Special thanks

Special thanks to Jan Hedlund for help with editing, etc.

The basic idea of the story is based on a D&D campaign I ran a couple of decades back.
Several different groups of players are each sent out on a scavenger hunt.
They all meet back in Lionsgate for the final showdown.
Some groups didn't last, or make it to the final get together.

The various crews I've set up for my story are somewhat based on some of the actual characters that were used. Mostly the rest are based on various games I've run or played in.

Update & edit

The voluptuous barmaid perched on the big dwarf's knee looking up at him with undisguised awe. He squinted at her from behind his massive tankard, thinking her interest feigned but for a tip, then deciding it didn't matter; his chest puffing up, straining the baldric that wrapped around his ample torso. What's a little ego stroking amongst acquaintances? She reached over and began combing through his luxurious red (?) beard with her fingers, giggling prettily, hiding her relief that he was one of the few of his kind that kept his facial hair free of food and detritus whilst drinking. His eyes narrowed as he rumbled with pleasure, putting him in a magnanimous mood.

"Listen honey!" he growled pleasantly, "It aint easy bein' an adventurer! Looting ruins & dungeons, fighting monsters and their evil masters, trying to stop their pillaging of helpless villages!"

The barmaid frowned, stopping her ministrations, puzzled. "But you said you were somewhere else!" She leaned back, her expression changing to skepticism. "How could you be in some mountains on another world?"

The Dwarf sighed, taking another gulp of his beer and wiping the foam from his mouth with a stained sleeve. "Ok, look, say there's a hole in the air, that looks different through it. That's the other world, see? What you see might be on the other side of the street, or on the other side of the world, or even on another world altogether. Got that, honey? Goin' through might take a minute or two. There's always a path that connects between the two holes. For my ship it took several hours. We started from a seaport, so the path was blue and water-like. If we weren't careful to stay on the twisting path, we'd be lost in the empty space between worlds.” He eyed her disbelieving countenance. “Ok, Honey? D'you get it now?"

Her brow crinkled as she thought about it for a few moments then nodded dubiously. He pulled her to him in a hug, beer dousing her front in the process. "Good girl!" He looked into the tankard's depths, pleased a reasonable amount still awaited consumption. "So anyway, it was a damn rough crossover! But my brave crew held on grimly as our ship, the Skumbukit was tossed about in the wild swirling energy of a dimensional gateway. 'Irongord!' (that's me, honey), my first mate cried, “the dragon's still on our butts!'  Irongorn didn't notice the barmaid quietly whisper, "dragon?" and continued on. “Cursing the wizard who had sent them, I struggled to keep the ship in the center of a thin ribbon of silvery blueness that wound through the maelstrom. The damn dragon wasn't supposed to be there! Two travelers arriving at the same place simultaneously was not supposed to be possible! Mebbe the dragon lost its original path and had latched onto us! I still don't know!  'Stand by!' I shouted, 'It's going to be confused when it comes out! If we throw everything we've got at it, maybe we'll make it in one piece!'

'And maybe we sprout wings, too!' replied Dragonmane a Lizardman and my Second Mate as he was gamely clinging to a nearby rail.
'Move yer sorry butt, Dragonmane!' I roared, 'Or I'll personally feed you to this overgrown ancestor of yours.'  With a silent laugh and an impudent flick of his tail, he turned towards a minotaur grimly holding on to the mainmast on the deck below. 'Rok! Tell Ambergris to get ballista crew ready when we come out!' Dragonmane bellowed, his deep voice thundering through the ship! 'Then get people with heaviest firepower on deck!'

The barmaid was almost tossed off of Irongord's knee as he got deeper into his tale and the rest of the inn's clientele either moved away a safe distance, or leaned in to get all of the details. “I watched the minotaur's massive body move about, always amazed at Rok's sheer bulk.Irongord widened his arms to approximate the width of Rok, almost clocking the barmaid with the tankard. She slid off of his knee to settle onto a bench just past his reach.  "Dragonmane, whose big shoulders and large body put him a head taller than a human, still seemed small next to the Rok.

“Now, my lovely lass,” he reached out and was momentarily puzzled that she'd moved, then reached further and chucked his young audience under her chin. “I'm considered large for a dwarf, in all ways,” he guffawed and winked at her, and took another swig. “but even I would think twice before trying to take on either of them, although I'll never let them know it! Now, where was I?"

“With a final blinding flash of color, we found ourselves back in a normal universe! For a moment, time held its breath. Bright afternoon sunlight spilled over the familiar scene of a busy harbor. Beyond it, a bustling city had spread out around the edges, and reached back up a hill to a castle perched on top. That's when all hell broke loose! The dragon appeared out of nowhere, tumbling end over end. I gazed in awe as the sun reflected off its scales becoming thousands of shades of red, orange and gold. “ Irongord had long since stopped caring if the girl was paying attention, his mind-eye caught up in the memory; his words dropping down to a whisper. “The dragon's fall became a graceful glide. Its head cast about, before targeting on the ship. With a roar of outrage, that dragon banked in a long turn toward the imagined cause of its troubles.

"Battle stations!" He cried aloud, startling everyone with his bellow!

"Stooping for the attack, its mouth gaped open, the dragon sent a scorching blast of flame at the Skumbukit. Instantaneously, magical energy filled the air as the hastily assembled spell casters from below deck shouted and gestured. Arrows, quarrels, ballista bolts, and anything else anyone could find was hurled at the dragon as well!  The dragon reared back as it was engulfed by the surrounding fireworks. A bell-like roar sounded, as it burst into view trailing smoke, flying so low that each member of the Skumbukit would later swear he could almost touch its belly as it went overhead. For one brief frozen moment, the image of the legendary phoenix, an awesome god-like creature feeding on magic energies, was fixed in their vision. Then he vanished in a large hissing geyser of steam, plunging into the bay."

Irongord took stock of his audience, the entire tavern hanging on his words. Pleased, he settled back in his chair and continued to spin his story . . .