Eris can easily spot Maxwell sitting alongside the other Council members, the Gray Mage in the robe. All the Mantises are able to put eyes on their targets. Yalla the gnomish druid looks more fey than gnome, and Thrüsk looks incredibly formidible and imposing. They all seem to be focusing intently upon the contest.
Daggermark's champion, Ilraith Valadhkani is chosen next. He eyes Sa'Kage with narrowed eyes once, then turns his attention to the targets.
Ilraith surreptitiously substituted the tournament arrows with a set from his haversack.
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All of Ilraith's arrows strike their targets, though none are bullseyes, and he finishes with two rounds to spare, earning him 28 points!
The crowds erupt into cheers until Alecia steps over to the Daggermark champion and reaches into his pack only to pull out six tournament arrows. The crowd hushes and murmurs while Ilraith sputters in his defense. After a few minutes of investigation, it's revealed that the arrows he substituted had adamantine points painted to look like ordinary steel.
Disqualified, the Daggermark entrant slinks off. Alecia looks over to Kage and gives him a wink.
Gralton's entrant, Florante Mayank is a female half-elf. She steps up and eyes the targets with intense concentration.
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Kage's high score forced her to aim at the red target. She took a deliberate pace, sending one arrow at a time, but her third arrow just barely went wide. Her last arrow was so close to the bullseye a judge had to run up to the target and inspect it, but unfortunately it was just outside the coveted spot. Florante's total ends up at 25.
Alecia Orlovsky is the final entrant. She blows lightly on her fingers as she picks up her tournament bow. She, too, aims at the red target, taking a single shot each round.
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With keen precision, Alecia sends shaft after shaft unerringly, scoring a perfect bullseye on her third hit. Her final shaft goes wide, but it hardly matters, because she ends the round with and a whopping 35 points!
The crowd is slightly tepid in its cheers for the representative of the upstart nation, until Irovetti stands and begins clapping forcefully. The crowd then begin to get into it, cheering more earnestly in response to their king.
Lucien congratulates all of the contestants. He makes positive comment about each one. Some will be rude or dismissive, but that does not matter to him.
- Tymon set the bar high for all the other competitors.
- Koth's powerful shots are impressive.
- Navarathna fired with lightning speed and accuracy.
- Ilraith was skilled and Lucien doesn't understand why he felt the need to cheat.
- Florante's focus is unparalleled.
- Alecia's ability is obvious and unquestionable. Plus, her good character is in view to all in attendance.
- Rubens (Kage) surprises Lucien with his archery skill. "I had no idea you had such skill at archery."
Irovetti comes down from his private box to stand at the announcer's tower at one end of the colosseum. Alecia Orlovsky is judged the winner of the archery tournament, giving the kingdom of Emeraldvale a first place finish. He places a gold medal around her neck, and the "Arrow of Rushlight", an arrow that has a golden continual flame burning along its length.
Irovetti makes a nice speech about the skill of the new nation to the east, and its quick rise to prominence in the region.
Sa'Kage, er, Rubens, that is, is awarded second place. He receives a silver medal.
Irovetti's words about the Varisian entrants are rather caustic, laced with backhanded compliments about nobles coming and entering contests at the last minute. Though said in a polite manner, it's easy to tell the king is not happy that he entered and worse, placed.
Irovetti's displeasure is an act.
When the awards are passed out, the remaining contestants all congratulate each other. Most of Jon's cheerful remarks are met with polite yet forced compliments of his... effort. Villimor Koth, however, just shakes his head derisively and walks away.
Alecia graciously shakes hands with Sa'Kage, congratulating him for his performance. "Well done, sir! You do your nation proud. You've come all the way from Varisia, is that right? That must have been an incredible journey."
"I had no idea you had such skill at archery."
"Surprised myself too." replied 'Rubens' easily.
Rubens watched Alecia's body language and the way she held herself during the tourney and at the ceremony. He pretends to bristle and bite his tongue at the implied insult from Iroveti, and avoids eye contact with the King.
"Well done, sir! You do your nation proud. You've come all the way from Varisia, is that right? That must have been an incredible journey."
Kage does his best to act as the gracious runner up, "Thank you my Lady your archery was superb, where as I am just a lucky amateur... It seems Desna is smiling upon me today!"
