The Arena - Grand Opening

## Synopsis:

The City of Abishot has allowed for the organization known as "The Collar" to build a colosseum within the city. The Collar is known for capturing dangerous creatures to harvest them for their trappings. Now they are capturing monstrosities and letting warriors slay them in an arena, for the people's entertainment. All may enter, but survival is not guaranteed. Warriors are not allowed to know what they are up against until they are in the pit.

## Mercenaries:

* Roars into the Storm - Leonin Paladin (Sponsor: LockeMeUp)

* Nwalmë - Shadar-Kai Rogue (Sponsor: Most Esteemed Xekral Shadhavar)

* Allifred "Alf" Centauri - Kalashtar Druid (Sponsor: Ursura of the Ursinia)

* Asher "Whiffle-Tongue" - Lizardfolk Wizard (Sponsor: Relenam Heavyfeet)

* Jimmy Hooploops - Halfling Monk (Sponsor: Koppodrazi Sjach Ueshima)

* Edith Seuss - Human Cleric (Sponsor: Contessa Meridian Selvaggia)

## Adventure:

### Introductions

Crowds pack the newly constructed Shadowsbane Stadium, eager to see exotic creatures and the martial prowess of the day's gladiators. In the arena, four scarlet ropes hang down near the gladiator gate, ready to pull out any combatant who finds the fight too difficult and chooses to yield.

A hush overtakes the audience as the announcer steps into her box. She's a pink Aarakocra with puffing plumage, her outfit outrageously colorful, avant-garde, and fashionable. One by one, she announces the mercenaries, lets them enter the battleground, and waits until the roar from the stands fades before moving to the next combatant.

First announced is Roars into the Storm. He runs out of the gate with arms raised, drumming up the crowd and clearly in his element. Allifred, too, seems pleased by the cheers. At his call, he saunters into the field and waves to the spectators, reflecting back the enthusiasm given.

In contrast is Nwalmë. Despite his obviously favourable reputation and his relation to the Most Esteemed, the Shadar-Kai doesn't seem to care about the crowd and the whooping they let out at his announcement. He walks with utter nonchalance, almost as if bored.

When the announcer calls out, "Asher the Mage," instead of inciting a roar, she brings about a murmur. A magic user in the stadium? The audience members crane their necks to see what will walk out of the gate.

Immediately, an old Halfling jogs into the light. Just as quickly, he says, "Whoop, not me," and pops back into the waiting area.

After an awkward pause, Asher walks out fully serious, eyes straight ahead, apparently ignoring all those watching him. When he reaches the center of the field, he puts a clawed finger to his temple. His hand glows as he uses Encode Thoughts, the thought strand stretching from his head and into his grasp. He rubs the thought ribbon, closes his eyes, and ties it around his neck.

The spectators continue to watch him. They don't know what he did, but they know they just witnessed magic in their midst. The clapping and hollering begin again, and they only grow stronger when the announcer moves to Jimmy Hooploops. The Halfling from earlier returns, but this time with food in his hands, munching on his treat as he moves to his spot.

When Edith Seuss is announced, a large swath of the crowd ignites in enthusiasm. The Sisters of Solisti stand while their champion strides into the sunlight, some going red in the face as they scream their love. One superfan is even wearing an "Edith Seuss" cosplay, flailing to show his support. His partner beside him shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

### The First Round

Once the mercenaries have all assumed starting positions on their side of the field, the opposing gate opens. Before it even finishes rising, three large, crane-like birds duck under to enter the arena, shaking their wings to intimidate their foes, but keeping close to their gate. They're eblises, ambush predators whose scooping beaks could snap off an arm. The sight brings more silence than cheers as the audience watches the two sides size each other up.

Without warning, the fight begins when Roars into the Storm takes the initiative and charges across the field. His double-bladed scimitar flashes before slashing through the lead eblis, though the bird dodges on the backswing. The crowd loves it, offering their support while gasping in awe at his martial skill. Off to the side, an arena attendant marks a scoreboard by putting a star next to Roars into the Storm's name. He has drawn first blood.

Edith hangs back. She approaches Allifred from behind and grabs his shoulder, her hand glowing with a cast of Guidance. She tells him to get out there and fight with security, knowing that a cleric has backed him.

