Staf escapes the worst of it; he loses a piece of his ear and hears only a loud ringing. Barbara grabs a whistle and plays a tune that frightens Staf. The veteran tries to take cover behind Cassius. Barbara administers her
potion of healing to Griento, who begins gasping for breath again. Barbara searches the room; various crates contain luxury goods. She loads 4,000 gp worth of golden tableware into the
bag of holding. Staf crushes the skulls of the dead with his maul.
Damata can take the boat to Risur tomorrow in Sid Minos, say Cassius and Barbara. The orc wonders if he might be better off going to Ber, but Cassius thinks it would be wiser for him to start a new life in another country. In Risur he could use his engineering talents for the expansion of the railways. The three RHC members take a short rest.
Nick keeps following Luc and Octavia. They first go to a small market, then have something to eat, and afterward do some shopping. They regularly walk hand in hand. Nick observes that Octavia is indeed deaf. Around ten o’clock they return to the hotel, and Nick heads down to the arena. (and so they miss out on Luc putting runes on their wagon)
The arena is a kind of amphitheater. Staf is allowed into the central, luxurious box, while Barbara and Cassius sit in the one on the left. The box on the right is still empty. In the middle box sit Elanor, Isobel, and three others. On the left, Barbara and Cassius sit alone; the Grientos were also invited but did not come.
The three unknown individuals in the central box are an elf from Risur, a black-clad human, and a human from the clergy of Crisillyir. In the arena, a torero is run down by a bull. The lighting is provided by an ingenious spotlight system. Commentary is also given through a megaphone by a certain Lord Kulp. Meanwhile, Elanor advertises Isobel to the interested buyers. She does not yet reveal what price she expects.
The second fight is between a gigantic bear and six wolves, which are quickly torn apart by the beast.
The elf is a druid from Risur named Jaimy, the man in black is a surly fellow from Nalaam named Nicolaï, and the third person is Father Balthasar. Elanor is clearly a skilled salesperson. The bodyguards consist of two muscular men and two magic users. Barbara doubts whether the elf is truly a druid; Nick even wonders if he might actually be an eladrin.
For the third fight, six chained prisoners are forced into the arena. Suddenly their shackles fall away, and the great bear enters again. From one of the boxes a sword is thrown down. One of the prisoners is Mr. Maple, who tries to climb out of the arena but is pushed back. Another prisoner grabs the sword but is cut down in a single blow from the bear’s claw. Two others quickly follow. Mr. Maple seizes the sword and charges the bear. Time and again he is knocked down, only to stand back up. After a hundred small cuts, the beast finally collapses.
Messengers regularly come to Elanor’s box. After the fight, the light suddenly shines on Elanor’s box, and she speaks with an amplified voice.
“This man here has been following me and my young friend for three days. Before he dies, I want to know his name.”
Andrei replies:
“I know what filth you are planning. I will name you first—you are a witch! I am Andrei of Recklinghausen, and I swear I will free her from you.”
Elanor says she will give one thousand gold to bring the fire cat. The crowd cheers loudly. Andrei has already recovered by now. The gate opens and a gigantic one-eyed cat appears, its fur made of flames. At the same time the bidding begins. Elanor sets the starting price at 300,000 gold pieces. Nick sees Mr. Kulp throw a two-handed axe into the arena. For the first few minutes Andrei manages to survive, dodging the cat, but he does little damage. Eventually he starts taking heavy blows. The cat can cause its flames to flare up, which hinders Andrei’s regeneration. The fight moves beneath the balcony of Cassius and Barbara. The cat drags Andrei down. Barbara fires, and the cat drags Andrei out of the arena.
The bidding gradually rises to 700,000, then passes one million. The three men in the central box take turns bidding. Then Father Balthasar bids one and a half million and wins. The clergy worship several gods, but the foremost among them is Triegenes, a fisherman who became a god. We wonder what the clergy wants with an eladrin. Elanor handles the business side of the transaction. Staf congratulates her and asks for business advice. She will take the train back tomorrow and invites Staf to stay for a month at her estate. He is also welcome to visit her tonight, room 313.
Barbara, Cassius, Nick, and Mel go down to the catacombs to see if Andrei’s body is lying there somewhere. We first check the animal cages. There is no corpse near the fire cat. According to the handler, the gladiator is still alive. Mr. Kulp is taking care of him. We find the arena’s owner; he is standing by Andrei, who lies on a table being treated.
We make some small talk and ask how Andrei is doing. Elanor threw him in here earlier in the day and even paid extra gold to have him fight. He asks whether we will take Andrei with us. Of course. Nick offers the man a cigar from Overflorijn.
Staf spends a wild night with Elanor. He asks what she plans to do with her money, and she once again invites him to visit.
Barbara is cursed by the pistol; she must kill someone every day. Nick will study
remove curse tomorrow.
15 Winter 500 AOV
Nick visits Staf in room 313, who tells him he will not be coming with us and is going with Eleanor to her estate.
Nick wants to cast
remove curse, but he needs an additional component: a pregnant goat to transfer the curse onto. (I think I might do something here... )
On the train we notice that the compartment next to ours is empty. The Griento family is present, though. Cassius/Felix has written a letter to Stover about Damata, for witness protection, and to have him employed as a train engineer. Andrei decides not to come with us; he wants to search for Isobel. We advise him to travel to Risur if he succeeds in freeing the eladrin. We give him 500 gold.
The train departs with a heavy jolt. There is a new engineer. Nick asks whether the problem with the locomotive has been fixed; Malia says the issue has been reported, but she does not know more.
Tonight we want to kidnap Luc Jierre in Sid Minos. If Kaea contacts us, we must ask where the ship is located and inform her that the Grientos will also be coming along. Around noon Nick receives the message:
“The
Impossible will be ready and will then sail to Vendricce, where it will wait for two more days.”
In the afternoon Cassius and Barbara briefly visit Jierre to thank him for the generous dinner. They offer him a drink so they can spend some time in his compartment. He says he is a researcher working on new technologies with military applications. Kane senses that he is only telling half the truth. Barbara asks whether he can use magic, but he denies it, although some tieflings can use magic.
Suddenly Malia arrives to say we are almost there and must return to our compartment. Dusk is falling. The lamps switch on and suddenly glow red, then purple. Symbols begin to light up in our compartment and in the corridor. Felix faints. To him the sun suddenly appears as a tiny point far in the distance. He can no longer see us. Outside it is very dark and the sound is muffled. The light has a purplish hue. A ghost hangs in the corridor.
We sit around the unconscious Felix while Kane studies the energy—clearly planar energy. Ayleen goes to check the next wagon; the orcs have also fainted, except for the woman. Luc and Octavia are nowhere to be found.
