Arthas has the opportunity to prove his fighting prowess in a combat competition in Azarra. Will he prove his mettle, or will our Giant-Kin come up short against his foes?
Rou, Eight, and Arthas enjoy a large breakfast before they rush off to get Arthas registered for the fight. According to the proprietor, they can find the arena at what the locals call “the pier”, a mass of rock on the cliffside that juts out over the sea. Traveling through the bustling crowd they eventually come to the registration booth, where Arthas meets a very nasty cat-person.
Eight and Rou are able to watch from the stands, where the crowd is rather dense and vendors wander throughout while advertising snacks and other wares. The pair share awkward conversation until the competition begins. They witness four matches before Arthas is led out to fight the same cat-person he met at registration. He wins handily and is escorted away until his next match. Each opponent that Arthas faces is quickly vanquished, and the Giant-Kin quickly becomes a favorite for the competition. When his final opponent enters the arena, Arthas learns that they might be the hardest challenge he’s come across to date.
Follow Dax @GM_Dax, Kappa @TheKappaChris and Wren @ThornyDryad
Transcript by CJ Kallevig
Upbeat piano intro ends [00:28]
Pleasant flute fades in [00:31]
Dax: The morning comes. Arthas, you wake and it is chillier than it was the day before. There is a very slight fog along the ground. It’s very gray, it’s not very bright. You and Eight, I assume, would go into the inn for breakfast?
Neil: Oh gosh yeah.
Dax: The door is open by the time you head over there. The Gnome proprietor is sitting at his spot, scribbling in his book. Rou, I don’t know how early you get up. Would you already have been waiting?
Kappa: No. I believe that I would, given that this is my first sort of excursion in a new place, I’d give myself a few extra minutes, maybe another half hour or so before truly getting up from bed. Sort of recounting the giant steps I’ve made to be here.
Dax: Alright. You do so, and when you get downstairs, you see Eight and Arthas are already seated at a table. Kallie is nowhere to be seen. The proprietor, as you were walking down the stairs, is already walking up to the table with platters of food. Smoked meats, you know, granola and oats and fresh fruit.
Dax (as the Gnome): [voice is gravelly] Good morning. You’re just in time for breakfast.
Kappa (as Rou): Good morning, Innkeep. Yes, wonderful. This is very, very generous.
Dax (as the Gnome): Well, there’s a reason I charge so much for the room. Certainly not for the accommodations.
Kappa: Most of Rou’s plate is meat, there are some fruits and some of the granola to add some diversity to the texture of his meal. But you would notice that it’s mostly the dried meats and other stuff.
Dax: The Innkeep does go back and forth a couple times, bringing out fresh bread and hard-boiled eggs.
Dax (as the Gnome): You see this is what happens when you come to a meal when dinner is actually going to be served. Or breakfast, whatever the case may be. It’s all laid out. So, enjoy.
Dax: He goes back to his desk.
Wren: Everything laid out, I would probably be gathering up a plate of food that Arthas will get to eat. And a second one, for him as well. I’m just kind of at the table.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, do you want granola? How about an apple? Maybe two?
Neil: At the mention of food, Arthas comes running.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, okay. Well, here.
Wren: And I just reach up with a plate.
Wren (as Eight): You can serve yourself I guess.
Neil (as Arthas): Thank you.
Neil: And I’ll just start collecting what foods I can and set the plate down as I have to eat on the run.
Wren (as Eight): You’re in an awful hurry, Arthas.
Neil (as Arthas): There is sport to be had, Eight.
Wren (as Eight): Ah, yes. Do you know where to enter?
Neil (as Arthas): Innkeep, I have a question.
Dax (as the Gnome): Yes, yes.
Neil (as Arthas): The contest.
Dax (as the Gnome): Yes?
Neil (as Arthas): Where do I go?
Dax (as the Gnome): You, I...the arena is by the pier, so I imagine you would go there. I don’t think registration starts for another hour though.
Neil (as Arthas): Then I will stand in line so I can observe my opponents.
Wren (as Eight): Smart tactic.
Kappa (as Rou): Do you, do you do this often? You seem to have quite the regiment when it comes to an impromptu fighting tournament.
Neil (as Arthas): A very long time ago, when I served under a knight of sorts.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, you’ve made mention of this knight before. I didn’t realize you squired.
Neil (as Arthas): That, I do not believe that would be the correct term.
Wren (as Eight): Oh. Perhaps my vernacular for knight phrases is old?
Neil (as Arthas): No, I would have to have had attained the title of squire.
Wren (as Eight): Oh. Oh, so you just followed the knight around?
Neil (as Arthas): Better, yes.
Kappa (as Rou): But you, are you okay elaborating on that?
Neil (as Arthas): Well you see, I would like to be a knight. Said knight was good in the tasks handed to them, but they were morally reprehensible. And now I’m going to go become a knight on my own. Hence the getup. And the sword. And the many titles.
Kappa (as Rou): I see. That makes more sense and adds some context to the titles. The epithets.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, Arthas!
