They docked at Vorovni and went immediately to the Mayor's office.
"Good morning, The Bound!" The Mayor greeted them, "You are here just in time to get my Lloyd to Everhelm. Though, you should take some time to stop in Greenwarf on your way."
"Do we have to?" said Alice.
"Yes! Because my good friend is there, and we must meet with him!" Lloyd said as he came from the other room.
"Then you are to take a ship from Greenwarf to Everhelm," said the Mayor, "I have it already arranged!"
"Well, then I guess we better be on our way," said Alice, "We can get to Greenwarf really quickly, but I don't know how long it takes to get to Everhelm from there."
"Yes, yes! Be off!" The mayor said as he shooed them away.The three of them used treestride to get to their tree at Greenwarf, and the girls greeted the orphans - who now had better clothes and trinkets.
"Haazaah! It is good to be traveling with you again, friends!" said Lloyd, "Where are the other two of The Bound?"
"Aurelius is dead," said Alice.
"And Kin decided to find his own path," Rina answered.
"Well, maybe my friend in Greenwarf can help!" said Lloyd.
"Help us with what?" Alice asked.
"With the mission, of course!" said Lloyd.
Just then, they approached the Greenwarf adventuring guild, "Haazaah! My friend shall be in there awaiting us! Come, The Bound!"
In the Gallian, they saw a huge guy who was bald and wearing only shorts. He had two beers in one hand, and was arm wrestling people with the other.
"Anyone who can beat me gets a beer!" he said as he chugged the two he had in his other hand. "Anyone who loses," he slammed the man's arm down, "owes ME a beer!"
"Blanke, my good friend!" Lloyd exclaimed, "We have arrived!"
The large man turned around, then quickly finished his newest beer, "Sir Lloyd! It is so good to see you!"
“This is Blanke,” Lloyd introduced, “I got him out of a sticky situation and he’s here to help us win the Everbleed Bowl!”
Rina, Neely, and Alice glanced each other, confused.
“Oh, did I not mention this was a 5-person competition?” Lloyd said.
“Um… no,” Alice answered.
"You mean... this isn't just an escort mission?" Asked Rina.
"I thought this was only going to last a couple of days!" Neely said as she got out her schedule book.
“Well, you don't HAVE to help me” Lloyd said, “But I’d really appreciate it. And I can pay!” he said as he threw a bunch of silver in the air.
Everyone at the bar scrambled for the silver, including Alice.
"Well, The Bound - will you help us?"
Rina looked at Neely, still stressed about her schedule, "I think we can work it in," Neely said, "we did have some things scheduled but any of it could be moved."
Alice and Rina looked at each other an sighed.
"Fine," they both said at once.
"Haahzahh!! Wonderful!" Lloyd said as he threw more silver in the air out of excitement.
"So, Blanke... tell us about you," said Rina.
"I'm Blanke!" he said.
"Yes... we know that much," said Alice, "Anything else?"
"I'm a Barbarian! I like beer... and sandwiches!"
"Where are you from? Are you from here?" Alice asked.
"I come from Vorovni," he answered, "Lloyd got me out of jail there, then sent me here to wait for you. I couldn't afford any beer, so I arm wrestled for it!"
"You have a last name, Blanke?" Rina asked.
"Yep!" Blanke said, "So, wanna arm wrestle?"
"No, thanks... but I will buy us all beers!" Alice said as she raised her hand to the waiter.
"Well, Blanke - I'm Rina Afrisa Michaelis. This is Alice Mondance, and this is Neely."
"Neely, do YOU have a last name?" Blanke asked.
Neely sighed, "... yes. It's Wanton."
"Cool! Me too!" Blanke answered.
"Your last name is also Wanton?"
"Nope!"
The girls sighed.
"So are you prepared for a competition, Blanke?" Rina asked.
"Yeah... I just wish I had a better sword. The one I have isn't very cool."
"Oh, here," Rina said as she pulled out the extending chain long sword and handed it to him, "You can borrow this for now, I don't really need it."
"Cool! Thanks!" Blanke immediately pushed the button on the end and the chain flung out and cut the dartboard in half.
"Nice aim!" said Alice!
Everyone in the bar got excited by the chainsword, so excited, in fact, that they began a huge ruckus that ended up as a bit of a playful bar fight amongst all of the people in the bar.
Rina and Neely immediately exited the bar and stood in the doorway. Rina conjured two Healing Elixirs and Neely just clutched her pen and schedule book tightly.
Alice jumped into the bar fight and actually started fighting with them, Blanke had her back when she missed.
Alice and Blanke knocked out everyone in the bar.
"Everyone owes me and Alice a beer!" Blanke announced.
