The Emperor looks at the wolf for a moment before grinning. "Sure, I love dogs! Let the good boy play!"
"No magic? And you are expecting me to wrestle a pig or brawl it out with the other team?" Twilight asked incredulously. "I'm not going to be of any use in there unless you think changing the odds to 7 on 3 is a better move as I lead one of the other team on a merry chase around the arena."
Twilight shook her head "This is ridiculous. If we are set on doing this then so be it." she muttered unhappily.
"Do the best you can, Twilight. However you see fit.
Because I am the slowest, I will play defense. I will guard the goal that the other team is driving at, and I will try to knock them down or knock the pigs from their hands."
The Emperor frowns at Twilight and shrugs. "Feel free to leave, lady. I'm not the one who's asking for a favor."
Twilight, Do you be wanting Whisper to keep you safe? She can be making sure nobody lays a ‘and on you
Twilight frowned for a moment weighing her options "That sounds fine, if you think Whisper is up for it." She shook her head in resignation "So, when do we start?"
Before we do be agreeing to anything, I have to be asking, where did you get that and what do you be using it for? I do be ‘opting if has nothing to do with the game.
She points over at the demonic Guillotine.
"Oh, the Tall Knife? That is a genuine final blade, direct from Galt. Cost a pretty penny, let me tell you. Nothing to do with you, my friend." Pilts turns to smile at the macabre execution device, clearly proud of the legendarily deadly machine. "Nothing to do with the game at all."
He laughs as he turns back to the party. "Different game entirely. You probably don't want to play that one." The guards around the room and the halfling in the executioner's outfit laugh nastily at that.
Twilight gave a polite smile "Well then, that is a relief. Shall we begin? Where do we start?"
The Emperor gestures at the field. "Go down there and stand in that square painted on the roof. The south one. Drop all your gear here- weapons, packs. Nobody will touch it." He looks out at the crowd of watchers and potential players and points at a knot of large, tough looking men all in red. "Bloodfists! You're the raiders!"
Laughter and friendly joking greets this announcement as the 8 men descend onto the field. Everyone looks pleasant and happy, not malicious- there's no indication of any sort of treachery in the air.
It takes some time for Nargun to get rid of all his weapons and stuff. He gets a quick look over their opponent to see if they carry armor or not, to know if he must keep his or not.
Then he walks calmly toward the assigned square, and waits for the game to begin, lost in his thoughts.
Remember, no killing this time. Unless they try something foolish.
Artegall leaves his weapons and pack, but keeps his armor on.
He knows his plan. It might work, it might not.
And if they betray us and try to attack us while we are unarmed? Well, they are in for a surprise.
Mirela drops her pack, morningstar and dagger in the indicated area.
She does leave her breastplate and holy symbol on as well as her empty quiver on her back.
Then she commands Whisper to Defend Twilight and walks down to stand in the red square ready for whatever comes.
Twilight divested herself of her dagger, whip and wands as instructed. Her holy symbol she kept tucked inside her clothes before she proceeded to the indicated square.
They were putting an awful lot of trust in this "emperor" by leaving all of their stuff in his care.
A lively round of betting sweeps through the crowd as the visitors doff their weapons and the Bloodfists take the field.
Once everyone is arranged, the Emperor of Old Korvosa holds up a coin. "Who's ready for some fun!?" The crowd and the Bloodfists scream back, everyone seeming ready to see what the newcomers can do. Pilts flips the coin and calls out
"HEADS!"
A moment later a tiny, frightened piglet emerges onto the field in the pen behind the party and the Bloodfists rush forward.
Knowing what to expect, most of them are off the mark before the outsiders but Mirela's quick reflexes are impossible to beat.
by throwing, kicking, dropping, or otherwise placing
a pig into her team’s goal.
Picking Up a Pig: Retrieving a pig from a cage is a
standard action that provokes attack of opportunities.
Picking up a live pig that has been dropped on the field,
however, requires a character to also attempt a successful
attack against an Armor Class of 15. If a member of the
emperor’s team retrieves a pig from a cage and has the
time, he attempts an unarmed strike against the pig to
knock it out and thus make it easier to carry.
Carrying a Pig: A pig weighs 15 pounds. Each round that
a character carries a live and conscious pig, roll 1d6 and
consult the Squirming Pig sidebar on page 161 to see how
the pig reacts to being carried.
Dropping a Pig: A character who takes damage while
carrying a live pig must succeed at a combat maneuver
check (DC = 10 + 1 per point of damage taken) or she drops
the squirming pig. (Damage taken does not incur a chance
of dropping a dead pig.)
A pig that is dropped runs in a straight line away from
the closest person on initiative count 0 each round,
moving at a speed of 30 feet. A pig will not run off the edge
of the roof or into a pit.
Passing a Pig: A character can pass a pig to a teammate
as a standard action if she is within reach of a teammate.