Wren: I almost drop the plate that I’m holding.
Wren (as Eight): If you win this tournament, perhaps you’ll get another title.
Neil (as Arthas): Incredible point, Eight.
Wren (as Eight): We must hurry then. We have to see to it that you’re enlisted in this com…comp.. oh I’m so excited I can’t even speak! Contest! Here.
Wren: And I take an egg, like a hard-boiled egg, and I just reach up to shove it in your face.
Neil: And I gleefully eat it.
Kappa (as Rou): That had the shell still on.
Neil (as Arthas): That is where the protein is.
Wren (as Eight): I believe it’s made of calcium.
Kappa (as Rou): Strange.
Wren (as Eight): Rou, you seem to have an awful lot of protein on your plate.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh yes, I am quite a picky eater. It’s what I grew up with, honestly. Wasn’t very much variety and so this is what I tend to reach for. Given the option.
Wren: I will take an egg with me, in hand, and I will return to the table with a plate of food for Arthas and an egg for myself.
Dax: Eight, what are you doing with this egg?
Wren: Well, I’m going to wait for everyone else to join me at the table but when everyone’s seated, you will see Eight go to painstaking lengths to peel the shell. Once they’ve gone ahead and removed all of the exterior, they just hold the egg between their two sausage fingers. Rou, you would watch, maybe in abject horror, I really don’t know. As this machine man just starts shoving the egg into their mouth, and they’re chewing it. It’s very mechanical looking. Like, it’s just, it’s the act of eating without actually eating. The egg does get swallowed, but it’s just the most bizarre eating. It’s just rehearsed.
Kappa (as Rou): Arthas, do they do this often?
Neil (as Arthas): Frequently. They are eating.
Wren (as Eight): Yes. I am told that eating with friends helps to build camaraderie.
Kappa (as Rou): Does it go anywhere?
Wren (as Eight): The food?
Kappa (as Rou): Yes?
Wren (as Eight): Oh yes. I have a gut of sorts.
Wren: And I point at my torso. Which, although I didn’t really say this earlier but Eight’s midriff is just exposed core. So it’s like vines and wood kind of, in between the plating.
Kappa (as Rou): And then it just stays there.
Wren (as Eight): It breaks down.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh, okay. So you can use food as fuel? The same way we do.
Wren (as Eight): No. I just eat.
Kappa (as Rou): I have so many questions.
Wren (as Eight): As do I. That’s why I’m traveling!
Kappa (as Rou): Good thing we’re going to a university. If these questions are too hard to answer, or if they are rude, feel free to stop me.
Wren (as Eight): Well, you see, I am unfamiliar with a lot of my own functions. Perhaps you and I are, oh perhaps we could learn about me at the same time! That’s actually an exciting prospect.
Kappa (as Rou): I, I would be lying if I said I was not curious, so. That could be fun.
Wren (as Eight): Normally I would have asked Mother for information. But, that is no longer possible. She’s the one who created me.
Kappa (as Rou): Mother? Your, oh your creator. Your…the person who made you?
Wren (as Eight): Uh, as far as I’m aware, she created me. She at least tasked me with my job, I suppose. I was her caretaker while she was alive.
Kappa (as Rou): Oh, I see. Well, sounds like a wonderful person to have created such a wonderful…you.
Wren (as Eight): Eight.
Kappa (as Rou): Yes, Eight.
Wren: I take another bite of the egg.
Kappa: And I grimace as I watch this a second time. Less shocked, more of this sort of, like you can’t look away but you want to so bad.
Dax: So the morning passes. You make easy work of your breakfast, and I imagine, all of you head together towards the pier. The, uh, Rou, quick question. Would you have left your things in your room? Would you have gone back to get it before you left the inn for the day?
Kappa: I would at least have gone back up to put the armor back on and retrieve my walking stick. Staff. There’s a lock on the door, correct?
Dax: Yeah.
Kappa: Okay. The rest of my stuff will be locked in there.
Dax: Okay, alright. Easy. So the three of you head out. By the time you leave the inn, it’s probably mid-morning. The sun is actually over the horizon now, it is shining on a nice, blue fall day. The air is cold, but more crisp. It’s actually kind of pleasant. No rain today, the skies appear very clear. You wander around the city for a little bit. You start seeing signs that say ‘pier this way’, ‘pier that way’. So it’s very easy for you to navigate through the city to get to the pier. As you start getting closer, you can hear it before you see it. You can hear people laughing, you can smell on the air the scent of fried foods and sickeningly sweet goods. You can hear the sound of cheering and bells ringing.
When you get there, and you are able to glance at the pier itself, it’s not so much of a pier as you would think on an ocean. The pier itself is a mass of rock, natural forming rock on the cliffside, that kind of juts out far over the sea. Along this cliffside, there are several vendor stalls. There are people juggling and there are fire eaters. You can see people are selling fried foods, they’re selling clothing and jewelry. It’s like, almost a big entertainment district or market. People are milling about, taking in the sights and the food and the sounds. You can hear people playing music in the distance. Off at the far end, you can see a very large structure. Perhaps that’s the fighting arena. It does look almost coliseum-like.