Allifred bolsters at the touch. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a few pebbles gifted to him by an otter. They glow as he uses Magic Stone on them, and after flipping one stone in the air for show, he pulls back and throws it as if to skip it across a river.

Though the arena flooring is dirt, the stone does bounce, not once, not twice, but three times on its journey across, each bounce gaining more air time as the stone's speed increases. The blow hits its mark, and with such ferocity! A critical strike that rips the eblis' head from its body, feathers fly and blood splatters against the walls. The bird's legs twitch aimlessly before what's left of the creature collapses, dead.

The crowd's roar becomes an ear-splitting furor. Allifred raises his arms and screams back at them, excited for the quick kill, and they eat it up. Showing just as much enthusiasm as the crowd is the arena attendant, who whoops themself and marks in a skull next to Allifred's name to note the kill.

It's Asher's time to make his move. He runs to Allifred's side, shouts what many would hear as gibberish, and points his palm at another eblis. His hand glows blue, and a Ray of Frost shoots out—

—but the icy beam's high, it strikes the wall merely a foot from the upper railing. Spectators scream and clear out of their seats. The display cements in their minds that they are in the presence of a mage. Now their question is, is he ready for an arena? They don't know. For Asher's part, he blinks, his shoulders tighten, but he looks just as serious as ever, not missing a beat.

His chance, however, has passed: Jimmy finishes his meal and pulls out his yumi. The Halfling nocks an arrow, closes an eye, pulls back, and lets fly. The arrow soars true, and it punctures one of the eblises in the kneecap. Its beak opens to scream in pain.

Before it can let it out, another arrow pierces from the other flank—it's Nwalmë's, he's in the corner of the arena with one knee in the dirt for stability as he already preps another arrow for the barrage. Though Nwalmë is more comfortable shooting from the shadows for a sneak attack, he eyes any opportunity to get an advantage while keeping out of harm's way.

The two remaining eblises, dubbed Jeremy and Jeff by the announcer, are mad and ready to fight. They surround Roars into the Storm and bite at him. Jeff's blow glances off the armor, but Jeremy cuts deep, drawing blood.

Roars into the Storm snarls at the pain. He throws his head back, beats his breast, and roars. Lost in his Rage, he swings wide at Jeremy. The eblis easily tucks back to dodge the rain of fury.

At the sight of blood, Edith chews on her lips for a moment, but rather than running into the fray to massage away the pain, she focuses on Jeff. She raises her shield and slaps it like a gong, sending out a distressing Toll of the Dead. But Jeff simply tilts its head, unaffected by the attack.

Allifred smiles, and to the crowd and most of his companions, all he says is, "Yo, bird, you need to chill out!" Roars into the Storm, however, hears Allifred's voice in his head, saying, "Hey man, don't worry about a thing, I've got you covered."

The next instant, a coating of frost covers Jeff as Allifred uses Frostbite. The crowd picks up the chant of "Chill out," clapping in time to the beat. Meanwhile, the bird shakes, but it can't get the ice off its feathers.

Asher's eyes narrow, and he shifts his body to a wide stance, one arm pulled back as if keeping a bowstring taut, the other thrust forward with fingers flared. Much to the crowd's delight, three Magic Missiles whistle to life, streaking from the outstretched fingertips to blast Jeff in the face. The bird's head snaps back from three direct hits between the eyes. While Asher sighs in relief at the positive reaction, Jeff staggers from one foot to the other, wings beginning to vibrate faster. Jimmy takes the opportunity to shoot at the floundering bird, and Nwalmë does the same. Both their strikes are too straight for the bird's gyrations; it dodges the barrage.

Soon it becomes clear that the gyrations are more than just a dance of imbalance. A colorful aura floats around Jeff, flashes in its feathers as it makes eye contact with Roars into the Storm. Roars into the Storm tries to look away, but he can't; his pupils widen, jaw slackens, scimitar lowers as Jeff enchants him and leaves him incapacitated.

Jeremy squawks at Roars into the Storm and nicks him in the neck. It then runs across the field, sights set on Allifred.

The quick stab of pain Shadow of the Wind feels is just enough to help him break free from the enchantment. Still, he's shaky as he does an uncoordinated swing at Jeff, who parries with a flick of the beak.

