AN: For those curious, I will be using mostly 5th Edition D&D for the basic rules of the game the Louds will be playing here, but will sometimes take liberties for the sake of the story. Forgive me in advance if I get something very wrong.

The Adventure Begins

It was early afternoon on Saturday and Lincoln was milling about the garage of the Loud House, as excited as a kid on Christmas. He has set out a few card tables together, set a stack of books on one of them, arranged folding chairs around the tables, and finally brought a series of shoeboxes down into the room. The first has a stack of grid paper with fairly elaborate maps drawn upon them under a folded cardboard screen. The second had a plethora of plastic and metal figurines of various monsters, humans and human like beings. And the third was filled with dice of all shapes and sizes. He was getting ready for an afternoon of playing a fantasy role playing game with his friends and one of his sisters. They had given the game a try a few weeks back and they were HOOKED. It was Lincoln's turn to act as game master (a role he frequently took and enjoyed), so he was getting the game setup while he waited for the other players. "Let's see...what kind of snacks? Chips? Pretzels? Popcorn?"

"I vote popcorn." Lucy said suddenly from the door leading to the house, making Lincoln jump in surprise.

"Gah! Oh. Hey Lucy. All ready to play?" He asked, once his heart rate returned to normal.

"Indeed. Lucinda is prepared to continue her magical study of death." The little goth replied, pulling her character sheet from behind her back. Lincoln nodded with a smile as she took her seat and set her little character figurine on the table. He stepped off into the kitchen to get the snacks and the soda while Lucy flipped through the spell portion of the Player Handbook. As Lincoln was carrying a stack of bowls filled with all three kinds of snacks. Clyde had run up to the open garage, looking a little alarmed.

"Hey Clyde!" Lincoln greeted his friend cheerfully, when he noticed his friend's expression. "...what's wrong?"

"Hey Lincoln...the others can't make it today…" His bespectacled friend explained, which brought the white haired boy's good mood down in an instant. "They all had last minute family things they needed to attend."

"Awww man…" The middle Loud groaned when he heard this. "This adventure won't be as much fun with just two people…"

"What are we going to do?"

"Why not ask our other sisters?" Lucy suggested, not looking away from the book. "Ooh. Vampiric Touch. I'm getting that spell next level." The two nerdy kids looked to one another for a moment. Lacking any other ideas, they shut the garage door and head inside. They decide to split up to cover more ground (with Lincoln offering to speak with Lori so Clyde wouldn't have a nose bleed in her presence).

Luna was hanging upside down from her upper bunk as she thought, Lincoln having gone to her first (as she was the most easy going of the older sisters). "Hmmmm. Sounds interesting, little dude, but I'mma pass this time. I have a gig to prepare for. Maybe next game."

"Alright. Thanks anyway Luna."

"So what you are inquiring…" Lisa said as she looked through a microscope while standing on a stool, Clyde standing at the door to her and Lily's room. "...is if I were interested in engaging in a tabletop activity involving the use of chance, strategy and the utilization of my imagination?"

"That...uh...sounds about right." Clyde replied, though he was uncertain.

"I am afraid I must decline. Such frivolous use of my time during this vital phase of my research would be most folly."

"Ugh. Hard pass." Lori commented after Lincoln had asked her while she was doing her nails in her room. She was laying on her bed, while Leni was on her own, looking through a magazine.

"Are you sure, Lori? It would be fun…"

"Hmph. As much as fun as doing homework…" Lori replied with a roll of her eyes.

"I'll play." Leni piped up, getting Lincoln and Lori's attention.

"Really? Are you sure?" Her only brother asked.

"Yeah. I'm not doing anything and it sounds like playing pretend, and playing pretend is fun." This brought a smile to his face and a bit of a smirk on Lori's.

"Oh, this I have to see…" She muttered quietly as Lincoln led his sweet but dim older sister to the garage.

"Hmmm. A fantasy game, huh?" Luan asked as she touched up Mr Coconut's face paint in the kitchen, Clyde holding the dummy so she could work faster and easier. "Where we play whoever we want?"

"That's right." He replied with a hopeful nod.

"Any limits?"

"Well, outside of a few rule based restrictions, only your imagination." Luan was silent for a moment as she dabbed a little blush on her wooden partner, pondering the issue.

"Yer gonna regret saying that, Goggles." Mr Coconuts said, his eyes turning toward Clyde, though his head remained still so Luan could work.

"Oh hush, Mr Coconuts." Luan scolded him with a giggle. "Ah, why not? It sounds like a dice time. I'll be down soon; no dragon my feet on this one." She joked, laughing at her joke, Clyde chuckling as well.

"Hmmm. I like the sound of the game." Lana commented as she played with Hops in the middle of the room she shared with Lola, while Lola was engaged in a tea party with her stuffed animals. "But all that reading sounds boring…"

"It's not that bad. It's mostly for the character creation or for reference with regard to spells." He explained to her. Lana still seemed on the fence as she stroked her amphibian friend. Lincoln thought for a moment, then had an idea. "You know...there is a playable race in the game called dragonborn...pretty much a dragon person you could play."

"Really!? I can be a dragon guy!?" Lana asked excitedly. "Why didn't you say so in the first place!?" She jumped up from the floor and ran off to the garage, quick as Lynn. Pleased with his convincing, he then turned to Lola.

"What about you, Lola? You said you wanted to work on your reading, and you like playing pretend already."

"Yes...but it sounds like a Lisa sort of game. Not a ME sort of game…" Lola commented in a slightly snobbish way.

"...you could play a princess." Lincoln informed her with a knowing smirk.

"...keep talking." The pageant participant said, her interest piqued.

"...HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!" Lynn laughed as she rolled around on her bed, tears spilling from her eyes. Clyde just stood in the middle of her room, a slight bemused look on his face. All he did was ask Lynn if she wanted to play their role playing game. That was five minutes ago.

"So….is that a maybe?" He asked meekly as soon as she started to calm down. That brought a fresh wave of hysterics from her. It took her another three minutes to stop, her face getting red.

"Hahahahaha….Thanks, Clydesdale. I needed that. But no. I'm more a gal of action. Egghead games like that...well, they're more your speed. No offense."

"Uh...none taken?" He replied awkwardly before he left the room. Out in the hall, he saw Lily toddling around. "Oh, hey Lily. I guess you're a little too young to play...but maybe you'd like to watch us play?" He asked her, kneeling down to her level. She clapped and cooed, holding her arms up to him. "I'll take that as a yes." He said with soft laugh, picking the baby up and taking her downstairs.

When Clyde arrived, he found Lincoln, Lana, Lola, Leni and Luan already there. The one brother was already trying to help Leni and Lola, while Lucy was getting Lana off on the right track. Luan was working on her character sheet on her own, her pen in her mouth as she thought. "Room for a spectator?" Clyde asked as he set Lily in a high chair that was already in the garage.

"Sure. There's always room for Lily." Lincoln replied, the baby giggling her approval. "So, you were saying, Leni?"

"Oh. Well, I don't really want to be the battly kind of character. I'd rather be the helpy sort." The ditzy teen explained. "Is that ok?"

"Well, the team will need a healer, so you could be a cleric and provide support." He told her. "That way, you don't really have to fight much, except to save your character's life maybe."

"Oh! That sounds perfect!" She said, starting to write on the character sheet. "Cle...ric."