Music shifts to a melodious guitar [10:46]
Kappa (as Rou): I didn’t realize this was going to be a whole affair. There’s so many people here. Not just fighters.
Wren (as Eight): Last time I saw this much activity was at the festival. I can only hope that people don’t go missing this time around too.
Kappa (as Rou): I hope not, that would put a spell on the otherwise pleasant experience I’ve been having in Azarra so far. Arthas, let’s get you in line, yes?
Neil (as Arthas): Absolutely.
Neil: And I stride right over.
Wren (as Eight): Do not try to keep up. He has very wide steps.
Kappa (as Rou): I can tell.
Kappa: And I will not amble, but sort of power walk. Just so that, you know I don’t lose Arthas in the crowd. But I imagine that would be quite hard.
Dax: Yeah, he does stand, half his body is above probably the tallest person you can see. I need Rou to make me a Vigilance check at Medium difficulty. If I could have Eight and Arthas make me Perception.
[sound of dice rolling]
Kappa: End result says one Advantage and one Failure.
Dax: Alright
Neil: Exact same here.
Wren: I have a threat.
Dax: Wow. Y’all, okay. So the three of you are meandering through the bustling and busy, I wouldn’t call it a street because it’s not really a street. But you’re meandering through the crowd. Rou, you’re, I’m assuming, taking in all the sights. You’re just overwhelmed with the smell of sweets and fryer food and smoke from the fires and the scent of body odor. It’s actually a little overwhelming, it’s more people than you’re most likely used to in one place.
Arthas, you’re able to easily go through the crowd. People actually do seem to divide and get out of your way. It takes you a little bit to find exactly where the registration booth might be, but eventually you do find it. Eight, let me ask you this real quick. How would you like to spend your Threat? Would you like to take a Strain or…?
Wren: Let’s see. A single Threat. Perhaps as we’re advancing, I get distracted by Bessie at some point. Like, get stuck behind a group of folks, or just keeps me from maintaining the same pace as Arthas. Maybe if there’s some big tents or something, I kind of lose sight of him.
Dax: Sure, yeah. So, Arthas, you get up to the registration booth and at this point…hm. You can see on the sign above it that registration should be opening up shortly. There is already a short line of people. There are a few Elves, there are some, mostly humans. You have what looks to be like a walking cat person. Not too many people though.
Neil: I stare at the walking cat person a little bit.
Dax: You see an ear twitch, and then they slowly turn to you.
Dax (as the Cat-folk): [hisses, then in a raspy voice] What? What do you want?
Neil: I am mildly taken aback as the most feline things I have seen are either house cats or mountain lions. And I was not aware that they could walk and talk.
Dax: Do you say this out loud?
Neil: No! That is the internal monologue. [laughs]
Dax: Okay.
Neil: That seems like a really great way to get into a fight.
Dax: Hey, I gotta clarify.
Neil: I uh, I guess I just snap to attention and try to uh, try to not stare. I’m familiar with the feeling of being a display so, you know.
Dax (as the Cat-folk): Staring is very rude.
Neil (as Arthas): Believe me, I am familiar.
Dax: The cat person looks you up and down.
Dax (as the Cat-folk): Yes. Yes, I imagine you would. Are you planning to fight?
Neil (as Arthas): Yes I am.
Dax (as the Cat-folk): Hmm. Well, better hope I not meet you in the arena. Or I’ll cut you!
Dax: And at that, it reaches out it’s little, paw-like hand and extends its claws just ever so slightly.
Neil: I inch back a little bit.
Dax: Then they turn back and they face forward again towards the registration booth. I imagine at this point, this is when Eight and potentially Rou catch up with you.
Neil (as Arthas): Eight, there are strange folk.
Wren (as Eight): Arthas, you look a little pale. Are you okay?
Neil (as Arthas): I found a mountain lion that can walk and talk.
Wren (as Eight): Oh, really?
Wren: And I just start looking around anxiously, or eagerly, I should say.
Neil (as Arthas): It was a little rude.
Wren (as Eight): That’s, I feel like if an animal was suddenly granted the ability to walk and talk, it would be rude because that’s quite jarring. Do you not think?
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm. Agreed.
Kappa (as Rou): I don’t think that’s, I don’t think that would be one hundred percent uncanny. Right? You talk of magics and Spellweavers. Would a walking mountain lion be so strange to encounter next to all these other, next to all these other things?
Wren (as Eight): Other things like what?
Kappa (as Rou): Like, someone that requires no food or drink or sleep, choosing to consume an egg.
Wren: I listen to you for a moment and [chuckles] just kind of look down.
Wren (as Eight): Ah yes, point taken.
Kappa (as Rou): Eight, it’s, Eight, it’s a joke. Just a little jest.
Wren (as Eight): Oh!
