Saer Ambrosius Everrest: NPC, Human male, Doomguide of Kelemvor and Keeper of the City of the Dead, Chevall in the Order of the Gauntlet. A little grim, maybe a touch overly formal, definitely sleep-deprived. But very pleasinglyā¦devout. So refreshing to meet another knight who appreciates the proper satisfaction gained from smiting evil. And he is also kind and fearless and determined and good. And has such striking eyes. Despite almost dying, this is a very good night for Elodieā¦
Actually, Ambrosius was, according to our GM, intended to be a bit of a throw-away NPC. Designed to join us for one session to help narrate and carry along our short expedition to the City of the Dead. Hence his self-indulgently silly name.
How unfortunate. Because mine and Elodieās reactions to him (and to my husband/GM playing him) mirrored each other in their emotional intensity. I believe that smitten is the word we are looking for here. When my character was hovering near-death and Ambrosius/GM-husband said, as it is now known in our happy household as, that line, in that voiceā¦
In the face of all solemn literary advice, my heart would not, in fact, be still :). GM was looking at me as he spoke and said he could see fireworks go off behind my eyes.
So where does this leave us (other than with an ever more encumbered GM frantically coming up with a decent back-story and personality for a now key NPC, hehe)?
First of all, feeling a little awkward that, in our session zero, our entire party categorically stated that we were not interested in any in-game romance because it would be too silly and difficult to role-play. Yeah, um, about that. Stay tuned is all Iām sayingā¦
And secondly, this session left me deeply surprised and thrilled at how the story we are telling together can take on its own life at times. Unplanned, unexpected, and yet it veers off onto a path that feels right and important.
Also, this whole TTRPG pastime began to feel a little overwhelming. Is it alright for characters and events that exist only in a sort of mutually-agreed upon delusion at our table to spark such intense feelings? Is that healthy? Is it comparable to weeping over the death of a beloved character in a favorite book? Or feeling your heart beat faster as sweeping love story unfolds on a movie screen in front of you? If not, why not?
I still struggle with some unease about excessively immersing myself in Elodieās world (as is obvious from this blog, I have not let that stop me from chronicling our tales in all the excruciating detail that I can manage!). I would love to know how other gamers approach such musings.
The Fucking Cat: NPC, who knows what else. The sad truth is that, while our party of baby adventurers naively treated the cat jump-scare as delightful comedy (I will take every opportunity to pay homage to one of the worldās most fantastic shows: Community, see below), our nefarious GM has since heavily hinted that there may have been more to this feline. Or maybe not. We did not investigate and it is now too late to find out. He likes to torment us in this way. What can I say? We love it.
Tears of the Seldarine 
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