Allan nods silently, acknowledging your victory. The crowd cheers wildly, and a herald bearing the prizes approaches. With a flourish, he presents you with the pair of Apprentice's Cheating Gloves and a sack of platinum containing 50 pp.
"The riddlemaster of the tournament: Iluna Starborn!"
Allan Edzar is also awarded with a pouch of platinum for making second place.
After the competition is over and the crowd thins, Iluna finds Gonan at the back of the long tent. "Are you alright?" she asks. "I was quite saddened to see you drop out of the competition. In all honesty I thought you would win. You had much better skill with riddles when we were practicing."
Iluna holds out the Apprentice's Cheating gloves to Gonan. "Here, I won these for you."
Moving to F13, Andaris casts bless. "May my prayers into the unknown grant you strength, my allies! I have summoned a powerful ally to our cause. While he will not remain on this plane for long, you can count on his strength."
Directed by his bond to his summoner, the eagle unleashes his confusion and fury upon the fiend next to him. He feels holy power well up in anger at the offending creature and calls upon it to smite the evil goblin.
The eagle springs to the air and swoops at the hobgoblin, who brings up his hands in a frantic attempt to avoid having his eyes scratched out. He is barely able to withstand the bird's assault, and while he avoid the deadly beak the bird's talons are dangerously accurate. As the eagle's attack run ends, the hobgoblin's arms are covered in gashes, his chest heaving as he barely manages to shrug the bird off.
Mihail stabs down with his lance at the goblin .
Frustration blooms on Mihail's face as his lance skitters off the hobgoblin's shield.
Gonan blinks at Iluna once.
What do I do?!? She's offering me the gloves... I don't need them, I have both of those spells... But I lost, and she won... I could use them at any time though... But I don't need them! But SHE's offering them to me... How could I have lost! She probably doesn't even have those spells... Does she even know what they're for? I've only known her for a few hours. She's only known me for a few hours! She's offering them to me! What do I do??
Gonan blinks again. "Thanks." he says, reaching out and accepting the gift. Before he puts them in his bag, he takes a quick look at them to assess their value.
After taking a moment to compose himself Gonan responds to Iluna.
"You did well out there." He says quietly, "And without getting scared of the crowds. That was a great speech you had right before you beat Edzar." He looks at her, waiting for something, but not knowing what.
The gloves seem to be worth more than double the value of the coin Iluna won - they could be sold for 1100 gp.
"That was a great speech you had right before you beat Edzar."
"Oh it really wasn't all that spectacular," she says, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, an obvious sign that she is somewhat flattered by the compliment, but too polite to admit it. "I guess I just really wanted to win, so I had to do something that would throw him off a bit. I guess it worked." she shrugs and smiles at the same time.
She looks around the tent, seeing the faces of competitors and onlookers mingling once more. However the faces she is searching for have yet to show themselves and so she says, "You know it is rather stuffy in here with all these bodies milling about. My throat is a bit parched and I could use a drink and some fresh air. Will you join me?"
Kaid'an move back closer to his friends. He doesn't want to be the lone member of the pack. They get hunted and killed first along with the weak or sick. Three hunt eight. Not great odds but they can always run if they need to. Kaid'an fires another arrow at the one he hit before. Bagheera lays into the hobgoblin staring before her. Shame Mihail didn't attack that one.
Kaid'an's shot is blocked by the large shields of the hobgoblins.
Bagheera bites low, but the hobgoblin steps back to avoid his teeth, and the swiping claws that follow.
He retaliates with a sword swipe, but Bagheera has already moved out of reach.
From the rear of the phalanx, a hobgoblin throws his flask at Mihail. It arcs through the air, but impacts the ground instead. As the glass breaks, the liquid inside combusts. The blast of flame sprays flaming liquid all around, splattering on Mihail and Lanfarnesse. The slight burns cause irritation, but no permanent harm.
Snarling at his miss, the hobgoblin unstraps his shield and lets it fall to the ground.
Another hobgoblin continues his assault on Lanfarnesse, but is unable to land a solid blow. The last hobgoblin in the phalanx steps up, shifting the formation into a line. He strikes at Bagheera, helping his compatriot. Bagheera twists and leaps over the low-swung blade, avoiding severe injury .
The second phalanx of hobgoblins comes up from the other side of the canal, trapping Mihail and Lanfarnesse between the two groups of soldiers. They jab and slash at Lanfarnesse, but the horse's rapid motions prevent their attacks from doing more than glance off his barding.