He smiles, "You're right of course Variasia is very far away. I've traveled before, but this is by far the farthest I've come. I only hope it was worth while, father wanted us to make a good impression. Alas the journey was more eventful than anticipated. I could share a few anecdotes if you'd like..."
"Tonight we celebrate the greatest archers in all the land!" Lucien's gesture takes in not only Sa'kage and Alecia, but also any of the other contestants in the area. He turns to Maxwell Arneson. "I'm not familiar with the city. Can you suggest a good place to celebrate tonight?"
Eris tends to drift after the competition had been completed and the winners announced. She keeps an eye out for any other Purple Ladies, or others with similar talents, and situates herself closer to where they might be standing, but otherwise begins to edge off towards a tavern, or wherever the winners might take their celebrations next, in keeping with the role she was playing.
Alicia smiles in thanks for the compliment. Up close, you can see that her chocolate brown hair has a few streaks of early gray, but she is still several years from slowing down due to age. Her dark eyes regard Rubens. "That sounds like fun. Sure, I'd like to hear about your travels."
Before they can set a date, the rest of the Council reach the stage and are congratulating Alicia, then the other archers.
Maxwell smiles gregariously at Lucien, but shakes his head. "I'm not very familiar either. I'm planning on staying at the festival, and seeing what celebrations are here."
Eris notices several ladies around, chatting up men, some of whom are wearing purple sashes, scarves, or other accessories. A pair slink up to the stage and begin draping the contestants with flower wreaths.
As a particularly attractive woman with mismatched eyes places a garland over 'Lucien's' neck, Maxwell gives him a knowing smile. "Looks like you may have found a better guide than me!"
As the congratulatory gathering begins to wind down, a couple of the flower-bearing ladies let out a shriek of fright. A large brown bear has approached the stage, much to the shock of most of the people on it. However, Alecia pushes her way through and throws her arms around it's shaggy neck. "Adams! You just couldn't stay away from momma, could you? Noo," she coos while nuzzling the great bear like it was a cute puppy.
Alenaya makes her way up to the stage, likewise applauding the victors. She gradually makes her way towards the robed man, the probable necromancer, until she just so happens to find herself beside him. ”Your friend is a fine shot,” she says casually.
Lucien begins to move toward the furred intruder when Alecia surprises him by starting to grapple it... er greats it warmly. "This is more amazing than I thought it would be. I'll remember this forever." He goes back to Maxwell. "It looks like we'll need a place with lot of space and a lot of meat."
Kage wasn't against the idea of pets, per se. Nothing wrong with a good hunting dog, or a cat, or even a pool full of piranhas. Each had a place and their uses. A pet brown bear was just weird, and likely rather dangerous...
Trying to play it cool, Kage exclaims, "Adams is it? Oh my, isn't he wonderful. To have a wild creature behave like that, you are truly blessed!"
Alenaya -- Alizee, that is -- gets a good look at the man beneath the pale robes. He's not conventionally handsome, being lanky and having a very angular face and a large adam's apple. His head bobs up and down as he agrees with Alizee's assessment. "Hard to believe that's not her preferred weapon. And I don't mean the bear," he chuckles to himself. "When she pulls out those kukris, watch out."
Maxwell shakes his head vigorously when 'Lucien' mentions needing lots of meat. "No, she doesn't feed him much meat. She has the druid feed him enchanted berries. One little berry fills him up. Alecia's got him pretty well-trained." He gives Lucien a wink. "Anyone brave enough to stand in front of a crowd and shoot a bow you're not familiar with shouldn't be scared of him," he says jovially.
Alecia gives 'Rubens' a knowing smile at his professed nonchalance over her smothering attention over a bear. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all, and in fact seems to relish the attention she receives, though Adams' presence has thinned the crowd rather effectively.
The winners, their friends and those willing to brave the presence of the bear begin moving in a direction toward the pavilion tents. Rubens is only able to get an abbreviated portion of his tale out before her attention is called by Yalla. "Hold that thought-- I want to hear it!" she says before she joggs over to the gnomish druid and engages her in a quiet, brief conversation.