Wren: My face turns up and my eyebrows arc.
Wren (as Eight): A joke! Like, a jape. A lark, or a laugh.
Kappa (as Rou): Yes. And also there’s a little bit of egg still stuck in the -
Wren (as Eight): Oh!
Kappa (as Rou): Do you mind?
[Wren makes muffled sounds like digging in mouth]
Kappa (as Rou): Right there, yes. There you go.
Dax (as registration person): [masculine slightly cock-neyed voice] Next in line!
Dax: You hear from the registration booth.
Neil: I step up.
Dax (as registration person): Alright, what’s your name?
Neil (as Arthas): Arthas Boston Wapon Dynevy Marston Thurlow Lilford, the Champion of Offam.
Dax: The man that sits at the registration booth is a little scruffy-looking. Very average looking, brown mustache. You can see him quirk his mouth because his mustache twitches just a little bit.
Dax (as registration person): Alright, Arthas Champion of Offam. Sponsors?
Neil (as Arthas): Uh, none? The Hedgehog Inn.
Dax (as registration person): They’re going to be covering your registration fee, then?
Neil (as Arthas): Yes!
Neil: I say as I produce the fee out of my pocket and hand it to the man.
Dax: He takes your, it’s five gold to enter. Takes that, puts it in a little box next to him on the desk. You see him scribbling some things in a ledger book.
Dax (as registration person): Alright. Weapon of choice?
Neil: I raise my great club.
Dax (as registration person): The hell is that?
Neil (as Arthas): A club.
Dax: His mustache twitches again.
Dax (as registration person): Alright!
Dax: Writes down ‘club’ next to your name.
Dax (as registration person): Ummmm, you know I’m not even going to ask it. If you’ll just head into the arena, and your first fight will be against…
Dax: And he flips the pages back and forth.
Dax (as registration person): Maxie.
Neil (as Arthas): That’s a nice name.
Dax (as registration person): Not a nice person.
Neil (as Arthas): Hmmm. What are they like?
Dax (as registration person): You’ll see. Next!
Neil: And I meander off.
Kappa (as Rou): Should we, should we get seats?
Wren: I nod.
Wren (as Eight): Probably. I do not intend on entering.
Kappa (as Rou): No, [chuckles]. This is the last thing I’d want to do, participate. Spectate, yes. Spectate.
Dax (as registration person): Are the two of you next in line or what?
Kappa (as Rou): Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no.
Dax (as registration person): Well then get out of the line!
Kappa (as Rou): Sorry.
Wren (as Eight): I suppose the experience would be well worth it, but… no.
Wren: And then I just leave.
Kappa: I will follow and start walking in the direction of the crowd that’s finding seats.
Dax: Yeah. Yeah, you see Arthas heading off towards a door that has a big sign over it that does say “Entrants”. R-A-N-T-S. And you see a separate door where a lot of people, a lot of civilians are milling about and funneling in towards. As you walk into the building, you are able to follow them through a closed in hallway, a stone hallway, up some stairs and when you finally get back out into the air again, you are looking at what appears to be a vast amphitheater. All the seats are in a semicircle, and then the other part of the semicircle actually shows the sea, far out and beyond. It’s almost like this arena was designed to be at the very edge of the cliff.
You can see down in what would be essentially the theater and the stage, a couple of Gnomes running around in face makeup. They’re doing slapstick comedy. They’re chasing each other with little wooden clubs, they’re running around with anything that they can find, chasing each other. Just simple entertainment. You can hear the people wandering through the stands calling out,
Dax (as a vendor): Peanuts!
Dax: You know, just selling snacks. The seats themselves are chiseled stone bleachers, essentially.
Kappa (as Rou): You know, Eight, believe it or not. This is the most people I’ve ever seen in one place.
Wren (as Eight): I would believe it. There are a lot of people here and I must say, I haven’t been around this many people in a long time myself.
Wren: Is there room for Bessie?
Dax: I mean, she followed you up through the stairs and the hallways. So picture these carved benches are wide enough where if you were to set your feet down when you were sitting, there’s still like maybe a foot of space before it steps down. So it’s a pretty wide step. It’s designed for merchants to wander through the stands while people are sitting to sell their wares and things like that, so. It is wide enough, yes.
Wren: Bessie was going to be with me either way. I just wanted to make sure how comfortable it would be.
Wren (as Eight): I will say, this is the first amphitheater I have ever been to.
Kappa (as Rou): Yeah, same. It is curious, and makes sense this is, if this is going to be a spectator sort of event. There’s many, many seats. Also a good thing Arthas is so large.
Wren (as Eight): Yes. He will be the easiest one to see on the stage. Rou, out of curiosity, since you are from a place I am unfamiliar with, what’s it like where you’re from?
Kappa (as Rou): Oh. It’s a…
Kappa: You see I furrow my brow and clear his throat.
