Chapter 1

‘The land of Arrkadia was a vast one to behold, a super continent stretching in many directions and some supposed was the only real landmass to see.  The diversity of locations encompassing everything from deep and twisted old forests to vast swaths of barren sandy deserts. Vast mountain ranges that supposedly pierced into the heavenly plain and a stunning coastline that gazed into the azure seas along its western face.  It was home to many races. Many monsters. And had no shortage of adventure or troubles.

Somewhere in the center of the continent one such adventure was beginning to unfold.  Following a winding road that just broke past the large Crimson Forest of Durnor, it found its way past blue grasslands and a large meadow of strange flowers and plants.  A rarity to be sure, and the source for the prosperity of the nearby town as it was said to contain a number of rare and important ingredients for the preparation of potions for the region.  Up ahead was the Town of Armel itself, a small sleepy place bordering on a small river that bore spring melt from the lone peak far off to the North.

This was the sight for the caravan of travers bound for its main entrance.  The relative peace not lost on those that could observe the lack of wall surrounding the town.  A few farms punctuating the outskirts before falling into the mixture of houses and shops that dotted the area itself.  The adventurers found themselves at an Inn with a picture of a Rabbit dancing a jig called the Hopping Rabbit.. The Dancing Dunny… The ahm… uh….’

-|-

Robert groaned and rubbed his brows.  Looking at his notes he frowned at what was there.  The names were strange with no connection, he barely had a map and his landscapes were trying to sound impressive when he had seen some of the VRPGs (Virtual Role Playing Games) the others played and homeworlds they came from.  He tore the last section out of his notebook and bunched it up throwing it over the desk. “There’s no point to this if it’s just going to be awkward and stupid.” He counted the bounces made by the paper ball before it stopped completely, looking on as it didn’t even reach the end of the desk.  The sobering reality that he was far smaller coming back to the forefront of his mind as he looked over his little section of world, a point on a desk where he was literally palm sized to the apartment’s inhabitant. The looming feelings of being so tiny pressed in on him. He hugged his head for a moment and let out a defeated sigh.  “Maybe we should cancel game night, and apologize for getting their hopes up; Call it quits.”

“Don’t say that.”  The feminine voice of his room mate spoke up.  She was sitting beside him as the human worked, though the prospect of proximity was a little bit different than side by side.  A casual glance was all it took to reveal the much larger woman. Had she not been sitting, she would have stood over 63 feet tall, minus the ears on her head.  The large white and brown furred Vitili looked down at her charge with a mixture of excitement and comfort, ears half folded back as she peered at his work. Keeping her giddiness to a minimum to not dance around just yet, since this was just the anticipation to the game.  Looking at the bundled up paper she nudged it back with her pinky finger. “Remember you don’t need to stress about making it super good, when you told me about the game I even told you not to try and compare it with the VRPGs that’s just going to ruin your mood.” Seeing his current glum state she slowly reached out that same finger to pet against his back.  Watching the little human relax and eventually open up again. Offering a smile when he looked her way. With Robert reassured, she looked around her apartment room, the place had been cleaned and prepped and the living room table was set and clean, some snacks were near the edge of the kitchen counter and there was enough spaces for everyone. The feeling of the room was inviting and she even had mind to prep the lights to be not as bright as usual since she didn’t want to blind Robert by proxy of glare of the metal table top.  She stood up to pace the room, stretching out while he watched the whole spectacle, trying to read what the Vitili was thinking. Wiggling her small fluff of a tail a bit, as her ears finally dropped behind her back, she checked to make sure her game station was stowed.

The shutters were dimmed, darkening the glass to remove the glare of city life outside.  Part of this was just normal practice given what they both knew about Robert’s feelings in large open places.  But even he could feel it, and he knew she was thinking it. Today was special. In an hour’s time he would be running a human game for her and four friends.  She couldn’t help but feel excited. Only catching her foot tapping when she noticed Robert giving her a look as it seemed her antics shook the desk all the way from the middle of the room.  He assumed the scene seemed silly for her as his gathered books and papers began to scatter even more, in fact her giggle confirmed his suspicions. “Oops sorry. But I’ve been looking forward to this since you told me a month ago about it.  I get to play a Human RPG with friends and it’s not just some VRPG experience!” Smoothing herself out she kept her fur in check, brushing out any wrinkles in the fabric of her clothes. Despite promising to reign in the urge to bounce around until the game, she still couldn’t help but dress the part of what she planned to be.  Her costume had mixed the appearance from her VRPG character and a few Human inspired characters like Robin Hood and Aragorn. The green cape and traveling clothes sticking out a lot compared to the sleeker more modern room. It still seems surreal looking at a giant bunny dressed like some fantasy ranger stand in an apartment room in the middle of a town of giant aliens on a completely different world.

To his credit, Robert didn’t muse or quip about her looks, and that fact alone no doubt endeared him more to her in some way.  Though he would be lying if part of it wasn’t the consideration of what someone her size could do if he insulted her outfit. Not that she ever would do anything, but the thought was still there.  She returned to the desk once more and took a seat as close as she dared to where he worked. Crossing her arms on the desk to rest her head down on a cheek, staring as he scribbled out and rewrote things over and over on his paper she gave a smale exhalation.  The air ruffling his outfit and clothes as she watched him with one of her dark blue eyes. “So…. What is giving you a hard time now?”

