Hotcha again resists the magic!
The invisible sneak ▶️flies at him—
“Boo!” she shouts! She follows her kiai with a vicious beating!
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Hotcha's flurry leaves Joon-Seo completely stunned! He stumbles back off of the platform and plummets to the arena floor, where he lies in a daze.
Ouch. I do my best impression of a dragon roaring, then push her down the stairs again, backing away slowly and quietly. Ideally, she'll lose her bead on me.
With the fight almost won - ugh, I didn't even break a sweat! - the hobgoblin priest leans into his favorite spell and assaults the two remaining enemies with lightning.
Yog’Moi zaps both battle dancers with lightning. Esh shoves Amihan back a bit before trying to slip away. Xin demoralizes Maalya, then feints and lands one strike against her.
The battle dancer sisters continue their attacks, the faerie fire keeping Esh from sneaking very well. Both Xin and Esh take a hit.
Hotcha sneaks over to the woman atop the stairs.
“Break a leg on the stage, but not the stairs,” she whispers—
—before summoning forth her ki and striking hard!
Maalya quickly falls unconscious as Hotcha batters her and knocks her off the tower!
Hotcha finishes off the one I was fighting, and I hop down to join Xin with the last one.
Esh's critical hit leaves Amihan crippled. Bleeding, enfeebled, and outnumbered, the battle dancer wisely takes a knee to indicate her surrender.
"Three Men and a Fairy win!" Tagada Emmi declares. The crowd cheers your victory, and after the Steps of the Sun are healed and shake your hands, the tournament's proctors hand you your prize.
Three KOs! I’m not used to this… of course, that’s only because Esh was being gentle. Ha! I’ll take whatever moments I can get.
As usual, Hotcha reappears to bow to Yan Fei, Lady Qiu and her sprite guests. She then heads over to the team.
“I really love your style! Amihan, Maalya, I hope someday instead of being in the same ring, we’ll be on the same stage!”
She curtsies for the battle dancers.
Wu Xin waves to the crowd, bows to the Empress and bows to Hao Jin. Then, gathering with his teammates he says "These headbands could be of great tactical use. Esh should wear one, and either Hotcha or I the other. What do you think?"
Hotcha replies, “Well not to brag, but I’m easily the fastest of us.”
“On the other hand, Xin, you might make better use of the band, paired with Esh. In the rare moment he moves faster than I can, it’s best you’re there to flank with him.”
The next day, day five of the tournament, is the second round of the losers' bracket. The Steps of the Sun manage to defeat the Biting Roses, and against the odds, Tino's Toughest ekes out a win against the Speakers of the Wind to remain in the tournament! The Steps of the Sun and Tino's Toughest will face off again tomorrow, while you will have your first tournament match against the Lightkeepers.
The rest of the day and night pass without incident, and on day six, you prepare for your next tournament match. The wicked Lightkeepers are the second seed team in the tournament. The Gokan press and tournament watchers have crafted incredible narratives regarding both teams, painting the your party as favored by the gods or simply too good to lose and the Lightkeepers as charming rogues (at best) or despicably dirty fighters who need to be put in their place (at worst). All in all, this is a hotly anticipated fight.
Syu Tak-nwa and her cronies size you up from across the arena and Tagada Emmi soars overhead. You can feel the eyes of the crowd upon you, none more so than Empress Nai Yan Fei and Hao Jin herself.
"The time has come for the clash of champions! One of these teams will be victorious, while the other will be sent to the losers' bracket for one last chance to claw their way back to the top! Three Men and a Fairy versus the Lightkeepers! Ready? FIGHT!"
Xin's battle cry is less than impressive, but Yog'Moi's makes one of your opponents flinch!
Hotcha whispers to Esh, “Ladies first.” And not wanting to speak in code like a silly person, she clarifies: “I mean let’s flank the caster!”
Hotcha ▶️zips behind the lady with the very scary spells and attacks full force with a Ki Flurry!
If Esh is flanking with her, Hotcha strikes again!
"Ladies first."
I laugh and hurry to keep up with the spritely sprite, pulling fire to my blade and swinging as the white haired woman turns her head to try and follow Hotcha.
Hotcha and Esh quickly flank Syu Tak-nwa before she can enact her defensive spells. The faerie's flurry leaves the white-haired witch stunned, and between all of the attacks, she is in a bad way, indeed!
Ran-to the frost goblin howls as he bounds up and reaches to grab Hotcha!
He squeezes the sprite tightly as he lands, restraining her and trying to bash his head against hers! But he finds out that Hotcha is very hard-headed!
Shino Hakusa tumbles around Esh, disorienting the elf and leaving him flat-footed. She then delivers a precise punch to his pressure points!
Blue Viper moves to flank Esh, stabbing the elf with his poisoned sword!
Success: The target’s muscles become temporarily weaker. For 1 round, the target is enfeebled 2 and must succeed at a DC 5 flat check when attempting to use actions with the manipulate trait or the action is lost.
Failure: As success, but the duration is 1 minute.
