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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 169654" data-attributes="member: 743">Arthur speaks up, "If you need a guide in Lopolla, I'm your man. Although, I've never heard of a Black Academy either, I have been in the Arena district quite a bit, and can at least tell you about the battles there." It sounds odd coming from a boy who can barely be 12 years of age, but for some odd reason you believe that he really does know his way around the city.At that moment, from outside the mansion you hear the familiar strains of "Mwarw. . . raawr. . . raaaawr." The mewling of the cat get ever more insistent as the conversation progresses.Amastacia will try to see what she can do with that cat.  She concludes that, since Arthur is one of "The Big H's" guys, she'll leave him to those like him.  Amastacia has always felt horrible for what happened to the small, red dragon (which later turned out to be Derrik), and she decides that she is going to make sure no one in this party harms the cat without DAMN good reason.She goes outside, with a protective Gundarag hot on her heels and sits down. Crinkling some leaves on the ground to see if the cat might be interested in the noise, she waits patiently. It does not take long for the cat to come over to her and begin rubbing against her leg and purring loudly. Thinking back, she remembers that an old friend of her, a gnomish druid by the Name of Mossknickers could speak with animals. Its been at least two years since Amastacia and MossKnickers have spoken, but presumably she remains at her grove near Oakhurst. It would certainly be more than the work of an evening to contact her though.Amastacia hears the conversation through the cracked-open door.  She and Gundarag begin to talk about the situation.  "I wonder if she has managed to get another clone of herself?"  Amastacia asks Gundarag.  "That's creepy, if you ask me.""Gundarag like clone of Amastacia."  he says with a smile.  "But only one you."  She holds his hand while she pets the cat with her other hand.  "I wonder if the gods could tell us if we could even win a battle against her with her current stats and our current stats.  That might be too broad a question, though."  The cat’s purring picks up as Amastacia continues to talk and pet it, and it begins to bump its head against her leg and thigh, almost knocking her short sword out of its sheathe in its insistance on getting more attention."Gundarag no understand questions.  We go fight.  Ask questions later."  "Spoken like a true warrior, my dear."  She continues to play with the cat.  "I wonder if she is at that city under Lopolla, like it mentioned in that book.  I don't know about you, dear, but I'm about ready to retire again.  This is getting ridiculous!  Never a moment's peace--NEVER!  I might like to have a family some day, but that would never happen while I have to die and come back to life every month.  And nothing good ever comes our way anymore.  It's just fight, fight, fight.  I can't stand it much longer."  She starts to cry.  "Is there any good left in the world?"  She puts her head on Gundarag's shoulder and weeps.Gundarag puts his massive arm around her and comforts her as best he can, then says, “Mean hag lady make Amastacia cry. Gundarag no like.” He grabs Amastastacia by her shoulders and squares her up so she is looking into his face. “We stop this now.” He then turns to head back into the mansion, nudging Amastacia along as well. Walking into the dining hall where the group is assembled, he draws his Bastard Sword from out of his glove and slams it down on the table. Pointing to Amastacia, he states emphatically, “Gundarag fight!” Moments later the corner of one of the books laid out on th table begins to smolder, as his the fire licking up from the blade catches it. He quickly grabs his sword up, and returns it to his glove before giving Galrond a sheepish apology for the new scorch marks in the fine table.William says, "I agree with what you have said. On one hand we can not allow our friends to be bait for a trap like this. Once we give in to it, evil will do it again because the tactic works! However, knowing what must be done is a lot easier than doing it. I simply cannot let my brother suffer at the hands of that Hag!” He slams his hand on the table next to the scorch mark to emphasize his point. I've never left anyone behind, and I'm not about to do it now. I know why the hag sent us the hand. She wants us to see the horrible things she is doing to our family and friends in the hopes that we will make mistakes out of rage.""When you scry on my brother I'll be next door with the priest. I don't want to see my brother suffer. Can anyone think of questions for the divination spells?""Well," Galrond says, I can think of a couple right off the top of my head, but we'd better hurry if we want to get answers tonight. I don't know, but something tells me we've bothered the Priest here quite a bit lately and if we have to wake him up he won't be too happy.""One, we should probably ask if your Brother and Friend are still alive. We might also want to ask if they will be released if we meet Nuala in the Arena. Well, that's about it for me, anyone else? I'm off to start scrying for your brother, william. You can stay here though, Heironious' guest house has tons of rooms to choose from, I'll be in the east wing."William Says, "Billy, can you teleport me to the church of Heronious in Lapola or some other major city like that. If anyone wants to go with me I can use the comfort." William grabs a quill and parchment, "let me write down some questions to ask for the Divination and Commune spells".1). Will Nuala release our family and friends if we meet her in the arena?2). Is our friends and family held by Nuala still alive?3). Does Nuala have a clone of herself ready?4).  