The Ruby Phoenix Tournament
As your team and other contestants arrive, townsfolk shower you all with cherry blossoms and hand out ceramic cups filled with warm, pungent liquor. The crowd forms a reception that leads to the center of town, where a crowded noodle house, Yon Loi’s, serves as the hub of all activity in New Harbor. The noodle house is a large, open-air structure centered around a courtyard filled with long, shaded tables for commoners. Smaller round tables fill a roofed balcony surrounding the courtyard, from which wealthier patrons and the tournament elite may look over the establishment. The kitchen sits on the ground floor, behind a short partition.
The townsfolk help in seating and serving the newly arriving contestants. Each receives a complimentary bowl of salty noodle soup containing fish and vegetables; beyond this first bowl, each additional serving costs 5 sp.
What would you like to do?
The gray dwarf cuts his eyes from one side of the bar to the other. Catching sight of the goblins to his left, he gives a silent huff. Gobbos. Man I hate 'em. I sure hope we fight them first and maybe they'll fall on their own blade or somethin'. Because, ya know, accidents happen. Sometimes somebody just unexpectedly gets killed. It's a crazy world we live in. Removing his attention from the goblins, "You lot prefer a place ta sit? If you've got a spot in mind just make sure it's not near that table," he motions with a nod toward the table the goblins are at. "I'm not responsible for me actions if a couple of certain 'bugs' decide to... oooh... I don't know... talk or move or somethin'," he shrugs.
Deathless, is...quite a character. He wears a thick leather, skin tight, red body suit, complete with a matching red, full-head and neck mask. The suit and mask look quite well made. (I mean 1st impressions people!)
Deathless looks around and spots some possible fun. He walks in the direction that Darnak grumbled towards. Without any preamble, he grabs one of the goblins and attempts to rub it's head vigorously. "Why!...By Torag's patchy beard! I love goblins! Comm'ere you! I've got a friend that is just dying to meet you!"
"Well... I actually don't mind, as long as the table is free." Wong really means it, not wanting to cause any trouble. He's heard stories of people who caused problems before a tournament and were banned from it... and he doesn't want that!
Noticing Deathless's answer and intentions, Wong takes a hand to his front. "I have a bad feeling about this..." He meanwhile tries to take his companions to an empty table. "Let's try at the second floor, shall we?"
"If it's a puppy you want, I'll buy you one as soon as we win this little tournament, Deathless" Ahnika says laughing merrily, as she dances her way into the room.
Her usually imposing frame – 6 ft. for 180 pounds, most of it lean, solid muscles and sinews – is probably her least distinguishable feature as she enters the tavern, populated as it is by the best and strongest martial artists in Tian Xia. Rather, it's her long, flowing hair, combed in a complex pattern of silvery braids, that's poised to captivate most of the onlookers' attention, floating behind her as she walks as if possessing a life of its own – a not-so-subtle hint of her celestial heritage.
As for her figure and attire, they seem finely crafted in the wordly embodiment of Falyana's credo: that feminine beauty and martial might, far from being antithetical, are actually an harmonious whole of complementary blessings. Her clothing – a pair of ornate pantaloons, numerous silk sashes and a breast band – is studied as a perfect mix of practicality and aesthetics, highlighting her generous curves while allowing ample manoeuvrability in combat.
"Though they are cute!" she exclaims once she gets a better view of them. "You said they're called goblins?" It's clear the Tianjing native has never seen one of them.
Noticing Deathless's answer and intentions, Wong takes a hand to his front. "I have a bad feeling about this..." He meanwhile tries to take his companions to an empty table. "Let's try at the second floor, shall we?"
At her fellow Heaven-blooded companion's words, Ahnika's interest in Deathless's antics seem to fade and her attention focuses back on her surroundings. She's never been particularly good at reading situations (something which has caused her more than her fair share of troubles in the past), but she knows that Hou is, and that following his advice is usually a good way to avoid getting caught in unwarranted tavern brawls.
She emphatically nods at Hou's suggestion and rushes upstairs, enthusiastically grabbing her half-celestial friend and dragging him along with her if he allows her.
Wong feels dragged by the beautiful celestial-blooded woman. Not that he wants to resist, but he feels leaving Deathless and Darnak alone with the rest of the regulars is not the best of ideas.
"Wait, wait! We shouldn't separate."
Definitely, there seems to be too much people here in the tavern for Wong, who is used to the quiet and relaxing peace of his temple.
"Why not?" she replies, half-pouting. "Come tomorrow, all those people will be our rivals, so today is our last chance to celebrate!"
She punctuates her statement by starting an improptu dance, trying to drag Hou along in the process.