The human turned around to gaze back at her.  Their eyes met in that moment and hers seemed to sparkle.  The desk had the faintest of tremors which indicated the larger of them was hopping with excitement.  He looked away to hide his blush, which probably made her foot tap faster in hindsight. Thinking back on it he was an awkward guy.  Despite roughly being the same age in relative years, he had never really openly communicated with her too much after first being paired.  Until they found their shared interest with games he had been incredibly reserved. Despite qualifying to work in Yutri development which included but was not limited to updating and improving models, helping make the translation software for human languages, and allowing a few more human friendly programs like a pseudo-guardianship finder for any human who found their mech broken down, or in some usual cases too drunk to use the thing; He had practically jumped at his own shadow during their meeting.  As Robert had put it, a little while after they first met, even when he was on Earth he preferred to do his work from home as he had trouble being around others and outside. And when he found out he couldn’t work from his home on Earth but at the very least had to work from the home of a Guardian he had been a terrified wreck. Her ears drooped further back as they had their silent exchange of glances, and for a moment he pondered if she was thinking on the same things he was. Which made him wonder if Lupari really were the only true empaths or maybe his guardian was secretly telepathic.  He snorted at that. THAT was definitely the game planning talking. His mood improved a bit as he looked back down to his work. “I can’t think of a good name for the tavern you’ll start in.”

She blinked and rolled her head to rest her chin on her hands instead.  “Oh? In what way?”

He wouldn’t deny the look she gave made him flush for a moment.  Looking away to avoid further soft looks, though not fast enough as he heard her coo, no doubt finding his red face adorable somehow..  “Well, you’re starting in a tavern that has a sign depicting a white rabbit dancing--” He stopped talking almost instinctively as his description made her giggle.  She had no doubt who the inspiration of such a tavern might be from. As she fell silent he sighed. “Anyways, I can’t get the name right…”

Sitting up she tapped her chin for a moment in thought.  “Couldn’t you call it the Ecstatic Meirita…” She smirked after adding her own name to the tavern.  Robert rolled his eyes at that one.

“I think I’ll use your name down the line, though if you would prefer to be named after a start up tavern and not some foreign queen…”  He hung the statement out there and she squirmed in her seat. Backing out a bit to move and do a little jumping and squeal that wouldn’t directly ruin any more of Robert’s work.  Granted this time he had prepared for it as he covered his books and papers before making the comment. Not that she seemed to notice. Watching the display was strange again. But he watched the movements, her general look of delight that was infectious.  Even if he was a terrified sap at the start, her personality had at least warmed him to not be terrified of his new place of residence. Sure there was a section for him to stay in more his size but he would be lying if he said he preferred working at his desk to working on hers.  Her happiness definitely made him feel happy. Happy…

“Fine you win buster, So what will you name it then?”  Robert was staring at or past her, partly aware that Meirita was looking right at him but he rolled that word in his head one more, ‘Happy.’  Looking around she didn’t see anything too terribly remarkable. “Uh Robert?” Breaking out of his reflections the human immediately began writing again.

“The Happy Hare…”  It was all he spoke out loud before fixating once more on his work.  Meirita smirked for a while before noticing she ruffled her outfit and huffed.  Resolving to get everything sorted out before her friends arrived.

-|-

By the time the first people buzzed the door to enter Robert had already been relocated with all of his books to the table that would be used for the game itself.  While he would of preferred a normal setting at one side of the table and the players at the other, his unique size made placement a bit different. And at the same time he had the same convenience of it, if they even tried to peek they might not even be able to see or understand what he had.  Having decided to go an all paper route for the notes of the adventure so an overly curious Vitili wouldn’t spy on his plans through a Yutri. He watched Meirita practically hop over to the door, the large legs quivering with excitement. He was afraid if she held herself back any more she might just kick a hole into the floor or launch herself through the ceiling.  It was just four friends. He reminded himself again, “four friends and a roomate playing some D&D nothing to be afraid of.” The buzzer called again as it seemed the guests were impatient and he suddenly was aware of his smallness. Just four towering giants with their eyes on him… He gulped and slouched in his chair to hide a bit. While he wanted to look at his notes he couldn’t help himself but look at the door.  There had been the odd Ralai, Lupari and Arkatian he had seen during his original travels, but after being assigned to the Vitili he had cloistered himself to her apartment, a lot. She would take him to some outdoor places but often times she had him cupped in both hands to make sure his fears didn’t get the better of him in public. He felt bad in retrospect for insisting she hide him from view, which only made more people look their way.  But at the start it had been too much, too much space, and too much of other people. He was incredibly thankful she had complied even with the worried look he got from the first request. Until he had fully been integrated to his job and permission was granted to work from home he had even seen around her own offices. When the offices were thankfully empty for the day rather than a busy over crowded work day. He knew some of her work friends by name when Meirita mentioned going out for her VRPG nights, or answering the odd vid-call at the edge of her desk while he worked away at his Yutri programs, but he had never met any of them in person yet.  Nor did he know what they were. Never in person and uncovered by her hands anyways. His thoughts stopping when the door opened.