Rina handed each of them an Elixir.
Blanke handed her and Neely a drink, which they both happily drank as they watched the chaos ensue.
"The boat to Everhelm sets sail in an hour!" said Lloyd, "Let us go and board it! Haazaah!"
They boarded the ship, Rina got seasick as usual, "I've got to stop eating before getting on a boat."
"You didn't eat anything, miss Rina," said Neely, "you did drink multiple shots of whiskey at the Gallian though."
"Oh yeah..."
End session
During the ride to Everhelm, the five of them rested in their bunks, but awoke to a very different place - somewhere familiar to only the girls. They awoke in the center of a hedge maze that they recognized to be Phesoi's Realm.
Phesoi, the god of Chaos, appeared to them again. "Good day, The Bound! See I’ve been watching you," Phesoi started, “I noticed you’re a little down on your luck lately. So I thought I would help you out. I got some information from Therius about everything you have missed since becoming an adventuring party, and I thought I’d give you a little challenge where you can get back some of what you’ve lost.”
"Who is this guy?" Blanke asked.
"And where is Alice?" asked Neely.
"I am Phesoi, God of Chaos. And... of the five of you entering the Everbleed Bowl, you are the three who needs it most. Neely has only recently started training as a rogue and a Bard, and Blanke is new to the group."
"What about Lloyd?" Rina asked, "And why do you think I need assistance?"
Phesoi laughed, "Lloyd is a good fighter in his own right, and you have a new little friend, do you not?"
Rina summoned Volvagia, who immediately flew over to Phesoi and cuddled under their chin.
"Hello, little friend! It is good to see you again! What's it been? 200 years, or so?"
"You know her?" asked Rina.
"Oh yes, I know her very well, I think you and she deserve a little bonding time - that's why I've brought you here."
"I decided to name her Volvagia."
Phesoi paused, then looked at the little dragon and whispered, "You're named after a female body part, did you know this?"
"It just means cave dragon in Abyssal! It's not that deep guys..."
The little dragon looked annoyed, but flew back to Rina.
"Well you got me for at least the next 4000 years," Rina said to her dragon, "better get used to it."
Volvagia nipped at her earrings and she sighed, "Why didn't I spend the last three decades learning my own magic? I could be doing this without a devil attached to me... instead I decided to learn a dead language to summon one."
"So, you guys have been here before?" Blanke asked, confused.
"Yes, this was a maze the last time we were here, with puzzles and stuff... it looks different now," Neely answered.
Phesoi then gestured to edges of the hedge maze which had a few openings in each direction.
“Behind each of these entrances is a challenge you avoided. Defeat them, and you will get an item that will help you on your journey.” They paused, “Hmm… I’ll probably owe Therius big time for this. Oh well!”
"So there's stuff to fight over there?" Blanke asked, pointing in the direction of a hallway.
"Yes, yes... oh, that reminds me. I have a Cleric of mine I need to check on. Good luck!" they then disappeared.
Blanke immediately started heading toward one of the openings, so Rina and Neely followed.
The first entrance had a single wizard behind it, one that they avoided fighting near the beginning of their journey. After just a few turns, Neely ultimately downed him.
"I think whoever downs the enemy should get the reward," said Rina.
They all agreed, and Neely got a new pair of boots that increased her movement speed.
The next entrance had 2 knights of Luminus who we would have fought when we made our own hedgemaze. Rina eventually downed them with a fireball, so she got the next item. This was a small notebook with just a single page - this was a notebook from Therius himself. If you asked it a question, it would answer to the best of Therius’s knowledge. But she can only ask one question, and it must be within this challenge realm.
The next entrance had a giant black creature, covered in blood and guts and pulsating like a beating heart. This was the monster that came out of the belly of the t-rex when Alice exploded the first time. After a few turns, Blanke downed the monster and his reward was a better sword.
The final challenge was Gunther. Gunther as he would have been without the influence of the bodak. He first mainly targeted Neely, and she eventually went down. Rina and her dragon fought him and dealt a lot of damage, but he eventually took them down, too. It was Blanke and Gunther - one on one. Blanke eventually downed the visage of Gunther, and the group decided that Blanke deserved the additional item. He essentially had nothing to help him in the competition to come, plus he got the kill.
Rina asked her question: “Where exactly is Roscoe Baldwin, the missing fingers of Luminus?”
The book answered with a series of instructions:
“Plunge from the top of Mt. Luminus, enter the world beneath. Find Beth, follow her trial of experiments.”
End of session.
