Adventures in Esyldien - Campaign Thread

Nemeia, basically becoming a shadow of Sora at this point looks around with a bit of excitement that's caked in worry. She looks to Sora and says, "I left my snails back at the unicorn so I won't be much help if it comes to healing you." She thinks for a moment and then says, "Not that I think you'll need healing. I just meant..." she trails off as she gets bumped in the crowd. She wasn't used to crowded spaces like this and generally kept to herself in the shop when she could. She was doing her best to be there for Sora and trying to learn a bit more about her. 

Nemeia hadn't had Cali for long, but she did feel quite a bit less useful when the cat creation wasn't by her side. Not wanting to draw too much attention, Nemeia had told Cali to stay back in the unicorn to continue running diagnostics until she were certain things hadn't been damaged. As the crowd swarms around Nemeia, she couldn't help but to think of the space she'd be provided if Cali were here. 

Nemeia looks up to the dragonborn with interest and awe. She was quite a fascinating person that ran a rather fascinating business. "I'm Nemeia," she offers to the dragonborn with no real purpose. 

Moira  -  Insight to spot Nemeia's discomfort : 3

 Rusty jumps over and wraps himself around the tieflings shoulders "You look a little uneasy." I give her a small pat on the shoulder. As we follow Sora up to the bar. "And I am Moira. Don't worry I can make sure nothing too bad happens. Did you say snails? What are the rules of the pit anyway? Is any type of fighting allowed?" My focus jumping between everyone in excitement I talk to everyone at once. With the last question I look to Gizel  holding my hand up sparks of electricity jump between my fingers to clarify my meaning.

Nemeia gives Rusty a scratch and loving squeeze. "There's just a lot going on in here. A bit more comfortable surrounded by tools than people," Nemeia says with a slight smile. She looks over the crowd doing her best to keep an eye out for any threats. Her tail seems to be curled in as she attempts to stay out of the way. "My healing snails," she says as a bit of confidence arises talking about something she's passionate about. "I scrapped them when I realized Witt seemed more capable of tending to wounds. Made some other trinkets with their parts." She thinks for a moment and says, "Some with arcane gifts just memorize their spells. I have to craft mine."

She gives a slight shrug as she attempts to explain her gift. Nemeia often relied on her creations to assist with her daily tasks. It was difficult for her to pass some burdens on her companions while she focused on other aspects but it was something she was trying to be better at. It would be quite some time before she could create things for others to get a good use out of. Sure, Nemeia could offer her crossbow to someone else but then how would she defend herself? And she wasn't about to give up her tool bag. Her tools were far to heavy to attempt to carry them around without the help of her little gnomish creation. She made a mental note to study more hoping to allow herself to create more infusions. Until then, she had to take care of herself. She'd done so for a while now. She didn't know how long she'd be working with this group but wanted to enjoy it while she did. 

Moira

"It really is fascinating how your magic works."

Nemeia smiles and says, "There is so much potential but one small mistake can be rather troublesome." She turns her head to the crowd as she had before but seems more to be hiding emotion. "I just need to practice and study more. That's all. The fact I haven't come across someone with training in the field on our journey only makes this all that much more difficult."

Gizel looked over the trio of women before her with a smile, she then reached behind her and picked up a very dark green bottle off a nearby shelf. Pulling out a shot glass, she poured a bit of the liquid from the bottle before offering the shot glass to Nemeia. "Here you go, girl. This should help calm your nerves. It's on the house."

Surprisingly the liquid in the glass was not what one would expect based on the bottle it was poured out of. It had a light, minty green color to it, and seemingly very smooth and clear. It also seemed to be glowing.

"As for the pit, the only rule is don't kill or seriously dismember your opponent. That's it, everything else is fair game. Though since you're new here I'll tell you a couple of unofficial rules and standards the locals will expect from competitors. For starters, fights stay in the pit. You got beef with someone, you take it to the pit. Folks don't like being disturbed by others fighting, especially when they rather try to make a coin betting on another fight. For your friends, this also means no outside help's allowed. Anyone outside the pit tries anything to change the outcome of a fight and, if you're really lucky, you'll just get thrown out without your coin. Also the crowd prefers it if you stick with unarmed combat. More fun that way, plus bringing in weapons makes it harder to follow the one and only rule of the pit. That said you're still welcome to bring in anything else that you think might help."

