and forming a hole large enough for the party’s halfling to sneak in, they found the remains of Elizabet’s lover.

During the weeks that we don’t play D&D, we play Warhammer Fantasy RPG. Guillaume runs these games as the Gamemaster. He plays the non-player characters using the first-person method, in which he changes his voice and does some acting. Watching him get into his various roles is enjoyable and is a stark contrast to my third-person style of simply describing what the people in the world do and say.

I rolled up an ineffective thief, but I don’t blame it on any poor decisions on my part. The system gives nothing in the way of real options, forcing players into taking the role of random races, classes and abilities, all determined by a series of dice rolls. This lack of choice doesn’t sit well with me, and I look forward to Hildric’s death. Maybe I’ll get a fighter or cleric next time around.

A shifty looking rogue came out of nowhere, claiming that he has dealt with this ettin before, and he wanted to help us. What really helped was the other elf girl that also just showed up out of nowhere. I was getting ready to swing at the ettin when she managed to talk him down and change him back to human. The ettin is lucky too. I would have killed him.

Turns out that ettin was a cursed paladin. Probably a good thing they kept me from killing him. I don’t think Kord would have allowed me into Ysard if I did do that. I have to remember to thank them later.

The elf girl turned out to be half-human, and Freiya is her name. Sam is the rogue.

So, we get to town, have a drink, and follow this guy Corvus back to his home (finding some dead guy along the way). We broke into his house and Ama found a secret door. The new half-elf is a sorceress; she put several guys to sleep with a wave of her hand. We snuck around like a bunch of common thieves; I felt real dirty doing that. When we finally found Corvus, I slid across his table and punched him in the jaw, knocking him out. That was the only useful thing I had done all day.

Kill count: nothing, unless you count Corvus’ ego.

We went to the Laughing Bear in another town to get some rest. We sold some stuff, I bought a fancy chain shirt, and traded in my old greatsword for a really nice one too. We went to meet this politician Sir Avis, talked about someone named Corvus, how a war might be brewing, how we should go to Avid to stop an uprising, and… whatever. Skip this stuff. I wasn’t paying attention. All I remember is that we had to disguise as entertainers to get to Avid.

Along the way we found this town called New Fort. They had an ettin problem: this two-headed ogre thing stole their cows and vandalized a church. Rather than dealing with the problem in the best possible way (drive my sword directly into his chest and pull out his heart), the bald guy wanted to talk it out. So did the elf and gnome. Only Elian wanted to kill him too. We were outnumbered, so we tried to talk. With an ettin. What’s next? Barter with dire bears? Have lunch with a demon?

Kill count: not a single thing.