The party stood on the front of the boat as they approached the capitol city of Everhelm. The first thing that came into sight were tons of old wood parts floating near the southern part of the city. Logs, old boat parts, pieces of wood houses - all holding up the base of the Witches coven - the Great Pyre, the “Right hand” of the city.
On the north end of the city sat the largest church of Luminus in Asmery, all white and gold, the “Left hand” of the city.
All of the city was made of stone, with jade around the edges, and some iron in the buildings. The roads were wide and lined with stone, with iron lanterns that were light up at night with candles. All of the stone was very well carved with lots of decorations on it everywhere. Even the docks - which were also made of stone - were very decoratively carved.
"There's so many people here!" Neely exclaimed. "I heard a lot of people came to the Everbleed bowl, but I didn't know it was this busy!"
The hustle of the city was hightened during the Everbleed bowl, but that isn't to say it was ever calm. This was a city that never slept, and the sun seemed to shine down on it brighter than any other city.
"You can even see Mt. Luminus from here!" said Blanke, "The mountain makes the city brighter."
Mount Luminus towered over the city - beginning a few miles southeast of its borders. It dwarfed Mt. Ivatim, and its snow-white peaks reflected the sun's light directly onto the city.
The tall, black, cube-like castle of Everhelm towered over the city, able to be seen from anywhere in its borders. Green and gold banners extended from its roof to the ground, and a motif of bears on mountains could be seen decorating the large keep.
"That's one crazy looking castle," Rina admired. "I think they call it Cavebear Castle."
"I can't see it!" Alice complained, jumping to try and see over the crowd.
"Want on my shoulders?" Rina offered.
"Yeah!"
Rina lifted Alice up onto her shoulders as they looked over the city together.
The city was very grid-like and organized. In the center of the city there was a wide roundabout with many lanes for carts and pedestrians.
Blanke noticed Alice on Rina's shoulders, and tried to lift Neely onto his shoulders so she could see.
"Woah! No! Nope!" Neely did a backflip and landed on the ground behind Blanke.
"What? Do you not want to see?"
"Um, I just don't want to be touched without warning."
"Oh! In that case, here's your warning!" Blanke went in to lift Neely up again, who - once again - dodged Blanke's attempt.
"You may lift me, Blanke!" Lloyd yelled as he ran into Blanke's arms.
"Anything to help you, Ser Lloyd!"
"The church is huge!" Neely noted in awe.
The church of Luminus was large with 9 pillars, each one with a bell inside - all white with Gold.
"We should get closer to the center of the city, that's where everyone else is going," said Blanke as he turned to walk away.
The girls had little choice but to follow, Lloyd was the person they were escorting, after all.
They began to work their way into the center of the city. However, the flow of traffic was slowed down due to the lines of people outside of the Everbleed Bowl Arena - all signing up to be in the competition.
"There has to be hundreds of people here signing up," noticed Rina. "Are we expected to fight all of these people?"
"Hello, The Bound!" they heard from the crowd. They saw Alejandro and the Salt Slayers yelling to them in line, about 50 groups ahead in the line.
"Come get in line with us! We have been standing in line for hours, we will give you a short cut!"
Rina and Alice went to Alejandro, but Blanke and Lloyd went to the back of the line.
"Cutting in line is bad," said Blanke, "definitely not something you would do as a carnie."
"Blanke! We aren't carnies, not even you anymore! Get over here!" Alice yelled at him.
So he and Lloyd joined the group.
As they waited in line, Rina looked around to see if anyone else she knew was there. She could see Gunther of the Fearsome 5 in line a bit farther back, so she went to talk to him while the others waited in line.
"Hey! Glad to see you safe, Gunther! And you, Marie!"
Rina hugged them both.
"Yeah, we wanted to win this to get the Wish spell."
"The wish spell?"
"Yeah, that's the prize this year... We want to try and bring back our friends who died. We sighed up with a couple of people who volunteered."
Rina didn't know what to say, but heard Blanke and Alice yelling for her at the front of the line.
"Good luck!" she said to them as she ran off, they smiled and waved as she got back to her place in line.
"The Salt Slayers are #72" the ticket agent said to Alejandro, "Next!"
The girls pushed Rina up to the ticket booth.
"Names and Party name please."
"The Bound is our party name," Rina started, "I'm Rina Afrisa Michaelis, this is Alice Moondance, Lloyd Highwater of Vorovni, Neely Wonton and... Blanke?" Blanke answers "Just Blanke."
"You're party #73. Next!"
They were escorted into the building, the ceiling was an area under the bleachers of the gigantic arena. Many areas were blocked off to create rooms where different parties were waiting.
Rina saw Mayoay and some of the Twilight witches in a cell-like room, and decided to stop and speak to her.
"Mayoay! I'm excited to see you've made it!"