"Lincoln...I don't see a princess class...you said I could play a princess…." Lola whined, looking sadly at her brother.

"Well, princess would be your title, not your class." He told her. "So you could still be a princess."

"Oh...well...what class is really good?"

"That...really depends...are you looking for something physically strong, stealthy, magical?"

"Oh! Magical! A magical princess!" Lola said, smiling broadly when she heard the word magic.

"Heh. Well, the group already has a wizard, so maybe a sorceress would work for you." Lincoln reasoned. "After all, charisma is key for them, and you'll certainly want to be a beautiful princess."

"You know me well~" Lola said in a sing song voice as she started to take notes.

"Clyde...could you help me out a sec?" Lana asked, seeing that Lincoln was so busy right now.

"Sure thing. What's up, Lana?" Clyde asked, moving over to see what Lana needed.

"I noticed that if I choose beastmaster for my ranger class, I can get an animal friend, right?" She asked, to which the african american boy nodded. "And I could get this as my animal friend, right?" He turned to a certain page in the monster manual.

"Hmmmm. Well, it is a ¼ challenge rating, which is your limit, so sure." He answered confidently.

"Cool. So my question is...could I ride it?" She asked hopefully. Clyde blinked, looking between her and the books, then up at Lincoln.

"Uh...Buddy...we need a quick ruling…" Clyde said, not wanting to step on his friend's toes with this case. He was the game master after all, so it was his final call.

"Excuse me a moment…" Lincoln told Lola and Leni before he moved over to the group of four pouring over the books. He heard her request, pondered it for a moment, did some calculations on his phone, looked over her character her sheet, and mulled it over for a few minutes and then nodded. "I don't see why not, as long as you have the gold pieces for the barding and saddle, and don't go over it's carry capacity."

"Yes!"

"Does that mean I can get a pony!?" Lola asked, her eyes all wide.

"If you have the gold pieces, which you should at fourth level."

"Yaaay!"

"Well, if we're all gonna be horsing around, I should get something to ride too." Luan commented with a snicker. "Can't be sneaking around everywhere, after all."

"Good idea. It would make it easier for your characters to get around quicker." Clyde said.

"Um...Lincoln...you said we were fourth level...what does that mean?" Leni asked. Lincoln kinda sighed, but kept his patience as he returned to her to help her with her character. He knew she wasn't really familiar with these kind of games and, much like with teaching her to drive, he just needed to be patient. Unfortunately for him, Lola, Lana and sometimes even Luan needed his and Clyde's help. It was a little overwhelming for him, a fact which kind of amused Lori as she watched from the door. She knew Lincoln would have had a hard time teaching Leni a game like this, but by the same token, knew her brother was persistent. A fighter, so to speak, like any other Loud. He'd get through eventually, but in the meantime, she could enjoy the show. It took them all about forty five minutes to get their characters squared away, by which point, Lola's patience with the game was starting to wane.

"Are we gonna start or what!?" She asked angrily, her elbow on one of the tables as she leaned against it, looking bored.

"We're just about to start." The exhausted middle son said as he moved the box of figurines onto the desk. "Just pick out the miniature that resembles your character the most and we can begin." While they dug through the little character idols, he quickly got his own act together. Once everyone had their figures and character sheets, he cleared his throat, everyone giving him their attention.

The Port City of Orintar. A thriving city of elves and humans, working together in order to prosper. This is owed to Orintar being a key point of ship based trade on the continent of Illivar, trade ships entering and leaving the docks on almost a daily basis. At its peak, it was one of the wealthiest cities in the continent, if not the world. The key word, unfortunately, being was. Of late, many strange things had been happening at the docks: cargo had gone missing mid transit. Dock workers disappearing late into the night. Some ships even being sunk right in the harbor. The town's economy had started to suffer as a result…

"Oh, that is so sad…" Leni commented, interrupting Lincoln's set up.

"Ssssh!" The group hushed her.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly.

...Something had to be done. Enter, riding upon a pony and horse respectively, a dwarf man and a human woman with some elfish features to her. The dwarf had dark skin, with short black hair and a thick, fluffy beard. He was built like a mountain and wore hides and furs on his body. At his side was a shining iron warhammer. His steely eyes were locked on the path in front of him, ready for action. The woman had long black hair that obscured most of her face, making her expression near impossible to determine. She wore a black hood and cloak to further obscure her face, along with a midnight blue robe. Her hands and a little of her chin and neck were all that could be seen of her, and they were quite pale. She had an air of melancholy about her.

"Nice descriptions, Linc." Luan complimented, clapping softly.

"Thanks, but that's actually how Clyde and Lucy described their own characters." Lincoln replied.

"Oooo I can't wait until we get introduced." Lana said, shivering with excitement.

"Yeah! Hurry up already!" Lola ordered, just as eager as Lana but a lot less patient.

"Ok! Ok!" The white haired game master said before muttering. "...some people don't appreciate a good setup…"

"What was that….?"

"Nothing!"

The two of them had heard of the troubles Orintar had been having and sallied forth to see…

"Wait...what does Sally the fourth have to do with this?" Leni interjected.

"Sssssh!"

"Sorry…"

...sallied forth to see if they could offer their assistance. Upon arrived and stabling their mounts, they noticed there were only a few others taking up residence there: a pony, a few other horses, and a giant frog, for some reason… ("Gee. I wonder who the frog belongs to..." Lola said sarcastically, while Lana simply smiling brightly and proudly, clearly saying 'Yeah. All me.')

With their faithful steeds in their respective homes, our two heroes make their way to the seaside tavern; one of the few places left in the city that was surviving, if barely. The oaken sign hanging over the door said Triton's Gem. The scenery was quite beautiful, with the docks overlooking the crystal clear water, with the bright blue sky overhead…

"Oh! That sounds lovely. We should visit someday." Leni commented with a smile.

"Leni!" Everyone apart from Lincoln snapped.

"What?"

...the dwarf and half elf strode into the tavern. From the moment they first stepped inside, they noticed a few people in there that looked very out of place…

"Do you guys have your character descriptions done?" Lincoln asked. Leni and Luan nodded, handing him their portion of their character sheets.

"Uh….I kinda drew a picture in that spot….is that cool?" Lana inquired, a little nervous.

"Me too…" Lola added. Their older brother took the sheets from them for a look and smiled at them.

"I think I can work with that." He told them, which brightened them up immensely.

The first was a small, draconic woman with orangish scales and fin like crests where the ears would be on a human. She was sitting at the bar, wearing a dark brown tunic and matching overall like pants, black boots and gloves, and had a scimitar at her side. She looked kind of upset and was bemoaning the fact that the proprietor wouldn't let her bring her animal companion into the tavern. The second was a tall, slender elf with long golden hair, fair skin and pointed ears. She was wearing a sparkling pink gown with white trim. She wore a golden bejeweled necklace around her neck, a couple silver bracelets, a gold and diamond ring, and a silver tiara on her head. She had the clear look of someone who didn't even want to be there, but didn't really have much of a choice. The third was a gnomish woman, with shoulder length blonde hair. She was wearing a gold colored cloak with a hood (which she had down at the time), with a fine silk sundress underneath. Around her neck was a chain, with golden symbol of Sune, goddess of beauty. She seemed to talking to some of the other patrons about her deity; not to convert them. Just because it was a subject she liked to talk about...at length. And off to the side, was little halfling woman with brown hair done in a ponytail. She was wearing a tunic that was half dark red and half black, and pants that matched, but were on opposite sides, and little black boots. She had her feet resting on the table in front of her, seemingly just chilling out. However, while she was 'relaxing', she was directing a tiny hand of force to drop a tiny slab of butter onto the floor as a drunken patron started to stumble past her table. He stepped right onto the pad and slipped, falling flat on his back. However, he was so drunk, he didn't feel a thing. The halfling snickered a bit while playing innocent. "And you were worried about us standing out, lassie." The dwarf commented with a chuckle.

