An ancient, strange, and wicked force
Unknown in the mortal plane
Sought a bit of deadly sport
To keep him entertained
He found our traveling company
We seemed to suit his needs
He sized us up most hungrily
For magical misdeeds:
Thereās the Monk, stoic and tall
The Thief, sneaky and small
The Mage with magic arrow-gun
And the brooding Aasimar
Four were named, two remain:
The heel and the hero
The shoeless Druid Shapeshifter
And yours truly, Zeno!
This Devil, having found his prey
Did capture us all six
He took us for his twisted games
Beyond the River Styx
āYouāll fight, you dogs, until the death
Youāll find thereās no escape!
āTil only one doth still draw breath
However long it takes!
If you refuse to play my game
And save each otherās health,
By hells, your fate will be the same.
Iāll kill you all myself!ā
And thus he did deposit us
Into his fel arena
So grimly did we steel ourselves
To set the dreadful scene
Knuckles cracked, daggers drawn
Incantations cast
But I had naught but wits and song
To help me through this test
I called the Monk, and tried to strike
A bargain, for a time
āLetās work together, if youād like!ā
ā¦He did not seem inspired
But we all knew our greatest bane
To getting out of here
Was one shapeshifting Druid man
That made our target clear
And so we set upon that heel
Who turned into a bear
Swiping claws and gnashing teeth
At any who drew near
The Thief threw daggers from the dark
The Mage shot magic missiles
The Monk, he dodged the raging beast
And punched him in the kisser
The Aasimar unfurled his wings
And struck with thunderbolts
But this assault was not enough
The bearās resolve did hold
So I, with plenty wit in stock
Drew up a simple plan
āA bear? You canāt fool me,ā I mocked
Youāre barely half a man!ā
On hearing from my repertoire
The druid bear did break
And he became a man once more
Who now was looking weak
The Druid spoke to rally strength,
āYouāve got this, little chapā
The Aasimar responded with
A dagger in his back!
So with the challenge of the Druid
Overcome together
The Monk, the Thief, the Aasimar
Began to fight each other!
The Druidās body at their feet
A melee did ensue
But with these three so closely bunched
The Mage knew what to do
He cast a darkness spell to veil
His next attack from view
His massive torrent toward them sailed
And threw them all askew
Amid the flood, I took chance
To leverage the confusion
I played a melody dissonant
To craft an eerie illusion
The broody boy, he lost his head
He panicked, turned, and ran
The others flogged him as he fled
The Aasimar was slain
The Thief, she did not miss a beat
She turned and stuck the Monk
Her dagger pierced his somber heart
He slacked and slumped at once
Now friends, I am not proud of this
That Thief, though, she did scare me
I scrambled to the magic dark
And hoped that it would hide me
The Thief approached with dagger black
And called for me unkindly
āI am not here,ā I whispered back
And lo, she did not find me
Our captor was not entertained
By this pause, however brief
āIāll handle this myself!ā He boomed
And vaporized the Thief
Now friends
youāll remember
This was a fight to the death
But not just a fight among any old folks
For we were all traveling friends.
The Mage,–
I knew,–
Had a peculiar sort of a phobia
Frogs! You hear? Frogs! His fear!
Really, itās true, would you know it?
So I conjured an image inside of his head
Through some fanciful use of my bagpipes
A giant frog! Ten feet tall!
That ought to give him a real fright.
I thought.
And it did!
But the effect wasnāt what Iād intended.
He responded by drinking a magical draught
That caused himself to be expanded!
So now, itās I, a lowly Bard
Facing a giant Mage
We stared each other down and then
Our duel did engage!
He pierced me with a crossbow bolt
Squarely in the chest!
I took a heavy labored breath
My lungs must pass this test!
I blew and squeezed and played my pipes
He battered me with spells
I skirled and droned with all my might
To sound his final knell
The Mageās will began to break
A deadly tune I played!
To cause his keen and clever brain
To melt inside his head.
Having emerged from this conflict victorious
I did not feel like any champion glorious
I lost all the friends in my traveling cohort
And by my own hand! ā¦Had I no heart?
The Devil appeared with a glint in his eyes
āYou have won, you have won! Now you must choose a prize!ā
āI am no winner,ā I solemnly said.
āJust take my life now, raise my friends from the dead!ā
Moved by my griefāyes, Devils can feel
He spared me my life, and offered a deal
With a flick of his wrist, my friends were renewed
The Mage, Monk, and Thief, the Aasimar too
But deals with a devil are never clean-cut
Thereās sometimes an āand,ā thereās always a ābutā
My friends are alive, at a cost though, itās true
That son of a bitch brought the Druid back too.
(As transcribed from several Dramatic Performances given by Zeno Kelethin to the Sovereign Dungeoneering Company aboard the U.S.S. Sovereign Dungeoneering Cart en route to the Mages’ City, Paripas, and then to the Goblin Shopping Network on Beer and Deer Night, with tasteful bagpipe and soap bubble accompaniment.)