Kappa (as Rou): It’s this very small, almost village, I don’t know if you could call it that. Maybe a township in Baukora. Very small, maybe most of the population could fit in this amphitheater. You see very many of the same people every single day. As far as I know, there aren’t large festivals like this. Maybe small celebrations for birthdays or achievements. But, nothing like this.
Wren (as Eight): That sounds nice.
Kappa (as Rou): It is nice, it is quiet. But there was this itch, you see, to go out and explore. A need. I do intend to go back.
Wren: I nod my head at that.
Wren (as Eight): I can understand that 100%. See I came from a very small, quiet, secluded place as well. And when I discovered I could go traveling, I did the same.
Dax: It is at this point that you hear a gong, and the two Gnomes run off the stage. People around you are cheering, some people are still milling into the stands. Picture like a hockey game. People don’t actually stop milling into the stands until after the game has already started, annoyingly enough.
The first pair to come out into the arena are two Elves. One with very dark hair and pale skin, and one with this very long blonde hair, all tied up into various braids. They draw their swords, it is a very intense duel. They’re climbing up and over rocks, and there’s tumbling. Eventually one does fall, the crowd cheers. The announcer notes that the person who was still left standing will now go into the back until the next round. Things like this happen three more times before you hear,
Dax (as the announcer): [imitating a sports announcer] And next we have Arthas, Champion of Offam. Fighting Maxie!
Dax: And at the sound of Maxie, people are going crazy. They are screaming, they are cheering as loud as they can. People are throwing peanuts at each other. It’s just chaos. You see Arthas walking out into the arena and from here, I’ll take over from Arthas’s perspective. Arthas, you walk out into this vast open space. You can see that to your left are stands filled with people.
They’re cheering, they’re screaming, they’re waving little flags. Across from you, you see that cat person walking out from the other side of the arena. They are now outfitted in leather and appear to not be carrying any weapons.
Neil: Cool, cool.
Dax: The opponent stares at you.
Dax (as Maxie): Well, I guess it’s time for us to fight, don’t you think? Let’s make a nice show for the crowd.
Dax: And the cat lunges at you. I would like you to roll me your Cool, no difficulty.
Music shifts to a faster, tense violin [27:32]
[sound of dice rolling]
Neil: One Success.
Dax: Okay. The way this is going to work is you’re actually, even though it’s charging at you, you are going to get first opportunity for the PC slot. So, what are you doing?
Neil: So, is there a gap between us or is she like trying to close it as quickly as possible.
Dax: Right now there is a gap, I would say at this point, the cat person Maxie is maybe two range bands away.
Neil: So, I would like to perform a Reckless Charge, so I would like to use a maneuver to close distance with an enemy. Where I’ll add two Successes and two Threat to my next combat skill check.
Dax: Sounds good, alright. And what does this look like?
Neil: So, I start this in what I would, it’s done as a bull stance, where I’m just pointing the end of the weapon at them, so if they charge at me, they’ll be stabbed. Quickly realizing this is a club, so I just broke out of that and started trying to charge her down.
Dax: The crowd has gone kind of silent, Eight and Rou, as the two of these opponents are now charging at each other. Arthas, that was your maneuver. Do you want to take an action?
Neil: I would like to try clubbing the cat.
Dax: Alright, try and take a swipe. I’d say make this Medium difficulty.
Neil: So that will end me with three Successes, one Advantage, and with Reckless Charge, two Successes and two additional Threat.
Dax: Alright, so one of the Threat gets canceled out because you had an Advantage on your roll. So you have a Threat, and you have five Success. So, why don’t you tell me what the total is on your strike? So that’s five for the five Success, plus your Brawn, plus the damage marking on your club.
Neil: I have four Brawn and the club has, so it counts as a great axe...
Dax: You take your swing with your club and at first, Maxie appears to dodge. But then you are able to adjust and you end up striking this cat person and they go flying. They skid across the dirt ground, and slam into the wall of the stands. You hear the crowd go wild.
Dax (as the crowd): Arthas! Arthas! Arthas!
Dax: They all start cheering. The cat person, Maxie, stands up.
[Dax makes a noise as if shaking themselves off]
Dax: Shakes themself off.
Dax (as Maxie): Oh is this how we’re going to play, is it?
Dax: And it lunges at you. It runs a little bit, and then takes a leap, its claws outstretched. [dice rolling] That is going to be five damage. I am trying to think, how much Soak do you have?
Neil: I have a Soak of five.
Dax: Alright, so this cat lunges at you, and takes a swipe. It just glances across your metal armor and it ends up leaping past you, landing on its feet. It turns and poises for another attack. Your turn. What would you like to do?
Neil: So, I’m going to suffer three Strain, for Justice of the Mountain Citadel, to add damage equal to your discipline skill on one successful melee attack. So it’ll be an additional three if I hit her.
Dax: Okay.
Neil: And again, I just will close the gap and try and club the cat.
Dax: Alright. Make that roll.
Neil: One Advantage and One Triumph.
Dax: Oh! Alright. So the Triumph, you get the Success there. So that’s one. Plus the damage rating, plus your brawn of four, plus the additional that you get from your ability that you used. What would you like to use your Triumph for?