Does the Arena have any anti-teleport spell on it that would prevent us from teleporting out of it?5). Will Nuala have any Undead allies there at the arena?6). Will Nuala have any outer planner allies there at the arena?7). Is Arthur trustworthy? (Sorry Arthur, just being careful).8). On a scale from 1 -to- 10, 10 being a lich and 1 not knowing what a lich is. How close is Nuala to becoming a lich? (I know the commune spells are for yes/no questions, but I thought this was pretty specific and you may let it slide.)9). Is the owner of the Arena, allied with Nuala or a neutral third party?Kargur adds to the list, “Will she fight "fair", i.e. by the rules and regulations we agree upon?”William mulls that question over for a moment and replies, “That's a good point Kurgar. Arthur, are there rules to an arena fight? What Spells are active on an arena?”Teflon, previously silent decides it's time to do something.  First he begins casting a quick spell of magic detection on both Arthur and the box, which confirms Galrond’s negative finds."Sure William, I can teleport ya" "as for the hag, I believe she has figured out how to deal with my antimagic shell.  I knew it would just take some time, as I know how to deal with it myself." Teflon smirks.  "As for fighting her in the arena, I don't like it. Every time we've fought her on her terms, she's been nearly unstopable.  Not saying we can't take her, just saying it'll be hard, and we will have casualties, be abushed by other fiends, ect.."As Billy trails off, Arthur takes the opportunity to respond to William’s question. “I’ve gone to the arena since I was a boy, everybody in Lopolla does. I’m surprised that you didn’t see it during your stays here. Anyway, its where gladiators fight, chariot races occur, and high profile duels are fought. There are games every Sunday.”“It’s free to enter the arens and watch the games, but all of the adults who go must bet on at least one game. I guess that’s part of how they keep the place running.”“Whenever there are fights, the crowd chooses a favorite. Of course, they choose a different favorite every minute or so, but that’s ok, its all fun. Anyway, the crowd chooses their favorite and they throw silver coins at that person. If the guy can manage to catch three silver coins, he is granted his freedom, and gets tons of glory and honor and fame. Its very rare, but you can see the statues of all who have succeeded in the Hall of Heroes. There’s only one person that I know of in the Hall that caught three and wasn’t a slave. I guess he didn’t get his freedom, since he already had it. He did get a cool statue though, it’s a little bigger than all the others.”“The crowd also chooses a loser, and they shower him with copper coins. I’ve seen fighters get an unlucky hit in the head from one of those and drop in the middle of a battle. Or if the crowd really dislikes them, the footing gets kinda rough if they stay in one place and they can trip on the coins.” Arthur laughs, “One time, this guy was the favorite of the crowd and he messed up and caught a copper coin by mistake. When the crowd saw that they immediately switched favorites and pelted him but good. He lost that fight hard!”“Usually the fights are team battles, but sometimes they have monsters fight too. One time they even opened up the pits below the arena floor and loosed some huge lions into the arena while two teams were fighting. That got the crowd roaring. Ooh! And one time they even flooded the entire arena floor and staged a battle on the backs of boats. And another time they had two small forts built on the ends of the arena and the two teams had to try to capture each other’s forts. Oooh! Another time they built several catwalks and bridges over a large mound of hot coals and had a team of gladiators fight big four winged bird thingies from the bridges.”His self-conciousness gets the best of him and he continues in a more subdued tone, “Anyway, Achmed Alzar Sharet Mosafta (or soething like that) is the current Sultan of Za-dan. That’s the name of the Arena district. He makes sure that the battles are entertaining for the crowds, since he gets to keep the coins that are thrown. Unless you catch three, did I forget to mention that? You get to keep the crowd’s offerings. I guess its supposed to help ya since you don’t have a slave job anymore and haveta find some other way to eat.”“Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah, sometimes they even have magical battles there. Those are great. The Sultan’s Magisters work together and create a huge dome over the arena floor. Somehow they make it so that things from the fight can’t go out and hurt the crowd, but coins can still come in. I’ve only seen one of those duels before, but it was awesome. One guy kept summoning creatures to attack the other guy, but that guy just kept blasting them to bits with fire and lightning. I guess the one guy ran out of friends to call, ‘cuz he got blasted in the end.”“I don’t know what spells may be on the arena, but in the one magical duel I saw, one of the wizards did go from one end of the stadium to the other in the blink of an eye. Outside help isn’t allowed though. Its against the law to interfere with the battle except for throwing coins. One time my uncle saw a guy toss a dagger into the arena when it was supposed to be an unarmed duel. The Sultan’s crossbowmen killed the duelist when he tried to use the dagger, and then they found the guy who threw it in and he lost his hands.”Billy and William leave for Lopolla, after agreeing to meet at the Temple to Heironious next to the Scimitars High, where the band has stayed many nights. Galrond looks around, “Well if there are no more questions perhaps we should get started? Would someone care to take that list to the Priests next door and see what they can find out? I’ll start the scrying.”Arthur speaks up, “Can I take it sir? I’d be most happy to help you guys out.” Just before teleporting out William says, "I was going to take the list with me, that's the whole reason for me teleporting to the church of Heronious. I didn't want to bother the Sun Priest. But if you want to come with me?"Amastacia steps towards William.  "You've been a cherished friend all these years to Gundarag and myself.  Let us come with you.  Thinking your brother could be tortured can make for hasty decisions.  Let us come and help you."  