Summary of Events:
When we left our adventurers last, they were deep in the throes of battle with three of Manziver Stoutwander’s mechanical “champions.” Iolair, having witnessed the deactivation of the ward around the arena, contemplates his next moves carefully from his position amongst the cheering fans. The giant spectral ghoats lower their horns and scream out Viking-like bleats:
“BAHHAHHAHHAHHAAA!”
Rota’s ghoat champions charge forward and clash violently with the beast. As one of the ghoats is killed, Rota casts Spike Growth, slamming his palm into the ground below him. Cracks ripple out from his fist and toward the three enemies. Moments later, enormous root-like tentacles erupt from the ground and ensnare all three of the mechanical beasts. The crowd erupts with cheering once again:
“They’re screwed now!”
“You’ve got em bound, now SMASH THEM TO PIECES!”
In the stands, Iolair casts Prestidigitation to make himself smell like he’s just finished a fresh bag of popcorn before relocating to a more strategic position.
Chonka leaps forward and mounts another enemy, gripping its spikes tightly as the beast tries to buck her off its back. Chonka’s strength prevails and upon her success, she proceeds to carve away at its back with her batteaxe. She splits the back of the creature wide open before lodging her battleaxe into its back and holding onto it like a boat’s rudder.
Tortured by the death of one of his own, one of the ghoats bleats wildly as if to say “THE GHOAT GIVETH…AND THE GHOAT TAKETH AWAY.” and then charges an enemy with an intent to intimidate. The cadaver collector stumbles backward in fear. Observant on-lookers would swear they saw the ghoat smile before brandishing its horns proudly, daring his enemy to take a single step forward. The crowd cheers again in response:
“AEGIR’S MIGHT, that’s a mean goat!”
“Run em through!”
In the stands, Iolair sets a plan in motion to discreetly assist his companions and waits for the right moment to disguise his efforts. Back in the arena, Rota lumbers forward in an unnervingly calm manner and dispels the vines ensnaring his enemies. He disappears in a flash, reappearing next to one of the constructs mid-swing with his razor-sharp glaive. He slashes into the enemy champion before disappearing again.
Rota reappears mid-air above another enemy to make a plunging Planar Warrior Strike attack before hand-springing backward and away. As Rota’s glaive makes contact with the enemy combatant’s shoulder, a deep, hollow, and sorrowful ringing sound can be heard throughout the arena. Perfectly timed as Iolair had planned it, the combination of his spell Toll the Dead along with Rota’s glaive attack makes for a devastating blow. Several spectators in the crowd wince in response while many others contribute to an approving uproar:
“OOOooo…THAT HAD TO HURT”
“Good thing mechs don’t feel anything!”
“Wow, what a hit!”
Rota waves to the crowd, acting like some sort of mechanical Lucha Libre, while he scans the crowd for Iolair. Their eyes meet. Rota winks. Iolair smiles in return.
Ren’s keen eye notices that recent attacks have broken through one of the combatant’s tough exterior and revealed part of what appears to be a water cooling system. With a spark of inspiration in his eye, Ren leaps up onto the cadaver collector and casts Shape Water before leaping backward and away. The construct begins to move to shake Ren off of it, but struggles. A crackling, icy, crunching sound can be heard as it strains against its now-frozen water-powered cooling system and shortly thereafter, becomes completely still.
Chonka sparks her Dwarven Fire Starters and runs forward, launching into a firey superman punch. One of the constructs breaks free of Maximillian’s Earthen Grasp but immediately slips and falls on Ren’s ball bearing trap, falling prone. Rota teleports three times, slashing enemies with his glaive again and again as he blinks across the arena. Afterward, Rota finds Manziver in the crowd and shrugs at him as if to say, “iS tHaT aLL YoU’Ve gOt?” Manziver scowls in return, displeased at the current state of affairs.
As if it were in response, one of the cadaver collectors charges forward to attack the last of the ghoats kills it with rotting necrotic damage. Satisfied with previous results, Ren casts Shape Water on another enemy, freezing its cooling system as well. Chonka approaches this frozen enemy and activates her Atlas Straps. The straps glow with arcane energy as she wraps them around the restrained combatant. She leans backward, putting her entire body weight into it, and then starts to spin. Then, like an olympic hammer thrower, Chonka dispels the Atlas Straps, launching the combatant through the air until it slams into the brazier on the wall of the arena and crumples to the floor in a heap.