"...comparatively, I still do stand out." The cloaked half elf commented quietly. The bold, stocky, yet short man stepped forward with a smile as he spoke to the elf woman before him.

"Top of the morning to you, madam. I am Clyvor Bruinback. And you are?" The blonde elf just looked at the dwarf with something akin to disgust, then glanced around the tavern.

"Uh...why is this savage talking to me?" Clyvor looked surprised, and hurt, at this woman's rudeness.

"...that 'savage' is my friend and ally…" The pale, hooded woman said, scowling as she stepped forward. "...and I will not have you treating him so poorly."

"Um...excuse me!? Do you know who I AM!?"

"...do you know who I am?"

"Should I care?"

"There's your answer…" (The entire table snickered as Lucy grinned. Lola was glaring daggers at her gothic older sister.)

"Hurumph! I AM Princess Lolavina, Princess of the Kingdom of Sugarland!" The elf woman answered in the most stuck up manner possible, her nose in the air.

"...I am Lucinda." The woman in the dark cloak introduced herself.

"Ask me if I care!"

"Do you care?" The halfling off to the side asked without missing a beat, chuckling.

"WHO ASKED YOU!?" Lolavina shrieked loudly.

"You did. You told me to ask you if you care." The elven princess sputtered and stumbled on her words in her anger and the realization she had just said that. The halfling hopped out of her seat and approached Clyvor and Lucinda. "Howdy ho, potential friends. I am Luanne Wisecracker. Pleased to meet you." She held her hand out to them, Clyvor eagerly shaking her hand. Lucinda simply looked at her hand, but gave a soft hello in reply.

"A pleasure, ma'am." The dwarf said. "So what brings you here?"

"Nothing really. Just wandering about." The little trickster commented in reply. "How about you?"

"We're here looking to offer our assistance to the people of this port." Lucinda answered in a monotone. "Strange things have been happening as of late. People disappearing in the middle of the night from the docks. Cargo going missing. Ships sunk."

"Oh! I heard about that too." The blonde haired gnome said, turning excitedly to face the small group. "Lincoln just-"

"Leni…" Lincoln groaned as he face palmed. "...your character doesn't know me. I'm not even in the game."

"But I know you." The ditzy teen replied with a smile.

"Yes, but you're playing your character right now." Clyde interjected, seeing the frustration growing on Lincoln's face, as well as Lola's. "And you have to use what your character knows, not what you know."

"Oooooh…..so can I still say I heard about what he said?"

"Yes. That's fine. News travels after all." Her little brother replied. "Thanks buddy." He said, looking to his equally nerdy friend.

"Anytime."

"Oh! I heard about that too." The small cleric said, turning excitedly to face the group. "It's so sad to hear them having such a bad time."

"You speak the truth there, ma'am." Clyvor said. "Might I ask your name?"

"I am Lenina, follower of Sune." The chipper gnome replied. "Goddess of Love and Beauty."

"A goddess after my own heart." Lolavina commented with a smirk.

"I'm more a Bahamut gal myself." The dragon woman interjected, turning and hopping off her stool. "I'm Lanore, by the way."

"Charmed." The hardy hammer wielder answered politely, looking over the group before them. "Ye know...this job might be a might too big for just the two of us, Lucinda."

"I agree. We don't know what we are up against." The arcane student said with a nod.

"So, what do you think, lasses? Who among you wants to join us in getting to the bottom o' this mess and saving the town!?" Clyvor inquired, grinning and punching the air with his fist.

"I'm in." Lenina said, stepping over beside Lucinda.

"You can count on me and Hops Sr." The dragonborn said with all eagerness, a toothy grin on her face.

"Hops Sr?"

"...he's not here...they made me put him in the stable…" Lanore told them, her face falling. "...city folk just don't respect our animal friends…" She added with a disapproving shake of her head.

"...is there a reward?" Luanne questioned, her arms crossed as she considered the issue.

"I assume as much." Lucinda spoke up, fielding this question for her dwarven ally. "This is the livelihood of the town we're talking about here."

"I'm in."

"Hmph. Well, I'm NOT!" The elven princess said in a snotty, snobbish manner. "The plight of peasants is of no concern to a princess."

"You can't be serious, mi lassie." The dark skinned dwarf said indignantly. "The lives of many are at stake here. If things don't change, more innocent folks could die or go missing. Good people could be losing their jobs, their homes…"

"THAT sounds like commoner problems!" Lolavina said with finality as she turned her back to the group and lifted her nose into the air. Lanore and Clyvor glared at the spoiled princess, while Luanne and Lenina looked sadly at her.

"Very well. We do not require her assistance." Lucinda said flatly, motioning the others to join her at a nearby table.

"Are you sure this is the route you want to go, Lola?" Clyde inquired with concern. He was worried that she was effectively taking herself out of the game for the sake of playing her character. Lola simply nodded, in spite of the exasperated expressions of most her fellow players.

"Don't worry about it, Clyde." Lucy said, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Just let her play her way. It'll work out in the end." Now almost all eyes turned to the usually morose little girl in confusion.

"Thank you, Lucy." The grateful pageant participant said, smiling somewhat smugly.

"Uh….Lucy...should you be encouraging her?" Lana asked in a hushed voice.

"Just trust me." Was all the response she got back in return, leaving the young handy woman to just shrug. The five of them got together to plan, while Lola leaned over to whisper something to Lincoln.

"So, how are we going to go about this?" Luanne inquired, using one of her darts to clean under her fingernails.

"Well, the way I see, we're having two options for solving this mystery. One: we stake out the docks in the evening and wait for whatever is causing the problems to show up. Or two, we offer our services for security aboard a cargo ship." Clyvor said, looking to each of his fellow adventurers at the table in turn as he spoke.

"Oh! I vote we go sailing! I've never been on a boat before!" Lenina chirped, nearly leaping from her seat. Lucinda and Clyvor had to shush her, as she was being somewhat loud in her excitement.

"Well, neither option are guaranteed…" Luanne reasoned as she tapped her chin with the feathered end of the darts. "...but I would say our best bet would be to stake out the ship."

"If I can take Hops Sr with me, then I'm fine with that." The dragonborn woman added.

"It is unanimous, it seems." The pale wizard woman said with a nod. "Let us contact the port authority and see which cargo ship is next to leave."

"Right!" The others said in unison before they all rose and hurried out the door, leaving Lolavina in the tavern.

It took the crew a few hours to speak to someone at the port authority and get themselves set up aboard the next ship out; a ship hauling shipments of ores and ingots. The captain was more than willing to have some extra swords (so to speak) aboard, as the thefts and sinkings were making his crew quite nervous.

