Zapley nods eagerly and goes to rummage though a pile. She emerges soon with an old, scratched up pane of glass. She points at herself and positions the glass between you and her, then points at you. Then she smashes the window with her fist sends bits of chunked glass all over you.
"World Window yes?" she asks, matter-a-factly.
And Zapley answer for Kick-Lick as well.
"Big demon probalby Rakdos. Lots of demon party. Too much party for Zapley. Also very violent. Very easy to die.
What sounded as an impossible task seems to remain so as you enter the main room which has almost every seat filled. There are all sorts here, in all sizes of groups, and in different levels of moods.
With your perceptive eyes however, you do pick up some notable targets.
There is a large, boisterous working man surrounded by many other men who are all laughing, cajoling, and are setting the high bar of merriment. In front of him is several stack of chicken legs. He spots you in your attire and demands from you.
"More mead my good sir! Hurry it up and you'll find a silver in your pocket by tonights end!"
Then there is a much more pretentious older man, who seems to be conversing covertly with a rather buxom young woman and healthy young man. In front of him is a single mug of mead, and what seems to be soup. He catches your eye and calls you over.
"I'll have another bowl, and two more glasses for my associates here."
Another patron that catches your eye. A rather strung out mother who is trying to control her children.
"Peter! Matilda! Yorick! Ashton! Stop quibbling and get over here this instant!"
One girl and her three brothers run up to her, but are still in a bubbly mood. The mother herself looks frantic, and the cups infront of all of them signify the water they're drinking.
You feel a tug at you side.
A small girl looks up to you with a big smile.
"Momma says that she wants the special tonight."
She then giggles, and hurries to the table, pushing aside one brother and sister to make room for herself.
Dawncaller nods and says "Nice hit. Your boyfriend must be real proud of you." and then swings his sword at the vampire.
Fascinated by the theory Tes almost forgets about her Ally, "Still, we need to rescue Vitrius. This place may be dangerous but we will have the advantage as they do not know we are coming. You know how to get into their location Zapley?"
Vitrius smiles at the little girl and nods to each of the men to indicate that he has heard them. He didn't have much time to choose, but he quickly went through each of them. The mother he noted out right away, she is barely the boss of her own children, let alone anything else. He would come to her later with the special however. The loud man was his first thought, but with the food and company, he seemed more a visiting noble. The other older man, the cool and collected one seemed to fit the bill. Succinct with his words and conducting his business eloquently.
Vitrius came over to his table first.
"One more bowl of soup and two glasses for your associates, right away." He serves them first and then will go to the back and retrieve the required food and drink before moving to the next table. He finds the man that sent him out there and says, "The table with the mother wants the special and I'm going to need some mead for my next go around."
Your blow is heavy and sure, and you can feel the armor and bone cracking under the weight of your attack.
Your opponent collapses in front of you, and the crowd cheers in response. You lift your shield and sword as you have done countless times before, and the cheering goes on and on and....
Wait....
Razda....isn't cheering....
You quickly turn your head just in time to see a sword coming right for you head. You fall back and tumble a few feet away. When you look back to your opponant, you see the armor has fallen away, his skin is pale and sickly, but its veins are bulging. It grasps it's sword more like a club, and lumbers toward you.
And then it shrieks!
Make a Wisdom DC 14. If you fail, a ripping, sonorous sound echoes in your head giving you disadvantage on all attacks [which effectively cancels out your current advantage]. You all take 6 sonic damage, which cut in half = 3 damage.
Zapley shakes her head.
"Window where ever you want to throw rock or fist. And Zapley nono go to Rakdos. Simic okay, but Rakdos really dangerous. I can draw map, but no go meself."
The man gives you an odd look, and makes a shooing motion.
"What do I look like, the chef? Go to the kitchen next door."
Dawncaller is blown back by the force if the scream; a little blood trickles from his nose, which is wipes distractedly with the back of his swordhand. He then spins his sword around his massive hand 3 times (which the audience would recognize as his "I'm done messing around" signature) and then he crouches low and propels himself like a javelin towards the heart of his enemy.
Vitrius nods and goes to the kitchen and repeats the order, once he has what he needs he returns to the man with the two associates. "Your soup and two glasses for your friends. "" Vitrius was used to serving, but this wasn't his forte. He waited a moment for any indication that this was the right man.
