#41 - The Bone Storm

As told by Rendar d'Torrn, a bounty hunter of House Tharashk

Drix's half-elf "Drivinia" form

And so we waited and tended to our wounds.  Drix, back in her half-elven form, came into our room to bestow healing blessings from the Shadow, which only I needed and accepted.  She also brought our weapons, which for this fight we were allowed to use.  I set about slinging my bow, swords, and clipping axes and hamers to my belt while she explained the scale of what we would be joining next: the Bonestorm.  Many combatants, all fighting each other to win.  It would be in our best interest to let these others fight amongst themselves.  Winning would be nice, but it was not our goal. Defeating—ideally, killing—the oni who had taken Trug’s soul was our chief goal. 

Drix asked us what names we would provide, for announcing and wagers.  While Doongal, Magnus and I gave simple titles and names, Xoma and Cypher seemed to want to outdo each other with grandiose names. Xoma gave his title as "Xoma, Lord of the Vulkoor of Xen’drik, Slayer of Fireshazz the Troll, Slayer of Vegg the Flesh-Cutter." While Cypher was "Cypher, First Sergeant, Brelish Engineers Brigade, Retired, Master Manipulator of the Mystic Matrix."

Drix left, and we began the procession to the arena.  One after another we entered the arena, Magnus first.  He struck claim to a corner of the floor, enough for us to see most everything happening.  We stood by him, for blessings from Doongul and infusions from Cypher and his Mystical Matrixes or what have you. Fire spewed from an open pit and massive braziers lit the corners.

On a column in the center of the arena was a harpy in finer attire than most. She announced those who entered, of whom we had a good view.  It seemed a never-ending stream of creatures came to participate with names and titles as endless: a goblin trio, a hobgoblin sorcerer, another hobgoblin, an orc warrior, an ogre, and then the "Mockery’s Avenger," Zurin Souldrinker. Tall, green-hued skin, he resembled the other ogre mage we'd met only vaguely—not as powerfully built, but three times as sinister.

After him a half-orc, a sickly armored human (perhaps a prisoner, desperate for his freedom?)/ Then in came another old friend—the Karrn keeper of Grapnel the Warforged.  It seemed we were in for a bit of a grudge match in more ways than one! The monstrous crowds murmured, cheered, and roared at different times.

Then another human entered, in priestly robes.  He was a strange sight to see, weapons in each hand—a gleaming warhammer, and a well-worn axe—with the symbol of the Sovereign Host on his armor, but damaged.  Any thoughts on him not belonging vanished as a wind whipped at the hem of his robes and kicked up dust. He stood by the pillar with the harpy on it, glaring at the orc. The entire battle, he was fixated on that orc! 

Next in was Grapnel, who took his familiar place by the Karrn.  The final two combatants were a dagger-wielding woman ("Seera Arees, the Deceiver of Sharn") and a drow in simple robes—the first drow we've seen since Xoma!  The harpy then said there was only one rule—do not leave the arena. To leave is to forfeit your possessions.  I had no intention of giving anyone the pleasure of my blades, unless it was running them through!

The harpy announcer called out, “Welcome, residents of Graywall...to the Bone Storm!” She sung out in a lovely, powerful voice. The crowds roared their elation. “There is but a single rule: If you exit the arena, you have lost, and you surrender all your possessions to Salan immediately. It is the only way to exit with your life.” Salan appeared to be a lycanthrope, a dark-furred rat-like humanoid in black leather armor and a bow in hand. “The Storm ends when all but one remains, or when Xorchyllic deems it ended.”

The harpy then flew off, and the pillar began to descend, then slid into the rock, revealing a pit of spikes in the center. While no one moved yet, perhaps awaiting a signal, Cypher bestowed magical infusions to my sword and armor, and to Magnus’s dragon-bone weapon and himself, while Doongul bestowed the power of Onatar on us. The other combatants began shifting positions, and so it was time to act!  Wisely the human cleric—"Kard of Cyre" they'd named him—moved from between us and Zurin Souldrinker and went for the goblin trio, skirting around whatever was in the pit.  He delivered a crushing blow to the chest of one of the goblins.

I stepped forward from the group, now with a clear shot at the oni.  He was huge, towering over me, and as much as I wanted him dead, I also wanted to not fall into the spiked pit. I chucked a hand axe at him, hoping to goad him into a reckless charge. But the oni had a powerful magic—my axe hit true, but in the blink of an eye the oni and swapped places with the hobgoblin, which my axe hit instead. Glad I didn’t charge, I stepped back, waiting.