Darnak rolls his eyes and shakes his head at the brawler. When will I learn ta keep me mouth shut around that one? Although I'll give 'im credit. While 'dyin' might be the right word for it he's just got it in the wrong context 'cause it definitely not ta 'meet' the little rodents. "Right behind ya, Wong. And don't worry about, D, he'll be fine. Can't say the same for the gobbies though," he says with a slight chuckle as he follows the others upstairs.
Looking around as they make it upstairs, he finds an empty table and heads in that direction.
As he pulls up a chair and sits down, he scopes out the place. Looking to the table next to him, "Well met," he says to the long haired fellow and his crew. "You lot here for the tournament too?"
Once upstairs, Ahnika takes a seat right in front of Darnak , but her attention is instead drawn to the team of heavily tattooed warriors sitting at the table right behind her . She whispers a few words asking for Falayna's blessing over the encounter and turns to adress them.
"Heavens smile on our meeting. I am Ahnika, hailing from far Tianjin. I hope I'll have the honour to meet you in battle, just as I'm honoured to have met you in friendship today" she introduces herself, politely bowing her head.
Deathless laughs at Hou's comment, "Ha! Don't worry angel blood. Nothing will go terribly wong." After his joke he drops the goblin and strolls upstairs to sit across from Ahnika. Deathless looks at her with wry eyes, "Aww..you never use magic to talk to me..." He then looks over to the table she is addressing. "So did you paint your face or is that a tattoo? I mean, does it change every day? 'Cuz I can draw just the best looking bunnies and, for the right price, I'd be willing to make you look real scary. Ooh! We could paint you up to look like one of them carved pumpkins!" Deathless holds his thumbs and index fingers to create a rectangle and looks at them through the rectangle.
Wong sits shyly . He loosens a bit his kosode, a bit overwhelmed by the warm atmosphere inside such a crowded place. He puts special care, though, not to reveal his folded wings. He doesn't want to give potential rivals any clues before the tournament begins but, most of all, he doesn't want to be the attraction.
Once the group is sit, he feels a bit better. He even approves the efforts to communicate with the other table, happy to blend with the crowd by doing what any ordinary person would do. He limits himself to a nod when Ahnika speaks, though - you cannot ask an oak to grow apples, as his former master would say.
Deathless when you try to grab the goblin, please roll a CMB.
When deathless grapples the goblin, everyone at the table pushes back the stool and stands up. The goblin swings helpless in your hands. The men shouting at you, "Hey, what do you think you're doing. You better hope you're not a contestant buster!"
The noodle house goes silent, everyone looking in your direction.
Deathless looks at her with wry eyes, "Aww..you never use magic to talk to me..."
”That’s because I don’t need it” she replies, smiling coquettishly.
Before his lovely conversation with Ahnika and her new friends...?
"Why, I'm greeting a friend! Or more of an admired. Do you, sir, know what great things this goblin has done?"
"As a matter of fact, you are holding our coach." The big guy next to the goblin grabs the goblin around the waste and pulls him from you. You hear a few gasps in the crowd and a number of people going back to what they were doing before. A tournament official is walking towards the table.
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"And quite a coach you have there!" Deathless says gregariously. "A round for my friend and his team!"
One of the tournament officials reaches the table, "Is there a problem here?"
The goblin speaks in a rather dignified voice, "This very rude gentleman just came up and snatched me up as if I was just a toy. I did not appreciate that and I don't appreciate him. Can you remove him from my site?"
The official looks over at Deathless waiting to see if you had a response.
Deathless shrugs and heads upstairs.
Darnak looks over at the situation that his fellow team member has involved himself and sighs, drawing a hand down his face while shaking his head in frustration. It'll be a wonder if we're not all in prison by morning. And that's if they don't kick us out and send us packin' of course.
Ahnika's dance is short lived as she notices Deathless getting in trouble with a tournament official who seems to disagree with the masked brawler's concept of "fun".
Though that wasn't a terribly uncommon turn of events, and often she's been content to simply watch the subsequent brawl unfold while patching up any injured participants, she realizes the current context prevents this from being really an option.
So, she almost imperceptibly rolls her eyes and walks towards the official to smooth things over just as Deathless's making his way upstairs.
"It's ok, really, sir... officer. He's just an over-enthusiastic puppy holding no real ill intent. We'll keep an eye on him to prevent further... disturbances."
Ahnika does her best to put on the charm for the official. He nods and turns around leaving the table as you hear the goblin scouffs.
