”Damn fool event really, but at least it’s entertainment.”
Reeling from the hit, Teledoros pushes in close to Amphitryon, leaning inside easy striking distance, and lilts out a few short notes. He gambles on being able to maintain focus on casting this close to his opponent,
And then vanishes from sight. Measuring his steps carefully, he retreats unseen into the arena.
”Damn fool event really, but at least it’s entertainment.”
"Also, it promotes a martial culture that normalizes maintaining standing armies and local enforcement groups. Then the citizenry is more accepting of when the government uses the armies and said enforcement. It's a means of control."
Kyronai takes a sip of the hot bitter beverage called "coffee" that a nearby vendor was selling. As he sips, he peers out at the arena over the rim of his cup.
Frowning, Amphitryon cast a spell of his own. The area where he stood and everything around it suddenly grew darker as if though it was consumed by shadows. The area wasn’t yet as dark as night, but it was very dim. Dim enough to potentially befuddle an archer.
Polyoinos is once again torn betwixt the duel in the arena and the verbal sparring outwith.
"Quite the deep thinker Master Kyronai! You make an intere-"
When the combatants being to try and outmaneuver each other with magicks, the Bacchanal cuts short his own philosophical reflection to bellow his delight;
"Ho-Ho! Shadows and dust!"
Teledoros casts another spell and walks around again, repositioning.
Unable to see the archer, Amphitryon hunkered down behind his shield.
This fight was not going how he expected it. Not at all. Was Teledoros even still in the arena? He couldn’t tell. But he also wasn’t willing to give away his position should a hail of arrows be incoming.
"You know, someone should have explained to the combatants that the intent is for the fight to be a spectacle. Darkness and Invisibility have no place in such a presentation, as they severely cut down on the crowd's ability observe the combatants, and defeat the purpose!"
"Yes, I'm sure most here would agree with you."
Polyoinos pauses, looking quizzically at dwarven seapriest, then to Kyronai;
"No place my friends? No Place?! One must keep the essence of mystery and allure... Much like wooing a wench or performing to a audience... Keep a degree of mystery! Keep them wondering and wanting more!"
He raises his wineskin anew in a toast anew!
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Teledoros spends another round mucking about with spellcasting, ominously saying "My bow strikes as Zeus's lightning!" before scuttling off invisibly again.
Finally, after 18 seconds he reappears 10 feet away from Amphitryon and fires off a couple arrows.
Amphitryon took the arrow straight to the chest. If not for his thick armor he would certainly have been laid out by the shot. He staggered backwards, coughing in pain and surprise. But he got his footing, and stepped right back in to the attack.
The stab didn’t quite connect as well as his first blow. The pain in his own chest might have been the cause for that. But at least it hit.
Amphitryon lands another solid blow and Teledoros goes down!
The crowd goes dead once the combatants use magic to obscure their view of the action. Once that stops and the pair go at it again, the crowd picks back up. They cheer the loudest when Amphitryon downs Teledoros. "And we have our winner! That means the finals will be between Urza and Amphitryon!" The attendants drag the downed archer out and tend to his wounds. The shadow warrior stays in the ring as he is healed of his wounds by some attendants as Urza walks in. She glares with stone cold determination.
The Amazon reacts first and charges at Amphitryon!
Amphitryon saluted his friend as he was dragged away. A sign of earned respect.
When the second foe came in, he took up a defensive stance. He was glad for the healing, though the dent on his breastplate was a reminder of how close he had come to being eliminated.
The Amazonian charged, and he parried the sword with his shield.
Braced as he was, she all but ran into his spear. It was a clean blow, but he was under no illusions of it bringing her down. After making contact he circled around her, his shield raised, waiting for the next opening.
”No way I would pay for this sort of entertainment.”
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Polyoinos once again raises his cup in salute, then chuckles bawdily at Varocles' comment;
"Har! What pray tell would you pay for Son of Poseidon?"
Revelling in the atmosphere of the crowd, the well-built skald gestures toward the combatants;
"A man and woman... Evenly matched... One a lithe and comely warrior... the other an Amazon! Ho-Ho!"
He drinks some more and bellows some keen strategy;
"What would I pay for? You can't go wrong with alcohol in most of its forms, to be sure."
