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“There’s a guard standing nearby. She’s been tasked with making sure no one escapes until you reach the mainland.”

“She has, has she? Well, this opening was clearly meant for me.” He leans forward, a cocky grin on his face. “I lean forward and call to her. ‘Hello, my fine lady!’ ” His voice takes on a slight British lilt. “ ‘It’s been too long since I saw someone so beautiful in front of me. Where are you from?’ ”

“The guard spins toward you,” Sloane replies, “and pins you with a glare that could melt the metal bars surrounding you. She walks over and slams her fist into the metal. ‘Keep your mouth shut or I’ll shut it for you.’ ” Sloane’s voice pitches low and menacing.

“I’d like to try sliding through the bars of my cell,” Mark says in Rolo’s excited halfling voice.

Sloane shakes their head. “No can do. You’re small, but the bars are fitted too close together to get out.”

“I wonder if that means they designed these cages especially for us,” Kashvi adds.

“I’d like to roll to persuade the guard,” Logan says. He looks around the table at the rest of us. “I’ve escaped much worse situations than this based solely on charm and a sly hand. Hold tight.”

I’m already finding Adris to be annoying, but I have to give it to Logan for immediately committing to the role.

“Roll a persuasion check,” Sloane says.

Logan rolls more dramatically than is entirely necessary, and his navy d20 lands on a 2.

He throws his head back and groans and the others do the same.

“All right, Adris,” Sloane says. “You try to persuade the guard by leaning seductively in your cell and giving her your best come-hither stare. However, your hand slips and you fall forward and smack your forehead into the bars.”

We all burst out laughing, even Logan, though his neck is flushed red.

“So much for our charismatic rogue,” says Kashvi. “Why don’t we all start by trying to get our bindings off? I’m assuming I don’t have any of my weapons on me to cut them?”

“You’ve been stripped of your weapons, and you don’t see them in the vicinity.”

We each roll our Dexterity to escape, but only Sanjiv manages to make the roll.

“I forgot what it feels like to start back at Level 1,” Kashvi complains, and slouches into her seat.

“No, this could still work,” I say, an idea coming to mind. I’ve been nervous to say much and mess up the game, but I played a druid before, so I’m really familiar with what they can do. I look past Kashvi to Sanjiv. “Lynx, there must be rats crawling around the boat. See if you can get one to chew through our rope bindings.”

“Nice,” Sanjiv says. “Thank you, Nasria.” He rolls well enough to get the rat to do just that, and with my hands free, I can finally use my magic.

“I’m going to cast the magic hand spell to try and steal the guard’s keys since charming her didn’t work so well.”

“I hope your rolling ability is better than Adris’s and mine,” Mark replies.

I pull out my d20 and shake it hard enough that no one can tell my hands are shaking of their own accord. To my delight, an 18 comes up. With that plus my bonuses, I definitely got a high enough number.

Sloane nods approvingly. “Okay, the new player coming in for the win. Your spell lifts the keys from the hook on the wall where they’re stored and they float into your hand.”

“Wait,” Logan says. “She’ll hear if you open your cell door and release us.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll convince the rat to crawl up the guard’s leg. That’ll distract her.” Sanjiv rolls a skill check.

Sloane thinks for a moment and then nods.

“ ‘Rats! Vermin!’ ”Sloane shrieks so loud that I fly out of my chair in fright. I burst out in embarrassed laughter and Kashvi follows suit, leaning toward me until our shoulders touch. Sloane grins in our direction. “It turns out the guard has been deathly scared of rats her entire life, ever since she was a young girl and woke up to find one chewing on her hair as she slept. She flails and screams, racing through the small brig before falling over an uneven piece of flooring and landing hard on the ground.”

We all wince.

“You hear the telltale steps of another guard coming down to check,” Sloane continues.

“No need to be quiet anymore,” Kashvi says. “And I’m not dying before I find my father.”