Doongul called on the power of his god’s thunder to smite the oni.  One of the goblins was killed in the blast, but Zurin took a hit as well.  Magnus moved to fight our foe after chucking a spear, while my new hobgoblin friend charged me.

It was decending into a brawl, with Kard sparring with the goblins daggers, and Grapnel and his Karrn commander teaming up on whoever they could.  A flaming sphere materialized near Kard, who was probably regretting standing in the midst of the fray. 

The hobgoblin who charged me would regret that—with a swing of my longsword I cut him nearly in twain. The byeshk scimitar did the rest of the job in a second swing.  Then I was aware of an arrow, slick with some sort of poison bouncing off my armor as Cypher’s overcharged frost ray shot wildly. Fortunately it fizzled before hitting the crowd! 

Xoma set to duel with his fellow drow—a monk of the Mockery!?—while the sickly human warrior tried to hit me with his sword. I had hoped to leave him alone—he was possibly a mistreated prisoner—but he left me with little choice. I struck him down with strikes from both my swords, to see Magnus again on his feet against Zurin. The oni then enveloped Magnus, Doongul, Cypher and myself in a strange green cloud, which he'd spew from his open mouth.  Cypher and I withstood it, but Magnus and Doongul dropped, seeming unconscious. This did not feel like poison, but it was certainly debilitating. 

Sounds of combat continued all around us. Kard was pushing the hobgoblin sorcerer off into a corner with the woman, having a measure of success though the sorcerer had sent the human slipping to the ground more than once with a grease spell—an old trick of Halbazar's....  Meanwhile, Xoma seemed a blur around the arena, often seeming to fade in and out of existence on the power of one of his spells. Fortunately, Doongul and Magnus were not out for long, they woke just in time for the oni to transform into a noxious green cloud and pass over Magnus and I and away from us.

I was then parrying a blow from our Karrn friend, who was bidding Grapnel to aid him. Grapnel moved to flank me but did not attack—perhaps we were getting through to him after all. My final words to the Karrn were “Fight your own battles,” while Magnus crushed him with a blow from the dragon-bone mace.  Grapnel seemed to be worried, perhaps uncertain, as his commander went crashing to the ground. Maybe for the first time he considered a choice his own to make?

But we weren't done. Zurin Souldrinker rematerialized from his cloud form as Xoma blinked back into existence. Xoma quickly maneuvered so that with a single spell, he knocked the oni  out over the edge of the arena. He vanished into the currents of powder. Just then Kard killed the hobgoblin mage he had been squaring off with.  It seemed all was under control, until a vapor rose up from the shriveling corpse of the sickly man. It quickly became a tall figure in ornate Dhakaani armor. Cypher was quick to fire a ray of frost at this figure, which seemed to be our vampire, hobgoblin friend from underground—the one who'd followed us from those Khyber-like depths beneath Paluur Draal.  At this time, a medusa walked up the entrance tunnel and tossed a white object over the fire toward the pit, saying simple “the prize.” It appeared to be some sort of ivory wand. I didn't really pay attention to it beyond that moment.

Unfortunately I was in no position deal with either the "prize" or the vampire with an ogre in my face.  I implored Grapnel to help, careful to ask and not order him.  I then move to work with Magnus on taking down the Ogre but before I have a chance a cold wind slashes at me. I parry while the figure in the goblin armor glares intently at me, glowing red eyes focused on me.

Magnus was quick to bring down the ogre, before Grapnel was even able to swing. Instead Grapnel then stepped back, pointed his weapon at the vampire and asked, “Who is this?” My tongue was quick with the response “An enemy,” and began to shuffle the byeshk scimitar to my right hand to properly swing at this creature.

But my mind began to slow. Looking into the eyes of the vampire, I am sorry to say, somehow convinced me that this foul, undead creature was a trust worthyindividual. Somehow...I had been wrong about him. He reached his scimitar out and said, “Trade with me.” I simply could not come up with a good reason why not … it would be like Magnus asking for my sword. Clearly he needed it or he wouldn’t be asking, and I still had the longsword Cypher infused for me. So I traded.

