[Channel Teaser]
How Love and Friendship Triumphed Over an
Evil Inquisition
This story was submitted by our viewer, Michael!
This is the tale of a female half-dragon,
dragon knight.
Her name was Celeste and this is her story
of how love triumphs.
Our story begins with me getting a bunch of
friends playing a 5th edition homebrew campaign
we had been working on together.
A story where magic was outlawed and people
with magic were hunted by an order known as
the Pentra Inquisition.
Lead by an evil woman named Deshnah, a High
elf, hell bent on controlling magic and making
it seem evil.
Having convinced the nations of Dentavar that
evil and magic went hand in hand, she began
a long war against magic users.
Fast forward to our adventure group of eight.
A dark Aasimar swashbuckler named Lucifer,
one of my greatest friends.
Another paladin who focused more on support
and healing named Cerberus.
A crazy human necromancer named Baldawin.
A half elf sorcerer name Thaila.
A hilarious dwarf female cleric named Sarahya.
A human gunslinger named John Wright.
A genasi firebender named Klarissa and me,
a half dragon female paladin homebrew known
as a dragon knight that served a dragon lord
named Varkas, a sort of volcano dragon and
my father.
I was tired of playing a rogue, ranger or
wizard so I decide to really change it up
by playing a character of the opposite sex
and a class I had never played before.
A paladin.
The dragon queens and lords had vast power
like the gods along with other deities but
could not commune with their followers due
to the inquisition disrupting magic so much.
Our group of heroes all meet each other on
a wagon ride that turned sour after witnessing
the inquisitors cruelty first hand.
We banded together to aid in numerous quests
to undermine the inquisition’s efforts.
Fast forward to level 10 and things start
to get really juicy when our party is introduced
to a lovely maiden by the name of Ismeralda,
a sister to Lady Aurora, the leader of one
of the most powerful elven houses in Dentavar.
The story started off by completing the very
important job of returning wish scrolls to
Lady Aurora.
The plan was to use the scrolls, so magic
could be used freely once again.
Now with the necessary resources we began
to slowly but surely dismantle Deshnah’s
wicked plans.
However, something else happened.
Ismeralda began to join in our adventures.
Not wanting to sit idly by, she endeavored
to make the world a better place.
Her elder sister Aurora was not too happy
about this, but Ismeralda snuck off to join
us anyway.
Smart and cunning, she aided in our efforts
to thwart the Pentra inquisition.
But one night, everything changed.
Trying to acquire information at a local lords
banquet, we tried the persuasion route.
We talked our way in and begin working our
group’s charm to see what intel we could
gather.
Everyone rolled quite well, which gave us
quite a bit of juicy info on how the Pentra
inquisition was being funded.
Then the orchestra began to play the Royal
Dance.
Our party had to choose two members to represent
our group to show respect to the local lord
who loved music and dance.
In order to appease the lord or to protect
him from any offence, Ismeralda and I were
chosen to represent the group.
Keep in mind that I was this warrior paladin
dragonknight, not some dancer, which made
for some awkward moments, but with some encouragement
from the swashbuckler and the group, I took
to the floor with Ismeralda in hand.
What I thought was going to be a simple dance,
that was going to end quickly, ended up being
the beginning of an unforgettable night.
Before this dance we had gotten to know Ismeralda
quite well during the time of our adventures.
She enjoyed writing poetry and was good with
a crossbow.
She learned from her aunt who we discovered
was an underworld assassin.
Ismeralda always had some encouraging words
to keep up our fighting spirit and to not
lose hope.
She and I got close as she loved hearing tales
about the dragon knights, having never seen
one in person.
I loved her poetry.
Furthermore, our DM expertly crafted this
character, resulting in her personality making
us really bond with her that much more.
Being a dragon knight paladin I did not know
much about love as I swore to myself to my
mission.
I never really thought about love.
But that all changed when we started to dance.
The music for the dance started slow and soften.
We each rolled for performance with both of
us getting some pretty nice rolls.
It was then that the mood changed.
Halfway through the dance, Ismeralda asks
me if I have ever loved someone.
I cared about my friends, sure, but loved
someone?
Never really gave it much thought.
She looked at me with those soft green eyes
and her dirty blond curls seem to sway softly
as she leaned closer in.
"Celeste, could you love someone regardless
of their flaws?