"Rina! Yes, as am I! You must be excited to get the chance to fight here, too."
"To be honest, I just learned about this yesterday. I wasn't planning on fighting, but here I am!"
Mayoay smiled, "Here we are! And Abagail has brought a group from the Sprite Light coven!"
"Well, we can't all win... Someone's gotta lose between us all."
"But, we can help each other get through the first round," suggested Mayoay. "All of the teams go out on the field at once during the first round, the 16 to survive go into the actual competition. We can all agree to help each other get at least that far, yes?"
Rina smiled and nodded, then realized she could no longer see the others.
"I've got to catch up to the others, see you later!" Rina left and walked quickly to catch up.
"Here's your cell," the man escorting them gestured, "wait here until you are called."
"Wait here? What are we waiting for?" Alice yelled to him as he walked away. He didn't answer.
"Fine, if he won't tell me, I'll just light up a smoke right here and wait for him to get back."
Alice's joint smoked up multiple cell areas around theirs, and not everyone appreciated it.
"Hey! Pipsqueak! Put that thing out, not everyone wants to smell your filth!" an angry man said from the cell just north of theirs.
"What are you going to do about it?" Alice taunted.
"You're a druid, right?" the guy asked.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"So, you care about nature, right? What if I destroy your little friend here?" he lifted up a potted plant and threatened to throw it onto the ground.
"Don't you dare!" Alice tried to intimidate him, but it didn't work. He smashed the pot on the ground, causing the little plant to splinter and break in a few places.
Alice ran to the little plant and used Plant Growth on it, causing it to grow larger than the north cell, and squash the party of people within up against the walls.
"Okay, okay," the man coughed, "You can smoke, whatever.... sorry."
"That's what I thought," Alice scoffed.
"Alice, what kind of trouble did you cause in the 2 minutes while I was gone?" Rina asked as she walked up onto the sight.
"If you're going to stop and fraternize with the enemy, then you deserve to miss what happens!" Alice partly joked.
"Let's help our friends get to at least the top 16 with us, okay?" Rina convinced them.
Blanke looked scared, as he cowered at the entrance of the cell, "I... don't like... jails..."
"Blanke, it's okay. It's not a jail!" Rina started to explain. "Look at the architecture! I read about this place in one of my books. The 5 pillars in a pentagon shape are all identical, except the one farthest from us - that's where The Queen sits when she watches these events. The arena, itself, is almost circular, being about 80 feet in diameter."
"I'm going to look strong in front of the queen!?" Blanke asked excitedly.
"Well, hopefully!" Rina smiled, trying to make him feel better.
Thousands of people were sitting in the seats of the everbleed bowl, so loud that the teams fighting could barely hear themselves speak. They all awaited the beginning of the games.
"Attention everyone," a booming voice could be heard from the center of the arena, where a spell was being cast to enhance someone's voice.
"Welcome, contenders, to the 53rd Everbleed Bowl! I will explain the instructions. The first round of combat will not be in bracket format, it will go until there are only 16 groups remaining. Then, those 16 will be bracketed. You will not know who you are up against in the bracketed fights until the day of - don't even ask. Before any fight in the Everbleed Bowl, you will have a magic balloon full of blue liquid that will pop if you go down. Once you are down, you cannot be revived by a teammate - you will be pulled off of the field and your wounds will be treated by royal clerics."
The man then addressed the crowed of people who were loudly cheering and stomping.
"City of Everhelm, are you ready for a bloodbath?!"
The crowed cheered, and the man gestured at the farthest tower.
"Now entering - Queen Loanna Staffon, Slayer of Bears! And King Consort, Edmond Staffon, the Bear of Cavebear Castle!"
The queen, dressed in long green and gold attire, held up her hand to silence the crowed.
"Welcome, citizens, to the 53rd Everbleed Bowl! Here, we test the most powerful and determined adventurers in the realm, and reward them for their strength!"
The crowed cheered again.
"Do not fear death in this competition, it is our mission to make this as... safe as possible."
Rina narrowed her eyes in suspicion of that statement.
"Good luck, fighters!" The queen raised her hand, and when it dropped, all of the cell doors opened, and all of the teams ran out to meet each other on the battlefield.
Alice immediately became an Ankylosaurus, Rina and Neely got on her back to fight from above. Blanke and Lloyd fought on the ground.
A group of Giants walked up to fight them with huge clubs. After some hits and dodges, the Giants were defeated.
Hundreds of teams from all over Kay'Lend were fighting each other in a huge brawl.