Edith's gong is ready again, but this time focused on the charging Jeremy. Unlike last time, the ringing causes the eblis to shriek, necrotic energies coursing through its body. Nevertheless, it refuses to change course, still aiming at Allifred.

In response, Allifred swallows and pulls back his arm to throw another stone. But his nerves get the best of him, he releases too late and instead beans Nwalmë. Nwalmë grunts, Allifred winces and turns to mentally shout a quick apology, and Asher steps forward with another Ray of Frost. Once again, his aim is too high. Those same people who had vacated their seats earlier and are just returning again scatter as the ray chips stone below the railing. Asher's toes curl at the sound of their screams, he ducks his head and retreats to use Edith as a buffer, both between himself and the angry eblis, and between himself and the terrified spectators.

Jimmy sees the squishy casters in need. He doesn't hesitate. Yumi stowed and wakizashi drawn, he jogs to intercept Jeremy, slides in front of the bird, and slices across its breast. A streak of blood oozes from the cut. He follows up by shifting his weight to send his free fist up into the wound, but the eblis twists right at the last moment—Jimmy's blow does little more than smear the blood.

That twist, however, is just the opening Nwalmë needs. His arrow shoots straight through the eblis' neck, piercing dirt on the other side. The crowd goes wild while the arena attendant puts a flame next to Nwalmë's name, signifying the most massive damage done from a single hit.

Jeremy's white neck turns slick and red. The eblis doesn't fall, but its movements become erratic, desperate. It beats its wings wildly and bites at the Halfling standing in front of it, ripping a chunk of flesh from the screaming Jimmy's arm.

Jeff hears the cry of torment, and predator instincts kick in. The eblis leaves Roars into the Storm behind and gangs up on Jimmy, looking to end him with a quick snapping of the neck. But it seems Jimmy's cries were a ploy. He winks at the eblis and rolls backwards, keeping just out of reach of the beak.

Roars into the Storm roars at the retreating Jeff. He runs after it and performs a double strike with his scimitar, but both swings miss.

Edith glances at Asher standing behind her and nods, ready to protect him. She then looks at Jeremy, still flapping and biting at Jimmy, and slaps her shield one more time. This time, the bird does not shriek. Rather, it jerks to a halt, eyes wide and strained as it chokes to death on the very air around it. In a moment, it tips over and slaps into the dirt, already stiff.

The Edith Seuss superfan is practically fainting as he jumps in his seat and cheers. The rest of the crowd follows the enthusiasm while the arena attendant puts a skull next to Edith's name.

Allifred is still distracted by beaning Nwalmë. The last magic stone is in his hand, and he goes to throw it at Jeff. Unfortunately, he fumbles, the rock slips from his hand and falls at his feet. While he scrambles to pick it back up, the crowd shouts encouragement, telling him that he can do it and chanting that the bird really needs to chill out.

After seeing Roars into the Storm's misses, Allifred's fumble, Jimmy's glancing punch, and Nwalmë ignoring the bump on his noggin—not to mention Edith's nod of support—Asher grits his teeth, squares his shoulders, and steps alongside the cleric. He raises his arm, focuses, and whispers his verbal component. One more icy beam shoots out, and it finally hits the mark. The Ray of Frost strikes Jeff square in the chest. The bird lets out a stuttering cry as it turns to Asher and tries to charge at him, but the ice crawls over the body, encasing it in a tomb of frost. It stumbles and falls, dead.

The crowd is ecstatic. They stand and chant "chill out" while the arena attendant puts a skull next to Asher's name. All the gladiators take a breath of relief as the first round concludes and the announcer calls for an intermission.

### Intermission

People in the stands spread out to the concessions and gift shop while the gladiators prepare themselves by taking a short rest. Roars into the Storm binds his wounds, Asher sits cross-legged and meditates to recover his arcane energy.

Jimmy is hungry and pounds against the closed gate to try to reach the concessions. He looks nearly ready to climb the scarlet rope before Edith calls up to her superfan and asks him to get Jimmy some food. The superfan points to himself, shocked that his hero is addressing him. Edith gives a radiant smile and repeats her request. The superfan falls over himself in joy to go get all the myriad pretzels and crumb cakes and sausages Jimmy orders, pulling his partner along with him for the extra hands.