Just past the Vitili he spied one of the guests.  A Lupari who stood a head taller than Meirita, easily 76 feet tall by his estimation, a tawny furred woman that he could just spy the wag of the tail even from here.  Her wolfish features rather striking when compared to his rabbit guardian. If this were earth such a relationship probably wouldn’t be as friendly as what he was witnessing right now.  He didn’t bother trying to focus the Yutri too hard where they were, though he couldn’t hide his gaze in their direction creating an interesting difference where he could see them but his Yutri didn’t translate them.  Beyond the squeal Meirita gave before pouncing the Lupari into a hug that staggered them both outside as it seemed she had yet to work off the last of her excitement before it overflowed once more. This also gave enough of a separation to reveal the gray furred Tordenchi who had stepped both partly in the door and away from the hug fest that just occured.  Despite being the formerly shortest race in the UTO and well under the height of the other pair, the woman still crested over 50 feet in height in the overall scale of things. The Tordenchi seemed to be sporting, at least where he could see, a small amount of ruby fur dye mostly depicted as swirls and lines, though he could swear her left side of her neck had some sort of flower shape to it.  Other than that she had a sleeveless white top and a short skirt that hovered just at knee length, holding a red purse that had previously been slung over a single shoulder. Her hand brushing past her large satellite dish ears before looking around the room with mild interest. The Tordenchi herself also slipped into the room to avoid probably her own hugging. Looking around at the slightly larger apartment space she entered and spotted the table first.  Approaching with some relief to go and drop off her purse. Robert blinked and on painked reflex dropped his head trying to hover behind his stuff to avoid notice. Still hunched over as he could hear the softer padding of her steps toward the table until he finally heard her voice.

“Uhm, what are you doing?”  Looking up revealed the woman leaning slightly over his area and he grimaced and sat up.  A fast glance to the door revealed his Guardian was still outside talking with what he surmised was her best friend.

“Oh uhm sorry.  I just …” He reflected on what he remembered of Tordenchi and Ashar when it came to lying.  Deciding to be cautious for his first formal meeting rather than a white lie he just gave in an accepted his actions.  With that Robert could only sigh. “I felt nervous as you entered and tried to make myself smaller to avoid notice.”

She eyed him up with cool collected amber eyes.  Before eventually shrugging and setting her purse at one of the chairs.  “Well you’ll find that you can’t get much smaller than you are,” Way to rub it in, was all he could think.  Looking down at himself only added to her blunt observation. Even when he was back home on Earth he wasn’t the tallest guy around.  Standing at 5 feet and six inches made his the target of short jokes even before the possibility of Gigantic alien animals was a thing.  He brought his internal turmoil down to focus back on the Tordenchi, who had a little more to say to him. “And making quick movements is far more eye catching than doing it slowly.”  She walked past the table to the kitchen and he watched her go. Mostly to gaze at the furless tail with some fascination. Of course watching her hips move as she had an almost saunter to that walk he had no idea if she was like that or intentionally doing so to grab his attention again as she disappeared through the doorway.  The loud pop of a can indicating she found her choice drink as he still looked in the kitchen’s direction.

“Aaaaand this is Robert!”  Meirita entered the door once more, making a direct line to the table and preventing any chance of him from trying to hide again.  He could only look up at his Guardian with a blank look, happy that her overflowing exuberance was down to safe levels once more but he was wishing she didn’t just announce him like some display.

His eyes drifted to the door as the Lupari ambled back in, and the woman had the smart idea to close the door as she entered. The pause also let him see she sported a red sleeveless top and white pants, both of which hugged her figure.  Walking up rather casually as she peered at the human. “So this is your charge?” She paused at the table and loomed close, nearly pushing on his own tiny table as she breathed through her nose a bit. The long muzzle staring at him made him grow a bit restless.  Her head turned to give him a better view of her green eyes before there was one ‘wrph’ of air and she rose. Hand moving up to hide her teeth as she grinned. “Well he’s certainly uncomfortable but still a cutie so I will agree to your claims. Though I’m still confused why you want us to meet here before we VRPG, your apartment isn’t exactly close to the nearest center.”

Meirita groaned.  “Tahrena! We talked about this.  Instead of doing our usual game my charge wanted to show us the Human variant of it called TRPG.”  She motioned a hand to the table itself. “T, for Tabletop, RPG. We’ll be playing right here.”

The Lupari addressed as Tahrena gave the table and Robert a sideways glance then shrugged.  “Whatever, you and your human game obsession has turned up a few fun things to date so I don’t see why not giving this a chance too. Hey Neinja get me one of those too?”  The Lupari broke off to enter the kitchen leaving them alone for the time being.

