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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1891768" data-attributes="member: 9626">The WinnersThe party had defeated the dragon scout patrol, but their adventure still wasn’t over.  Later that day, they finished the travel to their destination and reached Fierypyre, the capital of the dragon empire.  Of course, getting there and entering the city were different things entirely.  The city itself was literally one massive dragon, dozens of miles long and over a mile high, and while a sort of shanty town had built up around it, the entirety of the city proper was located inside the dragon!  This meant, among other things, that the city was completely protected from attacks and can only be entered through the mouth.  (Well, theoretically, there was another entrance, but that was blocked by the ground anyway!)    It was this very mouth that Tal and Danae, magically disguised as dragons, approached.  The rest of the party was there as well, but they were stripped of all weapons and bound as prisoners.  The party reached the mouth, and an armored bugbear at the gate examined them critically.  “Who are you?” he sneered.    Without hesitation, Tal replied, “I’m here to bring these gladiators into the town for the big tournament coming up!”    Tal continued his story.  He and Danae were passing themselves as lesser dragon nobles from another nearby city in the orc empire.  Their story wasn’t air-tight, as they only had limited knowledge about the orc empire, but with a few thousand gold pieces and a convincing enough story that the bugbear and other guards thought they were merely shady, not outright invaders, they were able to enter the city without too much difficulty.    Once inside, they were quickly in awe of the sheer scope of the city.  Most of the buildings were built for dragons, and were thus both very large and designed so that flying creatures can enter them, but land-bound creatures could not.  In fact, many of the buildings weren’t even connected to the ground at all, instead being built attached to the top of the city-dragon’s body.  But the size of the city was not the only impressive feature about it; the city also possessed incredible technology.  The mostly Methosilang natives of the party knew that the orcs had guns from a few painful earlier experiences, but this was far more extensive than they thought.  Flying ships, which didn’t seem to require magic to operate, were floating across the top of the city near it’s ceiling, and the poorer inhabitants of the city tended to travel on massive rope-based railways which lined the city’s walls and rooftops.      Of course, the party had more important things to do than gawk at the wonders around them.  With some questioning by Tal and some money changing hands, the party was able to discover the whereabouts of the gladiator pens, where presumably Tsine and Elayna would be waiting for them.  They immediately traveled to the pens, which were actually found below the city in a number of underground tunnels mostly inhabited by lowly humanoids like goblins and accessible through a scar in the “city’s” belly.  Once the reached it, they began to case the place, getting information about how the slaves were held and the best way to get them out.  This was easy enough, since the entire party was already posing as gladiators and gladiator dealers, and most of the party was quickly incarcerated while Tal and Danae got further information with the forces in charge of the pens.  Unfortunately, not only did they learn something that made a standard escape attempt impossible, they might have learned it too late to prevent their friends from suffering the same fate!    “Tell me more about these slave tattoos,” Danae asked the pens administrator with what she hoped sounded like interest and not like she was terrified about her friends.    “Ah, yes, the slave tattoos.  We’ve been using it for years, and have been improving the design every few years.  The latest version has been crafted by our finest dragon and kobold wizards, and then permanently imprinted on a machine in the coliseum itself.  Anyone who fights in the games will have to get one on before they’re allowed to fight, and it almost guarantees there will be no escapes.  Even if one of them manages to leave the confines of the city, the tattoo will immediately be activated.  They’re really quite brutal; they first suck the slave drive, then release a word of death, and assuming that kills the slave, and it always has so far, it then pulls the soul of the slave back to the city and permanently binds it into a gem, so we get to decide if they’re worth the cost of raising from the dead!”    Tal was also concerned about what this meant for his friends.  “I’m not too certain about this.  We use our gladiators for fights back in our home town as well, but they’ll be worthless to us if they can’t leave the city!  