Throwing a Pig: A pig is an improvised thrown weapon,
and thus imparts a –4 penalty on attack rolls. It has a range
increment of 10 feet. Catching a thrown pig requires a
successful DC 12 combat maneuver check.
Throwing a Pig into a Pit: In order to throw a pig into a
pit, the thrower must make a ranged attack against AC 6
with a thrown pig. Dropping a pig into an adjacent pit is a
free action and is automatically successful.
Intercepting a Pig: A character can attempt to intercept
a thrown pig if it passes through a square he threatens.
To intercept, the PC must succeed at a DC 18 combat
maneuver check (intercepting a pig is more difficult than
catching one deliberately thrown to you). Attempting to
intercept a pig is an immediate action.
Stealing a Pig: A character can grab a pig out of
another person’s hands with a successful disarm combat
maneuver check. Roll 1d6 on the Squirming Pig table on
this page to determine how the pig reacts to the second
person trying to snatch it away.
Do be keeping them off me.
Mirela moves to get the pig out and start the game.
Whisper meanwhile crouches down ready to snap at anyone who comes near Twilight.
Mirela turns and sprints to retrieve the pig. Meanwhile, the Bloodfists front line rushes Nargun and Artegall while the 2 backliners on the outside fan out wide and the 2 on the inside rush through the gap to run toward Mirela.
Nargun proves too powerful for 2 mere thugs to hold down but on the other side of the square one of them grabs onto Artegall's waist while the other takes a handful of his shirt.
Nargun doesnt waste time and strikes at his opponent, delivering a vicious uppercut
Whisper snaps at the feet of the man who tries to run past her.
Artegall punches a thug in the face.
Damage done by an AOO provoked by a combat maneuver is applied as a penalty to the CMB check, which may mean the Grapple fails.
So, with that -6 penalty he just applied to the Grapple check, is he grappled or not? That will affect how he takes his turn.
Twilight thought quickly as the competition commenced. She wouldn't be of much help to anyone herself, but watching Whisper lunge at the bruiser that tried to get past her gave her an idea.
Dashing North past the thug she tried to position herself, or more correctly Whisper, between the central and Eastern opponents and Mirela in an attempt to give the huntress a little bit of cover.
Whisper savages the thug who'd been careless enough to run past the wolf, dragging him down to the ground.
Twilight and Whisper drift back to cover Mirela, the Calistrian coming a little too close to the Bloodfist on the ground and getting a kick in the calf for it.
The one Bloodfist that had hung back sprints through the gap, completely covering the field between the Bloodfists back line and getting right up into Mirela's face.
Artegall trips the foe who has him grappled, then follows up with a solid punch.
The Grappled condition imposes a -2 to attacks, but also imposes -4 Dexterity (which affects the target's AC). So it's a wash.
If the thug is still grappling Artegall, he will take a -4 on all of his CMB attempts due to being prone.
If you expected some mercy, don't watch Nargun beating the thugs.
Really.
Mirela trusts in her armor and just grabs the pig and turns to move up the up the field so she is next to Twilight and the pig iis away from her goal.
Whisper takes another bite at the prone thug trying to put it down before moving over and putting herself between Twilight and the thug that went near her.
Nargun savagely beats the tar out of one of the bloodpig players, pulling no punches and dropping the man to the roof like a sack of potatoes. The crowd howls and stamps their feet, jeering at the fallen man, cheering on the merciless dwarf, and some even calling out to Nargun to finish him. This seems to be an accepted part of playing the game, and Nargun is apparently excelling at it.
Artegall sweeps the legs out from one of the men who had grabbed him, throws him to the rooftop, then kicks him in the side of the neck even while the other man wrestles to get control of his arms.
Mirela jukes around the thug who had closed on her and dashes for the cover of Twilight and Whisper. The Bloodfists back line closes in on Mirela but she's too agile to get caught.
The thug loses his grip on Artegall's shirt as the investigator stomps his friend into the dust.
Artegall trips the other thug who had tried to grapple him (#3), then stomps on his first victim again (#4).
This whole business of catching pigs will be much easier with the Bloodfists incapacitated... and the crowd seems to like the fighting. Artegall really isn't fast enough to catch the pigs (or the other players) anyway. He is best standing still and brawling.
"ARE YOU NOT ENTERAINED?"
Whisper tries to bite the Thug that moves around her:
Nargun enjoys the warm up, and beats the second thug with enthousiasm, breaking the man's face with his fists with a sickening glee.
He keeps an eye on the Huntress and Princess, and seeing them surrounded, leaves the thug to even the score. Even if that means getting attacked by the beaten man
The Bloodfist jumps over Whisper's snapping jaws and closes in on Mirela.
He feints like he's going grab her but at the last second switches things up and grabs the pig out of Mirela's hands. The piglet, unhappy at the sudden turn of events, tries to bite the Bloodfist but doesn't even break the man's skin.
