Frantic Free-for-All
(The Game World)
The skies over Arnost's grand coliseum echoed loudly with the sound of thunderous cheers, as the next round of gladiatorial games were about to begin. Down below; the Adventuring Party stood stilly in the sand, watching the crowd above them chant their names (or the names that they had chosen for them) with great fervor. To the likes of Ventris, she could not help but feel some form of contempt towards the humans watching her.
Why they or any other race/species of creature in this world would find innocent souls battling one another to the death amusing was beyond even her understanding. Her comrades also felt rather perturbed by this as well, save for two of them; Ursa and Mituna. As a bard, Mituna lived to hear the roar of the crowd while Ursa paid more attention to any and all spectators who hooted at her.
However, there were a few comments from a few of them that actually made her fur stand on end. There was one such comment from a drunkard in the crowd that she found particularly appalling, upon entering the arena. "OI, KITTY CAT" shouted the man in a slurred tone, "if you survive this, come back over to the tavern with me; we can curl up close and cozy near the fire."
Naturally; the lewd implications within the chap's words brought utter disgust to the young rogue but it was her brother, Ezra who felt the most bothered by them. With great fire in his eyes, he drew out a claw from his right index finger and jabbed it threatening at the man above him; all while shielding Ursa behind him. "If you so much as touch a whisker on my sister, I'll come up there and claw your eyes out" Ezra hiss viciously, "even if that pompous jackal, Gunari sends his guards after me!"
Although Ursa much appreciated her brother's efforts to defend her honor; the crowd, on the other hand, weren't quite so moved and took the druid's words as an insult. This was something the chamberlain hoped to exploit, thinking it would be an excellent way to help rouse the crowd's desire for combat. With that in mind; he put on his most convincing sullen expression, stepped out onto the balcony and shook his head in dismay.
"Do you hear what this mangy creature is saying, good people" he exclaimed, "not only has he insulted our exalted leader, he has insulted us as well!" Miraculously, the chamberlain's displeased/saddened tone seemed to win over the citizens of Arnost; who wasted no time in shouting obscenities at the Adventuring Party. At the same time, Gunari gave a rather bored yawn (seemingly bored by what was happening) and nonchalantly beckoned for the Chamberlain to start the games.
"For your insolence, Druid...you and your comrades shall not be given any weaponry to defend yourselves" he decreed, "which should make your eventual defeat all the more amusing to us!" This proclamation seemed to please the spectators immensely, who wasted no time in either cheering or chanting for the new blood's deaths. Meanwhile, the other members of the Adventuring Party did their best to appear undeterred by what happened (despite all the glares they sent Ezra's way.)
"Nice work, Brother...very nice" Ursa whispered venomously, "why not save the trouble for Gunari and have his men execute us now!" Just then, a dagger suddenly flew down in-between the twins; causing them to leap backward in alarm. Once they were distracted, Jinn shape-changed into a lion and pounced atop Mituna's shell.
Although a Tortle's shell is known for being quite large and strong, the young bard still flinched each time she felt the beast's claws scraping against it. The only two who were left standing during this onslaught were Ventris and Shadow, who felt somewhat helpless in their situation. At the start, they already felt somewhat defenseless without their magic items.
But now, without any kind of weapons to aid them in this fight; things looked even hopeless for them. "I'm only an apprentice mage...I cannot perform any spells without my staff" Ventris thought distressfully, "how am I supposed to help my friends now?!" The instant these thoughts sparked within her mind, a faint voice suddenly echoed through the she-elf's ears; one that seemed...oddly familiar to her.
Upon listening to the whispers more closely, Ventris realized it was the kind voice of her Archmage from her homeland. "I thought once like you, when I was a young Elfling many ages ago" the voice stated, "but never forget that a staff is merely a tool...the true power of a spell-weaver lies within the user. Find that power within you and allow your mind to focus, when the time is right."
(The Real World)
"Wait a minute, I'm rather confused here" Lucy proclaimed while politely raising her hand, "do spell-caster characters like mine and Lori's really need their staves or are they simply for show?" Surprisingly, instead of any of the Game Masters providing an answer; it was Lincoln who offered to do so. Through letters he shared with Miss Grimwood's students over the past year; he had learned that the wands, scepters, staves and other such objects magi possessed were merely conduits (things that helped channel their spells properly.)
"Intriguing...your explanation, dear brother brings to mind of how certain scientific devices are used to help harness the very forces of nature" Lisa stated, "such as solar energy and biomass." The instant she said all of this, the wee genius looked towards her fellow players and grinned smugly; proclaiming that all the years she claimed that "all supernatural phenomena had scientific explanations" have just been proven correct. But then, Lincoln urged his little sister to not appear too confident in her ideas; stressing that he learned all of his current mystic knowledge from Grimwood's...a school populated by "fictional" creatures.
With a stern look in her eyes, Lisa was mere seconds away from challenging her brother's words; only to instantly recall the events of when Miss Grimwood and her students first arrived in town. After seeing everything the girls had done and remembering the spectacular All Hallows Eve performance they've put on, she ultimately realized that Lincoln spoke the truth (much to her chagrin.) "The main point we're trying to get here is...a staff or spell book might help strengthen your characters' powers, girls" Lynn Sr. interjected, "but that power already exists inside each of them."
Despite however useful this information seemed, both Lori and Lucy agreed that it all made their heads hurt something fierce. As for Lana, she was quick to ask if these circumstances also applied to her own character as well; considering that druids had their own kind of magic. "It's the same thing with mages, witches, wizards and other examples; Lan" Lincoln explained, "the staff is mostly a tool that helps focus your powers...you can still use magic without it."