A group of wizards with a few guards in front of them were felled by The Bound. A handful of Luminus Paladins fought them, looking to specifically get The Bound out of the game. Rina fireballed and downed a handful of random people - including one of the Paladins. She put up a fire wall between the paladins and Blanke, and they eventually walked away from fighting them.
Both Lloyd and Neely fought well, too, and eventually a whistle was sounded, signaling the end of the first round.
"We are now down to the final 16!" The man with the booming voice announced, "1: The Bound, 2: The Salt Slayers, 3: the Knights of Light, 4: the Eyeless Kindness, 5: the Logger Champs, 6: the Sprite Lights, 7: Muk & the Grimers, 8: The Mounds, 9: the Valedictorians, 10: the Emperor's Whiskers, 11: the Thundersteps, 12: the SuprasUpras, 13: the Fearsome 5, 14: the Tall Tails, 15: the WhatTheHecks, and 16: Beasts of Claw and Tooth."
The crowed cheered between each name being called, and Rina finally got excited as she saw the final group - the Beasts of Claw and Tooth. They were from Basta'Thrope', and maybe they knew her son.
"We will be announcing the first set of bracketed fights tomorrow! Thank you for coming to the opening day!"
The crowed cheered, once again, and all of the teams were escorted off of the field to a nicer area of the arena lounge.
The man with the magical, booming voice was standing in the lounge waiting for the teams to get there.
"Good evening, survivors! I am Simon, your concierge. I'm the one who runs this event each year, and I am your main contact in this year's Everybleed Bowl. Each of your teams get a room in towers 1 through 4 - the hotels just south of the arena. You will also have a servant who will escort you and provide whatever you need."
Simon snapped his fingers, and 16 people walked out from behind him, one assigned to each of the surviving groups.
A red haired halfling with a Bolgrothian accent approached The Bound, "Oi, me name's Mari - I'll be takin cara ya!"
"Hi, Mari," the group greeted her.
Simon continued, "If you need to know anything about the competition, I am the one to see. Except for bets - for those, talk to Pip."
Simon gestured to an orc man sitting behind a desk, who just snorted in Simon's direction.
"I'm making a bet!" Blanke announced as he walked over to Pip.
"I have 150 gold, I want to put it all on The Bound winning!"
Pip laughed, "You know that people lose money every year betting on themselves?"
"Yes, but I wont. Because I'm the strongest. I'm going to win."
Pip rolled his eyes, "Bet's 172:1 for The Bound winning the entire competition."
"Done!" Blanke handed over the gold, and turned back to the group.
Alice walked up, "What else is there to bet on?"
"Well, most people don't make normal bets like your friend did. Most want to make the special bets."
Alice's eyes widened, "What do you mean by 'special'?"
"Well, sometimes you wonder if something unrelated happens... and if it does, you win. Say, if someone in the competition lost their arm in round 2?"
Pip held out his hand to Alice, and she puts 100 gold down.
Pip winked at her, and she winked back.
There was a buffet line of food and drinks for the parties who remained in the contest. Alice immediately began eating at the front of the buffet line, as did Blanke. Rina and the others waited until some of the other people had gone through before getting any.
Rina looked for the Beasts of Claw and Tooth, and saw a bat girl approaching her.
“Are you the elf, Rina?” she asked, Rina nodded.
“Your son, Darrian, said he would be coming here to cheer us on if we get through round 2!”
Rina smiled, “My son is coming here!?”
End session.
Mari approached The Bound to go over their options for the day. “You can go shopping, The web will have anything ya need. You can also go to the training grounds, or see the arenas being built. Just let me know what ya want, and I’ll get it for ya! I’m basically owned by the everbleed bowl so… I pretty much have to!”
“You’re a slave?” Alice asked.
“Well, they outlawed slavery many years ago, but the arena kind of has its own laws so… it basically owns me. But lets not worry about that! Where do ya want to go next? I could show you Tower #4, it’s where all the competitors stay while they’re here.”
After some discussion, the group decided to head to The web first. The Web was a large area that looked like a dome of tent tops over everything. Much of the store was inside, but some was outside under tents off the side of the main building.
There was a line to get into The Web, but Mari walked them right past the line to the front, where there was a 2nd entrance near the main entrance. There was a guard at the entrance.
“Good mornin Edward!” Mari said to the guard as she punched him in the arm.
He sighed, “Good morning Mari."
Then Blanke punched his arm even harder when he walked by, and he winced. Rina just gently placed her hand there, “Sorry about them…” she hoped he’d feel better, but then Alice followed behind and punched him in the arm just to be mean.
Inside there were masks with cloaks hanging from them, and they seemed to be helping customers. One approached the group as they walked in.
"Hello, how may I help you?" it said in a monotone, flat voice.