”Really? I’ve never seen someone fight with, what did you call them?” Alenaya says curiously. ”I’m sorry, I’ve lost my manners in this festive air. My name is Alizee,” she says as she holds out a hand to the man. ”I came from Varisia with my traveling associates there,” she says as she nods towards “Lucien” and “Rubens.” ”I make a living in the trade of exotic animals. And you are?”
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The gaunt man accepts Alizee's story without question. He takes her hand and gives it a formal shake after transferring his staff from his right to his left. "Ah, yes. The nobles of Varisia who came out of seemingly nowhere and have taken the Festival by storm. Or, at least, caused King Irovetti some mild consternation." He grins. "Something that I find most amusing."
After a pause where Alizee's question about who he is lingers in the air unanswered, he sighs. "I have had to give up my name. It's rather complicated, and ultimately nothing I care to explain in detail. I am known as the Gray Mage. If you feel you must address me directly, 'Gray' will suffice, though I have answered to 'Wizard', 'Mage', and 'Hey You' on occassion.
"So what sort of exotic animals are in Varisia?"
Rubins seems happy to let Alecia and have Yalla have a quiet word. While they do so he nurses a drink and appears content to wait. In reality he was listening in, he was bred for sharp senses and had been extensively trained in espionage.
“Alizee” shrugs. ”Oh, all sorts of things. Wyverns. Rocs. Poisonous frogs and scorpions and such. A wide variety collectors are willing to buy, or nobles looking for something to claim as a “trophy” when they have little skill at taking such animals themselves. But who am I to judge? I am, myself, no great hunter either. I’m just a broker. To be honest, Mr. Grey, half of them I don’t even bother to learn the animals real names. Usually local monikers and a good story is enough to arrange a deal.”
She offers her arm to him in invitation for her to join his company to continue talking. ”a man of mystery! I like that! But I won’t pry...for now,” she says with a wink. ”So tell me, are there any interesting creatures from your part of the world?”
The gnome calmly speaks to Alicia. "I'm sorry I missed your performance. I got another animal messenger."
"That's all right. You only missed the best shot of my life," the ranger quips. "But it is fine. Any news?"
Yalla shakes her head. "All's quiet. Everything's calm along the border."
Alecia sighs. "I still don't trust Irovetti, but maybe he does want to become good neighbors. He's certainly putting up a convincing front if he's not."
"Well, the Varisians certainly have annoyed him."
"Right. Rubins seems nice enough -- he squirms so cutely when he's around Adams. Maybe I'll see more of him."
Yalla raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, but remember--"
"I'll be careful. I'm not about to forget that."
Their conversation finished, Alecia gets another cup filled with the special festival cider, and rejoins Rubins.
=============
Gray takes Alizee's arm and escorts her as the throng of people make their way from the coliseum. He listens and nods as she recounts her business.
When she asks him about creatures in his part of the world, he chuckles. "There are a rather large population of owlbears here. We've had to fight no fewer than five since we were tasked with taming the lands of our new home. Let's see... tatzlwyrms, hodags, river drakes and carnivorous plants. There's also been trolls and a fair amount of fey -- though I wouldn't recommend trying to buy and sell that type of creature," he adds with a brief chuckle, but he stops quickly and looks to see if she finds that amusing.
“Alizee” giggles, and playfully slaps Grey’s arm. ”Of course not! That’d be tantamount to slavery! But, these Owlbears and Ta...Tatzylwyrms? Those sound interesting. I’ve heard about owlbears, but never the other one. Have you seen one?”
"You know, I just realized that I never introduced myself. I am Lucien Laniston of Magnimar. I've traveled far to have a magnificent time and meet interesting people. Tell me, are you interesting? Tell me of yourself."
Eris proceeds to move closer to where the celebrations are at, mingling with the crowd and casually striking up conversation with the various patrons.
