Dealing with protesters is nothing new for Oster. Cheering fans, on the other hand, is both a new experience for the ex-cop, and a surreal one as well. On one level he knows that he actively courted such a thing, but on a more visceral level he can't help feel a little disgusted by their very nature. These are presumably people who would otherwise happily cheer on his brutal death, and probably still would if it came down to it.
Now that the actual event is imminent it starts to feel real for the first time. This is not a hobby. This is not a joke. This is deadly serious business. As the time until Pentakill's own turn at the gauntlet dwindles, he starts to truly contemplate what might happen to him in there, and where that might leave Izzy. He kind of wishes that he had watched more seriously in the past so that he would be better prepared today. He briefly considers the vials of fear-numbing potions at his disposal, but doesn't think his case of nerves has quite grown to the point where he needs that yet. Instead he could probably do with something to distract him from his own inner turmoil and, at the same time, help to make him as ready as he can be when Pentakill's name is called.
"Will we be able to watch the earlier groups' performances?" he asks one of the PECA staff as they're ushered to their waiting room.
The staff member, a human woman in a simple black jumpsuit, her hair pulled back into a short ponytail, looks surprised at the question. She's wearing a combination comm/holographic HUD that looks like a pair of glowing, translucent sunglasses, and her eyes study Oster through the "lenses" for a moment before suddenly widening in recognition. "Oh, right, they told me you were new and might not be up to speed. I'm Kenda Lebow, production assistant assigned to Pentakill for this broadcast." She offers a hand. "No, the teams don't get to see the Crawl before you enter - everyone goes in blind. You will know the scores of the previous teams though." She glances around at the rest of the team. "Any other questions?"
Sitting in the green room, Otto's legs shake with nervous excitement. The same energy fuels small jolts of electricity arcing across his body. His eyes are wide, reflecting a curious mix of fear and euphoria. Years of pent up ([occ]no pun intended[/ooc]) anger toward the upper echelons of society have driven Otto to this point, whether he realizes it or not. Soon, there will be nothing holding him back.
He chuckles softly to himself, "N-n-no questions." Otto responds to the bespectacled woman with a wide grin plastered on his face.
"Ah, I see," says Oster, a little dismayed. "Thanks, Kenda, I just have one more. About these scores you mentioned, is getting a high score the overall objective? Or is it more of a bonus that shows how good your style was?
Oster hopes the question isn't a stupid one, but if the objective is less "reach the finish line alive" and more "show me what you got," that's something he'd rather find out now than discover after the fact when it might be too late.
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The last few days have been a blur of activity, and Okian had come to enjoy them quite a bit. He still preferred the quiet of his dormitory and training, and as before, his mind still wanders, wondering about what they had done to those terrorists. The presence of protesters at his last appearance has really put him off, but between then and the day of the crawl, training and prayer have helped him to recenter himself somewhat. It always helps to have a goal, something to throw himself wholeheartedly into, something where he can just shove the rest of the issues of the times aside and just give into the task at hand.
On the day at hand, Okian has been quiet, having spent the morning in obedience to his deity, knelt as always on the floor of his dormitory, praying for guidance and aid during the day's Crawl, reaffirming his loyalty to the inheritor, her holy symbol draped over the greatsword. The sword is an odd choice for one of his religion, but it was chosen to put on a show, for appealing to the crowd. Its a calculated risk, and something he normally would not have taken, but the circumstances were special in this instance.
All-in-all Okian's preparations have taken him some time in the morning, before the group has left for the Crawl, and he just made it to the flight in time, dressed in his full combat rig, his full plate armor gleaming from being polished and properly cared for, his Cassock over top, proudly emblazoned with the divine symbol of Iomedae. On his back is slung a pack with a few useful supplies for the crawl, as well his ranseur and greatsword. Pressed to his back beneath the pack is his cloak, emblazoned with the symbol of Iomedae, and about his head is his headband, the silver band decorated with various gemstones.
The flight is quiet, with Okian off in one corner, deep in prayer and devotion to his goddess. He's silently pleased by the symbol, and is even thinking of replacing the symbol on his cloak with that of the team's so that he can show some loyalty to the group as a whole.
When they arrive in the greenroom, Okian finds himself an out of the way area, preferring to keep quiet and contemplate for the time being, that is, until Oster approaches one of the staff members. At this time, Okian looks over in their direction, and he approaches the production assistant. "And would you mind clarifying for me how those scores are determined?" He smiles warmly at her before continuing on. "The last few days have been rather hectic, and I seem to have forgotten just how the scores are determined in all the rush." He chuckles a bit in a self-deprecating manner.