After the Eagle's attack, it feels its connection to the summoner weaken. 'Home,' it thinks, relieved. This strange world was almost too much for the eagle to bear, too rigid and suffocating. Somehow, in the tiny brain behind its bulging grotesque eyes, the celestial eagle senses it will be gone before it can raise its talons against the putrid orc.
Casting a lesser confusion spell on the distracted goblin near Mihail, Andaris seeks to break the ranks and sow chaos among the pack.
"This is not ideal. I'm going to get into a better position."
Mihail attempts to extricate himself and Lanfarnesse from the mob of hobgoblins. No need to be sliced to ribbons just yet.
The eagle dives towards the hobgoblins, but instead collides with an upraised shield.
Stepping in so that he can fight back-to-back with Bagheera, Andaris smashes with his knee into the goblins attempting to surround and block off Mihail's withdrawal.
Andaris fakes a high strike, then takes advantage of the hobgoblin's reaction to push the shield higher and strike with a knee to the groin. The hobgoblin manages to shift and take it on the thigh instead, but the force of Andaris's blow still leaves a bruise through the scale mail. Calling to the void, Andaris shows the hobgoblin the terrors of the darkness beyond the stars. The hobgoblin grits his teeth, but his wide eyes give away his madness.
As Mihail moves away, the hobgoblins strike from both sides. Four attacks are fruitless, as Lanfarnesse is too agile to hit. However, one hobgoblin reaches upwards, slashing at Mihail. The knight brings his shield down to protect his legs, but the maneuver prevents him from deflecting the attack with his usual finesse. The impact of steel on steel jars Mihail's arm, causing a twinge of pain to run from his elbow to his shoulder.
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The enemy is closing in maybe it would be better to run. No yet, maybe they can still take these guys out. Kaid'an attack the injured Hobgoblin that Andaris attack earlier hoping to bring it down. They need to reduce their numbers.
Bagheera tries agains to take out B1 now with the aid of an eagle.
Kaid'an's waits for an opening, and looses his shot as the hobgoblin attacks Lanfarnesse. The arrow catches the hobgoblin in the armpit, penetrating the armor and causing the hobgoblin to fall, unconscious from the pain.
Meanwhile, Bagheera takes advantage of the eagle's swooping dive to maul the hobgoblin. With a leap, he takes the hobgoblin to the ground, biting and clawing at his face and throat. The hobgoblin's armor provides some protection, but not nearly enough.
The hobgoblin who dropped his shield now pulls out a longspear, and moves in front of the destroyed shelter to thrust at Bagheera. As the spear tip approaches, Bagheera turns from the savaged hobgoblin on the ground and manages to bat the weapon away with a paw, a bloody snarl of defiance on his face.
The other two hobgoblins step up, hacking at the panther. However, they are focused on avoiding their comrade's fate, and are too cautious with their swings to hit the agile cat.
The second phalanx takes the loss of one of their own in stride, and moves past their fallen with determination glinting in their dark eyes. They move towards Kaid'an, and circle around to form a wedge between the archer and Andaris. While two swing at the far-too-quick Andaris , Kaid'an is on the receiving end of a whistling slash from the last hobgoblin . Trusting in his well-made armor, Kaid'an sidesteps and spins with the swing, raising an arm and turning it from a limb-breaking crush to a glancing blow. The sword damages the rings of chainmail, but fails to penetrate the leather below. Kaid'an feels a surge of adrenaline at the close call, pulse pounding in his ears.
The strange eagle Andaris summoned disappears, the magic that created it exhausted.
Bagheera and Andaris are being surrounded, and Kaid'an has a hobgoblin trying to cut him open.
K
The two of you sit outside as the sun begins to set, until shouts from inside indicate the beginning of the tall tales competition.
The tent interior has been rearranged once again, with all the chairs at the front cleared away. The tables have been shifted to provide a good view of the front, where a small area is clear of obstacles. Standing there is a herald, who calls for quiet. You notice the crowd seems more boisterous than it was for the riddle contest. Ale is flowing freely, and the people in the tent seem to eagerly anticipate hearing some great tales.
A herald asks for silence, and announces the Tall Tales competition will begin immediately. He shows off the prize - a golden Aegis of Recovery enchanted by the local Church of Abadar, guaranteed to aid the bearer in recovering from any condition that plagues them - even grievous harm. Once the crowd has oohed and aahed, he calls for all contestants to come forward.
Eleven others come to the front. Once all contestants are gathered, the herald shushes the crowd again, and explains the rules of the competition. He explains that the contestants will each tell an incredible story of some great feat they have accomplished, with a length of approximately five minutes. The crowd of spectators will be the judges, as whoever elicits the greatest cheer wins. Should it be too difficult to decide a winner, another set of boasts will occur from the finalists, until one tale-teller remains. The contestants are chosen to present in a random order.