As the galleon was shoving off to sea, Clyvor had set up a lookout rotation throughout the day: some of them would stay above deck to keep watch while others were remain below deck to watch the cargo hold, with a few rest periods for naps and food and drink. Several years later, well after midnight, the group was split into two groups: Lenina, Lucinda and Clyvor were above decks, while Luanne, Lanore and her giant frog companion hung out in the hold. The hammer wielding dwarf was patrolling around the ship, looking over the side while Lucinda stood beside the helmsman quietly. Lenina, on the other hand, was leaning against the railing with a big smile as she looked out at the ocean. "See anything, Lenina?" Clyvor asked as his patrol brought him close to where she was.

"Just a lot of pretty water." She commented, sighing as she gazed upon the reflection of the starry night sky against the dark, sparkly water. "Such a lovely sight…"

"...well, you're right there, lassie, but we need to focus." The dwarf said with a slight frown. "We don't know what may be out there, so we can't allow ourselves to be distracted."

"Oh! Right." The somewhat air headed cleric said, moving to the other side of the ship. As she did, a few thin, spike like fins started to glide through the water toward the ship. With their size and the dark night, it would have been exceptionally difficult to see, even for one who could see in the dark.

Meanwhile, down in the hold, Luanne was lounging around on top of a stack of crates while keeping a lookout and Lanore was sharing some roasted meat with Hops Sr. "Well, this is kinda boring." The halfling prankster said as she looked up at the ceiling of the hold. "...but by the same token, I'm not gonna gripe about getting paid for doing hardly anything."

"It's not so bad. It's nice and quiet here." The draconic lady said, patting her amphibious friend on the head. The moment she said that, there was a thump of wood and metal from nearby. The two of them stop speaking, turning toward the noise. Luanne silently leaped over to the next crate stack, drawing her dagger, while Lanore unseathed her scimitar and Hops Sr croaked threateningly. The rogue carefully peeked over the side and blinked at what she saw. The elf princess from earlier was on the floor, rubbing her backside and grumbling to herself. "What is it?" The friend of animals whispered.

"A royal pain." Luanne responded with a snicker, putting her dagger away. Lolavina sneered up at her as Lanore moved over and around the cargo for a look.

"What are you doing here, princess!?"

"None of your business, lizard lips!" The prissy princess snapped.

"Oh, I think it is our business." The dragonborn responded with a toothy growl. "We're looking for someone stealing cargo. And here we find YOU hiding out down here. Casing the place, perhaps?"

"How dare you!?" The elf princess rose rapidly, her face red and furious. "I am no thief! I am a princess!"

"Then why are you hiding away in the cargo hold!?"

"None of your business!"

While their characters were arguing in game, Lola and Lana were screaming at each other in reality too. Clyde was leaning away from them, worried it would escalate into violence. Luan and Lucy were just nibbling on popcorn, this kind of thing being the norm there. Leni was trying to calm them down, with limited success, while Lincoln was looking more exasperated by the moment. Just as Lola and Lana raised their fists, the snow haired DM put his foot down. "That's enough!" He snapped, getting their attention. "If you want your characters to argue, fine. If you're gonna argue out of character, ok. I get it. You argue a lot. But you are NOT going to get physical in the middle of our game!" He slammed one of his hands down on the table behind his game master screen as he yelled that. While neither twin was intimidated by their brother, they were surprised to hear him yelling at them like this. "Now, are you two going to keep your hands to yourselves, or do we have to hold up the game just to separate you two?"

"...we'll keep our hands to ourselves…." They both groaned in unison, if only because they wanted to keep playing and see where this was going. Lori was quite surprised with how her little brother handled that. Perhaps he was learning from her.

"None of your business!"

"Seems pretty suspicious to me!"

"I say you look suspicious, scale skin!"

"Now now...Your highness, you have to admit it looks pretty bad for you." Luanne said calmly, trying to defuse the situation. "I mean, sneaking aboard the ship, hiding out in the hold...as a rogue myself, that seems pretty shady…"

"You look shady!" Lolavina snapped in reply, too angry to think of a proper comeback.

"Thanks." The roguish halfling said with a prideful smile, which only further irritated the already irate princess. While Lolavina and Lanore were arguing loudly, none of them notice the blade sticking through the hull of the ship and starting to cut a hole into the hold.

"Ok, you three. Roll perception checks." Lincoln declared, looking to the twins and Luan, the three of them looking at him like he had grown a second head.

"A what?" Lana inquired.

"Oh. That's how you determine how things go in the game; the roll of the dice. In this case, a twenty sided dice in this case." The one son explained. "You roll the dice, add any bonuses and/or penalties to it and that is the result. Then I compare it to the difficulty check to see if you succeed or fail." The sisters nodded as Clyde handed them each some dice. As they were still learning, Lincoln decided to cut them a break and not have them roll for disadvantage since they were making so much noise. Lola rolled first.

"I got a...8. Is that good?"

"It's...decent." Clyde replied, leaning over to her sheet. "But don't forget to add your wisdom modifier. Since you have 13 wisdom, that gives you +1."

"I got an 11." Lana said, smiling at the twenty sided die before her.

"I got a 4, plus 1...that's five for me." Luan sighed, slightly disheartened.

"...sorry guys, but it looks like you don't notice anything." Lincoln told them apologetically. Just then, Hops let out a loud croak and hopped in place on Lana's character sheet.

"What is it, pal?" The animal loving Loud inquired as she looked at the paper. "Hey! Hops Sr has alright perception. Can he have a try?"

"Sure." With that, Hops grabbed Lana's die in his front flippers and rolled it across the table. The middle Loud chuckled a bit, thinking that was kind of cute.

"13, plus 2. That's a fifteen." Lana announced before looking up to their game master.

"Good roll, little guy." He told little frog, who looked pretty pleased with himself.

Hops Sr blinked and turned his head when he heard the sound of wood falling to the wooden floor. He spotted the newly made hole in the hull and croaked loudly. Lanore, Luanne, and Lolavina all looked toward the giant frog, then toward the gaping hole. "Where'd that come from?" Lolavina asked in surprise.

"I dunno…" Luanne replied. "...this is 'hole-ly' new to me." She jested, snickering. The dragonborn and elf simply ignored the pun and moved closer to the gap for a look outside. The moment the were about five feet from the hole, a purple scaled, fish faced creature suddenly appeared in the nearly created entrance, gurgling loudly. The three of them screamed in surprise…

...and the players screamed the same way when Lincoln revealed the figurine to his sisters. After the shock wore off, Luan and Lana both laughed it off. "Good one, bro." The family joker said, giving him a slap on the back. Lola, on the other hand, wasn't laughing. In fact she was crying. The eleven year old brother noticed this and immediately went into big brother mode, moving around the table beside her.

"Lola...are you ok?" He asked calmly, putting a comforting arm around the prissy twin. She sniffled a little and nodded.

"Yeah...I'll be ok...you just scared me…" She replied, looking up at him with teary eyes.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"Guess you did a little too good with the story and suspense there, Lincoln." Luan said, chuckling a little. The white haired boy doesn't respond, focusing his efforts on calming Lola down enough to continue the game. As this was happening, Rita had arrived at the door to the garage, where Lori was still standing, watching without their knowledge still.

