ANASTASIIA KUUSK ART
Session 1 (9 August 2023)
Dear diary, on this day, I joined a crew and began an adventure as Witch Monica in a world skillfully crafted by our Dungeon Master (DM). I couldn’t resist illustrating it from the very first session.
Since then, I’ve been sharing tales of my adventures, designing my own spellbook, rebranding drinks for the campaign, baking medieval-style pies, and even getting a handmade chainmail. I also adopted an imaginary familiar — a rat named Moritz (played by the DM) — whom I care for as if he were real.
The drawings may become fewer now, but this adventure remains one of the most magical things that happened to me.
Session 2 (16 August 2023)
Viktor devoured the voodoo doll of the Pumpkin Goblin King, tearing its head off with his teeth in a most graphic display.
Halflings flew on Elfis’s magic disk to assault
a goblin-occupied castle. Amidst the chaos, Elfis was beset by an undead dog, and Pistis’s attempt to aid him nearly resulted in shooting the elf instead. Meanwhile, Monica was close to death, throwing magic mushrooms from a tower that nearly suffocated everyone with thick black smoke. Hans, ever slow to reload, found himself burdened with two guns, and twice the frustration.
Amongst us:
• Belma Boden, the Female Halfling, a gentle cook with
a heart of gold who fights with unbridled rage against
the bizarre creatures that assault us.
• Elfis, an elf with the uncanny ability to remove his eye and send it forth as a spy.
• Hans Vogel, an explorer whose most memorable feats include nearly drowning and struggling to reload his guns.
• Pistis, the Male Halfling, whose head was grievously wounded, causing his brain to leak. Thanks to a potion,
he now carries his brain in a skull found in a dungeon.
• Viktor the Viking, a brawny yet dim-witted 17-year-old with wild white hair, known for his reckless acts - like looting cursed skeletons and smashing enemies with his fists.
• Monica the Witch - red-haired, with green eyes and a face that brooks no nonsense. Her abilities are peculiar, such as summoning loyal chickens to protect her when near death, charming people to do her bidding, and unleashing the deadly Cold Winds of Funeral Dust to explode corpses.
Session 3 (1 September 2023)
Having claimed a castle Aarhorst from the goblins, we traveled to another city to crown our Halfling Belma as queen.
It took days to examine her for mutations.
The rest of us reveled in a tavern.
Viktor, indulging in gambling and drink, ended up barefoot, leading an orchestra in a nighttime parade of support for our queen. Monica, ever the cunning witch, kept her loyal chickens close, knowing they would turn on her should her health fail.
Session 4 (11 September 2023)
Monica set her chickens ablaze and sent them to attack a giant troll. However, fate was not
on her side—the chickens merely ran about
in flames, filling the air with a savory scent.
The troll was eventually subdued through
a barrage of crossbows, guns, Viktor’s magic fists, fireworks, and even an odd ability that caused the enemy to vomit teeth.
Session 6 (8 October 2023)
Viktor the Viking met a brutal end, his head crushed and his brain spilled, granting him entry to Valhalla. Meanwhile, an old, drunken priest NPC who had accompanied us for several sessions garnered an unusual sympathy. His presence uplifted our morale - 12 when drunk, 4 when sober - and he proved useful in battle. Upon Viktor's demise, his player claimed the priest as their new character, Noien the Annoyed. Representative of Vorn religion.
Session 8 (5 November 2023)
In a small, forsaken village, Priest Noien sought to cleanse the souls of drug-addled peasants. This he attempted after Witch Monica unleashed her most dreaded spell, Cold Winds of Funeral Dust, which reduced more than 20 unfortunate souls to naught but ashes.
Noien delivered a fervent sermon in the village’s humble church, urging the lost souls to renounce their vices and join the “One Step” program towards sobriety—or face the same dusty fate as those melted by Monica’s wrath. To aid his cause, the priest crafted a relic from the skull of a pigeon. Stuffing the skull with the last remnants of their accursed drug, Noien used it to sway the villagers’ hearts, securing their allegiance to his cause.
