#36 - A Game of Six Stones

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

Six Stones is a contest for monsters: A fight in an arena, where seven contestants enter and then the ringmasters introduce a basilisk. The seven compete to force each other to meet the basilisk's eyes, which can turn one quite literally into stone. Once there are six stones, the last remaining man is the victor.

No weapons, no spells, lots of trickery and brute force. For some reason, Zerasha the medusa priestess believed she could read our fates, and our connection to this "Winter Coalition" group, better if we "assume stone form," and that one good way to be stone was by basilisk. She promised that we could be turned back from stone again afterwards. Doongul was going to sit out the game and oversee the care of our stone selves. Until, of course, he gives in to a medusa's own gaze.

Everyone told me that if we participated in Six Stones, we could gain favor for the upcoming fight against the ogre mage—the oni leader of the Skinners gang—in another arena match next week. So all right, we’d do it.

We stored our valuables and weapons and armor and money and trinkets at the House Kundarak bank. The dwarves, I'm told, can be trusted with possessions. Everyone looked like a peeled shrimp without their armor and cloaks and stuff, except Cypher. He looked just about the same. Except that for some reason, he is deciding to wear a stuffed bear on his head, the one he got in that backpack prize from that gargoyle street fight a couple days ago. I am not sure I will ever even want to know what goes on in his head.

Anyway, lots of talking and pecking around to see if the rules are actually rules (they are). And more talking to find out if anyone will notice if the rules are broken (they will be). More talking about if there will be consequences for breaking the rules (there will be). Finally, they led us to the Arena.

The Arena was pretty big and dark. We head in and go through a mini version of what we all talked about before, except here, we all say “yes” about following the rules (was that so hard?). Drix tells us about some notables in the stands, folks who could give us favor in the bigger bout to come: Tharashk orc-kin, some human general, a goblin, I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention to her. No, wait, she also said there was someone named Misfit watching: a changeling "courtesan" from the brothels in Calabas. All right, I remember that one.

But whatever, just let us fight as best we can and let the crowd be pleased.

We went through a magic wand interview looking for smuggled magic. The only thing that showed up was Cypher’s bear on his head, which he made glow with some minor artificer magic. He turned it off, but kept wearing the silly thing.

Soon enough we were led out into the actual fighting space, and sent to our positions (which were marked by ghosts of us!). As we assumed our spots, the ghost images went away. So, it’s me, Cypher, Xoma, and Rendar—we’d agreed NOT to act as a team, better crowd pleasing that way. The other three were that giant warforged we'd met, Grapnel, and his two human Karnnathi keepers. Tough contest.

A medusa in red robes walked out and announced us each to the crowd, with not much cheering to follow.

1. "Sergeant Ved, human of Karrnath." Younger man.
2. "Captain Arlen, human of Karrnath." Older man.
3. "Grapnel, warforged of Karrnath." Big construct.
4. "Rungo, warforged of Breland." (Cypher had given the name of the damned stuffed bear.)
5. "Magnus of the Seren Isles." I tell it like it is.
6. "Xoma, dark elf and Vulkoori Lord of Xen'drik." Fancy.
7. "Lord Rendar Torinn d'Tharashk, of the Shadow Marches." The crowd liked him best. Must be the tusks.

The medusa announced that ours was a special “softskins” match (tell that to the warforged!) and then left. Then an ogre dragged a beat-up chest to the center of the ring and walked off. That hadn't been mentioned in the rules.

Without any warning, Xoma zipped over to the chest to be met there by Cypher. NO WAY were those two getting in there first, so I charged into Xoma, grabbed him and pushed us both into Cypher. Xoma wriggled free and Cypher punched him.  (That should've gotten the crowd to see that we were not a team).

One of the Karrns grabs me, and his buddy hides by the entry gate. Xoma swivels to open the chest, Rendar punches Grapnel, who didn’t seem to mind. Cypher pushed Xoma away from the chest and opened it up. I couldn't see what’s inside, but the drow and the warforged started grabbing. Grapnel, meanwhile, grabbed Rendar and pointed him towards the opening gate.