While this goes on, Allifred runs over to Nwalmë and apologizes again for the misfire. He gives Nwalmë the pebble as a keepsake and peace offering, saying that such stones are treasures of friendship. Nwalmë pockets it with little emotion, but it looks like a little blood has risen to his pale cheeks.

Finally, Edith remembers that half the gladiators haven't signed the consensual touching waivers. She gathers together Roars into the Storm, Allifred, and Asher, giving them each a copy of the waiver that will let her perform her massage therapy on them without legal repercussions.

Roars into the Storm signs straightaway. Allifred tells Edith that where he comes from, there are goodwill laws in place that would protect her without the waiver, so she's fine. Edith appreciates the information, but says she still needs the waiver signed. Allifred doesn't argue.

Asher takes the hefty booklet, 47 pages in all, and reads through them during his meditation. When he reaches the final page, he signs; says, "Impressive"; and hands it back to Edith. She beams at the compliment.

Before the second round begins, the gladiators look up to the crowd coming back to the stands. To their surprise, they find that instead of Edith being the only one with a fan club, they each now have a following. Oversized foam fingers shaped like the gladiators' hands and in their signature colors bounce about in the crowd.

### The Second Round

The amusement of the sight is short-lived as the announcer returns to her box. The gate starts to open as she declares that the audience is in for a real treat. A most fearsome creature, a monster that has consumed many in its path, will mark the stadium's grand opening.

The gate finishes rising, and the gladiators peer into the darkness. To their horror, a huge blob of green slime pours onto the sand, rusted armor and weapons floating about in its ooze. The creature's species is unknown, according to the announcer, only known as the gelatinous monster. However, this particular specimen has been affectionately nicknamed Jello.

The fight begins in a blur as Jello races across the battlefield far faster than any would expect a mound of goo to travel. It towers over Allifred and Roars into the Storm, bits of goo sloughing off and landing on their shoulders.

Roars into the Storm refuses to be cowed. He slams his scimitar into the creature, roaring in Rage. But to his surprise, his blade sticks in the mass, and the ooze travels up the blade to coat his claws. The next thing he knows, he's off his feet, sucked into the monstrosity's girth.

Jimmy makes a squeamish face at the disgusting sight, and his trousers suddenly look a little dark in the crotch. He wipes crumbs off his mustache, readies his bow, and aims high. He fires and the crowd looks up to watch the arrow climb higher, higher, before turning to fall, gaining speed as it plunges down into the head of Jello, a critical strike. The audience cheers and does the wave. Jello, however, barely quivers.

Nwalmë reaches for his bow, but stops. Instead, he crouches low, pulls a flask of oil out of his pack, and starts stuffing a cloth strip down the flask's neck. While he's busy with that, Asher makes his move, running behind Nwalmë while strafing with three Magic Missiles. Edith meanwhile beats her shield, but Jello doesn't respond to this Toll of the Dead.

Allifred yelps a bit when Jello nearly plows into him. He raises his hands and speaks gibberish while turning to flee.

Immediately, Jello glows neon purple as Faerie Fire takes effect. The crowd gasps, this magical spectacle being the most awe-inspiring yet. They look at Allifred in a new light, noticing the depth of his magic for the first time.

Jello is not distracted by the glow, however. It backhands Allifred during his retreat, sending him tumbling to his feet next to Edith and Asher. He wails at the pain, and with that break in concentration, the neon purple glow dissipates.

Jello shakes like a bird choking on fish. Inside its body, Roars into the Storm moves, rotates, gets pulled to one side. The ooze bunches around him, a hole forms in front of him, and Jello shoots Roars into the Storm like a cannonball, aimed directly at Jimmy.

Jimmy only has time for his eyes to widen and his trousers to darken further before Roars into the Storm bowls him over, hurting them both.

Roars into the Storm gets to his feet and sees that Jello has already lurched its way over to Nwalmë, who still hunches over his flask. His pride hurt, Roars into the Storm lets loose a Daunting Roar at Jello, hoping to frighten it. But when Jello turns its head and hisses at him, he sees that he only made it angrier. In spite of the risks, he swallows his own fear and charges forward, again cutting deep into Jello with his scimitar. And again, Jello engulfs the blade. In spite of Roars into the Storm's straining backwards, he gets sucked into the beast once more.

