DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

Chapter X: The Guests

Bardryn began to sing a song about Bahamut, hiding in it a powerful prayer. As the people were listening to the Dwarven song, everybody started to light up by her enhancing magic, and everybody felt comforted and happy. In the end, though, Area decided the competition was a tie, and the three leaders shook hands, complementing each other on their skills.

Again there was dancing, music, food and drinks. I did not drink, for to use my magic properly, I have to be completely sober and concentrated. I was going to go up against a Human Wizard and a Tiefling who used divine magic to manipulate his surroundings.

The competition started off pretty well, as we had to manipulate a group of enhanced cattle. We could not harm them with our magic if we were careful, but we could use the magic effects to steer them, and that was our objective. The Tiefling had had a drink or two, and wasn't as careful. He injured one of his subjects, and was disqualified to stop him from injuring more livestock.

The Human was very talented, and he was winning the round, but he was nervous and fully concentrated on his cattle, so I used my magic to close the pen he was supposed to drive his cattle in, and I used a frost spell to freeze the hinges into place. He didn't notice it as he thought I was attacking his cattle to slow his progress down, and after that it was an easy victory.

There is still very little I find more pleasing than a full crowd applauding for you, whistling, screaming, stomping. The feeling of appreciation is one of the most powerful influential emotions.

Now I could finally drink some more, so I ordered a beer and sat down with my teammates. They congratulated me, as I had essentially given us first place in this competition. The only way we could lose was if we lost both coming competitions to the same team, and even if that happened we'd still be shared first.

We sang, drank a bit, and danced. I found a goofy Gnome who was up for some fun and we danced on the dance floor for a while. I had never felt so attracted to a Gnome.

Next up was the test of endurance as the two Guardians were up against each other. Everybody laughed as Asteron took up his spot beside the other two Guardians, and they were not to blame. The one team's Guardian was an Elf who was as thin as Asteron's upper arm, and the other team had a Dwarf competing for them, who was thicker than Asteron's upper arm, but also was about half the size of the Minotaur. They had all put away their weapons, armour and shields.

Behind each of them was a row of five carts, and the objective was to bring the filled carts from one side to the other side of a track, including a slope, mud, and a slick surface conjured by the guild's wizards.

It soon became clear who would win. As the teams were given a go to start, the Elf speared away with a cart behind him. Looking back why the others were so slow, he saw that both Asteron as the Dwarf were carrying two carts behind them instead of one. The two strong creatures bulged their muscles as they made speed to go up the slope. The Dwarf had a very steady footing, but Asteron was faster, bending over, horns forward, charging up the hill like he'd usually charge. The Elf figured he couldn't win and stopped under loud yelling and screaming from the crowd.

In the end, Asteron was the quickest. The Dwarf had the lead on most of the track, but as soon as they went downhill, Asteron gained on him. The warriors bowed to each other and clasped hands, panting and sweating. The Dwarf then hopped off to go make fun of the Elf, why Asteron went up to the bar to get a drink.

There was an extended break as 180 straw men were erected from the ground for the final competition. The people were looking at it in amusement as they could already see the straw man slaughter that would take place.

And indeed, they proved to be right, for it was the goal for each of the Backups to bring down 60 straw men, by any means possible. They all inspected their weapons once more. Surina had the obvious advantage against the Paladin and Warlock, and we were already laughing at the major victory we'd get.

But when the competitors started, Surina just stood there, looking away from the straw men towards the city. And suddenly cries and shouts erupted. I turned around, and I was shocked at what I saw. The city was burning.