When Alecia returns to Rubins' side he hands her a cocktail from a passing waiter and tries a new tack. With a gleam in his eye he says, "So there we where sailing out of Caliphas across Lake Encarthan bound for the River Seldrin and then onto Pitax by way of Iadara. A straightforward if long journey, or so we thought. It's one the skipper of the boat Jameson had done countless times before. Anyway we'd been advised that anyone who sails across Lake Encarthan is likely to encounter a bit of weather. Fine we thought, we've sailed on the inner sea before, how bad could things possibly get on what is essentially just a big lake?" He looks her in the eye and shakes his head with a sigh, "The first few days where plain sailing, with a brisk wind but little swell. I dare say I was staring to enjoy it when we saw the storm approaching from the north. A great angry anvil shaped thing, with clouds that where almost pitch black except for the flashing of lightning below. The damnedest thing is the whole cloud front was was slowly rotating. We should have terrified by that, but we just thought it funny. Lucien told me it reminded him of a spinning top. The skipper gave the storm a sour look and tacked south then west, it was as if the cloud was following us. And as it got closer we realized just how big it was, and then the squalls started to get stronger and stronger and the waves bigger and bigger until they where like mountains. We where as sick as dogs, it was awful! It got worse though, the cry went up of 'Water spout! and the crew went nuts, battening down everything and taking the sails lest they rip. I'd like to claim I saw it, that I stood there on the deck among the howling wind and spray, that I stared down the storm." Kage grinned at her, "No. I was in the hold being bucked about feeling rather ill and sorry for myself. Eventually the storm passed but not without breaking the rear mast and the next morning there was this strange fog. Out of the distance we saw land and the skipper took us in for repairs. The hull was leaking and the decking was warped in places. We didn't know where we where and if we had we'd have taken our chances! It later transpired we had pulled up to some nameless cove on the Isle of Terror. It was actually pretty boring by day. We helped the crew drag a tree they'd felled to replace the mast back to the boat and we had a nice camp fire that evening. None of us slept though, due to the strange noises. You could see the firelight reflected in pairs of watching eyes in the gloom. Just animals of course, but unnerving none the less!"
He grins one more before asking, "Anyway that's quite enough about me. I came here looking for trade, we've not been terribly successful so far, perhaps you can help make it up by sharing a story or two of yours?"
Gray smiles more genuinely that Alizee seems entertained. "Seen? How about slain? Why, a head of one is mounted back at Oleg's Trading Post in Olegton. They're smaller, lesser cousins of dragons. Or, more probably, linnorms, since they're far more snakelike."
He pauses for a moment, looks briefly lost, then an idea seems to strike him. "So, most of the creatures you deal with... are venomous? Is that something that Varisians seem to like, or are there just more creatures with poison in Varisia?"
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Maxwell scoffs at Lucien. "Am I interesting? Why, I suppose that depends on whom you ask. I've done a fair share of adventuring, made a bit of coin, oh, and there's this whole thing about helping to run a country. I don't know if you being from so far away you've heard about our little strip of land called Emeraldvale -- my idea, actually, to call it that. The area used to be called the Greenbelt, but Greenvale seemed so mundane." He leans in conspiratorily. "I'll let you in on a secret. We really don't have that many emeralds."
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Eris saunters along, striking up conversations with various people as the crowd crams together to cross the footbridge over the creek that bifurcates the festival grounds. As the crowd fans out once more, she sees a small contingent of people moving toward the pavilion tent flying the Daggermark flag. She sees, along with the disqualified archer, a portly woman with a dark shawl being escorted by an extremely tall and gaunt man.
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Alecia listens to Rubins' story with rapt attention. He senses that she has no suspicions that he was spinning a false tale. When he asks for a story of her own, she looks down and hesitates briefly. "I'm not much of a storyteller. I doubt it'll be as interesting as yours."
She thinks for a few minutes, trying to decide what to tell. She finally picks one and starts. "Well, we had just founded Emeraldvale and annexed this region that contained a bit of forest. A group of loggers decided to settle there, because there was such a need for timber, what with everyone moving in and settling. So it was fine for a while, but we got word that the loggers had suddenly went missing, and their families were terrified that they may be dead.
"Well, we go into those woods, and find that the loggers had been charmed by a dryad to help defend her against an evil tree monster -- kind of like a treant, but nasty and love the taste of dryad flesh supposedly.
"So we go and, well, fight it. It's tough and Yalla is taking it all personally, but it does something to her and all of a sudden there are undead animals rising out of the ground. But that's Gray's thing, you know? So he stops them from attacking us, and finally Thrüsk gets close enough to use that double-sided axe of his and chops it down."
She passes her cup from one hand to the other as she looks down, pretty sure she's not telling the story very well. She shrugs. "So, anyway, we're friends with the dryad now, who freed the loggers, and is making sure they don't do harm to the forest."