Can’t we make an exception for our property?”    The administrator shook his head, but smiled.  “I’m afraid not.  But don’t worry; the tattoos can be removed again after your business is done in the city.”      Their plans suddenly changed, Tal and Danae quickly excused themselves and left to find their friends.  Meanwhile, Galeron (who was getting sick of being imprisoned at this point, considering this was his third time in a row,) Thorrun, Err, Robin, Sinael, and Keth had better luck, despite their imminent branding.  They soon discovered that Elayna and Tsine were indeed staying in this same pen, and were able to reunite with their old friend and Galeron’s mother.    While there, Elayna and Tsine explained what happened to them.  “After I was captured by the orcs,” Elayna explained, “I was taken here for questioning.  I refused to show them where Methosilang was, of course, and was soon going to be executed as an example to others.  However, nearly before I was going to be executed, I was able to escape my cell and retrieve some of my old equipment.  I was later recaptured, but not before taking down some orcs,” she said with some satisfaction.  “Instead of executing me, they decided I deserved a more worthy death, or at least one that was more entertaining for them, so they forced me into slavery as a gladiator.”    “But that was years ago!  I tried to find you, but all attempts to scry you failed!”    “That’s not surprising,” she replied.  “These pens generate an anti-magic field, and the arena itself is protected against all scrying, presumably to prevent anyone from watching for free.”    Tsine’s story was less complicated.  “I don’t know where I got that magical disease at,” he began, “but I think it was related somehow to Dragovigis or that “dungeon” we investigated there.  Anyway I apparently became completely mad for a while there, and managed to escape Methosilang.  I remember just a bit about what happened, but I think I was wondering the forests around the surface for days before orcs captured me.  It turns out that I had a price on my head.  I mean, we all do by now, but they were looking for me specifically.  Remember that orc captain that we fought at the Shrine of Life?  Well, we killed him, but apparently someone had him raised, and he’s wanted revenge against me and Rudyard in particular.  Now, Rudyard is dead, but they still had a chance to get revenge on me, so he personally had me forced into the gladiator games, and wanted to lead what they are sure is the final battle against me.”    Meanwhile, Tal and Danae arrived to try and get their friends out of there before it was too late, but it was, well, too late.  Imperial guards arrived at the pens to specifically escort the party, both captors and captives, to meet someone they called, “The Savior.”  With little choice, they agreed.    Soon, both groups were ushered in the noble district at the top of the city.  They soon were led before a female half-dragon, half-human woman.  She nodded at her “guests,” and told her personal guards and the imperial ones that brought the party here, “Excellent work.  Now leave me.   I want to speak with our guests personally.”    They complied, and The Savior’s haughty tone suddenly changed, becoming much less arrogant.  “It’s about time you got here,” she said.  “I was worried you wouldn’t make it in time.”    The party looked understandably confused, prompting the woman to suddenly shudder, as her entire shape changed.  When it ended, an entirely different woman stood before them.    “Venym!” Tal gasped, as he recognized the succubus that helped them fight the Nightmare Prince.  “What are you doing here?”    “What do you think?  After your celestial friend forced me from your city, and by the way, I’m very grateful you didn’t bring him here, I didn’t have anywhere else to go.  Bas still wanted me dead for my part in killing one of her Strife Masters, and I couldn’t leave the plane, so I took my chances with the dragons and orcs.  It wasn’t too hard to fool them.  Killing the Nightmare Prince actually gave the dragons a big victory in their war with Delaspie, since he was hindering their forces while Phellis Mune hindered Delaspie’s.  I was able to convince them that I was responsible for this victory, which you have to admit was largely true.  And then I helped them discover the Bas forces in their own kingdom.  All this help made me into a heroine for them, hence the nickname.”    “If things are so good, then why were you looking for us?” Tal asked, as most of the rest of the party was too disgusted to even talk to such an evil creature.    “Well, I tried to get the orc empire to mobilize against Bas, but they’re too slow-moving to make decisions, and now it’s too late.  You have to understand, Bas has been manipulating the orc and undead empires into greater hostility for a while now, and it’s about to descend into total war.  