Robert felt out of place for the conversations, looking to Meirita to try and ask for a moment to think where there was a loud knock on the door, and before his Guardian could even get there, it swung open so suddenly the draft from outside managed to blow Robert and his table over.  He had to all but throw himself over his things so none of it was sent tumbling off the larger table. After that he scrambled to get his station fixed and his papers in order. As soon as it was done he looked up at the sudden intruder as in strode a massive Jahkatian who might have just been as tall as the Lupari but his broader shoulders made him seem more massive.  The larger griffon man had a mixture of mottled white and blue feathers that seemed more gray than anything. In some ways, if not for the lower half, Robert would've believed he could of mistaken him more for an owl at a distance. The sandy tan fur of his lower body seemed almost all too fitting as some of the more average depictions of a griffon. Average if you ignored the fact you ignored he was a towering 75 foot tall behemoth.

Just behind him he could spy a black furred kitsune… Falashai, he had to mentally correct himself.  It seemed that both of this pair were taller than Meirita, the Falashai not by much. Granted both of them near the Jahkatian seemed dwarfed as he shut the door.  Getting the Vitili into a bear hug and actually lifting her off the ground for a a tense ten seconds. Even if Robert wanted to ignore the greetings, the louder voice of the man carried well enough his Yutri translated for him.

“Meirita! You look giddier than when we last talked today at work.  How are you doing? To be certain I was surprised when you invited us to meet up here with prospects of a new game.  I hope whatever you have planned is a good one. We were just in the middle of that boss fight last week when we had to put things on hold, and I don’t mind a small wait but I want to feel the swing of that great axe again. Simply invigorating!”  He spoke so often he seemed to simply override any moment his guardian would have talked; Probably just liked the sound of his voice more. His outfit looked more like he had walked in from the gym, with a white tank top with some logo written in common on it he didn’t fully understand and a pair of shorts it seemed the man had a mind to show off how fit he was compared to anyone else.  The man didn’t even glance at the table, head craning up it seemed he spied the pair in the kitchen and raised a hand and continued his stride to the next room, “Hey girls been here long? Oh toss me one of those drinks.”.

In stark contrast the Falashai hung back and seemed to wait for Meirita to address her.  Her soft speaking meant if Robert wanted to listen he’d have to strain to hear it or bump up his Yutri, though at this current moment he preferred the break.  Observing the Flashai he couldn’t help but get lost in the swirls of silver and gold fur dye intermixed on her form. It was hard to see where one trail ended and the other began.  She either had professional work or took amazingly long herself to make the two colors seem to fade and blend into each other. It was about then he noticed her relative lack of a top.  She had something much like a sports bra but he was more than certain he could see her fully exposed belly, which just made the body art more eye catching. She even chose a black similarly colored to her fur color no doubt to show off the work.  Same with the shorts she wore. It was almost like watching living artwork stand and walk around. It was captivating. Watching them converse put Robert a little more at ease. Noting the Falashai eventually be escorted to the table.

“Robert, this is Mina.  Mina, this is Robert..” Merita kept the introduction small before immediately deviating to the kitchen.  “Guys! Let’s try to keep things clean please!” No doubt keep her other friends from raiding all her stuff.  Leaving the human alone with the fox woman. Her golden eyes watching him as she slowly slipped into a seat close to the middle of the table within proximity of where he sat.

With little else to do he turned to look at her as she watched back.  Feeling a bit unnerved with how calm and quiet she was being. “Uhm, Hello Mina.  how are you--” He almost leaped out of his chair as she leaned forward. Her arms propped on the table by their elbows and head resting in hands she hovered incredibly close to peer at him and his things.  “I uhm… You’re doing well I take it?”

The girl blinked and her lips curved into a smile.  Even so close the puffy breaths that hit him showed she was whispering rather than speaking.  “Hello Robert. I look forward to the game you want to show us. Sorry if my boyfriend scared yo He can be a bit loud.”  She offered him a pinky finger, the claw at the end curved and resting close. He looked from it to her before taking it to shake.  With that her hand moved back into place. “Sorry if I seem a bit forward but you’re the first in-person human I’ve seen not in a mech.  Meirita told me you work from the apartment and you don’t have a mech yourself so I just wanted to see you, and the Simulations don’t do you credit for how cute you are…” She held her position, unlike the Lupari she didn’t invade his personal space with her muzzle.  More content to watch and talk it seemed.

The calm kind attention was still a bit much but her words made him blush even more.  “Oh um. Thank you?”

A soft squeal emerged from the Falashai’s lips almost like a whine in some ways.  “Oh you’re so adorable! Well I hope we aren’t too much a handful for you. I want to play this human game as much as you offer to…”

Robert relaxed a bit.  Mina was incredibly quiet, collected and with the occasional squeal or soft outburst of excitement from their talk; Robert just forgot about the game for a while.  Finding it incredibly easy to talk to her and not making him as nervous as the others had. Talking about how he first met Meirita when he was being assigned a Guardian.  The, of course, initial sinking realization of scale not often grasped on Earth and the dawning understanding this was now his life. He took time to talk about his issue around open spaces and large groups of people.

“At the very least.  I’m happy to see she has helped you out of some of your fears.  Though putting your feelings into perspective it’s incredibly brave of you to not only offer to run us a game but also do it out here with us in person rather than hiding in your room and doing it through your Yutri.”