Kage listens with rapt attention taking it all in, "Oh I don't know, I think your tale is amazing and well delivered. I mean that's like something out of legend!" He smiles at her, "How did you all meet anyway? Don't tell me it was at an inn... And the founding of a nation, now that must be quite the story!"
Kage tops her drink up as they talk.
Lucien is absolutely enthralled by Maxwell and his stories. He does his best to keep the self made nobleman talking about himself and his friends.
to counter any sense motive.
Alecia leans back shaking her head. "No, it wasn't really that amazing. I'm from Brevoy, of House Orlovsky. I was to be wed to a man eighteen years my senior to cement an alliance with the Medvyeds. I... disliked that idea. He was fine I suppose, but the Medvyeds are so dour. I couldn't see myself living in one of their dreary longhouses, when I grew up in the mountains in Eagle's Watch.
"I went south, and found myself in Restov. It wasn't more than a whim at first, something that got me further away from home. But I joined an open call for adventurers to tame the Stolen Lands. I met everyone else then, in the town hall of Restov, where we signed the charter."
She wets her throat with a long draft, then settles back in her chair. "It took a while, since the Greenbelt was pretty wild. What few good people did live there were terrorized by bandits. Once we took care of the bandit king -- who called himself the 'Stag Lord' -- we got a big surprise. The lords of Restov, which is part of Brevoy, but you can hardly tell, sends us a caravan of settlers, trade goods, and livestock, and says that they recognize us as a kingdom.
"I wasn't expecting it, but I think Maxwell knew something. He's a city boy, so him trying to make it in the wild was amusing (when he wasn't making life tougher for the rest of us), but there's no way he would have gone with us without some sort of angle."
Alecia leans back toward Rubin with a relaxed smile. "So that's it. It kind of happened. So I think the gods put us in the right spot at the right time to build something good."
Getting serious, she leans in. "So you? I'm pretty sure Varisia is a very long way. Why travel so far? And the festival is nice and all, but hardly nice enough to travel all the way across Avistan for it. I told you, so you answer me. Why are you really here?"
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Maxwell shakes his head. "I"m saving my best tale for the competition. I suppose there was the time we got involved in a war between the mites and the kobolds. The mites stole the kobolds' idol, and the mites stole some of their treasures. But the idol was worthless -- something their false shaman was using to keep himself in power. It was bloody stupid, when you get right down to it. But also really funny in hindsight."
Alizee listens in mock wonder at his recounting of the slain tatzylwyrm, ”What are they capable of? Would it be reasonable to try and capture one?”
At his inquiry, she replies ”No, not all. Just some. I just listed the first few things that came to mind is all.”
In truth Kage or should we say Rubins was a little taken aback at her sudden change of tone although awkward questions were definitely to be expected. He allows himself to sag just a little before downing a large portion of his drink and admitting, Yeah this wasn't exactly the first port of call... In fact we never really intended to come here, hoped we wouldn't have to. Only reason we're here is desperation." Feigning despondency he grabs himself another drink and tells her, "Back home every family has a business of one sort or another. Our family are spices and sometimes other small hard to obtain items. No not Pesh, we're not drug runners. Frankly we should have been." He added bitterly, "That's wildly profitable. No I'm talking spell components. Fair old market for that too, and for years it was going swell. Then some new venture pops up, starts undercutting us selling tings at half their price. Of course it wasn't new, it was the Cypermages. They want something from Father, something that made the old man cry. Wouldn't say what. Anyway this trip is the last roll of the dice after that shambols in Absolom, and we've failed." Looking dejected he explains, "The world of magical ingredient sourcing is smaller than you might think. Nobody wants to cross the Cypermages, not the Pathfinder Society or the Elves in Iadara or the collegia in Caliphas. I don't suppose anyone round here will either, but given how far away Riddle Port is..." Giving her an almost pleading look he asks, "I don't know, what do you think? Is all the world scared of a school of frankly second rate mages?"
Gray leans over and looks past Alizee's shoulder over to Thrüsk. "Ask him if you're really curious how they feel. He got it first-hand. They coil their bodies around their prey and breathe poison in their faces. More venomous creatures!" he chuckles awkwardly. "They're pretty rare. After we took out a nest early on, I don't think we've heard about any other sightings. But if you wanted to hunt the Narlmarches along the Skunk River, you might find one that we missed."