But if only that were the end of it! I actively tried to hold back others that would harm the vampire. I tried to grapple Magnus to keep him away, I asked why we were attacking this noble warrior...I was thoroughly confused. Magnus turned his rage on the Dhakaani vampire. A fearsome blow from his dragon-bone maul caved in a portion of the plate armor and wounded the vampire, though it was clear he had regenerative powers. By the time I snapped out of it, it was too late—the vampire transformed into mist, and floated off the arena's edge and away…still with my byeshk scimitar. Doongul ran forward and called on Onatar to turn it back further, and the divine power seemed to disperse the mist. What became of it then none of us knew. Fortunately, my confusion regarding the vampire washed away soon after.

But Magnus was still angry, so he waded back into what remained of the fray. I looked toward where the "prize" had been tossed just in time to see a drow female—was this the woman, the "Deceiver of Sharn"—fall from a blow from the barbarian's great maul. It might have been an illusion, she seemed able to change forms at least as easily as a changeling. At this time, she could have been Xoma's twin sister. Exotic and beautiful, with long white hair. But now she was crumpled to the ground.

I also saw the lower half of the orc—the one Kard was fixated on—with his upper half obscured by a sphere of magical darkness, the origin of which I assume was Xoma. Cypher and Doongul had been fighting the orc, with Kard coming in from behind, and soon the orc dropped to the ground. Kard, heeding nothing else in the arena, kneeled on the dying warrior's chest, said something I took to be quite serious, then killed him savagely, sinking his hand axe deep in the orc's head.

I saw the human cleric then enact a spell, not anything I'd seen before, and it seemed he then began to speak to the orc's corpse...

Then the mind flayer, Xorchyllic—the ruler of this city—spoke a command which it seemed everyone could hear in their minds: One more must die. All who remained now were our group, the warrior-priest Kard, and the warforged Grapnel. It was apparent that an ally might have to go down now in order to end this fight.

Magnus, still in his rage, decided for us. He moved right over to Grapnel and dented his frame badly with a mighty swing of his maul. I can only imagine that Grapnel's confusion was as great as that wound. His master had fallen and we had been sympathetic to him, had tried to ally with him, and now Magnus had made him an opponent again.

Just then a green vapor rose from the sides of the arena and took shape. It seemed Zurin Souldrinker, was not finished yet! As the oni reformed, he looked up to the mind flayer and said “Just one more? How about six?” Clearly we were the six Zurin had in mind. With a foul prayer to the Mockery, he even summoned a pair of massive, ugly dogs who barked fire from their gullets. Hell hounds!

Battle was renewed. Kard reluctantly set aside his "conversation" with the dead orc—what was that all about?—and helped us against a common foe. Even Grapnel lent us his aid, wielding a halberd to good effect. We wounded Zurin Souldrinker repeatedly and slew the two hell hounds, who barked fire, as quickly as possible. Though he regenerated his wounds almost as swiftly as the vampire had, it was clear we were wearing him down.

Zurin belched another sleep-inducing cloud over us, and Magnus dropped like a rag doll. The oni loomed over him and started to breath in disturbingly...energy from Magnus's unconscious form seemed to leech up and out of him.

Grapnel regarded the helpless form of the barbarian, raised his weapon, but moved away from him and turned his attention fully on the oni. At last, before Zurin could drink Magnus's soul, we brought him down with spells and blades. As the oni died, disturbing screams and strange smokes roiled from his body, dispersing in the air. We could only hope Trug's was in there somewhere, and had been freed.

Waiting for no one, Kard immediately turned back to the dead orc and resumed his...interrogation. Only later could I piece together what was spoken. The human had enacted a divine spell to speak with the dead, and he'd been seeking information from the orc.

These were the orc's answers, spoken from a damaged, freshly-dead throat. I did not hear all the questions, but I was able to piece together the orc's answers.

• “I was ordered to transport a unique construct to Eston.”
• “Heldran d’Cannith."
• “I do not know.”
• “The construct was designed by Baron Merrix; its purpose I do not know.”
• "I was dismissed. My commander said I would not be able to find the warforged Claviger.”

Whatever any of that meant—and whatever the cleric's questions had been about—we were all left standing, exhausted but seemingly victorious. The crowds, while largely dismayed by our survival and the defeat of many monsters, seemed to have been entertained and were somewhat satisfied.

Now what?

#40 - Blood and Sand (and Blood)

As told by Magnus of the Island of Seren.