The first one up is a large man with a loud, deep voice. He tells a story about his travels, and a village he saved from a demonic chimaera with wings of fire and a scorpion's tail. He details how he cut off the chimaera's dragon head with his sword, crushed the goats head under a falling rock, and tore the chimaera's tail off and used it to strangle the remaining lion head - all without spilling a drop of fine elven wine he'd been drinking when the chimaera attacked.
His story is met with great cheers - a fantastic start to the contest. While certain parts of his story had some inconsistencies, he presents with great flair.
Second is a shrewd-looking man, who tells a story about sneaking into a temple of Calistria and seducing all seven priestesses in the same night. He does not seem very impressive and his story seems far-fetched, but the audience seems to enjoy the salacious details and great aplomb with which it is delivered.
Third, a woman presents a tale of how she drank a local guardhouse under the table, stole their keys, and performed a series of increasingly unlikely, yet harmless pranks around the town with the tools now at her disposal. You notice that many townspeople speak to each other and nod - from what you overhear from those around you, it seems that some bizarre pranks had occurred recently, and the audience clearly enjoy entertaining the possibility that this woman was the cause. Even more impressive is the woman's acting of the tale, switching parts and voices as necessary.
Gonan is chosen to tell his tale next.
The creatures on the battlefield feel a release of tension in the backs of their mind - the alien whiff of the void is now gone from among them.
In his mind, he sees the hands of his superiors in the monastery, always reaching out to punish him for unsatisfactory work - as if Andaris ever cared about his chores when he dreamed of the world outside the city of the Aasimar. Over the (many) years, Andaris learned to avoid the worst of the hits by carefully dodging the impact or manoeuvring so their strikes would land on his tough, broad shoulders.
His mind unified in purpose, Andaris faces the blows of the goblins without fear, none will be able to land a hit.
Mihail glares at the goblins, and knees Lanfarnesse forward.
”Have at thee!”
Begheera steps back to fall in line with Andaris and follows his leads. Her mind focused and her body tensed, ready to dodge or fend off any incoming attacks.
Kaid'an jumps back and fires his bow at the enemies in front of him.
Mihail rushes at the hobgoblins, aiming to skewer the one engaged with Kaid'an. A shout from the hob to his left alerts Mihail's target, and the two of them shift to form a tight shield wall. Mihail's lance harmlessly skips off the steel of their shields.
Meanwhile, Kaid'an takes a large step, finishes his turn, and nocks an arrow. He is about to release when he feels an unexplained call to hesitate. A heartbeat later, as the hobgoblin stands to rush forwards, Kaid'an gets a clear shot at the hob's throat. The hobgoblin just barely manages to snap his shield up in time to stop the arrow from ending his life.
The hobgoblin keeps coming, but Kaid'an avoids the next swing with ease.
Realizing that their foes are focusing exclusively on defense, the hobgoblins take the opportunity to trap Andaris and Bagheera between twin lines of shields and swords. They jab and slash, but Bagheera and Andaris are ready, avoiding the attacks with ease.
While keeping his guard up, Andaris' warhammer swings around the shield of the hobgoblin he faces and appears on course to smash into the hobgoblin's face.
Bagheera follows Andaris's lead and move to the side with him. She doesn't drop her defences and stays ready to fend off incoming attacks.
Combat time takes over. Time slows as Kaid'an slides back drawing another arrow. His muscles shift as the aspect of the Tiger takes over and the bow string is drawn. The arrow is released and flies true.
Mihail charges again, surging at the hobgoblin threatening Kaid'an.
Gonan begins using mage hand to bring a torch to his side, which he then uses with his fire supremacy special ability, surrounding himself with fire.
"You do not know me yet, but you should. I the one who has claimed the power of the phoenix, and with the knowledge to use it! You shall remember this name, the name of Gonan Friedem!"
The torch is returned to it's perch, and Gonan proceeds to walk towards the crowd. As he does so, the flames around him dissipate to either side.
"This tale began with a night much like tonight, except that the skies had opened up and released the torrents as they never had before!
As he says this, he uses prestidigitation, making the ceiling drip and casts flare.
"I was travelling from town to town, trying to speak with the most knowledgeable people in each. I was between towns while I was stuck in this downpour. I saw a cottage on the side of the road so I decided to take shelter within it. As I entered a small boy entered from the back door, saw me and ran up to me. ’You’ve got to help me! They’ve got my mum!’ he cried ’I’ll show you the way, please help!’. I followed him out the back door into the storm.”