Robert thought on that for a bit and nodded.  “Yea i guess I am happy of this adjustment. And you have been a wonderful pregame conversationalist Mina, thank you.”  He could help but smile as she did as well, picking up on her contained squeal from his compliment as she finally relented and sat up to wait for the others.

Eventually everyone began to filter in and sat the table. It was then the Jahkatian finally noticed him.  Though Robert didn’t feel as intimidated, thanks in part to his time talking with Mina, his small measure of gained backbone eroded when the Jahkatian, Boetian, insisted on hovering over him and using a claw to compare his size and joke about his height.  And in an instant too fast for him to fully comprehend, cool and collected Mina was up to smack her boyfriend’s hand away and even shoo him to a seat. Blinking a bit he groaned. Getting his nerves underwraps as everyone sat down. Meirita had the seat directly opposite Mina as his little table now rested between the pair. He felt safer and more relaxed as she moved one of her hands close by.

“Now then, Welcome to Dungeons & Dragons!”

-|-

The table was relatively quiet.  Short of the small squeal of excitement from Meirita and her bouncing leg which lightly shook the table.  It looked as everyone except Boetian had leaned in somewhat. The Jahkatian sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Look that’s a cool name and all be we know literally nothing about this game.  You got some synopsis for this for us or demonstration cause right now this is not the VRPG we usually play.”

Robert binked.  “I uhm. Right. Well Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop game where we will be using a Yutri system I made, but if this was on Earth before contact this would be pen and paper.  We make characters and use dice to tell a story.”

“Oh I get it.”  Tahrena leaned back with a smile.  “So this is kinda like the foundation idea before VRPGs were a thing but for Humans it’s a lot more new before making it an actual game?”

“Oh uhm, no. D&D was created decades ago it’s just stuck around even after actual games were created, as many agree the experience has a far different feeling than a normal RPG.”  Robert watched as the Lupari blinked, confused how a non VRPG could be exciting at all.

He looked to the others to read their looks.  Boetian looked unimpressed, Tahrena at least looked interested to some point.  Mina it was hard to tell if she was more interested in the game or just staring at him and he honestly had no idea how to read Neinja just yet, but at the very least there was no scowl on her face that he could see.  “Anyways… “ He blinked, pulled out his Yutri and turned it on. “Meirita can you help me pass this program to the others it will help with my explanation.”

He watched the her snap out of her own dreamy gaze and pull out her tablet device to pull up and share the program to the others.  Actively watching as each device hummed when the retrieval was complete.

“Could you also get the package I ordered.  It’s finally time to reveal what I ordered for tonight.”

He could watch the sparkle of light in those big eyes as she quickly got up from the table and rushed to the closet door, opened it and retrieved a package he made her stow almost half a month ago.  Mentioning it was only for when his game was ready. She brought it back to the table with a smile and opened the container to peer within and gasped. Pulling out several pouches and peering into one before dumping the contents onto the table just in front of his station.  Letting the large many shaped dice rattle across the table’s surface as all eyes gazed at them in wonder. He let it sink in before hands reached for the box to grab their own pouches no doubt with more of these strange dice. Until everyone had two pouches before them.

“Right, so these are the dice used for this game.”  He stood up as each shape was set up just in front of him so he could point them out to everyone.  “The pyramidal die is the D4, it is used for certain spells and forms of attack. The cube is a D6, it is used when designing your character, and for some spells and attacks when the game starts, The Diamond one is the D8, again used for spells or attacks.  Next to that is the D10… uhm yes Mina?” He blinked as the Falashai held out a paw.

“Why does the D10 have two types?  One with single numbers and one with double?”  She set her paw down and pointed to her own dice set.

“Percentages.”  Neinja spoke up before Robert could reply.  The Tordenchi was holding her own up and musing at the look of them before rolling some on the table.  Watching as they tumbled and stopped. “My guess is double numbers is used for counting tens and the single numbers for the ones.”  She glanced over to the Human.

“Oh uh… absolutely correct.”  He was more than a bit baffled how she made that connection so quickly without being prompted or knowing what this game was.  “On top of that the D10 counts from 1 to 0, the 0 indicates 10. It also means that if it is rolled with the percentage die it immediately denotes a rounded ten.  Uhm rolling a double zero and a zero counts as one hundred but double zero and any number 1 to 9 counts from 1 to 9.” He watched them roll the dice for a bit to try different combinations.  It looked as though Tahrena was obsessing over trying to roll one hundred every single time but was finding it impossible to find a perfect number to hold and throw on to repeat the same result over and over.  Neinja was rolling hers and keeping tabs on her Yutri. If anyone would of been Robert’s guess to analyze the balance of the dice he supposed the Tordenchi would of been most likely. To either side of him it appeared like Mina and Meirita were competing to see who could roll the highest number in a  certain number of throws. The only one not really participating was…

Boetian cleared his throat.  “I’m sure this is all fascinating but lets wrap it up and get to the character selection stuff I want to see how fun this game is.  Strange mechanics aside.”

