Session 12 - The Five-Man-Melee
After waiting around the Cantorium, the party senses the start of their imminent battle. They have little time to prepare before the gates to the arena open. The Cantorium as they saw it before is full of lush vegetation and a mysterious chalice in the center. The chalice is full of a mystery potion, one of Lady Wynifred Bumbleford’s own creations. Inside the booth where Bumbleford sits there are now two more guests, a cloaked man and a masked woman.
One by one the party took down their opponents, showing off their talents in the process. A few kisses exchanged and spectacles for the crowd and all five arena participants fell—not because they had been hit but because they had chosen to fall. It’s clear all five had been controlled by someone, but by who?
Upon their victory, they had been brought up to the stands. As the crowd cheered for the party’s victory, hailing them as champions, Violet took the opportunity to get a bit of revenge on Alastor after his prior demeaning comments. She filled her flask with wine and dumped it on his head. As snide comments were exchanged, Violet missed an attack on Alastor causing her to be grappled by him. He held her in a tight hold and cruelly forced her to smile.
After they had been brought up to the stands with Bumbleford. They noticed, at this point, that the cloaked man had left, but the masked woman continued to look out into the arena. Bumbleford gave each of their invitations, magical invites which showed each of the characters their true name. Bumbleford also cryptically told them that they had an existing arrangement in the forest that they had to attend—suggesting she knew of their plan to send Dustin (otherwise known as Kit Nevertide) to fetch Hemlocke.
They ran to the forest, but the entire time they felt a growing sense of dread. The air feels too tight—too still. Every breath tastes like ash. There’s a flash of flame above, flickers of smoke in the forest. And the neverending feeling that something is watching. It’s not the gaze of a predator with its prey, but a cold presence that prickles the back of the neck. There’s noises of what could be an animal, or footsteps, or something around, but nothing can be made clear. There should have been the sound of a snapping twig, or a shifting branch, or the heavy drag of feet—but no, there’s silence, and just the occasional unnatural noise.
Suddenly they reach a clearing, there is the same cloaked man from before, a heavily injured Kit Nevertide, and an unconscious Hessian Hemlocke. The cloaked man wields two scimitars, a familiar sight to the party who had seen Kit (then Dustin), when he was pretending to be Melior Ljonguard. When the cloaked man hears them he only laughs, properly revealing himself as the man who most of Corondor fears. The man who brings the monsters—Melior Ljonguard. All of the party fails the saving throw necessary to not fear him.
Melior taunts Kit, ragging him for stealing his face. He seems to not like it that someone was making mischief in his name when it was already so poor. One of his scimitars is covered in shocking electricity while another is covered in lights and has a dice at the hilt, somewhat resembling a roulette wheel. He forces Kit into his natural face, one that Celeste is able to recognize as Kithiric Nevertide, second in line to the Paramouncy of The Ashlands. At this time, Alastor takes the opportunity to pick up Hemlocke and drag him away.
After a bit of talking, Melior offers a deal. He wants to harm Kit, maybe not kill him, but seriously maim him. But, he seems to like toying with his prey. Instead of letting the party offer, he tells them to call heads or tails on a coin. As he flips it, Celeste calls, and successfully wins the coinflip. Melior laughs and continues to have fun with the exchange. Just as Kit had done with Calum before, Melior slits Kit’s throat. He does so hard enough to properly leave a mark, but to allow him to survive with some proper medical care. He walks past them whistling, flipping his coin all the way.
The party, all still frightened, helps Kit up but it’s clear he won’t be talking for a while. The rest of the day is spent exchanging conversations. They find that whatever happened to Hemlocke while in Bumbleford’s office for the night has blinded him and caused one of his eyes to crystallize similar to Asha’s. By nightfall, Kit departs back to the Ashlands while the party travels to Castle Nightshade with Lord Hemlocke. They spend three weeks there before spending another three on the road to get to the Grand Royal Tourney at Stonemartyr.