Neil: I’m going to attempt to stun the cat.
Dax: I mean, you don’t really have to stun the cat. You are going to take this cat out. What potentially other cool thing would you like to have happen?
Neil: As non-lethally as I can.
Dax: Okay. I’ll give you that, I’ll give you that. So you swing your club, and this cat goes to leap but unfortunately, happens to, I don’t know if they tripped or they misjudged how big your club actually was. They end up landing right into your club and once again, as you swipe it, you’re flinging this cat’s body. It slides against the dirt floor again, this time towards the cliff’s edge.
They stop just short of the cliff’s edge and they don’t get up. You see that some of the people that had been standing along the edge of the performance area wearing leather armor, run out to check the cat. You see them help the cat stand up and they start walking back towards the back rooms. You hear,
Music shifts to Arthas’s theme, a Nordic flute [32:24]
Dax (as announcer): And Arthas has won his first round.
Dax: The entire crowd breaks out into cheers.
Dax (as the crowd): Arthas! Arthas! Arthas!
Dax: Eight and Rou, the two of you are hearing people starting to take side bets as to who is going to persevere.
Dax (as bystander one): [gruff, nasally voice] I don’t know, do you think that Arthas person is going to win it all?
Dax (as bystander two): [raspy, nasally voice] No. ah, nah. I think Renny’s going to have him.
Dax (as bystander one): I’ll see you five gold for that.
Wren: Anyone in earshot taking bets or talking about Arthas, like every single person I hear talking about Arthas, I just turn to them. I’ll be like,
Wren (as Eight): I am Eight and Arthas is my friend. Arthas is very strong and I believe Arthas will win.
Dax (as bystander one): Ah, do you want to take uh, you wanna see that bet?
Wren (as Eight): Oh no. I do not wager, because I know this to be a fact.
Dax: They look a little confused at first that somebody would actually say no and go back to their own conversations. This goes on another few rounds. Every once in a while, you do see some similar contestants coming out and fighting each other. Arthas does come out for one more round and does manage to, again, heartily win that one. And finally the announcer comes out just before mid-afternoon.
Dax (as the announcer): And for our final fight of the day, Arthas, Champion of Offam…
Dax: The crowd goes wild, they’re cheering, they’re chanting your name, Arthas.
Dax (as the announcer): And Renny, the Fighting Wonder, our currently reigning champion!
Dax: You hear the crowd now bursts into cheers. And it is, it is a cacophony of screaming and people are going wild. They’re stamping their feet, they’re cheering, they’re raising their hands. Arthas, you are led out onto the stage again. Each time between your rounds, you have been healed. So, you didn’t take any wounds that first fight. You managed to not take any wounds the second fight, but you always had people coming up and offering, you know, if you needed a healing potion or something.
What stands before you is a massive, massive, imposing figure of a man. His jaw slightly crooked. His nose appears to have been broken several times. He is..[deep breath] almost as tall as you are. About seven foot tall. He’s about as wide as you are, bulky, brutish looking. Arthas, the gong has just sounded and yet Renny, the Fighting Wonder, as the announcer called him, is just standing there before you. He wields a great axe and you can see he wears some formidable armor. Appears to be some decent scale mail. Although, it does appear to have seen quite a bit of wear and tear in its time. Would you please roll your Vigilance for me?
Music shifts to tense, fast-paced drums [34:56]
Neil: Vigilance. [dice rolls] One Advantage.
Dax: Alright. So you have an Advantage.
Neil: So does that mean I’ll be going first in initiative?
Dax: You are going to be going second, because he rolled two Success and three Advantage.
Neil: Oh damn.
Dax: Yeah. So, alright. So as I said, Renny is standing there and then he hefts his great axe. Shifts his palm up a little bit on the shaft and comes barreling at you. And as he does so, he raises that axe and he takes a swing. So he’ll suffer two Strain in order to be able to move into engaged with you. That’ll be Medium difficulty now that it’s engaged. [dice rolls] Okay. So, a great axe has Pierce two. So what’s your Soak, Arthas?
Neil: My Soak is five.
Dax: Alright, so he gets to negate two of your Soak. So you are going to take three points of damage. And he is going to have to roll on the Critical Injury table. He raises this great axe as he charges into you, and you, you don’t expect that he’s actually going to hit but then that great axe lands just [thud sound] right into your patchwork armor. [rolls dice] Oooooo. Alright. You feel a [rip sound] in your left arm. You go to move your left arm and it doesn’t move. Your left arm has been crippled, and until you heal it, all of your difficulty checks with that limb have to be increased by one. So if you use your left arm for anything, I have to upgrade the difficulty.
Neil: Gotcha.
Dax: You can hear that the crowd is now going,
Dax (as the crowd): Renny! Renny! Renny!
Dax: When they were cheering for you. It is your turn, Arthas.
Neil: So I am in melee range of this guy now, right? I’ve just been smacked?