While you all sit down at a table upstairs, Ahnika and Darnak ask questions to the table next to them. A blonde short haired woman answers your inquiries, ”Names Risha. Yes we are here to win this year's tournament.” She stands up and moves to a closer seat. The woman looks to be dressed like a Kokan fisherman. ”So you’re in the tournament too? How many of you are there?”
Nodding, "Darnak's the name. And yeah, we're here for the tournament also. And this lot ya see here is our number," he motions to the rest of the team at the table. "Is it just the three of ya? Or do ya have another?" He then looks between his companions and the strangers he's speaking to and asks, "Is there a maximum number you can have on a team? Or a minimum? Or do they even care?"
"So...," Deathless begins as he looks at the crew next to them, "was it finger-painting day with the kiddies or did you do that stuff on your face yourselves? I mean, it's inspiring and all to work with kids but," he gestures over his masked face, "this is my gold earner. I wouldn't let a child anywhere near this!"
Wong is puzzled by Darnak's questions. He never thought about it, but now he realises that he's never read the rules of the tournament. Maybe they're playing the fools by going with four people, or maybe they're going to get ousted by breaking some stupid rule they're not aware of!
Or worse... maybe keeping their number secret is part of the strategy, and this woman is trying to trick them!
Suddenly, he's not that happy to be here with all the participants.
None of the tattooed people respond to faceless, in fact they turn their backs as to not look upon him. Then continue to eat their food in silence.
The woman named Risha responds to Darnak, "We have a team of 4, my team is in bed. I decided to come here alone. Teams can be up to 4 people, but it seems some of these contestants are by themselves. They won't get far. The Ruby Phoenix Tournament celebrated its 30th decennial games in 7201 ic (4701 ar), marking 300 years of the tradition. To honor the occasion, instead of the traditional 64 entrants, an extra round of competition was added, bringing the total number of competing teams to a record 128. That must have been crazy fun!"
None of the tattooed people respond to faceless, in fact they turn their backs as to not look upon him. Then continue to eat their food in silence.
"Heavens smile on our meeting. I am Ahnika, hailing from far Tianjin. I hope I'll have the honour to meet you in battle, just as I'm honoured to have met you in friendship today" she introduces herself, politely bowing her head.
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+15+2
Rude Ahnika thinks and smirks as her bow gets no response. She has half a mind to simply switch language, but still, her gesture would have been clear enough, and if they chose to ignore it, that'd be their loss.
"There's no need to alienate every single contestant in this room, D" she whispers in a gentle, charmign tone. "Let's have some fun, and leave the fighting and posturing to tomorrow. Please? Pretty please?" she pleads.
"I mean, it's not like there's a chance we won't win this anyway, right?" she grins, in one of her usual displays of unwarranted bravado – the kind that caused more than a fair share of trouble in the past.
”Names Risha. Yes we are here to win this year's tournament.”
"How serendipitous. Name's Ahnika, and we're here for the exact same reason. Let a fair fight decide whose voyage has been for naught, then" she eagerly says.
The woman named Risha responds to Darnak, "We have a team of 4, my team is in bed. I decided to come here alone. Teams can be up to 4 people, but it seems some of these contestants are by themselves. They won't get far. The Ruby Phoenix Tournament celebrated its 30th decennial games in 7201 ic (4701 ar), marking 300 years of the tradition. To honor the occasion, instead of the traditional 64 entrants, an extra round of competition was added, bringing the total number of competing teams to a record 128. That must have been crazy fun!"
Eyes going wide, "128! Blast that is a lot." He then looks around at the other tables a moment. "You don't suppose any of these folks have been in this thing more than once, do ya? I mean, look at that older fella across the way," he gives a nod in the direction of the white bearded man, "if that beard tells ya anything it's got ta say he's done this a time or two. I'd be surprised if this'd be his first time."
"Remember that every round the number goes down by half, Darnak:" Playing the wise companion fits more to Wong's likes than bullying goblins or boasting about his prowess. Through the years at the temple gates he's learned to not give anything for granted, specially small and apparently weak people. "Before you can say Kamehameha, the contest will be down to 16 teams or so."
Slightly bowing to the blond woman, he introduces himself. "I am Wong. Pleased to meet you."
"Aww..c'mon guys. You don't look that ridiculous," Deathless says, obviously not sincere. He then turns to the blonde woman the rest of the crew is talking to. "Why hello there..," Deathless says suggestively while leaning closer. "I wouldn't vest too much interest in them, " gesturing to the rest of his group, "Those two are religious types, half angels and all. And that one, well, lets just say that dwarves are stout," he extends his index finger and then promptly bends it at the mid-finger knuckle, "all over. Plus, it seems he has a thing for facial hair."