Meanwhile back at the Sturdy Unicorn ...

Gus's smile as Witt talks about Konor speaks volumes of how well the innkeeper thinks of this Konor. "Indeed I have met him, only briefly, and he is definitely someone I would love to get to know better. Personally I found him to be very nice and kind and honorable. However he is known to be quite a terror to his enemies, which include enemies of the crown. So it's no surprise someone like Hakon wouldn't like much."

"I don't know much about magic, but I gotta agree with Moira, the stuff you do is pretty cool!" Sora said to Nemeia, trying to help put her at ease, "Also I just think Cali is pretty awesome too." She laughed playfully, as she was clearly in her element here, before turning to the bartender and giving the dragonborn a nod of gratitude. She then started guiding the group back towards the pit, eager to see it first hand. "What do you two say we just check out the pit for now? I'm not too worried about getting hurt. Like Gizel said, they don't like serious injuries here."

Assuming no one stops her, Sora will try to make her way all the way to the edge of the pit itself in the hopes of catching whatever fight might be there at the moment.

Nemeia accepts the drink and shoots it doing her best to try and trust the stranger. These were Sora's type of people and Nemeia didn't want to embarrass her friend. 

Nemeia nods at Sora's suggestion and continues to shadow her toward the pit. 

It takes some effort for the trio to make their way to the edge of the pit. As the closer one gets to the pit the thicker the crowds become. Eventually you all manage to find a spot to be able to pear into the pit proper. Right away you are struck with just how big, and deep the pit actually is, taking up most of the back corner of the tavern, the space is almost big enough to house a second tavern itself. It's deep enough that you can assume it was probably a basement at one point, but perhaps the ceiling had completely collapsed in order to open it up to what it is today. The pit wasn't very circular, but rather shaped more like an oblong bean. No doubt this meant that the fighters inside had plenty of room for whatever style of one on one combat they prefer.

At the moment when you arrive there is already another fight in progress. Currently the two combatants are circling each other on top of the sandy surface at the bottom of the pit. One is a massive man of orc decent, his skin a muddy brownish green covering a huge frame of muscle and fat. Given the size of his lower jaw, and the huge tusks that reach out from beneath his lips, it's possible he is a full-blooded orc rather then a half breed that would be more common within the city. Opposite him is a woman, average height but with a very athletic build. Her skin is a shade of ocean green that you've never seen before. It's hard to tell exactly what race she comes from but it is definitely not an orc. If not for her skin color you might think she was human or half-elf. She has no tusks of any kind, however when she smiles - which she does quite often - you can catch the glint of many many very sharp teeth. 

The orc is clearly an experienced fighter, and comes in with very powerful blows, putting a great deal of strength on display. However he is quickly out-matched by the other woman, who easily moves out of the way of the orc's powerful but ultimately slow attacks. What's more the green woman's attacks are not quick agile jabs but powerful swings and kicks meant to deal a lot of damage, skillfully timing each of her attacks to make sure they land when her opponent is most vulnerable. From the way her opponent reals from each hit, it's obvious she's carrying quite a bit of strength herself. The fight is very brutal and bloody, and the crowd loves every moment of it. Constant cheering is heard for one fighter or the other as everyone has picked their favorites. There are constant calls for wagers to be placed and no shortage of patrons putting down gold on their favorite outcome.

Inevitably the green-skinned woman catches the orc with a powerful right hook, dislodging one of his tusks which goes flying even as he slowly drops to the ground unconscious. To his credit, his opponent shows plenty of scuffs and bruises from the hard fought battle, but this woman only seems to revel in her injuries. After a moment to ensure her victory, she raises her arm high in a fist to the delight of the entire crowd. Almost immediately it seems like the entire tavern erupts in a cheer as people begin to celebrate her victory. Immediately several people call for their winnings for those that bet on her while others curse their losses. The winner of the fight, however, doesn't stick around for the celebrations. Almost the next instant she is already making her way up a ladder on the opposite side of the pit to allow her to climb back up before pushing her way through the crowd, getting lost in the sea of people as she heads off somewhere at the back of the tavern.

