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Hiram stares at the assassin. "Don't squirm. You think that's the worst song I got in my repertoire, friend? I once saw a lady sing a song with a lamb puppet that'll earworm into your skull and take up residence. You'll beg for death still singing that damnable song. Don't make me break it out, mate."
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There is a loud banging at the door! Moments later the door flies open revealing a dozen armed tengu behind it. They quickly storm into the room, blades drawn.
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The leader of the group looks at the group, then stops and looks at where they are.
"Erm... Apologies... Erm... Permission to come aboard Captain? Too late for that too I guess."
The group puts away their weapons. "We'll make sure to put special security around all contestants chambers for the night. Do you have any idea where these assailants came from?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"It is never too late to ask. Thank you again for coming to our aid."
Shins will lead a quick tour of the ship, emphasizing dark corners where wary hostage takers or enchanters might lie along briefly going over the captured attackers.
"The attackers had coins on them with the symbol of the Aspis Consortium, but I can't assure you that isn't a sort of false flag. A few of us have been speaking with one, he refused to give any indication of the employer for the attack."
"I will concur with the suggestions of others here, if your abilities would be better served protecting other groups I implore you to do so. Otherwise I'm happy to accept your offer of protection of my friends," gesturing both to party and his few present crew, " along with my ship."
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The tengu turns the coin over a few times. "P.O.D.... Either that means paid on delivery or its the initials of someone."
He motions to one of his associates who takes a rubbing of the coin, and jots down a few notes before returning it. "This assault is a personal offense against the legitimacy of this tournament. We appear to have a restless night ahead of ourselves. You have my word that we will not rest until the offending parties have been found. As for you... I know that you say that you can handle yourselves, but tomorrow will be quite an exciting day for the lot of you and you'll need your rest. We'll post a guard at the docks. A trained guard... not one of those city watchmen."
She bows to the group. "Best of luck tomorrow, enjoy the opera!"
Wei Ji will be exceptionally careful during his watch, and make several notations in a log while doing various calisthenics and the sort. After eating a simple breakfast, he will then send a note of requisition to the local Liberty's Edge chapter for an additional resource, considering the events of the previous day.
The first rays of light creep into the inn’s window, accompanied by a loud knocking at the door. Someone in the hall screeches, “The sun is up! Time to gather your tickets and head to The Opera!”
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Arriving at the opera, you are greeted by a trio of actors dressed in the garb and makeup of a traditional opera from Lung Wa. They seat you in the first few rows. Looking around you see a few others also in attendance. Strangely, there are no sets and the unlit stage is empty except for three plain wooden chairs. Then Kiang Zhen strides onto the stage and addresses the audience.
“Today I am treating myself to a display of opera, which all of you shall perform for me! Backstage, you shall find traditional costumes that will determine the roles you will portray. You may choose these roles yourself, but be forewarned - you must act within the limits of your role. Your objective is to perform an epic combat against a rival group. However, there must be no bloodshed. Any shows of lethal force will result in your immediate disqualification from the event. The troupe able to force its opponents to yield is the victor. Now go and prepare yourselves for the evening’s performance. It starts in 10 minutes!”
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As you make your way backstage, the amount of Aspis Consortium members among the contestants appear to have drastically dropped. It appears as though several groups were disqualified, and those remaining had their rest somewhat disturbed by several bouts of questioning. A few of them can be seen haranguing the Ronin to join up with them for the rest of the event, but he is staunchly refusing their entreaty. He smiles he sees you walk by.
"I have been told that in Absalom theater performers insist that to wish good luck upon another performer will curse a performance. If my new understanding of your traditions is correct, may you break a leg!"
You are ushered in to a changing area by one of the actors and find yourself face to face with a somewhat haggard group of Aspis agents.
"These will be your fellow performers today. The roles available to you are laid out before you. Each of you may choose any of the following roles. There are two leading males, or Sheng: The General and the Monkey King. There are two leading females, or Dan: The Warrior Woman and the Wizened Crone. There are two painted faces, or Jing: The Noble Warrior and the Cruel Bandit. There are also two Clowns, or Chou. Choose your costume, get into character, and we shall begin the performance!"
