Episode 335 - Welcome to the City of Brass

When entering a new, strange town you gotta learn who the power movers and shakers are. The City of Brass is about as foreign as any place we have been so it stands to reason that whoever runs this place is going to be extremely powerful in a way that we are not fully capable of understanding. But that is why we need to hang out with the locals and learn. And dance. And Bone Fight.

## **Story**

### Long Story

The Tower of Grey has just been escorted into The City of Brass by their surrendered Efreeti friends (?). The place is a hub of activity, with all sorts of peoples bustling about. There are airships, and trams, and ziplines. It's really cool! Well, not literally. Anyway, they also notice a Coliseum, where the roar of a crowd can be heard. And seen, as they approach it. In fact, the opening is clogged with people trying to get in, so Lahni goes running up the wall with Hoby in tow, to see things from the top. Inside the Coliseum seems to be a giant monster fight, with two large bone creatures battling under the command of their "trainers" positioned at either end of the Coliseum. She returns to the others and relays this information, sparking a hint of recognition in Skud. She also tells them of the other, less populated entrances to the Coliseum, so the party circles around to get in.

They find a kind of bootleg version of the indoor fight, but with a young scrappy trainer battling an older, meaner one. The young one, fighting with a Bone Naga, looses, and has to give up the "card" that contains said Naga. The older man leaves, and Skud approaches the boy, learning that his name is Dodge Grabbit. Dodge tells Skud (and the rest) that the game they were playing is a "grown-up", official version of the card game Bones that Skud excels at. It seems to be a massive tournament, with trainers competing in a hundred battles in order to earn a Gold Bone Coin with a skull on it. The same kind of coin that Skud has. This coin allows the wielder to battle each of the four Elemental Masters, one in each Plane. Upon defeating the Masters, the trainer is then granted access to the Elite Forge, a mystical place that seems to contain "anything you want." For our purposes, that means the artifact for The Orb. Unfortunately, however, the Fire Plane Master, Lucious Incendous, is the final of the Elemental Masters, and can't be challenged until the other three are defeated.

Skud questions why Dodge used such a weak Bone Monster against the other guy. Apparently, Dodge had a better card, a Dracolich, but it was stolen from him by the dreaded Ballista Twins, a mean pair of trainers who steal cards. They are Becky and Burt Ballista, and they live in a nearby volcano, easily identified by the giant letter "B" emblazoned on the side of it. Stealthy. Dodge offers a deal to Skud. If he (and co.) can get back Dodge's really good card that the Ballistas stole, Dodge will give the Genasi six blank cards, with which to capture six of his own Bone Monsters. Also, they learn that the man who defeated Dodge was named Fuckin Gary. His monster had metal arms.

After a brief discussion on their next move, the party decides to split up. Toby heads to the library to grab a rule book on the Bone Monster game. And, at Lahni's request, the next edition of The Scarlet Harlot. Unfortunately, however, the library only had one copy of each, and both were recently stolen by, say it with me, the Ballista Twins.

Meanwhile, Rowan and Hoby seek out a club to chill at, and find one with a somehow neon sign out front. And they don't believe what they see inside...

### Short

The party enters the City of Brass and witness a tournament between two giant Bone Monsters, controlled by their trainers. It's Pokemon, you guys. A young trainer named Dodge Grabbit asks them to get back his rare and powerful creature that was stolen by the dreaded Ballista Twins, who also stole the City's only copy of the rule book for the bone game. Also, Rowan enters a cool tavern.

## **Trivia**

* In the recap, Jennifer notes that they have a total of 6 Healing Potions, and they each have 1 Potion of Fire Resistance
* In Episode 333, Tim says that he's gonna bring Toby 3 and Hoby with him. Later, in Episode 334, he forgot that and decided to bring Hoby and Toby 4 with them. THEN! In this episode, he decded that they, in fact, brought Hoby and Toby 3! So, it's officially Toby 3, but the next 3 episodes have already been recorded and I haven't listened to them yet, so who knows what's changed again...

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart / Toby 4 wait i mean 3 / Hoby
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Eckhart Dayhammer
* Dodge Grabbit
* Fuckin Gary

### **Locations**

* The Elemental Plane of Fire
	+ The City of Brass
		- The Coliseum
		- The Library

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop Tiamat!
* [Active] - Destroy The Orb!
	+ [Active] - Find the first missing piece
		- ~~[Active] - Investigate the City of Brass~~
		- [NEW][Active] - Gain access to the Elite Forge
			* [NEW][Active] - Defeat the Master of the Air Plane
			* [NEW][Active] - Defeat the Master of the Earth Plane
			* [NEW][Active] - Defeat Lucious Incendous, the Master of the Fire Plane
			* [NEW][Active] - Defeat the Master of the Water Plane
				+ [NEW][Active] - Retrieve Dodge Grabbit's Dracolich Bone Card from the Ballista Twins
	+ [On-Hold] - Find the third missing piece
		- [On-Hold] - Investigate the final location
* [On-Hold] - Find Adira Harper
* [Backburner] - Find Lannie Caplain
	+ [On-Hold] - Investigate Galanthis
* [Active] - Find a way to pay back the Ferrim Pecunia bank of Pelor's Hope
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Oracle's strange prophecies

### **Quotes**

**"Oh, they're like, Team Rocket. I get it."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Tim - 8
	+ Nika - 10
	+ **Jennifer - 19**
	+ Bachmann - 16