Episode 47

The fight begins.

As K rushes towards the paladin he is stopped in his tracks by Justin. Seipora acts quickly, turning the intimidating Riot into a less intimidating turtle with a polymorph spell. She is knocked prone by Justin’s long spear, which enrages K. He turns to slash at Justin with his longsword instead. Do’Navan jumps out of the bushes and attacks Seipora, who drops her concentration on Riot’s spell. She is able to get to her feet and partially deflects Do’Navan’s stab with her cuff. Ingred jumps in after some failed blowgun attempts and yanks Seipora away from the two attackers, but not before getting a stab on the rogue. With a new opening, Seipora pulls herself out of harm's way. The fighter gets a good swipe at Ingred, but is swiftly knocked unconscious by K, who rushes to join their half-orc’s side. For some reason, Seipora switches to using her crossbow. Now out in the open, Ingred is grabbed by Riot and takes a savage punch. The bubble pops up before she even hits the ground. K goes red with anger and struggles to keep the others off of Seipora. Unfortunately it’s too much to handle. Riot is able to reach in and he knocks Seipora down for the count. K is able to take out Do’Navan with a sandy tomb, but when he’s left along with Riot, the man strikes K hard. K is eventually bubbled alongside his other teammates. The Burning Swords have won the round.

As her party members lick their wounds, Lily steps out for the final 1v1. The Burning Swords send out Siobhan the sorceress. Not much to say here. Lily dunks on her. The woman doesn’t last more than 12 seconds before getting the daylights knocked out of her, but she did slap Lily with a pretty potent spell. Lily is the victor, making the odds tied for the final round.

Soulfire sends out a recovered Ingred, K, and Anthos. Meeting them are the previous trio. The fight begins. Do’Navan hides, and tries to rush the boys as Anthos sets up the rod. However he is caught by the other rogue in the process, taking a bunch of damage from Ingred’s tatlo poison and sabres. Anthos and K wrangle with the armored men. Thanks to the aid of the rod, they are able to hold their ground. Do’Navan makes the mistake of getting caught in the whirlwind and the boys damage him severely. Ingred joins the fray, passing a healing potion to K before stepping in and pinning Do’Navan. She is injured, but manages to take him out after warning him not to mess with Iridescent Soulfire. The fighter goes down, but in turn, Ingred is immediately knocked unconscious by Riot. Anthos and K fight side by side to take down the paladin, and in the end they both remain standing. K ends the fight after Anthos hits him with a harsh blow from his longsword. Iridescent Soulfire has won the tournament.

The spectators go fucking nuts, the announcer can’t be heard over the screams and shouts from the crowd. Anthos holds K’s arm up in victory. K even decides to fly around the arena to celebrate. The party revels in their victory before picking themselves up and leaving the stage. As everyone enters the private box, they are greeted with a welcomed silence and a beaming Press Tilton. He applauds the group for their work and leads them back to the lobby. Press is given a sincere “congratulations” and a handshake from Ms. Bell before she leaves, muttering something about the Burning Swords being punished. She is caught by Lily however, who asks about how Seipora’s magic was taken from her. Ms. Bell doesn’t have any answers.

Seipora admits that something happened during the fight. She had been poisoned by Do’Navan. A short while later, Press steps in followed by an old, gnomish cleric riding a giant ferret. She waves Seipora over and examines the half-orc, eyes turning silver, and tutts with distaste when she finds what she’s looking for. It is a terrible poison, but she can reverse the effects. Seipora is given a tiny vial with a miniscule amount of liquid in it. She snorts the solution, having to double over a bin to painfully vomit up a black, sticky ichor. After gathering herself, Seipora casts a bit of magic from her hands. It works!

The Watcher calls it Mage Fire. It is a contraband poison made by the dark guilds. It has the capability to rid a caster of their magic, which is permanent if not cured. Do’Navan must have bought the poison from a black market, and in turn he will be detained with his group. Ingred asks if the party will be sentenced to death, but the Watcher doesn’t know. It’s possible, he says. When Marisol asks why Do’Navan had such a grudge with Seipora, she responds by saying that he was the leader of her previous adventuring party. She said no to him when he tried to become the leader, and the party fell apart afterwards.

Due to the unusual circumstances, Soulfire is awarded with the chain of return and extra gold for their troubles. Their names will not go up on the Wall of Legacy, but there will be more opportunities in the future. After discussing the public punishment for the Burning Swords, the party thanks the cleric and Watcher for their services. Anthos speaks to Press privately for a bit, but not for long. They all collect their things and prepare to leave.

Lily asks what the Wall of Legacy is. It is essentially a “wall of fame”, Press describes. He is actually included with those in the registry, which Ingred doesn’t hesitate to poke fun at him for. Despite the fact that Marisol wants to leave (badly), the party is taken deeper underground. They are led into a semicircle-room with a glass dome and floor. Below the glass is a crude pit made up with dirt. Thousands of names are displayed on the surface of the dome, from which a blonde man steps out and introduces them to the history of the Wall of Legacy. The pit below is the original arena, predating the building that stands today. The Hologram offers to show the party anyone they wish that has made it to the wall of fame.

The party asks for Press! Press “Sonic Hands” Tilton has 115 wins, 3 losses. A younger, shirtless Press Tilton walks out of the wall wearing brass knuckles over his lightly-wrapped hands. His body is defined, with very little body fat. Press goes into a fighting stance and throws a few punches, which are so fast that they shift the air around them. He gives a smile before striding back into the wall. The real Press stands in the corner in embarrassment. His three losses were to his wife, Nell.

They ask for Nell next. Nell “Jade” Tuskbreath has 200 wins, 33 losses. She walks out of the wall with a sway in her hips, dressed like a poet. She shoots lightning around the room from her index finger before blowing them a cheeky kiss and apparating away with a snap.

Seipora asks about someone called Morn Pashar. No one steps out; whoever it is, they are not on the wall.

Ingred asks If Beaureguard deSantos Alreybrujo deCarajo del Vine is on the wall. Salsa-ing out of the wall is a tan minotaur man, with one horn and clad in traditional spanish/flamenco attire. He has 10 wins, 7 losses. Ingred gets teary-eyed and calls him out a couple more times before the party is dragged out of the room by Press.

The session ends with the party being teleported back to the Gaoli Liceum.