"Until Bob Gets Back" Gaming

[Deleted]

He shifts back and forth where he sits, stooped under the ceiling that is a bit too low for him. The people to either side of his massive body complain at the jolt, but he seems to pay them no mind. Chuckling, the aged Half-Giant turns his attention to Ylonis. "Of course they do. Nibenay has been at war with Gulg since time immemorial. I am..." He pauses, as if thinking back. "...one hundred twenty three years old, and I do not remember a time when Gulg and Nibenay were at peace. It is the wood, you see, that divides them...Gulg loves the forest and seeks to protect it. Nibenay grows wealthy by carving and selling the wood. Gulg, of course, is nowhere near as powerful as Nibenay, so they fight dirty. Nibenay will pay very, very well for services rendered towards eliminating Gulg's soldiers. Those they capture alive are slaughtered in the arena in front of the entire city, just to send a message. I wonder if that was the King's idea, or the High Templar's."

[ascieszl]

Outside the window, the hlaf-giant gives a interrupting *cough* and casually leans up against the window to watch the games, while surreptitiously speaking out side of his mouth:

"Do you people in there have a plan? Or do you simply expect to die? 'Cause i don't want to have to slaughter all those Gulgians myself - sounds like a long day..."

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Ylonis smiles and relaxes a bit after hearing the elder half-giant's story. "It sounds like your experience in these matters is extensive and informed by personal involvement or exposure to these matters. May I ask, is this your first time in a situation like this? Why are you in here? Seemingly respect for our elders is not a widespread mentality here. Everywhere that history is neglected it would seem new ways of suffering come to the fore, which are not so new if only we would listen to our elders and heed their warnings. May I ask your name too? I am called Ylonis."

Feeling her dialogue with the elder half-giant interrupted she annoyedly bites back "Well experienced soldier boy, you tell us then how we should best attack them Gulgites then. Lead the way!"

[Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP]]

- As the conversation started by the elder half-giant and the woman, Nadiya looks at them, smiles to the enormous fighter and turns to the others, moving around them, looking for their attention - There is not win without fight,
there not reply without surprise,
let them think you are scared,
keep from dirty tricks away,
skilled with novel hand-to-hand..
Listen up!
We'll raid them one by one,
don't forget,
cover yourselves back to back! - recites and sings along several rounds, moving between them before the gates open, looking at their eyes, trying to raise their moral

[OOC: There is no roll involved but I have to keep doing so for 3 rounds min, and then, by the time I stop, everyone in 10ft/radius per level will get +2 morale for 3 rnds. It's the Music, poetry & stories bard ability]

[Deleted]

((If there's dice you need to have rolled for the effect of that, Nadiya, now'd be the time to get that effect resolved.)) The aged Half-Giant offers a faint smile at Ylonis's friendly demeanor. "Of course. I'm called Kharam, the Psionicist. I've been in a few scrapes like this in my day--I've lived in Nibenay my whole life. Trained in the city's schools. I'm a Psychoporter--I move things from place to place." His voice drops to a low whisper. "I could be out of here in but a moment if I wanted to--the Way allows me to simply vanish and reappear outside the Arena--but I think it would be best to keep the Templars from becoming too angry at me. Surviving a few arena matches should not be too difficult for a skilled practitioner, yes? I consider myself to be rather skilled, after all, so it should not be any serious difficulty for me to work off this little sentence. What got me in here was using my Psychoportation abilities to trespass in the Sorcerer-King's inner city, to see if he was still alive or not. The only thing I ended up learning was just how well-guarded that place is--it's teeming with the Shadow Brides. I don't know who exactly detected me, but it doesn't much matter now--all we have to do to ensure we're treated nicely is to give the crowd a good show. Fight flashy--kill as many of them as you can in as showy a way you can think of and you'll do just fine."

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

(OOC: Ylonis rolled for sleight of hand use of Pick Pockets several times. Once each for a small vial of each poison she's able to make/know/have as a bard, and once for a set of darts. I rolled a 17 for the darts, a 17 for poison 3, a 45 for poison 2, and a 100 for poison 1 - so that last one definitely failed while she tried to put a small vial in her left shoe. The rest is successful against a PP score of 45.)

[GM result: Ylonis, shortly before ending up in this pen, once that flask was spotted by a templar, will have had the absolute crap kicked out of her as punishment--we're talking half your health is gone before the match even starts--plus they would have frisked you so roughly it'd make the TSA looks like a joke. Total confiscation of all clothing, checking your mouth for hollowed out teeth and maybe even feeling your throat to make sure you hadn't swallowed anything to retch up later. Oh, and you won't have been fed or watered, either. So Ylonis looks like absolute hell right now in all odds.]

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

"Well met Kharam. Good to have a fellow practitioner of the Will. I am a novice still." She whispers conspiratorially to the psion "I could also just phase out and away but I must confess I am quite curious about what is next. I know it's an unhealthy lifestyle but I am a thrillseeker. Maybe when we are out of here we can talk further about your fascinations regarding a certain location and it's unseen occupant." Picking up some small pebbles from the pit ground, she stretches herself out a bit as she yawns and cries "Flashy flashy flashy, you know it" while juggling the pebbles and letting them fall one by one in her left hand.