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"Do the Rakdos have enemies that would aid us here if for no other reason that to strike at the Rakdos Zapley?"
The creature screams as your sword plunges into its chest, and thick goops of black tar like substance begin to ooze out of it. And the tar begins to sizzle, the sizzling turns to bubbling, and the bubbling turns to hissing smog. You soon realize whatever this thing has turned into, it has begun to eat away at your sword!
You have a reaction here. You can either leave your sword in its chest, risking it breaking but preventing the creature from moving giving it a penalty in AC and movement, or you can use your other hand or foot to push away the creatures and free your sword, but taking damage in the process.
The creature for its turn lifts its blade, now covered in the thick black goo, and swings down on you.
Dawncaller is up!
"Nononono. Window for me. Prove thesis to Izzet Council. Get more material for esperiment."
"Rakdos no like any guild. But most guild no like any guild. No one want to start guild war. Maybe former guild merceny?"
The pretentious old man looks pleased as you serve the soup.
"I don't know how he does it but the cook here really knows his spices. Such a pleasant meal, it reminds me of home."
His two associates thank you for their glasses and proceed to go back to talking. From what you can tell as you slink off, it seems they are approaching him in hopes of a donation for a local food pantry in this sector of the city.
Dawncaller will put his foot on the creature's chest and with a heave shove it back, pulling out his sword in the process. He then swings his blade at the creature's neck, hoping to decapitate it.
And with that move, that powerful swing that seems to carve the very air itself into a vacuum, you slice off the creatures head, which flies through the air and lands on the floor. Its body stands there still reaching for you, but then goes limp, and falls to the floor.
Silence.
And then the massive applause from the audience nearly deafens you as they raise hell to your glory.
The boisterous man grins broadly as you approach, and holds aloft his empty mug.
"More mead!." he demands and his six friends cheer and raise their own mugs.
There are jokes and stories being told, and the redness of their cheeks betray how much drink they've had.
As the abomination falls, Dawncaller is quiet, for just a moment. Then, he jubilantly raises his blade above his head and lets out a primal roar, made of anger, sadness, and joy. As his roar echoes through the arena, Dawncaller will collect the creature's head and present it to the arena master with a bow.
Zapley shakes her head.
"Need time to calibrate machin. Better if you all here. Go get friend, come back, me go zap zap, you get paid."
Zapley points you in the general direction of the Rakdos segment she believes your friends are in. It takes about a couple hours to reach the place, but you start to see the streets become a bit dirtier, the people a bit seedier, and the crowds more wild and raucous.
There are interesting shops, what are obviously whore-houses, and an interesting haze lingering in the alley's. Every now and then you hear a loud cheering in the distance.
You are surprised as the head is slapped out of your hands and before you know it the Arena Master has embraced in a burly man hug. When he pulls back, you see pride in his eyes, for you, someone who has made it out of the arean alive, as his mettle was tested again and again. You had heard rumors that the current Arena Master had climbed up from the dregs as well, but you had never confirmed it.
The roar of the crowd is not dimmed by this display of emotion, and even Razda is staning, politely clapping to your victory.
---[later]---
You are back in your room, your belongings packed, and your freedom waiting for you. The Arena Master has asked you if you wanted to do anything before you left as you would only be allowed re-entry as a participant.
It takes a few minutes, but the cook sends out the order, a nice looking pie with a meaty fragrance wafting from it. Not bad indeed.
The mother spots you with food and looks hopeful as she struggles with the six children romping about.
"Peter! Matilda! Yorick! Ashton! Riktor! All of you settle down this instant!"
Tes nods at Kick's comments. "I think you will be ok but I should probably place a hood or something to hide my face, you too Kala, else we attract the wrong sort of attention at this place".
The three of you look around and soon you find a clothing store. While most of its wares are much more revealing than to any of your tastes, they do have suitable pieces that will hide you identities for most prying eyes. It just takes a quick distraction and a quick pull and Kick-Lick is out the door with the shopkeep none the wiser.
With your coverings donned, you are about to make your way to the coliseum when you see someone trying to catch your attention. He looks a bit seedy, and as he smiles you can see he is missing a few teeth.
Still, he is waving you over as if he has something for you.