Session 9 (26 November 2023)
Witch hunters arrived at our castle, announcing their intent to burn a nearby wizard’s tower. Our band, ever keen to plunder before others, hastened to the tower to claim whatever magical artifacts
it held.
Within the tower, we encountered Moritz,
a cunning and sharp-tongued creature who quickly won the hearts of all. The tower’s previous owner, a wizard, had met his demise at the hands of witch hunters.
Monica, with only one chicken remaining, offered it to Moritz as a token of her favor.
Session 10 (10 December 2023)
In the depths of the tower, fierce battles were fought, and many treasures were found. As the witch hunters’ torches flickered in the distance, the crew fled the tower. Moritz, however, refused to abandon his home, not even for the allure of a Cheese Festival in a nearby village.
Fearing Moritz might betray them to the witch hunters, Noien and Belma approached the hunters to parley.
​As the session ended, only Belma caught a fleeting glimpse of Moritz’s nose in a dark dumbwaiter. Whether the cunning creature escaped the tower before it was set ablaze and exploded in a burst of green light, or perished within its walls, remains a mystery. 2 years later our DM confessed to me that this picture persuaded him to keep the damn rat alive.
Session 11 (14 January 2024)
The battle raged fiercely as the crew found themselves facing a demon-possessed herd of swine.
In the midst of the chaos, Moritz returned, soaring in on a crow. With a curse on his lips. Moritz presented our Queen, Belma with a list of all the broken and stolen items from his former master’s tower.
With his former master gone, Moritz needed a new one, lest he wither and perish. He chose to serve Monica as her familiar.
Amidst the fray, Monica teleported atop one of the pigs, holding a girl whom the pigs favored as a hostage, threatening to kill her if the pigs dared attack. Hans, with reckless valor, leapt from a window, sliding down a rope pulley and inadvertently bringing down the entire damaged barn upon one of the pigs, crushing it.
Pistis, with a single mighty blow felled three pigs at once. Noien's blade sliced through a pig's head as if through butter. But the battle took its toll—Monica, after a savage struggle, lost an eye, devoured by one
of the cursed swine.
As the battle waned, the DM’s low rolls turned the tide in the crew's favor, with the pigs, rather than fighting, beginning to mate.
Monica lay in a pool of blood, relieved to have survived. But her relief was short-lived—Moritz, sharing her wounds as her familiar, had also lost an eye.
Session 13 (11 February 2024)
For three sessions now, the gang had been lost within the vast and cursed forest of Dolmenwald. To enter
the Dolmenwald, the group had to become heavily intoxicated on pipe weed and fall asleep within a circle
of mushrooms. They awoke in a forest teeming with life, savage and wild, where danger lurked in every shadow.
One of their many stops led them to The Lonely Willow, an ancient and sentient tree. Its only word was “Hungryy!” Monica sent her last chicken into the gaping maw of the tree, only for it to spit out nothing but feathers. The tree’s hunger demanded something more substantial.
It was finally sated with the expired corpse of an old man who, along with seven or eight others, had been lazing by the banks of a nearby pond. These old men, smoking pipes and eating apples that had rolled down from The Lonely Willow, seemed to age rapidly as they indulged. The more apples they consumed, the grayer their beards grew, and their minds drifted further into senility.
Later, the crew encountered a charming fungus.
Session 15 (25 February 2024)
In a desperate battle, Witch Monica and Priest Noien combined their powers in symbiosis to cast the Drunk’s Reversal spell against The Big Brain monster. This creature sought to control the crew’s minds, its malevolent intent clear. At the same moment, both halflings, Belma and Pistis, were thrown from a balcony. Belma’s quick reflexes saved them both as she clung to the tentacles, averting certain death.
The Big Brain, for the first time in its life, experienced the dizzying confusion of drunkenness. The sensation left the monster so bewildered and disoriented that it retreated in a rather undignified manner.
Meanwhile, Hans, ever the hero, was firing his pistols with precision, while Moritz finally found a use for his tiny knife, joining the fray with deadly intent.
Session 16 (17 March 2024)
Moritz began bragging to a new NPC who had joined the crew. He boasted of how his cheese tasted better with his special seasonings, which he carried in tiny bags.