[Deleted]

Kharam nods, watching her closely as he mutters under his breath, his speech nearly drowned out by the idle noise of so many people in such a small place. "I must say, it is...frustrating. If the King is truly dead, as some of us suspect, Nibenay may finally be free, as his brutal Shadow-Wives will no longer have any of their powers. The others tell me that my hope is misplaced, that the King has emerged himself in the past if only to force hundreds of armed rebels to their knees with his powers. I am told he takes hold of the leaders of these rebellions by the throat and drags them away into his palace, never to be seen again. I have never seen this happen, so I do not know if it is true, but if it is, the King must be a grand master of the Way. I have seen other Sorcerer-Kings in other cities, and they do not hide themselves away like our King does. He must either be determined to hide something from us or, preferably, dead."

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Seeing as in retrospect Ylonis stands there buck naked instead she asks if anyone has at least a strip of cloth or a cloak for some basic decency.
Ylonis will use her bardic charms to talk someone into parting with any extra clothing they may have.

[Deleted]

Seemingly surprised at the request, Kharam rolls his shoulders and removes a bit of his tunic. She could manage to put together some sort of light smock--little more than an apron, really--that'd help Ylonis keep from showing off *all* of the bruises she's earned. "Poor thing. There's no more brutal women anywhere on Athas than the Shadow-Wives. As a student of the Way, however, you're better suited to enduring it than most. If I was a Psychometabolist, I could help with those bruises, but I'm afraid all I can do right now is wish you well." One of his enormous hands slowly pats Ylonis on the head, the nature of the movement making it seem like real effort went into not hurting her. "Do something flashy in the matinee and they'll change their tune--they'll send someone to feed you and heal those bruises."

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

"My thanks for the good advice Kharam," Ylonis says as she goes to work on the cloth trying to get it to cover herself up and make sure any armor she might put on doesn't chafe too much. "Psychometabolism sounds like a study I might need to take up in the near future if I am to remain in this business indeed," she winces as she pulls on the smock. "But first I need to make sure I can get some food." She looks out of the window into the arena anxiously to be let out of the pen and into more open and spacious grounds.

[Deleted]

The arena seems...almost otherworldly. The building's monolithic size and alien architecture makes it seem as if it couldn't possibly be Athasian construction--Ylonis has never seen or heard of a building even remotely close to the size of this place, not even a Sorcerer-King's palace. Every surface seems to be covered in carvings and frescoes depicting things she can't even imagine--creatures the likes of which look completely foreign to any place she's ever seen. The ceilings are incredibly high, and the whole building is shaped like an inverted ziggurat, with multiple levels inside a single floor and several separate, differently-themed arenas. In the distance, beyond the training area, Ylonis can hear the muffled roar of the crowd, seemingly growing louder as the minutes crawl past. Looming over it all, in the far distance, is a raised area swarming with Templars--however, the well-guarded throne overlooking the arena pit lies forlorn, as if forgotten--no Sorcerer-King is seated there.

[Niachi]

As Nadiya finished her song,  the avian settles to a ready and proud crouch, feeling somehow emboldened by her words.  He tears half of his clothing away to give to Ylonis. Further calmed by the intelligent cooperation around him, he speaks in accented common tongue pitched more crowlike than screechy parrot. His diction is precise  surprisingly coherent, obviously having traveled outside of his origins. His wing-hands and ever-turning head expressive with a conviction beyond his diminutive frame. There is the measured tone of the wandering sage offering distant truths:

"Aahk. Good to see we have at leasssst one Glad. I here 3 hungry days, yet I survive 3 o' these 'atineeee fightss. You kawwl me Yagh'gharra, or jus' Yag shall do."

A razor thumb-talon thumps his chest, covered in what is left of a slashed but finely made rust-dyed tunic under a harness of 4 pouches aligned all wrong for human hands to open them. they are each visibly open and empty. Dark dried stains mark his clothing, otherwise he looks undamaged. His voice gathers confidence to address the room and the big guy outside:

"Give me my wings aloft an' I bring claw and the furyyy of the wind. (His volume drops to a whisper) Yag is holy warrior, blessed twiiice with wind in his heart an' bit of TeleKeneeesis. Those tiny rockss you play with, good sister-prisoner, they can be my tools to kill. Ssso sstrategy: Big Glad' sir, lead our way. I shall take my time, analyze how best to attack away fro' crushing and staaaabbing, can bring blessings to us, bring bad things to our enemies. And with the disgusting sustenance they give us, I'll make it healthy to eat an' drink. Sling, javelin, an' twinblade spear are my harbingers of the Air's deadly grace."

[Deleted]

The rest of those confined to the tiny, cramped barracks seem thoroughly unsettled by the Aarakocra's odd speech patterns and demeanor--all, perhaps, except the Thri-Kreen, whose alien physiology conceals his--or her--feelings. Certainly, however, he is the center of attention for the moment. In the distance, the crowd seems to be quickly growing louder--distant footfalls seem to promise the coming matinee. Kharam nods slowly in his direction. "Good. Looks like we got lucky--not a lot of slaves with no combat experience this time. Maybe we might even win."

[Quila Oris (John M.)]

Ylonis nods and cocks her head at a slight angle "Thanks to the skies for giving us all master Yagh'gharra, thanks to Yag for sharing his clothing. I shall do the winds proud with my speed, and hope to count upon a swift current to carry my daggers or darts." Ylonis breathes in deeply and lets out a deep sigh again, looking Yag in the eye and nodding her thanks again.