These Arena fights reminded me of the fireside brawls on Seren.

Everybody knows who will fight, there are some loose rules and then a good bashing where killing is the second best outcome. I hadn’t really thought there would be prize money though. I guess city people do everything for money, it’s hard to eat fame.

Anyway, we were all slated to get into the Graywall Arena and fight, our goal was to win the favor of some Brelish ex-general named Darveshek. The way to impress him and earn his favor was to kill a fire-resistant troll. Come to think of it, that would impress most folks anywhere. The Arena was to have some other monsters to make it interesting—well, the fight was called the Giant's Ring. The crowds were jaded and needed a lot to keep them happy. We went through the ritual of getting rid of our extra stuff. The rules said no weapons but there was some system of getting weapons into the ring to keep it bloody. We left our weapons out, but kept them with the medusas for the next fight in the same night, where we could bring our stuff in. We did drink some potions to boost us up a bit for the fight, and Cypher used some artificer trick to summon one of his wands for use in the Arena, to get it past the checkpoint.

We made it into the ring. There was a troll to be sure, big and sorta funny looking, too knotty and red to match up with what I had heard. There were two ogres and a gnoll, which was fine by me. Then a minotaur and a hill giant which looked like fun, assuming I could get a weapon. Luckily, there was a pile of weapons in the center of the arena floor.

The mind flayer who governed the city was also in attendance—a tall figure, man-shaped but absolutely not a man. Head like a giant squid of the Dragonreach. Snaking tentacles. Creepy.

In the first few minutes of the fight, the pile of weapons on the floor started to rise up on a pillar, out of reach—though Rendar started to climb to get them, aided by a potion Cypher had brewed that gave him as fit as a Seren. The troll got into an alcove on the arena wall, and then arena workers on the sides tossed him a greatsword. This could get ugly. But first the troll lops off an ogre’s head. Good one!

Cypher cleverly bopped over to the other alcove and someone hands him a military pick—a gift from the general, we think—which even more cleverly, he handed to me. I flew into a rage and killed the other ogre, stepping right over his corpse to get at the crazy troll.

While all this goes on, Xoma souped himself up somehow and I couldn't actually see him clearly anymore—some wizard's spell of blurring. Doongul found with some experimentation that the chains suspended above the arena floor could teleport the puller to one of the other three chains. Good to know!


Cypher zipped a bolt from his arm-bow into the minotaur’s neck just as the beast receives a battleaxe from the crowd, then the minotaur whirls to join the fight. Rendar had gotten up to the weapons—now 50 feet up—and tossed a shield and morningstar to Doongul. (Good way to keep the dwarf alive!). Rendar kept a throwing axe and longsword for himself.

I wound up and bashed the troll on the shoulder, and it was a perfect swing....and the military pick I'd been given burned with magic fire when I swung it. The result was a troll arm on the floor wriggling about. That could slow that two-handed greatsword down! It would me, too.

The minotaur roared and tried to hit Xoma and misses (the elf was blurry and hard to see). Then the hill giant popped Cypher with a thrown rock, denting him up bad. The gnoll misfired at Rendar who was now armed and trying to climb down the pillar with a longsword tucked through his belt. Something teeny hit me in the back—a sling stone?

Xoma zapped the minotaur with his electric grasp and then zipped away while the minotaur was stunned. Cypher disappeared from sight; good idea considering how that thrown rock smashed him up good. Somehow, a goblin flew out from the crowd in the stands above and smashed bodily into the pillar, bones breaking, only to crumble to the arena floor. I had no idea what that was about, but I later learned that the goblin had slung the stone into me, and I guess that was his punishment.

The troll tore into me with teeth and claws (the arm on the ground actually attacked me, too). I mashed him with the pick again. I was pretty sure I was gaining on his regenerating, but his wounds closed up fast.
The minotaur charged Xoma with head down, intending to gore him, big, fast and scary.  Xoma wiggled his fingers and muttered and the minotaur seemed to smash into an invisible wall, breaking one of his horns. It is hard to kill Xoma.

The giant flung a stone at the gnoll, missing wildly. The gnoll shot at Rendar, but he missed also. Xoma did his thunder spell and the minotaur started to look tattered. Then shocked him again and scooted away. Rendar was halfway down the pillar now.