The mother gives you a grateful look as she hurridly takes the dishes and begins carving out amounts for the six children at the table. More than once she has to smack the boys on their hands for not using their manners, but thankfully the two girls are well mannered enough to not make a mess and polite enough to ask for seconds which the mother dutifully doles out.
You make your way to a wall in the underground passages where many gladiators traffic through as they go to and from the arena. In it are carved the names of those who had died in the arena. No weaklings though. Only those that the survivors had deemed worthy of being remembered. As you trace some of the names carved roughly into the stone, it occurs to you that this will be the last time you tread these halls.
A silent moment.
And then you depart, leaving this part of your life behind you forever.
Its odd being on the outside, people moving about and casually passing you. Its been years since you've walked among people on the streets and still your muscles tense with the anticipation of a surprise attack as bystanders pass you by.
Dawncaller blinks in the sunlight, shoulders his meager belongings, and just...walks. He picks a direction and goes until he finds something that interests him.
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Kala briefly considers donning a totem armor to both disguise herself and intimidate any thugs that might be sizing them up as prey. Kick-Lick obtains the disguises so quickly, that she holds off on any transformation.
When the filthy stranger beckons and Kick-Lick approaches, Kala tries to size up the man. The slaver they met didn't look like much either, but he was a powerful foe...and one that escaped. Could it be the same person?
"Yes, come! I have that which you desire."
The man motions you to follow him halfway down the alley, where a rickety stall is set up of sorts. Its wares are covered in a cloth.
Before you begin to ask for directions to the nearest library, you spot an odd set of traveler's being led down an alley.
You frown.
That was most definitely a spice dealer, someone who'd try to get them hooked on the stuff for life. You've seen your fair share of what it did to fighters in the arena who wanted the easy way out. These folks looked hesitant, like they didn't know what they were getting into.
The man shakes his head.
"What the boss sees in you, I can't even fathom. Most of our grunts could spot the boss in a couple minutes and some careful observation. Don't know what to tell you buddy. Make your choice or..."
He once again makes the slicing motion in front of his neck.
Dawncaller will attempt to stealthily enter the alley and listen to what they are being told. If they're just getting information, that'd be one thing. If he's trying to sell them on his product, I'm gonna have to step in.
Dawncaller is sure that he is well hidden.
Vitrius looks at the man and says, "Maybe you're the boss, eh? If not, I'm thinking it's the man with the rather copious amount of friends and sycophants drinking mead with him. The mother is busy with her children and the other man is dealing with a personal matter."
The stranger beckoning the Kor, Merfolk, and Goblin whips the cloth covering his meager stall, revealing several sized crystalline bottles filled with some sort of powder.
"Spice is what you seek, yes?" he asks, picking a particularly glimmering bottle.
"Spice can show you what you desire, show you what you need to see."
There's a loud CRUNCH!
The people who were led into the alley can turn around to see a large, very muscular man peering at you all as if he's completely hidden from site, not acknowledging the trashcan he accidently bumped and moved.
You know spice gives hallucinations of bliss. You also know from your time at the arena, that Razda killed one of the vampire captives but sold the other to one of the other guilds.
"Come now child, you hardly put any effort into it. Well...it doesn't mean your useless. Usefulness can be trained after all...."
You whirl around to find the speaker of the voice, her soft and higher pitched tone still dripping with disappointment, but hope. You can only assume that the person, who closes the door behind her is the "Boss" you've been seeking.
This young, little girl.
Tes looks at the hooded figure irritably before she can speak she hears the sound behind her.
She whirls around to stare at the figure a spell at the tip of her tongue waiting for the figure to make an aggressive move...
As the two people turn to face him, the stranger rose to his full height of 7' 7" and then said "Strangers, I do not think that you wish to purchase spice from this man. It clouds the mind and leads to death."
While the giant man was clearly armed with a Trident, a longsword, a Maul, and a shield, he wore no armor (indeed, he did not even wear a shirt). His head was shaven, but it appeared to have been done with a knife as opposed to someone who specialized in cutting hair. His torso sported an impressive array of scars, many of which appeared to have the hallmarks of mortal wounds.
While he obviously lacked training to anyone who was trained themselves, it was clear that he was attempting to be diplomatic.
