Like a dozen rivers emptying into the ocean, the flow of traffic in the streets of Daunton first trickles, then flows to the same location: Titan's Footprint, the largest harbor of the island.
The sense of excitement is palpable.
"It's here!"
"It just arrived this morning!"
"They say they had to relocate half the navy just to make room for it!"
Yet their exclamations are whispers, as if speaking too loud may dispel the magic of the morning.
---
You follow the crowds.
As you step into the open, finally able to see past the warehouses at the edge of the docks, you see it.
A turtle.
A turtle larger than your most outrageous imaginings.
Its head--dwarfing any galleon--nearly touches the end of the main pier.
Its shell...
Its shell beggars all measurement of scale.
Its shell is carved into a huge coliseum. The natural green and browns sculpted into frescoes of humans, elves, dwarves, and other common 'civilized' races dominated by monsters of all kinds.
---
The crowd gathers before the head of the turtle.
You would expect an incredible din from the throng of people, but there is a hush of expectation, a teetering a-tip-toe and holding of breath.
Alanax the weather wizard stood in the front door of the Harbourmaster's Office, arms crossed, staring at the giant beast in surly disapproval. "The number of spells it took to clear the approach for that thing..." he thought. "And the paperwork! So many ships rerouted... And all for entertainment." He sighs, shakes his head, and disappears back inside. "I can't stand here gawking, I have work to do." Was that a twinge of jealousy?
From the direction of the turtle's head, a voice speaks. Its tone is cultured and undoubtedly male. Somehow all (no matter how distant) hear its words...
You know the stories.
You've told them countless times and heard them even more.
Some of you are even the heroes of these tales.
The bold warrior. The pious priest. The clever wizard. The deft rogue.
They leave the civilized world and enter the dark places, the untamed places. There, they find the lairs of 'monsters'--walking horrors possesses of inneffable evil--and they do battle, destroying these foul threats to all that is 'good' and 'decent'. These 'valiant' adventurers return from their journeys, laden with treasure, feted by king and commoner. And 'civilization' is safe, once again.
The clack of wooden sandals echoes across the bay.
Step by measured step, an oni walks to the tip of the Turtle's nose. The pale hair of the oni is arranged in a complicated coif of seven teirs, capped by an odd structure, almost like a small tower or pagoda, from which shines an orange light. The creature wears a kimono woven from brilliant yellow and red cloth, decorated with plum blossoms and peacocks. He holds a fan, white and painted with the turtle upon which he stands. The teeth of his geta are two feet long, if an inch.
But we are not the children of 'civilization'.
We are the monsters in your tale.
It is our sons and daughters murdered in the name of your 'goodness' and 'decency'.
It is our heirlooms and relics plundered and purloined.
It is our lives destroyed.
And while your pipers play for the heroes' triumph, we lift up our voices in a funeral dirge, wailing and gnashing our teeth for all that we have lost.
And you dare to call us monsters.
He pauses, studies the crowd, and snorts.
No more.
NO MORE!
For we have come to you. And we shall take our revenge.
Bring us your best and brightest. We shall break them on our wheel of pain.
For I am Aggravus Pinch.
And this...
...is...
TURTLEDOME!
The crowd roars, mad with pleasure. They've heard this all before.
Where Pinch's voice once had the solemn tone of a soothsayer, now it has risen to the fevered pitch of a carnival hawker.
And do we have one hell of a Turtledome for you, folks!
First, let's hear it for the Tibias of Terror, the Clavicles of Castigation, the Ribs of Reaping, the...
Legion of Bone!
The crowd cheers as six skeletons march out from behind Aggravus Pinch. Each skeleton wears a black and white skull mask--which doesn't make much sense considering that they already have skulls for heads.
The lead skeleton snaps his head off his neck and holds it aloft in both hands. In a sepulchural voice, he yells, "YOU! ARE! BONED!"
The crowd goes wild.
Battle Info
The Legion of Bone arena fight is a level 1 minion battle, with a lot of minions. Or rather, it's more of a total party kill masquerading as a level 1 battle.
But that's not all, ladies and gentlemen. Not by a long shot! No sirree!
Whilst traveling about the fine lands of the Transitive Isles, meeting and defeating the very best you have to offer...
Aggravus takes a moment to grin, savoring the cat-calls and boo's from the crowd at his last turn of phrase.
We discovered a new band of warriors, ready to RIP you a new one--and then suck your intestines out of it, with or without a straw! Let's hear a warm welcome for our feral favorites...
The Badgermen of Zarkov!
Out they rush, leaping like madmen, pumping the air with their fists, five massively muscular men--peaks of physical perfection--clad only in loincloths, with badgers for heads.
No, not the heads of badgers.
Their heads are badgers.
Little angry badgers with pointy teeth and nasty claws.
Nasty claws with the middle digit extended, flipping off all of Daunton, mothers everywhere, puppies, and everything else nice in the world.