Lana smiled brightly at this news, grabbed the character manual and flipped through the pages like mad until she came to the chapter describing her class. Upon reading over each page carefully, she made a mental checklist of every spell/Cantrip she thought would be useful in the coming battle. "Okay, I think I'm ready now" she said confidently, "let's kick some collective booties, ladies!"
While she continued to keep up her contempt demeanor towards the game, Lori couldn't help but find her sister's behavior...a little infectious." But just as she and the rest of her team were ready to start, the Council quickly put the brakes on their plan. "Hold on there, girls; we can't start the battle just yet" Albert said with a light chuckle, "remember, we still gotta have everybody roll for initiative."
With that simple command, both girl groups took their dice in hand and started shaking them so loudly that it sounded as though the room was infested with rattlesnakes. After a while, they finally let their dice go but did so one at a time (at Huggins' behest.) "Okay, girls...let's see who got what" Rita said in her normal voice, "remember, whichever one of you has the highest number gets to make the first move."
After that reminder, the girls glanced down at their die and sounded off their number one at a time; some with great joy and others not so much.
Whitney: TWENTY-FIVE!
Becky: Twenty!
Dana: Nineteen for me!
Cristina: Eighteen for me.
Phoebe: Sixteen over here.
Stella: Nat 20 for me, YES!
Chaz: UGH! I got a ten, just my luck!
After that, each member of Lori's group (except for Lily) made their dice rolls next; each one gaining a natural twenty, much to their surprise. Now, the only player left to make her own roll was Sid...but they haven't heard from her for the past minute or so. "Somebody better check the laptop quick" Principal Huggins suggested, "make sure the power's been turned on...or at least, make sure the battery's still strong."
Without hesitation, several members of the Gal Pals crowded themselves around the laptop on the game table; checking for signs of anything that might be amiss. But just as Jordan was about to press on the "Power" button, the computer's screen suddenly flashed on and revealed Sid's face; who went on to call out "HEY, EVERYBODY!" Naturally, this surprise shocked the Gals and nearly caused them to fall over one another (had it not been for some other players to help catch them.)
Upon recovering from the small scare, everyone greeted their city friend as pleasantly as possible; despite some (namely Lori and Lola) thinking she was holding them up. "Sorry I'm late, everybody...had a doozy of a time getting my dice back from Nico" she explained, "it seems he, Sergio, Lalo and all the pets in our building were playing their own kind of dice game with the Pigeons up on the roof this morning."
(The scene quick cuts to earlier that morning, up on the roof of Casagrandes Apartments. There, Nico the Monkey is seen using Sid's D20 for a game of Craps)
Up on the roof of the apartment complex; Nico the Zoo Monkey is seen playing a dice game with Sergio, Lalo, the city pigeons and several pets from the building. He shakes the dice for a couple of moments, sends it rolling along the floor and when it lands on the number "20," he suddenly starts hooting loudly in victory. Meanwhile, Sancho (one of the more...disheveled members of the Pigeon Crew) coos loudly in disapproval; as if saying Nico's dice wasn't legal (which it wasn't.)
"BRAWK! Of course it's legit, you guys" Sergio retorted, "Nico here says he's seen Sid use it all the time for one of her games." The instant these words passed his beak, every creature suddenly heard a loud thumping noise coming from the door leading to the stairs. At the same time, from the way it was bouncing; it looked as though someone was ramming into the door from the other side.
This caused Nico to run about in fear, thinking it was Mrs. Chang coming up to take him back to the zoo already. "Uh...I don't think that's her causing all that banging, amigo" Sergio squawked nervously, "she's strong but not enough to hit the door that hard!" After that, the attacker made one final ram up against the door and it flew open so fast that it almost flew off its hinges.
Much to the dismay of the zoo critters, Mrs. Becca Chang truly was behind the earlier door banging...but she was not alone. At her side stood Rosa Casagrande, her daughter (Maria,) Sid, Ronnie Anne and even Hector was among them. When Sergio happened to see the Casagrande Patriarch in the group, he glared at him with pure contempt; as if he'd been betrayed by his best friend.
"Sorry it had to be this way, my fine feathered friend" Hector said with mock sincerity, "but this is what happens when you leave people out of a game!" Just as Sergio is about to make some sort of snappy comeback, he and his fellow animals are suddenly rushed by the humans.
(Back to Reality)
"HA-HA-HA-HA! Y-You should've seen the look on Sergio's face when my mom and Mrs. Casagrande came at them" Sid laughed loudly, "I haven't seen him look that scared since the last time he got caught trying to buy some fancy beak-groomer on the shopping network!" Without hesitation, the whole table erupted into a mad fit of laughter at the story; even the Game Masters couldn't help but do the same. But after a while, everyone had calmed down and they were ready to continue on with the game.
With that, Sid was given the all clear to make her dice roll; reminding her that they were currently rolling for initiative for the upcoming battle. She gave a nod, took her D20 in hand, shook it vigorously for almost fifteen seconds and rolled it slightly across her desk. "Okay, let me see here" she murmured softly, "it looks like I got a...25! That's good, right?"
The Council all nodded in unison and told her that Whitney also earned such a number on her roll moments earlier. This meant that she and Sid both would get to make the first move against Lori's group. "So, Katrina Storm-Spear; what do you and Arkoni do to start this round of the gladiatorial games" questioned Huggins in his Fastred voice, "remember...you can make up whatever moves you like, so long as they are well within your character's abilities."
