Session 17b, Interlude: Ready, Fight!

Friday, April 23rd, 2021 @6:30-8:30pm EST

General Summary

[Session Recording ~Officially~ Starts @~10min; roleplay heavy, dialogue-focused]
Session summary
Heading 1
While the rest of the party took downtime at Siarhaven and the Estate following the rescue of Eldertide, Ghozun was contacted once more, alerting him to his mentor's illness and requesting his return. Wild shaping into a horse, he takes about a week to reach the village that houses her residence. However, before he can make it to her mentor, his exhaustion gets the better of him, aided in this endeavor by an unnoticed sleep dart to the neck. The Green Ox collapses gracelessly, awaking later in an iron cell. Across from him in a cell, he notices a familiar figure sitting on a bench. Whoever captured him apparently also managed to snatch up his former "friend" and mentor from the gladiator guild, Borivik. The tiefling-orc remains silent, bristling with anger while the human acts as though he's offended at the reception. 
"What fights would that be?"
"Oh, the underground kind. Lots of money to be made in these kind of fights if you're... you know... the right people. Otherwise, you end up like, well... us. Just pawns to be betted on."
[things]
Every bit the performer he was trained to be, The Green Ox makes himself more true to his name, transforming into a bull before casting Earth Tremor. Although he doesn't hit the man, he makes the terrain difficult for either of them to travel. As a bull, Ghozun charges his opponent to gore him, however the terrain makes it too hard for him to reach him in this form, at least before the man is able to dodge away. Grappled by the horns, Ghozun is soon pinned and put into a headlock in this form, quickly freeing himself in his attempts to toss the man away. The man retaliates with a punch, forcing blood from his oxen mouth, before Ghozun is able to gore and pin the opponent to one of the walls. Attacking him all the while, the man struggles to free himself, though at this point he's already a lost cause. With Ghozun returning to his tiefling-orc form, the man collapses, trying to catch his breath as he clutches the wound in his torso. Ghozun stepped back, taking the brief reprieve to study the arena in search of weapons, finding nothing but the rocks he dredged up with his spell. Retrieving one of them, he rushes back to the opponent with a large stone in a single one of his hands, leading him to angrily bash in the man's skull in a literal trauma-induced rage. Silence falls over the crowd initially, though the entire stadium soon erupts into adrenaline-fueled cheering. Slowly, Ghozun returns to himself, catching onto what he has done as he steps back and drops the rock in shock. His eyes are glazed though somehow still locked on the remnants of what he's done, reality both setting in and escaping him.
Above them, an announcer speaks, and a second fight begins for the barbarian-druid, approved by the apparent leader of the underground club. A troll is released into the ring. Aware enough to not be caught off-guard, Ghozun casts Entangle on the giant, successfully ensnaring him. Wrapping the vines around his knuckles, Ghozun starts punching the new opponent, taking damage with every strike but manages to successfully chip aware at its health without taking a single hit himself. Succeeding even in climbing up the defenseless troll's face, he begins to pummel its face, continuing to dodge attacks as he climbs around it to land punches on the back of its head. With every landed hit, his knuckles take more and more damage, and blood flows from them, congealing with the troll's until the giant collapses entirely from the bloodlust. Still enraged, Ghozun tosses his head back and roars, keeping the crowd silent for even longer before they lose their minds in cheer.
Taking a step back, Ghozun expends his final spell slot of the day to cast Cure Wounds, healing the vines into his forearms and knuckles to create a permanent unarmed weapon. With another fight announced, an ogre is released, having them make direct eye contact for a solid moment before this second giant reaches down and bitch slaps the tiefling-orc across the arena. With little more than his fists, the arena, a single wild shape, and one last rage remaining, Ghozun shifts into a bear to go in for blood. [1:06-15]
With this fight completed, the leader has the gates opened and dismisses Ghozun to leave the ring, where he is once more escorted by the pair of hooded figures. His chains will not be returned, and he is not returned to the same cell. Of course, which one is specifically his is anyone's guess, as not even Borivik can be found. Lead to something of a luxury suite instead of a cell, he is greeted to a room with a full prepared meal and even a basin to allow him to wash. Ghozun makes his way immediately to the bath, ignoring the food, and washes away as much of the blood as he is able. Curiously, he finds himself unable to cleanse himself completely, leading him into a manic panic as he tries to furiously scrub away these new markings, seemingly tattoos forged in blood across his skin. Though he doesn't realize it at this point, exhausted from his fury, he passes out, unable to remove the marks, etched permanently into his flesh. Left undisturbed for the night, he is able to get as much of a proper night's rest as his mind allows him, nightmares and flashbacks plaguing him.
Awoken to the sound of a pounding at his door, Ghozun leaps from his bed, startled, as one of his escorts comes to check if he's awake. Ghozun opens the door, suddenly surprised that he's able to open it, meaning that it wasn't locked after he was brought to the room. [1:22] Quickly shoveling food into his face from the night before, a bleary-eyed Ghozun complies as best as he's able, following after the escort in silence. [1:24-29] The figure addresses him by his birth name, stating that he wanted to test Ghozun's strength, though not in the way that yesterday's fights had done so. Having been asked how he feels, his eyes drift to Borivik and narrow before shifting back to the massive figure, stating, "I don't want to feel - anything." This seems to cause the almost faceless figure displeasure, and he does a growling hum, gently warning him that rage is a tool. {1:30}