She takes his hand in both of hers and gives him a sweet smile.  Gundarag puts one of his hands on William's shoulders.William, Billy, Gundarag, Amastacia, and Arthur head off to Lopolla, while Galrond moves off to his chambers to begin the lengthy scrying rituals. During the casting, the cat busies itself with a few leaves then begins rubbing against Amastacia’s leg. A moment later Billy if finished and the cat lets out a surprised yelp as it appears with the group in Lopolla. It looks around, hisses, and then darts away, flying out the temple door and into the street beyond.It takes the travelers about an hour to get in touch with the high priest of Heironious, during which time there is no sign of the cat. Once the priest hears of the heroes looking for him, he takes the time to meet them at the Temple.“What can I do for you fine people? Oh, and by the way, you’ll be happy to know that the matter of Orcus stealing souls from the dead was cleared up. Apparently there was a Derro Necromancer in his service in the foothills of the Lortmils erecting a Death Gate. Well, even though you folks missed your appointment, the replacements worked out just fine.” Although his words sound annoyed, it is plain to see that he has moved on and is no longer truly upset with the group.They show him the list and enquire about communing. He looks it over for a moment. Certainly that can be arranged. However, the rituals involved are no easy task, and we have heard about how often (and generously) you visit the Temple to Pelor (both here and in other cities). Perhaps it would behoove the group’s (and Heironious’) public image if some small portion of that largess were to fall upon your patron’s doors?”“Now then, these two questions here,” he says, pointing to numbers eight and nine, “are not yes or no questions. I can look into them as well, but it will require two more rituals, and thus more time.”He takes the list and moves towards the back of the church. “I’ll be back in about an hour or so. Please make yourselves comfortable.”The group busies themselves for a bit and the Priest returns in only a half an hour. “Well, folks, it looks as if Nuala is protected from divination, as all of the questions that pertained directly to her came up blank. I did get a few answers though.”“It seems that Nuala will indeed release your friend and brother if you meet her in the arena, and that they are still alive.”“The arena itself does not have an anti-teleport spell on it. I hope you don’t mind though, I reworded the question to ask if it would have one during a battle, as that seems to be when you would be interested in it. If you truly did want to know if it currently has one, I will ask again tomorrow.”“There will be more than just your group and her in the arena. It seems she will have undead backup of some sort.”“Arthur is indeed trustworthy. Isn’t that right Arthur? Of course, I hear Master Forth has been looking for you. You may wish to let him know where you’ve been all this time.”“The ‘owner’ of the Arena is actually the city itself. However, I took your question to mean the Sultan of Za-dan, who currently oversees the Arena. He is indeed allied with Nuala, although with only  a yes or no question, it was impossible to determine the extent or nature of that alliance.”“Finally, I regret to state that the divination involving Nuala’s apparent quest for lichdom dealt too closely with her and was therefore negated by whatever protections she may have up.” At that moment, Galrond, Kargur, and Lanis move up from the back of the room. “We arrived a few minutes ago and did not want to interrupt. The scrying came back positive. Your brother and another man, long dark hair and a goatee, are being held captive in a stone cell. I was unable to determine where that might be, and the area was really not distinct enough to get a good teleportational bead on. If we tried to teleport to ‘a blank stone cell with two men in it’ there is no telling where we might wind up. I am certainly willing to risk it if needbe though. They appeared to be alive and well, and you brother’s arm is heavily bandaged. It did not seem gangrenous, but I’m not much of a medical man.”“I guess we now need to decide if we will be taking her up on her ‘offer’. Its about 10 o’clock now, and I’m not sure when we’re supposed to meet. What time do the games usually begin, we should probably be there well before hat point, if we do decide to meet her on an open field of combat.”“Eight in the morning!” cries an obviously happy Arthur, coming back from his discussions with the Temple’s Master of Diplomacy. “I told Master Dorth all about tonight and that you would still need my help. He said that if it was ok with you then I could go to the arena with you. Please sirs, let me help you. Lopolla is a huge city and a guide would be very useful to you. Plus, I know my way around the arena and can show you where to go.”"Excuse me for a moment gentlemen and lady". William walks over to the alter and says a prayer and then puts in 2,000 gold as a donation (all that he has at the moment). Then walks back to the group."Galrond, is it possible that you could have seen an illusion of some kind? Or is the scry specific because of the blood tie (DNA)?" "Normally I would say yes to the rescue mission, but this is our chance to rid the world of that bitch once and for all. By Heironious, I will gladly show her the kind of steel that I am made of".William takes off his right glove and tosses it to Arthur. "If your going to fight with us you are going to need a strong weapon. The sword inside I have had with me at every battle and it has carried its mark home every time. Just snap your fingers to awake it from its slumber and the blade within will appear. Be careful when you draw the weapon, the magic on it is finite and isn't meant for boyish practice. (William puts hand on Arthur's shoulder) Now, prepare your house young Arthur. We may not survive tomorrow's battle"."Once we're back in a safe place, lets talk spell load out, and battle tactics".</blockquote>

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