Dax: Yep, you are in engaged range with him, yep.
Neil: Okay. So I do have a Death Rage.
Dax: Remind me what the Death Rage does.
Neil: I’m adding two damage to my melee attacks for each critical injury I’m suffering. And I’ve got the one. It is a Tier Four talent, that is passive.
Dax: You are going to upgrade the difficulty on this. So, you are engaged. So, that would be Medium difficulty. Two purple, but you’re going to upgrade one. So it’ll be a purple and a red.
Neil: I’m going to use Berserk. I’m going to add two Advantage to my melee attack checks, and one Success to attacks targeting me.
Dax: Okay. And for Berserk, is that also passive?
Neil: That is a maneuver.
Dax: Your maneuver to activate Berserk, you’re going to use your action to attack the guy.
Neil: Correct.
Dax: And to the attack, you’re adding your passive ability, Death Rage.
Neil: Spot on. [dice rolls] So my final roll is one Success and two Advantages. Which will turn it to four Advantages with the Berserk.
Dax: Okay. And your great club does how much damage again?
Neil: A damage plus four.
Dax: Oh, it was supposed to be four plus the Brawn. Sugar. You have to take another, you have to take another five.
Neil: Oh shoot!
Dax: Yeah [awkward chuckle]. You have to take another five. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I think you’re still doing pretty good though.
Neil: Yeah, I’m still, I’m still standing.
Dax: Alright, so it’ll be your base damage plus your Brawn. Because you didn’t roll any additional successes, you only got the one, so it’ll be your Brawn plus the base damage. So how much is that?
Neil: So my Brawn is four, base damage is four, for eight.
Dax: Alright, so eight. And we’re gonna take away six from that for his Soak. Because the club doesn’t have anything like Pierce two or anything.
Neil: It does.
Dax: It does. What’s the, is it two?
Neil: It is two.
Dax: Okay. So I take that back. He will only negate four, and he will take four damage. Alright. And…
Neil: And then an additional two.
Dax: From Death Rage. Okay. And, so he will take six damage. You have some Advantages. Now the great club, what is the crit rating on the great club?
Neil: The crit rating is three.
Dax: And you have four Advantages. Would you like to activate the critical injury table?
Neil: Yes please!
Dax: So, roll me a d100 please.
Neil: Sixty-five.
Dax: Okay. So, first I want you to describe what this attack looks like. I mean, guy came in, he charged at you, he crippled your left arm. What does your attack look like as you rage and you go into this Berserk?
Neil: I guess I’m going to try and shoulder past the swing, and just try and club him upside the head as hard as I can. Or just trying to force some distance between us.
Dax: As you do so, he is so enraptured by the crowd’s cheering for his first strike, that he doesn’t really offer as much resistance as he probably should of when you came in to club him. And when you clubbed him, you were successful enough to deal some damage and he is now disoriented and will be so until he heals. That means that he’s disoriented, he has to stay like that until he’s healed, which means he’s going to add a Setback to all of his checks until he’s healed. Which means the entire encounter.
You club him over the head and you see Renny is standing there. He takes one or two steps back and he shakes his head a little bit. You can see he’s looking up at you now, and starting to think ‘Okay, maybe you’re not just size. Maybe you have something to it’. He’s going to raise his great axe again, and he’s going to shoulder into you. He knows he’s already damaged one of your arms. He’s going to try and see if he can do something more and knock you out of the fight. [dice rolls]
Renny comes into you, and he raises his great axe again. You can see him extending his arm back even further, and he takes another swing at you. As he does so, you hear another [thud sound] as it smacks into your patchwork armor. Dealing another six points of damage and he rolled a couple of Advantages so he’s gonna… You see him go [sniffs loudly]. Takes in a nice, deep breath. You can see the dust swirling around him from his fast movements as he’s coming in to engagement range with you. He’s going to heal a couple Strain. It is your turn.
Neil: So I’m going to suffer 3 Strain to activate the talent, Justice of the Mountain Citadel. Which is a once per round, on your turn you may suffer 3 Strain, use this talent to add damage equal to your Discipline skill on one successful melee attack.
Dax: Alright. And how much damage are you going to be adding?
Neil: So that’ll be adding three from Justice of the Mountain Citadel.
Dax: Perfect. Okay, so I’ll mark that as the base damage.
Neil: And then an additional two from Death Rage. I have got a, it’s Medium Difficulty and a die gets upgraded, correct?
Dax: Correct.
[sound of dice rolling]
Neil: That’s two Successes and three Advantages.
Dax: Alright. So for your damage, so you do your base damage plus your Brawn. And then you’ll do an extra one point of damage for the secondary success. So how much damage is that to start? I think that’s what, nine?
Neil: Uh, nine, yeah.
Dax: Okay. Minus the four that’s not negated. So that’s five. Plus two, plus three. So you do a nice ten points of damage on this guy. And out of curiosity, when you’re taking these attacks, are you saying anything to Renny? Or are you just in such a rage that you are seeing red and you are not, you know? Tell me what this second attack looks like.