Upon hearing these words, Sid was bouncing with such joy in her seat one would think she would take off like a rocket. Of course, to Lori and her sisters; this all looked like a bad omen rather than cute nerd behavior.
(The Game World)
For what felt like ages, the Party stood stock still before their two opponents; who seemed to be conversing idly amongst themselves. To the likes of Ventris, she assumed that they were concocting a plan of attack but her comrades urged her to have faith in them. Then, at long last; Arkoni turned her attention towards them and slowly drew out her sword.
This particular gesture was most foreboding for the Party, due to Gunari's rather unjust rule to have them fight unarmed. Regardless, Ventris decided to trust in her friends' judgment and tried to appeal to Arkoni's humanity. But no matter how kindly she spoke or how much she pleaded, Arkoni remained undeterred.
Finally, just as she was well within range of them; she looked towards the Party and sullenly murmured "please...forgive me." No sooner had this been said, Arkoni's wings sprout forth and she leapt at Ventris with blade in hand. Meanwhile, armed with her double-bladed war axe; Katrina made a charge for the Twins and delivered a powerful high strike. Thankfully, Ezra and Ursa were able to dodge the blade but when it crashed into the ground; the ground briefly quaked.
As a result, Ursa was knocked off balance and fell; leaving herself open for attack. This gave Miranda Stone-Heart the opportunity to reach inside of her cloak and unleash a flurry of daggers upon her opponent. Thinking quickly, Ursa rolled away from them as fast as she could but felt at least two dagger blades dig into her back slightly.
This caused her to not only hiss loudly in but she also had great difficulty in trying to move. This, unfortunately made her a rather easy target for Anya Pumanath; who looked poised to let fly her trident weapon. But at the last second, her legs were suddenly ensnared by a collection of vines that seemed to sprout right out from under her.
The vines coiled themselves tightly around Anya's legs and then, Ursa could see them seemingly dragging her backwards; thus causing the Tritonian to lose her balance. "Well...that was certainly lucky for me" she murmured softly, "but where did those vines even come from?" As the young rogue slowly pushed herself up from the dirt, her ears twitched slightly at the sound of a shrill whistle from close by.
With a start, Ursa turned slightly and spotted her brother; who was currently doing battle with...himself. "What the devil" she cried in confusion, "I must've hit my head rather hard when I fell over earlier." After taking a moment to clear out her eyes, she looked more closely at the two Ezras and tried to spot any key differences between them.
But they were moving much too quickly for her to properly examine them, unfortunately. At the same time; Anya had finally managed to free herself from the vines, reclaimed her trident and resumed her assault. Elsewhere, Shadow was attempting to summon whatever Cantrips and defensive spells she had to protect herself from Makon; who looked ready to dice her with his war mace.
"Do not think too harshly of me over this, Miss Bird Lady" he murmured apologetically, "but...either you die here by my hands or I will by Gunari's." While Shadow sensed the genuine regret in the goliath's words, the tone in his voice made it rather difficult for her to fully believe him. Alas, she had little time to contemplate on this any further, as she watched her opponent swipe his weapon from below.
At the near last second, Shadow dodged the blow as swiftly as she could but still felt the spikes lightly knick at her. Thankfully, her breastplate (though shoddy) provided just enough protection to ensure that only a slight scratch was left behind. In retaliation, Shadow raised her right hand and summoned a gust of icy wind; which struck Makon at near full-blast.
Although the spell wasn't able to freeze him in place completely, it did slow down his strike; which gave Shadow the opportunity to escape. By the time Makon was able to move more freely again, she was already on the other side of the battlefield. "YOU COWARD, HOW DARE YOU" he roared with outrage, "THIS IS NO HONORABLE WAY TO FIGHT!"
Almost immediately, the people of Arnost started shouting out loud jeers and cries of outrage; seemingly agreeing with the goliath. But upon listening more closely, the Party could hear them shout many complaints towards the fight's complete lack of brutality. Those among the noble classes cried "WE DEMAND BLOODSHED," while those among the commoners simply demanded for some form of excitement.
Regardless of the reasoning, those like Ventris and the Twins both agreed that they had never seen such savagery in humans for some time. But their train of thought was suddenly derailed, when a sudden force sent them flying and rolling halfway across the arena floor. Ventris coughed loudly in pain, feeling as though all of the wind had been knocked out of her.
With a weak groan, she turned her head slightly and saw Arkoni approaching her; armed with a blade which seemed to be glowing a golden light. "Understand, She-Elf that I hold no real malice against you or your friends" she murmured with a tense yet stoic tone, "I act purely by the will of Gunari and through this bauble upon my neck, he demands that one of us must die." There was no denying the bitter truth behind the Genasi's words and yet, as she continued to approach her, Ventris still felt quite nervous.
Then, as she raised her weapon high above her head; Arkoni made one more statement towards her opponent. "On that regard, you have my full sympathy" she murmured, "because the one who dies will NOT...BE...ME!" With that; Arkoni bellowed out a fierce war cry as her wings sprouted forth, took her blade in both hands and she leapt full into battle.
(The Real World)
"And as I come within range of her, I swing my greatsword in an upward strike" Whitney explained with great fervor in her voice, "which will either...knock Ventris off-balance or deliver some piercing damage to her." After taking a mental note of what he had just heard, Lynn Sr. went about making a quick dice roll to determine what would happen next. Of course, the whole time this is going on; Lori tried to look as indifferent as possible about the situation.