The man then continued speaking: "Or, if you wish is to purchase spice, then by all means proceed. It just seemed as though you might be new here and did not know what spice is. I'm sorry if that is not the case. Either way, I would decide before this man's friends show up to rob your drugged bodies."
The large man then stood there, awaiting the group's response.
The man considers for a moment then says "Yes, one could. I believe it is typically snorted, but you could put it in someone's drink." Turning to the Spice vendor, he will add "Isn't that right?"
Vitrius, somewhat surprised, turns around and gives a small bow to the diminutive woman. "Forgive my ignorance. I am at a loss as to even where I am. Though it seems friendly enough, no one has scoffed at my appearance. " He half smiles, showing one of his fangs.
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"We've not come here for the market. We're looking for someone." Kala shifts to stand back to back with Tes, so they can keep an eye on both the large stranger and the merchant. She nudges Tes so they turn and she can come face to face with the goliath herself. Her eyes pass over his body, noting the veritable armory he keeps, but looking specifically for guild signets, Rakdos or otherwise.
"Why were you following us?" Kala locks her eyes to his, trying to read his intentions. True altruism is rare anywhere, and here in the Rakdos section of the city? What is he after?
"I saw you going into the back alley with a spice dealer. I figured you might be out of your depth, and you should know all the rules of a match before you participate."
The large man has no guild signets or brands of any kind.
"As for your friend, maybe I've seen him in the arena? Tell me what he looks like and I'll tell you what I know."
The spice dealer looks annoyed, rubbing his bony hands in worry as he listens to Dawncaller list off his warnings.
"I am but a simple spice merchant, letting those who wish to dream do so..." he protests. "I do not expect an honored gladiator such as Dawncaller here will understand the pain that we lesser citizens must live with each day..."
He leans in and whispers to Tes, Kala, and Kick-Lick.
The spice dealer whispers to you...
"I would not trust this man....he has slaughtered thousands for the screaming crowds and even today has put and undead abomination to death....He seems like one who will make his will overbearing on you all."
Kala, insight still in effect, you feel that he is making up a lot of stuff, but some of that is built on kernels of truth.
The little girl chuckles, and she hops onto the table in the room, swinging her legs back and forth as a normal child would. But this isn't a normal child. In the span of a blink, you don't realize it but a change has occurred. It takes you a few moments but you slowly realize that there is a very lovely woman sitting on the table, swinging her legs, where the child should be.
Then it's an overweight cook. Then its a poor beggar boy. Then its a Rakdos Guard.
Then it's you.
"What to do, what to do..." you hear the boss muse in your voice. "I admit, I gave you one of the harder tests for starting members....Hmmmm....I guess this is the part where you tell me why you were worth the money I paid to Razda for you."
"I am gladiator no more, having won my freedom." To Kick-lick he will add "Was your friend a beastman of some kind or a creature of the night? If it is the latter, I know that there were 2 vampires of note in the arena within the last few days."
"If your friend is the one that I'm thinking of, he fought in the arena a couple of days ago. They fought the champion and then the vampire to who did not continually threaten Razda was sold to one of the other guilds. I could take you to the arena and ask one of the guards I know there if they could at least tell us what guild he was sold to. And yes, my slave name was Dawncaller."
The spice seller smiles, tapping his bony fingers together. he reaches into his long drooping sleeve and pulls out a small paper fold, its inside most likely filled with a small amount of spice.
"For first-time customers....5 gp, a bargain from the usual price."
The you sitting on the table frowns.
"Is that what she's calling me?" you hear your copy say, still a very strange thing.
"Gods your an idiot. If only you could admit it...." Your copy thinks to himself. Smiles.
"Gods I'm an idiot." you hear your copy say in your voice. He smiles and chuckles to himself, amused at his small joke.
"Anyway. It's more accurate to say that Razda is the lioness that serves as the sift to test the true mettle of possible recruits. Those that don't understand the rules of Ravnica or lose her interest are passed along, or usually killed in the process...."
He stops, as he wanders back to the main topic.
"Speaking of which...you showed promise....and I thought this little test would be easy, but I've been proven wrong, and I don't like to be wrong. Tell me Vitrius, what is it you desire?"
"Well, then, it seems that you do not need my help after all. Good luck."
Dawncaller turns to leave, and realizes that he somehow managed to get caught up in his surroundings. he begins freeing his gear.