Broken by experimentation and stripped of
magic?"
She asked with a look of sadness.
As she proceeded to explain to me that she
was one of many victims we had encountered
in our story who had been stripped of their
magic abilities by cruel experiments by the
Inquisition, leaving her body broken and unable
to use magic correctly.
She wanted magic back not just for herself
but everyone else who had it ripped from them
as well.
She began to cry and I did the only thing
I could.
I leaned down and brushed my fingers against
her cheeks and wiped away her tears.
“Look at her,” I said.
"Just because you are broken does not change
the fact that you can still fight.
Magic deserves to be shared with everyone.
Your heart is pure, Ismeralda, and if magic
was stripped from you, that makes our fight
only that much more important.
I will never stop fighting until you are restored
and all those broken pieces are fixed.
You are worth the fight.
Every smile, every laugh we share.
Those moments are why my love for you will
never die."
Having confessed my feelings to her, I immediately
began to doubt myself.
Should I have said that?
What if I was wrong?
Is this what love felt like?
But all my worries faded away as she smiled
and brought me in for a romantic kiss.
But our story would take a dark turn.
The doors to the hall were thrown open as
Deshnah walked in.
The room fell silent as Deshnah cast her gaze
across the room.
Her eyes fixated on Ismeralda.
“You,” she said coldly, then unleashed
hell.
Waves of magical energy ripped from Deshnah’s
hand.
The party are incinerated.
Most fled, some tried to fight, but all who
stood against Deshnah were slain.
I held onto Ismeralda’s hand throughout
the chaos but she was ripped from my grip
magically and pulled to Deshnah’s feet.
I tried to run to her but a wave of magical
energy threw me backward into a wall.
With a final scowl, Deshnah vanished with
Ismeralda.
My love would be put to the test as we set
out to rescue Ismeralda.
As a mention swashbuckler, Lucifer who in
real life was my best friend turned out to
be my best friend in the campaign.
Our friendship grew even stronger as he helped
me to overcome my guilt and pushed me to find
Deshnah and ruin her plans.
Fast Forward to lvl 20 and we learn that Deshnah
was no inquisition leader but a lich planning
to use Ismeralda as a sacrifice to enhance
her power.
In this universe, those born of royal blood
had magic within them.
We tracked her down and what came next was
the ultimate showdown of my life.
As we proceed into her lair, my morality would
be put to the test one more time.
Deshnah had one more scheme up her sleeve.
As we entered the lair, my party members were
imprisoned by a powerful spell that was slowly
starting to kill them.
I was faced with a choice: save my friends
or Ismeralda.
I decided in that moment that I would not
make the choice between my friend and Ismeralda.
I would save them all.
The dice gods were in my favor that night.
I managed to break the swashbuckler free from
his cage.
I charged Deshnah while he set the rest of
the party free.
Single-handedly, I laid into Deshnah.
I managed to distract her long enough for
the rest of the party to join me.
We battled it out fiercely, spells being thrown
back and forth as blade bit into flesh.
I raised my blades above my head and rolled
to smite her.
My swords bathed her in righteous fire, destroying
her and her phylactery which she wore around
her neck for the sacrificial ritual.
We found Ismeralda laying on a stone altar.
She was frail and sickened as the lich had
been draining her life force.
I lay my hands gently on her frail, withered
form, and cast lay on hands.
The spell was purged from her body and she
was restored.
She threw her arms around me and pulled me
tightly into a loving embrace, and then smiled
and said:
"You came for me?
Why?”
Which I answered "Because love never dies.
My friends are my family.
You are someone special to me and I can’t
imagine a life without you in it."
And with that we embraced and I carried her
to the party where we all embraced as friends.
And with a new found love and respect for
each other, our campaign ended with Deshnah
being destroyed and magic being returned to
the world.
At the end of the campaign, we were all hugging
and smiles.
Some of us with tears in our eyes.
Even are crazy necromancer shed a tear as
the power of good friends and love conquered
all.
It was the most wholesome thing I have ever
felt in a DnD campaign, and I embraced everyone
and the DM for this awesome journey.
What an incredible journey!
These are the stories that make DnD such a
wonderful experience.
Friends.
Magic.
Love.
Please let us know what you think and comment
below!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel,
All Things DnD.
Our next video will be posted in 2 days, so
stay tuned for more amazing Dungeons & Dragons
content!
