Victor, make a PCC for that natural 1.
Rekkstuff makes a mighty swing into the flank of the lion, but the creature was blocking him from the view of the audience, and they boo their disapproval at the poor spectacle.
Victor, make a PCC for that natural 1.
Roger, feeling a little angsty and delirious from blood loss, decides to try his own weapon on the ferocious lion.
Roger thrusts his dagger into the lion's flesh, causing it to roar in anguish.
The lion lets go of Tobar and bites at the source of the pain it its side.
Bite attack:
Damage:
Grapple:
Before anyone else can react, an over-eager Victor leaps ahead of his bandmates and strikes at the lion again, drawing one final scream of anguish before it collapses.
Roger, barely conscious, returns to playing his bass.
Jordon waits tensely to see what happens next: do they lift the cage? Or will they try to keep here indefinitely? Will the crowd around him beat him to a pulp for cheating against the lion?
The gnoll chieftain raises a hand to silence the booing of the crowd. Standing up, he shrugs off his cloak and approaches you. With the cloak gone, you can see the huge broadsword strapped to his back. However, when he is about halfway to the stage, Vinny blocks his path, jumping up and down to catch his attention.
"If you'll excuse me," he pleads, "they weren't prepared for this particular... brand of performance. They're musicians. You like music, right? You know, 'la la la?'"
The chieftain considers for a moment. "If you say so. We will see what they can do, but they had better be good."
The mechanism above you rattles as the cage is raised back up to let Jordon back on stage.
Roger, although in some pain, devotes himself to the show, trying to block out all distractions.
Song 1:
Song 2:
Song 3:
Song 4:
Jordon regains his composure after the heated fight, first dishing out cures and then fixing his customary makeup to its usual emotionless mask. He calms himself, knowing well that the gnolls will likely kill and eat them if he fails like last time. He summons a new piano (this one a small red toy piano with Spectral Hands across the back of it, with stilty legs so it is at chest level) and joins in on the first song.
If any huge flukes happen, Jordon casts memory lapse on the gnoll chieftain, to get him to forget it.
1:
2:
3:
4:
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
4.
..could be worse, could be better.
After a rocky start, still weak from loss of blood, you manage to get the crowd warmed up and going along with the flow of the music. They "ooh" and "aah" at the gouts of flame and spurts of blood, but on the last song, Rekkstuff and Roger got a little too absorbed in the music. In the middle of Rekkstuff's solo, he crashes into a distracted Roger, and their instruments clatter to the ground with a twang.
The crowd boos and hollers at the band, drowning out the sound of even those with their instruments still in hand. The chieftain strides down the aisle and grabs Vinny, lifting him up into the air.
"You promise culture and entertainment, and these are the buffoons you bring with you?" He tosses Vinny onto the stage. "All of you are a disgrace to this court!"
Jordon doesn't say anything to the gnoll, waiting to see what happens next.
The chieftain grunts, and gestures to some of his retinue. "Very well. You can have a room for the night, then after you've rested you can play again. But be warned that I do not tolerate failure for long."
A group of gnoll soldiers escorts you down dank and dark tunnels until you reach the end of one branch, full of heavy iron doors set into the stone. They shove you into one of the rooms, and shut the door behind you, which closes with a loud ka-thunk.
The room is bare except for a few benches carved out from the walls, and the only light comes through the small barred window in the door, where torches hang sparingly on the wall. The door is locked.
When "escorted" to the dank cell of a room, Jordon wipes off the now smearing face paint from his face and sighs. He looks to the little wannabe manager and, with a tired look on his face, says, "You are booking us any more gigs, little man." He cracks his knuckles and contemplates their situation, which seems to be rather dire right now.
Roger collapses on a bench. "This is why I didn't want to do a gig for gnolls. They're Gnolls. Completely unpredictable, and meaner than Rekkstuff."
*glares at Vinny*
Anyone want to make any other knowledge checks?
How about Knowledge (religion) to figure out which god they worship as primary badass? Whoever I come up with, I'll paint his/her symbol onto my cloak, as well as the cloaks of the others.
"...So. We got two options. Either we rock the hell outta these guys tommorrow, or we escape into that good night, never come back, and never speak of this again. Ever."
Jordon ponders Rekkstuff's two choices, and seriously considers running off with the poor performances the band has been putting out recently. However, he declares, "No, we shall stay, and we shall show them what makes a true metal band! Now are we mice, or are we ?"
Jordon, now knowing that the gnolls love death metal polka thanks to Tobar, declares that he shall instead play an accordion, and after fashioning the cloaks to bear Lamashtu's symbol, conjures an accordion and begins practicing. The distraction helps get his mind off the fact that they'll likely die if their performance tomorrow is sour.
We don't need a sneaky pete, and smashing things is out.. so he'll be sitting out and practicing and tuning his guitar. And sleeping at some point probably.
In the morning (at least you assume it's the morning), a key scrapes in the lock. Gnoll soldiers lead all of you with your instruments back through the caves to the amphitheater, where another, smaller crowd is watching with only moderate interest.
Jordon conjures a shiny new red accordion and begins playing with a flourish.
During the third song, Roger, hearing his playing slip a bit, vanishes mid-performance. Soon, balls of light spin around a spot on the other side of the stage, spinning faster and faster, condensing into a humanoid-shaped glow, and giant sparks flow from his strings as he breaks into a finger-burning bass solo.