There are one of each of the following costume available for your team:
The General wears a long beard and fights with a wooden sword (1d8 nonlethal) and armor (treat as splint mail).
The Monkey King wears an elaborate monkey mask. The Monkey King is portrayed as an acrobat and trickster and is permitted to cast spells.
The Warrior Woman wears full armor (treat as splint mail) and peacock feathers, and fights with a dulled, bladed polearm (1d8 nonlethal).
The Wizened Crone wears long robes and walks with a cane. She is permitted to cast spells.
Noble Warrior wears red face paint and full armor (treat as splint mail), and wields a large club (1d10 nonlethal).
The Cruel Bandit wears blue face paint and wields a long wooden knife (1d4 nonlethal), specially balanced to allow a capable individual to make nonlethal sneak attacks with it.
The Clowns are humorous characters are allowed to speak with the audience in order to make jokes at their opponents’ expense. Chou are also permitted to cast spells. Male Chou identify their characters by painting wide white circles around their eyes. Female Chou paint their faces red with black circles about the eyes. Clown costumes do not include weapons; however, Chou can carry and wield a broom or stick (treat as an improvised weapon dealing 1d6 nonlethal damage), claiming it to be whatever weapon they desire for the sake of performance and comedic value.
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The tengu considers...
"Huh. Roary, I am thinking perhaps you might be the best fit for the 'Noble Warrior' role.
Jin-Goro, Shin, or Hiram my guess is that you'd fit best with the 'Monkey King'. Along with the other roles of 'Wise Crone' and 'the Chou'.
We probably want to make sure we cover all the bases, though, as best we can.
I can't think of what I'd be the best fit for without a board, though, two-handing really isn't my style..."
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Jin will look through the various costumes and sigh, I shall take the role of the Wizened Crone, someone help me out of all of this armour will you...
Piling his various pieces of equipment up in one corner he sticks his head out of the dressing room and glares at Kiang, I trust you have adequate security for our possessions, you have a literal Kings ransom and then some of stuff in here!
Returning to the dressing room he can just about be heard muttering, wish I was a bloody druid, could hide all my gear away, stupid contest rules
Stopping he turns back and pokes his head out again. Hey, big nose, these ioun stones are surgically implanted and don't come out, that's not going to be a problem is it?
With the 5 minute call for stage time Jin will prepare with a number of extra spells to support himself. Any of the rest of you want a Heroism to help out, I have plenty...
Can something like eyes of the eagle still be worn or are we literally without any of our gear?
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Taka shoots an accusatory look at Hiram granting a judgmental glare to silently imply that the bard has stepped into a role far beyond his station.
"Stop it Taka, I'm sure he doesn't want to be your king."
Shins looks over the remaining sets of gear and make up, imagining the play lines that may involve each.
"Should I take on the role of one of the armored warriors? No one else seems too interested in them. At the moment the performance seems tilted towards comedy."
"Although I am happy to play a clown, although I do have trouble making fun of others, hopefully you might forgive me for not doing as much of that.
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The actor ushers you onto the stage where you see the Aspis consortium group waiting on the other side, in costume and grumpy. A narrator on the other side sounds as though he is finishing introducing the history of the great battle to be performed, and the curtain begins to rise.
As soon as the curtain reveals the audience, one of the Aspis agents looks out towards the audience and does an over-exaggerated double take. "We are outnumbered by our foe, I must find a place to prepare my strike!"
He steps back and disappears into the curtain that obscures the backstage area as he says, "This dense foliage will hide me..."
Round 1:
Green Rogue
Hiram
Wei Ji
Jin Goro
Quiven
Blue Fighter
Red Sorceress
Roary
Little Shins
Yellow Cleric
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Jin hobbles forward, bent almost double and leaning heavily on his cane. My lord, the enemy finally shows itself, the serpent has slithered out of the long grass, strike its heard from its body and rid our realm of this evil, the Gods have given you their blessing this day, you cannot fail!
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Casually, with the air of not-quite a stumbling country bumpkin -- the flowing motions hopefully a bit too smooth to be such a coarse being and detracting from the ambience of the play, the tengu slowly 'wanders' the path.
Move forward, Readied Fight defensively if someone comes within reach