Hotcha moves in on the archers, lashing out and socking one right in the gut, setting him ablaze! He doubles over, momentarily stunned. Esh slices at the other archer, but he barely manages to dodge the elf's sword!
The stunned archer recovers enough to stumble away from Hotcha and hastily fire an arrow at the sprite, missing by a wide margin. The other one steps back and nocks two arrows, unleashing them at both Hotcha and Esh, scoring critical hits!
Powered by the divine, Yog'Moi's deep booming voice plants a seed of fear in the minds of their challengers. "Gnaw on your doubts! Accept that you stand no chance against us! You know this to be true!"
Critical Success: The target is unaffected.
Success: The target is frightened 1.
Failure: The target is frightened 2.
Critical Failure: The target is frightened 3 and fleeing for 1 round.
"That was a good warm-up. Shall we now begin?"
Critical Success The target is distracted and takes a –3 status penalty to Perception and Will saves for 1 minute. The target can end the effect early with a retort to your Bon Mot. This can either be a single action that has the concentrate trait or an appropriate skill action to frame their retort. The GM determines which skill actions qualify, though they must take at least 1 action. Typically, the retort needs to use a linguistic Charisma-based skill action.
Success As critical success, but the penalty is –2.
Critical Failure Your quip is atrocious. You take the same penalty an enemy would take had you succeeded. This ends after 1 minute or if you issue another Bon Mot and succeed.
The archers dart back from our dual assault and I use their distraction to dart around behind them, harrying them as I do.
Hotcha ▶️ steps closer to the guy who launched a big pointy stick at her.
“Ouch! That hurts almost as much as being eaten by a dinosaur! I can tell ya the story when you wake up!”
Both archers are somewhat shaken by Yog’Moi’s spell. Xin inspires the party, allowing Hotcha to land a devastating combo! Her foe falls to the ground!
The other archer curses loudly as he steps away from Esh and fires on Hotcha.
Hotcha drops her foe, only to be shot by the other archer. I follow him as he tries to step away and make him regret that.
Hotcha ▶️strides in an arc, right under Wu Xin’s legs and into a flank position with Esh.
“Pick on someone your own size, you meanie!”
She summons her ki to deliver a vicious beating…
…then summons more ki just to make the archer see how futile it is to fight on.
Feeling that victory is imminent, the pudgy priest wobbles into the fray with surprising speed and grace. His first strike, however, is anything but graceful.
"Give up now, friend," says Xin. "There is no need to take a further beating. You have fought honorably and well."
The archer dodges Yog'Moi's attacks, but Esh lands a good hit, and Hotcha pummels the man with fiery fists! Xin offers the wounded archer a chance to surrender, but the Lightning Caller tries to get off one last defiant shot! Xin punishes him for the transgression, stabbing him with his rapier. Groaning, the archer finally relents, offering his surrender!
"Three Men and a Fairy win!" declares Ingdani. The enforcers break into light applause as they oversee the transfer of the two silver feathers to you!
Xin stays long enough to see that his opponents are going to get the medical help they need. Thanks to the Phoenix Necklace, none of the damage done to them was lethal, but they will feel the bruises for some time.
He looks over Hotcha and Esh. "Walk it off," he says, jovially.
Hotcha replies, “It’s not a walk I need, so much as a super-sized serving of a Cayden-approved beverage.”
Hotcha is eyeing the goblets, all of which contain an equally delicious and sweet-scented beverage.
After healing up, you head southeast to continue your exploration. The are here features many hills in addition to forest, making travel take longer. You stop for a light lunch before continuing your reconnoitering efforts. It is close to two in the afternoon when you come upon an oval fighting arena in the woods. The ruins have been repurposed as an official combat site for the tournament.
A few minutes later, a trio of enforcers approaches, two humans lead by a burly hobgoblin. "I am Gomwai," he states. "As authorized by the emissary, we challenge you to a match! You must wager two of your silver feathers, which you will forfeit to us on a loss. If you win, you will receive a monetary reward."
Hotcha bows. “Pleasure to meet ya! I’m Hotcha, the fairy of Three Men and a Fairy!”
If there’s a crowd, she dances into starting position for attention the fans. She wonders if the little fairy is still adorable and underestimated, or does the name Three Men and a Fairy now invoke fear? Respect? A warning that these warriors wear a seemingly weak name with pride, knowing they attract challengers who expect easy meat!
Gomwai cracks his neck, and the other enforcers draw sais, twirling them in anticipation. As you take up your starting positions inside the fighting arena, Ingdani steps back to officiate the battle. "The Enforcers versus Three Men and a Fairy! Ready? FIGHT!"
Xin's fierce battle cry leaves Gomwai quite shaken! Yog'Moi fails to impress the other enforcers, though.