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Kage is able to sense that she doesn't buy everything about his story. She shifts a bit in her seat and drains her cup.
"Well, I've never heard of the Cyphermages here. So I don't know if they're to be feared. It seems like you've traveled far enough to escape their reach, though."
She stands up, seemingly ready to end the conversation. "I'm glad you don't deal in drugs. Make sure it stays that way, or at least a long way from Emeraldvale. It was a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on your performance today."
Rubins is outwardly happy to let her go, although inwardly irritated he didn't learn more before she inevitably became suspicious. Still the time hadn't been far from wasted.
Shrugging Rubins replies, "Alas the night was still young! Ah never mind, I enjoyed the competition and the conversation. I look forward to watching the other contests, I'll be rooting for Emeraldvale."
Lucien makes sure to keep the spirits flowing. "I've entered that contest too. I look forward to hearing your story. But surely one who's cleaved their own country out of the wilderness has interesting tales he could tell. If nothing else, what brought you together with your fellow nobles of Emeraldvale?"
Eris steals a little closer to the crowd heading towards the Daggermark tent, hoping to learn or hear a little more from the gaunt man and the women with a dark shawl. She isn't too interested in the people present, but knowing what everyone else was up to would still be useful, and besides, she didn't want to head towards the Emeraldvale tent immediately - that might be a little too predictable for her liking.
Alecia looks back and gives him a smile that cannot hide the disappointment in her eyes.
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Maxwell leans back, appraising, and ultimately decides not to be threatened by Lucien's entry in the tailspinning contest.
With an easy smile, he waves his hand in a sweeping gesture. "I can almost imagine the types of rumors you must hear about us. I myself have heard everything from diabolic pacts to some sort of fey plot."
Shaking his head soberly, he says, "Politics, my friend. Pure and simple. Politics. The lords of Restov want a powerful ally when the families of Brevoy inevitably descent into war. An empty throne and multiple familes vying for rulership? It's a powder keg, pure and simple. Restov is practically a city-state, and not aligned with any family. They're without allies.
"So they decided to make one." He finishes his drink.
============
Eris joins the coterie of Daggermark dignitaries, walking along with them for a short distance. She hears someone address the portly woman, an elderly half-elf with golden-tan skin, calling her 'Guildmistress.'
She's not with them long before a lanky human with shifty eyes looks straight at her. "You lost, luv?"
Feeling that Maxwell is losing interest in his newfound hanger on, Jon shifts Lucien's attention.
Lucien also finishes his drink. His eyes begin searching the crowd. "Well, my friend, you are more interesting than you let on, but I feel it is time to meet the acquaintance of some of these beautiful young women. I hope you understand and I look forward to speak with you tomorrow." Lucien then goes off and has a wonderful time.
"Good for you," Maxwell raises his empty cup.
He seems a little disappointed when Lucien has turned his interest to the ladies.
"Not lost, just bored" Eris responds dismissively at the shifty eyed man. She wasn't really concealing her presence, and if they wanted to have a secret meeting without her, she wasn't really bothered and would simply head off towards some of the various other festivities around the archery range.
Kage shrugged, he truly wasn't that bothered but for form's sake he told her retreating figure, "Well if you change your mind... I'm sure you'll be able to find me."
'Well isn't that interesting...' he thought.
The celebrations slow and eventually taper off as the night progresses. As everyone retires to their respective tents, the Mantises are able to secretly meet back up in their guises as nobles of Varisia.
Night falls, and everyone is able to reveal the information they have learned this evening.
Relaxing in a chair, with his feet up on the expensive table, Kage recounts the lies he wove in case anyone was asked any questions. He adds a few observations, "I'm pretty sure I could have had a rather longer evening with Alecia. I'm not sure she was fully buying my story, but she was enjoying the attention, but then she suddenly clammed up. I think there was something in particular on her mind... You see she had just had a conversation with Yalla the Gnome which I overheard, apparently Yalla receives word of their kingdom by animal messengers. One strange thing, when Alecia mentioned me, Yalla warned her about something that had happened previously. I think we should ask Irovetti if he, or anyone else for that matter, has placed a contract on them before. A couple of other tid bits, Alecia described Maxwell as a city boy, seemingly with contacts in Brevoy, the rest are from the country. Thrüsk apparently fights with a double axe, I wonder if he's one of those berserkers. We defiantly don't want to fight them united, for they managed to kill some bandit known as the Stag Lord. We should find out about him if possible."