While Jimmy gets to his feet, two gray-haired heckler women in the stands above him start chatting. One calls Jimmy a silver fox.

The other wrinkles her nose and says, "He might be spry, but he looks a little stupid."

The one levels a gaze at Jimmy from behind and says, "That's how I like 'em."

Encouraged by the favourable flirtation, Jimmy pulls his yumi once more and plunges an arrow into Jello. The women approve.

Nwalmë finally lights his improvised weapon and looks up just in time to see Jello suck in Roars into the Storm. Nwalmë instinctively jumps back while launching his improvised Molotov cocktail, ducking under a blow from Jello and retreating. The Molotov strikes the creature's side and bursts, coating Jello in burning oil. It grumbles a bit at being on fire, eyeing Nwalmë with malice as Roars into the Storm begins to get pulled back as another shot.

Asher keeps his gaze on Jello while he listens to Allifred's agonized cry. He steps in front of Allifred to use himself as a shield and aims a Ray of Frost. The beam hits, putting out the fire from Nwalmë's Molotov; however, at the touch of ice, Jello reels back. It turns its gaze to Asher and throws a furious scream.

Edith takes the moment to speak a Healing Word to Allifred. The light magic floats around Allifred, easing his pain and silencing his wail. Edith then slams her shield and backpedals against the gate to stay out of Jello's path.

Allifred's faculties restored, he glares at Jello and launches an ice knife at it. It misses completely, exploding too late for its ice chunks to hit either. Still, the crowd chants "Chill out" to encourage their star, and Allifred can't help but feel a surge of gratitude that he channels into his magic, knowing his next spell will have a little extra kick to it.

Before he gets the chance to attack again, however, Jello finishes positioning Roars into the Storm. It shoots the Dragonborn at Nwalmë before lurching over to the gladiator gate, pinning Edith against it. The Jello looms over Asher and Allifred, putting the two casters between it and Nwalmë, Jimmy, and Roars into the Storm.

This time, Roars into the Storm is prepared for the cannonballing. He's already positioning himself as he flies, and Nwalmë almost makes a clean dodge. The blow is glancing, a knock to Nwalmë's shoulder that lands Roars into the Storm on his feet. Roars into the Storm immediately pulls a javelin, runs a few steps for momentum, and throws, aiming high.

But his time in the ooze has left him slick, and his foot slips on the sand. His javelin plunges into Allifred's side. Allifred shivers, pale from his wounds, but holds his ground.

The crowd gasps and murmurs at the gladiators under duress. They lean forward in their seats, all eyes on the spectacle.

Discreetly, an arena attendant climbs into the announcer box. He asks if they should call the match, pull the Jello back, before things take a worse turn.

But the Aarakocra raises a hand to hush him. She soaks in the sounds of fear, pleasure, and adrenaline exuding from the crowd, and she smiles. "The match goes on. Let the crowd have their … entertainment."

Meanwhile, while Jimmy and Nwalmë both nock arrows and strike Jello, Asher feels panic rising. Asher's pulse had increased from the Jello's roar and charge at him, and in reaction to the friendly fire occurring right next to him, he jerks back. There's a moment when his pupils begin to glow white.

Neither the crowd nor the other gladiators see it. The light winks out. Asher takes a calming breath, looks the Jello in the face, and Disengages. He retreats and hides behind Roars into the Storm.

Edith presses her back against the gate, but raises Burning Hands and sends out a fan of flames. The Jello tumbles over itself backwards to dodge, but parts of its body still sizzle against the onslaught.

Allifred doesn't let his wounds get to him. He calls to the audience, and they cheer on the crowd favourite. He pulls more rocks out of his robe and uses Magic Stones, yells some guttural enunciations that almost sound Yiddish for his verbal component, before Disengaging and running to Asher's side. As he passes Roars into the Storm, he tosses the Dragonborn two of the freshly glowing stones. Roars into the Storm catches them with a nod of thanks.

Edith is left alone with the Jello, trapped between the slime and the gate. Jello looks down at her, raises both of its gooey fists, and smashes them down on her head in what will surely be a critical blow—but Edith points a hand to the sun, prays to Solisti, and flashes with a brilliant Warding Flare, blinding Jello and causing it to pulverize the ground just to her left. Jello hisses and oozes away towards the rest of the party. Edith takes the opportunity to slap her shield for a Toll of the Dead, but Jello doesn't flinch.

