2024-2025 Stories

Part 1: October

Dang. Where is this thing? Thomas trudged through the bog, grumbling about the strange bounty he accepted. He was down on his luck and was forced to do odd jobs around his hometown, Waterdeep, just to afford meals. But the endless tasks grew tiring, and he was about to collapse from the stifling yet exhausting environment when he saw the poster. He had sat down at the tavern and downed a full quart of mead after his latest stint as a janitor in the local library. Weary, he had walked toward the message board on the far wall, looking for another job he could take. But instead, his eye caught a wanted poster in the center of the board. In blazing red letters, it proclaimed:

WANTED: RAMPAGING BEAST IN WOODS

Thomas looked at the rest of the poster.

The beast possesses razor-sharp claws, a body resembling that of a bear, stark white fur, & an orange beak. It has already slayed 45 lumbermen and 12 of our best warriors. If you can somehow defeat it, come to the village center with its body, and you will be rewarded handsomely. 

Thomas grinned. This was just what he needed! If he could kill this beast, he could finally get the gold he needed to stay alive. His mind started churning out possibilities, each one better than the last. He could do this, right? He had to. All he had to do was find this beast and kill it. What could go wrong?

Story Part 2-3: November/December

A branch to the face snapped Thomas back to the present. He sighed as he trudged through the damp, gray swamp, holding his hands in front of him to feel around for anything in the way. The logging camp should be near here, right? Did I get lost? He kept feeling around and eventually found something wooden. Coming closer, he squinted. He could barely make out the words Logging Camp: 250 meters. The sign was next to an old, dilapidated cobblestone road leading north, away from the swamp. Finally, I’ve been looking for this road for 3 hours! Stepping up onto the road, the rocks shifted under his feet, forcing him to adjust his stance. Yeesh, how old is this road? All the mortar’s gone. Well, at least it’s here. Walking along the road, he was so focused on his footsteps, that he didn’t notice the glowing yellow eyes following him.

Story Part 3: January

I watched from the bushes at the hapless human trying to catch me. His efforts were almost laughable, his senses dulled and weak from city life. My fur, a stark white against the dark green of the bushes, went completely unnoticed by the fool. Too focused on the path ahead, he turned his back to me as I readied myself for a pounce and brandished my claws. Once I leaped at him, time, as it always did, seemed to slow down. I could see every muscle in his face tighten, then stretch in a scream that barely reached my hyper-sensitive ears before, by some miracle, he dodged?! My eyes widened as he swerved out of the way and unsheathed a sword hidden in the folds of his cloak. The sword was very low-quality, nothing like the ones the armored humans I hacked down a few days earlier possessed. I spun around to face him. My beak split into a smile as his face tightened with stress. My mind began racing as energy flowed into every fiber of my being. I could practically feel it - this fight just got real.

Story Part 4: January/February

Thomas whirled around, unsheathing his sword. With his limited resources and funds, the only sword he could afford was old, chipped, and rusted. It wouldn’t do anything against an actual person or beast, other than giving it tetanus, perhaps. He shook the thought out of his head. “No, I have to end this now,” he thought. Releasing a fierce war cry, he dodged the beast’s first attack - but slipped face-first into the mud due to the momentum. Despite Thomas’ best efforts, thrusting and slashing at the beast, he was batted across the face with a powerful strike by the beast while he tried to steady himself. He crashed and slid onto the wet ground, the mud seeping into his wounds with a horrible, stinging sensation as he drifted across the floor. After regaining his focus, Thomas recouped his battle stance - only to get slapped right back into the mud. No matter his best efforts, the cycle kept on repeating over and over again for hours. About ready to give up, Thomas prepared himself for one last attack. As he daringly charged forward for his final assault, he realized that the beast was nowhere to be found. “I don’t understand,” thought Thomas, “Where could it be? Am I about to get surprise attacked? Am I about to die? What-”. He stopped himself before he went mad with worry. In a daze, he turned around and walked away, knowing that he would have to face the beast again. And when he did, he wouldn’t be so weak.

Story Part 5: February

I barely managed to contain my laughter as the weak human attempted to look for me. His feeble mind couldn’t comprehend that a being my size could be on the tree above him. The trees here were ancient, as old as the city he lived in. As a result, the bottom branches, like the one I was on, are harder than stone. He began to turn and walk away. After a while, I burst into laughter. He had been given the most hideous beatdown I’ve ever dealt. There had been many humans that attempted to face me, but he was the worst off. However, I must commend him for his bravery. He was the only one with the willpower to keep facing me. Perhaps that’s why I spared him. At any rate, I began to trail him, hopping across the lowest branches. One thing kept floating to my mind, however. He was the one human that could dodge my attack, the one human that could fire me up like that, so why was it so easy to beat him? He must have been hiding something or deceived me somehow. Or maybe I just hit him harder than I thought. Whatever it was, I continued following him. Out of curiosity, pity? I can’t remember.

Story Part 6: March

Thomas looked around nervously, waiting for that familiar mental feeling. It was a simple spell but quite unbreakable. All he needed was the target's description, and he could cast the spell. If they were close, he would sense a slight presence in the back of his mind directed toward the target. The closer the target, the stronger the presence. That was the only reason he could dodge the beast’s first attack. However, the spell lost its usefulness once the beast entered his view. He shuddered as the memory of the battle—if you could even call it that—rushed back into his mind. But he couldn’t focus on that. He would have plenty of time to dwell on his failures back on the street. His mind wandered again, dreaming about what could have been. He trudged around like this for half an hour. Eventually, he gave up hope. Well, I’m never getting outta here. Eh, at least I won’t be missed. He sat down and leaned against a tree, perfectly content with his fate. He tried to fall asleep, but sleep evaded him. He had a splitting headache that almost felt like something in his head. Or mind… The realization hit him like a tree. He stood up, unsheathed his sword, and faced in the direction of the beast—round 2.

Written By: Oliver Handoko