Session 22

## Notable Events

* The party (minus Dimitri) agree to meet Rumdall later at the Molten Pig
* Dimitri offers to take his little brother Andrei to see the other stalls and games on offer, to which his father happily agrees
* Meadow finally has the curse on her ring lifted at Madame Trixie's.
* The party purchases various knick knacks, toys, and magical items/ingredients.
* Andrei, with Dimitri's help, plays at Rumdalls stall and wins not only a toy, but Rumdall's own hat
* Meadow goes to a local orphanage and donates 30pp
* The party convenes at tournament signups where Pearl, Nova, and Justice all sign up (Pearl and Nova under aliases Ash and Margaret)
* Meadow picks up the Dragon Knight from the inn and meets Dimitri and Andrei in the bleachers
* All three entrants successfully win their fights and move on to round two of the tournament
* Dimitri recognizes one of the people in the noble's topbox as the man who attacked him in the bakery when Meadow points him out

## Tournament - Round 1

### Pearl VS Rangar Smite

Pearl is the first to fight. His alias, 'Ash', is called and his opponent is revealed to be Rangar Smite, the former foreman of Dracksrock, He is a large, formidable Leonin man and everyone thought Pearl was a goner (except for Nova).

As the plinth rises and the battle begins, Pearl acts first - casting Fey Presence to stop Smite right in his tracks, preventing him from getting closer. In a gutsy move, Pearl begins charging right up to Smite. Pearl follows up with a hex to weaken Smite, which helps him in the battle. Smite, unable to do much due to the distance from his enemy, bodes his time to find the opportunity to attack. Pearl eldritch blasts him several times before the fear from Fey Presence finally wears off.

Pearl makes a cheeky remark as he sees the former foreman struggle to keep up;

*"Does the predator not like becoming the prey?"*

Smite drops his pick to the ground and unsheathes his claws in a move the announcer sees as one of desperation. He pounces at Pearl and slashes him three times, each landing.

Pearl hears a crowd member say "COME ON SMITE, HE'S JUST A FISH! YOU CAN TAKE HIM!!" to which Pearl responds

*"I'm not a fish...I'm a Triton"*

He reaches into Smite's mouth and snaps a canine clean off. Smite calls Pearl a little shit through his bloodied mouth. Pearl follows up this brutal dental nightmare with a Hex.

Smite makes two more claw attacks; both missing Pearl, who says, cockily;

*"Do you give up yet, weakling?"*

Smite looks furious. Pearl is having a LOT of fun as the fighting reminds him of his pirating days, but he has an almost maniacal glint in his eye as he cackles. He launches two eldritch blasts - one to the chest and one to the near-groin area. Both hit. Finally, Pearl unleashes a maddening hex and, with a final roar, he drops to the ground defeated.

### Nova VS Vittoria Busshel

Nova is called to the fight under her fake name "Margaret", Nova happily makes her way to the plinth. Lady Vittoria Busshel (a pale skinned human(?) noble with long cherry blonde hair, a face tattoo and a pink dress) is also called to the fight, and she daintily makes her way to the plinth. As they both stand in the arena, Lady Busshel addresses the crowd

*"Thank you, everybody! It would be my pleasure to make the Busshel Family proud!"*

As she Finishes, Nova casts Thaumaturgy and addresses the crowd herself

*"You wanna show? THEN I"LL GIVE YOU A SHOW"*

Lady Busshel deflates, but the crows goes wild! The battle begins. Nova starts, with a twirl and a floursish of her staff, she slams it to the ground casting shileileigh - the earth of the arena gathers around the staff, fortifying its attacks; as she does so, the energy of the the earth travels up her staff and transforms it in to a wooden staff with purple energy running through the veins; a bright star sits at the top and a moon rests at the bottom. As the staff is planted on the ground, the star grows brighter and brighter, coinciding with the storm clouds forming above - A great crackle of lightning strikes Lady Busshel. After being struck by lightning, Lady Busshel composes herself and retaliates; she blasts a cone of cold towards Nova's direction. Nova weathers the spell and retaliates, setting Lady Busshel on fire with Hellish Rebuke. Nova then calls another lightning bolt from the heavens to strike Lady Busshel, which she managed to somewhat avoid but Nova follows up with a Fey curse (hex). Lady Busshel attempts a spell to overcome Nova's mind, but she fails. Nova bats a Guiding bolt towards her

*"i'll show you what a REAL spell caster looks like"*

Lady Busshel casts a shield to avoid it. She once again, attempts

### Justice VS Arutha Serpenheit

Lord Arutha Serpineheit's name is called. As he approaches his place, he locks eyes with Justice, who maintains the contact for longer than expected. When Justice's name is called, Meadow notices a slight commotion in the top box: more people are standing up, and the curious cloaked man takes a few steps forward in curiosity. Lord Busshel turns and says something to people sitting behind him.

Arutha stands straight and regal in his green open collar jacket. He holds a hand up to the crowd. His beautifully carved bow glimmers in the sunlight as he surveys the crowd, then he slowly rests his eyes on Justice. As Justice rises up, he splits into four and bows in synchronization. After taunting Arutha, his rapier flourishes into flame. Arutha is somewhat taken aback by how forward Justice is. He nocks an arrow cautiously and aims directly at Justice. As the tournament bell tolls, Justice sprints forward, turning invisible midway through. Arutha laughs, un-surprised, and exchanges his bow in favour for a shadowy rapier, which he holds aloft in a nornish fencing stance. Meadow notes that the summoning of the weapon is strangely familiar.

*"Oh, brother, always wanting to be unseen."*

As soon as Arutha finishes his sentence, Justice feints with his knife then twists around and strikes home with his rapier. Immediately, he's blasted by Arutha's Amour of Agathys. Arutha counters with a rapier strike of his own, which Justice deftly avoids. He continues pushing, but misses on account of Justice's magic. Justice retreats backward, waltzing mockingly as Arutha fires several eldritch blasts. He wants Arutha to know he's not running away, so he keeps his eyes on Arutha as Arutha continues to taunt him. Arutha applies a branding smite to his knife and advances in pursuit. Justice calls Arutha a ponse, reaching the end of his dance sequence. He twirls and bows once again, then falls backwards in a splash of tarlike liquid. He emerges above and behind Arutha, and twists for a back-handed downwards slash. He strikes home again, exposing flesh and blood with a clean tear through his nice green jacket.

*"It's all for the show, brother. Not what you expected?*

*"Father was right about you. We should have thrown you out.*

*"Father was right about me? I think he was right about you, coward."*

Justice dodges Arutha's branded knife, once again with a mocking twirl. Justice hears echoing laughter when Arutha's attempts hit a duplicate instead.Arutha starts to look sluggish, and is breathing heavily. Justice pursues with a series of sweeps and slashes. Arutha stumbles, and Justice's knife finds purchase just above Arutha's heart. Arutha stumbles forward, muttering "You're not.. like us." Justice smirks in return, and makes sure Arutha knows that Justice could have killed him.

*"Oh, i just missed the heart! Now you live because of me."*

Justice turns and faces the crowd. "I hope you all have taken some learnings from this. If you want to win, you don't need to be proper." He finishes with a final bow, then stares up at the observation box, with challenge in his eyes.