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| A gladiator faces a test of endurance in the pit |
An Unsuccessful Ambush
Luctoras 21st Concord, 30 Fifth Age
Shocked by the appearance of figures from his past, Vilwyn took the Reforged aside and warned them that something was wrong. He told the group that the men were dangerous bandits that he knew from his past. Surprised by Vilwyn's association with such villains, the Reforged decided to lure them out of the bar to a place where the party could ambush and slay them. Vilwyn magically disguised himself as the bandits' leader, Aedwerd, and went over to their table. The men were shocked by his arrival but greeted him enthusiastically, saying that they had not expected to see him, but assuring him that they were looking fastidiously for new recruits. Vilwyn-as-Aedwerd told them stonily to meet him in the alley beside the butcher's to give a full report.
Meanwhile, the Reforged took up their positions in said alleyway. Visimar clung to the wall, high enough to be unseen; Callidus hid behind a disused barrel, while Kharmir hid inside it, peering through a hole in the wood. Vilwyn arrived, still in Aedwerd's guise, and prepared for the bandits' arrival. They did not appear. Undeterred, the party waited longer. A halfling and a young woman arrived in the alley, and the Reforged readied their strikes, but it quickly became clear that the pair were lovers in a secret rendezvous. Vilwyn cleared his throat, and the pair hurried away. Kharmir ventured back into the Three Badgers Inn, and found that the bandits' booth was empty, their drinks abandoned.
Guessing that the bandits had suspected their deception, the party inquired with the barman as to their steading. Grimley revealed that the men were staying in room number four, and Vilwyn suggested a midnight ambush to the group. Meanwhile, Callidus asked more about the note that had been left for him at the bar -
Grimley explained that it was left by a young woman in her twenties, with a trace of an Armathainian accent. Callidus didn't recognise the description, but knew the spider seal of his mistress, the Collectress. They still had a few hours before sundown, so the party decided to head into the River Village to investigate the note.
The Collectress' Agent
The River Village was a smoky, roughly oblong settlement clustered around the muddy road towards the mountains. The streets were small and crowded, bustling with fishermen and tradespeople making their living from the half-hundred quays along the river. Its leaning timber buildings housed bait shacks, pot shops, warehouses, merchant's stalls, alehouses, and brothels. Along the walk, the party asked Callidus about the Collectress, otherwise known as 'Arania of the Deep,' in whose name Callidus had slain Otis Bolger for the crime of slander. Visimar recalled the words of Mama Marianne, who had described Callidus as 'indebted to the spider queen', but Callidus resented the moniker. He explained that Arania was the woman who took him in and taught him the value of culture and collection - it is in her image that Callidus accumulates trinkets from his travels.
After searching the River Village for an hour, Callidus happened across a house with a red crab painted over the door. He and Visimar went in, while Kharmir and Vilwyn stood guard at the door. Inside were racks upon racks of woven rugs, with an open door onto a quay in the River Stane. Operating a loom was a woman, whose pale blonde hair was clasped in a spider clip behind her head. The stranger ran to Callidus and embraced him, saying 'Callidus! It has been so long!' before whispering in his ear: 'You're in deep shit.' As it turned out, the woman was an agent of the Collectress by the name of Lorie, and she had been waiting for Callidus' return on behalf of their shared benefactor. After making sure that Visimar could be trusted, she demanded a report on Callidus' mission. Awkwardly, Callidus explained that the Swamp Snakes endeavor had fallen through due to soured negotiations, while the Emerald Brewery deal had done the same due to its proprietor being a dangerous cult leader that Callidus had to put down. Lorie asked who he wanted to relay the news, and Callidus decided to do it himself, hoping that his close relationship with the Collectress would lessen her wrath. Lorie agreed. 'Looks like you're not getting out, after all,' she said.
Outside, Kharmir asked Vilwyn about the men at the inn. Vilwyn explained that they were members of the Bannerless, the dregs of a formerly noble company of sellswords that turned to brigandry after the Battle of Mar Mulkaan decimated their numbers. After Mar Mulkaan, the band splintered, turning on each other and hanging several on suspicion of treachery. The three men in the tavern were some of the worst that remained - Peeler, a torturer with a penchant for skinning his victims; Ohtar Kondhorie, an elven archer from the Fenmarrow swamps; and Rask, a huge and brutally strong lizardfolk with a cannibalistic streak. Peeler was personally responsible for skinning the Bannerless' spymaster, Gilvolio, alive. Though murder was typically against his code, Vilwyn believed that ridding the realm of such men was a mercy, not a sin.
The Pit of Proving
Callidus and the Reforged bid farewell to Lorie and, as the sun began to set, went back through the River Gate into the city. Crowds massed on the rough stone steps leading up Petra's Cairn, the second of Stonecross' great crags. The Pit of Proving - a huge stone colosseum built out of the mountain itself - stood beneath a canopy of grey stormclouds that gathered overhead. The dusty iron gate clanged, and the swell of the crowd carried the Reforged towards it. The party spotted a red-bearded man moving against the flow of the crowd - he appeared to be searching for someone, frantically addressing stronger-built people in the crowd. Vilwyn approached him and the man asked if they were warriors. The Black Hammers, a team of fighters, had dropped out of the imminent games and the organisers required a replacement. When the man mentioned the potential prize of one thousand gold pieces, the party enthusiastically agreed.