"Did you see that?," Nemeia says to her companions nearby. "She was great!" Nemeia imitated some of the moves she saw. "Wonder where she's off to..." Nemeia ponders before turning her direction back to Sora. "You going to hop into the pit,?" she asks with excitement.

Sora cheered loudly at the end of the battle like the rest of the tavern, really enjoying the spectacle before her. She nodded in complete agreement with Nemeia's opinion of the battle, "That was a great fight!" She quickly turned to a random patron to ask them, "Who was that? She had a really cool fighting style. Simple but ******* effective."

At Nemeia's question she would look back at her and respond, "Oh absolutely! This is too good to pass up." Excited to have a chance to really cut loose, Sora stepped up to the edge of the pit and leapt down onto the sand.

Nemeia claps with excitement as her friend volunteers herself into the pit. Knowing the rules made it safer than some of the fighting pits she's heard of in stories brought a little calm to her. Or, was that just the liquor. Either way, she lets out a loud cheer. "You got this Sora!"

Moira

Looking around quickly Moira  makes her way to someone taking bets and tries to wager a gold piece on Sora to win.

The patron to Sora's side in this case happened to be a middle aged human, or so he appeared at first, but a second look at him and it becomes easily apparent from his pointed ears that he's likely a half elf, albeit a surprisingly stocky one. "That one? They call her Siren. Bit of a fan favorite, got a lot of mystery about her. No mystery how she keeps winning though. She packs one hell of a punch in that fist of hers."

As this was going on you could see a couple of volunteers from the crowd stepping into the pit, not to fight but to help the orc fighter left behind get out of the pit. One of them, a slightly older gnome, just shook his head as he reached out with his hand and muttered a prayer, "Kadr help you, Henry. 'Cause I sure won't pull your fat ass out of this pit." The spell seemed to help the orc, healing his wounds just enough to wake him so that he - still with the help of the others who went to retrieve him - slowly made their way up the ramp.

As soon as Sora stepped onto the ledge of the pit, that same half elf next to her looked the human up and down trying to determine her odds of winning. "Well got quite the eager newbie here, aren't ya? HAHA! I love it. Alright new girl, let's see what you're made of." By the time Sora had leapt down to the pit he was already calling out to one of the other patrons some distance from him. "Oy! Roylie! Put me down for 5 on the fresh meat. I got a good feeling about her!"

Looking over at who he was speaking to, Moira and the others would easily find a younger elf woman with a tomboyish look about her. Already she was taking bets on the next fight as people started calling out Sora's chances. Pretty soon it was obvious the vast majority of the bets were against her winning. Moments after that it became clear why this was. With loud heavy footsteps a huge form began to rise out of the crowd. Two huge meaty four-fingered hands parted the people on either side as a huge Minotaur stepped forward through the gap he created. He looked like a mountain of muscle and untapped beastial rage, with big thick crowning horns for good measure.  He wore thick plates of metal around his forearms and feet but otherwise remained relatively unarmored.

He then looked down, WAY down, at Sora from atop the edge of the pit, giving her a dismissive huff.

"Oh oh, looks like ol' Gore is taking up her challenge. Don't think I'll be getting my 5 silver back." The half-elf laughed as he looked on.

With a thick roar, the Minotraur jumped off the edge of the pit as well, landing on the ground opposite Sora with enough force from his massive body that everyone around the pit could feel the floor shudder in response. In that moment the minotaur just grinned at Sora, motioning with one huge hand for her to start the fight anytime she dared to.

Moira

After placing her bet. Moira looks out to see the hulking figure who was answering Sora's challenge. She hurried back to Nemeia "By the gods they are huge. I hope she... What if ... This might be..."  Not able to bring herself to say the words Moira just watched intently. Looking up at Rusty he suddenly vanished and remained gone.