The undead will hit the orc empire soon, and hard.  I want to be out of here before it happens, so I made sure there were a lot of those flyers that I’m sure you found, and that they were very specific with who was fighting.  I knew it would lure you here.  And I want you to again honor your agreement with me, and take me back to Methosilang with you.”    “Why should we?” Galeron gruffly responds.    “Well, if you don’t think the original deal is enough, how about because I can get you and your mother out of here safely?”    “How do you propose you get them out of here before the fight?”    “Oh, I won’t be able to do that, but I can get you into that fight, and make sure they don’t know how strong you really are until it’s too late.  You fight back against your opponents, and win, and we’ll be able to get them back into the tattoo machine to get them removed while we’re there.  They’re free to leave, you teleport home, and I come with.  And I can even make sure that the rest of you get fake tattoos, so that you can at least escape if something goes wrong.  That’s already better than the position you’re in now.”    “And if we refuse?” Galeron, who didn’t want to make any more deals with demons, asked.    “Well, I don’t have to do anything, but I could just reveal that the lot of you are frauds, so all of you are forced to spend the rest of your lives as gladiators, and you’ll be condemning your mother and friend to die.”    The group quickly discussed this plan, and while Galeron and Thorrun refused to actively help Venym in any way, they did reluctantly accept the plan itself.      And so it was that a few days later, the entire group, including Elayna and Tsine, were at the coliseum a few days later, ready for the battle for their freedom.  As per arena regulations, none of them were allowed to magically pre-enhance themselves before that battle, but they had their tactics ready for when it was time.  Galeron, Thorrun, and Elayna in particular were excited about this, because Galeron had used a specific item he had been saving for just such an occasion earlier that morning…    The arena itself was an impressive affair.  It was massive, and while the battle arena itself was only a hundred feet long or so, the seating and the rest of the coliseum stretched hundreds of feet more in every direction, and even farther straight up!  Above their heads, the arena was partially enclosed, but there was still a lot of room to see the typically darkened skies.  However, their view was blocked a bit by the dozens of dragons of every size and color that rested on special perches, watching the fight.  Finally, it was time for the games to begin.  The arena’s announcer, an orc with magically-enhanced voice abilities, read off the names of the heroes (or the heroes alias’ in the case of those who already were known to the orcs,) with obvious boredom.  Of course, his excitement rose greatly when he first announced Elayna and Tsine, who received the expected boos and insults, and then even more when it was time for the arena favorites.    “And in this corner,” he began, “we have Criostix!”  A huge, imposing frost giant entered the arena.  “A favorite in this arena, he has been hand-picked by the team’s leader to back him up and prove to the world how much more powerful our empire is than these…elves.”  The crowed roared, literally in the case of the dragons.    “Next up we have Zenithor!”  A nervous-looking hobgoblin, dressed in traditional cleric garments and wearing a strange holy symbol, arrived.  “The personal cleric of the team’s leader, he also personally brought him back from the dead to challenge those who killed him the first time!    “The team’s personal mount will be Sulfistat,” the announcer continued, as a very strange dragon entered the arena.  It looked mostly like a red dragon, except it had two heads, and the second head was clearly green!  “A product of the empire’s research to make ourselves even more powerful, he contains the best aspects of two of our most powerful draconic citizens!”    “Aaaaaaand finally, the leader of the team.  You know him, you love him, I give you Khat’Shir’Mol!”  A familiar orc entered the arena, and climbed onto the back of the dragon.  “Butchered by these inferior beings, when he was just trying to save his sick and dying chief.  A man so willing to save his hero that he was willing to call a truce with these savage just so he could be cured, only for them to break a truce with him!”  The crowd was in an uproar.  “But now, at last, he shall get his revenge!”    With that, both sides had entered the arena, and only one person was missing from the games for it to begin.  The crowd began to chant his name, quietly at first and then louder and louder.  “Ka’Drylog.  Ka’Drylog!  Ka’Drylog!! KA’DRYLOG!!!”    And, on cue, the Head that Rules the Claw, the emperor of orcs and dragons, entered the arena and sat on his personal throne.  