"Ah, I see," says Oster, a little dismayed. "Thanks, Kenda, I just have one more. About these scores you mentioned, is getting a high score the overall objective? Or is it more of a bonus that shows how good your style was?
Oster hopes the question isn't a stupid one, but if the objective is less "reach the finish line alive" and more "show me what you got," that's something he'd rather find out now than discover after the fact when it might be too late.
"Well, getting out alive is really the objective," Kenda replies, shrugging. "You get the prizes you've won as long as you're not dead, so that's how most Crawlers make their living. But there are bonus prizes for winner and first runner-up, and of course the sponsors and bookies both prefer winners to whoever is in second place."
When they arrive in the greenroom, Okian finds himself an out of the way area, preferring to keep quiet and contemplate for the time being, that is, until Oster approaches one of the staff members. At this time, Okian looks over in their direction, and he approaches the production assistant. "And would you mind clarifying for me how those scores are determined?" He smiles warmly at her before continuing on. "The last few days have been rather hectic, and I seem to have forgotten just how the scores are determined in all the rush." He chuckles a bit in a self-deprecating manner.
"Of course. Every encounter room in the Crawl has a point value - you'll see it when you enter. Clear the room, get the points. If one of you gets knocked out or killed, the team loses 5 points; if you can't get them back up again before you leave the room, they're disqualified and the team loses 15 points instead. Then there's the judges. Personally, I think they just exist to make the fans mad at rulings they don't like, but they're still a factor, so you'll need to take them into account. They award a bonus point whenever you do something impressive, for what they call 'technical proficiency,' and if you really screw something up, they will strip points away instead." Kenda looks around, then adds, "Also, just to make sure all the bases are covered: there are NoGo doors in each room - you can leave the Crawl through them at any time, but you're automatically disqualified. Also, it pisses off the Consortium, so it's a good way to get booted from the Tour. Cowards make for bad vids. There's also the NonCom badges. Anyone wearing a NonCom badge isn't someone you're supposed to attack; they have some other role in the encounter, which will usually have been explained to you when or just before you enter a room. Attack, even accidentally, a NonCom, and you're DQ automatically. That all clear?"
"That's very helpful," Oster agrees, nodding. It gives him a lot to think about, which in turn provides some distraction from the unwanted thoughts that keep threatening to bubble up from within.
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Okian nodded in understanding. It was interesting, all the rules, meant there was a lot more to the Crawl than at first glance. "Most appreciated, Ms. Lebow. This information is quite important, I feel quite the fool for having forgotten it." He flashed her a smile, a hint of humor in the look. "Have you been working in this role for some time? I'd appreciate any other advice you could provide me with. Perhaps you could let us know of any common mistakes that we should avoid?"
The protesters fail to phase Mira in any way; if anything, her cold android eyes staring back at them has a tendency to make them rather uncomfortable. She lacks any malice towards them so long as they keep things civil, of course, she simply does not care about what they are doing at all.
In the greenroom Mira stands quietly, wearing her usual polite smile. She had researched all the rules and customs of the Crawl extensively when she learned this would be her new purpose, but makes no attempts to interject or interrupt the assistant; she is more of an expert than Mira for the obvious reasons, and so the android is perfectly content allowing the assistant to perform her function as she pleases.
Ko quietly listens to the conversation before him, dark eyes flitting back and forth.
Okian nodded in understanding. It was interesting, all the rules, meant there was a lot more to the Crawl than at first glance. "Most appreciated, Ms. Lebow. This information is quite important, I feel quite the fool for having forgotten it." He flashed her a smile, a hint of humor in the look. "Have you been working in this role for some time? I'd appreciate any other advice you could provide me with. Perhaps you could let us know of any common mistakes that we should avoid?"
Kenda chuckles. "Long enough. Hope to get into dungeon design myself someday. Common mistakes? Really, the only thing I would say is this: pay attention to the instructions. Teams that just assume the only thing that matters is to murder everyone in the room are teams that get DQ'd fast."
That done, Kenda takes each one of you individually and conducts a brief, one-on-one interview about how and why you are entering the Crawl. These are extremely sympathetic, and she encourages Okian to talk about his faith and what he hopes to achieve, Oster's concern for Izzy, Otto's experiences in captivity, and the events that lead to Mira and Ko's appearances in the Crawl. Afterward, she explains that the interviews are being transmitted to the production room, where they will be edited into brief intro sequences for each player. "Trust me," she smiles, "people love a hero. You guys are going to be smash hits." And then, all there is left to do... is wait.