Nemeia looks on with a bit of amusement, her nerves being dulled in a way that she very much appreciated. With confidence, Nemeia shouts, "Five gold on the Destroyer Sora!" She attempts to bring her companion additional confidence as well as bring in more of the crowd to her side. 

(Persuasion?: 21)

“Is there a place of the Lady in the city, Gus?”

(( The following is a narrative description of the results of actual rolls in the one on one battle between Sora and Gore, Posted with Sora's blessing and input. ))

"Well ... ****.", Sora just stared a the huge mass of minotaur before her. But she refused to back down and remained standing unwavering before the challenge before her. Once her opponent motioned her to bring it she knew the fight was on, but she wasn't about to rush too quickly into such an obvious bait.

Focusing her mind she touched a piece of her chest armor where she had inscribed some script a few days ago. Then reached down to her belt where a different script with the same style was also written. She wasn't sure at first if that would work, but she was rewarded moments later as she felt the surge of ancient power and strength beginning to move through her body. A faint, slightly glowing, pseudo-liquid smoke began to slowly rise off her body in response to the ancient power she was tapping into.

With her preparations complete Sora looked up grinning widely at the minotaur. That was the only warning she afforded her opponent as the next instant she was already moving, rushing right up to the huge creature with a powerful straight punch. The blow was more powerful then anyone had expected, and even those near the edge of the pit could feel a small shockwave from the shear power of that strike.

And yet it was not enough. Sora's expression fell a bit as she saw her fits in contact with the minotaur's arm plates, as he had managed to block the blow. Bringing his guard down a bit, Sora would see the minotaur grinning widely back at her. Then the reason for his grin became apparent as strips of light flashed across the minotaur's metal arm guards in response to the strike. From both of the arm guards tiny mechanical latches opened up and released a rain of tiny black balls towards Sora. It was impossible to avoid this rain of balls, many of them managed to make contact with the human. Fortunately they did no damage as it was clear that was not their intention. Instead every point where the balls touched Sora they would leave behind a small magic circle. Before Sora could wonder what those magic circles were for, the minotaur gladly gave her a demonstration. Swinging his own fist faster then anyone would have expected, the huge opponent managed to connect with Sora, sending her flying backwards. At the same time that his fist made contact, one of the magic circles on Sora's skin suddenly glowed brightly before bursting with energy, adding more damage to the blow.

The crowd cheered at the impressive display of power, and already several of the locals were chanting the name of their local favorite. "Gore! Gore! Gore! Gore!"

Somehow Sora was able to easily shrug off the damage from that attack and remained standing. She looked back up at the creature they called Gore before her, refusing to back down from this challenge. Once again she rushed forward for another attack, but this time she feinted left before ducking down below the minotaur's guard. She swung her leg in a powerful kick to put her opponent off-balance before following up with a left hook body blow. She could feel both blows landing solidly as she moved behind Gore. Taking the opportunity to taunt her foe, "Your tricks are pretty flashy, but it's not gonna be enough to win this fight."

"Flashy tricks huh?" The minotaur spoke with a deep, barely contained frenzy in his voice, "Did you think I'm somehow underestimating you? Did you think this is all I had at my disposal?" Turning around, Sora could see a burning red haze coming off the minotaur's eyes as he glared down at her, already one could see muscles bulging even larger then before, making the already large creature seem even bigger. Then with a massive terrible bellow that filled the tavern, he slammed his foot onto the ground. Jagged strips of light flashed across the plates at his feet as suddenly from the point of impact around his foot hundreds of thick vines suddenly started growing in every direction. The vines wrapped themselves around Sora's legs making it difficult for her to move. A fact Gore took full advantage of as he moved forward and swung his fist down in a huge haymaker, slamming Sora across the face.

Everyone in the crowed reacted sharply to the powerful blow as if they could almost feel it themselves. However they were more impressed by the fact that Sora still managed to remain standing despite this. That, with considerable help from Nemeia's cheering, had started to get a portion of the crowd behind the human, and soon others began to join in cheering for her as well.