He was being guarded by two of the oldest of dragons, and even let Venym sit on his royal enclave during the fight.  He also was no longer an orc, exactly, but rather a massive, twelve-foot tall metal creature, carved in the shape of a massive orc.  He looked at the arena below him, and in a metallic but brutal voice, shouted out “Let the games begin!”        Before the fight itself, though, both sides were allowed a few moments to prepare some enhancement magic, which they happily used.  Before the first attack, both sides were largely flying, hasted, protected were various energies, and far more.  And then, what was going to be the most epic fight the arena had ever seen began!    Or at least it was supposed to be the most epic fight.  It certainly appeared that way to Sinael, who was the first to respond when the fighting officially began.  When he saw the dragon and giant charging at him, he lost his nerve and immediately fled to the edge of the arena, where he remained for the entire fight!    For Galeron, Elayna, and Thorrun, however, things looked a lot less bleak, for one simple reason: that morning, Galeron burned an incense of meditation while they prayed for their spells.  Since all three worshipped the same goddess, all of them were affected, and this soon proved to be devastating to their enemy.  While Robin, Danae, Tsine, and Tal focused their energies on taking out Zenithor the cleric before he could start healing his companions, the three clerics unleashed an endless rain of heavenly fire, which was all enhanced to maximum power by the incense, on the unfortunate frost giant.  Between their power and the attacks of Err and Keth, both Criostix and Zenithor were dead before they could even swing a weapon or cast a spell!    If Khat’Shir’Mol was worried about this, neither he nor his mount showed it.  Sulfistat the dragon charged right at Err and Keth, brutalizing both with his double heads full of razor-sharp teeth and unnatural strong claws, wings and tail.  Meanwhile, Khat fired upon them both with his gun, a magically enhanced version that he had been specially trained in ever since his death.  It was enough to wound both the half-dragons, but it was too little, too late.  The party followed through from their first incredible round with a wave of green slime from one of Galerons’s spells, which sucked much of Khat’s strength away, and a ray of dark magic by Danae, weakening him further.  The rest of the party closed in around the dragon, beating him down with weapons, of fired on it or Khat from a distance with arrows and magic.  The duo got one last chance to respond, but even then, the dragon was forced to waste the stronger of his two breath weapons to destroy the green slime on his master (who was magically immune to fire at the moment and thus otherwise unaffected by the breath,) and barely damaged the heroes around it with the other.  The party continued to hammer it with attacks, until it finally died.    And then exploded.    In a move that shocked everyone, the dragon immediately entered death throws upon dying, and released a massive blast of both fire and acid on everyone near it.  Only Err and Keth were close enough from the hero’s side to be affected, but while Err’s draconic nature let him resist most of the effect, Keth wasn’t so lucky.  Wounded heavily already from the dragon attacks, the fires of the blast consumed him, killing the unfortunate creature.  However, in a twist of irony, Khat’Shir’Mol was also fatally wounded by the acid of the blast.  As he died, he gave the party a look of utter contempt and hatred, and though he died that day, the party knew that a creature with as much power and resources as him would be able to get revived, and that he’ll never stop trying to kill the party.    It was about this time that the party noticed something else unsettling.  The crowd didn’t seem to be reacting to the fight at all.  There were no cheers for when their champions attacked the party, nor were there cries of outrage and sorry now that their heroes all lied dead.  Instead, they were murmuring nervously to themselves, and looking around, and especially up.  The party also looked up, and realized exactly what was making everyone so worried.  The coliseum, and potentially the entire city, was under attack.    OOC Notes:  Wow, it feels kind of good doing this again!  Sorry about the cliffhanger, but don’t worry.  The conclusion to this story and the denouement after the climax will be dealt with later this weekend, probably on Thursday.  This will be a one-time thing, though, so don’t expect me to start going back to mid-week Story Hours all of a sudden.  Anyway, I was pleased with how this one turned out.  Maybe writing fairly regular fiction for a month helped me get more into the spirit of writing these than I was before.</blockquote>

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