Gonan casts flare a few more times
”He led me along a path up into the mountains, to the mouth of a cave with the stench of death pouring out. He said that they were keeping her at the back of the cave. As he said that three skeletons came out of the cave. Seeing that there was a clear danger I defeated them and ran into the cave, killing (or should that be re-killing) skeletons as I went. As I got to the deepest part of the cave I saw there were three people, alive, two standing and one lying on a table. Seeing these two necromancers about to kill this woman, I sprung to action. I shot one with my crossbow, then vanished”
Gonan casts vanish to play this part of the story.
”I got as close as I could and lined up the two necromancers, and ran them through with flames.”
Gonan fires a short, controlled jet of flames along the open space for performers as he appears.
”The boy came in quickly after the necromancers were killed and hugged his mother. I returned with them to their home, and they welcomed me in and I stayed with them a few days before continuing on my way.”
”Thank you for listening to my tale, and for your hospitality at this fair, I look forward to seeing how fair the rest of this town is.”
Gonan bows then proceeds to walk off to take a seat.
Gonan's tale of roasting skeletons and slaying necromancers has the crowd enthralled. His magical additions really sell the tale, impressing everyone. When his story is done, they roar and cheer - clearly the loudest response yet.
After that presentation, the next few stories pale in comparison. They either lack ambition, are presented poorly, or are clearly fabricated. The crowd gets a little restless, but still enjoy themselves.
Iluna is next.
Andaris pulls out his warhammer, and unleashes a powerful swing that catches the hobgoblin unprepared. The blow goes underneath the hobgoblin's shield, crushing his pelvis. The hobgoblin collapses to the ground, out of the fight.
Kaid'an switches targets, loosing an accurate arrow that, while failing to penetrate the hobgoblin's scale, still leaves a bruise.
As Mihail turns Lanfarnesse around and charges another hobgoblin the hobgoblin with the longspear takes advantage of the opening to make a thrust. However, the horse is out of reach far too quickly. Mihail's lance still does not find a mark though, as his target easily avoids the attack.
The hobgoblin with the longspear barks out something in his language. The hobgoblins begin circling back around Andaris, reunifying into one formation. They jab and slash at Andaris, creating an opening for an attack from behind. Andaris is caught off guard, but still manages to escape being impaled with a quick roll and a parry with his warhammer. Meanwhile, the hobgoblin with the longspear steps over to his unconscious ally and, holding his spear loosely in one hand, reaches for a potion flask from his belt.
Kaid'an sees the spear one trying to help his friend back up. This can not be allowed.
Seeing that the one with the long spear is being targeting by her master, Baghhera moves to attack him.
The hobgoblin lets out a hiss as Kaid'an targets him, eyes narrowing. He throws himself to the side, causing Kaid'an's shot to narrowly miss the hob's throat.
"Die, you stubborn B@$%@#&$!" Mihail roars as he charges another hobgoblin.
Reeling from the narrowly avoided blow, Andaris takes a step back and lays a hand against his head while concentrating on avoiding a strike from his adjacent foe . A warm glow suffuses him and eases the strained cries of his wringing arm.
Feeling filled with power upon his recovery, Andaris' warhammer seems to just soar through the air, intent upon striking the hobgoblin aiding his fallen ally .
The hobgoblin is in a bad position after being shot at, and Andaris's warhammer cracks bones as it impacts solidly in the hobgoblin's chest.
Mihail's charge is once again avoided. Perhaps he is still in the tournament mindset, and the lower profile of the hobgoblins is throwing him off.
With their leader down, a new hobgoblin begins barking orders. They move to surround Andaris, striking in tandem. However, Andaris seems to anticipate their blows, merely sidestepping the worst of it.
As Iluna is called to take the stage, she does so in stride, her confidence boosted by her previous victory in the contest of riddles. She paces herself to walk with a slow stately, measured gate, her movements flowing from one to the next. Her bare feet make no noise on the grassy floor of the pavilion, her dress makes no more than a whisper like a breath of wind blowing through the reeds. As she passes between the rows of chairs, she pulls out her harp and slowly plucks in cadence with her step. Small glowing particles begin to appear out of thin air, on her hair and resting on her shoulders like snowflakes composed of starlight. Several of the men and women she passes begin to think that within her small, fragile frame is housed a great power that must be truly marvelous to behold. All eyes on her by the time she takes her place at the front.
"There are places in this world to which few have traveled. Where wonder and mystery abound. To which dreamers wander in their sleep. A world inhabited by the magics of the fey, and the sleeping souls of men..."