After what seems like forever, but is actually about three hours, Kenda suddenly sits up and looks over at you, nodding. A holoscreen on the wall next to her flashes on, and you see the names of the five teams competing in today's Crawl listed. Three have scores: Maro City Volunteer Brigade - 52 points; The New Frogmen - 66 pts; Emirikol's Emirikrushers - 72 pts. A spinning skull marks the score of the Volunteer Brigade.
After a short pause, the scores disappear, and the Crawl's renowned Master of Ceremonies, Vodali Vixonia, appears on the screen. The beautiful lashunta woman is, as ever, dressed in a scandalously-cut set of "wizard's robes," her trademark hat - tall, pointed, broad-brimmed - perched at a jaunty angle on her head, with two holes cut to allow her antennae to poke through. "And here they are, ladies and gentlemen, the dark horse team that has burst onto our Crawl stage like a veritable supernova: Pentakill!" You would expect to hear some kind of applause, but there is none, and you realize that Vodali is broadcasting from an empty soundstage. She moves on without missing a beat. "Are they ready to face the Canyon City Crawl? Well, Crawl fans, there's only one way to find out!"
She turns to look directly into the camera, seemingly staring right out at all of you. "Here is your task, Crawlers. A mysterious villain has captured beautiful princesses from across the lands and brought them to his castle." She makes a "mystic gesture," and a spinning image of a human woman in a tiara and gauzy dress, cut high up one thigh, appears over Vodali's hand. Incongruously, the "princess" appears to be dancing seductively to some unheard song. "It is up to you to rescue the maidens and defeat the villain - but beware! While each princess you can lay your hand upon will be rescued and leave behind a reward," - a hand reaches into the spinning image and touches the princess' shoulder, who immediately disappears and is replaced by a shower of gold coins - "the villain has bound hideous fiends to his service, and they lurk amongst the waiting damsels to spring out and strike!" The princess image reappears and is touched again, but this time it transforms into a demonic creature with bat wings and a lashing tail that throws back its head and laughs soundlessly. "Once you have found the hidden fiend, the other princesses in that room will disappear as well and can no longer be saved. Too bad!" Vodali snaps her fingers and the demonic figure vanishes.
"The passage to the castle's villain is blocked by mighty magics, but a way can be found to undo his protections! Four scepters lie hidden within the castle. Find them and bring them together in front of the villain's lair, and you will gain access.
"Now go, brave adventurers! Find treasure and glory in the Crawl! But tread carefully as well, for remember: in the Crawl, if you die, you die!" Vodali laughs loudly, then blows you a kiss through the holoscreen before vanishing.
Behind you, Kenda gives you an enthusiastic thumbs-up, while ahead, the doors leading out of the green room and into the Crawl unlock with an audible click.
"Time to put up or shut up," Oster thinks to himself. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
"They might just be holograms," he says to the others out loud, "but if these princesses have thoughts I should be able to read them. Might help sort out the real ones from the decoys."
With that said, he pulls open the door and begins to slowly lead the way down the hallway. Not being familiar with how these things usually go, he assumes that it's never too early to encounter traps and so he keeps a special eye out for them as he goes.
The doors click and Otto mumbles a few incantations as he dons his buckler. Four orbs of light appear around him and a slight metallic sheen glazes across his body.
Before exiting behind Oster, he pulls a pair of spectacles from a pocket and rests them across the bridge of his nose. Ottos eyes appear comically large behind the crystal lenses as he scans the area beyond the door.
Although the team is worried about it being dark beyond the doors, the truth is just the opposite - harsh artificial lighting hammers down on them, but the sudden brightness is nothing compared to the wall of sound, a thunderous cacophony of voices that seems to swallow and annihilate any possibility of thought in your brains. The corridor beyond is not actually solid - waist high walls, ten feet apart, are topped with slightly rusted metal caging, arcing up and over your heads to meet the wall on the other side. There is plenty of room to see and hear the crowd, and for them to do likewise to you. The stands completely surround the Crawlspace, and the nearest bench seats are only a few yards beyond the corridor.
After the first few instants, either the noise begins to die down a bit or you begin to adjust somewhat, and you start to be able to hear yourself think again. The corridor ahead of you takes a right-angle turn to the left, then comes to an end at a set of large double doors. The oversized padlock is quite obvious.
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Okian steps out into the bright light. He feels the roar of the crowd wash over him, the bright lights and noise temporarily stunning him before he can catch up to the others. He looks about, his gaze casting about the stage as he smiles. This is it! This is the real deal! He raised his free hand and waved about to the crowd. He was loving it!
