A Farewell to a Friend's Bachelor-hood Geek-Style...

On Saturday, I attended a Bachelor Geektogether for a friend of mine, KatoKatonian, who will soon be entering the bonds of matrimony with a wonderful young lady, MerryDragon.

StormBringer had arranged a night of gaming to send the man off in style. It was a night of junk food, laughs, cries of victory and dismay, and good old-fashioned fun!

It was a dark and stormy morning...

I arrived at StormBringer's place after driving through torrential downpours on the Ohio Turnpike. I settled in to await his arrival from his morning routines of physical fitness with a can of Sprite and a game of Rune Age.

By the time Storm arrived, I was well into my third run of the Event deck in the Dragonlords scenario. By the time StormBringer was finished freshening up, my undead legions were not able to muster enough to take down the Objective Dragonlord before the others swooped in and finished me. So goes life and death in Terrinoth.

Man cannot subsist on gaming alone...

StormBringer and I left to pick up KatoKatonian. I was bundled up and hidden under a large beach towel in the back seat. When Kato opened the car door to unwrap his "present," I revealed myself to the waning bachelor much to his surprise. It was also at that time that I had the pleasure of meeting his beautiful bride for the first time. Though the meeting was brief, I could tell my friend has chosen...wisely.

We were off to the Winking Lizard Tavern where we met up with the other two members of our party, Dr. Q and Nayls. Inside the common room of the tavern, we enjoyed good food, Ohio State football, and great conversation. After our meal, we continued onto our objective.

After a quick snack and beverage run to the local grocery, we finally descended upon the demesne of StormBringer with a fervor and gleam in our eyes.

To the table!

Let the games begin!

The first game to hit the field of battle was our favorite warm up game, Zombie Dice. We played two games with Dr. Q winning one and KatoKatonian the other. 

From the nightmarish world of zombie hordes to the magical and dangerous world of Dungeons and Dragons. Kato chose the next game to be the massive Wrath of Ashardalon. After a surprisingly quick set up, we were down in the dungeon having a hard time. 

 Dr. Q chose to play the dwarven fighter, Nayls piloted the half-orc rogue, StormBringer was the Dragonborn Wizard, I played the bald (appropriately enough) human cleric, and KatoKatonian played the pious elven paladin. 

Through the luck of the draw, we ended up in the Unknown Overlord's Dire Chamber right at the bottom of the entrance stairs. A duergar captain had assembled a host of guardians to protect the entrance to Ashardalon's lair. 

We had a few rough turns before we finally found our stride. The greatest threat to our party were the kobolds and duergar warriors. They continued to explore other portions of the dungeon in an effort to rouse more defenders to come join the fray and try to lay us low. 

Soon the Duergar captain lay dead upon the cold, hard floor, but not before we had to fight off, orcs, grells, snakes, gibbering mouthers, fearsome cave bears, and my personal non-favorite, Legion Devils. My blade barrier spell and StormBringer's magic blasts soon brought those devils low. 

We could hear more monsters shuffling towards us, so we chose a route in the opposite direction and continued our search for the might Ashardalon.






After a few more monsters and several environmental challenges, we stumbled upon the mighty dragon's lair.

The huge dragon and his minions stood before us, but we had no fear. We leaped into the fight and tried to bring the evil tyrant lizard low. He stepped into my blade barrier and was sliced horribly, but he kept fighting. Eventually, our combined prowess brought him to his knees, and the heat of his vile breath weapon was forever stilled. No longer would this tyrant lizard terrorize innocents. We were triumphant.

From the dragon's lair frying pan to the fire of the space hulk...

After pizza picked up and delivered by the most marvelous MEM, we settled in for a game of ...

After a brief tutorial and analysis of the game mechanics and the distribution of the combat teams, we were off into a dungeon of another kind, the unforgiving and hostile environment of a floating space hulk. This particular craft was a haven for an insidious infestation of the xenos known as Genestealers. 

Our space marines were tasked with purging the xenos threat and making the galaxy safe for the subjects of the Undying Emperor! 

Into the jaws of death we leaped. We made our way through the cold and eerily silent corridors of the scuttled ship. From all sides the Genestealers leaped at us, trying to take us to be their fodder. 

Our battle brothers fell, but several of us managed to make it to the center of the hive. It was there that one of the greatest combat failures in all the thousands of years of the Emperor's rule occurred. A Space Marine, fully supported by the combined skill and might of his surviving battle brothers, had the opportunity to end the xenos threat permanently by slaying the last of two Genestealer Brood Lords.

KatoKatonian rolled 5 failures in his attempt to slay the final alien. From that pivotal point, our battle brothers' will was broken, and we were soon overwhelmed by the Lord and his spawn. At least our brothers fought and died with honor in the service of the Emperor. 

An ending and a beginning...

A most excellent night of gaming was had by all. We sent our friend to his doom...er...I mean bliss in style. I want to thank everyone for a most excellent night, and I wish KatoKatonian and his beautiful bride all of the happiness and fulfillment marriage brings. May your dice always roll true, and your home be a happy one. 

Best wishes, good sir. From all of us, good life and good journey. 

I can't wait for Nayls' bachelor party!