Quzman scowls at the obvious underhanded ploy by Kardswann, but realizes he's got no choice at the moment. He quickly dashes forward and to the left while drawing his weapons. Quzman laughs,"I don't think your friends can save you now Branka.", as he slices down with his scimitar.
Quzman cuts down, leaving a red gushing streak of blood from the gnoll's abdomen. "First blood to my champions!" yells Undrella, as she flies around the arena. The gnolls in the stands cringe at Quzman's blow but try to rally the gnolls with more chants. Branka moves takes a few steps south clutching his deep wound, while Hingar takes a wide careful route around Quzman, feinting and blocking any lunges with his shield. Quzman can see the gnolls eye each other, as they resort to their usual tactics, of flanking an opponent, a move Quzman has seen many times.
When they are in position, they strike, but Quzman is prepared for their tactic quickly swatting away Branka's blow with his scimitar, while deftly dodging Hingar's lunge.
Branka:
Hingar:
Suddenly, a little goblin dressed in a jester's costume gets on the platform aside Kardswann. The bald leader speaks, "Jank, if you will do the honors!" The goblin clears his throat and says "Bird-lady and gentlemen, we present to you the 3rd warrior for this challenge!"
The gnolls and Quzman are all startled by this announcement, as the doors in the western area are pushed open and out strides a familiar black-maned figure, wielding scimitar and dagger: Dashki! He smiles at the party and at Quzman and says, "Let's dance!"
Quzman tightly clenches his jaw at the sight of the new combatant. He grimaces at Dashki,"So, you ARE a traitor. Do not fear, I will be with you momentarily." Quzman goes into a flurry of motion, as he stabs at the wounded Branka with his dagger while spinning around to try and slash at Hingar with his scimitar from the opposite side. His momentum carrying him beside Branka.
Hingar sees the perfectly placed bowand manages to move back just in time before the blow decapitates him, but not before suffering a grievous wound and staining the sands of the arena with even more blood, as he yelps in pain. Branka, fearful another blow may kill him, expertly blocks Quzman's blow with his shield.
Dashki smiles at Quzman's comment. "Of course, I am a trator. I was raised by gnolls, they are my blood, my pack! Kardswann's vision will leads us to ultimate glory, alongside the Carrion King. Be ith with this tribe or another. The gnolls are simple sacrifices to the ultimate power. True power, my friend, like the summoning of demons, who can withstand that? Yes, I am a traitor to the humans, Who do you think alerted Kardswann to your absence, so he could send his forces into the unprotected monastery. I saw the demon's greatsword bring down many of the mercenaries in town, including your friend, Brebork! He prayed to Sarenrae for assistance, but I guess she was busy!" Dashki laughs maniacally, emotionally wounding the party.
The gnolls continue to move in and flank Quzman and with his attention distracted by Dashki's emotional barbs, Branka connects with his battleaxe to Quzman's ribcage, while Hingar's swing almost severs Quzman's spine, as Badawi blood also stains the arena floor. The gnolls erupt in cheers! Dashki smiles. Kardswann laughs, "This insect wanted to challenge me!"
Seeing things turning against Quzman, Tyronel quickly gathers the rest of the squad. "We can't stand here and let Quzman get overwhelmed by these mongrels. I have two special potions that will turn the drinker invisible. I think maybe if I give one to Bahiyy, when Quzman falls and they turn their attention to us, he could move down there and heal the Gnollslayer back to health without being detected. Anyone think of a good use for the other one?"
Dumah will mark the positions of the enemy. Does he think anyone is monitoring them? Could we likely get away with someone turning invisible?
It would appear so. With the tide turning, everyone is riveted on the battle in the arena and no one appears to be paying attention to you. Kardswann is lackadaisical, only noting the flow of the battle when someone screams in pain. Undrella, flying above, looks worried, seeing Quzman's condition. Jank is focused on the battle as well.
Quzman grimaces in pain as the gnolls manage to cut him from both sides. Keeping his eye on the target, Quzman tries to finish off the two gnolls before Dashki finishes his tirade.
As he slices through Hingar, Quzman will take a step away from Branka to start to distance himself from the remaining foes.
The gnolls' axe blows force Quzman to his knees, as the gnoll crowd starts to build to a frenzy. The gnolls hear them and start to believe their moment of glory is soon at hand when Quzman suddenly springs to his feet swinging twice, first his scimitar, this time cutting Hingar's jugular, and second, the dagger embedding itself into Branka's ear/brain. As Quzman finishes both swings and he looks up, both gnoll bodies on opposite sides from him fall to the ground simultaneously, and the gnoll crowd falls silent! Kardswann leans over and looks down, a little impressed.
Dashki's smile disappears. He creaks his neck, "Ok, got to do this the hard way then!" He runs up and swings his scimitar at Quzman, cutting the already bleeding Badawi warrior across his left ribcage. Both warriors circle each other, both dual-wielding scimitar and dagger.
The gnoll crowd is disappointed having lost 2 of its kind, but it cheers a little when Dashki cuts Quzman. They start cheering for Dashki more out of spite against Quzman than support for Dashki.
"Alright, see how it goes. Hopefully he can finish the traitor off first. I will try my best to get him back up. We will need him for the onslaught afterwards. And I will stay invisible as long as possible - getting all of you back up to full health when need arises." He then takes a quick glance around that they are not observed and if he doesn't notice anything will drink the potion trying to not being noticed by turning around.
Quzman, grimacing in pain and faint with the loss of blood, hears Dumah's encouraging cry and decides to try and end the fight now, rather than retreat for a healing draught. With a stutter step to try and throw Dashki off-balance, he gives a mighty double slice before stepping back quickly out of immediate reach.