"Does he die like a dog at my blade, or does he at least get a chance to fight for his freedom against the one he has wronged?"

Taking a moment to contemplate his words, [1:31] Granted the opportunity to fight his betrayer in one on one combat, Ghozun ignores the man's pleas for mercy and *PARTNERSHIP*, insulting the tiefling-orc to his fundamental core. [QUOTE]. Raging and launching himself at the man, though his anger gets the better of him and he is unable to land a strike on the man. Having grown used to the arena, Borivik dodges and attempts a counter, failing to land the hit as well. With every intention to wail on the man until he is left as little more than a bloody smear on the ground, Ghozun's actions are less calculated than he would normally preform, but he's able to sweep his legs to drop the human. [1:36-41] With a mysterious guidance causing the markings to grow along his arms, the vines burst forth from Ghozun's arms and hands, reaching out to engulf the man's entire head. Attempting to flip the pair of them, he fails in his goal but succeeds instead in beginning to crush his skull. Morality taking over, Ghozun pulls away, retracting his vines for better or for worse, leaving the man permanently maimed from the encounter but still faintly alive.
"So, is that it? You're going to let the man who did all of this to you live?"
Ghozun looks from the titan of a man to the mangled one at his feet before stating, "No, no, I'm not." Stepping forward, he ends Borivik's suffering with a quick snap of the neck. Drained, he stares down at the deceased form, breathing heavily but silent. 
[1:45-48, 50-56; Conversation for quoting]

Are we Out of the Woods Yet?

1:56-58
Transported to some plains in the heart of Dig, Ghozun's first order of business is to spend two weeks to get his bearings and return to Ethel's abode. Along his way there, he is able to discover that the vines are no longer permanently present on his arms, and instead seem to be summonable when he rages. Reaching her, he finds her to be perfectly healthy, greeting him with open arms; Grandma "Painted-Hide" has apparently kept up his end of the bargain. She notes his new tattoos, and Ghozun comments that he has had a very eventful time since they'd parted ways, stating everything in the most basic and casual format before putting on a display of his new knitting talent, presenting her with gifts in this manner. With Ethel being a secure safe space for him, he spends three days at her home, sipping tea, knitting, and generally finding a reprieve in the storm that is his life. After this point, he decides to make his way back to the estate, worried once more about his brother, and uses his horse form to travel. On the fifth day, the woods begin to feel thicker, and the road slowly disappears, leaving him running on grass. Stopping in confusion, he takes a look around, finding a strangely out-of-place "TOM's Oddities" merchant stand set up. Clopping up to him in his horse form, he is met with a sarcastic quip of a joke before transforming back. [2:04- ; Conversation] Taken aback, he spends a moment pausing before asking if the man has anything related to crocheting. This confuses the merchant but he offers to take a look in the back before bringing out a dusty old book for purchase. Asked to make an offer, Ghozun exchanges the Coconut dropped by a swallow for the book, a trade accepted eagerly by the merchant. This bargain made, he inquires about special yarns, and is offered three things of special yarn in red, blue, and green, as an added bonus for the exchange of the coconut. With an additional purchase of a week's worth of rations for 1GP, [2:12-14]. Stating that he only has a mere 4GP on his potion, an exchange is made for 1 Minor Healing Potion.
Stranded in the middle of the Feywilds with an owl staring at him, Ghozun inquires if it happens to be a talking owl, receiving a disappointing response before the owl flies off into the forest. With little else recognizable, he follows after it for an indeterminate amount of time. Eventually, he reaches a clearing with a strange circle of beds. Within the beds are his travelling companions, along with two new faces.

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Character(s) interacted with

Shady Gladitorial Guild punks
Borivik
 (human, Ghozun's former gladiator mentor) Niborh

Report Date

23 Apr 2021