Dungeon Mistress: Session 4

Author's Note: There's only one more "session" after this. Thanks so much for reading.

---

Subj: Next session

Greetings, intrepid heroes! Sharing a few things in advance of next session.

First: those rituals you completed. Here's how they work:

● Meldrin and Cedwin completed the Ceremony of the Grove. In the same way that groves of trees have comingled their root systems, making each individual tree stronger and more resilient, the two of you now share an unassailable bond. At will, either of you can call upon the strength of the grove. It makes you immune to all psychic attacks, mental manipulation, and other, similar effects. However, the other person will become the target of any attacks or psychic effects against you instead. The effect lasts sixty seconds. You can each use it once per session.

● Enna and Lucia completed the Ceremony of the River. A torrent of strength flows into Enna from Lucia, its course as inexorable and true as flowing water. Enna can call on Lucia for aid, granting a bonus to damage or to any skill check or other effort of her choosing. This effect is quite powerful and can only be used for one such attack, check, or other effort, once per session.

Second: we are starting this next session as you arrive at the Arcanatrix's sanctum. As you may recall, it is located deep in the harsh windswept mountains that line the northern border of the Night Queen's realm. The journey -- even led by a skilled druid like Enna -- is inhospitable, treacherous, and unforgiving.

As such, the party must decide whether to risk the penalties from the arduous journey without resting, or the dangers inherent in resting outside the sanctum before entering. Let me know which you prefer, so I know to be prepared on how to begin the session.

Chris, show up early again to get in costume! Everybody else, bring your outfits. We're nearly at the campaign finale, I think -- the big remaining question is whether the Arcanatrix will be lending her aid as you attack the Night Queen, or not.

I look forward to learning the answer in this session.

Your Dungeon Mistress,

Monica

---

I stared at the email.

The ritual descriptions made me

suspicious.

It was easy to imagine how they might be used during combat...but even easier to imagine how they might be used during

other

encounters.

My phone pinged again, a few seconds later. I pulled it up hurriedly, wondering if it was an email from the secret admirer.

But it wasn't. Whoever that was, they had been radio silent ever since their emails before last session.

Instead, it was just an email from Liz, who said that she didn't think we should take the risk of resting outside the Sanctum -- the Arcanatrix would know we were there, and we'd be ambushed or attacked in our sleep.

This kicked off an extended and rapid back and forth, just like the argument last session.

Mike replied shortly after, saying that he thought it was important we were well-rested.

Erin responded after that, saying we should just take the exhaustion hit.

Mike replied, saying that he didn't want to risk not having all his spells ready in case he got into a wizard's duel.

Liz responded, saying that he lost the last duel against the Arcanatrix's

servant

, not even the Arcanatrix, so it wasn't like he'd win even with all his spells anyway.

Mike said that he hadn't lost, he and the Consigliere had reached a truce until the next time they came to the sanctum.

Erin told him to shut up about the truce, that only losers make truces.

Mike said that he would

not

shut up about the deal and that actually Erin sounded like SHE needed some rest, because she clearly was suffering from exhaustion penalties.

...And then Erin asked what I thought.

I was about to reply, when Mike texted me, to ask me to back him up.

You want us to be prepared, right?

And then -- after two weeks of silence, finally -- I got another ping. A separate email.

---

Subj: this stupid fucking discussion

Tell Mike that you also think we shouldn't rest. He probably just wants some kind of weird fantasy dream sequence with the Consigliere.

-- your secret admirer

---

Well, honestly, that rankled a little.

Someone -- one of my friends -- had

jerked me off

in a hot tub, made me cum while my other friend was teasing me. Presumably the secret admirer was the one who'd done it.

And she'd said nothing. Not immediately after, not in the weeks after. And now they were emailing me to weigh in on a fucking discussion about whether

the party made camp or not

?

I fired off an annoyed reply.

---

Re: Subj: this stupid fucking discussion

Why should I? You haven't said anything in weeks, and now you send this?

Chris

---

There was a minute or two before another ping.

---

Re: Re: Subj: this stupid fucking discussion

Oh,

I'm

the one who's supposed to be in touch?