Robert spotted the sideways glare Mina had for a moment before pointing back to the dice.  “Yes well, there are only two left to look at. The D12, the dice made up of pentagons, another dice used for Damage and spells, and finally the D20.”  Pointing to the large polyhedron caught the attention of everyone to marvel the die. “Unlike all the others, this die is not used for the spells or damage calculation.  This die is used in the main game to determine every action, from combat to negotiation, saving throws and the like. It will most likely be the most used dice out of them all.” As he spoke his explanation stopped when he heard a large scaled sound of dice clattering on the table.  Looking up it was clear that Bo had threw his arms out to watch the die roll across the table, and for the human the trajectory dawned on him in slow motion. The tumble of a die made him look up as a massive D20 charged across the table. Rolling up as it bumped into some of the other dice and made its way toward his station.  Barely able to do more than turn his head and throw up an arm in shock he couldn’t even really gasp, but the protective hands of of Meitra fell around his station before the dice made impact. Bouncing off one of her furred knuckles. “So I wonder what rolling a 20 means.” The Jahkatian quipped as he started to reach for his dice only to be intercepted by another hand.

“What the hell Bo!  Watch where you’re throwing the thing.”  Tahrena spoke up as she glared at the man.

“What do you mean?  Oh... Oh right my bad. Sorry little guy.  Put a little too much strength into that I guess.”

Robert was still locked up as he heard the voices from over the the protective walls of Meirita’s hands.  Feeling his heart pound a bit as he tried to settle down. Up until it happened he didn’t even consider the possibility of being the size where the dice could smash into him.  Though to be fair the dice wasn’t dwarfing his size, if anything they’d maybe make it up to his knees. But their solid form and the arms behind it could really make them move.  The idea of being taken out by a single die wasn’t a fun thought.”

“Hey, hey your safe.”  Meirita had leaned down to rest her chin on the table and offer up a smile.  Not lifting her hands up at all so he could feel the close proximity of her. Letting himself sink into a feeling of safety once more.   Eventually relaxing more as he managed a smile back to her face.

“I’m alright…”  He gave a pat to the closest furry digit and watched her hands raise to the view of the table again.  Mina and Neinja both had looks of concern as it appeared Tahrena had dragged Boetian aside to scold his actions.  Returning to the table as the Jahkatian sat down and looked away. Wincing as there was a small thud under the table.  The slightest scoot of Tahena’s chair indicating she might have kicked the guy in the leg.

“Sorry about the wild throw there uh Robert.  Won’t happen again.” A glance to the the larger man showed he was more cowed by the glares of the others at the table than any direct guilt himself.  “But I mean if this was a VRPG then we wouldn’t have to tiptoe-ow!” He jerked a leg up hitting a knee under the table as it appeared someone else gave his leg a kick.

Letting the absurdity of the situation settle him, Robert began to laugh.  It helped make sense of all of this and relax again. “Anyways, your Yutri should be ready now.  This should allow you to make a character sheet for what you want to be and help you for putting a character together from race, to class and other details besides that.  Plus it lets me know when you have a finished sheet so I can keep track of your information.”

There were a few blank looks before Neinja looked to her own and scrolled through the display.  “I’m not seeing a Tordenchi option for race…”

Robert looked as the others intoned similar statements, only Meirita was busy working away at hers in excitement.  “Well I have a few races similar set up in the program but this version of the game was pre UTO so there aren’t any stats for your races and well most times people tend to play something other than what they are, though some still always play what they are it depends per person.  Here I can help you out with any questions uhm… Once Meirita is finished she can walk me around so I can answer any and all questions.”

“Uhm actually.”  The soft voice of Mina spoke up.  “I’ve passed my Guardian Certification.  If it isn’t too much trouble I could help you out since Meirita is currently obsessed in her character.”  He gazed at the black furred Falashai for a while. More than a little nervous but perfectly fine so long as the handler wasn’t going to be the Jahkatian.

“Alright I guess that works too… now let me show your how the sheet works.”

-|-

Robert carefully slid off his seat, grabbing a few books and making it a step out before doubling back to set the books down.  As nice a sentiment it would of been to have reference material it wasn’t nearly large enough for anyone to really be able to see or need it.  Navigating the carefully constructed rows of dice he looked up at the giant Falashai and managed a small wave. Mina took a moment to shift her focus from her display to watch his approach and smile, extending her arm out a bit as he walked back to turn and look up, giving him a better angle on seeing the screen showing his character sheet program.  At the moment she seemed to be scrolling through a large composed list of races. “Anything I can help with?”

Her ears twitched in confirmation.  “Well, I know you just talked about trying a different and unique race but I was curious if there were any fox races?  I’m a bit curious to see what you Humans dreamed up.” She paused to open another race and look at the picture and short overview that detailed the race for the viewer.  “Hmm, this could be a backup.” It looked like she was considering one of the lycanthrope options.

He pondered it over.  Pacing just under her chin and mindful her head was turned to watch his thought.  “You could look for Kitsune.”

She blinked back.”I’m not seeing a race called Fox.”