"I want mesh shirts," said Blanke, "Ones even better than the ones I have!"
"Of course," the mask responded. Just then, it began to shake, and it split into two of them. One of them guiding Blanke to another part of the store, Lloyd followed.
"How can I help you?" The remaining mask asked the girls.
"I want to find stuff good for druids," said Alice.
"And I want magic arrows," said Rina.
The mask then split again, each one of them guiding Rina and Alice to their respective sections.
Alice got 5 Seeds of infinite shape, which can turn into anything into a wooden object of large size or smaller. The person using them chooses the shape.
Rina got 6 arrows of dragon slaying and 6 arrows of radiance. Rina also found a Feign Death scroll, and decided to take it and learn it when possible.
"Neely," Alice started, "I think we should get you a harp that doesn't hurt you when you use it."
So they found her a book that would help in mastery of harps, and a harp that would give her more spells and not hurt her when she plucked it.
"We decided to use Kin's money to get this for you," said Rina, "We figured he would approve of helping you become a bard."
Neely smiled, "Thanks, you two..."
Blanke came in with one new mesh shirt, and Rina spoke up.
"You only got one? You should get more... if you're going to be ripping them, you should have some replacements."
“I only need one, why would I get more?”
“If you get more now, that’s more time you could spend training later!” that was enough to convince him.
He also bought a flute, "Maybe one day I'll be a bard like Neely!"
"You'll have to read this whole book!" Neely said, showing it to him.
"I hate books..."
Neely giggled.
After shopping, they went to their hotel to get into their room.
Gunther and the other remaining members of the Fearsome 5 were in the foyer as they entered.
"Glad you made it through!" Rina said happily, giving Gunther and Marie a short hug.
"You, as well! But we will have to beat you at some point!"
Rina laughed, "Good luck with that!"
Rina remembered that she’s the one who killed softfeather, but did not say anything to Gunther.
"We are off to go shopping at the web, have fun finding your room!"
"Sounds good, lets get a drink at the hotel bar later!"
"Sounds good, Rina!"
Blanke decided to play his new flute in the crowded space, and ended up getting a lot of positive attention.
Mari eventually escorted them up to their room. It was a 3 bedroom apartment with two large couches.
"Now, there's plenty a space fer everyone to sleep if two of ya take the livingroom," Mari said as Lloyd and Blanke immediately claimed the couches.
"Three bedrooms, for the three girls?" Rina asked.
They all agreed.
"I'll just be reading the new book you got me!" Neely said as she took the room on the right side.
"I get the left room!" said Alice as she jumped onto the bed.
"That leaves me with the room on the far end, which has the best view, anyway," Rina smiled.
"There will also be plenty a time to practice and train," Mari continued.
"Haazaah! I must practice!" Lloyd yelled as he hacked away at Rina's bedposts.
"Hey! Why mine? What the hell?"
"You are the one who does not sleep!" Lloyd answered.
"Okay, but I still want to lay in my bed at night."
"Haazaah! Forgive me, elven maiden! I shall practice elsewhere!" Lloyd then started hacking at Neely's bedposts.
Mari sighed, "Is this who I'm stuck with this year?"
Rina picked up some of the larger pieces of the bedposts to practice her woodcarving.
"Mari, would you see if you can have someone come clean up the rest of these wood pieces?"
Mari nodded, and left the room in a hurry.
Lloyd had destroyed all of the bedposts in all rooms at this point, and Rina had collected as many of the larger pieces she could to practice her woodcarving. Mari brought in some cleaners who worked in the hotel who cleaned up the remainder of the mess.
Mari went to leave, but Alice had some questions for her first.
"How do we learn who we are fighting?"
"Ya cant learn until it's announced tomorrow."
"But surly they know already... right?"
"Ey... maybe, but I don't know, meself."
"What do you know, Mari?" Rina joined the conversation, standing between Mari and the door.
Mari looked up at Rina, who was nearly twice her height, "Ey, so, maybe I know a little somethin. But you'll have to convince me to talk!"
Alice pulled out 50 gold, "This enough to make ya talk?"
Mari took the gold, and almost declined to try to get more money, but Rina cleared her throat. Mari looked up to see Rina glaring down at her - her eyes seeming to glow in rage.
"Ey, ey, okay, okay... Look, you may think round 2 starts tomorrow, but it really started today already. The other teams sometimes get information or try to sabotage other teams the night before a fight.”
"So how do we get more information?" Alice asked nicely.
Mari sighed, "Lots of people get information in different ways, best I can do is tell ya to listen around. Especially in the bars and taverns. And remember that Simon said he'd be the one to talk to if you need anything. Now, I have got to go get more things done for ye!"