But on the inside, her whole body seemed to be caught in a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Here she was, mere moments away from having to do battle against one of her own peers. Granted, the whole thing was purely in their imagination but still; it was the end result of it she feared most.
True, if Whitney somehow found a way to take her character down; it would mean Lori would legally be taken out of the game for good. But even if that were to happen, she also knew that her parents and their fellow Game Masters would find some kind of convoluted way to bring her back in. At the same time, if Lori were the one to come out on top in the battle; Whitney might feel so angry over the loss she might decide to end their friendship as a result.
"C'MON, LOUD...Get it together, what are you saying" Lori thought to herself sternly, "I mean...sure, you got upset with Carol over that golf game last Spring but this is a board game; your friends wouldn't be that petty." Just as she was about to become further lost into her own thoughts, Lori suddenly heard a loud exclamation of "AH-HEM" from nearby. With a start, she turned her head slightly to find the Game Masters Council; all staring at her with impatient expressions on each of their faces.
She chuckled sheepishly with embarrassment, apologized for being distracted and asked what was going on; earning an even more annoyed stare from her father. "If you were paying attention, young lady" Lynn Sr. began, "you would've heard me say that Whitney's strike against you was partially successful!" Not long after this; the Council went on to explain that due to the rather flimsy pieces of piecemeal armor Gunari gave her, Lori's character would only have some small amounts of protection from damage.
"Ironically, because Arkoni's sword is glowing with her light energy, her strike will add just a little extra oomph to the damage" Huggins explained, "that is...if she had a high dice roll." No sooner had this been said, Whitney suddenly chimed in; informing Lori that she rolled a "14" for her sword strike. This coupled with Lynn's own "8" roll both led to one thing...Lori/Ventris received a slight yet still rather painful scratch.
All the same, this alone was enough to remind Lori that there was no room for getting lost in one's own thoughts. So, as much as she didn't want to do it; she had only one choice...to keep on playing. Meanwhile, her other sisters were doing their best to hold their own against each of their opponents.
"Just to remind you, girls" Mrs. Johnson interjected, "you may not have weapons in terms of battle gear but you still have your own powers and natural defenses." Now, the girls already knew about the info about their magic from earlier on in the fight; as seen during Lana's vine maneuver. But for a few seconds, they seemed utterly confused by Mrs. Johnson's tip; wondering what exactly she meant by "natural defenses."
That's when Lisa decided to help enlighten them (once she got over her initial impatience and frustration, of course.) "By Newton's Apple...are the four of you really so simple" she shouted, "or have you forgotten that by nature; your characters are a pair of felines, a raven and a humanoid tortoise!" Ever so slowly, the four Loud Sisters in question started to understand what the wee genius was trying to tell them (emphasis on "trying.")
Although each of their characters had human-like forms and personalities, they still had some of their animalistic traits like claws and beaks. As such, it seemed as though they would still have a fighting chance during the arena fight. But the question remained; were such abilities available to them in the game and if not, would the Game Masters approve of such tactics.
Much to the girls' surprise, it seemed as though their parents and the other GMs were way ahead of them on the matter. "As it turns out, girls; Lisa's info dump can be quite useful here" Albert chuckled, "because with the exception of Lori's character, each of you has your own claw and/or beak attack!" In addition to this, the Council gave Luan rather useful info on Mituna's bite; which could/would be strong enough to break the shafts of spears and/or ax handles.
"Wow! That sounds like the kind of thing Mituna could really sink her teeth into" she said with her usual comedic flair, "wait a sec...do turtles and tortoises even have teeth?" Much to the surprise of everyone else at the table; instead of chastising the young comedienne for her pun, the Council simply gave her a sort of "so-so" hand gesture. Afterwards, Huggins explained that Tortles weren't known for having teeth; adding that their sharpened beaks were useful enough in helping them eat.
However, due to the fact they were all playing an imaginative role-playing game; Luan was completely free to give Mituna a set of teeth as well (if she so wished it.) "Uh...I don't wanna disrupt the lil' lesson here" Mr. Grouse said suddenly, "but ain't you two gettin' a bit off-track?" Principal Huggins gasped loudly in realization at this, pulled his hood back over his head and reassumed his role as Game Master Fastred; urging for the players to proceed.
"Right-O, my friend" Lynn Sr. stated, "now...kindly remind us all who is attacking next?" Almost immediately, Becky assumed her own character's role and went on to describe her moves next; which involved swiping her walking stick across the sand and creating a cloud of dust. "If my move's successful, it'll create a rather large sand/dust cloud" she explained, "which would in turn render at least a couple of my opponents momentarily blinded."
In addition to this, Becky was going to use what the game called a "Bonus Action;" which would allow a player to make a quick attack or move against their opponents. "Very good, young Halfling" chuckled Lynn in his Acheron voice, "make a roll to measure the effectiveness of your dust cloud first." With a giddy smile on her face, Becky took hold of her die and was prepared to make her roll...but not before offering up a quick apology towards Lori and her sisters.
While doing her best to appear respectful, Lori smiled softly and assured there would be no hard feelings between them. But just like with Whitney, she couldn't help but fear what would happen if either herself or Becky came out on top.
(The Game World)
Upon coming within range of her opponents; Zenda took her "weapon" in hand and, with the quickest flick of her wrist, swept it hard across the sand. This move caused a great dust cloud to fly up towards the Party, who were all in the midst of fending off each of their own opponents; all except Mituna (who had taken refuge within her shell.) As a result, the dust cloud had managed to overwhelm nearly every one of them.