Alenaya sits at a side desk, fiddling with her concoctions. ”Their Wizard was quite taken with me, I am sure. I might be able to arrange an invitation for us back to their city, with the right...leverage,” she says with a mischievous grin. ”To that end, Eris, you think your new friends could get me something respectable but sexy to wear tomorrow? Perhaps I could work that angle further...”
"Maxwell was talkative enough too, especially once I got him talking about himself. We have tentative plans to socialize more tomorrow. I think I can get him to tell me more about the martial skill and magical ability of his group then."
He listens to all of the reports.
"We still need to make the acquaintances of Thrusk and Yalla. I figure we know what we need to know of the half orc, but I would rather not be surprised by some hidden skill he has. Other than that, Alenya, perhaps you can brew something special for some of our newfound friends. Not for now, but for when we're out of the city."
"I made parting contact with Maxwell, but I didn't want to push things or make things too obvious, better if he chases me if possible, assuming he is into that sort of thing." Eris updates, still rather relaxed about how things had gone on her end so far. "Alenaya, I'm sure I could get you something suitably exotic to wear without too much difficulty"
Casually Kage replies, "Sorry to disappoint Eris, but I think Maxwell was more interested in Jon-Wyn..."
"Hm. I had not considered that possibility. It would make killing him easier. Thank you for your insight, Sa'Kage."
"Eris, perhaps you can draw the eye of the half-orc instead?"
The night finally ends and the next morning promises to be a pleasant day with crisp, cool air and a warm sun on the festival. Eris and Alenaya can take the trip all the way back to Pitax for clothes if they so choose, but there are numerous vendors of clothing to be found within the festival itself.
At a point shortly before the evening meal, the trumpets are sounded for the next major tournament event to be held at the coliseum. This one, a test of strength, is to determine how many logs a contestant can hew through in one minute.
Each contestant is handed their choice of a masterwork greataxe or a pair of masterwork handaxes. Six logs are placed ten feet apart, so upon destroying one log, he or she must move to the next log to start on that one. Each log chopped all the way through is worth five points, while each log just damaged is worth two.
The contestants for this match are Yegina Varudu of Daggermark, a rather small and frail woman that seems entirely out of place in a test of strength; Kilbaskian Ord of Gralton, a human who appears to favor the handaxes; Dizon Marmada of Mivon, a female dwarf; Villamor Koth of Pitax, the same impressive human who participated in the archery contest; Timsina Siraj of Tymon, a human woman with the cleric's vestments of Gorum; and of course, Thrüsk of Emeraldvale.
Kage decides to have a go at the wood chopping competition.
He didn't really have the build for this kind of thing, although there was a certain technique to do thing this. Letting gravity do it's thing was just as important as strength. He selected the great axe thinking that would be better for chopping through wood. The logs where massive and wet, and despite giving at a good go with wood chips flying, he only manages to chew through two and a half logs before the time is up. Wiping the sweat off his brow he remarks, "Wow that's hard work..."
151 hp
159 hp
His turn over he settles down to watch the other contestants, paying special attention to Thrüsk. If what he'd heard was true, Thrüsk was about to thrash his score... Kage was hoping this spectacle would give him some insight into the big man's character.
Like the day before, the young varisian nobleman walks up to the logs as waving to the crowd like he's the hero of the event. He takes several trial swings with the paired handaxes before setting himself to begin.
Activate Arcane Strike with each swing.
I'm guessing that sneak attack does not apply
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe, confirm crit: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe, confirm crit: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, non proficient, arcane strike
Handaxe: masterwork, 2wpn, off hand, non proficient, arcane strike
He gives it his best and the final swings consist of him throwing his body to one side or the other more than using his muscles to power his arms. In the end, he doesn't even make it through even one log. He is too tired to raise his arm in defeat, but he does not walk off dejected. He still has a smile on his face. After getting himself cleaned up, Lucien finds his way to Maxwell and proudly says, "That was one of the dumbest things I've ever done."