Session 73

# March 10th, 2022 - Undeath's Champion

## Undeath's Champion

The session began with the Champions gathering near one end of the oval arena, watching as six pairs of undead walked out onto the bloodied sands. Each pair had a plate armored skeleton flanked by a vampire. Two of the vampires had flashier plate, and the one that strode out opposite the Champions was… something else. It was in thick detailed plate armor, with a massive shield and wicked looking sword. As the skeletons and vampires started charging towards the Champions, this death knight summoned a mighty hell orb from the tip of his sword and tossed it across the arena.

At this explosion the battle began, with skeletons charging and vampires firing crossbows. The group fell into their now familiar battle patterns, but it was Cadmus who summoned forth a massive column of *dawn* light that changed the fight. The sudden explosion of bright sunlight burned and withered the vampires in a short time. The crowd filled with humans roared, and in under a minute the Champions had slain the last undead. Exhausted and wounded, they waited as the central vampire lord on his throne stood to address the arena.

To the cheers of the crowd his magically assisted voice boomed out congratulating the human Champions on coming this far. He exclaimed that the crowd was in for a real treat now, as it had been long since any challengers had reached the Champion of Night City! As he spoke the large stone slab of the arena wall beneath him lowered and the shaking was felt. The massive creature shook the ground with each step as it slowly came up some underground ramp, and it crawled out into the firelight.

The gargantuan undead black dragon stretched its wings wide as it roared.

The party started to disperse to engage at distance and the dragon flew into the air and breathed it’s plague filled acid across the vast space. Alburt and Lachlan fell burning. The dragon landed amongst the party, buffeting its wings, and swinging its tail. Maximus flew about the beast clawing and biting, while the group threw everything they had at it. Cadmus cast a *mass healing word* spell to save the wizards from death, while the dragon displayed its own spellcasting. It looked towards Rachen and with some unknown words the battle master popped out of existence just before reaching the monster.

Rufus and Thia continued to land major blows from a distance while Lachlan and Cadmus used what magic they could. Alburt quickly decided to *polymorph* himself into an adult bronze dragon to even the odds even slightly. But it seemed like the undead beast cared not for any wound.

Rachen ran through the massive obsidian walls of the *maze* in the strange twilight dimension he found himself in. Panic consumed him and he ran at full speed making turns blindly, hoping and being rewarded for his amazing luck at quickly finding the center. He did not know how long it took him, but he ran through the shimmering gold portal and popped back into existence in the arena where he previously stood. The battle was still raging! He felt like it was gone for much longer than it seemed.

The dragon buffeted wings knocking some over again, and unleashed a *circle of death* spell around the party that tried to surround him. The Champions threw everything they had at the creature, already exhausted and depleted of most of their spells. Lachlan tried to *disintegrate*, Alburt and Maximus kept to the air circling, swiping, and letting out their breath weapons. Rufus and Thia continued to dodge and roll getting expert shots off. Rachen and Cadmus danced around the powerful limbs getting hits in where they could.

Even though it felt like ages, the entire battle was over in about half a minute, as Rufus fired the last sniper bolt that found a home deep in the beast's skull cavity. The shot connected somewhere critical and the massive already-dead dragon fell to the ground. Dead for the second time.

Cadmus used what resources he had left to heal the most seriously harmed, but none of them escaped uninjured. The entire arena was still clapping and cheering as the vampire lords stood in their own applause. In a few moments, the central male vampire lord bellowed congratulations to the Champions and instructed them to return to the preparation chamber, where soon they would be brought to an audience with the ruling council! This lord concluded the evening’s entertainment for the crowd, and the row of vampires on their thrones exited before the arena started to disperse.

And that is where the session ended as the wounded but barely alive Champions staggered across the gore and blood soaked arena towards the only open slab behind them. It was still the night of the two hundred and seventy second (272nd) day since the raid on Greenest.

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