Amphitryon scores a telling blow and Urza decides to rethink her strategy. She puts his sword up as she takes a defensive stance.
Amphitryon saw her go on the defensive. He circled around her, watching as she turned to face him with her sword ready to parry. He waited until the sun was at his back, and thus in her eyes...
Both times Amphitryon's strikes landed, Kyronai clenched his fist in a silent cheer at his brother's successes.
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Once he's back to consciousness, Teledoros joins the rest of his friends and, considering the theme of the day, begins to sing a hymn to Ares.
Ares haughty in spirit, heavy on chariot, golden-helmed;
grim-hearted, shieldbearer, city savior, bronze-armored;
tough of arm, untiring, spear-strong, bulwark of Olympus;
father of Victory in the good fight, ally of Law;
oppressor of the rebellious, leader of the righteous;
sceptred king of manliness, as you wheel your fiery circle
among the seven coursing lights of the ether, where your
flaming steeds ever keep you up on the third orbit;
hearken, helper of mankind, giver of brave young manhood …
Polyoinos chuckles at Varocles' response, clapping the briney dwarf on the shoulder;
"What would you pay for..? Ho-ho.. A dwarf of the world like yourself..."
He winks with a sardonic smile;
"The three fates of Wine, Women and Dice have been known to part an eager man and his coin eh?"
At Teledoros' hymn he drinks in the bards words with a blissful grin, the toasts him;
"Gracious in defeat. Gracious in song my friend! Now let us drink to another who may yet triumph; Amphitryon! Amphitryon!"
Varocles shakes his head, "so let me get this straight, you join this little spectacle of martial prowess, in order to impress the ladies, but when that doesn't work, you'll simply rent their affections for some portion of an hour? No, as for me, wine and dice, for sure, but the women flock to the likes of me, no cash arrangement needed."
Polyoinos bellows a laugh, roughly clapping Varocles once again;
"Ho-Ho! I took you for a Son of Poseidon, not one of Aphrodite's bless'ed! I will watch you fend them off like flies from the honey gourd eh? As for what this is..."
The heavy set skald grins, arms outstretched toward all aspects of the festival surrounding them;
"... This is the Thesmophoria! Imbibe! Savour! Buy! Sell! but above all else Participate!"
Varocles holds up his mug full of some lukewarm alcoholic version of coffee, ”I’m trying!”
Despite her defensive stance Amphitryon is able to land a blow. Anyone else would be dropped by it but the diehard amazon still stands. She stands firm in a defensive stance.
Seeing her go completely into defense, Amphitryon pressed the attack. He took a step forward, used his shield to try and knock aside her blade, and then stabbed with his spear.
Urza's luck has finally turned as her defensive stance is effective at parrying Amphitryon's offense. She slashes her blade forward.
Her luck had indeed turned. So confident was he that the last blow would land, that he barely managed to bring his shield up in time to parry her attack. It was now he who was on the back foot.
Urza easily dodges the blow and tries for one of her own.
Amphitryon sidestepped the blow...and slipped as he did so. Her attack missed, but he could only stay on his feet, rather than striking back.
The action is fast paced as the opponents parry each blow, Urza shifts her footing as Ampitryon slips and she strikes.
Taking a solid blow, Amphitryon fell down to one knee. Gritting his teeth, he surged to his feet and stabbed his spear up at the Amazonian.
Amphitryon counters the successful blow by Urza with his own and finally drops the Amazon as she staggers and falls to the floor unconscious. "And we have our winner, Amphitryon the Shadow Warrior!" The crowd loses their proverbial minds as they cheer for him. "That's all folks! We will see you later tonight for the championship ceremony!" As the half-elf walks out the arena, spectators clamor to him to congratulate him or for his autograph.
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Grinning from ear to ear Amphitryon tossed his spear away, causing it to dissolve into shadows. As he did so, he muttered an incantation, causing himself to wreathed in green flame.
”And remember!” He shouted. ”If you want the best, pay for it! The Silverstar Company!”
With the fighting done, he lifted the unconscious Amazonian and carried her through the press of people and to the healers. Both for her and himself, given how hard she had hit him.