Half of the combatants had flown into heavy coughing fits while the other half either attempted to shield their eyes or were trying to clear the sand out of them. "Perfect! Now, which one of you should I go after first" she whispered softly, "perhaps the Kenku?" With this notion in mind; Zenda took her walking stick in hand, drew up her hood and face mask (so as to shield her senses from the cloud) and charged forward.
But as she drew in closer, she failed to notice Shadow taking a sort of kneeling position. This led the rogue to believe her opponent was already submitting herself for an assault. Such thoughts would ultimately prove to be her downfall, in due time.
Finally, just as she saw her opponent come within range of her; Shadow opened up her beak and unleashed a most unusual sound. It sounded like the combination of an eagle's shriek and the whistle of a flute. It was so loud, obnoxious and shrill that it caused Zenda to plug up her ears in pain. Of course, this led to her to accidentally lower the base end of her staff down next to her right leg; causing her to trip unceremoniously.
Dazed, covered in sand and her ears still ringing violently; Zenda groaned softly in mild humiliation and attempted to pick herself up from the dirt as swiftly as possible. But before she could move even one inch, she looked up slightly and saw Shadow's beak driving straight down towards her head.
With a fearful yelp, Zenda rolled over towards the right; just as Shadow's beak stabbed at the ground. "That was a cheap tactic, Kenku" she said while panting heavily, "but...I suppose we must do what we can to survive, at this point!" Shadow gave an affirmative squawk, took a sort of odd battle stance and drew out her claws in the most intimidating manner possible before charging towards Zenda.
Elsewhere, Ursa appeared to be utilizing a similar method of defense/attack against Kira Lightclaw; who was currently armed with a sort of odd chain weapon. It measured almost four feet from end to end, was covered in razor-sharp barbs and at the end of both sides of the chain were two blades; each one showing traces of dried blood upon the metal. Once the battle began, she proceeded to swipe and swing it in a most elegant yet violent manner.
"If I were not fighting for my life right now...I'd feel impressed by Kira's skills" thought Ursa, "but...I need to find a way to..." Before she could finish her train of thought, one of the blades from Kira's weapon suddenly sliced across Ursa's forearm slightly. This attack both snapped the rogue right back her senses and caused her to fall over to the floor.
Upon examining the wound, however; Ursa was pleased to see that it wasn't quite that deep. "Perhaps Ezra can give me some of his healing herbs for this" she thought, "if we manage to survive this, of course." Thinking quickly, Ursa rolled away from Kira; hoping to put at least a slight distance between them both.
Afterwards, she searched every inch of her surroundings until she finally spotted a flag hanging down from below Gunari's skybox. "If I could tear off just one strand of that off, I could wrap it 'round my wound" she thought with an outward hiss, "I just hope I'll be able to reach it." With this plan in mind, Ursa squat herself down slightly and rushed towards the arena wall as fast as she could; all while trying to ignore the pain in her arm.
Alas, her speed wasn't quite so fast while she ran on two legs compared to her usual stride. Yet, in spite of this; Ursa still had enough strength in her legs to launch herself up into the air and towards the flag above her. At the same time; Emperor Gunari, who assumed that the Tabaxi rogue was attempting to attack him, leapt out of his throne with a shriek.
This display caused the chamberlain, Fatima and two guards that were present to immediately rush towards their lord's side. But as they tried to help him back onto his feet, Gunari furiously brushed them aside while glaring down over the railing. There, he caught sight of Ursa; who was currently dangling off the hem of the decorative flag by one arm.
"GUARDS, GLADIATORS...SOMEONE, STOP THIS CREATURE IMMEDIATELY" he exclaimed loudly, "SHE IS ATTEMPTING TO ATTACK ME!" Not long after this was said, several guards and spectators went about lobbing all manner of objects at Ursa. These all ranged between stones, their drinking cups, whatever remained of their food or whatever else they could find.
Much to Ursa's dismay, at least half of these items managed to hit her but it did little to loosen her grip on the flag. Next it was the guards turn to strike and they had chosen a much more deadly projectile to throw...their spears. After a few moments of concentration and focus, the two warriors raised their weapons slightly over their shoulders and hurled them with all their might.
(The Real World)
"With all the strength they can muster, two of Gunari's guards let fly their spears straight for you" Rita explained in her Eliana voice, "thus...I will need you, young Rogue to make a quick Dexterity Check to see if you can dodge this attack." Mere seconds after this had been said, Lola raised her paw glove up high and presented a request to the Council...which involved her character taking a few seconds to try and "clean off the gunk from her fur." In response to this, Huggins firmly yet politely told her the situation gave her little time for such a "silly" idea.
"He's right, Lols" Lana said matter-of-factly, "besides...if even one of the spears manages to hit you, you'll have much worse to worry about than food stains." Although she knew both her sister and her principal presented rather valid points, Lola mentally proclaimed that she had to look "presentable" (even in a role-playing game.) But ultimately, she decided to dismiss the idea and focus more on trying to keep her character alive.
After letting out a brief "4-7-8" breath; she took the dice in her hands, shook it vigorously for a few seconds and let it roll. "Okay, it looks like I got a...12 on my roll" she muttered, "and with my plus 2 for Dexterity, that adds up to fourteen, right?" Not only did this show of math skills cause the Loud Parents to cheer proudly, their fellow Game Masters and even Lincoln couldn't help but give her a light round of applause.