From the stands, Iolair casts Mass Cure Wounds to the benefit of the entire party, restoring their vitality. Rota sprints up the arena wall near Manziver and gains the attention of the entire crowd. He looks at Manziver and smiles, then raises his glaive for all to see. His glaive begins to change colors rapidly. Blue…red…yellow…green…purple…blue…red…yellow… Suddenly a rippling Chaos Bolt of green light erupts from the tip of Rota’s glaive and slams into the last enemy combatant. Rota throws his hands up, egging on the crowd, and says:
“ArE yoU NoT EnTEr..tAinED?”
Manziver scowls at Rota once again as the crowd cheers with excitement:
“Stoutwander is screwed now!”
“This thing is over, he’s got no chance!”
“FINISH IT OFF! DESTROY IT!”
Much to the crowd’s delight, Ren leaps forward one last time, mounts the last of Manziver Stoutwander’s “champions,” and casts Shape Water, freezing its cooling system solid.
The event announcer steps forward and says, “Well there you have it, folks. We have our new champions! They are…they are…well actually what are your names?”
Ren casts Minor Illusion to create a spotlight on himself and roses being thrown at his feet. Rota grabs the microphone and says, “ThIS diSPlaY wAs PatHeTIc. ThEsE aRE InFeRIoR CrEAtIoNs. mIC dROp.” and drops the microphone.
Ren dashes forward and catches it in a tumbling roll and says, “Forgive us. We are the Fab Three. I am the leader, Ren.” and tosses the microphone to Chonka.
Lady Kahn grabs the microphone and saunters forward, arms flailing behind her, dripping with confidence, and says, “They only put me in here with THREE other robots…they should have sent more…I want to take this time to apologize…TO NOBODY!!!”
The crowd goes absolutely ballistic, cheering in response:
“FAB THREE! FAB THREE! FAB THREE!”
As the three champions exit the arena to claim their winnings, the cheering continues:
“FAB THREE! FAB THREE! FAB THREE!”
As they come up from claiming their winnings in the combatant’s hall, they run into a bustling crowd of newly-acquired fans begging for autographs. They sign a few autographs before ascending the many steps back to Shatterback Alley.
After traveling a few blocks in the Four Corners, Ren notices that he and his friends are being followed by someone. A rather small someone at that. He lures his tail into a dead-end alleyway, scales up the wall, and doubles back to trap him there with his friends guarding the alley exit.
Standing before Ren is a small blond-haired boy whose dirt-covered face, worn hands, and tattered clothes help Ren to identify him as an orphan that lives on the street.
The boy looks up at Ren and says, “I…I need help. People are disappearing.”
With some additional prompting, the orphan shares more.
“It was my friend. Timmy…One night he just got up and…HE WALKED RIGHT INTO THE LAKE. He never came back. We’ve heard the stories…of the Maiden of the Lake. He’s not the first! People have been disappearing all over town.”
The boy looks over Ren’s shoulder and his eyes grow wide with fear. Ren doesn’t flinch or take his eyes off of the boy. Realizing that his attempt at diversion won’t work, the boy makes a dash for the exit and snatches Ren’s newly acquired bag of holding on his way past. Ren chases after him and the other adventurers follow suit. Iolair casts Banishment on the boy and he disappears in the blink of an eye. The party waits patiently and exactly one minute later, the boy reappears in the same spot he disappeared from, now surrounded by the party.
Ren towers over the boy and says with an icy scowl, “Give. Me. My. Bag. Or my big metal friend will kill you.”
The boy lowers his head in shame and hands over the bag.
“And the knife. I saw that too.”
The boy produces one of Ren’s knives and hands it back as well.
With a spark of pain and familiarity in his eye, Ren backhands the boy and says, “You know what happens when you get caught? You get hurt.”
Ren kneels down, grabs the sniveling boy by his chin, looks him in the eyes, and says, “Listen, I’m going to find your friend, kid. But a word of advice; don’t steal from those trying to help you, okay? Steal from assholes.”
“LiKE MaNZiVer” Rota says.
“Yea, like Marzipan.” Ren replies. The boy nods shakily, wipes the tears from his eyes, and runs off into the heart of the Four Corners.
Session End.
Golden Chirp: “Did the ball bearings have ACME written on them?”
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