"Lori? Is everything ok?" The Loud mother asked, a look of concern on her face. "I heard screaming…"

"It's ok, Mom." The eldest sister said in a somewhat quiet voice. "They're just playing a game and Lincoln kinda spooked them. He's got it under control." Rita leaned to one side to look past Lori, just to make absolutely certain. At the sight of the pageant princess and her only son hugging, she smiled and nodded to Lori before she left them to their game. With Lola feeling better now, Lincoln went back behind his screen and cleared his throat to regain everyone's attention. "... after recovering from the shock, Luanne, Lanore and Lolavina notice three of those fish men were crawling through the hole, one by one. Above deck, four similar creatures had climbed their way onto the deck, armed with spears and nets, swords and slimy shields. They scream something is a strange, gurgling language that no one understood, but it was clear they had hostile intentions."

"Well, that escalated quickly…" Lana commented in surprise.

"Roll for initiative everyone." Lincoln announced with a grin, as now the game was about to pick up. Everyone grabbed their dice and threw their rolls.

"Hah! A total of 18!" Luan cheered, her hands raised in celebration.

"14 for me." Clyde announce, a satisfied smile on his face.

"12. That'll do." Lucy said.

"I got a 4." Leni said after looking at her own die. "Is that good?"

"Did you remember to add your dex modifier?" Her younger brother asked.

"My what?"

"If your dexterity score is high enough, you get a bonus modifier to certain checks." Lucy explained, looking at her sheet. "It looks like you have a +1 modifier. That makes your roll a 5."

"Is THAT good?"

"Kinda." Clyde interjected. "As the group healer, it means you can help patch us up after the monsters have their turn, unless they roll even lower."

"Oh! That's good then." Leni said with a simple smile on her face.

"16!" Lana announced with a grin.

"Ribbit." Her froggy friend said, patting the die roll of 11.

'I dunno what's stranger.' Lori thought to herself from the doorway. 'That Lana is letting her frog play along with her...or that the frog is picking up the game so quick.'

"I got a ten total…" Lola kinda grumbled. Lincoln nodded as he rolled for each of the monsters.

"...alright. Luan, you get to go first."

"Cool, but can I roll stealth first? See if they see me from up on the crates?"

"Good idea. Go for it. And don't forget to roll for advantage." Lincoln replied with a smile. The joking sister rolled two d20s. The first roll was a 9, the second an 18. "Heh. Even without your bonuses, the monsters don't see you." Luan smirked as glanced down at the board, where her figurine was set up.

Lanore pulled her blade from its sheath upon seeing the fish monsters forcing their way inside, her faithful frog leering angrily at them as well. Lolavina looked horrified at the turn of events. Luanne kept low to the tops of the crates, drawing a dart from her tunic. She angled herself slightly behind the aquatic assailants, then hurled the little missile at the back of the front creature's head. It was a direct hit, struck with such force that the fishy villain was slain instantly. The remaining two look startled and horrified, but don't have time to look for the source of the dart. Lanore hurried forward and slashed at the kuo toa to the right. Her scimitar left a deep gash in the creature, wounding it, but not killing it. Its ally took the chance to swing its net at her. The thick hempen net wrapped around the dragonborn's legs and force her to trip and fall to the ground. Before it could make another move, Hops Sr sprang into the fray, biting down on the fish creature assaulting his friend. The two struggle and thrash for a moment before the giant frog swallowed the fighting monster whole. ("Wow. I didn't know you liked sushi, Hops." Lana commented, chuckling along with her amphibious associate.)

There was only one more kuo toa standing over the prone ranger, who had taken the chance to thrust his sword at her. Fortunately, it was only a glancing blow. No serious damage. The elf princess just stood there, frozen in fear. She was no warrior; she had never seen a proper battle before. She didn't even know how to fight. But here she was, being witness to actual combat, seeing others get hurt and even die right before her eyes.

"Seriously!? You're skipping your turn!?" Lana screamed in borderline rage.

"My character's never seen such fighting before! It's only natural!" Lola defended herself. Her messy twin was about to really tear her a new one, but that was when Lucy intervened by putting a hand on Lana's shoulder..

"Let it go." She said simply, shaking her head. "You're doing well enough down there."

"...yeah, I guess…" The hat wearing twin said, though she was still salty about her sisters lack of help in this encounter.

Back on the upper decks, things were somewhat chaotic. The koa tua were going after the crew of the ship, meaning Clyvor, Lucinda and Lenina had to protect them along with repelling the fish monsters. The dwarf barbarian drew out his warhammer and ran at the nearest koa tua, with a screeching battle cry like a very gruff eagle. His iron hammer slammed into the creature's head, killing it almost instantly. Its allies charged at him, intent on eliminating the biggest threat.

"Mystic powers, strike down my foes with forceful strikes. Magic missile!" Lucinda chanted from above, raining a small torrent of little force spheres at the invaders. All three struck one of the net carriers, the multiple impacts enough to take it down easily. The remaining two were still able to get to Clyvor, attacking with spear and sword alike. He was able to evade the first attack, but the second put a spear head into his leg.

"Here. Let me fix that." Lenina offered, moving over to the barely hurt barbarian. "With Sune's blessing." Her hand glowed with a holy light as Clyvor's wound healed instantly. Her work there done, she moved herself back to the crew, trying to keep they calm while still keeping track of her friends. She didn't like to fight, so she thought this was the better course of action for her. ("Still being more useful than Princess Do Nothing…" Lana commented snidely) The ship's guards were able to wound the last two fish monsters on the main deck with a volley of arrows. Overall, things seemed to be going well...except for the new group of them climbed up the ship on the other side.

Back down in the hold, Lanore, Hops Sr and Luanne had things pretty well under control, or so they thought. Between the halfling sneak's incredible damage output, and some teamwork from the dragonborn and her giant frog, the kuo toa attempting to crawl through were getting picked off with ease. Lolavina was still petrified with fright, unable to make so much as a move, but they didn't really need her help at the moment. "Well, this isn't too hard." The copper scaled dragon woman commented with a smirk as she cut down the latest fish monster to try and creep through.

"I could do this all day." Luanne muttered to herself, kind of juggling a few darts as she waited for the next contestant on 'Catch the Dart', feeling pretty cocky herself. It was then a bigger (though not by much) kuo toa, carrying what looked like a spiked pincer on a stick, crawled through the hole they had made. It 'bellowed' a blurbed out battlecry as it stepped onto the wooden floor. Having been wiping the floor with the enemy so far, Luanne and Lanore were far from concerned. The halfling backstabber hurled a dart at the unaware creature, but this shot ended up going wide and missed. "...Oops."

"No worries. I got this." The draconic woman said as she engaged this new threat with her trusted sword. The more powerful fish monster attempted to repel her attack with its staff, but her dueling skills allowed her to deal a flesh wound to it. However, the kuo toa was able to respond with a thrust of its pincer staff. It was, unfortunately, a direct, though thankfully not devastating, hit, which caused the pincers to snap shut on the dragonborn's neck. "Ack! Lolavina! Little help here!?" She cried out as the aquatic raider started to pull her toward the hole in the hull. Between the stress of witnessing violence and death for herself and now Lanore screaming for help, Lolavina reacted without thinking. She closed her eyes and gestured a hand toward the kuo toa, a ray of heat shooting from her fingers. The beam didn't quite hit the monster menacing them, but it did blast the handle of the staff, reducing a section of it to ash (She had actually missed by a very narrow margin, but Lincoln had secretly thrown her a bone to keep her from getting discouraged). The dragonkin woman breathed a sigh of relief as she backed away from the oceanic humanoid. "Thanks…" The blonde haired royal pain didn't respond, so surprised she had actually done it.