The troll came after me again (his arm was growing back, fast!) He made contact but I was so fired up and sweaty, his attacks didn't hurt too much. When I made another perfect swing, his other arm came off and started wriggling around in the sand. I was really starting to like this pick thing.

The minotaur charged Xoma again, swinging his ax and missing, busting the thing into the stone floor. I was starting to think Xoma might kill this guy single-handedly. The hill giant had gotten into the alcove and someone from the stands tossed him a big, metal-banded club. This was bad news for us.

The gnoll moved around and shot Rendar, who was up on the pillar still. Xoma stepped up to the minotaur again and gave him another shock. The minotaur seemed done-in and dropped to his knees. Xoma gave him a push and the big guy drops. I couldn't hear the crowd roaring, but they were.

Doongul pivoted and blasted the troll with his magic thunder. Something changed the glow on the found morning star to another color/sheen as Cypher appeared next to Doongul. Rendar hopped down from the pillar and made an off-handed throw at the troll with his found hand ax, it sailed by.

The regenerating troll yelled to the hill giant “KILL this one!” Meaning me, fun. I swung at him and missed and the giant swungs at me and missed. The gnoll shots at Xoma, missed, and Xoma shot back with some poison missile spell. Doongul ripped into the troll with his glowing morning star, leaving a nasty, messy wound with some eroding power. That gash didn't seem to be growing back.

Cypher zipped a bolt at the gnoll, sending him stumbling. Rendar smashed the troll's armor with his sword, spreading frost where it hit. The troll used its nasty mouth to grab one of the teleporting chains, then vanished, reappearing over by Xoma.

I smashed the hill giant in the belly with another sweet swing of the pick, leaving a nasty bleeding wound. He smashed me with his maul and the pain of that hit penetrated my rage. Then an arrow hit me in the back—the gnoll's work. I was starting to weaken.

Xoma stepped quickly away from the troll, dodges his chomp, then turned and blasted him with a spell he had prepped special for him. It hurt, but didn't seem like Xoma’s usual killer stuff. Doongul fired his new spring-foot but he seemed to trip and landed upended in the sand.

Cypher zipped another bolt into the gnoll, and all those shots had to be hurting him by then. Rendar swungs in to flank the hill giant with me and frosts him up good with the sword.

The troll screamed, “I will not be slain by a damned DROW!” and gnashes at Xoma with his fang-filled mouth, missing. That spell of Xoma’s seemed to get going now and the troll’s flesh starts to melt from his bones and then he sort of bursted into flame. I'm not sure if it was Xoma's spell or the troll's own messed-up body, but the explosion of fiery blood scorched Cypher and Xoma both. And yes, he was killed by a damned Drow.  Hah!

I mashed the giant, who screams and smashes me back. I was truly hurting now, and then the gods-damned gnoll shot me again. Xoma pivoted and popped another poison missile into the hyena-headed archer. I felt one of Doongul’s healing spells fixing me up.

Cypher shot the gnoll again, forcing him to move about. Rendar sliced into the hill giant, leaving a vicious frozen gash. The hill giant roars and that was when I slammed the pick into him again. He fell like a big tree and Rendar had to leap away to avoid being klonked with the giant’s unconscious head.

A strong voice in my head said CEASE!

Since the big foes were down, the rage recedes and so I stepped aside to cool off. The gnoll, ragged and bleeding, leaned against the rim of the arena floor, gasping for breath. Rendar gathered his thrown axe and Xoma moved over to join us. Cypher, ignoring the magical voice that I think we all could hear, reached down and does one of those energy grasps on one of the wiggling troll arms. He was suddenly picked up and hurled against the central pillar and pinned there by some unseen force and then dropped to the sandy floor. It seemed to me that when a mind flayer says “cease,” you should cease.

The pillar dropped to our level and kept going down into the ground. Xoma went over to check it out and Cypher joined him. The head-voice asked, Do you fight as a team?

I think “yes." After a minute, the pillar came up again with a bag and a chest. Xoma looked at us and pulled the chest open—full of gold.

We dropped the weapons when instructed. An ogre dragged our reward-chest off to the side. The gnoll took the bag and seemed pleased with it after peering inside. We were lead to some chambers to re-unite with Drix. We rested for a while, bandaged ourselves, and shared notes a bit. Again, the sense of becoming empowered flows over us. We have become stronger.

I think we are getting the hang of this arena stuff….