The pair of warriors square off and after numerous swings and feints, Quzman's scimitar is parried but his dagger finds its mark, sneaking under Dashki's defense, cutting the human in the breast.
Dashki recoils from the hit, but presses on the advantage when he sees Quzman retreat, hoping to end the battle now, but both of his swings fail to connect! "Fleeing now, are we? Stay for the party, Quzman, our dance has just begun!"
Dashki blocks both of Quzman's attacks, brimming in confidence. He moves in for the kill, saying "This ends now!" Fortunately, for Quzman, ever since Dashki's first strike with his dagger, he has anticipated the ranger's movements and manages to block both attacks. Dashk gnarls in frustration, "It is only a matter of time! How I hate you humans, your smell! I will end your life today!"
With the crowd focussing on the fight Bahiyy takes a glance, if anyone is looking towards them and could see him, then drinks the potion.
Certain, no one is watching him, Bahiyy drinks the potion and disappears from sight. It is quite unnerving, having never experienced this feeling, especially when he can't see his own body, only feel it.
Quzman 20 (-26 hps)
Dashki 15 (-5 hps)
Eli (with readied action)
Dumah 10
Bahiyy 1
The crowd is getting frustrated that Dashki has not been able to kill the wounded Quzman, who is dripping blood all over the place.
Both of Quzman's swings connect, his upward slash with the scimitar, and his dagger into Dashki's upper chest, just below the collarbone. Both men are bloodied, staining their hands, faces, weapons, and the sand red.
Dashki's confidence disappears with both blows and he lashes out, more of an animal than a man, with scimitar and dagger in a horizontal arc, aiming for the Badawi warrior's chest and neck. Quzman brings up his weapons, attempting to parry Dashki's weapons into his armor, but he is not fast enough, and the weapons seem to be right upon his skin, ready to end his life.....
Bahiyy will have a look at the arena, the undergound and the best way forward. He knows he is invisible, and he holds up his hand - to look right through it. But he is also aware, that he still weighs a lot, with al his gear on, that footprints can be seen, and he could be heard. He will start slowly to move in, make sure, that footprints he leaves won't betray him, and time is moves with the cheers of te crowd, so he won't be heard.
Quzman laughs at Dashki as he continues the deadly dance, "Better get used to disappointment, boy." He continues his slow retreat back to corner towards his allies, while still making every effort to finish the fight as quickly as he can.
Renewed by his good fortune and Dashki's dismay, Quzman attacks the ranger with vigor. Dashki tries to brings his weapons up to parry, knocking away the dagger, but the scimitar blow is too fast, and it punctures his chest, leaving Dashki gasping for breath. As Quzman pulls the blade out, Dashki looks down at his wound, then back at Quzman, his eyes still thinking how he missed the round before, before he topples forward face first into the sand, his weapons falling to the ground. A pool of blood quickly forms under Dashki's body.
The crowd is silent. Then you hear Jank's voice, "We have a winner!"
Quzman pants as he slowly realizes Dashki is no longer fighting him, and lowers his weapons. Shakily he will wipe the weapons on the ground and sheathe them, before taking a potion out of his pouch to restore some semblance of health to himself. Turning to his teammates in the tunnel he cracks a wry grin and quietly says, "And that was the warm up...this chief could be a bit hard to handle after all."
"HOLA, That's the stuff Quzman. I told you these flea infested scoundrels had no chance against you." Eli cheers his friend and sighs in relief that the battle is over. Knowing that it was a tough contest he worries, like Quzman, how they will succeed against Kardswann and the rest of the villages occupiers.
Bahiyy would like to cheer with the crowd, but keeps quiet. He knows that more is to come, and Quzman needs healing. He doesn't trust the gnollsand expects that the fight will erupt soon, thus he takes the opportunity to channel positive energy, positioning in a way, so only Quzman is in the area, excluding any gnolls or Dashki's bodies on the ground. He wants to stay invisible, hoping to help his friends in the upcoming combat.
Undrella speaks, "Hail Quzman! Kardswann, your champions have been defeated!"
"Correction, harpy, your Champions have only won the 1st Round. They still have to prove themselves worthy of me. Jank, if you please."
The jester goblin again clears his throat, "For the next round, the harpy's warriors shall consist of the lean dark-maned human wearing the colorful vest with the archer, who is prohibited from using his bow in combat. Please enter the arena and face the next opponent."
The gnoll crowd, who was quite depressed after Quzman's survival, goes wild with frenzy, as they expect to see more blood.
Tyronel slings his bow across his back, and pulls his melee weapon from its sheath. He was going to be at a definite disadvantage, but he was skilled enough in its usage, he supposed.
"Make sure you stuff a couple more potions down Quzman; he still looks rough," he mutters to Dumah as he steps into the arena.
After Quzman's battle, two gnolls came in to the arena to drag the bodies off the dead. They throw Dashki's scimitar and dagger at Quzman's feet, as well as the ranger's studded armor.
The western doors to the arena open and out steps a beautiful human woman dressed in skimpy clothes () with a silk rope in her hand. It is obvious she is disgusted by her role in this. Holding the other end of the silk rope is the hand of a monstrosity of a creature, about 10' tall, wielding a spiked greatclub! The crowd of gnolls goes into a chant: "HRVANK, HRVANK, HRVANK!"
Hrvank smiles, showing his yellow teeth, "More meat!" Hrvank
Initiative
"We'd better finish that thing quickly, Eli. More than one or two blows from that club and we are done for." As he finishes his conversation, he twirls his greatsword nervously in his hands.
For the DM: