Battle Royale Rumble I

## The Biggest Dang One-shot

The owners of The Round Cheese woke up on the top of a huge tower with a blue orb in the middle of the tower with the aarakocra monk named Qe.  They see another tower on the far side of a pond as well as a handful of low buildings surrounding them.  All of these structures are with in a shimmering blue dome, outside the field they can see a powerful energy storm swirling and stirring in every which way.  Soon they see a figure clad in a deep purple robe with black hair and a wispy goatee descend through the roof.  The figure’s voice booms out to them and everyone else in the arena.  “I am the all powerful Morendorf, and I have brought you all here for my viewing pleasure.  You will fight for your lives and only one of you will leave here alive in a battle royale.  One last thing, critical successes and failures are wild!  Now… ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!”

The party immediately decides to work together to take out the few opponents they can see.  On the north side of the tower is a triton demolitionist, Moki, and on the south side is… Morendorf?  The elvish wizard F'ive had secretly disguised himself as Morendorf using his Hat of Disguise.  Qe notices Moki run out of view around the north side of a building.  F’ive moves closer to the tower around the small building he was outside of and causes a huge clap of thunder to deal damage to Ruhk, Sid, and Bone Jangles.  Qe isn’t happy with this and reaches into bag of tricks, he pulls out a small furry ball and throws it as it hits the ground near F’ive and immediately grows into a giant hyena.  However, F’ive has time to duck into a nearby building before the hyena notices it.  On top of the tower Ruhk cast feather fall on himself and the rest of the party allowing him to float safely off the tower.  This happens not a second too soon as lightning comes through the blue dome and strikes the blue orb that Sid, Qe, and Bone Jangles are standing by.

After getting thoroughly fried by lightning and thunder Sid is feeling pretty weak.  He drinks some of his famous Grog of Substantial Whimsy and casts invisibility and immediately disappears.  Moki finds a potion of healing and then runs out from between some buildings to the north trying to make a break for the pond, he does this just in time to noticed by the giant hyena, although he is able to fend off the beast.  He can see across the pond in the south west corner of the arena is a half-elf who seems to be trying to push over and break open a large red orb on a pedestal.  She seems to put a crack into it causing a consistent stream of fire to shoot out one side. This is the half-elf forge cleric Vesta.  F’ive finds a chest in a building only to turn around and see a gnome step through the wall who threatens him with a knife and asks him, “How all powerful can you really be?” F’ive explains that he’s just in disguise.  The gnome rogue immediately introduces himself as G'norp and says that he feels a kinship to F’ive due to their shared apostrophes.  F’ive then sees the chest open and a potion of healing float over to G’norp.

Ruhk cast Mind Spike on Moki to permanently track his location.  Moki jumps into the pond only to be horrified to find that it’s not water it’s acid.  He immediately jumps out and goes to take cover in between some buildings.  The hyena immediately runs after him but can’t get a good bite into Moki.  Moki pulls out his sending stone to calls for help to any of his former party members, G’norp is the only one who answers.  G’norp says to his wondrous figurine, “RISE ATLANTIS” it grows and turns into a silver raven.  The raven goes out and flies across the pond to go find Moki.  Qe pursues Moki and flies out above the pond as well and then spikes the raven into the water.  It then sinks to the bottom of the lake.  Bone Jangles uses a blood curse to bind G’norp where he is and then seemingly collapses into bones next to the pond.  The building that Moki is leaning on bursts into flames for some reason an Moki is still being harassed by the Hyena.  So he climbs on top of the northwest building to escape.  This burning building is a side effect of the Grog of Substantial Whimsy that the invisible Sid drank.  The hyena decides to find another victim and charges towards G’norp.  While F’ive is clearing and looting the rest of the southern buildings he finds a Potion of Gaseous Form.  Vesta has cast Rope Trick and started climbing towards her pocket dimension.  As she does this she Calls Lightning on top of Qe and electrocutes the entire pond.  Qe takes a direct hit and doesn’t look good.

Ruhk Mind Spikes the bound G’norp.  G’norp is enraged by the death of Atlantis and Catapults his Blink Dagger impaling Qe.  Qe falls into the acid pond below and doesn’t come out.  Moki uses a Simic Cluestone to summon a frog-lizard krasis that starts ravaging Ruhk.  The northwest building bursts into flames as Sid Wardragon enters that building alone.  He drinks more grog, this time it turns his heart into a phylactery.  Vesta starts casually calling down lightning bolts striking Ruhk and the frog-lizard.  Ruhk goes down under the ferocity of the krasis.  Bone Jangles reassembles and goes to help Ruhk, only to get struck by a lightning bolt.  With no help on the way Ruhk’s last breath escapes his body.  Vesta is now in her pocket dimension 50 ft in the air, occasionally sticking her head out to call down another lightning bolt.  F’ive turns into a cloud and starts slowly floating towards the southwest red orb.  G’norp dabs as the Hyena lunges at him, but it disappears before actually dealing damage.  Moki positions himself under Vesta’s pocket dimension.  As soon as she sticks her head out he whips a sticky bomb at her.  It sticks to her face and explodes as she retracts her head back in.  G’norp hides in a chest in one of the buildings.  The krasis passes Bone’s collapsed body and move to meet up with Moki, just as Bone Jangles beats his death saving throws and becomes conscious again.  The krasis turns around and leaps on Bone, snapping at his head.  Bone Jangles is ready and slices off it’s head with his sickle.

Moki tries to shoot a crossbow bolt at Bone Jangles but critically misses and causes the arena walls to move inwards.  There is a bright flash from the north side of the battlefield as Sid Wardragon is pinned between the wall and a burning building.  Sid is there floating in a swirling blue void with the battlefield faintly visible back through the wall.  He calls out with his mind asking for Morendorf to come to him.  Morendorf appears and Sid pleads for his life, he asks for any aid and offers to serve him completely.  Morendorf smiles, “I’ll do you one better.  I won’t give you your life, but…”  Then Morendorf plunges his hand into Sid’s chest, and pulls out his still beating heart.  Sid screams in pain, but then realizes he’s not dead.  He is past death, he is a lich.  He follows Morendorf to watch the rest of the match.

Bone Jangles gets up and moves to the edge of the pond only to be struck by another bolt of lightning.  Vesta casts fly and leaves her pocket dimension. Moki and G’norp are constantly shooting crossbow bolts at Bone Jangles and Vesta. F'ive can't move fast enough and is killed by the enclosing wall. Moki, G'norp, and Vesta all reach the western edge of the acid pool at the same time but Vesta is flying. She decides to stop her spell and falls, using Moki to cushion her fall. It's not enough as she dies to fall damage, and Moki is crushed beneath.

With only G'norp and Bone Jangles left the wall closes in around the acidic pool and both are forced to jump in. At the bottom of the pool G'norp recovers Atlantis, and manages to outlast Bone Jangles who is dissolved quickly. Leaving G'norp as the winner of the Battle Royale Rumble I.

## Epilogue:

In Upoover, Moki is woken up in the middle of the night and sees G’norp standing over him.  “Wake up, we got a city to burn.  Waterdeep’s only half destroyed.”

Sid wakes up in The Round Cheese and realizes that yes that was a dream, and no he’s not a lich, but he does have an overwhelming urge to find the real Morendorf.