Enter the basilisk, a large, eight-legged lizard wearing a helmet (that covered its eyes)! Not yet able to turn us to stone. I grabbed the Karrn nearest me and dragged him towards the lizard. Xoma pulled a rope out of the chest and reached back in. Something in there was full of magical power and hit him with lightning hard enough for him to let go and back away fast.

This little Karrn wiggled free and ran away from me, his buddy staying quiet by the gate. Grapnel kept his hold on Rendar and started to twist his head toward the basilisk. Cypher reached for my Karrn and managed NOT to fall down after tripping on some sand (!?). Maybe he was blinded by the damn bear on his head.

At just about this time, some wand-waving happens and the basilisk’s helmet fells away. Primed and ready to petrify!  Don’t look.

I grabbed the other Karrn and he started wriggling, this old goat was wiry and tough! He turned around and got a hold on me, whispering some crap in my ear.

Xoma made a lasso with the rope over in the corner, he got some space and a few seconds to think—that would do him some good, I was betting. Rendar broke free of Grapnel and tried to get clear. The huge warforged just batted Rendar with a fist and grabbed him again. I think he was talking, too. Apologizing? But ouch, I could see he had a good arm. Cypher grabbed the nearest Karrn and the freaking basilisk pounds me with its tail. I couldn't break the hold this old man has on me and I was getting beat up to boot!

Xoma advanced and lassoed the clutch of arms and legs that was Cypher and the Karrn, but only Cypher was entangled and then Cypher was restrained by his foe. The other Karrn forced my head around and I stared unblinking into the eyes of the lizard. Its eyes were green and I got lost for a second, but I shook it off and kept struggling. The damned Karrn kept talking, telling me to give up. Ass.

Rendar and Grapnel were a blur of twisting holds and bulging muscle. Neither could get an advantage but steel should prevail unless Rendar could get some help. The basilisk mashed me again with a tail slap, ouch! I couldn't take it any more—rage overcame me, so I broke free of that damned Karrn. He tried to grab me again but NO WAY IN HELL KHYBER FERNIA SHIT.

Rather, I was pissed off and was not having any of that.

The second Karrn helps Grapnel with Rendar and together they bent his head and forced him to look at the lizard. Rendar growled and wiggled around as best he can—at least it took numbers to bear him down, good man—but it wasn't looking good. He started to stiffen up as the basilisk steps on his head and presses its face right in, staring back at Rendar.

Cypher tumbled out of the lasso, Xoma said something to him and they charged together, each holding an end of the rope, stretched taught between them. The Karrrn dodged but Grapnel was caught in the rope, clotheslined. The crowd seemed to enjoy this. Rendar keeps trying to twist away, but they held him too long enough. He resisted the petrification as long as he could. Grapnel pounded Rendar im the back with a metal fist, trying to break him. Rendar was resolute.

The basilisk bashed Cypher with claws and I punched the Karrn in my grip. He couldn't break free and now I had him looking at the basilisk.  I felt him stiffen. I heard the crowd yelling, even booing, and I looked up to see that Rendar—the one closest to all the monsters of this city—had left us. Turned to stone. The basilisk was climbing up the Rendar statue to glare at Grapnel next.

Xoma and Cypher tightened the rope and the basilisk got a good look at Grapnel, who started to stiffen up, too. Cypher got the other Karrn in a hold and pointed his head toward the basilisk. The man locked up, but neither warforged nor human was stone yet. Still, a few more seconds and it should be me against Cypher against Xoma.

My thought was: Who should I go after first?

#35 - A Troll, a Harpy, and an Opportunity

The night was still young. The PCs left the district of Calabas to return to the Tooth and Steel smithy, where more projects and item inquiries remained to be dealt with. They were shouldered and sneered at by the monstrous citizens of Graywall as they walked, but generally not accosted openly....