Neil: Honestly at this point, I think I’m trying to disarm Renny. Because, if I get hit again with that, I’m going to have a bad week. I am trying to focus entirely on breathing. If I’m yelling or trying to talk to the guy while I’m fighting, I’m not going to be doing as well as I know I could be.
Dax: That’s fair. So, this second attack hits and you, as you take this next attack, you can see that you have dislodged a chunk of his armor. And now, you see part of his chest is bare and peeking out over his chest and his one shoulder that is now exposed, you can see that there are ragged scars. Looks like years of abuse and fighting have taken its toll on this man. He is spitting blood, he has blood running down his nose. He straightens up and you can tell it takes a little bit of effort. He is hurting and probably has not hurt like this in a long time. He spits at the ground. You can see that mixed with that spit is all this blood and mixing with the dirt.
Dax (as Renny): [muffled, deep voice] So, Arthas, is it?
Neil: I’m a little taken aback.
Neil (as Arthas): Yes.
Dax (as Renny): Well, Arthas. Perhaps I’ve finally met my match. But we’ll see.
Dax: And he raises his great axe once again.
Neil: Question, Dax. How do I activate a Heroic Ability?
Dax: Alright. So to use a Heroic Ability, activating a Heroic Ability requires you to spend two Story Points. The effects of the Heroic Ability will last until the end of your character’s next turn and you can only activate it once per session. Unless stated in the description of the specific effect, it is an incidental. So you would have to use an incidental as part of your last turn.
Ultimately, the benefit would have been at like the start of your turn. So if you went on the start of your next turn, you could say ‘I’m using my incidental and spending two Story Points to activate my Heroic Ability’. Unless the specific Heroic Ability you’re looking at says that you have to do something else in order to activate it. So what is the specific Heroic Ability you’re looking at?
Neil: Fury of Molten Stone. Arthas funnels his beliefs into a pure embodiment of strength, vigor, and righteous fury. Art may commit to a fevered, noble rage based upon his notions of reading stories of knights of yore. Origin driven. Duration, lasts three rounds. Power improved effect, secondary effect devastating. While active, this character deals plus the damage to each, to one hit of each other attacks and story. Reduce the cost to active the Heroic Ability by one Story Point.
Dax: Okay. And you’re activating this for your, your turn after he goes? Or…?
Neil: So I can get hit directly in the face and not die.
Dax: Okay. Alright, so we add another two damage. Arthas, you..you raise your great club and anybody that’s sitting in the first row of the arena, yeah they’re not a whole heck of a lot close but perhaps they see some of the muscles in your neck cord up a little bit as you take this next swing. You definitely have this look of fierceness across your face. And as you take your great club, this sword with a boulder attached at the end, and you swing it into Renny, you knock him over and Renny falls to the ground with a great cloud of dust [Dax makes a loud “poof”] enveloping him.
And when the dust clears, you are the only one standing. For a minute, everyone is silent. Even Rou and Eight stand there - well, sit there - in a little bit of disbelief. You look at the crowd, maybe you see Eight has that open smile that they have, ‘cause they knew you could do it. They knew Arthas was gonna win. And all at once, the entire arena erupts and there is,
Music cuts abruptly [46:52]
[Dax breathes loudly, imitating a raucous cheering crowd]
Arthas’s theme fades in [46:56]
Dax: Cheering and screaming. That cheer that people had for you your first fight, when they were stomping their feet and cheering your name, is ten times louder. It is almost deafening. People come out and they usher you back into the arena. You can hear as you’re walking down the corridor towards the, what essentially would be a locker room. And you know healers are waiting, people are waiting to repair missing pieces of your armor. You can hear the announcer say,
Dax (as the announcer): And the winner of this year’s fighting competition is Arthas, Champion of Offam!
Dax: And with that, another renewed cheer goes out into the crowd. Arthas, you have won the annual fighting competition in Azarra. You’ll have to stay back in the arena for a couple of hours, people have to repair, like I said, repair your armor. Get you healed up, get you cleaned up. You know, let you rest and eat. You know, restore your strength. But you have won. And as you leave the arena in search of Rou and Eight, you are able to take home your gold. Which I will message you separately. Because I remember it was five gold for the entrance fee. I’ve got to look through my notes for how many entrants, but it’s a huge, you walk away with a nice purse.
Music fades out [48:29]
Dax: Thanks for listening! We hope you’ll join us next time but in the interim, follow us on Twitter @RoadsUncharted.
The “Roads Uncharted” podcast is GMed and produced by Dax, who you can find on Twitter @GM_Dax. We use the Genesys RPG system published by Fantasy Flight Games, and music licensed by Epidemic Sound.
Arthas, Champion of Offam, is played by Neil.
Eight is played by Wren, who also composed the music for our opening theme. Follow them on Twitter @ThornyDryad.
Rou is played by Kappa. You can find him on Twitter @TheKappaChris.