Mari pushed her way past Rina, who was no longer using her magic to appear more frightening.
"Anything else ye need while I'm out? Other than information!"
Blanke walked up to her and handed her his remaining 26 gold - all came from Lloyd's money drops, "Get me a cheesecake!"
Mari sighed, then left the room.
"Sounds like we should talk to Simon," said Alice.
"So, after this we head back to the arena?" Rina suggested.
"Let's go!" Blanke said, and he then began to walk out of the room.
"I'm staying here," Neely said from the other room, "I'm tuning the harp and reading the book you got me."
Lloyd was asleep on the couch.
"Yeah, I guess we go," Rina said to Alice.
They all headed to the arena, and past Alejandro and the Salt Slayers on the stairs on the way down.
"Headed to the arena?" he asked Rina.
"Yeah, Alice wants to learn more about the other groups."
"Oh yes, we've been watching all the teams for their weaknesses!"
"Not us, though, right?" Rina joked.
“Maybe I have been watching you guys specifically,” he said with a smile.
“Maybe we are watching you, too.”
"Haha! I wouldn't doubt it, Rina," He and Salt Slayers then went up to their room. The Bound made their way to the arena,
Simon was out on the field watching a large wheel with all the teams on it. Another person was spinning the wheel and Simon was writing down the results.
"Simon!" Alice yelled as the party got closer to him, "We want to know who we are fighting tomorrow!"
Simon sighed and gently squeezed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "You an everyone else. What sets you apart from all of them?" he gestured to the 16 teams on the wheel.
Alice handed him 100 gold, and he laughed, "You'll have to do better than that."
"Rina, hand me the party fund," Alice held out her hand.
Rina handed her the small chest of funds and opened it, Alice then pulled out 1000 gold and plopped it into Simon's hand.
"What about now?"
Simon looked surprised, then waved at the man at the wheel to stop writing things down.
"What do you want?" Simon asked them.
"We want to make sure that we're paired up with the right people tomorrow - someone we can definitely win against."
"We also want the Salt Slayers and the Fearsome 5 to make it," Rina started, "and the beasts of Claw and Tooth."
Simon paused, "Listen, I can't do all that for 1000 gold. Someone else has paid big money to win against the Beasts tomorrow... 1000 gold may cover everything else, but it won't cover that."
Rina pulled another 1000 gold from the party fund and handed it over, "How about now?"
"Rina!" Alice yelled, "You can't just take party fund money that doesn't help the party!"
"First of all, I put more money in here than you did to start."
"That's not even true!" Alice argued.
"I'll put it back when we win, okay?" Rina smiled.
"I'll make sure the Beasts fight someone easier tomorrow," said Simon, "Anything else you want for this extra 1000?"
"No watery arena, please, I don't do well around water," Rina said, "And if the two covens - Sprite Light and Twilight - could make it through..."
Simon nodded, then talked to the guy at the wheel. They seemed to argue for a moment, but Simon got his way.
The group then went to the training area of the arena. Most of the stronger members of the parties were in there training. The entirety of the Logger Champs were there, as well as a couple of the Knights of Light - the Paladins of Luminus that The Bound fought before. Muk the dragonoid man was there training, and a few members of most of the other groups.
Blanke walked up to Muk, "Bet I can lift that more than you."
"I take the bet," Muk responded.
They both began lifting the same sized weights - larger than any of the other weights.
Eventually, Muk got tired and Blanke won their little contest.
"I wanna try!" said Alice as she ran up to the weight that Muk had used. She tried to lift, but could not even move it.
Rina then spotted a sheep-woman from the Beasts of Claw and Tooth lifting dumbbells in the corner. She had sheep’s horns and hoof-like finger nails, she was covered in wool.
As Rina approached, the sheep-woman addressed her, “Baa, hi Rinaa. Good to see you!”
“Oh, you already know who I am?” Rina responded.
“Oh yes, baa - Darrian talks about you all the time!”
“As much as I’d like to know what he says…” Rina whispered, but then spoke up, “What is your name? I didn’t catch it when I first met your group.”
“I aaam Spiralhorn Handcrunch.”
“I was going to ask what your wish would be. If you don’t mind sharing?”
“Wee would wish for acceptance of our people, baa.” she answered.
“I really want that, too.” Rina replies, “and I really hope you make it through round 2. I really want to see my son. I don’t even really know what he’s been telling people about me. I know he talks about me, but I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
“Haaa, yep!” she said as she smiled, then continued working out.
“Well, It was nice to meet you, good luck tomorrow!” Rina smiled.
