So we didn’t have a session this weekend on account of a convention, but it did give me time to catch up on this.

SESSION 2, Part 2: There are No Backsies in the Arena!
Spoiler
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Finding the Ring Kings isn’t hard. The guild is headquartered in a run-down house in the Freight Quarter (kind of the warehouse/slum area) with a line of sailors and other burly types out the door. The bouncer out at the door poses a question to the party:

Bouncer: Ya here to fight or watch?

There’s a bit of a debate here. Drengr is kind of itching for a fight, and others are unsure if participating in a tournament is a good way to get information. They are all pretty sure that Drengr gives them the best chance I inform them that we’ll be using the Performance Combat rules from Ultimate Combat, and that actually makes it a good possibility for everyone, since they all have pretty good Charisma. Tony, Zara, and Drengr all enter that night’s tournament, while Ausk intends to try to get info from the crowd possibly make some money from the betting.

The fighters are lead inside and informed by a halfling with an eyepatch that it’s nonlethal combat decided by KO (though the halfling seems annoyed that it’s not mortal combat), and that they’ll be provided with weapons that can deal nonlethal damage with no penalty. It’s a four round tournament, and the winner gets a title shot at the champion. The higher you place, the more gold you get. They’re then lead to the basement of the house, a room packed to the brim with rowdy sailors and other fightin’ folk. Ausk inquires as to the location of the guild manager, and is told that he’s in back with the champion, and probably won’t come out until he does. Zara gets the first match, the very pretty aasimar girl standing out quite a bit amidst the decidedly less pretty observers. She is confronted with an oread warrior, and Drengr takes it upon himself to provide... encouragement.

Drengr: COWER BEFORE YOUR PRETTY, SPARKLING DEATH!

Zara starts her battledance to get some bonuses, and is easily able to get the crowd on her side with a variety of flashy moves. The oread whiffs his first attack, and Zara is able to take him down with little difficulty, the crowd cheering her on.

Tony is up next.

Drengr: BEHOLD, THE DEADLY FLASHING BLADE OF THE WARRIOR ACCOUNTANT!

I unfortunately can’t recall who Tony fought, but the accountant quite quickly got the crowd in an uproar (helpful attitude) and took down his first round opponent with little difficulty. Drengr surprisingly runs into a spot of trouble in his first round, not really getting the crowd on his side, and getting an unfortunate natural 1...
Drengr: *fumbles* "I need not wield my weapons competently to defeat thee!"

Apparently true, as he still comes out of the round largely unscathed. The group is not so much cheered by their victories as they are by the money. They are not allowed to bet on or against themselves, obviously, but they are allowed to bet on their companions, and the farther they go in the tournament the more moolah they make.

Zara is unfortunately taken out of the tournament by an ifrit barbarian in round 2, much to the crowd’s disappointment. It was kind of a lucky shot on her opponent’s part, as I believe Zara now has the best AC in the party thanks to the mithral shirt. Tony ends up going against the halfling with a eyepatch, who turns out to be an alchemist. The halfling buffs himself up a bit, but takes a nasty hit early on, and doesn’t get to bring as much pain as he was hoping. Drengr wins his round also, trading banter with another orcish barbarian, and managing to get the crowd a bit more excited this time.

Round three pits Drengr against Tony!

FIGHT!!!

Drengr hits harder and has more HP, but his AC is crap and has to switch to sword and board in order to not get thwacked out of the tournament. After the equipment change, it is a tense battle. Drengr gets in some solid knocks, but Tony parries blows like mad and they are both in low single digits before Drengr deals the deciding blow. The crowd is going wild as they were both the crowd favorites that night. There is no hard feelings between the two and Drengr gets to advance into the final round. A notable exchange:

Tony (OOC): Oh wait, can I take that back?

Drengr: THERE ARE NO BACKSIES IN THE ARENA!!

Drengr fights a human monk who launches volleys of attacks at once. Drengr is forced to use his shield once again, but the monk still gets a stunning fist through! Drengr is stunned for a round, and the monk lays into him... or tries to, completely failing to hit the dazed and confused half-orc even with multiple attacks. Drengr recovers proceeds to wreck the guy, the bonuses from the crowd allowing him to hit his otherwise stellar AC. And with that, Drengr gets to make an attempt on the champion...

The guild manager comes out first, an old, balding gnome with a ring of spikey white hair and a cane. And then the champion emerges. He’s buff, but not in the same way as the sailors, more in a handsome sort of way, and his muscles bulge against the unusual attire of a Catonian naval officer’s uniform. Most of the PCs are a little confused... but Tony immediately recognizes him as his rival Arnaud Giovanni Savelli.

Arnaud: *sees Tony* Hey, look who’s still second best!

Tony:

Tony fumes a bit that he isn’t the one to get to fight him, but Drengr is only more willing to beat the crap out of him now that he knows Tony has a beef with him. Ausk throws in his support as well... in a suitably witch-doctory way.

Ausk: Take his teeth!

BGM

The crowd takes up the chant (“Take his teeth, take his teeth, take his teeth!”) as the two warriors lay into each other. Drengr takes a two-handed earthbreaker swing at Arnaud for a good damage roll, but the Catonian swings back with a massive wooden club for even more! The battle is quick and bloody, as the two brutes hammer away at each other swinging for the fences. Drengr actually dips into negatives, but uses his Divine Resilience (homebrew) trait to remain conscious for 1 turn... which is all he needs to deliver the finishing blow his opponent. The crowd goes nuts cheering their new local champion!

The PCs are given their placement money and they now have several hundred gold pieces extra from extensive betting. Drengr is invited into a back office with the gnome, who they learn is named Heigan, and the party goes with.

Heigan: So are you sticking around? Or am I gonna have to find myself another champion?

The gnome seems a bit preoccupied with how to market Drengr, and also ignorant of any of the recent real estate deals with the Scarlet Room.

Tony: If you aren’t making these deals, who else would have the means to make them instead?

Heigan: Only... Arnaud. Damn it!

The party and Heigan rush out of the office to find the former champion, but are informed that he rushed out soon after being beaten...

And that’s where we left it.


THOUGHTS
1) Again, the players surprise me with how well they stay in character and the with their inter-PC dynamics, despite being apart for a good half of this session. It’s hard to convey through text on the internet (especially since I can’t remember everything that is said) but the players are making this more entertaining than I could ever make it.

2) Hey man, Tony’s player is the one who made him an accountant, not me!

3) The players seem eager to catch on to a “main plot thread” as Ausk’s player put it. They’re pretty close now.