Yog'Moi raises his sword and calls upon Hei Feng's fury to will into existence a wall of pure rage. The blade barrier cuts and assaults any who dare enter it, and he hopes to push the hobgoblin and one of his buddies to the other side of it, leaving one foe for his companions to pick on. "Undone shall be the power of three!"
Blades of force form a churning wall. The wall is a straight line 20 feet high, 120 feet long, and 2 inches thick, and it provides cover.
The wall deals 7d8 force damage to each creature that's in the wall's space when it is created, that attempts to pass through the wall, or that ends its turn inside the wall. A basic Reflex save reduces the damage. A creature that succeeds at this save when the wall is created is pushed to the nearest space on the side of its choice.
Creatures trying to move through the wall fail to do so if they critically fail the save, ending their movement adjacent to the wall.
Gomwai snarls in pain as the blades slice into him, but the other enforcer avoids some of the damage. The hobgoblin rushes forward, attacking Esh with a flurry of punches.
The other enforcers rush at Hotcha, one getting sliced by the blade barrier. They tumble to flank the sprite, stabbing with their sais!
Hotcha ▶️ steps to flank, rather than be flanked, gets in her ▶️ stance and strikes yellow!
The hobgoblin weaves more divine magic and tugs at the threads of worries and doubts dangling from his foes' minds. Right after filling their minds with fear, he attempts to foot sweep one of the enforcers.
Shouting encouragement, Xin dives past his foes to roll up into a position and slash Gomwai's hamstrings as he goes past.
The hobgoblin, Gomwai, sprints towards me, striking at my diaphragm. I manage to turn my body enough that it doesn't wind me, but it still hurts. I growl and swipe at him before stepping back into chudan.
Xin moves to flank Gomwai, slicing the hobgoblin and leaving a bleeding wound. Gomwai dodges Esh's wild swing. Hotcha pummels one of the other enforcers, stunning her and setting her ablaze! All of the enemies resist Yog'Moi's fear spell, and he fails to trip the stunned enforcer.
Gomwai continues to attack Esh, landing two hits. The enforcers flank Hotcha again and deliver several sneak attacks.
The enemies stop bleeding and burning.
Hotcha strikes back!
She then ▶️ heals herself and follows Esh’s lead with a ▶️ sidestep.
Wu Xin dives away from Gomwai and the wall of whirling blades, landing in a crouch, then sprints up to Hotcha's opponent.
"I'd tell you to pick on someone your own size, but honestly, she is more dangerous," he says.
"Hit him," he says over the man's shoulder.
The others swarm the two humans, leaving the hobgoblin to me. I am fine with that. I step in and perform a quick Hidari and then Migi Ichimonji Giri, the flames on my blade leaving afterimages of fire and blood across his arms and chest.
Hotcha makes an attack, but… it’s too wild a swing to connect.
The hobgoblin combines spell and sword to strike at their foes. The air fills with the scent of ozone when he calls upon the anger of Hei Feng.
While Esh delivers a critical strike to Gomwai, Xin and Hotcha gang up on the most wounded enforcer. Their attacks leave the man reeling, then Yog'Moi takes him down with a lightning blast! He zaps Gomwai as well before slicing the monk with his blade.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Gomwai continues to focus his fury on Esh. The other enforcer tumbles around to flank and stab the elf as well!
I grunt as the hobgoblin's fist slams into my stomach. While I'm stunned from the blow, one of the other fighters slips behind me and stabs me as well. I swing my blade wildly to get some distance then dash out from between their pincer to create one of our own.
"Regretting the fact you challenged us yet?!", the hobgoblin yells at their foes with a booming voice full of defiance.
Hotcha says, “I’m going for the big guy, boss! Point me in the right direction!”
Hotcha delivers a powerful one-inch punch, then Yog’Moi pushes Gomwai over the edge with his magic and his blade! The hobgoblin monk falls to the sand, and the third enforcer kneels in surrender. ”Three Men and a Fairy win!” declares Ingdani.
”Hmph. Well done,” Gomwai says once he has regained consciousness. Gomwai rewards you with 1,500 gp in addition to the standard 500 gp they earn for winning the match. In addition, Gomwai presents you with a phoenix idol in the shape of a rising phoenix.
This phoenix idol sells for 500 gp but has a far greater use during the pre-qualifying round. Inscribed on its base, in Hao Jin’s hand, is this: “Give this idol to an enforcer to decline a single match.” After receiving a challenge but before the challenge begins, the characters can simply hand the idol to the attending enforcer to forgo the match without a loss of silver feathers. The challenging team is then prohibited from challenging the characters again for 12 hours.
Hotcha jumps for joy—
—or is it some kind of choreography from a sprite who knows that, to big people, she’s cute enough to get away with being her weird self, as long as she isn’t rude.