The crowd, already riled up by Nargun's impressive display of unexpected violence and Artegall's goading, erupts into cheers you could probably hear on the other side of the Narrows.
In what looks like a well practiced move, the hanger-back smoothly pulls the pig out of his teammate's hands and runs for the goal.
Mirela throws a punch as the thug tries to run away with her pig.
Nargun viciously headbutts the man's groin.
No one has ever said low blows weren't allowed.
Or the dwarf didn't listen.
Mirela connects but the agile athlete dodges Nargun's forehead as he dashes for the goal. He runs right up to the edge of the pit and throws the piglet down. The crowd screams and shouts and someone on the Emperor's raised observation platform rings a bell.
"GOAL!!!!!!"
The Bloodfists all run to embrace the man who made the goal then hustle to wake up their fallen comrades and reset for the next play.
As the game progressed, Twilight continued to take advantage of Whisper's order to defend her. Moving about the field she put herself in positions where the wolf was compelled to attack opponents as the other team tried to assault the priestess. Its true that she took a knock or two, but with the speed at which the others were either incapacitating the other players and scoring goals she knew the game would end fairly quickly.
The next round goes worse for the Bloodfists as they start out with several hurt players.
The team from the other side of the Narrows scores, with Mirela's agility winning through while Nargun and Artegall continue to pummel their opponents.
The third round is completely lopsided as the Bloodfists barely have half their team and after that the strangers just roll over the locals like a giant wading through halflings.
In spite of their people losing, the crowd seems to eat it up, especially the way Nargun savages anybody dumb enough to get within his reach. By the end of the game the crowd is completely on the party's side, chanting as the strangers drop in the final pig.
The Emperor grins as he stands up, spreading his arms wide. "AND THE WINNERS! THE OUTSIDERS!" He gestures at someone at his left hand and they scurry off to go do something. Pilts gestures at the strangers to come back up onto his viewing platform.
"And somebody scrape those losers off the floor!" He laughs as the match ends and the audience sits back down to await further entertainment.
Artegall moves to the platform to reclaim his gear.
Do Pilt or the guards make any move to stop him? Hopefully, having seen what he can do barehanded, they reckon that him taking back his sword is not a problem.
Mira also picks up her stuff and than steps before the Emperor to see what happens.
The Emperor waits for the party to put their gear back on, a grin on his face. Once they're suited back up, he exclaims "That was the best game we've ever seen!" He gestures at Nargun and Artegall. "You two could make a killing here! The greatest bruiser duo ever!"
"What do you think? Might as well, right? We're all stuck here, why not make some money?"
I have an holy mission for Calistria. So I can't accept your offer, even if it was.. fun.
Those bruised and battered by Nargun can't laugh at how "fun" it was, unfortunatly.
"Unfortunately, Your Majesty, I too have other business to attend to. And that business concerns Vencarlo Orsini.
I believe our arrangement was that, if we won the match, you would permit us to speak to one who might know something about Orisini. Who is it that we will speak to?"
The Emperor nods, though he gives Nargun an odd look as the dwarf barbarian claims a holy mission from the goddess of vengeance. "Yeah, I sent someone to get them. It'll be a few minutes."
After a few minutes- not enough time for the runner to have left the sprawling building- one of Pilts's toughs pushes a flea-bitten, plain-looking man with dark bags under his sunken eyes dressed in paint-stained rags. He looks like he isn't eating or sleeping enough, and he looks around at the Emperor, the thugs, and the strangers with wild, frightened eyes.
Pilts beams at the desperate looking madman, though. "Here he is! The man himself! The dark genius of Old Korvosa, the mad prophet Salvator Scream!"
Scream flinches at Pilts raised voice, which the Emperor either ignores or doesn't notice. Pilts goes back to his throne and flops down into it. "Go ahead, ask him about Orsini. He's the only one I know of who might know anything."
For Nargun, the world has gone mad for a long time, since the murder of his beloved one. And himself isn't the sanest person around. So he sees nothing odd with a mad prophet.
Not being at ease with diplomacy, Nargun asks the question in direct, simple terms.
so, do you know where we can find Orsini?
"Salvatore, we know that you met with Orisini at least three times since the bridges were closed. Why were you meeting with him, and what did you discuss?
Orsini was attacked by Red Mantis Assassins. He defeated at least one, but was overwhelmed by numbers. We don't know if he was killed or captured.
It is possible that whatever you discussed has a connection to the reason he was attacked. We may be able to rescue him or, failing that, avenge him."
The reedy painter grimaces. "I'm... friends with Neolandus Kalepopolis." The missing seneschal of Castle Korvosa who hasn't been seen since the day Eodred II died. "That's what Orsini wanted to talk to me about. He thought I might know where Neo was."
"I... took him to the Arkonas to hide out. Neo, I mean. I didn't know they were criminals! Orsini told me all about that, but that was after they'd already agreed to hide him. I think, I think Orsini probably tried to sneak into Arkona manor to get to Neo."