“This here was Felix the Magnificent… Wasn’t so great, after all, but does taste magnificent sprinkled on cheese,” he would say, holding up a pouch. “And this one? Oleg of Wulfsumpf. I use him to powder my inner thighs so they don’t chafe. It’s feckin' moist in here, right? A swamp man for swamp arse, always useful.” Then, with a sly grin, he’d add, “And here we have Constantine, or some call him BucketHead. Me, I call him ‘Seasoning’. I wonder... by this time tomorrow, what will you be?”
Those unfortunate enough to meet that fate had passed through Monica’s spell—Cold Winds of Funeral Dust.
Later, the crew was guided through a long tunnel shaft with a chain they had to climb, one person at a time. Belma and Moritz decided to venture ahead. As they approached the end of the tunnel, Moritz caught the scent of big mosquitos.
The duo returned to the crew with the grim news—there were three huge mosquitos ahead.
Monica climbed up with Moritz to unleash a Gust of Wind spell. Moritz, always eager for action, insisted on being part of the spell, flying into the fray with the gust to kill the mosquitos.
Session 18 (14 April 2024)
Father Noien, in a miraculous event, was reborn. He invoked the ancient powers of Vorn, calling upon his one-time ability to return to life. When he rejoined the crew, he was as naked as a newborn, devoid of any belongings. With little choice, he found some rags to cover his shame and a rusty shovel to defend himself against enemies.
Session 21 (9 June 2024)
Witch Monica was on a roll, actively engaging in battle and self-harming for the cause. The crew faced an intense fight. Monica suffered greatly at the hands of a powerful monk she sought to kill. She teleported behind him and struck with a flail, but the monk retaliated with powerful magic.
As a result, she broke her jaw and shattered all her belongings—potions, bottles with samples
of strange creatures, various gems, even her crossbow - all were lost.
Despite the damage, Monica sacrificed her blood and ultimately defeated the monk, turning him into dust. She also managed to steal an important map, a chest full of money, and another chest filled with what she hoped were useful magical items and spells.
Session 23 (25 August 2024)
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Our weary band, low on supplies after the long
trek through Domenwald Forest, found hope by
a waterfall where Belma and Noien spotted a huge catfish, locked in battle with an amphibian creature. Seeing a meal, they moved to strike, but the amphibians—misunderstanding their intent—surrounded them with spears.
A tense exchange led to a bargain: the pair would slay the catfish for the amphibians or face their fury. Belma harpooned the beast while Noien, priest of Vorn, strode upon the water - astonishing their hosts, who failed to mimic his divine step. At last, by sharing his gift with the fish itself, Noien brought it thrashing to the surface.
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Session 26 or 27 (29 October 2024)
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Here we say farewell to our fallen comrade, Pistis the halfling, who was shot in the eye after two years in the campaign.
Session I stopped counting (11 January 2024)
The battlefield was a scene of madness: blood tornadoes whirled viciously, ooze creatures oozed with malicious intent, and a stupidly persistent turtle kept snapping at Monica’s heels as if the all the chaos wasn’t enough.
But Monica cast Polymorph Self and transformed herself into a hawk with Moritz riding on her back. Her talons became the stuff of nightmares as she descended on the monstrous child - a grotesque familiar of the enemy commander. By killing that cursed child chaotic magic was released. Death loomed over them like an unrelenting shadow.
Yet, instead of succumbing, the dice delivered a strange twist: gills. Yes, in their agony and near death state, Monica and Moritz were gifted with
the ability to breathe underwater.
Meanwhile, Hans Vogel, driven by unrelenting rage for his slain family, lined up the perfect shot. With a single, vengeful arrow, he pierced the commander’s eye, dropping the foe and reclaiming his family’s relic - a legendary pistol of unspeakable power.
Session 40 plus minus (7 September 2025)
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Priest Noien was abandoned by his god - Vorn, and decided to become an atavist. He left behind all metal weapons and items, he striped from woven fabrics, he refuses sleeping indoors now, he refuses reading and writing for the call of nature, he now steps barefoot through the mossy paths of the forest.
Only alcoholism didn’t abandon him…