As he recovered from the initial shock, he made his way forward, rejoining the rest of his companions. He pointed towards the doors.
"Ladies, gentlemen, shall we?" he said as he moved past the others and began to move further down the crawlspace.
Oster thought he was prepared for going through a dungeon. He expected that maybe there would be cameras recording them and broadcasting live. He did not expect to be performing in front of a live audience. The noise... it was like being close to an enormous waterfall. It assaulted his senses for a few moments, but he was eventually able to compartmentalize it into a dull, background roar.
Still, at least all the bright light meant that he didn't need to spend any mental energy on being able to see in the dark. Saves some mojo for later, when he might need it more.
Seeing no traps, he goes up to the enormous padlock. He retrieves his lock-picking tools from the handy haversack and sets to work on getting them through their first obstacle. Well, second if you wanted to count any possible stage fright. He can feel all the eyes on him, pushing him to succeed. It actually makes him start working a little too enthusiastically and he tries to calm himself down to keep his hands from shaking too much.
Ko walks silently, before walking into the light. He roar of the crowd briefly overwhelms him, but he reigains his composure. He draws his temple swords and makes a brief prayer sign before following his compatriots. He looks at the door to check if there's anything especially technological or interesting about it.
Light and sound washes over Otto like a tidal wave, almost physically knocking him back. He steps out of the green room and takes it all in for a moment. The roaring crowd invigorates him and he thrusts a hand in the air with all five digits spread wide . Otto lets out a shout as jolts of electricity arc toward the metal caging above.
Mira takes her position in the marching order as she begins her very first crawl. The booming cheers of the crowd do not seem to faze her in any way; stage fright and excitement are both foreign concepts, and right now she knows only a sincere resolution for success.
She also takes the opportunity to examine the doorframe for any intricacies.
As you step into the hallway and begin making your way toward the entrance to the Crawl, you feel a sudden and intense heaviness, and you realize that artificial gravity is being used to increase the Akitonian gravity level up to Golarion standard.
Otto's cantrip provokes a few scattered yells of additional excitement, but it's clear that the effect is too small to be seen by most of the crowd. Meanwhile, Oster's sudden burst of inspiration steers him on the right path with regard to the lock, and after just a few seconds' work, the lock pops open. As it does so, the door itself suddenly lights up with words and a point value: "Three Lock Box - 22 Points."
Pushing the door open reveals a completely darkened room but for Vodali Vixonia, standing alone in a spotlight. (At this range, the scan lines that make up her holographic projection are quite visible.) She makes a grandiose bow, then begins, "Your task, brave adventurers, is simple. You pick one member of your team to pick all three of the locks in this room. You can’t use spells or magic items to open the locks – this is a skill test, and any funny business is going to get you disqualified. Then the rest of you have to defend him while the bad guys – you didn’t think there wouldn’t be any bad guys, did you folks? – try to stop him. Sounds simple? Well be careful because there are hazards in the room you have to deal with as well.
"Any questions?
"That's closer to having a search warrant than I've ever had when doing this sort of thing before," Oster muses to himself with a wry chuckle. He keeps his lock-picking tools in his hands rather than returning them to his handy haversack.
"I'm confident I can handle some more locks if you guys keep 'em off my back," he mentions to the others. At the same time he gives the hologram of the hostess a thumbs-up of understanding to indicate he thinks this should be pretty straightforward. The only questions he can think of are likely to be answered shortly, like 'will the lights turn on' and 'what sort of hazards and enemies are we talking about.'
Otto's grin almost turns menacing as he responds. "Oh I'm ready, alright." He turns to Oster. "This'll be fun"
With the will-o-wisps still encircling him, Otto is not concerned about light levels. Electricity will be flying in a moment anyways.
"We put our trust in you, Oster." Mira draws her dagger, already opening her internal files on various creatures they might encounter to ensure she can provide the proper information to her comrades.
The lights in the room come on, just as the holo of Vodali disappears. The room beyond is massive, a hundred feet square, with a tall pillar in the center. Three locks, oversized padlocks like the one on the doors, are mounted on the pillar.
The "princesses" are scattered at intervals around the walls of the room, as are four much larger figures, draped in heavy cloth and carrying monstrously large clubs.
Otto reflexively fires a pulse of light at the closest hulking monster.
Stalker #1 = 31/51hp
The massive cloaked figures all rush forward, starting to surround Pentakill, but only one was close enough to actually reach one of you: Otto's target, who appears to have successfully shaken off the worst effects of his lightning. Roaring in pain and fury, he lashes out with his gigantic club at the sorcerer, who staggers under the weight of the massive blow.