Determined to make up for her previous miss, the stealthy dart thrower took careful aim this time and hurled a small projectile right at the side of the kuo toas head. This time, her shot was true, hitting the fish faced shock trooper. However, even with sneak attack damage, she couldn't quite down it. Angered by its pain, the kuo toa charged at Lanore, who was trying to pull the spiky loop from around her neck. Fortunately, Hops Sr was right there, ramming the creature back with its head. While not especially strong, the force of his leaping slam was enough to make the creature stumble back. ("I guess that makes him a bull-frog." Luan joked, getting groans from her family, even Hops giving her as 'seriously!?' look) With the slight boost of confidence from her earlier 'success', Lolavina waved her hand in the air, creating a trio of magical projectiles, which tracked on to the wounded raider. Three direct hits to the creatures scaly body and it fell to the ground, finally dead.

"I did it? I did it!" Lolavina cheered, jumping in place and throwing her arms up in celebration.

"Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back...it's not over yet." Lanore said as she broke the entrapping part of the pincer staff from around her neck, even more fish creatures starting to mill into the hold.

"By Moradin, they just keep coming!" Clyvor commented as he bull rushed one of the water-inhabiting monster over the edge before caving in the skull of another with his war hammer. "How are ya holding up, lasses!?"

"Do not fret about me." Lucinda replied, sending wave after wave of magic missiles at the invaders. "I am well."

"We're alright here." Lenina called out as she bolstered the defenses of one of the ship's npc protectors with a shield of faith spell and healing another wounded one. Around that time, one of the kuo toa shock troopers carrying the capture stick had climbed its way onto the deck, screaming in its gurgly language at the barbarian currently mashing his allies like potatoes. Seeing this one was stronger than the mooks he had been slaying so far, Clyvor decided it was time to go all out. The dwarf channeled his inner fury and allowed it to flare and explode within him before he charged at the larger of the fish monsters. He gripped his hammer with both hands and made a reckless attack against the creature. The iron bludgeoning tool connected right with the face of the kuo toa, not only knocking it off its flippered feet, but clear off the ship, its lifeless corpse starfishing through the air.

As Lincoln started to remove the figurine, Luan grinned and playing the Goofy yell through her phone. Everyone at the table burst out laughing at that, and even Lori had to cover her mouth to keep her hysterics in line. It took a few minutes for everyone to calm back down from that. "But seriously, what just happened there?" Luan asked, wiping a tear of laughter from her eyes.

"Yeah. How did Clyde take that guy out in one shot?" Lana followed up. In answer, the bespectacled boy pointed at his d20, which was on 20.

"When you roll a twenty on an attack roll, or less with certain fighter subtypes, you get a critical hit, allowing you to deal twice as much damage as you could before." He elaborated for them. "And Clyvor being a barbarian, he can tank a lot of damage, and dish it out just as much."

"Whoa…" Lana and Lola were in awe of that.

"Nice shot." Luan said, ruffling Clyde's hair. "You're a lucky guy."

Lucinda watched the muscular aquatic creature fly away with a bit of a smirk, while Lenina's jaw hung open. She could see her new friend was strong, but this went beyond what she could have even imagined. While she was distracted, one of the kuo toa raiders managed to climb up to the railing right behind her. It reached its slimy hand out to grab her around the neck, but the feeling of the cold scaly skin on her own caused the gnome to scream, quickly draw her mace and smash the offending creature in the face with it. The impact caused the fishy assailant to let go and fall back toward the sea, knocking two of its fellows down with it. "Oops…" The follower of Sune said quietly as she looked over the edge. "Sorry! You startled me! I'm not usually a violent person…."

"I wouldn't worry about it." The dark robed half elf told her as she unloaded the last of her magic missiles on the most recent wave of invaders. "Clyvor, I fear my magical energy runs low…"

"Do the best you can, Lucinda, me lass." The dwarf replied, fighting as best he could with Lenina providing healing support and the ship's guards physical support. However, the attacking force was swarming the craft like locusts. And things weren't much better below either. Even with Lolavina finally helping and the fact only a few kuo toa could crawl through at a time, they seemed endless in their numbers. Luanne was almost out of darts, and Lanore and her amphibian cohort was getting tired.

"Don't suppose anyone has a plan at this point…" The dragonborn inquired, breathing heavily as finished off yet another kuo toa with her blade.

"I have one, but we need to clear these guppies from the entry." The dart throwing halfling spoke up.

"Allow me!" The elf princess declared, pointing a finger toward the hole where the fish people were forcing their way in. "Scorching ray!" A trio of fiery beams flew from her finger, striking one of the invaders dead on, and only managing glancing hits on two others. "Oh, come on!"

"Looks like it's up to me." The draconic ranger took a deep breath while facing the hole in the hull, before expelling a spray of acid right at them. The breath attack disintegrated the two wounded kuo toas and hit two others attempting to get in right in the face, making them fall back into the sea.

"Perfect!" Luanne exclaimed with a grin before she pushed over a pile of crates ("Nice strength check, Luan." Clyde complimented the family comedian). The heavy boxes of ore fell right onto the bodies of the raiders already slain and creating a barrier between them and the monsters.

"...that was a good idea." Lolavina commented. "Why didn't we do that in the first place!?"

"It probably won't hold them for long." Lanore said. "But at least we can take a moment to catch our breaths and think of another plan."

"Maybe we should head topside with our new friends." The roguish young woman suggested, looking toward the ceiling.

"Then who will be here to protect the cargo?"

"Hey...did it suddenly get quiet out there?" Lolavina pointed out, noting the lack of scurrying and scratching from outside. The rogue and ranger both turning their attention to the blocked hole and realized that she was right. It was strangely silent out there. It stood to reason that the creatures would be trying to push the crates out of the way, or start stealing from their blockade, but no. For some reason, they seemed to be giving up.

"Did….did we win?" Lanore asked, very uncertain.

"It feels more like the calm before the storm…" A concerned Luanne answered.

"You know what...maybe we better head up after all…" Lolavina, Luanne and Hops Sr all nodded in agreement before they all rushed to the stairway leading up. Meanwhile, it started to look like they were going to be overwhelmed by the raiding aquatic humanoids. Clyvor's rage had ended, Lucinda had to hold back on her spells as she was nearly out of magic, and Lenina was having trouble keeping up. However, this was when the other half of the group had arrived on the battlefield. Before they could really engage the enemy, however, the air was filled with the sound of a horn. Upon hearing the sound, all the fish creatures jumped ship, much to everyone's surprise.

"Is it over?" Lenina inquired nervously. ("Not till the fishman jumps." Luan joked, without missing a beat). Before any of her allies could answer, they could hear the sound of blurbling chanting. Lucinda moved over to the side, looking down into the water to see a large kuo toa wearing a seaweed green robe and carrying a staff with a pointed conch shell on the end.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" She commented with a frown. "Brace yourselves everyone…" Just then, something big had sprang from the dark water. A large, light green, scaly crustacean creature slammed down onto the main deck, with long dark pink tendrils sticking out of its mouth area. It 'roared' before slamming its large pincers against the wooden floor.

"Glory be…." Clyvor gasped.

"W...what is that!?" Lolavina asked in horror.

"A mutant lobster on steroids, I wager…" Luanne replied, half in jest, half in fright.

