October 16th, 2018
General Summary
The session began with a finishing of the doubles tournament, during which Prince Azoreous and Tin were defeated by the Snakebite Brothers in the semifinals. Shortly thereafter, Ben single-highhandedly defeated the brothers in the finals, winning him the first-place prize of 4,000 gp. Tin and Azoreous took the third-place prize of 1,000 gp. The following day, the singles performance-combat tournament began. In a shocking upset, three-time champ Bronach Statham suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of newcomer Fortisimo in the first round of combat. Ben bludgeoned a gnoll bruiser into near coma with his tower shield, proceeding to the second round to face the flamboyant fencer. Azoreous had a close match with Amir, a Janni from a nearby tribe, ultimately triumphing to face Farran in the second round. Round two of the combat saw Ben defeating Fortisimo by snatching away the fencer's rapier and delivering a series of debilitating smashes with his tower shield, breaking Fortisimo's hand and erasing the last few hours from his memory. Meanwhile, after agreeing for both parties to use Magic, Farran defeats Azoreous to move onto the finals to face off against Ben. After allowing the catfolk to cast his magical enhancements, Ben and Farran prepare to square off, when a rift appears before the combatants, letting out a mighty heat and showing a world of lava and fire. Within the portal are several fiery outsiders, and what would appear to be Malah, the goddess of fire. Stating that she had been watching the tournament for sometime, she declares that the winner of the tournament would receive her blessing and become her new champion. Although Ben used his shield valiantly, he was ultimately not able to overcome the catfolk's enhanced strength, and lost the final fight, taking second place. With a blaze of fire, Farran was set alight and granted the Queen of Flames' blessing. Wasting little time, Malah states that she will be watching her new champion, and returns to her fiery realm, her retinue in tow.