Of course, this caused Lola's old pageant princess habits to kick in and she wasted no time in giving everyone a wave or an air kiss. But all too quickly, her "moment" was stopped by the sounds of her parents slamming their staves lightly upon the floor. With a light yelp, Lola clasped her hands over her mouth and returned to her seat to continue the game.
Once the room had calmed down again; the Council explained that while Lola's earlier dice roll did help her dodge the spear attack, her character didn't have the most graceful landing back on the ground. "While swinging yourself by the flag; you, Ursa manage to dodge the oncoming spears and procure a reasonable strand of the fabric" Huggins explained in his Fastred voice, "however...you end up falling like a stone onto the sand, mere seconds later." Now, this bit of news alone sounded awful to Lola but the Council wasn't quite finished with her yet.
In addition to her unceremonious landing, they revealed that Ursa's wound had suddenly begun to irritate due to the sand; delivering approximately eleven points of damage to her health. "Well...it could've been worse, right" Lana interjected, "at least none of the guards spears managed to hit her." While one part of her knew her twin spoke honestly and meant no real offense in her words, Lola couldn't help but glare softly at her; as if to tell her she wasn't helping.
After that, she used what was called her character's "Bonus Action" to tie the flag cloth around her arm wound. "I mean...I know it won't heal it or make it better like one of Mom's kisses" she murmured innocently, "but it'll help a little, right?" The Council not only agreed to the idea but they proclaimed that even with the injury, Ursa would still be able to fight.
"Remember what Lisa said earlier, girls" Mrs. Johnson said in her normal voice, "with the exception of Lori, each of your characters still possesses natural animalistic defenses." The moment this was revealed, Lola suddenly felt her brain sparking with ideas; hoping at least one of them would be successful. But alas, her Bonus Action had been spent and she would have to wait who knows how long for her next turn to reveal it.
Meanwhile, Lana was the next to play and it seemed as though she had the same idea her sister had. Call it Twin Intuition if you like but in any case, she hoped it would work. "Okay...so, before Dana/Kira decided to ambush Lola/Ursa; I'm going to try and tackle her with a pounce" explained Lana, "do I need to do that Dexterity thing Lola did on my turn?"
In response to this, the Council explained that Pounce was considered more of a Bonus Action kind of move and suggested coming up with something different first. "In that case, I wanna try and use one of my spells" pondered Lana, "maybe...I'll use some Frostbite on the sand to make a slippery patch that could cause Kira to fall over herself." While doing her best to appear respectful, Lisa could not resist in pointing out the "gaping flaw" within her older sister's plan.
According to her, it would be next to impossible for ice to freeze on top of sandy terrain; no matter how cold the spell might be. "Uh...Lisa, I might be wrong about this" murmured Leni, "but isn't the arena's sandy floor actually dust on top of a stone floor?" The moment this comment was made, Lisa's jaw fell faster than a stone.
Yet again, her usually ditzy elder sister had said something that was not only intelligent; it was also more logical than what she had presented. Realizing that she had been "bested," Lisa sat back in her chair and beckoned for the game to continue. "Okay, then...let's see if your plan works, lil' miss" Albert stated, "go ahead and give us a quick roll to see if its effective." Not needing to be told twice; Lana plucked up her D20, shook it for fifteen seconds and let it roll.
When it finally stopped mere inches away from where the Council sat, Lynn Sr. looked down at the die and smiled brightly with pride. "Congratulations, young Druid" he proclaimed, "you have received a 17, which makes your spell quite effective in this situation." After taking a moment to bounce excitedly with joy, Lana turned towards Lisa with a raised eyebrow and whispered "I told ya my plan would work."
(The Game World)
As Kira Lightclaw narrowed her eyes sternly at her opponent in the distance, the look in her eyes held mixed emotions of ferocity and bitter regret. She had no true desire to slay another of her fellow slaves but with her possible freedom at stake, she had little choice on the matter. "I wish we met under more pleasant circumstances, my friend" she thought bitterly while drawing out her claws, "I am truly sorry."
With bitter tears in her eyes, the Leonin warrior let out a mighty roar and charged forward. Elsewhere, Mituna had finally reemerged from her shell and decided to take a more active form of defense. Just as she saw Zita lunge at her with her walking stick; the Tortle bard gripped it tightly in her hands, pull it out of Zita's grasp in one swift movement and split it in two with one bite of her beak.
The young Halfling wept softly with horror upon seeing her supposedly prized possession be destroyed right before her eyes, while Mituna shed bitter tears of her own out of regret. "I am truly sorry, Zita" she thought with an outward sob, "if we, somehow survive this...I promise to replace your staff with an even better one." Just as Mituna was about to place a comforting hand atop her shoulder, Zita's face shot up suddenly; revealing a look of blind, unrelenting fury in her eye.
After plucking up the two halves of her broken staff, the young Halfling proceeded to unleash a flurry of furious blows against her opponent. She moved so quickly that Mituna was unable to retreat within her shell for safety like before; thus leaving her head exposed to each strike. Meanwhile, Ursa was still in the midst of nursing her arm wound; which had now become irritated by the sand after her fall.
It was here that she caught sight of Kira approaching her and she gave a loud cry for help. Not too far away; her brother, who had just momentarily dispatched two of his own opponents, had heard this and immediately rushed to her aid. "I can't fight Kira without my staff" he murmured while running, "but perhaps, I can try and divert her away from Ursa!" With this in mind, Ezra placed both his hand upon the ground and focused as hard as he could; which caused his hands to glow a soft bluish-white color.