Until an ogre pushed roughly past them and moments later, Trug squealed something, shouting what was probably another goblin's name, then took off in a run into a side street. The others confusedly paused to see what had happened, and Xoma sent his bat-spirit familiar, Xots, into the air to locate the errant goblin. Xots reported that Trug had run through a series of streets in alleys in pursuit of another goblin...which then
suddenly became a much larger goblin or goblin-like creature. A trick or lure? Then he lost sight of Trug. The rest of the party gave chase.

Xoma, accustomed to swift movement in shadowed, stony streets—not entirely unlike the giant ruins of Xen'drik back home—was the first to find the junction where Trug had disappeared. There he found a pair of ogres arguing over a troll, who hunched nearby, a chain hanging between a collar on his neck and one of the ogre's hands. When Xoma drew closer, the three large humanoids gave up pretenses and attacked.

The drow hastened himself, then rose up with levitation even as the troll sprang forward and lunged for him. Then Xoma was beyond its reach, dropping a stinking cloud beneath him to envelop his sudden foes.

The others came on the scene, to see the ogres barreling through the noxious cloud, coughing and angry. A battle had begun. Magnus, Rendar, and Cypher came in first, with Doongul shortly behind them. The dwarf had not yet used his newly-upgraded peg-leg, but still running for him could still be an awkward show. The half-orc and human barbarian were the first to engage the ogres, while Xoma delivered a shocking grasp to one of the monsters courtesy of his flying familiar.

And that is when the harpies appeared, though only two, emerging from windows that overlooked the otherwise-empty street junction. One of them was Occyra, the harpy they'd fought (and who had escape) out on the plains beyond the city, only now her skin was noticeably hardened with barkskin. That previous encounter had established a marked enmity between Xoma and the harpy. According to Sa-Jira and Zerasha, Occyra was the second-in-command of a flight of harpies known as the Wind Howlers, who were well known for not aligning with the Daughters of Sora Kell. Evidently, she'd caught up to the PCs several days after their last meeting. Perhaps their many loud, riotous, and conspicuous battles had made them easy to find?


Occyra and the subordinate harpy unleashed the power of their voices. While they were hideous to look upon, their voices were deadly sweet and supernaturally entrancing. Cypher was stricken by Occyra's, while Rendar was immediately enraptured by the other's. Both half-orc and warforged immediately set out to climb the buildings up toward where the harpies were perched, specifically avoiding the noxious cloud of Xoma's spell. This left Magnus and Doongul to square off against the troll and remaining ogre—which took some time, as troll's famously regenerate their wounds.

Cypher shook off the effect's of Occyra's voice and climbed back down to the street, and when Rendar shrugged off his audible stupor, he took advantage of the higher ground and flung himself bodily at the troll from on high. He hoped to skewer it, but instead just crashed into it but managed to roll back quickly to his feet. Between human, dwarf, and half-orc, the troll and ogre went down. Doused with oil and set alight, the troll was kept from rising again.

Four goblin assailants revealed themselves, two loosing arrows from one side of the battlefield, while two others rushed from an alley and stabbed at both Cypher and Magnus. They dealt injury but were themselves quickly struck down.

Xoma, floating above the battlefield and closer in altitude to the harpies, used a web spell to keep Occyra from moving freely about or even from acting at all. They exchanged attacks, but even when she broke free, he sent her crashing to the cobblestones with a gust of wind spell. As she tried to flee on foot, too battered to fly, she conjured a spell that made the street sprout stony spikes, hindering her pursuit. However, the agile Cypher climbed alongside one of the buildings and reached her before she could limp away. With a swipe of a dagger, he slashed open the harpy's throat and ended the battle.

The second harpy proved no lasting threat. Two of the goblins had fled. They'd had no uniform or emblems to identify them, but were obviously aligned in some way to Occyra.

