“Here’s the scene,” says Bert. “Your characters,” he points to Mac, Chuck, and Yvonne, “are tracking a band of slavers. You follow a poorly covered path to a clearing …”

The coffee shop fades away, replaced by a forest populated by oak, maple, and ash trees.

“Quiet.” Naathyn halted the party. He motioned his companions to cover. He crept through the brush, listening to the argument coming from the small clearing ahead.

“You!” an elf demanded from the clearing. “What happened here?”

“You dare!” came a younger, female voice speaking in a mix of Elvish and the Common language. “She refuses to let me die, so you force her into the wilderness? You are as bad as the slavers who tried to take us!”

“Don’t you lie, girl!”

“Tell me I did this, then!”

Silence followed.

Naathyn wriggled back to his companions.

“I think our quarry landed here. It looks like they tried to capture an elf. Something else is going on. I’m not sure what.”

“Let’s make our presence known, then,” said Aeryn. “I would hate to send the elves into a panic by sneaking around.”

“Good point.”

The group strode into the clearing.

**

Several hours later, The Jaunty Mug fades back into existence.

“Where did you come up with the name ‘Slaver’s Nemesis?’” asks Julie.

“I dunno,” replies Yvonne with a shrug. “It just popped into my head as we were interacting with the elves. I kinda thought our group needed a name, and it was the only one I could think of.”

“It was brilliant,” says Mac. “I like that we have a cool name for our party right off the bat.”

“Yeah, me too,” says Chuck. “We never picked a party name in our last campaign.”

“I didn’t hear you offer any suggestions,” says Sandra.

The group trades good-natured barbs as they prepare to leave the cafe.

“See you next week, Stevie,” says Bert as they wind their way through the tables. “Thanks for the great evening.”

“Send my regards to Aislynn,” my avatar, Stevie, says as the group passes through the door.

“I’ll do that,” says Bert with a half-knowing smile.

I think he’s beginning to figure me out.