Encounter - “Arena Participants” (5)
There are five arena participants, the fighter, the cleric, the sorcerer, and the two rangers. All are members of low nobility, well trained and well equipped. But early on into the tournament their movements become stiff, almost like someone is puppeting them. They gain the recognition of the party’s attacks, dodging them effortlessly until they choose not to. It appears that whenever the party performs a flashy move, the chances of these movements hitting grow higher.One by one the party took down their opponents, showing off their talents in the process. A few kisses exchanged and spectacles for the crowd and all five arena participants fell—not because they had been hit but because they had chosen to fall. It’s clear all five had been controlled by someone, but by who?
Upon their victory, they had been brought up to the stands. As the crowd cheered for the party’s victory, hailing them as champions, Violet took the opportunity to get a bit of revenge on Alastor after his prior demeaning comments. She filled her flask with wine and dumped it on his head. As snide comments were exchanged, Violet missed an attack on Alastor causing her to be grappled by him. He held her in a tight hold and cruelly forced her to smile.
After they had been brought up to the stands with Bumbleford. They noticed, at this point, that the cloaked man had left, but the masked woman continued to look out into the arena. Bumbleford gave each of their invitations, magical invites which showed each of the characters their true name. Bumbleford also cryptically told them that they had an existing arrangement in the forest that they had to attend—suggesting she knew of their plan to send Dustin (otherwise known as Kit Nevertide) to fetch Hemlocke.
They ran to the forest, but the entire time they felt a growing sense of dread. The air feels too tight—too still. Every breath tastes like ash. There’s a flash of flame above, flickers of smoke in the forest. And the neverending feeling that something is watching. It’s not the gaze of a predator with its prey, but a cold presence that prickles the back of the neck. There’s noises of what could be an animal, or footsteps, or something around, but nothing can be made clear. There should have been the sound of a snapping twig, or a shifting branch, or the heavy drag of feet—but no, there’s silence, and just the occasional unnatural noise.
Suddenly they reach a clearing, there is the same cloaked man from before, a heavily injured Kit Nevertide, and an unconscious Hessian Hemlocke. The cloaked man wields two scimitars, a familiar sight to the party who had seen Kit (then Dustin), when he was pretending to be Melior Ljonguard. When the cloaked man hears them he only laughs, properly revealing himself as the man who most of Corondor fears. The man who brings the monsters—Melior Ljonguard. All of the party fails the saving throw necessary to not fear him.
Melior taunts Kit, ragging him for stealing his face. He seems to not like it that someone was making mischief in his name when it was already so poor. One of his scimitars is covered in shocking electricity while another is covered in lights and has a dice at the hilt, somewhat resembling a roulette wheel. He forces Kit into his natural face, one that Celeste is able to recognize as Kithiric Nevertide, second in line to the Paramouncy of The Ashlands. At this time, Alastor takes the opportunity to pick up Hemlocke and drag him away.
After a bit of talking, Melior offers a deal. He wants to harm Kit, maybe not kill him, but seriously maim him. But, he seems to like toying with his prey. Instead of letting the party offer, he tells them to call heads or tails on a coin. As he flips it, Celeste calls, and successfully wins the coinflip. Melior laughs and continues to have fun with the exchange. Just as Kit had done with Calum before, Melior slits Kit’s throat. He does so hard enough to properly leave a mark, but to allow him to survive with some proper medical care. He walks past them whistling, flipping his coin all the way.
The party, all still frightened, helps Kit up but it’s clear he won’t be talking for a while. The rest of the day is spent exchanging conversations. They find that whatever happened to Hemlocke while in Bumbleford’s office for the night has blinded him and caused one of his eyes to crystallize similar to Asha’s. By nightfall, Kit departs back to the Ashlands while the party travels to Castle Nightshade with Lord Hemlocke. They spend three weeks there before spending another three on the road to get to the Grand Royal Tourney at Stonemartyr.
DM's Note
This combat uses a mechanic called Flair Points. Whenever the party did something flashy, provided a good description, or used their reaction in a creative way, they added Flair Points to a party-wide pool. Once the party cumulatively hit 7 Flair Points, an attack [or series of attacks] automatically hit their target.