I

was

in touch, Chris.

Lots

of touch, remember? You liked it enough that you lost control of yourself in a hot tub.

But you didn't even say thanks.

So now I'm annoyed. You can start working your way back into my good graces by making sure we don't go with Mike's plan. Or you can bet that where I went out of my way to make the last session have a happy ending for Cedwin, I'll go out of my way to make the next one miserable for you.

-- your secret admirer

---

Well, that not only gave me pause, it brought me back to the central question about all of this:

who the fuck was sending this emails?

This cemented that it had to be Liz or Erin. I could imagine either of them sending this aggrieved, slightly hostile, teasing email. Maybe it sounded a little more like Liz? But Erin had sent the last reply on the email chain before I'd gotten this note...

But I couldn't imagine either of them jerking me off to completion in a hot tub. Even though I knew one of them had.

At any rate, I wasn't sure I wanted to find out what happened if I went into the next session pissed off at me.

So I decided to opt for contrite, perhaps a little overwhelmed, and appreciative. It was an easy tone to opt for because it was mostly how I felt.

---

Re: Re: Re: Subj: this stupid fucking discussion

Look, I didn't know what to say, okay? Whoever you are, we've never...done anything like that. I still don't know who 'we' even is.

I'll tell Mike we're not resting outside.

And it was really hot. By the way.

---

The reply came back almost immediately.

---

Re: Re: Re: Subj: this stupid fucking discussion

During the next session -- make sure you're checking your email. Maybe turn notifications on. I don't know what Monica has planned, but I don't trust it. I want to make sure if I need to get in touch with you, I can.

I'm glad you liked it. Maybe there'll be more where that came from, if you're lucky.

-- your secret admirer

---

And then I texted Mike and said I didn't think resting outside the sanctum was a good idea.

He replied almost immediately:

C'mon, dude, I need to be at full strength. Part of the deal I was telling you about is that I've gotta do this...trial, thing, while we're there.

I mulled that over for a moment, but I decided that I actually had some good reasons for not wanting the rest, and sent a text:

Well, we've got that ceremony of the grove boost now, so that'll help, right? And honestly, Monica will probably just use the rest as an excuse to attack or weaken us or something anyway. Maybe kidnap somebody.

There was a long pause before he replied:

I really want Meldrin to do this on his own without help from the ceremony, but I see your point. And yeah, you're right, it feels like a bit of a trap option from her. Ok.

Well, the

trial

-- that Meldrin really wanted to do on his own -- felt a bit odd. I remembered that Mike said he had struck some kind of deal with the Consigliere during that last visit, but he'd been light on specifics.

Satisfied that I wasn't going to unduly piss anybody off, I sent the email, and with Mike outvoted and consensus established, Monica said she'd plan the session assuming we forged ahead and went straight in to the sanctum.

---

I was both excited and anxious as the day of the session got closer.

Between Mike's return, Monica, and the secret admirer -- the dynamics in these sessions felt increasingly strange to me, so unlike the games I used to run for my friends from high school.

The vibes I had been getting from Liz and Erin -- teasing, flirty -- were also increasingly confusing from two friends who had only ever seemed platonic, however much I might've wanted things to be different.

I was jealous of Mike, and this unspecified

trial

that felt all-too-similar to the interactions I'd had with Monica. Or...the characters Monica was playing, anyway.

It had been one thing when I'd been worried mostly about what was happening between me and Monica, but now...it felt like what had once been my friend group was...

evolving

.

And

I didn't know what it was evolving into

. That scared me, a little.

---

But in spite of my misgivings, time did its thing, just like it always does. The night of the session arrived.

I knocked, tentatively, on Monica's door. It swung inward, slightly, making me realize that it was actually just open, not even closed all the way.

"Come on in," I heard Monica call from inside. And then I heard her say, "On three, okay?"

I opened the door and walked through her small front entryway into her living/dining area.

And stopped in my tracks.

"One, two...

three

!"

She and Liz were -- with some significant effort -- in the final step of putting her flatscreen TV, which normally sat on media console up against the wall, on the table where we usually played.

They were both facing away to me, bending over and struggling to lift it up to the table while keeping it balanced.