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| The Pit of Proving |
Inside the arena, the air was abuzz as spectators anxiously awaited the fight. The seats of the colosseum stretched upward row after row, and the Lord's Box was cloaked in shadow. The Reforged were taken to the holding area, a bleak rough-cut stone cell beneath the pit itself. Slats in the ceiling provide a better view of the Lord's Box. The barefoot Marshal, now wearing a heavy chain of office over his roughspun grey shift, sat with a smith's hammer lying across his lap. Beside him, sat on a stone stool, was the Lord of Stonecross, Slean Stylflint, Son of the Hanged, with a bleak-looking face and premature grey hairs in his auburn beard. Around the Lord was his court - his wife, children, advisors and huscarls, as well as his court mage: an elven man with pale, white hair, clutching a staff made of glittering black stone. There was also a place in the Box for foreign dignitaries, which was occupied by a long-haired old man in a wheelchair, a circlet around his head, a white and grey shawl over his legs.
In the holding cells, the Reforged were faced with their fellow fighters - The Mountain Birds, a group of tribespeople with painted faces and feathered cowls; Storm's Call: a group of human, half-elf and halfling soldiers wearing uniform armour; and The Stonecarvers: a more colourful assembly of adventurers consisting of an elderly human wizard named Thandemar, a hulking goliath brute named Baldur, a lithe and agile catfolk named Rufus, and a cunning half-elf named Aelfric. Aelfric introduced himself and his troupe, and engaged in a brief trade of barbs with the Reforged. Kharmir became aware that the half-elf's words were laced with an enchantment, perhaps designed to intimidate his opponents, but luckily the Reforged resisted his magic.
A blaring horn marked the beginning of the ceremony, followed by the beating of hooves. Ten horses emerged from the huge gate at the end of the arena, armoured and painted with blue spirals across their necks and flanks, ridden by shirtless riders daubed with the same patterns. A Stylflint banner - four arches on blue and black - flew behind a flag bearing the fist-clenched lightning bolt of Borrak the Stormlord. A march of shaven-headed priests entered, their grey robes cut low to show off their painted, muscled chests. They were followed by a procession of axe dancers - thickset men and women tossing hand-axes to one another in a dazzling display of physical aptitude. War horns blared, and the procession livened with dances of joy, rhythmic chants accompanied by the clapping of hands, making as much noise and celebration as possible. Finally, the last of the priests brought out a heavy stone bowl, and presented it to the Marshal in the Lord's Box. It was ferried to the Marshal by attendants, and - using thick stone tongs - a sparking crystal was carefully lifted from the bowl and placed before the Marshal, who proclaimed,
'My pilgrimage is at an end! Your Marshal has sat upon the peak of his ancestors and weathered the storm. All weakness is eroded, and I return, my body and soul honed. It is my honour to announce the commencement of this great ceremony, in the name of Slean Stylflint, Lord of Stonecross, and Borrak the Stormlord, our divine protector!'
He took his carved hammer from his belt and smashed it upon the crystal, which broke in one blow, releasing a bolt of lightning into the sky that momentarily darkened all else. The crowd drew back in awe. And the games began.
The Beast Hunt
First came the minor hunts, conducted by teams of hunters from the town. A few mountain lions were hunted and slain, followed by hyenas from the far south of Cyrenos that were released and killed with throwing axes to cheers from the audience. Then came the major hunts. The Mountain Birds took on a two-headed giant, which smashed one of their number to a pulp. Storm's Call fought a giant crocodile, though two of their number were irreparably mauled. Next, the Stonecarvers fought and slew two owlbears without taking injury. Throughout the hunts, the arena molded and changed, operated by a complex network of pulleys and chains in the mountain. As Aelfric returns to the holding area, covered in the blood of the creature, he laughed. 'That leaves you with the big one,' he said, and did not elaborate.
Finally, it was the Reforged's turn. As they rose from the holding area, they saw that the arena had altered again: a maze of 10-foot-deep trenches had sunken into the stone. In the centre of the arena, chained to a stake, was a large winged lizard, about 20-feet long, covered in slate-grey scales. Orange eyes gleamed in its serpentine face, and its jaws were filled with sharp teeth. It had a pair of hind legs below its sinuous body, and its tail - comprising almost half of its body - ended in a thick cartilage knot with a stinger protruding out of it, not unlike that of a scorpion. As it assessed its new adversaries, its neck swelled and vocalized a throaty growl.