“What?  Oh right translation for Japanese…”  Looking up he pointed to the device, not really able to read the common it displayed but he knew his list.  “It should be the option between Half-Orc and Merfolk.” He waited as she chose the option letting it display Fox race that had multiple tails.

Her eyes actually seemed to light up when the picture was in view.  “Ooh! Wow she looks cool, what do they do?” Her eyes scanning the short overview.

“Well, the Kitsunes are, a sort of mystical fox race with many tails that grow in as they age.  Their gain a tail roughly every century, though the oldest kitsunes only have nine tails. They deal mostly in mystical and spiritual power.”  He could hear her humm as he outlined a little more than his short intro discussed on the race. Watching as her finger rose to tap the option, and noting how the program reacted.  More than a little relieved everything looked to be functioning normally. Watching the her amused face as the screen filled out certain sections of information in automatically.

“Oh!  It’s asking if I want the tails to be mechanic based or narrative based…”  She gave him a look. “Whatever is the difference?”

“Well it depends on your interest.  If you want to make it more of a roleplay event then you will have a number of tails equal to your age which will give small boosts but ultimately won’t change through the game too much depending on what happens.  Or if you make it a game mechanic as your character increases in level she gains additional tails and powers.”

“Oh that’s a tough choice…”  She sat up to look at the table, to which he mirrored her gaze.  Noticing everyone save Boetian was fixated on their sheet. She gave him a look.  “Well since it’s my first ever character I suppose I pick this one.”

As he turned to look, the screen had already changed to class selection.  With that option gone he watched as she began to scan through the classes now.  Taking this moment to look at her more. Walking under her chin as he peered at the shimmer of gold and silver lines dyed onto her fur and the occasional blur of her tail shifting side to side.  It was rather eye catching as he could almost make out blurs of color indicating she dyed her tail as well. At least up until it paused right in his field of view.

She giggled above him.  “Like what you see? Or perhaps you’re imagining with as many tails as the picture of the kitsune?”  Delighting as he turned a shade or red from her teasing. “How about a little help with the class please?  I was trying to view a few of them but its prompting me to collect attributes?”

“Hmm? Yea.  Oh right! Sorry.”  he shoot his head a bit to clear it of the thoughts of Mina as a five tailed kitsune with her body dye patterns.  Turning around and away from the view of the tail he walked right up to her dice rows. Slowly pushing four of her D6 toward her.  Noting the half head tilt look she gave him. “You need to roll these four dice together. Remove the lowest result and add up the rest.  Once you do that six times enter them into the boxes it is prompting you with and it will let you pick a class.” He backed up a ways to watch as her free hand reached down to grab up the dice and shake them in a loose fist for a moment.

“Might want to take cover Robert, you’re standing in my intended spot.”  She gave another soft smile and followed his brisk walk back safely under her muzzle before rolling her first time.

The clatter of the dice caught his attention.  Spinning around to watch giant dice roll and settle he continued to walk backwards to take in the sight.  The thought he was standing under a giant fox woman who rolled dice for a character. It made him anxious.  He really wanted this to work. Still walking backwards until he bumped off something rather soft and cushiony.  More surprised than anything he spun to discover himself face to bosom with her chest since she had leaned forward to work on rolling and counting her dice totals.  Blushing as his mind caught up to the fact he bumped into her breast. There was a soft chuckle above as she didn’t even glance down this time.

“Nice to know you are so comfortable.  Once I finish how about we see if anyone else can use your help.  Though I will admit,” She paused to roll her dice again. “I am finding this manual character design incredibly relaxing.  There! I have my six numbers now what?” She shifted back to a regular seating position, hands still propped low for him to see the display and for her to smile and watch what he stumbled into or said next.

Retreating a little ways from the edge he spun to observe the sheet.  “Well with the attribute values prepared for the next step, we can now pick your class.  And I will admit while this is manual a lot of this is set up for first time players which is automatically filling in for most of your choice variations.  If you ever want to make another character there is an option to fill in each section manually rather than letting the program decide.”

She held up a single finger.  “Getting ahead of yourself a bit.  Lets just worry about the class.” She flicked the list down and watched in scroll for a time.  “Wow you have even more class options than races. So what would you recommend?”

He looked up to her golden eyes.  Lost in his own thoughts for a bit.  “I, uh, er. I mean, what did you do in the VRPG I heard so much about?  Do you want something similar or different to that?”

For the briefest second he saw her eyes flick in the direction of Boetian.  “I was a shaman for that game. A type of healer that also did various buff magics.  I think i want to try something different but still similar to anything spiritual. Is there a classes like that?”

He muled the question in his head.  There were in fact a good number of classes that could be played like that but but he tried to think something a bit more literal she may like.  “Well, you could play a Monk. A type of martial artist who practices meditation, self discipline and discovery. Would that work?”

“Monk?”  Her finger flipped through the list before stopping to highlight the common name for the class.  “Yes! Oh this is perfect.” She wiggled a bit in her seat and smiled. Clicking the option and watching as even more of the sheet filled itself in, and she read along with each new addition.  Looking up, “So you made this entire program? The lists? And the interaction portions?” He nodded. “No AI help?” Another nod. She barely contained a soft squeal. “That’s so cool. Uhm, odd it highlighted some of the unfilled boxes.  It says, prefered stat choices?”