Not long after this, he let out a heavy sigh and bellowed out one simple word for all to hear..."FROST!" As a result, a large patch of ice suddenly stretched across the battlefield; stopping just a foot away from where Ursa lay. The instant this appeared, Kira suddenly ran across it and started sliding about the frozen surface.
When they saw the Leonin warrior fall upon her face on the ice unceremoniously, many people in the audience broke out into fits of laughter. None of them expected to see comedic antics take place in the arena but it was quite the welcomed surprise, to say the least. Meanwhile, Ezra quickly made his way over to his sister; whose makeshift bandage had become quite red with blood.
"Quickly, we must regroup with the others before Kira comes to" he instructed, "come with me!" Not needing to be told twice, Ursa took her brother's hand and they hurried off towards Ventris' location as swiftly as they could. But then, at the near last moment; a dagger flew towards Ursa from behind like an arrow in flight and sliced across the back of her left leg.
With a pained yelp, she fell hard to the sand; almost taking Ezra down with her. Both looked behind them slightly and saw that it was Miranda Stone-Heart who had thrown the dagger. "I am deeply sorry for the sneak attack; Ezra, Ursa...I truly am" she muttered with disgust, "but in the arena, one must do whatever it takes to earn back their freedom!"
With these words, Miranda collected two more daggers from the ground around her and charged towards the Twins with a fierce yell. In that moment, Ursa was utterly horrified; both for her inability to defend herself and by the sight of the assassin's approach. Enraged by such a dishonorable sneak attack against his sister, Ezra retaliated by summoning forth a gust of wind from his hand; which caused the sand to scatter about in a massive cloud of dust. But mere seconds after; Arkoni suddenly appeared beside Miranda, opened her wings out wide and clapped them hard against each other (as if they were a pair of hands.)
This created a strong yet still rather small sonic blast, which completely disposed of the sand cloud. His diversion thwarted, Ezra resumed his retreat while also being careful with his sister; who was now limping due to the knife wound she received earlier. But moving with only one free leg proved much too difficult for Ursa and eventually, she tripped over herself again.
"GAH! Blast it...I'm no use to anyone like this" she hissed bitterly, "how am I supposed to fight with only one arm and one leg?!" Ezra truly wished he had the answers for their situation but alas, he had little time to contemplate on them. As he went about trying to help his sister up, once again; a large shadow suddenly loomed over the Tabaxi Twins.
(The Real World)
"With terror in their eyes, Ezra and Ursa look up at the imposing form of Makon Dream-Speaker" Mrs. Johnson said in her Agathe voice, "tell us, Chaz...what does he do or say next?" Before the young teen had even spoken a word yet, the four Loud Sisters playing and even Leni looked at him with worried expressions; wondering just what he had up his sleeves. At the same time, Chaz was scratching at his round chin in silence while looking down at the board.
This of course, made the girls feel even more nervous about what might happen to them next. Finally, after letting out a long and heavy sigh, Chaz was ready to begin his turn. "Okay, so...Makon, first takes a look down at the Twins with a stoic gaze" he explained, "then, he looks around at everyone else fighting one another along with listening to all the people's crazy chanting."
As Chaz went about describing the current scene of the game, Leni suddenly felt her cheeks flare a deep shade of red with every word he said. In all the time she dated him, she had never heard her beefy beau speak with such fire before...such passion and she loved it. But then, her mind was suddenly shaken out of its blissful state by the sounds of everyone either cheering with joy or roaring loud outcries of shock.
"DAH! OM gosh, I am so sorry" she cried apologetically, "I didn't mean to doze off like that...what's happening?" Instead of feeling upset with her, everyone told Leni that there was nothing wrong with feeling smitten by one's special lover; especially while they're speaking so profoundly. Afterwards, her mother explained that not only did Chaz (or Makon) outright refuse to fight the Twins; he refused to be Gunari's pawn for his own amusement.
"I then pull back my axes and throw them off to the side in defiance" he said with a bold tone, "that is...I throw them in a direction where no one's in the line of fire." Normally, the Council would call this a Dexterity Check moment but because Chaz's character wasn't attacking anyone; they decided to consider this his "Bonus Action" instead. However, they did ask him to make a Persuasion Check instead for his little speech; to test if he could win over the crowd.
"You got it" Chaz said confidently, "just give me a few seconds to shake the ol' plastic a bit." With a confident smile on his lips, he plucked up the D20 from the table and proceeded to shake it vigorously between his massive hands. When he finally sent it rolling, Chaz crossed his fingers tight; hoping that Fate would give him some good luck.
Sadly, his wishes went unheard and his fellow players all looked upon the die with distressed looks upon their faces. "Too bad, Lil' Bro" Dana said with some sympathy, "you only got a ten on that roll." No sooner had this been said, the Council revealed that while Makon's words had been heard by the crowd...no one was willing to listen to him.
"In other words, young man; it's like how some of you kids tend to ignore your parents whenever they start lecturin' ya" Mr. Grouse said suddenly, "ain't so much fun when you're on the receivin' end...is it?" While at first, the Council presumed the old man was only making a joke; they politely urged him to be mindful with the words he uses towards the children/players. Moving forward; Lynn Sr., in his Acheron voice, explained that many of Arnost's people found Makon's words more offensive than what Lola/Ursa said earlier on; back when the drunk was flirting with her.
"As a result, they start demanding for bloodshed" Rita said in her Eliana voice, "they demand for Gunari to have Makon be put to death where he stood!" To say that this idea utterly horrified the Loud Sisters would be a gross understatement. None of them, not even Lucy (which actually surprised everyone,) could believe how much people liked seeing innocent prisoners kill each other for sport.