Using his Mark of Finding, Rendar was able to locate the missing Trug by homing in on his cloak: he'd be stashed in an alcove behind a crate in one of the nearby side streets. He was alive but not conscious, stiff but stricken by some power. His eyes were wide open but unseeing, strange straight cuts down his face, and in his mouth was stuffed a slip of paper on which was written, in elegant Goblin:

This is a message to the eastern thief-maggots who murder on a whim and hide in the shadows. Face me in the games on the first night of Long Shadows if you seek the absolution for your crimes and the return of your friend. Speak to Zerasha if my message is not clear.
                                                                                                                  - Z.S.

The PCs didn't know who Z.S. was (yet). And at first, they mistook "your friend" to be Halbazar, but later would learn it referred to Trug. While still alive, his soul was absent from his body, and his body could only be kept alive with effort. Doongul was not happy about this.

While the group looted the bodies, Xoma bore the dragged Occyra's body into the center of the street. There, to his companions' chagrin, he made a statement of triumph and contempt for his foe by "marking her" with his own urine. He intended to set her corpse on fire as well (like the still-smoldering troll), but Xots warned them that a band of armored trolls and gnolls were headed their way—members of the Flayer's Guard. Not worth encountering just now.

Carrying Trug's stiff body, they reached the Tooth and Steel without incident and there bargained with the oni smith Szala Jal again. There were yet many ways to spend their gold: creation of a homonculus for Cypher, enchanting Doongul's masterwork warhammer, recharging wands, and otherwise stocking up on magical resources. Szalas Jal also supplied them with a little bit more information:

Z.S. was Zurin Souldrinker, the oni who led the Skinners gang, roguish and religious thugs and killers who revered the Mockery. Gray Garrak, the bugbear the PCs had slain in the Temple of the Hand—and whose dragonbone maul Magnus now carried—had been one of the Skinners. The PCs had firmly made enemies of this gang, and Zurin Souldrinker obviously knew who they were now. Szalas Jal explained that Zurin was an oni of necromantic power—"with whom I have no quarrel"—who possessed the ability to suck the soul out of his victims. The only way for a soul to be freed was by Zurin's own volition...or his death. Zurin's demand that the PCs face him in "the games on the first night of Long Shadows"  meant to face him in the Arena on the 26th of Vult, which was one week away.

The choice was theirs: Either they allowed Trug to die by leaving his soul excised from his body, or else face Zurin's challenge "on the first night of Long Shadows." Doongul could not allow the goblin to perish, and even Xoma would not tolerate the idea of a creature, or its soul, enslaved by another.

Long Shadows itself is an infamous three-day holiday, wherein the Shadow's power is said to be strongest in the world. In many lands, it is a time to shut one's doors and windows and wait for the mayhem to pass. For others, it is an opportunity for mischief, or worse. In Graywall, whose citizens mostly revere or placate the Dark Six, it is sure to be celebrated by much of the populace, and will be reflected in the blood sports of the Arena.

Upon meeting with Zerasha, the medusa priestesss learned of what had happened and offered them new plan: She believed she had a means of learning more about the Winter Coalition, if indeed the PCs were part of its prophecy. But it required them to be transmuted into stone—such as that rendered by the gaze of a medusa—and then back into flesh again. She possessed the means to do this. But there was another way:

This very night, the Arena was hosting a few games of Six Stones—wherein seven participants enter an enclosure with a basilisk. Neither magic nor weapons can be used; each man must outlast the others. Seven men enter, but only six leave. He who is not turned to stone by the gaze of the basilisk is the winner. Zerasha said that Sa-Jira's mother, Sa-Zira, the ambassador from Cazhaak Draal, would be willing to sponsor them for their part in rescuing her daughter. If they could win the favor of the crowds, perhaps entering the Arena to face Zurin Souldrinker needn't be as hopeless at it sounds.

And if they lost in Six Stones, well, Zerasha needed them to be in stone form anyway....