I walk through the town with my companions, heads held high after we saved some children from an old hag on the outskirts of the surrounding forest. Damien is particularly exuberant after this encounter for some reason, as this was not one of our more exciting fights. He was also very peppy during the fight, throwing quip after quip around like he was having a conversation with an old friend instead of a hag. “We must go celebrate with the townspeople now that the pesky hag has been handled!” he says as he strides forward ahead of us.

Damien makes it to the tavern first and as he enters he roars, “The hag lives no longer! Come now, let’s celebrate! A round for the whole tavern, on me!” He chuckles in joy as the others in the tavern stand up to thank him for taking care of the hag.

I look over and see that Minnie is observing Damien with mild entertainment, rather than curiosity at his mood. “What’s up with Damien today?” I ask Minnie as we push through the tavern doors. “He seems more lively than normal, which is saying something.”

Minnie gives me a smirk. “I may have slipped a Potion of Happiness into his morning juice. Was curious what it would do to his demeanor.”

Damien is already regaling the townspeople of our fight with the hag, making it sound incredibly more action-packed than it actually was. “That old hag was trying to charm me by saying things like, ‘Oh you’re so strong my good sir! Can I use your toned abs to sharpen my dagger?’ But I wasn’t to be charmed or fooled. I knew how much a nuisance the creature had been for this town! Now, I enjoy a good pun, but her wits were no match to my blade. ‘We shall speak no more words today, hag!’ I said to her and true to my word, before she could speak another, I sliced the hag in twain with my greatsword.”

As he finished the story the townspeople are all looking at him in awe and he is just beaming at all of them. I cannot believe that he commanded this sort of audience with that dreadful storytelling. I smile to myself as I go to get an ale from the bar. He may be overzealous because of the potion, but I can’t deny that his energy is contagious and the whole tavern is filled with joy because of him.