With the giant ooze in front of him, Roars into the Storm decides to use an unusual tactic: He ducks, puts both arms in front of his face, and Shoves his way through the Jello. The creature wasn't expecting the unorthodox attack, and a large section of it falls away as Roars into the Storm exits out the other side and keeps on running. Jello quickly shoots a gel appendage to strike Roars into the Storm and connects, scraping his calf.

Jimmy moves next to Nwalmë, and together they keep up the barrage of arrows. Jimmy's attack strikes true, but Nwalmë's misses spectacularly, piercing Edith in her gut. She winces, doubles over, and gives him a look that says, "Bless your heart, I forgive you." Nwalmë has trouble meeting her eye.

Asher is face-to-face with the Jello once again, but he knows running won't work. He sets his feet for a ranged attack, and Jello bobs to dodge, but the Magic Missiles that fly out refuse to miss. They push into the creature and force piles of goo to plop out the other side.

While Jello's distracted, Edith runs up behind it. She hops over the new goo piles and digs fist into the gelatinous body, releasing her Inflict Wounds once she's elbow-deep. Her fist glows white hot, and Jello boils from the inside out. The creature explodes, sending chunks of its body flying across the battlefield, spraying all the gladiators with green gunk.

The crowd is shocked by the sudden death of the creature. They're silent for a long second. And then, they're all on their feet, hands in the air, chanting in unison, "Chill out! Chill out! Chill out!"

The battle is over. The gladiators have won.

## Outcome:

### Adoring Fans

While Collar attendants collect the valuable ooze that has been scattered across the battlefield, groupies rush from their seats and down to the field for a meet-and-greet. Besides the Sisters of Solisti, Edith's fans consist mostly of people who are ready to book a massage with her magical hands.

Flocks of children come to see Roars into the Storm, and the charismatic gladiator greets them by picking them up and carrying them on his shoulders.

The two gray-haired ladies lead the charge of Jimmy fans, all of which carry hot dogs and beer for their favoured mercenary. Jimmy happily accepts the tribute with many words of thanks. He leaves not one morsel uneaten.

Nwalmë leans against a wall with arms crossed, and those fans who come to him mostly appear to be of the Goth or emo crowd telling him his performance was cool. They share a smoke, all looking as cool as possible.

When Allifred's adoring fans surround him, he holds up his hands to calm down the adulation, saying that he's just another person, like them. He then teaches them to play hacky sack.

A group of Asher-fans circle the mage, but give him a wide berth, still ambivalent over how close his magical displays came to harming them. Asher remains cold, eyeing them, but not engaging. Nevertheless, when one woman is brave enough to approach him and compliment his performance, Asher blinks, dips his head, and says his thanks.

### A Collection Quest

Pushing past Asher's and Allifred's fans, a tall, muscular person approaches the two. The person says they'd love to talk more about Asher's and Allifred's magic, so impressive during the bout. Giving them each a blank calling card that smelled of freesia, the person tells them that if they can find the info on the card, they will surely meet again.

After the person leaves, Allifred reaches into his robes, pulls out a lemon, and squeezes some onto his card. Nothing happens. Asher casts Identify on his card and discovers that it is neither a magic item, nor does it have a spell cast on it. He shrugs and puts it in a pocket to decipher later.

Allifred, who knows much about the properties and taxonomy of freesia, but has no idea why the card would smell of it, asks the other Whispering Cutlass members what they might know of a freesia-smelling card. Edith and Jimmy are quick to point out that freesia has been heavily linked to the Echo, a group of assassins. With that in mind, Allifred puts his lips to his card and repeats the word "echo" to it. The card reacts, a layer of it peeling off and revealing a message within: "Find the lonely goat in Hahler."

Keen on cooperation and friendship, Allifred relates this information to the group at large and Asher especially. Asher gives his gratitude and, with an apparent key to the puzzle in-hand, tries the solution on his own card. It too reacts, revealing a different message: "Find the Bronze Cup in Veiller."

With the mystery as solved as it can be for now, the mercenaries collect their winnings from the Collar and leave the arena. They say farewell to each other, Allifred with a special flair as he Wild Shapes into a cat and scurries off. The others stare after him in various states of surprise.