Callidus dealt the first blow, firing a crossbow bolt into the wyvern's sinewy underbelly to cheers from the ground. Kharmir rushed forth with his greatsword, while Vilwyn concentrated a harmful bane upon the creature. Visimar slipped into the trench and ran along the wall, alighting his blade with blood-flame. As the wyvern lashed out with its claws and made to take flight, Kharmir's binding oath held it within a certain radius, while Visimar hauled himself onto the creature's spined back. The wyvern's wings beat furiously, lifting it to the limits of Kharmir's oath, as the floor above the trenches sizzled with underfloor fire, heating everything in contact with it. The Reforged lunged into the trench maze, attacking from below while the wyvern swung down fruitlessly with its claws. Visimar stabbed the wyvern in the wing, tearing through the leathery skin, but was not prepared for the wyvern's stinger that impaled him through the back and out the chest, pulsing poison into his veins. As Visimar fell, Kharmir rushed from the trench, lunged onto the creature and decapitated it with his gleaming greatsword. The crowd erupted in cheers.
The Grand Feota
The Reforged had little time to recuperate, for next came the Grand Feota, the great game at the heart of Alagosian pit-fighting. Soon, they and the Stonecarvers were hauled back up to the pit. Huge chains had been strung across the upper reaches of the arena. Wrapped up in iron, two slabs dangled in the centre, each carved by the stonemasons to bear the bearded visage of Borrak. A herald stepped up, and proclaimed:
'And now, for the main event! Our Grand Feota differs every tournament. Over centuries, blood has stained the stone below, the weak have been weeded and the strong have triumphed to fame. Tonight, the great game is a test of strength, team-play and endurance. Who can carry Borrak's Burden?'
The object of the game was to carry the stones to the 15-foot-tall platforms at either end of the arena, placed upon the anvil, and sundered. The first team to carry their slab to the anvil and break it wins the contest.
Starting at opposite ends of the arena, the first major scuffle between the Reforged and the Stonecarvers came in the centre as they struggled to loose the stones from their chains. Rufus displayed an uncommon speed, darting across the arena, though her attempt to break the chain failed. The Reforged engaged her and her team in combat, trying and failing several times to break the chains, before Kharmir decided to climb onto Visimar's shoulders into melee range. He swung his greatsword, slicing through the links, but as the stone fell it was instead picked up by Baldur, who began to run (though encumbered) across the arena towards the Stonecarvers' anvil. Kharmir gave chase, knocking it from Baldur's hands and stealing it back. Meanwhile, Callidus targeted Thandemar, whose magical attacks had been harrying the party from afar, and severed his right leg, knocking him prone.
Tailed by Baldur, Kharmir dropped his stone to leave his hands free to turn and knock the goliath unconscious. Rufus dived in to steal the stone before being intercepted by Vilwyn's mace. Though the tides seemed to be turning in the Reforged's favour, Aelfric dropped Callidus to the ground before Thandemar (from the floor) conjured a cloud of magical fog that obscured the fight zone. The party glanced around, seeing only hazy silhouettes moving in the mist, before Rufus darted out and scooped up the stone, having been revived by Aelfric. On the steps of the anvil platform, Vilwyn healed Callidus, who rushed over to silence the wizard for good, only to be caught in Thandemar's magical flame and incapacitated. While Kharmir put Aelfric out of the fight, Visimar yanked the stone from Rufus' grip and knocked Rufus to the dirt before making his way up to the anvil. At last, the Reforged had won. Kharmir tended to Aelfric's wounds while the crowd roared. The Marshal gave a nod of respect. A crate of gold was placed before the Reforged, who took their winnings with delight. However, before they descended back into the holding area, Vilwyn spotted three figures in the crowd who were holding their applause, and could tell from the third man's hulking frame that they were the Bannerless.
In the holding area, the veiled pit attendants tended to the fighters' wounds. The Stonecarvers' regarded their victors with begrudging respect before being taken deeper into the arena for specialist treatment. The pit attendants were ushered out, and a visitor entered the room: the pale elven man from the Lord's Box. His name was Rogeiros, Archmage of Stonecross. Rogeiros said that he recognised the fighters' description from the scholar's report earlier that day, and was curious to know why gladiators would be investigating such esoterica. He healed Kharmir's stomach wound and Callidus' burns, and asked the Reforged to elaborate on their inquiries. Grateful for the elf's help, Visimar explained what had happened to him when he was abducted from the Sunless Lands by men in red hoods. With Visimar's abnormal abilities in mind, Rogeiros recalled the name 'Sanguinari' in relation to a shadowy cult of kidnappers with a penchant for blood magic. The group's activities were shrouded in obscurity, and that was the extent of even Rogeiros' knowledge on the matter. The Reforged thanked him, but Visimar wasn't quite finished. He drew from his cloak the black iron coin taken from Osborn Tealeaf's locket and showed it to the elf, who identified it as an infernal coin, minted in the molten halls of the Nine Hells. He warned the group of the danger presented by such an item, and suggested taking it with him to Turnshale Tower for analysis. Visimar declined, and the party was surprised by Rogeiros' lack of protest. When asked why he was willing to let strangers keep such an artefact, Rogeiros said that it was for the same reason that any man turns to the arcane arts, and why he was exiled from the elven enclave of Vanga Irina: curiosity. After all, they were not strangers any more.
And so it is written.
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