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Round 1, Initiative Count [After Mira]
As the big creatures lumber in to converge upon them, Oster waits for their Android companion to provide her analysis of their opponents, like they'd trained. As an ex-cop, Oster appreciates the benefits of insight into the enemies' capabilities.
Once he has her report he'll make a break for the other side of the pole, trying to clear the combat zone and get some cover while the others deal with the grouping.
Mira quickly identifies the creatures as ogres, and begins rattling off stratagems and notable weaknesses for her companions to exploit.
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The two nearest ogres both swing their clubs, lightning quick, at Oster's dashing form. One he manages to roll past, the club smashing into the ground just behind him, but the other is just barely too fast for him to dodge, and the only consolation is that - as it hammers into his back like a giant playing cricket - the blow does send the former cop careening forward, on toward his destination.
Ko runs forward at the ogre, dodging out of it's reach and trying to slash it with his temple sword.
Otto recoils from the Ogre's blow and steps back into the hallway to gain what little distance he can. Once in the entryway, he chants a short incantation prompting four illusory doubles to emerge from his own form.
Okian and Ko both launch effective attacks against their foes, although Ko only because Mira reminded him of some tricks ogres often favor. Otto's magics conjure up six duplicates to protect him from the ogres, but even as he does so, two of the ogres reverse course to thunder after Oster, and it seems that the other two would like to, if they can but dispatch their current foes. Fortunately, with the cover he managed to reach, only one has a chance to swing at him before he can react.
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Working toward that plan of dispatching their foes, the remaining two ogres wind up their clubs and swing with both speed and precision, much more accurately than one might expect from their brutish sizes. Again, though, Ko remembers Mira's warnings and dodges the blow just in time, and Okian's greatsword meets and knocks the club aside fairly easily.
Round 2
Oster had rather hoped that the ogres would continue to focus on the big group and let him get a head start on picking the locks. He hadn't expected to pull two of them all by himself.
"Damn," he calls back to the others. "I could really use a hand here!" He takes a moment to study the ogre which attacked him. Using the information Mira was providing, he picked out what he was certain was a vital spot, stepped closer to it (and coincidentally away from the other one), and carefully thrust his rapier deep into the spot he'd picked.
While continuing to dole out advice Mira moves forward and touches Okian on the back, bestowing him with a supernatural boost in morale.
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Okian swings the blade again, letting himself go as he fights the ogre. Its a straightforward fight this time, no real conflicted emotions now. Fight to survive, fight to win, fight to the death. Okian brings the blade down twice in a row, putting all his effort into a pair of attacks. He wants to end this ogre quick and get to Oster to assit him.
Oster manages a savage stab deep into the flesh of his giant foe, and the ogre shouts in pain. Still, his efforts are minor next to Okian's mighty swings, which essentially trisect the ogre the paladin was battling and bring a massive, almost overwhelming roar from the crowded stadium.
Ko attacks the ogre next to him with an onslaught of temple swords and fists, slashing and crushing with supernatural speed.
With his defenses up and seeing that Ko and Okian have the two monsters nearby under control, Otto steps out of the archway to get in range of one of the ogres running toward Oster. A pulse of light erupts from Otto's outstretched hand and careens toward the ogre.
Okian's victory cry rings through the crowd, and it begins to echo back from all around the stands:
"For victory, for the heart!"
"For victory, for the heart!"
"For victory, for the heart!"
Ko takes only three swings of his blades to end the life of the ogre he faced as well, and now there are only two remaining - although both threaten Oster, several yards away from the rest of the group.
Seeing that there are no more nearby ogres to threaten him, Otto steps back out of the hallway and fires another blast of electricity at the only uninjured ogre, sending sparks twitching across its muscles and armor, but leaving it only moderately singed.
Stalker #1: dead, Stalker #2: dead, Stalker #3: 28/51hp, Stalker #4: 35/51hp
Suddenly, there is a loud grinding noise as the walls to the east and west both suddenly move five feet closer to the center of the room. The dancing princesses smoothly step forward with them and continue to dance, but the crowd roars at this new complication.
"My, my... Seems we do not have as much time as we may please to finish this off." With the enemies in her way disposed of, Mira moves forward and goes to assist Oster in his dilemma - with a wave of her hand the floor beneath one of the ogres becomes awfully slippery.
The ogre maintains its balance with surprising ease.
"Kablam!" Otto rushes past Okian and Ko around the opposite side of the column and shouts as another bolt launches toward the ogre.