Sora, for her part, just looked up at Gore with a huge grin on her face. As she wiped the blood off her lip she shot back at her opponent, "Nah, I was hoping you had something fun in the tank for me. I guess if you're going all out, I should go all out as well." She quickly pressed her fists together and suddenly even more of that strange glowing mist began to lift off her form. To everyone's surprise Sora began growing larger, and larger, and soon she was tall enough for her head to peak above the edge of the pit. Among the shocked crowd Sora simply shot back that same grin back at her opponent as she spoke, "What'dya know? It worked." With her large form Sora was easily able to pull herself free of the vines around her. Rushing back against Gore with a pair of now much bigger fist swings.

The minotaur was able to leap back to avoid one of the blows while putting his guard up to block the other. Even blocking the blow caused the large opponent to stagger a bit, but instead of being intimidated by such power, Gore merely chuckled. It was a low, hearty chuckle of someone clearly enjoying themselves. "Impressive, but take it from someone who knows from personal experience. Size isn't everything. When it comes to that, I have more experience then you." Thundering into melee, Gore charged into Sora with more swings of his own, but this time Sora was able to avoid the attacks, stepping back each time.

"Don't worry, I tend to pick things up quickly." Sora retorted returning the attacks back and forth. Once again Sora landed two powerful blows one after the other. Despite her size she was still every bit as nimble as she has always been. And the advantage Gore might have had with experience was quickly being outpaced as Sora got more and more used to this larger form.

The battle went back and forth like this for a while. Both of them landing, and shrugging off, powerful blows that likely would have killed an average person. Every time Gore landed an hit on Sora, another one of the magic circles on her body that he had planted there at the beginning of the fight would burst brightly, adding to the devastating blows. Every now and then, you would catch Gore's gauntlets absorb and spark with some strange flash of light as he blocked Sora's strikes. But each time Sora was able to react quickly enough to avoid getting hurt.

In the end, however, it was not enough to win. Slowly but surely Sora was beginning to overwhelm her opponent, not through her shear power and strength, but through quick movements and rapid assaults. Despite all his tricks, Gore was unable to keep up with Sora's onslaught.

Now more and more people were chanting "The Destroyer" Sora's name, and more then a few patrons were quick to put money on her winning. But Gore's fans were not backing down either and continued cheering for their local favorite urging him on.

At one point Sora tried to use her newfound size to try to grapple the minotaur into submission, but Gore proved a better grappler and turned the attempt against her forcing Sora to push away and escape. At another point Gore tried to do as his name suggested and rushed forward with a violent horns first attack, trying to gore his opponent. But Sora jumped over the charging minotaur as he passed by, forcing Gore to stop before he accidentally impaled himself into the wooden walls of the pit.

As time passed both combatants were looking seriously hurt from all their injuries, but both refused to back down. It seemed that either one could fall over at any moment, and the crowd was eating it up entirely.

That's when Sora made her move. Charging forward madly, she looked as if she was going to simply slam into her opponent to try to tackle him to the ground. But Gore was prepared for this and braced himself for the impact. However it never came, at least not the one he was expecting. At the very last moment, Sora released the magic that had made her so big, and she shrunk down to her normal size, easily slipping under the guard of the minotaur that was not expecting that. Pushing off with both feet, she punched up with all her might in a brutal uppercut that connected with her opponents large jawline. The force of the blow actually lifted the minotaur off his feet. In that moment Gore appeared to float in midair as time felt like it had slowed down from the impact alone. Silence fell across the tavern as they all watched the finishing move in action. When Gore finally landed, he slammed back down onto his back, unconscious, with Sora still standing looking down at her defeated opponent.

Moira

"SORA! SORA! SORA!" Cheering along with Nemeia throughout the fight, wincing at the blows from the minotaur Moira starts jumping up and down with excitement at her friends victory. Rushing over to where she is climbing out of the pit she gives Sora a big hug. "You were incredible!"