And their little badger heads wear brightly colored cloth masks, decorated with flames and lightning bolts.
As one the Badgermen of Zarkov turn, flip up their loincloths, and moon the crowd. All the while, their little badger heads screech unpleasant and profane things in their unclean badger tongue.
And again the crowd roars.
Battle Info
The Badgermen of Zarkov are a level 2 encounter in the 'Warren of Chaos'. There will be a lot of terrain and traps involved, as well as a giant mount.
The undefeated champion of the Light Heroic Division...
Beside you, a burly man -- probably a blacksmith -- leaps about squealing like a little girl. "He means Migtroth! He means Migtroth!" Only to collapse from overexcitement, foaming at the mouth.
The Mite of Might...
"Mig-troth! Mig-troth!" the crowd chants.
The Diminutive Destroyer...
"We love you, Migtroth!" screams a woman in the distance.
Migtroth the Magnificent!
An unseen band plays, somehow making their harps and violins wail like electric guitars.
And arms raised in triumph, HE strides to the tip of the turtle's nose.
HE, meaning the biggest kobold you have ever seen.
Really, he's, like, almost four feet tall.
With biceps the size of basketballs.
His scales gleam in the dying sun. Upon his head, he wears a bright red cloth mask, decorated with dragon's wings.
He slashes the air with his claws. All sound stops.
He leans forward and roars in a thoroughly masculine, baritone kobold voice (meaning 'high-pitched and screechy' to everyone else)...
Bring me your heroes! I will make them into zeroes!
And the crowd SCREAMS!
Battle Info
Migtroth the Magnificent is a level 3 solo monster cage-match.
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Do characters need to be formally approved to join in?
No. However, you don't receive XP. And I'm not sure what the judges would say about receiving the money/reward from the fight.
Atanatotatos
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atanatotatos
Hadarai is up to it if I can find a suitable group in the tavern. I'd go for the solo, though a tactlord's nova might make it a bit easy
You might think that, but...
Migtroth is a TPK waiting to happen.
(Case in point, all the TURTLEDOME! fights are TPK's. Your characters can't die in a fight, so I don't feel bad about going over the top in the difficulty and horrible weirdness that can happen. They're terribly unfair, and I'd expect it may take a few tries before a party can finally beat my boys.)
TURTLEDOME! Battle Stages
Each TURTLEDOME! battle will have three stages...
Contract negotiation with Aggravus Pinch. (A social skill challenge. He's going to expect you to pay to fight in the arena...)
Trash-talk. (Another social skill challenge. If you warm up the crowd, you may get certain bonuses in the fight. And Migtroth already has the crowd maxed out on approval...)
However, you don't receive XP. And I'm not sure what the judges would say about receiving the money/reward from the fight.
You don't? O_o I thought this worked pretty much like an adventure... Mmmmh...
Quote:
You might think that, but...
Migtroth is a TPK waiting to happen.
Welll... IF it's an actual lvl 3 (as in, not unbalanced as per the DMG guidelines), barring awful rolls, and with a good party going nova with a tactlord... I doubt anything can stay standing... But heh, maybe I just need to see it to change my mind
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Oh, now I see. What about money and items, wouldn't that be part of normal rewards (and make sense, as an in-game "prize")?
mostly level 3 eh?
Well, with a slightly optimized party... mmmmh
Come join us in the Shifting Seas and Transitive Isles of Living 4th Edition, amazing adventures and great fun guaranteed!
Then to play community 4e in Eberron join us in LEB too! Give life to your characters and contribute to the living settings!
Please excuse my poor English. It is not my first language.
Oh, now I see. What about money and items, wouldn't that be part of normal rewards (and make sense, as an in-game "prize")?
There are monetary rewards for each match. The amount depends on your negotiating skill, meaning how well you can convince Aggravus Pinch that you can bring additional entertainment value to the fight. If you have a rep, you can get more money. You can build a rep by fighting weaker arena battles or doing something of notoriety in the living world.
There may also be special prizes for completing a fight...
Can a PC who's on an adventure already participate or does it require them to be in the tavern?
This is an adventure like any other, so you can't be on two adventures at the same time.
And, since this is an adventure, it will need a judge. I'd suggest, given the... transient nature of the PCs in this "adventure", that we share the judging duties around as needed.
This is an adventure like any other, so you can't be on two adventures at the same time.
And, since this is an adventure, it will need a judge. I'd suggest, given the... transient nature of the PCs in this "adventure", that we share the judging duties around as needed.
Perhaps a judge assigned to each fight/group of PCs? When the fight is done, the judge is 'freed'. Of course, a judge could judge a long series of these, or multiples simultaneously, just like with other adventures, but this gives an easy out fairly regularly if need be.
Also, looks fun, Ken! Too bad I can't have a 2nd character yet
![Turtledome! [Arena]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/iconimages/living-4th-edition/turtledome-arena_ltr.gif)
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