Critical Failure: As success, but the duration is 1 minute, the flat check is DC 11, and the target also takes –10‑foot status penalty to their Speed for the duration.
Hotcha makes no futile escape attempt.
But as soon as Esh steps out of the way, Hotcha zaps all her foes at once!—
She ▶️energizes her wings so she’ll be mobile when she does finally get away!
A groan involuntarily forces it's way out of my mouth as I feel all strength leave my muscles. This sucks. I slip around the alchemist and unleash my fire.
The Gokan press and tournament watchers have crafted incredible narratives regarding both teams, painting the your party as favored by the gods or simply too good to lose and the Lightkeepers as charming rogues (at best) or despicably dirty fighters who need to be put in their place (at worst).
Xin double moves to flank with Hotcha and then stabs Ran-to where it hurts.
The hobgoblin curses as everyone, literally everyone, is faster to the fight. He weaves a spell of healing and douses Esh in alcoholic vapors to undo his wounds, and then quickly fills the ratman's stomach with food not even a street dog would sniff at.
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target is sickened 1, but if it spends an action to end the condition, it succeeds automatically.
Failure The target is sickened 1.
Critical Failure The target is sickened 2.
A target sickened by this spell takes a –10-foot status penalty to its Speed until it's no longer sickened.
Perhaps accustomed to eating foul food, Blue Viper resists some of Yog'Moi's spell. Xin delays a few moments as his allies unleash their area attacks. Blue Viper evades Esh's dragon breath, but both Syu Tak-nwa and Shino Hakusa are burned. Then Hotcha explodes with wrath! Syu Tak-nwa falls, and both Blue Viper and Ran-to take the full force of the blast! Xin then moves in to stab Ran-to, leaving him bleeding and enfeebled.
Ran-to howls as he spins around, smashing Hotcha against Xin, then throwing the sprite aside!
The fairy lands at Shino Hakusa's feet, and the ninja takes advantage of the opportunity by attacking Hotcha's pressure points!
Finally, Blue Viper retches to ease his stomach, then smears fresh poison on his blade and stabs at Esh.
Ran-to bleeds a bit before the wound heals.
Success: The target’s muscles become temporarily weaker. For 1 round, the target is enfeebled 2 and must succeed at a DC 5 flat check when attempting to use actions with the manipulate trait or the action is lost.
Failure: As success, but the duration is 1 minute.
Critical Failure: As success, but the duration is 1 minute, the flat check is DC 11, and the target also takes –10‑foot status penalty to their Speed for the duration.
Stupid rat. I slash at him, and take his moment of distraction to breathe and utter a short prayer to Tsukiyo for protection.
She kips up and unleashes her wrath once more!
As the fight swirls into three separate melees, Xin wants to concentrate his team's attacks on one opponent. First he assumes a confident pose, then lashes out for Ran-to's groin, switching his grip at the last second and slashing him instead across the face.
The corpulent hobgoblin chugs down a flask and burps out lightning. It builds up in strength as the pulsating crackle rides the sky, and then crashes down on their foes.
The Lightkeepers all manage to avoid some of Yog's lightning and Hotcha's blast. Esh scores a hit on Blue Viper, while Xin stabs Ran-to, slowing him down.
The goblin howls and whirls on Xin, punching him twice before grabbing him and throwing him to the ground!
Shino Hakusa tries to tumble past Hotcha, but the wily sprite blocks her attempts and dodges her flailing fist!
Meanwhile, Blue Viper stabs Esh twice!
Ran-to bleeds!
Rage and flame burn away the poison in my wounds and I rebound, stepping to the side and quickly attacking with Hidari Joho Giri and then Migi Kessa Giri.
Hotcha pulls her possibly-famous-by-now ⏩disappearing act!
Xin pretends he's going to stand, but then remains on the ground and instead stabs Ran-to in the foot.
"Here, Xin, this one's on the house. Ha!"
Ran-to resists some of Yog’Moi’s harm spell. Xin stabs the goblin in the foot twice, making him bleed even harder!
Shino Hakusa nimbly dodges Hotcha’s first strike, but the second hit clobbers her, leaving her stunned as the fairy vanishes!
Esh lands one heavy slice on Blue Viper.
Ran-to stomps and kicks at Xin, hitting him twice. Blue Viper stabs at Esh, but the elf parries each blow!
Ran-to keeps bleeding!
As much as Hotcha wants to aid Xin, ninjas don’t usually stand there seeing stars instead of throwing them.
She takes advantage—
Aware of how good a grappler is Ran-to, Xin remains on the ground, whirling and snapping in various directions with his blades.
CRITICAL HIT: the target’s armor (if any) takes 6d6 acid damage (before applying Hardness); if the target has a shield raised, the shield takes this damage instead. The acid damage dealt by this weapon ignores the target’s acid resistance.
I can feel the flow of battle changing, and go with it, grabbing the poisoner and running him through.
Clearly, Xin wants more than just one drink so Yog'Moi cracks open another jug of strong ale, and serves the Marshal one more.