——
Once he finally extracted himself, he forced his way to his friends. Still beaming a smile he said ”And I return! With my shield, and not on it. Shall we celebrate the blessing of luck laughing gods bestowed?”
"Well done!" Kyronai enthuses to his brother. "Father will be pleased when he hears about your endorsement.
"Um, later... we should talk about the Company. I have news. But after your celebration."
"Well done! It seems I owe you drinks. Perhaps I can convince the crowd to pay for them."
Teledoros tries to find a good spot near the crowd to set up with his lyre, a sack for coins, and he starts busking while there are people still about. He picks songs to appeal to the crowd, and especially plays up the performance for any young ladies in the crowd.
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Teledoros plays for the crowd and earns gold! The rest of the day is filled with buzz and excitement. No one can stop talking about this years champion Amphitryon! Later that evening everyone gathers in the middle of the city for the ceremony. On the stage is the announcer, along with the runner-up Urza and the champion Amphitryon. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! All of Greece is proud to present your new Heavyweight Champion of the World! The Shadow Warrior, AMPHITRYON!" Massive cheers erupt from the crowd for minutes. The announcer starts to speak again once the crowd dies down. "And to introduce your prize is the one, the only, Hercules!!!" The crowd again erupts until an attendant runs up to the stage to whisper in the announcer's ear. "Uh, apparently the great one is off on an adventure so we have his half-brother Iphicles!" The crowd is far less enthusiastic with their cheering as a large dark-haired man walks onto the stage with a well-crafted belt with a large gold plate on the front. He presents it to Amphitryon and raises the half-elf's hand in celebration of his victory before nodding to him and walking off stage to let the winner bask in his glory.
Amphitryon took the belt and raised it over his head, grinning from ear to ear. While he doubted that he was really the champion of the entire world, he was more than happy to be a hero for a day. Perhaps now he’d finally earn a place in formation closer to the front. Perhaps even the first rank? He knew it was a long shot, but he was allowed to dream. Snapping back to the moment, he waved to the crowd, hoping that his traditional armor would engender him to the people.
When nobody is paying attention, Kyronai casts detect magic on the belt.
Afterwards all anyone can talk about is the new champion. Warriors ask him for tips and advice while ensuring that he never had to buy for a drink or food. The night passes with much revelry until the morning. As the first of the group wakes and ventures into the common area of the inn, they see the job board with a pair of new notes nailed to it.
There is a large boar terrorizing our farmlands and we do not have the might to slay it. Along with directions to the farm which lies a few miles south of Athens.
A bunch of dirty centaurs have taken my daughter and are doing Olympus-knows-what with her. Please save my little girl! The rough directions to where the centaur camps are written down and they appear to be more than a few miles north.
Varocles would have congratulated the winner, and of course participated in any revelry that ensued.
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The next day, Amphitryon felt like a hero. So much so, that he came to his companions with the note he had found.
A bunch of dirty centaurs have taken my daughter and are doing Olympus-knows-what with her. Please save my little girl!
”Friends, if anyone should be doing Olympus-knows-what with a farmer’s daughter, it should be with a hero like me and with her consent. We should rescue her. For what is the point of playing with wooden spears if we drink away our days while something like this happens?”
Polyoinos, now deep in his cups, claps and whistles loudly at the winner's ceremony.
Grinning he attempts to placate the vanquished loser Urza, offering to "console" the amazon with honeyed words...
"You are just like the like the sweet apple reddening at the highest branch, and missed by the apple pickers!"
"Yet no!"
"They did not miss you!"
"They just could not reach so high..."
:
Regardless of his success (or lack thereof) the skald breakfasts on cheese, porridge and wine as the group mull their next adventure...
"Ho-Ho! Two trials beckon my fellow Argonauts! The rescuing the maiden and her virtue does seem the most appetizing..."
Kyronai spends the night fruitlessly debating with drunks about a more equitable means of governing Athens. He barely manages to avoid a fistfight.
The next morning, he is eager to facilitate a reason for Amphitryon to journey, so he supports the idea of rescuing this woman.
"I dont see why we're sitting around talking about it while she's still out there. Let's go!" Teledoros hitches up his pack, tightens his sandals, and heads for the door.