However, Chaz's/Makon's words did manage to win over many of his fellow gladiators; who all proceeded to discard their own weapons as well and show their refusal to fight. Alas, the Council quickly revealed that no one in the audience found this display of otherwise honorable behavior to be all that appealing. Following this, Albert stepped in to play the role of the Chamberlain; who went about using the crowd's disapproval to his advantage.
"'This is a dark moment for us all, good people'" he sighed grimly, "'not only has one of the slaves insulted our arena...he has insulted us as well!'" Following this, Lynn Sr. revealed how furiously the crowd demanded for a mass execution of virtually all the gladiators for this offense; even Lori's group. But before any such situation could transpire, the Council revealed a surprise twist that took practically everyone by surprise.
"Just as the Chamberlain is prepared to grant the audience's wish for your deaths, gladiators...Gunari steps in" Lynn said slyly in his Acheron voice, "he rises up from his seat, raises his hands up high and shouts at the top of his lungs 'ENOUGH!'" No sooner had he said this, Lynn received a light jab at his side from Kotaro; who complained about how he wanted to deliver that line himself. After the two shared one quick "I'm sorry/forgive me" session, seconds later, Kotaro stood up from his seat and performed the very actions Lynn Sr. mentioned earlier.
"After I get the crowd's attention, I say 'because of this display, I have no choice but to officially call this match a draw'" he decreed while in character, "'but make no mistake...they shall all face swift discipline for what has transpired here this day!'" After that, everyone was quickly dismissed from the arena and the Council moved a small collection of soldier figurines down the arena steps; symbolizing them rushing down to collect the slaves. The whole time this was going on, Lori and the others wondered what would happen next?
"Don't you worry about that, young lady" Mrs. Johnson said in her normal voice, "everything will be revealed soon."
(The Game World)
Time had passed after the second round of games had been abruptly called to an end. Night had fallen, the people had returned to their homes for a rest and the slaves had eventually made their return to the holding cells below. Of course, before that; Gunari made good on his word to properly discipline them all for their "show of disrespect" in the arena.
Said discipline consisted each slave of a series of lashes from the Dungeon Master's Cat o' Nine Tails whip, which lasted for nigh on four hours. The ones who received the worst of it was the Adventuring Party but by Gunari's orders, they were saved for him specifically. "I'm going to enjoy seeing the lot of you scream and plead for mercy" he said with venom in his voice, "have you anything to say for yourselves before I begin?"
With defiant looks in their eyes, the Party practically challenged Gunari to do his worst; proclaiming that not one of them would give him or his subordinates any satisfaction in seeing them even flinch. Of course, the emperor somehow sensed they would make such a claim and thus accepted their "challenge." After that, he gave his guards the signal to begin their work on the other members of the New Blood but told them to leave Mituna untouched.
"As you've shown us in the arena, madam; your grand shell provides quite the impressive natural defense" Gunari stated, "however...what would happen if you were left unable to retreat within it?!" Just as Mituna was about to raise a question, a team of guards quickly rushed in and restrained her limbs as best as they could. Though her arms and legs were quite thick and they weren't able to fully grasp them, the guards only needed to restrain her momentarily; so that the Dungeon Master could begin his work.
First, he collected two pairs of long chains that hung above him; which he then proceeded to shackle Mituna with. Then, utilizing all of the strength they could muster; he and a pair of guards hoisted her up off the ground slightly. Finally, the Dungeon Master asked for the captain of the guard to wheel in his collection of "tools." Upon glancing down at the tools, Mituna caught sight of dried blood splotches and small remnants of skin stuck on the surface of most of them.
This led to the poor lass to wonder what these mad fools had in store for her and the others. Then, as the Dungeon Master plucked up a pair of steel pincers from the table; she gave a hard gulp and murmured "is it too late to fight in the arena again?"
(First AN: What better way to leave off a chapter light this than with a creepy, horror movie style stinger; am I right? Anywho...the campaign's heroes have managed to survive their first battle royale in the arena but are currently being punished for the actions of others. Will they survive their night of "disciplinary action," what awaits them in the arena next and who will come to save them before it's too late?
Tune in next time, to find out)
(Second AN: Sorry I took so long to write/upload this chapter, folks; I've been busy for the past month or so. Not only did I go to the Ren Faire for an entire weekend, back in September; I also had normal personal biz and I had to do quite a bit of research in how Lana's character would be able to use spells without her staff. Hope you'll enjoy reading this one and...sorry if some parts of it got too dark for some of you, namely the brief "torture scene" near the end)
(Third AN: Following up the last AN; in addition to the other stuff, I also wanted to make sure every character involved in this chapter had a right amount of time to shine. Among them were Sid and one half of the Gal Pals crew, two types of characters I've been looking forward to the most in writing for this story. I hope their scenes in the chapter seemed entertaining enough for you all)
(Final AN: The scene where Lincoln briefly mentions Miss Grimwood is both a light reference to the Halloween three-parter from Day in the Life of the Gal Pals and is a bit of what you'd call a "plug" for a future story I have in mind featuring her school. Bet you can probably guess what the story might involve, right? For those who can't guess; here is but a teeny, tiny spoiler I can offer you about it.
I won't say how it might happen but in the story, Lincoln's going to try and take his magician skills to the next level. The knowledge he shares with Lana in this chapter stems from both Miss G and what he's read in the game's character guide)