As Iluna continues to speak and strum her harp, those among the audience of particularly weak will begin to hear another voice. A high lilting aria - no words, just a voice - singing a delicate counter melody to the harp. The sounds and her words cease to mean anything. And in the blankness of that sensation, light pours into their vacant minds, as if the world about them has somehow become a little bit brighter.
To the rest of the world she spins a fanciful tale of her journey from a starless land of perpetual midnight to a forest realm of mystical beings. There a talking bear guided her to the sacred willow who opened up the heavens to her and revealed the light of the stars, and and there beheld their beauty for the first time. She uses her ability to mimic sounds to the audiences delight, making the voice of the bear speak to her from within the crowd, and animating the voices of the faeries when she introduces them.
"A thousand marvels may come and go in the history of man, yet the beauty of the world within and the world without will prevail until the world shall end and even after. May all men boast therefore of the beauty that is this world and its inhabitants, and let us be grateful that we too are children of starlight." Iluna finishes her tale with with soft ascending arpeggio. As the harp ceases to ring, so the voice in the heads of those enthralled also fades into silence, and the captive are released from their gentle prison. Iluna smiles and stands, bowing as the audience claps and cheers, some with tears in their eyes. Iluna blushes deeply, not realizing that simple words, once taken from her own story, could move men so deeply.
Turning to smash the lone hobgoblin, who stupidly decided to leave the huddle of his peers, Andaris parries the hob's strike and counter-attacks precisely with his warhammer. The head of the hammer slips fluidly past the shield of the hobgoblin then turns upward, driving forcefully towards the skull from below.
Kaid'an moves to beside Bagheera and casts Cure Light wounds. They have almost defeated all the Hobgoblins and he doesn't want her to go down now.
The hobgoblin is sharing his attention between two foes and Bagheera see the weakness. She fully attacks B4.
"What does it take to you " Mihail yells as he charges again.
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Andaris catches his hobgoblin square on the chin, his hammer crushing through steel and bone. The hobgoblin goes limp, severely injured.
Bagheera bites and claws, forcing the hobgoblin he targeted to focus his full attention on protection. Unfortunately for the hobgoblin, this leaves him not noticing the charging knight riding past. Mihail couches his lance and guides it well, striking the hobgoblin in the back. The hobgoblin collapses to the ground in a heap, blood flowing from under his armour.
The remaining two hobgoblins try to make a fighting retreat to the doors they came from, but are cut down before they can reach safety.
The hidden doors are open on each side. Andaris is still deaf, and will be for an hour. Looting the bodies will take about 5 minutes, if everyone participates.
You find 4 smoke sticks, 5 flasks of alchemist's fire, 4 potions of Cure Light Wounds, 8 sets of scale armour, heavy steel shields, and longswords, 2 longspears, 2 longbows, 40 arrows, a pair of warhorns wrapped in bands of etched silver worth 10 gp each, and 19 gp in various Taldan coins.
Iluna's story fascinates the crowd. Though not as exciting as the tales they are used to hearing, it nonetheless is compelling and beautiful. The applause is overwhelming, even louder than for Gonan's story.
The remainder of the competitors tell their tales, but none compare.
After the last tale is told, the herald goes to the front. "May I present the winners of the tall tales competition, as decided by the audience!
"In third place, Galadon Millius!" The large man who told the tale about the chimaera comes to the front and is given a sack of coin while the audience cheers.
Next, the herald calls up Gonan. "Second place: Gonan Freidem!" The crowd, remembering the excellent tale, applaud vigorously. The herald pulls out a pouch of platinum pieces and presents it with a nod.
"Finally, the winner of the tales contest is... Iluna Starborn!"
The crowd shouts and applauds as Iluna is presented with the Aegis of Recovery. It seems everyone enjoyed the competition, and many seem impressed that Iluna managed to win both the tall tale and riddle competitions.
He sits for a few minutes, resting and recuperating before finally getting up to search the corpses for useful gear. Loading everything onto the horses, and mending anything broken, Andaris cringes.
"I'M AFRAID WE ARE NOT FINISHED HERE," he says, then adjusts his volume based on his companions reactions, "we need to search the tunnels for any remaining hobgoblins, are we up for the task now? Nod for yes, I cannot hear."
"Let's get this over with." Mihail nods, drawing his flail from his saddlebags.
But first let's see what we can find here."
"I could use some time to relax first after we pack all this loot up. Once I catch my breath I will be good to clear the caves."
Bagheera comes and lies down next to her master and licks the blood from wounds.