Risha responds to Ahnika, ”Yes a fair fight, but of course I expect my team to win.”
She laughs at Darnak’s statement. ”I don’t really know, this is our first time. Yeah he does look rather old, doubt he will get far.”
She continues to converse with you, ”Angels, that’s neat. You have a point about Dwarves. So what is it you all do, are you martial or have any unique cool skills? If so, what can you do?”
"Remember that every round the number goes down by half, Darnak:" Playing the wise companion fits more to Wong's likes than bullying goblins or boasting about his prowess. Through the years at the temple gates he's learned to not give anything for granted, specially small and apparently weak people. "Before you can say Kamehameha, the contest will be down to 16 teams or so."
"Really? That quick, huh? Didn't realize that. I guess it's safe ta say this contest won't be but a few days long at that pace."
Darnak then raises an eyebrow in curiosity as Deathless leans in near the woman and appears to be saying something he can't quite make out... and really makes no real effort in trying to. Knowing D about as well as one can, I really think it's a tad safer just not knowin'.
In response to the woman's question, the dwarf strokes his beard a moment as he ponders said question and how to answer it. Eventually he shrugs and says, "Well... I just kind of fight ta be honest. I use me hands and feet and sometimes me head." He points to it and nods proudly. "I've been told many o' time by a number of folk over the years: 'Darnak! You sure are hard-headed!' And, Ma'am, I believe it's safe ta say, they were right," he says with a grin and wink.
Wong feels uncomfortable and his face lets it show when Deathless and Darnak speak to the woman. "Sure, let's tell her all our strategy."
Risha responds to Darnak, "Wow, so you fight with like a true martial fighter? I would like to watch you in battle."
She lowers her voice a little, "In the last Ruby Phoenix Tournament, a sorceress from Lingshen was disqualified just prior to the final round for cheating. She swore vengeance upon her competitor, the de facto victor Marthysan the Righteous. While some believe she may strike soon, the event happened a decade ago, and many believe the sorceress has forgotten about the perceived slight or moved on. Are any of you casters?"
"Hot dang! That is good news! Like my ma used to say, 'the best opponent is a dead one'"
"My body is a weapon I consecrated to my Goddess, and she in turn grants me her power to strengthen my arms and overcome my opponents. Without it, I'm a martial fighter not unlike Darnak or Deathless here, though it pains me to admit it, not quite their peer" Ahnika says in response to Risha's inquiries. "Falayna blessed me, and only took my tongue and my eyes in return" she muses, phasing out for a moment as if talking to herself.
She quickly snapos out of it. "But enough talking about us. What kind of fighter are you? Who are your teammates?"
Risha half smiles, "My team mates are getting rest in their rooms. Did you know that more than 30 of the 128 entrants in the thirtieth tournament perished in unrelated accidents, or exhibition combats not covered by the tournament’s strictures on ethics, honor, and safety. More than half of these deaths were attributed to the dragon Huyanwo, whose defeat has long been the ambition of Ruby Phoenix contestants hoping to make a name for themselves outside the arena. Maybe you have the skills to take it out? That would be really cool. The first people ever to slay the mighty dragon."
Deathless stares at Risha resting his chin on both hands and elbows on the table. "My my...You are evasive..," he witfully coos while maintaining his unbreaking gaze. "But I have caught you in your own words.."
He let's his statement sit for several moments before enthusiastically interrupting the first person to speak again, "-You said your team are resting in their rooms! Which means..!" Deathless exclaims index finger raised once more dramatically, "...that you have your own room!" His tone shifts to be soft and surprisingly alluring, "So, what'dya say?" His words seem to embody an eyebrow shift, as his mask would obviously not allow it.
"A dragon?!" Darnak exclaims, the idea dominating him to the point to where he's completely missed Deathless's innuendo. "Nobody said anythin' about a dragon. Boy this tournament is soundin' more deadly by the minute."
"ugh that's distasteful." Risha abruptly stands up and begins to walk away.
"A dragon?" she utters almost in unison with Darnak. "This tournament is sounding more fun by the minute!" she elaborates instead, cracking her knuckles.
As she watches Risha walk away, Ahnika seems vaguely amused by the whole ordeal, especially by D's clumsy attempts at flirting.
"On second thought, D, keep doing what you were doing before" she says with only the vaguest hint of a smile on her lips. "It's obvious your belligerency wasn't making us as many enemies as your charm."
With no-one else left to converse with, Ahnika leaves her seat and starts mingling with the crowd, keen on asseing the competition's mettle by challenging anyone willing to a friendly armwrestling competition.