"A chuul!" Lanore said with a glare, leaping onto Hops Sr's back.

"How does your character know that?" Leni asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought Lincoln said-"

"Lana's character has aberrations as her favored enemy." Lincoln interjected, while the handyperson twin nodded.

"As for how I know...well, I asked Linc in private to see if she would know." She admitted with a shrug.

"Which she knows it's her favored enemy and its name, but that's about it." The Loud DM explained further. "But I digress. Roll for initiative."

"Alright lads and lasses...prepare yourselves...this is probably going to get rough." The dwarf barbarian said, gripping his hammer in both hands. "You light armored sorts keep away from its front and claws…"

"No need to tell me twice…" The elven princess commented with a gulp, looking at those large, spiked claws. Lanore was the first to make a move, riding atop her froggy friend into the fray. She slashed at the shell covered leg of the monstrous lobster creature. Fueled by her hatred of such an unnatural creature, she was able to break through its armor and deal some damage to it.

"Extor lisorins…" Lucinda muttered to herself in a dark language, a skeletal hand surrounded in a icy, mist like aura appearing before her. The hand flew through the air and clamped its bony fingers on the Chuul's back, sending the chill of death through it...kind of. The giant sized monster of the sea took it's opportunity to strike next, snapping its two pincers at the dragonborn ranger. She managed to avoid the first claw by ducking her head, but the second swing caught her around the middle. She struggled for a few seconds as its wriggling mouth tentacles stretched toward her. Fortunately, she was strong enough to pull herself free of the monster's claw before they could touch her. Hops Sr took the opportunity to bite the creature's ankle, but the chuul was hardly fazed by it.

"Ok….you can do this, Lolavina…" The golden haired elf muttered to herself before pointing toward their jumbo sized foe. "Scorching Ray!" Three beams were launched from her fingers, with two barely singeing the beast and the third going wide.

"GAH! I hate these dice!" Lola shouted, hurling the handful of six and twenty sided dice in front of her across the room.

"Hey!" Lincoln shouted angrily as Luan was forced to duck to avoid getting hit by the dice. "Lola, don't throw the dice like that!"

"I'm just so frustrated! They've been coming up bad these last few rolls!"

"I understand that and why you're frustrated." Lincoln said, trying not to keep screaming at her. "But you can't throw the dice like that, because 1) they're my dice and you could damage them doing that, and 2) more importantly, you could have hit Luan with them." Lola just huffed and grumbled at that. "Like I said, I get it. I really do. I've had plenty of bad rolls, some of which ended up with my characters dying before. It's just part of the game. The dice won't always fall the way you want them."

"Hmph….I guess…sorry, Lincoln. Sorry, Luan…."

With screeching battle cry, Clyvor unleashed his rage from within as he charged at the aquatic horror menacing the ship. He swung his hammer with both hands and, with his great strength, smashed a section of the Chuul's shell and dealt significant damage to it. Seeing an opportunity, Luanne stealthily crept around the monster while it was distracted by Lanore and Clyvor, pulling her dagger from her tunic. Once she was behind it, she hopped onto its back and attempted to plunge the knife right into it. Unfortunately, she couldn't penetrate its natural armor with her weapon. Even less fortunately for her, it got the mutant lobster's attention. Wishing to continue her more supportive role, Lenina moved around beside her draconic ally and surrounded her in a shield of divine energy. "Thanks, Lenina…"

"You're welcome." The gnome cleric replied cheerfully. A bit more cheerfully than the situation warranted. However, there were more important things to focus on at the moment. Lanore took another swing at the abomination, but her scimitar simply bounced off its shell this time. Seeing her utter lack of damage, Lanore decided to disengage from the enemy and back away with Hops Sr to reconsider her options. Meanwhile, up near the wheel, the morose wizard was in quiet thought. She didn't have many damaging spells left, so she would need to find another way to help the others...and she had just the way.

"Ocuta obscuris." Lucinda chanted softly. Just as the Chuul raised a pincer to swat Luanne, the monster suddenly stopped and screeched, raising its snappers to its eyes. The others weren't entirely sure what happened until the monstrosity took a swing at the rogue on its back, and missed by a mile. Lucinda had blinded the monster. It took another swipe, this time in Clyvor's direction, but once more wasn't even close.

"Whew. That was a surprise." Luanne commented as she tried to hang onto the now furious crustatean's back. "I bet he didn't see that coming. Hahaha." In the heat of battle, no one heard her attempt at a joke (though their players either chuckled or rolled their eyes). Lolavina decided to hedge her bets and use something a little more guaranteed: magic missiles. They weren't as damaging as her scorching ray, but they hit for certain. From her hand, three magic darts flew and pelted the chitinous shell of the monster all together. The dwarf barbarian continued to boldly battle with the Chuul, swinging his warhammer and striking it in the chest. It wasn't as damaging as before, but it was still more damage to the horror from the sea. Not planning on trying to stab it again, the sneaky little lady decided to try something new. She sprang off the monster's back, pulling a small diamond from her pocket. She concentrates on it for a moment, the gem slowly turning into a sphere of lightning. She smirked and hurled the orb at the giant sized lobster monster's back. Her aim was true this time and the magical orb exploded against its back, making the Chuul screech in pain.

"Whoa! I didn't know you could do that!" Lanore exclaimed excitedly when she saw the arcs of electricity coming from the impact site.

"Nice, isn't it? Pity it's kinda expensive to cast." Luanne said. "Guess you get what you pay for with my spells."

"With Sune's blessing…" Lenina chanted, healing the injuries that the dragonkin gal had taken earlier.

"Thanks again. Well, if we're gonna be showing off some hidden tricks, I got one of my own." Lanore commented as she pulled a light crossbow from behind her back. As she loaded a bolt into it, she muttered something under her breath, a green glow surrounding the ammo. "Time to face nature's wrath, abomination." She said, pointing the crossbow at the Chuul. "Hail of thorns!" The bolt flew from the bow and struck the monster dead on. The moment the arrow impacted, it burst in a shower of small, sharp thorns, peppering the creature's hide. Unfortunately, it also pelted Clyvor, who was standing right next to it. "Oops...sorry, Clyvor…" Lanore apologized, wincing as she saw her friend getting riddled with tiny thorns.

"No need to be frettin', lassie." The dwarf replied, brushing off the thorns with zero cares given. "It'll be taking more than that to hurt me."

"Keep it up. I think we almost have it." Lucinda said in a deadpan tone, conjuring another skeletal hand to harm it with necrotic energy. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could do at the moment. Unfortunately, the spell that blinded the monster had worn off, and it was madder than ever. It leered down at the barbarian hammering away at its midsection and swiped a claw at him. It was a direct hit, dealing some damage and catching Clyvor in its grasp. Before anyone could act, the next pincer snapped shut on Lenina, lifting her off the ground as well.

"Agh! Help!" The gnome screamed, kicking her legs as she squirmed in the monster's vice like grip. However, she couldn't escape. Clyvor, on the other hand, was able to force the monster's claw open with his strength alone. The dwarf was soon free and landing on his feet on the deck. With only the cleric to focus on, the Chuul focused its mouth tentacles on her. The moment they touched her head, she started to feel a stiffness in her whole body. She was paralyzed.

"Lenina!" Clyvor cried in horror.