Ran-to shrugs off Yog'Moi's next harm spell without effect. Xin feints against the goblin, missing with his first attack but hitting with his second.
Hotcha delivers a devastating flurry to Shino Hakusa that leaves her battered and her clothes ablaze! Meanwhile, Esh grabs a hold of Blue Viper as he slices the ysoki.
Ran-to continues to pummel Xin, trying to take out the pesky rogue!
Shino Hakusa swings blindly at Hotcha, landing a lucky hit, then she groans and sags to ground as the fire pushes her past the limits of her endurance.
Blue Viper stabs at Esh!
Ran-to stops bleeding!
With another member of the Lightkeepers down, Yog'Moi shifts from a balanced support role to a more offensive one. "I'll drink you under the table, scrub!", he barks at the frost hobgoblin as he uncorks a jug and uses its content to weave a spell of harm that attempts to strike the hobgoblin down.
He then quickly chugs down what's left inside the jug and licks his lips. Yes, sometimes life is good.
Hotcha shakes off the lucky hit, and ▶️dashes away from the ninja as she topple.
From her new position, she’s got Xin’s back figuratively—
Barely hanging on, Xin no longer needs to feint and relies on his fellow to help make Ran-to flatfooted. He indicates Ran-to's injured knee and helps to time the strike.
"Hotcha! Now!"
Esh finally takes down Blue Viper with a critical strike! Yog blasts Ran-to with his magic, then Hotcha and Xin team up for a furious combo that ends with the goblin hitting the floor, unconscious!
"Three Men and a Fairy win!" Tagada Emmi shouts. The crowd chants your names as you bask in your victory. You are now merely one win away from becoming the champions of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament!
"Ow," says Xin, trying not to limp in front of the crowd. "I think he got me a little."
Hotcha replies to Xin (while the Lightkeepers are still down), “Not to worry. We got these guys figured out now. Esh can eat poison while the witch eats my fist.
“This poor audience is just gonna see another trouncing.”
She then rises off the ground. “I gotta go see the Empress while my wings still work.” She flies to Yan Fei, as usual…
The next day, the Lightkeepers face off against Tino's Toughest in the final match of the losers' bracket. Tino’s Toughest have excelled—against all odds—in this bracket and have made it all the way to the end. A glimmer of naïve hope shines brightly in Tino’s eyes, as well as the eyes of his dear companions, as they prepare to face off against Syu Tak-nwa and her cronies.
Unfortunately, the Lightkeepers' simmering anger at their loss against you boils to the surface as the battle begins. They take out their frustration on the tournament's underdogs, resulting in an inglorious victory for themselves and a humiliating defeat for Tino and friends.
Finally, the last day of the tournament arrives! The arena is abuzz with excitement as the crowd roars for you to put the crooked Lightkeepers in their place! The battle is a fierce one, but you haven't lost a fight yet, and today will be no exception.
*SMASH!* *SLASH!* *ZAP!* *BOOM!*
The last of the enemy team falls, and the crowd goes wild as you secure your victory!
Just as Hao Jin walks into the center of the arena to declare you tournament champions, shouts of panic from the streets break through the din of the crowd’s cheers. The pavilion rumbles as a huge form rises from Xu Hong Bay to the west. Taller than any of the city’s buildings, a nightmare of saurian scales and fiery breath emerges from the water and begins to crash toward the city. Halspin the Stung, one of the fighters for the Steps of the Sun, shouts in horror from the sidelines, “It’s Mogaru, the Final King!” The final words of his scream are drowned out by an impossibly loud screech from the east—the drawing of a bow across strings, only magnified a hundredfold—and then a haunting melody of unknown provenance.
Hao Jin, dispassionately observing the chaos around her, snaps to rigid attention at the sound of the music. “Syndara, you fool,” she mutters under her breath. “What have you done?” Then the Ruby Phoenix raises her voice to the competitors, her hair rising like flames to punctuate her words. “Mogaru is not here by chance. I will deal with the one who sent him here. Please, warriors all, do what you can to divert Mogaru’s attention away from the people, but do not try to fight him! Even I don’t dare face the Final King directly. Of course your departure won’t disqualify you from winning my prize. We will settle the matter later.” With that, she touches the moon-shaped jade necklace around her throat, utters a word, and is instantly teleported away.
After Hao Jin disappears, all the fighting teams and their patrons burst into a flurry of activity. While attention is turned to the bay, the Lightkeepers hurriedly flee from the arena’s preparation room. Suspicious and curious, Tino’s Toughest follow after them. Lady Qiu May Shai whistles sharply and then escorts Empress Nai Yan Fei aboard one of the two drake-drawn chariots that swiftly land on the arena grounds. Before taking flight, Lady Qiu silently tosses a skypiercing bow to you.
Empress Fei then addresses you: “Take this chariot and get a read on the situation across the city. In case Hao Jin fails to stop whatever sent the kaiju, we need to figure out what brought it here.” She puts a hand to her brow as the distant music reaches a crescendo. “And for the love of Abadar, please find out where that infernal melody is coming from.”