As a result, I was treated to an excellent view.

Liz was wearing her Lucia outfit. My eyes traveled up her heeled boots to the skintight leggings she was wearing. That strappy top -- and the bandolier of knives -- put her back on full display, and I watched the muscles on her back flex as they started to pick up the TV.

And Monica...

Well

.

Monica was neck-to-ankle in black latex. It clung to her body, showing off round thighs, an appealing ass, wide hips that narrowed at her waist.

A pair of black stiletto heels sat on the floor next to her. The rational part of my mind -- which was absolutely operating without its normal level of resources -- informed that was probably because nobody wants to lift something heavy in that kind of heels.

But most of my brainpower was devoted to staring at the two of them.

They were facing away from me and I watched as, simultaneously, they bent over to hoist the TV. They were about the same height, and my eyes flicked from Monica's ass -- soft and full, clad in latex -- to Liz's, lean and round in those leggings.

It was impossible not to compare them.

Even harder to decide which I liked better.

Monica glanced at me over her shoulder. Her pale features were flushed from the exertion. "Hi, Chris." She leaned over, putting her heels back on.

Liz turned too, and gave me a withering look. "You could've come over and helped too, y'know."

"I, uh...I just walked in and you all were in the middle of it, I didn't want to get in the way..." I protested, weakly.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Anyway, good work, bro," she said, making her voice deeper, more masculine. She reached over and slapped Monica on the butt with all the casual, no-homo energy of one guy congratulating another on a new PR in the gym.

I could feel myself blushing, watching Liz's hand go to Monica's ass.

Monica looked surprised, but laughed quickly enough. "Hah. But you're right, we didn't need him. Thanks for the help, Liz."

Then Monica turned to face me fully, and I could see that the black latex bodysuit was zippered, straight down the front -- currently unzipped to show a vee of pale skin at her chest, and full, enticing cleavage. "Chris, your stuff is in the bathroom this week if you want to get changed. Liz is helping me finish getting set up."

"In...the bathroom? Not your bedroom?" I tore my eyes off her chest. I had been inside her apartment for thirty seconds and I already felt completely off balance.

Monica gave me a sly smile. "While it's nice you've gotten so

comfortable

undressing in my bedroom, there's some stuff in there that's set up for today's session, and I don't want to give you any spoilers."

I got even redder.

Liz's expression radiated disapproval.

I retreated to the bathroom to change.

---

The outfit was my usual Cedwin attire, and by the time I was changed, Mike and Erin had arrived. I opened the bathroom door to find them in their respective costumes, chatting with Monica and Liz.

"Okay, I've gotta run and check on a few things, guys," Monica said. "But I'll be back in a minute. Mike and Liz, can you make the drinks?" She gave me a once over. "Erin, will you help Chris with his tattoo?"

"Sure," she agreed, cheerily. She walked over to me with a sponge.

And then Monica left.

"What, uh...what do you think she's doing?" I said, staring after her, watching the way her curves moved in the latex.

Mike gave an exaggerated shrug, adjusting his robes slightly. "Something to do with today's session, I guess? Maybe we're using the pool again. She might not be back, though; the cops are probably gonna arrest her after that outfit she's in gives some old man a heart attack in the hallway."

I laughed, and so did Erin. I glanced at Mike questioningly. "She's dressed up as the Consigliere, right? That character you were telling me about, Mike?"

Mike nodded, handing Liz a drink.

Liz looked serious. "That reminds me, guys. We have to stay together this time. Last time in the Arcanatrix's sanctum, everything went off the rails after we split up. We stay together this time, right?"

"I mean, if we can. It's not like we split up on

purpose

last time, is it?" Mike sounded irritated. I got the feeling this was not their first run at this conversation.

Erin was frowning, biting her lip, trying to make sure the tattoo was applying cleanly to my forearm as she sponged it. "I mean, you

were

pretty happy to follow the Consigliere into that other room, Mike..."

"Yeah, but I didn't know the door was going to close and seal behind me!" He protested.

Liz snorted. "Right. You seemed

so

upset to be alone with the Consigliere," she said, sarcastically.