He nodded his head.  “Remember those numbers you entered?  This is where they will be placed. The six values are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.  Just drag and drop them from your saved bank to the squares you want the numbers to be in. For a monk your highest numbers should be in Dexterity and Wisdom.  After that is your preference depending on how you feel your character should be skilled or unskilled in.” He left it there and let her drag her numbers around to decide what she liked best before tapping completion and letting the screen scroll to the last selection.  “And now you just need your background and personality for the character. Once that’s filled in short of a few equipment choices your character will be ready to play.”

She nodded her head a bit.  “Awesome, oh! I like the look of this Entertainer background.  And done.” She set the display on the table and smiled down to Robert.  “I can do the rest myself, lets see if anyone else needs some help.” Her hand was set palm up on the table, hand lightly curled as she smiled to the human.  This was it. He gulped a bit and sized up the hand. This would be the first hand not belonging to Meirita he climbed up into. He knew she would be safe but he still felt his nerves creep back up as this was now unfamiliar ground.  He marveled the slightly larger size of the palm for a few seconds before climbing in and sitting down upon it. “Hang on I’m standing now.” He leaned forward and braced a bit as the Flashai stood up to her full height. Once clear of the table her hand was brought down to her stomach and only then did he relax.  The first person to her immediate right was Neinja, though the Tordenchi hid her Yutri display as they approached.

“I have figured out the sheet and would like to request my choices remain a surprise to the group.”  She looked over her shoulder to see she and Robert were eye level. “Though I will agree your program, if rudimentary in some areas, is an excellent composition to allow us access to what i assume is source material far too small for us to read ourselves.”

“I uh, thanks?”  He could only shrug.

Mina covered her mouth with a hand to laugh a bit more.  “Well if she’s fine let’s go see how big bad Boetian is doing.”  She navigated to the end seat and around to the right side of the large Jahkatian who was still staring at the race selection screen.  His overall demeanor and appearance one of a more relaxed and laid back attitude now. Sitting up to lean over and spy the human he let a grin cross his  beak.

“About time.  Waiting for some help was boring.”

Robert looked from him to the blank sheet a little confused.  “So what exactly do you--”

“I noticed your races lacked a griffon option,”  Boetian talked right over the human’s question. “I know that was the creature you humans spoke of what we looked like and I figured, considering you are so knowledgeable of the game and made the program you could just add the missing information real fast?”

Robert waited.  He watched that grinning face and waited to see if there was any last breath or potential remark poised to interrupt him again before he spoke again.  “Unfortunately, in D&D Griffons are larger beasts that are usually creatures encountered, tamed, or used as mounts, not playable races.” He watched the Jahkatian frown and start to sit up.  No doubt preparing to reply so he made the second part fast. “But there is a Bird race you might enjoy instead!” Watching the large man blink then pull up his display to try and find it. “You should look up Aarakocra… uhm it’s the very first race on the selection tab.”  As Boetian looked it up and checked the picture it was a huge relief to the human as the man gave a thumbs up and smile. Of everyone here, while he couldn’t read Neinja, she didn’t intimidate the hell out of him like Boetian.

With that apparently done the next person over was Tahrena.  The Lupari grinned ear to ear, lips revealing her teeth a teensy bit as she forgot present company.  Holding up the display she let them both see. “Cool right? Tabaxi Warlock, which just sounds awesome.  Plus this is a great concept I can try to draw. I bet all of our options are, hey if you guys tell me what you made maybe next time I can show you a picture of our characters together?”  Robert could only blink for a bit, surprised that the wolf seemed keen on playing a feline character for her first go. Though he did encourage being different so was it really so bad?

Robert and Mina exchanged a smile before moving over to where Meirita sat.  The Vitili was watching their approach, hands idle as she smiled. Ears fully upright.  It seemed she had been watching her charge for some time, which made sense since she had helped Robert bug test the program.  While her original uses used random numbers for attributes she already knew about everything so her character creation was a breeze.  Looking face to face with him she waved a finger in greeting before raising a hand up beside Mina’s to allow him to transfer safely. Only moving her hand once he was settled.  Meirita brought him up to lightly hold near a cheek to let Robert hug and hear him release a pent up nervous sigh he held back for Mina’s sake. “Hey there tough guy. Enjoy Mina’s company?”  She waved to the Falashai who was just taking her own seat. “Ready to run the game?”

“Yeah… and feeling much better now.”  He offered a smile for his Guardian as he felt his position rock again.  Rolling his eyes up at the giant woman as he knew her feet were bouncing with anticipation again.  Soon the hand was close to his seat and after carefully scooting off he found himself at his original position.  Taking the time to make sure his DM screen was up and pull open his books to the first page. Eyes scanning the table as five large sets of eyes looked down at him as he cleared his throat.

“Alright!”  He called out the clear start point.  “The land of Arrkadia was a vast one to behold…”