She turned around to see Alice, finally getting a single rep in with the huge weight, and everyone in the room cheered for her. Blanke lifted her - along with the weight - onto his shoulders to celebrate.
"You wanna try, Rina?!" Blanke tried to hand her the weight, holding it with one hand.
Rina looked at him in the eyes, "Blanke, you couldn't pay me enough."
She began to walk out, Alice followed - still basking in the light of her single repetition. Blanke then followed, tossing the weight behind him and destroying a couch. The people in the room all felt a bit intimidated by them, and they could all tell.
The party got back to their hotel - Tower #4 - and saw two people from the Knights of Light party there, waiting for them in the foyer.
One of them approached, “We may be enemies on the field, but we wanted you to know that we have been in deep prayer and Luminus has told us that you are in grave danger this night.”
Rina rolled her eyes, “Uh huh… sure. Because of you?”
“No, not us. We will not harm you in anyway.”
Blanke and Alice tell them to swear by Luminus that they will not do anything to cause us harm, directly or indirectly. They go through their spiel swearing by Luminus that they won’t do anything to harm us, directly or indirectly. Alice and Blanke don’t really believe them, Rina could tell they were bluffing.
"Don't listen to them, guys. They're just trying to make us lose sleep." Rina herded them up the stairs to fetch Neely and Lloyd to get dinner at the hotel bar.
There bar was packed with competetors in the Everbleed bowl, almost everyone in the building was there. Once The Bound found a table, Mari brought Blanke his cheesecake.
"Can I have some, Blanke?" Neely asked.
"May I, as well, Blanke, old friend?" Asked Lloyd.
"Anyone who asks nicely can have one!"
Blanke looked at Rina, who did not ask nicely - or at all - for cake.
Rina sat next to Alice, who had a piece of cheesecake that she had just started eating.
"I'd like shots for my friend and I!" Rina yelled toward the bartender, who could barely hear them over the commotion.
"Wow, thanks Rina! Why are you buying me shots?"
"I'm buying US shots, because I wanted to talk and hang out with you!"
The bartender gave them 4 shots of whiskey, Rina and Alice each took one, then Rina handed her 2nd one over, "I only really want one, I know you like to have fun though!"
Alice took the other two shots, and decided to drink a couple of beers, too.
Once Alice was drunk, Rina asked her, “Alice, whose names did you put in for the vampire lottery?”
“I don’t remember,” she responded. “It just wasn’t that important to me, so I don’t know.” - but Rina could tell she was lying.
“I just want to know if I’m in it… that’s all. Can you remember that at least?”
Alice acted like she really wanted to keep this from Rina, but she was incredibly drunk at this point. “I put your name on all of them…” she eventually slurred.
“ALL of them?” Rina exclaimed, “You didn’t even keep one for yourself?”
“No, why would I?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t put Aurelius or yourself even once though.” Rina said quietly.
“You’re the only one who really cares about it. You are the one who wants to be close to them.” Alice responded, before digging into her piece of cheesecake.
“Well… thank you.” Rina started, “Ok, well, that’s all I wanted. I’m going to say hi to the Salt Slayers now.”
Rina began to walk to the end of the bar.
“But... I thought I’d finally made a friend,” she whispered sadly as Rina walked away. Rina ordered some other snacks to Alice at the end of the bar, and smiled and waved at her. Alice was still a little mad, but also too drunk to probably remember it the next day.
At the end of the bar, Alejandro is standing on the bartop with a jug that looked a little sketchy.
“This jug is one we - the Salt Slayers - found at the bottom of the ocean on an old shipwreck. And tonight, on the eve of the 2nd round…” then he spoke a little quieter, “the REAL beginning of the competition,” then he winked and spoke louder again, “It is what will get us all drunk! Shots for everyone!” Rina got a shot glass and almost did not take it, she hesitated until most people had taken theirs. But in the spirit, and probably being too trusting of Alejandro, she took the shot anyway. Blanke also took a shot, along with almost everyone else in the bar. Not Alice, though, she was passed out in her plate of food.
On the way back to the room, anyone who took the shot began to feel a bit sick. Neely had already returned to the room before the drinking started, and she was finishing up her cheesecake.
Lloyd, who did not drink, got ready for bed. Blanke tucked him in, then immediately they both fell asleep on their respective couches.
Alice had trouble sleeping, thinking about the the warning from the Knights of light. Rina stayed up a little later than usual, but still got her 4 hours of trancing in.
She burned a letter to Agronoch before turning in for the night:
“Agronoch, I've gathered information on how to find the missing Finger. I'm still making progress on our contract - it is my main priority. Reach me when you can, I am worried. Stay alive. Yours, Rina”
Next: Day 55 (S34-37)