Mike's face was red, now. "I-I had plenty to worry about and I figured you guys would be working on how to get the door open," he muttered, pouring bourbon out and handing it to me.

"We had our own problems," Erin muttered.

My eyes flicked to Erin, who was leaning forward over my forearm, applying the tattoo. I couldn't see her face. But I had a nice view of her decolletage in that dress that Monica had altered for her.

I could see her collarbone all the way down to her cleavage, and admittedly, my eyes lingered for a long moment. God, she was hot. I had fantasized about her many times over the years, about kissing my way down her neck, down the freckles of her chest...

I realized, staring...that the soft skin of her upper chest wasn't pale, as it usually was. I couldn't see her face, but there was a flush at her neck that was unmistakable.

She was blushing.

Erin was embarrassed by whatever had happened with the Consigliere last time, too.

Erin's embarrassment -- cheery, positive, enthusiastic, go-with-the-flow Erin -- hit me in a way I wouldn't have expected. Erin, who I'd always had a crush on.

Erin, who didn't look like a D&D player, but was a bit of a powergamer when you got right down to it. Who was always the first one to ask how much experience we'd gotten from an encounter.

Erin, who was

never

embarrassed.

"Hey, it's all good. It's all four of us, now," I said. "We'll work together."

There were murmurs of agreement from the others, but all of us were uncharacteristically quiet, after that.

Normally we'd chatter, filling whatever time there was by catching up, asking each other questions, laughing about inside jokes from our childhood.

The silence was new, different.

I had to admit, even I didn't feel confident in what I had said. I was wondering what had happened to Liz and Erin. What Mike was going to do with Monica. Who the secret admirer was. The mix of jealousy and curiosity was confusing.

And I wasn't the only one who recognized that the dynamics were shifting, obviously.

I was still mulling over what all of this might mean as we all sat in silence when Monica returned.

"Well, then. Shall we get started?" Monica's voice was cheery.

I watched my friends try to snap out of whatever funk had descended on us as we gathered around the table.

---

Monica's voice was smooth, as she set the scene.

"Your arrival is different, this time. For one thing, it's snowing. And clearly, it has been for some time. The blizzard has coated everything in a blanket of snow and bitter cold. You are, in truth, glad not to be attempting to rest in preparation, just heading inside. There's little respite to be found here. Winter has descended upon the Arcanatrix's mountain sanctum. In another month's time, attempting this journey would be foolish, even for seasoned adventurers like yourselves."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Since you aren't resting, you all need to make a round of Survival checks. 17 is the number to beat; anything less and your character shows up with some kind of penalty."

We shrugged, and all began rolling.

"Twenty six," Erin said, cheerfully. "No problem!"

I rolled. "Nineteen," I reported, breathing a sigh of relief. I didn't want to find out what the penalty would be.

"A fucking

sixteen

," Liz said, with a sigh.

"Okay, here." Monica handed her a slip of paper.

Liz was glancing at hers and shrugged. "Okay, fine. Beats the Arcanatrix jumping us in our sleep."

All of us turned to look at Mike.

"I got a five," Mike said glumly.

Monica handed him a slip of paper, too. He read it, and his face reddened. "Come

on

, Monica. This is bullshit."

Monica waved her hand irritably. "Whatever. Don't argue with the Dungeon Mistress. You guys picked this approach. Look, you have indeed arrived. The curved, dome-like shape protruding from the mountain's steep peak is unmistakable to those of you who have been here before -- though the shimmering crystal that you know it to be constructed out of is now covered in snow."

I could see Mike gearing up to object some more about his penalty. I tried to redirect.

"So...how do we get inside?" I made Cedwin's voice extra weary, given the description.

"You walk through it. The crystal keeps out inanimate matter, but lets through living beings into her...foyer," Mike said. He was using Meldrin's reedy tones.

"C'mon, I'm tired of the cold," Liz said, using the smoky purr for Lucia.

Erin just nodded in agreement.

"Who steps through first?" Monica asked, a sly smile on her face.

I opened my mouth, but Mike spoke up. "I'll go in first in case the magic feels...odd, in any way."

"We're all following him right away, though," Liz added, quickly.