“Oh, that was such fun! I really thought I was gonna wake up in a fist print in the dirt. Thanks for giving us a challenge!”
She asks Gomwai, “What’s your style, anyway? I was too busy getting stabbed by ninjas to notice. I learned to embrace the stance of the Jellyfish—to compensate for my short reach, and also for fighting underwater…
“Or in a keg that unexpectedly has a star-nosed mole in it. I’ve never encountered an amphibious rodent in a barrel of liquor, but I’m more than adequately prepared for that day!”
"I don't practice any formal style," Gomwai says. "In my wayward youth, I was an enforcer for the Golden League in Goka. I was taught to hurt my opponents and take them out in as efficient and brutal a manner as possible.
"I actually fought for the Golden League during the last Ruby Phoenix Tournament. My loss gave me an opportunity for significant self-reflection and a reassessment of my values. I felt great shame for my involvement with the Golden League and chose to step away from my criminal connections. Now I am a mercenary bodyguard for important business leaders in Goka."
Hotcha will need her usual soak to meditate. She focuses some of that ki to heal up as she listens to Gomwai.
“Huh… I wonder if I’ll start reassessing stuff after the tournament. A lot of the fighters here are very inspiring!
“I wish ya well with your new lot in life!”
Xin straightens his robes and offers the enforcers a formal bow.
"It was an honor to spar with you. You were formidable."
He watches Hotcha's intricate dance with pride and close interest, clapping to set a beat, then simply clapping because of how well she danced.
"Have a soak, Twinkletoes," he says, pouring her a sake bath and smiling.
Turning to address his whole team, he says "My friends, I am very proud of how we have been performing as a team. Let us keep up this close cooperation and the victory shall be ours!"
Slinking into the sake bath, Hotcha replies, “Yeah, I knew I could put smiles on the faces in the crowd, but I honestly thought I’d be hiding behind you guys when it came to the fighting!
“Active hours end at 4, right? Maybe with an extra 500 each we should work our way to the Stone Market. Maybe I can buy something so I hit even harder!” She asks a question for any enforcer to answer: “Are you guys allowed to tell us the way to the nearest market?
“We might be better off just heading to the one we know about—it’s near our base, but still… doesn’t hurt to ask. I mean, there’s gotta be more than one so the other teams can shop conveniently too.”
"The closest market is the one by your home base," Ingdani says. "But you still have a lot of time today! Active hours don't end until midnight!"
Hotcha’s eyes widen as she realizes that the day is not even half over.
“Oh, now I know why I keep getting eaten. With all these booze baths I have to take to stay in prime condition, I must be delicious.”
She takes a sip of Fire Nectar.
“Ah, well… I better shut my yap and meditate. If I take too long, someone please carry the goblet.”
After taking time to rest and refocus, you continue east along Bonmu's coast. You explore the lowlands and the beaches here, and after a while, you come upon an enormous broken eggshell on a small beach cove abutting Bonmu's largest coral reef. The shell is as large as a house and over a foot thick!
"Good Gods, imagine what sort of hangover-cure omelet you can make with this bad boy! Ha!"
The victory was a good one, and we chat with our opponents for a bit before continuing on. As we walk I think back on our fights and something occurs to me. As of yet we have not fought any opposing teams that had equal numbers to us. While some of our fights thus far had tense moments, there was never any real danger of us being defeated, simply by virtue of us outnumbering our foes. I wonder how a fight between equal forces will end up going.
My musings are interrupted by the sight of an enormous egg on a beach. What could that be?
Searching around the area, Yog'Moi notes that there are no signs of the hatched creature nearby--footprints or otherwise.
Esh examines the shell and finds that it is marked by strange veins of seafloor sand. It seems to suggest that the egg came from the bottom of the ocean, rather than anywhere on land.
"This doesn't seem to be a land-based creature," I muse to the others, tracing the veins of sand, delicate only in comparison to the insane size of the egg.
"Some sort of sea leviathan? This is too big even for a dragon," I wonder.
Yog'Moi pulls a funny face as confusion washes over him. "Perhaps someone even bigger than the egg was feeling hungry, cracked said egg, and tossed the shell onto the shore? ..."
Hotcha hops into the egg and examines the interior after using her luminous skin (white light) to enhance the shell’s color on its shady underside.
After Esh and Yog’Moi get way ahead of the fairy, she says, “If it’s a hatchling, maybe it’s too young to eat fairies. Or if something ate the egg, it’s full?
“Let’s see what maybe crawled into the sea…”
She checks for tracks leading from the egg.
Even with her natural glow illuminating things, Hotcha is unable to glean any new insights about the eggshell.
Scouring the region for tracks, Hotcha finds none. It is quite likely that the creature emerged from the shell elsewhere and the egg was placed here later. The reason for this, though, remains a mystery!