Old Days Made New

A curious thing happened during tonight's gaming session. We were playing a band of eight elves daring the danger-saturated depths of Undermaountain, when I was compelled to answer nature's call. Upon returning, I found that my fellow Foaming Flagons had been comparing a group of characters that we had played two decades ago, two the newly rolled band of elves, and had come to the conclusion that the newer group lacked style and spontaneity when compared to the older characters.

Reflecting on those years,I see that my fellow Flagons are right. In tailor-making a group of characters to conquer Undermountain, we had become too concerned with winning the game, and less concerned with playing the game. In the old days, action often came before thought, avarice overcame caution, and glory was more valuable than treasure for our characters. This old, well-tried group of characters were called the Fellowship of Blood, for they were bound together by blood; the spilled blood of enemies, and the blood shed fighting shoulder to shoulder and back to back. (We could not find a name for the Elvin band, and that in its self is telling)

Hours would sometimes pass with the Fellowship of Blood simply finding diversions in taverns before a single die was bounced across the table. My friends and I would change our voices, and speech to match our characters and have them share heartfelt sentiments, argue, and otherwise interact with each other. Because of this, when at last dice clattered on the table, the outcome mattered more than it otherwise would have, because the characters live in our imaginations: they were characters, not just character sheets

After some more discussion, we suspend the campaign with our elven characters, and re-rolled the Fellowship of Blood; resolving to recapture what we had lost. The days of of old are again new, the adventure begins again, and I do believe I feel a little younger.