"Get your claws off her!" Lolavina screamed as she unleashed another torrent of magic missiles onto the sea monster. Her words had no effect on the monster, but the magic darts did. Lenina was still in its grasp though. Clyvor recollected his warhammer and, tired though he was, was able to tap into one last barbaric rage, making the same gambit he had made against the kuo toa shock trooper earlier. He recklessly swung his weapon at the Chuul's arm, roaring in absolute fury. Once more, luck was on his side as his hammer slammed into the monster's arm, smashing through the shell and and soft, meaty interior, causing the arm with the claw holding Lenina to fall to the deck.

"Ha ha! Nice swing, Clyvor!" Lanore cheered.

"Now let's try and finish this!" Luanne declared as she drew a second diamond from her pocket. From that gemstone, a second orb was created; this one made of acid. She tossed the magical sphere like a grenade. It splattered on the creature's head, pouring searing acid all over it. "Bullseye!"

"It's still standing though…" Lanore commented as Lenina started to recover from the paralyzing poison, and she was right. The mutant lobster was still on its many legs, but barely. Lanore loaded a new bolt into the crossbow and took careful aim before letting the bolt fly. It struck the Chuul right between the eyes. The hideous creature gave a shrill squeal before it fell to the deck with a thud, not moving any further.

"I….Is it dead?" Lolavina asked nervously as Lucinda strolled down from the helm for a closer look. She investigated the corpse for a moment before she nodded.

"It is...I wonder what happens to the soul of such a creature when it dies…" She mused to herself, stroking her chin a bit.

"Who's got the butter?" Luanne inquired with a grin as she looked at the dead Chuul.

"That was quite a rumble...glad it's over now…" An exhausted Clyvor said as he took several deep breaths.

"The cargo's safe, the crew is safe, and the bad guys were stopped. I'd say it's a big win." Lanore spoke up with a smile as she climbed off her frog, patting the amphibian on the head.

"That was really scary…." Lenina commented as she got to her little feet. "But at least the worst is over now." The moment she said that, the ship suddenly jerked hard, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Lucinda and Clyvor ran over to look over the side. The same robed fishman was floating in the water, waving its staff and chanting a spell, a massive whirlpool starting to form under them. The dwarf gasped and made a mad dash for the wheel. He grabbed the steering device and, with his great strength, tried to get the ship out of the swirling water vortex.

"Oh no!" Clyde cried as he saw the twenty sided die's result. A one. "A critical failure…."

"A what?" Leni asked, a little confused.

"It's the opposite of a natural twenty, a natural one." The white haired boy explained as he pat the dejected african american boy beside him. "When that happens, that means you automatically fail at whatever you are doing and, with certain checks, something bad can happen too."

"Yikes...I see what you mean, Lincoln…" Lola said with a wince. "...glad I never got one of those."

The wheel snapped right off the column into the dwarf's hands, the brawny barbarian looking down at the wheel. "...oops." Now the vessel was absolutely helpless as the whirlpool formed and started to suck them all down into the ocean. As the craft spun faster and faster, some of the crew were thrown off the deck and Lolavina nearly went with them. Fortunately, Hops Sr caught her before she hit the water, using his long, sticky tongue. Unfortunately, it only delayed the inevitable, as the ship was soon sunk and seven of them were underwater. With the lack of light, the bubbles from the sinking vessel and the murkiness of the water, no one other than Hops Sr could see; and the frog didn't like what he saw. The few remaining kuo toa were picking people off one by one in the water, bringing them to some underwater city made of caves and coral far below the surface. Clyvor and Lanore tried to fight back, but between being tired and underwater, they didn't stand a chance. The two of them, Lucinda, Lolavina, Lenina and Luanne were all taken prisoner by the raiding fish folk.

"...that's it?" Lola asked, almost in outrage. "The adventure ends with us getting captured!?"

"I gotta side with Lola on this one...that is kinda lame…" Lana admitted with a frown.

"Now now, calm down." Lincoln told them, smiling lightly as he shook his head. "The adventure isn't over. It's just beginning."

"It is?" They asked in surprise.

"Yep. This was just the first encounter of the adventure. The next part will be starting soon, but I thought after such a rough fight, it would be a good time for a quick break. A chance for everyone to refill their drinks, use the restroom, or whatever. And when you're ready, you can replenish your spells per day and hit points. Treat it as a long rest. You're probably going to need it for this next part." Lori quickly made herself scarce before Clyde got up to get himself another soda. She had to admit that, while the game still wasn't for her, there seemed to be more fun there than she had thought. Maybe it would be worth a try sometime...maybe. Meanwhile, Lucy and Luan had departed to use the restroom, Lucy using the one Lana had put in the garage during the time Lori moved in there. "So, what do you think of the game so far?" he asked his two younger sisters and one older sister present.

"I'm having all kinds of fun!" Lana replied, hopping onto her stool. "My character was so cool fighting those fish guys, and Hops kicked all kinds of butt too." Hops simply ribbited in agreement. "And meeting Clyde and Lucy's characters was pretty cool too."

"I'm having fun too, though it still seems pretty complicated…" Leni said, looking down at her character sheet a little nervously.

"Don't worry, Leni. A few hiccups aside, you're doing fine." Her younger brother told her, gently patting her hand. "You're playing the role you wanted to and doing it wonderfully."

"Yeah. Lenina did a great job keeping the crew protected, and keeping Clyvor and Lanore healthy against that boss monster." The hat wearing twin confirmed.

"Well, as much as I am enjoying my princess character…I can't say I care much for how much chance plays a role in the game." Lola said, looking down at the dice pile with a look of scorn.

"Sorry, Lola, but that's how the game works." The one son said with a shrug. "Give it some time. Maybe the dice will be a little kinder during this next phase." The prissy twin looked skeptical, but she was also super eager to see where this story went. Lana went away to get Hops some more water as Lucy and Luan returned.

"How about you, Luan? Enjoying the game so far?"

"Sure am. I'm sure I will have all kinds of new material for my act by the end of it." Luan said with a giggle, getting a soft laugh from Lincoln too.

"And how about you, Lily? It wasn't too harsh or scary for-" Lincoln started to ask, but then he noticed the Loud infant was fast asleep in her high chair. "...when and how did she fall asleep?"

"Well, you were telling a story the entire time, and telling Lily a story helps her fall asleep." Leni pointed out.

"...ok, but the yelling didn't wake her up?" Lincoln inquired, scratching his head in confusion.

"I'm as shocked as you are." Lucy commented. "But someone should probably get her to her crib before the next part of the game."

"I'll do it." Leni volunteered with a smile, picking up the adorable baby and taking her upstairs. The one son took the opportunity to set up the next set of maps and turn the page to the next chapter of the adventure. To him, this first part was just a warm up, to see how his sisters would do; and they did very well in his eyes. But now was the time for the real challenge...

AN: And thus starts the Louds' foray into Dungeons and Dragons (or a similar game in their universe). Here's hoping you enjoyed this chapter. I realize there are a lot of breaks in the story, as it jumps between the game, scenes in the game, and reality. There were a few more, but as they were simply one sentence, I simply out them in ( ) so's not to break the flow of the story any further. Hope it helped a little. If you would like me to post each of the main chatacter's character stats at the end of each chapter, let me know and I will do so. Also, please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding this story.

And on a side note, how is it the Loud family completely forgot about the second toilet that Lana installed in the garage in the show?